Page 43 of Faerie Hunted

“And stop for food.”

“Yeah, and stop for food.” My stomach gave an ominous growl at the thought of a giant pizza or a messy, cheesy burger. Something with lots of meat and salt.

It growled louder still to the point where Onyx turned to me with his face screwed in confusion. “Are you going to eat me if we don’t stop soon?”

I shook my head. “Actually I’d like to get a little farther away from that town first.”

“You’re going to pass out at the wheel if you’re not careful.” He sat back again with a loud groan. “And honestly, I need something too. Otherwise I won’t be in good enough shape to take over driving.”

“Who says I’m going to let you take over? From where I’m sitting, you’re looking like dead meat rather than a capable copilot.”

His smile was a warm thing that brought an automatic mirror to my own lips. There was something comforting about Onyx, since the moment I met him, if I was being honest. Despite my skepticism when Melia basically forced me to meet with him in a little cafe she’d chosen for the food, we ended up working well together.

Because we knew what it was like to have a pack and be forced to leave, I reminded myself. And he was pack no matter who sired him.

Sure, he was an attractive man, and even better—he was a nice person. When he wasn’t being manipulated into murder.

I studied him from the corner of my eye, trying not to be too obvious. Onyx cut a strong side profile with his sharp nose and prominent jaw. If he trimmed his beard, he’d have been handsome, and the draw between his wolf and mine worked. In some way I hadn’t looked at before, it worked.

He wasn’t mine, not in the way Mike was mine, even though he’d make a much better match for me.

How easily I’d forgiven Onyx for murder.

But he’d always presented himself as different from the other men in the pack I’d known. Kinder and more sensitive. He actually stopped to consider things before he spoke or dove into action. It was a lesson I’d never quite managed to learn.

“Tavi, you’re going to have to rest sometime.” Onyx reached over and laid his hand over mine this time, giving it a light squeeze and ignoring the way I jumped. “You’ve been pushing too hard.”

The contact felt easier somehow when I initiated it. Why did it send slivers of awareness through me when Onyx made the first move?

“It seems like these days, all I do is push through,” I admitted, gently squeezing back. “There’s no time for rest.”

“Then make the time. The next village we pass, we’re going to stop for food and then I want you to nap. I’m sure your buddy in the backseat will make room for you. I’m sure he’ll watch over us, too. No better guardian than an Unseelie direwolf.”

Noren huffed out a sound, so much like an agreement I had to laugh.

“I think he’s trying to tell you that you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right.” Onyx was self-assured. “One of these days, maybe you’ll listen to me instead of playing at being the alpha.”

I scoffed. “You know me. I don’t play.”

“For anyone else, Tavi, I’d make it a joke. But dammit, if you ever end up leading a pack of your own one day, count me in. I’ll protect you with my life.”

I automatically started to answer, and then stopped, my tongue knotting. My voice was almost a whisper when I replied, “Who knows what the future will hold.”Or if we’ll even be alive to see it.

I wasn’t sure if I liked the idea of having my own pack. I hadn’t given any thought to it because, all my life, my uncle promised me the wolf council would arrange a match. Would find my fated mate and I’d follow his lead.

My fated mate was certainlynotKendrick Grimaldi.

My arm throbbed again and I pushed those thoughts aside.

Two hours passed before we took a side road that opened up into a quiet gathering of homes. The houses here were few and far between, with several of them clustered together in smaller communities, before we hit the town proper.

There were no fast food joints in Faerie, though, as I’d come to find out. It looked like this was the only place the arrogant yellow arches hadn’t colonized yet. Although I’d kill for some greasy, sloppy french fries.

Which sucked, in a way, because it meant we had to get out of the car and actually place an order in a small cafe located next to an art gallery.

We had no money between us. Onyx had been brought to the execution from the hospital and I straight from the dungeons. Luckily, and much to my surprise, we found a stack of bills folded over into thirds in the glove compartment.

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