The sun was shining, the wind just warm enough for me to smell a hint of spring on the air, and the snow was melting from the blacktop. A great day to be outside. Soaking it in, I smiled at a few of the fey and hurried toward the meeting spot.
Merdon was already there, leaning against a house not too far away.
“Sleep in?” Brenna asked.
“I’d hardly call this sleeping in,” Angel said with a yawn.
“You’re the one who wanted to meet this early,” I said.
“Next time, remind me how much I didn’t like it.” She grinned and lifted her bow. “I’m ready to be deadly with this thing. Or, at least, look intimidating as hell before my target figures out that I can’t hit a thing.”
“Hannah, see if you can pick up from yesterday. I’m going to work with cupcake over here.”
“Cupcake? Well, I like you too, Brenna,” Angel said with a wink at the girl.
“I can hear the cellophane crinkling when you move. You’re probably not hitting anything because you’re afraid of smooshing your food.”
Amused by their banter, but not letting it distract me, I focused on what I wanted to hit, waited for the wind, then exhaled, and released. I missed, but not by much. Leaving the bolt where it struck, I tried again. And again. And again, until my arm cramped with strain and I had to take a break to stretch. Merdon and Shax were gone.
When I looked over at Angel, she was eating a cupcake.
“What?” she asked. “The baby was hungry.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m not fey, and I’m not buying.”
She grinned.
“Shax doesn’t buy it either, but he doesn’t try to stop me from eating. He likes that I’m getting rounder and that the baby kicks when I’m well fed.”
“Maybe the baby is kicking you to tell you to stop,” Brenna said with a smirk.
“Be jealous, girls. I don’t mind.” She licked her fingers clean, wiped them on her pants, then went back to her bow.
Movement down the road caught my eye before I could do the same.
“Are they carrying someone?” I asked.
Brenna stood beside me for a silent moment.
“It sure looks that way, but something’s not right. Does that person seem stiff and lumpy?” she asked.
“Are you sure you’re talking about a person?” Angel asked with a snigger.
“I’m starting to notice a pattern in your conversation,” I said. “It’s either sex or food with you, isn’t it?”
“On good days, it’s both.”
Grinning, we watched a trio of fey jog our way. Brenna’s observation about the person over Merdon’s shoulder proved correct. Only, it wasn’t a person.
“Do we even want to know why you have a scarecrow?” Brenna asked.
“It’s not a scarecrow. It’s a knife dummy. Ryan suggested it.”
“Shax, is that thing wearing my comfy sweat pants?”
“I will find you comfier ones. I promise.”
She gave Brenna and me a dry look.
“He calls them my ‘no sex’ pants because when I put them on, he knows I’m not in the mood for ‘fun time.’”
I covered my mouth to hide my grin at Shax’s guilty look.
“Baby, I’m not mad,” she said, sidling up to him. “But you are going to have to make that up to me. It’s not okay to get rid of my pants because you don’t like them. I wore those when the baby was moving around inside of me and making things uncomfortable. They gave me comfort. Something your magnificent manhood can’t do when the little monster’s doing its best to make me miserable.”
“I’m sorry, my Angel. I didn’t understand.”
“I know. It’s okay. You can make it up to me later.”
He was so wrapped around her little finger it wasn’t even funny. The sad thing was that he seemed to be loving it.
I glanced at Merdon, who was watching me closely.
“I think the real question we should be asking is, ‘why do you have a knife dummy?’”
“A bow is good,” Thallirin said. “It can be used from far away.” He looked at Brenna. “Distance is safety. But sometimes, distance can’t be kept. I want you to learn to use a knife.”
My brows rose.
“A knife?” I asked Merdon.
His grunt paired with his expression spoke volumes. Yes, we’d be learning with a knife, and he didn’t like it. He was worried I’d do something stupid.
“Don’t look so skeptical,” Angel said. “I bet this will be fun. Are you going to show us how to throw it?”