Counting on a Crow's Wing

By Charlie Richards

Lord Elron Paxton is a fae prince—one of many. Bored with the never-ending politics of the Fae Court, he takes a dare to enter the human world. Elron gives his bodyguards the slip, finds a fun gay club, and prepares for a night of revelry. Unfortunately, Elron wakes in a dirty room crowded with other men. He finds himself stuck there for days, weighing the pros and cons of revealing his true nature to a number of humans—something against fae law—just to save himself. When a crow shifter appears outside the window, Elron hopes he’s found an alternate way of saving not only himself, but those stuck in the room with him—even if they do think he’s nuts for talking to a bird. Can he trust the crow to get help before the men who kidnapped everyone sell them on the black market...or will he have to break fae law to save them, sentencing himself to certain death?

Reader Advisory: This tale speaks of past abuse / rape.

• Language: English
• Publisher: eXtasy Books Inc
• Release date: Oct 23, 2017
• ISBN: 9781487415273

Book preview

On the Road: When a fae prince makes a bad bet, he must rely on strangers to win his freedom.

Lord Elron Paxton is a fae prince—one of many. Bored with the never-ending politics of the Fae Court, he takes a dare to enter the human world. Elron gives his bodyguards the slip, finds a fun gay club, and prepares for a night of revelry. Unfortunately, Elron wakes in a dirty room crowded with other men. He finds himself stuck there for days, weighing the pros and cons of revealing his true nature to a number of humans—something against fae law—just to save himself. When a crow shifter appears outside the window, Elron hopes he’s found an alternate way of saving not only himself, but those stuck in the room with him—even if they do think he’s nuts for talking to a bird. Can he trust the crow to get help before the men who kidnapped everyone sell them on the black market... or will he have to break fae law to save them, sentencing himself to certain death?

Reader Advisory: This tale speaks of past abuse / rape.

The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Counting on a Crow’s Wing

Copyright © 2017 Charlie Richards

ISBN: 978-1-4874-1527-3

Cover art by Angela Waters

All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

Published by eXtasy Books Inc or

Devine Destinies, an imprint of eXtasy Books Inc

Look for us online at:

www.eXtasybooks.com or www.devinedestinies.com

Smashwords Edition

Counting on a Crow’s Wing

Kontra’s Menagerie: Book Twenty-two

By

Charlie Richards

Dedication

Humans are creatures of habit. If you quit when things get tough, it gets that much easier to quit the next time. On the other hand, if you push through it, the grit begins to grow on you.

~Travis Bradberry

May we all find our grit in life!

Chapter One

Lord Elron Paxton’s fingers twitched as he slowly roused. Not recognizing the feel of the slightly scratchy fabric beneath not only his hands but his cheek, he kept his eyes closed. His own sheets certainly didn’t feel like that, nor could he remember any other of his lovers’ beds feeling so rough.

As a fae prince, Elron had access to some pretty comfortable sheets.

It took a few moments for everything to come back to him. He’d been bored, which wasn’t really anything new. If you weren’t a fae interested in raising your status or being noticed by the fae king, then the Fae Court was a damn boring place to have to spend most of your time.

Elron remembered passing the time by making wagers with a couple of close friends. They’d gotten a little out of control after too many glasses of sweet wine. He’d vowed that not only could he slip his security guard, but he could get past the guards at the Travel Gate and use it to enter the human realm.

He remembered that he’d managed it, too. He’d won the wager.

Easing his eyelids open, Elron had to blink a couple of times to clear the sleep-gummies from his vision. He immediately wished he’d kept them closed. Lying on a dirty mattress on an even dirtier floor in a small room, he realized he wasn’t alone.

Okay, maybe I didn’t win the wager, after all... not in that way, anyway.

Elron slowly pushed to a sitting position, wincing at the pain in his head. Seeing half a dozen pairs of eyes in faces of fearful young males of varying colors, all slender and dirty, he glanced down at his own arm... just to be sure. He confirmed that his glamour was still in place—an illusion created by fae magick that hid his true appearance.

He certainly didn’t want his pointed ears and lavender eyes revealed to humans. They only raised questions.

Where am I? Even as Elron asked the question, his throat raspy and dry, he wondered if any of the scared-looking humans would be able to answer.

A couple of the guys exchanged looks. One was cuddled into the arms of another man who was crooning to him. The last pair just stared at the dirty, cement floor.

Elron sighed as he rested his back against the stone wall. He winced as something gouged into his skin through his thin shirt. Shifting to a better section of wall, he crossed his legs and rubbed his temples.

Slowly, the pain eased, not only in his back but in his head. He took the time to sort through what else he remembered. While there were gaps, he appreciated that he still wore his clothes, since they were the biggest reminder.

After slipping into the human world, Elron had changed clothes, found a human gay club, and decided to have a night of fun to celebrate his success before returning to the fae realm. Without his bodyguard to scare away potential conquests, he’d looked forward to getting plenty of action. As a fae, he could fuck for hours without losing his erection. Elron had wondered how many human men he could sink his dick into... or be fucked by... before the night ended and he returned home.

So what in the four realms happened?

Elron wasn’t sure. The last thing he remembered was accepting a sexy biker man’s offer of a drink.

Well, fuck a duck!

I was drugged!

The pain