Holy crap!
Just as she’s about to remove the watch from my palm, I snatch it back and jump to my feet.
“Rafa!” I cry out. “It’s not her! It’s the elf!”
Now, if it were me lounging on a couch, I’d totally need a minute to shift gears to figure out what the hell was going on. My mind would spin, wondering if the intern holding the cursed artifact was under some kind of spell, or maybe was just being straight-up insane, Gollum-style. I’d take precious seconds questioning how the guy who had been lying to me about said artifact could know that the attractive, friendly Black superhero across from him was secretly a sadistic, snowy, elvish asshole.
But I’m not a Hunter. And I’m certainly not Rafa. In a flash of movement, he kicks the solid oak table in front of himself into Stryker’s chest, launching the cups and first aid kit in the air and knocking her back. He then springs to his feet, whips out his shotgun from his rolled-up duster, and levels it at her.
“I thought there was something a bit too cold about your movements. No human hasthatmuch grace.” His words ring with ironclad conviction.
And so they should. Now that I know what to look for, the glamour is obvious. Of course her skin appeared to shine without a light source. It’s the glow from the magicarmor the elf is wearing! The illusion seems weaker than what he created when we first met—maybe his magic is still suffering from the cold iron of Rafa’s first attack.
Either way, the elf’s yet again at the business end of the Hunter’s long gun. I expect him to keep pretending to be my boss, toprotest. But he doesn’t. Instead, he fully shrugs off the illusion of Stryker, revealing himself as the absolutely terrifying fae knight he is. He points his finger at me from his sprawled position on the floor.
“Oathbreaker!” he snarls.
In response, a torrent of fire rises up in me. A massive, boiling wave crashing up against the inside cliff of my breastbone.
Then I double over and start coughing up big hot splotches of blood onto the floor.
2
I’m dying.
And not just my body, even though it feels like I might be spewing up actual chunks of my internal organs—I’m losing parts of my soul, too. Any happiness, all hope is being devoured by a buzzing, stinging insect swarm of self-hatred suffusing every part of me.
I try to remember it’s not real. That the Obligation made me feel like this before, when I was in the rideshare on the way back from the druid’s house. But then I picture Driver Dan, red-faced, helplessly crawling over the seats towards me—how I almost raped the man, and how I left him to deal with the fallout of that—and I can’t deny that the swarm is right.
I deserve to die.
Somewhere, around me, I hear Rafa. He sounds very angry.
“Stop what you’re doing to him, elf, or I swear I will end you right here!”
The fae knight laughs lightly. “I’m not doing anythingto him, Hunter. As you well know, I can’t. He’s doing this to himself. And if you kill me, you kill him, too. You see, before he met you, he made me apromise.”
There’s some rustling. The elf getting to his feet? It’s hard to hear over all the blood and guts belching out of my lungs. A hand anchors on my upper back, steadying me as I continue to hack violently. It’s big and strong. Rafa. Close.
“Oh, God, Alvin, what did you do?”
He knows how bad I’ve screwed up. He should let me die.
I move on to dry heaving. Maybe I’ve run out of blood? Everything feels so weak. My eyes ache.
“It’s not what he did that matters, Hunter. It’s what he’s going to do. As soon as he gives me the watch, this is over.”
The watch. It’s still in my fist.
That’s right. I could end this. Why should I protect the spirit? Collin turned out to be just another predatory paranormal like me, one who took advantage of how pathetic and gullible I am…
No. That was a lie. The elf lies. Even my monster knew that.
Now that monster is telling me to fight—its urgent demand a fierce rumble under the buzzing, stinging insects inside me.
But I’m so tired.
“Give me what you owe me, boy, and the pain will stop.” It’s the elf. “You’ll even get the money I promised you, since I actuallyhonormy bargains.”
