Charming (Exiled Book 3) (4 page)

“Yes. Right on all counts. She was terrified. You should have seen her. I didn’t care what she’d done. I just wanted to help her.”

“Well, that’s laudable. How have you been, by the way?”

“
I got married. That’s the other reason why I haven’t been back. I didn’t know how you’d take it… my moving on. He’s the one I was taking a break from when I came here.”

“Oh.”

“I wandered around for five years. Then we got back together.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So you’re happy?”

“Yes. How about you?”

“I’m… busy. I guess that’s the same thing as happy.”

“I don’t think busy is the same thing as happy, but if you’re not feeling unhappy, that’s good.”

“I missed you.”

“Missed you, too.” After a minute of silence, Rosie said, “So. Will you take her in?”

Charming sighed. “For how long?”

“Until you find another place for her to stay?”

His eyes widened. “You mean you’re leaving her with us permanently?”

“If she goes back, she’s dead. So, yeah.”

“Rosie, that’s not really a plan. Dumping somebody who doesn’t belong here. Do you
really
not see any problems with that?”

“None that you can’t solve. You’re Charming!” She grinned. “You made me feel welcome and right at home from the very beginning. That’s why I know you’re the perfect solution.”

“But that was
you
! It was easy to make
you
feel welcome because you’re
you
!”

“I think that’s a compliment. So thank you.”

He huffed. “I’m trying to say that, asking me to room with some strange human… Well, you know how I feel about you, but it’s a lot to ask.”

“Okay. Let’s negotiate. What’s it going to take?”

“What?”

“Everything in life is a deal, Charming. What do you need in return for this favor in order to feel like you weren’t taken advantage of?”

“Come on. That’s not what I mean.” Rosie stood, arms crossed over her chest, waiting. Finally, he said, “Scruffal equipment for the Newland kids.”

“The kids Dandy takes care of.”

“Yes. Crave wants to teach all the kids to play scruffal, but there’s not enough money for that much equipment. He’s trying to make it building electric cars.”

“Where do I get scruffal equipment?”

“Well, you can’t just buy it. It has to be made. But if you donate money for materials…” She was gone before Charming could finish the sentence. In ten minutes she returned with ten gold bars. “Here,” she said as she hefted the small bag onto the table.

Charming stepped to the table and looked inside. “Where did this come from?”

“Not from here.”

“Is that, uh, legal?”

Rosie laughed. “Legal? Charming, I’m not human. That means I’m not subject to human laws.”

“What are you?”

She realized they’d never had that discussion. The entire time she’d lived at Newland she’d been masquerading as human to everyone but Carnal.

“Let’s not get sidetracked by labels. The thing is, this money is all yours. No repercussions. You gonna have tee shirts made?” He shook his head in confusion like he was trying to make sense of what she’d just said. “Never mind. I feel really good about this transaction. Sports for orphan kids in exchange for a place for a girl in even more trouble than orphans.”

Charming looked at the gold and realized he’d trapped himself by naming terms.

“I’m going to go get her. Be right back.”

Charming ran a hand through his hair feeling like he’d just been the victim of Hurricane Rosie. The last thing he wanted at the end of a tiring day was a human girl in his space doing what they always do which is to be clingy black holes of need.

CHAPTER THREE

“Here she is.” Rosie gave Ana a little push forward. “Okay. Be good you two. Gotta go or I’ll be late.” She giggled. “For a very important date.”

“Wait a minute! You’re just going to leave me here?” Ana looked at Charming. “With him?”

“What is she saying?” asked Charming, sounding truly aggravated. “You’re leaving some girl who doesn’t even speak Farsu?”

“Oh, yeah.” Rosie stopped and came as close to looking sheepish as is possible for a witch-demon. She waved a hand at Ana, said some words in a language neither Charming nor his prospective guest understood, then said, “All fixed.”

She blew Charming a kiss. He opened his mouth to ask how he could reach her, but she was gone.

He looked the girl over while she did the same to him. He could see that she was confused and thought he might have detected a little fear even though, to her credit, she was doing her best to appear bold and confident. She was pretty, but fragile-looking which was to be expected. If she weren’t human, he might have considered giving her a tumble. But when he’d taken on the role of Leader, he’d resolved that he wouldn’t indulge in human females. Since there were so many more hybrid males than females, and since human women were so attracted to hybrids, he knew that he, of all the Exiled, had to maintain a policy of ‘hands off’ for good interracial relations.

He sighed. “What’s your name?”

Ana was amazed to realize she understood him perfectly and was even more amazed that she could speak Farsu. After all, it wasn’t the
most
bizarre and outlandish thing that had happened to her that day.

She lifted her chin. “My name is Anastasia Victoria Borislavich.”

“Wow.”

“What’s yours?”

“Charming.”

She smirked. “No. Really.”

“That is my name.”

“Okay. Whatever you say. People call me Ana.”

“Anastasia is beautiful, but it’s a lot of work. So I guess I’ll be ‘people’ and call you Ana. There’s a second room down that hallway. You can stay there until we figure out what to do with you.”

She shrugged. “Whatever.”

“You don’t seem very grateful for somebody who has no place else to go.”

“You’re expecting gratitude? And what else?”

“Common courtesy.”

She barked out a derisive laugh, but stopped laughing when she realized he was serious. “Huh,” she said. “Okay. So you want me to play nice.”

“Look. I’m doing a favor for a friend. She said you’re in trouble and need a place to stay. I have a place for you to stay and I can guarantee that you’ll be safe here.”

She jerked her chin up. “How can you guarantee that?”

“Because there’s
no
one in this world who would compromise your safety once I claim you as my ward.” Oddly, saying the words ‘claim you’ out loud did funny things to his stomach. He looked her over again. There was no shortage of pretty females with pleasant scents in Farsuitwail. Her hair was close to the same color of most Exiled, but her whiskey-colored eyes gave her an almost-exotic look. She was tall for a human, with an hourglass figure.

“Your ward. What does that mean?” She lifted her chin with a hint that defiance lurked just under the surface of her calm demeanor.

“It means you need taking care of and I’m taking care of you. Is this your version of ‘playing nice’?”

She looked away. “I don’t know the rules. That woman dumped me here. What am I supposed to think?”

“You’re supposed to think this is your lucky day. You’re not going to die. You’re not going to be harmed. You’re safe. So why are you acting like you’re a prisoner and I’m the enemy?”

She sniffed. “I’m not used to people doing stuff without expecting something in return. What are you expecting in return?”

“Common courtesy.”

“What else?”

He thought about it for a minute. “Do you know how to cook?”

She laughed and shook her head. “I know how to steal tortillas out of the back of a taco truck.”

“I’m not going to pretend that I understood any of that except the part about stealing. So let’s focus on that. Stealing is frowned upon here. Don’t do it.”

“What if I’m hungry?”

“There’s a pub downstairs that serves good food. A Far Scar. I’ll introduce you to the owner. If you’re hungry, go there and order something. It’ll go on my tab.”

“Just walk in and say, ‘Give me food?’”

“I hope you’ll manage to be a little more polite?”

“Please, sir, may I have a little food?”

Charming blinked. “I’ll have a few choice words for Rosie next time I see her. Meanwhile, it looks like I’m stuck being your benefactor. It wouldn’t hurt you to act like you appreciate it.”

“My benefactor. Woo woo.” She mocked the way Charming said benefactor.

He stood fuming for a full minute before saying, “Your room is down that hallway. The one on the left. Let me know what else you need and I’ll get it for you.”

She stood up straight, looking interested. “Get it for me. Like just, get it for me?”

“Yes. Like just get it for you.”

“And what do you get out of it? I mean it’s not that you’re not cute and all, but I don’t like being told who to blow.”

Charming would have given just about anything if he hadn’t felt his dick twitch in his pants, but unfortunately amidst all the strange things she said that he didn’t understand, he did happen to know what humans meant by ‘blow’. He turned pink around the ears when he understood what she was suggesting, that he intended to use her as a sex slave in return for room and board. And although that idea had enormous appeal as a fantasy, he was not the kind of male who would force himself on someone. Nor would he ever need to.

“So long as you’re here, you will
not
be told who to blow.”

“Or fuck.”

“No. You’re free to do what you want about that, too.” He turned away, but stopped as the seeds of curiosity took root. Turning back to her, he said, “Have you been in a situation where somebody made you do things you didn’t want to do?”

Although Charming had been born free, his parents’ generation had been held as research subjects and the idea of forced compliance was still very raw with his people.

She raised her chin when she turned to look at him. “None of your business. And what was the deal with that woman? She’s there. Then she’s not. And she moved us around like, I don’t know like what.”

“None of your business,” Charming replied in kind.

“Oh. Charming.” She said it in her most sarcastic tone.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

She started to walk toward the hallway in the direction he’d pointed. As she passed him, he inhaled involuntarily and found that her scent was not only pleasant, but arousing as well.

“And take that with you.”

When she turned, he nodded at the suitcase. She retrieved the suitcase, rolled it to the designated room and stepped in. A couple of seconds later he heard the door close.

The first thing Ana looked for was a lock on the door. There was none. Any person who has spent any amount of time homeless appreciates the value of privacy. And locks.

She looked around the room. It was about as minimal as minimal gets. Bed. Closet. Window. Dresser by the bed with a lamp. Even the bedding looked more military than anything. Plain white sheets and a gray wool blanket.

Still. She was safe. At least she was safe from Ernesto.

She was pretty sure the whole experience with that woman would have been beyond terrifying if she hadn’t already been running for her life. She laid down on top of the blanket and was asleep before she’d had the chance to register that the wool made her skin feel itchy.