The Garrison (The Circle Series Book 3)

by Naomi L Scudder

  “Xan is fine,” she said, ignoring the greeting he offered.

  “Of course,” he said, lowering his arm. “Shall we go somewhere a bit less crowded?”

  “No, we may not. I hear the Unseelie Court is fond of bride-napping.”

  The Prince’s laugh filled the storefront, making everyone, including Xan stare. The clear baritone sound resonated so pure and true, it reminded Xan exactly of the way she felt the first time she’d used magic. A little giddy, a dash of hopeful, and a whole lot of freedom.

  His laugh is literal magic. That’s just fantastic.

  Xan tried to shake herself free of the joy the Prince’s laugh brought to her. It was manufactured joy after all.

  “That may have been true a few centuries ago when our parents were in our position, but no longer. I’d never take a woman against her will. And I’d never have anyone who served me do so either.”

  Xan tried to measure his honesty. She looked in his deep, blue-black eyes and saw no malice or secrecy there. He didn’t appear to be hiding anything.

  Except whatever was under that glamor.

  The Prince continued. “You might find this hard to believe but I want this about as much as you do. It’s a terrible situation, especially in this day, to have your life taken away for the good of your realm. But, we all have our crosses to bear, don’t we?”

  Xan nodded, unsure how to respond.

  His words seemed truthful.

  “If I’m completely honest, every year you refused I was relieved. You’ve no idea how much pressure the Dark Court puts on me to woo you and bring our houses together more permanently. But, if you don’t give me the chance, then I can’t fail, can I?”

  Xan had never once considered Casimir might be equally opposed to their arrangement as she was.

  “I see you’re busy, probably by design,” the Prince smiled, “not that I blame you. How about this?” Casimir made a fluttery motion with his hands. “There, I’ve just put my number in your phone. If you decide you’d like to see me again, just call.”

  Prince Casimir took Xan’s hand and kissed the back of it. “It was truly a pleasure Ms. Kovak.”

  And every eye in the place, including Xan’s watched him leave the bakery.

  12

  Jane

  “We’ve gotta make this quick,” Zora said as she shooed the last of The Laughing Cat customers out the front door. “I’ve got to retype my entire manuscript in a few hours.”

  “Oh, that’s terrible, what happened.” Jane asked.

  Zora shook her head. “Nothing I want to talk about, let’s get to it.

  “I agree,” Xan said. “I had to meet my future husband today and I’m dying to do some research on him. Let’s make this quick.”

  The women stared at Xan, her confession putting wide-eyed disbelief on both their faces.

  “What the hell do you mean your future husband?” Jane asked.

  Xan settled into her barstool. “It’s complicated and I don’t want to go into the details, but basically, I’ve got to marry a royal from another fae house.”

  “What the hell for?” Jane asked.

  “Why else? To strengthen a political alliance.”

  “Fuck that shit.” Jane said. “What is this? The dark ages? Are women still being used as currency? Is that how the fae realm works?”

  Xan nodded. “Kind of? I’ve been able to fend him off for the passed fifty odd years, but things have gotten critical.”

  Fifty years? Jane still had a hard time wrapping her head around how old her friend actually was.

  “Let me guess, I’ll bet he’s elderly and can’t even get it—”

  Xan cut Zora off before she got crude. “Fae don’t get elderly, and I’m sure his parts work fine.” The tips of the fae’s ears grew red as she looked down at her shoes.

  Jane folded her arms. “What’s that?”

  “Hmm? What’s what?” Xan asked.

  “That stupid puppy-love look on your face. Do you actually like this guy?”

  “I might. Well, honestly I don’t know. It might all be glamor and magic. But he’s not as bad as I thought he’d be. I think I should at least see him again.”

  Jane didn’t hide her shock. “Look, I’m hobbled from trying to summon a demon earlier. Why don’t I go with you and help with the research? Two heads are better, right?”

  Jane did want to help Xan research. Jane also couldn’t stand waiting for her the magic in her chi to restore or being so powerless for so long and Xan’s royal issue was just the distraction she needed.

  Plus, if it was just a glamor getting in the way of her friend’s better judgment, Jane wanted to make sure of it. If it wasn’t, well, Jane would support her friend. Even if she didn’t like the choice.

  It was Zora and Xan’s turn to drop their jaws at Jane.

  “What do you mean you summoned a demon?” asked Xan. “What the hell for?”

  “Turns out, the demon is a slow death sentence. I’ve got to get her out before she ends up killing me. Who knows how many years she’s already taken from me.”

  Xan nodded, somber and appropriate for the topic.

  Amazingly, Zora did too.

  “Hey, how come you’re not exploding things anymore? We’ve just given you enough drama to make you shatter the whole block.” Jane said, eyeing her gypsy friend with mock suspicion.

  “I may have taken everyone’s, including my mother’s advice,” Zora’s tone was uncharacteristically sheepish.

  Jane gasped an exaggerated and screechy noise. “Did you get laid?”

  Zora nodded. “But no details, this isn’t high school. He was exactly what I needed though.”

  “I’m really happy to hear that.” Xan touched Zora’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze.

  “Me too,” Jane said. “How about some celebratory shots?”

  “What are we celebrating?” asked Zora.

  “Your de-escalation. You’re no longer at critical mass.”

  Zora and Xandrie laughed. “Alright, one shot, but no more, I’ve got a long night ahead of me.”

  Jane downed a swallow of the smoothest vodka she’d ever had, handed the glass to Zora and said, “OK, what’s the situation with the wolf info? Who knows what?”

  Zora shrugged. “Jake was my only in with the wolves and we never got along, so I’ve got nothing.” Zora cleaned everyone’s empty glass and put them away.

  “I tried reaching out to him, but he told me to leave it alone. And Theron was useless as always,” Jane said.

  Xandrie relayed what her father told her about wolf pack aggression, and how it was linked to the alpha.

  Jane shook her head. “Jake’s not like that. He wouldn’t let the pack get out of control if he could help it. Something must have happened. He must have been overthrown.”

  Xan nodded. “The only reason he took control of the pack was to protect Rachel. He knew how dangerous the pack was for females and he promised to protect her by becoming Alpha. But it didn’t work. She was taken by another wolf and died in childbirth because he wouldn’t let her go to the hospital. Stupid dogs.”

  “Hey,” Jane said “none of that. We aren’t in a position to start name calling or feeling superior to the wolf pack. Clear?”

  Jane could tell from Xan’s face that she wasn’t clear and wasn’t happy about it.

  “Look, from what I understand we’ve got nothing on a whole pack, they’d take us all out in moments. So no arrogant mud-slinging because that attitude will get us killed. Think what you want about them, but we’ve got to go into this diplomatically or we aren’t coming back from it. Something you should know quite a bit about, Princess Xandrie.”

  Xan rolled her eyes at her friend. “You’re right, of course. It’s just hard to be diplomatic to such a backward, chauvinistic group.”

  “I know. Believe me. Do you know how hard it was for me to get with Theron after what I’d been through? I had to realize that all vampires weren’t Droshin. We can’t let ourselve
s judge the whole pack, regardless of what’s been done, based on what could be one crazy Alpha. We have to go into this with clear heads and open minds to find a solution. Everyone agree?”

  Zora and Xan both nodded. And they both looked at Jane in a way she’d never been looked at before.

  With respect.

  13

  Zora

  “Are you sure this is how you want to spend your time off?”

  Zora looked up from her laptop. Kaori perched on top of her armchair like a bird, watching her type. “Yes, Kaori. I need to get this to Elle as soon as I can.” Zora put her nose back in her laptop and continued retyping the manuscript she already retyped so many times she’d lost count.

  But not before taking a huge, scalding gulp of the coffee Kaori handed her. It was four a.m. and while Zora was a habitual night owl, she pushed even her nocturnal tendencies with this new deadline.

  “I’m just pointing out that the goal of the book, the end result has already been achieved. Jane already fixed the energy imbalance and enthrallment nonsense. So why even bother still publishing the secrets?”

  Zora sighed, closed her laptop, and leveled her gaze on Kaori who now perched on the back of the sofa. Kaori was the gypsy’s closest friend. Zora liked Xan and Jane, but she’d known Kaori since her first research trip. She’d shown Zora around Tokyo and they’d bonded instantly.

  Kaori had flown in when Amari died. She was there to help Zora pick up the pieces. And hadn’t left.

  Not that Zora minded. She’d never had a roommate she actually liked.

  And being Zora’s closest friend afforded Kaori certain things. Like, the right to say anything on her mind, no matter how blunt or rude it might be.

  Zora knew Kaori never harbored ill intent in her words. They always came from a good place. Even if it didn’t always sound like it.

  “I guess part of me is afraid if I don’t finish this Amari will have died for nothing.”

  Kaori nodded, sleek and straight, black hair moving as she did.

  Zora opened her laptop again and started typing.

  She was making excellent time, easy when it’s nearly memorized from typing it so often. She was already three quarters of the way finished.

  Then she came to Chapter Seventeen.

  The most difficult chapter for her to write. It had to do with an intricate power structure Zora based off a tribal community she’d run across in Venezuela.

  And that made her remember something in her notes.

  Zora hopped up from the sofa, nearly knocking Kaori off the back of it, and grabbed her old laptop case. She dropped to her knees, digging around her for her old notebooks with all the notes from her travels.

  “Here it is,” she said. She flipped thirty or so pages into the notebook and found exactly what she was looking for. “I’ve got it! I know what we need to do, K!”

  Zora yanked her phone out of her pocket and called Jane. After three rings, it went to voice mail. “Jane is me. I figured out what to do about the wolves. They have a ceremony that allows outsiders to meet with the pack leaders in a non-threatening atmosphere. Call me back!”

  Zora called Xan who also didn’t pick up. She left an identical message.

  “I don’t understand why your country permits such atrocious beings. There are no werewolves, werecats, werefoxes, or wear-anything in Japan.”

  Zora looked at her friend. She didn’t know she was so... was racist the right word?

  “Don’t look at me like that. If you knew your history you’d feel the same.”

  “But K, aren’t you kind of a were-everything?”

  If Kaori had been holding something, the look on her face said she’d have thrown it at Zora. “I’m not a were-anything! How could you not know the difference?”

  Zora laughed, which only made her friend angrier. “I’m sorry, Kaori. It’s just, well you can turn into any animal... it’s natural for me to assume you’d have were-something in your lineage.”

  “I’m a chimera, a shapeshifter! Not a dirty were! Don’t make that mistake again!”

  Zora smiled again, watching as Kaori’s anger dissipated. Her shapeshifter friend had an even shorter fuse than Zora did. And it tickled Zora to no end.

  14

  Xandrie

  “Why do we have to drive to the sidhe? Why can’t you teleport us like you did when The Morrigan called?” Jane asked Xan from the passenger seat of the Viper.

  “Because I like driving, Jane. And also because I can’t actually teleport. Not without a power-up from the sidhe, which I can only get if I, one, spend time there or, two, take the crown. And no one says teleport. It’s a shimmer.”

  “Fine. Let’s shimmer there, this car is scary and you drive like a maniac!” Jane grabbed the door as Xan screeched around a particularly dark and acute curve. “Shit, Xan, if you don’t cool it I might actually be sick.”

  Xan smiled, but her foot did come off the accelerator. She wasn’t a fan of cleaning seats.

  “You’re no fun,” she teased. “Lucky for you, we’re here.” Xan led Jane through the hidden opening to the Seelie Court.

  “Are you kidding me?” Jane’s head bobbed back and forth like she was watching a tennis match as she took in all the sights of the sidhe. “What are those?” She pointed to the tunnel walls.

  “Glowworms, insect larvae. Not magical in the least, just bioluminescent.”

  “OK, fine. But what about that?” Jane pointed upwards.

  “That’s a sprite, a kind of mischievous fairy. Disney modeled Tinkerbell after sprites.”

  “No way!”

  “Yup, he was a big fan of the fair folk, as we were called back then.”

  As the witch and fae entered the main hall of the sidhe, Eudora was there to greet them.

  “Hello, Mistress Xandrie. Shall I inform the King and Queen of your arrival?”

  “No Eudora, that won’t be necessary. We’re on our way to the records room.”

  “Certainly, Mistress.”

  Xan headed toward the records room, but Jane stood in place, transfixed by Eudora. “Come now Jane, it isn’t polite to stare.”

  Jane shook her head. “Sorry,” she said to Eudora. “You’re just so lovely.”

  The fae’s pointy ears turned pink. “Thank you, Miss...?”

  “Oh, Jane is fine.”

  “Thank you, Miss Jane.” Eudora granted Jane a low curtsy for the compliment.

  “No, I mean call me Jane.”

  “Come on, Jane. We’ve got a lot to do. So does Eudora.”

  When Jane caught up with her Xan whispered, “You know, I thought’s you’d be a lot cooler about the sidhe.”

  “What do you mean?” Jane asked.

  Xan laughed, “Jane you’re like a kid in Disneyland.”

  “Whatever. You grew up here. You don’t know how amazing this place is! Ooooh, what’s THAT?” Jane pointed to an enormous door with a carving of a moving centaur.

  The wooden creature paced back and forth on the door, stomping its foot and snorting as they approached.

  “That’s Claide, he’s that room’s protector. No one can get in without going through him.”

  “So he’s like a magical bouncer?”

  Xan smiled at her friend. “I suppose so, but don’t let him catch you saying that.”

  The women entered the room full of leather bound transcripts and copies of all the family histories and business dealing within the sidhe. The ceiling-high bookcases spanned the length of the room. Xan had never investigated to see how deep the shelving went, but she assumed it had to go on for miles if it housed the entirety of fae history.

  Xan showed Jane where they’d be working.

  “What’s this,” Jane asked, pulling out an ancient codex from the middle of a shelf.

  “Jesus Jane! Be careful! That codex has the... never mind, just don’t touch anything else. I’ll bring the books to you and we’ll go through them together. Go sit over there.”

  Xan shook her head
at her friend. It had been a long time since she’d seen anyone’s first reaction to the sidhe. It really was a magical place, and Xan didn’t always appreciate just how amazing it was. She grabbed a few books from the shelf and brought them back to the table she’d relegated Jane to.

  “Here,” she pushed half to Jane. “You look through these. Look for any mention of the surname Ellis, or the first name Casimir. Make note of anything unusual.”

  “Got it,” Jae said and opened the first oversized, dusty book.

  Xan followed suit, but instead of using her eyes, like Jane, Xan used a spell. She spoke a few words and the pages flipped around, golden letters jumping off to line up in front of her eyes and arrange themselves like a scrolling script on a TelePrompter.

  “Oh, you’ve got to be shitting me! Teach me that trick!”

  “Sorry, fae magic. You couldn’t wield it.”

  “And why is that exactly?” Jane asked.

  “It’s simple. Your magic comes from within you. Your body makes it and you can store it and sometimes you can use what’s in the surrounding ether but mostly, your magic is fairly insular. Fae magic comes from the sidhe itself. It not only flows through us, but in, and around us. The sidhe is us and we are the sidhe. Do you get the difference?”

  “Not really, but you’re making me wish I was born fae.”

  “Maybe in your next life,” Xan said and focused on the words patiently awaiting her returned attention.

  A few minutes passed, Xan had gone through three books. Jane had finished one. They both looked at each other.

  “I don’t like it,” Jane said.

  “I don’t either,” agreed Xan.

  They’d each come to the same conclusion separately. Which to Xan’s mind only confirmed her suspicions. Casimir wasn’t to be trusted.

  “Far be it for me to defend the guy, but do you think we should ask what it’s all about?”

  Xan hadn’t considered that. She’d been too concerned with figuring out how to get out of any future commitments with him entirely. But Jane did have a point. She should give him the chance to explain what they found.

  Not that any explanation would help.