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double-dog dared me to snatch Leo. Now I’m double-dog daring you .” She leaned forward, her grin smug.
    “You know I’m not really into goth guys.” And Raven had goth written all over him, from the dark hair with a single, vibrant red streak right above his eyes to his black clothing and even blacker fingernails. Even his name was goth. Who named their kid Raven, anyway?
    “But none of the accountants and Vikings were working for you. Why not take a walk on the dark edge of midnight? See if Raven is everything you’ve been missing. Who knows? He could be your…” Ruby’s gaze turned misty. “Your everything.”
    Damn it, but Ruby wasn’t just right. She was echoing everything Amanda had been thinking about. None of the men she’d dated had made an impact at all. “Tell me this before you send me to swim with Mr. Sharky. Is he a good guy?”
    Ruby nodded, her expression turning serious. “Yup. One of the best. He may look all goth and emo and shit, but he’s actually a good person who’s had a hell of a life up until now. He’s come out of it stronger for it too. I trust him, and so does Leo.”
    “So he’s got the BFF stamp of approval, huh?” That actually raised Raven in her estimation a hell of a lot more than the French did.
    The blue eyes didn’t hurt, either.
    Maybe she should accept Ruby’s dare. She was only here for two weeks, then the wedding would take place and Amanda would be on her way back to D.C. and her boring, Ruby-less life.
    When she thought about it that way, there was only one answer she could give. “I accept.”
    “Yes!” Ruby’s fist-pump almost clocked Amanda on the jaw. “Leo owes me twenty bucks!”
    Amanda laughed and followed Ruby into the house, trying to hide the nervous flutters in her stomach. It was only two weeks, right?
    Raven waited until the car pulled away before ducking into the shadows provided by the police station. He pondered summoning his flock, but his ravens would be at a disadvantage at night. Their intelligence could make up for their lack of nighttime vision, but he wouldn’t risk them when he didn’t really have to.
    It was only three redcaps, after all. Nothing he hadn’t faced before. It would be almost too easy to take them down.
    Raven smiled as he allowed his claws to grow, becoming the talons of his namesake. When the redcaps moved, so did he, the dark swirl of feathers hiding his flight.
    Raven followed the car the redcaps piled into, right up until he’d confirmed that it was, indeed, heading for the Dunne farm. He grinned, eager for the battle to come. While chasing Oberon he’d barely been able to wet his claws, and by the time he found the High King…the High King had sort of found himself.
    Raven swooped, his sylph heritage allowing him to flow through the crack in the window. The overwhelming stench of overripe mushrooms filled his senses. If he’d been in his man form, he would have gagged.
    Instead, Raven did what sylphs do best. He sucked all the air out of the car, blocking the cracks and crevices of the vehicle so that no air could fill the vacuum.
    The redcaps began gasping, turning red in the face. Their hands went to their throats as they struggled for breath, desperately undoing buttons and zips as the last of the air was sucked out of the car. The car began to slowly crumple in on itself, the pressure of the air outside forcing it to buckle with a metallic screech.
    The driver lost control as the steering wheel tried to impale him. The doors became lethal combinations of metal and glass, striking the redcaps with deadly precision. Two of the redcaps were impaled immediately, the doors of the rear of the vehicle collapsing quickly until the car appeared to have a wasp waist.
    The redcap in the front passenger seat began desperately trying to squeeze through the glassless window, straining Raven’s hold. He allowed the redcap to depart, slamming air back into the car like a freight train.
    The driver gasped his last