The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) (36 page)

Amara’s face tightened at the reference to Ryker
being my man.

“Sorry, Melosa.” I pulled back. “I got tied up.”

Croygen snorted next to me, and I cast him a
look.

Melosa halted when she took in Croygen, pursing her
lips together, she mumbled something under her breath, her hand
going to her cross necklace. I thought she was going to turn us
out, but then she swiveled around, motioning us to a table.

“She really doesn’t like you,” I leaned in and
muttered.

“Not many do.” A naughty grin lifted his mouth. “It’s
a tradesman’s life.”

“Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me,” I sang,
causing him to stare at me.

“Come sit.” Melosa motioned us over to a table. Two
of Melosa’s daughters came out of the back with trays. The oldest,
Lucia, was a doppelganger of her mother—sweet, energetic, and loved
everyone. The youngest girl, Raquel, was the exact opposite. She
didn’t bother to hide her dislike of me.

Lucia gave me a wave and continued on to her table.
Raquel stopped, a snarl arching her upper lip till her eyes landed
on the man next to me. Unlike her mother, her expression changed to
pleasure at seeing Croygen. He was a striking man—tall, dark, and
handsome. He had an abundance of charisma, which fae usually used
to attract humans. Raquel’s eyes widened in appreciation, looking
him up and down, but narrowed when they ventured over to Amara.

Oh, good. At least I wasn’t alone in Raquel’s “fan”
club.

Ryker sat facing the entrance. I sat across from him,
my back toward the café, allowing me to feed Sprig. Amara sat next
to Ryker, and Croygen slid in the chair next to me.

“Pancakes. Pancakes. Pancakes.” A murmured chant came
from my bag. I bonked Sprig’s head to quiet him.

“If that
thing
gets us in trouble.” Amara
frowned into my bag.

“Hey, Medusa?” Sprig whispered low enough so only we
could hear, curling his finger so she would lean in. Then he stuck
his middle finger out of the bag. I couldn’t stop my laugh from
spurting out.

Amara glared at Sprig and me, turning to Ryker.
Ryker’s eyes met mine, glinting with humor. My smile widened, and
under the table I held out my hand to give Sprig a high five.

Melosa came to our table. “Welcome,
friends
of
Ryker and Zoey,” she said in Spanish. The word
friends
coming out strained. Melosa’s gaze stuttered when Amara put her
hand on Ryker’s shoulder, rubbing it affectionately. Her lids
tapered on Amara, and her lips thinned the same way they did with
Croygen. “What can I get you?”

“The usual for me, Melosa.” I handed the menu to her.
She smiled, winking at the little monster in my bag. Sprig was
practically shaking with anticipation.

“Me too.” Ryker nodded.

Amara squeezed his arm and turned to Melosa. “Make
sure everything is separated. He hates his food touching.”

Melosa stiffened. “I am aware of his preference.” The
woman looked as if someone not only insulted her cooking, but her
family.

Amara smiled thinly at the woman. “I’ll get the
veggie omelet.”

“Same. Except fill mine with only meat. Human’s if
you have it.” Croygen winked at the woman. Melosa’s hand
immediately went for her cross, her body stiffening as she swung
away from our table.

“Stop that!” I slapped Croygen in the arm, making him
snicker. “She’s a sweet woman who clearly is smarter than us. She
warned us to stay away from you.”

He reclined, grabbing his water glass. “That’s
because she remembers me from when she was a girl.” He took a sip
of water. “She’s pissed because she’s aged... I haven’t.”

“What?”

“I’ve been around this area off and on for a long
time.” He shrugged. “She’s more aware than most humans. She
sees—”

“She sees you’re an asshole.” Ryker stretched out his
legs, pushing his chair back away from Amara, or at least that’s
how I wanted to perceive it. “I was thinking after breakfast we
could do some training.” Ryker, unmistakably changing subjects,
directed his glance at me. Not one bit of emotion soaked through
his expression. I could feel him putting up a fence between us.
Letting me know, without having to say it, the closeness of last
night would not happen again. The formality in his voice assured me
we were back to being partners. Nothing more.

I stared down at Sprig, rubbing his soft fur. It
comforted me. “Sure. Why?”

Ryker cleared his throat. “Now the powers are yours,
you need to learn how to use them. How to manipulate them to your
advantage in a fight.”

I nodded.

“If we are going to get Regnus, I want you able to
handle yourself better. This won’t be like collecting fae.” He
folded his hands over his stomach. “You need to battle with a
sword. The way fae fight.”

“Can we help?” Amara flipped her hair over her
shoulder.

“Yeah. It would be good for all of us.” Ryker
adjusted in his seat. “Especially for me since I no longer have an
advantage.” His voice constricted on the last word.

My fault or not, the guilt of causing this pain made
me shift in my seat. Rolling my shoulders, I played with my bag,
not able to look at Ryker. This was so painful. With no chance to
regain his powers except to kill me, I wondered if the reality was
setting in.

When Melosa came back to our table with food and
drinks, I kept my hand on Sprig, waiting for her to walk away. Then
I ripped off a piece of crepe and shoved it into his mouth before
he could utter a noise.

He mumbled something which sounded a lot like,
“Crapping fae biscuits... sooo good.”

The table went silent as we ate. The honey pancakes
were bliss on my tongue after the chalky, tasteless food I had
choked down in Seattle. I didn’t realize I was famished. It was a
battle to get enough food in my mouth before Sprig was tugging at
the plate.

“
Bhean
.
Bhean
,” Sprig whispered,
grabbing for my fork as I tried to finish my bite.

“Hand him to me.” Ryker stretched his arms across the
table to me. I slipped the bag over my head and passed it to Ryker.
He settled the bag on his lap and cut off some of his own pancakes,
dipping them in extra honey from my plate, before feeding Sprig.
Sprig grinned widely at Ryker’s speed at feeding him.

Amara looked back and forth between Ryker and me. “He
can’t feed himself?”

“No,” both Ryker and I said at once, connecting our
eyes in a recollection. Sprig could feed himself, but we would need
to cover the restaurant in plastic first.

I pointed my fork at Ryker. “I still have honey in my
bag from the time you let him eat in it.”

Ryker snickered, nodding.

“You lied. It never washed out.”

The side of Ryker’s mouth hooked up, his attention on
Sprig as he supplied him with more honey-covered dough.

Again Amara’s head bobbed between the two of us. A
nerve twitched across her forehead. She bit on a pepper and
swallowed.

As I shoved more food down my throat, Sprig blinked.
His eyes no longer fixed on the food or the plate. “He’s goin’
down.” I motioned to my bag. Ryker dipped his napkin in his water
and cleaned off Sprig’s mouth, hands, and anywhere else the honey
had dripped. Sprig’s head was already tilting back and his mouth
was open when Ryker tucked him inside the bag.

My stomach knotted watching Ryker take care of Sprig.
I bit down on my tongue so the crazy emotions I was feeling
wouldn’t come to the surface.

“We ready?” Croygen threw his napkin on his
plate.

Ryker looped the strap over his head and stood.
“Yeah. And thanks for paying.”

“What?” Croygen responded.

“Consider it rent for staying with us.” Ryker slapped
Croygen on the shoulder and advanced to the door.

“Tell her to add it to our tab.” I patted Croygen’s
other shoulder and got to my feet, following Ryker.

My next visit to Seattle would entail a visit to the
bank

.

Rain hit the dirt in large droplets, soaking my
boots with mucky water. The wind whipped at my loose, fading violet
strands, flicking them into my face.

Ryker walked out to the middle of the open space.
“Zoey, over here.” Ryker pointed in front of him. He had taken us
outside the village to a semi-flat space in a meadow where we could
work without being seen by humans. He returned Sprig to the room,
along with our babysitters, soap operas and honey papayas, and
grabbed a few things before bringing us here.

I walked over, tying my hair in a ponytail.

“I know you can fight with your fists, but it lets
your enemy too close. Today, I want you to work with a broadsword.
They are the most used weapon in the fae world.” Ryker withdrew a
sword from his back, where his axe and other weapons were located,
and held it out for me. “They are heavy, and you will have to learn
to handle its weight.”

When my fingers clasped the handle, taking it from
Ryker, my arm dipped with the weight of the metal. No wonder fae
were toned. Damn. Widening my stance and heaving up the blade, I
gripped it.

A howl of laughter bellowed from Croygen. “She looks
like she’s ready to club someone with it, not stab.”

I struck my tongue out at Croygen.

“Relax your shoulders.” Ryker nodded toward them.
“And loosen your grip.”

“Loosen my grip?” The sword was already slipping out
of my fingers.

“Your legs are too far apart.” Ryker’s boots nudged
at mine, pushing them together. “Your hips are too far back. Now
your legs are too close to each other.”

I let the steel drop to the ground, and I stepped
back in irritation. “Sorry. I never took sword lessons. Shooting
you guys was a lot quicker.”

Ryker’s lids tapered and he glanced at the sky.
“Amara?”

She came over as Ryker took out another sword from
his halter, thinner and lighter looking. The handle was ornate and
delicate. “My blade!” Amara grabbed for the weapon, a smile growing
on her face. “I didn’t know you still had it.”

“Had it since the night—” Ryker stopped. We all knew
the night he was talking about. The night when everything
changed.

Amara nodded in understanding. “Thank you for keeping
it with you.”

Ryker gave her a brisk nod and turned back to me.
“Can you show her the stance?”

Amara’s face glowed with delight, rejoicing in the
fact she was the one Ryker needed at the moment. She pulled her
damp hair into a perfect messy bun. Her skinny black jeans were
beyond tight, and a loose tank top showed off her bra every time
she moved. It was like standing next to a supermodel who was trying
to be grungy, but it only rendered her sexier.

She completed a plié while lifting her sword in an
elegant but firm grip.

“Like her.” Ryker pointed at Amara, causing her face
to beam more with the praise.

I rolled my eyes but tried to copy her posture. A
chuckle from Croygen told me I was still far from mimicking
Amara.

“No.” Ryker shook his head and moved around me.
“You’re still sticking out your ass.” His hands came down on my
hips, brushing the exposed skin between my tank top and cargo
pants. I gasped, as though his fingers went straight through my
body into my lungs, squeezing the air from them. Fire zipped up the
nerves where he touched me. He twisted my hips, pressing himself
tighter into me. “Keep them forward.” His voice was hot against my
neck. There was a moment I felt his fingers move below my pants
line, softly brushing the skin, before he was gone. I swallowed,
trying to keep at least the pretense I was listening or aware of
anything other than his touch.

“Croygen, can you come on the other side and show her
basic moves?”

A strange glint shown in Croygen’s eyes as he moved
in front of me. “Sure thing.” A secretive smile tugged at the
corner of his mouth.

For the next four hours, in the pouring rain, I was
drilled, yelled at, and tortured. But because of all my other
training through Daniel, I was actually learning things faster than
I thought. “So when are we going to get to the part where I jump my
ass home and into the bath?”

“You need to know the basics of fighting before we
get to the jumping.” Ryker wiped at the sweat and water on his
forehead.

“And you definitely are horrendous at the fighting
part.” Amara frowned, stabbing her sword into the wet earth,
letting it stand on its own. “I think the monkey could do better
than you.”

Every hair up the back of my neck felt like it was
brushed the wrong way. “As bad as I am, I bet I can still kick your
ass.” During the years of others jeering me and trying to provoke
me, I had never fallen for it. It was what made me such a great
fighter. That was until I met Amara.

Her eyebrows cocked in surprise before a defiant
smile curled her mouth. “I’ll take that bet.”