Page 55 of Bounty Hunter

My dress? I look down, spreading the fabric wide and revealing four animal heads from the folds. Rupi gives a trilling chirp and hops closer to Ikar’s neck, her feathers knife-like quills as she eyes Jasper, Collette, and friends. Ikar winces when she attempts to nestle up. I don’t envy him there. I’ve felt the pricks of her feathers, and it burns.

“Can you put the heads away?” He winces again and tilts his head as Rupi trembles in all her sharp glory against his neck.

I sigh and let the fabric drop. He’s right. It appears I’ll have to choose between the animal heads and Rupi when we reach civilization.

I step away, and Rupi calms, but even when I try to get her attention by waving a hand full of her favorite birdseed, she won’t look at me. She acts as if she’s been betrayed. Ikar takes the seeds, and I watch, slack-jawed, as Rupi hops to his palm and begins cracking the seeds happily, acting as if I’m not there. Moody bird. But the scene holds my gaze for a long moment. Seeing my tiny fluff of a bird hopping around in Ikar’s large, calloused hand isn’t something I’ll be forgetting anytime soon. My mood softens toward both of them. It’s not their fault I was forced to don this dress.

After Rupi’s reaction to my frock, I’m even less inclined to wear it, so after it snags once more, my patience snaps. I stop with a huff, but when I reach for my knife, I remember it’s not there.Noneof my stuff is here. I sigh heavily. It’s going to cost me to replace it all. I curse Silas.

“I need a knife.” I place a waiting hand out in the air. Ikar slowly slips one from his collection and places the handle in my hand.

I immediately set to work, jaggedly sawing away the lower length of ruffles, careful to avoid any of my friendly animal heads. They don’t deserve to be cut off, even if Rupi hates them. It now stops at my knees, the front a little shorter than the back with my hasty tearing. Without the added length and weight of the ruffles, it poofs out slightly, resembling a party dress. A very creepy party dress. I worry I’ve made a huge mistake when a breeze blows by, and I quickly press the fabric down with my hands, but I find I don’t need to—the animal heads will weigh it down sufficiently. I pat Jasper, the raccoon head over my left thigh in thanks before I hand the knife back, and we continue.

“Did you just pet one of those heads?” Ikar appears genuinely concerned for me. Rupi quirks her head on his shoulder, and I get the feeling she is, too.

“You would too if you spent a night alone with them,” I respond with a little spice in my voice. “You know, if you would have returned sooner, I wouldn’t have had to become friends with them in the first place. What took you so long anyway?”

His mouth opens, but I get the feeling he doesn’t know where to start with what I just said. Ikar is often quiet and broody, but this is the first time I’ve seen him speechless. He rubs a hand across the back of his neck and shakes his head.

He’s still shaking his head. “No. You cannot be friends with dead animals,” he says firmly.

I respond quickly with some attitude. I’ve been waiting for an explanation. “Too late. You were going to tell me what took you so long?”

He eyes the animals on the dress again in exasperation. “If I’d known you made friends with dead animals, I would have left you,” he mutters.

My jaw drops with a sharp laugh. “You didn’t just say that.” I punch him in the arm, and he laughs, stepping away with his hands up in a placating gesture.

He’s still laughing when he begins again. “You know I’ll always come back for you.” There’s a look in his eyes that I really like. While a warm, happy feeling curls in my chest, he continues, his voice more firm and his jaw set in that down-to-business way again. “But I had to get my weapons back first.”

That cools the warm feeling real quick.

“You rescued your weaponsfirst?” Maybe I don’t have a crush on him anymore.

“You sure appreciated them when I killed the guards to get us out of there.”

I can’t argue with that. “Fine. But next time, be faster. I thought I was going to have to marry Silas.”

He laughs under his breath, and I revel in the light feeling that lingers between us.

We journey through forest so deep sunlight no longer shines down through the needles of the fir trees above us. But in the sun’s absence, the beauty of the fae arises around us. Tiny beads of water cling to plants, grass, and leaves like the tiniest of sparkling crystals. The colors of the flora around us have deepened considerably, and everything seems of a jewel hue, rich and deep. We come to a bridge that is obviously fae, builtby the best, and it shows. Beautiful bits and pieces of the highest-quality wood are fit perfectly together in intricate designs and dramatic pictures, guiding travelers across. As a teen, I’d thought it was so romantic. The fae and their potions, their criminal minds, fancy clothing, and their crafting of picturesque villages high in the trees. I’d even had a fae boyfriend here years ago, who, I’m sure, has moved on by now.

“Let’s just stick to our original,” I say decisively, preparing myself for the coming introductions.

“That I’m a criminal? Or mercenary?”

I smirk and lift an eyebrow. “So many options.”

He gives me a dry look, absent a smile, and I almost laugh out loud.

“Let’s go with criminal,” I say. “That way we’re not lying.”

“It’s a complete lie,” he deadpans.

I stop walking and turn toward him. “Look. My aunt can read me like a book, so our best bet to keep you safe is to go with what we are already familiar with. Which is you being a criminal. Besides, it hasn’t been proven otherwise.”

“Fine.” He starts walking again, but I see his jaw tick.

“You don’t like playing the criminal?” I almost laugh.

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