You Bet Your Banshee by Danica Avet Read Free Book Online Page A

three Fairworld rulers. Once they were released, they never stopped until their prey had been torn to pieces and consumed, or they were called back by their master.
    And someone had sent them after me. I could hear them howling my name between bangs on the front doors.
    He grabbed more bottles from his shelf. “You have to get the fuck out of here, Magda.” He shot me a hard look. “If they sent the Host after you, then whatever that elf told you is the truth, or partly true. You have to decide right now if you’re going to let your fears rule you or if you’re going to fight for your future. The Host won’t just come after you. They’ll go after anyone you’ve ever come into contact with. The only way to stop them is to take out the queen, or have another sovereign pull them back.”
    I stood rooted in place as Phineas grabbed more bottles from his cabinet. He started to walk away, but paused. Spinning on his heel, he rushed up to me, catching me in his arms. Startled by his sudden change of direction, I stared up at him.
    “It’s an honor to defend the future queen of the Wailing Court,” he whispered.
    Before I could protest, he pressed his lips to mine in a hard, fast kiss. He released me just as quickly as he grabbed me, heading to the front of the store with the proud bearing of a soldier marching into war. Knowing he faced the most horrific beasts to ever emerge from the primordial ooze, I knew I’d never see Phineas again.
    The howling grew louder, the building shuddered harder, plaster falling from the ceiling to rain about my head. I didn’t want to leave Phineas to fight on his own, but if he was right, if Ryvan was right, I was needed in Fairworld.
    Gods, I was an idiot!
    Whirling around, I started for the back door. Remembering the bottle in my hand, I opened the stopper and gulped down the sickly sweet liquid. It hit my stomach like a ton of bricks. My head spun and I staggered under the wave of power coursing through me. I don’t know what the potion did, but I trusted Phineas.
    Whatever you do, don’t look back. I was so tempted to ignore his warning. I needed to see him one last time, but a sudden scratching at the back door distracted me. The potion took my senses and expanded them outward. I knew Sable was on the other side of the door, her body shaking as hard as the building. A sudden screech sounded behind me. It sounded like a male screaming in agony.
    I had to force myself to take those five steps to the back door. My hands fisted at my sides as the sudden coppery scent of blood filled the air accompanied by another scream. I grasped the door knob, twisting in a frantic rush. It opened, the knob falling off in my hand.
    Weight on the other side of the wood threw the door into me. I fell back, ready to defend myself because my first thought was that the Host had surrounded the building. When I saw Sable was alone, I almost fell to my knees with relief.
    She didn’t look like she shared my relief. Her hands, with claws out, latched onto my arms as she dragged me out of the building. The alley behind Phineas’s shop was thankfully empty at the moment, but the Host would figure out I’d gone out the back any minute now.
    Sable looked at the shop, her brown eyes glittering. “Phineas?” she asked in her raspy voice.
    I shook my head. I couldn’t even voice what I thought had happened to him. I wanted to turn around and go back for him, to fight my way through the Host, but I didn’t have my sword. It would’ve been kind of hard to hide it in my G-string at work.
    Tears glittered in her eyes, but didn’t fall. Sable, like me, didn’t cry, but not because of a genetic mutation. She didn’t cry because she couldn’t afford to. A magical wind whistled down the alley, swirling around us and sending the dark auburn curls around her head dancing.
    With a thick sounding thwup , her wings snapped out of her back. I’d never seen Sable’s wings before and for a moment I was almost lost to