By Fairy Means or Foul: A Starfig Investigations Novel(33)

We cruised along like this until the sun set again. After a sparse meal of leftover dried cave quoll and a few more of Pie’s tales, I yawned.

“Pie, I’m headed to bed. I’ll see you in the morning. Thanks again for everything you’ve done for us.”

“And a goodnight to ye, Mr. Twig. A right pleasure it’s been.”

“Are you coming, Quinn?”

“My bed collapsed, if you’ll recall.” His voice was quiet and without inflection. “I’ll just bunk down on deck.”

“You can take the bed. You need to rest. You’ve got dark circles under your eyes and it’s going to be a trying day tomorrow.”

“I don’t need you to critique my appearance. Or to worry about my sleep habits. I can take care of myself.” He crossed his arms, but it looked more like he was giving himself a hug than a defiant statement. His tilted chin told another story.

“I wasn’t asking.”

He cursed under his breath. Pie glanced back and forth between us, but amazingly didn’t say anything. He was probably getting settled in with popcorn for the coming confrontation. And it was coming. Quinn’s brows drew down, his jaw clenched hard enough to chew through spikes, and if looks could kill . . . well.

“You don’t. . . . You can’t. . . . I won’t. . . .” He stomped off in the opposite direction from the cabin. I rolled my eyes. Drama queen much? I swear Pie smiled as much as any bird could, but he kept his beak shut.

I strode over to Quinn, threw him over my shoulder like a sack of gold, and bid goodnight to Pie.

Pie’s strange clicking laugh followed us.





11





“Put me down.” Quinn emphasized his statement with a fist to my back. He didn’t have the leverage to do real damage and it would take more than a few punches to make me release him.

I bounced him on my shoulder, knocking the wind out of him. I’d put up with enough of the attitude.

To give Quinn credit, he didn’t give up. Oh, he didn’t continue to punch me, but he sunk his fingers into my ribs and began tickling me. I squirmed and almost dropped him.

Once we were inside the Captain’s cabin, I pitched him from my shoulder onto the bed. He hit with a loud thump. Attempting to roll from the bed, Quinn sputtered when I pinned him with little effort. I rolled him to his stomach, and hiked an arm up behind his back so he couldn’t find any leverage.

“You need to calm down, Quinn. I could hurt you by accident and I really don’t want to do that.”

Instead he intensified his struggles. I let him flop around until he wore himself out. Between the small amounts of food, water, and sleep, he must have been exhausted. Still he put up a good fight. For a human.

“Let me go, you big oaf,” he grumbled once he’d stopped struggling. He looked delectable, his body heaving from the exertion, his bangs flopped over his forehead. My dragon wanted to crawl on top of him and begin a different kind of struggle. I was mostly able to ignore my inner beast, but it wasn’t easy.

“Shut it,” I snapped.

He fell silent, though he glared daggers at me.

“You misunderstood what I said earlier. I didn’t mean that I cared that Brandsome uses you.”

“Oh, that’s so much better.”

I growled. “I mean, of course I care, but not because I think there’s something wrong with you.”

Quinn huffed, his body going lax underneath me. “What the fuck, Twig? I thought . . . I thought you liked me.”

“I do. That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”

He turned his face toward me. “You sure have a funny way of showing it. Now, let me up.”

“Are you going to storm out?”

“I guess you’ll just have to find out.” He tugged at my grip. I wasn’t quite ready to release him yet.

“Look, I don’t want to use you the way Brandsome has,” I blurted out. “That’s all I meant. I don’t want to be like him. I definitely don’t want you to feel taken advantage of just because I own your contract at the moment. I said I wouldn’t do that to you and I meant it.” I released his arms, hoping I’d said enough that he’d stay put.

“So you decided you’d manhandle me instead.” Quinn sat up, rubbed at his arms where I’d held him down. Now didn’t that make me feel like shit? Had I bruised him? It was easy to forget my strength, especially when I was pissed off.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. You just wouldn’t listen. I-I’m not used to dealing with humans. Dragons aren’t known for their sweet manners and fairies are . . .”

“Crazy comes to mind, if you need a word,” Quinn offered.

I nodded. “That about sums it up.”

He sighed, but didn’t get off the bed.

I brushed a lock of hair from his face. I took it as a good sign he didn’t flinch. “I don’t know how to be. That’s the problem with half-breeds; we don’t have a place in the Elder. Or any realm for that matter. If I were a pure-blood dragon, I’d just force you to submit and we’d be done with the argument. We . . . they don’t mince words. If I were a pure-blood fairy, I’d try to turn your words against you until you felt you owed me an apology. I’ve seen my dad do it enough times. Except it seems like such a weak attempt to wield power in an exchange, and my other side can’t stomach it. Part of the reason I’m such a disappointment to my father.”