Blood Politics - Helen Harper Page 0,3
the threshold,” Beltran continued without a trace of apparent emotion in his voice.
I rolled my eyes. Everything was now becoming suddenly clear. This had nothing to do with Corrigan fancying a little midnight flirt or wanting to make sure I was alright after my nightmare. This was about some kind of stupid power play between the faeries, the mages and the shifters, with me as the unwilling prize. Well, they could all just fuck off. Despite my tiredness, flames of exasperated heat were uncoiling themselves within the pit of my stomach.
Corrigan took a step towards the Fae. “Miss Mackenzie does not require your assistance. Do you even know who I am?”
Oh, for Christ’s sake. He didn’t really just say that, did he?
Beltran took a step towards Corrigan and sneered. “Am I supposed to be scared of a little pussy cat?”
Every sinew of the Lord Alpha’s muscular frame stiffened and dark patches of fur began to spring out on his uncovered arms. This had the potential to end very, very badly.
“Okay, boys,” I said, stepping between the two of them. “It’s the middle of the night. You’ve already woken up my neighbours once. Let’s call it quits so that I can go back to bed.”
The pair of them continued to eyeball each other over my head. I raised my voice. “I mean it. You two need to fuck off now because I’m getting annoyed. And you won’t like me when I’m angry.”
Corrigan muttered something under his breath that I didn’t quite catch. I ignored him pointedly. “Leave. Now.”
The Fae moved his gaze from Corrigan down to me. Something flickered in his eyes and he bowed. “As you wish.” He moved back, melting away into the darkness.
I turned round to face Corrigan. “You too.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but I made a face at him. “It’s a dangerous day when I’m the calm one, Corrigan. I want to get some uninterrupted sleep and that Fae will be back in a heartbeat if you don’t leave too.” I looked over at the splintered door frame. “And I think I can take care of myself, don’t you?”
“Of that I have no doubt, kitten.”
“Then please go,” I said quietly.
He sighed, then reached out and brushed away some hair from my face. I tried hard not to flinch at his warm touch. “As you wish. But,” his eyes grew hard for a moment, “call me if you need anything.”
“Of course.” Not a chance, buster.
He stood there for a heartbeat longer, unfathomless emotion in his eyes, before blinking languidly and smoothly stepping past me into the night.
Sweet dreams.
As if. I squeezed myself into my flat, trying to avoid knocking the door that was now hanging off its hinges, then grabbed a wooden chair and propped it carefully against the knob to hold it shut. Cursing the Otherworld in general, I stomped back off to bed.
Chapter Two
It was late when I finally awoke again. Sunlight was streaming in annoyingly through a gap in the curtains and hitting the side of my face. I groaned slightly to myself, wondering whether the events of the night before had just been a product of my imagination. However, when I finally managed to get myself out of bed and check, it became apparent that unfortunately they’d been real. I stared mournfully at my broken door for a moment, hoping that my new landlord wasn’t planning to make any surprise visits to check on his new tenant before I managed to get it fixed.
Possession-less as I virtually was, the flat itself was rather bare. It came supplied with a few basics: a sofa, a bed, a kitchen table and chairs – one of which was currently keeping the front door closed – and very little else. I’d not even had time to stock the cupboards yet, and the absence of coffee was grating on me. I made a mental note to make sure that I managed to leave work in time this evening to buy a proper coffee machine and some of South America’s finest, then shrugged on my usual uniform of jeans and a dark t-shirt and picked up my backpack on my way out. At least there was nothing worth stealing inside the flat, I figured ruefully, as I left the door hanging precariously against the frame. Corrigan still had a hell of a lot to answer for though.
The bookshop was a short ten minute walk away, and I knew from my previous strolls back and forth that there was