17. Thea

Chapter 17

Thea

T he hot chocolate hit her tongue, and she had to stop herself from audibly moaning in the busy coffee shop.

"You're taking way too much pleasure in that," Ruhne the pixie said, his voice high pitched and lyrical. Grabbing the rolled wafer straw, he rubbed both his hands up and down in a sexualised gesture. It was almost as tall as him, but that didn't stop him from trying to fit it into his mouth. His cheeks puffed out obscenely, but he still managed to slurp.

Thea watched, amused, as glitter pooled at his feet at every twitch of his wings. "You're leaking."

Ruhne frowned, wiping the hot chocolate from his face before looking down. "Well, it's been a while, and I'll have you know premature ejaculation is completely normal."

Thea snorted. "We've been here for ten minutes, and already I'm debating whether to just give you back."

Ruhne nibbled at the end of his straw. "Can't. No returns."

"Yeah, I can see why."

"I resent that comment." Ruhne sniffed, feigning displeasure. "So, are you going to eat me? Or just enslave me to be your bitch until I take my last breath?" He struggled to drink from the mug, the straw losing its effectiveness the longer it soaked.

"Is there an option three?" Reaching for the teaspoon, Thea dunked it in his drink.

"Hey, what the fuck are you doing?" Ruhne cried out, batting at the spoon. "Is it not enough to buy me like some sort of property, but to defile my beverage, too? What kind of animal are you?"

She carefully placed the teaspoon full of hot chocolate onto the saucer. "I'm trying to help."

Ruhne eyed the spoon as if it were poisonous. After a second, he leaned down, taking a sip from the end. "Thanks," he mumbled, sitting down with his legs crossed on the table.

He was pretty tall for a pixie, at around six to seven inches with his top set of wings adding some extra height. His clothes were threadbare, worn at the elbows and knees with the once bright colours mostly washed out.

"It's rude to stare."

Thea blinked, realising it had been a few minutes. "Sorry."

"What? you've never seen a hunky pixie male before?" Ruhne narrowed his eyes, a light brown that matched his dishevelled hair. "So, are you going to eat me or what?"

"You're being ridiculous." Thea held her mug in her hands, absorbing the warmth. "I've already said you're free to go on the train."

"You didn't say I was free; you told me to shut up!"

"You shouted that I had chlamydia!" Thea cleared her throat, realising she'd raised her voice. Turning, she smiled sweetly at the old lady on the table beside them. "The entire train heard you. "

"You kept me in the fucking box." He glared at the cardboard, ripped open and left at the edge of the table. "And how am I supposed to know whether you have chlamydia? It's fair to warn people of genital ailments."

"Do you know how busy the Central line is? People wouldn't sit next to me." It took a lot for her to be embarrassed, and an aggressive, rude voice screaming obscenities from a box on her lap was a start.

"Just be clear with me, okay?" Ruhne held his soggy straw like a sword. "So I'm what… your pet? A weird sexual fetish?"

Thea sighed before placing her drink back on the table. "What part of free don't you understand?"

"As in, I can leave?"

"Of course." She broke off a chunk of cake, handing him a piece before breaking off another bit for herself. "I know a High Lord that can help you find somewhere safe."

Ruhne shoved the cake in his mouth. "What if I don't want to go?"

"You're an adult, you can do whatever you want." Thea ate her piece of cake, savouring the sponge. "Wait, you're an adult, right?"

"I'm classed as matured, yes." Ruhne cocked his head. "So you're Fae, but your aura's pretty young. And like, embarrassingly weak. The strongest thing about you is that bracelet, and even that is faint."

"Wow, thanks," she said dryly. "Wait, what do you mean about my bracelet?" Thea lifted her arm, eyeing the thin, silvery rope. She'd had the bracelet for as long as she could remember, as well as a matching one. According to her dad, it was found on her in the cage.

"Looks like a slaver rope," he said casually. "Do you have the other part? "

"The one with the bead? Yeah, I gave it to a friend in an emergency."

Ruhne snorted, shaking his head. "Definitely a slaver rope. It ties two people together, and you have the slave side. It's designed that if a slave runs, the bead is twisted to force the slave to drift back to the master."

"What?" She was always told the beaded bracelet could connect to hers, but she'd never used it before gifting it to Harper. "That's horrible!"

"Your ignorance is amusing. Have you even tried to take it off?"

She had, the rope only tightening when she tried to pass it over her hand. She knew once the bead was twisted on the other bracelet, she could feel the wearer, which was how she was able to drift to Harper without knowing the destination. But the idea behind the bracelets was just creepy as fuck.

"Yeah, you shouldn't be able to without its other half. I hope you're still friends with that person, otherwise you're just their bitch now."

Shit. Thea should have really researched some of the junk in her drawer thoroughly before using them.

"If it makes you feel better, my aura isn't strong, either. But that's because I'm eight inches. What I lack in magic, I make up for in pure masculine excellence." Ruhne grinned. "What type of faerie are you, anyway?"

Thea's smile strained. "I don't know. I was born here." The lie fell easily from her lips. Her father had always been honest in her heritage, but sharing the information with anyone was a vulnerability she couldn't risk. There was a reason he'd found her in a cage as a baby, so as an adult, she protected herself by feigning ignorance. Her natural hair was the biggest giveaway, which was why she hid it .

Ruhne nodded, a frown marring his brow. "Do you belong to a court?"

"No."

"Good. I find anyone that belongs to either side are usually pompous arseholes with superiority problems." Ruhne frowned at his soggy straw, the wafer tearing as he pulled it apart and shoved it in his mouth. "So, are you mated?"

"What is this, a million and one questions?"

Ruhne sniffed. "I think it's fair to ask my captor questions before she eats me."

"I'm not your captor." Thea pressed the palms of her hands against her eyes. "And I'm not going to eat you."

Ruhne paused a second before replying. "What if I ask nicely?"

Thea dropped her hands, finding Ruhne grinning like a maniac and covered in chocolate. "I should've left you in the cage."

He pointed a piece of wafer at her. "Just so you're aware, but the fact your pillow is going to be super itchy tonight is completely unconnected to that comment."

Thea laughed. "I've changed my mind. I'm going to feed you to my cat."

JAX

With barely curbed anger, he opened the door to the busy coffee shop, scanning the tables until he spotted her in the corner. She was laughing, the sound easing some of his impatience.

It had only been a few hours, and he knew logically she'd gone to meet the fence at the market, the one place he couldn't track her.

Jax was known as the strong Guardian. The one who'd shift in a moment's notice to take down a Shadow-Veyn and win. He didn't have a weakness, because he didn't care if he lived or died. He rarely reacted with anything other than practical patience, and never with emotions. Yet his anger had built to an uncontrollable level, strong enough that his beast almost burst out of his skin. He wasn't used to being disregarded so easily, and it had grated against him much more than he'd expected. He wasn't used to anything breaking through his numbness, until Thea.

She spotted him then, her smile spreading as she kicked out the opposite chair for him to take a seat. As if she'd been waiting for him.

"Ruhne, I'd like to introduce you to my stalker." Thea nodded to the pixie lying flat on his back on the table, surrounded in crumbs and chocolate.

Her hands encircled her cup. "Jax, this is – "

"Her boy toy." Ruhne the pixie grinned, patting his flat stomach. "I have five settings, each designed for her optimal pleasure."

Jax raises a single brow. "Her other toys are bigger."

Thea choked, her drink splashing as she settled the mug down before covering her mouth. "How would you know?" she asked between coughs.

Jax didn't answer, instead returning his attention to the pixie who'd climbed to his feet. He wasn't as familiar with the smallest of Fae, especially considering they were pretty rare. Ruhne didn't seem impressed with the scrutiny.

"What you looking at, fucktard? Want me to add some more scars to your ugly face?"

"Ruhne!" Thea squeaked, placing her hand on the table between them. "Seriously Jax, how did you find me? I paid cash, and I was careful."

"Does it matter?"

Her eyes widened. "Yes! Of course it does. I'd like to know how you found me when I was trying to not be found."

"I've told you before, I can find you anywhere."

Ruhne's wings whistled slightly as he rubbed them together. "Do you know, you remind me of one of the elves. They're major arseholes, too."

Jax purposely looked at the pixie before meeting Thea's eyes with a raised brow.

"What? I couldn't just leave him." Thea nibbled on her bottom lip. "He's harmless."

"I'll have you know I can remove your eyeballs from their sockets within ten seconds." Ruhne smirked, puffing out his chest.

"Okay, not entirely harmless." Thea flicked her gaze to Ruhne, then back again. "I went to the market like I said I would. The fence is going to meet us later tonight."

"How can I trust you if I give the money up front?"

"Hey, she's Fae." Ruhne crossed his arms, the fabric of his sleeves ripping slightly. "We are of our word."

"He knows I'm not bound to the Fae rules." Thea said. "And because, as you've continuously gloated, you can find me anywhere."

Ruhne muttered something quietly beneath his breath, his head rocking back to look at the ceiling with a sigh. "Of course, you're not fucking bound to the Fae rules. The binding of tongue hasn't been practised in Asherah for over five hundred years, but this giant twat of a man wouldn't know that."

"Careful," Jax warned, his beast rumbling up his throat.

"Or what?" Ruhne closed their distance, hands on his hips, glaring upwards. "You'll squish me? Trust me, I'll be fucking your empty eye socket long before the thought even processed through that thick skull of yours."

"Bloody hell, Ruhne. You have some serious problems." Thea hid her horror, mixed with a little amusement behind her hand.

Ruhne glared at Jax for a second longer before walking over to Thea. He sat on the edge of the table, legs swinging. "Look, the Fae rules were created by the courts to control the population. Every Fae born was brought before the specified courts to have their tongues bound. It's like a magical compulsion to follow the rules set out by the monarch. But that was five hundred years ago, and we've already established your aura's young and weak."

Jax growled once more, the sound vibrating across the table.

"I'm not insulting her, it's a fact." Ruhne looked back over his shoulder. "Wait, are you the guy? Thea is he the guy?"

"Ruhne!" Thea went to grab him, but he'd already jumped up.

"Fucking toadstool! You have to give it to him now. I need to see his face!" Ruhne grinned. "Come on, Thea!"

"You're ruining the surprise!" Thea pretended to flick him.

Jax knocked his knuckles against the table. "Surprise?"

"Look, you broke your promise, and I was a little angry. It was an impulse buy." Thea reached below the table, which allowed Ruhne to jump onto her shoulder. He vibrated with excitement, shedding sparkles everywhere.

Jax thought Lucifer would have an aneurism if he knew pixies were literally made of glitter. "I didn't break my promise."

"You did; you promised to leave." She held something pink on her lap, and Ruhne seemed to be having a laughing fit.

"I did leave," he said, curious about her gift. "You didn't specify that I couldn't come back."

She scowled at him, but her eyes filled with an effervescence he knew was laughter. It seemed whatever she'd bought had cheered her up enough to forgive him.

With a barely controlled grin, she handed over the large square pillow, the colour matching her pink hair perfectly. "Remember, it's rude to deny a gift."

Jax frowned, the fabric soft beneath his fingertips until they brushed against different textured threads. Turning the pillow, he paused, his lips twitching as he read the embroidery.

‘Small dick energy.'

The words were surrounded in flowers, each one with a cock amongst the centre petals, so subtle you had to really study the flowers to see them.

A sound escaped him, a puff of air that could have been perceived as laughter if his mate wasn't smiling, as if her entire soul glowed with delight.

He nodded his thanks, placing the pillow gently on his knees. It didn't matter if she'd bought it as a joke. It was a gift from her, which meant he'd cherish it.

"Your reaction is disappointing." Ruhne jumped into the air and hovered. "So, what's the plan for tonight? Are we going to take over a kingdom? Plan a great heist? Are you stealing a diamond from an angry dragon?"

"There are no dragons," Jax commented.

Ruhne lifted a single finger. "Correction. There are no dragons here ."

Thea cleaned up the glitter that had collected on the table. "You can do anything you want, Ruhne. I've told you, you're free to go. "

"Wait, so you saved me, just to abandon me?" He dropped until his feet hit the table. "That's cold. And here I was thinking we'd be best friends."

Jax watched the pixie dramatically slump his shoulders.

"Come on," Ruhne whined. "Let me help with that fence guy. I'm good at persuasion, trust me. You don't want to come into contact with my itching powder. I can make any man, woman or child piss their frilly knickers in under thirty seconds."

"No," Jax said just as Thea said, "Why would they piss themselves?"

Jax looked up to find her pouting.

"What?" She shrugged. "I'm interested in why they would piss themselves."

"He's an inconvenience," Jax grunted.

Ruhne poked out his tongue. "You're an inconvenience."

Thea nibbled her bottom lip, as if contemplating it.

"Thea," he warned, but she'd already placed Ruhne back on her shoulder.

She blinked at him innocently with her large eyes, wild magic teasing his chi. "So, I'll text you that address. See ya later, stalker." Blowing him a kiss, they disappeared with a pop, and Jax hit the table hard enough both mugs toppled over with a crack.

He ignored the looks from the other patrons, too pissed off to clean up the hot chocolate that had spilled. His beast roared inside his mind, an ache that overwhelmed every logical thought. He was used to being numb, unfeeling. Having a mate was such a fucking inconvenience, because all he could think about was tracking her down and taking out his frustrations on her skin. To have her undying attention. To hear her moan, only for him.

Fuck's sake .

She would be what finally takes him over the edge, and he wasn't sure whether he should be running toward it, or away.