by Jasmine Walt
The television sound instantly cut off, and the light coming from the TV died away. “Dinnae think ye can get rid of me so easily,” Maddock warned. “I wilna move from this spot until ye tell me why ye’ve been avoiding ma calls.”
“I’m not telling you anything!” I jumped to my feet atop the couch cushions. This was a bad idea, because my stomach pitched with nausea, and I nearly tossed my cookies all over Maddock.
“Are ye all right?” Maddock’s hands settled around my waist to steady me. Some of the anger had faded from his expression, replaced by concern. “Yer face is turning green.”
“Don’t touch me.” I swatted his hands away, then pressed my own hands against my stomach. “And stop trying to change the subject. I’m not telling you anything until you come clean with me about what the hell you had me steal the other night. What is it for? Are you going to turn me into some kind of magical object thief? Should I expect you to be showing up at my house with a burglar mask and lock picks?”
Maddock’s eyes narrowed. “So ye really want to know, do ye?”
“No.” I rolled my eyes. “I’m just yelling at you because I enjoy being angry.”
“Sometimes it seems that ye do,” Maddock muttered, breaking eye contact.
Naturally, his brilliant green eyes went straight down to my cleavage, which my spaghetti strap tank top was doing a terrible job at covering up. My cheeks burned as I realized my nipples were visible through the fabric—I hadn’t put on a bra, and why should I? I was at home, alone, with no intention of going out.
“Are you going to stare at my tits all night, or are you going to answer my question?” Scowling, I slowly lowered myself back down onto the couch. The nausea was beginning to recede, and I didn’t want it to come rushing back. “I’m serious, Tremaine. I want an explanation.”
“Fine.” His eyes glittered as he took a seat on the opposite end of the couch. His handsome face had turned to granite again. “The Miotal Sorcóir is one of four seelie artifacts that can be used together to create an impenetrable fortress. For a long time now, the unseelie have been coveting the area of North America that I am responsible for overseeing. This area corresponds geographically with my lands in Faerie. If I can get all four of the artifacts together and activate them, then the unseelie will not be able to take this part of the country even if they were to capture or kill me.”
“Oh.” All the anger drained out of me, replaced by a terrible feeling of guilt. “So this isn’t just some quest for you to gain power?”
“Nay,” Maddock said, his jaw tightening. “I aim to protect my lands, and also the humans and supernaturals who are my responsibility here.”
“Okay.” I frowned. “So if this was for such a noble cause, then why the hell didn’t you just explain it to me in the beginning, when I asked?”
“I am not used to explaining myself,” Maddock said stiffly. “Also, I thought that if you didna know about the plan, that you wouldn’t have to feign ignorance if anyone questioned you about it.”
“I see.” I dropped my gaze, staring at the crack in the couch cushions as I battled with the sinking feeling in my chest.
Shit. I’d agreed to hand over the artifacts to the Morrigan. I didn’t know if I would’ve made a different decision if I’d known Maddock’s real intent, but I had consoled myself at the time by thinking that he was probably just going to use them for selfish reasons. Instead, it turned out he was trying to protect something greater than himself. My stomach churned, this time with guilt. I wanted to tell him about my encounter with the Morrigan, but I couldn’t. Even knowing what was at stake, I couldn’t risk Uncle Oscar’s life. My stomach pitched again, and I clapped a hand over my mouth.
“Bloody hell,” Maddock swore, and suddenly he was behind me, his hands steadying me as they pressed against my shoulders. “Are ye going to tell me what’s wrong with ye now?”
I took in a slow, steady breath through my nostrils, keeping my hand over my mouth in case I really did hurl. Once my stomach settled again, I lowered my hand. “I’ve been getting spells of nausea and headaches,” I said, my voice heavy with exhaustion. “I meant to go to the doctor about it, but I haven’t had time.”
“Let me see.” Maddock came around to sit in front of me. He pressed a hand against my forehead, then closed his eyes. My skin tingled as he worked some kind of magic on me, and I gasped as something dark shifted inside me, something I hadn’t noticed before.
“I cannae heal this,” Maddock said softly, dropping his hand. He actually looked disappointed. “This is not a bodily illness, but a side-effect of absorbing Father James’s warlock powers.”
“What do you mean?” I pressed a hand against my chest, where I could still feel the darkness inside. How had I not noticed it before? Was this Father James’s power I was sensing? “Is this going to happen every time I absorb someone’s magic?”
“Nay,” Maddock assured me. “Only from a witch or a warlock, and only if they have an evil heart. Fae do not experience emotions in the same way humans do, and so their magic is not corrupted by their hearts.”
“Huh.” I regarded him curiously. “Then how come you’re not getting headaches.”
“I am a powerful fae,” he said imperiously, sounding almost affronted. “I am impervious to such things. As you grow stronger, ye will be, too,” he assured me. “As it is, the effects from Father James’s magic will last another week or two, until the darkness eventually bleeds away. If ye were a weaker individual, it might corrupt yer soul, but thankfully ye are made of stronger stuff. Though I wouldna recommend running around sucking in any more energy anytime soon. Now, is there anything else that’s happened recently that ye haven’t told me about?”
I hesitated. Just because I couldn’t tell Maddock about my bargain with the Morrigan, didn’t mean I couldn’t tell him about other things. And even though I knew I couldn’t completely trust Maddock, we were working together. I could use his perspective.
“A couple of things have happened since we last saw each other,” I said warily.
“Oh?” Maddock’s eyes flashed. “Do these things have anything to do with that witch who approached ye at the party?”
Damn. Did he already know everything? “I went to dinner with her last night,” I told him. “She told me she was speaking on behalf of the Daire Coven Mistress, who was offering me protection and training in exchange for borrowing my powers.”
“Is that so?” Maddock’s eyes narrowed to slits. “And did ye accept?”
“I said I would think about it.”
Maddock’s lips pressed together, but he didn’t respond.
“I can’t discount their offer completely,” I said, feeling defensive against his silence. “I have to consider what options are available to me.”
“And did ye consider,” Maddock said softly, “that the witches are under no compulsion to act honorably?”
“Neither are you,” I pointed out.
“The fae cannae lie,” Maddock said stiffly, and if I didn’t know better, I would have sworn I’d offended him. “I told ye that I would offer ye training and protection, and so I shall. The witches, on the other hand, have no such inability to say one thing and do another.”
“Surely they have some kind of moral code,” I argued. “Some kind of agreement that governs them all?”
“Aye,” Maddock agreed, “but ye are a shadow, not a witch. The Daire Coven may decide that the Witches Accords do not apply to ye, as ye are only half a witch.” His eyes blazed now. “Something ye clearly didna consider when ye went to meet this witch alone. Why did ye not at least tell me ye were going? Yer my responsibility, and if the witch had kidnapped ye, they could have hidden ye in such a way that I wouldna have been able to track ye.”
“You didn’t give me a choice,” I said hotly, even as an icy tingle skipped across my skin at Maddock’s point. “By refusing to share the real reason you wanted to use my powers, you drove me to seek other alternatives. How can I trust you if
you won’t trust me? I need you to do more than be honest; I need you to be forthcoming.”
“I see.” Maddock stared at me for a long moment. I sat utterly still, trying to pretend that my insides weren’t squirming as I held his gaze. I felt like those brilliant green eyes were scouring my soul, trying to see if I was truly worth the measure of trust I was asking for.
“I will agree not to use yer powers again without telling ye the reason,” Maddock finally said, inclining his head. “In return, ye will agree ta tell me if yer approached by any other supernaturals, or if ye plan on waltzing off into potential danger on yer own.”
“Fine.” My stomach twisted into a knot, and I forced myself to remain calm. But I felt terrible. Maddock had just agreed to come clean, while I was still hiding this whopper of a secret from him. I needed to find some way to get out of my agreement with the Morrigan. Maybe I couldn’t trust Maddock completely, but between the two fae, he was far more deserving of my loyalty.
But who to turn to? Who would I be able to ask for help without tipping off the Morrigan?
“There’s another thing,” I said as Maddock began to rise.
He sat back down again. “Yes?”
“Captain Randall is blackmailing me.”
“Blackmailing you?” Maddock’s eyes darkened, and his mouth twisted into a scowl. “Regarding Father James?”
“Yes.” A shiver crawled down my spine as I remembered how easily he’d subdued me outside Turner’s. “He followed me to my dinner with Thelia.” I told him the rest of it, and as I did, some of the weight came off my chest. Maddock couldn’t help me with the Morrigan, but I was fairly confident he could do something about this. And even if he couldn’t, it still felt good to tell somebody about it.
“I will take care of Randall,” Maddock said when I’d finished. His anger had cooled off, and he was his calm, enigmatic self once more. “He should have been imprisoned with the rest of his coven anyway—it was my oversight that he was allowed to remain free. I will arrange the particulars. There is no need for you to worry further.”
“Did you know?” I asked. “About Randall?”
“I’m sorry I’ve made ye feel the need to even ask me such a question,” Maddock said, regret filling his eyes. “Nay more secrets.”
I narrowed my eyes; it didn’t evade me that he’d avoided my question. But I wouldn’t press it. He never said he would tell me everything—only that he wouldn’t ask to use my powers without giving me a reason. I was beginning to wonder exactly how much Maddock knew, and what his end game was with keeping me in the dark all the time.
Maddock’s lips quirked into a small smile as he stood up. “Now that we’ve settled that, we have more pressing matters at hand.”
I quirked an eyebrow at him. “What now?”
“Well, I didna come here just to check on ye. We have another artifact to collect.”
“We do?” I blinked. “Where?”
“I will give ye the particulars once we’re on our way.”
After I’d changed out of my pajamas into jeans and a t-shirt, Maddock grabbed my hand and teleported us. As the room swam back into focus around me, I was pleased to note that I didn’t feel nearly as nauseous as I had the first time Maddock had pulled this trick on me. Maybe I was finally acclimating, as he’d told me I eventually would.
“Wow,” I said, looking around the posh hotel room. Polished birch-wood furniture, cream and gold wallpaper and carpeting, and a California king-sized bed piled high with pillows. I might have wondered about Maddock’s intentions if not for the clothing spread across the thick comforter. Waiting for me was a red halter dress, a pair of black Louboutin heels with red soles, and a small white box I assumed contained jewelry. Next to it was a tuxedo and a pair of glossy dress shoes, visible through the clear shoebox they sat in. “Are we going to another party?”
“Aye,” Maddock said, picking up his tux and shoes. “The Moirtéal Dealbh is owned by Anatoly Matveyev, a Russian diplomat. He is hosting a viewing party for the artifact at his California mansion this evening, which we will be attending.
“California?” I rushed over to the window and threw the curtains open. Sure enough, palm fronds waved to me from the sidewalk below, and the sun was only just beginning to set, the fiery circle not yet touching the horizon of the glittering ocean. “Holy shit. Is there any place you can’t teleport?”
“No, unless the place is warded to prevent such things.” Maddock turned toward the door. “Go ahead and get changed. I’ll be waiting out here.”
He closed the door behind him, and I took a deep breath as I glanced at the clothing on the bed. Tingles skipped along my nerves as I remembered what had happened the last time Maddock and I had gone out to get an artifact. We were obviously going to be posing as a couple again, but hopefully that didn’t mean we had to act the part too much. If he planned on pinning me against the wall and kissing me every time we went to steal an artifact, I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle it.
And why exactly is that his go-to solution? I wondered irritably as I pulled off my shirt. Maddock was a powerful fae who could probably do all kinds of things with his magic. Why couldn’t he just whip up a spell to make us invisible? Or just teleport us away from the danger? Could it be that he was just using these moments as an excuse to lock lips with me?
Nah. I shimmied out of my jeans. Couldn’t be. The way Maddock looked at me most of the time, as if I were a tiny, insufferable being barely worthy of his attention, made it really hard for me to believe he was so infatuated. Yes, there was an intense attraction between us, but if I had learned one thing about Maddock, it was his need for control. He would never allow himself to become a slave to his desires.
Maybe it was entertaining for him. Maybe he knew he could just whip us away at any moment, but wanted to get some excitement in first. It was probably boring being all powerful. Living vicariously through the danger he put me in must have been a nice change of pace for him.
Of course, it was possible it wasn’t that simple. It’s not as if Maddock was going to admit to any weaknesses he might have, so I would never really know for sure.
I pushed the mystery that was Maddock Tremaine aside and hurriedly finished pulling on the dress. It was a halter top with a low back, which meant I’d had to ditch my bra before putting it on. Thankfully, it had plenty of support built in, and the flowing taffeta fit me perfectly. But, as was the case with most formal gowns, the zipper was a pain in the ass. I managed to get it halfway up my spine, but it refused to budge any further.
“Tremaine?” I called reluctantly, opening the door. “Can you help me with…”
My mouth went dry at the sight of Maddock standing in front of the couch, half-dressed. His tuxedo pants were open at the waist, and though he’d donned his white shirt, it was still open, revealing his chest and abs. I swallowed hard at the sight of all that bronzed skin over rippling muscle. A fine dusting of black hair covered his chest and trailed down the center of his abs, before disappearing beneath the waistband of his boxer shorts.
“Aye?” Maddock asked, his eyebrows rising. The gleam in his eyes told me that my perusal of his torso had not gone unnoticed, and my cheeks flamed. God, was I really so transparent?
“Sorry.” I cleared my throat and turned around. “Can you help me with this? It won’t zip up all the way.”
“Certainly.”
I licked my lips as I heard his soft footfalls sinking into the carpet. In seconds, he was behind me, and the skin along my back broke out in goosebumps as I sensed the heat coming off his body. His warm breath fell on my neck as he gripped the fabric of my dress right above my sacrum with one hand and the zipper with another. A simple tug, and the zipper glided right up, stopping to rest below my shoulder blades.
“All done,” he said, the breath of his words whispering against my skin, and then he stepped back. “Now go do something about your hair.”
“Thanks.” I gritted my teeth as he stepped away, a differ
ent kind of heat singing along my veins now. Man, but did he have to be such an asshole?
It’s better that he is, I told myself as I shut the door behind me. Better to be reminded of who he really was, instead of being caught up by a fantasy of something else. I’d already been down that road once before, and it hadn’t ended well.
Chapter 12
Thirty minutes later, we were sitting silently in the living room, waiting for our ride. I was antsy, wishing we could leave already so I didn’t have to stay in this room alone with Maddock, but Maddock insisted that we had to wait for the driver that had been sent to us.
“Our names are James and Roxanne Anderson,” Maddock told me as he watched me pace barefoot across the carpeted floor. “We recently hit it big in the stock market, and the new money we’ve come into is burning a hole through our pockets.”
“Nice. So we have to act like rich idiots?”
“Something like that.” Maddock smiled. Stupidly, my stomach fluttered, and I quickly averted my gaze back to where I was wearing a rut in the hotel carpet. “Russians love the idea that Americans can’t handle their liquor, so act brash and sloppy. It will help put them at ease and make it easier for us to steal the artifact.”
“Sounds positively thrilling,” I mumbled.
The telephone on the side table by Maddock’s elbow rang, and he picked it up immediately. “Yes?”
Someone spoke briefly on the other end, and he nodded.
“We’ll be right down.” He hung up. “Get your shoes on, and let’s go,” he instructed. “Our ride is here.”
I grabbed my stuff, and as we headed downstairs, Maddock held my arm. Part of me wanted to lean into him—I hated walking in heels, and his firm touch made it easier—but another part of me wanted to shake away from his grasp. I was in no mood to repeat the past. Recent or otherwise. But mainly, I just wanted to get through the night with as few hiccups as possible, and that meant going with the flow. Whatever that might mean this time around.