Chapter 3

Three

As I walked awayfrom one of the most handsome men I'd ever seen in my entire life, I took the coin he'd given me back out to examine it. There was a dragon on one side with its wings spread wide, looking regal as fuck. I flipped the coin over. This side had some kind of bird, also with its wings wide and looking like royalty or somethin'. It was honestly a pretty awesome-lookin' coin.

I had no idea why he'd thought it'd fallen out of my backpack, but I sure as hell wasn't about to say no to gold. Assuming it was real.

I put it in my mouth and bit down like I'd seen people do in movies. I thought that maybe I'd be able to tell if it was real gold or not, but all I could tell was that it was hard and solid. Soooo… not one of those little chocolates wrapped in gold foil to look like a coin. Good to know.

Still, it was an oddity. I'd never seen anything like it, and I'd seen coins from every territory in Gauhala. Maybe it'd come from the man's home country. He had an accent, so I knew he wasn't from Gauhala.

But then… why had he chased me down to give it to me and pretended that I'd dropped it?

What a strange man.

A hot as fuck one, but strange. Definitely strange.

When I'd first laid eyes on him, he'd taken my breath away. It felt like I could've fallen into those sweet brown eyes and been lost in their depths forever. The way his black hair with streaks of silver in it was braided back on one side was sexy as hell. But then I'd gotten a look at the rest of him and realized he was rich and posh and far too sophisticated for the likes of me.

There was no way a man like that would give me the time of day—or even a night between the sheets—so I'd forced myself to walk away, no matter how badly I'd wanted to move closer to him and bask in his strong presence. I had no doubt a man like that would smell divine if he pulled me into his arms and held me and brushed his lips across my?—

Nope.

I couldn't let myself go down that road. Not with him. Not with anyone, but especially not with a man like that.

So I continued on my way and decided I'd stop by and see my little cousins before I turned in for the night. With this gold coin that I could pawn later, I could use some of the money I made today to buy my cousins a treat. The girls would love me for it, but their older brother would make that sour face he liked to make every time I brought them groceries or treats.

But too bad. He should never have had to take on the responsibility of caring for four young girls when he was still a teenager himself. Keryth was in his twenties now, but he'd spent the past five years working multiple jobs to give those girls a good life—really, he'd started taking care of them longer ago than that. He was running himself dry, so I tried to help a little here and there. I'd offered many times to give him money or pay some of the bills, but he refused every single time. Keryth had to be the most stubborn man I'd ever met.

I loved my little cuz, but man, was he frustrating.

I wanted to help, but he wanted to do everythin' by himself while still providing the girls with absolutely everything they could ever want or need.

I grimaced.

Sometimes I regretted showin' Keryth how to hustle on the streets. He didn't do it often, but I hated that he did it at all. But he'd been so desperate back then, and I'd already given him all the money I owned and had done absolutely everything in my power to help, so…

Shaking my head, I blew out a breath and headed for his apartment. There was a convenience store on the way that I could duck into for a couple of treats.

By the time I made it to the apartment, I'd shaken off the melancholy and was excited to see all my little cousins.

Alsira opened the door, and she smiled widely at me, saying, "Bel! You're here. Come in."

"Hey, Alsira." I pulled her into a hug and kissed her cheek. "How're you doin'?"

She shut the front door and locked it, then shrugged with a grin. "I'm good. I have a concert coming up in about eight weeks, so I've been practicin' a lot."

"You do? When is it? Let me put it in my phone so I can come."

"You want to come?"

I furrowed my brow. "Of course I do. You know I don't miss your shows." Alsira played the guitar—along with a few other instruments—and even at the young age of fifteen, she blew my mind with how good she was.

Ker and I had hustled until we had enough money to buy her a really good guitar—one of the only times he'd actually let me help with somethin' like that. I taught her how to play guitar when she was young, and those were some of my fondest memories. Now she was good enough for us to really jam together, which was always a great time.

Music seemed to run in the family. The younger girls, and even Ker, were musically inclined, but they didn't love it the same way that Alsira and I did.

Alsira practiced every day for hours, and when she was at school, she got to play in band class, and her teacher even let her stay after school for extra practice.

She was committed, and it showed in her playing. I honestly loved watching her.

"I know you don't, but I…" She shrugged. "I feel like I haven't seen you in a while, so I… wasn't sure."

I frowned at her. "I was here two weeks ago."

"I was at practice, so I didn't see you."

Aw. She loved and missed me. I flashed her a smile and pulled her back into a hug. "You know you can always call me or text me, right? No matter when it is or what you want to talk about. Even if it's just to say hi."

I might not have had a place to live, but I always, always kept my phone charged. I knew where to go—coffee shops, libraries, a bookstore—to charge my phone, and I also kept a wireless charger charged so Ker could always get ahold of me. Those were two things I never wavered on, no matter how bad it got.

Alsira sighed into the hug, holding me tight. "Thanks, Bel."

"Anytime, sweetie." We parted, and I sent her a wink. "I need details so I can enter it in my phone."

She rattled off the details, and I flashed her another smile as I put my phone back in my pocket. I'd have to set a little money aside to buy her flowers for the show, so I was glad I had plenty of time to save. "Where's Gemma, Saranor, Zellya, and Ker?"

She gestured to the back of the apartment. "I don't know what Gemma's doin', but Ker's in the little ones' room. Probably coloring."

Ah. Made sense. That was probably the only activity he could do with them to keep them this quiet. Usually when I walked in, I thought about investing in some earplugs.

I nodded at her and made my way to Saranor and Zellya's room. The apartment only had two bedrooms, so Ker split the girls up, the two oldest together and the youngest together, and then he took the couch. Well, it was a futon that he pulled out into a bed, but still, the man lived in the living room and had absolutely no privacy. I hated that for him.

Not that I ever had true privacy either, but I wanted my cousins to have a better life than me. And Ker felt the same way about his sisters, which was why the man went without all the time while making sure the girls always had more than enough of everythin'.

I peeked into the bedroom and couldn't help but smile. Ker was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bottom bunk bed. He had Zellya sitting in his lap with the second to youngest beside him. How he was managing to color at all with Zellya blocking his way like that, I'd never know. She was six now, and while she was small for her age—due to being born prematurely because her mama had gotten sick—she was not the tiny toddler she'd been when Ker had officially adopted her. She wasn't small enough for that position, but I knew Ker was enjoying the cuddling as much as she was.

Ker looked up and saw me first. He was a pretty man, more androgynous in appearance and definitely held that fae allure with his green hair, green eyes, small nose with a piercing in it, and the earrings he wore in his pointed ears. He'd gotten all his piercings as a teenager—before he'd been responsible for his sisters. He would've pawned the jewelry off a long time ago if it was worth anything—it wasn't, and Alsira hadn't let him do it anyway. I was glad for it because he deserved at least a little pretty in his life.

I winked at him, and he rolled his eyes but had a happy expression on his face. He was relaxed at the moment, which was nice to see. That probably meant he had enough money to cover the rent and the rest of the bills while still having enough for food. Or at least enough for the kids.

I could always tell when he was coming up short because the stress in his eyes multiplied tenfold. Honestly, even now, I could see an underlying stress, but that didn't ever go away. Ever since his mama got sick, when we realized we couldn't save her, Ker had gained that stress, that burden, and it wasn't goin' away anytime soon.

Fae didn't typically get sick, not like that, not with cancer. But Ker's mama hadn't been fae. She'd been human. My little cousins were halflings—half human, half fae. They looked full fae, which was a disadvantage for them in this country, but anyone with a strong nose would be able to smell the human on them.

Some halflings took more after their human side, which typically meant a shorter lifespan, although still longer than a regular human's. But most halflings, like my little cousins, were more fae in that regard as well.

Luckily for me, I knew their fae nature was dominant enough to keep them alive for centuries to come. Which meant I'd have that long to tease them.

They were here for good. And that was the only reason I let them in even a little bit.

"Hey, fam, what's up?"

Saranor squealed and jumped from her spot on the floor and launched herself at me. I caught her with a laugh and pulled her into a tight hug. I kissed the top of her head, and she giggled before pulling away. "Wanna see my picture?"

"Definitely."

The sweet seven-year-old shot me a smile before rushing over to her drawing and bringing it back to hold it up to me. I honestly had absolutely no idea what in the world I was lookin' at, but I still said, "It's beautiful."

"It's a dragon like King Von Stein. He's on top of his tower, warnin' everyone to behave or he'll breathe fire on us. See? That's all the people runnin' away scared."

I winced, and Ker's head shot up with a look of concern at his sister.

I waved him off, telling him I'd take care of this, before I steered little Saranor out of the room and to the small dining table where we sat down.

Once we were sitting, I asked, "Did someone tell you the king would do that?"

She shrugged. "I read about dragons in school. That's what they always do in the stories. They breathe fire on people."

Just what in the hell kind of stories was she reading at the age of seven? "Those stories aren't real, pumpkin. Those are pretend dragons. King Von Stein wouldn't do that. He's never threatened the city with fire, and I highly doubt he ever will." Hopefully. No one really knew because he locked himself away in that tower and hardly ever came out. He was probably up there hoarding away all the gold and keeping the rest of us too poor to do anythin' about it.

But the last thing we needed was having Saranor scared of him comin' after us one day. That was no way to live.

She shrugged. "I'm makin' a story."

"You're makin' up a story about the king?"

"Yep."

I… didn't know what to do with that. Um… "That's great that you're tellin' a story, and I really want to read it when you're finished. But I just want to check… you're not afraid of King Von Stein, right?"

Saranor shrugged again. "Nah. I don't even know ‘im."

That made me snort, and I couldn't help but pull the little one into a hug. She went easily even though I was sure she had no idea why I laughed and was now hugging her. She was so innocent, so unlike the people I spent my days with. Sometimes, I just wished I could soak some of that innocence up and take it with me to use when I was feeling the darkness close in around me.

Ker came out to join us at the table, eyeing Saranor and her drawing for a moment before turning to me, "Okay?"

"Everythin's fine, cuz."

He sent me a soft smile. "Good. Thank you."

I waved him off, then stood up so I could give him a hug. He didn't have any other adults in his life—at least not anyone he let around the girls, so literally no one outside of work—and I knew he needed the affection as much as I did.

These people in this apartment were just about the only people I trusted enough to show affection to or be vulnerable around. I didn't get hugs out on the streets. If I tried, I'd likely end up with a bloody nose.

So I pulled my little cuz into a tight hug. He didn't hesitate to hug me back and tuck his head under my chin. He took a deep breath, and I knew he was smelling the familial scent I carried. Hopefully it helped ease some of his tension, if only for a couple of hours.

After a long hug—much longer than I expected but definitely not unwelcome—he released me and asked, "You staying for dinner?"

"Only if you let me order pizza." That gold coin would easily pay for that and the treat I had in my pocket for the girls. I'd pawn it in the morning to make up for the money I spent tonight.

He scowled at me. "We don't need you to buy us pizza, Bel. You don't need to?—"

"Pizza?" Gemma asked as she walked into the room. "Oh, hey, Bel. I didn't know you were here." She looked like she'd just come out of a hard study session, and I could only assume that was exactly what she'd been doing.

"Not been here long, cuz. You studying?"

She nodded. "Yep. But I'm done now, thank the Mother." She turned to Ker. "Did you say pizza?"

I snorted. Only a teenager could hone in on the potential for food. But I was glad for it because it meant Ker would cave.

He looked at me, huffed, threw his hands in the air, and stalked off down the hall. "Fine! Order your damn pizza."

A cheer went up from the table, Saranor literally pumping her fists in excitement before she ran to tell her younger sister. It made me laugh and made me especially glad for the man giving me that gold coin. This was exactly what I needed after a rough week.

Ker came back from down the hall, now wearing a sweatshirt he hadn't been in earlier. He walked past one of the many plants in the apartment, and I watched the leaves reach out for him. His strength was with nature, where mine was with glamor and music. Ker's mama, even being human, had a giant green thumb, and Keryth had bonded with her over their love of all things green. They had herbs and a few small vegetables in the apartment, along with flowers and whatnot, and every single one of the plants had been planted by his late mother.

I knew it was a way for him, and the girls, to feel connected to her, so I wasn't surprised when I saw him pet a leaf like it was a dog. His attention helped the plant life around him grow strong and healthy.

Seeing his love of plants always made me wish I could buy them a house with a yard so he could grow a garden.

But that was a pipedream if I ever heard one.

"Grab the cards, Gemma," I said as I sat back down after I ordered pizza. A couple of years ago, Ker had bought a sixth chair for the table, just for me, which I appreciated more than he knew. "Come on, fam, let's play."

Ker groaned but elbowed me from the seat beside me. "You and your tricks. What d'ya wanna bet?" We always placed a bet between the two of us, even if we were only playing Go Fish.

"Whoever loses has to do the dishes?"

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, but I'm teaming up with Zellya."

I snickered. "Sounds good. I'm gonna beat you no matter what you do."

He snorted and held his hands out. "Give me the deck."

"What? No."

"Roll your sleeves up past your elbows and give me the deck. Oh, and no magic."

Damn, he knew me too well.

I snorted and passed him the cards. "Fine, fine. But you know I'll still win."

"The day you lose at cards is the day I'll shave my hair off."

I laughed, and when the girls joined us at the table, my heart felt full and lighter than when I'd come in.

This was exactly why I kept coming back even though I knew I should leave them alone and keep them out of my trouble.

But I just… couldn't give up the one good thing I had in my life.

After I helpedKer put the girls to bed, I gave him another long hug, and he whispered, "Won't you stay? We can share the futon. Or one of us can sleep on the floor. We have tons of blankets."

"No, Ker. But thank you anyway."

He sighed, long and exasperated. This was the same song and dance we did every time I came over. He knew I wouldn't accept, but he still tried to get me to stay each and every time. He was too kind-hearted for his own good.

I kissed his temple, offered a smile, and slipped out the door, closing it tight behind me. I stood there for a second and waited for him to lock it before I headed down the apartment building stairs.

With my backpack on and my guitar strapped over my shoulder, I headed straight for the one place I could charge my phone and cordless charger without feeling guilty about the electric bill—I only ever charged it at Ker's in an emergency, and I always left extra money for him when I did.

I didn't hesitate to enter the twenty-four-hour bookstore when I reached it. This place was somethin' of a sanctuary for me. It probably seemed odd for a bookstore to be open twenty-four hours a day, but when you realized it was owned by a vampire, it made a little more sense.

This was my favorite place to be in the entire city. Ker's apartment felt like a home, but I felt like a visitor. But here, here in Sleepless Books, I felt like I… fit.

Everything was filled with red and gold that probably would've looked gaudy anywhere else, but Anton somehow made it feel welcoming and homey. Like I wanted to curl up somewhere and read a book.

And there were plenty of places to do that between all of the comfy couches, armchairs, and window seats—there were emergency shutters on all of the windows, in case a vampire was stuck here in daylight, but I'd never seen them shut.

I'd probably sat and read in each and every space at some point over the years. Luckily, Anton didn't mind and had never made me pay for a single book. In fact, he'd given me a few over the years and had refused payment from me. He was good people.

"Belryn Bixidor," a serious voice said, and I looked up to see the vampire himself staring down at me from the second-floor mezzanine.

I grinned. "Anton Orsova. How goes it?"

He smiled and headed for the stairs. "It goes as it always does."

I rolled my eyes. "Stop with your weird cryptic shit. How are ya?"

The vampire made it to the bottom of the staircase and leaned primly against the banister. "I'm fine, thank you for asking. How are you?"

I shrugged. "Good. Just came from my little cuz's house."

"How are little Keryth and the younglings doing?" He'd never met them, but he'd heard me talk about them often enough that he knew their names and just about everything about them.

"They're all in good health."

"Good, good." He glanced around the shop, then turned his sharp hazel eyes back to me, eyeing me up and down. "You lost weight."

I sighed. "It's getting colder out. Less people walkin' about to play for."

"You know I could give you a jo?—"

"No. I won't take advantage of you like that, but I appreciate the offer, Anton. I really do."

His face soured. "You always speak of your cousin's stubbornness, but if you're anything to go by, I'd say he got it honestly."

I snorted out a laugh. "Fair enough."

"Will you at least come and sit with me? An old vampire could use a little company. Come tell me about your latest adventures. And charge your phone since I know that's the real reason you're here."

I rolled my eyes again. "I do want to charge it, but you know I only come here for it because I… because you're my friend." The words tasted sour on my tongue.

To my surprise, the vampire let out a bark of laughter. "Was it really that difficult to say?"

I gritted my teeth. "Yes."

He snorted and ushered me to the back room where we could have some privacy.

The first time he'd ushered me back here, I'd expected some bleak warehouse-like feel since I assumed it was a storage area and possibly a break room for his employees. But I'd been wrong. So very, very wrong.

Well, I was right about storage and a break room, but the back of the building was just as luxurious and beautiful as the front.

Even back here, the same gold and red theme continued, along with all the comforts. And even though there were boxes piled to one side, he made them seem like a part of the decor. I had no idea how he did it, but it was easy to see that the entire place, front and back, had been put together with love.

I suppose when you lived for hundreds of years, you got a sense for decor. Or at least Anton did.

I wasn't sure how old Anton actually was—he wouldn't tell me when asked and only laughed at my guesses and told me I was wrong. But I did know he was old—really, really old. I'd seen many other vamps make their way into the shop, and every time, they treated Anton with a deep respect, like he was an elder in their den or something.

Without hesitation, I walked over to an outlet and plugged in both my phone and my extra cordless charger before joining Anton at a small table.

He poured me a cup of tea—no idea how or why he already had tea waiting on the table as if he'd known I was coming—and I added some honey from the small pot on the tray. I blew on the drink as I stared at my friend.

Other than Keryth, I was pretty sure Anton was my only real friend, and I wouldn't exactly call us close. A good friend? Yes. A dear one? That too. But close? I wasn't so sure. Sometimes it seemed like we were, but other times, I realized I knew very little about his life before we met. If I was closed off with a cement wall, he was a steel vault with a key that was impossible to find.

"So… tell me what you've been up to these past few weeks," he said, leaning forward with his elbows on the table, looking like an eager kid about to hear a fairy tale.

I thought about what to say for a moment, and for some reason, the man on the street who'd given me the gold coin flashed across my mind. I had no idea why he, of all people, stood out to me so much, but he had. Maybe he had some magic I was unaware of that had called to my own without my noticing.

Or maybe it was simply because he was so hot. The hottest man I'd ever seen.

"Well… a hot guy gave me a coin earlier."

Anton blinked, then scowled. "Doesn't that happen to you every day?"

I snorted out a laugh. "No. Well, I mean, I guess. People give me coins all the time, but this was different. I wasn't even playing. And no, before you ask, I didn't do anything else to earn the money."

He nodded. "How was he different then?"

I sighed. "He called out to me while I was walkin' away, and he said I dropped a coin, and he held one out to me. I'd never seen it before in my life."

"How could you possibly know if it was a coin you'd never seen? I'm sure your bag has piles of them."

Ha. Piles of coins? I wish.I reached into my pocket to pull it out. "Look at it. Have you ever seen anythin' like it before? I haven't."

Anton hesitantly reached out to pick the coin up, and he hissed a little as he pulled it close to examine it. After a long moment, he placed it back on the table and pushed it toward me. "No. I haven't seen anything like it before, but it feels… odd."

I nodded because I knew exactly what he meant. "I think so too." I pocketed the thing.

"I'd be careful carrying that thing on you."

"I plan on pawnin' it as soon as the sun comes up."

He nodded. "Good. I… don't like the thought of you carrying that around."

"Do you feel dark magic on it?"

He tilted his head to the side. "No, but it also doesn't feel like light magic either. I suggest you get rid of it as soon as possible."

"Will do."

He gave me a nod, and we changed the subject to more normal things, like whether or not I pickpocketed all the easy marks I passed on the street today.

I mean, of course I had, and Anton knew me well enough to know that.

After a few hours in his very comfortable shop, I headed out to my usual sleeping spot nearby. I liked sticking close to the bookshop, and there was an alley where the cops didn't usually bother any of us sleepin' on the streets.

After I found my spot, I pushed my guitar case into one of the air pockets—as I called them—that fae could use to store items. All fae could fold air around objects and carry them with us. No one else could see it. No one else could reach inside and take anything we stored there. When things were there, I had a sort of awareness of them. It wasn't that I felt their weight, but it sort of felt like my magic felt their weight, if that made sense. So my guitar was there yet not, and it would stay there, safe and sound, until I took it out.

I set out my bedroll, got comfortable, and threw a glamor over the top of me so no cops could see me. Glamor magic came so natural to me that I didn't really need to think about it. Especially when I was hiding myself because that was somethin' I'd been doing my entire life. So I called on that warmth I found inside my chest, pictured exactly what I wanted or needed, and released it into existence. My magic was an extension of my body and soul, as natural as breathing to me.

But that didn't mean it was perfect. If someone was specifically looking for me, they'd likely see through it, but if the cops walked by, they wouldn't see a thing. Most of my fellow hustlers knew me, just as I knew them, so my glamor wouldn't work on them, but any newcomers to our alley wouldn't know I was there.

I checked my pocket as I lay there, and my brow furrowed. No coin.

I checked my other pocket in case I put it in the wrong one after showing Anton.

No coin.

"What the hell?"

I sat up and turned my pockets inside out.

No fuckin' coin.

I opened my bag and dug through it, checking every inch and cranny.

No motherfuckin' coin.

"Fuck!" I yelled and buried my hands in my hair. Shit. That was supposed to pay for my food for tomorrow. I'd used all my other money to buy my cousins pizza and treats earlier because no one was going to simply take the strange coin as payment. I'd been countin' on the money I'd get from pawning it. Shit.

The coin was gone.

Had I left it out at Anton's?

I thought about our interaction and shook my head. No. That's not it. I know I put it away. Did it fall out of my pocket when I walked here?

I grimaced because that was the most likely scenario.

I didn't even consider that Anton might've taken it. I knew he wouldn't. There weren't many people I trusted in this world, but Anton was one of a handful. He never would've stolen from me. If he'd wanted it that badly, he would've offered to pay for it.

Shit.

I wasn't going to have food tomorrow. Not unless I made some good dough while busking. And if I didn't, well, I'd definitely gone without for a lot longer than a day. I'd be fine.

With a heavy heart, I lay back down and hugged my pack to my chest beneath my blanket to make sure no one took it from me. It held every bit of my belongings. Other than my guitar, it was the most important thing I had, and no one was about to take it from me. I could've hidden my bag away if I really wanted to, but I liked bein' able to hold onto it so I knew it was there, even in my sleep.

I might've lost a coin, but I'd be damned if I lost anythin' else tonight.