CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Myra
I must have passed out the second my head hit the pillow, because I woke to find myself face down, starfished across the comforter still fully dressed, complete with boots and jacket.
Over top of it all was a familiar cashmere coat that smelled like rain on a spring day, laid over me like a blanket.
Seeing it brought back broken memories of the previous night’s shenanigans, and I tried to sit up and take stock of what I remembered; but when I tried to move, the pounding in my head, courtesy of my drunken evening, kicked up in spectacular fashion, making the task nearly impossible.
Daylight poured in through the windows, further assaulting my overwhelmed senses, and I blinked repeatedly to force my vision to adapt.
Once it did, I saw the usually smug bastard sitting on the windowsill, staring back at me. And there wasn’t an ounce of smugness in his expression.
“Good morning, sunshine—or should I say afternoon?” Yael said from his perch in the window.
“Are you feeling rested? You should by now.” I grunted something in response to shut him up, but sadly, my efforts were unsuccessful.
“You sleep like the dead, did you know that? It’s very disconcerting.
You should probably get that checked out. ”
The sight of him stirred something inside me—a mix of emotions that didn’t make sense together—and it made me wonder exactly what had happened the night before. And why he was in my room.
A part of me wanted to run to the bathroom to escape whatever conversation he was about to start, but I knew that would hardly deter him, not that the throbbing in my head would allow for such sudden movements anyway.
Instead, I raised myself cautiously to a sitting position while he watched like a hawk, then waited for the lancing pain to stab me in my eyes.
When it didn’t come, I breathed a sigh of relief and slowly swung my legs over the side of the bed.
“Why are you here?”
He held up a paper bag with what I assumed was food inside, given the faint smell of a breakfast sandwich wafting my way.
“I brought you this. You don’t seem to have food of any sort in this place, and after your performance last night, I figured you would need some,” he explained before hesitating slightly. “Do you remember much?”
I shook my head. “Do I want to?”
“I think that depends on what level of regret you feel like experiencing.”
“Not one of my favorite emotions, so I think I’ll pass on a breakdown, if it’s all the same to you.”
He quirked a brow at me as he hopped down from the windowsill. “Are you sure?”
“My clothes and all my body parts are intact. I think I’m good.”
“If not looking a little worse for the wear. Might I recommend rethinking binge drinking if the opportunity presents itself again?”
“I’m rethinking giving myself a raging headache so I can take that bag you won’t bring to me away from you.”
“Of course you are,” he replied dryly. “You’re nothing if not lacking good judgment at times, love.”
I opened my mouth to argue, then thought better of it, if for no other reason than I just didn’t have the energy, and given my sketchy remembrances of the previous night, he likely had a point.
With an outstretched hand, I gestured for him to give the bag to me, and he laughed when I snatched it from him and ripped it open like a feral raccoon.
I was too hungry to even care. The hangover munchies were real.
“I know you walked me home last night—what time did we leave?”
“Around three, I think.” He eyed me tightly as he loomed over me. “Do you remember talking with the girls out front?”
“Vaguely… why? Did they tear you apart and send you home crying?” I asked around a bite of breakfast sandwich. “Viv can be ruthless.”
“I found your friends rather entertaining,” he said, “and I didn’t go home last night.”
“Oh…” Thoughts of him going home with one—or all—of the girls flashed in my mind. Visions of naked bodies entwined with one another assaulted me, and judging by the faint smile on his face, my surprise had played out on mine.
“No need to look so scandalized, little mermaid. I didn’t forego my comfortable bed for the company of your friends.”
Why that was such a relief to me was something I wouldn’t have the energy to analyze anytime soon.
“Then where were you?” I asked before devouring another bite. “Skulking about in the shadows doing dastardly deeds?”
Instead of replying with a sharp-witted remark intended to bait me further, his amusement faltered.
“I stayed here to keep watch over you,” he explained as his body went rigid.
“Between everything you told me last night, your drink being spiked, and the possibility that someone was following you, I wasn’t about to leave you here alone, passed out and dead to the world, so whoever might be after you could just walk in and take whatever it is they want.
Despite what you think of me, Myra, I’m not a selfish monster.
And your place isn’t exactly a fortress, you know.
You might want to have Ravi throw some extra wards up around it to keep the actual riff raff out.
And before you ask, no, I did not literally watch over you while you slept.
I sat where you saw me in the window until the sun rose, then left for a brief period to get the food you’re cramming in your face—most inelegantly, I might add. ”
Right on cue, I pulled the sandwich away and wiped crumbs from my mouth while I stared at him in disbelief.
Yael, the pretty-boy bastard who’d tormented me during his brief stint at the bar—the prick who’d leveraged me into a fae bargain—had watched over me to make sure no harm befell me last night.
And something about the way he was staring told me it wasn’t just because he needed my power to find his sister.
I swallowed hard at the thought. “I don’t think you’re a monster,” I said softly, realizing just how true those words were once I heard them out loud. “And thank you.”
“For the sandwich?” he asked, a hint of familiar humor returning to his tone.
“Let’s be honest, love, that was really more for me than you, because we both know you’re an absolute terror when unfed.
I worked at The Riff Raff long enough to know that.
Do you remember the time you nearly drowned Sasha in the sink behind the bar because she—”
“I meant for both,” I said, cutting off his trip down memory lane.
His eyes went wide with surprise for a second, then narrowed with devilish delight. “I think I like hearing the words ‘thank you’ pass your lips a bit more than I should, love. If you don’t stop looking at me like that, I might try to make you say them again...”
That uninvited warmth flooded my system as I pondered all the possible meanings of what he’d just said while he looked on with hooded eyes. When he shifted closer, I quickly stuffed my breakfast in my face and took a big bite.
“So, who do you think might be after you?” he asked, “and why?”
“It’s the Playground, Yael,” I replied as I chewed, “it could be anyone for any reason. I’d say Argo, but you’re convinced you took care of that, so…” I shrugged for effect to drive my point home.
“Perhaps it’s your sparkling personality that’s drawing their attention.”
“I do have a way with people,” I said without skipping a beat. “Now, tell me something: do we have a plan for Dreven?”
Yael straightened at the question. “We should be able to get in to see him tonight, but it’s a narrow window and he’s leaving town tomorrow, so we can’t afford to miss it.”
“Sounds simple enough. When do we leave?”
His gaze drifted down to the gold watch on his arm, and a frown tugged at his lips.
“In a few hours. I have an errand for the king which must be done first, unfortunately, and it will take some time. I shouldn’t be too long, but in the event I can’t come back for you, I’ll send a car to get you.
” His expression fell for a moment, and his gaze diverted to the windows on the far side of the room.
“I don’t want you walking through Demon’s Horn alone. That’s non-negotiable.”
“No argument from me.”
“What a refreshing change that is. Now, you need to be ready by nine thirty, sharp. That should be more than enough time for you to make yourself presentable. Not that you aren’t a vision just as you are,” he said, reaching over to take a stray lock of my hair in his hand, “but Dreven has a weakness for raven-haired beauties, and given how powerful and how well-guarded he is, it will be to our collective advantage for you to be as disarming as possible tonight.”
“This is about as disarming as I get,” I countered as I wiped my sleeve across my mouth.
“Oh, I beg to differ, love, but I suspected you’d say something like that, so I took the liberty of borrowing a few things from your friends last night just in case. Vivian relished the idea of playing dress-up with you, and I must say, her choices should fit the bill perfectly.”
“You did what, now?”
He walked over to the chair in the corner by the windows to retrieve a sparkly teal tank top and what appeared to be an extremely short black skirt.
“They should fit you well. Just be sure to wear your hair down tonight,” he added as he laid the clothing down on the end of the bed. “Dreven won’t be able to resist it.”
“Does he have some sort of hair fetish I should know about?”
The sudden hard set of his expression was impossible to read. “Something like that.”
I let out a sigh. “Fannntastic.” With a silent prayer and a little effort, I managed to heave myself off the bed and toss the takeout bag into a waste bin across the room.
“So when are you to be ready for our meeting?” Yael asked in a condescending tone.
“At nine thirty. And no, I won’t be late.” I snatched the clothes up and headed for the bathroom, only to be cut off by an overbearing fae male.
He blocked the doorway, his frame filling the space in a most intimidating way. “I need you to hear me when I say this, little mermaid, so do your best to focus. Dreven is not to be trifled with. He is devious and dangerous—”
“That sounds strangely like someone else I know—”
“—and under no circumstances are you to go near him without me present, is that clear?”
“Yes, yes. Devious. Dangerous. I got it.” I moved to squeeze past him and close the door, but his hand shot out and grabbed the door frame, blocking my path.
“I mean it, Myra. If I’m not on time for some reason, you wait for me to arrive before doing anything. Say you understand.”
The desire to pick a fight with him over this detail was strong, given how bossy he was suddenly being, but when I looked up at the severe tension in his brows, the creases spidering from the corners of his eyes, and the tight set of his lips, it gave me pause.
Gone was that smug, superior expression he normally wore; instead, all I saw was seriousness in the depths of his eyes mixed with what looked a lot like worry.
But why wouldn't he be worried? I was his ticket to finding his sister. He couldn’t afford to lose that.
“I understand.” His weighted gaze remained on me, searching my face for any hidden signs of insubordination; that endless green stare drifted to my lips, as though awaiting a snide remark.
But when none came, his eyes remained fixed all the same, and it was impossible not to squirm under the intensity.
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?” I asked, my voice a little huskier than usual.
Those eyes narrowed slightly at my words, and he leaned ever so slightly closer. “I most definitely do.”
I could feel the heat emanating from his body with his proximity, and I swallowed hard to clear my tightening throat. “I should probably get cleaned up after last night’s shenanigans.”
He inched forward, turning his body just enough to allow me to squeeze past. “You probably should…” The way his eyes were boring through me had my already fuzzy brain a mess with thoughts and scenarios—scenarios that involved Yael following me into the shower.
I shook my head to rattle the images of things that could never happen from my mind and tucked the clothes tightly under my arm as he watched me like a hawk.
Eyes locked on his, I pressed my back into the door frame and tried to slide by without touching him, but he hadn’t left enough room for that.
My chest grazed his lightly, sending a shiver through my body I couldn’t control, and I swore something dark shifted in his gaze, which only made my heart race faster.
Not wanting him to feel it pounding against my ribcage, I dragged myself past him into the bathroom and grabbed the doorknob. “I’ll be ready at nine thirty,” I said as I shoved him out and slammed the door behind him.
Faint laughter trailed in his wake as he walked through my apartment while I tried in vain to calm whatever the fuck had come over me.
“Enjoy your shower, love,” was the last thing I heard before the door snicked shut behind him.
I let out a long, exaggerated breath, then turned on the water in the shower—as cold as it would go.