Page 7 of V for Vilified (Hunter V #4)

Best Friend Meets Fairy Boy

K ate sat staring at us with her eyes wide, mouth open, messy hair flopped to one side, and a trail of dried drool that took a path from one side of her mouth to her cheek.

My best friend was an assault on my carefully projected calm.

The way she looked threatened to make all the words I’d chosen and worked so hard to deliver without emotion moot if I laughed.

She couldn’t think this was a joke. Nothing about what happened was.

But the absolute hilarity of her expression was close to making it seem that way.

“You’re…joking?” she asked, the last bit high-pitched and warped by confusion. “I mean, I’d absolutely know if my best friend was a crazy badass who fought monsters and had fangs, right? I wouldn’t miss something that huge? Not me…the best friend in both name and glory.”

“Sorry, Kate.”

Her messy bun flopped forward as she threw her face into her hands. “This shit is crazy sauce.”

Cash had concealed his features after a long argument before we woke Kate. Pretty and ethereal didn’t cover the feeling of him, but I didn’t want to scare her when she woke up. I’d say everything first, then show her the craziness. She’d need something to prove it all.

He was of the opposite opinion. He argued that it was easier to accept what was right in front of your face and it was pointless to wait. Of course, I eventually won after glaring and crossing my arms.

It didn’t really take much with Cash. Unlike Sloan and Phillip, he did whatever I wanted despite initially arguing. As if his complaints were mere foreplay to him and only there to add spice.

“I don’t expect you to believe me right away—”

Kate wrapped her arms around me out of nowhere, in a room that was oddly human feeling. “You must’ve been so lonely carrying this secret all this time without anyone to talk to. Without your bestie to whine about all things supernatural.”

“What—”

“It must’ve been so hard for you,” she went on, mumbling and squeezing me tight. “And now my oblivious human ass got us kidnapped to another world.”

“None of this is your fault, Kate. Everything is because of me,” I said firmly, still locked in her embrace. “They took you to get to me.”

Speaking of which…

“I thought you said that people couldn’t be dragged through portals?” I asked Cash over Kate’s shoulder. My best friend still refused to let me go, so I stayed her prisoner with a gentle return hug and a couple pats to her back.

The Dark Fae smirked. “Supernaturally inclined can’t be. Humans are another thing entirely, love. You’ll find that humans exist in both realms, though their existence here is...a bit different from what you’re used to.”

I didn’t like the way he hesitated with that last part. Something told me I wouldn’t like what was different between our two realms. But my focus was on Kate and getting her on board before we took on a super villain.

What surprised me most was how little my friend needed to convince her I was supernatural, so I checked again. “You’re not confused? You believe me?” I pulled away as much as she’d allow.

Kate made a noise with her lips and shook her head. “I thought it was weird that you suddenly ran off with our hot Biology teacher. This makes way more sense.”

A smile pulled at my lips. “Well, in a way I did.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like you two are dating,” she argued, side-eyeing Cash with a thirsty look I’d recognize anywhere thanks to the few band obsessions she’d had over the years.

Kate was pretty boy obsessed, and my Fae Karen fit the bill. Which meant she was about to get very mean. Or maybe a better way to say it was antagonistically sarcastic.

She and I had both struggled to flirt normally. Most girls acted cute and blushed. The two of us were the farthest thing from cute. It worked better for her. In my case, it just led to a lot of fights and misunderstandings. My recent romantic life was plenty evidence of that.

“About that…” I started, wondering if it was worth it to talk about my very interesting relationship status when I wasn’t even sure if Phillip and I were still dating. And how did a girl explain going from Nigel, the school hottie, to a whole group of supernatural hotties I traded spit with?

My thoughts darkened at the thought of Nigel. I’d have to tell her about what happened to him, too, and I didn’t even know how to start. Explaining this world and everything I’d already been forced to face was…a lot.

Cash cut in before I could, “Cheers. Now that the human understands a bit about what’s at stake here, we should head to our next location. We’ve dallied long enough, love.”

My hand itched to dig out my phone I’d left in the human world and text my two boys, worried about them despite Cash’s reassurance they were safe.

What would they think after finding both discarded rings meant to track me?

Would they know I’d gone through a portal, or would they be frantically looking for me?

Would they think…I abandoned them? Or worse, that I might never come back?

I didn’t even know if I’d get to go back.

Shit.

I was pulled out of my head when Kate’s eyebrows pinched together. “That’s some accent you got there, uh, mister. What even are you? A fairy?”

I nearly lost it the second Cash’s entire face and body responded with abject insult.

Not just for being called a fairy—which wasn’t a far-off guess, though clearly a slur—but mister as well.

If it was one thing Cash hated more than anything, it was being mistaken for an adult. Well, an older adult than he’d prefer.

“I beg your pardon!” he said in that ghoulish wail of his. “The name is Cash, human, and we prefer the term Fae.”

Kate scoffed, keeping an arm around my shoulders as she addressed my Fae Karen.

“Same diff, pretty boy. And the name is Kate, not human .” He clicked his tongue, but my bestie ignored him like the champ she was.

“So, are you like, powerful and shit, or are you just, you know, the comedic relief she keeps around? Bet my girl here runs circles around you she’s so powerful. ”

I’d forgotten about this part of Kate’s personality. She’d build me up without basis. Though, in this case, she wasn’t exactly far off. But this wasn’t how I saw this moment going in my head at all.

The long-suffering sound that left Cash’s mouth was peak Karen. “How rude.”

Ever the clever snapback artist.

Aiming to calm the storm brewing, I got to my feet and offered Kate a hand. “There’s a lot to explain, but he’s right. We should get going. I’ll go over what’s important and hopefully not blow your human mind.”

“Consider my human mind so blown, chick. And in a good way. Best oral sex it’s ever had. I can’t wait to see you do your genetic monster girl thing. I’m already a huge fan of whatever it is you called yourself. A vampire hunter?” she rambled and grabbed my hand.

With a huff, Cash trailed after the two of us, gathering a few things on our walk to the front door. At least I hoped it was the front door or this would be extra awkward.

“Hunter, but that doesn’t much matter anymore, I guess.”

“Right, because first they created you to be some terrifying weapon, and now they’re hunting you because my girl can’t be controlled?” she oversimplified.

Grinning, I didn’t realize how much the tension in my body had eased with her unconditional acceptance of what and who I was. “Basically.”

Either the spell Mistress Chaos had cast on my pink-haired friend had calmed her human brain and made accepting a new existence easier, or she was just that easy-going. Either way, I was grateful.

We didn’t have much time to get things together before we’d have to pay our respects to our enemy. Better to go in with everything in our favor than out of time and resigned to our fate.

We still needed to find Jo. I refused to leave her out there no matter how much my Fae Karen argued we didn’t need her.

We did. One knew Jo, and I hoped my gorgeous girl crush had all the intel on Lyra to give us the upper hand—or at least a better plan to get the upper hand.

That ancient bitch had miscalculated, and I’d make her pay for it.

I secretly hoped Cash was right about a day or two calm before the next wave of heat. I didn’t want to jump his bones in front of Kate. Unfortunately, I was never that lucky, so I needed time to explain things to my human friend. I didn’t want her on the receiving end of my lust beast Fae side.

To be fair, she was more likely to rally behind it rather than spurn my sudden and overactive libido. Kate was extremely sex positive, and she’d be nothing but supportive. I just didn’t know if I was ready to bare all. Literally.

Cash inserted himself into the conversation, taking the hand not currently hostage to Kate’s. “Love, we’ll need to travel carefully until I’ve secured a few things.”

“Meaning?” I asked and finally looked at him.

A rush of tingles skittered across my arm where he touched me.

Even after supposedly satisfying the Season, as he called it, the sensation and warmth hadn’t gone away.

My body still craved him, and it took more effort than I wanted to admit not to kiss him whenever my eyes met his.

The way he was looking at me, I wasn’t the only one suffering a momentary rush of urge.

My eyes caught on the glowing red rune on his neck. My rune. So weird.

Kate leaned forward to look at us both, quickly cutting through the rising tension. “Oh! With magic, you mean, Fairy Boy?”

“Yes,” I cut in before Cash could implode into his usual whining complaints over the unflattering nickname. “I mentioned the very powerful Fae after us.”

“Mistress Chaos? Oh yeah. She sounds super terrifying. If she’s some mystical beast from the past, I definitely wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of her.”

Cash scoffed next to me and pulled a multi-colored stone out of his Mary Poppin’s pouch. “Not next to me, human. Not when I’m protecting my mate—”