With Pride

by Kaye Draper

  Oisin drew up even with me. "He means phones can be tapped. What do you want that you can't discuss with Gesa—with us—over the phone?"

  I appreciated the show of solidarity. I'd appreciate it a little more if he would tell me what the fuck White was.

  "Sorry," I told the millionaire creepo with a sweet smile. "You know how it is though, people to meet, places to be." I turned to walk away.

  "It's interesting to see one of your clan so far from the sea," the smarmy asshole called out. "In fact...I didn't even know you existed anymore. I thought fishermen and insane marine biologists had gotten the best of you."

  Kaimana froze. She glanced between White and me, confusion written on her pretty face.

  "Don't mind him," I told her. "He's just bored. Happens when you have more money than brains." I turned to White. "What, no rival mobs to murder today?"

  He kept that calm demeanor in place, but I could see it beginning to thin. "Our darling Gesa has watched too many human crime dramas. Sad, how badly that can damage one's brain." He tapped his perfectly manicured fingers on the door. "Quite the collection you've got for yourself, Miss Lionheart," he observed, his head turning toward Hisashi.

  "Just stop," I said, cutting off whatever taunt he was about to throw at the fox. "What the fuck do you want, White."

  He grinned. "I want you to get in the car, Lionheart."

  I shook my head. "You didn't even offer me candy. Every psychopath knows you have to offer candy."

  He took a breath and I smirked. I was getting to him. It's the small victories in life.

  "I need to discuss a missing person case with you," he said in an even, controlled voice. "Two, actually. Seems a powerful fae clan has lost a couple of their flock. They wanted to send a bunch of mages into my territory to find them."

  I barely kept my claws from bursting out. Oisin went all liquid beside me, his hip cocked in what could only be fake casualness. "Fae you say? Strange for a fae clan to be so...controlling." He sighed. "But it's quite common for young fae to leave the clan to sow their wild oats. I'm sure they'll return when they've got that out of their systems."

  Silence descended. People passed on the street. A pissed off driver honked at White's fucking limo for being parked illegally, half in the street, half in a parking space. But between White and my group it was like nothing else existed.

  "Fine. I'll get in the fucking car. But I swear to the Gods if you dump my body somewhere, people will hunt you down." I ignored Oisin and Con's protests and heaved open the front passenger door. I knew White wanted me in the back with him. Fuck that.

  I slid in, pausing to wave at the others. "Meet you at home. I want steak for dinner." White snorted from the back of the limo. "You might want to add rabbit and fish to that menu."

  I ignored him and rolled the window up. Oisin was still standing right where I'd left him. Fuming. He was going to make my life a living hell if I left without him. I rolled the window back down. "Oh, hurry the fuck up already, Oisin."

  He opened the back door and slid right in on White's side, pushing the amused millionaire across the seat. He slammed the door so hard the car rocked. "Talk."

  White gestured toward the driver. "Circle around please, Bobby."

  I sat sideways in my seat so I could see Bobby and look through the divider at Oisin and White at the same time. "Hey Bobby, how the hell are you? How's life treating you? Made any good concrete shoes lately?"

  The bodyguard scowled but didn't reply.

  "The fae," Oisin prompted. "Speak or I swear I will send you back to the depths of hell where you belong."

  White chuckled and leaned back in his seat, unconcerned. He pulled off his sunglasses and I could see his eyes were just a bit blood red. "I was contacted this morning by a rather powerful and rather pissed off fae lord. He insisted two of his clan were being held here in my city against their will. He wanted to send his hired mages to retrieve them. He called as a courtesy. Warned me there might be...fallout."

  I growled. Oisin went all cold and deadly, his silky voice like a chill breeze. "Thank you for the warning. When will they arrive?"

  White chuckled. "This is my city, little fae. No one sends their hired dogs into my territory to hunt without my permission. I told him I would look into the matter. That I had my own amazing private supe investigators, and that if he pushed the matter, he would start a clan war."

  "What do you want," I demanded. No way was he sheltering Oisin out of the kindness of his shriveled black heart. "And what the fuck are you?"

  White sighed. "Is it really that difficult to understand, Miss Lionheart? I want you to work for me. As I've told you countless times before. Your job would be so much easier if you leaned on my considerable resources."

  I noticed he didn't answer either of my questions.

  "Why?" Oisin said softly, cutting off my string of cussing. "Why are you so interested in Gesa? You have your own thugs and minions."

  White leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, wrinkling his thousand-dollar suit. "My business is my own," he drawled. "But suffice it to say this city is mine. And I have its best interests at heart. It would be helpful to have your agency to call on for matters that don't require humans or hired guns. I want you to keep doing what you're doing, Miss Lionheart. I just want you to do it under my...supervision."

  I snorted. "No fucking thanks."

  Then my eyes landed on Oisin. Gods, what would we do if White decided to let the fae come here and hunt him?

  "But maybe we can find some compromise," I added.

  "Gesa—"Oisin protested, but I cut him off.

  "I'm not going to be your lapdog," I told White. "I left my clan to prevent being made into someone's obedient little woman."

  White nodded. "I see. Perhaps for the time being you could just let me know what cases you are working on?"

  I narrowed my eyes at him. That seemed harmless. Which probably meant it was a big fucking red flag. But what other choice did we have? I would do anything to keep Oisin—and probably Hisashi—safe from the assholes who were looking for my fae. "Okay."

  Oisin's nostrils flared, but he didn't say anything.

  "Good, good," White said, leaning back again, all jovial and charming. "Oh...but...the fae who contacted me mentioned two fae were missing. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

  Oisin completely dropped his glamour. His pointy ears and sharp elfin features should have looked cute. But they didn't. It was a reminder that he wasn't human. That he was part of a race that hunted others for sport, or took control of their minds and used them until they died of exhaustion or madness. "There are a few fae here and there in the city," he said calmly. "I have no idea who he's looking for."

  My gryphon senses pinged. That was a complete and total lie.

  I pressed my lips together to keep from shouting at the redheaded terror. He was hiding someone else. Motherfucker.

  White nodded, as if he didn't know the fae was full of shit. "Of course. Just thought I'd ask. In case I could offer any assistance."

  "No assistance needed," Oisin said with a smile. "Since we don't know any other fae."

  I narrowed my eyes at both the assholes in the backseat. "Are we done here?"

  "Yes, yes," White agreed jovially. "Of course, Miss Lionheart. I wouldn't want to keep you from your meal."

  We pulled up outside the bookstore and I reached for the door handle to get out. "Oh," White added in a nonchalant tone. "Good work finding the fish, by the way," he said. "But do try to clean up after yourself a little better, hmm?"

  I leaned back to look at him through the divider. "What the hell are you going on about now?"

  He smiled. "The police had a call from an old man down at one of those chintzy tourist shops on main street not twenty minutes ago. Not too far from where you were when I found you, actually. Imagine that. Anyway, the man insisted a group of people had kidnapped his mentally impaired granddaughter."

  I froze. Son of a bitch.r />
  "Don't worry," he said lightly, waving a hand. "I took care of it. Poor old coot had a heart attack while he was on the phone with the authorities. His ranting was probably just delirium. Luckily a customer was there to take over the call."

  I stared at him with my mouth open. "What did you do?" Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  He smiled, slow, sexy and deadly. I recalled exactly why I didn't want to work for this psycho. "Do? Why Gesa, I didn't do anything. I was here, looking for you." He shrugged. "There may have been some badly forged paperwork proving the girl was his granddaughter and not in her right mind. But that's all hearsay, since no one could find it anywhere."

  I gripped the seat dividing me from the monster in the back. "You fucking killed him and destroyed the paperwork."

  He winked. "It always helps to have friends, Miss Lionheart."

  I felt sick.

  I slid out of the car and slammed the door. What the hell was I even doing?

  Chapter 10

  That night, after an amazing dinner with my ever-expanding new circle, I finally found myself alone with Oisin as we got ready for bed. I closed the bedroom door this time. I might be slow sometimes, but I wasn't stupid. Con might not want to walk in on this particular interaction.

  "Alright, fae. Spill it," I demanded, blocking the door and crossing my arms over my chest. Oisin paused in the middle of undressing, his nimble fingers hovering over the last button on his shirt.

  "Pardon?" He popped the button loose and slipped his shirt off, pulling the hair tie out of his hair and giving the curtain of red silk an artful shake for good measure.

  Yes, he was breathtaking. And no, I wasn't falling for it. "No. You tell me what the hell is going on right now, you little liar."

  He heaved a sigh and slipped out of his pants, obviously trying one more distraction technique. I watched his pert ass cheeks flex as he stepped into a pair of pajama pants and pulled them up more slowly than necessary. I'm strong. I remained where I was.

  He turned to me and crossed his arms over his own lean chest, mimicking my posture. "It will be fine," he said calmly. "No need to get your ruff all fluffed up gryphon. You heard what White said, and his kind are dead serious about territory." He rolled his eyes. "He thinks anyone who lives in the city limits belongs to him personally."

  I paced a few steps closer. "You know that isn't an answer. That's just a temporary Band-Aid over something that needs fucking stitches." When he opened his mouth to continue down that road, I held up a hand to shut him up. He would keep me going in circles for days if I let him. "No. I don't care about that at the moment. Who is the other fae?"

  He stared at me. I could see his clever mind working behind those sharp green eyes. "I never promised you truth, gryphon," he said finally, his tone cold. "You share my house and my bed, but I never promised you full access to my life."

  I immediately wanted to punch him in the face, but I somehow managed not to. He was just trying to get to me, so I'd back off. "No, you didn't," I said softly. "You didn't promise me anything other than a regular fuck. But I love you anyway, you asshole. And I know damned well you feel the same. And I might be complete shit at the emotions thing, but even I know when you love someone, you tell them your secrets."

  He closed the distance between us, dropping his arms to his sides as he paced around me, his motions more fluid and graceful than a stalking cat. "My secrets? What, are we middle school girls? You tell me your secrets, I tell you mine. Are we going to read each other's journals and braid each other's hair?"

  I kept my claws in. Barely. "Oisin, don't do this shit. Just tell me what the fuck is wrong."

  He stopped in front of me and stared up at me with this weird combination of fury and pain that I had never seen in his eyes. Maybe he always hid it behind the flirty, snarky mask he wore. He was a master of illusion. Because suddenly his eyes revealed his age. And I realized that living so long just meant more opportunities to experience misery. "Some things you are just not meant to know, gryphon. Is that so hard to wrap your tiny bird brain around?"

  I rolled my eyes and gave him an unimpressed look, one eyebrow raised. "Are you done? You can insult me all day, but I'm not leaving you alone until you start sharing."

  He clenched his teeth, his lean jaw flexing. "Can't you just do what's good for you, Gesa? Just this one damned time? You don't need to be in the middle of this. Let me deal with my own problems."

  I finally reached for him then. I might play it off like it didn't bother me, but I didn't like this yawning distance I could feel forming between us. Sure, we might snark at each other constantly, but we both knew it was teasing. This was different. The jackass just tried to drive a wedge between us for real. To drive me away.

  I gripped his shoulders and gave him a little shake. "Don't do this to me. You might pretend it doesn't mean anything to you, but I know better. This thing between us isn't just some cheap amusement. You moved me into your damned house. And Con. What do you think will happen to us when everything you're trying to deal with alone goes boom?"

  He chuckled darkly. "Boom?"

  I nodded. "Big boom, knowing you."

  He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, dropping his asshole attitude for a few seconds. "I'm sorry, Gesa, I... I know you see secrets as a betrayal. But I can't tell you everything I've seen and done. I just can't. And there is someone else I must think of. Someone who isn't as strong as you. Someone who can't protect themselves." He reached up to cup my cheek with one graceful hand. "Please, Gesa. I'm sure you'll know the whole of it someday, but let that not be today. Despite appearances, I really would like to keep you around a bit longer." He smiled sadly. "You're right. I am rather fond of you, beautiful beast."

  And that...Gods I wanted to strangle him for not answering me. But I also wanted to hold him until that heart-wrenching sadness left his eyes.

  "Gods damn it, Oisin," I muttered.

  He closed his eyes and exhaled. "I know."

  Pulling away, I went to change into my own pajamas. "I do love you, you know," I said as I pulled on a well-worn t-shirt and turned back to him. "Whatever it is, whoever you are protecting—I could help you. I don't want you to have to do this alone."

  He sighed. "I know, darling. And that is exactly the problem. You can't help. And if you knew...just suffice it to say you can't help with this."

  I scrubbed a hand over my face and went to brush my teeth. Oisin joined me and we both crawled into bed under a weighted silence. I pulled him close and made him the little spoon, just so he would understand—I might be pissed at him, but that didn't mean I stopped loving him. Never that.

  I was a gryphon after all. We didn't just give up when things got a little hard.

  He relaxed against me with a sigh. "Do you think Con is ever coming to bed?" he asked after a time. It was kind of sweet, the way he was wanting to have his new family close to him because he was feeling insecure.

  I laughed. "And leave his two new best friends to fend for themselves in this big scary old house? No way." The man's caring nature was as ingrained as Oisin's lying and artifice.

  I could hear muffled laughter from outside the bedroom door. When we left them, our three roommates were in the T.V. room and Con was trying to convince Kaimana she needed to learn how to play Monopoly if she wanted to learn to fit in here in the free world. He was lecturing Hisashi about not using his psychometry to cheat when I called it a night.

  I kissed Oisin's bare shoulder. "You could always go play Monopoly with them if you're not sleepy. It would give you a chance to get to know Hisashi better," I teased.

  He snorted. "That's all I need. One more do-gooder in my business."

  I combed a hand through his hair sympathetically. "Poor fae. It must be difficult, being so alluring no one will leave you alone."

  He elbowed me. "It must be difficult being a gryphon too. All that nosy insistence on truth and valor. Sounds exhausting if you ask me."

  I held him while we teased each other, conscious t
he whole time of the secrets he was keeping but unwilling to just let him go so he could hide in a corner somewhere like a wounded animal. "You realize," I said after a time, feeling sleepiness dragging at me. "You haven't made a single bad innuendo this entire night."

  His back shook against my chest with silent laughter. "This is nice too," he said softly.

  "Mmm," I agreed, shifting him closer and wrapping myself around him like a blanket.

  We would be okay. We had to be. I couldn't stand it if my new family started breaking apart with lies the way my previous one had.

  Chapter 11

  I woke to an explosion of pain.

  Still groggy and half-asleep, it took me a minute to figure out what the fuck was happening. And in that space of time I got clocked in the face again.

  "Son of a bitch!" I rasped out, reaching into the dark to trap the flailing arm that smacked me in the stomach. "Oisin?"

  A broken scream was my only answer, as Oisin thrashed and twisted on the bed beside me. The dim lamp on the nightstand flicked on, and I met Con's worried brown eyes. He reached out a hand and clumsily caught Oisin's other arm when it went whipping toward the human's chest. "What's wrong with him?"

  I shook my head, trying to restrain the wiry fae, rolling over him to hold him down. He was stronger than he looked. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he was drawing in ragged, panting breaths while his whole body trembled.

  I felt a wave of magic building in him and darted my eyes toward Con. "Fuck. His magic...Con, get out of here before he loses it!"

  "Oisin!" I yelled as Con slipped out of bed and almost fell on his face, his feet tangled in the sheet. "Come on, fae, wake the fuck up!" I tried to give him a shake, but it was everything I could do to hold him down. I outweighed him, but he was as twisty and contortionistic as a wet cat.

  "What's going on?" Hisashi's deep voice was rough with sleep.

  "I don't know," Con said from across the room. "Do you think someone cast a spell on him or something?" I could hear the anguish in his voice. It might seem odd for the two men to share a house and a lover, but he and Oisin seemed to really care about each other.