Chapter Nine #4
Dawn had seen a touristy candy shop across the street from the Midnight Bazaar building, and raced across the street to it with Derry in tow, the pair of them nearly being run over in their haste to get to the goodies.
Hunter turned back to me, obviously about to comment on Dawn’s insatiable sweet tooth when he stopped. “Why do you look like you’re going to cry at any moment?”
“Why do I ... for the love of the twelve goddesses, Hunter! Why aren’t you raging about having to give up your sword? Why aren’t you mad at your asshat brother trying to rub your face in it?”
“Why would I be any of those things when Deus did exactly as I hoped? Come, mo chroí, we will retrieve Dawn from the sweet shop and—”
Deus and Tara burst out of the building behind us, causing Hunter to spin around from where he had been flagging down a taxi.
“Oh, great, they couldn’t go out a different exit?” I muttered, glancing behind me to make sure Dawn was in the shop and not in view on the street.
Deus opened his mouth to say something to Hunter, when suddenly a shadow detached from the entrance and burst into the form of a tall woman with kohl-ringed eyes and long blonde hair decorated in war braids.
“Harr!” the woman cried, running at Deus. “There it is! By Odin’s armpits, do you have any idea how much money I’ve spent monitoring the entire world for this? I seriously almost bankrupted the sisterhood watching for signs of it. Don’t you dare back up. Give it to me!”
To my astonishment, the woman snatched Hunter’s sword from Deus.
Hunter spat out a word that was extremely rude, his fire spiraling out of him as he leaped toward the woman, but before he could reach her, she slammed her free hand forward, blasting us with a brilliant green light that stunned me for a few seconds.
By the time I shook my head free of the daze, Hunter whipped past me to where the woman had stood, but the space was empty of all mysterious blondes.
“What the hell?” Hunter asked, spinning around at the same time Deus asked, “Who was that? It was you who arranged for this, wasn’t it? You sent her to take your damned sword back!”
“Don’t be more stupid than you are,” Hunter snapped back, gesturing me forward when a taxi pulled up. I leaned in to tell the driver to wait a few seconds. “The élan vital belongs to me, and I will have it back, but giving it to some unknown Norse being isn’t in the picture.”
Deus began ranting at him, Tara holding him back as she glanced around at the passersby (who, to their credit, didn’t pay any of us much attention), murmuring calming platitudes.
I waited at the taxi until Hunter emerged from the shop with a protesting Dawn, who clutched a small bag obviously filled with candy, and relaxed only once we were all in the car, and headed for the airport.
“Much though I don’t like Tara, I don’t envy her, either. Your half brother is a real jerk,” I told Hunter, peering behind us as I watched Deus storm off in the opposite direction, jerking his arm out of Tara’s hold.
“I should hope not. You would not be happy at all with Deus,” Hunter said, his arm over my shoulders. “Whereas I am exactly what you want and need.”
“You are, huh?” I studied the side of his face I could see. The stomach bees were happy to enjoy the sight. “Despite saying I’m not your mate?”
“You’re not,” he said, his expression turning dark. “I’ve explained why. Nothing will change that.”
I fought the pinch of hurt that followed his words, but since I’d declared earlier that I was perfectly fine with a friends-with-benefits situation, I couldn’t very well complain.
Instead, I tackled a suspicion that arose at Deus’s words.
“You ... uh ... you didn’t happen to hire the blonde lady, did you? ”
He relaxed back, his arm tightening around me, glancing at the front seat. Dawn had claimed the seat next to the driver, saying she could see the city better. Luckily, our driver appeared to be the chatty sort, keeping her well entertained.
“No,” Hunter said softly. “But I almost wish I had. Did you hear what the broker said when we arrived?”
On my other side, Derry shifted, gave me a sleepy smile, and tucked his head against the side of the car.
“About the Finnish woman who evidently called him today about your sword? You think that’s who this lady was?”
“It would be a hell of a coincidence for a random woman to appear out of the shadows calling on Odin and stealing the élan vital. Have you heard of her? I don’t recognize her name, but I’m also out of touch with the world of hedge witches.”
“You think that’s what she was?” I asked, leaning into him to speak so the driver wouldn’t overhear.
I was so close to him I could smell the soap he’d used that morning. My body woke up at that, and started me thinking about all the things I wanted to do to him. It took a full half minute, but I managed to get my libido under control.
“I don’t know who she is,” he answered, turning his head so our noses bumped.
“Although I suspect she may be some sort of a hedge witch. The spell she used that dazzled us was nature-based, which dragons have a weakness to. You have the loveliest eyes. I thought at first they were gray, but now I see there are silver and black highlights that glitter.”
“My eyes are plain old gray, but yours are stunning. They remind me of an artsy nature photo of an ice crust over a patch of moss. And your eyelashes should be outlawed. It’s a crime against nature for men to have such thick black eyelashes when women have to use fake ones to get the same result.”
He chuckled at that, his hand moving to my thigh, which he gently stroked.
“You do not need any such thing. Your eyelashes are doing an exceptional job. Why are you giving me that odd look? I prefer the one you had a minute ago, when you were clearly making a list of sexual fantasies you want me to fulfill.”
I shot a glance at the front of the car, but Dawn and the driver were busily discussing their favorite breed of dog, and dogs they’d had in their respective youths. Next to me, Derry snored softly.
“Are you a mind reader on top of everything else?” I asked him, my breath touching his ear in a way that had his fire roaring to life within him.
“My list of sexual fantasies aside, I was wondering why you don’t seem worried that a stranger not only knew exactly where you were going to be, but that she also took your sword.
Is there a reason that you’re so unconcerned? ”
He thought for a moment, then gave a one-shouldered shrug. “As I’ve said numerous times now, the élan vital won’t be effective for anyone but a dragon hunter.”
My fingers itched to trace the line of his jaw, now slightly stubbly.
“Yeah, but you still have to find out who this Finn is, where she is, and why she wants your sword. Hunter, we need to get it back. I’ve sworn an oath to myself—and by extension you—that I will do whatever it takes, short of something heinous, to get the damned thing back for you. ”
Hunter’s fingers trailed curlicues of fire on my thigh nearest him. I shot another glance forward, then patted out the fiery marks. “And I’ve told you several times that out of the hands of a dragon hunter, and without the esprit, it’s nothing but a sword. No one will benefit from having it.”
I felt like he knew something I didn’t.
I hated that feeling.
“Why are you so calm?” I asked, a suspicion growing in the back of my brain.
“Wait ... you truly aren’t upset about this, are you?
It’s not just a front you’re putting on to keep me from falling over dead with guilt that I made you give up your most precious belonging just to wipe out my debt, is it?
You really, really aren’t bothered that some rando stole the sword your own brother just more or less also stole from you? ”
“I’m bothered,” he said, the playful glint in his eyes fading. “I’m very bothered. But I’m not worried about finding the thief. I know exactly where the woman is. Or rather, where she will be later, once she stops moving.”
I stared at him for a few seconds, gobsmacked. “You know ... ooooh. You have some sort of location tracker on it?”
Derry jerked next to me, and snorted himself awake as we turned into the line for the airport.
Hunter smiled, but it wasn’t the sort of smile that made me want to rip off his clothes and rub myself all over him.
No, this was a chilling smile, one that promised retribution on the grand level.
“I reckoned it was the most effective way of finding Deus, but the blonde thief will do just as well.”
I sat silent for the length of time it took us to get to our plane, turning the plaster compact over and over in my hands as I did so. I’d crush it to smithereens just as soon as I could, but right now, finding a hammer seemed like the least of my worries.
There was a dragon to aid, and a sword to get back ... and, with the threat of Papi no longer hanging over my head, a possible relationship to explore.
Tempting fate, a normally quiet voice in my head warned.
I ignored it, hoping that this time fate wouldn’t crap all over my life.