Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen

Josie

It was the wrong thing to think about, and definitely the wrong time, but how could I not? Kellan, my fantasy hero, was delicious in every possible way.

Even his attitude that he thought would deter me from liking him was inviting.

There were numerous things that I wanted to know about him because the man was filled to the brim with secrets. I could see them in those dark chocolate-colored eyes.

However, I wouldn't worry about trying to figure them out. I'd let him tell me, and then if he refused, I'd pull out the charm.

I'd been in the middle of a very vivid dream that I wouldn't admit to out loud when I felt someone slap the top of my foot. A scream worked its way up my throat, and I sat up in the bed.

Kellan stared at me with a blank expression. The sleepiness on his face did little to hide his handsomeness.

The man needed no help in getting women, I was sure of it.

"Well," I said, clearing the sleep from my voice. "Good morning to you, too."

The corners of his dark eyes squinted. "It's time to go. Get ready."

I glanced around at my lack of things. "Whelp, looky there, I'm ready."

He stalked over to my lifeless body beside me and hauled me roughly over his shoulder. I cringed as my body slammed against his back. Oddly enough, despite his roughness, I felt jealous of myself.

I chuckled humorlessly as I checked my legs to see dried blood and a mostly healed wound. "Looks better," I said, tying his T-shirt back around my thigh.

I slipped from the bed, feeling the soreness in my feet from my rough journey yesterday in the Dark Woods.

Tucking my hair behind my ears, I glanced up at him staring at me. The scowl on his face wasn't a surprise, but the fact his eyes were zeroed in on my peaked nipples definitely was.

Heat blanketed me from head to toe.

Unable to stop my insecurities, I folded my arms over my chest, knocking him out of his gaze.

With a tightened jaw, he gestured his head toward the door. "Go."

Sighing, I wobbled across the room and out the door. A gentle breeze brushed my hair off my shoulders and brought in the scent of food.

My stomach grumbled, which made me laugh. I hadn't thought about food for days, not since I woke up in the Dark Woods, thinking I was dreaming.

The door shut loudly behind me.

Kellan started across the courtyard of the hotel and toward the main road. I hurried to keep up, feeling the same familiar feeling of being watched.

Kellan's long strides were hard to keep up with, but because I was stubborn, I pushed past the pain and quickened my pace.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked.

Kellan sighed heavily. "I don't know."

I lifted both brows at him. "You don't know? My hero doesn't know where he's taking me or how to get out of this hellhole. That's freaking fantastic—"

He chuckled humorlessly, and the deepness of it rumbled my chest. "I'm not your hero," he said, stopping to look down at me. "I'm here because your father begged me to be. I'm here because Deidamia needs to be stopped. I'm no hero, Josephine. Remember that."

The intensity of his gaze settled low in my stomach. Too low to be considered butterflies and low enough that I felt it in my thighs.

"Correction, big guy. That does make you my hero. Regardless if you were paid for it or not, you're here to save me."

He huffed under his breath, his gaze moving around the hotel behind me and then toward the road. "We need food. There is a farmer's market close by. Keep up."

He stalked off like the big, giant anti-hero that he claimed to be, while I scurried after him.

I chuckled to myself. "Would you rather me call you my anti-hero?"

He didn't answer, like I expected, but adjusted me in his arms. I watched my ebony hair hang over his arm, and sadness settled in my stomach. "How are we going to wake me up?" I asked. "Maybe if I ran at myself, my spirit would go back inside?"

Tilting his head to the side to see me, he gave me a look that certainly said he didn't agree with that theory.

I didn't see him tossing out any ideas.

We walked for what seemed like forever before the farmer's market came into view.

He halted, walked down into a ditch on the side of the road, and laid my body down. "Stay here. I'm going to go get us breakfast. Don't leave for any reason. Do you hear me?"

Irritation flooded me. I tilted my head to the side and blinked at him. "Does it look like I lost my hearing in the last two minutes?"

Kellan turned on his heel and marched up the hill.

I fought the urge to stick my tongue out at him like I did my dad growing up. Sitting down beside myself, I leaned back on my palms and inhaled all of the food.

What I would do for some of Miranda's breakfast casserole and French toast.

Smiling at myself, I heard a soft whistle to my right.

The woods looked friendly compared to the ones we'd just survived, but his instructions circled in my mind. I turned my gaze back up the hill and pretended like I hadn't heard anything.

Another whistle came closer, and I scurried away until I faced the woods.

Come on, Anti-hero. I'm either hallucinating or someone is trying to lure me into the woods.

As I waited for a red balloon to float toward me, I noticed a small, elfish girl staring at me from behind a tree.

I cringed when I noticed her, and she ducked back behind the trunk.

"Hello?" I asked.

Slowly, she poked her head out and stepped out into the ditch. When her wings fluttered in preparation for flight, I realized she was a faerie.

My childhood dream stood in front of me.

It was Tinkerbell in the flesh.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

She stopped inches in front of my lifeless body and poked at my cheek.

"Hey," I said. "Watch it. That body is valuable. I plan to get back in it one day."

She backed away. "I'm sorry. Are you Josephine?"

How in the hell does she know my name?

"Who's asking?" I asked.

"Me."

"How do you know my name?"

She sat back onto her heels. "The man with you saved my life from a fae. He was forcing me to ... never mind. I'm free now. Where is he?"

She was looking for Kellan.

Go figure.

I'd be looking for him, too if I wasn't being forced to tag along like an unwanted toddler.

I scoffed. "Don't waste your time. He's a real stick in the mud."

She smiled, and it reminded me of a small girl, not someone being pimped out. "He is a brute, isn't he?"

"Something like that," I said, looking over my shoulder. When I looked back, she was several inches closer to me.

"He saved you from Deidamia?" She looked down at my lifeless body and then back up. "Sort of?"

"Yeah." I jabbed my fingers over my shoulder. "He saved me, but don't say that. He's the anti-hero in this story, not the hero," I said, mockery in my voice.

She straightened in the midst of her laugh, and I assumed he'd returned. Kellan stopped frozen at the top of the hill. "What are you doing? I told you to stay put."

I rolled my eyes and gestured toward the same spot I hadn't moved from. "I haven"t moved since you left. This ... girl showed up in the woods."

"What are you doing here?" he hissed, stumbling down the hill with our food.

Tossing it into my lap, he reached down, grabbed her upper arm, and hauled her to her feet. "I don't have the time to deal with your drama right now. I know that Fae is looking for you, and you're leading him back to me. I stabbed him in the leg. What do you think he will do when he finds me carrying these two girls around? Thank me for setting him straight. He's going to kill me while I try to save her life."

The faeries face turned downward into a frown. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

At first, I thought Kellan would toss her into the woods, but then I noticed the pull of his brow and the way his full lips mimicked her frown.

So, Mr. Anti-hero does have a heart.

"Listen," he said under his breath. "Do you know where I can find someone that can undo Deidamia's spell?"

She pressed her mouth together and pulled her arm from his grasp. "Maybe."

They held an uncomfortable stare off before he cursed under his breath. "Fine, you can come with us, but you're not coming back to Earth. Once we find our way home, you have to go to yours."

She nodded. "I know someone who practices herbal magic, but nothing like Deidamia."

Kellan glanced down at me while I stole a donut from the bag. "Sounds better than nothing," I suggested over a full mouth.

He bent down but stopped himself, pulling out a pair of ballet flats from his pocket. "Put these on."

I stared at the black shoes. I'd never been happier in my entire life, even when I wore those same shoes around my house for two years because I swore I was going to be a famous ballerina one day.

"Thank you."

He grunted in response while tossing me over his back.

The faerie looked at me as I slipped into my shoes and stood up with a donut in my mouth. I tore it in half and offered her a piece.

She took it greedily, and I watched in sadness as she inhaled it.

I tore my gaze away from her to see Kellan staring at me.

He cleared his throat. "Well, lead the way. I don"t know where I"m going."

She hurried to the front of him and began taking us through the woods.

I didn't like the idea of going back into the woods. Whether with a tour guide or not, the Dark Woods had ruined me and my urge to disappear into the woods for a while.

I doubted I'd ever look at the bayou the same way again. If I made it back.

Kellan swung my lifeless body into his arms, and I caught him staring at me again. This time, I noticed him take a deep breath inward, and inhale my scent.

Did he like it? I didn't imagine it smelled good, considering our whereabouts. But something traveled across his face that tingled my lower stomach.

"This way," the faerie said.

I needed to ask her name, but I didn't. I followed behind Kellan, feeling an invisible string tugging me toward this grumpy anti-hero.

Why did my dad choose him?

I was sure the options were slim.

Not that I was complaining.

He was nice to look at and made my stomach do twists and turns despite his broody nature.

Kellan halted suddenly, sending me into his back, and turned to look down at me. "Stop it."

The faerie stopped several feet ahead of me and looked back.

"Stop what? Am I breathing too loudly for you?" I asked sarcastically. "Is my presence such a bother—"

He bent down. His breath swept across my mouth, sending goosebumps up my skin. "Stop thinking about me," he whispered. "I told you why I was here, and it's not for anything other than getting you home."

He can hear what I'm thinking?

My gaze dropped to his snarl and up to his dark onyx-colored eyes.

We were both screwed.