Under the Bridge (16 page)

A freshly slaughtered animal has a
distinctive smell. It’s not like supermarket chicken; bland, washed
and neatly packaged. If it weren’t for the label, a girl might not
even realize the two were kissing cousins.

No, fresh entrails had a certain musky,
earthy quality, highlighted by the scent of warm fur or feathers.
Anyone who’d ever prepared a farm animal for the table knew that
blood made the hair stick to hands and knives; Elmer couldn’t make
better glue.

And the smell! She could wash her hands,
shower…blood scent took forever to fade.

The troll had made no effort to wash away the
scent of his kill. The carrion stink of it polluted the air, forced
her to breathe through her mouth. Even then, she could almost taste
the rot.

Billy stared at the bridge. The sun was high,
but it didn’t touch the shadows underneath. It looked more like the
entrance to a cave than a simple river crossing. This was the same
place where Carrie’s boyfriend had been eaten. She’d guessed that
Ash would go here if he had to lick his wounds, and by the smell of
things, she’d been spot on. There was either a troll present, or
the local crematorium had been dumping bodies instead of burning
them.

She took her grandmother’s wedding ring from
her pocket and held it out to the shadows under the bridge. “I’ve
got a toll for you, Ash. Come and get it.”

The shadows stirred. “Go away.” The voice was
gruff and very deep.

“Funny. When I ask people to do that, they
just ignore me.” She sat on a boulder and toyed with the ring.
“Jason is following me around. I ditched him, but I have a feeling
it won’t last.”

“Stay away from me and he’ll leave you
be.”

“I figured. Still, considering the things I
let you do to me…I guess I’m attached.”

He lumbered slowly from the shadows, huge,
hairy and reeking of stale gore. He didn’t approach her. “You came
for me? I’m flattered.” His broken yellow teeth showed in a mocking
smile. “Am I everything you remembered?”

She squinted. “You don’t look quite the same
without your makeup. Thankfully, you clean up well.” She wasn’t
going to let him see her unease. He wanted to scare her off for
some reason, and she wanted to know why. Was he trying to protect
her, or was the pretense of courtship over?

He turned his back and went back inside his
cave.

Well. That was rude. She sighed and followed
him in, using a fae light to chase the shadows away.

Ash turned and stared at her. “You wish to
die? The taste of man-flesh is still thick on my tongue.”

“Ugh. Don’t remind me. I assume you were
trying to intimidate Jason?” Please, let that be it. She wanted her
gentle monster back.

“You can’t reform a monster,
g
ummibärchen.
Eating hearts is what I do.”

She grimaced. “Now you sound like Jason, and
he is not my favorite guy.”

“We are what we were born to be.”

His resigned attitude made her angry. “What?
You were born to get heartburn on homeless junkies? Born to spend
your days picking stringy runaways out of your teeth?” She’d seen
him refrain. Sure, it had been an effort, but he’d never hurt her.
She knew he could do it. “Buddy, I’d say you were brainwashed. It’s
a lifestyle choice.”

Yellow eyes gleamed. “We get our strength
from the bones of men.”

She put her hands on her hips. “Yeah? Who
says so? Has there ever been a vegetarian troll?”

He looked at her as if she’d suggested
something lewd, repulsive.

“My point is, you’re taking cannibalism on
faith. Who’s ever tested it? Not you.”

“Get out of my cave.” He pointed with one
cracked, dirty nail. “I’ve had enough of your heresy.”

Billy refused to let his attitude hurt her.
She was right and knew it. Given time, he’d see things her way.

She waited until she was in the sunlight to
mutter, very softly, “See? It’s a religion. And Jason teases me
about Christianity.” She was almost sure he hadn’t heard—until the
boulder came sailing in her direction. She dodged, but he had
uncharacteristically bad aim. Pretty sure he’d missed on purpose,
she smiled, a new bounce in her step.

He was no Romeo, but he was still hers. She
was at least as strong as a lady troll inside. She just had to make
him see her that way.

Sometimes, love had to be ruthless. Lucky for
him, pixies were good at that.

Billy drove slowly around the lake. Keeping
her eyes open for surprises, she parked her bike near the site of
Carrie’s death and watched the clouds roll in with unnatural speed.
Excellent; she’d been discovered.

She pulled her sword from the sheath her over
her shoulder and warmed up her wrist. “Let’s see what you’ve got,”
she challenged herself. She hoped the banshee would remember how
things had gone last time and discount her.

The banshee wasn’t subtle. She came in like a
meteor flashing from the sky, straight for Billy’s heart. Billy
stepped aside and whipped her sword in an arc designed to cut the
monster in two, but the banshee was too fast. A slash of her claws
had Billy staggering back, gritting her teeth against the pain in
her side. Even pixie armor could only take so much.

Adrenaline helped her ignore the pain as she
kept up a steady rhythm, slashing at the hovering monster. The
banshee grinned hungrily at her clumsy swipes, darting closer. She
didn’t seem worried about the sword, for Billy didn’t seem to be
doing much damage.

Except that when it did connect, there was a
loud hiss of steam. The banshee pulled back with a shriek,
clutching at the smoking gash in her chest. “Blessed iron!” she
accused, for the wound refused to heal.

Billy grinned. “It’s all in who you know.”
She attacked with a flurry of sword strokes, dropping the inept
act.

The banshee screamed in rage and attacked
with renewed fury. Though wounded, her blows hadn’t lost strength.
Billy got her in the stomach and she retaliated with a blow to the
head that sent Billy flying into a tree. The banshee was on her in
a blink, claws digging deep, trying to rip the armor that guarded
Billy’s heart.

Bam, Bam, BAM! There came a flurry of
gunshots, and half the banshee’s skull exploded, splattering brains
all over Billy. Billy shoved her off, and rolled to her feet. Jason
walked steadily forward, empting his clip into the shrieking
monster. “Act fast,” he warned. “This won’t hold her.”

Lovely thought. Billy sent a burst of power
into the ground. A seed burst to life and sent shoots up around the
banshee, growing rapidly into a tree. By the way she thrashed, it
was clear the tree couldn’t hold her long.

Billy limped over and grabbed her sword.

“You want me to do it?” Jason asked as he
watched her drag it over to the struggling monster. The tree
creaked and buckled, furrows breaking through the bark.

“I’ve got it,” Billy wedged the sword into
the hollow, not daring to free the banshee’s head. She thrust,
spearing the throat, and began to saw inelegantly. Stink rose as
the undead flesh smoked, oozing black blood. The banshee’s eyes
rolled as her head came off, and Billy gingerly grabbed it by the
hair, holding it away from the thrashing body. She grimaced and
looked at Jason. “You got a lighter?”

Jason offered to drive her home, but Billy
insisted on doing it. As a result, her tail was dragging by the
time she pulled into the street leading to her home.

It gave her a bad start to see a woman
standing before the gates. She stopped in a spray of gravel and
stared. “Oh, it’s you.” Her shoulders relaxed before she realized
that might not be the smartest reaction to seeing her mother. The
feeling intensified as Maura stepped out of the shadows to stand at
her side.

Oh, boy. She glanced over as Jason got out of
his car and leaned against the hood to smirk at her. She shot a
look behind her to confirm what she’d suspected. Yup, she was
surrounded, and the human thug behind her didn’t look like the
sympathetic type. His overlong hair hung in a disheveled mess, and
he didn’t smell too clean, either. Maybe Jason had drafted a
homeless man?

“Hello, child,” her mother said, an edge to
her voice. “Imagine my surprise when I saw what you’ve done with
our home. I feel quite unwelcome.”

Billy realized that her mother couldn’t pass
through these wards. A bitter smile tugged at her mouth. “You’ll
understand if I thought you should knock first.” Actually, she
suspected her father had set the wards. She owed him one.

“No matter. I’ve decided the Woods is a
better place to dwell. You’ll be coming with me, of course.”

Billy got off the bike and drew her sword.
“Really? We’ll have to talk about that.” She shot a burst of power
at Jason and the unknown man behind her, reckoning they were the
worst threat. She managed to tangle the stranger’s feet in ivy, but
Jason leapt away from the clutching willows and sprang at her.
Light on his feet, he kept her busy while Maura worked hard to trap
her with magic. It took fierce concentration to block her while
keeping Jason off her, and Billy was hurt. It was inevitable that
her body would give out, and she stumbled. Jason leapt on her,
pinning her face down in the dirt.

“Sorry about this, love,” Jason panted. “But
the old one and I have a deal.”

“What, you’re the new prince charming?” she
gasped, trying not to cry out as her injuries protested. “How did
you manage to appear human all this time?”

He shifted to ease the pressure. “I have my
ways. Don’t worry, doll…you’ll have time to get to know me first.
Unlike my cousin, I don’t rush my fences.” He lowered his voice so
only she could hear. “I’ve admired you for a while, sweetheart. I’m
confident I can win you over if you give me a chance.”

Her mother walked over as Jason hauled her to
her feet. “Finally! Now you see that I will have my way. Your
childish delays have gained you nothing.”

Billy’s mouth curled up. “Bitch.”

Jason yanked her away as her mother’s hand
rose, foiling her attempt to slap. “Hands off my woman,” he said
mildly, but there was steel in his voice. “You gave away your
rights in exchange for freedom.”

“Couldn’t get out of the tree by yourself,”
Billy started, but Jason put a hand over her mouth. “We’re done
here. I’m taking her home.”

“Good idea,” Ash’s voice said with calm
menace. “She’s had enough fun for one day.”

Billy gasped and looked right. Ash was in his
human form, and he held the limp body of the thug by the hair. He
casually dropped him as he moved toward Jason. “You came,” she
breathed.

“Of course. I’d never miss one of your
parties,
gummibärchen.
”

Jason glanced at her happy smile and sighed.
“You have the worst taste in men.” He quickly slapped a magic
dampening restraint on her wrists and headed toward Ash, drawing
his guns.

Billy didn’t have time to watch. Maura
stalked her purposefully, and with the restraints upsetting her
balance it was all she could do to dodge. She managed a kick as
Maura reached for her, then clasped her hands and smashed her
manacled wrists into Maura’s nose. Maura grabbed her hair and Billy
elbowed her in the throat. Maura clawed her face drawing blood, but
went down with a smashed instep.

“Too much time at the salon,” Billy said as
she kicked her in the head to knock her out. “Next time, take up
kickboxing instead of yoga.” Her eyes met her mother’s. This fight
would be harder.

She stalled, glancing at Jason and Ash. Both
were bloody, and she couldn’t tell who was winning.

“Give up, child. You’ll do as you’re told,”
her mother said coldly, walking toward her. “You would think
producing a child were a hardship.”

“Maybe I don’t need a servant,” Billy
taunted. “I can keep food on the table without indenturing my
child.”

“You spoiled brat! I’m glad I sold you—if
Jason didn’t want you, I’d give you to his clan for sport. If you
can’t follow orders, you’re good for little else.”

Billy’s throat felt tight, but she looked for
her sword. She didn’t know if she could kill her mother, even after
all she’d done. She couldn’t let her do this, though. She wouldn’t
be a slave.

Her mother reached for her and a man’s arm
suddenly wound around her throat. “Payback,” Eyrnie said fiercely,
and thrust a knife through her back.

Billy watched stupefied as her mother’s face
blanked. Eyrnie watched dispassionately as she slid to the ground,
her eyes wide with surprise.

Maura woke and began to scream.

Billy made them throw a blanket over the easy
chair before she’d let Ash settle her. Eyrnie was still grouching
at him. “I can’t believe you let Jason get away.” He looked around
at the new house, disgruntled. “He’ll be back to cause
trouble.”

“His jaw and leg are broken, and he’ll be
occupied with that for a while,” Ash said grimly as he checked her
for injuries. “I agree it was foolish to let the sister live.”

“I couldn’t kill her,” Billy gasped as he
explored her ribs. It felt like she’d cracked a couple. “It’s
better to let the local fae enforcers have her.” They’d arrange for
a suitable punishment Billy couldn’t mete out herself, not in her
condition. “How did you know I needed you?”

Ash’s eyes twinkled with innuendo, but he
said seriously, “Your father told me. I suspect he told Eyrnie that
it was a good time to seek revenge, too.”

Eyrnie snorted. “We’re even now.” His hard
eyes met hers, and there was a silent exchange of emotions. She
looked away first.

He glanced at Ash. “You seem to be in good
hands. I’ll show myself out.”

She closed her eyes as she heard the door
close behind him. Ash stroked her face. “Let’s get you cleaned
up.”

Showering with him might have been
interesting if she weren’t in pain. As it was she was grateful to
slide into her pajamas and lie down. She was exhausted, but she
couldn’t sleep. “My father sent you? Why didn’t he come himself?”
She was curious to meet her him, and he seemed to have a benign
interest in her. “He sent the chickens and stuff, didn’t he?”