Tempest in Disguise (Darkest Faerie Tale Series Book 1) (6 page)

“Is he your boyfriend?” the investigator asked in a clipped tone.

Jealous much?
She ran her fingers through her long hair, trying to weave through the tangles with her fingers. “No. He’s a friend.”

After Gavin wrapped his arms around her, she realized how much she wanted
him,
the unknown man to hold her, to comfort her—the one who seemed to capture her in one fell swoop.
Not Gavin.
So stupid really—she didn’t even know him. He’d kept the lights off last night if that wasn’t weird enough. Why? Why wouldn’t he reveal himself? Now, she stood face to face with him in broad daylight after he saw the most intimate parts of her. “What’s your name?”

He stepped in closer to her. “Cole.”

Mya exhaled in a rush, welcoming the nearness of him, but craved more—a hold, a hug, anything. “Cole,” she tested his name on her lips. “Cole, what?” she asked, with every intention of googling the shit out of his name.

“Cole Delgleish.”

A warning bell sounded in her head, telling her to flee for her life. She’d heard the name before. It held power and seemed famous for some reason, despite it being an uncommon surname.
No. No way.
Her knees nearly gave out and she slapped a hand over her mouth. An Elder of the high council—the Unseelie Court!

Oh, hell fire, what had she done? She’d slept with an Elder on the opposing court? Even though she hailed from the noble class of the Aos sí caste, being with an Elder on the enemy’s side is an act punishable by death. All of the blood froze in her body and she fought the dizziness, swaying to the side.

“Wildflower, our secret is safe with me.” Cole couldn’t lie, but his words didn’t comfort her.

Because of her background, because of her hybrid blood, her place in the court was already volatile, even though the Elders were the only ones who knew the truth about her. Her mother insisted she follow in her father’s footsteps as a Seelie. She’d made Mya integrate herself in the Seelie Court, to give her a place of belonging.

Oh yes, the Seelies would have Mya’s head—literally—if they found out what she did with Cole. Fear stabbed her gut, radiating out, churning her stomach. “You did this to me.” Waves of hot and cold whipped across her flesh. Her upside-down world imploded around her.

Boom!

“You slept with me on purpose to trap me.” Damn her wicked Unseelie side for falling prey to his schemes and giving in to him.

“No, Mya, I’m trying to help you.” Liar. He must have spun an untruth in there somewhere.

All of the agony, all of the heartache stemming from losing her parent’s house, losing the past, swirled around her like the wind. Sharp blasts of cold whipped her skin and sucked her into a black vortex.

Cole grabbed her shoulders and shook her. “Mya, stay with me. I want to help you. That’s why I came.”

Snapping back into the moment, she clenched her fists, steeling her emotions and jutted her chin. “Then, you better find the bastard who did this.”

“Absolutely.” His eyes glimmered with satisfaction.

Anger seeped into her soul. This man betrayed her in more than one way already. She needed to get out of here, away from him. She backed away on the sidewalk toward Gavin until she turned around and rushed away.

“Mya. We still need to talk.”

She stopped and looked over her shoulder. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

“As the Arson Investigator, I have to interview you to find out exactly what happened. You’ll have to come in for questioning.”

“Like hell.” She glared at him.             

CHAPTER FOUR

C
ole scrubbed a hand over his jaw. The stubble there jabbed at his palm, but he welcomed the subtle pain as he felt his scar. He didn’t like the way Gavin stared at Mya or the fact she would be going home with him. Gavin was the worst of the Seelies. Those self-righteous pricks.

After all, Cole knew first hand—the scar always a reminder of the past. Despite what happened decades ago, Mya belonged to him, not that filthy Seelie. He stalked back toward her, catching her arm before she got into Gavin’s car.

“What do you think you’re doing?” she yelled as she slapped his hand away.

“If you won’t come in for questioning, then we’ll do it now.”

She ground her teeth together. “No. I’m tired and I’m pissed. Have a little respect.”

“Obstructing an investigation is grounds for arrest. And trust me Mya, I have no problems arresting you right here. Right now.” What he wouldn’t do to see his feisty redhead locked up in his cuffs.

She gave him a deadpan stare. “Then call me tomorrow and I’ll be happy to cooperate.” Mya got into the car and slammed the door.

Her hybrid essence would probably be the death of him—damn her temper matched her fiery hair.

“Delgleish,” his investigative partner yelled from the debris, bringing Cole’s attention back to the matter at hand. “You need to come check this out.”

Cole strode over in his rubber boots to the remains. “What’s up, Tom?”

Tom nodded to a foamy like substance oozing from the outer walls. “Some type of chemical.” He snapped pictures of the evidence. “Do you think it could be insulation?”

“I’m not sure.” Cole leaned down while pulling his nitro gloves from his thigh pocket and put them on to poke at the foam. “The substance was definitely sprayed behind the sheetrock like insulation is, but there are colors swirled in it. Insulation is usually one solid color. ”

“Might be an oxidizer to fuel the fire? The Captain said the fire started in between the walls, according to the homeowner.”

“But, why set a house on fire in such a strange pattern?” Cole never witnessed a house go up in flames basically, the opposite of nature. The house had been tampered with.
Somebody is definitely after Mya.

“I don’t know. This whole fucking scene is bizarre. I mean the house imploded on itself.”

“Agreed.” Aos sí had magick, but they couldn’t manufacture chemicals with it. As Fae, they possessed the ability to manipulate inanimate objects, but hell, why not turn the stove on or something? Unless, the suspect wasn’t from either court, perhaps even human. Either way, whoever did this setup had to have adequate access to Mya’s home to get everything prepared.

“I’ll collect the evidence to send to the labs,” Tom said,

“How did the fire stay so contained before the house burst inwards?” Cole stood up and stared at a small piece of a wall, still standing near the fireplace. He moved over to it. Something about the way the paint trickled down like liquid from the sheetrock caught his attention. “Tom, come look at this. The fire stayed contained on the inside somehow. Be sure to take what’s left of the wall into the lab.” Maybe this evidence would shed some light on what happened.

He would let Tom take the lead on the investigation for now, because he had more important things to worry about—like Mya.

Fuck, what would he do about her? The Unseelie court wanted her. After the attempt to sway her last night had been fumbled by his cock, he needed to find a way to get to her. However, she was pissed as hell right now at him and she had every right to be.

He’d acted every bit the Unseelie by following their five rules.

Question authority.

Always challenge yourself.

Exude confidence.

Rules are meant to be broken.

No regrets.

Well, he accomplished each one of those with his little wildflower. He questioned the authority of the other Elders as he challenged himself to be with her while he exuded confidence at breaking the rules with no regrets—whatsoever. Even if he broke an Unseelie law to be with her and risked being hauled off to jail.

But hell, his actions also put her in quite the compromising position with the Seelie court. If they found out about her indiscretions with an Elder of their rival court, they would kill her. They liked to maim and kill first and ask questions second. No wonder she acted like an angry rabid monkey.

Plus now, she was off with Gavin, the stupid cocksucker. What if she told him the truth about last night?
Fuck
. Cole messed up. He took his gloves off and threw them on the ground.

How could he fix the situation and get Mya out alive? He raised his ball cap and ran his hand through his hair. Maybe he needed to kidnap the little vixen, teach her a few things and get her to comply. Once he owned her completely, she would bend to his will and fuck, if he didn’t like her bending over for him last night—taking his spankings like a champ.

News of her house burning to the ground would spread fast and he needed to do damage control before he lost his opportunity with Mya and another Elder stepped into his role. Cole wouldn’t see her again if that happened and he wanted her. He walked over to the far side of the yard and pulled his cell from his upper pocket. He dialed one of the other Unseelie Elders, the one he trusted the most. When Liam answered, Cole said, “Hey. I’m at Mya’s. Don’t send anyone else for her.”

“Do you have the hybrid in your possession?” Liam asked.

Lie
. Cole couldn’t lie. He needed to think of a good enough response to lead Liam into thinking Cole had Mya. “She’s mine.” Hot damn, the words came out. Did he really believe that? “I’ll be off the grid with her for a few days while I train her.” Shit, he was going to do it. He’d planned to have Mya come willingly, but after last night, she’d thrown his original plan out the fucking window. The only option left was to kidnap her, bind her up and bend her to his will.

“Don’t forget the law, Cole, hands off.” Liam’s ominous warning hung in the air.

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t touch her.”

“Her power is insurmountable—you will do well to remember that. Keep your phone on in case we need you.” Liam hung up.

Now, Cole needed to track Mya down and slip through Gavin’s defenses. Gavin would put up a fight. The lying bastard already fucked him over in more ways than one. In any case, the past didn’t matter. A smile spread across Cole’s face
. Let the lessons begin.

~* * * *~

Gavin squeezed Mya’s hand as he drove them back to his townhouse. The asshole Unseelie put his hands all over his girl. Arson investigator or not, Gavin wasn’t about to let the snake slither his way into Mya’s life—she’s too precious for that piece of shit. “You okay, sugar?” he asked, squeezing her hand for reassurance once more.

“Yeah,” she barely croaked out while turning a little wooden box over in her hands.

He’d been careful to gather up what belongings she’d managed to escape with. Damn, she barely made it out of the house alive. Heaviness settled in his chest. If something would have happened to her, he didn’t know what he might do. “When we get home, why don’t you take a hot shower? I’ll unload the car.”

Tears filled her eyes and she quickly wiped them away. “Can I lie down for a little while?” she asked in a whisper.

To have the little minx in his bed? His dick hardened in his jeans and he readjusted himself. “Of course, Mya.”

He knew she just watched her house wither away in the fire. The bleak expression on her face when he arrived made his stomach churn, but he would take care of her and then go after the damned Unseelie who’d taken an interest in her. Besides, Gavin already cut up Cole’s pretty face once, and he would fucking love to do it again. The asshole had it coming.

When he pulled into the driveway, Gavin quickly turned off the engine and made his way to the passenger side. “Let me help you out, sugar.” He went to lift her from her seat.

“No. I can handle it.” Her weight then buckled as she tried to stand up.

“Whoa. I got you,” he said, catching her before she fell. Gavin scooped her up in his arms, carried her inside and took her straight to his bedroom. “You need to rest for a bit. Are you hungry? Do you want some coffee?”

She gazed up at him through moist lashes with the saddest puppy dog eyes.

Gavin wanted to pull out his wallet and hand her his credit card for all the damage done.

“Will you—hold me?”

Hell ya, he would. Her tragedy became his saving grace—he would be her hero. He placed her in the middle of the bed with little effort. “I can most definitely do that, darlin’.” He lay down next to her and pulled her close.

Mya snuggled into the crook of his neck. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now.”

Her warm breath heated his skin, as tears must have slid down her face, because Gavin could feel moisture on his throat. A primal growl radiated in his chest. Using his thumb, he swiped away the sadness on her face and brought his finger up to his mouth to lick her sweet tears away. “You can stay here while we get everything figured out.”

“How am I supposed to get to work? Everything’s gone. I have no clothes. No car.” Her body shook as her sobs picked up. “Michaela’s going to use this as another excuse of me backing off our friendship and not being there for her. Why does everything always revert back around to her? She’s going to use this opportunity to bring my reputation down even further.”

Michaela and Mya worked together in the office of the Seelie Court. Elders and the girls working for them grew closer over the last two years, but Michaela, always on a power trip, became Mya’s boss a few months ago.