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Con's text came about an hour later. It told me to use the app he put on my phone. There was nothing else and no response to my follow up text.
I piled into one of White's cars with Oisin. This time, it was an SUV, still all black with tinted windows. I felt like we were the FBI. Or the mob. Bobby drove, following the map on my phone to a wooded area about five miles outside of town. We stopped a short distance from the location, turning off all the lights as we parked along a deserted stretch of road. I had my knife tucked into the leg holster, but I shifted my hands into talons instead. I was in the perfect mood for a hand-to-hand confrontation. Fuckers better not have touched Con.
Oisin placed a hand on my arm, his skin glowing white against his all-black garb. "Easy lion. Save the posturing for later." His white teeth glinted as he smirked at me. "Once we have him back so he can properly appreciate how sexy it is when you get all protective."
I let out a low growl.
I opened my mouth to tell White's guys to stay here while we checked things out, but I didn't get that far. There was a terrified shout, and the pop of a handgun. Gods, Con was out there somewhere with a bunch of murdering psychos.
I followed Oisin as he flowed through the woods, avoiding obstacles as if he followed a path only he could see. I felt White's backup fanning out around us, making a perimeter around the humans. We slowed as we approached a clearing near the river, lined with old hunting cabins. What I saw made my heart clench in my chest.
Con stood in the center of a rough ring of humans, my gun in his shaking hand. A rabbit cowered at his feet, leaning into him as if the human could hide him from the hunters. And in front of them, a man lay on the ground bleeding from a gunshot wound to the chest. Blood splatters decorated Con's golden-brown skin.
"Stay the fuck back," Con warned when one of the hunters inched a hand toward his own gun. Con's voice shook. He sounded wild and feral. Son of a bitch.
He'd killed someone.
"What the hell are you doing, son?" One of the guys in the ring around him called out in a good-'ol-boy drawl. "Jesus, you fucking killed Ted!"
Con laughed. "Yeah, and how many people did that piece of shit kill?" He shifted the gun to point at a guy off to his left who had taken a step forward. "Stay the hell back."
The rabbit let out a little keening cry. Oisin and I split up a bit, fanning out to join White's men as we surrounded the little drama unfolding before us.
"Those ain't people, you little shit. They're monsters," the man insisted. "Their kind feed off us. They don't show their true selves. Murder humans in the street."
Con snorted. "So, rabbits and deer go around attacking people? You're full of shit. They have families. Jobs and lives just like you. People who care about them. You're the ones killing innocent people."
I saw Oisin put a hand to his heart out of the side of my eye. Really? Was now the time for theatrics. But yeah, clearly Con was pissed someone had hurt his own shifters.
"Drop your weapons and kneel," a strong, steady voice called out. The gargoyle stepped forward with the rest of his team, guns pointed at the humans.
And that...that was when chaos broke out.
A few of the humans did as they were told. A few more decided to play soldier. One of them darted close to Con and grabbed the rabbit. Con shot him in the leg. His aim was off, probably due to another hunter jumping on his back and getting him in a choke-hold.
Oisin stopped the rabbit snatcher, stepping before him with his twin blades twirling in his hands. "Ah-ah...drop it," he said in a pleasant sing-song voice.
I grabbed the guy who was currently choking Con and peeled him off, my talons sinking into his shoulder. He shrieked but let go. All the fight went out of him when I threw him to the ground, and he got a look at my claws. White's men had tidily rounded everyone else up in the blink of an eye. I followed Con as he lurched to his feet and went to yank the terrified rabbit out of the hunter's hands. He sucker-punched the guy for good measure, sending him stumbling off to join his friends in the round-up. Wow. I really needed to remember not to piss our human off.
I grabbed Con's arm and dragged him away. Oisin followed us a few feet into the woods, where we would have a moment of privacy. Then I released Con and rounded on him.
"You stupid jackass. Don't you ever run off like that again!" I yanked him to me and hugged him so hard his rabbit companion squeaked. Stepping back, I held up my hands. "Sorry, Fluffy."
Oisin chuckled, but he also needed reassurance that our human was in one piece. He squeezed the back of Con's neck, forcing him to look down into the shorter fae's eyes. "I understand your motives, Con. But this was reckless and unnecessary."
Con's mouth settled into a straight line. "I know. I'm just a human. But I couldn't just sit there while you two morons bled to death!" He was winding up. And I'm sure it was going to be epic.
But the sound of multiple rounds of gunfire stopped us all mid-shouting match.
I spun and darted back to the woods where we had left White's men. I stood there staring, my mind blank as it scrambled to comprehend what I was seeing. The humans had been lined up on their knees and executed. I watched the last one topple over and hit the ground as White's crew tucked their guns away and started dragging bodies into a pile.
"What the hell?" My heart pounded in my chest, my vision flashing in time with it as my blood pressure rose. Jesus, Buddha and Odin, what had they done? I stormed over to Granite, who was supervising the cleanup. "What the fuck?" I shoved him, hard. Most people would have landed on their ass. But with him, it was like pushing a boulder. The smaller, heavier, man rocked back on his feet a bit, but didn't lose ground. "Miss Lionheart. Is there a problem?"
I glared at him. "Yeah there's a fucking problem you fucking fuckwit. I gestured at the bodies, bile rising in my throat. "You fucking killed them."
Gray eyes peered up at me, unmoved. "I'm merely following orders, Miss Lionheart. The human threat had to be eliminated."
I bared my teeth at him. "I thought they were going to be taken to jail."
He tilted his head, his gray eyes sad at my ignorance. "What jail? Would the human courts convict them for the murders they committed against a bunch of animals? Would you hand them over to the shifter families instead, and trust that the humans wouldn't be tortured before they were killed?"
I growled. "You killed people."
Panic was a rising tide inside me. Sure, I hunted down bounties and sometimes I beat sense into people before dragging them off to jail. But...I wasn't a killer. Now my hands were stained. I hadn't pulled the trigger, but I'd led these assholes right to the humans.
The gargoyle shrugged. "I put down a ring of rabid serial killers."
I gaped at him. Sputtered. He wasn't exactly wrong. But...fuck.
"Gesa," Oisin called to me from the edge of the clearing. A rabbit was pawing at his pantleg and chirping as Oisin patted Con on the shoulder while the human vomited. "Little help here, darling?"
I returned my glare to the gargoyle, who was already walking away. One of his men made a gesture and the pile of human bodies burst into some sort of magic-enhanced flames. "Granite—tell White he can shove his job offer up his ass!" I yelled after him. "I'd rather eat maggots than ever see his face again."
The gargoyle's shoulders twitched, but he didn't turn back. "We will be sure to let him know, Miss Lionheart."
If I wasn't so horrified, I would have laughed at the look on Oisin's face when I joined him. I took over from him, patting Con's back as the puking turned to dry heaves, then finally settled. "Come on. We need to get out of here. I'm not dealing with the fallout if someone witnessed that or the police show up. Though I'm sure White's bribed everyone in the state."
Con straightened and picked up the rabbit. I stared at him. "We're not taking that with us."
He gave me the most convincing puppy-dog eyes I've ever seen. "He's so scared, Gesa. They were talking about cutting him up and making stew out of him."
I looked at the rabbit. Its beady black eyes were damp, and its ears were flat to its head. "You are a shifter, aren't you? We didn't just go through all this shit to find out you are, in fact, a rabbit?"
The thing chuffed at me.
Oisin shook his head and gave me a look. "I don't understand. The human won't stop puking. The rabbit won't change back. Did I miss something?"
I sighed. An awful scent was starting to fill the woods. "Oisin. Not all of us are immune to blood and slaughter."
His emerald green eyes flicked to Con and then back to me. "Children."
I shrugged. "Sure. Let's go. We've got a long walk. I can't fly that far carrying both of you." My recently-injured wing just wasn't up to it.
By the time we got back home, Con was staggering, exhausted from the mental and emotional ordeal he'd been through—and I didn't even know what all he'd seen or done. We got the damned rabbit to finally change back once we were inside. Apparently, his change had been triggered by a mage snare just like we'd experienced last time, and he'd been too terrified to change back.
After the mousy little man was clothed and on his way back to his family—amid non-stop chatter about how amazing and wonderful and brave our human was—I shoved Con into the bathroom and started undressing him.
He was shaking, and I didn't think it was from cold or fatigue. He didn't comment as I tugged his shirt off and started in on his fly. His pretty brown eyes had glazed over, and I was starting to get concerned. It looked like Con had shot that human point-blank. Even I hadn't ever killed someone. I imagined I would feel awful about it. Even if the person I killed deserved it.
Gods I sucked at emotions.
"Con," Oisin whispered from the doorway. Con's eyes flicked to Oisin in dull way. "Drink this sweetheart."
I watched as Oisin handed Con a steaming mug of something that smelled like lemons and grass. "What is that?" I groused. I'd tasted Oisin's cooking. The thought of him in the kitchen making whatever was in that cup was terrifying. "You're not poisoning him, are you?"
Oisin stuck his tongue out at me. "Oh ye of little faith."
Con took a drink of whatever was in the cup, even though it was steaming. He didn't react to the heat. Oisin reached out and touched the cup, sending a little waft of magic over it to cool it. "Drink it all, please."
Con chugged it down and Oisin met my eyes. "Oh, do stop glaring, Gesa. It's just an herbal tea, made with love." At my continued glare he relented. "And a bit of fae magic." He shrugged. "When I was young, my nanny made it for the warriors. Said it calmed the nerves and strengthened the heart."
The things my little fae must have seen. But I didn't ask. It wasn't the time. Instead, I took the cup from Con's numb hands and gave it back to Oisin. Then I finished stripping our silly, reckless, perfect human and ushered him into the tub. I stripped myself too, and stepped into the huge tub with him, glancing at Oisin as he set out towels. "I'll be back in a bit," he said, serious for once. "He needs you right now. I'll speak with him later."
I slid over to Con as Oisin shut the door. Finding Con's hands in the warm, sudsy water, I brought them up to my lips, kissing each one and giving them a squeeze. "Hey there."
His eyes met mine and he shuddered. "Hi."
I slid closer, settling on his lap and wrapping my arms around his waist as I cuddled in to him, not talking, but trying to convey through touch that he wasn't alone. And that I wasn't bothered by what he'd done.
Eventually, he relaxed, tense muscles unwinding around me. He took a deep breath and let it out, his head falling back against the edge of the massive tub. "How do you do it?" he said softly.
I moved to straddle his legs, so I could look at his face. A tear was tracing its way down his cheek. "Do what?" I asked, wiping the tear away, but leaving his cheeks wet with bathwater. There were still flecks of blood on one cheek, and I ran my fingers over them, washing it away.
"You and Oisin...nothing bothers you. Ever."
I laughed. "Um. Plenty of things bother me, are you blind? And Oisin...well, he's not normal. So, let's not compare ourselves to that freak."
He chuckled, but it was a dry thing, lacking in humor. "He's old, isn't he? Really old."
I sighed and started massaging his shoulders, working my way down his arms, willing him to relax even more as I rinsed away the evidence of his recent adventures. "As dirt, probably. Nothing bothers him because he's seen it all before, probably millions of times."
Con opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "Things do bother him. He just hides it better than everyone else."
I heaved another sigh. "I know." And it worried me. What was the fae hiding that he was afraid of? And when was it going to come crashing down on us all. "But we aren't talking about Oisin here," I reminded him. "This is about you." I put my hands on his chest, over his heart. "It was dumb of you to run off alone like that. You could have been killed. But I understand why you did it. Hell, I invented doing stupid shit without thinking."
He snorted and ran a hand through my hair, dampening it and pushing it away from my face. "But you have a bigger chance of surviving stupidity than I do."
I nodded. "I don't think you're weak, Con. But you are human. Your strengths aren't less than mine or Oisin's, they're just different. Okay?"
He looked down, then nodded. "I've been behaving like a pouting child. Wishing I could be like you, thinking I didn't fit here."
"Not true," I said, pulling at his sleek black chest hair and making him yelp. "You fit here just fine."
His hand shook as he dragged it through my thick hair again. "Maybe I do. I didn't even hesitate to kill that guy, you know? Didn't even think twice."
I grabbed his hand to stop his nervous petting. "And that's okay too. That guy was a psychopath. And he was going to torture and kill an innocent shifter, wasn't he?"
Con nodded. "That doesn't really make me feel any better about it."
"I know." I didn't really know what to say to that. I hadn't ever been in his shoes before. "I would have done the same thing, though. And I'd probably be beating myself up about it too."
It seemed to be the right thing to say. Con was quiet as we finished washing up, letting me massage his back and shoulders and soap up his hair, washing away any reminders of the night. When we were all dry and clothed in comfy pajamas, Oisin flitted in and dragged us to the bedroom. He had showered by himself and was wearing his silk sleep pants. He tucked Con and I into the bed, then slipped in on Con's other side, throwing an arm around the human man as we trapped him between us.
We lay there in silence for a long time, the room dark except for soft moonlight filtering in through the window. Finally, Oisin spoke in a whisper. "It is never easy," he said, stroking Con's arm. "Taking a life isn't meant to be easy. It's a theft of something sacred and it leaves a mark on your soul. But it is also a part of living. Would your soul be marred less if you had let that shifter die instead?"
Con shook his head. "No. I... couldn’t have done that."
Oisin patted his arm. "No, you couldn't have. That isn't who you are, Con."
Silence reigned again for a time. "White's men would have killed him anyway." Oisin added. "That fool was destined to die tonight."
I slapped at Oisin's hand, where it rested on Con's chest. "That was insensitive." But I couldn't help my own growl of irritation. "Fucking White."
Oisin chuckled. "This whole town is his territory, Gesa. You might as well get used to it."
I lifted my head to glare at him. "Oh? And do you mind explaining why you know what he is and won't tell me? You Gods damned traitor!"
Oisin sat up, his back against the headboard. "I can't tell you, Gesa. You'll figure it out on your own anyway. Eventually. Probably quite slowly, knowing you."
He frowned and rubbed a spot over his heart, his expression going distant.
"Oisin? What's wrong?" I sat up too, concerned. What was going on with the lying little fae?
He immediately smirked at me, that mask back in place. "Nothing to worry yourself about. Come distract me." He grabbed a handful of my hair and dragged me to him to take my mouth in a fierce kiss.
I didn't object to that. At all. But Con was upset, and we'd had such a shitty night. I tried to pull back, then squeaked when big, warm hands gripped my hips and dragged me over to sit on Con's hips, the blankets all tangled between us. Apparently, Con wanted a distraction too. His hands moved up the back of my thighs as he leaned up to tease a nipple with his teeth through my thin sleep shirt.
Oisin bit my lower lip and I growled.
We were a little cracked, but apparently, we'd find a way to deal.