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E vie almost didn’t see him.

She was on her way home from a late shift at the restaurant when thunder rumbled. She picked up the pace, jogging the last few yards down the alley to her backyard. The lavender her mom had planted was about to bloom. Purple spikes shivered in the rising wind, their scent perfuming the air.

A crash of thunder made her jump. She sprinted down the gravel path bisecting the tiny garden. Suddenly, every hair on her nape lifted. She skidded to a stop, straining to see in the light cast by the single bulb over her back door.

There . A man huddled by the stoop, his eyes glowing an unearthly green in the gloom. His chest shuddered, and the chunk of quartz hanging from a leather cord around his neck caught the light.

Earth fada.With those glowing eyes and the quartz, he had to be.

Keeping her gaze on the fada, Evie bent and scrabbled in the garden for a weapon. Shapeshifters didn’t just turn up at your back door. Whatever this guy wanted, he was trouble—and she didn’t need any more trouble in her life.

Her fingers closed on a small rock. She straightened and raised it threateningly. “Get the hell out of my yard.”

The man stared back at her, unblinking. Then his lips curved. The prick was laughing at her.

Anger seared through Evie. Anger, and fear.

Her kid brother Kyler was in the house. At least, he was supposed to be. She had to get this man—this fada—out of here.

“Did you hear me?” Her fingers tightened on the rock. “I want you gone. Now .”

His eyes closed. The small smile faded, and he rested his head against the concrete foundation. “Can’t.”

“What do you mean, you can’t?”

He slid sideways, boneless as a rag doll.

What the—?

Evie froze.

Several seconds ticked past. The man didn’t move.

She eased closer. That’s when she smelled the blood.

She darted a look around. There were three homes to one side of their row house and six to the other. Most times you couldn’t move two yards without a neighbor popping out to see what was up.

Where was nosy Mrs. Linney when you needed her? Or Kyler, for that matter?

“Hey.” She nudged the shifter’s shin with her toe. “You okay?”

When he didn’t move, she dashed up the steps, yelling for her brother. “Kyler! Open up, damn it.” She hammered on the door. “It’s me, Evie.”

No answer.

She set her jaw. Would it kill the dude to be where he was supposed to be for once? She dropped the rock and dug in her backpack for her keys, her eyes on the motionless fada.

Her fingers closed on the key ring. She shoved the house key in the lock and pushed open the door. The kitchen was empty, but the light was on. She dropped her backpack on the nearest chair.

“Jesus. Wake the neighborhood, why don’t you?” Kyler sauntered into the kitchen, tall and thin and full of sixteen-year-old attitude until he saw her face. “Evie? What’s the matter?”

“Outside.” She jerked her chin at the backyard. “A fada. He’s hurt—bleeding.”

“For real?” Kyler pushed past her and vaulted over the railing to the injured shifter.

Evie followed. “Hurry. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Somehow, she knew she had to get the shifter inside—and soon—or he was dead. The fada were the killers of the magical world—assassins and mercenaries. If this man was injured, someone dangerous was after him.

Kyler slid his hands under the fada’s shoulders and head. “Grab his legs.”

She hurried to obey. Rain poured down, drenching them to the skin.

Kyler looked at her. “Ready?”

“Yep.”

“One, two, up,” he said, and they lifted him.

Evie staggered, struggling to keep her end up. “Damn, he’s heavy.”

“I’ve got him.” Kyler moved his hands lower on the shifter’s back, taking more of the weight, and together, they maneuvered his limp body up the stairs and into the kitchen.

Her brother raised a dark brow. “Where should we put him?”

“The floor, I guess.”

They laid him on the ratty vinyl. Swiping the rainwater from her face, Evie peered down at the unconscious man. His face and shoulders were wet, but the dark stain spreading across his T-shirt wasn’t from the rain.

While Kyler locked the back door, Evie scrubbed her hands in the kitchen sink and squatted down for a closer look.

His thick lashes were spiked with water drops. She couldn’t help noticing that the man was freaking gorgeous—shiny black hair, broad cheekbones, a body that was all hard muscle. But then, the fada had a few drops of fae blood, and with it a touch of the fae’s beauty.

Easing up his T-shirt, she sucked in a breath. He had a deep slash across his lower abdomen, and another small but deeper wound directly above it.

Kyler whistled. “Somebody cut him good.”

She nodded grimly. “Get me something to clean it with. Hot water, but not too hot.”

Kyler nodded and filled a bowl with warm water.

Meanwhile, Evie found a couple of clean kitchen towels and knelt next to the fada, dabbing at the blood.

From what she knew about first aid, the wounds weren’t life-threatening.

Neither was spurting blood, which meant the knife or whatever had cut him hadn’t hit an artery. And the blood seemed to be clotting.

The biggest danger was probably infection. Hopefully, he’d be out of here before she had to worry about that.

She wrung out the cloth and dabbed at the gashes again. She’d heard somewhere that whiskey disinfected a wound, but the only alcohol in the house was a six-pack of cheap beer.

“D’you think we should pour some beer on it?” she asked Kyler. “You know, to kill the germs?”

“ No .” The earth fada’s eyes opened. The intense green had faded to hazel. “Use…my quartz.”

Evie didn’t know much about shifters, but everyone knew earth fada had a special connection with their quartz. This man’s looked like an ordinary rock to her, but what did she know?

She reached for the pendant.

“No!” He grabbed it himself. “Don’t touch. Only…me.”

She jerked her hand away. “Gotcha.”

The fada’s fingers toyed with the quartz, and it started to glow the same green as his eyes had. His lips moved, and the blood stopped seeping. His wounds closed a bit, too.

“Wow,” said Kyler.

The fada’s head dropped back to the vinyl. “Can’t.”

He released the pendant. The quartz lost its glow and turned back into a plain, smoky gray with a touch of purple. Pretty, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Evie swallowed. “So what should we do?”

His eyes shut. “Nothing.”

She sat back on her haunches. “Look, you are not going to die in my kitchen. You got that?”

He grunted.

Kyler dropped to the floor on the other side of the shifter. They met each other’s eyes over his body.

“Maybe I should call 911,” she said.

“What good would that do?” he asked. “Fada use their own healers. A human doctor would probably be useless.”

“But they could clean the wounds. Stitch him up.”

Outside the storm had worsened. Wind whipped through the trees and rain drummed against the kitchen windows. Thunder boomed, shaking the house.

She and Kyler stared at each other. Neither moved to take out their phones.

Her shoulders slumped. It had been a long day. Before working her shift at the restaurant, she’d gone to her biology class at the community college. In between, she’d rushed home to make sure Kyler had supper. Now she was exhausted, out of ideas.

Hopelessness rolled over her. “He’s going to die,” she said dully. “And take us along with him.”

Kyler’s throat worked. “There’s nothing we can do.”

The earth fada roused himself to growl, “Fucking fae. He’s messing with your minds—you have to fight it.”

“What do you mean?” Evie asked.

The fada’s hand was on his quartz again. The muscles of his neck strained with effort. The glow infused it again.

“Touch me,” he gritted.

“Touch you?” she repeated. What was the point?

“ Now . Anywhere.”

She and Kyler glanced at each other and then Evie shrugged. “All right.”

She took the earth fada’s hand while Kyler touched him on the shoulder. Nothing happened.

Evie blew out a breath. Why bother? She was so tired, her clothes and hair soaked from the rain. If she could only lie down…

Then something odd happened. The hand touching the earth fada warmed. She frowned down at it. The heat moved up her arm to her shoulder, and she and Kyler were enfolded in its warmth.

Her brother’s mouth slackened. “What the fuck?”

“Night fae,” the fada rasped. “Don’t…talk. He—hear you.”

Evie’s stomach did a complete flip. “A night fae? That’s who’s after you?”

She’d only seen one night fae in her entire twenty-six years, but one had been enough. He’d been coming out of an after-hours club in Baltimore, tall and loose-limbed with black hair and pale skin. She’d stopped and stared. He was rock-star sexy in a tight black shirt and leather pants.

Then he’d turned and caught her looking—and smiled, a cold show of teeth. Darkness washed over her, powerful and seductive. When she’d shuddered, his smile had widened.

Evie had sprinted out of the alley, his mocking laugh echoing in her ears.

The earth fada gave a terse nod. “Afraid so.”

Evie shut her eyes.What had she done?

For the most part, the fae kept to themselves, considering humans as somehow less—which was fine with her. You did not want to attract the attention of a fae. You especially didn’t want to attract the attention of a night fae.

She looked at her white-faced brother, the brother she’d promised her mom to protect, and stifled a moan.

The rain eased. Gravel crunched.

The night fae was right outside.

Evie grabbed the fada’s hand with both of hers and prayed. Hard.