Don't Touch My Men - Helen Scott Page 0,20

looks of things, that was a long time ago.” He turned and eyed his gravestone. The engraving had almost completely rubbed away through the effects of time and weather. “The only thing I remember hearing about him was that the only way to kill him was written on his skull, but if he ever gets his head, he will be unstoppable.”

“What?” My jaw dropped.

“My wife came from the Celtic people and would tell our children bedtime stories of the monsters they called gods. Her favorite part of the Dullahan’s tale was that his head would be the death of him.”

“Thank you!” I gushed. “I don’t know why the magic picked you to raise, but I’m glad it did. This is beyond helpful.”

“My queen!” the banshee’s voice called out from somewhere behind me in the graveyard.

“Thank you for all your help!” I whispered at the minotaur before yanking on the magic and pulling it back from his grave.

The spirit faded to nothing just as the banshee walked up to me. I felt a little bad for the abrupt way I ended the conversation I’d been having with the minotaur, but I couldn’t risk anyone knowing I had some magic, even if it wasn’t the magic I was used to.

“My queen, it’s time for the current batch of…guests to either swear fealty or be executed. Our king requires your presence. With shoes.” She sneered the last part, as though the idea of walking through the grass barefoot was nauseating to her. Or maybe it was because of the fact that it was a graveyard. I didn’t really care either way.

“And if I refuse to attend?”

“Then you will be given to Hanson for a few days, the man who lives in the subbasement, and he will be allowed to run the tests he so desperately wanted to on you.” She shrugged as though it was the most normal thing in the world for her to say.

“Hanson is the man who looks desiccated, like a skeleton?”

She nodded. “That’s an accurate description.”

Fun. He was the man who I’d spoken with when I first woke up in this godforsaken place. I knew if he was allowed free reign, then I’d be missing chunks, blood, and possibly some vital organs before he was done. “Fine. I’ll come,” I said as I moved to pick up my shoes.

“Wise choice, my queen,” the banshee said, bowing sarcastically.

I didn’t want to watch anyone die just because they refused to become the servant of this mad god. What choice did I have though? He would execute them with or without me there. I would just get tortured and injured in the process of my protest, which would definitely not help me escape.

10

Hunter

I woke up and stared at my alarm clock as it flashed three in the morning. Unsure of what woke me, I shrugged and went to use the bathroom before heading to the kitchen for a drink. The last few days blurred together in my mind. I wasn’t surprised that I crashed so hard. I was surprised that after how consuming my mission had been to retrieve Mae, I let myself fall asleep.

The living room was dark as I walked through it, but the dining room lights were bright. And on the table…Alastair was slumped over. For a minute, I just wanted to shake my head. How many nights could he fall asleep peering at his books? And then I heard the sound of water dripping.

Water…dripping?

My tired brain was slow as I walked closer, and then my stomach twisted. The shadow beneath his chair wasn’t a shadow at all. It was a pool of blood. More blood oozed from beneath him, dripping slowly down onto the floor.

“Fuck!”

I raced to his side and touched his neck with my fingertips. Relief washed over me when I felt a pulse. I pulled him back and stared at the massive stain of scarlet on his shirt. My hands trembled as I slowly removed the material, and Alastair made a small, pained moan.

My gut twisted as I saw the bandage soaked with red. I knew his wound was having trouble healing, but I had no idea how bad it was. Why the hell didn’t he speak up?

“You stubborn idiot.” My words come out strangely scared.

Racing out of the room, I went to Ellis’ bedroom and shook him awake.

“What the fuck?” he mumbled and batted at me.

“Alastair is hurt.”

His eyes flashed open, and then he tried to stumble out of bed. To my shock, he fell