Page 29 of Fanged Desire
Her lips curved into a smile, but she stayed quiet, leaving me to my musings. I narrowed my eyes on her.
“Okay,” I said, “let’s run through the options. Illithid spawn, maybe not. And you can’t be a gargoyle either, you don’t exactly strike me as the brooding type.”
“I brood,” Hunter protested with a mock-serious expression, though her eyes gleamed with amusement. “Just… selectively.”
“Uh-huh. Are you sure you’re not a shifter? I could see you as a wolf or a panther, something dangerous and aloof.”
She seemed to consider it for a moment, then shook her head. “Nope. I’m not a shifter either. But I’ll take the ‘dangerous’ part as a compliment.”
I pouted. “You’re making this difficult. If you’re not a shifter, not a witch… wait.” I raised a finger. “Are you a demon?”
Hunter snorted, almost choking on a laugh. “A demon?”
“Why not?” I shot back, shrugging. “You’re pretty devilish. Plus, you kind of act like you’ve been around a while. You’ve got that timeless, old-soul energy.”
She rolled her eyes, but there was something warm in the way she looked at me. “I’m not a demon. But keep going, this is entertaining.”
“All right, fine,” I said, racking my brain for more options. “Maybe a fae? Though you don’t really have that whole ‘trickster’ thing going for you, and you’re a little too blunt to be a real fairy.”
I tilted my head, watching her closely for any hint, but she gave me nothing. Eventually, Hunter leaned toward me slightly, though she kept her eyes on the road. “What if I told you I’m just a regular human?”
I snorted. “Yeah, right. A human who can take down like eight guys with a few well-placed punches? Not buying it–”
My guessing game was interrupted by a sudden screech of the car’s brakes, and my body jerked forward against the seatbelt as the car came to an abrupt halt. Heart pounding, I turned to Hunter, confused and reeling from the whiplash. “What the hell was that for?”
She didn’t answer, her knuckles white as she gripped the steering wheel, staring intently ahead. All of her bravado was gone in an instant, replaced with something that looked a lot like stricken horror.
Following her gaze I noticed a couple crossing the street – a blonde woman laughing, arm in arm with a man who looked utterly smitten. In stark contrast, there was something cold in Hunter’s expression, a darkness I hadn’t seen before.
“Hunter?” I said softly, hoping to snap her out of whatever trance she’d fallen into.
For a moment, I thought she hadn’t heard me. Then, just as suddenly as she’d stopped, she shook her head, pressing the gas again, and the car rolled forward. But the tension didn’t fade. It lingered, thick in the air between us.
“Do you... know that woman?” I asked carefully, not sure if I was poking at something that should stay buried.
Hunter’s jaw tightened. For a long while, I thought she wasn’t going to answer at all.
But then, after almost a minute of silence, she murmured, “No. Not anymore.”
Ten minutes later, we pulled up to what looked like a fancy spa, the kind of place that keeps its luxury on full display, with marble columns and perfectly manicured lawns to boot.
I stared at it as I rolled down the window, completely confused. “Uh… what are we doing here?”
Hunter seemed to have recovered from her bout of spontaneous depression and shot me a mischievous grin. “We’re here to find one Esmerelde Flawne. She owns this place. She’s also our first lead.”
I sat back, folding my arms with skepticism. “And how exactly did you come across this lead?”
Hunter shrugged. “An associate gave me the names of some shady rich snobs who might do business at Micere. Flawne is thefirst on the list – a health guru type. I thought it was as good a place as any to start.”
She threw me a teasing glance. “And hey, maybe you can pick up a side hustle while we’re here.”
I blinked, baffled. “A side hustle? Doing what, exactly?”
“You’ll see.” She grinned, looking way too pleased with herself as we walked inside.
The interior was all sleek marble floors, soft lighting, and a faint eucalyptus scent. It was the kind of place that instantly made you feel like you didn’t belong unless you had a million-dollar bank account.
The receptionist, however – a young woman with blemish-free skin and a serene smile, greeted us warmly, clearly charmed by Hunter’s confidence before the swanky woman had even said a word. “Welcome to Flawne and Flow Spa. How can I help you today?”
