Chapter 2 #3
She chuckled. “Maybe let me handle the prick and you just get her out of here?”
We fist-bumped, then leapt into action. The poor girl was still trying to get the guy off of her, and like a bad dream, no one else seemed to be moving fast enough despite rushing.
Or maybe they just weren’t violent enough for my liking.
Nevertheless, Regan snapped her fingers and her magic shot out, parting the group of people in front of us and leaving a narrow pathway for us to slide up to the front line.
Regan grabbed the prick by the scruff like the rodent he was and threw him into the wall.
I dove for the girl, pulling her into the safety and comfort of my arms just as the train slowed to a stop at the Times Square station.
“C’mon, let’s get topside,” I said softly as I wrapped my arm around the girl’s shoulders and led her onto the subway platform.
“Oh right, yeah, you definitely get to stay on the train.” Regan growled sarcastically behind me. “Get your motherfucking ass off this motherfucking train before I beat yo ass.”
I giggled, then yelled over my shoulder, “Move it or lose it, assdick.”
“I volunteer to help him lose it,” the girl grumbled.
“That’s the spirit.” I snickered softly and squeezed her arm gently. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head. “He tried. I’m okay. I just wanna go home.”
“It’s okay to admit it was scary,” I whispered.
Her cheeks flushed as she nodded. “Thank you.”
“Nel, look, isn’t that Tanya?” Regan shouted from behind me. “Our ten o’clock.”
I frowned and looked in that direction—and smiled in relief.
Tanya was a four-hundred-year-old fae and mother of about fifty children, give or take.
I’d lost count. Like us, she switched up her job from time to time to keep things interesting.
These last couple decades she’d been working as one of New York’s finest with the NYPD.
Regan whistled.
Tanya’s head snapped in our direction immediately.
Her hazel eyes narrowed in confusion until she spotted the girl I was escorting.
She tapped the muscled arm of the uniformed cop next to her, then gestured in our direction.
When the muscled cop stepped around the pole, I recognized him as Louie, one of Tanya’s many sons. They marched towards us.
Tanya slowed in front of me and grinned. “Haven’t seen your faces in a long minute.”
“We haven’t either.” I winked. Then I nodded to the girl. “This new friend of mine here was just assaulted on the One train by the assdick in Rey’s grip.”Tanya’s smile vanished. “Are you pressing charges?”
The girl nodded.
“Hear that, assdick?” Louie snarled and stepped around me toward Regan with handcuffs already in hand. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford—”
“How old are you?” Tanya asked as Louie finished reading the assdick his Miranda rights.
“Seventeen,” she whispered.
I snarled but Tanya kept her cool, smiling gently at the girl with her hand out. “Come on with me. We’ll get you to your parents and get this all sorted out.”
The girl rushed into Tanya’s open arms, not that I blamed her. I was as warm and fuzzy as beach sand stuck inside your sock in a sneaker. Regan was cracking her knuckles and fantasizing about punishing the guy. Tanya was Supermom.
“Thank you for saving me.” She smiled.
I winked. “Girls gotta protect girls.”
“You handled yourself well,” Regan added with an approving nod.
“Hey, it’s Cheese and Crackers!” Louie grinned from ear to ear.
I nodded. “I relate to that level of hunger.”
“I do love a good cheese plate.” Regan licked her lips.
Tanya rolled her eyes and started backing away. “Cheese and Crackers are people.”
I scowled.
Tanya laughed. “Don’t ask. Let’s get together soon, ladies!”
“Call us!” Regan yelled.
As we turned and headed for the express train to Megelle Island, I was thinking of all the things I wished I could’ve done to that creep to punish him.
“What are you thinking over there?”
“Murder.”
She nodded and pursed her lips. “Typical. Tell me more?”
“All right, fine, I was thinking in our next set of identities we should be—”
“Batman!”
“Senseis.”
“Oh.” Her face fell. “That’s less exciting. Where’s the murder?”
I shook my head. “If you give a man a fish, he eats for one night. Teach a man to fish and he eats forever—or whatever that saying is. Point is, I wanna run an all-girl martial arts gym where I teach lots of females how to murder men. Then I can sit back and enjoy the show from my students.”
“You really are a cartoon villain sometimes.”
“You keep saying that like I’m supposed to be offended—”
“What are we doing?” She stopped short and scowled.
I frowned. “Getting on the train to the Island?”
“Why? We can fly there faster, and we’re one of the few who actually can. It’s magically protected from everyone else . . . but us.”
I opened my mouth, then shut it. “Shit.”
“We’ve been playing human too long.”
“I haven’t seen my wings in a hot minute.”
“Fly?”
“Fly.”
Ten minutes later, we were flying high in the sky, the chill in the October air fluttering through my wings.
New York City was behind us, lights still twinkling from miles away.
Megelle Island was a magical island located off the coast over by the Statue of Liberty.
Kind of. It was completely invisible to the human eye.
The magic of the land warped the human mind just enough to not know it existed.
It was pretty cool—one of Araqiel’s finest accomplishments.
I was obsessed with the Island and what the Vaunteros had done with it.
Especially in the last few decades. They’d really cultivated a unique, healthy magical community of supernaturals.
I wanted to live there, to have the Victorian-style house with a wraparound porch and a picket fence.
I just wasn’t sure where in my life I could fit that in.
“Do you think angels have a retirement age?”
“Duuuuuuude.” I cackled and tapped my temple. “Mind meld.”
“I’m just saying . . .”
“Zuriel is significantly older than us and he hasn’t retired.”
“Why would he? Everyone is terrified of him, and he orders people around. Perfect setup.”
“I wanna be as scary as him when I grow up.” I threw my arms out and let myself glide through a breeze.
“I think you could pull off sociopathic tendencies.”
I pressed my hands to my chest. “You flatter m—”
“Oh shit! It's parade night! Look!” She pointed down below to where a colorful, glowing parade was walking up Main Street. “Damn, looks like the entire island came out tonight.”
“This calls for our favorite game.” I wagged my eyebrows as we landed on the roof of a building. “Wanna play?”
She bit her lip, then pointed. “Them.”
I scoffed. “Monroe and Dawson? They own the travel agency. Easy one.”
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “Down there, three o’clock, beneath the purple glitter bat thing. “Who are they?”
“That’s Barbie Graham and—” the words died on my tongue. “Oh shit. What’s her name? She’s that busybody neighbor of Barbie’s—”
“I need a name—”
“Oh, I’ve got names for you—”
“In three . . . two . . . one—”
“Bertha?”
Regan cringed. “Bertha? That was your guess?”
“Shut up. It’s your turn now. Let’s see . . .” I narrowed my eyes and pursed my lips as I scanned the crowd around us. “Okay, that redhead surrounded by all the others.”
“Easy. King Tirian’s siren daughter Reese. Married to Holden.” She made a noise of disgust. “At least make me work for it.”
“Says the girl who made me guess Monroe and Dawson, the guys who help book our travel arrangements for Chanegan.”
She opened her mouth, then shut it. “Touche.”
I snickered. “Right, so . . . there. The Count Dracula looking dude and his friend Frankenstein.”
“He’s actually dressed as Frankenstein instead of the monster. That’s impressive—”
“It is, but who are they?”
“My next ex-boyfriend.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “Which one?”
“Frankenhot. Obviously.” She shrugged. “You want Count Suckula?”
“No, I prefer my vampires wicked—and I still haven’t heard names . . .”
She growled. “That’s Raymond and Luther Franks.”
“Dammit.” I scanned the crowd, then pointed to a little brunette girl with pigtails. “Her.”
“A toddler? That’s desperate, Chanel.” She made that tsk tsk noise. “Especially since that’s Kacey Adkins.”
I groaned and threw my hands up. “Fine. You win this round, but once I get food in my stomach, you’re going down.”
“All right, well, before we eat . . . I don’t see this Daisy Rose person.”
“Constantine is watching her. That means we can eat first.”
“I just wanna see where Constantine is and how long we have before the parade’s over.” She rubbed her hands together. “I need to know how fast we need to eat.”
“Priorities.” I nodded. “Shoo, shoo.”
She rolled her shoulders and her pretty ivory wings fluttered at her back and then slowly lowered her to the ground.
Not a single person looked in her direction.
Granted, Megelle Island was used to fae who could fly.
And the jinns. Not to mention the other Watchers like Araqiel and Zuriel who kept watch over the realms. I looked back up to see where Regan had gone, only to find her missing in the crowd.
She was there. I felt her aura like sunshine on my face, but I just couldn’t put eyes on her.
I looked down, silently watching people scurry around, when my gaze landed on a popcorn and pretzel stand.
My stomach growled. The smell of butter and salt were making me drool.
A quick glance around told me my cousin hadn’t returned yet, so I had time to grab a snacky snack.
My gut told me once Regan found Constantine, she’d hyperfocus on our assignment and my stomach would be neglected.
I hopped down off the roof and hurried toward the stand.
Luckily, the line wasn’t too long, but also I would be easy to spot for Regan.