“Other side?” I repeatedly dumbly.
“You have no idea what the fae are capable of, and I’m not talking about taking over the world. They are . . . well, let’s just say once you go fae, you never go back.”
“Are you fucking serious?”
“And when they feed?” She licked her lips. “It’s better than a shot of heroin.”
“You’ve . . .” There were no words.
“Don’t look at me like that—like I’m repulsive. When it happened, it wasn’t like it was planned. I got cornered on a hunt, Ivy, months and months ago. He didn’t kill me. I’m not even sure why. He wanted to . . . play with his food, I guess. I thought I was going to die, but he took me to Marlon instead.”
“Marlon . . . the ancient?” Marlon St. Cryers was an ancient who lived a very public life as a renowned business developer. I’d been
this
close to him when I’d been at Flux.
Val nodded. “We worked out a deal. He wouldn’t kill me if I helped them find the Order members who were guarding the gates. And you know, it sounded like a deal I should take, considering I liked living and breathing. So I did. But after a while, it wasn’t even like I was being forced, Ivy. I began to see how this was all going to end. They’re going to win, Ivy. Especially now that the prince is here. They are going to take over eventually, and you know what? I’d rather be on the winning side. And girl, like I said before, the fae know what they’re doing.”
I stared at her, horrified. “Do you even hear yourself? You enjoy being fed on? Holy shit, what is wrong with you?”
“Don’t knock it, babe, until you get with one who doesn’t want to make you hurt. And it doesn’t hurt. It’s like a full-body orgasm. Trust me.” She shrugged. “There’s freakier shit out there.”
“No. No there’s not.” Then it struck me. “The new guy you were dating. He’s a fae.”
“Took you that long to figure that out?” she replied wryly.
“Marlon?” When she didn’t answer, I resisted the urge to knock her upside her head. “You’ve been feeding him information, getting people killed and betraying everyone, just so you can stay alive and basically get fucked and fed on? Wow, Val.”
She moved, stopping a handful of feet from me. “I know what you are,” she stated, her voice low. “So how dare you stand there and lecture me on what is right and wrong? You’re the halfling. You’re going to be screwing the prince soon enough.”
I shot forward, getting right up in her face. “First off, I’m not going to be screwing the prince, because I actually have taste in men. And secondly, I didn’t choose to be this, Val. I didn’t wake up one moment and decide to be a fucking coward and betray every person who trusts me, because that’s basically what you are. A fucking coward who fucks everyone while fucking them over—”
Val swung on me, and that flipped my oh-hell-no switch. I dipped and then shot back up. Cocking my arm, I threw a punch. I didn’t miss. My knuckles connected with her jaw, snapping her head back.
She stumbled a step and then her head whipped in my direction. She worked her jaw. “Bitch.”
“Really? You deserve that and more.”
Her chest rose. “You know I can’t kill you, and I know you won’t kill—”
Swinging again, I punched her in the face. Pain spread across my knuckles, but this time she didn’t back off. Val launched herself at me like a damn tiger. I went down, landing flat on my back, the air knocked out of me.
“Hitting isn’t nice, Ivy.” She gripped my shoulders and started to lift me up.
That wasn’t going to happen. Rocking my hips, I wrapped my legs around her and flipped her faster than she could blink. Stalling her, I planted a hand on her chest, holding her in place. “You know you can’t beat me in a fight, Val.”
“I don’t know if I want to when you’re grabbing my boob like that,” she said.
“I’m not grabbing—”
She threw a punch at my jaw. I rolled to the side as I saw stars for a second. Holy crap, she could hit.
Val sprang to her feet. “That was almost too easy.”
“Really?” Planting my hands, I shifted my weight and kicked out, sweeping her legs right out from underneath her. “How about that, bitch?”
She shrieked as she went down, and I jumped to my feet. Val was only down for a second. She rose and rushed me like a damn linebacker, shoving me backward. We slammed into an air unit and the ancient thing rattled.
I lifted my leg, going for her very active lady parts, but she anticipated my move, and I caught her in the side, which earned me a nice sucker punch in the stomach. I doubled over with a grunt as I stumbled away from the unit.
Val grabbed me from behind, wrapping one arm around my neck. “This is getting really old. Why don’t you chill the fuck out and—”
Twisting in her grasp, I used her weight against her as I grabbed her arm. I flipped her over my shoulder, and she hit the floor with a satisfying yelp. Breathing hard, I stood over her. “I can’t believe you, Val. You know I can’t just let you walk away from here.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked from her prone position. “I know you’re not going to kill me. You don’t have it in you. So you’re going to try to take me in, and yeah, I’m not into that. I just need to delay this.”
“For what—?”
Val leaped to her feet like a damn ninja and coldcocked me. Blood leaked out of my nose as the pain exploded. I spun, kicking out with my legs. Val darted and then lurched forward, grabbing huge handfuls of my hair. I shrieked as fire spread across my scalp.
“You’re going to pull my hair?” I gritted out, grabbing her arm. “That is low, Val.”
“That’s the lowest thing you think I’ve done?”
“Oh, I know there’s more.” Digging my fingers into her wrist, I put the pressure on her until she yelped and let go. Springing backward, I spun and kicked out again. Val tried to dodge my legs, but they caught her in the hip. She went down on one knee. “You’re pretty much wallowing in—”
An icy wind whipped across the roof, stinging the sore spots on my face. Val stiffened and then slowly pushed to her feet. She stepped back, giving me a wide berth. I opened my mouth, but a large, winged bird landed on the ledge of the roof.
It was a raven.
The thing was huge and glossy black, and totally not a normal bird.
My heartbeat stuttered, and all I could think was,
not again
as the air rippled around the raven, and a second later the prince was crouched in its place.
Chapter Thirteen
The prince was still for a moment, and sort of reminded me of the statues perched on rooftops, made of marble and consisting of no warmth or life. Only his midnight-colored hair moved in the breeze, playing across his chiseled features.
Instinct forced me to take a step back, and it was in that moment when I realized I had no weapons in my hands. I’d been fighting Val, and not once had I pulled a weapon. Her earlier taunts rang true. I couldn’t kill her.
But right now that wasn’t the most pressing issue to focus on.
The prince was back, and something else Val said had surfaced.
I just need to delay this.
She knew he’d come. “Bitch,” I hissed.
“I knew he’d come,” she confirmed in a low voice.
Anger bubbled up like lava. “I want to punch you again.”
“Girls,” the prince murmured as he straightened to his full, impressive height. “What do humans say? Why fight when you can make love?”
“That is incredibly cliché,” I said, widening my stance.
A smirk formed on the prince’s near-perfect lips as he stepped off the ledge. He was dressed much like yesterday. Wind tousled his shirt, pushing it back against his hard stomach and chest. “And your hair is still obnoxiously bright, even at night.”
I stared at him, brows raised.
He drifted a few feet closer, and his chin rose, nostrils flaring. “I smell your blood.”
“This just keeps getting better and better,” I muttered.
The prince cocked his head to the side. “I can think of many ways to make this evening so much better.”
Ew.
Val moved closer to the prince, and I stiffened. “Don’t get near him,” I warned.
She raised a brow. “Babe, I’ve already been near him. Like, really near him if you get my drift.”
I totally got her drift.
And I totally wanted to barf.
I also totally didn’t get why I was trying to protect her at this point.
“Why are you bleeding?” the prince asked. When I didn’t answer, he looked at Val. “Explain.”
“We were fighting,” she immediately answered, her tone timid. I’d never heard her like that before. Val was the opposite of a quiet, little mouse. “She attacked me. I had to defend myself.”
The prince raised an eyebrow. “You were to bring her to me. Not beat her.”
“I wouldn’t say she ‘beat’ me,” I muttered.
They both ignored me, and there was no mistaking the nervousness in the way Val fidgeted with her fingers. “I wasn’t planning for her to see me tonight. You know what I was doing in the Quarter. It was what you asked.”
“What
were
you doing in the Quarter?” I asked, and was ignored, yet again.
The prince angled his body toward Val, which worked to my benefit. I slowly kneeled and reached under my pant leg.
Val shifted her weight from one foot to another. “I told you we needed to give her time, but I promised—”
I unhooked the thorn stake as the prince said, “You promised to bring her over. I do not see how involving fists would accomplish that.”
I also didn’t understand how Val could promise anything that involved me, but I kept my mouth shut as I stood up.
“I will. I just need time. Ivy is difficult, Drake.” Her eyes were wide. “I just need more time.”
Drake? That was the prince’s name? I stowed away that little piece of knowledge for later, then kicked off, bum-rushing the prince.
He lifted a hand without even looking at me. I hit an invisible wall and was gently shoved back, my booted feet slipping over the pavement as he said, “You do not have permission to address me so directly.”
“I’m sorry,” Val quickly whispered. “You’re right. I overstepped.”
I stopped sliding, and I couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “Did you just apologize for overstepping?
Overstepping
? Are you on crack? And she isn’t going to woo me to the dark side. I’m un-woo-able. So I don’t know what she’s been promising you, but it’s a whole lot of nothing.” I started forward, relieved to see I wasn’t blocked again. “You can’t use her to get to me,
Drake
.”
He turned his head in my direction and smiled. My stomach flipped, and not in a good way. “I didn’t give you permission either.”
I spread my arms wide. “Look at all the fucks I have to give. I give zero. Zero fucks.”
“Ivy,” whispered Val. “You need to stop.”
That cold smile of his increased. “Oh, my little bird doesn’t know when to stop. She’s lucky that she’s necessary, but you . . .” He focused on Val. “You are not so lucky.”
It happened so fast that I didn’t see the prince move. One second Val was standing next to him, and the next, he was by the ledge and Val was gone, and noise was streaming up from the street below.
Horns blew. Tires squealed. The whipping wind sounded like screams as I stood there, frozen for several seconds in panic. “You . . .”
“She was a problem for you, wasn’t she?” Drake queried, his voice without emotion. “I took care of her.”
Took care of her? My horrified gaze swung in his direction. “How? She was helping you.”
“As you said, I couldn’t use her to get to you.” One broad shoulder rose. “She was expendable. You are not.”
Oh my God.
“She betrayed you. I served retribution for you.”
Oh. My. God.
Drake stepped toward me, and I raised the thorn stake. “Don’t get near me.”
His gaze dropped and he sighed. “Remember what happened the last time you pulled a weapon on me?”
A shiver coursed down my spine, because oh yeah, I remembered, but I held my ground. “Do you really think that’s going to stop me from fighting you?”
“No,” he replied. “Apparently, you do not learn from previous experience.”
My hand tightened on the stake as I glanced toward the ledge. “Maybe not, but I don’t have to worry about you hurting anyone else right now either. We’re alone.”
“And that should make you much more wise.” He lifted his chin, the dark strands of his hair brushing his shoulders. “I could do anything I wanted to you and there would be no one, including you, to stop me.” Those words sent chills down my spine. Several seconds passed and then his icy smile returned. “Goodbye. For now.”
The air around him seemed to distort, and in a heartbeat the large raven was back. Spreading its long and broad wings, it swooped back over the ledge and disappeared from sight.
I drew in a shaky breath as I slowly lowered the stake.
Rushing to the ledge, I placed a hand on the cool stone and leaned over. The roar of wind caught the loose strands of my hair and blew them back from my face. I don’t even know why I tried to look. I already knew what I was going to see.
There. On the roof of a dark SUV was Val, arms and legs splayed in broken, unnatural ways.
Val was dead.
~
Numbing instinct took over. I knew I had to get away from the hotel without being seen, and that wasn’t going to be easy considering I’d run into the hotel, chasing Val . . . the woman who was dead outside.
Oh God.
Emotion clogged my throat as I raced down the stairs and then entered one of the hotel hallways, making my way to an elevator. Luckily, I didn’t need a card to use it. I pulled my hair up, twisting it into a knot. The lobby was full of people crowding the glass revolving doors. Squeezing past them, I slipped out onto Canal and headed right, ignoring all the sounds—what the people were seeing, the shocked gasps, the sirens. Once I was back on Bourbon, I pulled out my phone. I started to call Ren, but since he hadn’t texted me, I knew he was still busy. In a weird, detached daze, I decided not to bother him. I knew I had to report this, so I searched for David’s number and hit SEND as I blindly made my way down the street.
David answered on the fourth ring. “What.”