Free You Bet Your Banshee by Danica Avet Page B

other side of the room.
    I stood with Breeze’s heavy, comforting weight in my arms. “He’s coming with us.” I wasn’t taking no for an answer.
    I glared from Sable to Ryvan, but neither looked as though they were willing to fight about it. Ryvan shrugged his big shoulders. “He proved himself.”
    “Can we leave now?” Sable asked in an edgy voice. “I managed to get a little information out of one of these bloodsuckers and he said they weren’t the only ones Melosia sent for Magda.”
    “And we still have the Host trailing us,” I reminded them with an inward shudder. I kept Breeze tucked against me as I sheathed my sword at my side.
    My apartment was trashed. Well, what I could see of it beneath the pile of dead bodies and blood. No way would my landlord let me have my deposit back now.
    “What do we do about the bodies?”
    “Leave them here,” Sable said coldly. “I’ll open the shades on your windows. The sun should take care of them in about,” she glanced at the huge watch on her wrist, “two hours.”
    “What about my neighbors?” I asked, because while humans knew all about Fairworlders living among them, having a bunch of dead vampires would bring me to the attention of the police. And just where was the ogre? He should’ve slaughtered most of the vampires before they reached my door.
    Just then a gunshot sounded a few floors down followed by screams and cursing. Ryvan shot me a dark look. I blushed because, yeah, I knew I didn’t live in the best part of the city. “Fair enough,” I muttered. “Well, let’s go.”
    Sable frowned. “Which portal should we take? I think we should try City Park. I know a lot of the wood elves and nymphs who hang out there. They’d know if any mercenaries passed through.”
    I shook my head. “No, City Park is too popular. There’s another portal at Marsh Island in Lafreniere Park. I think that’d be our best bet since it’s smaller and less populated.” Ryvan and Sable looked at me in surprise. “What? Just because I never planned on going back to Fairworld doesn’t mean I don’t know my way around. That portal should bring us to Slumber Town.”
    Slumber Town was a notorious red light district set in the neutral area between the three courts of Fairworld. Those who lived there tended to call it Slum Town because it’s where the dregs of the three courts ended up. If I hadn’t decided to take my chances on the earthly plain, I’d planned to hide there. Of course, my chances of surviving as long as I had would’ve been a lot smaller. It was a rough area to be polite.
    “Lafreniere’s in Metairie,” Sable muttered as though offended. “We should stick closer to home.”
    “I’m telling you, if Melosia is the one behind these attacks, that’s the first place she’ll look. She knows I don’t like to run and would look for the closest bolt hole I could find.” Again they stared at me. “What? You think I got this chunky by running marathons?”
    Sable rolled her eyes. “How are y’all getting there then? I can’t carry both of you and the World’s Fattest Attack Cat, and you can’t exactly take a taxi.”
    “We’ll get there,” Ryvan broke in with a stern glare at me. I didn’t like the look in his eyes and started to move away. He caught my hand, holding me in place. “That’s where we’ll head. We’ll need you on point to make sure the way to the portal is clear. Magda and I will follow behind. Don’t get too far ahead and if you see something, circle back for us.”
    She nodded, brown eyes serious and cold. “Unless they have fairies or other reapers on their side, I should be fine.” She glanced at me and her gaze warmed slightly. “I sure hope your ass is worth all this trouble.”
    Ryvan answered for me. “She is, trust me.”
    Sable snorted and stepped over bodies on her way to the windows. She opened all the shades so the morning sunlight would pour into the apartment. “Sure, I have a lot of that to hand