Erin?

~FROM SERGEI'S PERSPECTIVE~

I woke that morning and the first thought I had was about Erin. I was excited to see her this morning and was preparing to open my eyes and take on the day when I realized I was not alone. I tried to use my inner sight to assess who was in my house, but I was drawing a complete blank. It was like my extra senses had been powered down--everything about my mind was slightly muted.

I opened my eyes wearily and my stomach dropped when I saw three angry-looking men surrounding my bed, glaring at me.

"What was that about yesterday, Sergei? At the Salthill Market?" said the first man, darkened by shadows on his face--and in his soul.

I groaned to find the Reed brothers surrounding my bed and questioning me about yesterday. This was not good. I could only hope that they were just suspicious of my quick disappearance from the market yesterday and that they had not sussed out that the Heir was back. I kept my thoughts away from Erin in case any of them were currently trying to read my mind. They were clearly using their dampening powers to keep me from using my inner vision and I knew this trio could not be trusted. They were constantly trying to push the limits of the Fae folk, often abusing the lack of protection in the community to blackmail and profit from the weaker of the Fae.

"What are you talking about? Why do you suddenly give a fuck about what I do?" I asked menacingly. They knew my reputation-- I was fierce, in words and character and most people did not cross me. No one ever did it alone, and I did feel a bit flattered that it took the three of them to come and confront me.

"We had business yesterday, and just as you arrived at Salthill, you disappeared mysteriously," Colin Reed stated brusquely.

"I had a family emergency, I had to go visit my aunt-- and anyway, we didn't so much have business as we were about to discuss business," I stated tersely.

"Is that so?" Colin, always the spokeshole of the three assholes stated.

"Yeah, anyway, since when do you care what I do?" I questioned them, trying to get a read on their unusual interest in my market visit the day before--without giving them any information-- if they didn't know about Erin or any mystery woman who'd made a commotion at the market, I intended to keep it that way.

"We know you're hiding something," the younger brother, I think named Dirk or Derek, stated.

"I've got nothing to hide, and I don't know what you're on about," I said, getting further annoyed be the interruption in my morning. I had been so looking forward to spending the day with Erin and these jerks were delaying me. I had little patience for their manipulation.

"Well, you can tell that to Padraig," said Colin tersely.

"And what have you got going on with Padraig. You're not seriously in cahoots with the Dark Triad, are you? You're all a pack of losers but even you wouldn't normally stoop so low as to cooperate with that lot," I shook my head as the words spewed from my mouth, clearly etched with disapproval.

Everyone knew Padraig had connections to the Dark Triad, and no one, not even the Reed brothers associated with him. To be connected to Padraig was to be connected with the underbelly of our world and it was not taken lightly by anyone in the Fae community. If these losers were now associating with Dark Triad contacts, this could be far more serious than I had initially feared. This could be a big problem.

When I looked to each of them, they looked back menacingly, although I could sense the hint of anxiety they had in confronting me. Of course, Padraig would use someone like the Reed brothers to do his grunt work. Padraig was notorious for keeping his hands clean and letting other people take the fall for him whenever his dirty work was at hand. He was too smart to confront me himself, so he sent these three goons instead. Unfortunately, outnumbered, this was going to be a fight to get away from these thugs, but I steeled myself for just that.

As I landed my fist on Colin's weak chin, Drik, or whatever his name was, pulled out a switchblade and walked toward me with it menacingly. Three on one, with my powers muted was no match for an armed trio of Fae, especially since our kind's powers multiplied when allied with each other. I put my fist down and decided to follow along with them for now until I could think of a better plan to get away from them.

"That's more like it," Colin said, rubbing the deepening red spot on his chin that would clearly bruise by the end of the day. I spat at his feet and walked with the three of them muscling me toward the door and then out through a portal they'd created, bringing us to Padraig's lair.