Page 1 of Filthy Fae

Chapter One

Scarlet

Whoever invented the saying life happens while you’re busy making other plans probably worked in an apartment complex for supernaturals.

Freezing rain dripped down my face, funneled into my collar, and soaked the brand-new shirt I just bought for my first-ever date with Darrel Knight. To be honest, it was my first date ever. I'd just escaped a two-year relationship with a mega controlling jerk whose idea of a date was calling out for his favorite pizza and having me pay for it. Rain pounded against my back while I balanced on a ladder two stories up. As I furiously attempted to staple down a flapping, plastic tarp over a shattered window, I was starting to suspect that I might be under a dating curse.

I pushed down the corner of the slick tarp with numb fingers, lined up the staple-gun, and fired the last thick, metal staple as my ladder wiggled under me. Shading my eyes against the rain, I did a quick once-over of my handy work

The ladder shook again. Grabbing onto the metal rungs, I squinted down to see a figure directly below me. The guy was muscular, taller than a human, and pale, with a crooked back and bulging arms, but it was hard to make out more details. The figure looked as if he could be entirely naked. Unfortunately, this could be any number of my tenants ignoring the unpopular “clothing mandatory in all public areas” rule. I’d recently posted the new regulation after one of the dragon sisters nearly decapitated a troll for accidentally touching her bare backside.

“I got it—no need to spot me,” I yelled just as the rain took on a new thundering volume. I descended the rungs fast, my heart racing and gaze fixed down.

The naked guy grabbed my ladder and yanked me away from the wall. I cried out and reached toward the side of the building. “Let go, asshole!”

The man made a high-pitched sound that sent a chill through me that had nothing to do with the freezing rain. “No laws.” His whispery voice made my hair stand on end. “No earthly masters.”

The ladder swayed back and forth as I scrambled down faster.

“Hey! Set her down, right fucking now,” a familiar voice called, sending a pulse of relief through my body. I continued descending the icy, slick rungs as fast as I could. Darrel’s massive figure was just visible through the gray sheet of rain as he sprinted toward us from around the corner of the building, but he wasn’t fast enough.

The creature flung me sideways. My stomach plummeted as I flew through the air, contemplating the best way to hit the ground. Midair, I kicked the ladder away from me and braced for impact and rolled. Instead, I collided with a giant body, and strong arms wrapped around me.

Darrel’s face was inches from mine.

“Scarlet, you okay?” he asked, setting me down.

“Fine.”

His midnight blue eyes swept over my body in one glance. Seeing that I was unharmed, he turned and charged after the pale guy. I sprang after them. The bent-backed creature rounded the side of the building, his high-pitched laughter carrying over the rain and thunder. The reek of death and rotting corpses invaded my nostrils, making acid shoot up my throat and burn my nose. I gagged. “What the hell is that smell?”

“Something dead,” Darrel called back.

We rounded the side of the building to find the creature sprinting between cars in our complex lot. His figure stood out, bright white against the dark gray rain cover. He was about the size of a troll, seven to eight feet, but so bent-backed that he should have toppled over rather than leading us on a full-speed chase.

Darrel got within fifteen feet of the guy, leapt onto one of the cars’ hoods, and crouched to launch himself at the creature.

“Not that car!” I yelled.

Darrel hopped back down, losing precious momentum, and the figure darted around the far side of the building.

“Sorry,” I breathed as Darrel caught up to me. “That’s Gretel’s car. She was let go from her job as a plumber by some asshat and can’t seem to get another one. She’s on rent-control and goblin-assistance. She has to jump through all these hoops.”

Darrel nodded at my flurry of explanations as we rounded the building. The creature giggled and hopped over the railings to our front stoop.

“What the fuck is that thing?”

“I don’t know, but he seems to be running in circles around the building. Can you keep on his tail?” Darrel asked.

“On it.”

Darrel fell behind, disappearing from sight as I picked up speed.

“We’re going to get you, you creep!” I yelled, receiving another bout of cackling in return. Around the next corner, I got a moment of reprieve from the downpour as the pavement ended in a long strip of mud and mulch surrounding our property’s sole redwood. The creature ran across the top of the mulch, not sinking in at all. When I followed, my boots sank into the mud, squelching and sliding. My heart thudded in my ears as the creature vanished before I was even halfway around the redwood. The ground fell away into a deep puddle, and I threw all my weight into propelling myself forward. My right foot caught on a root, and a sharp pain radiated through my ankle.

“Shit!” I yelled, barely catching my balance. I kept running, my ankle screaming out with my every step. The low-hanging, dripping needles smacked me in the face before I veered around the building to where my ladder lay discarded.

The creature was to the other side when Darrel lunged out.