Summary: (Y/N) is a killer AUX agent. When her friend Bryce and boss Ruhn Danaan get tapped to investigate two pieces of the same puzzle she wants in. But that may mean she needs to face more demons than she signed up for.
PS: takes place during CC1
Disclaimer: I give no rights for my work to be replicated, adapted, translated or used for any means. If you have questions please feel free to message me. This chapter is heavily based on the original text. I want this story to feel like you as a reader is truly being transported into the book. All rights reserved to SJM and her team.
A special thanks to @mirandasidefics for supporting me in posting my first fics. She also writes for ACOTAR so go check out her work!
(The next day at the White Raven)
(Y/N) was on the receiving end of Bryce’s wrath that night. Bryce had walked into the White Raven, set on meeting Juniper but once she found (Y/N) in the crowd she dragged the female to the restrooms. Bryce had somehow found out Michah was the angel she’d saved the night Daika died … and (Y/N) knew all about it.
“It was confidential.” (Y/N) explained, staring at the redhead’s damning expression, “I only knew because I was listed as his emergency contact, once he healed he made me sign an NDA.” Bryce was silent, anger, a boiling pot within her.
The redhead turned to the sink, washed her hands, splashing water up her arms, looking at (Y/N) through the mirror, “whatever.” She walked back out into the bustling club, (Y/N) trailing as she made her way to a table. The two females sat at a small booth tucked into the back. Bryce ordered a glass of water and sat there waiting for June. The tension between them was palpable as they sat in silence. It didn’t take long for Bryce’s attention to divert from the female next to her and towards the entrance of the club as Hunt Athalar walked right past the huge line waiting to get in, through the doors and right to their table. The club stalled a few heartbeats, all patrons taking in their fill of the Umbra Mortis.
Bryce’s gaze pinned him as he walked up to their table; her glare burned a metaphorical hole through his head. (Y/N) followed her line of sight and instantly knew he had been the one to reveal that the half-fae saved Micha… and now she had her own bone to pick with him. Before the male could even sit down, Juniper arrived, ”I- I hope I’m not interrupting anything…”
“He was just leaving,” Bryce answered, glaring daggers at Athalar who took that look as an invitation to slide right into the booth, putting (Y/N) between himself and Bryce. She ignored them as they started to verbally assault each other.
Hunt Athalar was a hot, sexy bundle of muscles with long onyx hair and smouldering eyes but he was such a massive ass! Here he was, judging Bryce and assuming a million things about her and her lifestyle and who she was without even trying to get to know her as more than what was spat at her in the streets. Hunt had been nice enough to (Y/N), but she was a skilled agent. He respected her work and her abilities but he didn’t know anything about her. They’d met briefly during work; the AUX and the 33rd didn’t usually choose to work together on anything, but sometimes they’d share cases. (Y/N) could count on one hand how many words she’d shared with Hunt Athalar before he became Bryce’s shadow and they were all relatively pleasant. From what she could tell, Hunt did his job; no more, no less. He didn’t show up to work wanting to make friends or make the best of a shitty situation. Though she couldn’t blame him, she probably wouldn’t be too cheery either if she were a slave.
Besides briefly daydreaming about his muscles, (Y/N) didn’t waste any time thinking about Hunt Athalar, or any male for that matter. But it wasn’t until recently, when he’d been commanded to protect Bryce, that she’d realized what kind of a person he was. Bryce played into what the world thought of her; slutty party girl gone crazy… but Hunt Athalar treated her like a down right idiot. She’d listened for hours as Bryce told her how Hunt had underestimated and undermined her or simply ignored things she said. And now seeing it first hand as he treated her like an alcoholic, depressed, “party girl.” Assuming she came here to drown her sorrows, when she’d only come to see a friend.
Were all males truly like this? It couldn’t be true. (Y/N) stayed quiet, letting herself give in to the rhythm of the club music… She'd grown up with stories about true love where males talked about the females they love as if they’d hung the stars. Micah had been like that at the beginning; showing her off and talking about how amazing she was. When she went to a work event with him for the first time they’d all known about her and just had to see if everything Micah had told them was true.
She still missed him sometimes, he was good in bed and he had the capacity to be kind. She didn’t know what’d happened. One day things just started changing; there was less eye contact, forgotten dates, scrolling through his phone as she talked about things she was passionate about… looking back, it all felt like individual nails in the coffin of their dying love.Then suddenly date nights were being canceled entirely and he was out later than he needed to be. She found herself feeling like little more than a body to him. All his touches now had sexual intent; no sweet caresses or stolen kisses. She started overworking herself to get away from the negative thoughts about their story coming to an end. But that end came the night he sat her down and told her he was bored with their current relationship. He wanted to make it an open one. Ha! She’d shown him the door.
She was tired. So, so tired…Hunt nudged her, bringing her mind back to reality. A waiter had arrived at their booth, clearly waiting for their order — she looked around the booth, all eyes on her — just her order then. She quickly skimmed the menu and put in an order of fries. The waiter then walks away with a nod and a promise to return with their food soon.
(Y/N) watched as Athalar took Bryce’s glass away, finally figuring out it was just water. “I don’t drink,” she said. (Y/N) found herself still sitting there awkwardly as Bryce and Hunt had another verbal altercation. Everything was relatively ‘fine’ until Bryce got up, “I’m going to the bathroom,” and yanked (Y/N) so hard out of her seat she yelped, pushing June out of the other end of the booth and pulling them towards the restrooms.
As (Y/N)’s wrist was being squeezed so hard she could feel her hand go numb, a slight change in the atmosphere caught her attention. Males and females alike turning, even if briefly, acknowledging the presence of a force to reckoned with; similar as to when Hunt had walked into the bustling club.
And then she saw Ruhn fucking Danaan walking in, his eyes somehow finding hers and their little group with a predator’s ease before noticing Hunt and striding over to their table. She looked at him for all of a second before turning to look at June as if she was the most interesting thing in the world. Standing about ten feet from the table, she could feel his eyes on her, felt a shiver run down her spine as a chill caressed her skin. But even a second of eye contact with the prince had been too long; Bryce caught the action, following the direction (Y/N) had looked away from. Bryce Quinlan could freeze Hel with that look, the one that said, ‘are you keeping tabs on me, asshole?’ She let go of (Y/N)’s arm and strode toward the males, June hot on her heels. (Y/N) didn’t even get a chance to finish rolling her eyes before a large boom sounded and she was shot back, hitting her head hard as she landed on the marble floors; unconscious.
Bryce threw herself on top of June, twisting, reaching for her friend, to protect her and shield her. She couldn’t do it again; loose another friend. Bryce would rather die herself! She landed on top of Juniper, shielding her from the blast, keeping her eyes open long enough to watch (Y/N) go flying and hit her head as she crashed to the floor.
Ringing. Painful, sharp ringing making her ears tingle at the tips with the aftermath of the sound, as if they were tuning forks; still vibrating after being tapped, deafening everything else.
“Get up,” Bryce felt Hunt’s hands on her shoulder, thrashing against him to reach for Juniper but stopping once she saw Ruhn helping the fawn onto her hooves; she was fine.
Bryce spun around, eyes scanning the destroyed club for the female that had been right by her side mere seconds ago. (Y/N)... (Y/N)... where the fuck was (Y/N)? Out of the corner of her eyes she caught June politely shooing Ruhn off, allowing him to rush towards a pile of debris. Bryce barely registered June’s mouth moving and could barely hear her yelling as she watched her brother. June slapped her across the face. Bryce’s head swung but she turned in time to see Ruhn standing stunned by a body, Bryce didn’t have the will to stop Hunt as he carried her out of the club.
Ruhn’s ears were ringing so loud it was painful, he gritted his teeth. Once he’d looked Juniper over and deemed her fine he practically threw his house key at Athalar, rambling off his address, far closer than Bryce’s apartment. “Wait for me there,” he told the angel then ran towards a pile of debris where he could sense the vibration of a shrill scream, his ears were still hollowed out from the blast, still drowning out most things, but that sound was of pure and utter pain. He found (Y/N) under a beam that had collapsed, her arms shaking as she held broken pieces of the ceiling up and away from her face; her bloodied face… gods she looked gruesome. Ruhn carefully started removing the debris threatening to crush her whole. As soon as the weight was gone her arms fell to the ground, still shaking with exhaustion from the effort. His eyes looked over her, scanning for any other injuries. And then he saw it; her leg was pinned, crushed under the beam that had fallen.
“No…” the word a blaring siren in his mind. He went to call Athalar but saw him leaving with a very shaken Bryce. Fuck it. He’d do it alone. He got into position to lift the rounded beam, holding it at its length but as soon as he tried to lift it, it rolled and he felt that vibration again, of her screaming. He realized that even if he could lift it (Y/N)’s current mental state would never allow her to move out from under it on her own. Ruhn tried to lift it vertically, positioning himself at the head of the beam; where it had detached from the ceiling. The beam budged and Ruhn grunted as he pushed it atop another pile of debris.
From her foot to mid thigh there was only blood, bone and gore. Her leg was destroyed; skin and muscle flattened, bones jutting out. Ruhn couldn't hear it over his afflicted ears, but it was clear she was delirious, her mouth open in pained moans. How had she not passed out from the pain? Ruhn wished she had as he picked her up. He wished he didn’t hear the world shattering scream that made its way past the ringing in his ear with every fraction of movement. He wished he didn’t feel how her nails dug into his arm and shoulder as her leg swung while he carried her out.
There were ambulances everywhere, that was never a good sign. In a city mostly populated by Vanir even one ambulance meant it was worse than they imagined, it was almost a rare sight, so much so that they were considered bad omens amongst certain groups. Ruhn didn’t want to even think about how many people had been hurt if they were here… how many had died. He went straight to one and stepped in, placing (Y/N) on the bed inside. A young healer, probably still in training by how old she looked, was just about to kick him out until she saw (Y/N)’s state, calling her colleagues to rush them away. Ruhn held her hand, a pang in his chest as she moaned out in pain. He used his free hand to caress the hair off her forehead, the drying blood caking on her scalp. “It’s gonna be ok! It’s gonna be ok.” He'd killed before. Had to, being head of the AUX came with that burden. But right now Ruhn found himself unable to breathe. He’d never seen any of his friends or family like this; in this kind of pain. It made him feel queasy inside. More than that, Ruhn felt dizzy, the wave of nausea that hit him was worse than any hang over he’d ever had. He swallowed down a mouthful of vomit and kept going telling her everything was going to be alright, not sure if even he believed it.
(Y/N) was a strong female, stubborn as Bryce if not more so and seeing her like this… something in him twisted and thrashed and shattered the longer he looked upon her.
Once they arrived at the hospital they took her to surgery, they’d probably have to use medicine and magic to make her whole again. Ruhn prayed to any gods listening that she would recover. That night he received a call from an unknown number and picked up against his better judgement. “Hello?”
“Hey…” Bryce sounded tired.
“Hey… where are you calling from?”
“I lost my phone at the club, Hunt let me borrow his I-” her voice broke, “is she ok? Is she ok, Ruhn? I- I saw you going to her and I don’t know what happened. I couldn’t move. Athalar practically carried me the entire way home…” He’d never seen Bryce break like this, not since that fight they had all those years ago… but she was only a child then.
“She’s been in surgery for almost six hours now, they said they’d let me see her when she’s out and in recovery… they won’t give me any status updates or when to expect her to be out of surgery. But they said to stay optimistic; all major organs are still functioning.”
He heard her trying to steady her breathing on the other side of the phone, “good...good. I’ll come by tomorrow, just-” another breath, “keep me updated? Text this number with any news.”
“You got it, Bryce. Are you ok?”
She snorted, “I’m fine. Apparently Athalar is a mother hen.” That made Ruhn chuckle, he hated Athalar’s guts but if he was being forced by Micah to keep his sister safe then he’d take it. Bryce yawned on her end, “food is here… keep me updated. Night.”
“Night, Bryce,” he hung up the phone, sighing and putting his head in his hands. Out of all the shit that’d gone down today, at least Bryce was talking to him. She had called him for fucks sake, even if it was for (Y/N). He hated his father for wrecking their relationship, and hated that he let it happen. Ruhn rubbed his forearms where tattoos now covered most of the burn scars, feeling them prickling at the memories of all the times he did try to defy his father… by the time Bryce came into the picture, he had no fight left.
“You’re not gonna like this…” Ruhn’s greeting wasn’t warm by any means as he approached Bryce and Hunt in the waiting room of the hospital, but the situation was more serious than he’d initially thought. Hunt prompted Ruhn to continue as they walked down to where (Y/N) was being held. ‘Held,’ because he knew if it were up to her she’d be home. Ruhn practically held her down when she woke up that morning and stopped her from ripping out her IV.
After shooting down Athalar’s idea that Briggs may be involved, Ruhn told them about the logo; how it looked like a horn.“All signs point to the human rebels. The bomb was smuggled into the club through some new exploding liquid hidden in a delivery of wine. They left a calling card on the crate; their own logo.”
He paused outside of (Y/N)’s room, turning to Bryce with a serious expression as he informed her that the Autumn King found out he had involved her in his hunt for the horn and now required her to have a body guard 24/7. The speed with which Bryce shot down the idea of having him stay with her hurt Ruhn in a sensitive spot he usually forgot he had; when she was quick to accept Hunt fucking Athalar as her fierce protector, that spot felt like a twist in his gut.
“Does he know (Y/N)’s involved?” She asked.
“No…. I- I don’t think so. He didn’t say anything about her,” Bryce sighed at his answer. Seemingly satisfied she strode into the room (Y/N) was recovering in, taking no time to embrace the female in the hospital bed.
Ruhn still had to school his face into neutrality as he laid eyes on her. Despite having had watched her all night he couldn’t stand the sight of her; split lip, stapled scalp, stitches above her brow and by her hairline near her left ear. Green and purple blotches of bruises all over her face, arms and he was sure they only got worse under the hospital gown. The doctors had told him they had to administer copious amounts of healing ointments and other magic to refuse her broken bones. Many of which had to be rebroken several times because they’d fused incorrectly. Her muscles had finally stabilized enough for her to keep the limb. At one point in the middle of the night they asked him if he would consider allowing them to amputate the limb, allowing her body to grow a new one. Ruhn had yelled at them, telling them he’d pay whatever was necessary but that they’d put her back together that same night or else.
Her leg still looked bruised and she was wearing a brace; the sleek skin and defined muscle tone gone. He stared at it until he dozed off at some point, waking up to alarming beeps coming from the machines she was connected to when she started yanking wires off. He’d kept her from standing and convinced her to stay, on the condition that they wouldn’t attach her to anything and that she wouldn’t stay more than another day. He’d convince her to stay another day if needed but he took what he could get.
He watched as the two females hugged each other; their shoulders shaking with their sobs. He nodded for Hunt to step out and give the girls some privacy. The males went to the cafeteria where Ruhn told Hunt everything his team from the Aux had found, showing him the camera footage  they recovered.
Bryce was over two hours late for work when she got a call from Jessiba asking of her whereabouts. She texted Ruhn from Hunt’s phone, telling the males to get their asses back to (Y/N)’s room and that she needed to go. Once the two males walked in, she wasted no time, “Why were you at the Raven yesterday?” She asked Ruhn. Making sure she had Hunt’s phone and her keys.
Ruhn hesitated, “I wanna check out your boss’ library.”
(Y/N), Bryce and Hunt put on the most confused and innocent faces, “what library?” Bryce mused.
“The one everyone says is beneath the gallery,” Ruhn said, matter of factly.
“First I’ve heard of it,” Hunt offered, innocently.
“Fuck off, Athalar,” Ruhn rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. (Y/N) remained quiet; no quips or comments. Bryce made a point of giving him a hard time. “I want to look at the books there,” Ruhn pushed. “To see if anything about the horn jumps out.” Was he… pulling rank, with that tone? “I’ve been through the Fae archives twice and just kept thinking about the gallery. So maybe there’s something there.”
“I searched it twice, there’s nothing in there about the horn beyond vague mentions,” Bryce sighed, tired.
Ruhn smirked and she wanted to punch his teeth out, “so you admit there’s a library?” Bryce frowned but then smirked.
She offered Ruhn a bargain; access to the library for Declan Emmet’s tech knowledge. Ruhn accepted, easily. Bryce and Hunt left soon after, Bryce kissing (Y/N)’s head and promising to come by later.
“Tell your daddy we say ‘hello!’” Bryce smiled and then scowled, “and that he can go fuck himself,” she closed the door. They were alone again, but she was more awake now… more alert. Aware of what happened and what he did and yet, she was quiet. He hadn’t seen her this quiet since she decided to stop speaking to him entirely, less than a week after he started avoiding her calls and texts after overlooking her for a higher position at the AUX. Ruhn was lost; he had no idea what to say.
“Uh… do you need anything?”
“I’m fine,” she answered nonchalantly, “bored as Hel but fine.”
Ruhn’s phone rang and he answered without checking the caller ID, “yeah?” He tensed at his father’s voice on the other end.
“Is that how you speak to your king? Since you couldn’t stop yourself from revealing my business I wish to make one thing clear regarding the horn; I don’t want the angels getting it.”
“Fine,” he replied through gritted teeth. If he got his hands on that damn horn he’d make sure it went back to the temple, and he sure wasn’t above paying for 24/7 guards himself if it meant his father didn’t touch it. Ruhn turned away from (Y/N) for a moment, facing the large window in her room.
“Keep an eye on that girl.”
“You, as crowned prince, revealed the secrets of your king to the girl and Athalar. I have every right to punish you for this, you know?” Ruhn let himself remember past punishments; his forearms prickling. Then he let himself fantasize about how he’d love to be stripped of that title; Crowned Prince. How he wanted to break every tie with his father. Then the Oracle’s words echoed in his mind…
The royal bloodline shall end with you, Prince
His shoulders tensed and his shadows swirled, "Unfortunately, the punishment you deserve would render you unable to look for the horn.”
“I’ll take a rain check then,” his father grunted out a sigh and Ruhn hung up.
(Y/N) gave him a moment to take in what was obviously a tense and overall unpleasant conversation. He could feel her eyes on him. Once his shadows had calmed, she asked, “everything ok?”
“Peachy,” he didn’t turn to look at her, “I need some air.”
“Hey! What about me? You made me stay here and now you’re leaving? If I have to stay here, so do you. If you walk out that door for something other than the bathroom, I'm leaving AMA!”
Ruhn curled his knuckles, tensing every muscle in his body, counted to five then relaxed them, “fine.” He opened the window as much as it would go and sat by it. “You know what? No,” he got up, “this couch is uncomfortable, move over.” He sat on the hospital bed and kicked his shoes off, laying next to her.
“Hey!” She growled at him but he ignored her, fidgeting with the tv remote.
They spent the day like that; watching tv, playing cards and snapping at each other. They tried not to talk about the bombing, about what was happening in this city but they kept wandering back to it as more updates pinged on their phones, mostly Ruhn’s since Dec and Flynn were investigating and giving him a play by play. Ruhn forced (Y/N) to eat both lunch and dinner, she claimed hospital food was horrid and that she wasn’t hungry but Ruhn knew just the thing. He had Dec drop off some food from her favorite restaurant, he’d hopped it was still her favorite, and she’d torn into it just like he’d hoped she would. Like he used to watch her do…
A nurse came in to help her use the bathroom throughout the day and then at night to help her shower. She showered sitting down but was just glad to get to rinse off from everything that’s happened. As they were getting ready to go to sleep a healer walked in, a tall blonde male.
“I’m sorry about the late hour, I just got out of surgery and my shift is over but, I wanted to see how you were doing.” He proceeded to do a few checks on her, having her sit and moving her leg around. Then having her lay on her back as he pushed her leg up against her chest. Ruhn looked away most of the time; something about her being touched that way, bent that way, didn’t sit right with him. “Would you be comfortable sleeping with the brace off?”
“Yes, please!” (Y/N) smiled.
The doctor chuckled at her enthusiasm, “don’t put weight on it until I come see you in the morning. If you need help using the restroom, call for staff or ask your friend.” He gestured to Ruhn.
(Y/N) looked ready to tell the healer they were not friends when Ruhn spoke up, “I’ve got her, she’s stubborn but she’ll do anything to get out of here as soon as possible. Any chance we can leave tomorrow?”
The healer thought about it for a moment, “if she does well with the assessment tomorrow and promises to attend physical therapy everyday for a week after discharge then… I’ll make it happen.”
The look of relief on (Y/N)’s face was bliss.
Ruhn took her ankle in his hand, her leg had healed beautifully; not a scar in sight. He knelt before her as she sat on the bed, legs dangling off the gurney. He gently held her ankle, still examining it. He liked how it felt to hold her ankle; intimate. He looked up at her through his lashes.
“Yes?” She asked, brow raised.
“Spit it out Danaan. I’m not staying here another day.” She crossed her arms but Ruhn didn’t respond.
After a minute he looked down at her leg again, moving it side to side, “this hurt?” She shook her head, “this?” He asked, stretching her leg. Another head shake. He lifted her leg up towards her chest, “and this?”
“Shouldn’t a recovery healer be doing this?”
“You declined further intervention.”
Ruhn sighed and let her leg relax, still kneeling before her and still holding onto her ankle.
He was frustrated… in more ways than one. Ruhn looked up at her again and slowly, so slowly, kissed her ankle, never breaking eye contact.
“What are you doing?” His grip tightened as she jerked her leg on instinct from the contact of his lips to her skin. He kissed higher. “Ruhn?!” He kissed her calf, “Ruhn!” He closed his eyes and kissed above her knee, “Ruhn…” her voice became breathless and he kissed her mid thigh. He was so close, so close to tasting her; he’d fantasized about it before, when they were close. He kept kissing up her thigh until—
“RUHN?” Her voice was whiny, “RUHN!”
Ruhn opened his eyes as he feels a sharp jab to the ribs, “you’re squishing me! Move your butt.” She elbows him in the ribs again, “if you keep rolling onto me I’ll make you go back to the couch.” She was half asleep and no less demanding than when she was awake. Ruhn rolled over on his side so his back was facing her. He closed his eyes, taking deep breaths; trying to ignore her scent in his nose and the hard on in his pants.
Her leg felt fine, albeit sore. The healer put different pressures on several different spots and walked her through some strengthening exercises, “so… when can I be discharged, again?”
“I have my staff prepping the paperwork right now,” he put her leg back down and helped her stand; first only on her good leg, then slowly putting weight on the other. “Steady?”
“Yep!” she bounced lightly from foot to foot, making the healer cringe a bit.
“No running or carrying anything heavy until our follow up next week,” he gave her a piece of paper, “this is where you’ll go for physical therapy. I know this seems like I’m trying to prolong your recovery but I just want to make sure there’s nothing wrong. There were extensive repairs done to your leg, if there are any kinks, it’s best to catch them early and fix them before they cause any damage.”
(Y/N) sighed but nodded, “I understand.”
As if on cue, the female who’d helped her void and bathe walked in with a stack of paperwork and a bag, “a Flynn dropped some clothes off for you?” she posed the sentence as a question, as if making sure she knew about it or at least the person who’d brought it in.
“Yes, thank you,” she looked to Ruhn then and let a small smile grace her face. He’d gotten her clean clothes.
In less than 30 minutes she was walking out of the hospital in a brand new outfit, when Ruhn put a hand on her shoulder, “what?!”
“Bryce is on the phone, she wants to talk to you. She’s on the other side of the facility trying to check in and they told her you checked out.”
(Y/N) groaned and took the phone, continuing to walk, her gait uneven, “I got discharged and I cannot go back in there, can you meet at the coffee shop down the street? I’ll buy you the biggest latte.”
Silence. And then, “I was going to yell at you for not letting me know that you got discharged but a latte is worth forgiving for. See you there.”
“Is your sexy shadow still with you?” (Y/N) smirked, knowing Athalar could probably hear her even without fae hearing. She was sure Ruhn could hear as he huffed out a grunt and (probably) rolled his eyes.
Bryce replied, “is prince ‘stick-up-his-ass’ still following you around like a puppy?”
“More like a stalker, but yeah.”
Bryce snorted, “this will be fun.”
“See ya!” Bryce hung up and (Y/N) pressed Ruhn’s phone into his chest, letting him fumble for it as she let it go and walked towards the coffee shop.
Ruhn cleared his throat as he caught up to her, “I thought you swore off males after Micah.”
“I remember you telling me that you swore of dating after ‘wasting a decade on Micah,’” Ruhn air quoted.
“And you’re bringing this up because…?”
He shrugged, “you said Athalar was…” the word was like poison to him, she smirked waiting for him to finish, “sexy.”
(Y/N) weighed her options: she could wave him off or gush over Athalar to gauge his reaction. Her choice? Secret option number three, “I can look at the menu, I just can’t order. And Athalar looks fucking delicious.” The comment was worth it by the disgusted look on Ruhn’s face alone, his shudder was an added bonus.
Ruhn didn’t say anything else until they arrived at the coffee shop, only speaking to place his order which (Y/N) definitely did not notice was still the same.
She greeted Bryce with a large latte with lots of whipped cream and caramel which caused the redhead to squeal and hug her before going all ‘mother hen’ and checking her over from head to toe. “Are you actually ok?”
(Y/N) sighed and nodded, “good as new. I’ve got some PT to do and these staples come out in a few days,” she gestures to her head, “but I should be cleared for everything by next week. I’m just glad to be out of that damn hospital. And as of this second, Ruhn can get off my ass.”
“You’re the one who said, ‘if I have to stay here, so do you. If you walk out that door for something other than the bathroom, I'm leaving AMA!’” Ruhn said in a high pitched voice.
“Is that supposed to be me? I don’t sound like that.”
“Annoying and whiney? Yes you do. And I spent two days in that damn hospital for you, a little less hostility would be nice. Maybe a ‘thank you’ kiss?” He smirks, leaning in and tapping his cheek with a finger.
(Y/N) took a deep breath, counting to ten.
“Wow,” Bryce chuckled, “she hasn’t had to count to ten like that since we had that fucking physics professor when she started taking night classes at CCU.”
(Y/N) started counting from the top. Nice, deep breaths.
Bryce wasted no time looping her arm through (Y/N)’s and waltzing out of the coffee shop, leaving Ruhn to walk with Athalar. If walking about three steps ahead of the angel while they both did their best to ignore one another, counted as ‘walking together.’
The library hidden beneath the gallery made even his father’s personal collection laughable.
“So… Prince,” Lehabah batted her fiery eyelashes, “did all your piercings hurt?” (Y/N) held in a laugh, making the sprite flash pink.
“Uh…yeah? Kinda. I’ve got a high tolerance for pain, I’d say. So it wasn’t too bad.” He sat down at the large table, Bryce typing on her laptop and Athalar flipping through an old tome. (Y/N) made her way towards the doll-sized fainting couch Lehabah was now laying on, leaning on the desk and looking over the sprite’s shoulder at the screen playing some sort of romantic show.
“So, you gonna look around or sit there and gawk?” Bryce snorted, Hunt tried to hold in a snicker.
Ruhn glared at the winged male, “what are you doing?”
“Researching the Krystallos. I’ve killed about a dozen type 6 demons over the centuries and I want to see if there are any similarities.”
“Is the Krystallos a type 6?”
“I’m assuming it is; type 7 is only for the princes themselves, and given what this thing can do? I bet it could be deemed a 6. I haven’t seen any similarities though.”
Bryce then came up with the idea to look for the Krystallos in ancient art, fingers flying over her keyboard. He had to admit it, his sister was smart. He’d always known it but Ruhn couldn’t recall telling it to her face even once. He watched as she continued to type, laser focused, before turning it to Hunt, who started looking through the results.
Lehabah sighed from her little couch and looked to Ruhn, “I’ve never met a prince before…” her voice, breathy and flirty.
“Shhhh!” (Y/N) shushed the sprite, seemingly invested on that show. Was that moaning?
“They’re overrated,” Ruhn answered.
Lehabah looked ready to swoon as she asked, “what’s it like? To be the chosen one?”
“Boring. Beyond the star sword and some party tricks… there’s not much to it.”
“Can I see the star sword?”
“I left it at home. I didn’t feel like having to deal with tourists stopping me on every block waiting to take pictures.”
(Y/N) snorted. “Poor little prince,” Bryce said in a baby voice, to which Athalar hummed, pleased.
“You got something to say, Athalar?!”
“She said it all,” the calm and swagger in the angel’s voice made Ruhn’s blood boil a few degrees higher and he growled. (Y/N), seemingly tired of not being able to focus on her show, went to browse one of the shelves.
“What’s the deal with you two?” Bryce asked.
“Oh! Do tell!” Lehabah paused her show, seemingly more interested in the answer to Bryce’s question.
“What?” Ruhn asked, “(Y/N) and I?”
Bryce smirked, "she's more my friend now than she was yours. If you think I don’t know what happened then you’re dumber than I thought. I meant you two!” She pointed between him and the angel. Ruhn didn’t know how he felt about anyone knowing about his history with (Y/N), especially his sister.
“We beat the shit out of each other at a party. Danaan’s still sore about it,” Hunt answered.
“Why’d you fight?” Bryce’s shit eating grin grew as she asked.
“Because he’s an arrogant asshole!”
“Likewise,” Hunt retorted, his grin matching Bryce’s.
Bryce looked to Lehabah, “boys and their pissing contests.”
“Not nearly as advanced as us ladies,” Lehabah winked.
Both males rolled their eyes.
“Well cousin, have at it. Let your star-born powers guide you to enlightenment.”
“Funny,” but Ruhn went to the shelves, and it didn’t take long for him to become aware of the fact that (Y/N) was moving with him. Well, opposite him was more like it. He moved right, she moved left, as if trying to keep a maximum distance between them at all times in the circular library.
(Y/N) was too aware of the prince’s presence for her own liking. It wasn’t for a while until she finally noticed that she’d been moving opposite him. She took a deep breath and went behind a few more shelves and started looking at the books. What was she even looking for?! She was an agent, yes. But demons? And what about Bryce? What did her friend know about any of this? She had a bad feeling in her gut and she couldn’t place it. Maybe the bombing had shaken her more than she wanted to admit but she’d never back down from a case…. Ever. Especially not this one.
A book rattled over her head and she backed up, straight into Ruhn’s chest. “Sorry…” he was on his way to get a ladder when the tome fluttered off the shelf, onto (Y/N)’s head and landed on the floor with a loud thunk!
“Is everything ok over there?” Bryce called out, “please do not get me fired!”
“Everything’s fine!” (Y/N) answered and walked away before Ruhn finished picking up the green tome. She kept walking, scanning the books, wandering further and further from the others and deeper into the library.
“You sure that start-born power isn’t for finding smut?” She heard Bryce laugh, telling the sprite it sounded like something she’d read. Lehabah was not well pleased.
“I will!” Ruhn said defensively.
(Y/N) then got out of ear shot. She realized she’d made it back to the stairs that lead up to the gallery and to the exit. She sighed, pondering if she should just leave. She didn’t feel like being here, not at all. She wanted to go home and have a proper shower. Wear her own clothes, not mall bought stuff that was a near miss on her size. She wanted to lay down and process the last three days. She wanted a lot of things… mostly to be alone for a while.
She stared at the dimly lit steps as she zoned out.
A hand on her shoulder pulled her back from her zoned out state. “(Y/N)?” She jumped away from Ruhn, “sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. What’s your email?”
She lifted a brow, “you have my email.”
“No. I have your work email. I don’t want information about this case to be linked to the AUX. It’s too easy to track.”
“And you think someone will ping it?”
“We’re not exactly advertising the fact that Bryce was tasked to look for the horn,” he sounded frustrated.
“Or that your daddy’s making you his sniffer dog,” she smirked.
“Can you stop being a bitch and give me your email?!” He regretted the words she knew. He startled himself as he said them; his eyes going wide, regret swirling within them.
Before he could apologize she rattled off her email and walked away, “trained mongrel,” she threw over her shoulder. She sat next to Bryce, across from Hunt, pulling out an old laptop Bryce kept at the gallery as a back up and scanning the list of Danika’s whereabouts that Ruhn had sent her.
Ruhn parked his ass in the chair next to hers.
“Any good sex scenes yet?” Bryce asked the prince. He didn’t answer, “Ruhn?”
“Danaan!” Hunt called out… nothing.
(Y/N) gave his shoulder a soft smack to which the prince finally lifted his head. He went on to explain his findings about Theia and Lady Helena and their connection to Pelias and the Horn.
“Does it tell us how to fix it?” (Y/N) cut his rambling short, “the history of it all is useless if it’s broken and can’t be fixed. Why would someone want a broken relic? Besides your daddy of course,” she smirked.
Ruhn growled, low, “would you let me finish?” (Y/N) shrugged, “as I was saying; it says that’s why the Prince of the Pitt had to steal Pelias’ blood to make the Krystallos to hunt the horn. It contained that essence. I think the horn could be wielded by any of them though.”
Hunt lifted a single dark eyebrow, “but if the Prince of the Pitt had gotten his hands on the horn, he wouldn’t be able to use it unless he had a star-born fae to operate it… even if whoever’s looking for the horn now finds it, they’d have to use you.”
Ruhn hummed, “but let’s not forget that whoever is summoning the demon to track the horn and kill these people doesn’t have the horn. Someone else stole it. So essentially we’re looking for two different people; the killer and whoever has the horn.”
“Well, the horn is broken anyway,” Bryce commented.
“Permanent broken, apparently,” he tapped the book, “it says here that once it was cracked, the fae claimed it could only be repaired by ‘light that is not light. Magic that is not magic.’ Basically a convoluted way of saying ‘there’s no chance in Hel of it ever working again!’”
(Y/N) responded sarcastically, “so when I asked you if it told us how to fix it, you could’ve just said ‘no’ instead of growling like an alphahole.”
“Possessive and aggressive. The ladies here use the term to describe males who are ready to get into a fight at any moment, know how to kill people in more than one way and who are so good looking that females are falling over themselves for them.” Athalar gave Bryce a smirk to which she rolled her eyes at. “Did I get it?”
“That is not how I described it,” she said.
“Oh right!” Hunt continued, “I forgot the part about how we ‘alpha-holes’ go into a ‘mating frenzy,’ whatever that means, once we ‘finally bang a female’ and refuse to let her have a life,” he looked to Bryce, “did I get that part right, sweetheart?”
“Close enough,” Bryce caved, then growled, “and don’t call me sweetheart.”
Ruhn glanced between the two and then to (Y/N), “wait. So what I’m hearing is that you find me good looking?” He smirked.
She took a moment to look him over, “it’s not a prerequisite to be an alphahole but sure, you’re a generically attractive male. You’d have to be, to make up for the fact that you’ve got nothing going on upstairs… or down.”
“How would you know?!” He growled.
“The upstairs part? Because I work with you. The downstairs part…” her smirk was ferral, “females talk; I guess all that mirthroot makes you sleepy. So sleepy that you can’t even finish your job.”
Ruhn growled, ready to give her a retort when Bryce cut in, “can we please get back to the horn now?” (Y/N) kept her eyes on Ruhn but she could practically hear the eye roll in Bryce’s tone. She didn’t look away from Ruhn; smirking at his glowering face like children in a staring contest.
Hunt complied, “We need to find out why someone would want it, the horn. Your father wants it for what? Some fae PR campaign about the ‘good old days of fae-dom?”
“Basically, yeah.” Ruhn caved and looked away first, “the fae have been declining, according to him, for the past several thousand years. He claims our ancestors could burn entire forests to ash with half a thought, while he could torch a grove and not much more. It drives him nuts that my chosen one powers are not much more than a kernel” Ruhn offered.
“My own father never had a lick of interest in me for the same reason,” (Y/N) knew Bryce didn’t like talking about her father. Knew it was a sore spot, so she offered her friend a gentle look. I’m here, Bryce, it said. And I don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks.
“Especially after your visit to the Oracle,” Ruhn commented.
Hunt lifted his brows at Bryce and she answered his stare.
“It’s a long story.” she pulled the book Ruhn was reading over to herself and skimmed a few pages, “this whole section is about your fancy Avallen cousins. Shadow walking, mind reading… I’m surprised they don’t claim they’re starborn”
“They wish they were, they’re a bunch of pricks” Ruhn huffed.
(Y/N) vaguely recalled him, Flynn and Dec telling her about their ordeal. “No mind reading for you?” Bryce asked.
“It’s mind speaking and it has nothing to do with the star born stuff, or this case”
“What if we ask the Oracle about the horn?” Hunt “maybe she can see why someone would want a broken relic.”
“We’d be better off going to the mystics” Bryce strained, (Y/N) and Ruhn followed.
“The mystics are some dark, fucked up shit. We’ll try the Oracle first,” Hunt pressed.
“Well I’m not going” Bryce decided, crossing her arms.
“Because of what happened at your visit?”
“Right,” she gave Athalar a big, toothy, fake smile.
“You go then” Ruhn suggested, a little more heated than he probably intended. (Y/N) tried to hide her smirk, knowing his rising ire was partially her doing.
“You had a bad experience too, Danaan?”
“No, thank you,” she gave him an innocent little smile.
“Fine assholes, I’ll go. I’ve never been. It always seemed too gimmicky.”
“You’ll need an appointment,” the female beside her pointed out.
Hunt’s phone rang, “I’ve gotta take this,” he walked up the stairs and out of the library and then out of the gallery.
(Y/N) gathered her things, “I’ve got an AUX meeting this afternoon, but I’ll touch base later ok?” She kissed Bryce’s head, “if Athalar is being a dick shoot me an email and I’ll come over with pizza and we can watch that male stripper movie at top volume.”
“I’ve gotta head over to prepare for the meeting too, I’ll walk with you,” Ruhn offered, standing.
“I’m not going directly there, I’m taking the long way.”
“No,” she replied in a tone that made her reasons for taking a different route very clear.
Ruhn sat back down and (Y/N) walked out the same way Athalar had.
Ruhn watched (Y/N)’s hips sway as she climbed the steps.
“She never talks about it; what happened between you,” Bryce says, causing Ruhn to sigh and rub his temples. “Well… at least not after she vented that first time.”
“She never talks about it with me either.” And for a moment, Ruhn wished she would. He wished they could work all of this out and cut the tension. The dream he’d had at the hospital still floated around his head. He’d kept her at a distance, he shouldn’t complain about her doing the same, he concluded.
A cluster of AUX members, in uniform, undercover outfits and stealth suits filled the room, coffee cups and notepads in hand. Some alert, some half-asleep but the air hummed with low chatter.
At the front, Tristan Flynn takes the podium, Ruhn being late, as always. Flynn slams a folder onto the podium and the room quiets. “Morning, people. Sit tight—no donuts until I’m done,” he points at a squad leader who’s about to take an enormous bite from a jelly filled doughnut, “I see you, Janice.” He brings his focus back to the center of the room, “we’ve got a mixed bag today, so listen close.” He flips open the folder, scanning the contents inside. (Y/N) rolls her eyes, Flynn does this often. As Ruhn’s right hand he takes the lead when Ruhn can’t, which would be fine if it was a rare occurrence. Ruhn Danaan is chronically late, not five minutes late, but twenty to an hour. This meeting for example? She’d been sitting there thirty two minutes before Flynn finally decided to get things moving. If Ruhn were anyone else, he’d been thrown off his fragile AUX throne a long time ago, she knew.
“Alright. Task one—Detectives Vega and Monroe. You’re going in the field at The Raven, they’re removing debris and we need to make sure that if anything important gets uncovered we’re the first to know. Red Squad is going undercover at Duke’s. Now that The Raven is gone, other clubs will fill up, Duke’s is the next most popular. Narcotics tip-off says they’re funneling product through the kitchen staff, more buisness means more clients, better chance for us to catch them. Janice? Try not to let your rookie blow your cover in the first ten minutes this time.”
The rookie, Nox raises his hand and Flynn points to him, “That hostess was very convincing.” Nox flashes a lady killer smile and the room chuckles. Flynn shoots him a look.
“Convince her on your own time. Moving on,” he flips another sheet. “Patrol Officers—” before Flynn can finish the door is swung open in a careless manner, Ruhn pauses as he walks in, only long enough to notice all the heads have whipped towards him. He clears his throat and goes to the podium. There’s a hushed conversation that not even Fae ears can pick up before Flynn points to the pages resting on the podium and leaves to take a seat next to Dec.
“Patrol Officers, Kim and Alvarez—you’re on traffic control in the Central Business District,” Ruhn starts. “Big tech conference this week. Every CEO with an ego the size of a blimp is in town. Keep traffic flowing and make sure no one double-parks their Bentley. There are two road closures for this event so keep them closed and keep things moving. Take your teams with you, if you need more people give me a ring.”
“So, babysitting millionaires’ toys. Got it,” Kim jokes, Alvarez winks and answers.
“More like babysitting the teens going for joy rides while rich daddy is in a meeting,” the room chuckles.
Ruhn chuckles too, despite himself, then adds, “Smile while you do it. Cameras are everywhere,” he flips another page. “Detective Shaw. You’ve got the missing persons case. Twenty-year-old college kid, last seen outside the subway station. Family’s raising hell, media’s sniffing around. Handle it quietly, but fast.”
Shaw raises his hand, “could this be connected to all these murders happening?” (Y/N) tensed and she could see Ruhn calculating his response.
“No. We’ve determined that this is a separate case. Whoever is committing those murders is leaving the remains behind, as long as we test it we know who the victim was. We’ve tested all remains and got pings on all of them, this college kid was not a victim.”
Shaw nods, “on it, Chief.”
Ruhn closes the file with a snap and looks at the room, avoiding (Y/N)’s gaze. He hasn’t assigned her yet… “And for the rest of the squads; Blue and Yellow—yes, we still have a string of bike thefts in the park. Don’t roll your eyes, Jenkins, I saw that. The commissioner’s nephew lost his precious mountain bike yesterday, so suddenly it’s a priority.”
Jenkins laughs, “great. I’ll stake out the jungle gym.”
More laughter erupts and Ruhn lets it ride for a beat. “Alright, enough comedy hour. Undercover work, missing persons, traffic wars, and yes, bikes. You’ve got your marching orders. Don’t screw them up. If you didn’t get an assignment continue working on the one you have. And remember, half the city thinks we’re heroes, half thinks we’re villains. Let’s prove the first half right.” Ruhn then opens the file one last time and reads something on the page, “(Y/N),” she straightens, his eyes finally landing on her, “parking duty, Old Square. DISMISSED!” He grabs his coffee and turns to leave, weaving through officers and going out the same door he came in. Flynn and Dec follow close behind.
The officers and detectives give her a sideways glance then scatter, some energized, some groaning but all making their way to the coffees and doughnuts. All except for (Y/N), she stands up and follows the Frat Pack, catching the door behind them before it can even shut. The door leads to the stairs connecting all the floors, she looks over the railing to see the three males practically jumping over the flights of stairs, already two levels down. She attaches her retractable hook and cable to the railing and jumps down, swinging so she lands at the bottom of the steps four levels down. The males stop in their tracks, one flight of stairs between her and them. “DANNAN!” She yells and retracts her hook, the cable retracting back into her belt.
Dec goes down the stairs, “that’s all you, Ruhn. Hi (Y/N),” he dips his head as he passes her, continuing the long walk down.
Flynn chuckles and claps Ruhn's shoulder before following Dec, “good luck.” He bows to (Y/N), “scary lady,” and moves past her but her eyes remain on Ruhn.
Ruhn descends the steps and goes to put his hands on her shoulders but she backs away on instinct. “You asked to be in on a big case. A case the AUX doesn’t even know we’re on! I needed to give you a cover.”
“Parking duty?” She growls and crosses her arms, not believing the audacity of this male. She’d known him and his friends had bull shit cases to cover up bigger ones but never something as degrading. Parking duty was given to agents who misbehaved or to rookies they didn’t have a place for yet. Putting her on parking duty was a bigger slap in the face than what he’d done at the club all those years ago. Bigger than getting passed as his right hand.
“Yes. Parking duty. It’s simple and safe and no one will bat an eye.”
“Except they did! They all looked at me but you were too busy trying to leave to notice! They gave me the ‘what did she do,’ look. Parking duty is degrading and you did it on purpose!”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Ruhn raises his voice, getting defensive.
“You want me to feel small. You did it to undermine me, AGAIN!”
“Don’t you think you’re overreacting? Just a little?”
“I’m tired of pretending that everything is fine. Everything is not fine.” She sighs, exasperated, “I never thought I’d say this to my boss but- I deserve more. I deserve better; better pay, better status, better title. I deserve more respect than you can probably muster for me. And I’m sick and tired of lying over the wire and letting everyone else crawl over me!”
“Can you just calm down a sec? I do respect you-”
“And you’re a good agent.”
“I’m a great agent, Ruhn.”
“If you’re upset about your pay then we can go to my office and talk about that. I know the holiday bonus wasn’t that big last year but that’s because the city cut some funding, I’m working on it. And you’re still healing! You shouldn’t even be on a case!” He reasoned but it was nothing more than an excuse.
(Y/N) just stared at him, at those beautiful blue eyes that seemed to stir with purple hues. She looked at him, really looked at him. Probably for the first time since that night. And she saw… she felt… nothing. There was nothing there. Well, there was longing and lust and maybe even something that could’ve been love but… it was nothing. He’d never be the male she wanted. Much less the male she needed. Ruhn Dannan, Crowned Prince of the Valbaran Fae didn’t have the balls to step up and be that male. So it was time that he sat down. Time he got out of line. Time she let him go.
“Then tell me what need!”
She looked down and shook her head, “I quit,” she fished her AUX ID from her belt along with her badge, holding them both out to him.
She couldn’t be serious, could she? Quitting over parking duty?
Ruhn supposed it was quite degrading, especially to an officer of her ranking. Even if she had done something wrong he’d probably give her paperwork, not public humiliation. He’d never make the guys wear that ridiculous bright pink vest, he didn’t know why he’d done it. When he’d decided it, he truly believed it was a good cover, it’s not like they had any other cases to hide behind right now. Maybe he should’ve thought about it longer, made something up…
He realized he’d been frozen, that he hadn’t spoken in a while. Long enough for her to interject his thoughts. When Ruhn did try to speak though, nothing came out. What could he say? Nothing that could make this better, that’s for sure. He knew (Y/N) well enough to know she was a stubborn creature, that once she made up her mind there was nothing stopping her. And he also knew that she didn’t do things on a whim; her moves and decisions were calculated. If she was quitting then she’d been thinking about it for a long time. “You just got back to work…” sure. That sounded good enough. But the female before him kept her gaze at his chest, hand stretched out, holding her ID and badge. “We need you, ok? You’re a fucking amazing agent. If you leave I’ll need at least three people to fill your role.”
Her gaze turned to him again, sad, but decided, “that’s not my problem.” Then she let the badge and ID drop to the floor and descended another floor, walking through the door, probably to take the elevator at the front of the building.
Ruhn stood there, frozen for several moments before cursing and punching the wall, it cracked, only slightly. The bigger crack came from his hand. He cursed event more colorfully and picked up (Y/N)’s things with his left hand, pocketing them and going down to meet Dec and Flynn.