The Garrison (The Circle Series Book 3)

by Naomi L Scudder

  Xan shook her head, not sure where he was going with this.

  “So, if your hesitation about us has to do with conceptions you have about dark fae, remember, your father is dark, just like me.”

  That rubbed Xan exactly the wrong way. “For your information, Casimir, I’ve no objection to you, my fathers, or my own heritage, so just scrub that thought from your mind.” Xan shook her head. “Why is it so hard for you to think that maybe I’d want to weight the pros and cons of jumping into a life-long relationship with someone who I’m not only expected to procreate with, but also rule a nation with? Why does it have to be a race thing?”

  “Isn’t everything a race thing?”

  “Not with me. I want to make sure I’m doing the best thing for myself AND my people before I do anything. I have to know I can trust you before anything. You’ve proven very helpful, but what guarantee do I have that you won’t hurt me? Or that we have similar ideas on child rearing or governing the Unseelie Court? None, you can offer me no guarantee. We just have to take our time and get to know each other.”

  “That’s true, Xan. Trust must be built. But you also must realize there are no guarantees in love. That’s what makes it so worthwhile, and so excruciating when it fails.”

  Xan nodded. He was right.

  “Besides, there’s one other thing that we have to make sure we’re on the same page on before we agree to anything.” A playful, almost evil light danced in Casimir’s eyes.

  “What’s that?” Xan asked. She played coy, but she could tell exactly what he was saying without words. And she was curious too.

  Were they compatible in the sheets?

  “Check, please,” said the Prince.

  22

  Xandrie

  Fae culture is a funny thing.

  There was a lot about it that Xan couldn’t stand. The overwhelming pomp in the sidhe and the class system were just two of the long list of gripes Xan had about her people.

  One aspect of fae culture Xan didn’t mind at all, was their non-issue with casual sex. Changing partners, trying new partners frequently, multiple partners at a time, it wasn’t taboo—it was recommended. You can only live so long before you start spreading your sexual wings so to speak. And fae lived a very long time.

  It was why Xan and Casimir were on the same page. To them, it was pointless to figure out if they were compatible long term before they figured out if they had any chemistry.

  Casimir shimmered them to his loft in the city. A sprawling glass-walled box in the heart of the trendiest area of up and coming Baltimore, it overlooked a tiny park, the industrial shipping yard, and not much else.

  It wasn’t Xan’s taste at all.

  “You don’t like my city flat?”

  Xan shook her head. While she didn’t own property, she would never choose something so cold and sterile with such little nature surrounding it. “Don’t you feel cut off from life here in this metal box?”

  “How do you mean?”

  “You’re so far from the sidhe, and far from any natural element that a city planner didn’t place purely for its aesthetic. Doesn’t it make you feel kind of empty?”

  Casimir shook his head and headed to the kitchen. “Not at all. I don’t spend much time here. When I do, I find the sterility kind of peaceful. The noise of the sidhe, the incessant hum of life can grow tiresome. I like the ticks and clank of machinery. I think it’s quaint.” He returned with two glasses of pink, sparkly...

  “Strake juice! I haven’t had this since I was a child!” Xan tipped the whole glass into her mouth, downing the drink in one swallow.

  Casimir laughed, the peals of baritone joy bouncing off the walls. “Be careful. That’s not just strake juice. It’s fermented strake juice champagne. It’ll get you really drunk if you let it.”

  “I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Xan said. One of the perks of having a friend who owned a bar was that Xan’s alcohol tolerance was up.

  Casimir stepped closer to Xan, putting all of his tall, delicious broadness directly in her space. It was a power move. And Xan didn’t mind at all. She didn’t back away from his advance, staring him in the eye as he seemed to ask for permission to touch her with only his expression.

  Xan nodded once, leaning into him.

  Casimir put his hand on the back of her head, tilting her face up to kiss her.

  This is it, Xan thought.

  As a girl, Xan promised herself she’d never settle for anything less than everything she wanted. And she wouldn’t make the exception now. She wanted to be the symbol of a united fae kingdom, Seelie and Unseelie standing together after so many generations. She wanted to do her part with the demon realm. And she wanted a husband and she could trust and love and who would rule beside her. Not in front of or behind her.

  She also wanted one that could kiss.

  As their lips met Xan could smell the faint spark of magic on him. It smelled like home, like comfort, like long summers, and beautiful winters. It smelled like magic, and anyone who’d never smelled it would never understand how powerful the scent was.

  Xan fell into his arms and he wrapped them around her, pulling her body close and he kissed her lips.

  “You taste so sweet. Like desserts and magic,” he said as he kissed his way down her neck and to her collar bone.

  Casimir caught Xan behind the knee, lifting it to wrap around his hips.

  Xan felt his hardness pressed against her body and allowed a small moan to leave her lips.

  “Does that please you, Princess?”

  “It does,” Xan whispered. Casimir pressed himself more fully against her, making it clear to Xan exactly how “princely” his endowment was.

  It was trite but Xan bit her lip at the sensation his body pulled from her. She couldn’t help it. She tore at the back of his shirt, untucking it from his pants and pulled it gracelessly over his head.

  The collar messied the Prince’s hair in such a boyish way, Xan couldn’t help but smile. She took a step back to admire his chest. Broad, muscled, the perfect amount of hair.

  Xan bit her lip again.

  “Do I please you, Princess?”

  Xan met the Prince’s eyes but only for a moment. “You do,” she whispered. The unabashed desire she saw in Casimir’s dark, deep eyes was so intense, it made her head swim.

  Casimir unbuttoned and stepped out of his pants. “And how about now, Princess? Do I still please you?” He asked as he stood before her nude and absolutely glorious.

  Xan ripped off her clothes in response and jumped on him, legs wrapped around his hips and arms tight around his neck. The Prince shimmered them to the bed where he surprisingly positioned Xan on top.

  Xan had no problem with that.

  She sank onto him, enjoying every bit of him as he stretched his way into her. She found a slow, comfortable rhythm as her hands traced up and down Casimir’s body, finding every ridge and valley of muscle and bone.

  “You are very lovely,” Casimir said when she hunched over for a kiss.

  “You’re not so bad yourself,” she whispered against his lips.

  In a shower of sparkles, Casimir lowered his perpetual glamor, revealing his true face.

  “Jesus, fuck, you’re good looking,” Xan said. She was so taken aback, she lost her rhythm.

  Casimir just smiled. “Here.” He repositioned them so Xan was now on her back. “There, now you don’t have to do anything.” He reached for her mouth with his and pulled another moan from her when his thumb grazed across her clit.

  Xan kissed him harder, and grabbed him by the hips, pushing him even deeper within. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been with another fae.”

  The Prince smiled. “Do you want me to—”

  “Yes.”

  The Prince blurred into Xan, their energies and magic mingling, their bodies, thoughts, and magic were for a few minutes, one.

  Xan cried out as Casimir’s magic and energy flowed through her. It was thick and rich, like dark chocolat
e, or red wine, and intensified the already incredible sensations happening all over her body.

  The two royals were overcome with magic and their own hormones. Xan clawed at Casimir’s back as magic and pleasure poured over her. Casimir growled softly as he found his peak.

  They laid next to each other, panting, sweating, magic still swirling around them, throwing sparkles at the ceiling.

  “You are exquisite, Xandrine. Your magic is so light, and wild, and free. Touching it makes me feel incredible.”

  Xan smiled, stroking the Prince’s dark hair. “I’ve tried every magical creature there is. Nothing compares to fae sex, and that was some of the best I’ve had.”

  Casimir looked at Xan, devilish glint clear in his gaze. “Then I shall aim higher next time, my lady.”

  23

  Jane

  Jane was stuck all day and most of the night working in the coffee shop. Frankie, the owner of the shop, was supposed to close. But she’d called earlier in the day sounding like hell and Jane told her under no circumstances was she to come in with what sounded like the plague but was probably the flu.

  Jane hadn’t had time to check on Jake, or try to figure out a new plan of attack with the wolves, or even think about getting her strength back up so she could summon a demon. Again.

  Shit had gotten really complicated.

  But as Jane locked the door to the coffee shop, she had an idea. A brilliant idea.

  Using the demon’s magic was obviously out because Jane didn’t want the demon knowing she was trying to summon another demon to get rid of her.

  But, she thought she knew someone who could cook up a potion to fix her less than full bars status.

  She knocked on the cottage door. It was quaint in a German fairytale, witch-in-the-middle-of-the-woods kind of way. Annie opened the door, nude to the waist.

  “Hi, you must be Jane. I thought you might stop by. Come in.”

  “Hi, I’m sorry for stopping by so late. Zora said you were the best with potions. I hope I’m not bothering you.”

  “It’s no bother at all. Jade is still at work. It’s just me and Callie.” Annie pointed to the calico cat hissing at Jane in the corner of the living room. “She’s not much of a talker. What can I help with?”

  “Well, I zapped all my natural reserves the other day pulling a spell I had no business trying on my own.” Jane sighed, wondering exactly how much to tell her. “Anyway, I haven’t fully recovered, and unfortunately I have to do that spell again.”

  Annie’s eyes glazed over. Jane wasn’t sure if she was thinking or if she was daydreaming. “Are you OK?” she asked after too much time had passed for it to be just thinking.

  With the sound of Jane’s voice, Annie’s eyes cleared instantly. “Yes, yes, I’m fine. My attention span and memory is kind of broken. But don’t worry, I’m still a potion master. You said you need a restorative potion, yes?”

  Jane nodded.

  “It’s pretty easy stuff.” Annie sniffed the air around Jane’s head. “And I can smell the native green witch in you. You should be able to do a potion like this in your sleep.”

  Jane nodded. “I should. But I got kicked out of my coven and then I was enslaved by a demented vampire who kept woman as captive feeding cattle. I sort of fell behind in my studies.”

  Annie looked at Jane long and hard, her eyes never once going cloudy.

  “When I was in college, I answered an on-campus ad for a drug trial The Corporation sponsored that was paying enough that I wouldn’t have to work for the next two semesters. That’s the last thing I remember clearly. Everything else I have to work really hard at piecing together. So I get it.”

  The two women understood and saw each other.

  “What you did, releasing the magic, getting Gunnar demagicked, and The Corporation dissolved, that did a lot for a lot of people. But it really helps me sleep better at night knowing whatever they tested on me can’t be used on anyone else.”

  Jane didn’t know what to say. She’d done those things because she wanted to free herself of the demon. It’s why she was here now. She didn’t feel right accepting Annie’s gratitude because Jane hadn’t done it for anyone but herself.

  “I see you’re uncomfortable now. We don’t have to speak any more on it.”

  Jane nodded.

  “As to your potion. I will tell you what you need. I’ll even give you the ingredients. But it’s time you took back your own power, Jane. Learn your craft.”

  It wasn’t what Jane wanted to hear, but she couldn’t fault Annie’s words. The woman had a point.

  24

  Jane

  Jane took the supplies Annie provided and drove back to the center of town to meet Zora and Xan.

  Hopefully one of them made some headway with the wolf issue.

  Jane walked into the bar just as the last customers ran out. “Be careful,” said a leprechaun with a pixie perched on his shoulder. “That gypsy’s in a fuck of a mood tonight.”

  Guess that means no more robo-Zora. Jane thought.

  Truer words had never been spoken. Jane could hardly decipher the scene in front of her. Xan was hiding under a table as Zora walked the length of the bar, swatting everything to the floor with her booted foot like a giant cat.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Jane asked with equal parts confusion and amusement.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Zora hopped off the bar, landing directly in front of Jane only two inches from her face. “I turned it back on. I figured why not break everything on purpose? Then at least I have control over something.”

  “Gotcha. Want help? I’ve really been wanting to break that new window,” Jane jerked her head in the direction of the window Zora just had replaced. “It looks like it would be fun to chuck someone through it, maybe that’s why the shifters keep doing it.”

  Jane caught Xan’s bulgy-eyed stare in her periphery.

  It was risky, but sometimes escalation is the only de-escalation possible. “What about that table over there. I bet it’s big and heavy enough to crash through it. Wanna give me a hand lifting it.”

  Jane watched the emotions cross over Zora’s face, just as she hoped they would.

  From what Jane understood, that table was the only piece of original furniture left in The Laughing Cat.

  The rage in Zora’s icy eyes dissipated. “That was the ceremonial table so many people have been initiated at. The table’s magic kept it untouched by the fire Gunnar set. It’s the only piece of Amari left here,” she whispered.

  Jane nodded, but pushed a little further. “What about Xan? She’s tall but there’s not much to her. I bet we could chuck her out the—”

  “Stop,” Zora said softly. “I get it. I’m being unreasonable.”

  “Ya think?” Xan said as she crawled out from under a table. “You ran your last customers out because they asked to close out their check.”

  Jane couldn’t help a tiny chuckle. “How would you have prefered them to pay?”

  Zora sighed. “I didn’t like their tone.”

  “Look, Zora, I like crazy, brash, breaking shit you a lot better than emotionless Zora-bot. Don’t turn yourself off again. But also do everything you can to deal with your powers. If that means fucking my old sort of boyfriend, then so be it.”

  Zora gasped, “You used to date Eric?”

  “Briefly, very briefly. But I get it, he’s exactly what you need. He was exactly what I needed at the time, too.”

  Zora reclaimed her spot behind the bar and poured everyone, including herself a shot of tequila. “How did you know? I never mentioned his name.”

  “I could smell him on you.” Jane pointed to her nose. “Green witch, remember?”

  Xan shifted in her seat.

  Jane could smell Casimir’s magic on her too, but she wouldn’t say anything until her friend was ready to tell her about it.

  Jane changed the subject. “Anyone figure out anything on the wolf front?” She sighed as Xan and Zora shook their hea
ds. “Me either. I’m certain there’s something we’re missing. We just haven’t figured it out yet.”

  Zora poured everyone another shot and Jane changed the subject again. “In the meantime, you guys wanna help me summon a demon?”

  Both woman stared at Jane as she laid out the supplies Annie gave her. “I don’t have enough juice yet, but Annie told me how to make a restore potion. I’m just so rusty. I could use some help. Then, it’s demon summoning time. You guys game?”

  Zora nodded.

  “Sure, I’ll give you a hand,” Xan said.

  The women set about chopping, mashing, and grating each ingredient for the potion. In no time everything was in order and all Jane had to do was bring the concoction to a simmer.

  “Can we use the kitchen, Zora?”

  “I suppose, but aren’t you supposed to keep spellcasting kitchenware separate from cooking supplies? I don’t want my patrons accidentally getting a power up because of residual ingredients left in the pot.”

  “You’re right. I should get my own set of potion pots. For now, I’ll just make sure everything gets cleaned extra well, OK?”

  Zora nodded.

  In about fifteen minutes the potion was ready, as soon as it reached a simmer it changed from a murky green brown color to a perfectly clear broth.

  Jane ladled it out into a bowl and drank it all down.

  It scalded her mouth and every bit of her esophagus on the way down, but Annie said it was important to drink hot.

  And now Jane knew why.

  As soon as the hot liquid hit her stomach Jane felt her magic growing within. It filled her up, finding its home in her chi easily, as if it had always been there.

  “There, that’s better.”

  “You feel OK?” asked Xan.

  “Yeah, I feel great. Let’s call a demon and get this one out of me, shall we?”

  Jane led the women back into the bar and began drawing her protection circle in the middle of the floor. She stood at the north end of the circle and had Zora and Xan stand at east and west respectively.