Beneath the Dust (Force of Nature Book 4)

by Amber Lynn Natusch

  Finding neutral ground was far more difficult than I’d imagined. Merc went around and around with the various factions’ leaders until they found a place all would agree to. But even after all that work, he wasn’t convinced they’d show.

  “Each leader is allowed only four escorts,” Merc said, looking at his brothers. “You’ll be coming, of course.”

  “And me!” I stepped forward, not wanting to be left behind. Merc tried hard to school his features into an impassive expression but failed. “You already said I could, and if this all goes to shit, you’ll need me.”

  “And me,” Knox said, rounding the corner, “because I’ll know if anyone there is lying, and I have zero intention of letting Piper go without me.”

  Merc nodded at us both. “We leave in five.”

  He ghosted away to God only knew where, leaving the rest of us behind.

  “What are we supposed to do?” Brunton asked, looking around at Foust, Jagger, and the others. Grizz stepped up beside him and folded his arms across his chest to mimic the werewolf.

  “You’ll stay here until we return,” Knox replied. Everything about his tone said there was no room for argument. Surprisingly, Brunton didn’t.

  But Kat sure as hell did.

  “I’ll stand in the back of the room and be quiet as a mouse,” she said, walking up beside me. “They won’t even know I’m there. Promise.”

  “The terms of the meeting are pretty rigid, Kat,” I said. “Merc isn’t going to go for it.”

  “Merc isn’t my king,” she replied with a notable amount of heat.

  “But you live in his home under his protection,” Knox said. “Whether you answer to him or not isn’t the issue. You have to sit this one out, Kat.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “We’ll see about that.”

  She walked over to Grizz and led him away by the hand. She was up to something, that much was clear. And apparently, she planned to involve my guardian. What could possibly go wrong?

  ***

  The warehouse where the meeting was set belonged to Mack. That fact alone made me uneasy, but Merc felt confident there would be no issues, especially given how he’d had his ass handed to him by Knox and our crew the last time we’d met. The shady alpha stored all kinds of contraband there, so there was no way he’d risk a supernatural battle where his precious supplies were kept.

  At least I hoped not.

  Mack was there with four of his wolves. One look at Knox and a couple of them went pale. Old pack members of his, I imagined. Judging by the way Knox growled under his breath, they weren’t ones he cared for.

  The next to arrive was the coven queen with her entourage. I recognized some from the ambush they’d set for us at the behest of the fey queen. That melee had allowed Jagger to be taken to Faerie, where he would have died if I hadn’t ripped him from the fey queen’s realm. I stared them down, fire roaring through my veins. Then I saw the blonde witch we’d saved from the golems, and she gave me a nod of reassurance—like she somehow knew what I was thinking and wanted to set me at ease.

  “Now is not the time for vengeance, Piper,” Merc said softly, resting his hand on my back to steady me—and to stifle my power and save me from myself.

  “Sure feels like it.”

  “We have a greater enemy to face. We may need their help to defeat him.”

  “Or she may turn on us again. I mean, if you’re in with the fey queen, why not the king, too?” The coven queen overheard my not-so-subtle jab from across the room and turned to glare at me. It didn’t faze me one bit. “Why not whore yourself out to all of Faerie if it saves your own ass...”

  “Do you share your pet’s sentiments, Vampire King?” she asked Merc. “Does she speak for you?”

  “She is not my pet,” he said, the cold calm of his tone sending shivers up my back, “and she shares her concerns freely and of her own accord, but I cannot fault her logic, given your antics when we last met.”

  “She is too green to understand our world,” the coven queen replied.

  “She understands it far better than most because she has suffered at its hands more than you or your witches—until now, of course.” I practically beamed at Merc’s jab. It was diplomatic but laced with implications; ones the coven queen didn’t appear to appreciate. Her scowl was response enough.

  “Are we all here?” Mack asked. “Can we get this shit started or what?”

  It was then that I realized that Drake, the current warlock lord, was nowhere to be seen, not that I was surprised. For reasons he never did disclose, he had declined to join us when we met with the coven queen the last time, and, as far as I knew, he still hadn’t endeavored to round up his warlocks, so his attendance seemed pointless.

  Maybe it was timing, or maybe he didn’t care to be around those that scattered after Reinhardt’s death, but I couldn’t help but think it was all such a waste. We needed what they had to offer, especially with the threat the fey king and queen both posed to the city. Faerie losing its magic would make them desperate, and desperate supernaturals did risky things. Dangerous things.

  Deadly things.

  Everyone kept their distance from one another, as though that would really help any of them if the shit hit the fan. Merc stared at them for a moment as though he were bored and ready to leave. He looked so much like his father when he did that, I had to close my eyes and force back the memories; unwelcome memories I didn’t want associated with Merc.

  “If you’re all ready to get started,” he said as he surveyed the room, “I’d like to get down to business.”

  “You called this thing,” Mack said. His annoyance at being summoned was plain, and ballsy as hell. Knox went rigid beside me, and I put my hand on his back. It was my turn to try and calm one of our crew. The tension in his shoulders eased slightly, but his eyes were all for Mack—and they were fueled with rage and unfinished business.

  “I have news of Faerie—the fey king’s lands,” Merc said. “I have reason to believe that they are dying—that its magic is dying.”

  The coven queen cocked her head. “How have you come to learn this?”

  “I have a reliable inside source.”

  “A spy,” Mack said with a snort.

  “My brother,” Knox growled in reply. “An Original…I think you might know him, actually. The fey king’s assassin—the one who hunted my pack only days ago.”

  Mack’s skin blanched. “Liam…”

  “Why would you believe someone who murdered your own pack?” the coven queen asked Knox. “How do you know this is not some ruse by the fey king?”

  “Because the fey king nearly killed him when he last encountered him. Piper saw it with her own eyes. He helped save her and me both.” The queen seemed unimpressed. “And I asked him myself—you know of my gifts. You know I can discern fact from fiction.”

  She pursed her lips, then nodded. “That is good enough for me, but I don’t see the problem. If Faerie is dying—at least the fey king’s lands, if not both—then the royals’ power will die with it. They will no longer pose a threat to us.”

  She pinned a knowing stare on Merc, silently acknowledging the drama with the witches and the golems without revealing it to Mack and his wolves.

  “This is where you are wrong,” Merc said, stepping toward the center of the room. “How many witches of yours have gone missing recently?”

  Again, her expression tightened, her eyes narrowed to slits. “Too many…”

  “What happened last night was not an isolated incident. The fey king is abducting supernaturals—more specifically, your witches—and draining their power to feed his lands as well as his magic. Desperation will drive this behavior until your coven is no longer.” He turned his focus to Mack, who looked positively uninterested in the conversation. “And then he will turn his attention to your wolves…and my vampires.”

  “Sounds like we have some time to figure this out, then,” Mack said with a sneer. “She’s got a lot of bitches in her crew. I don
’t mind sacrificing them.”

  “Just as I don’t mind sacrificing your wolves,” Merc countered, “but that sort of thinking is shortsighted and will play into the fey king’s hands. He is counting on the chaos in the wake of the treaty’s fall to allow his golems to hunt us all. So far, it is working.”

  “With increased power will come more golems,” Knox added. “The problem is only going to snowball.”

  “What do you propose?” the coven queen asked after conferring with her advisors.

  “A truce,” Merc said with confidence. “If only until the fey king has been dealt with.”

  Mack choked on a laugh. “Like her word means fuck all to me—yours, either.”

  “His word is binding,” I said, stepping forward. “He is a being of honor, unlike your shady ass. You already sold your soul to the fey king once. Who’s to say you wouldn’t do it again—or aren’t still doing it?” The coven queen’s attention slid to Mack, who, for the first time that night, actually looked scared. “Are you still working for him? Still using his portals to skulk around and steal females of your own?”

  The closer I got to him, the more nervous he looked. Mack feared me—a fact that was plain in his coiled muscles and tight jaw. Merc called me off, and for his sake, I listened, but it was hard to stifle the joy I felt at scaring the alpha werewolf. He deserved it and so much more.

  “He hasn’t contacted me since you left my penthouse,” he snarled. “Thanks for that, by the way. You fucked up my business because of it.”

  I feigned a pout. “What a shame…” I walked back to Merc and the others to find Knox, Jase, and Dean all smiling at me. They’d enjoyed the show as much as I’d liked giving my performance. The supernatural community knew about me now—there was no point in hiding behind the boys anymore. It was time to let the others know that I was a power to be respected. A being they no longer wanted to cross. “Next time you fuck with one of my friends, Mack, your business will be the least of your concerns.”

  “What do you propose, Mercenary? How are we to stop the fey king?” the coven queen asked.

  “To my knowledge, the golems cannot be destroyed. They are made of Faerie and must return there, but surely you and your witches can work to bind them from this world. Perhaps with Piper’s help and that of the warlocks, should they be located.”

  “You would agree to letting her work with us?” the queen asked with a quirk of her brow. “You would entrust your mate to us?”

  “She is not my mate.” He ground those words out through gritted teeth, his barely withheld anger at the truth behind them seeping through. “And she has little to fear from you, but you would be wise to fear her, lest you wish to find yourself another casualty of this war.”

  “There is no war if I agree to a truce,” she countered.

  “True. So what say you on the matter?”

  “I will agree to work with you to resolve the issue with the fey king. After that, the truce is over.”

  “Wouldn’t want to have to sever ties with the bitch queen, would you?” I said. I couldn’t help it—the words flew out of my mouth like they had a life all their own.

  “You know not of what you speak,” she said, snapping her fingers at her advisors. They fell in line behind her as she turned to leave.

  Merc’s attention turned to Mack. “What about you, Alpha?”

  The werewolf watched the witches as they made their way to the exit, then turned to Merc.

  “Since you guys fucked up my relationship with him anyway, then yeah, I’m in until he’s shut down.”

  “I will be in touch regarding patrols of the city and precautions to take to ensure he is not successful in his abduction attempts. If we choke off his power supply, perhaps he will be foolish enough to go after his bride. She will kill him without a thought.”

  “Good…” I said under my breath.

  Mack nodded for his wolves to head toward the exit on the opposite side of the building from the witches, still fearing a battle of some sort. I laughed to myself at how cowardly it made him appear.

  Then a bolt of lightning hit the warehouse, electrifying its metal shell. The thunderous crack drove me to my knees as my hands flew up to cover my ears; I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to hear again. When I looked up, I found the wolves and vampires in a similar position. Only the witches were left standing alone near the exit.

  And they were surrounded by golems.

  Chapter Six

  Magic crackled through the air as the coven queen began flinging spells at the earthen creatures to no avail. Her witches, who normally surrounded themselves with an air of superiority, looked positively terrified as the brownish-red golems closed in around them. Their magic seemed to have no effect on the fey king’s pets. If we couldn’t help them, five more witches would be lost to Faerie, destined to feed its magical void.

  And we’d lose a powerful ally in the fight against that realm.

  The five of us ran to aid the witches, though I wasn’t sure what we could do. At best, maybe I could force the golems back through the portal they’d entered from like before, but that wouldn’t keep them at bay forever. They’d return for what they wanted again.

  “Don’t let them touch you!” I screamed as we ran toward the fray, dodging errant spells and residual magic as we neared. Jase, Dean, and Merc ghosted into the center of the fight and whisked the witches away to safety, leaving Knox and me to face ten advancing golems. Mack and his boys were more than happy to let us face them on our own.

  “You ready to fry some fairy assholes?” Knox whispered in my ear.

  “Nothing would make me happier.”

  With his hands on my shoulders, I focused my anger at the golems that slowly approached. Speed might not have been their greatest asset, but resilience sure as hell was. Fire did nothing to thwart them. Neither did water. No matter what element I called, it seemed to do nothing.

  “Knox?” I called, concern bleeding into my tone as they neared. “It’s not working.”

  “Wind!” he yelled. “Push them back with wind!”

  I closed my eyes and leaned against him as I called a funnel cloud into the warehouse. A swirling vortex blew through the main door and headed for the conglomerate of golems shuffling toward us. It engulfed our attackers one by one until I could barely see them through the wall of dust and debris. I couldn’t tell if they’d been sucked up by its pull or just surrounded by it, but as far as I was concerned, either would work.

  “Send them back,” I snarled, pushing my arms out to shove the funnel toward the portal. It obeyed without question and turned toward the small slit in the veil. I could feel the press of the golems against the tornado, but I dug deeper and used every ounce of power I could find to push them through. Seconds later, the vortex disappeared through the portal, sucking the golems through with it.

  The veil sealed itself.

  We were silent for a moment, staring at the spot where the vanished portal had been. Only then did I feel the presence of Merc on the far side of the room with his brothers flanking him. They stalked toward us as Dean broke the quiet with a very Dean-like observation.

  “Those fuckers are really getting on my nerves.”

  I turned to look at his irritated expression, then burst out laughing.

  “Mine too,” I said. “They’re total assholes.”

  “You think this is funny?” Mack asked, storming toward us. “You just trashed my fucking place!”

  Before he could get too close, the boys formed a wall in front of me, Merc and Knox at the center of it.

  “Is that a problem for you?” Merc asked. His indifferent tone belied his rage, but I could see it in the set of his shoulders and his clenched hands hidden behind his back.

  Mack stopped his approach, as if he’d just remembered who he was dealing with. Merc’s reputation for instability came in handy—almost as handy as his vampire king title.

  “Aw, did Piper break your toys?” Dean added. “And by toys, I mean h
ighly illegal shit.”

  Knox walked over to a shelf that somehow hadn’t been toppled by the tornado that had just swept through the warehouse and grabbed the metal post.

  “She didn’t trash all of it,” he said, shoving the massive metal structure over with one graceful push. “There are still a few shelves left…”

  “All right, all right! You’ve made your point,” Mack said, arms raised in surrender.

  “Have we?” Merc asked. “I’m not so certain we have. Piper seems to be the only being able to affect these golems at all, and you would be wise to remember that. You might not like her means, but I assure you, you will not like those of the golems, either, should you find yourself being absorbed into one in the coming days.” Merc walked over to Mack, dwarfing him with his size and stature. To the alpha’s credit, he didn’t wither under the threat, but I imagined his heart was racing like an animal in a trap about to be eaten. “Do not presume to attack the only one that can keep you safe in all this. It will not end well for you.”

  Giving Mack no chance to reply, Merc turned his back on the werewolf as though he posed no threat to him whatsoever. As though he were a mere human. I looked over to find Knox grinning—he gave the vampire king a tight nod as he strode toward us.

  Merc gave him one in return.

  “Are the witches okay?” I asked.

  “They are fine. They are somewhere safe for now. We should go and see to them.” Merc looked back at the werewolves, who were rummaging through their destroyed contraband. “Remember the truce,” he said, voice deep and commanding. “Do not cross me, Mack of the New York werewolves. You will suffer if you do.”

  Without another word, Merc took my hand, and everything went dark. Seconds later, we were in the driveway of the mansion. Jase appeared with Knox in tow just as Dean materialized.

  “That went better than it could have,” Jase said, looking over the group.

  “We all made it back, so I’d say it was a good day,” Dean added with a wink.

  “Where are the witches?” I asked again.