7C Goes Down: The 7C Stories, #3

By Alice Degan

Brianna thought she was just doing a good turn, helping out a (very cute) elf knight who was attacked in the parking lot behind the dumpsters. She had no idea it would end with her mother being challenged to a duel. Fortunately, Nick, the werewolf delivery boy from Heaven & Earth Bakery, arrives to save the day. Sort of.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Alice Degan
• Release date: May 2, 2023
• ISBN: 9781988086262

Book preview

7C GOES DOWN

The deer had only been herself for a few minutes, but she knew what to do. Her hooves hit the wet grass in a frantic pattern, her legs gathered themselves under her and flew out, every muscle strained with the imperative of flight. Behind her, low and silent and gaining, ran death.

He was lean and silver; his eyes gleamed yellow-green in the weak light. When she swerved, he matched her movement. When she stumbled on the uneven ground, he gained further.

She tore out from among the trees and made a leap for the top of the wet, wooden structure that loomed in front of her. She landed awkwardly, her hooves booming on the hollow surface. She scrabbled to right herself.

The wood was slippery, and the wooden thing plunged away behind her in a smooth curve. She was sliding down it, backwards, her legs buckling under her, too frightened to regain control. She came to rest at the bottom, tried to heave herself up, and he was upon her.

Her legs thrashed, and she twisted her neck away, but she could feel his breath on her hide. Then, only for a moment, she felt his teeth.

12 hours earlier

I t’s okay, said Brianna , fishing her house key out of her backpack. There won’t be anyone home but us.

She darted a glance at the elf as she jiggled the key in the lock. He was managing to stand more or less upright, but his face had gone incredibly white. It kind of suited him. It made his cheekbones stand out, or something, and his eyes seem brilliantly blue. What a terrible thing to notice, Brianna thought. She was amazed at herself.

She got the door open and stood clutching her backpack awkwardly while he dragged himself inside. He leaned against the kitchen counter near the sink and slid down until he was sitting on the floor. He pulled out the hand that had been clutched inside his leather vest. It glistened with blood. Brianna must have made some noise of horror, because he smiled reassuringly up at her. It obviously cost him some effort, but his smile was breathtaking.

Pray forgive my rudeness, he said, resting his wrist on his knee and cradling his hand to keep from dripping blood on the floor. She noticed again his musical accent. My name is Cian. May I know yours?

Brianna Baker. She caught herself about to add, Pleased to meet you, like an idiot.

He smiled again. May I beg you for a cup of water, Brianna Baker?

Oh! Yeah. Just a sec.

She dropped her backpack, grabbed a mug from the draining rack, and stuck it under the faucet. When she knelt beside him with the full mug, he put his clean hand on hers to guide it to his lips. This is really happening, she thought. The touch of his hand made it seem more real.

Are you …  She swallowed hard. Are you really badly hurt?

It is a trifle merely. A scratch. Yet I fear I must beg your assistance in one further matter.

Of course! What do you need me to do?

His pale hair parted in soft strands around the sharp, unmistakable point of his ear. That was real. And what had happened by the dumpsters in the parking lot, that had been real too.

Help me to assess … the extent of the damage. If you would be so kind … 

Okay. This meant taking off some of his clothes; she had figured that much out.

He wore a green tunic under the leather vest, laced together at the neck, and leggings of a darker green, and tall, pale leather boots. Brianna took hold of the edge of the vest and tried to ease it over his shoulder without moving him. It was embarrassingly difficult. In the end, he had to lean forward from the cupboard so that she could get his arm out of the vest, and then she reached awkwardly around behind him for the other arm, before he suggested, in the kindest possible tone, that she might want to get it from the other side.

Oh—yeah. Right.

What had happened in the parking lot had been too fast to follow, especially while telling herself that it wasn’t really happening, but he had evidently been hurt on his right side. His tunic was torn there, and soaked with blood. She thought she could make out toothmarks, and she was surprised not to feel sick.

That thing that attacked you …  she began.

The cu sith, he supplied. A fairy hound. It answers only to its mistress.

The … um, the elven queen? She looked up into his eyes and reeled a little. They were just so blue.

He nodded. My lady.

"Wait … your lady? But you’re, like, a—a good elf or whatever, right? I mean, your queen’s not evil. Is she?"

No, indeed. She is not evil. But she can be slow to forgive, where she feels herself slighted. Pay it no mind, Brianna Baker. These are matters that need not trouble a mortal maiden.

Nobody had ever referred to Brianna as a maiden before. For a moment she felt a horrible desire to giggle. She concentrated fiercely on the tunic. She got it unlaced, and pulling it over his head turned out not to be nearly as awkward as getting the vest off. His skin underneath reminded her of the inside of a shell, but he had impressive muscles for somebody so pretty. There were teeth-marks, and blood running down in little rivulets. Still, this wasn’t as awful as Brianna had expected. She remembered the scene in Lotus Song where Mariko bandages Chang Wei’s arm after reading about how he was injured in the Book of Unfolding, and the thought bubble said something like: This is so much worse in real life! Only this was real life, and oddly, it wasn’t so much worse. And Cian was much prettier than Chang Wei. Brianna wadded up a dishtowel and thrust it into his hand.

For—to—you know, stop the bleeding. I’ll get you a wet one, too.

He had become unexpectedly awkward, and she had to hold the dishtowel against his bare side for him. He rested his hand on her shoulder. She began to worry that he was going to faint, and then, if she wasn’t careful, maybe hit his head on something. On the other hand, if he sort of collapsed sideways into her lap, she thought, that wouldn’t be so bad … In fact, it might be kind of nice.

He murmured something which she couldn’t catch.

What? she said.

He looked up into her eyes. My dusky princess, he murmured.

"What?" She was pretty sure he meant that to be nice, but it sounded kind of racist. (Maybe a lot racist? Anyway, she didn’t like it.)

He looked perplexed. What is the matter? Does it trouble you to hear me praise your beauty? Human girls of any colour have held but little interest for me, I confess.

Oh. She still wasn’t sure about that, but for a moment, as she looked into his blue eyes, it made her feel special.

And then he did faint, collapsing sideways just as she had imagined, to lie across her lap. His pale hair was spread across her knees, and one hand flopped on the grey-brown tiles of the kitchen floor. The bite in his side couldn’t have been very deep, because it had almost stopped bleeding. Or maybe elf blood clotted more quickly … She wanted to just sit there and look at him. There didn’t seem to be anything else she needed to do.

She heard the key turning in the front door, but she went on sitting there, looking at Cian. She heard her mother coming into the hall, dropping her gym bag by the door, and calling out, Brianna? Are you home? but she went right on sitting there. Cian stirred a little, and she watched his face, eager to see his eyes open again in their extraordinary blueness.

God Almighty! Brianna, what are you doing?

Brianna looked up, startled. Her mother was standing in the kitchen doorway, staring in with horror.

There was an accident. She felt as if she had just woken up. He got hurt.

That’s when you call an ambulance, child—haven’t you got any sense? Brianna’s mother was looking at Cian now. Who are you? she demanded. You don’t look very hurt to me. What sort of ‘accident’ was it?

Cian was awake, and sitting up—somehow Brianna had missed noticing when this happened. She felt cheated.

Dear lady, he began.

He got bit by a dog, Brianna cut him off. "A cus … something—it belongs to the queen of the fairies, Mom, not that you’d understand that. He’s a fairy—I mean an elf—I mean … "

I don’t care if he’s a vampire or a hobbit, Brianna, if he was bit by a dog he needs to get a rabies shot at the hospital. Her hand was already on the telephone receiver. I thought you had more sense.

Dear lady, I beg of you— Cian began again.

You don’t believe me, do you, Mom? Brianna cried, jumping to her feet. "I knew you wouldn’t believe me!"

"Sweetheart, I