by K. F. Breene
“The stabbing game, your random seeping power that I don’t control, a mage that I don’t cast out…”
I leaned back against the bar, the motion nearly jostling me out of my chair, but whatever. “Because you allow Sebastian in the bar?” I narrowed my eyes at Kingsley. “You were being serious earlier. You really didn’t want a mage in here.”
“He didn’t know who you were,” Austin said.
A flash of anger tore through me. Power followed, ballooning around me.
“My kind has been hunted by mages for a decade now,” Kingsley said, a growl riding his words. I felt the sweet rush of his answering power. “My pack is too big, too well established, too prosperous for the mages to go after, but if we continue to pretend it isn’t happening, it’ll only be a matter of time. Meanwhile, entire packs are being wiped out for frivolous reasons. For spite disguised as genuine offense.”
It was the same thing Sebastian had said to Niamh. She’d told us about Momar and the threat he posed.
“He would know,” Kingsley replied, and I realized I’d said that thought out loud.
“Not all mages are against you,” I said. “A blanket generalization will only hurt you in the end, because you’ll alienate the mages in the middle—or worse, the ones who support you. Then it’ll really be war. If you want to fight Momar, the best approach would be to recruit some mages of your own. He must have a crapload of enemies. Powerful people always do. Find some of those and push back.”
“Things are a lot more complicated than that,” he replied after a silent beat.
I’d felt a surge of energy, of motivation, but something about his tone took the wind out of my sails. My heart dropped, and I sagged against the bar. “I’m making everything harder on you,” I said to Austin, my eyes filling with tears. One got loose and shimmied down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away. Liquid courage had turned into liquid emotion. I needed to get out of here, and I needed some chocolate. “Your pack is in chaos because of me, isn’t it? You have people coming to challenge you because they hate that you’re working with a mage.”
He rubbed my back, humor in his eyes. “They aren’t coming because of you. They don’t know anything about you until they get here and see you…working on your magic.”
“Bumbling around with yer magic, more like,” Niamh said.
“God you’re surly,” I told her.
“Well, aren’t ye slow on the uptake tonight?” she replied with a grin.
“Jess, you’ll make this territory stronger,” Austin said. “And I will make that house stronger. Together, we’ll create something that hasn’t been accomplished before, and we’ll both be stronger for it. And if it doesn’t work out that way, Kingsley will get to say, ‘I told you so,’ for the rest of my life.”
Kingsley just grunted and averted his gaze.
“Okay, well…” I pushed the half-filled glass away.
“Here, wait, get one for the road,” Niamh said, raising her hand.
“No. No!” I pointed at her and pushed to my feet. She leaned away from my jutting finger. “No more. I am an ab…solute mess.” I hiccupped. “That was timely.”
“I’ll walk you home.” Austin waited by the chair.
“Ulric and Jasper are out there. One of them can walk me home while the other keeps their dates warm. They apparently don’t mind sharing. Or you could just set me free, and I’ll blast anyone who tries to bother me.”
“Ye’d probably accidentally blow up someone friendly and mistakenly get captured by Elliot Graves,” Niamh said. “Or whoever’s using his name, if that’s what’s going on.”
“Well…” I shrugged. “That might be true.”
“Alpha.” Donna leaned over the bar. “There’s a problem to the south. They need some direction.”
Austin paused, frustration and urgency roiling within him. He looked at Kingsley, who nodded.
“Sorry, Jess, I have to go,” Austin said. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay? We need to do more planning for the mage visitor.”
“Sure, yeah.” I clung to his arm for a moment before peeling myself off again. “Sorry. I am not exactly all hands on deck right now.” I grimaced.
“Kingsley will take you home. I’ll text you later.”
“Oh no, I don’t need him—” His fingertips on my jaw stopped my breath. I parted my lips, wondering if he would kiss me. Wondering if I’d be able to peel myself away a second time if he did. Instead, he ran his fingers down my throat, and the heat in his eyes made me shiver.
“Let him take you home. I want to make sure you get there safely,” he whispered.
“Okay,” I heard myself say, as meek as a lamb.
It wasn’t until he was striding away that I came out of the heat-induced coma.
“Ye sure told him,” Niamh said.
“Shut it,” I replied, staring at Kingsley as he rose.
“Ready?” he asked, putting out his hand, offering to help me. Clearly he thought I was a risk to myself.
“I’m good.” I waved him away and picked my way through the chairs, bumping into someone once I was free.
Kingsley pushed the person away.
“Sorry, alph—sir,” the man said, edging farther away, a bubble opening up around me.
“That’s embarrassing,” I murmured, eyeing the bathroom. “I’m just going to hit the loo.”
And then give him the slip. I got why Austin was worried: I was not thinking rationally. But seriously, I had the guys to watch me and my magic to protect me. Kingsley would just turn a pleasant drunken walk into an uncomfortable slog.
“Ye are saying out loud every single thought that is in yer head,” Niamh said, then stood and gulped the last of her drink. “I’ll take her home. I’m going that way anyway. I live right next to her.”
“Use the restroom. I’ll be waiting outside.” Kingsley walked from the room, commanding a wide berth from everyone as he did so.
“Ah well, it was worth a try.” Niamh sat back down.
“Wait, what?” I grabbed the chair back to steady myself. “You’re going home anyway.”
“They’ll give me one more if I ask real nicely.” She gave Paul a bulldog stare. He flinched, pausing in taking a glass off the bar.
Knowing I wouldn’t be able to convince her, I didn’t bother with the restroom (I hadn’t actually needed to go) and met Kingsley on the sidewalk. He was waiting on the curb, watching everyone meander away, but he stepped closer as soon as he saw me.
Without a word, we started walking down the sidewalk toward home.
“So.” I swerved a little his way, and it was the first time I saw him tense. He put out a hand but didn’t actually touch me, as though he didn’t want to make contact unless I was actually falling. “You shifters aren’t really touchy-feely types, huh?”
“Touching means something different in our world, especially when it concerns someone Austin…cares about.”
“Oh. That. With the past and everything.” I paused on the corner, looking down the main drag, seeing broad bodies walking with purpose. Patrolling, probably. “He only got upset earlier because I was uncomfortable.”
Kingsley reached out again as I stepped off the curb. “It’s shocking how easily you get intoxicated.”
“Apparently. Niamh finds it endlessly entertaining.”
“Austin has calmed down since I saw him last.”
“He’s been trying, I think, to get over that.”
“Yet he didn’t step up to claim his position as alpha until you.”
“Yeah.” I ran my fingers through my hair. My toe hit a crack and my body weight shifted forward. “Bugger.” I staggered to a stop, Kingsley’s hand gentle around my arm, stabilizing me. “It’s fine, seriously. I fall a lot. It’s really not a big deal. I have this sleek, athletic body again. I don’t care. I can heal myself really quickly. I can heal you, too, if you want. You tired? I can fix that up really quick.”
“No.”
“Okay. Just say the word and…�
� I snapped my fingers, only no sound came out. “You get it.”
“No one has spoken to me like this in…” He peered down the next street we reached, only one person down the way, the hourglass figure indicating she was female, the powerful frame saying I didn’t want to fight her. “It’s a lesson in control, one I haven’t had to wrestle in—”
“You should get out more. It’s good for you.”
“My brother has never lost his temper with you? He’s never lost his temper with others because of you, other than earlier tonight and the instance you spoke of earlier?”
“Well there was one time at Ivy House. This other alpha didn’t like Austin, and Austin didn’t like him, and they almost went at each other. I kept Austin from blowing up, and I shut the door on the other dude. They had a bit of a scuff-up another time, too, when Dam—the other alpha—was a douche in Austin’s bar. But honestly, Austin is really worried about losing control, but he doesn’t do it much. He really doesn’t.”
“And you don’t want him to.”
It wasn’t a question this time.
I paused at the next corner, looking both ways, feeling a little strange. I put a hand to my stomach, wondering if it was the beginning of the end. I didn’t think I was going to hug a toilet, but sometimes it snuck up on me.
“I should be able to heal an upset stomach, though,” I said to myself, looking back the way we had come. My senses were swimming in alcohol, but I knew that danger lurked that way. Something was amiss.
I put my hand out, meaning to touch Kingsley’s shoulder, a silent command to stop. Only that was a Jane sort of gesture, and he moved out of the way, trying to keep contact to a minimum.
I pitched forward like a puppet with broken strings, my limbs flailing and my balance obliterated. My knee gave out and I staggered off the curb, not adjusting for the sudden change in altitude, and dove forward. My hip hit first and I rolled, my arms slapping cement, my legs askew.
“You moved,” I bleated, knowing when I was sunk. I went limp, lying on the street, now huffing out laughter. “You moved!”
“I apologize. I wasn’t thinking about—” He bent to me, his arms out, looking utterly lost and disheveled. This man who’d shown no outward emotion all night clearly had no idea what to do. Where to grab. “Can I— How can I—”
“It’s fine.” I lay there for a moment. “I’m good.” The night sky looked down on me, floating softly, pricks of light swimming in the black. “It’s a lovely night, though, isn’t it?”
“Can I help you up?”
“Nah. I got it.” I pushed myself to sitting, only because he was clearly uncomfortable.
“Are you hurt? Do you need to be carried?”
My laugh was soft at first, but soon I was guffawing again. “I’m sorry. I’m just a little emotional because my son came to visit, and he had to go home yesterday. It’s hard when they leave. This is the first time I’ve lived away from him. I’ve been so busy with this new life, but seeing him again…” Tears filled my eyes and dribbled down my cheeks. “Sorry.” I wiped them away, trying to stifle sobs. “I’m a little more broken up than I’d expected to be.”
“Ah.” Surprisingly, Kingsley sat down next to me, legs crisscrossed. “I didn’t realize. I’m sorry. My kids are getting to about that age now.” He paused for a moment. “Since you are not a shifter, or in the pack, or even part of this territory, I wonder if I might be frank with you?”
“Ugh. I’m not sure I’m up for your criticism right now. Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”
“No, I meant…can I be open about my own situation?”
“Oh sure, yeah. I didn’t realize you shouldn’t be. I don’t know the shifter rules.”
“Yes. That is apparent.” He glanced away, watching the quiet town. “I have a boy and a girl. They both have the makings of a good alpha, but my girl is…cutthroat. She’s a handful. She’ll leave first, I know she will. She is eager to start her life away from her parents’ guidance. I just want to hold on with everything I have. To keep her home, safe. Every time she takes my hand, I worry it will be the last.”
Tears rolled down my cheeks again, but this time I didn’t stop them. I nodded and clasped my hands so that I wouldn’t give in to the urge to pat his knee or shoulder and send him scurrying away. “It is hard, but as parents, that means we’ve done a good job. We’ve prepared them for the world and empowered them to find their own path.”
Five animals ran into the back woods of Ivy House. They were moving fast.
“Do you know what animal they are?” I asked Ivy House, only not really, because I’d just said it out loud, and she couldn’t hear me when I talked to her like that unless I was on the property.
“What?” Kingsley asked, sensing my change in mood immediately.
“Do you know what animals they are?” I asked Ivy House properly this time, using our connection.
“Wolves. Shifters. Friend or foe?” she answered, keyed up, I could tell.
“Crap.” I wobbled up onto my feet. “Crap, I’m drunk. I need to figure out how to heal drunk.” I staggered forward, wondering if drunk flying would be as dangerous as it sounded. “Five wolf shifters just ran onto Ivy House property.” I upped my speed, feeling like I was running a million miles an hour. Kingsley was barely jogging beside me. “I need to heal drunk. Get Niamh.”
“I’m not leaving you. Are they with Austin’s pack?”
“I wasn’t talking to you…” I tapped into my connection with Ivy House again. “Bring in Niamh and the others. What is Mr. Tom doing?”
“Preparing to call you.”
Austin was away to the south dealing with his own problems. I didn’t need him for anything other than identifying the pack members.
“Are they with Austin’s pack?” Kingsley asked again, a growl riding his words.
“I don’t know.” My phone rang, and I answered it on the run, the world jiggling around me. “Mr. Tom, hi, ask Niamh to bring in someone that can identify…” More shifters blipped onto my radar, behind the others, spreading out within the woods and coming our way. The intruders weren’t attacking Ivy House: they were cutting through the property to get into town.
There was not one person familiar with this town that would do something like that. Everyone knew better.
“They aren’t friendlies,” I said into the phone. “They can’t be. Mr. Tom, hang tight. Ivy House will bring in the others.”
Twenty-One
I handed the phone off to Kingsley. “Find Sebastian’s name and push it. I can’t look for it, run, and try to cure alcohol poisoning all at the same time.”
He did as he was tasked, and I focused on going faster, feeling those shifters eating up ground. I wanted to be on Ivy House soil before I had to use her defenses. Or offenses.
The phone was handed back.
“Hello?” Sebastian said, his voice crisp. Alert.
“Were you awake?”
“Yes. Are you drunk?”
“Very. Do you have something to help with that?”
“Yes. How quickly do you need it?”
“Now-ish.”
“Then no. What’s going on?”
“Someone is using Ivy House as a… Oh crap—” Something else burst onto my radar: the basajaun was following the shifters, and given his size and my current lack of speed, he’d get to them sooner than I would. I pulled the phone away from my face. “Kingsley, can you run faster than this while carrying me?”
“Yes.”
“Do it.” I staggered to a stop and put up my hands like a child. “Do it now! Head toward Ivy House.” I directed him down the correct street, just up ahead.
He scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder, not the most comfortable of holds, especially since his hard-as-rocks shoulder was digging into my full and fragile stomach. I tried to perch on his back to no avail, and then just worked on not throwing up.
“Ivy House, how do you heal drunk?” I asked, Sebastian still on the phone. I lifted
it to my ear.
“Jessie? Jacinta!”
He actually sounded worried.
“Are you sure? I can’t make you drunk again—you’d have to start all over.”
“Just do it.”
“I’m fine,” I said between wheezes, my stomach rolling. If Ivy House really did have a cure, it wasn’t helping fast enough. To be fair, its power was much stronger on the actual property. “Shifters are…running through my property…followed by the basajaun. I don’t know…what they did, but if I don’t get to them before…he does, there won’t be…anything—ow—left to question.”
“The basajaun from the mountain?” Kingsley asked, not even out of breath. He’d been drinking all night as well, beer for beer with me. It hadn’t affected him even a little, just like his brother.
“I’ll be right there,” Sebastian said, and the line went dead.
He’d be too late. We might all be too late.
“Ivy House, slow that basajaun down, but—”
“You’re talking to me again,” Kingsley said.
“Damn it!” I switched gears. “Ivy House, slow that basajaun down, but don’t hurt him. I want him to stay on my side.”
The house glowed like a beacon in the shadows ahead, all the lights on. A lone figure waited out front, and I could feel that it was Edgar. Swooping down from above came the nightmare alicorn with wings of inky darkness. I felt Ulric and Jasper on their way.
Those shifters were halfway through the woods now, coming fast. They were cutting through the property at a diagonal, which would dump them out to the left of the house.
It might not be an attack on me, specifically, but they’d clearly planned to crash into Austin’s territory. I knew that wasn’t how things were done around here. They’d snuck over the mountain, aggravating the basajaun in the process, and instead of making amends, they’d continued their preplanned journey with a lot more haste. These fellers were in a no-win situation.
“Put me down.” I tapped Kingsley’s shoulder. A moment later, half sober, I touched down on the sidewalk before Ivy House. “Thank you.”