“Hm? Oh. It’s nothing.” I leaned and opened the nearby window to let the little fae ferret back inside. “The two of you stay here. I’m going to go out and see what I can do for the princess.”
Cerri sat up straight. “Right now?”
I sucked my teeth and slid a suspicious glance in her direction. “Why do you seem surprised? Do you have somewhere to be? I thought that the two of you could rest here, where it’s safe. If not, I’m sure Feri will come running to me. He’ll let me know where you are, so I can pick you up and drag you right back.”
Cerri’s expression flattened. A challenge gleamed in those green eyes. Even though she hadn’t been raised in the court, she was still determined to get her way. It was one of the few princess-like qualities she’d retained.
I would spoil her later, but we needed to make sure that there would be a later. That meant keeping her here while I was away. The ferret wouldn’t be enough incentive to make her stay. The creature was simply an alarm for when Cerri inevitably left.
That said, I knew how to buy myself some time. I twisted, yanked open my junk drawer and plucked a pair of silver bracelets from the mess. Before Cerri could catch onto what I was doing, I closed the distance between us, gently took her wrist in my hand, and slapped the first silver bracelet onto it.
Her eyes went wide. Realization spread across her face. By the time her jaw hit the floor, I’d already kicked a latch in the linoleum to reveal a metal loop. I gave her a gentle tug forward and stretched her arm towards the hook. The otherbraceletattached to it with ease.
“I dabbled in magical bounty hunting a while back. It gave me something to do with my free time that didn’t involve drinking. While I don’t do it very often anymore…” I grinned wide. “It prepared me for just aboutanything.”
Cerri sputtered as she glared up at me with one hand stretched between her knees. “You can’t just handcuff me and leave me alone here! What if someone comes by to kill me? Someone took a shot at us while were at the bar yesterday! They’re going to find me here and shoot me like a fish in a barrel.”
I crouched in front of her. “Princess, this is the safest place for you right now. I have fae wards on every inch of this trailer. No one is going to get you while I’m gone. Sit tight and be a good girl for me. If you do, I’ll be back with a treat.”
Her face turned red. I couldn’t tell if it was with embarrassment or anger. It was probably safest to assume a mix of both.
Feri sighed. “This is what happens when you are unruly and prevent the man from doing his job. You should put more trust in Rhoan. Maybe then he won’t have to go to such extremes.”
I could have sworn I heard the eerie creak in Cerri’s neck as her head twisted in Feri’s direction. If that ferret was alive when I returned, I would be surprised.
10
CERRI
That bastard handcuffed me to the floor!
The trailer should have been quiet without him, but I couldn’t stop seething. I shouted and screamed. If anyone passed by, they would hear me. I should have been lying low. Life would be easier if I stayed hidden.
I had other plans, though. No one could hold me here forever. I took in the simple pair of handcuffs. The little stamp on them revealed that they’d been made out of silver. While they would burn a shifter, he’d made sure to avoid the steel and iron that would have hurt me.
Looking back, so much more of my life made sense. As a child, I’d been weak. Mom took me to doctor after doctor to figure out what was wrong with me. At that point, they’d assumed that I would be a shifter. It didn’t make sense for me to be so weak and sick all the time.
As it turned out, I wasn’t a shifter. I was a fae with an acute allergy to iron.
Thankfully, all of the iron in my warehouse loft apartment had been thoroughly covered or painted over. That was the benefit to modern remodeling.
I slid off my chair and planted my butt on the floor so I could glare at the metal hook embedded into the floor. Tugging the handcuffs did nothing, not that I was surprised. I didn’t have super shifter strength. And my glare couldn’t melt through it, either.
My friends had all sorts of nifty abilities that would have been handy in this moment. I had to stop and ask myself what Addie would do. She had mortal strength and an arcana that had to be used cleverly.
When I lifted my head to look around, my gaze settled on a spider plant hanging from the ceiling a few feet away. I laughed and extended a hand towards it. Arcana blossomed from my open palm and settled into the plant’s pot. A curling vine snaked its way towards me while the rest spread out, consuming the walls.
I directed the tiny, sapling-green vine into the handcuff keyhole.
“What are you doing?” Feri snapped.
I stopped. Slowly lifting my head, I fixed my stare on the little ferret. He flinched, as if struck. Guilt turned my stomach sour.
Sighing, I said, “I will not be forced to do anything. It’s cruel to expect me to behave like a dog.”
I waited for Feri to make a joke about being raised by wolves, but he didn’t. I appreciated his silence while I latched the tiny vine around the mechanism inside the handcuff. The bracelet popped open, setting me free.
Triumphant, I leapt to my feet and brushed myself off.