Spin the Shadows (Dark and Wicked Fae #1) - Cate Corvin Page 0,3

It was obvious why when my boss, Numa Purkiss, snarled at me from the other side of his desk.

He was a greasy little satyr wearing a violet waistcoat over his furry chest. Several horns curled out from his skull in all directions, and his cheeks were permanently reddened after a lifetime of drinking pixie vodka for dinner every night.

In other words, the complete opposite of the Fairy Ferry aesthetic. I’d always wondered what he was compensating for.

“You’re late, Appletree!” The satyr bounded up from his swiveling chair and uncapped a marker he kept tucked behind one of his horns. Numa kept a board of all the girls working for him, and my name, Briallen Appletree, was sandwiched between Nadiya Korova and Audra Brightbreeze. He drew a slash next to my name. “And you’re soaking wet.”

“That’s because it’s raining, Numa. We’re all going to be soaking wet.” The last of my sadness had finally mutated into anger and disappointment, and the last thing I needed was a handsy boss who made us wear short shorts giving me a lecture. That little slash was the only one next to my name. I’d never been late before. “You charmed our packages, right?”

My table was laden with that day’s delivery parcels. I leaned over, checking the tags and pretending that Numa was not looking at my butt creases.

Today’s deliveries would take me to Mothwing Falls, Acionna Harbor… and there was one small package marked to an address in Thornwood, the high-class district reserved for the Gentry Fae.

When I turned around, Numa was indeed looking at my ass. “Earth to Numa? Water-repellent charms?”

The satyr tore his eyes away after what looked like an epic internal struggle. “All packages are charmed. Get to work, ladies, I don’t have all day.”

His little cloven hooves clip-clopped over the polished wood floor as he rounded the desk. I swiftly gathered my packages and began carrying them out to the basket on the front of my bike.

The package for Thornwood went first, where it’d be most protected from the rain. The Gentry Fae were the least forgiving when the water-repellent charms failed.

“Don’t be late again, Appletree,” Numa called after me, but his heart was only halfway into berating me. It was hard for him to remain on-point with his grousing when he was at eye level with a rusalka’s ass. “Or you’ll be doing overtime in the office, scrubbing my floor. Got it?”

I suppressed a shudder. The last thing I wanted was overtime alone with Numa. “Got it.”

Nadiya, the rusalka whose behind was being lovingly caressed by Numa’s eyeballs, made a face and rolled her eyes at me.

She was gathering her own packages, all of which were consistently charmed against water because it had a tendency to pour from her mouth when she spoke. One of the hazards of being an angry water spirit, I’d been told.

I was unchaining my bike when she came outside, her pink fairy wings bobbing ludicrously on her back. “I’ve got a lot of packages for Thornwood today,” she said, piling her packages in her basket. “Want me to take yours?”

I shook my head. Having to go out of my way to Thornwood would give me more time to cool down and work off the dregs of my emotions through uphill exercise.

Nadiya’s dark, liquid eyes looked me over, and a little more weight lifted off my chest. She was feeding on my anger, drinking it up like fine wine.

“Want me to drown him?” she asked, her expression never changing. Water gushed out of her mouth and down the front of her shirt, mixing with the rain.

That got a real smile out of me. “Not today, Nadiya.”

“Whenever you want. I’m hungry,” she said mournfully. Those dark eyes were eerie against her death-pale skin, and her hair was always wet, like she’d just been submerged in a river. “Just give the word.”

I wheeled my bike towards the street. “If I see him again, I might. So he’d better hope I don’t see him.”

Nadiya’s smile was all sharp teeth. “And I’ll hope you do.”

With friends like the rusalki, who needed humans?

2

I wiped sweat out of my eyes, already missing the rain.

All of my deliveries to Mothwing Falls had gone smoothly, and I hadn’t caught sight of Ioin, thank the trees. I might’ve lost what self-control I had and shoved his head through a tree.

Then I’d pedaled five miles to the marina district, Acionna Harbor.

Usually Acionna was one of my favorite districts: it overlooked the Eridanus River and the