by Holly Evans
"The little ones say a big blond man with a golden shine to him followed them home from school. They say he whispered mean things; they cried when they got home. They had nightmares the following nights." He swallowed hard. "He's been seen walking around the territory boundaries, bold as brass. He approached my home last night. He triggered the sigils the witch put in place for us, but he stood there looking me right in the eye. The little smile he gave me sent chills down my back. You have to help us."
Quin nodded and offered him a comforting smile. "We'll do everything in our power."
Lysander approached Felix; he kept his shoulders back but looked down and away when Felix looked at him. The lycan relaxed a little.
"We need a map of where he's been seen."
Felix nodded and vanished for a moment.
"We cannot allow any harm to come to the cubs,” Lysander growled.
As if on cue, the two children re-appeared. They flashed Lysander big grins. He returned the grin and crouched opening his arms to them. They ran into his arms.
He hugged them lightly and said gently, "I hear a bad man has been following you."
They nodded furiously. "We're going to help your dad and make the bad man go away."
They grinned at him.
"You're going to tear him limb from limb," the little girl said in a high-pitched voice that sang of innocence.
The words shouldn't have come from such a dear little thing.
Felix glared at Lysander, who was still crouched with the alpha's cubs in his arms.
"Children, this is not a discussion for your ears."
They pouted, but disentangled themselves from Lysander and left the room, proverbial tails tucked between their legs. Lysander stood slowly, his shoulders back and tense but eyes flicking back and forth between Felix's face and the floor. Felix growled quietly but walked back behind the bar and began drawing. Lysander returned to my side. His arm crept around my waist. I allowed it, but didn't appreciate how easy it was becoming to do so.
Felix pushed the varying maps over to Quin. "There. That's everything I can give you."
Quin grinned. "Thank you. We'll be in touch as soon as possible."
"No harm will come to the cubs,” Lysander said with certainty.
Felix gave a small nod and unlocked the door. He looked up and down the street before ushering us out. Quin was soon absorbed in the maps, his brow furrowed while he chewed on his bottom lip.
"We'll need to set up protections around the pack. This will take longer than we'd hoped."
I tried to hold back my string of curses. There was nothing to be done. Alchemy was a delicate art, and celestials were hardly run of the mill. The feeling of uselessness was eating at me.
Quin looked at me with a smile. "Why don't you go out and let your hair down tonight, Ev? You need it. You're so tense and there's nothing to be done at the moment."
I glared at him. He pulled me into a hug.
"I'm staying with Kadrix tonight. Elise would probably enjoy dancing the night away, too. Make it a girls’ night."
I muttered curses under my breath; he meant well, but I didn't want to relax. I wanted to do something of use.
27
Having being dismissed once again for not using magic, we wandered down to the river. The buildings took on a more whimsical feel to them, with pastel blue walls and elegant little courtyards. I caught myself glancing in a jewelers at the various garnet jewelry. Prague was known for its garnets, and I couldn't help but feel a pull towards the blood-red stones. They were far prettier than diamonds, in my mind. A particularly simple ring caught my eye, with delicate filigree around the small round stone, and a plain rose gold band. It would make a stunning engagement ring. I turned away and chided myself; such thoughts were foolish. Lysander smirked at me. I ignored him.
A flash of white in the window caught my eye. I frowned and looked; someone behind us was wearing pure white with gold trim. I shrugged it off. There were peculiar people in every city. We passed another window, and I noticed there were now two men in pure white and gold trim. It was becoming suspicious. By the time we'd passed the second courtyard restaurant, there were four of them. I slipped down the wide gap between a pub and a plain yellow-walled building. The tarmac gave way to large cobblestones, half-covered in sand and missing entirely in places. Lysander put himself in front of me; we waited for the men in white to go past.
They edged around the yellow building and tried to burst out from behind the cover at us. Lysander openly laughed at their clumsy attempt. My blades were in my hands; I was confused by their lack of balance and overall amateurish movements and behaviour. They tried to surround us. The lanky one with sandy hair almost stumbled over one of the cobblestones. A hard blow to the lower back soon had him sprawled out on the floor, where he groaned. His friend, a broader dark-haired man, had a silver gauntlet on his hand. I eyed it and circled around him while Lysander slammed one of the others into the wall. I was vaguely aware of the yelp of the man as he hit the stone.
The gauntleted man circled around me; his covered fingers flexed and moved. Suddenly, a wall of energy pushed me backwards. It was almost enough to knock me off my feet. I glared at the man. I didn't appreciate his little toy. I went to rush him but another wall of energy formed between me and him. I hit it with a soft thud. He was quickly frustrating me. A grin spread across his face. He even had the nerve to do a little dance. His final friend cursed Lysander before he was out cold on the floor. The happy dance ended.
I shifted my weight and telegraphed going to my right then shot left. Still his damn wall stopped me. I growled my growing irritation. Lysander slipped up behind him while he grinned at me. One clean blow removed the man's lower arm. The man wailed and flailed his arm around.
"You cut my arm off!" His eyes were wide, his face increasingly pale.
"You were becoming a nuisance,” Lysander said matter-of-factly.
I poked the gauntlet, complete with hand, with my toe and waited for it to explode or some such. The man screamed again when Lysander pinned him down. Lysander frowned and covered the man's mouth with one hand while the other hand became engulfed in fire. The man's eyes rolled back in his head when Lysander cauterised the wound with hellfire.
"At least he's quiet now,” Lysander said gruffly.
Satisfied that the gauntlet wasn't going to harm me, I tugged it off the hand and tucked it under my arm before I put a call in to the clean-up crew. The men in white weren't disintegrating. The entire thing was becoming very inconvenient.
"Who were they?" Lysander asked.
I gave a small shrug. "Fuck if I know."
I texted Elise and warned her that we'd be there in some ten to fifteen minutes. The white clothes appeared to be handmade. They didn't quite match each other, and the gold trim was wonky in places.
"They almost look like priests. Really shitty priests,” I said with a frown.
I didn't know of any priests that dressed like that, but I'd learnt a lot of new things recently. Lysander raised an eyebrow and scowled at the unconscious one-armed man at his feet.
"He should have come to by now. I didn't do that much damage to him."
I snorted. "He's human. We're a little more delicate than you."
I gave a hand-gesture encompassing him.
He smirked at me. "You don't seem all that delicate."
"You haven't removed any of my limbs,” I said with a smile.
He laughed, that sexy growling laugh that made my skin tingle. I rang for a taxi; no good came of those thoughts.
The man still hadn't come to by the time the taxi arrived, much to Lysander's chagrin. He hauled the man to his feet and pulled the one intact arm over his shoulders. The driver looked us up and down.
I gave him my most charming smile and said, "He couldn't hold his drink."
The driver gave a knowing nod and put his eyes forward. The man leaned against the door and remained out cold until we reached the road closest to Elise's church.
He began groaning and uttering other groggy noises when Lysander dragged him down the path to the church. He managed to drag his own feet into the church.
Elise looked him up and down with distaste. "Drop him there."
She gestured to an area of floor well away from her altar.
"He's a follower of the celestials. They dare call themselves priests, can you believe it?" she said.
Her lip curled as he began groggily trying to ask questions and sit up. She left and returned with a large glass of water that she proceeded to throw in his face. His mouth fell open and his eyes quickly followed. He shook his head and gasped for air.
"Where am I?"
"In my church; if you have any sense, you'll be respectful," Elise said icily.
28
The man had babbled incoherently for a few minutes before Lysander told him he'd remove his other arm if he didn't start making sense. Elise sat on a chair in front of him, impatiently tapping her foot.
The one-armed man swallowed hard and said, "I am a priest of Kastien."
Elise's face soured further at the use of the word priest.
"We saw you speaking to the lycan filth and knew that we had to help our lord by removing the threat you posed."
"That went very well for you, didn't it?” I said.
He glanced down at his arm and back up at Lysander. He went so pale milk looked tan in comparison.
I stood over the man and said, "Where is Kastien and what are his plans?"
He trembled. "We don't know. He told us that the lycans needed to be killed, they were a filth. Nothing more than mangy mutts."
I pursed my lips and said, "You're not giving us any reasons to keep you alive."
Tears formed in his eyes. He looked to Elise.
"Please. You're a priestess."
She sniffed. "Yes. I am."
"Please. I don't know anything else. He only graced us with his presence twice."
Elise sighed melodramatically and stood slowly. "It's such a shame when we find people like this. Talking of lycans, celestials, and other such things." She shook her head sadly. "When people have lost touch with the reality around them. I'll call the doctors, it's for the best. They'll help him."
The man made a strangled yelp sound. Elise flashed him a wicked grin before she made a phonecall in rapid Czech.
The ambulance showed up rather quickly, complete with two tired-looking medics. Elise began to relax a little as she watched it drive off.
"Good riddance. The nerve to call themselves priests."
I finally remembered the gauntlet I'd tucked away. I handed it to her, still half-expecting it bite me somehow. Her face lit up and she ran her hands over it with reverence.
"We thought we'd lost this over a century ago. Where did you get it?"
"Lysander cut it off the man."
"The one armed-wonder had this?" she said incredulously.
Lysander and I shared a look of confusion between us. She stroked it tenderly.
"This is a very old relic, one we thought had been destroyed. It allows the user to manipulate energy and air. It can be a very powerful weapon in the right hands. I must thank my lady for such a gift."
She hugged Lysander tightly before she rushed to her altar.
I shrugged. "At least one good thing came from that little debacle."
Kadrix and Quin arrived just as Elise finished her talk with her lady. Kadrix looked between Lysander and me.
"Have you two not completed your mating rituals yet? Why is that?"
"Kadrix!" I replied.
He pursed his lips and stood a little taller. "It's a perfectly reasonable question."
Quin was trying desperately to stifle a laugh.
Elise said, "I was actually wondering the same thing myself. He shares your bed every night and yet you still manage to resist enjoying that delightful body of his. If you keep it up much longer, I'll have to borrow him for myself."
Heat flushed my cheeks. Lysander smirked. I was surrounded.
Kadrix pulled out a notebook and pen. "Evelyn, what is the reason? Lysander, is this normal for these things?"
I clenched my fist and ground my teeth.
"You're clearly attracted to each other..." Quin added, unhelpfully.
They all looked at me expectantly.
Lysander smiled and said, "No, Kadrix, this isn't at all normal. Our masters or mistresses usually take great pleasure in claiming us fully within hours of the bond being established."
I glared at him. He gave me his most infuriatingly sexy smirk. I swore there was steam coming off the top of my head. Everyone was watching me with a mix of expectation and amusement.
“Fine,” I huffed.
I sank my fingers into Lysander's thick hair and pulled his head down to mine. If they were going to insist on pushing. The scent of hot metal and petrichor engulfed me, everything faded away. His warm breath tickled my lips. I wanted it much more than I wanted to admit. My heart pounded in my chest; I stroked my fingers down the nape of his neck and grazed his bottom lip with my teeth. His arms wrapped around my waist and pulled me tight against his firm body. We fit perfectly. He brushed his soft lips over mine. I needed more. I kissed him hard. The passion bubbled up from nowhere. His tongue pressed into my mouth, exploring mine as I pulled him tighter to me. I needed him. My entire body tingled. There was nothing but the burning desire for more. He was intoxicating. It was both terrifying and exhilarating.
We pulled back slowly. That smirk sat on his lips, but his eyes danced.
"Can you do that again? I think I missed something in my notes,” Kadrix said.
I glared at him and debated whether I could get away with punching my brother's lover. The pungent smell of singed hair began to tickle my nose. I sniffed, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Kadrix frowned before I noticed the faint orange shade at the end of his hair that was curling upwards. He frantically patted it down.
"Evelyn, that was uncalled for. You must tell me how you did it."
I shrugged and smiled sweetly. "I have no idea."
I really didn't, and it terrified me, but I wasn't going to give the cursed elf the satisfaction of knowing that.
"There is a spare room upstairs, should you wish to complete the... mating rituals," Elise said teasingly.
I gave her a dark look; she grinned at me.
"Oh, Evie, you need it. There's more tension between you two than the Golden Gate bridge. I don't see why you must be so stubborn about it all,” she said.
I was done. It was bad enough from Kadrix, but I had my limits. I pushed past Quin, who was laughing quietly, and exited the church. They had no right to push and interfere like that. I didn't care how good their intentions were.
I'd ignored their calls for the rest of the day. Invisible fire danced along my arms and down my legs as I ran through the rain. The cold drops trickled down my back and sat on my eyelashes. I focused on keeping my breathing even as I pushed harder, driving out the images and the emotions. There was nothing but the pleasant burn of my muscles and the infuriating fire that I couldn't escape. My footsteps echoed off the buildings around me. A steady rhythm of my feet hitting the tarmac. I hadn't even realised that I'd turned down onto my road. The sun had already set; the orange lights chased away the darkness and encouraged the shadows to hide in the crevices. I leaned against the ivy-covered wall and stretched, taking my time to settle my mind and prepare myself to step into my own home. It wouldn't be my home for much longer, I reminded myself; if Felix knew where to find us, so would others. The memory of the witch assassin flashed to mind. We should already have moved; we'd just been wrapped up in other things. Love was a dangerous thing.
Lysander appeared in the doorway to the building when the gate creaked. He'd done nothing wrong. He eyes drank in every detail of me; his tongue flicked over his lips. I must have looked like a drowned rat. My skin was quickly becoming icy cold, goosebumps formed under my jacket. My hair clung to my face. It was hardly the sexy home
coming I was sure he'd been picturing. The fire finally extinguished when he pulled me into his arms. The tension melted away. I was safe. He stroked my hair tenderly and rested his cheek against mine, his warm breath tickling my ear and dancing down my neck.
"You need a hot shower and warm food."
His arm wrapped around my waist and gave me no room for arguments. I found that I didn't want to argue. I was ready to slip into bed and give up on the day.
"We don't do well with the cold or wet,” he said while he stroked my hair.
The lift was taking its sweet time. The light remained stubbornly on the sixth floor, carefully contemplating the pros and cons of coming down to the ground flood. It finally relented and the doors opened; by that time, I was shivering, and the cold was settling into my joints. It had felt good at the time, running through the pouring rain, the puddles splashing over my boots. In that moment, all I wanted was to be warm and asleep.
He kissed my temple. "They didn't mean any harm."
I simply nodded and watched the numbers go up. I knew they hadn't meant it maliciously, but I was tired of it. They had no right to continually interfere like that. To push. To act as though my decision, my caution, was foolish. Anger welled up within me. I made the choices I did to protect Quin and them. Did they think I enjoyed being lonely? That I hadn't pined after the company of hot men? Of course I had, but I couldn't afford to make the wrong decision. I couldn't risk screwing the wrong man and getting into trouble. I wasn't willing to risk Quin and everything we did for the city for sex. If I fell in love, then that was one more person to protect. It was one more potential risk.
Lysander held me close, despite my trying to pull away.
"I'll protect you, Evelyn."
His voice held a slight growl. I narrowed my eyes had him. Had he been reading my thoughts again? He stroked my hip as he escorted me home. Quin was curled up on the sofa. He jumped up when I walked in; I almost felt bad at the puddle that formed around my boots while I removed them and my jacket.