“She’s been robot-girl since I got here. I’ve no idea what’s going on.”
“It’s simple, really. My publisher dropped me, making the book my beloved sacrificed himself so that I could get it out in the world to help people, completely worthless. Not that it mattered since Jane already fixed all the enthrallment issues when she released the magic in the center of town. It all hit sort of me at once, Amari died for no reason, and that it was entirely my fault.”
Xan and Jane stared at Zora as she recited the events leading to now.
“I couldn’t handle it. It broke me. I almost blew up my whole building. If Eric hadn’t gotten there in time to turn off my emotions, I probably would have.”
You can see what’s truly going on, can’t you? The demon said to Jane’s mind.
What?
She closed off her own emotions. Only she can come out of it.
“Whatever,” Jane said, drawing a harsh look from Xan. “We’ve got shit to take care of. Are you still willing to meet the wolves, Z?”
“I am.”
“Then let’s get moving, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.”
“Actually,” Xan said, stopping Jane and Zora from moving forward. “I’m still tingly with sidhe magic. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there so many days in a row which works out for us because I can shimmer us all right to the meeting.”
“Great,” Jane said. “Guess we should get undressed here? You have enough juice to shimmer us back, right? I don’t want to be walking naked in the woods for miles.”
Been there, done that.
“Yup, I’ve got it covered,” Xan said.
The three women stripped out of their clothes as was customary when meeting a pack on friendly terms.
As Casimir explained, the nudity served to prove not only the absence of weapons but also as a reminder that everyone was equal, everyone was merely skin and bone.
Which was why the offerings were important as well.
“Shield yourselves, the landing can be disorienting.”
This time Jane watched as Xan magicked them through the forest in the blink of an eye. It was so fast, Jane could only make out faint streaks of color, and then, they stood before a massive naked man.
“A witch, gypsy, and fae,” the man said, voice ragged and raw. He towered over them, staring each one of the women right in the eye.
A very aggressive move.
“Have you brought the offering?”
“We have,” Zora said. She laid the items before the wolf shifter, who inspected them with a nudge of his big, dirty toe.
“Good. You know your history. What can we do for you pretty ladies?” The wolf smiled at Jane with what she could only assume was his version of a winning smile.
“There’s been a marked increase in violence within The Circle recently, all involving pack members,” Jane said, hoping she wouldn’t have to spell it out for him.
“Comes with the territory. Shifters are violent. What’s your point, woman?”
Xan stepped forward to speak. “Our point, wolf, is that it’s become excessive. You need to curtail it. People in The Circle don’t feel safe, and that needs to end.”
“What makes you think anything the pack does concern the three of you?”
“It’s a matter of public safety.”
The wolf scoffed, blowing his stinking breath directly in the Jane and Xan’s faces. “The pack dynamic is not something an outsider could ever understand. Furthermore, there’s nothing wrong with the way I run this pack. It’s a tight, well-oiled machine, and I run it by the letter of the law.”
“Is that so?” Jane asked.
“It is, little witch.” The wolf bent down to Jane’s height to look her in the eye. “And the law of the land says I get to run my pack any way I see fit, unless or until I’m no longer the Alpha.”
Jane didn’t move, she didn’t flinch even as he got in her space, and breathed his putrid, rotting breath in her face. “I’m well aware of the pack law, wolf. But here’s the deal. We’ve been...” Before Jane could finish her thought something caught her attention. The campfire flickered in just the right way to illuminate a part of the clearing that hadn’t been before.
It was Jake, huddled in a ball, dirty, naked and beaten. “Oh no,” she whispered, and ran to him, crossing the invisible, but very real line into wolf territory. Jane knelt in front of him, daring to touch his head. “Jake?” she said softly. “Are you OK?”
Jake, the six-foot-six-inch, Combat Specialist werewolf whimpered at Jane’s questions
19
Jane
“Get out of here,” Jake whispered as Jane cradled his head, pushing the dark hair from his eyes. “You don’t know what Ez is capable of.”
“We’ve got to get you out of here first,” she whispered back, taking inventory of his injuries. Jane was no doctor, but it looked like Jake needed one. Despite the quick healing the shifter gene comes with, Jakes injuries looked serious and seriously infected. He needed antibiotics, and he needed them now.
“I can take care of myself.”
“Not from the looks of it.”
Jane stood, body positioned possessively over Jake’s. “This pack member needs medical attention. Why hasn’t he gotten any?”
“Why is it any concern of yours?” The Alpha approached Jane, towering over both her and Jake.
“Because The Garrison decrees it. We’re here by their order.”
The Alpha looked a Jane a long moment before putting both hands on his muscular belly and laughing so loud and hard Jane had to fight the urge to step back. “The Garrison had no power over shifters or vamps. Get out of here witch and take your girl scouts with you.”
“Fine,” Jane said. “But we’re taking him with us.”
The Alpha laughed the same obnoxious belly laugh as before. “I see you haven’t done as much research as I thought. You may only take from the meeting what you what you can carry out.”
“Is that so?” Jane’s jaw pointed straight up as she folded her arms over her breasts.
“It is.”
Jane smiled at the shifter and brought a strand of the demon’s magic to the surface.
The Alpha stepped back as Jane’s eyes went all black.
“As I said,” Jane bent over and hoisted Jake’s huge frame over her shoulders into a fireman’s carry. “I’ll be taking Jake with me.” She marched passed the Alpha, passed her gawking friends and into the woods.
“Get us out of here, Xan.”
And before she knew it, they were all back with their clothes, out of reach of the new pack Alpha.
“What the hell was that?” asked Xan.
“She made a deal with her demon,” Zora said matter-of-factly.
“I did,” Jane said as she set Jake on the ground and re-dressed herself.
“But what about—”
Jane cut Xan off with a look. She didn’t want the demon knowing why she’d be partitioned away from Jane’s thoughts. The last thing the Jane needed the demon to know what that she planned to have her exorcised.
Xan closed her mouth around the words.
“He needs to see a doctor, now.”
“I can tell by the smell of him he’s well passed that point,” Xan said. “If he were human, the infection would have killed him by now.”
“What are you saying?” Jane asked.
“He needs magic, let me take him back to the sidhe. They know how to deal with things like this.”
“Are you sure?” Jane asked as she moved between Jake’s now unconscious body and Xan.
“You can trust me,” Xan said. “I’m not going to hurt him. Neither are the fae healers.”
Jane nodded and allowed Xan to shimmer herself and her favorite wolf to the Seelie Court.
“We didn’t make much progress, did we,” Zora said flatly.
“We didn’t, but at least Jake is out of harm's way.”
“What the plan?”
“I’m not su
re yet,” Jane said.
“Seems to me, you need to figure out what leverage we have over the wolves. That’s all it takes to change the game.”
Jane nodded. She was right. Leverage. But what kind? And where to get it?
20
Zora
The day after the wolf meeting, Zora woke feeling lighter than she had in months. The whole no emotion thing was really working out for her. She got ready for work and walked the few blocks to The Laughing Cat where Jade was knee deep in rowdy patrons and drink orders.
“Let me give you a hand,” Zora said and started working the opposite end of the bar.
It was like every witch, wizard, and leprechaun in the city had decided to stop into the bar at the same damn time. And then, as Zora handed the wrong beer to a stout, dark fae, Eric walked through the front door.
He winced for a few moments, his features returning to their neutral position after he’d acclimated to all the minds in the bar.
At least, Zora assumed that was the reason the empath she was banging winced. It could have been something entirely different.
“Hey, what are you doing here?” she asked as he sidled up to the bar.
“Christ, you need help around here,” Eric said, eyes on the swarm of patrons around the bar.
“We’re the only place in the area that exclusively serves the magically inclined. This,” Zora gestured vaguely to the whole bar, “is one of the downsides to having a corner on the market.”
Eric nodded. “Yeah, you definitely need some more hands around here.”
“Are you offering?” Zora asked.
“Not in the least. Every mental block and barrier I have is up just to set foot in this place.”
“Then why are you here?”
Eric pressed his lips together. “I wanted to check on you. I think I kind of broke you yesterday.”
“You didn’t break me, Eric.”
“I mean, I think I kind of did.”
Zora shook her head. “You didn’t do this. You made is easier for me to do this.” Zora put down the half filled beers, much to the dismay of the two wizards who ordered them, and gave Eric her full attention. “I’ve been through fucking hell the past few months. Absolute hell, Eric. I caused my beloved’s death, the reason for which is now totally null, and, I’ve been let out of my publishing contract. You didn’t do anything to me. You just let me get away from all the guilt and other terrible shit in my head for a while.”
Eric nodded.
“I won’t stay here forever. I promise that much. But I’m going to be here as long as it takes for things to start making sense again.”
The empath nodded once more, this time leaning on his back heel. “Well, I just wanted to make sure you were OK.”
“I am. You don’t have to check in on me.”
“OK then. I’ll see ya around.”
“You probably won’t,” Zora said to his back, fully expecting never to see Eric again.
21
Xandrie
It figured the first real date they went on would be at the fanciest restaurant in Baltimore. Xan placed her napkin in her lap and tried to remember her human etiquette lessons.
Jesus! There are three knives! What the hell am I going to do with three?
“How did the wolf meeting go?” asked Casimir while Xan contemplated the knife situation.
“Not great.” Xan waited until after the waiter filled her water goblet and left to continue. “Apparently The Garrison sent us on a mission we can’t possibly achieve. We have no power or leverage on the wolves. They aren’t going to change their ways. And I think the fact that they sent us, three women, really rubbed the chauvinist Alpha the wrong way. It almost makes me wonder why The Garrison would send us out there, to begin with.” Xan perused the menu, finding classic French cuisine and intimidating amount of courses to chose from.
“The Garrison wouldn’t have chosen you if they didn’t have faith in your abilities.” Casimir’s dark sapphire eyes reflected the candlelight as he leaned into the conversation. “Any news on the wolf you brought to the Seelie Court for healing? Is he better?”
“As far as I know he’s doing better. Not fully healed yet, but the nurses are working on him diligently. He should be fine.”
Casimir nodded. “Did you see any female pack members?”
Xan shook her head. “No, the only person I saw was the huge Alpha. Jane was the one who spotted Jake at the edge of the clearing. To my knowledge, no other wolves were present.”
“That’s not good.”
“What do you mean?”
“It means he’s probably keeping the female wolves sequestered so they can’t be ‘tempted away’ to another pack, or by anyone who might help them.”
“Not good,” Xan agreed.
“It reminds me a bit of the demon realm.”
Xan stopped mid-sip to stare at the beautiful dark fae that was to be her husband. If she allowed it, that is.. “What do you mean by that?”
“Demons are a segregated race, the females and males have two different societies. It’s actually one of the reasons the Unseelie Court is so eager for our union. We need a female liaison for the female demon realm. They won’t tolerate males. Not even a fae male in their realm.”
“Why is that? Did they escape servitude?”
Casimir shook his head, rustling his hair and putting his scent in the air. Xan tried not to breathe his magically, warm scent too deeply, but he smelled so good!
“Not even close. Female demons are much bigger and stronger than males and have a larger capacity to hold magic. It used to be the males who were subservient to female demons. But they won their freedom and now run their own society, separate from the female demons.”
“Is that so?” Xan followed what he said, but just barely. She was focusing more on not looking as drunk as she felt. Casimir was intoxicating.
Casimir nodded.
It was interesting and uncommon. A matriarchal society so powerful they held men subservient. But as interesting as it was, Xan wasn’t sure if or how it could help their situation with the wolves.
“So what exactly would I be doing as liaison to the female demon realm?’
“Well first, we need to get you brushed up on current politics in the two realms.”
That didn’t sound like fun at all, least of all while she was supposed to be on a date.
“Oh, don’t make that face. It’s all information you need to have if we’re going to...” Casimir let the sentence trail.
“You’re right, I know. Give me the demon politics crash course. I’m ready.”
As the waiter placed the soup course in front of the couple Casimir explained the difference between the two realms. “The female realm was the original, the first, and its formal name is The Severed Vale. You’ll only need to know that when summoning high ranking officials or reading over legal documents.”
Xan nodded, slurping the sweet leek soup from her spoon in a very undignified, and un-princess-like manner. Zora had it right the whole time — eating was a great distraction from sexual tension.
Casimir smiled and continued. “The male realm which was created after the civil unrest and to mirror the original is called The Mirrored Realm.”
“Seems easy enough.”
“It is. Demons aren’t big on complications for the sake of bureaucracy. The more complex, the less they like it.”
Xan set her soup spoon down indicating to the server to bring the next course. “And what exactly would be my responsibilities as liaison?”
Casimir sighed. “That’s not something I can answer. I only know what the male realm and its leader expects of me.”
Xan wasn’t a fan of less information. More info was always better in her book. As the waiter approached with the salad course she caught Prince Casimir staring at her. Hard.
“What?” she asked. The weight of his scrutiny didn’t feel like flattery. It felt like an appraisal.
“I’m just glad we’
ve finally had a chance to meet, outside of all of our court nonsense.”
“Is that so?” Xan asked, unconvinced of his sincerity.
“I can see you still don’t trust me. The Seelie and Unseelie Courts have had a tenuous, dare I say, troubled passed. But, with our parent's marriage came the agreement that they would rule the Seelie Court and the next generation would rule the Unseelie court, thereby reuniting the two halves of the fae once more.”
“I know, Casimir. I know what my duty to the fae is. I also know that I don’t like having duties one bit.”
“Hard to get around, Princess.”
Xan knew what he was doing. “Don’t try to make me feel guilty about being born royal. I know how lucky I am. I know I’ve had advantages that few people, fae or otherwise could ever dream of. I know that. But I also know I’m beholden to the burden of serving my people, so excuse me if I want to delay that for as long as possible. And pardon me for not automatically trusting the beautiful Prince I’m supposed to marry. I want to make sure he’s a good man before I rule a nation with him.”
Casimir beamed at her. “You’re absolutely right, Xan. Take all the time you need. Make me meet every one of your friends. Test me every way you can think of. Run me through the ringer. I’m an open book, for you and you alone. Because I do want to make our union, and the treaty between the two fae realms a reality. So pardon me, Xandrine Kovak, if I’m not turned off by your outward vibrato. Pardon me, when I call for you again and want more of your time. Pardon me as I try to prove that I am worthy of your time and attention, and most importantly, that I’m worth ruling beside. Because I will do just that for as long as it takes to convince you.”
Xan looked at Casimir, awestruck by the eloquence of his words.
This man was going to be her husband. She had no doubts about it.
“You know no one is all light or dark,” Casimir said as he put a bit of salad into his perfectly kissable mouth.
Xan stared at his lips as he chewed, probably for longer than she should have.
“What I mean to say it, the two courts have such a strong connotation associated with them. Dark and light fae, good and bad, evil and just. It’s all mere propaganda. Both courts have equal capacity to be evil or good. It depends entirely on the person.”
The Garrison (The Circle Series Book 3) Page 7