The Hob (The Gray Court 4) by Dana Marie Bell Read Free Book Online Page A

then relaxed and nuzzled his face into her palm. He shut his eyes, his breathing harsh with distress.
    Michaela tried to soothe him as best she could, stroking his hair and shushing him as he whimpered.
    “That’s going to the top of my list for oddest things I’ve seen today.” Kael knelt beside her. “Do you need to go to the hospital?”
    Michaela shot him a horrified look. “Of course he does. He’s been hit by a car.”
    Kael rolled his eyes. “Not him. You.”
    Michaela winced as the pain of her sprained wrist registered once more. “It’s not broken. I’ll ice it and wrap it once I get back to my apartment.”
    Ringo tilted his head, his sunglasses reflecting the glow of the car’s headlights. “You are a strange woman, Michaela Exton.”
    Michaela hummed her agreement. It wasn’t like she hadn’t heard that one before.
    “Michaela? Is that you?”
    Michaela glanced up to see one of her weekend buddies climbing out of the ambulance. “Hey, Will.”
    He knelt by the injured man and grinned at her. “We on for this weekend?”
    Damn. She’d forgotten about that. “I’m going to the fairy con, so I’m going to have to pass. Next weekend?”
    “You’re on. This time your ass is mine.”
    Ringo took a step closer to her, almost close enough to interfere with Will as he tried to take the vic’s vitals.
    The hood of the car behind her flew into the air, setting off the car alarm. Michaela jumped, and she was used to dealing with loud noises.
    “What the hell?” Will glared at the car before turning to the patient once more. “Damn foreign cars.”
    “Michaela. Trust you to be in the middle of trouble.” Will’s partner Ed joined Will by the victim. “Vitals?”
    Michaela rattled off what she knew while Will took his own readings. He corrected her as needed, but otherwise let her speak.
    “I think we have some internal injuries. Let’s get him loaded.” Will grinned at Michaela. “You’re seriously giving up a weekend with us for a fairy con?”
    Ed looked horrified. “No way. You promised us Camelback and good powder, remember?”
    Ringo coughed.
    One of the streetlights toppled over with a groaning screech of metal.
    “Shit!” Ed took off, checking to see if anyone was hurt.
    Will shook his head. “Maybe there are some bad luck fairies at the con.” He smiled sweetly. “In that case, you need to come with us and avoid the bad juju.”
    “Aw, shit.” Kael’s soft curse was almost drowned out as all four tires on the ambulance went flat with a loud, wheezing pfffft . “Uh, Ringo? Can I talk to you for a moment?”
    Ringo backed away, joining Kael on the sidewalk for what looked like a very intense discussion.
    “Shit.”
    Michaela stared, dumbfounded, at the ambulance. “I think I’ll skip the snowboarding for a little while.”
    Will blinked and backed away from her. “Yeah. Camelback Mountain can wait a couple of weeks.” He ran and got a board from the back of the ambulance. “I need to get this guy on the board. Ed! Call for another ambulance.” He shot a rueful glance at the flat tires. “And a tow truck.”
    Michaela shook her head. Most of the people on the sidewalk had their phones out, snapping pictures and typing furiously.
    I guess some days are meant for Twitter.

Chapter Five
    “I still don’t understand what the hell you were thinking yesterday.”
    Robin gritted his teeth and ignored Kael. The pooka had been nagging at him since they’d seen Michaela to her door the previous evening, turning down her invitation for pizza to return to Kael’s apartment. Was that not supposed to be his line? He wasn’t the young, foolish lord who’d leapt, unprepared, into battle with a redcap.
    In truth, he’d been in a foul mood ever since the human had saved the redcap. If he had his way the creature would be eating its own anus, but Michaela had done her level best to give it a chance. He frowned, ignoring the squeal of an alarm behind him, at the memory of her