Gryphon's Pride Read online

  "Gesa—"

  "Look, I have a case I need to get back to. You all have fun playing medieval majesty games." I pressed end, cutting off her indignant shriek.

  Duty. Defined roles. Arranged marriages. Gah. What a bunch of backward, gryphon-headed bullshit. Sometimes I wondered if it wasn't a good thing our population was dwindling. The world didn't need this kind of idiocy.

  I stared down at my one page of untidy chicken scratch. I needed a secretary or something.

  I laughed at the thought. Where would I put them? What would I pay them? Did you have to feed them? Take them for walks?

  Picking up a pen, I vowed to get more organized. It sounded like hell, but hey, anything was better than going back to the clan, forgetting what had happened and accepting my destiny to continue the glorious gryphon line.

  Chapter 4

  I slunk back into the Foxhole a few days later. Weaving my way through sweaty, sequin-and-glitter-drenched bodies, I made my way to the bar. The redheaded fae was as perfect as I remembered in his crisp white shirt and black trousers. And just as mouthy.

  "I'm surprised you aren't out there mopping the dance floor with their blood," he said, sending a dark beer and a suggestive wink my way.

  I bared my teeth. The thought had crossed my mind about the third time someone pinched my ass or accidentally groped me as I made my way to the bar. You would think being big and scary would stop them. But if anything, the assholes out there seemed to see it as a challenge. I'd learned that the hard way back home. "I'm working on restraint. Apparently, that's a thing."

  He chuckled and those plush lips tilted up at one corner as he leaned against the bar. "Pity. I'm sure you make a stunning beast."

  I just stared at him with what I hoped was a bland expression. Was he insulting me, or flirting? I really couldn't tell. "So... any information for me?"

  He straightened and turned to call back to the other bar tender. "Jen! I'm taking my break."

  She just shooed him away, busily mixing some neon green drink that looked like candy. Waste of good booze.

  The fae slid through the swinging door at the end of the bar with another dark beer and a glass of something golden in his hands. He gestured with a tilt of his head that sent his long red braid swaying about his hips and I followed him to a booth tucked away in a quieter corner of the club. A human couple was making out there. But the fae waved a hand and the two women vacated the spot like they'd been electrocuted.

  Knowing fae, he probably had zapped them.

  But I couldn't complain too loudly if it meant relative peace and quiet.

  I slipped into the booth opposite him, wrinkling my nose at the faint scent of human pheromones, but ignoring that for more important things, like the beer he slid my way. "Oisin," the fae said with one of those crooked smiles that was either mocking or invitation.

  I blinked at him. "What now?"

  He laughed like water over river rocks and took a sip of his own drink. "You wanted information. My name is Oisin. I'm fae. My drink of choice is mead." He waggled his glass in illustration. "I enjoy long walks in the forest. And I don't have size hang-ups."

  I rolled my eyes. Fae. Gods they were a pain in the ass. Every last one of them.

  "How do you even get mead in a place like this?" I held up my hands. "Wait. Stop. I don't care. I don't want information about you, you ass. Tell me about the patrons."

  He sighed wistfully, his green eyes going big and mournful, as if I'd just broken his heart, crushed his soul. "That was hurtful."

  I took another drink of my beer.

  He laughed, his face returning to its normal half-smirk. "Teasing, love. It's good for the soul. So why are you stalking this supe, anyway?" Oisin set his glass down and toyed with the rim, his sharp eyes studying me in a way that said he already knew more than he should, saw more than a shallow fae bartender would ever see.

  I peeled the label of my beer bottle. "Bounty hunter, of a sort. Someone paid me to find a missing person. I found more missing people, plural. It kind of snowballed."

  He nodded. "Food or money, do you think?"

  I shrugged, uncomfortable under those piercing green daggers. I liked it better when he was pretending to be shallow. "At first I thought food. But now, with so many missing, I think he's selling them, maybe shipping them somewhere. No bodies are turning up." Not that the lack of bodies meant much. Some supes didn't leave a corpse behind when they fed.

  The fae's long fingers stroked the side of his glass as he looked out across the dance floor and bar. "There was a kappa here yesterday. He left with a human guy. The guy isn't here today."

  I arched my brows at him. "So, one guy decided not to go clubbing two days in a row and that's a problem?"

  He shook his head, a frown marring his perfect, milky white skin. "It wouldn't be strange at all, except this guy has been here every night for over a month. Since I started working here."

  "Wow. Must really be into clubbing."

  Those green eyes fixed on my face. No smirk. "I think he's homeless. He's good looking. Comes in here to find someone to give him a warm bed and something to eat."

  I sighed but held off on the snarky comments. Lots of people resorted to prostitution of one sort or another for a little bit of security. Find someone to take you home, trade some sex or companionship for food and a warm bed to sleep in, maybe a little cash for your next meal. "I get it. But he didn't show up today? And you're sure he's not just holed up with the same guy for a couple nights?"

  Oisin tilted his head as if listening to something I couldn't hear. Then he shook his head. "Perhaps. But my instincts say no."

  He grinned at me. "Kappa aren't exactly captivating lovers, I wouldn't think. Now if I had taken him home, he wouldn't be able to walk for a week."

  I shook my head. "Into the boys, are we?" Gods, I wasn't disappointed. No way.

  His smile grew predatory. "I'm into anything that strikes my fancy, gryphon girl."

  And that...okay I was just going to pretend that was mocking too. Outside of my clan, men tended to be intimidated by me. Not many males could spend an extended amount of time with a large, muscular, supernaturally strong—and admittedly abrasive—female who challenged their dominant role in society. But this pretty, willowy fae didn't seem the least bit put off. Interesting. Although, knowing his kind, he was probably just in it for the novelty.

  I sighed at myself for going off on a mental tangent. "You seem pretty eager to help," I said, trying not to focus on his lips. I watched his long fingers stroke his glass instead. Not an improvement, since now I was imagining them stroking my tits.

  "Supes usually hate what I do," I added. Ratting out my own kind and all." Focus, Gesa.

  Oisin shrugged, a graceful ripple of motion that made me immediately wonder how he moved in bed. "Boredom, really," he said, canting his head to the side so his thick braid fell over his shoulder. "Living out here among humans is...underwhelming."

  "You said you haven't worked here long... why did you leave your clan?"

  Because fae rarely left the comfort and elitism of their communities, most of them in high profile places where they could take advantage of both the wilderness and other people's need to spend large amounts of cash. The wilderness, Ontonagon certainly had. The money...well, here in New Paradise that was becoming a thing, the city life here was growing fast, but still—it had a long way to go.

  The fae clans owned ski resorts and high-end spa retreats in the mountains that had been passed down for generations. They didn't tend bar in human-town, bum-fuck USA. New Paradise wasn't the smallest city I'd ever seen, but it was...solidly in the middle. Mid-range population, mid-range average income, mid-range crime rate, all situated between the old growth forests of the Porcupine mountains and the frosty waters of Lake Superior. The mediocrity and the stretches of wilderness were why I chose this place to call home when I escaped my clan cage. But all-in-all, it was way too boring—and way too human—for the fae.

  He gr
imaced. "It's a long story, love. But just suffice it to say, fuck them." He raised his glass in a toast and I obliged him, clinking my beer bottle against it.

  "Funny how clan has a way of bringing out the best in people that way." I bared my teeth. Damned medieval, blind-ass, rigid boneheads....

  Oisin chuckled. "There's a story there, I'm sure. And fae love stories."

  I shook my head. "Nope. No story. Not unless you're going to tell me yours." And probably not even then. There were some things better left buried deep inside, under heaping doses of anger and self-loathing.

  Oisin sipped his drink like an elite rich boy playing with the poor masses—which, he probably was. "I can think of far better ways to spend our time."

  And Gods if that didn't sound about a thousand times better than talking about my family.

  But I did have a job to do if I wanted to be able to continue paying the rent that kept me out of my clan and off the street.

  "Unfortunately, I have skulls to crack if I want to get paid. Can you identify the kappa and the missing guy if I find them?" This time I should probably make sure I had the right person before I went tromping through the mud to kick his ass.

  Oisin nodded, pushing his drink aside. "Of course." He tapped his head. "Long memory."

  I fished my cell out of my jacket pocket and slid it over to him. "Put in your contact information and I'll call if I find something."

  He smirked, tapping the screen while hardly looking at it. "If you wanted my number, all you had to do was ask, beautiful beast."

  I raised an eyebrow. "Is flirting part of fae DNA, or do you have to work at it?"

  He gave me another of those lopsided smiles as he slid my phone back, his unnaturally green eyes twinkling. "Maybe it just comes naturally around stunning creatures like yourself." He caressed my hand as he stood, drawing those graceful fingers up my arm with a light touch that spread magic dancing over my skin. I shivered as he leaned over my shoulder to whisper in my ear, his silky hair caressing my cheek. "I can help you hunt," he purred. "Fae are good for more than making merry...though we're quite good at that too."

  Then he was gone, slipping though the patrons to man the bar, all grace and lithe strength under his perfectly pressed black and white bar tender garb—as if this place was classy enough to require a uniform.

  Bored, he'd said. I mulled his words around. Only an idiot would see the fae's beautiful exterior and forget that they had the heart and soul of deadly, forest-wild hunters. And the last thing I needed to invite into my bed was danger. I got enough of that in my life with my work and my shitty clan.

  But Gods, he was pretty.

  My inner beast growled in appreciation. We should let him come hunt with us. We should run together and kill together, and when we were done, we should mate until we couldn't walk.

  I shoved the gryphon side down deep. Since I was not an idiot. A bored fae was never a good thing. I was not about to risk becoming his entertainment. Fae had practically invented the concept of "too much of a good thing can kill."

  I stood and stretched, wanting to shift and hunt. Wanting to walk over to the bar and drag the fae across it for a filthy kiss. Fuck. I needed to focus.

  Kappa. I was looking for a kappa. Should be easy to find, even in the city. The things stank like week-old cooked cabbage. Sniffing that out ought to be great fun.

  I sighed and turned my back on fae temptation to go destroy my sense of smell finding a kappa kidnapper instead. Living the dream.

  Chapter 5

  I crossed my arms under my breasts and gazed down at the tiny kappa woman, trying not to glare. I had been told I was intimidating when I was angry. Or frustrated. Or sick of chasing my own fucking tail.

  After several days spent sniffing the butt crack of this lovely city—from the beaches on one side to the rolling forested mountains on the other—I'd found a kappa family. They lived in a run-down apartment building that smelled like unwashed ass. I couldn't help wrinkling my nose at the smell of cooked seaweed and flatulence that permeated the apartment—the kappa's natural perfume. At least this one was semi cute, the water-filled indentation on the top of her head covered by a shiny red plastic cap. Smart lady. Kappa could die if that life-giving water spilled out.

  "It's just me and my kids here, and they're at school," she said for the third time, worrying at her mismatched second-hand sweater and pants set. She was probably my age, but she looked about fifty. Kappa tended to sport turtle-like wrinkles, even when they were passing as human.

  I narrowed my eyes. "What about your husband?"

  She shrugged, then went back to puttering around with whatever she was simmering on the stove—smelled like pond muck. Looked like it too. Probably vegetarian. Ugh. "Their dad hasn't been in the picture in years. Ran off with some kelpie trollop before we moved here from Florida."

  I sighed. Clearly, this woman wasn't snatching dozens of humans off the streets and selling them in the Underhill black market. For one, the place wouldn't be such a dump if she was loaded with illicit gains.

  "Do you know any other kappa in the area? Maybe one who seems to have come into a lot of money lately? Or someone who strikes you as a bit shady?"

  She laughed. "I don't know what kind of person you're hunting down, but we kappa tend to keep to ourselves. I haven't met another one of my own in years."

  "Thanks for your time," I said, pinching the bridge of my nose.

  She nodded. Then, seeing my grimace, she patted my arm. "It's okay, honey," she said in a conspiratorial tone. "You don't smell that bad. Maybe try a personal deodorizer, hmm? They sell a nice one up at the market on the corner. It looks like a human place, but it's supe run."

  I rolled my eyes. She thought I stank?

  "Um...thanks. I'll do that.

  I backed out of the dimly-lit apartment. My place looked like a mansion by comparison.

  I scrubbed my hand over my face and glared at my reflection in the glass front of a junk shop. Tall, blond, muscular and... homicidal. Okay, so maybe people weren't wrong about my facial expressions. Who needed resting bitch face, when resting murder face was a thing?

  I trudged toward the coffee shop a block over, near where I'd parked my car. Coffee sounded like an excellent idea. The wind whipped my hair across my face as I walked and tugged at the edges of my leather jacket as if it were trying to pull me down the street. Summer was rapidly vanishing, and there was just a hint of something wild in the air. It smelled like magic and tasted like danger.

  For some reason, I thought of Oisin, the little red-headed fae. Maybe I should call him up and let him hunt with me. Or do something else entirely. Gods, he was beautiful. And he moved like a dancer...or a deadly fae bladesman.

  Somehow that thought only made him more tempting.

  I really needed to get laid if I was thinking about taking a fae lover. My mother would croak if she knew I was shunning her "perfectly acceptable" gryphon match for a snarky, misplaced fae bartender.

  I smiled to myself, the thought of her reaction making me think maybe I should date every "unsuitable" being who came my way, just to piss her off.

  My smile faded when I got in line for coffee. That slight hint of magic was in the air in here too. It could have been the pixie barista who was glamoured to look human. Or any of the other handful of supes in the crowd. But somehow, I didn't think so....

  I reached out and tugged the end of the silky red braid that dangled in front of me.

  "Ow!" Oisin spun around and glared emerald daggers at me. "For the love of the Gods woman, a little hair pulling is fine, but don't scalp me."

  I grinned. I think I liked his pissed off look even more than the snarky flirting. And he looked both delicious and ridiculous in his fussy, structured blue coat. "Can you even drink coffee?" I asked, making my eyes all big and round. "I thought fae lived off honey and flower petals."

  He huffed, but that half-smirk lifted one corner of his gorgeous mouth. "I was going to order a honey and flower petal latte
with extra sprinkles...how did you guess?"

  I rolled my eyes. He turned back to the counter and ordered a latte with three extra shots of espresso. No honey involved.

  Oisin hovered at my elbow as I ordered the biggest latte they had, loaded with full fat milk and whipped cream and drizzled with extra caramel. "Sure you don't want some raw steak with that?" he muttered under his breath.

  "OMG! They have that here?" I breathed as if he'd just said something amazing.

  He snorted. "Pay for your cup of calories and come sit with me."

  Then he wandered off to find a table.

  For once, I did as I was told. The pixie who took my money winked at me, glanced in the direction where Oisin had ambled off and mouthed so hot!

  I shook my head at her and mouthed complete asshole.

  She stared at me with her mouth hanging open as I took my cup and left.

  Oisin was staring out the big front window at the passing pedestrians as I slid into a chair opposite his. "Any luck kappa hunting?" he asked, chin in his palm, still not looking at me.

  I shrugged, took a sip of my coffee and scalded my mouth. Godsdamnit!

  Oisin turned to look at me when I hissed, not even trying to disguise his laughter. He picked up his own cup and took a long, dramatic drink.

  "I knew it," I said with fake amazement. "Fae don't feel anything."

  He rolled his eyes at me and reached out to wave a hand over my cup, a little flare of magic dancing between us, gone in a breath. "Is it the beast in you or your hair color that makes you so slow?"

  I picked up my now much cooler cup and sucked down a mouthful of sugar and fat. "Probably a little of both," I said in a serious tone. "Like how your hair color and your magic make you an ass."

  He chuckled. "You say the sweetest things, my little beastie. You haven't found your man yet, have you? Big, bad bird-lions get so grumpy when they can't catch the little mouse."

  I glared. "Stuff it."