Bound by Faerie: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Stolen Magic Book 1) (20 page)

"You came after me," he said, his grin sliding back into place, though it was nowhere near full intensity.

"You had a dangerous magical object. I had to retrieve it." I jangled the black bag containing the necklaces. "That's what I do."

We walked for a while, him not saying anything more to explain himself. "So you're really not going to tell me why you took that necklace and ran off?"

He shrugged.

That was all I was going to get. A freaking shrug. "You sure you don't want me to get it back out for you? The Morrigan might have left a couple clansmen alive. They'd probably be happy to throw you in a cell. If not, I'd do it."

His usual grin turned into a full-fledged smile. "You probably would, too," he said. "But no, I think I've had enough of feeling powerless for now."

I nodded. "I'm with you there. Cages are not a girl's best friend."

"What is?"

With a flourish, I spun Epic out of his sheath.

He laughed. It sounded good.

"So, um, I guess I'll bring
Life of the Phantom Queen
to Smoke and Mirrors for you once we get back," I said. I still wanted to read through it, but I had stolen the book. And he was so
sullen
. And, even if it would have been helpful to know more about The Morrigan, I didn't believe the book held the answers I was looking for anymore.

"You hang on to it for a while. Read through it. Just don't dog ear any pages." He shuddered.

I gasped, putting a hand to my chest. "Oh no! I wouldn't dream of committing such an atrocity." Again. I hoped he wouldn't notice the one I'd already folded. I loved books, but I didn't feel the need to treat them like holy objects. I liked when they looked well used.

He took my chin in his large hand and made me meet his gaze. He scowled down at me, dark eyes sparkling. "I mean it. Wash your hands before touching it too. I don't want any chocolate crumbs in the binding. No coffee rings on the pages. No—"

"Hey, do you have any charms to pull up highlighter marks?"

"You didn't."

With a smile and a shrug, I let it hang there. He wasn't sure; he kept leaning forward to get a read on my face. I revealed
nothing
.

"It's not wise to tease dragons, you know." His magic poked at me, a warmth crawling up my back that felt way too good. I shoved him to the side with my shoulder, harder than I intended. He stumbled off the path and fell to his knees. "Oh, shit." I covered my mouth with my hand. "I didn't mean to."

He looked up at me, his expression neutral. "Likely story."

"I didn't!"

He laughed. "I know, I'm just messing with you."

I rolled my eyes and put out my hands to help him up. He didn't take them until he was standing, and when our eyes met, the only thing that existed was him, and the world smelled of cinnamon. I didn't notice who leaned in first, and I didn't care. Fingers trailed through my hair, gently coaxing my head back. My hands, finding themselves flat on his chest, traveled down to his hips. My thumbs stroked circles in the dips above his jeans.

I exhaled, and the relief of it felt like I had forgotten to do that for a while. He pulled my body closer, my eyes closed, and then—

And then t
he world was Faerie once again. The faint taste of cinnamon and hot metal remained crisp on the back of my tongue, but Owen stood ten steps away.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I just—I do this, you know, I—"

"Right," I said, sucking in clean, Faerie air. I already missed the cinnamon's burn, but that was too embarrassing a thought to let myself entertain. "Habit, right?" He did this all the time. What was I thinking? Crushing on Owen? That's what this was. The unrequited crush. Wasn't I too old for this? And Owen?
Owen
? The dragon? Bad, hormones. Bad. I promised to take them out for a spin as soon as we got home—anything to avoid almost kissing Owen again. My body didn't believe me. I could feel it saying, "You never go anywhere or meet anyone," to which I promised I would figure it the hell out. Just. No. More. Owen. No more looking at Owen with the lusty eyes, no more almost kisses, no more dirty thoughts—oh fae, what was I admitting to myself? "Path," I said, and pointed back to where we'd been. Man, I was such a smooth talker. After I got to work better appeasing my hormones, I'd have to make the time to learn how to talk to other people like I was normal or something.

"Right," he said, his head turned so I couldn't see his face. His neck was red.

I guess there was enough embarrassment to go around.

The rest of the trip was filled with tension and uncomfortable silence. It was the middle of the night when we stepped through the cooler into the convenience store, and I was more than ready to hop on Bliss and get the hell out. Of course, that was when Owen decided to talk.

"You chipped the paint on my bike on purpose, didn't you?"

"What?" I asked. "You want me to pay for it?"

"No." He rubbed his short hair, looking as uncomfortable as I felt. I didn't feel bad for him though. We could have been riding off in our separate directions right that minute, never to see each other again, if he would have just let me go with some semblance of dignity left.

Rejection stung like nothing else.

"I had fun."

"Fun? You were locked in a prison cell and almost sacrificed."

He shrugged. "I did a lot of thinking in there."

I shouldn't have asked, but I did. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." He stared right at me and I froze. "I'm not who I want to be, you know?"

He grabbed my hand, but let me slip away when I took a step back. "You don't have to do this."

"No, Sophie, let me—"

"No." I grabbed my helmet, still safely where I left it. "It's cool. We're friends, right?"

He flapped his jaw like he was trying to say more, but I pinned him with a glare that shut him right up. "Friends," he agreed.

I put on my helmet, kick-started Bliss, and roared away.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The next day, I arrived at the Magical Object Division of the Faerie Affairs Bureau bright and early. I'd already texted my boss to let him know there had been extenuating circumstances that explained my recent odd behavior, and I would be in today to make a report.

As I walked down the hall to my office, I received several strange looks that told me Hammond hadn't been quiet about how upset he was with me. Whatever, office politics were boring. I swung the black bag in my hand and smiled. There was no way I was getting fired after retrieving
two
of those necklaces when I'd only been tasked to get one. I'd uncovered a whole dragon-luring evil scheme. I wondered if I could talk him into a bonus for that. Yeah, I was
definitely
not getting fired.

I caught sight of Hammond's red face as I opened my office door. Okay, I
probably
wouldn't get fired. "Sit," said Hammond, stabbing a bony finger at my chair. He stood looming over my desk and planted his hands on his hips.

I swallowed hard and took my seat. Maybe I wouldn't get fired?

"Explain," said Hammond. I could tell that he was trying desperately to keep his composure.

"I was going to write up a report," I said, reaching for my keyboard. "There's a lot to say. I don't want to leave anything out."

"Oh, you'll write a report all right." He crossed his arms and glared at my hands. I pulled them back from the keyboard. "But first, you'll explain to me what happened in a way that will compel me not to call security and have you escorted right back out of the building when you're done."

"Security?" I asked incredulously. "Seriously?" I pulled myself to my feet and squared off with him. Only people who violated the law had to be escorted off the property by security. My mental switch flicked from "cowering" to "pissed off" in a heartbeat. "How about I skip the report and take these lures straight to the bureau chief and tell her how you sent me after an enchanted object without any protection from the charms it had on it?" I dropped the black bag on my desk. "How about I explain to the chief that you put my life in danger because you either didn't do enough research, or were too cheap to buy the spells to protect me?"

Hammond looked down at the bag on the desk and then back up at me, his eyes sparkling with interest. "These? As in more than one?"

"Yes, there are two. There would have been three, but the dragon that was wearing it died in our battle to escape. I would have retrieved it, but after The Morrigan showed up and started eating people whole, I decided I'd rather live
." I leaned in close, locking eyes with Hammond. "I doubt she left anyone alive there to use the lures again."

Hammond broke the eye contact. His anger drained away and left him pale. "Just make sure that report covers everything. That way I can justify the hazard pay I'm going to recommend for this job." He was clearly uncomfortable now that he'd heard a little of what I'd been through, but he was the boss, so he couldn't turn tail and run. He grabbed the bag off my desk and set his mouth in a firm line, attempting to recover his position of authority. "Have it on my desk by the end of the day."

I wasn't ready to let go of my anger. It had been a shitty couple of days, and that had been his fault, regardless of the reason. "I'll email it to you." I stalked around my desk and stopped next to him. "I'm going to work from home for the rest of the day, and I expect there to be a double bonus check in my account for those necklaces by the time I get home." I stormed out of the office before he could respond.

I made it all the way out of the office and to the parking garage where I had left Bliss before what I'd just done hit me. It made me a little sick to my stomach, but mostly proud. If Hammond wanted to fire me or reprimand me for standing up for myself, screw him. I'd find another job.

I heaved a sigh and pulled out my phone before I hopped on Bliss. A ride would help me calm down—and it was a great excuse to drive the forty minutes out to one of my favorite cheeseburger places—but I needed to call and make sure they were open first. Their business hours were more of a possibility than a rule. Their food was good enough that they got away with it,
especially
their cheeseburgers.

Three messages waited on my phone. I almost ignored them, expecting Hammond to be trying to get the last word, but I checked anyway. The first was from Ava. I cringed. What would she say now? When I'd returned from Faerie, I'd discovered a thread of messages from her. They started off asking if I'd done something with the guy from the club, went on to asking why I hadn't been home in a while, and then—timed to just before I'd reached my front door—said that she was happy to see we were both home safely. I hadn't replied to any of it. Despite my better judgment, I checked the newest message.

Ava:
Excellent job! Your boss will appreciate your backbone, or this isn't the job for you.

I didn't imagine telling Ava that spying on me with ghosts creeped me out would matter much to her, so I decided not to reply to that message, either.

The second was from Art, asking me to tell him how the meeting with Hammond went. I responded to let him know that I'd fill him in tomorrow and that I was working from home the rest of the day. He replied with a cheeseburger emoji. I grinned. When had Art gotten to know me well enough to tease me like that?

The last text was from Owen.

Owen
:
Friends get cheeseburgers, right? :)

When had
Owen
gotten to know me well enough to talk to me like that?

Instinct had me about to say
No
, or tell him we'd have to do that sometime—in the way where we both knew we never would—but my thumb hesitated over the screen.

I wanted to say yes.

I missed Owen. The rejection still stung, but maybe I did need more friends. I could be mature about the rejection thing, right? It wasn't like he hadn't done me a favor—kissing would have been a ridiculous mistake. And it was friends—Phoebe, and I guessed, Owen—who kept me from following the necklace's lure straight to my death. Friends... I'd long ago given up on the concept, but...

Me
:
Yeah, sure. Meet me at my house in thirty minutes and I'll take you somewhere and show you what a decent burger is. Then you can tell the cooks at your restaurant.

Owen
:
See you in thirty.

The ride home was short, but perfect. I stepped off the elevator at The Arbor and couldn't wipe the silly grin off my face. That changed when I found an impossibly large crow feather on my doorstep. My life had changed so drastically in such a short time. I kicked the feather aside, wanting nothing to do with it and whatever it meant, and opened the door to my apartment. Everything in sight was wrapped tightly in aluminum foil. I had a roommate to throttle.

"Phoebe!"

Maybe things weren't so different after all.

A Note From the Author

Thank you for reading
Bound by Faerie.
We hope you enjoyed the beginning of Sophie's journey. If you loved this book, one of the best things you can do is leave a review for it on Amazon.com. Thanks again for joining us on this adventure. We have a lot more planned for this world, and we can't wait to share it with you.