Page 4 of Bound By Blood
"I don't know. Seems like a waste of time to me. Besides, the puppy is mine now. You clearly don't have good intentions toward him, so I'm keeping him."
"You can't keep it. It isn't a dog! I need it back to complete my work." He scowled at her window frame, tilting his head. His hair—the palest lavender she had ever seen—slid over his shoulder. "This wood hasn't been consecrated."
Damn that Povro and his careless ways! He'd sworn it was all taken care of.
"Don't you touch this house."
"You touched my apparition. It's only fair." He dug his fingers into the window frame. The wood strained and cracked as the board pulled up.
"Hey! Stop that. Stop that right now!"
"It's hard to stay safe from magic in your house if the house is gone, isn't it, human? Maybe if you hadn't used pine—"
She sprang forward and clubbed him in the side of the head with the cast iron skillet. "Don't tear up my house, you monster!"
With a startled groan, he collapsed against the wooden wall and slid to the ground.
Ha! She knew that iron was their weakness.
But this wasn't going to last for long. If there was a breach in the wood, he could break it apart and get in, and then where would she be? She was going to have to deal with him now while he was down and then figure out a solution.
AN UNUSUAL TRADE
Skillet still in hand, she seized rope from the closet and raced outside.
The lavender-haired fae lay crumpled on the ground, face in the dirt, motionless.
She seized his hands, put them behind his back, and tied them up individually and then together before hogtying him. Good enough for now.
He groaned into the dirt, then swore as she finished. "What is this?"
"You are not welcome in this place," she said, grateful that she was done with the knots. He had woken up faster than she expected.
"So I gathered." He huffed, then started to rock back. "When I get out of this—"
"When you get out of this, you're going to go straight home. I have no intention of harming you. I just don't want you here, so you are going to go away."
She seized his shiny black leather boots. The cuffs and about four inches of his dark-blue trousers were still wet from the creek. Gritting her teeth, she dragged him toward the edge of her wards.
There was a lot to sort out. She'd gotten herself into a fair bit of trouble already, but she'd find a way out and keep the dog.
"Not until I get what I came for," he snarled. He struggled against the ropes, his muscles bunching and tightening. "Believe it or not, I am here for your good."
"I don't believe it."
How had he gotten past the wards? Were they broken? Maybe she needed to ask that kind air elemental to come help her. She'd make a big batch of chicken leek soup with some extra fluffy rolls—or maybe some soda bread—to give in thanks.
"That thing isn't anything real. It's just a magic form. But if you don't let me manage it, it will become real. And then what will you do?"
"Give it treats and a warm bed. It's a puppy."
If she could get him past the creek—well, that actually didn't help.
She halted, still gripping his boots. She had to get him out beyond the wards over her own land. But if she did that, that made her vulnerable to whatever else stalked in the night. Here she was only vulnerable to what flew. But out there…
There was no sense in going any farther until she knew what she was dealing with.
"Were you able to get through here because there was a breach in the wards?"
