by Gwen Rivers
“That all those people were going to die. Aren’t I supposed to be a savior?”
Liam shook his head. “And if you—the savior—died along with them?”
“I didn’t though. I saved them.” I spread my arms apart to show him that I was in one piece.
Liam ran a hand through his shaggy dark hair. “I don’t understand them. Why do something to cause so much human notice?”
“It wasn’t for them.” I held his gaze. “It was to test me.”
Liam stilled. “Test you? How do you know?”
I swallowed. “Because, the dark fae who did that? I heard his voice. It was him.”
“You recognized it?” Liam leaned in close. “Emma, do you know who it is?”
A tear slipped down my cheek. “It’s my brother, Malcolm.”
13
Liam stared down at Emma’s drawing of the cloaked figure who’d approached. “That’s the same spellcaster who was in charge in that ally.”
The light had dimmed in Emma’s eyes. “Malcolm Alexander Slade. Alexander after our human father.”
“I thought you said he was dead?”
“I thought he was.” Another of those tears trickled down the side of her face. Somehow the sight of the shimmering trail of moisture was more gut-wrenching than if she had collapsed into body-racking sobs. It was as though the grief were too big for her small body to contain and snuck past her guard.
Liam had heard the way Emma talked about her brother. As though he were her own personal hero. Finding out that that same male had not only lied to her, abandoned her and faked his own death, but he was the mastermind that had been behind all the dark fae attacks in New York.
The very being she’d been hunting for two years.
“Do you want me to go?” Liam asked. He didn’t want to leave her. He wanted to curl up with her and hold her while she tried to absorb this latest blow.
She nodded slowly, gaze turned inward.
“Call if you need anything. I’ll be close by.”
He turned and walked from the spare bedroom into the master, where Andy was sprawled out on a black duvet. The white bandage along his left side was a long line of stark against his tanned skin.
“He’s improving.” Gray came to stand by his side. “I got the bleeding to stop.”
Liam shook his head. “What the hell happened?”
“According to Rubio, they were patrolling together downtown when the dark fae attacked.”
“Did they try to drain him the way they do the fae?”
Gray shook his head. “According to Rubio, no. As soon as Andy hit the ground, they backed off.”
Liam shook his head. “They were trying to lure me out, hoping I would do exactly what I did and bring the Savior with me.”
Gray led him from the room. “Can I get you anything to eat?”
“I’m good.” He sank down onto a stool by the breakfast bar and put his head in his hands.
“She’ll be all right, boss.” Gray said.
“I know.” His second was truly a decent soul. Emma was right, he owed Gray an apology. “I’m sorry I snapped at you.”
“You’re the Alpha and your mate was injured.” Gray shrugged. “If that was Spencer in that bed looking like death warmed over, the threat of dismemberment would be real.”
Liam dropped his hands stared at his second. Gray winced.
“Autumn told you?”
“North. He called and said you had your head lodged neatly in your sphincter when it came to the savior. Sorry, I know it’s still kind of a secret.”
Liam leaned back. “At this rate, Emma will be the last to know.”
Gray lowered himself on the stool beside Liam. “Can I ask a question?”
“Why haven’t I told her?”
“No, I get that, what with her being the savior and all. I told North to lay off. He said da which I’m pretty sure is Russian for like hell, you dumbass.”
In spite of his dire mood Liam smiled.
“What I want to know is, have you thought about sending her to Underhill? To keep her safe.”
Liam hesitated. “She wouldn’t go.”
Gray raised a brow. “And since when does the Alpha take no for an answer?”
“That’s an easy one. Since her.” He chucked his thumb toward the bedroom door. “Will it be all right if we stay here overnight? I don’t want to take her back out there until she’s had time to recover.”
“Of course.”
He didn’t mention Emma’s revelation. If her brother was the twisted one in command, it was Emma’s place to share or conceal.
Still. Having some information would help. He pulled out his phone, opened the Do North app and gave the sylph his marching orders.
Gray got up and moved into the kitchen. “I think I’ll make a few steaks. Andy will need protein to help him heal up and Emma could probably use some food.”
Liam headed out onto the balcony. Gray and Spencer shared a condo on the forty-fifth floor of a high rise. Even at such a height, Liam could feel the energy thrumming from the people down below. It was so different from the PR, so much more.
The fae could live like this, if they wanted to. But it wasn’t his job to coax the fae out of the center. It was his job to keep them safe.
His phone buzzed and he read the text from North.
The sylph had written Morbid, followed by a hyperlink. He clicked on the link and then read the article his PA had dug up in less time than it took to cook a bag of microwave popcorn.
Massacre at the Shadybrooke Motel. No survivors.
He skimmed the article, first checking out the date. Two years ago last month. The paper was clearly small press, but the town was upstate New York, near Rochester. The night manager and four guests had all been found, their bodies cut up in a ritualistic fashion. Police suspected it was some sort of Satanic cult.
The photos were grainy but Liam recognized the pointed ears of a fae woman who had the same pert nose as his Emma.
Her mother.
The other victims were a middle-aged man and his mistress and a young male in his early twenties whose body had been so mangled that the police couldn’t identify him. But he was suspected to be the woman’s son, Malcolm.
The young spellcaster had killed his own mother as well as four innocent people.
But he had left Emma alive. Had gone to the trouble of faking his own death when it would have been much easier to kill her too.
The question was, why?
“Liam!” Emma shrieked his name. He bolted back inside the apartment and through the door of the guest room in record time.
“Emma? What’s wrong?”
Her eyes were fever bright. “Liam, the sword?”
He gestured to where he’d propped it in the corner after shredding the harness from her body in a frenzy. “What about it?”
“Don’t you see? It wasn’t Malcolm that stabbed you, right? But he made sure that I got a hold of that sword.”
“Yes,” he had a sinking feeling he wouldn’t like where the conversation was headed. “But Emma—”
She interrupted him. “I know my brother. He wouldn’t do this unless he was being forced into doing it. Someone else is pulling the strings. They must be. He must have disguised the sword as the dagger just to make sure I would get it. He needs help, Liam.”
Liam stared at her for a long moment. “Emma, he killed your mother and faked his own death. Those are not the actions of an innocent man.”
Her face drained of color. “How did you know that?”
He handed her his phone, where the article was still displayed.
She glanced at it briefly then handed it back over. “There has to be a reason, Liam. And I’m going to find out what that reason is.”
“This is a bad idea, Emma.” Liam murmured from where he stalked at my heels down the street towards the dark alley where he’d been attacked. Emotions bombarded me from all sides. Joy, despair, anger. General anxiety was a modern staple. No terror t
hough, which meant the twisted ones were lying low.
Good.
We’d waited until the sun had gone down before setting out, for the sake of discretion. If anything weird happened, well, there were only so many times the human population could blame magic shenanigans on a gas leak.
Gray had offered me food but I’d waved him off until I remembered Magda’s warning about staying healthy. I hadn’t tasted the New York strip, though. It fed my body so it would help me save my brother.
I could get him back. A shiver went through me every time I considered the possibility.
Liam’s shoulder muscles were bunched up tight. He didn’t look nearly so accepting of my plan to recruit Malcolm to team good. If only I could make him understand. My brother was so much stronger than I was. I didn’t know what strings the twisted ones had tied to him, but I would cut them all one by one. I finally had a weapon to do it.
The thought rang in my head again and again. I can save Malcolm.
The courage to change the things I can. And the ability to make a difference. Getting Malcolm back on our side would make all the difference.
“I mean it,” Liam once again decided to rain on my parade.
I glared at him over my shoulder. “No one forced you to come along.”
He cast me a withering look. “Like I’m going to leave you on your own out here?”
Thick dark clouds began to pile up to the east, over the PR. More rain on the way. “I’ve been on my own for a long time, Liam.”
“That doesn’t make it okay. You were nearly drained earlier. You ought to be resting.” He folded his arms over his chest and glared. The immovable object.
“I’ll rest when I’m dead.”
“I don’t appreciate your gallows humor, Emma.”
“Then you’re in the wrong line of work.” I rolled my eyes.
We turned the corner into a narrow alley. “Here?” At Liam’s nod I studied the surroundings, hunting for emotional resonance. Old fear, almost dissipated. The fae woman who had died. Not Liam’s.
But just because I couldn’t read him didn’t mean he hadn’t felt something. It must have been hard for him to come with me to the place where the Alpha had been defeated. Had he been afraid? Or just pissed off? I decided to offer him an olive branch. “Thank you for having my back.”
His multicolored gaze snapped to my face. “Always.”
Liam would come around. Once I got Malcolm back on the right side, he would see what an asset my brother was.
With that thought in mind, I crouched down to examine the space. A red stain marred the cement, Liam’s blood or the fae woman the twisted ones had been harvesting?
That Malcolm had.
No. I refused to let myself think it. My brother wasn’t a murderer. He was doing what he had to do in order to survive until I could find him.
“That’s from the woman.” Liam’s tone was soft. “Over here is where I was stabbed.”
I moved to follow him and then reached down to the ground, where a large chip had come out of the concrete. It too was stained a reddish-brown. I withdrew my sword from its sheath and embedded the tip in the concrete.
“What exactly is it that you are looking for?” Liam stepped closer.
“A trail of breadcrumbs. Hold my hand, please. I don’t know how much magic this will require.”
“Emma,” he growled low.
I looked up into his face. “It’s not a lot of power. Not like the tunnel. I’m just taking precautions.”
I held out a hand and after a moment’s hesitation, he took it.
At first nothing happened. Then the sword started to blaze as brilliantly as the summer sun. A deep hum reverberated in my chest, like someone had struck a tuning fork against my heart.
“What is that?” Liam barked.
“Malcolm.” My eyes slid shut and I listened. I could see his colors, the signature of his magic. I’d never thought about it before Magda had pointed it out to me.
Then a shadow emerged from the sword. A robed figure, its hand outstretched. Swirls of blue and green and golden light showed the movement of the wind. Another ghostly figure manifested. Liam in that beast form was flung against the brick wall with tremendous force, fitting the shape of the indent in the wall.
Ghost Malcolm held ghost Liam in place and spoke. I could see his lips moving but there were no sounds.
“What did he say?” I asked the flesh and blood Liam whose hand I held.
“Alpha,” Liam growled. “Our quarrel isn’t with you.”
“What else? Anything, no matter how trivial.”
“I will warn you once,” Liam’s tone was flat as he recited my brother’s words. “And only once. This city is ours. Any fae that crosses out of the pocket realm is fair game. If you interfere with us again, we will hunt your people next.”
The vision wavered as the magic died away. Ghost Liam landed prone on the ground and flickered. Slowly, the glow faded. I plucked the sword up and worked it into the sheath at my side.
“Those aren’t the words of a victim, Emma.” The Alpha pulled me to my feet.
I slid away from his touch. “He has to keep up appearances.”
Liam stabbed a finger at the wall. “If I had been human, the impact would have shattered my spine!”
“But you aren’t human. He knew that. He could have killed you, Liam. He had the chance. But instead he found a way to deliver this to me.” I showed him the sword.
“Can you track him?” Liam sounded equal parts hopeful and worried.
I shook my head. “Not from here. Maybe from the tunnel. He used a lot more magic there.”
But Liam shook his head. “Not tonight.”
“Liam—”
He gripped my shoulders. “Emma look at me. You’re barely keeping yourself upright. You won’t save your brother if you’re dead on your feet. Besides, I need to get back to the PR.”
I pulled out of his hold. “Then go.”
His lips parted. “You aren’t coming with me?”
“It’ll take more time to go back and forth. I can crash out on Gray’s couch and hit the street at first light.”
“What about training?”
“Some things are more important.”
Liam’s multicolored eyes narrowed. “What about Kiesha? You promised to take her to see the unicorns.”
Something twisted inside my chest at his words. I had promised and the werewolf girl was looking forward to it. So was I.
But Malcolm was out there. Kiesha would have to understand. No doubt if she had a chance to reclaim members of her own family, she would skip even a picnic with unicorns to do it.
Liam said in a quiet tone, “You won’t be able to wield enough magic without me. Gray is looking after Andy. Let me take you home. We can try again tomorrow, after you’ve rested.”
I shook my head. “Liam, you don’t get it.”
“Then explain it to me, Emma. Gods damn it, I’m trying to understand.”
A lump formed in my throat. I couldn’t utter those words aloud. How would Liam look at me if he knew? He would certainly never kiss me again.
I stared into the Alpha’s eyes, beseeching him silently. Please, don’t make me say it.
He waited. I closed my eyes, drowning in my humiliation.
“Emma.” The Alpha’s voice was anguished. His hands clenched into fists and his big body shook with fury.
The wind picked up and I shivered. If I could have left my body behind, I would have. The specter of shame loomed large over the alley.
“What happened between you and your brother? Emma…did he molest you?”
I flinched. I couldn’t help it and whispered the truth. “Yes. And I let him do it.”
14
Liam’s entire body shook with rage. The wolf clawed at him from the inside, needing to burst forth, to rend flesh. To make the one who hurt his mate suffer. This was the secret she’d been clutching so close.
Emma stood in the alley with her ar
ms wrapped around herself in a protective stance. He could scent her anxiety, smell her shame. Her brother. Her own brother had taken advantage of her.
“Tell me.” It wasn’t a request. He was done letting her skulk with her demons in the shadows.
She shut her eyes. Shook her head.
“Emma, I need you to tell me what happened. Please.” Would he resort to begging?
She swallowed. “It was after our father died. I was fifteen. Malcolm was seventeen. We were on the move all the time. Our mother lived in constant fear of discovery. We didn’t have anyone else. I was just beginning my transition.”
Liam’s heart hurt. The forever young transitioning from child to full-grown adult made human adolescence look like a walk in the park. Hormones went wild, urges ran rampant. Addison had driven him nuts, climbing on every country boy who gave her a once over until he threatened to chain her in the barn.
“I was trying to work through it on my own, the urges. But I didn’t know what I was doing. Malcolm walked in on me. He…offered to help me.” A tear slipped down the side of her face. “And I let him.”
He closed his eyes and communed with his wolf, trying to get the beast’s temper under control.
The wolf refused to listen.
Emma went on, oblivious to the battle raging inside him. “I knew it was wrong, to let him touch me that way. But I had no one else. Our mother was so distant, so fae. He was all I had. If he abandoned me…I couldn’t tell him no.”
The first pangs of the change sent him to his knees. He gasped as his vision faded in and out. Fight it. He had to suppress his inner monster.
But there was no fighting it when the Alpha werewolf demanded out. It had only happened to him once before. But the carnage. He should have run with the pack. He’d been tamping down all the wolf’s urges and now…
Emma’s tear-streaked face swam in his murky vision. “Liam? What’s going on?”
His hands reformed, his teeth elongated. He was hideous in this forced change and it was only going to get worse. Emma’s emotions were still raw. If she ran from him, the wolf would follow.
And decimate anything that came between them.