My pulse was slow, and I felt thickheaded. “Please tell me I wasn’t snoring,” I said as I pulled my old-lady coat higher around my shoulders. It was warm in here, but I felt vulnerable.

Pierce made a calculating noise, accidentally brushing my knee as he shifted. “As Jenks would say, you snore nice.”

I smiled back unconvincingly. I snore nice. Not “I opine that your auditory nasal exhalations are most pleasing.” He was already losing his unique speech patterns, not that I cared. I vaguely remembered hearing two male voices intertwined among my dreams in a soft, intent battle. Clearly I’d missed something. “Where are we going?” I asked, still not able to place where I was. No doubt, since I didn’t get into the poorer parts of human Cincinnati much.

Nick kept his eyes firmly on the potholed streets, a soft tightness to his scarred jaw. “My place. Well, one of my places.” His gaze went to his savagely marred wrist, and he looked at his small but probably expensive watch. “You’ll be safe enough.” Cracking a window, he murmured to Jax, “You want to get the door for us?” and the pixy flew out in a clatter of dragonfly wings. I couldn’t help but notice that Jax’s black shirt had a tear in it, and his shoes were scuffed. Clearly he didn’t have a wife. If he wanted any kids to survive him, he’d have to start a family in the next year or so, or risk them being slaughtered by the first fairy clan to find them without a patriarch when he was gone.

Both men were silent and, uncomfortable, I scanned the shop fronts. Nick probably didn’t have a problem here, but even I would think twice before walking these streets after dark. The leprechaun’s words echoed in my thoughts, and I asked, “Nick, don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you helping me?”

Nick’s eyes searched mine before returning to the road. “It’s not obvious?”

My head went back and forth. “We are done. Through. I thought I’d made that clear.”

Nick stopped at a red light and rolled up his window when the car ahead of us began spewing blue smoke. “I could have let the coven take you,” he said tightly.

My face burned. “Who says you didn’t just save me from Vivian so you could turn me in yourself and get all the bounty?” I accused. “Don’t give me any I-could-have-turned-you-in-so-trust-me-now crap. I could have told Glenn you were in my living room three minutes after you ran away. I don’t owe you anything.”

Nick’s face went red, making Al’s mark on his forehead stand out. “I can’t fight witch spells. Besides, Pierce seems to have everything under control with his black magic.”