Page 29 of Filthy Fae

The stench overwhelmed my senses, like a cesspool under the midday heat mixed with sulfur. Acid surged up in my throat, and I gasped. Lifting my head to peer around at the pile, I saw where all the contents of the crime scene had ended up. We lay naked at the top of a mountain of couches, mattresses, bloodstained curtains, and flat-screen televisions.

It looked like a child had picked up their dollhouse and poured everything onto their playroom floor. Where my body touched the pile of living room furniture and curtains, a grainy paste rubbed off on my skin. The same film was on my cheek where I’d smacked down against a couch cushion. “This stuff is coated in salt.”

The canisters rolling down the heap confirmed it. Those fae in the house above had coated everything with salt before throwing it through a fairy circle.

“Scarlet, we have to get the hell out of here!” A full bathroom sink and vanity slid down the mound, and Aaron had to kick it away so it wouldn’t crush us.

“Wait...” I examined the mound, which had to be fifteen feet tall. “This is the jackpot, Aaron. Whatever the fae want to conceal is somewhere in this giant pile, and for some reason, coated in a salty paste.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he whispered. “But much good it’ll do us when we’re dead.” He tugged on my hand. “Scarlet, any other time I’ll let you be on top, but right now, right here, you’re going to listen to me.”

He crouched over me, dirt and blood coating his naked body. His expression was fiercer than I’d ever seen it. Usually, Aaron was my laid-back wolf, when everyone else was freaking out, Aaron was cracking dirty jokes. But right now, he looked like his wolf was two seconds from taking over. His citrine eyes glowed gold as he tugged me up toward his body.

My wolf rose up, urging me to go with him. At this moment, he was our alpha, and she wanted to heed his call. My human side hated the idea of letting anyone overrule my decision. We’d just literally landed on a pile of clues, damn it!

But I’d gotten my mate into this mess. Aaron had come along to help, and he’d wanted to turn back in the yard. He’d pushed forward only because he cared about me. I knew that. Keeping him here when his instincts were urging him to flee would be taking advantage of his feelings for me, and I couldn’t do that.

When I climbed up beside him, Aaron held a finger to his lips and crouched down. “If this is Queen Titania’s compound, it’s deep in the woods, about halfway between the coast and the Sierras. There will almost certainly be fae hunters surrounding the compound. They’re just as fast as we are in wolf form, and the spring fae can use air to knock you over. If there are any summer fae, they can make plants grab you. So, we’re going to have to move silently and quickly before they know we’re here.”

Going to all fours. I followed him across the room. At the door, Aaron raised a hand.

Voices approached from outside. “What was he thinking, sending them down the chute? You should call him back and make him deal with it.”

“Damn it,” Aaron whispered, “They know we’re here. Don’t fight, Scarlet, I—”

The door jerked open. Four fae stood outside on what looked like a front stoop made of a massive root. They dressed in green velvet shirts with black armor breast-plates and trousers with daggers strapped to their thighs. They held up swords that looked distinctly like the fantasy swords in that always-empty fantasy weapon shop in Eureka Mall.

As we stood, I had a very inappropriate urge to tell these guys that Robin Hood ran that’a way, but the fierce glowers they aimed down at us made me think that wasn’t such a good idea. I didn’t recognize these fae, but they had fair hair and piercing blue eyes. The forwardmost fae had the darkest shade of blond hair, cascading around his face.

He lifted his sword, raising it to just under Aaron’s chin. “You’re coming with us to the queen.”

The scent of burning flesh permeated the air, and Aaron inhaled sharply.

A smile spread across the fae’s lips. “Yes, it’s silver.”

Panic surged through me, and my wolf roared to the forefront.

“Scarlet, no,” Aaron called, lifting a hand to stop me. Too late.

One thought filled my mind: silver was touching our mate. Claws extended from my hands and fangs sharpened from my teeth. I leapt between Aaron and the fae, clamping my jaws down on the fae’s arm. Blood filled my mouth as the silver sword clattered to the ground. The fae screamed and pulled away, but I dug my teeth in and reached my claws toward the fae’s face.

The other two fae leapt, and Aaron surged forward.

A sudden, searing pain sizzled up the length of my arm, and I screamed, releasing the fae from my teeth.

The world faded as agony boiled through my skin. I thrashed, trying to get away, but a second point of pain seared into my neck.

“Release him, or I slit her throat.” The fae’s voice came from far away.

There was a loud growl, and then the pain slowly subsided from both directions. My breath heaved as the world again came into focus.

The fae I had attacked clutched a bloody arm to his chest, but he held up his silver sword in his other hand, and the point was just inches from my throat.

“First, you two are cutting into our lunch break. Second, the queen doesn’t even know you’re here yet,” the bloody fae snarled through ragged breaths. “So, if you don’t do everything I say, I will kill both of you and claim that it was an accident and go finish my caviar and chevre salad.”

“Fucking Fenton,” said the guard who stood behind us. “That centaur could give a fuck about how quickly a salad can lose its optimal taste.”

What the actual fuck? Wiping the blood from my face, I did my very best to scrape together my last dregs of diplomacy. “I appreciate the sanctity of your lunch break and good salads, but if any of you get that sword anywhere near my mate again, I’ll skip your arm and bite off your whole fucking head.”