Fearless Read online

  “Nasty beast in there.” Demetrius attempted to remove the screen. “Best let me go first.”

  “And you best not set off the alarm.” Abby pushed him aside and touched the sides of the window. Her hands glowed, and the tiny light blinking on the top inside corner went out. She slid the window up and slipped into the girl’s room to dispatch the monster in the closet.

  *

  “You scared that girl more than the monster.” Abby wiped her face with an old towel from her car’s trunk. When he held out his hand for one, she ignored the blood splattered fae.

  “I did not. She saw how handsome and heroic I am and swooned.” When she was done, Demetrius snatched the towel from her. The black blood was like jelly, but the stench didn’t whet the appetite in the least.

  “You barreled in through her window and growled like an animal just as I had the monster. The girl screamed and fainted.” Abby opened the driver’s side door and unhooked Tawa from her belt. She tossed the hippo into the backseat. “I told you to stay outside and watch.”

  Hey! I don’t care if you’re mad at that brute, but be a little gentler with me. Tawa complained.

  “The beast was going to suck you dry. If I hadn’t helped—” Demetrius threw the towel back into the trunk and slammed it shut.

  “It was not! I could’ve tied its proboscis in knots, but I was going for the quick, clean kill. You’re the one that made it messy.” Abby sat in the driver’s seat and jammed the keys into the ignition. This night had gone to hell. First a pack of monsters in the attic. She’d never seen so many together. They were usually solitary creatures. Then this damn annoying fae had attached himself to her and gotten in the way of what would have been an easy kill. The mess from the fight was extensive, but all evidence of the monster in the closet would be gone as soon as the sun rose. The little girl would remember, but her memory would fade with time.

  Unfortunately Abby’s would not.

  Demetrius stood beside the car with his arms folded. The moonlight highlighted and complimented his profile. Even covered in filth, he still managed to look hot. Abby yanked her door closed and cursed herself for noticing.

  “Well?” Abby glared at him.

  “Well what?” He snipped back.

  “I’m going home now.” She couldn’t believe she was waiting for him.

  Neither can I. Tawa huffed.

  “Where do you live? I’ll meet you there.” Demetrius said with a nonchalance that made Abby frown all the more.

  “It’s a bit of a drive. Just get in.” Abby sighed.

  “I’m not getting into an iron box for the second time tonight.” He stood his ground.

  Ha! That’s right. The fae hate cars. Tawa laughed. Drive off and leave him in the dust.

  “All right then. Can’t say it was nice meeting you. Bye.” Abby shifted the car into drive and pulled away from the curb. He cursed and snarled in her rearview mirror and then ran to grab the passenger side door.

  “I’m coming with you.” Demetrius sat down and shut the door. His hand gripped the handle and his face paled.

  “Don’t worry.” Abby smirked as she drove down the street and headed for the highway. “I won’t take advantage of you in your weakened state.”

  “You can give it a try, if you’d like, babe.” His sly smile made hers evaporate.

  “Enough with the pet names already!” Abby gripped the wheel tight in both hands. “Freakin’ fae. Prancing around all fancy and pretty, thinking they can have any woman or man. I’m sure you all laugh about it at court and drink your fruity fairy wines. I will not be one of those humans. Flirt with someone else.”

  “So you think I’m pretty?” His smile was weak, but it was still there, still tempting.

  Open the car door and kick him out. He won’t have the strength to fight you. Tawa suggested. You should have listened to me.

  “Enough with your comments too.” Abby shot a look over her shoulder at the hippo. Then she poked Demetrius in the arm with a rigid finger. “You’re an egotistical jerk. You’re only here because of your blood debt or whatever. Act like you’re an honorable being, for goodness sake.”

  “My honor demands that I give my life for yours if the situation necessitates it. I will hold true to it. Do not doubt me.” Demetrius’ voice was quiet and serious. He swallowed thickly. “I’m not one of those, as you said, freakin’ fae from the court. Those are distant cousins and I dislike them as much as you. I’m of the wild, a hunter. One of the best of my clan. No prancing, no fruity wines, no silly gossiping.”

  Despite the chill of the night, Abby pressed the button to lower his window and let the fresh air wash over him. He breathed in deeply, looking a little less tense.

  He’s still an egotistical jerk.

  “You’re one of the Fearless. I have much to prove in your eyes it seems.” Demetrius stuck an arm outside and rested his hand on the roof.

  I wonder if he’ll stick his head outside like a dog. The hippo chuckled, but it tapered off. Abby ignored her again.

  Abby said nothing. Her gut told her he was being honest. He also proved he would risk a lot by riding in a car. It was clearly weakening him and making him sick. She sped up to get them to her place a little faster. What was she going to do with him? Perhaps another person to fight with her against the increase of monsters would be a good thing.

  Chapter 3

  Abby sliced through the thick hide of the monster with the party hat. Copious amounts of black blood splattered her, but that wasn’t what made her curse. The beast laughed as its wound stitched itself together within a matter of seconds.

  It swung its meaty arm at her with the force and speed of a wrecking ball. Abby jumped to the side, trying to focus on an alternative method of killing this beastly primate. Hacking it to bits would take too long. Her line of thought was interrupted.

  Demetrius roared and made another attack.

  “Stay back!” Abby shouted and leapt into the fray with her blades whirling.

  “You get out of the way. Let me crush the beast.” Demetrius brought his huge club down upon the monster. It squealed as it was struck, but it wasn’t hurt that badly.

  What is it with men and thinking they can solve all their problems with a big chunk of wood? Tawa said with her usual bitter bite.

  “Let’s not even go there. I need to find a way to kill it.” Abby whispered just as the monster smacked her across the face. Pain flashed brightly before she forced it down. Warm blood trickled from her nose. She wiped it away with the back of her hand.

  “Then leave it to me.” Demetrius was like an animal when he fought. All brute force, instinctual, and deadly grace.

  Are you ever going to let him pay his blood debt to you? Tawa sighed. Let him kill it. He’ll eventually find a way.

  “No. This is my job.” Abby would not retreat from her duty. Every monster she faced represented a child’s life. This had to end as soon as possible. She dodged another flurry of blows.

  Demetrius was noisy as he fought. Snarls and battle cries. Three days ago she had brought him home, and after resting the first night at her loft, he had gone to a nearby park and returned with his club. He claimed that it had to come from a tree spirit who willingly gave its limb for the purpose of being used against evil. It made one hell of a weapon, but it wasn’t going to work quickly with this monster.

  “Think like a child.” Abby tore her gaze from the fae’s impressive display and zipped out of the way of the beast. She scanned the child’s room. Books, lots of books, and airplane models. A row of hats neatly hung from a coat rack. Some other toys and a teddy bear with its eyes plucked out thrown into a corner. Monsters were always so cruel to the children’s favorite toys.

  Yes, what weakness would a child attribute to this beast? Bananas? Tawa sounded as frustrated as Abby felt.

  Thrown into her, Demetrius and Abby crashed into the wall. Chunks of plaster fell around them. He bounced to his feet and stood in front of her, bare chest heaving. He neve
r lost hold of his club.

  “Is it laughing at us?” He swung at the beast again.

  Abby could hear a strange coughing noise, and the monster was holding its shaking belly. She stood and moved beside Demetrius. “It’s giggling.”

  “I will not be laughed at by an overgrown monkey!” He roared and launched himself at the thing. The monster promptly hurtled Demetrius against the other wall.

  “It’s a gorilla.” The nightmares that came to life from children’s minds never ceased to amaze her. Why the boy who lived there was afraid of a giggling gorilla, she didn’t know, but it was sharper than the typical beast. It also had to have a weakness.

  Head-on attacks weren’t working. It was too clever to let her get behind it. It did a little dance as it and Demetrius exchanged blows. The polka dots on the hat sparkled in the dim light coming from outside.

  The hat.

  Abby darted forward. She did so without fear of the horrific beast or for her own life. Her only fear was that she so easily fell into working with Demetrius and liked it. Not that she’d ever tell him.

  She swung with her left blade to distract the monster. When it dodged it, she brought the right sword down to slice through its hat. It howled. Its giggles turned into sobs. Abby rammed both her swords through its chest. This time, its wounds didn’t heal. It sank to the floor with a pitiful sob and shuddered once before it died.

  “The hat was its weak spot?” He rolled his shoulders, brushing off blood and plaster. “That makes no bloody sense at all.”

  “It does, but I don’t expect a caveman like you to understand.” Abby’s glowing swords disappeared into her palms.

  “Caveman? You’re the one who snores.” He shot back.

  “You’re the one carrying the club.” Abby adjusted Tawa on her back and headed to the window.

  “Perhaps I’m the one with the club, babycakes,” Demetrius said as he hefted it over one broad shoulder. “But at least I resisted the urge to knock you out with it and carry you back to my cave while watching you towel off after your shower this morning.”

  Abby’s mouth fell open and her cheeks flushed a brilliant crimson. There was little privacy in her loft, and she had thought he’d been sleeping. He chuckled as she hopped out the window. She slammed it shut and walked off without waiting for him.

  Chapter 4

  “You will stay at this table, read the books or whatever, but you will not bother me while I’m working.” Abby glared at Demetrius who only infuriated her further with his lazy smile. She gritted her teeth and repeated, “Stay right here.”

  Abby turned and marched over to another table in the library where twin twelve-year-old girls sat. They whispered and giggled, stealing glances at Demetrius. They leaned on the table in unison as Abby sat down and took her texts out of her satchel.

  “Is that your boyfriend, Miss White?” Amber asked.

  Her twin Violet added, “He’s really cute.”

  This set them giggling again.

  “No. He’s not my boyfriend. He’s...” Abby searched for a proper cover story. “My cousin. Visiting from out of town.” Her neck ached as she willed herself not to look in the fae’s direction. She knew he heard that, knew he was grinning. Abby tapped the book in front of her. “Down to work, girls. Algebra today.”

  Abby spent the hour tutoring the girls, but her mind kept drifting. It was a good thing math came easily to her and that the twins weren’t paying that much attention. She would’ve canceled all her appointments, but she still needed to pay rent and, more importantly, tutoring let her communicate with the children. She would hear stories about kids having problems with nightmares, or a few of them already knew she could help them with monster problems and would pass notes to her through their friends. Other adults never believed them, but she did. Were there a few false calls? Yes. Lately, though, every one was real.

  As they were collecting their things after the session, Demetrius sauntered over to the table. He grinned at the girls. “Hello, girls. Did you enjoy your lesson with my lovely cousin?”

  “It was good.” Violet flushed and giggled.

  “Though I bet you’d rather be reading those books of yours.” Demetrius motioned to the books they currently held in their arms and sat on the edge of the table. Their math books were already stuffed in their knapsacks. “What are those about?”

  “Oh, this is the new one by M.T. Burrows. Her stories are awesome scary.” Amber gazed at Demetrius with big dreamy eyes.

  “I like a good horror story. Maybe I’ll pick them up. Thanks for the recommendation.” Demetrius made a small noise as he pushed off the table and straightened. He still smirked.

  “Go on, girls. Your mom is likely waiting for you out front.” Abby shooed them off. The twins walked away, giggling and peeking over their shoulders at Demetrius. Abby frowned at him. “I told you not to talk to the kids.”

  “No harm done.” He shrugged. Abby couldn’t help but notice the t-shirt he was wearing stretched across his chest as if barely containing him. At least it wasn’t as distracting as his tattoo.

  “It’s creepy. Did you actually do any research while you were sitting over there? I didn’t see you open more than one book.” Abby sighed and hooked her satchel over her shoulder.

  “Not all knowledge of value can be found in books. Though it is books that I’m interested in. Especially those the girls were reading. The Burrows books.”

  “They’re just some silly stories. Fiction. Why? Do you like to read children’s books?” Abby shook her head. She hoped he would be some help with her research, but she shouldn’t have expected it from one of the wild fae. He likely never read a book in his life.

  “No, but look.” Demetrius put an arm over her shoulder and turned her in a slow circle. He spoke in a quiet voice near her ear. “I’ve been watching the children. Almost all of them have a copy of the book.”

  Abby scanned the library. There were a lot of kids since it was after school and just before dinner. What he said was true. It was a popular series.

  “So?” She was very aware of his arm on her and the nearness of his mouth to her ear. It was difficult to think about books when she could just turn her head and press her lips to his.

  No, no. None of that. She took a step away from him.

  “I saw that book in the room last night. The gorilla room.” He dipped his head to her, seemingly awaiting something. When she didn’t reply immediately, he continued, “A scary book. Awesome scary. All the children are reading it. It’s breeding the monsters.”

  Abby was about to protest, but then it clicked. She could have kicked herself for not seeing it sooner. It didn’t take much to fuel a child’s imagination. Her research into old folklore and history had been too obscure. She never saw what was there all along. Abby hadn’t been thinking like a child. There were always horror stories and films. What was different about this one?

  “Let’s go buy a copy.”

  Chapter 5

  Abby returned to her loft with pizza in hand. She was about to toss down her satchel when she heard Demetrius. His voice was quiet and intense, talking about something going on in the old house at the end of the street. There were no houses on her street, only apartment buildings.

  After a half minute more, she realized he was reading. Reading out loud.

  Abby crept around the corner and peered into the loft. Demetrius was sitting in her window seat with the window wide open. Tawa was propped up across from him. He had the newest Burrows book in his hands. He paused in his reading and started to ask Tawa a question.

  “You!” Abby gasped. She stormed over to them, tossing the pizza onto the coffee table. “You can hear her. You’ve been making fun of me all this time for talking to myself and you can hear her!”

  “Hey, darling. It’s no reason to be mean to the pizza.” Demetrius gave her that grin that infuriated her and made her stomach do flips at the same time.

  If it’s any consolation, I didn’t know he could hea
r me either until yesterday. Tawa didn’t sound very sympathetic. In fact, Abby was sure she sounded amused.

  “Yesterday?” Abby growled and threw up her hands before pulling at her hair. “Why didn’t you tell us? Do you realize how infuriating you are?”

  “I didn’t do it to annoy you, but it was an amusing game.” Demetrius slipped from the window seat and bent over to open the box and snag a piece of pizza. “You never let me finish telling you how much I knew about the Fearless. Well, the old tales say something about a spiritual guide for each warrior. In centuries past, the guide was wished into a sacred object—perhaps a statue or a symbol of one’s faith.”

  I remember those days. I was in a statue of the Greek Goddess Artemis for a couple of generations. Tawa sighed wistfully.

  “Yet your sacred object was a stuffed hippo.” Demetrius chuckled as he took a bite, cheese stretching out. He used his tongue to skillfully rein it in.

  “At least it’s something I can carry around easily and not draw any attention. I think lugging around a statue would slow me down a bit.” Abby stared at that tongue. She slammed her palms into her eyes and rubbed them.

  We didn’t go with our girls when they fought. That has been something new I’ve experienced with you, Tawa said. After being in the washer for the third time this week, I think I prefer being in an unmovable statue.

  “Anyway,” Demetrius continued. “As for being able to hear Tawa, I’m from a line that has some telepathic abilities. I don’t have any active abilities, but my senses can pick up things on other wavelengths. I didn’t say anything at first because I was trying to respect your relationship with your guide. I didn’t want to intrude unless invited.”

  “So why did you?” Abby folded her arms.

  “I got tired of listening to her whining about being stuck in the washer and took her out.” Demetrius shrugged as he took a second bite.

  I wasn’t whining. Tawa sniffed.

  “That I can believe,” Abby said to Demetrius and picked up a piece of pizza for herself. “Okay, now we can all talk together. Anything in the book worthwhile?”