There wasn’t much they could do.

That’s what the police had been telling Adele all day, from the first officer who pulled up in a squad car to the uniform at the desk who typed up her statement. It felt like they were all reading from the same script.

They would file a report and keep their eyes out for anyone who matched the description of her attacker, but without hard evidence they couldn’t promise anything.

It wasn’t hard to read between the lines. They didn’t believe her.

And the truly horrible thing was that she couldn’t blame them.

She knew exactly how crazy her story sounded…and that was why she hadn’t told it. At least, not in its entirety. She knew better than to talk to the cops about some spindly, super-strong monster. They’d laugh her out the door, or worse, start looking into her medical history.

So she’d kept all the far-fetched details to herself. Which meant there weren’t many left to share with the police.

It didn’t help that by the time she’d directed the cops back to the alleyway, Bron and the creature were gone. More than that, there was no evidence they’d ever been there—no signs of a struggle, no scuff marks, no blood. Everything had been washed away by the freak rainstorm.

Did she have any other proof? Anything at all?

Adele had slipped her hand into her pocket when the officer asked the question. Her fingers wrapped around the crystal necklace she’d ripped off the monster.

But she’d stilled before pulling it out.

Nope. Nothing at all.

Adele still wasn’t a hundred percent certain why she’d done that. Keeping unbelievable details out of police reports was one thing; flat out lying to the cops was another.

All she knew was that the second she’d touched the crystal she felt that same wave of calm that she’d felt before. Calm…and something else.

Understanding.

Damn, she really was losing it.

Maybe she was having a bad reaction to one of her medications, or perhaps she just needed to up a dosage, but one thing was clear. She was obviously in the middle of some kind of stress-induced psychotic episode—changing the faces of men into monsters, feeling emotional connections to inanimate objects.

She needed to get home and call her doctor, stat.

Adele didn’t waste any time hightailing it out of the police station. The moment she hit the sidewalk, she fished her phone out of the oversized jacket slung over her shoulders, ready to call for a ride. She cursed under her breath when she remembered she didn’t have her phone.

She had Bron’s.

Yet another piece of evidence she hadn’t handed over to the cops. Hell, she hadn’t mentioned his name at all. She’d rationalized by telling herself that she owed the man her life. He’d taken a hell of a beating trying to save her, and he obviously hadn’t wanted the cops to find him or he wouldn’t have run from the alley.

Of course, that was assuming that he could still run. That he was still alive.

Yes. He was. He had to be.

She stared at his phone. Maybe she should call one of his contacts to see if they’d heard anything from him. She pressed her lips together, her finger hovering over the screen. She pulled her hand back a second later.

Not here. Not in front of the police station. She’d wait until she walked back home. Until she’d thrown all the locks and deadbolts on her door, and she knew that she was safe.

She tucked his phone into her pocket and lifted her head…just in time for her to catch a flash of brilliant green across the street.

Adele froze and narrowed her eyes, peering deeply into the crowd of pedestrians waiting for the signal to change.

There—leaning against the corner of the building, his chin down, and his face half hidden by shadows.

Bron.

It was strange how well he blended in even though he was so much taller than everyone else, not to mention, so much more…well, just more.

Adele let out a sigh of relief and rushed across the street the moment the light turned green. She skidded to a stop just in front of him, a wide smile spreading across her face. She had to fight against the urge to throw her arms around him.

“Oh, thank God, Bron,” she said. “You’re alive.”

A glint of confusion shone in his eyes. “You were worried about me?”

“Of course. The last I saw, you were getting thrown into a concrete wall.” She paused and peeked up at him through hooded eyes. “That did happen, didn’t it?”

He nodded.

Oh, thank God. She hadn’t lost her grasp on reality entirely.

“Are you hurt?” she asked. “Do you need to go to a hospital?”

He shook his head. “I’m fine.”

Somehow Adele doubted that. He was favoring his right side a little. He probably had a couple of bruised ribs, at the very least. More likely, they were cracked.

“We should probably have you checked out at the emergency room just to be sure,” she said, reaching out to take his hand.

He didn’t budge. “That isn’t necessary.”

Adele pressed her lips together. “Well, if you don’t like hospitals, we could go to a clinic. We can pay in cash. You don’t even have to give them your real name.”

Bron cocked his chin to the side. “Why do you care so much about taking me to a physician?”

“Because you saved my life.”

It wasn’t that hard to understand, but Bron’s eyes narrowed all the same.

“I’m not so sure about that,” he said as his gaze swept her up and down. She was about to ask him what he meant by that when he asked a question of his own. “Tell me why you followed me into that alley.”

She pulled his phone out of the jacket and held it out to him.

“A phone?” he asked. “You risked your life for a phone?”

“I didn’t have any idea what I was walking into. The last thing you said before leaving was that everything was fine.” A defensive edge slipped into her tone. “The real question is why the hell was that—” she choked back the word monster, “—guy trying to kill you?”

Bron narrowed his eyes. Adele did her best not to squirm under the intensity of his gaze, but it turned out her best wasn’t good enough. She shifted her shoes against the pavement. She rubbed her hands together nervously. Judging by the hard line of Bron’s mouth, he wasn’t going to tell her.

Adele decided that was just fine. Suddenly, she wasn’t so sure she wanted to know the answer. After all, Bron was a big man.

A big…intense…powerful man. One who knew how to fight.

Maybe one who knew how to do a hell of a lot more than that.

Up until now, it hadn’t entered her mind that maybe Bron wasn’t the good guy in this situation. Sure, he’d helped save her life, but God only knew what kind of lifestyle had led him to an alleyway death match in the first place.

Adele swallowed hard. “Or…maybe you could just tell me what you’re doing here. Did you follow me?”

“Of course,” he said with a single nod.

“W-Why?” She inwardly cursed the quiver in her voice. “I didn’t tell the cops about you. Well, nothing important anyway.”

“Adele,” he said, reaching for her shoulder.

She slipped back a step, away from his touch. She pointed to the phone in his hand. “See. I could have handed that over to them, but I didn’t. You don’t have to worry about me. I’m—”

“Adele—” Bron cut her off with a hiss.

He moved with lightning speed, his hand snaking out and grabbing her by the arm before she could make a sound. He spun her around as he pulled her body against his, so that her back pressed against his chest. The iron band of his arm lashed over her torso, holding her tight, as his hand covered her mouth.

“Hush,” he whispered against her ear. “Be still.”

Not a problem. Adele was too shocked to move. She stared at the people walking by, desperate for one of them to stop and help her, but no one looked her way.

Not a single soul.

She was just about to start flailing when Bron tightened his grip on her and flattened his back against the wall behind him. Between his arm across her chest and his hand over her mouth, she could barely breathe, let alone scream.

A half second later, there was a break in traffic, and all thoughts of fighting left Adele’s mind.

He was over there. Outside the doors of the police station. Bold as brass. The man who had attacked Bron. The one who had come after her.

The monster.

A chill ran up Adele’s spine as he scanned the crowd, like he was looking for someone.

Not just someone. He was looking for them.

Dear God, what were they doing, trying to hide in the shadows? They needed to flag down one of the officers around the station…or run like hell. Adele wasn’t picky.

But standing out here in the open wasn’t going to do them any good. Even now, he was crossing the street and heading their way.

She squirmed in Bron’s arms, but he simply wrapped another unforgiving arm around her, pinning her body to his. Out of the corner of her eye she could see something glittery in his hand—a ball of some sort. It glistened with the same otherworldly glow as the crystal in her pocket.

What the hell was going on?

Adele had no idea. All she knew was that her heart was hammering so hard she feared it would burst out of her chest as the pale man walked closer and closer. He stopped on the corner and slowly swept his gaze up and down the street…and right over her and Bron.

The air froze in her lungs.

He didn’t see them.

Holy crap. He didn’t see them. How was that possible? The guy was just a few feet away.

The man took a couple steps, bringing him so close that if he reached out his hand he would touch her. Adele turned her head to the side and pressed her face against Bron’s chest. The thing lifted his chin, drawing in a sharp breath as if he were sniffing the air. He curled his lip back in disgust, and suddenly Adele knew her mind hadn’t been playing any tricks on her.

The creature was exactly as she remembered him. Just as tall and gangly. Just as pale and unnatural. And there was the row of needle-sharp teeth and the over-wide mouth.

This thing…he really was a monster.

Except that couldn’t be true. Monsters didn’t exist.

Adele wasn’t the only one who knew there was something strange about the guy. The pedestrians passing behind him might not be able to see into his mouth of horrors, but most were giving the creature strange glances and lots of room as they passed by. They knew on a gut level that there was something not quite right.

Just like she had.

Adele cringed as his lips parted again.

“Where are you, hunter?”

Its accent was like Bron’s, exotic and unidentifiable, but that’s where the similarities ended. Bron’s tone was rich and deep, but this thing’s voice was stretched and thin, like the hiss of a snake. Goosebumps sprung up along her arm at the sound.

“I know you’re here…somewhere,” he whispered. “I know you’re with the woman who stole from me. But it doesn’t matter what magic you’re using to hide. I’ll find you.”

Then, his gaze stopped moving. His eyes fixed straight-ahead…straight at Adele’s face.

No. That wasn’t quite right. His face was pointing her way, but his eyes were looking through her…as though she wasn’t there at all.

Bron pressed his hand harder against her mouth, but he shouldn’t have bothered. Staring into those glacial eyes, Adele couldn’t have breathed if she wanted to.

The longest second Adele had ever experienced ticked by before the creature finally turned away, his last words trailing behind him. “I always do.”

* * *

Bron didn’t ease his grip on Adele until the Redcap was long gone. He told himself that it was because he didn’t want her to start shouting and bring the assassin back, but that wasn’t the whole truth.

There was another reason—the current of fear coursing through her slight body. A full minute had passed since the Redcap had walked away, but she was trembling so hard that Bron feared that if he let go, her knees would buckle.

He supposed her reaction was natural enough, especially for someone who had never come face to face with a goblin before, but he couldn’t help sensing there was something more to Adele’s fear. Something deeper.

He looked past the waterlogged exterior—the strands of long red hair plastered to a freckled face that had grown even paler.

So he held her against him until the worst of her shaking had subsided. Only then did he loosen his grasp and turn her around in his arms.

“It’s all right,” he whispered, looking into her deep blue eyes. “He’s gone.”

Her bottom lip trembled as she opened her mouth to speak.

“Wha-Wha…” Her shaking voice trailed off as she drew in one quick breath after another.

She was having trouble getting words out. The same thing had happened to her back at the cafe. She stumbled when talking. Not all the time. Just when pressed or surprised…or terrified, it seemed.

Bron didn’t mind the trait. He rarely needed someone to speak to know what they were trying to communicate. Centuries of hunting—of silently watching his prey from the shadows, of observing every little expression and tic—had taught him more about communication than any conversation had. He knew how to read the true intentions and motivations of creatures the way others knew how to decipher ancient tomes.

And Adele was not a difficult read.

She was someone who did her best to shield her thoughts and feelings from others, almost as if they frightened her. But why? Bron had been intrigued by the question back at Cafe Citta…and that was before he’d seen the wisp of a woman defeat an indestructible warrior.

Now he was determined to know the answer.

“What the hell just happened?”

This time she had no problem getting the words out. Her voice rose to the point of cracking. A few of the pedestrians turned their heads, trying to locate the sound.

“You might want to keep your voice down,” he said.

“Why?” she asked, fear flashing all over her face. “Is he coming back?”

Bron shook his head. “No, but we’re still invisible.”

Her blue eyes went wide. “We’re what?”

“Invisible.” Bron held up the yellow sylph eye, a magical relic that he’d borrowed from James Hook a few days ago. The small orb veiled the one who held it—and anyone he was holding—from sight. “Why did you think the Redcap passed us by?”

Adele blinked at his words. “Okay, now I know I need to get home and call my doctor.”

“Why?” Bron asked. He looked her over, but other than a few trembles, she seemed uninjured. He didn’t see so much as a scratch. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” she said, slowly shaking her head. “Just having a full-on psychotic break.”

Bron narrowed his eyes. “I don’t know what that means.”

“It means that I’ve lost all touch with reality,” she said, a shiver in her voice. “It means I’m hallucinating men with rows of razor-sharp teeth. It means that when you say that we’re invisible, I almost believe you.”

“Of course you believe me,” Bron said. “It’s the truth.”

Adele violently shook her head, as though if she went fast enough she might be able to dislodge his words. “It can’t be. There’s no such thing as monsters, and invisibility is impossible.”

“I’ll prove it to you.” He pulled a small dryad wood box from his pocket and slipped the relic inside the protective container.

“Was that supposed to do something?” Adele raised a brow. “Because I don’t notice anything different.”

He pressed his lips together. “Of course you don’t. No one in this teeming city of yours does. Surrounded by thousands of people, but you rarely look past your own noses.”

Bron reached out and grabbed a passerby—a young man who stopped instantly.

“Want to see some magic?” he asked.

The guy shrugged. His expression made it clear he wasn’t actually interested, but he knew better than to say no to a man of Bron’s size. “I guess.”

“This won’t take long,” Bron assured him as he plucked the sylph eye out of the box. The young man’s eyes went round.

“Whoa, dude,” he said. “That’s crazy. You’re both gone.”

Bron re-boxed the relic, and the guy started at their sudden reappearance.

“How the hell did you do that?” he asked.

“I told you,” Bron said. “Magic.”

“Sweet.” The young man gave them an amused smile before continuing on down the street.

Bron turned back toward Adele. The skeptical look had left her eyes. In its place was plain disbelief.

“So, it’s a trick?” she asked, her voice more hopeful than anything else.

“No trick,” he said. “It’s all real—invisibility, magic, the goblin who tried to attack you.”

“Wait,” she said. “You’re telling me that thing is a goblin?”

“Not just any goblin,” he said. “A Redcap.”

Adele shook her head. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Redcap is a rank in Oberon’s goblin brigade.”

“Oberon?” Her voice shot up. “The fairy king from A Midsummer Night’s Dream?”

Bron’s brows pulled together. “I don’t know about that, but Oberon is the king of my Realm.”

“Your…Realm?” She stared at him. Countless questions swam in her beautiful blue eyes, but in the end she gave an exaggerated shrug. “Sure. Why not? It’s no crazier than anything else that’s happened today.”

Bron didn’t agree. This morning he’d seen something truly unbelievable.

“Tell me,” he said, narrowing his gaze in on her face. “If you didn’t know any of this, how were you able to defeat the Redcap in the alley?”

“Surprise punch to the throat,” Adele said simply. “I hear it works most of the time.”

Bron shook his head. “Not with a Redcap.”

“Why not?”

“Because they are invincible,” he said. “They earn their caps by slaying the fiercest creature in my world—a phoenix—and capturing the bird’s soul before it has a chance to be reborn. Then they bond with the imprisoned soul and draw on its power of immortality. No one has ever bested a Redcap in battle. No one.”

Adele’s eyes went wide, her gaze drifting away from his face as he spoke.

“The soul of a phoenix…” The note of confusion left her soft voice. When her eyes lifted again, Bron saw nothing but understanding in her gaze. “So, that’s what this is.”

She reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a gold chain. Dangling from the end was a sparkling silver crystal.

The phoenix cage.

And she was holding it in her bare hand.

But that was impossible.

Now Bron’s mind was swimming with questions.

Fortunately, he knew just the person to answer them.