Page 36 of Wanted: A Roommate Who Isn't Evil

Dranian almost spoke several times. He finally settled on a simple, “No.”

Lily pulled the vessel to a stop, and Dranian leaned to see out the window, taking in the height of the monstrous building. It was so tall, it seemed to brush the clouds. A large sign wrapped the front that read: DESMOUNT TECH INDUSTRIES.

“I’ve never heard of this mysterious place,” Dranian mumbled. He climbed from the vessel and followed Lily to a wheel with tall panels of glass at the front of the building. He watched in amazement as she pushed against one of the panels, and all the attached panes revolved. Lily glanced back, seeming to realize Dranian hadn’t followed as the glass sucked her into the building. A panel of glass followed her, sealing her away in a cozy coffin of space.

“Get in!” she called, her voice muted through the glass.

Dranian gazed at the moving panels as they went by. He took a small step toward a moving gap but hesitated, and the glass swooshed past, sealing him out again. He huffed and reached to stop the doors from moving so he might stand a chance. He caught a panel of glass just as Lily hopped out on the other side, safe and sound. The whole contraption screeched to a loud halt.

Humans in the building seemed to pause their chatter to see what the commotion was as Dranian stepped inside carefully. He looked at Lily through the barriers. “How do I make this enchanted glass obey?” he murmured to her, not loudly enough. Lily raised both hands, seeming to wonder what he was doing and why he was still standing there.

So, Dranian eyed the glass panel before him. He pushed against it as Lily had done. The whole thing began to rotate, and he leapt ahead in alarm, pressing himself flat against it so the panel chasing him didn’t catch up. His faeborn nose was squished, his mouth pressed flat. He tried to communicate with Lily through the clear pane, but all it did was smoosh his lips around.

When he saw an opportunity, Dranian broke from the glass cage in a great leap, landing before Lily in relief. He rose to stand, casting a little glare back at the revolving glass panels that had nearly taken him hostage. “I shall never try that again,” he swore. When he glanced back at Lily, he didn’t find her looking proud that he’d beaten the obstacle course. Rather, she was pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Unreal,” she breathed. “Even after a year of living here, you guys still find ways to embarrass me.”

Without another word, she turned and headed toward a brightly lit lobby, ignoring the stares and questioning looks of the humans scattered around the space. She pulled a card out of her pocket and tapped it against a pad. A small, waist-height magic gate opened, allowing themto enter.

Dranian followed Lily to a set of metal doors. A shiny button was beside it, and Lily reached to press it but hesitated. She glanced back at Dranian in thought. Then she said, “We should probably take the stairs.” She headed to a tall white staircase, muttering, “If you can’t handle revolving doors, I don’t want to see what’ll happen to you in an elevator.”

Everything got a little darker upstairs. They entered a long hallway and Lily pushed through a door into a room with no windows. Dranian blinked to adjust his fairy vision as his gaze fell upon various things hung up, evenly spaced apart along the walls. He studied them curiously, trying to imagine what they might be. Diagrams also filled bright screens depicting… depicting…

“What in the faeborn-cursed human realm is this?” Dranian felt his blood warm. His eyes narrowed on those diagrams of figures with pointed ears. His eyes darted to a table in the middle of the room covered in loose parchment. He read a few titles, gathering quickly what they were about.

This was a research lair. These diagrams were of fairies. Those things hanging on the walls… Weapons. Terrible weapons. Weapons meant to kill fairies.

“Queensbane, Lily Baker, where have you brought me to?” Dranian felt the blood drain from his cheeks as he growled. He stopped walking, considering leaving the way he’d come. Considering destroying everything in this room first.

Lily turned to face him, her hand finding his shoulder. Her grip was strong.

“This is for your safety,” she stated. She reached over and pulled a small weapon off the wall. A gun—like hers.

“You need to take a sample of Luc Zelsor’s blood and put it in here.” She let go of Dranian’s shoulder and pointed to a small chamber on the weapon. “Just a pin prick will do. Then you’ll be able to shoot him, even if he airslips. In fact, with one Shadow Fairy sample, you’ll be able to shootanyShadow Fairy. The stun bullet will follow them, even at superspeed.”

Dranian gaped at her. He could not fathom it, nor could he come up with the words appropriate to scorn her for this thing she was doing.

“I’ve been working on this since what happened last Christmas,” Lily clarified at the look on his face. As if her specifying would change her betrayal. “I had to do something, Dranian,” she added, quieter this time. She turned and began disassembling the weapon on the table, checking its parts, “after what happened to Kate.” She swallowed, her slender throat bobbing slightly as she began putting the weapon back together. “It’s my job to protect her. This is the only way I know how.”

Dranian’s body was still tense and icy, but his shoulders deflated an inch. So this was why Lily had been hoarding all those myth and legend books all these months. It was why she’d been absent from Fae Café so many evenings. “Does Mor know you’ve created a deadly bullet that can chase him through the wind?” he asked through his teeth. “Does my brother have any idea you’ve created a weapon thatcan destroy him?”

Lily looked down, hiding the guilt on her face. But she didn’t look like she regretted what she’d done. “I would never use this on him.”

“It doesn’t matter, Human. Someone else might,” Dranian growled.

“The bullets don’t kill, theystun. And I would never let someone use this on Mor, or any of you.” Lily sighed and handed him the gun. “Use this to defend yourself. I’ll feel better about keeping your secret if I know you have this.”

Dranian didn’t take it.

“I’ll tell Mor what you’ve been up to if you don’t keep this with you,” Lily threatened instead.

Dranian’s jaw tightened. He reluctantly reached out and took the vile, horrid thing Lily had created. “I won’t use it,” he vowed. “I shall destroy it.”

Lily rolled her eyes and turned back to the table to straighten up the papers there. She grabbed a pen and scribbled on one. Dranian took the opportunity to steal a look at all the abominations on the walls. “What does that one do?” he asked, pointing to a particular mechanism that looked like a satchel. He bit his mouth shut as soon as he said it, wishing he’d never spoken. He was not interested in weapons that targeted fairies.

Lily glanced up though. “That’s a flame gun,” she said, looking right back down at her notes. “It shoots fire.”

Dranian blinked. “Like a dragon?”

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