10

 

 

Turns out, Gareth was skilled at stitches and he’d done a meticulous job at fixing my neck. The stitches were so fine I didn’t even think they’d leave much of a noticeable scar. He’d also wrapped my left arm in a brace. I could heal broken bones faster than humans, but I still needed time for the actual healing to work. And I still couldn’t move that arm, at least not yet.

Gareth and I had waited in the body storage room for Tyrius to change back to his smaller self, though still asleep, which had taken about a half-hour after Gareth had cast the spell. Then, I cradled my friend using only my right arm and took him to my Subaru. We followed Gareth back to his place, which turned out to be a large two-bedroom apartment above his shop, TWILIGHT NATURAL MEDICINE.

In addition to being meticulously clean, Gareth’s store was packed with medicinal herbs, roots, magical ingredients, and more dangerous and deadly plants. At the opposite end of the shop was a door that led to his apartment upstairs.

The elf had given me a large glass of red wine once he was done with the stitches, which I was extremely grateful for. I sat at his kitchen table, admiring how clean the upstairs was as well. It didn’t have the modern feel of his downstairs shop but was furnished with more big pieces of crafted wood and plush Persian rugs. It felt more like a cottage, which really fit with the exterior of the house. It was cozy, and I felt myself relax as I gulped down my wine. Yum.

“Would you like some more?” asked the elf. He didn’t wait for my answer as he poured another generous portion into my empty glass.

“Thank you,” I answered, looking at the label. “Mouton Cadet. I don’t know this wine, but it’s very good.”

“It’s French, and very reasonably priced,” said the elf as he poured himself some and set the bottle on the kitchen table. He moved back to the kitchen, grabbed a platter of cheese with crackers that would have had Tyrius doing cartwheels, and set it on the table between us. Then he set down a bowl filled with Kalamata olives and finally pulled out a chair to settle himself next to me.

We’d barely spoken since he led me upstairs to his place. I knew he was thinking about what had happened, and I felt a wash of guilt hit me.

My eyes moved over to the brown leather couch. Tyrius was curled into a ball, snoring lightly in the folds of the cushions. I knew he’d probably be pissed off he missed everything. But he’d be more disturbed when I told him I had changed my mind, but had to kill the werewolf to save Gareth.

“I’m sorry,” I exhaled looking back at the elf. “I’m sorry it happened. I’m sorry you got involved in this crap because of me.”

Gareth stared at his wine glass. “I’m sorry too.” He sighed. “You tried. But the wolf couldn’t let go of his killing, protective instinct. He saw us as a threat. Thought we’d killed his pack. He was only doing what alphas are programed to do—protect his pack.”

My throat throbbed. “Steven Price was a good guy. A really good guy. And I’m the asshole who killed him.” I took another gulp of wine, feeling the effects of the lovely substance making my head lighter.

“If you want to blame anyone,” said the elf, his jaw clenching, “you should blame Lisbeth.”

“I do,” I said, clamping my teeth as I forced myself to relax. “But I’m to blame too. I should have listened to you. I should have listened to my gut.” I met the elf’s eyes. They seemed darker in the dimly lit kitchen. He’d taken off his coat and sat in a long-sleeved shirt and jeans, which revealed a wonderfully trim body. But he’d kept his hat on.

“You can take your hat off.” I smiled, rolling my eyes over the dark fedora. “I’ve seen your ears already.”

Gareth smiled and his face darkened by a shade. “It’s a habit.” He grabbed his hat and set it on the table next to his glass. “I don’t have to waste energy on glamouring them when I’m here.”

“Do you ever not wear it? And freak out the humans just for fun?”

“Halloween. I’ve been Legolas Greenleaf for twenty years,” he said, making me laugh. Gareth tossed his hair from his eyes and pulled up the sleeves of his shirt, revealing a compact and muscled forearm.

It was hard not to stare at his face. I’d seen his ears before and his thick, tousled hair that was long enough to make me want to run my fingers through it. The tips of his ears were pointy and very similar to the elves’ ears in The Lord of the Rings movies. But without the hat transforming his face, I could finally see his face, and it was a very lovely one.

He had a nice straight nose and perfectly shaped lips. It didn’t hold the eerie beauty of the vampire Danto’s face or the ridiculously beautiful model-type of Jax’s face, yet the rugged edges and the shadow of a week’s old stubble were pleasing to look at. This was a real, rugged, and manly face. Every inch of his jaw, the frame of his face and cheekbones, the thickness of his neck, all depicted strength and virility—and that was very sexy.

Gareth caught me staring for a tad too long, and I quickly grabbed a slice of cheese with my right hand and shoved it in my mouth. Wow. That was good.

“Why did you move out here?” I asked between chews, realizing I was starving and wanting to change the subject before the wine made me do something stupid. “I can get why some angel-born live among the humans, but a half-breed? You don’t blend as well.”

Next to me Gareth exhaled. “I moved here to be with someone,” he answered, surprising me. The tension in his shoulders dropped, and he seemed much more relaxed in my presence.

“A human?” I asked, sitting up and curious.

Gareth’s dark eyes were on his glass. “Yes. Her name was Emma. We were young and very much in love. She accepted me for what I was, a half-breed. It never bothered her. I couldn’t care less that she wasn’t an elf. I loved her. That’s all that really mattered.” I looked at the elf who looked exactly like a human, except for the ears. I could see how easily a human woman could fall for him.

So, Tyrius had been right all along. The elf moved out here because he fell in love with a human woman. Curiouser and curiouser.

“When the community found out about our relationship,” continued Gareth, and by community I knew he meant the half-breed community, including the elves, “they asked me to terminate it. They would put a memory charm on her so she’d forget she’d ever met me.”

I leaned forward and popped an olive in my mouth. “I’m guessing you told them to go screw themselves.”

Gareth smiled as he looked at me. “Something like that. They told me if I continued my relationship with Emma so openly, I would be... silenced.”

“Damn. So what did you do?”

“I dared them to try,” said the elf. “They knew my magic was much more powerful than theirs. So they shunned me. I was turned away from everything I knew, everyone I knew and loved. My family. My friends.” His jaw clenched, his expression going hard. “I vowed I’d never have anything to do with the community ever again.”

“Your own people shunned you? The elves as well?” A shudder ran through me at the fierceness in the elf’s eyes.

“They were the worst of them,” he muttered. “Elves don’t mix with other non-elves. They don’t take kindly to mixing with the other half-breed races. Being with a human... well... it was much, much worse.” He looked at me and gave me a sly grin, making him look years younger and boyish. “We could compare shunning stories.”

My breath slipped out and I laughed. “We could. But you’re going to need a hell of a lot more wine.”

Gareth laughed. It was a genuine, deep-throated kind of laugh and very pleasant.

I set my wine down and went for some more cheese. “I get it now,” I said, taking a bite out of some cheese that was having a fiesta with my taste buds.

Gareth frowned as he sipped his wine. “You get what now?”

“Why you didn’t want to help me at first,” I said, eyebrows raised. “Why you were a little pissy with me and still are sometimes. Why you kept telling me you didn’t want to get involved with our side of the world. It makes sense.”

I took another sip of my wine, noticing how fast the delicious substance was disappearing from my glass. Tyrius made a little chirping noise, and I turned to look at him. His lips were twitching, his tail slashing across Gareth’s couch. He looked so comfortable there, and having a good dream no doubt. I didn’t want to wake him from that, only to give him the terrible news of Steven. Not yet.

“I don’t live among the other elves and half-breeds,” said Gareth. I pulled my eyes away from the cat to settle on the elf. “But I always stayed informed of what was happening.”

Gareth leaned back in his chair, his wine glass resting in his hand on his lap. “And not all the half-breeds in the community were in agreement with the way I was treated. I have a large clientele base of half-breeds that come regularly to my shop. Have been for years.”

I raised my brows. “Why am I not surprised.” Not only was the elf skilled in pullomancy. He had some deadly herbs hidden in his shop—herbs that had helped me kill the fae queen. God knows what else was hidden in there.

My heart pounded at the question I was dying to ask. “What happened to Emma?” I looked around the room to give him time to answer, but I couldn’t find anything remotely feminine about it. All the furnishings were bulky wooden pieces with leather couches and chairs, which screamed male.

“She’s gone,” said Gareth, not meeting my eyes.

Damn. She was dead. I should have kept my mouth shut. Nice going, Rowyn. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Gareth’s eyes snapped to mine. “She’s not dead.”

My mouth fell open. “Oh. I just thought... I assumed since you said gone...”

The elf shook his head, sending locks of his hair lifting off his head. “She’s gone as in she left. Things fell apart about three years ago.” He clamped his mouth shut and I had the feeling he was keeping an important bit of information from me. “We grew apart. It happens. And her leaving was the best thing for both of us.”

I set my empty wine glass on the table, feeling a little lightheaded. Nothing a little more cheese couldn’t cure. “Did you ever think of moving back? I mean, closer to the community?” Leaning forward, I made a cheese sandwich with two crackers and a slice of cheese in the middle. If Gareth didn’t stop me, I was going to eat the whole plate. You snooze you lose.

“No,” Gareth laughed dryly. “I’d seen their true colors, what they stand for and who they truly are. I prefer to live out here among the humans. Business is good. There’s no reason why I’d pack up and leave when I’ve established a reputation here with a regular clientele.”

“Hmm,” I said, munching down my itty cheese sandwich. I didn’t know much about how to run a business apart from my own Hunts, which had me barely scraping by. I had to get better at saving money and sticking to a budget.

Three years was a long time to be alone. Not that I believed Gareth didn’t have any female lovers come into his life since then, or maybe even a girlfriend. It still didn’t explain why a healthy male in his prime was living alone...

“What?” said Gareth suddenly making me jump.

“What? What?” I said, my cheeks burning.

A smile quirked the elf’s lips. “You’re staring.”

I tapped my finger to my glass. “It’s empty.”

Gareth grinned as he set his own glass on the table and poured me another full glass of red wine, placing the now empty wine bottle in the middle of the table. I might handle alcohol better than your average human female, but there was no way I was driving home after this glass. Guess I was going to sleep on the couch with Tyrius. Or maybe...

I don’t know why but my eyes traveled to Gareth’s bedroom. The door was open, so I took that as an invitation to look. I could see a large king-sized bed with dark gray bedding and pillows and two night stands next to it topped with books. He made his bed. I didn’t even make my own bed. God he was so neat it was irritating because it made me feel like a slob.

I could feel Gareth’s eyes on me while I checked out his bedroom, so I looked back at my glass of wine, laced my hands around the cup and took another sip. Heat rose from my chest all the way up to my face. I didn’t know whether it was from the wine or from being so close to Gareth and talking so openly about his intimate life. The same elf had been so reclusive and secretive with his answers seven months ago.

His sudden willingness to share prompted me to ask more questions. “What’s your interest in the demon killings?”

Gareth looked at me from over his glass of wine. “I thought you might be the one doing the killing.”

My breath caught and I went hot. “Are you serious?” I eyed him, trying to figure out if he was joking or not.

“Very,” answered the elf, his features carefully blank. A faint feeling of apprehension slid under my skin at how he’d said it. I gripped my glass, wanting to smash it on his head at this very moment.

Instead, I slammed my glass on the table, spilling it, pushed my chair back and shot to my feet. “How can you even think that?” My anger rose with my voice, fueled by way too much wine in too little time.

Gareth watched me, his expression slightly amused at my eyes narrowed. “You have archdemon blood, Rowyn. Not just a regular demon, but the most powerful that exist. The kings of all demons. Who knows what it’s doing to you? Corrupting you. Changing you.”

My face screwed up with anger. “So you heard that too, huh? You heard everything. Well, good for friggin’ you,” I snapped, my heart pounding. “I never hurt any of those half-breeds. I would never hurt the very vampire who’d help saved my ass from the dark witch Evanora.” I stepped forward until I was looming over him in his chair. “If you knew me at all or cared to know me, you’d know I could never do that. I’m not a monster.”

Maybe I was a monster, but at least I was a nice one.

Gareth barely acknowledged my presence as he sipped the last of his wine. “I know that now.”

“But you thought I was,” I said, seething. “You just said so.” Anger burned through my misery and my feelings of betrayal. The elf wasn’t a friend. He never was. He’d been watching me all this time, studying me, waiting to see if I’d screw up. He’d thought I’d killed those half-breeds. He’d thought I was changing into something...

I’d had enough. “Thanks for the wine and cheese.” I turned and walked over to the couch where Tyrius was sleeping. The cat was breathing soundlessly. He looked so peaceful and comfortable it pained me to move him. But I was not staying here for another minute.

“What do you think you’re doing?” asked Gareth as I heard him push his chair back to come after me.

“What does it look like?” I retorted as I stroked my sleeping friend’s head. “We’re leaving.”

“You can’t wake him up.” Gareth moved to stand on Tyrius’s other side, his stance protective. “He’s still not recovered. He needs his rest.”

I gritted my teeth. I knew Gareth cared about Tyrius, probably a hell of a lot more than he did about me, but he’d thought I killed those half-breeds. What the hell am I doing here?

“I know what I’m doing,” I said finally, not looking at him. “He can rest on the way home.”

“Leave him be, Rowyn,” ordered the elf, and I didn’t like his tone. No male orders me around.

I turned around and pressed my right hand on my hip, hating how pathetic I looked with my left arm in a brace. “Or what? What are you going to do about it, Gareth?” Tension spiked through me, responding to my anger. I’d fight with one arm if I had to. I didn’t care.

Gareth looked away from me, his eyes narrowing and his face partly hidden in shadows.

“And if it had been me?” I asked. “Were you planning on killing me with your elf dust like you did the angels?”

“I only killed their mortal suits,” said the elf belligerently, his eyes back on me and his features looking irate. “The angels are fine. I’ve told you this before. Why don’t you ever listen?”

“How do I know you’re not lying?” I asked. “You could be lying.”

Gareth looked shocked. “I’m not lying.”

“Right. Whatever you say. I’m still leaving.”

“Don’t be foolish.” Gareth cursed. “You’re acting like a child.”

A small growl escaped me. “I’d think seriously hard about your next words, elf. The wine might make me do something crazy.”

Gareth shook his head and raked his fingers through his hair. He looked at me, his face losing its anger and seeming more desperate. “I would never hurt you, Rowyn.”

“Bullshit.”

Gareth let out an exasperated cry. “You are an infuriating woman. You know that?”

I smiled brightly. “That’s the nicest thing you’ve said to me all night.”

“You should stay,” said the elf, his voice heavy with distress.

“How about I punch you in the neck with my good arm?”

Gareth sighed through his nose. “What Lisbeth and the archangels and archdemons did to you was wrong.” When he saw that I didn’t object, he went on. “Whatever’s inside you, I wouldn’t say its evil as much as its powerful. Dark, but great. And power can be controlled with the right tools, whether it’s dark or light. And if some of that power had materialized, I would have taught you to control your emotions, to control the darkness. I wanted to help you, Rowyn. Not hurt you. Never hurt you.”

Oh crap. He’d said it. Gut clenching, I stared at the elf’s face, shocked. “You would have done that?”

“Of course.” Gareth’s gaze was intent and his voice determined as he watched me, probably wondering if I was going to pick up the baal demon and flee.

I looked away from Gareth. “But it wasn’t me,” I added softly, pondering whether someday it might be.

A deep chill overtook the core of my being as I stared at Tyrius, still sound asleep. Today had been a royal screwup, and I was tired, the effects of the wine making my lids heavy. Strangely enough, I believed the elf. He’d pissed me off thinking that I could have killed those half-breeds, but I still believed him when he said he would never hurt me. I trusted him, surprising myself further. And there was no way I was driving home. I let myself fall to the couch next to Tyrius. It was surprisingly comfortable as I settled back into the cushions and I had to keep myself from moaning.

Visible tension left the elf and his posture relaxed as soon as my butt hit his couch.

“Now the werewolves are going to come after me,” I said and gave a little nervous laugh. “My life just keeps on getting worse. It was bad enough to have the angels on my ass. Now the werewolves want me dead too. And we still don’t have much to go on with the half-breed killings. Except we know there are at least five demons doing them.”

From beside me, Gareth shifted his feet. “Can’t get any worse than a pack of werewolves hunting you.”

“It’s worse than that,” I breathed, suddenly very awake.

The elf crossed his arms over his chest, the dim light catching his eyes. “What do you mean?”

I rubbed my temples, the start of a migraine showing itself, the effects of drinking wine too quickly. “Lisbeth will think I’ve completed her contract.” I swallowed, my throat tight. “And now she’s going to give me another name.”