Page 13 of The Last Heir of Elsewhere

I strode toward the nearest bed, and kicked it. “Move.”

The occupant, a young-looking Demi-Fae male, rolled over and blinked sleepy eyes up at me. “What’s wrong? Is father calling?”

I glowered. I would never get used to anyone calling Cross “father.” Not when I’d known him since he was barely older than the idiot in this bed. “Get up.”

Seeming to realize whom he was speaking to, the boy rubbed his eyes and blanched. “But…I was working all night.”

“What gives you the impression that I am a sympathetic sort? Get the fuck out.”

He scrambled to his feet, leaving the bed unoccupied. I sat on the edge to unlace my boots and sighed before lying flat on my back. I stared at the cobwebbed ceiling and ground my teeth, listening to the raised voices from the next bed over.

There was nowhere to hide in the thieves’ den. Nowhere to go for a moment’s solitude, where my entire cursed family could not find me, or sixty-odd thieves were sleeping or fighting or fucking at any given moment. Nowhere to go whereshewasn’t.

The end of my mattress dipped, and I glanced up, startled. My eyes widened slightly. A curvy, lavender haired female dressed in the same training leathers as the rest of Cross’s crew sat at the foot of the mattress. I raised an eyebrow, saying nothing.

“Hi,” the thief said. “I’m Maeve.”

I stared at her, unaffected. This was becoming a daily occurrence, as if those I’d already rejected had spoken to friends, and now they’d made a game over it. Normally, I’d enjoy the attention, but not now. Now, I wanted nothing more than to be left alone.

My continued silence seemed to rattle the thief, because she shook herself before continuing again. “You’re in my bed.”

Thinking of the male I’d just displaced, I raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“Yes.” She giggled. “But, I don’t mind sharing.”

The corner of my lip tipped up in a sneer. Even if I’d been in the mood to fuck anyone, the woman’s lies would have made me turn her away.

I couldn’t stand any more lying humans.

“Even if these beds were assigned, which I know they’re not, I’d still tell you to go sleep on the floor. I don’t want company.”

Her smile vanished, and she leaned back, affronted. Frankly, I thought she got off rather easily. If I’d had the energy to truly scare her, perhaps I would not have to deal with any more of these propositions. Only, somehow, I was beginning to feel guilty over breaking humans just for the sake of it.

I rolled over again, attempting to ignore the sounds of the barracks. With every passing second, I regretted my refusal to sleep in the main house. But then, the memory of this morning would creep into my subconscious—of storming into the same upstairs hall that I’d comfortably walked only last week, and hearing her familiar breathy moans. I knew the sound instantly, and that alone was alarming. How many cries of pleasure had I heard over the years? Too many to count, yet for some reason I could have picked hers out of an entire chorus of voices. Horrifying to say the least.

Footsteps sounded beside the bed, and I ground my teeth without opening my eyes. “I thought I made it clear I’m not going to fuck you.”

“Well, I suppose I’ll have to find some way to quell my disappointment.”

I opened my eyes abruptly at the sound of the unexpected voice. Lonnie stood at the end of my bed, arms crossed, jaw set. She looked like she was trying very hard to seem aloof, but her hands shook and I could hear her erratic heartbeat thrumming too fast to be normal.

I sat up too fast and my head spun. “I thought you were someone else.”

“Obviously,” she said, almost bitterly, keeping her huge brown eyes fixed on the bed. “I’m well aware of how repulsive you find your attraction to me, my lord.”

I cocked my head. Lonnie was dressed unlike anything I’d ever seen her wear, in clothing no doubt borrowed from Siobhan. Her trousers and bodice were leather, with a low-cut white blouse and a black beaded belt. Her long curls were left loose and untamed, falling in a halo around her shoulders. I blinked slowly at her. “You don’t know fucking anything.”

“Don’t I? You can’t lie, so you must’ve meant it when you said you wanted me, but you won’t do anything about it. What am I meant to assume?”

If not for the persistent noise of the room, and the throbbing pain in my face, I might have thought I’d fallen asleep after-all. This felt like a dream. Or a test. She could not truly have come to find me just to ask if I wanted her, there had to be something else she wanted. “What are you doing here?”

She took a step forward, still not looking me in the eye. “You didn’t say anything during the meeting.”

My brow furrowed. “That’s not true.”

She swallowed heavily, and I was distracted for a second watching her throat work. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was in pain. “I meant, you didn’t say anything about if you intended to travel with us.”

“There’s nothing in Aftermath except ruins and afflicted and the source knows what other fucking creatures. Going there is suicide.”

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