Page 58 of Wanted: A Roommate Who Isn't Evil

Luc coughed again, then he trotted over and hopped onto the desk.

Dranian nearly blasted him with fire, but Luc raised his hands quickly. “Oh dear… Can we call a truce?” he asked.

Dranian lowered the fire beast’s snout, and—to Luc’s true wonder—the side of the fool’s mouth tugged up,just a smidgen. Enough that it might have been considered by some to be a smile. It was a strange, pleasant moment until Luc grabbed him by the shoulder and hurtled him off the desk.

Dranian tumbled to the floor with his fire beast as Luc stabbed his father’s fairsaber into a Shadow Fairy in the wind. The fool’s blade was swinging precisely where Dranian had been standing. The fairy buckled into a heap, and Luc kicked him off the desk. He hopped down to Dranian’s side.

“What do you say, North Fairy? Should we slip out of here, or should we take them all down so they don’t come back again?” he asked, facing away from Dranian and moving into a defensive stance as the Shadows who were left raced in to close the gap.

“Do you feel up to it?” Dranian’s words were almost too quiet to hear.

“No. I’m hot and Ifeellikeeating ice cream. But we don’t always get ice cream when we want it, do we?” Luc reassessed his blade then crouched to steal one off a Shadow body on the floor. He twisted both in his grip, getting a feel for them.

“Let’s fight,” Dranian decided. He raised the fire beast and hit a button. A wave of orange-gold splashed through the room, beautifully devouring everything in its path and leaving a trail of black ash.

Luc struck the first Shadow Fairy, locking blades then twisting to strike at another at the same time. He took them both down just as the roaring of the fire beast ceased. He spun back to Dranian.

The fool’s green eyes went round. Dranian shook the beast alittle, then hit the button again. Nothing happened. “Queensbane,” he cursed, ripping the satchel off and drawing his spear instead.

“Is this a joke?” Luc complained. He slashed a Shadow Fairy’s arm who came too close. “Did you feed it before you came?”

“I didn’t know it would run out of faeborn fire!” Dranian said, hurtling his spear into a fairy. Then he whirled to Luc. “Let’s not fight,” he said, changing his mind. “Let’s do the running away thing.”

Luc kicked back a Shadow and rubbed his temples as he followed Dranian. The North Fairy leapt over bleeding fairies to fetch his spear. “Fine. I’ll hunt them down later or something,” Luc sighed. He grabbed Dranian’s shoulder when a loud, booming crack sounded through the building, and Luc spun.

A familiar young human female marched in through the wide double doors at the end of the room. She held a gun, and she fired it at anything Shadowy that moved. Twenty humans in uniforms trailed in behind her. Their weapons were unusual and strangely accurate, bullets bending around corners and swerving in arcs. Luc thought of his last life and had the overwhelming urge to escape. But Dranian appeared at his side, seeming less worried as the police officers waged war upon the Shadow Army division.

Though humans were a far lesser species to fairies, Luc had to admit, he was slightly impressed. There wasn’t a single tremor of fear in Lily Baker’s rhythms. She aimed. She fired. She destroyed.

“Lily Baker,” Luc mused, studying the ink paintings over her outstretched arms beyond her rolled-up sleeves.When she turned, Luc spotted a sewn inscription across her back that read: TRUE NORTH STRONG. The other officers wore the badge, too. “Is that truly her real name?” Luc asked Dranian curiously. Dranian seemed to choose not to answer.

Shadow Fairies lost their balance one after another, and Dranian nudged Luc toward the side of the room. “Their shots will find you, too,” he warned, and Luc’s mouth twisted into a scowl. He’d wanted to watch the show. But he reluctantly reached for Dranian’s shoulder.

They vanished to the sound of thunderous cracks and a falling Shadow Army division.

24

Dranian Evelry: Master of Secrets and Lies and Other Treacherous Things

Two fairies smelling of smoke collapsed onto an apartment floor. A dog with a flappy, loose tongue came racing to them, licking faces and barking. Dranian patted Dog-Shayne on the head, but Luc made a repulsed noise beside him.

“Why must everything be so wet?” he asked, wiping off his drool-covered cheek with his sleeve.

“Let’s get cleaned up.” Dranian winced as he inched his way up to stand. He was far more sore than he cared to admit. The pains in his shoulder and arm had become nearly unbearable. By the time he got to his feet, he realized Luc was already standing, waiting.

Luc blinked. Then he poked Dranian’s shoulder, and it was so dreadful, Dranian nearly buckled and fell to the floor again.

Luc sighed. “I’d ask what you were thinking going up against Shadows in your condition, but I suppose I don’t really care what you were thinking since the result is me being alive,” he said.

Dranian rubbed his shoulder. “It’s because of you I have these bruises,” he reminded him.

Luc shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe you should have been more careful. What were you doing when the Army snuck up on you in the first place? How did they manage to get close enough to kidnap you without you sniffing them?”

Dranian thought about his dream—the one he’d been deeply lost in when the Shadows came. “Never mind that,” he mumbled. “Get cleaned up so we can be off to Fae Café before sundown.” He headed toward his room to find fresh clothes, all the while thinking about the moment Lily had come marching into the smoky turmoil, gun raised, and had abolished a pack of Shadow Fairies with her own army.

And how he’d completely stolen her fire-breathing thing.

He was in for an arse-whooping from just about everyone now.

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