Altered

  I grimaced. “Really?”

  He laughed. “Yeah. I thought girls were supposed to eat that romantic stuff up?”

  “It’s essentially a leash?” He laughed harder. “So she can’t get away, right?”

  “No way.” He bent over a little, laughing, before giving me a look that said he thought I was adorable. I frowned at that. “Wow, you’re a tough cookie.” He paused, looking me over. “No. It means she chose me. Our kinds— devourers, witches, goblins,” he pointed to himself, “necromancers. We find someone that we want to spend some time with, and no one else, and they are our mate. It can last for a long time or a short time, but they are ours and no one else’s. But when the bond goes deeper than that, more than just lust and wanting, when it becomes…love, a bond can take place.” He held up his wrist again. “It looks like a vine wrapped around my wrist, kind of like smoke, and it flows all the way to my mate. I can find her anywhere and her, me. So she can never be taken from me or be lost. I’ll always be able to keep her safe even if I’m not right beside her.”

  I thought about that. “That is kind of romantic.

  He chuckled and bumped my arm with his elbow. “Now you’re getting it.” He beckoned me along. “Come on. If I don’t get you inside soon, Enoch will murder me.”

  “You know him?”

  He scoffed. “Yes, I know him, but even if I didn’t, everyone knows who he is. The Thames brothers are devourer royalty.” I snapped my gaze over and he laughed. “I didn’t figure he was going to spill the beans about that.”

  “But you are, aren’t you?” I coaxed and smiled sweetly.

  He laughed loudly, his head leaned back. “Wow, you a mess, little human.”

  I sulked. “Why does everyone call me that?”

  He finished his laugh and then nodded. “Yeah, I’ll tell you. Because I like your spunk and I know that you want to know for the right reasons.”

  “And what reasons are those?” I asked as I pulled a small twig from a bush to busy my hands.

  The corners of his lips lifted. “Enoch is different than he used to be. The Thames family is the kingship family of the devourers. They rule, so to speak. They were rich, they were powerful, they were mean, and they were cunning.” I squinted, thinking of Eli. He didn’t strike me as that way at all. Neither did Enoch, but Eli didn’t especially. Hundreds of years ago…” He waited to see if I was going to compute that. I nodded for him to go on. “They ruled everything. Devourers are kind of the big dogs of everybody. Eli was set to take over everything. And then he just disappeared. No one sees him for years. Come to find out he had some kind of existential breakdown. It changed him. A little boy made him view things differently and he didn’t want to feed anymore. So he stopped forcing emotions on people and only fed when people were—”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  He nodded. “So. Enoch finds him later, after he’d met Clara. But by that time the Horde had gotten out of control. Enoch couldn’t take over the family. His family was destroyed, the entire structure of the system we’d always known was crumbling because of a few idiots who didn’t want to let us be. Enoch always wanted to be the son to take over the family business, so to speak. When Eli didn’t want it, it made him even angrier. Enoch was the more ruthless of the two back then.”

  “I’ve heard.”

  “But he’s…not even the same person.”

  I laughed once. “Yeah,” I whispered.

  “I don’t know what you did to him—”

  “It wasn’t me. This is the only way I’ve ever known him. He saved my life. That’s how we met.”

  He smiled. “That’s a good way to meet.” He opened the door to Eli and Clara’s trailer without knocking and paused. “People change. I hope you won’t hold the person he was against him.”

  I looked at Clara’s white tile and licked my bottom lip. “So everybody knows who Enoch was?”

  “Yeah.”

  “But you’re not holding that against him.” I looked at him and he looked back. “You don’t think this is an act on his part.” I didn’t phrase either of those as a question because they weren’t. I looked into his eyes, making sure he knew that I wasn’t afraid of their swirling or him. He seemed surprised that I was so easy with him.

  He shook his head. “No. He’s not acting. I’ve known Enoch for over a hundred years.” I couldn’t stop the wince. He chuckled. “Yeah. Long time. You can’t fake who you are all day, all night forever. But even if he could, what would he gain from it?”

  “I don’t think he is. But I’ve only known the man he is now, not the man he used to be.”

  He smiled. “You said ‘man’.”

  I frowned and sat down on the step. “What should I have said?”

  “You said ‘man’ not ‘devourer’.” He smiled wider. “I’m sure Enoch would appreciate that.”

  I shook my head. “I doubt that. He doesn’t even like humans.”

  “He likes you,” he countered and smirked.

  “Don’t tell him we talked about this,” I rushed to say.

  “I would never,” he said, fake insulted. He shooed me inside. “Inside before I get decapitated by your boyfriend.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend.”

  “Yet. Stay inside and lock the door.” He smiled as he walked away and turned back once more after a few steps. “I’m glad we had this talk, Fay!”

  “You’re worse than a woman, Aries!”

  I could hear his laughter carry back to me and I found myself chuckling as I locked the door and waited for Eli and Clara to return.

  What I hadn’t expected was the cloth over my face, the weird smell, and the blackness that overtook me.

  “It was meant for Fay,” I told them when I entered the community center. They were already talking about something, but it wasn’t important. They didn’t have all the facts. They were just speculating. “The shot. I took it instead and—”

  “What?” I looked up from my perch on the back wall. Clara and Eli were there. She was staring at the blood on my shirt. I cursed. That meant that Fay was at the trailer alone.

  “She left. I thought she was home when everything happened,” Clara said in hysterics.

  I paused for just a moment…and then took off out the door, blurring across the expanse of the campground until I passed Aries. I yanked him to a stop. “Hey, Enoch. You gotta stop doing that,” he growled.

  “Where’s Fay?” I barked.

  “At Eli’s,” he said in exasperation. “Where you asked me to take her.”

  “Was anyone there when you dropped her off?”

  He squinted. “Not that I know of? Why?”

  I took off again, but he followed me. He was fast, but not quite as fast as I was. I got there and the door was closed. I took that as I good sign. I opened the door and yelled, knowing she was going to be angry with me for scaring her, but I was scared so she could join the party. “Fay!”

  No one answered. I went to the back near the bathroom. “Sweetheart, if you’re in there, don’t be a girl right now. Answer me.” I yanked the door open so hard that one of the hinges came off. My muscles began to shake. “No. No,” I begged. I sent her here. I told her to come here.

  “Enoch,” he hissed. I ran to Aries and if he showed me blood, I was going to lose it. “Look,” he said and pointed out the window and we could see a clear path in the bushes in the moonlight.

  I crept out the backdoor and he followed. I could hear people, Eli and Clara I imagined, running to catch up, but they would never make it in time. We followed the path silently. It clearly wasn’t a devourer they had sent to take Fay. He was being far too slow, too sloppy, and too loud.

  I was getting weak and needed to feed, but I had to do this. We eased along until I saw him. And when I did, I saw red. He had her thrown over his shoulder none too gently, jostling her about like a ragdoll as he trudged along. He was breathing heavy from being so out of shape that he was about to take a rest, but I blurred ahead. He turned just in
time, dropping Fay in front of him. A goblin’s tooth raised over Fay’s neck was the only thing that stopped me from ripping his throat out. She was awake now and watching me with scared eyes. She didn’t appear to be hurt, but I sucked in a breath as her fear hit me. She mouthed a ‘Sorry’ and I shook my head at her. She was insane if she thought I thought this was her fault.

  He laughed. “Enoch Thames, in the flesh.”

  And then I realized something. He wasn’t holding the goblin’s tooth to her throat, he was holding it out towards me. Of course. I scoffed under my breath. He wouldn’t think I’d have any attachment toward a human girl. But the goblin’s tooth would be deadly to me—it’s the only thing in the world that can kill me. He thought if he kept the tooth up towards me, I wouldn’t try to take the girl. That it wouldn’t be worth it to me.

  “Yep.” I raised my hands. “In the flesh.”

  “You don’t stand a chance, you know that, right? I can’t believe you’re here, anyway. Just because your brother went soft doesn’t mean you had to.”

  I snorted. “I’m just visiting,” I said snidely. “What’s it to you, troll?”

  Fay tried to keep it together, but I felt her spike in fear and tightened my fist to keep from groaning. Somehow, I managed to keep it to myself. She slowly turned to look at him, her entire body shaking. I was kicking myself for saying what I’d said. He grinned at her and brought her a little closer to his face. He licked her jaw and she shuddered.

  “Keep your filthy—”

  “She was promised to me,” he hissed, letting his long tongue snake out. “They sent me to take her and my payment for doing so was that I got to keep her.” I couldn’t have stopped the small step forward if I wanted to. Aries gripped my arm and the troll chuckled. “And she’ll be tasty, too.”

  She jerked her gaze over to me and I knew that if I let him see how much she meant to me, he’d use it. He’d kill her just to spite me and he’d do it even faster. I couldn’t let that happen. So even though I knew she’d be angry with me, I had to do this. “You think I care about this human?” I scoffed and it hurt every molecule in my body to do so. Her eyes searched my face, but he couldn’t see her. He only watched me. “She has something on her that I need. I don’t care what you do with her afterwards. I don’t give a damn about a human, and the fact that you thought I did shows you don’t know my reputation as well as you claim to,” I growled and glared him down.

  He seemed rattled, and his eyes searched the woods behind me. “Your brother and his bride—”

  “Will be pissed, naturally. That’s his wife’s sister. But that’s not my concern. I don’t plan to stay here. I only came to get what I need and then I’m out of here.”

  “Human relations with our kinds are abominations,” he spit and looked behind me to Aries. Or to the bond wrapped around his wrist rather. “They all have to be wiped out. We can’t sit back while you all mix us with this trash!” he yelled in Fay’s ear. She squeaked and closed her eyes, but stayed relatively still and quiet. I knew her training was to thank for that. I could imagine Clara in this scenario and the hysterics that would be abounding.

  “I agree. I hate that my brother married that human.”

  Fay looked at me and I felt so guilty for saying it. I looked away from her.

  “Well,” he said and laughed a little, “this is not how I expected this night to go. I fully expected to have to kill you.”

  I grinned. “The night’s still young.”

  When he leaned his head back to laugh, I roared and clapped my hands as loud as I could. Trolls are jumpy about noise, so when he winced and closed his eyes, I blurred forward. Trolls are fast, but not as fast as devourers. I knew it was going to be close. I had the jump on him, I had the advantage, and I had the upper hand because he’d thought I was on his side, but I knew he’d get the picture before we were free. I snapped his arm back away from Fay’s neck and yanked her forward before slamming my fist into his chest. He swung the goblin’s tooth on his way down and I felt it connect as I spun around and fell to shield Fay from anything else. Aries struck and I didn’t watch.

  I heard his gurgle. “This isn’t over, devourer.” I glared over my shoulder. “This war is far from over.” I looked away as Aries ripped his throat out, and though I wanted that honor, I was happy just to have Fay safe in my arms.

  I looked down at Fay under me, fully expecting her to be angry with me, but she took my face in between her cool hands and the look on her face was melting my heart. “You came for me,” she said.

  “Of course I did,” I growled.

  Aries got up and wiped the blood from his hands on his pants. “You could have been killed,” he barked.

  “I know that,” I answered and continued to look at Fay. I wanted to remember that look on her face for the rest of my life.

  “You should have let me do it. I can survive a stab from a goblin. You can’t!” he yelled.

  “What’s he talking about? I thought you told me you couldn’t be killed?” she asked and the look went away. I wanted to punch Aries for taking that look away from me.

  “Aries is being dramatic. Don’t worry about it.” I got up and took her hands to help her stand. She fingered the slash in my shirt and eyed me wearily.

  “What’s this?”

  Aries pushed her out of the way and I growled at him. He didn’t seem to care as he stared at the hole. His eyes lifted. “You came that close to final death.” His voice was quiet as he pointed at my shirt, his eyes pained.

  Fay’s breathing was getting heavier. “What’s going on?”

  He looked at her. “A goblin’s tooth is the only thing that can kill a devourer. The only thing in the entire world. And that’s what that troll had pointed at Enoch to keep him from getting to you.”

  She covered her mouth. I lifted my hand. “I’m fine. I wasn’t going to just let him eat you because he might try to stab me.”

  “Eat me?”

  “Trolls eat people,” Aries explained, but he was looking at me. “They told him if he took you that he could eat you. And they hate noise, so that’s how Enoch distracted him. But they’re quick.” He stepped forward. “You should have let me take him down. I can survive a stab.”

  “And just how were we going to discuss this plan of ours, Aries?” I said, my exasperation evident.

  He sighed. “It seems like a big risk, hundreds of years of your life…” He looked back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.”

  “I understand,” she said. And you could tell on her face that she got it—he thought my life was worth more than hers.

  I grabbed his collar lightly. “It was worth the risk. She was in that house because I sent her there.” I shook my head and let him go. “Go, Aries. Thank you for your help, but I think Fay is pretty shaken up. I’m going to take her home.”

  He nodded and went to her. He hugged her and I felt my fists tighten. They whispered to each other and I watched. When he left, I thought I was going to spend a long time coaxing her to forgive me for the way I spoke to the troll about her, but she came right to me and threw her arms around my neck.

  I sighed and lifted her feet from the ground, my arms around her tightly. She smelled divine and I couldn’t stop myself as I stuck my nose into her hair and breathed deeply. She cupped the back of my head and let her fingers scratch my scalp, almost as if she was soothing me instead of the other way around. I moaned and hugged her tighter at how good it felt, how good she felt.

  My entire universe was shifting. A human had changed me. If you had told me that a year ago, I would have broken your neck where you stood. And now, I was bloody in love with one.

  “Did he hurt you?”

  “My head hurts a little. I’m fine.”

  “Fay, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything I said—”

  “I know.” She slid down my body to the ground and a little growl slipped out, but I pretended it hadn’t.

  “You know?” I asked, annoyed. How was she alwa
ys so calm about everything? She was the least hysterical female I’d ever been in contact with.

  “You just told him that so you could throw him off.” Her breathing was changing. She gulped. Her eyes met mine, but then drifted down to the slash in my shirt. She looked immediately distressed. “You shouldn’t have done this. Not if it meant you could die, like forever.”

  I chuckled under my breath. “That’s usually what dying means, princess.”

  “Don’t make fun of me, not right now.” A tear finally escaped the side of her eye, just one, but it was enough to break me.

  I swiped it away and pressed my lips to her forehead—just pressed them there. “I’m sorry, princess. When I knew that I’d sent you to the one place that I shouldn’t have, to the place where he was going to take you from…”

  “You didn’t know,” she argued.

  “I should have made sure. I should have checked myself. I should have kept you with me.”

  She lifted her head and her lips quirked. “That sounds like the job of a mate.”

  My mouth dropped open. “What the hell did you and Aries talk about?”

  She laughed softly. “Nothing, really.”

  “It doesn’t sound like nothing.”

  “I wanted to know who you were.” She looked up and leaned back. I knew an invitation when I saw one and she was practically yelling it. “I wanted to know who the old you was since everybody seems to think they know exactly who you are, so I asked.”

  I held my breath and leaned in just a bit, letting one arm snake around the small of her back. “And?”

  She smiled. “And I still just know the you that I know. I don’t know the person that was around a hundred years ago. If that person doesn’t want to be that person anymore, then he doesn’t have to be.”

  When she breathed out, I could feel it on my lips she was so close. It made me ache. “Why did you have to be so bloody beautiful, Fay?” She inhaled sharply. “Why did you have to have such a beautiful heart?”

  Her skin practically sizzled mine as our foreheads pressed together, and I was done fighting. She gripped my collar and I slid my free hand to her ribs around to her back.