“And then you made him promise that, no matter what, he couldn’t use you to hurt people.”
The elf’s lip curls with amusement. “He said I couldn’t make him hurt ‘humans.’ Don’t be racist, Hunter. The fae are people, too.”
Rafa rolls his eyes. “Evidence to the contrary…” He sheathes his long gun into the quiver-like back holster under his duster and takes my hands in his. “And you did all of this without asking for anything for yourself.”
“This is all my fault,” I say, staring at my shoes. My voice is low and quiet. “It’s my mess to clean up.”
Rafa lifts his chin to the elf. “Beat it. Alvin doesn’t need your kind of help.”
My cheeks heat with frustration, and I yank my hands away. “Actually, Rafa, I really do! I don’t have any powers right now. There is literally no one else!”
“That’s not true,” he says in that confident, manly, Captain America way of his. “You have me.”
And he’s so freaking sure of himself, I’m too gobsmacked to respond. But I can feel my eyes going soft. (I guess I really am desperate for a friend!)
The elf sighs. “It appears this little bit of street theater has become boringly domestic.” He twirls his fingers and retrieves another white feather from nowhere, and tips it to me. “When your Monster Hunter returns to form, you may call me again. We can only hope that your world will still have time.”
I shove Rafa out of the way and extend my hand. “No! We’re making this deal! I’m in! I agree! Let’s do this!”
Prince Eirian looks balefully over at Rafa. “Your ‘friend’ here has made it clear that he believes my terms would break our binding pact. Since what constitutes ‘harm’ is a matter of some subjectivity, I’m not willing to risk crossing him on this. Unless he changes his mind, I’m afraid my hands are tied.”
“Go,” the Hunter says to the elf. “Now.”
The fae warrior inclines his head at Rafa with barely concealed hate, quickly places the feather in my hand, and before I can get another word out, he’s gone.
Fuck!
I immediately move to throw the feather back up in the air, when Rafa grabs my arm.
“He’s not worth it, Alvin.”
“Not if you won’t let him make a deal with me!” I glare. “You don’t get to decide what I’m willing to sacrifice. You’re not my real friend. Weren’t you supposed to kill me or something? I’m still some ‘soul-sucking demon,’ right?!”
Rafa winces and lets go of his grip. “I… did say that. And maybe I don’t get to tell you what to do. But the fae wasn’t dealing fairly. That so-called concession he made to you about not hurting humans, that was already part of the pact he made with me. He gave you nothing and acted like you owed him for it.”
Hm. I forgot about that. But I’m sure Prince Eirian didn’t.
“I think it’s a safe bet that he’d treat the rest of your deal the same way,” he continues. “He’d follow the letter of what you asked from him, but would he really help? Would he really be there for you if things got hard?”
I exhale through a tight jaw, deflating. “Maybe! There’sno way to know because you scared him off!” My anger dials back to a slow simmer. “He was still the best chance of stopping this. Look, I know you’re this kick-ass vampire killer, and I get that you think you want to help, but your father can literally control your mind. And the only way I know to protect you from that didn’t exactly work out so well last time.”
I bring my fingers to the bruises he gave me and give them a light tap. They still hurt.
His eyes slide away from mine, sheepish. “Yeah. And, from what I remember, I wasn’t exactly focused on the big picture. My judgment was… compromised. Look, there’s a lot I still don’t understand. Walk with me, okay?”
He juts his chin toward the center of the city.
There is a huge part of me that wants to tell him to take his walk straight off one of the Embarcadero’s concrete piers. But I won’t be able to get the Prince of Winter to help me without Rafa’s buy-in. He also just shot off a freaking firearm, which even in this empty part of town could certainly draw attention. And I guess I am curious what his deal is with me.
I shrug, slide the feather into the side pocket of my chinos, and start making my way down Commercial so we can turn onto Sacramento. If nothing else, walking up that street’s steep hill will make me feel less like I’m freezing to death in the damp air. He joins me at my side.
The towering office buildings are dark, except for a handful of lit windows that reveal cleaning crews. Few cars are on the road, even on Sacramento’s wider corridor. We’re quiet for most of a block, our footsteps echoing against the concrete. I decide to break the silence.
“So, you heard the whole thing between me and the elf?”
“Yeah,” he says. “I… staked out your boss’s office so I could follow you. I needed to try to understand who you really were.”
In other words, he stalked me again. It also means he tailed me all the way back to my apartment and then all the way out here without me noticing. And I even looked around before tossing the feather! If we all survive this, I really need to work on my counter-surveillance skills.
