“The back streets are too crowded.” East glances over his shoulder at him. “If you want, you can go that way.”
Arrow shakes his head. “I’m fine.”
A smirk twitches at East’s lips. “That’s what I thought.”
Arrow sighs but doesn’t comment, focusing on getting through the alleyway instead.
East is a little less muscular, so he’s not having as difficult of a time. And I’m much smaller, so I’m not struggling at all. But Arrow is a bit more broader and taller than East, probably due to the metal woven in his body, and his shoulders keep bumping into the walls.
“Maple’s father is Asher’s father’s brother,” East spits out suddenly.
I slam to a halt so swiftly that Arrow crashes into me.
“Fuck,” he curses, bringing his hands down on my shoulders, his chest pressed against my back.
“Sorry,” I mutter then glare daggers at East. “So, she’s a genie?”
East shrugs, glancing at me. “Yes and no.”
I give him a firm look. “I don’t know what that means, so you’re going to have to explain it.”
“Her father is a genie, and her mother was a faerie, so she’s a little of both,” he says as he ducks underneath a stairway running down the side of the building and halfway into the alley.
“I didn’t realize faeries and genies could procreate,” I comment, lowering my head and struggling to crouch low, thanks to the corset.
“A lot of different creatures can procreate,” East says, putting his hand on my head so I won’t bump it on the bottom of the stairway. “It just doesn’t happen very often.”
Uneasiness bursts through me as I straighten. While I’ve warmed up to the idea of being around Asher, I in no way, shape, or lumpy ogre form want to be around another genie, especially another one related to the genie that cursed me.
I open my mouth to say just that when Arrow unexpectedly lets out a string of curses.
“Damn stiff arms,” he grumbles.
I peer over my shoulder at him and my eyes widen.
He’s stuck. And in the odd angle, half bent down and turned, his shoulders wedged underneath the bottom of the stairs.
“You’re stuck,” I say, laughter tickling at the back of my throat.
Do not laugh at him. It’d be so mean.
His silver eyes lock on mine. “Why do I get the feeling you think this is funny?”
“Because it is.” East rests his chin on my shoulder while sliding an arm around my waist. “You should see yourself right now. Seriously, where’s a camera when you need one?”
“It’s not funny,” I attempt to say with a straight face, but my voice is all wobbly.
Arrow gives me a dirty look. “Some best friend you are.”
“Hey, best friends can laugh at each other,” I protest, feeling awful. “I’m sorry. I really am. It’s just that …” I trail off, my eyes narrowing as Arrow grins.
“I’m just messing around with you, Harlynn.”
I can’t help smiling. “Your smile’s really pretty.” It really is.
Arrow shifts, trying to look away, but since he can’t turn his head, I get a good view of his flushed cheeks.
“You made the cyborg blush.” East kisses my cheek. “Bravo, you clever girl. Do you know how hard that is?”
I roll my eyes, but a smile threatens to turn at my lips.
Arrow quietly sighs. “Can you two quit joking around and get me out of here?”
“And how do you propose we do that?” East questions in amusement. “You’re stuck underneath a stairway that’s welded to a metal building. I mean, I’m strong”—he tilts his head as his gaze travels to the top of the stairway—“but not that strong.”
“Can’t you, like, make it vanish or something?” I ask, resting my hands on the railing.
“I could if I had some vanishing dust, but my stash is in the vehicle,” East says. “If I go back, we’ll be late.”
“If I stay stuck, we’ll be late,” Arrow reminds him, wiggling his shoulders.
“I could always go buy some grease and slather it all over you,” East proposes cleverly. “That might make you slippery enough that we can push you out of there.”
“That sounds messy.” I give the railing a little shake, unsure what I’m even trying to do.
East glides his hands up my arm, reaching up to grip the railing, too. His chest is pressed against my back, his breath hot on my neck. “We could always get naked and lather all of us up. Imagine how messy that would be.”
I roll my eyes. “That wouldn’t help Arrow get unstuck.”
“No, but it’d be a lot of fun,” he says wickedly. “And I did promise to give you a demonstration on the proper way to have an orgy. Although, it’d be more of a threesome.”
“Will you stop flirting with her and go back to the vehicle to get some dust?” Arrow demands, his head bumping my thigh.
That’s when I realize how close his face is to my lady parts and how high the hemline of my skirt is.
“Look, we’re one step away from it already.” East chuckles in my ear, his gaze fixed on where Arrow’s head rests close to my upper thighs.
Irritated and a bit flustered, I move back to bump into him, but my ass ends up grinding against his man goodies.
“Fuck,” Easts moans, his body stiffening against mine. “Please don’t do that again. At least right now. It’s too distracting and makes me want to spread open those long legs of yours and slip inside your—”
“Don’t finish that sentence!” I shout, my body tingling with warmth.
Hot, I feel so scorching, as if I’m on fire—
Swoosh.
I skitter back, slamming into East as the stairway folds up and dissipates into thin air. Then the ground begins to shake, the alleyway widening as the buildings slide farther apart. Then, just as swiftly as it all happened, the air around us stills.
“What was that?” I whisper with wide eyes.
East holds me tightly against him while Arrow straightens, rubbing his head, his enlarged eyes mirroring mine.
“I think your power just made an entire stairway vanish and an alleyway widen,” East states in awe.
I twist around to look at him. “But I didn’t even do anything, except feel a bit … hot. But only because you embarr—frazzled me.”
East steps back and taps his lips. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like, every time you unleash your powers, you’re frazzled. Or, at least your emotions are running high.”
I think back to how worried I was when I first used my powers, back when the worlds patrol had us surrounded. The second time, I was extremely irritated over East and Asher touching Darla. And this time, I was frazzled over East’s dirty remark.
“That seems pretty accurate,” I tell him. “But, what’s your point?”
East props his shoulder against the wall. “My point is, maybe your emotions are what control your powers.”
“But, what are my powers?” I wonder, readjusting the skirt. “I mean, so far I’ve only made the ground shake and a stairway fold up and vanish.”
“And an alleyway widened,” Arrow adds, dusting some dirt off his shoulder.
“True,” I agree, noting the spaciousness around us. “But, what sort of power is that?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m really curious to find out what else you can do,” East says then straightens and reaches for my hand. “But that’ll have to wait until later. Right now, we need to get this little shindig over with so we can move on to more important things.”
I start to take his hand, but then I pull back. “Wait. About Maple … I’m not sure I feel comfortable being around another genie that’s not Asher. And one that’s related to Asher’s father.”
“Maple can’t hurt you. Her powers are weak at best,” East swears to me. “And even if she could, we wouldn’t let her.”
“I’m not really afraid of her hurting me,” I divulge the partial truth. “It’s just ??
? I don’t know. I mean, I’ve barely gotten comfortable with the idea that Asher is related to the genie that … that took away my parents. And now I’m supposed to be around another creature related to him …?” I suck in a slow breath through my nose as my voice cracks. “Sorry.”
“Don’t apologize. It’s okay to be upset.” East brings my hand to his lips and grazes them across my knuckles. “We’ll do everything we can to keep her away from you without it being too obvious. We can send her on errands. We do that a lot anyway. But I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell her to stay away from you. It’ll just draw attention to you.”
“Maybe you can give me something to do,” I suggest. “Honestly, I’d rather be doing anything else than just sitting around.”
“You won’t be sitting around,” East promises. “You’ll be having fun.”
“Doing what?” I ask dubiously.
Arrow’s arm hums as he extends his hand forward and threads his fingers with mine.
I smile to myself. He grabbed my hand first.
“There’s plenty of stuff to do backstage,” Arrow says. “Just make sure not to leave that area.”
Hmm … “I know you guys said this city is dangerous, but so far, the only danger I’ve seen is from the too-thin alleyways.”
Arrow’s fingers tense around mine. “That’s because it’s daytime. It’s during the night when we have to worry.”
The way he says it, with such fear in his tone, sends a chill down my spine.
“What happens at night?” I dare ask.
He sucks in a shaky breath. Even East seems to quiver a little.
“It’s when the monsters show their true selves,” he whispers ominously.
Chapter 5
Arrow’s words have me feeling all sorts of crazy uneasy, but I do my best to fake being okay, something I’m fantastic at. At least, I used to be. But either I’m starting to lose my awesome being good at being chill skills, or Arrow and East can read me well, because they keep checking on me.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” East asks as he weaves us around what looks like a passed-out ogre blocking our path.
The road we’re hiking up is slender and uneven, and while the population is sparser in this area, the few creatures loitering by the stands and bars are giving off a much darker vibe.
“I’m fine,” I tell East for the umpteenth time. “I’m just a little weirded-out about being on this planet. I mean, did you guys see that dude back there with the horns growing out of his forehead? He looked like the devil himself.”
“Actually, I think he was one of his spawns.” East’s grip on my hand constricts as we near a large, bulky creature with scaly skin reclining against a lamppost.
I gulp. “Are you being serious?”
East nods, sweeping strands of his blond hair out of his eyes. “He has a lot of spawns. Don’t worry, though; they can’t hurt you unless you give them permission.”
There are literally no words, and I only grow more speechless as the scaly creature’s lips part and a lizard-like tongue snaps out, darting forward and nearly licking my cheek.
“Hey.” East smacks his tongue away. “Touch her, and that disgusting tongue of yours will be cut off.”
“And who’s going to make that happen?” Scaly dude challenges through a hiss. “You or the little robot?”
East slows to a stop, his normally glittering eyes darkening like firestorm clouds. “I would be careful what you say, lizard.”
Scaly dude trips back and scrambles inside a nearby bar.
“What was that about?” I wonder. Faeries aren’t necessarily known for being the most frightening creatures, yet scaly dude looked scared out of his damn mind. “And how are your eyes doing that weird fiery thing?”
East blinks a couple of times, and the fire liquefies into smoke. “We should get going,” he mutters. “We’re already late.”
From behind me, Arrow nods, his body rippling with tension.
My gaze dances between the two of them. “You guys aren’t telling me something.”
“Unfortunately, we can’t tell you a lot of things yet,” East mumbles, entwining his fingers through mine.
I wiggle my hand from his grip, cross my arms, and stare him down. “It’s unfair to expect me to be okay with that statement.”
“Who said anything about expecting you to be okay with it?” East asks.
“Well, um …” I frown. He has a point, but still … “You guys expect me to tell you everything, yet you keep stuff from me. Like whatever just happened with your eyes, or why Arrow got all twitchy when I told him I signed a contract with my blood.” I hold up my hands as East’s lips part. “It’s cool. Keep your secrets, and I’ll keep mine.” I swing around him and stride down the zigzagging street, the heels of my boots clicking against the cobblestones.
Sure, I’m not certain where I’m heading, but I’m making a statement right now. That I’m tough and can take care of myself.
I only make it a handful of heel clicks before I get that feeling that I’m being watched again. Unlike in the forest, this time there are plenty of paranormals around that could be watching me. The question is: which one?
I discreetly scan the creatures strolling up and down the street, leaning against lampposts and buildings, and a few standing on balconies. Most of them appear distracted, but a few are glancing in my direction—
A towering creature with dark eyes, silver lips, and pale skin materializes in my path so swiftly that I nearly run into him. Thankfully, though, I manage to quickly slam on the brakes and regain my balance. Then I hurry to figure out what he is.
He’s sporting an ankle-length, black cloak, and his dark eyes suddenly illuminate hauntingly beneath the shadow of his hood. I’m unsure I’ve ever seen anything like him, but the scent of darkness flowing off him seems strangely familiar.
“Easy, princess,” he purrs. “Where are you going in such a rush?”
“Get out of my way,” I say as calmly as I can.
His lips curl into a sly smirk. “It’s been a long time since I’ve run into one of you that’s feisty. Usually, your kind is submissive.”
A zap of tension zips up my spine. “What do you mean by your kind?”
His eyes crackle like embers. “You don’t know … Interesting.” He purrs the last word.
A shiver rolls through me. My first instinct is to twist around and see where in the hell East and Arrow are, but since I’m trying to prove a point that I’m independent, I keep my gaze on the creature in front of me.
“What do you know about me?” I dare ask, stepping toward him.
And why does he smell so familiar?
His eyes shadow over. “You’re clueless. Master will be so pleased to hear that.”
“Who the hell’s your master …?” My eyes widen as he dissolves into a pile of ash. “What the heck? I …” I have no clue what just happened.
Wanting answers more than I want to prove my independence, I reel back around, planning to ask East and Arrow, but they’re not there.
Huh?
Squinting against the sunlight, I skim the streets, balconies, and buildings, my bubbling tension erupting into panic. Every single creature, from vampires to cyborgs to faeries are watching me with interest.
“Shit.” I spin around and dash down the road, keeping my gaze trained ahead, except for giving the occasional glances out of the corner of my eyes. So far, almost every paranormal I pass glances up at me, but none make a move to come near me. That doesn’t bring me a damn drop of comfort as I aimlessly wander down the street with an abundance of faerie questions dancing in my mind.
Where did East and Arrow go? Did they just leave me? Or did something happen to them? And why is everyone gawking at me like I’m some rare, weird creature …?
A thought bitch-smacks me across the face.
What if that’s exactly why they’re staring at me? Because they know what I am. I mean, the guys said I had to be something rare and unheard o
f, so maybe these paranormals can see that.
“Dammit, why do I have to be so damn stubborn?” I curse myself for wandering away from East and Arrow as I make a sharp veer down a desolate alleyway and out of sight of the watchful eyes. Then I collapse back against the brass wall and take a deep breath. “Just calm down, Harlynn. Panicking isn’t going to do you any good.” Another breath in then out. “Get your shit together and make a plan.”
The first idea that comes to mind is to go find Asher, East, and Arrow, but a part of me wonders if they ditched me. It’s not like I wandered very far away, yet we somehow managed to lose each other. Yeah, I’m not buying it.
Maybe some more fans spotted them and they had to duck into someplace nearby? Or maybe one of the paranormals lurking around did something to them? I don’t know, though. I mean, lizard tongue dude seemed afraid of East. Plus, from what I’ve seen, the guys are perfectly capable of handling problems. Maybe they just got tired of handling mine.
Like a little bitch, reality rushes up and smacks me again.
I’ve brought nothing but problems into the guys’ lives, and the only reason they ever brought me on this little adventure to begin with was for me to help them steal those objects. Now that I’m not human, I’m basically useless to them and have made it so the worlds patrol is probably tailing them.
Honestly, when I really analyze the situation, I don’t blame them for ditching me. It wouldn’t be the first time something like this has happened. Back when I first started living on the streets, I tried to befriend a couple of people so I wouldn’t be totally alone. This was before I attained my awesome stealing abilities and my badass survival instincts, so no one really wanted me around.
My heart tightens at the memories of people telling me to leave, that I was slowing them down, that I was more of a problem than someone useful. After about the third or fourth time of that happening, I decided it was easier, at least on my pride and self-esteem, to take care of myself. So, I started teaching myself how to swindle, how to find shelter and food, and how to fight. And about a year later, I became the self-sufficient, badass mofo that I am today.