Tempest in Disguise (Darkest Faerie Tale Series Book 1) (7 page)

Even he sensed the shift. Gavin pulled Mya up, so they were face to face. “You’ve got me. I’m on your side.” Unable to resist it any longer, he kissed the side of her face where one tear rolled down her cheek. He intended to kiss them away if he could. “I’ll call Michaela and let her know you won’t be going into the office today.”

Mya moved her head back and gaze up at him. “I took a day off two weeks ago and Michaela told the other women I was jealous of her. Jealous of what? I have no idea. And the fact they believe the lies she spins. Sometimes, I think she hates me.”

“Michaela is one of your closest friends. I don’t think she’d do something so cruel.”

“It’s true Gavin. I went to a BBQ last weekend and she gave me the cold shoulder—her and her little friends. They were mean.”

“Well, she won’t be able to turn all of this around on you. Your house burned down—even she can’t deny the truth.”

Abruptly, Mya pulled further back from him, her eyes wide.

Shit, there went their moment.

“I’m supposed to pick Nicole up at the airport.”

Gavin knew Brad died the night before. The Seelie Elders freaked out over the tragic death of their star commander. “We can go get Nicole together. When does she get in town?”

She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and scrolled through her texts. “Nicole gets in at three.”

“Did she tell you anything about Brad?” Gavin ran his fingers through Mya’s red hair.

“Yeah. She said he overdosed, but Gavin—it doesn’t seem right to me.”

Every muscle in his body went taut. “Why would you say that?”

“I don’t know.” She met his gaze. “Brad isn’t the type to do drugs. There’s no way.”

“Mya, you don’t know what people are like behind closed doors. Sometimes, people only allow you to see what they want you to see.”

“No. It doesn’t make sense.”

Gavin didn’t like where the conversation headed. He needed to remind her of what happened this morning. She’d lost everything. She needed him. “Don’t worry about it all, sugar. Let’s relax for a bit and then I’ll make you something to eat. If you need to go anywhere, you can use my car. Okay?”

He would have to talk to Michaela too, make sure she didn’t hound Mya to go into the office. Michaela was known for manipulating people. She always talked about other people, told other people’s stories to make is seem like she truly cared but in reality, she did it because as long as she spoke…the attention was solely all on her.

Mya nodded. “Thank you.”

“Did you happen to grab your purse on the way out of your house? You seemed to take everything else.”

Her head dropped. “No. Damn it. I didn’t.”

“So, you don’t have any bank cards, no ID?”

Mya growled in frustration. “I have nothing!”

He could feel the intense heat rising off her. “Maybe we should do something to clear your mind?” Gripping on to her ass, he pressed her up against his dick. “Hmm?”

The look in her eyes changed, no longer trusting, but more cautious. Her defensive wall rose back up. “Gavin?”

Damn that Unseelie side of her. He would take her body in the shower and scrub her clean of every Unseelie trait if possible. Maybe if he filled her pussy and her mouth with his seed, he could cleanse her from the inside out. Then she’d be perfect. His dick jerked, liking the idea. He would come all over her. “Just trying to ease some of your tension from this morning.” Gavin winked at her. “How about we go take a shower? I can help you get cleaned up. You’ve got soot all over you.”

“We’re friends. You know we can’t do that. Besides, I can shower on my own.”

Oh, man did her words fucking sting his ego. Ringing from his cell phone agitated him even further. He dug through his pocket and pulled it out, hitting send. “Yes?”

“Well, it’s good to hear from you too
friend
,” Michaela spat out.

Damn, the girl pissed him off, but he needed to play nice. “What’s up?”

“Mya’s house made the local news. What the hell happened?”

His gut tightened. “Her house burned down, but don’t worry she’s here with me now. What’d they say on the news?”

“They said it looked like arson.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and the fire captain said Mya told him there was a man in the house and they’re looking for him.”

Gavin stopped himself from throwing the phone against the wall in rage. “Do they have a description?” Maybe he’d kill Cole anyway to make himself feel better.

“Not yet. But, there is a ten thousand dollar reward for any information leading to an arrest. Ten thousand! That’s crazy. She’s not that important.”

He couldn’t talk to Michaela anymore. She grated on his nerves. “Text me if you find out any more information.”

“Fine. Tell Mya I expect her in the office this weekend to catch up on the work she’s missing today if she doesn’t come in.”

“She’s your friend. Don’t you think you should be more sympathetic?”

Michaela laughed. “Friend? A definition of a friend is a person who is on good terms with another…a person who is not hostile…which she is. Mya’s been jealous ever since I went with the other girls to the beach without her and she’s been anything but a friend.”

“How did she become jealous? She never mentioned anything to me about you and the other girls taking a trip. I would’ve heard about it if she was upset.”

“Mya refused to go shopping with me when I was getting ready for the vacation. A real friend would have been happy for me and supported me. She would have gone to the mall with me anyways. And then, she sent me a nasty text telling me she couldn’t drop everything at the drop of a hat to go to with me. She practically told me off.”

“She told you off in a text? And you caught the exact tone she used, right? Seriously, you are being ridiculous. Did you think for one minute, that…I don’t know…she was truly busy? Her entire world doesn’t revolve around you.”

Michaela huffed into the line. “Tell her to be in the office this weekend.”

Gavin ground his teeth. “Whatever.” Then he hung up.

Mya looked up at him pensively. “Who was on the phone?”

He kissed her forehead and tucked her back into him. “Relax, sugar. Those damn Unseelies are going to get it for fucking with you.”

~* * * * ~

The sixth sense Mya experienced when Brad died came back with a sickening force. Something felt wrong. Why did Michaela call Gavin? More proof of how the insecure girl hid dirty and wicked tricks up her sleeves. The fact Michaela dug her claws into Gavin, irked Mya beyond belief. “Do you really think the Unseelies did it?” Mya asked him.

“Who else would do something like this? They’ve already targeted us and killed four Seelies in the last couple months—that we know of. I wouldn’t doubt if they had something to do with Nicole’s brother too, the fucking bastards.”

“But why? Because they want to have power back?” She caught at least that much in passing conversations and hushed whispers at the court. Sometimes, she felt like nobody told her anything.

“In the old days, the Aos sí used to rule on the island of Sitnalta. Even though we had a king and a queen, the Fae were gods. You can’t imagine that type of heaven compared to the way we live now, in secret next to humans with our enemies beside us. I know why the Unseelies want to go back—they live to make our lives miserable. We accepted the results of the Great Atonement millennia ago, but those unruly assholes won’t.”

“The Great Atonement happened thousands of years ago. Why try to get power back now?”

“Why not?”

“How would they even get that type of godlike power?”

“The first Aos sí hybrid ever, was born.”

He knows.
Fear rampaged through every nerve ending, bringing her paranoia to the forefront. A burning sensation started in her gut and spread outward. Mya’s head shot up and she met Gavin’s eyes. “A hybrid?” Cold settled into the marrow of her bones and she shivered. Fighting back the anxiety attack threatening to overcome her, she pushed on the pressure points in her hands and wrists until her nails starting sinking into her skin.

“Hey.” He squeezed her arm. “
It
changes nothing between us.” He said
it
as if the word hybrid burned his tongue.

How is this even possible?
Alarm assaulted her. Her chest tightened. Gavin wasn’t even an Elder, he shouldn’t know the truth. Then she caught on to the rest of what he said and numbness tingled into her extremities. “Us?” She frowned, dread building into her gut as tension seeped into her skull.

“Come on. You have to know how I feel about you. Obviously, you feel the same or else I wouldn’t have been the only one you called to come and get you after your house burned down.”

Did she? No, she panicked she hadn’t known who to call. “You’re my friend. That’s why I called you.”

“You sure?” He leaned down to her face and pressed his lips to hers. “You’ve never wanted to be something a little more than friends?”

For some odd reason, she welcomed the contact. “Gavin,” she breathed against his mouth with trepidation, yet she wanted to be held, consoled. A war brewed inside of her. She needed comfort, but this was all wrong.

“Let’s see.” He kissed her. Once. Twice. Until his tongue parted her lips and slipped into her mouth. He moaned against her, pulling her in tighter to him, his erection pressing against her belly.

She acquiesced, perhaps from the shock of her trauma filled morning or the fact she needed to be soothed, and opened her mouth for him. His lips became soft, tender even, but something was missing. Confusion and uneasiness hit her in waves. Their kiss didn’t hold the spark, the desire she’d felt with Cole. Tears filled her eyes. She’d wanted to give in to him, but not to Gavin and shame rippled over her as betrayal sunk in and she started pushing against his chest.

Thank the ancient ones. Gavin’s phone rang as she pulled away, breaking the kiss.

“You make me feel so high, Mya,” he said before moving away and grabbing his cell.

She immediately brought her fingers to her lips and wiped the remnants of his kiss away. She’d given herself to Cole—how could she do this to him? Sharp pinpricks of pain lacerated her heart. She didn’t love Cole, but something happened between them. How in the world did she let things escalate between her and Gavin?

Gavin answered the phone, “Hey.” He sat up on the edge of the bed, his back facing her. “Yeah. Uh huh.”

She couldn’t hear the conversation on the other end, but based on Gavin’s tone he was pissed.

“Why?” Gavin paused, “They can’t do that.” More pausing. “What time do they want us in the courts?” He clenched his jaw. “Fine. We’ll be there.” He threw his phone across the room and it shattered against the wall.

Mya jumped and the she rose up on her knees behind him. “What did they say?” Fear made her voice tremble. She’d never seen Gavin so angry.

He turned to face her. “There is to be a trial held in the court this afternoon at three. It has to do with your house.”

“I don’t understand.”

Gavin’s eyes met her dead on. “They think you burned your house down on purpose.”

“What?”

“Somebody gave them a
tip,
said you were actually siding with the Unseelies.”

“It’s not possible. You know I’m not.”

He raised a brow. “Apparently, there is a picture of Cole Delgleish leaving your house at nighttime. Do you know anything about that?”

Cold spears of ice prickled her skin, running deeper, until her blood ran cold. She could honestly answer no, because she hadn’t seen Cole leave for sure. “He’s the fire investigator, right?”

“Exactly. And there was a ten thousand dollar reward put up by the police department for any tips leading to the arrest of whoever set your house on fire. The Unseelie court is the one who posted the money. Why would they pay so much to protect you, especially when the fire investigator is one of them?”

“I…” No words left her vocal chords. She didn’t know what to say. Her hand went to her throat on instinct.

“Damn it, Mya. You better tell me what’s going on.”

She couldn’t tell Gavin the truth, but she couldn’t lie either. If she thought she was in trouble before—now with a photo of Cole leaving her house, she’d sure as hell have to say goodbye to her head after they sliced it from her body for breaking a major rule.
Shit.
“I—last night I heard someone in my house, then again this morning during the fire. I didn’t see who, but there was a man there. He disappeared. I scented an Unseelie in the air.” There…she mixed her statements up enough, so she didn’t technically lie, but threw Gavin off the course of the truth.

Gavin’s muscles strung tight as he clenched his fists. “So, Cole was the Unseelie in your house?”

Something about the way he asked the question made her sixth sense tingle. She swallowed the lump in the back of her throat, unsure of how to dodge his question. Dear gods, the Seelies were going to flay her alive at the court this afternoon. “I don’t know who was in my house this morning,” she answered, not letting her voice waiver or show a hint of fear. She would have to depend on her Unseelie side to get herself out of this mess.