The Elfbitten Trilogy (5 page)

She fell on her bare naked ass a couple of feet in front of us. Roxy and I scrambled quickly to our feet so we stood over her and gained the advantage. She shook her hair out of her face and glared up at me with black eyes, her lips still pulled back in a wild snarl.

“Trixie, no!” Cillian called out, trying to crawl out of the booth.

“Trixie? You have got to be kidding me,” Roxy said, her mouth twisted as if she’d tasted something sour. “Your name is Trixie?” She grinned down at the fairy still crumpled on the floor.

“Didn’t I tell you that was her name?” I asked, unable to help the smirk forming on my face.

“It’s just such a cliché,” Roxy shook her head.

“Did you seriously just try to attack us?” I asked.

“Taryn, please, just let it go,” Cillian said, finally making his way out of the booth and to Trixie’s side, trying to help her up.

“You did not just ask her for a favor,” Roxy hissed, her magic bursting forward, striking out at Cillian and knocking him to the ground with Trixie. People had crowded around us, encircling us and lending us the power they had raised that night. I wasn’t sure if they were conscious of doing it, but I drank it in before they stopped.

“She tried to attack me, Cillian,” I said slowly as I stepped forward, leaning over them. Cillian sank back, but Trixie growled and rolled over to her knees and got up. I locked eyes with Cillian, looking sad and beaten down. His eyes slid to the side and widened when he saw the bite mark on my exposed shoulder, color flooding his cheeks, and the air suddenly smelled of anger. While I was distracted by Cillian’s strange reaction, Trixie rushed me, her fingers seeking purchase in my face, her teeth bared like a wild animal. I didn’t have time to get out of the way again, so I raised my hands, feeling the magic inside of me answering my call and snapping visibly at my fingertips. I caught her wrists; the angry bolts of power singed her skin and shot through her arms. She screamed in rage and pain, trying to wrench free of my grasp. Her skin began to glow as she tried to unleash her own power, but fairy magic lay in the earth and elf magic was feral and uncontained; she was no match for me, not here.

I pulled and spun her around, throwing her into the crowd, trails of electricity following her as I let go. She screamed as she struck the wall of bodies and when she stood again, her arms were locked behind her, held there by the bouncer. He was huge being half troll and half human. He towered over everyone there at eight feet tall. His green tinged skin stretched over bulging muscles.

“Heya, Taryn,” he said amiably with a crooked tooth smile. Most people had misplaced prejudices against trolls and anyone with a trace of troll blood in them, but I had known Baven since we were kids and he was only five feet tall. He was a sweetheart under all of that hair and piercings.

“Baven,” I smiled up at him. “I didn’t know you were working here.”

“Just started last week.” He adjusted his grip on the squirming Trixie, who winced. “She giving you any trouble?”

“A bit,” I nodded.

“That’s easily fixed,” Baven turned away from me and started to push his way through the crowd, not bothering to let Trixie retrieve her dress.

“Wait!” Cillian called out, scrambling to his feet finally. “Taryn, please.” He reached out for my hand, but a burst of power flaring at my hand stopped him.

“What?” I spat at him.

“We’ll leave you alone, I swear.”

“Tare,” Roxy growled a warning, but she didn’t know what I was thinking.

“Cillian,” I looked at him, his grey eyes wide and pleading. I noticed in the short six weeks we’d been apart, he’d lost some of the fullness from his chest and shoulders. I took a small measure of pleasure in that. “I told you I didn’t care if you stayed. She was the one who attacked me.”

“It won’t happen again, I swear,” I knew why he was begging. If the human police saw Trixie naked outside, she’d be arrested on the spot, no matter how amazing she looked without clothing on. The fae community fought with the majority of humans, neither society understanding the others. But the witches, accepted by the humans, had developed tools that helped the human’s incarcerate us and keep us from using magic. More embarrassing than that, the spell was trapped inside of collars, so when we were arrested, not only were we cuffed like humans, they collared us like dogs. Cillian was terrified this would happen to Trixie and she’d take her anger out on him. Not that he didn’t deserve it.

“Don’t swear to me, Cillian,” I leaned into his personal space and poked him hard in the chest. “The word of an oath breaker means nothing.” He flinched under my words and took a step back.

“Taryn,” Roxy moved closer to me, slipping her hand into mine to get my attention. “Let ‘em throw her out.”

“I really don’t care.” I shook my head, turning to look at Baven. He shrugged and let Trixie go.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Roxy blinked in disbelief at me.

“Trust me,” I whispered. “But, if you try anything like that again,” I warned, but Baven finished for me.

“I won’t just throw you out, I’ll call the police and get you collared.” The fairy paled under his words, but she pursed her lips and lifted her chin. She tossed her disheveled hair over her shoulder and walked back over to Cillian. She grabbed him by the hand and wrenched him around, storming back to their booth. I smirked and turned away, leading Roxy, who was still staring at me like I’d grown a second head.

“Come on, Rox,” I urged, pulling on her as I walked. The crowd dispersed and the music cranked back up, but it was going to take a little while for the mood to come back to life inside the club. I felt a little bad for interrupting everyone’s good time, but it had felt good to throw that bitch and strike at her with my magic.

“Why didn’t you have them thrown out?” Roxy ripped her hand free of mine once we were in the bar area. Her hands were in fists on her hips as she glared at me, the grey of her eyes turning to quicksilver as her magic began to uncoil from her body in her anger.

“Calm down,” I said, putting my hands up in surrender. “Look, if I had them thrown out, sure it would’ve felt great, but it wouldn’t do much.”

“What do you mean?” Roxy’s glare crumpled to confusion and she pulled back her power.

“With him here, I can really crush Cillian like he crushed me,” I smiled, one eye brow arching slowly as Roxy considered my words.

“Go on.”

“You see what he looks like, he’s not happy.” Roxy nodded. “He’s not been storing up any magic since I threw him out, but it looks like she’s healthy as ever.”

“He does look a little sick, doesn’t he?”

“Yep,” I turned towards the bar and signaled the bartender. “It may be petty, but I’d rather Cillian be here and see what a great time I’m having.”

“Thanks to me,” Roxy said, nudging my hip with hers as she joined me at the bar.

“Yes, thanks to you,” I rolled my eyes at her. “Anyway, Cillian saw the bite mark on my shoulder and he got really pissed.”

“Oh, that was
him
?” Roxy said, turning to look over her shoulder in Cillian’s general direction.

“Smelled it too?”

“Yeah, but I thought it was the fairy whore.”

“Nope, it was Cillian.”

“Well then,” Roxy picked up her shot glass and held it up in front of me. I picked mine up and held it out. “Here’s to revenge,” she said and we clinked glasses before throwing back the shots of alcohol in one swallow, slamming our glasses back down on the bar.

I turned around to face the club so I could observe the crowd and plan my attack. The D.J. was hard pressed to get the energy of the club back up after our little explosion. Rather than trying to gradually raise the energy of the crowd, he struck out full force, cranking the music up higher than it had been, spinning faster beats and letting the strobe lights flare like crazy. If I hadn’t suddenly been in the mood for it, the effect would’ve given me a headache.

“So, what’s the plan?” Roxy asked, sliding closer to me, watching the crowd with me.

“No idea,” I shrugged. The crowd shifted and I got a clear view of Cillian and Trixie’s booth. She wasn’t dancing for him now and had in fact put her dress back on. They were both sitting now and looked to be arguing. Well, Trixie was arguing. It looked like Cillian was begging for mercy more than anything.

“Pathetic,” I shook my head, fighting the urge to spit on the floor. I turned back to the bar and rapped with my knuckles, ordering two more shots for us. In just a few minutes, we had thrown back half a bottle between the two of us and I could feel the heat of intoxication coursing through me. Roxy was giggling next to me, dancing on the spot, making the shredded remains of her shirt shift over her breasts as she moved. My lips were tingling and sparks were flashing at my fingertips. I began to bounce in time with the music.

Roxy reached out for me, grabbing my hips and pulling me close to her so we bounced together. Our fingers twined and untwined from each other, arms lifting above our heads, drifting back down as our hips swayed back and forth. We started singing along with the music, taking the lead from one another until we made it out to the dance floor and melted into the crowd. Fingers, hands, and arms took us, passing us along and pressing into our bodies. One moment we’d be pressed against each other and the next we’d be moved down the line until we spilled out to the edge of the floor closer to Cillian and Trixie.

I was careful to stay within the safety of the crowd, but made sure we were totally visible so when they caught sight of us they got an eyeful. I was grateful for the liquid courage that was keeping me calm. Some unknown man was pressed against my back, grinding his body into my ass, while Roxy undulated in time with me in front, her own stranger pressing into her body. Sweat beaded along the small of my back. The heat of so many bodies filled my lungs. I could taste the magic rising in the air finally, lashing in and out of my body like a frantic lover as the light in my eyes began to shine. I looked up to see Roxy’s eyes were beginning to glow as well. She glanced over at Cillian’s table, then grinned at me and reached out, slipping her fingers under the hem of my shirt and ripping it off over my head, letting my breasts bounce freely. I grabbed her tattered shirt in my hands and pulled, ripping it off of her and tossing it into the crowd. The magic of the crowd caressed our bare skin, puckering our nipples.

I pushed away from the figure at my back and spun around; Roxy stepped forward and melded around my body. I could feel her breasts press into my back as her hands gripped my hips and pulled me against her. We popped and swayed in time with each other, letting the beat of the music pound through our bodies. I turned my head and looked in Cillian’s direction, catching him staring at us, his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide. I grinned at him and whipped my head forward, bending my body so my breasts hung full and heavy while my hips circled into Roxy’s. I licked my lips and braced my hands on my thighs, holding his gaze. I pulled my shoulders back, undulating slowly until I was upright again and arched against Roxy’s body. Even from this distance I could see Cillian swallow. And so did Trixie.

She reached out and slapped him before jumping to her feet and storming off. I laughed, I couldn’t help myself. Roxy looked over my shoulder and blew a kiss at Cillian, who was holding his cheek, blinking after the angry fairy. I spun to face Roxy again, taking her hands in mine, and led her deeper into the crowd again.

“Is that it?” Roxy yelled into my ear to be heard over the music. I held up a finger telling her to just wait a moment. She furrowed her brow at me, but at the look on my face she shrugged and went back to dancing. I wasn’t sure how much time passed or how many hands attempted to guide me into willing partners, but eventually I felt the familiar press of Cillian’s fingers on my waist. Roxy whipped her hair out of her face, opening her glowing eyes to look at me, stumbling when she realized he was behind me. I gave her a pointed look to keep her mouth shut and temper in check. She pressed her lips into a thin line, taking a deep breath through her nose, and counted to three. When she blew out the breath, I knew she’d stay cool. She turned away from us and grabbed an unsuspecting human and practically tackled him to keep distracted.

I turned in Cillian’s arms to face him. Coming from the same tribe, we were nearly the exact same height; I only needed to lift my chin to look him in the eye. Magic was shining from his silver eyes and the color had started to seep back into his skin. I draped my arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer to me, letting my body tell him what to do. It had been years since we’d danced like this, but the familiarity of his body made it easier. He bent his face close to my neck, breathing in the scent of blood from my bite mark, and his body shuddered against me. I could almost taste his need; his magic was almost as depleted as mine had been that morning. Was Trixie refusing to feed him?

“What about Trixie?” I pressed my lips to his ear to be heard.

“She ran off,” he said into my ear. He pulled me up on his leg so he could grind against me and rub his leg against me as I straddled him.

“So since she ditched you, you thought you’d come find me?” I reached between us and started working the buttons of his shirt open.

“No,” he said. “You look amazing, I couldn’t help myself.” He kept one hand on my hip and reached with the other to grip my hair, pulling just a little, something he knew I liked from our years together.

“Trixie looks pretty good tonight.” My tongue darted out, licking the edge of his ear.

“For a fairy,” he replied.

“You’re not raising magic with her, are you?” I pulled back to look him in the eye. He considered me for a moment and I finally saw in his face what was missing six weeks ago: regret.

“No, I’m not.” I couldn’t hear him over the music, but I could make out what he said. A small flower of pleasure bloomed inside of me at that knowledge. I spun on the spot as the beat sped up, my hands reaching for the ceiling as I whipped my hair around. When I was facing Cillian again, he was staring at the bite mark on my shoulder. It throbbed with the seeking magic of the crowd, shooting right down to my groin.