“Let him try,” I growled.
“You say that now,” Nevaeh pleaded, “but you know what’s happened when he’s caught you before. I can’t watch you get hurt like that again.”
“He won’t hurt me again. He won’t catch me.” My nostrils flared, but she was right. I wasn’t as brave as I sounded. I didn’t want her to talk me out of this, though. Helping the Fae . . . this was all I had.
I didn’t give her a chance to respond, dropping my lighter and cigarette case to the ground before I kicked off my boots. Stepping farther into the lane, I closed my eyes. Took a long breath.
A burst of electricity zipped through my veins.
Searing pain blazed to life in parallel lines along either side of my spine. I didn’t know why the wings always came first; they were the only partial shift I had never managed, but even if I had the weight of them was agony for my human form to hold up. A soft grunt slipped from my lips. Nevaeh shot a concerned glance in my direction. I gritted my teeth, ignoring the cracks as my bones extended and my frame widened. A low growl rumbled from my throat as my teeth extended, sharp against my tongue.
My whole transformation took maybe a minute. Bones, fur, wings . . . I let myself adjust to the new form, panting heavily. Shreds of fabric littered the ground around me. My clothing.
Oops. Forgot about those.
I stretched my spine, each of my paws, curled my toes. Lifting my wings, I shook myself and growled at Nevaeh.
She rolled her eyes and grinned. “The mighty winged lion might scare anyone else, but you’re only a cute wittle kitty cat to me,” she cooed.
I scowled, as much as a lion could. Nevaeh lifted the Fae without issue. She might be tiny, and a rat shifter, but the strength of our kind wasn’t based on our animal forms. We were all incredibly strong, especially compared to humans and Fae. When he was between my wing joints, she paused to stare at his immobile form.
“He’ll fall,” Nevaeh warned, crossing her arms over her chest. I looked pointedly at the belt she had looped twice around her torso. Her silver and brown eyes narrowed. “Not a chance in hell. This is brand new.”
Rounding my eyes, I stepped closer, nudging her arm with my nose. When I rubbed the top of my head against her side, she groaned and tugged the belt free. “You’re buying me a new one.”
I jerked my head in imitation of a nod, the weight of my mane adjusting with the motion. The second I heard the belt snap into place, I huffed a soft breath and bolted down the blacktop lane. When the buildings parted enough that I could open my wings, I spread them wide, letting them carry me into the sky.
The Fae moved slightly and I held my breath. Waited. He stayed in place and I relaxed. I could fly faster if I didn’t have to worry about him falling off; and I needed to move. His blood was already seeping into my white fur.
I carried Fae back to my apartment more often than I should admit. Only when they were near death, only when I thought there was no way I could save them hastily. Occasionally, the Fae were grateful. Many were afraid, and a few seemed so numbed by their heinous lifestyles that they were utterly indifferent to their own survival.
This one though . . . This Fae was going to be angry, I knew already. He was a different breed. He was aggressive, an attacker. A provoker. I had never met a Fae like him. I could see the rage in his eyes every time we met, the bloodlust. More than once I had wondered if he was tempted to attack me, to try resisting with more than the saucy mouth he couldn’t seem to control.
He adjusted again and I glanced over my shoulder. I wondered what kind of inner pain could fuel the kind of violence he held. Mordecai and Alec had so little regard for the Fae, and had hurt or killed so many without thought, that nothing would surprise me.
Stillness suited him though. The lines of his face softened, the anger smoothed into peace. He looked innocent. Gentle. Almost handsome, even.
Almost.
Air huffed through my nose at the thought. I flapped my wings gently, careful not to shake him too hard. Nathra City twinkled below, a constellation of lights that spanned the entire shifter district. Thankfully, I didn’t live too far from The Pit. Mordecai decided that, if I wasn’t going to live at the manor with him and Alec, he wanted his Enforcers on both ends of the city—so my penthouse was on the southern end, closer to the Fae homes.
Mordecai claimed he was being generous allowing the Fae to have dwellings at all. Generous would be allowing them to leave, not treating them like cattle. I didn’t believe the drivel he fed the other shifters, the ones all too eager to eat up the nasty stories he spewed about the Fae.
I had studied their dwellings in my circles over the city; the crumbling buildings, the high risers covered in meager gardens. Fae abhorred technology, alongside the processed foods and materials that many shifters hoarded. Myself included. I loved my cell phone, when I had the time to enjoy owning one. I couldn’t imagine a life without music at my fingertips.
The Fae took their distaste to a whole new level though, covering every spare inch of their territory in plants of all kinds. Maybe they did it for survival. I had to admit, the ruinous buildings they inhabited held a certain beauty capped in new, green life. I couldn’t shake my guilt though, going back to a shiny penthouse when I knew there were Fae without the basics.
I did what I could. Snuck food and medicine down, left full bags on random doorsteps. I helped
