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At twenty-eight years old, I should be old enough to know better. And yet I still did such stupid shit. My eyes burned, so I slammed them closed again to block out the stupid sunlight streaming in through my bedroom window. My mouth tasted like a bunch of hairy pixies had an orgy in it sometime recently. And my head felt like someone had impaled my skull with a harpoon. It took me a minute to realize why the whole room kept slowly moving up and down.
My bed was breathing. I opened my eyes again, gingerly turning my head to gaze down at the warm, green surface I was lying on.
Then, it all came back to me in one agonizing rush of fucked-upness. Emerson. Fin. Fairy moonshine. And a whole lot of me flying my freak flag for everyone to see. Gods damn it. I sighed and shifted to the side, sliding off the man-slab I'd apparently slept on all night.
I sat up to find Fin looking at me with one eye, from where he lay on the other side of the bed. His other eye was squinched closed against the killer sunshine. "Morning Saber," he grunted, then closed his eye again, looking a little green around the gills.
I closed my eyes and took a bracing breath, then got up and stumbled to the bathroom to relieve my poor bladder before it burst. Walking was a real treat, let me tell you.
Fuck, I hadn't been this stupid since I was a teenager and I let the full shifters in the pack dare me into smoking some rift herb I'd never heard of. I shuddered at the memory. I'd been sick for a week, and for a few days there, I thought I would be permanently blind.
Fiend drugs were not a good mix with cur physiology.
I dragged myself through the motions of brushing my teeth. I'd gone to sleep with wet hair, so it stuck up at weird angles. I stuffed it into a short, messy ponytail and called it good. I still looked like death. But I didn't think I was going to puke. So that was good. Shuffling into the bedroom, I froze. Now that the magical booze cloud was lifting, I didn't know what to do.
Fin was nowhere in sight. But Emerson was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing nothing but his jeans, which weren't buttoned. It was like he managed to get dressed this far only by sheer willpower, but could go no further. I knew the feeling. His thick black hair stood up at weird angles, and his green skin went pink when he looked up and saw me. Because, you know, I was still buck-assed naked, all my weird freak anatomy right there on display.
I ran a hand through my hair and turned on a heel, marching over to the beat-up old dresser to find underwear. Fuck my life.
Emerson didn't say anything as I yanked on some boxer briefs and a sports bra. "Don't worry about it, ogre," I said, not looking at him as I pulled out a worn pair of jeans and a long-sleeved black t-shirt. "Fairy moonshine makes people do all sorts of dumb shit. I know you probably don't...I mean, I know I'm not—"
The alarm for the garage door started chirping, and I could hear someone pounding on the metal door downstairs. The sound, even though it wasn't really that loud, sent my head into spasms of blinding pain. "Fucking hell!" I bit out, tugging the rest of my clothes on and starting toward the bedroom door.
Emerson slowly stood, but he wouldn't meet my eyes. "Did I...did I hurt you, Sam?"
I stopped in my tracks, trying to ignore the continued racket at the door. "What?"
I met Emerson's worried red-brown eyes then, and realized he was all but vibrating with his need to pace and wring his hands. "Last night," he said softly. "I don't remember everything. At least I don't think I do. But you wanted me to...I didn't...did I? Are you okay, Sam? Gods, I'm such a big, dumb freak!" He fisted his massive hands by his sides in frustration.
I backtracked so I could step closer, forcing him to look me in the eyes. "Hey. I'm fine. You didn't hurt me, Em. You would never hurt me." I ran my hand through my hair again as someone banged on the door, destroying my last nerve. "Fucking hold on!" I yelled.
Emerson flinched at the noise, and I let out a sigh. "Look. I know I'm not the little princess you've somehow made me out to be in your mind, dude. Let's just...forget all about last night. We're good. Okay?"
I turned and strode out of the bedroom to go kill whoever was making my head feel like it was about to explode. Now the knocking was at the apartment door. Fin was in the kitchen making coffee and bacon, a black scowl on his handsome face that told me he felt exactly as wonderful as I did this morning. "It's the unsanctioned chick. I let her into the garage just to shut her the hell up. Figured she wouldn't knock if she was here to rob the place."
I snagged a partially cooked strip of bacon out of the pan, stuffed it into my mouth to shut up my rumbling stomach, then gave in to my stupid impulse and bent to kiss the top of Fin's rumpled head. He grunted in reply and continued to focus on food.
I snatched the door open before the idiot could knock again, then leaned against the door frame, arms crossed over my chest and my brows pinched together in pain. "What?"
Ahura arched her brows at me. She looked fucking perfect, of course, her wild fluff of kinky curls barely restrained by a brightly colored headband, a light touch of makeup enhancing her sultry features, and her short, curvy frame encased in leather and bright red silk. A pair of curved daggers were holstered at her hips. Her ruby red eyes roamed over me from head to foot and she gave me an evil smile. "Good morning, hunter. Rough night? You look like shit."
I growled.
She held up her hands. "Okay, okay. Let's not get all bitey." She winked. "At least not until we're done talking business."
She lifted her head and her nose twitched. "Is that bacon?"
Bacon wasn't as expensive as steak, since pigs were a little easier to raise, but it still wasn't cheap. Didn't mean I was going to forgive Angel, just because he'd stuffed my freezer with the crap.
I rolled my eyes, then groaned when that made the pain worse. Turning away, I went to find coffee. Ahura followed me into the apartment, closing the door behind her. She smiled at Fin, who just glared and climbed off his stepstool to go get the eggs out of the fridge.
"Wow," the woman said, as she slid into a chair at the table. "Both of you are in a good mood today, huh? Was that little hunt yesterday really so hard on you poor girls?"
Emerson emerged from the bedroom, still shirtless. He hunched his shoulders and hurried around the couch to grab his crumpled t-shirt when he saw we had company of the strange, female variety.
Ahura let out a throaty laugh at his blushing. "Oh wow. Now I have to know all about what you three got up to last night. I know there were grenade launchers involved. But I see that's not the best part."
I set my coffee cup down on the table and slid into a chair across from her. "Why are you here?"
She shrugged. "I wanted free breakfast at two in the afternoon?"
I glared. She grinned.
"I need work, now that my gang's gone,” she finally said. “And the unsanctioned beat is really paranoid right now. Everyone has been warned to be careful who we take jobs for. Apparently, your little pet human isn't someone to fuck with."
I sipped my coffee and sighed. Glorious caffeine. Fin had made it strong enough even a cur could get a little jolt. "He's not my human. And how does any of that explain why you're here?"
She reached over and took my fucking coffee cup, lifted it to her glossy lips, and took a sip. Her brown eyes went all dreamy at the taste. "Oh, that's good."
I grabbed my mug back and stared her down.
"Okay!" she said with a laugh, holding up her hands in surrender. "The guy who fucked me over just happened to disappear after most of our gang died in a fiery wreck. I'm not exactly popular with my usual crowd these days. Seems some people think I might have had something to do with the whole thing." She glanced at Fin, her smile going feral. "I was hoping you might have room for another hunter in your guild, Mr. Guild Master."
Fin rolled his eyes, then groaned when he too realized that was a bad move. He pushed the heels of his hands into his eye sockets. "Son of a blarney loving bitch."
Ahura smirked as Emerson came over and very carefully lowered himself into the chair between us. "What the hell did you guys do last night? Do you always look so whipped after a simple little hunt?"
I drank down what was left of my coffee, avoiding the lipstick ring. "Fairy moonshine," I muttered.
Her smile deepened. "Really? Is there any left? It goes great with bacon and fried potatoes."
We all groaned in horror.
Her laughter was rich and warm. Not right, for a low-life, unsanctioned killer.
"Well," she said, standing and snatching a couple pieces of bacon before she headed toward the door. "Think about it, yeah? I'll come back when you're in a better mood." She paused at the door and looked back at us. "If being part of the guild means I have to partake in the orgies, I'm not so sure this is going to work out. Although...the bacon might make it worth it." She tossed a look at Emerson's hulking form. "And I do like a challenge."
I threw a piece of toast at her head. My whole body might be protesting right now, but my aim was still deadly. Luckily, she had good reflexes. She slammed the door behind her, and the toast hit the place where her head had been a second before. Warm laughter floated through the door as she left.