Chapter 6: The Burden of Being Right

Darrius

Malcolm and Simeon were stupid, fucking stupid. Taken in by a human woman who had admitted to killing Fae and had a damn iron-silver dagger in her possession. Which told me she didn't like making mistakes of thinking only iron could hurt Fae.

I clenched my fists. Where I'd touched her knife still burned. Served as a warning to not get close or let my guard down again. I should've known better after all this time to have faith in any female.

I followed Simeon as he carried the assassin up the stairs. Had she even fought a leminax or had she merely made it look as though she had? We knew absolutely nothing about this woman - and what we did know - was enough to make me want to strangle her before she tried to hurt either of my cousins.

Self-preservation had been my motto for the last three years. Take no one's word at face value. Trust my gut.

Which I hadn't done with Amber. Aye, the bitch had me convinced she was the missing heir. Her half-blood Fae heritage shown in her bright eyes and smile. I'd been taken in by her beauty and charm. Wasn't until I brought her over the barrier to show my cousins I'd done the impossible that everything went to shit.

I rolled my shoulders forward, my skin across my back pulled tight, the constant reminder of letting someone screw your heart.

Simeon kicked open the door to one of the guest rooms and laid her down on the cream-colored sheets. Her hair splayed across the pillow in dark streams.

"Do you think Malcolm's right? That she's the heir?" The hope in his voice making him sound almost child-like.

I kicked the bedpost, willing her to wake up so I could see if she was capable of fighting and winning against a leminax. Then again, if she was a trained Fae-killer, then maybe she did.

Didn't mean shit.

"She could be working for the dark Fae." Who wanted to wipe us out. Destroy me, Malcolm and Simeon, so even if the heir did turn up later, she'd be forced to marry the Unseelie prince or die. That court was fucked up; even I wouldn't sell my worst enemy to them. Females over there didn't last past a breeding or two, yet they seemed to multiply like fucking rabbits.

Simeon sat beside on her on the bed and I tensed. She could stop this charade of pretending to be injured and attack him.

He took her hand. "Her weapon could have been a precaution. Like how some people carry pepper spray. Not everyone is out for blood."

"Aye, we'll see aboot that." If it was up to me, this girl would be back in the human world and left where we god-damn found her. Let her kind deal with her. I didn't want to correct Simeon's optimism, but not many humans knew about our kind, much less that some of us had to be killed with iron and silver - just like her dagger had been custom made from both metals.

A thread of guilt tangled in my gut. Unless she'd escaped a dark Fae in the past and carried protection as Simeon suggested. Leminaxes drew in their prey with magic, attacking them with their venom to keep the prey from screaming or fighting back. "As a human, she wouldnae have stood a chance. So how is it she's still alive?"

"You think this is a trap?" He frowned, letting go of her hand.

The first sensible thing he'd done since we tracked her to the jogging trail near her home where Malcolm had put up his ward to keep her inside and safe. Yet, she had somehow broken through.

"Who knows?" I shrugged, lifting my chin toward her. "Ye could be right and she's a witch. Would explain how she got out of her home with the ward surroundin' it."

"You think the dark Fae could have hired her to make us think - "

He didn't need to finish. We both knew what he thought. This could be another ploy like before. Three years hadn't been enough to heal the scars inside and out that ravaged me. I'd taken the brunt of the attack, offering myself to save Simeon. If Malcolm hadn't shown up to help...

"Fuck if I know." I rammed a hand through my hair. "Donnae be too trustin' of anything she says."

He nodded, standing. "I'll summon the healer."

"Go. I'll stay an' watch her." And try to figure out if I should strangle her in her sleep or not.

Simeon walked out of the chamber. Our healer would be pissed if he summoned her in front of a potential human and witness. Aye, she was unconscious or pretending to be. But the mind could recall things and we couldn't take that chance. Helga had saved Simeon's life and mine even though I still bore the scars. I cherished them as my donnae fuck up again card.

I glared at the woman on the bed. Her dress had ridden up her thighs, showing smooth, pale skin. My dick, because it didn't know trouble when it saw it, twitched in my pants.

I ground my back teeth, willing Simeon to hurry the fuck up. And what the hell was Malcolm doing?

Not able to stand it any longer, I marched toward her, yanking down the edge of her dress. My fingers accidentally brushed her flesh on her thigh and a bolt of desire shot through me. My balls tightened so hard they were like rocks, wanting to take her right here and now.

What the fucking hell? I stumbled back.

No way would I screw a human...especially not a passed out one. What if she was a witch and had placed a seduction spell on herself? Thinking we'd succumb, doing whatever she wanted while she stabbed us in the back.

Aye, that had to be the reason for my body's reaction.

I leaned down over her. "Between ye an' me, sweetheart, I will find out what ye're all aboot. If ye try ta hurt either of me cousins, I will kill ye before ye draw in yer next breath."

Something cold grazed the skin on my neck. I stilled. The twisted metal sizzling my skin.

"You first," she hissed out.

The bitch had a fucking bloody blade pressed up against my throat. Fuck! I had been right. She had more than one knife on her and had to be an assassin. And I wasn't going to go down without a fight.