Page 39 of Faerie Hunted

If I ignored the magic flames burning in sconces lining the road, I could have been anywhere in Virginia.

Once you fell outside of the king’s immediate scope, keeping things in repair wasn’t quite as important.

We kept our heads down, the rain driving against the back of our necks.

A flash of chrome caught my eye and I held out a hand to stop Onyx, jerking my head to the side. Nestled between two buildings was a vehicle.

I fought the urge to rub my hands together. Finally!

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I think it’s a good enough choice, if we can get it to move without a key.”

He blew out a breath. “Leave it to me.”

TheTotalisfelt like itweighed a thousand pounds in my pocket. “Actually, I think I’ve got this covered. Watch my back. I’ll knock on the front door.”

Onyx reached out and grabbed my elbow before I moved. “Tavi, are you sure it’s a good idea?”

No. I wasn’t sure about anything at this point. I only knew we needed to do something and I had a better chance of stealing the car than he did.

“It’s going to be fine,” I assured him. “Watch out for me, okay?”

Steeling myself, I drew in a deep breath that almost made me dizzy. I could do this. Ihadto do this because we were tired and hungry and out of options. Which left us with only one option, really.

Thievery.

The door to the small cottage opened at my approach and the fae woman staring at me had three eyes. Two of them were in the normal spots but the third rested on her brow bone, the iris a dazzling shade of amethyst purple.

“Yes?” She sounded skeptical already. She’d probably seen us lurking around outside and eyeing her car.

I flashed her a grin and reached slowly into my pocket for theTotalis. Its familiar sensation of ancient magic mingled with my own and the exhaustion fell to the back of my mind. I focused my intent on the woman with three eyes, scanning her energy, isolating it from the magic of this world and latching on.

I can do this.

“I need your car, please,” I said with a tight smile. “Hand over the crystal to make it work. It’s okay. You can trust me.”

The woman stared at me for a long moment, blinking in surprise. A familiar pall fell over her features. “You want my car?”

“Yes.” I pushed my magic into her even more.

My powers were waning. I needed food, sleep, and water. I needed too many things to be able to feel like my old self again, and after days of travel the dizziness had started back. My empty stomach flipped queasily.

Barbara’s witchy Band-aid wasn’t going to last much longer.

“Get me the crystal for the car,” I urged. “You can trust me. I need it.”

Her eyes clouded over and a flash of guilt took me by surprise. This was a stranger, an innocent person.

“Tavi!”

Hearing my name almost broke my concentration and I tuned Onyx out. Until movement from behind resulted in the sound of footsteps closing in on us.

“Hey. Hey! What are you doing? Who are you?” A couple stood on the sidewalk only feet away from me.

I kept my back to them and cradled the tool tighter against my chest. “Nothing is going on. This woman is giving me her car.”

I tried to push the wave of manipulation out wider to encompass their energies and came up against a wall. Even with theTotalis, I didn’t have much magic left in me to utilize.

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