Noblesse oblige, after all.
I’d make sure this boy learned the meaning of the words—or that he quit.
Chapter Six
Alisa
What a fucking day, already. I’d gotten just a few hours of sleep between last night’s escapades and this morning’s rude awakening. Fae? Really? I’d have to ask around. Maybe the two men were Fae; I didn’t know everything about the supernatural world yet, by a long shot.
And they were beautiful to an extent that felt unreal. Just thinking about their easy confidence, those tall, powerful bodies, those magnetic eyes and dark hair… my thighs tightened, my core throbbing with sudden longing. Yeah, there was something weird about those guys.
But I was definitely no princess.
The ‘Fae’ hammered on my front door.
“Go away!” I shouted. I had to figure out what they wanted, but on my own timeline. They were obviously trying to manipulate me, and I didn’t want to play their game, whatever it was.
I expected more hammering.
Instead, the hall went quiet. I rolled my eyes, hardly comforted. It was probably a trap.
I’d spent that first year trying everything I could to get my memories back. I’d been to tarot readers and witches and a hypnotherapist. Nothing brought the past back to me.
But I could be sure of one thing: I wasn’t a princess.
Besides, someone would’ve come looking for a missing princess. It wouldn’t have taken them five years.
I padded through my threadbare little apartment to the bathroom, rested my sword against the bathroom cabinet, and turned the water on in the shower. The hot water pipes groaned and screamed until the water began to ping against the tile floor, but other than that, the apartment was silent. My neighbors weren’t stirring yet.
I kept expecting Prince Charming to somehow magic his way inside my apartment, but I was mercifully alone as I quickly washed my hair. I leaned out of the shower to grab my toothbrush, then brushed my teeth as I stood under the hot spray. My apartment might have been a little the worse for wear, but I loved how compact and efficient it was.
I’d have to use a hot shower and hotter coffee to substitute for sense and sleep last night. I needed to be in good shape for work. I hustled out of the bathroom still toweling off, finger-tousled my waves to make sure they air-dried halfway decently, and then quickly dressed in scrub pants, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and the scrub top over it.
The Hunters had not only helped me find a mission, but they’d helped me find a day job, because slaying vamps didn’t pay anyone’s rent. Killing was just a hobby of mine.
I had an unusual knack with animals, so despite my lack of any education—or a birth certificate, for that matter—Elly had pulled some strings and found me under-the-table work as a vet tech.
When I saw her tonight anyway, I’d ask her about the Fae. At least I had something to research now. Then I’d figure out what to do with these mysterious strangers.
I grabbed my oversized leather purse, checking to make sure I had my phone, wallet and then, most importantly of all, my knives. I sighed. What I didn’t have was breakfast or time to make it. Whatever. I could run by the coffee shop. I almost smiled to myself at the thought that no one could yell at me at work today, right? Because I was a princess.
I rushed out into the hallway, locking my door behind me.
The hall was empty. Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Gorgeous-Two was gone. I felt disappointed instead of relieved, as I should have.
“No common sense,” I muttered, taking the stairs in a hurry. I preferred an interesting life over an easy one, and I had the scars and bruises to prove it. My curiosity about those two handsome assholes was proof too.
I ran to the metro stop, caught the metro, and made it to my destination with minutes to spare. Coffee time.
I was waiting in the line when I became keenly aware of a big body behind me. I caught the faint scent of some pleasant aftershave or cologne, something clean and bright that reminded me of pine and crisp snow on an icy winter day.
I whirled, expecting I’d been found once again by the damned ‘Fae’.
But the man behind me was unfamiliar. He looked younger, his blond hair ruffled. He was built too, though, all lean, chiseled muscle.
When I made eye contact with him, his green eyes widened, as if he hadn’t expected the stranger at the coffee shop to eyeball him. Human then. I twisted back around, my damp hair swishing across my shoulders.
“Excuse me,” he said.
I squeezed my eyes shut, wishing I believed in a god to pray to for patience.
Well, too bad. I’d just have to make do without any, and the rest of the world would have to make do with me.
“Are you talking to me?” I asked in a voice that suggested that was a mistake.
“Yes,” he said. “But I’d like a bit of privacy for what I have to say next.”
I almost laughed, raking my fingers through my hair to push it back from my face. “How many more of you are there?”
I wasn’t sure I could make it through any more.
“Just the three of us,” he said, then pressed his palm to his chest, bowing forward slightly. “My name is Tiron.”
“Your friend didn’t manage to introduce himself this morning.”
“My friends are idiots.” His green eyes sparkled with mischief.
I studied him for a second. “I like you a little bit better, but I’m still not going with you to some second location for privacy. Sorry.”
“Oh, I don’t need you to do that.” His lips parted in an easy smile. “I’ll give us privacy right here.”
I arched an eyebrow at him as some wayward combination of concern, curiosity and excitement rushed through my blood. Death wish. Maybe the asshole in the alley hadn’t been wrong about that.
“Leave, please,” he said, glancing around the room at the people who filled it. His voice was warm, soothing. There was something magnetic about it. But just because he sounded nice didn’t mean—
People pushed back their chairs, scraping the legs across the linoleum. The people ahead of me abruptly turned and ambled out of line, heading out the door. One of the baristas pulled her apron over her head and dropped it on a table next to someone’s steaming, abandoned coffee.
For a second, horror washed over me. He’d spoken. They’d obeyed. The implications of that, of how humans could be abused and forced, rolled over me and left me sick, but I swallowed the surge of fear.
“Oh come on!” I turned to face him, popping my hands onto my hips. “I needed them to get my coffee!”
“Do you?” he asked. He headed behind the counter, turned to face me. “What does Your Majesty desire?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll get it myself.”
“Not used to being served anymore, Majesty?”
“You didn’t wash your hands,” I shot back. I served myself a scone and poured myself a cup of coffee. I’d leave the money behind to pay for both. “So could I do that too? What was that?”
“A glamour. And yes, you can make humans do almost anything.”
“That seems deeply immoral,” I pointed out. Then admitted, “Also useful. Does it work on vamps and shifters and whatnot?”