Page 17
Chapter 17
Ruffling Feathers
L ooking around, I took in the dark street with a confused sweep of my eyes. Beyond it, the distinct sounds of celebration was loud enough to carry everywhere I turned. Flashes of light painted the asphalt and buildings before disappearing, and I turned my head to catch sight of an overcrowded street beyond the alley we were in.
If anyone noticed us appear out of nowhere, they didn’t bother to call action to it. And after further inspection of the people ambling along the sidewalk and street, I wasn’t surprised we hadn’t been noticed. Many of them were already several strong drinks past drunk.
What the hell? Did this bastard take me to a college town or something?
When I opened my mouth to demand an explanation, Cash grinned in his impish way and dragged me into the hustle and bustle of a city I didn’t recognize. “Come along, love. He’ll be gone if we meander too long,” was all the Dark Fae said before walking with purpose towards a building located on the other side of the street.
Lights beckoned outsiders in. A thrum of music filled the air, a rhythmic quake underfoot. A line as long as the street itself wrapped around the building we headed towards, suggesting it was the popular spot in town.
I wasn’t dressed for a club, but then again, I never really was when Phillip didn’t have a say in it. Or Kate. Or Sloan. Or Jo. Fuck, every person around me was a busybody. But seriously, why the hell did it always have to be a club? Couldn’t it be a nice wine-and-dine restaurant, or maybe a cozy hole-in-the-wall diner every once and a while? Why did the supernatural have a thing for making clubs and bar haunts their location of choice? I’d even take a normal store at this point. Lord knows my ears would appreciate the change in synthetic sound.
I silently prepared myself for another long night. A club hardly offered a conversational air, so I had to hope there was a place inside that wasn’t going to blow out my eardrums. But based on past experiences, I was more likely to be disappointed.
It wasn’t even clear who the “he” Cash said we needed to find was. Granted, I’d learned how to cleverly talk the information out of the chaotic Dark Fae for that very reason. Like all the men in my life, he had trouble getting to the point.
If I had to make a guess, I’d bet it had something to do with Harmony. Cash had promised me answers about the elusive witch. If it was one thing I could rely on with the informant turned group nuisance, it was that he was ironically reliable when it came to promises he made to me. So, for now, I’d go along with whatever he had planned and nudge where I needed to nudge so he told me what it was I wanted to know.
Chatter filled the air, and shouts of excitement echoed down the street. I dodged something flying from a second-story balcony of one of the buildings we passed before capturing it in my hand. “Beads?”
“Marti Gras, dove. Have you never been to New Orleans?” My platinum-blonde companion seemed almost insulted by the idea.
I cut a look over to him, already agitated. “Need I remind you that it was only a year ago that I was in high school and just a regular, run-of-the-mill vampire hunter?”
His cat eyes sparkled like I’d challenged him to be the one to educate me on the marvels of New Orleans. “Say no more, love. Tonight, we’ll take our time. But first, we must catch the old hag’s little treat before he flees the city.”
The old hag’s little treat?
“I’m assuming this is someone connected with Harmony?”
As if he was a proud papa, Cash beamed a toothy grin at me. “That’s right. It took me a little…negotiating to get his location, but he’s a favorite. If anyone knows where she hangs her hat these days, it’s him.”
Phillip was going to pitch a fucking fit when he found out Cash all but decided to do this without his know-so, but I couldn’t argue with the fact that it was smart to take me and not my less-than-welcoming Hunter partner. I’d be less likely to scare the guy off. Very few people knew my name and face. I’d look more like a tagalong than Phillip would. Especially when he and Cash fought like children every chance they got.
Staring at my pocket, I weighed whether or not I should text my quick-to-rage mentor that we were following up on a lead. If I did, he’d come running. But not if I didn’t tell him where I was. It’d take Phillip too long to locate me the normal way. Still, he was a professional at the end of the day, so he wouldn’t ruin a mission in progress. And he’d promised to trust me. Telling him would show I trusted him, too.
Just a quick text so he couldn’t say I pulled a dick move.
Taking my phone out of my pocket, I eyed the rambling man next to me. Cash was still galivanting and gesturing to places we passed like he was my personal tour guide. His eyes were on the world around him and not me, so he wouldn’t notice a quick text. But just in case…
“What’s that place over there?” I asked, pointing to some far-off shop that beamed black light and gave all those unique voodoo vibes Kate was obsessed with. “Anything supernatural-inclined camping out over there?”
Cash quirked an eyebrow and turned his pretty head the direction I pointed, falling for my trap hook, line, and sinker. Dudes were so simple. When he did, my fingers moved like the wind to tap out a message to Phillip. My nifty supernatural blood meant it happened in seconds. Before my Dark Fae guide could glance at me again, my phone was already back in my pocket.
“That’s a new one. I haven’t seen it before,” he mused slowly, intrigued, and his cat eyes were bright and sparkly like he was finally having fun. “Should we check it out after we do our errand, love?”
Errand? That was one way of putting it. But I guess with Cash, it wasn’t likely to turn violent and explosive. I kept forgetting that he and Phillip had different interrogation methods. Not that my Hunter mentor wasn’t an effective interrogator, but I looked forward to the change of pace.
Grinning, I nodded. “Okay, I’m game. I haven’t done anything normal since this shitshow started, so I guess it couldn’t hurt. Phil’s going to be pissed off no matter what time we come back. Might as well make it worth the beating you’re about to get.”
“He can try, darling, but I think you’ll find it’s not that easy anymore. It’s about time he knows it, too.”
What?
I stole a glance at the usually pompous Fae next to me. Something about the look in his eyes put me on edge. I’d never seen it before. It reminded me of Phillip when he faced off with Eros. It was dangerous and lethal. It promised pain and retaliation. I nearly missed my step like a dingus watching his expression darken into something I’d never seen on him before.
“Careful, bird,” Cash chastised, his hand already out to help me before I realized.
I didn’t even have time to be mortified that I, Frankenstein’s monster, nearly ate asphalt—and all because I was distracted that Cash, for the first time since we’d met, actually looked like the villain everyone accused him of being.
Before the wheels in my head could turn, he let loose a short, excited squeal. “Oh, V! You must let me buy you a new ensemble while we’re here. I insist. A thank you for helping me with those pesky Blood Mages.” Pesky Blood Mages? Cash’s personality was one of a kind. “As you must have gathered, our magical contract has been satisfied, so you’re no longer bound to it.” I hadn’t gathered that, but okay. “A pity, really. But rest assure, love, I will not leave you. I shan’t abandon you in your time of need.”
My time of need?
“And that would be…with clothes?”
“Precisely,” Cash asserted with a nod, grinning.
So, not because of Harmony and taking down the very operation that was hunting him down, but because I was a fashion disaster? What a weird reason to stay. Of course, Cash was the type to use silly things to justify his honorable actions. He didn’t like people to think he cared. So, this wasn’t totally off the wall for him, but still.
“You don’t—”
His cat eyes sliced over, practically liquid. “No, no. I insist.”
He got persistent about the weirdest things.
“Fine, you crazy fashionista. But only one outfit. And you can’t brag about it to Phil. We both know how much you like to ruffle his feathers.”
“Ruffle his feathers? Well, I never.”
The hand over his chest was what did me in. I couldn’t hold it together. I laughed out loud, and when Cash clicked his tongue in agitation, I bent over my waist and died all over again in amusement.
But seriously, what was this dude starring in, Gone with the Wind? He’d gone full Southern belle on me, and I couldn’t get over how perfectly it fit his image. Only Cash could marry his swanky high school girl vibe and Southern belle one in a way that worked and wasn’t at all weird. If anything, they fit so well I couldn’t see him any other way now.
Cash’s sly smirk was enough to make me wish I’d controlled myself better. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time he’d gotten it out of me, and it wouldn’t be the last. The theatrical Dark Fae had a gift for it. Everything he did was funnier than any comedy I’d seen, and I hated how much I waited for the next moment where he did something stupid and made my sides hurt from laughing.
Cash tapped his mouth like it was our secret. “Anyway…I won’t speak a word of it to that barbarian, trust me. Whatever my darling girl wants, she gets, yeah?” Ugh, the terms of endearment just keep getting worse. “But, V, he’ll know it when he sees it. He might be a brute, but he’s a clever one. I mean, your sense of fashion—”
“Finish that sentence and see what I do to you, Fae.”
Chuckling to himself, he relented. “Then you have my word as a gentleman.”
“Gentleman? Where?” I teased, smiling even though I knew I shouldn’t. The look on his face made me instantly regret letting him think he’d won me over. “Let’s just go find this boy toy of yours.” The shrill sound of rejection my companion gave way to turned my smile devilish. “Oh, you know what I mean. Sheesh, Cash, you’re so sensitive.” Another Karen sound erupted from him, fully transformed with two taunts. I’d gotten my groove back. “Besides, it’s only a matter of time before Phil loses his cool and comes looking for us.”
Forgetting I’d taunted him at all, Cash seemed elated by the idea of giving Phillip any reason to be angry. It was any wonder how they stayed around each other with how much hate was shared between them. Honestly, I couldn’t keep up with how swiftly the informant shifted from Karen to devious little boy. The man was an enigma. And no matter how much I didn’t want to, I chuckled.
Cash was so different from who I initially thought he was. Around everyone else, he was sour and forever bored. But when it was just the two of us, he was chatty and sweet. Not totally sure what it was about me that made him shed his irritable, hate-the-world coat, but he did it every time he got me alone. As weird as it was to admit, we always had a good time together.
I’d tried so hard to hate him. I wanted to blame him for my parents’ deaths, but it was evident the more time we spent together, Cash was just the Organization’s scapegoat. He might be a coward, but he wasn’t the one who made the call to kill my parents. That blame lied with the Organization and them alone.
I wouldn’t openly admit it, but the guy I’d gotten to know wasn’t the horrible Dark Fae everyone claimed he was. Sure, he was a self-serving asshat. And yes, his moral compass needed work. But after seeing the good guys become enemies, the truth wasn’t the truth anymore.
Everything the Organization said about creatures and people they proclaimed as enemies couldn’t be trusted. Only I could make the final call on someone. Because I’d learned the hard way that sometimes even the ones I thought were friends could be hiding in the shadows, waiting for their moment to strike.
As much as it pained me to admit, Jo was right. Trusting other people could get me killed. Still, I refused to push everyone away and assume they were out to hurt me. If I did that, I’d always be alone. I didn’t want to live my life like that no matter how many times I got betrayed.
No matter if it got me killed one day.
Cash offered me the loop of his arm, refusing to back down when I ignored it at first. I finally caved because I’d rather not spend the entire night arguing with him. Besides, it’d sell our relationship more and make it easier to get information from Harmony’s boy toy.
“V?”
I glanced at my fashion-obsessed companion when he didn’t immediately start walking again. “Cash?”
His gorgeous purple eyes danced around my face before landing on my lips. “No matter what happens tonight, I’ll keep you safe. Not for those brutes following you around or because I have some ulterior motive, or even because I feel like I owe it to you, but because I want to. I…well, I’d be sad if anything happened to you, so don’t leave my side, yeah?”
I didn’t recognize the tone or look in his eyes. It was far too serious for the normally whimsical and self-interested man I’d gotten to know.
Did Cash just say he likes me?
No. Nothing he said or did suggested he liked me romantically. Except, well, he had kissed me at Fredrick’s club. I’d conveniently dismissed his behavior, but the way he looked at me after that night was different. He texted me every chance he got. And lately, he always seemed to be nearby, waiting to bend my ear or complain about Phillip.
The more I thought about it, the more I wondered.
I’d never seen Cash kiss anyone else. He wasn’t Phillip with a tendency to be flirtatious, or Sloan who was prone to physical touch. Of course, I hadn’t gone out with him alone like this, so that could change. I could be totally off the mark. Maybe I’d gotten hypersensitive to others now that I was tangled with three in the same space.
Yeah, that had to be it.
I was caught up in a romantic dating haze. It made me overthink everything anyone else ever did or said. It was ridiculous to think he’d fallen for me. That stuff only happened in daytime soaps.
Not everyone is going to be obsessed with you, V. Get over yourself.
Eyes rolling, I smirked at Cash. “Keep me safe? Isn’t that my line, Fae?”
Still uncomfortable with my own thoughts, I cleared my throat and punched his arm. He found his high school girl self again, voicing a very flamboyant “Ouchie!” even though I’d barely put any strength into the hit.
Giggling, I tugged his arm and started walking again. “But thanks.”