sure none of these assholes get up and walk away.”
Finn eyed the head of a fae with disgust that was only a foot from where he stood. “Word has it, he traded his life source to another supernatural that can bring him back from the dead. But I’ve never heard who he did that with or why. Rumors vary from witch to mermaid queen.”
I laughed hard. “Mermaids? Really? Childhood stories are what that rumor is.”
“And that’s what the humans say about us, too,” Finn countered.
“You really believe there are mermaids living beneath these islands?” I asked. I might not have been centuries old, but I’d never met another fae who had ever seen the mythical creature.
He shrugged. “All I’m saying is it wouldn’t surprise me if the rumors held some truth, and whoever is keeping Edgar alive could be a problem.”
That, he was right about.
“Come on. Let’s clean up our mess.” I sent a stream of power toward the head and fried it until it exploded, bits landing on Finn’s leg.
“That was rude,” he growled at me, but I could see a spark of mischief in his eyes and enjoyed that he wasn’t looking at me with disgust after I’d killed someone for once. The real him, anyway. I already knew the darker sides of him liked me just fine.
Maybe this all wouldn’t be so bad if we could get along. As partners and nothing more that involved emotion.
Then, he picked up a scoop of mud and threw it at my face. “Payback sucks, doesn’t it?” His light chuckle was all I could hear as I wiped the sludge from my eyes.
“Oh, you’re going to pay for that.” The chase was on, and the bodies were forgotten about for just a short time until I’d burnt another hole through his pants, this time on the opposite ass cheek.
He tugged at his jeans. “Seriously? Again?”
I shrugged. “That other side looked jealous.”
Finn smiled, big and natural. The action did odd things to my chest that I didn’t like. It was one thing to want him physically and enjoy the passion his disdain for me created, but it was a whole different scenario to throw real attraction between us that held depth.
I had to step away. I had to focus on the task at hand. I couldn’t let Finn be a distraction.
“We should probably get these bodies taken care of and Neva off to Earth,” I said, bursting the bubble we’d been in for a few minutes.
His smile fell, and I pushed the guilt down, letting my darkness drown it out. “Yeah, I guess we should.” He disappeared, and I kicked the head nearest to me.
Damn, why did I care? Caring was for the weak, and I was nothing of the sort.
Finn reappeared with a wagon, then began tossing bodies into it. I helped him silently, that awkwardness between us once again present.
His movements were jerky, and I knew he was pissed at me, but that was better for both of us.
Once we’d loaded them all up, I followed Finn to a clearing behind his bunker and helped him dump the fae onto the ground. I did the honors of lighting the fire, knowing it would make him uncomfortable, then intensified the flames with magic until there was nothing left but ash.
“Let’s see someone bring these assholes back to life,” I snickered.
Finn just grunted. “I’m going to shower where the workers clean up. You can use the bathroom in the house.” Then, he disappeared.
Yep, we were right back to where we started, and I should have been happy about that, but I wasn’t. Not even one bit.
Chapter 18
After we were magically cleaned up from the fight and the bodies were taken care of, I went back inside to tell Neva what I needed her to do. I’d made a deal with Maddox and, if I was being honest, having Neva gone for a while might help me sort some of my shit out.
She had been enjoying calling me out lately, and with the mess inside my head at the moment, I didn’t need her trying to force me to process anything more than killing King Zephyr. Well, now I also had Edgar to consider.
There was just too damn much at risk for me to be having some major life crisis. For the time being, I just had to remember that I was a survivor. If people didn’t like what life had turned me into, then I had no cares to give them.
The me