Page 90 of Hunted By Fae

No final fluttering heartbeat, no long breathy exhale, no final gasp.

Death is quiet.

Dare draws in a deep breath. His chest expands against the chill of the winter air.

Dagger loose in his grip, he lowers his hand to his side and lets his lashes shut on the blood and smog and shouts—and he homes in on the quiet at his boots.

He finds peace in the man’s death.

A moment’s reprieve from the noise.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

A frown tugs at his brow.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

Peace disturbed, Dare blinks his eyes open and throws a stony glare down at the dead man.

But that man’s heart does not beat.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

Someone’s heart is beating.

Someone’s heart is racing…

But not just anyone.

There’s something in that beat…

A call to him, and him alone.

A song written and played just for him.

The frown digs deeper into his face. He lifts it to the smoke thickening in the air, gathering in a smog before billowing up and becoming lost in the darkness.

Dare sees through the smoke as effortlessly as he would look through a glass pane. He feels the sudden gleam alight his eyes, a focused thrill from the sensation stirring in his chest.

The hunt.

Unmoving from the mouth of the lane, he swerves his focused gaze from folk to person, fae to human, living to dead. Their heartbeats thrum in the air like any other. But none of those are the heartbeat calling to him.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

This one is different, as though Mother herself is tapping at his chest with her fingertip, stirring him from his peace, and the vibrations of it hum in his bones.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

He doesn’t just hear it. Hefeelsit.

The gravelly scream of a human tangles in the air, chased by pounding bootsteps.

Dare watches as a man scrambles past him.

His arms are flailing, as though he can swim his way through the street and propel himself into a faster run.

Dare should lift the blade in his hand, let the human run into it himself—the human who doesn’t notice the motionless warrior standing in the mouth of the alleyway.