Buster chose to live as part of our family.”
Scarlett grinned at the faerie. “So the sprite child riding the frog across the aisle in the middle of Doyle and Violet’s bonding ceremony must have been your nephew.”
Lorien rolled her eyes and covered her mouth to stifle a stream of bubbles. “He can be a handful. Turn your back for a second and he’s halfway to Seelie City—drives my sister batty.”
Scarlett chuckled and took another sip of her drink. She scratched the purring cat under his chin and looked out the wall of glass at the bruised purples and oranges of the darkening sky.
It was strange to realize that, despite being in the home of a human, she was actually beginning to relax and enjoy herself. It made her regret leaving her brother’s wedding events early and missing out on celebrating with him.
Perhaps she could have made more of an effort to get to know Pat and Doyle’s human women, especially when they had been guests in her own realm.
“It’s getting late,” Pat commented. “The human authorities may have left the crime scene for the night. I should blink over and check it out.”
“You said a woman might have been murdered by someone from the faerie realm,” Sydney said with a frown. “What happened?”
Sparrow sighed. “Scarlett brought it to my attention today. There have been a series of rapes and murders across the country and the FBI believes they were all committed by the same man. When I ran the case through a program at Seelie Headquarters, I realized that all of the women had a periphery connection to the faerie realm.”
“That’s horrible!” Sydney exclaimed. “What kind of connection? And how did you find out about it, Scarlett?”
Scarlett glanced at Pat, unsure how much she should tell his human. “I stumbled across it by accident,” she replied evasively.
Pat smirked at her. “Scarlett got into a fistfight with the FBI agent who’s heading up the case. She got suspicious when she smelled a magical sidhe sleeping potion at his crime scene.”
“A fistfight?” Sydney asked in disbelief. “With an FBI agent?”
“Yes. And apparently he was a skilled enough opponent to pique her interest. Right Letty?” Pat teased.
Scarlett glared at him. “That has nothing to do with anything,” she stammered her accent thickening with embarrassment. “And I gave you that information so you could stop a crime, not use it to take the mickey out of me.”
Sydney punched Sparrow in the shoulder. “Yeah. Leave her alone, you big bully.”
Scarlett gave her a startled look, as if she couldn’t understand why Sydney would side with her over Pat.
Sydney snickered at Sparrow’s indignant expression and the other woman’s confusion. “What? Haven’t you guys ever heard of female solidarity?”
Pat shook his head at Scarlett. “I knew I was going to regret bringing you with me,” he accused.
Sydney narrowed laughing eyes at Scarlett. “Don’t get me wrong. I definitely want to hear more about your FBI agent. But first tell me how these women were connected to the faerie realm,” she said with a concerned look at Sparrow.
“We’re not sure yet. And I want you to be very careful until we figure it out,” he replied in a serious tone. “If this psycho is choosing his victims based on that connection, you could be at risk.”
He turned his worried gaze on Lorien. “So both of you, keep an eye out for any sign of danger. And let me know immediately if you sense something. Okay?”
“Consider us on high alert,” Lorien replied with a jaunty salute.
“And be sure to let your sister know what’s going on,” he added, “since Violet could be a target as well.”
“Oh, dragon dung,” Lorien murmured unhappily.
“What’s wrong?” Sydney asked.
Lorien sighed. “This is going to put my sister into a complete panic. Her ability to sense danger tends to go on the fritz when another immortal is involved.”
Sydney grimaced in sympathy.
Pat looked askance at Scarlett. “Are you sure you wouldn’t be more comfortable hanging out here? I won’t be long.”
“Don’t even try it,” she said as she stood. “I told you I was coming with you, and I haven’t changed my mind.”
“Fine,” he replied in a resigned voice. “We’ll see you ladies later.” He winked at Lorien and kissed Sydney soundly on the lips.
“Do you know where we’re going?” he asked Scarlett.
“Committed it to memory.” She smirked. “In case you tried to ditch me.”
“Of course you did,” he drawled in a long suffering tone. “While you’re at it, commit this to memory—there may be people around. So stay out of sight when you blink in.”
“Thanks, Captain Obvious,” Scarlett muttered beneath her breath.
Chapter 5
Burr sneered as he watched the blonde fold a fluffy white sweater. This one was called Marianne, and from what he’d seen, most of her dreams were pathetic and mundane. It was as if her dull human mind was caught in a loop of repetitive tasks from her life.
This time she was packing a suitcase, her ponytail bobbing as she muttered to herself about how she was going to miss her flight. Burr felt her anxiety and breathed its essence deep into himself, feeding off of it and shivering with pleasure as her panic escalated.
But it was too soon in the game to get her worked up. And this wasn’t the type of primal fear that he savored most. He fed her a calming suggestion and showed himself to her in a form that he knew she would find pleasing.
She started, unsure what to make of a strange man appearing in her bedroom, clad only in jeans. She wasn’t afraid though. It was as if a part of her knew this was a dream. Or perhaps his facade was so attractive that the little slut didn’t care.
Burr smiled at her, throwing off languid waves of seduction. “Marianne,” he said in a throaty voice, “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you all day.”
She stepped toward him, the suitcase disappearing and her imaginary flight forgotten. “You have?” she asked, clear green eyes sparkling with hope and uncertainty.
He gave a slow nod and extended a hand to her. “Come here, my love,” he whispered.
Burr felt her responding to him, felt the moment that she began to accept the fantasy he offered. In turn he made subtle changes to his appearance as he sensed the finer tendrils of her desires. A darker shade of hair, a slightly fuller lip, a gentler arch to his brow...
Her pupils dilated in response and he knew he had her ensnared. He pulled her into his arms, and she exhaled in a
