Bound to the Fey (Book Four of The Mortal Champion): (A Supernatural, Fairy, College, Erotic Romance) Read Free Page B

monster.
    Gunnar checked his address on the GPS and called for a cab.
    It took an hour for the cab to arrive. Gunnar sat on a large rock beside Corrigan's mailbox. The sun rose behind him, its pale light struggling to banish the chill. Gunnar's thoughts went back to puzzle about Maeve and her motivations. There had been so many times in their relationship she talked about magic and fairies.
    Is that what she is? Some kind of evil fairy, one of those monsters from the Grimm tales?
    An orange sedan pulled up before Gunnar, blue writing on the side. His cab.
    Gunnar didn't speak on the cab ride back to his apartment. He leaned his head against the window, ignoring the cab driver jabbing away in some foreign language on his Bluetooth headset. It was a twenty minute ride and Gunnar winced at the fare, handing over the last twenties in his wallet.
    Gunnar stared at his apartment complex and the thick rose bushes Maeve had planted after she had been wounded. How can she be weak and vulnerable, and yet so powerful and terrifying?
    Nothing made sense to Gunnar.
    He didn't want to go inside the apartment. Maeve's things would be in there. She might even be there, waiting for him to come home. Would she try to kill me? Why didn't I bring the poker with me?
    Gunnar backed away from his apartment, his feet carrying him towards his college, the University of Puget Sound. He lived only a few blocks away, crossing Union Avenue to reach the picturesque Green. The college's Green was a large swath of grass covered with meandering trails dotted with statues straight out of British Mythology. He wandered past the statue of Titania sitting on the bull's head, his eyes studying the three sisters frozen in dance, and the cruel beauty of Mab captured in granite. His fingers trailed across the large boulder with the carved, stone sword thrust into it and froze.
    The rose bushes were just beyond the boulder.
    The night Mindy had broke Gunnar's heart, Maeve had begun the healing process in those rose bushes. She had been so gentle and loving, soothing his pain beneath the night sky. It was their special spot. Maeve so loved her roses. She was as sweet and beautiful as their blossoms.
    But she has her thorns.
    Gunnar frowned, staring harder at the thick tangle of vines. The bushes seemed to have grown wilder, the thorny branches so entwined Gunnar couldn't see in at all, and yet he thought he glimpsed Maeve lying inside the bushes staring up at the sky. She seemed so sad, her red hair plastered to the muddy ground, her eyes staring vacantly up at the sky.
    A chill ran through Gunnar even as his heart beat faster. He took a step towards the bushes. Part of him so desperately wanted to see Maeve, to learn that last night had been some terrible trick, some mistake. He wanted to believe she wasn't a demon trying to kill him, but the same, loving woman she had been yesterday.
    But he could never forget that snarling, monstrous face she had worn last night. He backed away, forcing his eyes to tear away from the rose bush. His steps grew longer. He broke into a run, wanting to leave all his pain and problems behind.
    Gunnar wasn't sure where he was running to. He kept pumping his arms, pushing his body. His legs grew heavy, his side aching. He gasped in thick breaths as sweat poured down his head. He ignored the fatigue as long as he could, his grief and fear driving him past his endurance. He raced through residential streets, dodging passing cars, ignoring their surprised honks.
    His stamina finally gave out. He sank down onto the curb, staring at the water running in a leaf-strewn rivulet along the base of the curb, racing towards the nearby storm drain. He didn't care that the seat of his pants grew wet.
    “Gunnar?”
    Gunnar looked up to see Brad, a lanky guy with glasses. “Hey,” Gunnar grunted.
    Brad and his girlfriend Felicity were friends with Gunnar and Maeve. Once, Gunnar and Maeve had swung with Brad and his girlfriend. Gunnar had found it hot