Free Heir of the Dog Black Dog by Hailey Edwards Page B

how it works in those movies you watch?”
    “Yes.” I amended, “Not that I believe everything I see on TV.”
    “Nor do I.”
    “Wait—you watch TV? In Faerie?”
    “It required time to cross the threshold in such a way that my trespass into this realm would not be detected immediately.” Raven pursed his lips. “My consciousness was here before my body arrived.”
    A guy who could literally separate his mind from his body. Nope. Not creepy. At all.
    “The black spot. That was you, pre-body?” I considered him. “So your consciousness chilled out in this realm and waited for your body to appear? And you figured while you waited, you might as well learn about our world?”
    He nodded.
    “Then you upgraded to birds.”
    Another nod.
    “Birds who camped out on my mother’s lawn.”
    His lips parted before he mashed them shut.
    “She wasn’t thrilled with that. It would be great if you could leave her out of all this.”
    “Thierry.”
    “See, she pretends I’m not half fae and, well, I let her. But you slapped her with a reminder.”
    “Thierry.”
    “What?”
    “I don’t know where your mother lives.”

Chapter Fifteen
    “I don’t understand.” Horns blared behind me as I cut off traffic. “Who sent Mom the Bird-O-Gram?”
    My thoughts turned to the voice from the shower. He had warned me away from the Rook. Were the birds another warning? Or were they a threat? I didn’t know, and I wasn’t taking chances with Mom’s life.
    In the passenger seat, Raven braced his hands on the dash. His nails sank into the plastic and would leave crescent shapes behind.
    “Enemies of Faerie,” he gritted through a tight jaw.
    I punched the horn, warning other drivers out of my way. “Vague much?”
    “There are those who seek war after so many centuries of peace.” He swallowed hard. “There are others who disagree with you being given a choice. They believe that, as the Black Dog’s daughter, it is your duty to fulfil his obligations until he returns, even if you must be persuaded to cooperate.”
    Dread tightened my chest. “Persuaded how?”
    When he didn’t answer, my mind filled the blanks in horrific detail and my foot stomped on the accelerator.
    “Why black birds?” I demanded.
    “Crows and ravens are—” His sentence ended in snarled liquid syllables when his head bounced off the window after we skidded left.
    “Death omens,” I finished the thought for him.
    “They are also evidence as incriminating as a fingerprint.” His voice lowered. “Someone doesn’t want you to trust me.”
    “Well, mission accomplished.” I wish I had free hands to slow clap. “I don’t trust you or anyone else with a Faerie agenda.”
    Raven grimaced. “When was the last time you saw your mother?”
    I tallied the flipped-shifts I’d worked since then in my head. “Two days ago.”
    He didn’t have anything to add.
    I clenched my teeth. “If anything has happened to her...”
    “I will accept responsibility.”
    “That’s not good enough.”
    One more hard right made Raven flinch, and then we were there. Mom’s house.
    He yanked his fingers from their indents in the dash, leaned back and shut his eyes.
    A whimper brought our attention to the backseat. The stink of ammonia lit up my nose. Great. Bad Luck Bunny had wet his furry britches. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost.
    Raven’s lip curled. “What about the púca?”
    “Leave him.” Sean was no longer a priority.
    After throwing open the car door, I climbed out and ran up to the house. The front door stood ajar. The knob cracked against the wall when I shoved it out of my way and barreled inside. The TV was off, both the living room and the kitchen light dark.
    “Do you see a car in the garage? The big room next door to the house?” I called to Raven, who stood on the welcome mat. He vanished, and I worked my way from room to room. “Mom?” I gulped down my panic. “Are you home?”
    “I looked through the slats.” Raven’s