By Fairy Means or Foul: A Starfig Investigations Novel(72)

With no goodbyes, my father disappeared.

“Your dad’s a bit . . . intense,” Bill said.

“That’s one way to put it.” I called toward the kitchen. “You can come out now, ‘Quinn, the Craven’ and ‘Pie the Yellow-Bellied.’ He’s gone.”

“Good one.” Quinn poked his head in the doorway. “You guys ready to eat?”

I’d lost my appetite, but I didn’t want to let a good meal go to waste. As I entered to grab a plate of food, Quinn wrapped his arms around me.

“You did an amazing thing, Twig.” He squeezed me tight and, funny enough, it released all the tension I’d been holding. Bill then wrapped us both in his arms.

“You gentlemen are the best friends a demon could hope for.”

“Too tight,” Quinn gasped.

I laughed. It felt good.





25





We made arrangements to meet with Brandsome the following afternoon. Bill agreed he’d give me the horn to return to its rightful owner when the time came. It made me nervous not having it in my hands, but I had to trust him to do the right thing.

Not like I had another choice anyway. I couldn’t really blame him for not wanting to hand over the one thing that could put him in my power. And it’s not like we had a long history together. No, in his place I wouldn’t give it up until I needed to, either. Still chapped my ass, though.

Quinn and I explored each other’s bodies late into the night. At one point Bill called through the wall, “Maybe they should call you, ‘Quinn, the Noisy.’” I guffawed, and got an elbow for my trouble.

Afterward, I wanted to melt into a puddle of uni-gecko goo, only Quinn was stressed. He wasn’t convinced Brandsome would sell me his contract, but refused to talk about it. I wasn’t worried. Greed had a funny way of making anything possible. And I could pay the unicorn more than he ever expected. It hurt to lose part of my hoard, but the thought of losing Quinn hurt a lot more.

Quinn and I fucked like there was no tomorrow. He scratched and bit and did anything he could to leave marks all over my body. I approved. I liked that he was as possessive as I was. I hadn’t expected that in a human. But my Quinn was full of surprises.

When he finally fell into a restless sleep, I snuck out and visited one of my larger hoards. If I intended to buy out his contract I wanted to make sure I kept enough gold dypari on hand to pay for him on the spot. I wasn’t giving Brandsome time to back out.

Once I returned, I couldn’t sleep. My dragon urged me to mate Quinn like now, now, NOW. His pull was almost too much to resist.

Yet I held back. I was pretty sure he’d say yes if Brandsome wasn’t an issue. After all, we were already bonded as wizard-familiar, so becoming mates wasn’t such a large step, right? He’d never be able to leave me and he’d have a much longer life span. My moods would affect him more, the way his already did mine because of the bond. So, if anything, it would put us on more equal footing. It did mean neither of us would ever fuck another. Mated pairs simply didn’t . . . as far as I knew, couldn’t sleep with anyone else.

Before meeting Quinn, I would have been appalled at the idea of only sleeping with one person for the rest of my very, very long life. Not now. Now, my dragon couldn’t imagine anything it would like more, and neither could I. Thinking Quinn and I were going to be eaten by a Red Fury definitely put things in perspective.

Mating still made me ill at ease, though. Probably more of a knee-jerk reaction at this point, because I definitely wanted to spend my life with Quinn. I’d broach the topic once I released him from his contract. I wanted him to have free choice in this—he’d already been forced into so many things. I wouldn’t coerce him into this decision.

Besides, I wanted to make sure I owned his contract first, because if Brandsome tried to keep Quinn from me once we were mates, contract or no with Alphae, I would tear Brandsome apart. Which meant I'd have to abandon the life I built here in the Elder just so Quinn and I could stay together.



The next morning was tense. Quinn was jumpy and quick tempered. He and Bill retreated to a quiet corner, a pile of books between them, looking for ways to mute the wizard-familiar bond. Sometime later, when Bill shook his head, Quinn snapped, “I know. I know.” Then he chucked one of his spell books against the wall.

After that, his irritation only increased and his humming filled the space. I thought he was overreacting. We just needed to hide the bond while I negotiated with Brandsome. Once I owned Quinn it wouldn’t matter anymore. In the meantime, Bill, Pie, and I all walked on eggshells around him. Pie had the right idea and flew the coop at the first opportunity. Supposedly to explore his new surroundings. We knew better. He was avoiding Quinn and his foul mood.

“So, Boss,” Bill said at one point. “As you know, I took the liberty of reading up on dragons’ and witches’ abilities. I see why you locate treasures for others, but I really think you could expand your business to include private investigations. Between a dragon, a wizard, and a demon, I bet lots of people would hire us.”

“I don’t know about that.” I said. “Dragons aren’t known for their subtlety, and I’m afraid the types of cases we’d get would be ones where the client wanted us to intimidate another party. I don’t really want to be in that kind of business. And having a demon on staff . . . I’m pretty sure we’d attract the wrong sort real quick.”