“No, Merc. Not after what she did to us—to Jagger.”
“We cannot afford to let the fey king prey on her kind to power his lands.”
Dammit.
“I don’t trust her,” I said, staring her down. The smile that overtook her expression only fueled that distrust.
“Would you trust me?” the blonde witch asked as she stepped forward. “I swore a life debt to you. If I extended it to those you wish to protect, would that be enough?”
“Beatrice—” the coven queen snapped at the young witch.
“She is right to have misgivings about this, Mother,” the young witch continued, unfazed by her leader’s—her mother’s—admonishment. “If they had endangered one of us, you would not offer them refuge or aid.”
The look in the coven queen’s eyes was murderous.
“Fine,” she said, gathering her cloak. “We will find another way.”
Without dismissal, she headed for the front door. The joke was on her that she couldn’t open it without the code.
Jagger broke free and followed her there, stalking her like the predator he was. He and a group of wolves encircled her by the door as she waited for her witches to join her. The term ‘pack’ had never seemed more appropriate as they closed in around her, ready to strike. One word from Knox called them off, but none looked too happy about it.
“Enough,” he said, walking toward them. “Let them leave.”
“Knox and his wolves will accompany you—”
“He will do no such thing,” the coven queen snapped at the vampire king.
“And if you get jumped by a cluster of dirt monsters on your way home?” Kat asked, leaning against the exit. “What then? I heard you didn’t fare so well at the meeting.”
“We weren’t prepared.”
“And you won’t be next time, either,” I replied.
The coven queen looked over her shoulder at me and gave a tight nod. “We shall see about that. Now, girls, let us be off.”
Kat reached into the hall closet and pulled out a broom to offer to the coven queen as Merc punched in the keycode. The snickering that echoed through the hall could not be silenced, not that anyone tried too hard. With a flip of her dark hair, the coven queen stormed through the breezeway and out into the night, her witches following in single file. Beatrice shot me an apologetic glance before the door closed behind her.
“However will she get home without this?” Kat asked, twirling the broom through her fingers.
The laughter continued.
“Is anyone else exhausted or is it just me?” I asked as I began to yawn. “No? Just me? Okay then. Grizz, let’s head to bed.”
The man-bear was halfway up the stairs before I made it to the bottom. Apparently, he was a bit shy on his beauty rest, too.
“Need a snuggle buddy?” Knox asked, his tone playful but the look in his eyes anything but. Grizz stopped at the top of the stairs and let out an exasperated snort before turning to head to the media room.
“About that,” I said, stepping closer to him, “I need to talk to you.” I looked past him to Merc. “And you, too.”
“Aw shit,” Kat said, heading for the kitchen. “It’s about to get all kinds of loud up in this place.”
“You’d know a thing or two about that,” Dean replied as he and Jase followed her.
“Yeah, quiet sexual encounters never were your thing, Kat,” Jase agreed.
“Never will be, either.”
The boys laughed.
“Is that a proposition?” Jase asked as they disappeared around the corner.
“Keep the tequila coming and I guess we’ll find out.”
The sound of the kitchen door closing echoed down the hall, and I found myself alone with Knox and Merc. Everyone else had apparently headed for cover while I’d watched Kat and the boys leave.
“Sooooo…” I said, my nerves kicking into high gear.
“You wanted to talk?” Merc asked, his voice full of calm I could see he didn’t feel. His body was as rigid as a fortress, shoring up his emotions for fear they might influence me negatively. He’d been so edgy since my return from Faerie, like he was terrified he’d somehow unknowingly harm me again after breaking our bond.
“Yeah, I did…let’s go do that.”
I led the way up to my room and closed us in. Knox sat on the end of my bed, while Merc hovered off to the side. The alpha shifted, trying to look at ease, but he lacked Merc’s steely front—that fortress Merc could so easily erect. Knox was all emotion, and there was just no hiding that. It was plain to see that he thought bad news was headed for him.
“What’s going on, Piper?” Knox asked.
“Listen, I have no idea how to say this other than to just blurt it out, so here goes nothing.” I took a deep breath, then let the words fly. “I don’t know how to navigate all this,” I said, flailing my hands at the two men in my room. “This ‘situation’ we’re in—the one Drake swears we need to maintain—I don’t know if I can.”
“This ‘situation’ is not optional,” Merc said, taking a step closer. “It seems as though something larger than all of us has brought us together.” His pale eyes fell on the alpha and narrowed slightly. “Even you and me.”
Knox’s shoulders tensed, but he nodded in agreement.
“Well that’s great and all, that fate has crammed us into this messy relationship, but it could have at least sent a manual or something. I mean really, how is this supposed to work—long-term, I mean? You two barely tolerate each other, and even though Drake says convention doesn’t apply to me, I’m a conventional kinda girl…”
“Piper,” Knox said as he stood to walk over, “I know your moral compass is spinning in circles right now because of all this, but you can’t judge yourself. Merc is right that fate put you here. It’s beyond you…I wish it weren’t, but it is, and you can’t feel bad about that.”
“But I do,” I replied, my words a whisper.
Knox let out an exhale, then wrapped his arms around me, hugging me gently.
“I know—that’s partly why I love you. Your unyielding loyalty to those you care about.”
“You are not dishonoring either of us by being with the other, if that is your fear,” Merc said, coming to stand beside us. “It will be an adjustment for us all, but it will be done out of necessity, if nothing else. I will not see you fade like that again…” Sadness flashed in his eyes for a second.
“Never again,” Knox said with a growl.
“Okay,” I said, pulling away. “I’ll try not to feel guilty about loving you both if you two promise me you’ll try to get along. Please, I’m begging you…”
They stared at each other for a moment, a silent standoff of sorts. Then Knox reached his hand out to Merc—a peace offering—and Merc took it. They shook on it, still staring each other down. Neither one let go until Grizz came barreling into the room in bear form. He took one look at the two of them, rolled his eyes, then walked back out, shaking his furry head.
“I don’t think that was a vote of confidence,” I said with a laugh.
“No, it really wasn’t,” Knox agreed, pulling his hand from Merc’s.
“Thankfully for us, the bear is not involved in this, too.”
I looked up at Merc and saw a smile tugging at his mouth. In a most unladylike fashion, I busted out laughing, complete with an occasional snort and all. Yeah, maybe it wasn’t that funny, but man did I need something else to focus on, and true to form, Grizz had provided just that. It made me wonder if that was precisely why he’d done it.
Clever bear…
“Now that we have that settled,” Knox said, sitting back down on my bed, “I want to talk more about this favor you owe the fey queen.”
Merc’s cold eyes turned to me. “Favor to the queen?”
“Yeah…”
“I just learned about it too, so no need to feel left out.”
“You owe the fey queen a favor?” Merc asked, his gaze darting to Knox, th
en back to me. “Should I assume that your escape from Faerie was due in part to her?” I quickly explained the scenario to him as he continued to stare at me. “I see. You’re indebted to your mother, who wants you dead,” he said, his voice all business. I nodded. “What could possibly go wrong…”
“My thoughts exactly,” Knox agreed.
“Should I have left him there for dead?” I asked, propping my hands on my hips. I was getting tired of justifying my methods. When Merc didn’t answer right away, I snatched a shoe off the floor and threw it at him.
“I suppose not.”
“We just talked about this, Merc!”
“I know, Piper. Apparently, my attempt at humor has fallen flat. Let me try again: no, you should not have left him behind. Losing him would have been problematic.”
“Better. Now, what do we do about it?”
The two males exchanged glances, then turned back to me. “We wait,” Merc replied, as though that answer were plain.
“But what if she asks for something I can’t give her?”
“Then we deal with it,” Knox said, standing up. “We close ranks and shut her down. She may be hard to kill, but she’s not invincible, and she can only do so much from her side of the veil. That’s our advantage. If we can keep that, we’re good.”
I looked to Merc, who merely nodded in agreement with the alpha.
“Should we tell the others?”
“I’ll fill the pack in. I think it’s best if they all know.”
“Agreed,” Merc said. “I’ll let the enforcers know as well. If we’re waiting for her to enact her scheme, it’s best if all are apprised.”
“Okay, that sounds good, but…”
“But what?” Knox asked.
I hesitated, dreading the answer I knew was headed my way. “Who’s going to tell Kat?”
Again, Merc and Knox exchanged looks, then turned back to me. The amusement in both sets of eyes was maddening. How they delighted in my torment; at least it brought them together.
“All right, all right, I’ll do it,” I groused, turning to leave, “but if she kicks my ass, you’ll only have yourselves to blame.”
“We’ll keep that in mind,” Knox said with a laugh.
“Jerks,” I muttered under my breath as I threw the bedroom door open to find Grizz waiting for me. “Come on, big guy. Looks like you’re the only one in this house who’s man enough to face an angry Kat.” The bear shot me a quizzical sideward glance as we headed for the kitchen. “Don’t ask. You’ll see soon enough.”
Together, we made our way down the butler’s stairs, headed for the werewolf who was likely going to lose her shit when she learned of my deal with my mother. Maybe the fact that Merc and Knox had seemed to come to an agreement would help soften the blow a bit.
Then again, maybe it wouldn’t.
***
“So you’re telling me that that fey bitch is just going to show up one day and demand something of you that you have to give her?” Kat asked, doing little to soften the incredulity in her tone. I thought the tumbler of alcohol in her hand was going to shatter with the grip she had on it.
“That’s pretty accurate.”
“What in the actual fuck were you thinking, Piper?”
“That I didn’t want Knox to die?”
She opened her mouth to yell at me, then snapped it shut. Though she wanted to chastise me for my decision, she couldn’t fault it. She’d have done the same thing, and she knew it. Moreover, she knew I’d call bullshit if she tried to say otherwise. Instead of serving herself up, she turned back to the pot she was stirring.
Then she changed the subject.
“So your man-pets are getting along?”
“They’re not my man-pets, Kat—”
“Fine. Your loverssssss,” she said, drawing the word out in dramatic fashion.
“I think I liked man-pets better…”
“My point is, they’re not brooding or fighting or being total dicks about the whole situation?”
“No. Not at the moment.”
“Then let’s focus on the positive so I can try not to obsess over the fairy queen’s favor she’ll soon be lording over you. Tell me again why we can’t kill her?” She looked over her shoulder at me, her eyes full of mischief and malice. A deadly combination coming from the lone wolf.
“Because it’s not that simple,” I sighed, propping my hip against the island.
“It never is,” she said before tasting whatever she was cooking. She let out a moan that made me blush a little. Seconds later, a dozen wolves were hovering in the kitchen. I couldn’t tell for sure what they were hungry for: Kat or the food. “Who’s ready to eat?”
The boys’ replies were a rumble of agreement as they rushed to the cabinet to grab dishes. Kat served herself and me, then got out of the way. Though it smelled amazing, I just couldn’t stomach food at that moment. My gut was still in knots about the fey queen.
“You’ll need your strength when she shows up,” Kat said, pushing the bowl of stew back toward me. “This isn’t the time to get squeamish, Piper.”
I exhaled hard, then snatched it up and shoveled its contents into my face. Grizz looked on in horror as I ate about as elegantly as he ever did.
“Don’t give me that look,” I said, mouth full of stew. “Have you seen your table manners? They’re atrocious!” He sat down with a harrumph and folded his furry arms across his chest. “Exactly, so don’t give me that judgy look, big guy. We hate our worst traits in others. Apparently, your fuzzy ass is no different.”
The wolves laughed at my one-sided argument, then filed out, headed somewhere to eat their meal. Kat and I hovered in the kitchen, enjoying the relative seclusion for as long as it lasted. If things kept escalating, quiet time would soon be a distant memory. I used to have it in spades, and I’d resented that fact.
Funny how things change.
Chapter Nine
The tension in the mansion was thick enough to carve with a knife. By early evening, I couldn’t take it any longer. I needed air. I needed the elements.
I was sitting with Grizz on a bench in the backyard when the fey bitch appeared before me. And she cut right to the chase.
“It’s time,” she said, smiling wickedly at me from her side of the veil. “But I’m feeling generous, so I’m going to give you a choice, Piper. Consider it a show of goodwill—amongst family.”
I tried not to cringe at that word. She might have been my mother— might have shared the blood that ran through my veins—but she was not family. Merc and Knox were family. Jase and Dean were family. Kat and Grizz were family. She was the bitch that had birthed me, then ordered my death.
She could take her family and shove it up her ass.
“Just spit it out.”
She feigned affront. “Why the rush? Don’t you want to talk to your mother?”
“I’d rather kill her. Now tell me, or go away.”
Shadows flashed through her eyes for a moment, revealing her thinly veiled anger before she restrained it, reassuming her façade of royal indifference.
“Do not test me, Piper. My patience only extends so far.”
“Mine, too. Now, you were saying something about a choice…?”
Her lips pressed to a thin line of annoyance before speaking.
“You will either bring me something I desire, or kill my husband.” I choked on a cough, shocked by her words, not that I should have been. She was cold and calculating and as merciless as the fey king. No wonder she wanted him dead “Now, hurry up and choose. I don’t like to have my time wasted.”
I stood there, mind racing, trying to figure out what her plan was. The fact that she was the second person to approach me about killing the fey king couldn’t be ignored, even if I could get on board with the outcome of that plan. But to give her something she wanted with no details seemed insane at best. I needed more information and time, two things she wasn’t likely to give me.
But I had to try.
> “What is it that you desire?” I asked.
At that, she smiled. “That isn’t part of the bargain.”
“Is it something or someone I care about?”
“Much to the contrary, Piper. You couldn’t care any less about that which I seek.”
Comforting, and yet not…
“How will I find it if I don’t know what it is?”
“Once you choose, I will tell you what it is. You won’t need any further instructions after you know.”
Grizz grabbed my arm to get my attention. I looked up into his warm brown eyes and saw fear there. He shook his head, as though he somehow knew what the queen wanted.
“Why kill the king?”
She laughed for a moment before taking a deep breath and smoothing her crimson silk gown.
“Why not? He’s a bastard; always has been. And if I recall correctly, didn’t he try to kill you and your entourage the last time you were in Faerie? You should want to kill him regardless of my request.”
“Right, except you demanding it adds a whole new layer of sketchiness.”
She shrugged with an elegance I hadn’t inherited. “I’ve given you a choice. I never said it was an easy one, though I feel it should be. Perhaps you’re overthinking things, daughter.”
That word on her lips made my skin crawl.
“I need more time.”
“And yet you shall have none.”
“What are you going to do about it? Come through that portal and kick my ass? I think not, Mom. You and I both know how that would end.”
Her expression grew murderous. “Do not presume to trifle with me, child. I can find ways to bring you to your knees that you can’t begin to fathom. Test me and see.”
“Twenty-four hours,” I said, ignoring her threats as though they didn’t faze me. As though my insides weren’t quaking at the thought of what she could do to bring me to heel. “Give me twenty-four hours, and you’ll have your answer.”
“I will give you one hour because I’m feeling rather generous today. If you push me on this, you will be sorry.”
She gave Grizz a pointed look, then disappeared from sight as the portal snapped closed in a second.
Beneath the Dust (Force of Nature Book 4) Page 6