Exclusive first look: lured in the crimson

Lured in the Crimson, book 3 in the Shot in the Dark series pitched as Supernatural meets Fern Gully

About: On the brink of reaching Aelthorin, Sylvia’s path veers dangerously off-course when Jon and Cliff receive a desperate cry for help from their old mentor, Tammy. Their hunt leads them deep into the Aspen mountains—and into a lavish hotel steeped in illusion and deceit.

Within its gilded walls, a charming conman, a beautiful witch, and a timid glamour fairy recruit them for a high-stakes mission—sabotage the Crimson Gala, where the nation’s elite secretly trade in monsters and magic.

Among the guests lurks their primary target: Eros, a ruthless collector who traffics supernatural creatures and relics to the criminal underworld.

As the night spirals, Cliff is forced to face shattering truths about his past, and Sylvia is drawn to a gemstone that could finally unite her with Jon—or doom them both.

With Tammy’s life on the line and time running out, they must decide what they’re willing to sacrifice: their mission or their hearts.

LURED IN THE CRIMSON is the high-stakes third installment in the Shot in the Dark series—an urban romantasy that explores the raw courage required to embrace one’s true identity amidst haunting themes of forbidden love and found family. Perfect for fans of Supernatural, Fern Gully, and unique romantasies.

Chapter 3 - Sylvia

Whatever enchantment was trying to deter outsiders from this place, it didn’t seem to stop them once inside. Over a dozen guests milled at various points throughout the sprawling lobby. The aura of the gemstone hummed in my veins, pulling me forward—but I remembered myself enough to keep my flight high, away from wandering eyes. 

I weaved among the chandeliers, nearly blinded by the refractions of the warm electric light. I perched on the brass rung of the central fixture, peering down between the dangling strands of crystals. Pausing for a moment, I placed a hand over my heart, still hammering from our near graze with death just getting here. 

It was past midnight, but the vast lobby still hummed with activity. Men and women lounged at various seating arrangements, each centralized to their own stone fireplace. The warmth of it did look enticing, even if the December freeze seemed to have evaporated outside. No less than twelve Christmas trees decorated the space, with festive garlands of greenery and twinkling white lights appointing every stone column. There was an undeniable charm to the furnishing despite the grandeur. I spotted a well-appointed bar on one side of the room, boasting floor-to-ceiling views of the mountain range stretching across the horizon. Employees moved with purpose, hauling luggage toward the elevators.

It was the antithesis of the grungy motels Cliff and Jon usually opted to stay in. I’d never seen a more beautiful interior in my life—or rather, a more expensive-looking one. This was not a place for travelers looking to spread out meager savings over a span of years. This was a place for careless luxuries, indulgence. 

And nestled somewhere among the opulence was the gemstone. With a shiver, I realized the witchcraft barrier had been concealing more than the gemstone. The air hummed with unfamiliar energies, and I couldn’t begin to puzzle out why they would be gathered in one location.

Find me. Tether me. Use me.

Holding my breath, I tried to feel out the direction of the gemstone’s call. Resentment made my skin prickle. Were the witches using my gemstone for some nefarious purpose? I studied the occupants lounging in the lobby, wondering if I could single out a magic-user.

I pictured following them, cornering them with deadly spikes of ice, interrogating—

The weight of being watched suddenly drenched me with fear. I whipped my gaze to the side and relaxed somewhat when I realized Jon and Cliff were trying to get my attention. They were on the second floor of the lobby, tucked into the opening of a hallway just past the polished wooden railing.

Jon stared hard at me while Cliff stood as a lookout for prying eyes. The two of them would warrant a double-take for sure in their weathered clothes, but there were far less people on the second level.

Flitting away from the chandelier, I met the boys in the hallway. “It’s somewhere in the building,” I breathed. “But there’s more than that—”

“You can’t do that,” Jon gritted out. His voice was low, but the intensity written in his eyes revealed how much he was restraining himself. “We have no clue what we’re dealing with here. You’re gonna get yourself killed.”

“You would have gotten killed if I hadn’t guided you through the barrier.” Glancing between the pair of them, I knew it would be unfair to pull them away from their mission. “I can handle myself. Look—I’ll search for the gemstone while you find Tammy.”

“You’re not running off on your own,” Cliff scoffed. “After the outpost? Are you crazy?”

I pursed my lips. “I would have to stay out of sight anyway, wouldn’t I?” My face suddenly felt hot—an odd pinch of shame that had been lurking somewhere at the back of my mind. “What if she knows about what happened in Louisiana? Maybe I’m not interested in meeting another hunter who’ll want to cage or kill me—”

My words choked off but not from my rising emotion. 

I sensed something behind me—something even more familiar than the gemstone’s pull. Twisting, I prepared myself to fly off again.

Jon snagged the hem of my shirt and yanked me lower. “Wait.”

The command and restraint made me go rigid. As I glared at him, memories came hurtling back: Jon slamming the cage over me, stifling me to the bone with iron, trapping me in a world where his decisions could snuff out mine.

“Let go.” My voice was hollow.

“We stay together.” He said it without thinking. A brutal, human impulse—to leverage his release on a condition.  

My answer came just as swiftly. Ice burst from my fingertips and struck his chest hard enough to make him draw back. 

“What the hell, Sylv?” Cliff snapped as Jon caught his breath. 

Hands trembling, I was torn between apologizing or doubling-down. 

Footsteps sounded on the staircase behind us. Someone was coming. 

But that familiar sensation tugging at the corner of my vision overwhelmed the anxiety of being spotted. It was much closer now, and I couldn’t help but search the open expanse of the lobby below. 

It almost felt like… 

“Oh,” I whispered.

Another fairy was watching us from the glittering light fixture I had just abandoned. He stiffened visibly, edging back. His ashy blond hair and warm-toned clothing almost made him blend in entirely amongst the lights and crystals, but judging from the sharp breaths behind me, Jon and Cliff had spotted him, too.

As though sensing my intention, Jon murmured my name pleadingly. If he was planning to physically stop me again, he didn’t have the chance. Another human crossed into their line of vision, approaching their covert hallway. I shot up several feet in the air, my feet braced against the cool marble wall to avoid being seen. Luckily, the well-dressed man seemed far more interested in Cliff and Jon.

“Gentlemen,” he greeted with an accent I couldn’t quite place. There was a note of authority, and the brass nametag that gleamed on his spotless jacket indicated his connection to the staff. “The front desk awaits all new arrivals. May I assist you with checking into your room?”

“In a minute. We’re, uh, attending to something private first,” Cliff said, the effortless lie marred only by the tightness at the corner of his smile. “Why don’t you grab us a couple of those complimentary lattes and we’ll meet you there?”

The concierge’s expression flickered, unimpressed. “You are aware of the rules of this establishment, yes? If blood is spilled, your invitation will be revoked.” 

Fucking stars. An invitation? As though getting through that veil of glamour wasn’t enough. I could see the hunters exchanging hasty looks—cornered without a map, without a clue of the rules they were entangled in. 

As the low murmur of conversation continued, I snapped my gaze back to the chandelier. The fairy was still there, cocking his head to the side as he observed me with a matching intensity. Shooting a conflicted glance at the tense exchange below me, I eased off the wall and inched forward in the air, hands lowered to show I had no intention of summoning a spell. 

As I got closer, I strained for a better look at him. His expression didn’t look hostile. If anything he looked… curious. Concerned, even. 

Before I had made it halfway to him, the other fairy glanced down at the hunters and stiffened, seemingly making a determination. He bolted, angling his sharp flight toward the opposite hallway on the second floor.

Cursing, I flew after him. 

I heard the conversation with the concierge taper off into a gruff  “We’ll find you later—” as Cliff and Jon shouldered past him to follow me—urgently trying to keep up without revealing what they were chasing.

I sensed that they were itching to shout for me to slow down, but there was little they could do without drawing every eye to us. I felt a stab of guilt for wishing they would hang back—just for now, at least. Perhaps the other fairy would be more open to talking if I wasn’t flanked by a pair of weapon-laden hunters.

The hotel’s second floor had dark polished paneling, leaving me disoriented as the light became dimmer, lit only by warm vintage sconces. 

Another fairy. Was he alone? Were there others of my kind here somehow?

My mind raced as I struggled to keep up with him—stars, he was fast. I rounded a hard pull around a corner to the right—and faltered, realizing that the fairy was nowhere to be seen. The hallway stretched ahead, leading toward an elevator landing on the left, adorned with festive garlands and lights like the lobby. I scanned the ceiling, the corners of the crown molding—places I would have tried to blend in if I’d been pursued here. 

I could hear Cliff and Jon closing in on my location and cursed under my breath. They might scare him off forever if their entrance was too abrupt. 

Then, I spotted it: one of the heavy doors lining the hall was ajar, cracked just a few inches. Without hesitation, I closed the distance and peered inside. I could feel his magic again, that prickle of something fae watching me back. Something about the silence inside unsettled me, and I whispered a defensive spell, igniting frost in both palms that crawled up my forearms. 

I flew inside, trying to scan the room the way the hunters had taught me. Look for exits, places that could conceal an assailant, never leave your back unguarded. This appeared to be some kind of vast storage room, with all manner of strange suitcases, trunks, and containers bound with cloth and rope crammed on shelving, filling nearly all available space.

The glitz and bustle of the lobby seemed swallowed up here—the air thick and charged with magic. It wasn’t just the fairy’s presence; it was a simmering stew of various pulses and rotting enchantments, things I couldn’t quite sort through.

“Sylv!” Jon’s voice made me stiffen up. 

I whirled to see them standing in the hallway, looking all around. I flew toward them, catching their harried gazes—only to have the door slam shut, nearly clipping my outstretched hand. The lock clicked into place with a sinister, metallic finality. 

Immediately, they dove for the doorknob. The hunters’ efforts became more violent as the door refused to budge. 

“Sylv, open the door!” Cliff’s command was muffled through the heavy wood.

“This wasn’t me!” I shouted back. 

I searched every inch of the door for a way to unlock it from my side—but somehow it was deadbolted, even against my tugs of frost magic.

Hairs rose on the back of my neck as one of the trunks, bound with thick steel chains, gave a menacing growl, rattling the shelf it was perched upon. I lifted my hands, spellwork misting the air around me as I eyed it cautiously. After a moment, it settled back into silence. 

What the hell is being stored here?

“Sylv, stand back,” Jon said. 

There was a pause, then a vicious CRACK as he attempted to kick the door in with a well-placed blow. Still, nothing. 

Suddenly feeling entombed, I scanned the space with fresh eyes. At the back of the room, there was another windowed door. The spotless glass framed a set of stairs leading downward. I could see red velvet curtains at the base, and the occasional glimpse of employees moving about in the crack between the heavy cloth. 

Another exit?

I drifted toward the door for a better look, trying to make out what they were moving. As I flew deeper into the dim room, I noted how ancient some of these items appeared. There were even cages, a few animals stirring behind sheets. Something slithered with a faint rattling that chilled my blood. 

Cliff and Jon’s repeated attempts to break in the door faded as I reached the window and peered past. Between the curtains at the base of the short stairwell, I could make out a massive room beyond—like some kind of comically elaborate ballroom. 

The door was ajar—just an inch, like the other. I hesitated. This could be my way out. I could circle around to reunite with Jon and Cliff elsewhere in the hotel.

Or it’s a trap. The dark thought trickled in, making my stomach knot. 

A buzz of wings drifted into earshot—behind me. “Trust me, you don’t want to go in there.”

I shrieked, firing off a spell on instinct as I whirled to face him. 

The other fairy shouted in alarm, too–ducking my blunted spear of ice and flinching as it shattered against the wall. He held up his hands, eyes wide. 

“Whoa—hey, take it easy! No need to go putting holes in me, I swear.”

I didn’t lower my hands, my heart still hammering. What was he playing at with that innocent smile, after leading me here?

“It’s okay,” he went on, expression growing sheepish. “I’m so sorry to sneak up on you—force of habit. I had to get you alone for, you know, obvious reasons.” 

He angled his head toward the main door, where Jon and Cliff were still trying to force their way through. I heard them curse as yet another lockpick shattered in the lock. I knew exactly what brand of magic could deter humans like that. 

“You sealed the door,” I said, somewhere between a question and an accusation. “Why?”

“You don’t like the privacy?” The fairy faltered, wincing a little as he glanced around the room. “I mean, I know it’s a creep-show in here, but it’s off-limits from guests. Totally isolated. I knew I could talk to you here.” 

“And who are you, exactly?” I narrowed my eyes. 

He blinked, looking even more taken back by my question. His sudden shyness might have been sweet under different circumstances. 

“I’m Ben,” he said as though we were having a pleasant conversation and there weren’t two hunters clawing murderously at the door. His smile was almost breathless as he took me in again. He drifted into a pacing flight back and forth in front of me. “This is amazing—how did you get out? I didn’t think I’d see another fairy before the auction. We didn’t sense any in here earlier, and figured it was a lost cause to get lucky so early. Do you know where the others are being kept? Or did they get away, too?”

“Others?” My heart stuttered as I glanced at the cages around us. “What are you talking about?”

He paused at a hover. “I’m sorry—you must be overwhelmed. You don’t have to worry. I’m a friend, I swear.”

Ben inched closer earnestly. His blue eyes didn’t waver from me, nearly indigo in their depth. I didn’t see the magic pouring out of his palm until it was too late. But it wasn’t an attack. He conjured a flower with lavender petals out of a speck of dirt and held it out to me—a peace offering that I cautiously accepted.

“Friends don’t corner each other in dark, scary places, in case you weren’t aware.” I tucked the stem of the flower into the hip pocket of my thick leggings. It was impressive work, but an earth affinity would be at a disadvantage in a human-made structure—I hoped.

He glanced down, chuckling. “I’ll have to remember that.”

Another deafening though fruitless crash against the door made us both flinch. Several of the caged creatures responded with agitated noises—buzzes, caws, and hisses that I couldn’t begin to identify. When the hunters’ cursing remained firmly on the other side of the door, Ben gave me a grim look.

“Sylv?” he said. “Is that really your name, or is that just what they call you?”

“Sylvia,” I corrected, bristling at the too-familiar nickname on his lips. “Open the door—now. I know it’s hard to believe, but they won’t hurt you. We can talk this out, and you can tell us more about what exactly is going on in this place. We can help you.”

His puzzled frown was not at all promising. “You don’t have to answer to those brutes anymore. You’re safe now.”

My laugh was brittle. “Stars above, life would be so much easier if everyone weren’t trying to save me. I don’t need your help, Ben.”

“He grabbed you!” The burst of emotion in his words made me recoil, but he didn’t rein it back in. “I saw it. You were trying to get away, and he was forcing you to—”

“I’m sure it looked bad,” I said, trying to soften. “But they’re my friends—really. We just had a disagreement. Please, you have to let them in. A hotel worker was already on their ass. This building is choking on power I’ve never sensed before. If someone gets the jump on them, they could be killed—“

“That’s great!”

Frost crackled along my fingers as I raised my hands. 

Ben jolted back, looking thoroughly disappointed—pained, even. “This isn’t good,” he sighed. “She’s totally brainwashed, isn’t she?”

“Who are you talking to?” I snapped. Oh stars, he might be utterly insane. “You know what—I don’t care. Unlock the door, or your wings will snap right off from frostbite.”

“Sorry, Benny—threats are where I draw the line. You know what you have to do.” 

An unfamiliar voice came from behind me.

Stiffening, I pivoted midair to find a well-dressed human stepping out of the shadows against the wall. Shit, how had I missed him? 

His keen eyes—nearly electric blue in their intensity—made my mouth go dry. With the strange power looming all around me, I hadn’t been prepared to face an ordinary human. He looked like would fit right in among the people lounging in the lobby—those who had been invited to luxuriate in this bizarre place that had claimed Tammy. 

“You stay away,” I growled at him.

He raised his hands innocently. “I’m just here to supervise.”

With one icy hand still pointed toward the human, I turned at the sound of Ben’s heavy sigh. He was palming his face. 

“This is a horrible first impression,” he muttered.

In the next breath, he chanted a verse from a spell that I was unfamiliar with. I had little time to listen before pressure lashed around my waist. For an instant, I thought the human had taken hold of me, but I glanced down at the bizarre sight of vegetation growing from my pocket.

The flower Ben had given me was bursting with vines. I shrieked as my arms were forced to my sides. One of the vines slithered around my kicking legs while another gagged my scream just as I was forming Jon’s name.

It went for my wings next. My stomach dropped as my flight halted and gravity took hold—but Ben’s arms were around me before I could sink from the air. He hurried me to the top of a wooden crate and pressed his fingertips to my forehead. I twisted to avoid his touch, glaring daggers at him.

“I’m so sorry, please don’t hate me,” he whispered fervently between the lines of a new spell.

Darkness began to roll into the edges of my vision like storm clouds. Weightlessness seized me, sleep trying to drag me under. A whimper caught behind the vine covering my mouth as I fought to stay awake. I looked at Ben in horror.

A glamour affinity as well as an earth.

His timidity had been nothing but pretense—I’d been fucked since the moment he’d laid eyes on me. I blinked hard, desperately trying to form a spell through sheer force of will. Despair rattled through me—I wasn’t as strong as Marcellus, who could summon powerful spellwork without a word. If I had gotten my hands on a gemstone before taking the bait and pursuing…

But then again, Marcellus had died at my hands in Veloria’s caverns, and not from spellwork.

I clawed at my thigh until I found the hilt of my dagger. Ben was too focused on reinforcing his glamour spell to realize I had a weapon until it was too late.

Slashing through one vine made it all unravel—and he was too stunned to recover before I slammed the hilt of my dagger into his skull. He collapsed onto the crate.

“Benny!” the human gasped, lunging toward us.

I shook off the withering vines and bolted into the air before the human could reach me—but he seemed more concerned with Ben, anyway. Pulling to a hover near the ceiling, I faced them both, fresh ice pooling in my hands.

“Benny—hey, look at me—are you alright?” The genuine concern in the human’s voice made me frown.

Wincing, Ben rubbed the back of his head as he sat up. “I’m fine. Where’s—”

The door burst open with a spectacular crash. Jon and Cliff staggered inside and nearly tripped over each other, as surprised as anyone that they had finally made it inside. Ben’s spellwork had been entirely interrupted, I realized with relief.

Their gazes snapped from me—assessing my panicked, defensive posture and my clutched dagger—onto the others. With terrifying reflexes, Cliff and Jon each produced a weapon, harried posture vanishing into lethal stances.

“Don’t move,” Cliff barked. 

The man’s eyes widened with the appropriate fear of someone who had two guns pointed at their face. Painstakingly, he faced the hunters with his hands raised, taking a slight step to put himself in front of Ben. 

“Hey, how about we talk this out with a little civility?” he said.

I flitted close to Jon’s side, my heart still slamming in my chest as our gazes caught—a mixture of what the hell is happening and are you okay?

His brown eyes lingered, darkening as he spotted the vine marks that had dug into my clothes, leaving scratches through the delicate fabrics. 

“You hurt her,” Jon growled. He started forward, his expression merciless. 

The well-dressed stranger looked terrified for all of two seconds—before something crafty slipped in behind those wild blue eyes. He moved quicker than I gave him credit for, diving for an arced silver cage on the shelf behind him. Ben flew into the air, getting out of the path as the human slammed the front of the cage, breaking the weathered lock. The door flew open, and the thing inside that had been sitting in shadows burst out onto the floor.

I realized with horror what I had heard slithering and rattling inside. 

A massive white serpent opened its jaws, revealing curved fangs and a forked tongue. Snakes had been a common pest near Elysia, usually black garden varieties that could be corralled away from our home willow by an experienced animal affinity. This one looked otherworldly, and I doubted it would obey me even if I was an animal affinity myself. It coiled on the floor, its tail rattling in warning. It was easily five feet long, thick as a forearm. It looked hungry—and pissed. 

Jon staggered back as the leathery wings—yes, fucking wings—on its scaled back spread wide. 

“What the hell is—?” 

The serpent took flight, fangs bared as it dove for Jon. I howled his name, steepling my fingers to cast a defensive spell. A hard line of frost shot from my palms, slamming into the serpent’s side. It was just enough to throw it off course from Jon’s neck. The snake latched onto his left shoulder instead, its body coiling around his upper arm while its wings flared for balance. 

“Shit!” Jon’s eyes widened, prying at its tail. Its body coiled tighter, eliciting a painful hiss from him. 

Even with a decade of experience hunting nightmares,  he seemed somewhat hapless as to how to handle this one. It wasn’t constricting his dominant arm, but he couldn’t land a shot on such a narrow target without risking hitting himself, too. 

Wide-eyed, Jon slammed himself into the wall behind him, bruising the creature. It relinquished its grip on him, wings flapping. This was my chance—I veered closer, sending a hard line of frost at it, forcing it to the floor. 

I glanced over my shoulder—Cliff was stealing the resulting opening to charge after the stranger, who continued to back away through the wide shelves, hurling another two boxes and a small trunk to slow Cliff’s path. I supposed he wasn’t armed; surely he would have drawn a weapon by now if he had one. 

Jon launched himself onto the snake before it could return to the air, stretching it out on the ground and leaning away from the furious wing flaps. 

“Wait, don’t kill it!” I shouted. I cut my fight downward, positioning my hands for another spell. 

“Hurry!” Jon said through his teeth. 

My first two spells missed, crystallizing patches of hard ice on the marble floor. It was nearly impossible to aim with how the snake was wriggling under Jon’s hands, who was doing his best to balance restraint without crushing it. 

Finally,  my spellwork landed—replacing Jon’s hands with thick, icy cuffs around its slender body. When he pulled away, I reinforced the restraints at multiple points, ensuring that it wouldn’t break free on its own. 

The snake lashed about as much as it could, hissing and rattling. Fangs snapped toward Jon’s heels in vain as he stepped past it and assessed the chaos that had taken over the small room.

Other cages clattered madly. Multi-colored dormice spilled from one of the fallen boxes and scattered across the floor to hide against the walls. A sheet had come down from another enclosure, revealing a pair of panicked weasels that blinked in and out of invisibility, light bending at their every movement. Leathery wings and screeches came from a locked glass case, making me shiver at the memory of the ahools at the outpost.

But it wasn’t an animal or monster that struck next.

As Cliff shoved aside fallen luggage to pursue the man, a bolt of fabric unfurled in the air and caught him around the neck. He gave a shout that was quickly cut short as the scarf tightened mercilessly. The man took the opportunity to dodge past him and make a break for the door.

“Cliff!” Jon shouted.

He faltered, wide eyes trailing the stranger. He could stop him, or save Cliff—there was only time for one. 

Cursing, he sank to his knees and tried to claw the fabric away as Cliff’s breathing sputtered into pained, shallow gasps.

I started towards them—only for a hand to close hard around my wrist. Ben wheeled me around, his gaze fervent.  

“Please believe me—if you come with us, they’ll never find you,” he said, oblivious that his words would not have the intended effect. 

I strained against him, emboldened by how exhausted he looked. For a wiry male, he was stronger than he looked. But with all the spellwork he had expelled already, perhaps he didn’t have the strength to incapacitate me with glamour again. 

That hope flickered out in seconds. Even now, I could sense his concentration pushing invisible spellwork outward—a shield around the storage room to keep the sound from traveling down the halls and drawing attention.

Whoever he was, he was far more powerful than his innocent facade would have me believe.

“Don’t touch me!” I cried.

Crystals of ice burst along my arm. Ben hissed and snatched his hand away. 

“Leave her!” the stranger called from the door. “Let’s get the hell out of here while we can!” 

“I can’t, Lee!” Ben said.

I flitted back defensively. From the corner of my eye, I saw Jon saw through the strangling scarf with his blade. Cliff gasped for a full breath, bracing his hands against the ground as he recovered. 

A sudden and all-encompassing silence enveloped the room. It was like a blanket, thick and choking and—was that the scent of roses in the air? 

The chattering creatures and cursed objects came to a complete standstill—and so did I. Somehow, the absence of chaos was even more terrifying than the presence of it.

Something was coming. My eyes were drawn to the door, and a natural shiver crawled through me as I braced myself for whatever was about to step through the threshold.

An ordinary white cat trotted into the room. It stopped close to Lee and sat, tucking its fluffy white tail primly around its legs as it surveyed the room.

“What the fuck,” Cliff muttered in a hoarse voice. He exchanged a bewildered look with Jon, grips uncertain on their handguns. 

Sighing, Lee regarded the cat. “A little help?”

Before I could puzzle out what I was seeing, black mist rolled into the room like an encroaching shadow. My consciousness wavered and slipped away like water dripping through my fingers. 

“J-Jon—” I croaked.

I fought the heaviness, flying for him. He reached for me, but we were too far. His movements went slack and his arm dropped, his body sprawled unconscious on the tile floor. 

As my wings went limp, I was vaguely aware of my body being cradled in a pair of lean arms long before I could reach the floor.

Chapter 4 - Sylvia

I was aware of my breath first, and then the softness surrounding me. Rolling over, I was tempted to sink back into sleep. The cushioned surface beneath me was far more comfortable than anything I’d slept on in—ever. I was too damn tired to let go of the best sleep I’d had in ages.

But as my mind flashed with images of winged snakes and homicidal scarves, my head began to pound at once. I sat up with a start and found myself in a bedroom that could only match the grandeur of the hotel we’d infiltrated. White sheets and well-polished furniture surrounded me, as well as two shut doors.

The gem still pulsed somewhere distantly, but I forced my attention away from it, relieved that I hadn’t been spirited far away.

Dawn was breaking through the wide windows. I caught glimpses of green in the landscaping outside—far out of place in the dead of winter.

Wards hummed with energy through the room—not fae, but more akin to the ones that had taken root around the hotel. My heart leapt to my throat. Perhaps Ben was right about the boys never finding me. Glamour could keep them from ever tracking me down—if they were still in any shape to look for me.

“Jon?” My voice cracked as I staggered to my feet. “Cliff!”

I watched both doors, waiting for their heavy steps to pound down the hall, to sweep one open and fill the frame with relief in their eyes. 

Seconds stretched, and the doors remained shut. My stomach knotted. Stars, the boys could be anywhere. They could be back in that storage room, locked away like those bizarre creatures…

No—I couldn’t spiral. I had to focus on what was real and now. 

Something shifted on the other side of the bed, the faint sound making my heart leap into my throat. The white cat was here, its fur nearly camouflaging it against the pristine comforter. It stretched, striking blue eyes peering at me curiously. 

I racked my brain, trying to make sense of the last fragments I’d seen before I had fallen unconscious. Had the cat fallen prey to that smoke-like spellwork same as me? Scooped up by Ben’s human companion and dropped into his hotel room for safekeeping? And if so… why? 

The cat watched me back, blinking slowly. There was something strange about it, but it didn’t seem aggressive. 

“H-hello?” I tried timidly. The man had spoken to it—in all the chaos, somehow that stood out. “Can you understand me?”

The white cat rose and padded toward me, paws sinking in soundlessly on the plush bedding. I tensed, but it stopped just short of me—still watching with far too much intelligence. It was distinctly different from the natural wisdom all animals bore that every Elysian fairy, regardless of affinity, was raised to respect. 

Again, no malice. No words, either. 

Not an enchanted, talking cat, then, I thought, suddenly feeling stupid. Of course it wasn’t. 

I stepped closer, utterly aware that I hadn’t been this close to a cat since Hannah and Gwen’s. Angling my head, I caught sight of a thin, diamond-studded collar around its neck. I inched another step closer, meeting its eyes. 

“Did they steal you, too?” I murmured. 

My hand trembled slightly as I reached out. Before I could stroke its soft fur, footsteps drew close to the room. The cat flinched its attention to the door at the same time I did. I swore it gave a huff of annoyance at the interruption. 

Launching into a hover above the bed, I whirled to see that man—Lee—opening the lefthand door. He froze as he spotted me, but his hesitation lasted all of one second before a charming smile lit up his face.   

“Well, look who’s up bright and early.”

Drowsiness still burned my eyes—from the fight, from the strange and sudden sleep—but I pushed past. My lips barely moved as I summoned frost that crackled its way up my arms. Frigid air pooled around my glowing palms, shimmering in silent threat. 

“Let me go—now,” I growled.

Lee raised his eyebrows, tucking his hands into the pockets of his slacks. “You’re not tied down. No restraints in sight, actually.”

“You left a cat to guard me.”

“Looks more to me like you’re fast friends. We figured you’d have an easier time settling in if you saw Delilah first. Animal lover, right? Didn’t even want to kill a screwed up snake that was trying to take a bite out of your kidnapper’s face.”

My chest tightened at the very mention of Jon. 

As Lee approached with a leisurely amble, I took him in with fresh eyes. He was handsome—like, punchably handsome. With his suit jacket removed, the blue button-up beneath outlined a toned, lean frame. He had a square jaw peppered by stubble and perfectly coiffed chestnut hair that somehow looked effortless and expensive all at once. He had an easy charm about him, looking at me with those intense blue eyes like I was the only thing that mattered. Like he was used to that boyish smile getting him what he wanted. 

Get ready for disappointment, pretty boy.

“One more step, and you’ll be frozen where you stand,” I snapped. 

“Hey, lay off him. He just helped save your life,” Ben said, gliding into view from behind Lee—apparently, having been hovering tentatively behind his left shoulder this entire time. He steered his flight to a halt in front of him, an unmistakable protective gesture. 

Interesting. 

“You idiots, you’ve kidnapped me!” I narrowed my gaze onto Ben, hands balling into fists. “The concept of safety is a joke when you’ve got glamour that can keep me in line better than any chains or cages.”

Ben flinched at the words. 

“Hey, now—” Lee started, looking even more offended on his behalf. 

“It’s fine,” Ben muttered. His mouth pinched as he rubbed the back of his neck, fingers grazing the dark blond locks that curled at the back. “Here, I grabbed this for you.” 

He approached, producing my dagger and flipping it around to offer the jeweled hilt to me. I glanced at my hip, eyes widening. I hadn’t even noted its absence. Fuck. 

Cautiously, I accepted it, turning it over for any sign of tampering—fae runes or earth affinity binding flowers like he’d tried before. Finding nothing, I closed my hand around its satisfying weight, keeping it close for added security. 

“I know you’re scared, and I know there’s probably more fairies who weren’t as lucky as you,” Ben said, a steely glint surfacing in his eyes. “I saw what those men did to you. You don’t have to defend the guns for hire who held you captive anymore. You’re free.”

More fairies? I frowned, tucking this away. 

“How do you know they’re not my captives?” I muttered. First Veloria, now this. I was well and truly done with people assuming I was the hunters’ unwilling plaything. 

“Because you wouldn’t be the first,” Lee laid in, his sharp eyes flashing. “Ben’s been through it—worse than you can imagine. I found him at the hands of people who would use your kind for power. People who will say anything to make you believe you’re not as trapped as you are. I’ve seen what it looks like.”

“So what exactly is he doing here with you, then?” I challenged. “Convenient, no?”

Ben and Lee exchanged a long, soulful look. “It’s a long story,” Ben finally said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I… I don’t love telling all of it. But we’re here because something horrible is happening at this hotel, and…” His eyes narrowed, studying me. “Surely you must’ve known that by now?”

I pressed my lips into a thin line, frustrated by the disadvantage of being uninformed. The two of them could make anything up and expect me to believe it. 

“We only just arrived before you decided to lure me away and jump me,” I said.

“You were ready to follow,” Ben insisted. “You fled them. I helped you escape—they never would have made it through the door after you found me.” There was an edge to an earnest tone and a muted pain in his eyes that made me falter. 

I glanced between him and Lee, tempted to ask how they had found each other. “Do you really think there are other fairies being held captive here?” I asked instead.

Ben nodded. “We were searching for captives in the storage room when I sensed you. You’re sure there weren’t others being transported with you?”

“I wasn’t—”

A loud thump made me flinch. I turned to the other door, Ben’s question forgotten.

“What was that?” I asked.

Too quickly, Ben blocked my view of the door. “Nothing to worry about. You still need to get your energy back. If you’ll follow me, I can set you up with a warm meal. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

I flitted aside and stayed fixated on the door. A muffled, desperate groan came through.

“Jon?” My voice cracked. There came another thud, much louder. I turned wide, furious eyes toward Ben and Lee in turn. “What have you done to them? Open the door—now!”

Lee scoffed. “Not happening.”

“Fine.” I rolled my shoulders. “I’ll just splinter it with ice.”

I glared defensively at Ben, expecting him to meet my threat with another attempt to knock me out—or worse, for him to take control of me with his glamour. But he looked strangely defeated. 

“Open the door,” he told Lee. “Maybe she need to see how vulnerable her captors really are before she believes us.”

To my astonishment, Lee complied with his request—albeit reluctantly. With a sigh, he pulled the door open. 

Light spilled into a spacious walk-in closet, revealing Jon and Cliff seated back to back on the ground, gagged. Their movements were laced with grogginess. Squinting through the light, they found me and straightened.

I covered a gasp. My fingers were frigid against my lips, ice on the verge of bursting from a flare of anger. I swallowed the urge to release it. As I darted into the closet, I couldn’t shake the image of how they’d been restrained in Veloria. We’d barely made it out with our lives the last time they were in this position. Clearly, we were outmatched against these people, and I didn’t have a gemstone on my side to save us with.

Jon leaned toward me desperately, his eyes swimming with relief  as he drank me in.

“I’m sorry,” I croaked, giving them a once-over for injuries. Beyond the snake bite and few bruises, they appeared to be intact. Still, I trembled. “I’ll fix everything—I swear.”

Without looking away from the boys, I raised my voice toward Ben and Lee. “You didn’t kill them. So, clearly you’re willing to hear them out, aren’t you?”

I received no immediate answer, but Jon and Cliff’s eyes went wide at something behind me. I sensed it, too—a rush of power separate from the overwhelming amount in this building.

“I was going to kill them for you,” a sultry female voice replied. “But I figured you deserved the honor after whatever they’ve put you through.”

Bracing myself, I turned. Where the cat had been laying upon the bed there was now the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes on. She was a stunning brunette in a long white dress, lounging on her side with her head propped in her hand.

“O-oh. No thank you,” I stammered. The woman didn’t appear to be a monster—not really. But there was something odd about her energy. There was little else she could be but a witch.

“Are you sure?” The woman stood and leaned on Lee, who put his arm around her waist. Her eyes narrowed at Jon and Cliff. “There are few greater pleasures than watching the man who wronged you bleed out at your feet. With two, it’ll be twice as satisfying.” Her smile sweetened upon me. “Being the one to slaughter the famed Appalachian Reapers doesn’t entice you at least a bit?”

The name sent me back to the swamps of Louisiana, and judging by the muffled noises of confusion from the boys, they were just as taken aback.

“How do you know that name?” I questioned.

“It’s kind of a rule of thumb to search someone’s pockets before you lock them in a closet,” Lee said with a shrug. He produced their wallets from his pocket, giving them a little shake. “Didn’t take more than a few calls to our usual contacts before the names Jonathan Nowak and Elliot Cliff Everett came with some very interesting, blood-soaked stories.”

I made a face. “Elliot?” Glancing back, I found Cliff staring back at me like a deer caught in headlights. But there was no time to dwell on it. “Forget the stories,” I said, flitting toward Jon’s gag with my blade in hand. 

“Forget the stories?” Ben echoed tightly. “They’re hunters, Sylvia! They would have killed you in cold blood if they didn’t see the benefit of selling you off in this place!”

“I won’t keep entertaining your conspiracy theories!” I jabbed a finger in his direction, my voice rising. “If you’d shut up for one fucking second, you’d know they’re not like the others.”

I flew down and cut the cloth away from Jon’s mouth first, trying not to nick his cheek. 

“Jesus, you people love to hear yourselves talk,” he growled, glaring between them. I still caught the tail end of the cold hellfire in his gaze when it moved to me. “Are you okay?”

“Never better.” I traced his jaw with my free hand, shivering at the relief of him—warm, alive. “Would you hate it if I said seeing you tied up wasn’t the most awful thing in the world?”

Jon chuckled under his breath. “If we make it out of this alive, we might have to do something about that.”

I cut away Cliff’s gag next, ignoring Ben’s very audible protests behind me. I locked eyes with him as he sighed in relief, working his jaw. 

“Elliot?” I whispered. 

Cliff’s gaze was icy, averting from me. “Not now.” 

I targeted their bound hands next—zip tied at the wrists and bound together. Jon had shown me how to break free of these once, but they were both too restricted to perform the movement required. It was not for lack of trying; raw, red rings were already visible under their sleeves where they had viciously tried to snap the restraints off.

“Hold very still,” I warned them, steepling my fingers. 

“That’s enough.” Delilah’s voice was like the snap of a whip.

She ignited a spell in her left palm, stepping toward the closet. I eyed the amethyst magic swirling around her elegant fingers like a misty cloud circling the sun. A faint singed smell hit my nose, along with… was that roses? Witch magic gave me pause—it didn’t tether the same rules as fae spellwork. I wasn’t sure whether that spell was intended to kill us, put us back to sleep, or turn us into stars-forsaken crickets. For all I knew, all of it was on the table.

As I lowered my hands, Delilah’s ruby lips quirked up at the corners. “I won’t have hunters loose here.” 

She said it like an insult—the way monsters said it. 

“We’re not dogs, lady,” Cliff said. 

“Still, I prefer a short leash.”

I glanced at Ben, who looked so wracked with nerves he might be sick. There was something so genuine in his gaze that admittedly, softened some of the outrage burning in my chest.  Would I have been really so different, if I had seen one of my kind in peril? 

Letting my spellwork fade, I glided higher. “They only attacked  to protect me,” I said. 

I explained everything, the words spilling out in short bursts. It felt forbidden to share the truth. Elysia had banished me for it. Marcellus had sneered at me. But I unfolded it—all of it. Saving Jon, traveling with them toward Aelthorin, the glamour that nearly killed us en route to this very hotel. The only pieces I omitted were our quest for a charged gemstone. My intent to become human would only muddy the waters. 

When I finished, the room was silent. For a moment, I worried I’d made a mistake, misread their intentions. 

“Shit. You’re telling the truth,” Ben breathed. He ran a shaky hand through his hair, retreating to perch on Lee’s shoulder. “I-I don’t know what to say. I’ve never seen another fairy in this kind of… unique situation.” He nodded at Lee and Delilah. 

I regarded the three of them with fresh eyes. My story was scarcely believable—I couldn’t imagine how a fairy with his power ended up aligned with a witch and a thief.

“My heart’s melting,” Cliff drawled. “But any chance we have this conversation off the goddamn floor?”

Delilah’s expression clouded—clearly discerning whether to trust the veritable serial killers tied up in her closet, but something else too. Hope?

Before I could puzzle it out, the magic in her hand flared into a single point, nearly grazing my side like a bullet. I screamed, whirling toward Jon and Cliff. Their zip ties had been cleanly severed, the plastic still smoking at the point of contact. 

The hunters wasted no time in untangling from each other, pushing to their feet. The air crackled with uncertain tension as we regarded each other, ceding slightly as Delilah ousted her spellwork and smoothed her hands over her pristine satin gown. Something had undeniably shifted in the way they regarded us—I prayed it was for the better. 

“Try anything, and you’ll be living the rest of your lives as aphids.” Delilah said, her gaze moving between the hunters. She wrinkled her nose slightly as she raked them up and down, lingering on their worn boots. “Follow me. And try not to get mud on the carpet.”

Cliff glared at her back as he warily followed.  “Bitch.” 

Cover and additional artwork attached! Artist is @pangolin2b and @hatched.art on Instagram