Why Are All the Good Guys Total Monsters? by De-Ann Black Read Free Book Online

went to bed. And I
feel it now.’
    Daire kicked over the leaves, covering any trace of where
we’d been.
    ‘Do you think it’s Sabastien? Is that what I’m sensing?’ And
then I looked at Daire. ‘Or is it you?’
    He reacted as if I’d slapped his face. ‘I’m not hunting you,
Vesper. Sabastien isn’t hunting you, not as far as I know, but we do want your
help in getting the land back.’
    ‘You said that Sabastien needs a mortal with faerie blood in
her veins.’
    ‘Yes, so that the land would belong to the Purple Thorn fae,
but hunting isn’t quite the right word for…’
    ‘Taking me here against my will? That’s what you’ve done.’
    ‘Sabastien and I have different ways of handling things. I
want to be the one who gets the land back for the Grey Dagger fae. Sabastien
wants it for the Purple Thorns.’
    ‘So you’re rivals?’
    ‘Of sorts.’
    I heard a sound nearby.
    ‘We have to hurry,’ said Daire.
    I felt unsteady.
    ‘Where are we exactly?’
    ‘In my world. The world of fae…and others.’
    The wood merged in parts to look like a city, a version of Edinburgh. Far in the distance I could see streets, houses and spires against a thunderous
sky, and snow.
    ‘Others?’ I said. ‘What others?’
    Daire looked around at the trees nearby — rich chestnuts and
hazel. White poplar and blackthorns faded off into the distant wintry snow that
fell on the silhouette of a cityscape. A city of darkness and light. His eyes
were wary, watchful.
    He spoke the word in an urgent whisper. ‘ Monsters. ’
     
     

     
    Noises sounded from the trees. And
all I could think of was — monsters .
    My instincts warned me I was in danger. Hunted.
    My thoughts shot back to the fortune teller’s warning. Edinburgh was fraught with dangers for me. I should go home to London before it was too
late. Though I wouldn’t go, and I hadn’t. Had it anything to do with two young
men? No, but Daire and Sabastien were fae.
    Daire grabbed hold of my hand. ‘Run, Vesper, run!’
    I didn’t hesitate. I ran, keeping pace with the swift–footed
Daire, faster and faster until…how could I run so fast…?
    No time for questions never mind answers. Someone or something
was chasing us, gaining on us by the sounds of it.
    Daire glanced at me a few times, gauging my reaction to my
quickened pace. He no doubt saw the look in my eyes, and the one thought in my
mind that answered everything — I was a mortal with faerie blood in my veins .
    We changed direction, running deeper into the forest,
dodging branches and darting through the foliage, not hitting anything. It
wasn’t possible, not in the real world, but this was the world of fae — and
monsters.
    We came to a gap in the trees. Purple mist obscured the view
ahead. Daire didn’t pause, he ran on and I kept up, somehow knowing, sensing
that once through the mist we’d be safe.
    And we were.
    I heard the monsters roar, raging at losing their prey. I
heard them leave.
    ‘What type of monsters are they?’ I said, hardly out of
breath from running. ‘And what have you done to me? Am I now fae, like you?’
    ‘No, but you have enough fae blood to enhance your
abilities, physical and mental. You were already intuitive, Vesper.’
    ‘Will the effects wear off?’ I dared to ask.
    ‘Yes, they’ll fade in time, especially when you get back
home.’
    ‘Can I go home now?’
    ‘You need to stay until…’
    ‘Sabastien, or you, have your land back.’
    He was shaking his head. ‘Until whoever is hunting you is
found. But we also need our land back.’
    ‘Why would someone of your kind be hunting me?’
    ‘I don’t think it’s one of us.’
    ‘What monster then?’
    ‘There are as many types of monsters as there are fae.’
    ‘Take me back to Edinburgh, Daire. I’ll find a way to get
your land to you.’
    An icy breeze whipped past us, and Sabastien stepped out
from the mist. ‘You can’t go home yet, Vesper.’
    I thrust my hand out to him, the purple scar