Read Online The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) by Stacey Marie Brown - Free Book Online Page A

color coated the steep peaks and valleys
as we made our way back to the river later that evening.
    I was glad Sprig stayed back in the room. The TV
worked, although it only showed three channels. One of them was a
Spanish soap opera channel. We handed him a bag of honey roasted
cashews, and he didn’t even look up when we said goodbye.
    Yes, I was using TV as a babysitter. A sitter for my
narcoleptic, monkey-sprite who was ADD and had a honey
addiction.
    I was all right with that.
    Ryker’s body was tense and on guard, clenching
tighter the closer we got. My hand kept reaching for my fae gun,
which no longer hung off my belt. I missed it. Though I didn’t want
to collect fae anymore, I missed the rush the chase had given me.
When I quit street fighting, becoming a Collector was a close
substitute. I was trained to go in and expect the unexpected. But
we went in knowledgeable of the fae we were hunting, the area we
were in, and planned exit strategies and backups if we needed.
    This was different. We were going in blind and
unfamiliar with the area. Ryker and I did a little investigating,
and he lent me two of his daggers. But those we were meeting and
how many would be there were complete mysteries.
    While traveling with Ryker during the last month, I
noticed he didn’t seem to trust most fae and now seemed
apprehensive about this meeting. Another thing we had in common,
but we couldn’t pass up this chance.
    The last bit of sunlight slipped below the horizon,
shading everything in a purple hue. There were no streetlights and
few buildings out here, intensifying the darkening sky.
    Ryker reached over and swung his axe out of the
holder. My legs scrambled to keep up with his strides, my boots
striking the loose gravel. Flip-flops were never good when you
needed to fight or run. He glanced over his shoulder, frowning at
my trampling feet.
    “What? I’ve got tiny legs compared to you.”
    He didn’t turn back around, but his free hand found
mine and pulled me to him as we walked. “Stay close to me
tonight.”
    I could protect myself, but I also wasn’t a fool.
Daniel had drilled into me not to let my ego get the better of me.
Or do anything stupid because I was trying to prove something. You
worked as a team, highlighting each other’s strengths. This was
Ryker’s lead, but I would have his back.
    Hopefully, we were simply being paranoid, and it
would not come to any kind of altercation. I mean, shamans were
healers and usually known to be peaceful, herb-smoking
spiritualists. If anything, we should have brought Cheetos.
    We stepped off the path where we met with the river
fairies earlier. The water was vacant of human or fae. Ryker kept
his hand tight around mine but scanned the area continuously.
    “She was speaking the truth. It really is you,
Wanderer.” A man’s gruff voice came from the shadows, and a figure
moved from behind a tree, followed by a trail of cigarette smoke
billowing around his shape. “I thought there was no way the
Wanderer would be caught in these parts again. Not after last
time.”
    Last time?
    Ryker released my hand and took a slight step in
front of me. “And I thought after last time, you’d be long gone,
Arlo. Need another reminder?”
    The figure wore black jeans and T-shirt, and it took
everything I had not to retreat with a gasp. Arlo’s face was
punctured with deep scars in a zigzag pattern from the middle of
his head down his face. The injury puffed up like a long mountain
range. Hair no longer grew from where the scar began, leaving a
white discolored bald spot on top of his head trailing down to his
forehead. His wide-set, beady black eyes glinted in the dark, and
his upper jaw didn’t seem to line up with the lower one. He was
frightening to look at. Not all fae were good looking, and he
definitely fell at the far end of the spectrum. He was tall, but
Ryker still towered over him, and his frame was thin, though he
possessed a power I could not ignore.
    “Except you were