Pink Princess Fairytini (Fairy Files #2) Read Free Page B

trouble as I walked. Ephemeral was in a safe, decent neighborhood, still bustling with people leaving the other clubs on the street. Even on a Monday night, people stayed out until dawn. For some people, Tuesday and Wednesday was their weekend. I was contemplating my bed and a cup of hot chocolate, when fingers gripped my bicep and yanked me into a dark alley. Cold steel pinched my neck and a hard body pinned mine against the brick wall.
    “What do you want?” I asked, my heart pounding with fear. “My purse is on my shoulder, just take it and go.”
    “You don’t make small talk when someone puts a knife to your throat,” said a familiar, gruff voice. “You fight.”
    My heart rate slowed and I sagged just a bit. “It’s always best to avoid a fight, Hi, especially if the attacker is human and will be tweaked out by the way I move.”
    Hieronymus twitched, the only sign of displeasure he showed at my use of the nickname he detested. Of all the trainers my mother could have stuck me with, Hieronymus wasn’t anywhere near the nightmare I’d expected. I still liked to have fun at his expense, though. “Pretend I am a rogue fairy attacking you, and fight me.”
    I sighed. “I’m tired. I just want to go home to bed, can’t we fight tomorrow?”
    He pushed the knife a bit harder into my flesh and slid a knee between my thighs. “Fight.”
    So, I turned my head to the side and shifted my body in the same way I would to get small enough to fly. I made my neck as thin as a strand of spaghetti and slipped away from the knife blade. He still had me pinned with his body, so I slammed the side of my hand into his Adam’s apple, while I squeezed his thigh between my own.
    He dodged my blow to his neck, but in so doing, he gave me enough leeway to slide away from him along the wall. I leapt back several steps and leaped, kicking high and connecting with his head. I didn’t kick hard enough to really hurt him, but he staggered back and glared at me. “Didn’t see that coming, did you, Hi?”
    He bounced back on his toes. “I have a deal for you, princess. If I win this fight, you call me by my proper name only.”
    I shrugged. “And what do I get if I win?”
    “A cookie.”
    I laughed. “Look at you, Hi, making a human joke. That’s precious.”
    He growled and ducked, running at me full-speed. The first time he’d tried that move, his bulk moving toward me at top speed had scared the shit out of me, but I was used to his tricks now. I would love to say that I shifted smoothly out of his way, maybe leaping with a single bound onto a dumpster, like in some kick-ass action movie, but I was still in training. I dodged to the side, tripped over my own feet, and landed hard on my hip. Hieronymus flew by me, and I swept out hard with both my legs. He tripped and took a header into the brick wall of the alley.
    He hit so hard that I heard the thunk and couldn’t help smiling to myself. Of course I was worried that he might be hurt, but it was the first time I’d gotten him to the ground, and I couldn’t help being a little proud of myself. I scrambled to my feet and rushed over to the groaning fairy. A dark knot was already forming on his forehead, and I laid my hand over the bruise so that I could heal him.
    He grabbed my wrist and twisted, snapping the delicate bones and making me shriek with pain. I crab-walked away from him with my good hand and glared at him once my back was against the wall on the other side of the alley. “What the hell?” I asked through gritted teeth.
    “Compassion gets you killed,” he said, rising to his feet with a bit of a wobble. “Come on. I have something to show you.”
    “How about you fix my wrist up first?” I asked, not ashamed of the tears of pain on my cheeks.
    Hieronymus had the healing ability like most fairies did, like I did. “In a bit. Pain is the best lesson, and I don’t want you to forget this one.”
    “Or you just enjoy my pain,” I said. “At least let me