by Erin R Flynn
“They wanted to know about your food tour and you were asking my advice on what to say,” she reminded me.
“Right, sorry. And your answer?”
She shot me an amused look. “Part of Ms. Vale’s inheritance is vested interest in the hospitality industry.” That was one way to say I was half owner of a huge private jet charter service but yeah, that could fit. “As such, I recommended some options for tax write-offs that she could enjoy with her friends.”
I glanced between Hudson and Juan. “I started Hungus Among Us with Mel and Izzy. It’s the three of us.”
Juan’s eyes went bug wide. “That’s a huge hit on human social media and ours. You guys did a whole tour of Vancouver and like a cool deep dive on the best places to eat. It’s really well done.”
“Thanks, but it’s Izzy and Mel. I just eat and front the money,” I admitted. “Izzy plots it all out and takes the pictures. Mel is the editor and social media genius. Craftsman and Darby were with us and the five of us ordered the whole menu when we hit a place and most food blogs don’t do that. So that’s our edge.”
“It’s also open to expanding the way they set it up and that’s needed given you purchased…” Claudia trailed off when she saw I shot Darby several looks. “He doesn’t know?”
“Um, I don’t think he’s put it together,” I muttered.
“There’s lots I haven’t, but I don’t try and uncover your secrets,” Darby cut in. “Why are you so worried? You’re rich, I know this. I have a guest room at your mansion and know you have others.”
“Well, brace yourself, Darby, as we’re sitting at a table of people who can help, so sorry if you didn’t know all of this,” Claudia said quickly. “People knew Tamsin gave out the information that took down Elder Harbour. Also, that she went after Jordan Holmes’s father and lost him his job along with a few other fathers of the students involved after she bought the company, but what most glossed over—”
“You bought Cherrywood?” Mr. Gui gasped, his eyes flashing shock. “There was corporate chaos after Holmes was out and then several other executives and suddenly it’s a new private owner and marching orders for everything to continue as normal for the moment.”
“Cherrywood?” Mr. Courtenay asked but then coughed. “You mean Cherrywood Global Luxury Resorts and Adventures?”
“Go big or go home, right?” I cleared my throat when they all stared at me like I had six heads.
“For the record, I did not know about this until it was done,” Geiger drawled. “While so much was going on from the right at Tamsin’s doing with the board and the executives, Melody swooped in under the guise of a foreign conglomerate. She promised to make it all go away for a certain price that was well under value but better than going under if it went public and demanding a few other things.”
“Like?” Mr. Courtenay asked.
“Those guys got fired, of course,” I answered easily. I wrinkled my nose. “And their fucking ‘adventure hunting’ subsidiary got shut down immediately and completely. Hunting is fine if you eat the animal, but trophy hunting rare animals in foreign countries to compensate for your small penis should get you pushed off a mountain. It’s disgusting.”
“Well said,” Mrs. Vogel praised, several others nodding.
“Yes, and I like you so much I almost don’t want to ask where you managed to get eight hundred million from for the purchase without even your attorney’s senior partner knowing about it,” Mrs. Diaz purred.
Darby choked on his next breath so hard that his face turned almost as red as my hair.
“That was just a bit of hacking a friend did so when they checked to see the conglomerate had the money, they really saw my account but with a different name,” I answered honestly, patting Darby on the back. “But I did make a deal with Katrina Calloway and her extended family for fae dust for their personal and private use with as gifts for their vendors to fill the coffers to help. A few other things.”
“No one at school has put it together you’re the new owner,” Darby said when he recovered.
“Yes, we’ve been blocking her,” Claudia drawled. “And we’re working on how to… A lot. So there might be a way to bring in the social media aspect and these tours and much, much more. Hopefully. We could use the help.”
“I warned you not to offer you could handle anything I could throw at you because I would take you up on it,” I reminded her.
“The dragon royal families thrive so much more than human ones as there is never infighting in clans,” Mrs. Gui said as she gently tapped her wineglass, saying a lot with the gesture. “It allows us to diversify, cover a broad array of issues, large domains even if dragons aren’t as many as humans, and keep the coffers always full.”
“Yes, we each have several business geniuses in our families that manage companies and our clan investments,” Mr. Gui agreed. “But that’s not all you are plotting if I know you at all, my darling.”
“You know me well, dear,” she purred, and I noted Juan rolling his eyes out of the corner of my gaze. “No, I think we take young Tamsin’s wise lead and have fun with some subterfuge. If others were to jump to conclusions… Is that our fault?”
“Tongues will wag why we all met,” Mr. Diaz muttered, getting something I wasn’t. “Yes, no one has figured out she bought it yet and that would be another major target on her. Even if people think it later, she could be said to be an investor so she would have bought it, shares, or partially to not lie. But no one said the remaining royal lines couldn’t come together and own such a company.
“They have no resorts or interest in the other Alpha lands. We make a splash and have several cousins audit resorts and current expansions plans. All of us and word will spread, eyes on us, plots assumed, and more. Oh, the brains that will explode and vampires that will be infuriated that we pulled this on them.”
“Your disdain for my kind is making me rather uncomfortable, Your Majesty,” Darby admitted.
“The common vampire like you? I have none, amigo,” Mr. Diaz said firmly. “Your elders and group leaders, oh yes, I have lots as they were instrumental in pushing others to form this mob mentality that our world has progressed against having any royals. If they could not wear crowns, none of us should. It was spite, nothing more. And it cost people lives.”
“It was before he was an adult to understand,” Mrs. Diaz cut in when Mr. Diaz seemed to get agitated, moving her hand to his arm. “But the animosity is still there. You have spent more time with us today than most of your leaders ever have and they speak of us as acting always self-important, self-proclaimed gods. Gods do not ask a woman so young as Tamsin for help, beg her even.”
“I will think on this,” Darby muttered, bobbing his head. “I apologize for interrupting.”
“Not at all,” Mr. Diaz forgave. “I appreciate you asking instead of assuming. We are all naïve on what we don’t know as we are not perfect.” He focused on me then. “What do you think of our idea? Could this be of help to you then?”
“Yes,” Claudia answered for me. “Especially if you would start with corporate and several locations where we believe too much is going on under the table. We don’t want to make it seem as if the social media is tied to Cherrywood, but if while auditing you could get as much local information on everywhere to go, we can change the schedule.”
“Yes, I agree as well, thank you,” I accepted when the others clearly still waited for my answer. “We have no idea what we’re doing and as much as I tease Claudia, I really do understand I’m about to break her team and this isn’t actually her job either.”
“Good, then we have much settled for now. Let us start with the fun and food,” Mr. Courtenay suggested, waving at several people waiting in the wings.
I rubbed my hands together in glee. “I’m eating for four. I call Mel and Mr. and Mrs. Rothchild’s plates. They said I could.”
“Yes, of course you are,” Mrs. Vogel chuckled, shaking her head. She glanced around at the others. “Yo
u want to tease her, but I promise, she will do it. She gobbles our donuts faster than my mate can and all his teeth are sweet.”
I gave a heavy sigh. “I would have helped protect your mountains just to keep that lovely man who turned me down safe. How is he? The one who got away and doesn’t want me?”
“For the love the gods, Tamsin,” Hudson grumbled as Mrs. Vogel burst out laughing and Mr. Vogel actually gave me over half a smile, which was a good look on him.
“What are we missing?” Mrs. Diaz asked.
“My stomach rules me and I asked their pastry chef to mate me not knowing he was mated.”
“Of course you did,” Darby drawled.
“We weren’t dating yet,” I defended.
“Yes, because that’s the only issue with your statement, agra,” he grumbled, shaking his head at me.
Well, it amused everyone else.
And I got all the food and it was damn good. Like damn good. So was the entertainment. There were firebreathers, which yeah, dragons breathed fire, but it was super cool to see it and know it wasn’t just humans doing it… However they did it. Next was sword juggling and all kinds of acrobatics.
By the time dessert rolled around I was so completely fixated on the weapons demonstration I totally blocked out whatever else was going on.
“She really is a miracle,” Mr. Courtenay praised when it was over. He showed me the charged crystals when I glanced at him, explaining what he meant.
“She really can eat,” Mrs. Diaz chuckled.
“You have no idea,” I drawled. “So can the fae dogs. And I need to start feeding them more. I keep promising more and more fae dust to help people or now for the school to study or use and… Fine, I’m spreading myself too thin.”
“Now that, we can also help with,” Mrs. Courtenay said with a twinkle in her eye. “You better be off to bed though if you wish to visit the market in the morning which is best. The time difference won’t give you as much sleep as you’d like.”
I shrugged. “We can go back to bed right after it.”
“That you can,” she agreed. “Thank you, Tamsin. Truly, thank you. You have no idea how much we needed your help.”
The others thanked me as well, most of the guards dipping their heads to me out of respect and seeming relieved instead of on edge around me. Well, that was progress. Still, it made me uncomfortable to accept their gratitude when I hadn’t done much yet. One box of fifty crystals was a lot for them when they were desperate—I got that—but they set up a lot to schmooze me.
We didn’t go back to school but instead to my house, where the three Rothchilds were waiting in my kitchen.
Darby seemed to read the atmosphere, leaning in and kissing my cheek. “I’m going to take a shower and rest in my guest room so I’m ready for whatever time we’re leaving. I only need about ten minutes to get ready. Wake me or join me if you need me, agra.”
“Thanks,” I murmured, giving him a quick kiss. “Someone said we’re meeting at seven in the morning Barcelona time.”
He groaned. “That’s midnight here. Get some sleep.”
“I will. I’ll join you in a bit.”
“Good, I’ll be in your bed then.”
I nodded, thinking that a better plan for sure.
We waited until he was gone before Geiger gestured for me to put up a barrier just in case. I sighed, hating I was keeping this from my boyfriend who I wanted normal with and I was pretty sure this was so far out of that wheelhouse I needed to just constantly apologize to him. But I did it because it protected him too.
“You told the Vogels’ right hands?” Geiger asked, sounded truly unhappy with me for the first time.
“I told Mel’s parents because I couldn’t stand this rift anymore,” I defended with another, heavier sigh. “They vowed to keep it to themselves and get mental shield charms.” I kept going when he opened his mouth. “What am I supposed to do, Geiger? I’m drowning here and I need Mel to keep me alive most days and this is tearing her apart. That distracts us both and is dangerous.”
“I know, child,” he sighed as well, coming over and hugging me. “I know. I do. We need you safe and alive. I know I cannot put you in a bubble until we get answers and maybe more to help you, but I wish I could. There is no hope without you, Tamsin. You are in such danger and yet you keep fighting all the wrongs you come across. Please, please leave some until tomorrow.”
“I won’t go looking for any. We haven’t been. That’s all I can promise,” I offered. “I can’t just ignore what I see or find. I can’t.”
“I know, Professor White and I spoke at length,” he muttered. “You must have noble blood in you and be of a warrior line on top of your vast power. Good, you’ll need it to stay alive as the fight will come to you. We’ll also need to up your training. But I will ask you no longer go rogue, Tamsin. Tell us. We have not said no to you yet and we will not. Let us guide you and be your shields.”
“That’s not fair. You don’t sign up for the fights by default of being my attorney.”
“We do and we can choose not to every time you tell us,” Claudia argued. “I love the work we’ve been doing. I would die for any of the fights we’ve taken on, Tamsin. They are worthy fights I take on willingly. I would die taking them on so you don’t. We need the chance you can bring fairies back or find out what happened. I would give my life for that and the chance balance could come back to our world.”
And she wasn’t the only one as the other agreed.
“Please, Tams?” Mel asked quietly.
That was the final nail in the coffin. “Okay, no more going rogue. We didn’t realize how much deeper this move we made was.” I shot her a worried glance. “Did you tell your parents?”
“That we were a bit rash and purchased Cherrywood for you before thinking it through besides the bargain we were getting it for and who we were sticking it to? Yes, I admitted that,” she grumbled, sounding like she was waiting to be scolded.
“In her defense, we is rather kind as it was a lot of me and wanting to fuck them over,” I defended. “I tend to think with wrath and vengeance before logic and I’ve not had the money to pull a move like this before. It’s not how we normally get justice so we might have let that power go to our heads that we could do something that big.”
“It might have worked out in a way that helps the royals though,” Geiger threw in, explaining what had been decided as I went to the freezer and started pulling out pints of the gelato we still had from my huge over order months ago.
We filled them on the rest of the meeting as everyone indulged and then it came time for them to get to what they wanted to say before the next round of fun.
“We’re coming with you tomorrow for one sole purpose,” Professor White warned me. “Someone will be stupid and see how far they can push you, assuming we’re lying that you’re not a fairy or just because curiosity is in every supe’s nature. We will make sure they don’t try for more than three hundred crystals, as that is the number said to have been on your dress.”
“And also the reason you left early from the party that night,” Edelman added. “So no matter what you feel, you must play to your audience who will be watching too, too closely that you are tired and worn out.”
“I thought they were going to be our allies now?” I grumbled.
“The Vogels are,” Mel explained. “Mrs. Vogel is your champion and clearly set this up for your protection while getting it out there that you’re not a fairy. The others, yes, they will protect you, be on your team, but they still want you as one of theirs, Tams. You need to be a little less interesting, less desirable, and not the coolest woman around always. Let some attest the hype was overplayed.”
“So what are we talking? After our fun Darby carries me back to the portal I’m exhausted for a nap?” I asked sarcastically.
“That would be perfect if you could pull it off without drawing suspicion,” White answered with a firm nod.
Mel and Craftsman both snorted
. Yeah, I was that good of an actress, but I’d been being a snot.
“Okay, I’ll see what I can do. If you guys think this is important enough to play ref and make sure they’re not taking me for an extra spin.” I ate several bites as they talked plans and what else to get ready. “Any idea what else I’m supposed to ask for or demand? The queens seemed to be pushing for me to demand a lot and ask for everything. I’m sort of blanking on what to do after all we did ask for.”
“Oh, I’m sure we’ll be able to help with that and make sure you get everything you deserve, Ms. Vale,” Professor White said with a smirk. “And maybe a bit of something for ourselves to make it clear our help is a gift that should be valued as none of us are to be trifled with. That’s always the most important impression to leave even your allies with.”
I nodded. She was a woman I definitely would listen to on these sorts of things.
23
We were all definitely going to take naps after our outing and poor Izzy didn’t even get the info on the time difference. She thought we were meeting at seven.
We were, just not in our time zone.
Whoops.
“Coffee, need coffee,” she grumbled, barely functioning as Mel dragged her along.
At least the weather was nicer in Barcelona than in Kansas and we were all in comfy clothes because we were going to be walking around. I’d thrown on an oversized snuggly sweater with some black leggings and slip-on Skechers that were perfect for what we were doing.
I didn’t know if Mrs. Courtenay had greased a lot of palms or was completely tapped in but the market didn’t even open until eight, so we were getting an exclusive behind-the-scenes view of it. I realized it was a bit of both as everyone started getting coffees from a fancy-looking kiosk at one of the main entrances while still setting up. Everyone was still setting up.
So what were we doing there?
My distrusting looks seemed to amuse her, but I wasn’t the only one giving them. Darby was always skeptical—something I thought made us work as a couple—and I could tell felt the same.