Queen of the Fae (Dragon's Gift The Dark Fae #3) - Linsey Hall Page 0,7

running out of time.”

I was supposed to meet Tarron that evening so we could get started hunting for my mother again, and there were things I wanted to do beforehand.

I walked out onto the street. Aeri followed, and we headed toward Ancient Magic. On a normal night, it would be closed by now. But Cass was kindly dealing with the body of the Unseelie.

I pulled open the glass door of the shop and stepped inside. The cluttered little space was full of magic, as usual, and Cass sat behind the counter, clutching an obsidian dagger in her hand. She’d slung her brown leather jacket over the counter and was dressed in a white T-shirt that looked like it had seen better days.

“That came from the Unseelie, huh?” I asked, eying the dagger she held. They’d all carried the black volcanic glass daggers when I’d visited their realm.

“Yep.” She frowned down at the thing. “But it’s not giving me any insight to jump-start my ability. It was the only thing he carried that might do it, too.”

Damn it. Cass’s ability to find things far outstripped my Seeker ability. “We’ll just have to hope the Circle of Night isn’t closed.”

She raised a brow. “You’re going to try it?”

I shrugged. “I was hoping I’d be able to use my new gift of premonition to find my mother, but it hasn’t worked. So the circle is our only clue right now.”

“There could be an ambush.”

“Probably will be.”

“Want backup?”

I smiled. “Wouldn’t hate it.”

She nodded. “I’ll get Nix and Del, so we’ll have plenty.”

“Thanks. I think we’ll go at dawn. It’s when it’s most likely to be open.”

We arranged a meeting point, then parted ways. This would work well with Tarron arriving soon. I used my transport magic, taking Aeri back to our place. We arrived on the sidewalk right in front of our main door.

“You’d never know the wall was blown in,” I said.

“Seriously.”

We hurried into the house and went straight back to the workshop. It still looked like hell, but there appeared to be a new wall where none had been prior. I walked up to it, careful to avoid any sparkling glass that shined on the floor, and stuck my hand right through.

“Nice work,” I said.

“Thanks.”

Burn stuck his thorny head through the illusion of the wall and woofed.

“Anyone give you trouble while we were gone?” I asked.

Bacon.

“That means no,” I translated for Aeri.

“I’ll deal with this mess while you talk to Aethelred,” Aeri said.

“Thanks.” I squeezed her shoulder as I passed her and strode to my apartment. Quickly, I changed into my fight wear. There was no more time for dresses and heels. The reprieve had been nice, though it had only lasted a few minutes before the damned Unseelie had shown up and I was shoved back into the fight.

Dressed, I looked into the mirror. My makeup was still impeccable—a handy talent of mine—and the black mask of paint obscured much of the area around my eyes. I patted the small bouffant on top, then pulled the rest into a ponytail.

Ready—and most importantly, now wearing shoes—I headed out to the foyer.

The knock on the door made the hair at my neck stand on end. Awareness prickled along my spine.

I’d heard that knock before.

Tarron.

He was early. I drew in a shuddery breath.

I was definitely not ready.

3

I strode to the door and swung it open, revealing the devastatingly handsome Fae king on the other side. He towered over me, even more so than usual because I wasn’t wearing my stilettos. His broad shoulders blocked my view of the street beyond, and he was dressed for battle in sturdy black clothes that would conceal blood and allow for flexibility.

I appreciated a good fighter, and damned if he wasn’t one.

Dark hair framed his face, and his green eyes were keen on me. He had that otherworldly beauty of the Fae, but with a distinctly masculine edge. A dangerous edge, one that made it clear he was capable of terrible things when necessary. It made him just a little bit scary.

I happened to like scary.

Tension tightened the air between us, that kind of intense awareness that came when you were near a person you wanted to jump on. In a tear-their-clothes-off kind of way.

Except that our chemistry was tainted with lies.

My lies, mostly.

We’d seen each other less than twenty-four hours ago.

Together, we’d closed the huge chasm that I’d blown into the earth at the edge of Magic’s Bend. He’d figured out that I’d been hiding the fact