Chapter 14
Chapter
Fourteen
VALE
“Idid what you asked,” Mavolyn choked, clawing at the hand slowly tightening around his throat and burning his flesh into a blackened ruin.
“Did I ask you to trap him under your body?” I asked, allowing the rage flooding through me to do as it willed.
The monster in me loved my rage. It always had fun when I let it loose. It had chosen fire as its current method of fun, and I saw no reason to hold it back. I didn’t care what happened to Mavolyn as long as I got my point across.
Asher and Fawn had their backs plastered against the alley wall I’d cornered them in.
“We’re not on his team,” Fawn whimpered, eyes wide and brimming with tears. “We’re just friends.”
“He’s right,” Asher said hoarsely. “Fawn and I teamed up, but Mavolyn is on his own.”
I scowled. Cowards, every last one of them. The only reason they weren’t a team was because the rules stated teams could only have two members. Otherwise, they would have happily worked together.
I’d hunted the trio down to the makeshift home they’d assembled from abandoned furniture and scavenged building material. They’d dug themselves deep into the alley and made a nest like the vermin they were.
The fae who lived outside Underhill were there for a reason; either they were too powerless to protect themselves against the intrigue of the light and dark courts, or they were overpowered and didn’t give a shit about politics at all.
There was a third category, and as far as I knew, only Wraith—and I, by relation—slotted into. The broken, unpredictable fae who couldn’t be contained or controlled. They could come and go from Underhill as they pleased, but they were ignored in the hopes of the denizens being left in peace.
Underhill didn’t discriminate. If someone was fae, they could enter.
What happened to them afterward, however, was anyone’s guess.
And, from my observation, what constituted as fae was an arbitrary decision left to the discretion of Underhill.
I’d met it once. The sentient dimension held a deep sense of whimsy and left me under no illusion that it would be delighted to usher me into its depths.
I respectfully declined.
Science held no sway over Underhill, and that alone had me wary of it.
Mavolyn, Fawn, and Asher were some of the stronger fae living outside Underhill, and they had a reputation for bullying anyone they could get away with, but they were smart enough not to test me.
They were lordless, landless, and hopelessly outmatched when it came to the curse in me.
Not that having the backing of a lord or the power of the land would stop me from teaching them their place, but it would have involved an annoying phone call from a lord or marking off another spot on my map of places to avoid if I didn’t want to be irritated and badgered the entire time I passed through it.
When I didn’t respond, Fawn was inspired to try to reason with me again, even though he had to know it was pointless. I wasn’t known for my mercy. I was known for killing or mutilating anyone who pissed me off, and I didn’t want to ruin my image.
“We’re sorry! He’s Sorry. Everyone is. We should have stopped him. Please stop…” Fawn begged as his skin began to peel and blister. Asher was in a similar condition, but he took my rage in silence, accepting it for what it was.
Venting. Someone bigger than him was venting their frustration on someone smaller and weaker. Because they wanted to. Because they could.
Don’t feel sorry for them. They’ve done their fair share of it themselves, so they’re hardly innocent little bunnies. I don’t bother hurting innocent things for fun. It does nothing for me. I don’t go out of my way to protect them because it’s not in my nature, but I don’t seek them out.
Yes, I’ve eaten innocent people before. Yes, they were delicious. Next question.
Mavolyn was faring far worse than his little lackeys. His entrails were unspooling from his stomach, and the soft crunch under my hand told me I’d crushed his windpipe.
I dropped him to the floor of the dirty alley and brushed my hands together.
“I said to allow him to make it to the bells. I told you to make it a good fight, but don’t let him win.
” I said in a faux calm voice. It’s far more intimidating than shouting.
I stalked toward the lackeys, choosing Fawn to drive my point home.
I touched his chin gently and lifted his face so he’d meet my gaze.
“What was the other thing I said? Can either of you remember it?”
“D-don’t… hurt him,” Fawn sobbed as his flesh sizzled and burned from my touch.
“Yes. That’s the one. Do you think you can remember it this time?”
Fawn nodded, tears streaming down his cheeks, and Asher stammered, “Y-yes, my l-lord.”
“I am not your lord,” I snapped. I never wanted to be one as a human, and I never would be, regardless of what I’d turned into.
“Yes, sir!” Asher corrected. He hissed as his clothing began to smolder, but he did nothing to put it out. He’d clearly been in a similar position before and knew his job was to suffer until told otherwise.
“Good,” I said, and I took a step backward to allow them some respite from the heat of my anger.
“Tomorrow, don’t let Echo reach the top. Make the game good for him. Make it fun. Let him do anything he wants as long as neither he nor anyone else makes it to the bells. And whatever you do…” I trailed off and gestured for one of them to finish for me.
“Don’t let him get hurt,” Fawn said like a good little lackey.
“Excellent.”
I dropped a small vial on the ground next to Mavolyn’s twitching body. His fae nature would heal him sooner or later, but the contents of the vial would speed up the process considerably.
“Take it,” I ordered. I’d wanted to teach him a lesson, but I still needed him to be useful during the next hunt.
Mavolyn made an incoherent noise I interpreted as an affirmative.
“Follow my instruction and you’ll all live to irritate people for far longer than you have any right to. I’ll see myself out of your lovely… home,” I added, raising an eyebrow in distaste at their living situation.
They didn’t have to live that way. They had enough power to glamor their way to a respectable way of life, but Mavolyn and his gang were doing the fae equivalent of cosplaying as humans. They were clearly in their retro ‘80s hobo era, and I found it utterly repulsive.
The idea of one of them touching Echo with their filthy hands almost made me decide to burn their little hovel to the ground, but I held back. If I killed all of them out of anger, there would be no one left to get out the message about not hurting Echo.
All fae had already been told not to hurt him, but having an object lesson on why would drive the point home. As I walked away, I wondered if they’d understood that not touching Echo was included in not hurting him.
If not, we’d be having another conversation tomorrow.
I pulled out my phone and checked an item off my to-do list before making my way to Echo’s apartment.
He was at an eleven o’clock lecture and wouldn’t be home until at least three p.m., so I had plenty of time to nap in his bed. It would check off three items on my list in one go: calming down my monster, dampening the effect of the bells, and making Echo get used to my scent.
Human brains were funny things. Smell was a powerful sense memory, and if I could get Echo to equate my scent with something good, like sleeping, he would likely react more favorably to me as time went on.
I assume people like sleeping. It’s certainly one of my favorite things to do.
I entered Echo’s apartment using the spare keys I’d made before returning his car with his keys.
Once inside, I checked his refrigerator, nodding in approval to see he’d eaten some of the food I’d sent him.
I also noticed the pack of cigarettes on his coffee table had gone untouched since the day before.
These were signs affirming my hypothesis that Echo craved reasons to live more than he did ways to die. I would give him more reasons than anyone had. I would give Echo everything.
I laid my jacket on his couch, put my boots by his door, then made my way to his bed to curl up under his covers for a nap. I set my phone to go off in two hours, though the bells would likely wake me up anyway.
Echo’s energy seemed to act like a protective field around me, keeping the bells from destroying my peace of mind.
Yesterday, I’d discovered that being in his bed allowed me better rest than my soundproofed lab ever had, so until I could sleep with Echo again, sleeping in his bed was the next best thing.
After waking, I felt better than I had since waking up with Echo’s pillow repeatedly hitting me in the face.
I smirked at the memory.
I didn’t know when I would see him again. It could be days or weeks. All I knew was that when the time was right, I would make my move, and Echo would be mine.
I gave Echo’s apartment a quick sweep to make sure it was left completely undisturbed, then I left, patting the spare key in my pocket as I went.
Would I truly last a week? My control when it came to Echo was highly suspect. Both times I’d bitten him had seemed out of the blue at the time, but in hindsight, I’d placed myself in situations all but guaranteed to result in feeding on Echo.
Tasting his blood without thinking on the night we’d met? At no point in my life had I ever done such a thing. Accidentally raging out and killing an innocent person, yes, but who hasn’t? Everyone makes a few small mistakes when they’re young, and I’m hardly an exception.
Had I chosen to stay away from Echo for his own good or mine?
I was running through the woods as the thought arrived in my head, and it nearly caused me to crash into a tree.
I breathed a sigh of relief when I managed to dodge it.
I wasn’t concerned for myself. The tree would have exploded, and I would have been fine, but it was what might happen afterward that was the concern.