Fae and Felonies - Chapter 3

Here's another unedited sample of this month's release.

=========================

While Kirsten headed to the girls’ locker room to change, Kaley strolled out to the football practice field with her backpack slung over her shoulder. She may not have Kirsten’s brains, but neither did her sister have her social finesse. Kirsten had totally blown any chance of getting information from River Martin with her attitude.

But they wouldn’t have too many more days of fairly decent weather. Not with the sun shining and the air warm enough to sit outside to study. With football over for the season, coming out to the practice field would provide her a little privacy to think about what to do regarding River.

Or it should have.

Another figure sat on one of the benches at the side of the field. A figure with a shock of white hair. Maybe the Goddess was giving her the chance to fix the situation. She headed toward River.

He looked up at the same time his magick jabbed at hers and slammed his textbook shut. “Aw, hell no!”

“Whoa, man.” Kaley held up her palms. “I heard what happened. I came over to apologize. My sister was not born with any manners.”

He paused in shoving his textbook into his backpack, but his piercing blue eyes narrowed when he looked at her. “And why should I trust a witch?”

“My dad says trust has to be earned.” She looked across the brown, dormant grass of the field to the bare dark trees beyond before she returned her attention back to River. “He’s a Normal, so I do understand a little of your position. Our coven constantly questions me and my sister. So no, I don’t expect you to trust me. Not until I’ve earned it.”

“Your coven acknowledges you and your sister as witches though,” he said.

“May I sit down with you in order to have a proper conversation?” Maybe using a more formal request would pacify him. He shook his head. “Why are you trying to sound like my grandmother?”

“I was trying to remember my etiquette,” she stated neutrally.

“All right.” He scooted over on the bench. “But can you drop the weird act?”

“No problem.” She straddled the bench so she could face him. The cold of the plastic-coated metal seat penetrated her jeans, but she did her best to ignore the discomfort. “Do you know about the Unseelie prohibition in Holmes County under the I.C. Accords?”

“The who to the what?” He genuinely looked perplexed.

A thread of unease wound through Kaley. “Goddess, please tell me your fae parent told you about the International Council.”

“Don’t know my dad.” Bitterness iced River’s words. “He knocked up my mom in a one-night stand. Disappeared after that. She never saw him again. Mom’s a Normal.”

Kaley stared at him. “Well, that was a crappy thing to do. How did you find out you were part-fae?”

“I…did things.” He stared at the tips of his shoes. “When I was little. It wasn’t until the Rainier Outing when I was in kindergarten that Mom figured out what my dad must have been. We’ve picked up a few things here and there since then.”

The Outing. When the Normals discovered the existence of the supernaturals living among them. When the covens and packs along the Puget Sound banded together to save the innocent citizens who couldn’t evacuate when Mount Rainier erupted, the volcano where Glass Lake was now.

“Wow,” she said softly. “That must have been rough on both of you.”

A derisive sound came from low in his throat. “You have no fucking idea.”

“What brought you and your mom to Millersburg?”

“She grew up here.” River looked up at her. “Her mother didn’t want anything to do with us for years. She’s pretty religious, and she acted like Mom had done something terrible.” A half-smile, half-grimace twisted his mouth. “It didn’t help when she saw me stop a vase in midair I’d knocked over.”

Kaley giggled. “I get that. We had to be on our super-best behavior around Grandma Wilson. No magick whatsoever.” She sobered. “I don’t get why you moved here three months into the school year.”

“She got a big promotion about the same time her mom started having health problems. The promotion meant she could work from home.” He shrugged. “It happened overnight. We’re staying at the Holiday Inn while her company packs up our house in Indianapolis.”

“Man, that’s got to suck leaving all your friends behind,” Kaley murmured. She couldn’t imagine what she’d do if Mom or Dad got a better job somewhere out of state. Or even another part of Ohio, and they had to move.

“Yeah, it did.” River grimaced. “Big time. Especially senior year.”

“But you have heard of the International Council?”

He nodded. “They’re like the supernatural version of the United Nations, right?”

“Kind of. They have a little more bite than the U.N.” Kaley smiled. “And in some cases, that’s literally.”

“The werecoyote with your sister outside of the library—” He paused as if he wasn’t sure he wanted to broach the subject. “He said my kind killed his dad. Is that what you meant by these accords?”

“Sort of.” She stared at the trees again, not sure why she suddenly felt uncomfortable. Maybe because it felt like she was accusing him personally. “Before I was born, there was a rash of Normal murders in Holmes County. They were committed by a wanagamesak—”

“A what?”

“A Native American water spirit. It got stuck.” She linked her fingers together. “Bonded to the bones of the shaman of the tribe it protected. The Winter Queen’s assassin cut a deal with Donny’s dad for the bones, and they made the wanagamesak kill people.” She turned to River, watching his reaction. “When they got caught, the queen’s man left Donny’s dad to the vampires and their allies.”

River whistled softly and shook his head. “Sounds like his dad got what he deserved.”

“Not disputing that.” She shrugged. “Anyway, a local Normal attorney killed the assassin and negotiated the surrender and expulsion of the Unseelie who survived the fight. In the resulting political mess, the non-fae factions insisted on an amendment to the accords that no Unseelie could step into Holmes County for as long as it existed.”

“Wait.” His white-blond eyebrows disappeared under his shaggy bangs. “A Normal killed a full-blooded fae?” Disbelief tinged his voice.

Kaley laughed. “Yeah, that shocked the crap out of everyone.”

“So the accords…” River exhaled gustily. “That’s why you looked totally freaked out this morning.”

“Yeah,” she admitted.

Cold wind gusted across the field, ruffling their hair. Normally, she would have blocked the air without thinking about it, but the jangling edges of River’s power against hers felt like a risk that wasn’t worth the reward.

“Let’s go inside,” she suggested. “I’m not as smart as Kirsten, but if you can help me with trig, I can help you with everything else.”

A faint smile crossed his face. “I don’t know if I should be seen hanging out with the bad girl cheerleader.”

“Excuse me?” Her voice rose.

He shrugged again before he stood. “I heard you took out the head cheerleader. That’s the reason she’s in the wheelchair.”

“Oh, my Goddess!” Kaley jumped to her feet. “That is so not true!”

“So, you didn’t kneecap her a la Tonya Harding?” he said as they walked toward the main building.

“Who’s Tonya Harding?” She looked up at him. He was definitely teasing her, but she wasn’t quite sure how to take it. “A former Olympic skater.” He glanced at her and grinned. “She was accused of being part of the plot to kneecap her biggest rival.”

“Amelia did it to herself,” Kaley grumbled.

“She deliberately took a steel pipe to her own knee?” Yep, he was definitely laughing at her.

Kaley stopped and whirled to face him.

River paused and looked back at her.

“She tried to hit me,” Kaley ground out. “No magick. No tricks. I just ducked. She overbalanced and hit the concrete floor of the girls’ locker room knee first. If she hadn’t tried to pick a fight, she would have been fine.”

“All right.” He nodded. “The Normals are dangerous but stupid. I’ll keep that in mind.” His cocky attitude made her laugh.

“C’mon. I’ll buy you a pop.” She beckoned, and they headed inside. For all of Mom and Jo’s warnings, River didn’t seem that dangerous. In fact, he reminded her of Donny. Someone trapped between two worlds and in desperate need of a friend.