Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(56)

I expected that this would be the time the Hunter clocked her over the head and pulled her off to safety so she didn’t screw up his carefully laid plans. He hadn’t shown any weaknesses where women were concerned. He was all about the hunt, and she was a monkey wrench to be dealt with.

“Hello.” The Hunter left his perch and walked toward the woman in white. He seemed much more relaxed now, as if he’d had a little too much to drink and all his inhibitions had fallen away, leaving a man ready for pleasure. I didn’t need a man ready for nookie. I needed a man ready for some serious ogre killing.

“Hey,” I said, trying to get his attention.

“Is she your mate?” The woman spared me only a second’s glance. Even in that moment, I could see that there was something off about her eyes. They were deep and black and far too large to be normal. She was something magical, and I doubted it would come to any good. It was like my dad always said, nothing good happened in faery forests after midnight when you’re tracking an ogre.

“She’s of no consequence, beautiful one,” the Hunter said, his voice deep and seductive. I huffed because if this was the way the man treated his precious bait, then I would hate to see how crappy he was to his prey.

“Then she won’t mind if you dance with me.” This was said in a little girl voice that made me want to puke. And I minded. I minded a lot.

“Hey,” I tried again. “Don’t you have a job to do? King Angus gave you a mission to complete. I didn’t realize you had a date in the middle of our special time with a hungry ogre.”

But he only had eyes for the ridiculously pale skinny chick who circled him in what looked to be a weird-ass paso doble. I only know that because Neil made me watch Dancing with the Stars and let me tell you, Bruno would have been all over the Hunter’s footwork. It was awful but the weird woman didn’t seem to mind. She was too busy doing something with those odd eyes of hers that drew the Hunter in further. They circled each other with no thought to anything but their dance.

She moved her body sensuously, her breasts and hips flowing in time to some music only she and possibly her prey could hear. I used the word prey at this point because I was pretty sure that was how she was viewing my male companion. It was the only thing that made a lick of sense. I doubted that hookers prowled the forest hoping horny hunters had a little cash on hand.

I watched in complete disgust as the male and female continued their dance. It became somewhat frenzied as the woman’s magic took over. I racked my brain trying to figure a reason why this woman would try to dance a man to death and then the word finally came to mind.

“Baobhan sith.” I have to admit that I was in awe of the rare creature I found myself in the presence of. I’ve seen a lot of freaky shit in my time, but this was something totally different.

She stopped suddenly and turned my way. “You know my race?”

I did, though only through stories from my adopted summer parents. Ingrid and Halle had given me a rundown of all the creatures of Faery I should know. The baobhan sith were only mentioned because they thought Daniel would find them amusing. They were the faery version of a vampire. The baobhan sith were all female. They roamed the forests at night looking for wayward men, so in some ways my prior hooker theory held true. She would exchange her body for what she wanted. But she wouldn’t take a quick hundred for a hummer. She wanted her payment in blood, and unlike the Earth plane’s vamps, she almost always killed her donor.

“I know what you are.” I felt no great fear talking to her. From what I understood, she wouldn’t attack a female.

“This one is hunting in my forest,” she explained even as the Hunter swayed close to her. “That makes him mine.”

“Look, lady, here’s the truth of the matter,” I began, hoping beyond hope that logic could sway her. “I don’t care. If you want to eat that *, I’m more than fine with it. Hell, if I had a fork, I’d give it to you, but how about giving a sister a hand? Why don’t you untie me and I’ll take the puppies here and leave you to your dinner?”

It was a good plan. I couldn’t care less that the guy who wanted to use me and junior as lures would die. If the crazy vamp was willing to cut me free, then I could shag ass out of this forest and get Danny. Danny could handle the ogre with one hand behind his back and he wouldn’t need to tie me up to do it. If Herne the Asshole had let me in on his plan in the first place, I would have gone straight to Daniel.

“The woods have been full of hunters tonight.” Her strange eyes glazed over in memory. “I’ve tasted the sweetest blood.”

“What other hunters?” My skin crawled. If she roamed the forest a lot, then the Fae likely knew to stay away from her. My people didn’t. Some sort of sign might have been helpful or a pamphlet.

She smiled serenely. “I found another earlier. His blood was so sweet I spared his life. It’s why I need this one. I must have more but I wish to make the shapeshifter last a long time.”

“Damn it!” I let my head fall back against the tree trunk. Now I couldn’t just run for my life. “Seriously? Are you sure about that? Was he about six foot tall, with curly brown hair and a righteously crabby disposition? Because if we’re talking about the same guy then I have issues because that one is mine.”

“If he’s yours then he should not have been hunting in my forests at night,” the vampire chided me. “He should have been at home in your bed as a good husband should. The fact that he was out at night means he was up to no good. I’m doing you a favor. Find a more easy to control male.”