Wicked (A Wicked Saga #1)(3)
Author: J. Lynn

They wanted to take over the mortal realm.

And it was our job to send them back to the Otherworld. Or kill them. Whatever worked the quickest.

Problem with that was the fact they weren’t easy to do either of those things to, and they’d woven themselves into every facet of the mortal world.

As the fae passed our table, Val smiled up at her, all friendly innocence, and the fae returned a tight smile, having no idea we saw right through it all.

Val looked at me and winked. "That one is mine."

I flipped my textbook shut. "No fair."

"Saw her first." She stood, smoothing her hand along the wide leather belt she wore over the waist of her skirt. "See you later." She started to turn. "Oh, and seriously, thank you for Saturday night. I’ll get laid and you’ll be able to live vicariously through me."

I laughed as I shoved my book into my bag. "Thanks."

"Always thinking of others. Peace out." Spinning around, she easily sidestepped another table and disappeared into the throng of people crowding the sidewalk.

Val would catch up to the fae and lure it to a place where she could quickly dispose of it without the general populace witnessing what would probably look like cold-blooded murder.

Things got really awkward really fast when an unsuspecting human stumbled upon that mess.

Other than the mortals that fae kept around for a multitude of nefarious reasons, most of mankind had no idea that the fae were very real even though they were everywhere. And in cities like New Orleans where a whole crap ton of weird could go down without anyone batting an eyelash, they were a plague upon the city.

As I lifted my gaze and stared out at the swaying palms, I wondered how it was to be like everyone walking up and down the street. To, well, live in blissful ignorance. If I’d been born into any other family than the one I was, so many things would be different.

I’d probably be graduating from college in the spring. I’d have a large group of friends where memories instead of secrets linked us together. I might even have a—gasp—boyfriend.

Boyfriend.

Immediately, the busy street I sat on faded away. It was just me and . . . God, three years later and it still cut deep to even think of Shaun, and it took no effort to picture those soulful brown eyes. Some of the detail was beginning to fade—the image of his face had begun to blur, but the pain had not lessened.

A seed of sadness rooted deep in my stomach, and I desperately ignored it. Because what did my mother used to say? Not my real mom. I had been too young when she was killed to remember anything about her. My foster mother—Holly—used to say if wishes were fishes, we’d all cast nets. It was a quote she picked up from some book, loosely translated into there was no point in spending time on wishes.

At least that’s how I took it.

It wasn’t as if I didn’t know how important my job—my duty—was. Belonging to the Order, a widespread organization full of knowledge that had been handed down through families, generation after generation, meant my life had more meaning than most.

Or so they said.

Each of us was marked with a symbol signifying that we belonged to the Order, and the tattoo, which were three interlocking spirals reminiscent of a Pre-Celtic design. Ours had three straight lines underneath it, though. It had been adopted as the Order’s symbol of freedom.

Freedom to live without fear. Freedom to make our own choices. Freedom to thrive.

Mine was next to my hipbone. None of us wore it an area visible to mortals or fae.

So what I did with my life was important. I got that. The Order was my family. And I didn’t regret any of what I had to do or what I’d given up. Even if the vast majority of people had no clue what the Order and I were doing, I was still making a difference with my life. I was saving lives.

And I was one badass ninja when I wanted to be.

That brought a grin to my lips.

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I grabbed my empty iced coffee and hopped to my feet. It was time to work.

~

The fae I spotted outside of a bar on Bourbon Street reminded me of Daryl Dixon from The Walking Dead. Which was made of suck since I was going to have to kill him.

He was wearing a tan button-up shirt with the sleeves cut off at the shoulders, the edges frayed and worn, and jeans almost faded out completely at the knees. He had that weirdly hot redneck vibe about him, especially with the shaggy haircut.

The whole silvery skin tone and pointy ears really ruined the redneck ambiance though.

In and out of the bars on Bourbon Street, the fae reminded me of a tourist, because each time he walked out, he had a new container in his hand. Rumor had it that human alcohol didn’t affect the fae, but nightshade, a plant toxic to humans, worked just like liquor did.

After seeing him with so many different containers and watching him for the past hour, I began to suspect that each of those bars might have a fae in them, because he was walking like he was three sheets to the wind by the time he wandered off Bourbon and passed the Gumbo Shop.

I made a mental note to call David Faustin, the head of the New Orleans branch of the Order, to see if he’d heard anything from the other members about nightshade being served at the human bars. But first I needed to take care of the Daryl Dixon reject.

I couldn’t just walk up to the fae and get all stabby with him in front of people. I didn’t want to spend a night in jail. Again. The last time someone saw me take out a fae, the police were called, and even though there was no body, I was loaded up with weapons, and that was kind of hard to explain.

And I really didn’t want to listen to David bitch about all the strings he had to pull and blah, blah.

I’d probably sweated a pound off my boobs by the time the fae stumbled down an alley. Halle-freakin’-lujah. I was starving, there were beignets with my name written all over them, and since it was Wednesday night, there weren’t a lot of fae roaming around, so I was totally going to lose my bet with Val.

The weekend would be a totally different story. When there were more mortals to mess with and it was easier for them to do what they wanted and get away, they came out in droves.

Kind of like cockroaches scurrying around at night.

The fae blended in with the thick shadows of the narrow alley, and I was quiet as I followed him, keeping close to the damp brick walls. Sliding my hands off the straps of my backpack, I groaned when the fae stopped halfway down the alley and faced the building.

His hands dropped to his zipper.

Was he seriously going to pee? Really? Ugh, that was so not on my list of things I wanted to hear or see tonight. And could I really kill something while it was peeing? Seemed kind of unsportsmanlike to kick a dude with his pants down.