Big Walking Red Flag
Iexpected our excursion to be a lot grander, but it was fairly uneventful. More errand than epic adventure. No, the real joy came when Kate met Goth Tinkerbell Dude. Turned out, Big could get, you know, big. A lot bigger than his original form implied.
He was massive compared to the four of us when he came through, looking like he’d jumped off a punk-rock stage after singing about past loves that didn’t work out because he was a recovering jerk.
The good stuff. Maybe he took his ensemble tips from our resident fashionista.
His seven feet looked absolutely ridiculous on the couch with sparkly wings any five-year-old girl would kill to have.
Kate was in love. Practically obsessed in every way she could be.
The second Tinkerbell dude sauntered in, heavy on the eyeliner and mystery, it was all over for her.
Big was through and through her type. Tattooed, bad, and someone who wasn’t even remotely interested in her.
The girl had a type, and it was sitting next to me on another weirdo fantasy couch.
Cash didn’t give him details, said it was better he only knew we were hiding from the Nether Royals, and I agreed. The less Big knew about it, the better. Keeping Kate safe only required him to know that much.
“Little vampire, your human seems to be suffering from some kind of brain aneurism,” Big teased, his tattooed arms crossed as he leaned back. The couch groaned like it’d give out at any second. Hopefully the woo-woo magic that held it together stayed strong.
I’d never related to a couch so much.
I shot him a glare. “You owe me a favor, and that includes being nice.”
Jo watched Big closely, probably doing her dangerous-assassin-who-destroyed-men-for-funsies thing and checking to make sure he wasn’t a threat.
It didn’t appear that they knew each other, which was odd.
I got the impression there were few people or creatures that Jo didn’t know in this realm or mine.
But seeing how he hadn’t been killed, I gathered she didn’t see him as a threat.
Yet. Small miracles, because I didn’t want to worry about Kate more than I already was.
I hated it, but Kate was right; I’d protect her no matter the cost, and I really couldn’t. My weaknesses couldn’t be exposed to these villain types, and I’d never forgive myself if she got hurt.
Big’s eyes danced with growing amusement. “You’re funnier than I remember.”
“Well, you’re bigger than I remember,” I clapped back, catching the tail end of a wistful sigh from Kate.
Yep, still in dreamland.
“Just the human, then?” he asked, gesturing to Kate like she was an object rather than a person.
“I thought for sure you’d use someone like me for…
better things. ‘Tis the Season, little vampire. Even your kind gets all worked up around all the pheromones and heat in the air. Consider it a little extra service, yeah, toots? I’m not bad to look at and a real monster in bed. They don’t call me Big for no reason.”
Monster was the word of the day.
The wink was what really sold the fact that Big might actually be flirting with me. A wonder all on its own. Our last encounter hadn’t been so saucy. Granted, I was trying to escape a witch and so was he, but Big wasn’t even the slightest bit interested in me. Not that I picked up on, anyway.
Were pixies Fae? Probably. It didn’t appear that Fae were the only ones to call this realm home, but I was pretty sure pixies were another type of Fae here.
Was the Season to blame for this, too? No, I wasn’t feeling tingly around Big. My heated stares were entirely reserved for Cash and Jo. It’d been impossible to keep my eyes away from those two. The urges were creeping back in, though thankfully later than they had the first couple of times.
But I was a Royal Siren hybrid, and Cash mentioned how my blood had fully awakened with the Season. So, were my pheromones at play here? Was I unintentionally releasing some? But why wasn’t Kate impacted? The more I thought about it, the less I understood.
I wasn’t given the chance to dive deeper. Cash was already looming over Big, in another one of his ridiculously weird but perfect for him outfits. His gloved hand pointed to the rune on his neck—my rune—then he sent that sassy little finger my way.
Big followed the gesture and peered down at my neck, curious. “Bond runes? You and this little vampire? How?”
Guess it was time to explain what I really was.
“I’m not just a vampire. I’m a vampire, human…and Fae,” I started before Big’s pretty pink eyes widened.
Then he threw his head back with a laugh.
“I wondered what that magic coming off of you was. Thought the monster over there was to blame. But I guess that explains why my magic was so confused by you. Lucky for you, I didn’t need to know what you are to get you where you needed to go.
So, they fucking did it, did they? A hybrid with more than two kinds of blood?
I’d heard they’d done it with two, but three…
fuck. That’s insane. Gotta hand it to those humans, they aren’t afraid to do shit no one else in their right mind would do. ”
“That shit being me, I guess.”
Big smirked and brushed back his dark hair.
“No offense, little vampire. Just never thought anyone would be that stupid. Stupider to think they could control it, but that sounds just about human. Now I get why Serine and Harmony wanted you. You would’ve made the perfect pet.
” His eyes glinted as they caught mine. “Or, should I say, weapon.”
Cash looked like he was about to go full Fae Karen on my behalf, so I steered right past it. “Anyway, that’s why I’m here. Sort of. And now that the Nether Royals know it—”
“Yeah, I can guess what sort of shit they’ll do to come after you.
” His clever eyes slid down and found the other bond rune on my throat.
“But I’m guessing that got complicated right from the jump?
Two bond runes? Aram’s? Can’t say I’m not a little bit interested in how that will all play out.
You’re pretty fucking unlucky, little vampire. ”
“Tell me about it,” I grumbled.
Kate sighed again, like no amount of shit talk could persuade her against falling for him. But it wouldn’t be Kate if she didn’t choose the walking red flag. “This guy is going to keep me company?”
“Babysit,” Big corrected.
I acted like he hadn’t. “Yes. Big will be very good to you, or I’ll consider the favor unpaid and demand two more. Both of which will mean he gets to go on an adventure to fight the Nether Royals.”
Big’s sly smirk was stolen by my threat.
“No problem-o, toots. A human’s an easy favor.
I’ll keep her out of sight.” He snapped his fingers and glitter exploded.
Suddenly, he was exactly how I remembered him.
He fluttered over to Kate on pixie wings that were a closer look and make to a dragonfly’s, the size of a finger, and landed on her shoulder.
My girl just about lost her shit. “Oh. My. Fucking. God. How—why—he’s so cute. Oh-em-gee,” she stammered, frozen out of fear of moving and possibly hurting him in the process.
I laughed and caught the hint of a smile on Jo’s face. “He’s a pixie.”
Tinkerbell dude crossed his arms, not amused. “We prefer Wings.”
Of course they did.
Cash sighed melodramatically and shooed them away. “Now, go. We’ve wasted enough time already. Keep the human out of sight and protected. I don’t have to tell you what I’ll do to you if you don’t.” His eyes cut over to me. “Or worse, what she’ll do to you.”
Cash might be an arrogant asshole, but he never failed to make me feel like a damn queen around him.
The reverence in his gaze was intoxicating to someone like me.
I’d only ever been treated like a protected thing by Phillip and Nigel, but Cash, Jo, and Sloan always made me feel like a motherfucking badass.
I smirked and ignored how it’d make me look. I kissed the adorable asshole in full view of everyone else. Big made a little noise of discontent alongside Jo. Kate was the only one who wanted more, hollering with an encouraging whoop, whoop.
“Hell yeah! Make it juicy. Show that gorgeous bad boy who’s the real boss here!” she called out as I pulled away and enjoyed the stunned shock overtaking the disgruntled irritation in Cash’s expression.
Kate was still googly-eyed when I hugged her goodbye, but she nodded when I promised I would get everything fixed as soon as possible and come back for her.
In a whirl of glitter and light, the two disappeared and my stomach twisted in their absence.
I’d only met Big once, so a part of me didn’t trust him at all, but I didn’t have any choice right now.
As if sensing it, Cash was already at my side, brushing hair away from my cheek. “Big is many things, love, but he pays his debts. And he’s more afraid of me than the Nether Royals.”
“And me, apparently,” I corrected with a sly grin.
“Of course. He’d be daft not to, especially after hearing what sort of hybrid you are.” As if it pained him to say it, Cash added, “But more than that, he seems rather fond of you.”
Surprised, I jerked my eyes over to him. “Fond of me? We’d known each other for all of an hour before we came to get him tonight.”
“I’ve never seen Big offer someone a favor like he did with you, someone he’d only just met. Not even when it came to saving his life. And he didn’t hesitate to answer when I asked him to come meet us. The mere mention of you brought him over without complaint.”
“The pheromones—”
“Don’t affect pixies,” he interjected, as if it bothered him to say it.
“I was concerned your pheromones would be as strong as some of the Originals, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
You have influence, that was made clear with Eros, but that appears to be the extent of it.
Believe me, love, you’d know if someone was under the influence of your pheromones.
There are signs, and I’ve never witnessed a single one in any of the people you’ve been around.
Powerful or not, unless they were a certain kind of Fae, they’d be helpless to the lure. Even I can’t evade that sort of pull.”
He didn’t know what a relief it was for me to hear him say so.
I’d been so afraid I was unintentionally blasting pheromones at everyone I met and that all my relationships had been born from a lie.
I’d sat with that fear every day since I learned I could possibly be charming them in more ways than my ill-timed sarcasm and problematic flirting.
Because it made more sense that so many people would be interested in me that way than for me to be, you know, actually appealing to them as myself.
“But you said…”
Cash traced the slope of my neck as if he couldn’t help himself, his eyes dropping to my mouth.
“It’s become second nature to conceal what I could, to keep secrets.
But that promise I made to you that night that I’d be more forthright with you wasn’t an empty one.
I could only theorize when we met. Once I knew what you were, what Fae blood they’d used, I had to err on the side of caution.
The stain of my time with that witch slag made me unnaturally fearful of pheromones.
Royal Sirens have extremely potent ones.
Those affected by them have never been able to escape their hold.
” His eyes strayed to Jo. “But what few know is that it’s an ability, not a trait. ”
Jo’s mouth thinned. “Not all of us can use them the way he fears. Same with reading minds. It’s unique to the Fae, though some of our kind have a greater chance of having it.”
“You?”
She shrugged. “I can use influence like you. Pheromones, but barely. It’s how we got those answers out of Eros, but it’s rather limited and difficult to control. Then again, I hardly need them, do I?”
I laughed, nodding. “You really don’t.”
Her smile answered mine. “Neither do you, babe.”
Grumbling, Cash dropped a kiss on my mouth that left fire in his wake as he went to grab a few things.
“It’s rather vexing how many are charmed by you without them.
Had it been pheromones, I could assist you with controlling them and banish these unworthy clingers with it.
But that isn’t the case, is it? It’s left me rather unhappy, love. ”
Unhappy, he says.
I wanted to argue it wasn’t my fault, but I was still battling the onset of heat that his kiss had roused.
Jo strolled over and helped me retake my seat, some of her hair falling around her face, while most of it stayed up in a chic updo. “Magical bonds aren’t usually stimulating, but—”
I laughed and patted her on the shoulder. “I’m guessing us having a connection for the Season might change that?”
She nodded with a cute grin. “Probably. Just don’t be surprised if your urges get stronger. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you’re controlling them better.”
“Is that normal?” I asked, hopeful. “Can I put it off longer with time?”
Jo leaned in, her hot breath near my ear. “The question is do you want to? Me, personally, I wouldn’t mind the excuse.” Electricity spider-walked down my spine as she drew away, a playful glint in her eye.
Cash scoffed in the corner, busy with something I couldn’t see from this angle. “See, every blasted barbarian in the vicinity is charmed by my bird.”
Ignoring him, I reached for Jo’s hand and tangled our fingers together. “I’ll be ready for whatever happens.”
She tucked hair behind my ear and went into a crouch in front of me, her cleavage snagging my attention immediately. “As will I, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been ready since…your room.”
Heat reached my cheeks, the memory of her hand between my thighs, touching me, her soft mouth kissing me—I wanted that with her again.
My voice dropped to a soft whisper. “Me too.”
“Then,” she whispered back, magic leaving her mouth in a snake of glitter and maroon. Was she concealing her words so Cash couldn’t hear? “My excuse is your excuse.” Her eyes dropped to my mouth. “But that asshole stays in the hallway. No Fae sandwich for you.”
Oh, fuck.
I cursed under my breath, called out in a way I never thought I would be. I really needed to get those mind barriers in place, stat. “Can’t fault a girl for her fantasies.”
Her mouth pressed against mine and left it so quickly I nearly didn’t register it. “Guess I can’t, but when we’re together, it’s only me you’ll be thinking about, V. That’s a promise I can make.”
I might’ve said I was ready, but with my face on fire and heart pounding, I realized very quickly I wasn’t at all. Jo was a whole new beast.