Hunted (Book One of the Forever Faire Series): A Fae Fantasy Romance Novel (4 page)

C
hristine and everyone
else in the strip club froze.

Dirk pressed the edge of his blade to their boss’s throat.

“If they don’t obey me, you’ll be getting a new smile.” He cut the man’s neck just enough to stain the edge of his dagger. A bright bead of blood trickled down the front of his throat. “Right here.”

Concealing a flinch, Christine let her eyes drift right and left. She quickly checked the surfaces around her. She’d never done her secret thing in front of anyone else, but if she was quick she might be able to get out before they realized she’d done it.

Dirk wiped his blade clean on the manager’s shirt sleeve, and then clouted Fred, who collapsed in a motionless heap. Change spilled out of his pockets and rolled around the dancers’ high-heeled shoes.

Christine’s blood turned to ice, but none of the girls so much as blinked.

“My men have been on the road for a long time,” Dirk said, his voice taking on a weird resonance. “They need servicing, so you whores will attend to them. Now.”

The women began to move like sleepwalkers toward the bikers, some stepping over Fred without even looking down. Christine ducked down to scoop up some quarters, dividing them between both hands as she straightened.

“Where is that mouthy one?” she heard Dirk ask.

Before anyone looked at her Christine whipped her hands out and released the coins. They ricocheted precisely off the tables, chairs and skulls she’d chosen. The quarters shot up at the spot lights like bullets. An instant later all of the bulbs shattered at the same time, plunging the club into darkness.

As the bikers shouted, Christine ran to the dancers’ dressing room, grabbed her gym bag, and yanked up the only window. Once she’d climbed out, she kicked off her heels and ran barefoot through the snow to her little pickup. She kept the lights off as she started the engine, and floored it. In the rearview mirror she saw a spray of gravel shower a pair of bikers running out of the club.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” she muttered, pulling her seatbelt down and clipping it in place.

At the parking lot exit was a telephone pole. She wrenched the wheel, fishtailing the back end of her truck. With a loud crunch of metal, it slammed into the base of the pole. Wood exploded as she was jerked sideways against the seatbelts. As she righted herself, floored the gas, and steered away from the pole, it fell over and landed on the bikers.

“The bigger they are.”

Tires squealing, she hurtled onto the road and accelerated, her heart hammering. As she drove through a labyrinth of streets and back roads away from the club, she kept an eye on the rearview mirror. No one appeared to be following her, and by the time she crossed the town border she felt reasonably safe. She drove up into the mountains, found an all-night truck stop, and parked behind the diner.

Taking her gym bag to the rest room, she changed out of her skimpy costume and put on a pink gingham blouse and a pair of jeans. Once she removed most of her makeup, and rubbed some baby powder under her arms, she stuffed her glitter-streaked hair under a long, strawberry blonde wig. She quickly braided the wig on either side of her face, and tied off the ends with some pink ribbon.

“Hi there,” she said to her reflection, and then cleared her throat and tried again. “Hi there,” she said in a softer, sweeter tone as she used her eyeliner to add some freckles on the bridge of her nose. “Could you help a girl out? Of course you could. Look at me. I’m practically your kid sister’s twin. And if you touch me, I’ll kick your balls up into your tonsils.”

When she walked into the diner a few truckers gave her the eye, but when they saw she wasn’t dressed like a working girl they turned their attention back to their plates. After inspecting the possibilities she walked over to the youngest, who was just finishing a burger. He looked up as she sat across from him, and quickly swiped some ketchup from his chin.

“Hi, there.” She gave him her best, girl-next-door smile. “Could you help me out? I’m looking for a ride, and I can give you some gas money. Where are you headed?”

“Miami.” He sounded a bit dazed. “But I’m not supposed to pick up any hitchers.”

The thought of Florida tempted Christine, but she couldn’t leave Aisha and the other girls at the mercy of the gang. Nor could she go to the cops, who would just barge in and get everyone killed. She hated cops anyway. No, what she needed was to hide, and think, but not too far away.

“I’m only looking for a lift to the next town.” She tucked a twenty under his sweaty hand. “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t.”

He glanced around them as he quickly tucked the money in his shirt pocket. “Sure, okay. Ashdale is about ten miles down the road. That all right?”

She glanced out the window at the dark, empty road. “That’s perfect.”

K
ayla drove
through the tiny town of Ashdale, ignoring the way her heart still pounded as she searched both sides of the street. As soon as Ryan and one of the other men had started walking out of the camp in her direction she had panicked, and run back to the car. She’d been too far away to hear anything they said, but when she glanced back she saw Ryan change form again.

This time it had been even stranger, with his hair lifting and coiling as if it were alive, and his entire body lighting up with an intense, white-hot glow. The other man hadn’t reacted at all to it, which meant he either didn’t see it, or he could do the same thing. Like the drunken guy with the gold-streaked red hair who had tried to start a fight with Ryan and his friend at the bonfire—he hadn’t pretended to look human at all. He’d looked like the drunk version of Conan the Barbarian.

They could be part of a gang, like the bikers.

But Kayla didn’t want to believe that. Unfortunately, given the motorcycles and the shape-shifting and the magic tricks, what else could it be?

The sign for the Silver Birch Inn appeared at the end of the main road, and Kayla gratefully turned into the lot. As the tires crunched to a stop on the gravel, she parked outside the front lobby. Under a flickering light, she simply sat. As she clasped her trembling hands in her lap, Kayla knew it wasn’t the cold that made them shake. She could hardly believe what she’d just seen. After a few moments, she took a deep breath, got out of the car, and headed into the lobby.

A middle-aged woman who sat dozing behind the reception desk sat up as soon as Kayla’s entry caused the bell over the door to ring. “Good evening,” she said, her voice sleepy and soft. “May I help you?”

“Can you tell me which room Tara Rowe is staying in?” When the woman hesitated she added, “I’m her sister.” The clerk still seemed unconvinced, so Kayla took out her wallet. “Here’s my ID.”

The woman glanced at the license Kayla held out, and then nodded. “When Miss Tara checked in she told me about you, but I’ve learned to be careful. We have her in room fourteen.” She hesitated before she added, “I think she’s been worried about you. Every night she comes up here to sit for hours and watch the road.”

“I got delayed on the way here,” Kayla said, forcing a smile.

As she closed her wallet, she glanced at the short stack of colorful flyers on the counter. A single word caught her eye: faire. She took one and skimmed it, noting the dates and events listed.

“Are you going to this Forever Faire show next week?”

The clerk smiled and nodded. “It’s wonderful. They have archery contests, and all this amazing food, and all kinds of shows. Plus those men are so handsome in their shining armor. It’s free, too, if you and your sister’ll be here.”

Kayla imagined Ryan in armor and felt her lips tingle. “Probably not, but thank you.”

She went back out to retrieve her suitcase before she went to the room, the last one at the back of the motel. But before Kayla could even knock, her sister opened the door.

Tara had obviously jumped out of the shower. Her ash blonde hair hung dripping wet around her pale, narrow face, and all she wore was her old pink bathrobe. For an instant something shadowed her big gray eyes, and then she grabbed Kayla, dragged her inside and enveloped her in a tight hug.

“It’s okay, I’m okay” Kayla murmured as she patted her sister’s back.

New guilt ground a hole in her heart. How could Ryan have made her think about leaving Tara behind? Kayla was all she had in the world. As Tara’s shoulders shuddered, Kayla found her own eyes burning and her throat tight.

“Don’t cry,” Kayla managed to say. “It gives you a clown nose, and a circus will steal you from me.”

The old, lame joke from childhood worked its usual charm as Tara drew back and sniffed a few times.

“I wish one would. They’d never make me sit in a lousy motel for like forever.”

“Forever is a bit longer than four days. The car broke down right before I got here, but a nice cop helped me.” For the moment she would skip the real story. Kayla bolted the door. “Please tell me you have some food that didn’t come out of a vending machine.”

“Snack snob,” Tara said, but gave her another quick hug. She gestured toward some take-out boxes stacked on the spindly table by the window. “I used the last of my cash to get some pizza. It’s still warm.”

“Good, I’m starving,” Kayla said, and went to investigate. As soon as she saw the half-cheese, half-sardine and jalapeño, she glanced back at her sister. “You already knew I got here.”

Tara had been able to sense Kayla almost since she was born.

“Like usual,” she said, and shrugged. Tara wrinkled her nose. “Why do you stink like that?”

Kayla made a show of sniffing her sleeve, to which Ryan’s delicious scent still clung.

“My desperate need to visit the nearest laundromat, I imagine.”

She didn’t want to think about him, or feel the ghost of his kiss on her lips. Instead she took a slice from the cheese half and bit off the point. Once she chewed and swallowed, she sighed.

“God, I love you,” Kayla said. “Even if you do eat like a teenager.”

“I am a teenager,”
Tara said, and handed her a can of soda. “So, what happened? Did you see them?”

“Not since the day we split up.” She took a long drink before she dropped onto one of the double beds. “Go, finish your shower. I’ll tell you everything once I’ve eaten and you’re not so drippy, Fish Breath.”

“Hey, I brushed.”

Her sister tossed some napkins at her and retreated to the tiny bathroom. Only after she closed the door did Kayla set aside the food and drink, stand, strip out of her jacket and fling it across the room.

Son of a bitch.
If she’d been alone, she would have shrieked it.
Why me? Why lie to me and change bodies and kiss me? Why couldn’t you just stay on your side of the campfire? Why did you say I wouldn’t remember if you knew I would?

Kayla flopped back on the bed and pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes. She could hear Tara using the hair dryer in the bathroom, and knew she had only a minute or two to pull herself together. Tara knew her better than anyone on the planet. Lying to her sister had to be done by omission, or not at all.

The smartest thing Kayla could do was leave Ashdale first thing in the morning. Winter made heading north a bad idea, but there was still the southwest. They could even try driving all the way out west to some town along the Pacific coast. But traveling cost money, and theirs was almost gone.

No, what she’d given Tara was gone.
I used the last of my cash to get some pizza,
her sister had told her.

Kayla took out her wallet. She already knew her checking account balance had dwindled down to two digits, and she’d maxed out her credit card renting the car. A quick count of the bills she had left added up to seventy-four dollars in cash.

Not enough to get us to Kansas.

She pocketed her wallet and lay back to stare at the ceiling. She didn’t want to go west or southwest or anywhere. What she wanted was to go back to the Forever Faire and to find out what sort of magicians Ryan and his men were—and how they were able to do what they did.

If we’re to perform we’ll need replacements for them by week-end.

Have new notices posted in town.

Kayla jumped off the bed and went to the window to check the parking lot. Her first job at the riding academy had been as a stable hand, while Tara had been making her own clothes for years. They could replace the ousted groom and the seamstress. The only problem was Ryan.

Unless…

Kayla went still.

He told me I wouldn’t remember him, or anything. All I have to do is pretend I don’t.

A finger tapped her shoulder, making her yelp and spin around to face her glowering sister.

“Quit sneaking up on me like that, will you? It’s creepy.”

“Next time I’ll yell.”
Tara pushed a thin, folded towel into her hands. “Go take a shower. Use lots of soap. You really do stink.”

If she was going to pull this off, Kayla thought, she needed her sister on board.

“No, sit down. I have to tell you what really happened to me tonight.”

Tara scowled. “So you are keeping things from me. Again.”

“The birds and the bees don’t count. Just listen.”

Kayla detailed everything that had happened to her that night, leaving out only the kiss Ryan had given her, and how it had made her feel. She then told her about how they might find out more about Ryan and his motorcycles by getting jobs at Forever Faire. Once she had finished Kayla waited for Tara to say something, but her sister seemed almost frozen.

“Come on. Tell me what you think.”

Tara’s thin brows drew together. “I think it scares me. I think we could get into a lot of trouble.” She hesitated before she added, “And I think you’re right. If Ryan and these other guys can help us with their magic, or whatever it is, it may be our only chance.”

“So you don’t think I’m crazy to believe in magic?” Kayla asked carefully.

Her sister’s mouth twisted. “You’re talking to the sister who can measure anything just by looking at it. Should I mention what you do with horses?”

A knot in her chest melted away. “We go tomorrow, apply for the jobs, and see what we can find out.”

Tara nodded. “But we don’t tell them anything about us. Not who we are, where we come from, or anything about what we can do. Not until we know we can trust them, okay?”

“Now you sound like the big sister.” Kayla knew she was right, however, and grinned. “We’re broke, and they suddenly need a groom and a seamstress. Pretty magical coincidence, huh?”

Her sister’s thin face remained serious. “I don’t believe in coincidences.”