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“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.” Weasel Nuts spat in my direction. “Foul thing.”
I opened my mouth to reply, but Eli removed his sword blade and in a blink turned it so he could bash the pommel into the man’s mouth.
Weasel Nuts dropped to his knees, and this time when he spat, he spat out his own teeth and blood.
If I were the swooning sort, this would be such a moment. Something about defending me always did good things to my libido.
“Geneviève, would you be so kind as to call the police?” Eli motioned toward the women. “And escort the ladies away from this unpleasant man?”
It sounded chivalrous—or chauvinistic--but it was actually an excuse. I needed to get my ass outside the cemetery before I dripped blood. Eli had provided a way to do so gracefully.
“Ladies?” Eli said, louder now. “Ms. Crowe will walk you toward the street.”
The women came over, and the widow flinched when my gaze met hers. Mydraugreyes unnerved people.
But then she straightened her shoulders and stared right into my reptilian eyes as if they were normal. “I do apologize, Ms. Crowe. They have an accomplice who is holding my grandson as a hostage. We had to cooperate.”
My simmering temper spiked, keeping my exhaustion away and my focus sharp.
I stared at the women. With my grave sight, I saw trails of energy, the whispers of deaths, and the auras of anything living. These women were afraid, but not evil. They were worried.
The older woman grabbed the fallen gun and ordered, “Walk.”
For a moment, I thought I’d been wrong, but she pointed the barrel at the man who had shot at me. “You. Get up.”
Her daughter smiled. “Would you mind helping us, Ms. Crowe?”
Eli and I exchanged a look. We were in accord, as usual. He bowed his head at them, and then scooped the unconscious man up.
In a strange group, we walked toward the exit.
As we were putting the unconscious attacker in the trunk of the Cadillac the women had arrived in, the sun rose, tinting the sky as if it were a watercolor painting.
I paused, wincing. Sunlight wasn’t my friend. I wasn’t adraugr—luckily, because sunlight trapped youngdraugr—but my genetics meant daylight made my head throb if I was out in too much of it. I slid on the dark sunglasses I carried for emergencies.
“It was nice to see Daddy,” the younger woman said quietly to her mother. “I wish it had been closer to Christmas, but still . . . it was nice.”
The widow motioned for the other prisoner to get into the trunk. Once he did, Eli slammed the trunk, and the widow squeezed her daughter’s hand. “It was.”
The daughter handed Eli the keys. She was shaken by the shooting, and I was bleeding from the shattering stone. Neither of us was in great shape to drive. However, it wasn’t great for Eli to be trapped in a hulking steel machine. Faeries and steel weren’t a good mix.
“I’ll drive my car,” he said, popping the trunk and grabbing a clean shirt. Working with me meant carrying an assortment of practical goods—clean clothes, duct tape, a sword, zip ties, and first aid supplies.
I tried not to sigh that he was now dressed fully again. Don’t get me wrong. I respect him, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t prone to lustful gazes in his direction. If he minded, I’d stop.
He walked to the passenger door and opened it. “Come on, my peach pie.”
The widow drove her Caddy away as I slid into the luxurious little convertible that had been fae-modified for Eli.
“Are you well enough to do this?” Eli asked as he steered us into the morning light.
“One human.” I kept my eyes closed behind my sunglasses, grateful for the extra dark tint of his windows. I rarely needed sleep for most of my life, but lately I was always ready for a nap. Not yet, though.
I assured Eli, “I’m fine to deal with this.”
So we set out to retrieve the young hostage. We didn’t discuss my near constant exhaustion. We didn’t talk about the fear that my near-death event had left lingering issues for my health. We would have to, but . . . not now.
We arrived at a townhouse, and Iflowedto where the captor held a smallish boy.Flowingwasn’t a thing I typically did around regular folk, but there were exceptions.
