Bound by Faerie: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Stolen Magic Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

you to it." I stared at her, and she added, "Get him to take you home with him."
    I leaned back in my chair, seeing where this was going and rejecting it outright . "I don't people."
    "That's perfectly fine, because, as I said, he's fae."
    I gestured between us. "This thing we're doing right now—with the talking—this is as good as my social skills get. "
    Ava waved that fact away . "You talk greedy fae into handing over objects they don't want to part with every day as part of your job!"
    "And I pride myself on not bringing my work home with me." Seriously. Bringing dangerous enchanted objects around Phoebe was a horrible idea. She either saw it as a weapon for her latest prank, or as a danger to her tree. Neither way went well. "Besides, if I fail at the talking thing, I can just take what I need, and have the backing of the bureau to do it. If they resist, I can fight them. I prefer the stealing, actually. It's fun to imagine the looks on their faces when they find their coveted widget is gone." I liked to leave a copy of the warrant in its place, nice and official-like. "Seriously, Ava, I can't do a job that depends on me talking."
    "Well, lucky for you, conversation is barely required ." She looked pointedly down at my breasts which were covered in a dark purple t-shirt. "Those, however, will have to be on their best behavior."
     

 
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
     
    This was not a plan I would have designed. I tried to come up with a reason not to trust Ava. Could she be leading me into some kind of trap? Was this a prank? Did Phoebe somehow contact Ava and set this up to make a fool out of me? None of that made sense; all of it felt like paranoia. Or excuses. Ava, unsettling as she could be, had always been good to me. But, seriously, there was nothing about this plan that wasn't awful. I was going to convince some important, rich, powerful guy we should have sex so he would take me back to his home and I could rob him.
    It was my job to recover dangerous magical objects, and something like half of those items were stolen. I punished thieves for a living. That fact was not lost on me. But, I had to do this. I needed that information to control my magic, so I wasn't a risk to the general public. Not killing people was way higher on the morals scale than not robbing them.
    Whatever. I'd send the book back to him as soon as I could, or at least something of equal value.
    Moral bargaining. Al ways a sign I was on the right path. Righteous agent of the law, that was me.
    At Ava's suggestion, I'd dug through my wardrobe and found the most revealing clothes I owned. I was naturally warm and having to carry my clothes in my crow form meant that most of my outfits were already small enough to earn a cluck of the tongue from more conservative types. Ava said that wasn't good enough. "Skanky" was the word she used. Awfully judgmental for someone always showing off her belly button. I found a light gray t-shirt that had shrunk way more than I expected in the wash and slid it on. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it drew a lot of attention to my boobs. That was the goal as Ava had given it.
    I look good , I thought, and then, Ugh. But will other people think so? I hated trying to make people like me. "That's why I never do it." My reflection smirked back at me. I brushed down my shirt, like that would do anything at all, and gave myself another look. A glint of ruby caught my eye. The necklace did work with everything. My gaze drifted lower. Were boobs really that important in this equation? How much would he even look at my boobs anyway? Do heterosexual men like boobs? Is that really what I'm stuck on here? "It hasn't been that long since you've dated." Yes, okay, you're psyching yourself out. Clearly.
    "Yes, it has," Phoebe chimed in without ever making herself visible. Sometimes living with her was like having an annoying ghost for a roommate. "Are you going on a date?"
    I hadn't felt this out of my depth in a long time. "I'm