Page 14

Tightening my hold on the shirt wrapped around the chains at Juniper’s wrists, I dragged her toward the bar.

If there was anywhere else safe in the human realm, I’d have taken her there, but the AFF was directly in my path to the pocket entrance to Faerie and humans would never offer shelter to one of my kind.

Juniper bounced over rocks and debris, but I had no time to carry her, especially with my own shackles slowing me down.

I turned left, leaving the park, the mob tight on my heels, and took another left and another.

I dashed into the bar, desperately begging Mab to cloak us from the angry humans who were out for blood.

The bar was dark and deserted, and I ran to the back, pulling Juniper with me, and slammed the unisex bathroom door shut behind us.

I slumped against the shit and piss-stained wall, listening for any sound of my approaching demise.

My heart clattered against my ribcage as I tried to hear over its pounding.

After a lifetime frozen in the filthy room, I lifted on groaning knees, stiff from the odd angle I’d crouched in, pulling Juniper up with me.

She would never heal with iron spiked through her body.

I glanced down at her battered face, grimacing at the mottled bruises and gashes, knowing some of those had been my fault.

“I’m sorry Juniper,” I whispered.

Her steady pulse gave me hope, but a wave of sorrow hit me hard and the sob I’d been holding in since this all began tore its way up my throat and I leaned back, letting it out.

Wiping my shaking palm on my skirt, I took a few steadying breaths and assessed the damage to Juniper’s wrists. Bile burned the back of my throat as I inspected the flesh melted away around the massive bolts jammed through bone. Would she recover from wounds like these?

Tugging the fabric of my shirt out from under the chains around her ankles, I swore as her flesh bubbled.

I wrapped my shirt around one enormous bolt head spearing her wrist, and twisted.

The grooves scraped bone and sinew, and blood oozed into the fabric.

Twice, I had to stop to expel the remaining contents of my last meal.

The first bolt came free, and I let out a small whimper as thick, dark blood chased it, quickly saturating my once-white top.

I let the bolt drop and got to work on the second. It took more time to work free, using a shirt so sodden with blood. My grip slipped more than once, and my gaze darted to the alarming puddle of green pooling under her first injury.

It came free with a popping sound and fell to our feet. I leaned into the wall, catching my breath. I shouldn’t have been this winded, but my own shackles were sapping my strength.

The door to the bar banged open, and ice slid down my spine.

“This way. She must be around here somewhere. Search next door. I’ll check in here.”

Silently, I slid my full weight against the door.

“The apartment building?” another voice asked.

“Yes, you idiot. Check the laundry chutes, dumpsters, alleys, everywhere. She wouldn’t have gotten far dragging a half-dead fairy with her,” the first voice called back.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I should have tried to take my shackles off first. At least then I would have been stronger in a fight. And there would be no other way out of this than a fight. No back exit. No window to crawl through.

“Go with Brian. I’ll check in here.” A voice I recognized. There was a beat of silence. “You can go, Oliver. My dad asked me to help search.”

Feet shuffled, and the door closed. My breath caught in my throat, and I thanked Mab with everything I had that humans couldn’t hear heartbeats.

Mine was pumping wildly out of control. Jack was a big guy, but I could take him.

If he was the only person out there blocking my escape, I’d win.

I just had to bring him down without harming him.

“Sally. It’s safe to come out. I won’t hurt you.”

I tensed, muscles coiling in my abdomen and thighs. Gently, I let Juniper slide to the floor, mumbling a silent apology, hoping she wouldn’t get sepsis or an STD.

“I saw what you did tonight.” Poorly constructed wooden floorboards creaked under his larger than average feet. “I don’t agree with my…with Dane. What he did was wrong.”

Juniper’s eyelids fluttered, and her lips parted on a soft moan. I knelt, cupping trembling fingers over her mouth.

“Sally, I don’t blame you for helping the fairies.” Another creak on the floorboards, closer this time. “I want to help them, too.”

Sliding Juniper away from the door, I tugged it open and stepped out into the light.

Jack grinned, and it lit up his entire face. He took a step forward, but I held up a hand.

“Why didn’t you try to stop him?” Did I care? Did it matter that this human was no different from any of the others? I supposed it did.

Jack tensed, his shoulders bunching. Emotions warred across his face.

I let the silence hang between us.

In typical human fashion, his lips parted, and he wet them before saying. “It’s…complicated.”

Wrong answer. Slow death it was. I’d drag him back to Faerie and end him. Painfully.

His eyes widened. He must have seen something in my expression because he held up his hands, palms out. “I won’t let him imprison you again.”

“So you’ll help me, but you would never aid a fairy. Is that it?”

Hands still outstretched, he took another step toward me. “That’s not true.”

“Then help me.” It was risky. It was so damn risky—especially after he’d left me with his father the night before—but some stupid part of me wanted to believe he meant those words, and I didn’t have many other options at the moment.

I stepped back, pushing the bathroom door wide, and revealed Juniper’s unconscious form sprawled across the floor.

His mouth fell slack as his gaze moved from her prone shape to my ankles. “Did the iron do that to her?”

I bit back a dozen vicious retorts, swallowing before saying: “Can you help her?”

He reached into his pocket, produced a key, and dropped to one knee. Instead of going to Juniper though, he gripped the iron shackling me and shoved the key into the keyhole. He did the same for the second and metal clattered to the floor.

It was an adrenaline shot to the heart. Every bit of available magic flowing through me raced to the injury, and I squeezed my fingers into fists to keep from checking if the points in my ears were back.

In moments, the flaming agony in my ankles dulled to a cool burn, and I exhaled softly. My gut twisted and I darted a glance at Juniper. Her wounds were healing far too slowly, and the massive bolts tearing through her were likely the cause.

Jack’s gaze lingered on my bare skin. “You don’t have any rub marks.”

“There’s no time for that.” My heart sped up at the slow rise of Juniper’s next inhale. “She might die.”

Jack jolted, his attention going to my co-worker and maybe friend of three years. He knelt beside Juniper, pressing two fingers to her throat, and looked up, eyes meeting mine. “Her heartbeat is dangerously slow.”

“We have to get the iron out of her.” I picked up the green bit of fabric that was my shirt, remembering I was in only a bra in front of this human, and he hadn’t glanced at my breasts once.

I’d waste energy on that thought later. Now, I lifted Juniper’s leg and wrapped my soaked shirt around the first bolt, twisting.

Jack tugged his t-shirt over his head and exposed ridiculously sculpted abs. I ignored them as he covered the second bolt with it, following my lead, and began turning.

This close, I could smell his hot breath exhaling sharply as he worked. It wasn’t unpleasant. Strangely.

The bolt in my hand came free, and I tossed it on the floor. Jack’s bolt came loose a few moments later, and we sat back.

Come on Juniper. Please wake up. Her wrists had stopped bleeding, but ugly, torn skin was taking far too long to heal.

Blood ran down her legs, soaking the floor.

I laid my finger tentatively against her cheek.

Not burning as it had been with so much iron in her system.

My chest lightened. If we could escape the AFF, she would recover.

“Let’s get her out of the bathroom before she catches something,” I said. “Help me?”

I could have carried her myself. My energy was returning as my injuries healed, but I didn’t think the son of my enemy would aid us if he knew what I was.

He scooped Juniper up in his arms, surprising me.

Even with my strength still returning, I was strong, but satyrs were heavy, and this man had just picked her up like she weighed nothing.

He set her down atop the bar and I slid into an empty chair, gaze lingering on the pool of blood forming under Juniper’s legs.

Jack followed suit, sitting across from me.

I glanced at the door and back, biting my lip. Exposed as we were, if someone walked through the door now, there would be no escaping, but I was desperate to give Juniper a little more time to heal before we left the bar.

Jack’s gaze followed mine. “They won’t check here again. They trust me.”

I looked back at him. “I’m sure they do. The son of Dane Clyde probably runs that cult.”

He frowned, eyes boring into mine, and I looked away.

He was a conundrum. He should be dragging me—dragging us both—out the door right now, but instead, he seemed to genuinely want to help.

I watched him from the corner of my eye, gauging the tense set of his jaw and rigid posture.

I saw no weapons on him, but he was tall and well-built.

He likely assumed he could take me easily.

Little did he know, I was twice as strong as any human on my worst day.

Juniper’s eyelids fluttered wildly, and my nails tapped a nervous rhythm over flaking paint on the plastic tabletop.

When Juniper woke or at least stopped bleeding, I’d need to get her out of here and as far from AFF headquarters as possible.

She needed to be in nature to speed the healing process, but Central Park wasn’t safe.

In the concrete jungle that was New York City, there weren’t many places with trees.

“Do you want my shirt?” Jack’s question tore me from my thoughts.

I glanced at him.

His gaze was on my face, but the pink in his cheeks told me they hadn’t been a moment before.

“Never seen a bra before?” Good. He wasn’t chivalrous. If he had been, I’d be forced to find something redeemable in this human.

His bronzed skin flushed crimson and his heartbeat tripled in speed.

I bared my teeth in a mockery of a smile. “I think your shirt might need a wash.”

“Right.” His gaze shifted, with some effort, to Juniper. “Do you have anywhere to go that she would be welcome? I can help you carry her.”

My nails drummed faster. I didn’t have a plan for this part. Humans had human dwellings. People to return to. I needed to rid myself of Jack before he figured out I didn’t and realized I was no human at all.

Juniper stirred, and I sat forward. Her eyes opened, and she tilted her head, turning watery yellow eyes to me. “Hey, girl.”