Traitor (Creepy Hollow, #3)
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Authors: Rachel Morgan
Traitor
By Rachel Morgan
Smashwords Edition
Copyright © 2012 Rachel Morgan
Cover Design by Rachel Morgan
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously.
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Kindle ebook ISBN: 978-0-9870290-4-1
Smashwords ebook ISBN: 978-0-9870290-5-8
T
ABLE
O
F
C
ONTENTS
The Next Installment in the Series
For Andrew and Ruth.
Best brother and sister ever.
C
HAPTER
O
NE
An abandoned park with a broken swing and flickering streetlights doesn’t seem like the best location for a first date. Then again, I’ve never been on a date, so what would I know? The young couple I’ve been watching for the past five minutes picks their way through the overgrown grass. The boy stops, leans against a rusted pole, and reaches for the girl’s hand. She lets him pull her closer. He whispers something in her ear, and she laughs softly. Very sweet, except that something is about to attack them. Something big, according to the Seer who passed this assignment on to Tora.
Tomorrow is my first official day back at the Guild after being suspended
for a week, but I convinced Tora to give me an assignment tonight. I’ve been desperate to get back into my normal routine, especially since Nate has been acting weird the past few days. It’s understandable, considering he only just found out he’s half-faerie. But still. I’d like
something
in my life to be normal again.
I scan the surrounding area.
What fae creature will be stupid enough to try to attack these humans tonight? I imagine my bow and arrows, invisible but ready to appear the moment I call to them. My fingers twitch in anticipation.
Movement
at the edge of the park catches my attention. A small, pale green head with pointed ears is visible just above the top of the grass. Large luminous eyes shine through the darkness. A pixie. Several pixies, in fact. They form a line that snakes through the grass toward the broken playground equipment.
This can’t be the threat the Seer was talking about.
Pixies are annoying, but they’re not dangerous. And they’re far more interested in humans’ possessions than in humans themselves. But I allow my glittering bow and arrow to take shape beneath my fingers anyway. No harm in being cautious.
I watch the pixie heads bob
up and down as they skip toward the slide. Reaching it, they climb over one another in their excitement to reach the top. With a delighted squeal, the first pixie launches itself down the slide on its stomach, expertly avoiding the hole halfway down. I can’t help smiling. Pixies aren’t that bad, I guess. They’re actually kind of cute when they’re not sticking their fingers into your ears at night or trying to steal your stuff.
The second pixie leaps off the top of the slide, pumping its little fists
in the air as it whooshes toward the ground. It flies off the end of the slide, right into the clutches of a hideous goblin.
A goblin?
My attention snaps back to the task at hand. This must be why I’m here. I raise my bow and arrow, pull back against the tension in the cord, and let go. The arrow zings across the park and lands in one of the goblin’s hairy arms. I let loose another, and another, each arrow appearing the moment the previous one is spent. The goblin slaps at the arrows, flinging the tiny pixie into a nearby bush in the process. The goblin lets out a grunt, then scans the park with his bulging orange eyes. He finds me—and launches himself in my direction.
Time to play.
As large as a grown man, the goblin’s size slows him down. I’ve easily jumped out of his way by the time he skids into the tree I was just standing beside. His head swivels, searching for me once more. He snaps his fingers and a rock appears in each hand. I send another arrow his way, but it bounces off the heavy belt around his waist. Long, pointed ears shudder as he hurls the rocks at me. I duck and miss the first one, but the second hits my thigh.
Flip, that hurt!
I find myself on the ground—a bad place to be
when a great hairy monster is coming after you. Gritting my teeth against the pain, I roll onto my back and reach with my mind for a dagger. It appears in my hand a second later, and I fling it at the advancing goblin. The blade sinks into his chest, just above his heart.
He yanks the dagger
free as I scramble to my feet. Ignoring the pain in my leg, knowing it won’t last long as my body begins to heal itself, I bend my knees and jump. I catch hold of a branch somewhere above me, just managing to pull my legs out of the way before the goblin can catch them. I stand up on the branch, grab another for support, and sweep my hand through the air. A pile of sand and pebbles rains down on the goblin, burying him in a mound of dirt. By the time he manages to poke his head out the top, I’ve got an arrow pointed at his forehead.
“
You really going to kill me, little guardian girl?”
he snarls. “I didn’t even so much as
sniff
in the humans’ direction.”
“
Yeah, but you were about to make a meal of that pixie, and my job is to protect whoever needs
protecting, be it human or fae.”
“So you kill me because I needed a snack?”
I sigh. “You know how this works,
goblin. If you disappear, I won’t be able follow you. If you stick around to fight back, you have to accept the consequences.”
“Death,” he hisses.
“
Well, yeah, if it comes to that.”
Please don’t let it come to that.
“Or I knock you out, tie you up, and take you to the Guild. Your choice.”
“
Death sounds more fun,” he whispers.
Okay, he
really is as stupid as he looks. “You sure? That option’s a lot messier for me.”
“
Death for you, not me!” he cries as he explodes from the mound of dirt. His hairy hands wrap around the branch I’m balancing on, causing it to sag and creak beneath his weight. I somersault backward, my bow and arrow disappearing as I let go of them. I land on my feet, pain jolting through my injured thigh, just in time to see the goblin swinging toward me. His clawed feet strike me in the chest, knocking me flat on my back. I sit up, gasping for breath. He drops from the branch and runs at me.
Sword, sword, SWORD!
It appears in my fist—and the goblin runs right into it. It pierces all the way through his flesh. He slumps down on top of me, pressing me to the ground again. The only thing between us is the hilt of the sword, which I try to keep from digging into my chest.
“
You . . . kill us,” he wheezes, the stench of his breath making me feel ill. I try to push him off me. He struggles for a few moments, then becomes still. His eyes stare through me, unblinking.
He’s dead. There is a dead body on top of me.
I push with all my might, using a little magic to help me. He rolls onto the grass, coming to rest on his side because of the way the sword sticks out of his back. It still glitters faintly. It won’t disappear until someone removes it from his body. Then it will return, shiny and clean, to my invisible cache of weapons.
I stand up, breathe deeply, and run a hand through my hair.
I hate this part. The killing. Why couldn’t this damn goblin just disappear like most other fae do? Or at least have the decency to let me tie him up and haul him off to the Guild. Like that canttilee who tried to burn down the school classroom, or that shapeshifter guy with the orange hair and eyes.
I look across the park at the
human couple. They’re still standing beside the broken swing, talking softly, oblivious to all that’s happened. They have no idea what I just went through to keep them safe.
I reach into my boot for my stylus, then pull my amber out of my pocket. I send magic to the tip of the stylus and write a message to Tora.
Had to kill him. Send remover. Thanks.
The words glow for several seconds before disappearing, leaving the rectangle of amber smooth and blank. I sit down, lean back against a tree, and wait. It isn’t my job to take care of dead bodies.
Tora’s reply comes a minute later.
Sorry. Know you hate that. See you before training tomorrow for report back and counseling. Sent Thorton.
I
tilt my head back and let out a groan. Counseling. That thing where I have to discuss my
feelings
about killing someone. Great. The list of things I’m not good at is pretty short, but discussing feelings is probably at the top. Fortunately, my kill count is low, so I haven’t had to do the counseling thing too often.