Page 27 of Last Ride of the Umbra Fae

By then, Ryder was already standing behind me with heat and lust still radiating off his body. I glanced over my shoulder, observing the sheer mess, and the realization of what we’d been doing was written all over Raven’s face.

“Read between the lines, asshole. She said fuck off.” Ryder’s eyes were bloodshot, possibly seconds from tearing Raven’s head off with his teeth. He pressed his body against my back and leaned an arm against the doorframe. My heart fluttered at the motion.

“You don’t want to fight someone like me, cowboy. I will end you where you stand,” Raven warned with a darkness coating his words, one I didn’t often see.

“We might be bound, Raven, but you do not own my life. Neither does Pa. Tell that old man that if he bought me the bestroom this place had to offer, then he should let me fucking enjoy it for once. I’ll come out when I’m ready.”

The tension was suddenly broken by the shrill cries of a woman. It was common for towns to have distant gunshots, showdowns, and fist fights in the middle of the road, but her cries pulled me away. I rushed over to the window, hearing a man yelling right outside the tavern. When I peered out, tears were streaming down her kohl-stained face. “You’re my wife,woman. Do as I fucking say.”

For a moment, I wanted to help. The adrenaline from watching two brute men argue kept the shadows curling around my wrists, but when I sensed no glamor on her ears, I sighed and took a step back, closing the curtains in the process.

My eyes briefly shut as a pang of guilt tried to take root. Humans did not deserve remorse.

The mood was gone.

Especially as Raven stood in the doorway, waiting to see what I would do.

While the bird and the cowboy played their game of death glares, I stepped in front of Ryder, peering up into Raven’s eyes, noticing the satisfaction, because in some fucked up way, he knew he’d won.

“I’m walking out the door because it ismychoice to make.” I pointed a finger at him, but I went back for my pie, aggressively grabbing it off the table. No matter what Pa had to say, he had to know that asking and telling were two completely different things. I would not bend to the whim of anyone, but I was also a sucker, because this pie was so gods-damn good and I knew he’d love it. It would smooth over any growing tension. I pushed past Raven and went to room thirty-seven.

19

Vessa

Fuck manners. I stormed through Pa’s door, preferring to bring hell with me. He did not even flinch when I slammed down the half-eaten apple pie. He continued to play the last hand of his deck. I knew he wouldn’t say a damn word until he won the game or not.

Pa’s room had the same structure as mine, only smaller, simpler for a man like him. I’d known the door would be unlocked. I remembered a long time ago, I had asked him why he never locked them. His response should have been carved into stone.

“My door is an open invitation for anyone seeking death.”

He sat by the window, hat off, his onyx, pointed ears exposed. He was dressed down to nothing but a loose-fitted, gray, long-sleeve shirt, unbuttoned at the top, along with thermals and boots. The man looked ready for bed.

“Your mind is messy, Shadow. Better sort out your thoughts. See which cards you want to play.”

“I thought I was doing just that until you decided to let Raven cockblock me.”

He flashed a thick, salt-and-pepper brow my way, one that felt like a whip. A look that would have worked back in the day, but I was a woman now.

Hard on the reins, just like Ma,is what his face read.

“Since we are being bold and boundless tonight, yeah, I said it,” I sneered.

“My gods, your mouth spits fire.”

“Then don’t poke the dragon.”

Raven and Ryder walked in, their boots thudding against the ground like wild buffalo. I could pick out Ryder’s footsteps by the spurs because Raven loved his steel-capped boots. I glanced over my shoulder to find Ryder taking a space against the wall, knee bent as his boot rested against it. His tousled hair and swollen lips gave away what we had just been doing. Pa set his hand down, cards thumping against the table with extra emphasis, and sighed.

“We are about to enter The City of Donia. There are things there that you will not be able to unsee nor will you understand. It’s nothing like the wild out here. The humans here are spread out, but lump them in a city full of Elemental Fae where fear binds them, you’ll truly see the animals they’ve become in order to survive.”

“I don’t see much of a difference between them and us. We’ve been teetering on survival for years—what difference does a wall make?”

He looked at me. “We are free. Ain’t nothing better, no matter how monstrous we are. But we are going there for a purpose, and that’s to meet the person who makes your tonic. I hate to break it to you, Shadow, but you need more.”

“No shit.” I swung one leg over the other and crossed my arms, bouncing my foot. “What happens if I don’t take it?”

“Don’t start this bullshit, Vessa.” Raven moved toward us but kept his distance from me as he stood by the window.

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