Page 3 of Healing Elixirs & Wicked Crows

"What can I help you with, Gwen?"

"I'm pregnant and terribly sick.I haven't been able to keep anything down."

I smiled, lifting my cart's shelf."Let me congratulate you.A new baby is exciting news."I found the bottle she needed and gave her my price."This should help.Three droplets in water before each meal."

Gwen took the bottle, pressing more coins than I’d asked for into my palm."Thank you.These past weeks have been awful."

As she hurried away, a tall male across the square caught my eye.His silver gaze locked onto mine, stopping my breath short.An electric charge seemed to sizzle between us.His dark hair shimmered blue-black in the sunlight, falling around his temples.Sun-kissed skin highlighted sharp cheekbones, and his broad shoulders seemed impossibly wide.

Runed tattoos traced his neck and up the right side of his face then disappeared under his tunic.Parts of that dark ink covered a thick, rigid scar left behind from what had to have been a gruesome wound.Its jagged edges lifted across his neck, disappearing around the left side of his neck.He was far too tall for any human.

He winked, and one thing became clear.My breath fell from me in a whoosh.

Unseelie.

The Rake

ELIAS

Two Weeks Ago

Ugh, I thought, wrinkling my lip as I stepped through the murky road,my boots will be good and ruined at this rate.

The recent rain had created nothing but mud and muck from the horses that traversed this path.Looking up, I spied what appeared to be a house of ill repute and smiled.This was just my kind of place.Even if it held only mortals within, I'd be in much better company than out here with the mud and stench.

I entered the establishment, venturing into the dimly lit room illuminated by scattered lanterns.A mixture of new smells assaulted my senses—liquor, unwashed bodies, and general uncleanliness clung to the interior like a thick blanket.I pulled my sleeve up to my face, briefly shielding myself from the pungent scent.Around me, mortals sat engrossed at their tables, seemingly oblivious to the olfactory assault.Fae senses were undeniably sharper than theirs.

My eyes roved over the bustling room until I saw him.Claude, a Bohgie, nestled in a dim corner where shadows clung like a shroud.His glamor shimmered around him, keeping mortal eyes turned away.He appeared as a short, stout, bald man huddled over a tankard of ale.His reddened eyes lifted to meet mine as I stood in the entrance, and he jerked his chin to the unoccupied chair across from him.One never approached a Bohgie without their approval.

"Claude," I said as I sat in the filthy chair, reluctantly resting my fisted hands on the sticky table.Hopefully I'd be out of these lands soon and back in fae territory where things were nicer, cleaner.

"You should glamor those," Claude grumbled, nodding toward my ears.

I sat back with a grin."Why would I do that when I so enjoy the look of terror on their faces?”

"They don't like your kind here," he answered in that deep voice of otherness, so deep it almost sounded like rocks grinding together.

"You mean our kind," I replied, leaning forward.

"No, I mean your kind."He slammed his empty tankard down, splashing liquid onto my hands.

I pulled them back, trying to disguise my discomfort.

"Lest you forget, Claude, we are much the same," I warned, my patience already wearing thin.

We locked eyes for a moment, the tavern's clamor wrapping around us.I let my carefree expression slip, showing the vicious side of myself as I leveled Claude with a heavy glare.

"I'll have you know–”

I stopped his words before he could finish, my voice lowering to a deathly calm."There is only one reason I won't teach you a valuable lesson right now.You have exactly what I want, and you will give me the information I seek."I leaned forward, staring into his widened eyes until I could see through the glamor into the darkened sockets beneath."Be smart, Claude.You know who I am."

He sighed, placing his knobby hands on the tabletop, fingers digging into the edge as if physically holding himself back."There is talk of a healer in this village."

A growl curled up my throat."I'm not looking for a healer."

I'd been searching for so long, my irritation stood on a cliff's edge, ready to dive into madness.She finally felt close, and soon I would be free of this damn curse.

"Oh," Claude replied, his slurred words heavy with innuendo, "but this one you are."