by Erin R Flynn
It wasn’t the worst cover to use.
“You don’t need a barrier with me,” Lageos told me as I brought over the first of many trays for us. “One is built into my magic automatically. People cannot film me, the images and those that I’m with come out distorted. Those listening will hear nothing but nonsense about the weather or local news that they recently read. We can speak freely and never worry.”
“That’s cool.”
“You can do it too when you mature. I’ve sensed the magic in you. I’ve sensed a lot of my magical abilities in you, Tamsin. They’re simply in their infancy. You being able to throw up unintentional barriers is part of it. Your mother couldn’t do that. She had to at least think of wanting one.”
Cool.
We spent the next few hours stuffing ourselves with the whole menu and discussing where I was fighting supes or currently had problems. Unlike me, Lageos loved spice. He kept ordering jalapeno everything to the point I thought his breath would shoot flames. But it was nice.
Not the demon vegetable, but getting to know that about my dad.
“So you estimate over a quarter of all hobgoblins are now free, but you do not know how many fae dogs have been found?” he checked, nodding when I confirmed it and continued telling him where we were at. He asked questions now and again, but mostly let me fill him in and do the talking.
I wasn’t sure what I was waiting for when I finished, but something. His approval maybe? Guidance?
Both?
“I think one of your next goals should be clearing the area of a detention facility in Faerie and getting it running,” he said after several minutes of digesting it all. “You need to start moving people off your chessboard as there are a lot of them.”
I smiled at him. “I already asked for that. I agree. We’ve only been playing defense or now we tossed some over to the dragons, but we need to start handling more of the problems, and we can’t do that without getting more in place.”
He nodded. “You can’t take on the councils directly if people just as corrupt would take their places. So your first move is—”
“To take out those families who would move into the spots and are crazy corrupt,” I said with a smirk. “It also gives a lot of places for fairies to safely live while we get everything back together in Faerie.”
“I can be of vast help with that. I spoke with both Iolas and Taeral about the power gathering you proposed that worked well. If I’m added in as a third binder, the levels will shoot up. That should be done on different days than trying to save those gravely injured as you did. I can also work with the healers to see who can be saved and boost their magic.”
“That’s awesome.”
“So is what you’ve done all on your own. Juggling all of this and at such an age is a miracle, Tamsin. I could not be prouder.”
“Thanks.” I felt my cheeks heat and stuffed some fries in my mouth. “Want to see the bakery and meet some of the hobgoblins tomorrow? I can show you a lot of the places and packs.”
He smiled at me. “I would like that. I would like that very much.”
Yeah, so would I.
I had a dad and I wanted to show him my life. Weird.
10
“Tamsin, may I speak with you?” Mrs. Craftsman asked me the next day at the bakery.
I froze in my goal of stuffing the blueberry lemon tart into my mouth and blinked at her, not knowing why she was even there.
She chuckled. “Don’t look so scared, lass. I simply want to apologize for how I acted.”
I slowly nodded. “Um, sure, we can talk. Sorry, I was just shocked how you knew I was here. I didn’t know I would be.”
“Oh, I didn’t. I heard there were some large orders for parties tomorrow before spring break is done and I came in to help box it all up. I come here often to help out and work. It’s the least I can do since you made sure I was protected and the hobgoblins always take care of me. Plus, I enjoy the work. Being around the hobgoblins is like being around goodness.”
“As long as you do what they want,” I grumbled, narrowing my eyes at a few. “When I say all the treats are amazing, I mean it. I can’t pick. I’m not being difficult. I can’t choose one delicious sugary goodness over the other. I keep saying that and not to ask me. Don’t get mad if my honest answer is all of them.”
“You’re hopeless,” one of the hobgoblins grumbled and stormed into the kitchen.
I swallowed my response about how unreasonable it was to make a bottomless pit choose and gobbled up the tart instead, moaning how amazing it was. “How can I say not to make this and risk never having it again? The other option is just as good. Make them all. Just make them to order. That’s my answer. Yes, I’m horrible.”
“You are a horrible choice to build a menu,” Mrs. Craftsman chuckled. “Julian has said as much, but enjoys watching you eat.” She cleared her throat and thanked a hobgoblin who brought her coffee without even asking. “I am sorry for how I behaved. You didn’t deserve that.”
I didn’t know what to say, continuing to sample and letting her get out what she needed to.
“I’m worried for Julian. That doesn’t excuse how I handled it or was so abrasive with you, but this change in him since you’ve gotten back together is concerning.” She did a double take when I snorted. “So you’ve noticed.”
I finally got annoyed with her. “Yes, I’ve noticed. I’m not that self-involved, thanks.”
She smiled brightly at me. “All I said or implied, and that irked you into giving me snark. Interesting. So you feel guilty. That makes me feel worlds better.”
“That I have something to be guilty about?” I drawled.
“No, and I doubt you do. We feel guilt all the time for things that aren’t actually our fault. I feel better as his mum that you aren’t glad that my son caves to everything you want.” She laughed when I ground my jaw. “Oh dear, that truly upsets you. I don’t know you well, love. For all I know, you could be one of the simpering numpties who wants her lads that way.”
“Fair enough,” I conceded, chilling on my anger. “I’m not. If you have the instruction manual to Julian, I’d like it please. I’d like to have my Julian back instead of…”
“This doormat?”
“Not what I was going to say,” I sighed, scrubbing my hand over my head. “Nor my only complaint.”
“Oh?”
Crap. Well, I’d started it. As if right on cue, my phone vibrated and I read the text message before handing it over to her.
She raised an eyebrow as she took it from me. “‘Love you and miss you. How about we do a food challenge for one of your last days on break? Or a few of them? Whatever you want. Let me know what you’re in the mood for.’” She handed my phone back to me. “That’s sweet.”
“I saw him twenty minutes ago,” I whispered. “Part of the reason we broke up was he drifted and I couldn’t get him to keep his eyes on me. He paid such attention when he looked at me and losing that was like losing the warmth of the sun. Now it’s like…”
“Ahhh, you are getting burnt by the constant sun exposure,” she surmised. “He’s smothering you. Clingy.”
“Apparently, I’m a woman incapable of being happy,” I chuckled darkly.
“Naw, no such thing if the woman is sane, and you’re mostly sane, love. He’s… Julian’s had a rough go too. His da died young, and the male influence he had after that he rightly ran from. It left him to figure out too much on his own and with his too smart mind, he doesn’t put it all together. Give him time.”
“Yeah, time,” I agreed, slapping on the best smile I could.
She reached over and patted my arm. “Have faith in him. Just a bit. I know it’s hard after what he put you through but in this, Julian is a good lad. You’ve heard the phrase ‘regression to the mean?’” She waited until I nodded. “He’ll get there. He’s said it many times that he overcorrects, but he always regresses to the mean. He’ll figure it out and get there. He’s scared and this is
how he handles it.”
That helped. That helped a lot and I found myself smiling at her. “Thanks for the apology, but we’re cool, really. I’m sorry I didn’t know or forgot your mate’s name. It was all… I was terrified and there was static in my head for some of it.”
“You did rather well. Pointing out I acted as horridly as my mother-in-law did was good. Granted, she was a raging bitch and had no real reason to treat me as she did or question our mating, and there are valid reasons to be worried about you two. It was still smart and helped me snap out of it. So I am very, very sorry.”
“Thanks.”
There might have been more that I said, but a woman with a posse came barreling towards us. I jumped to my feet and cloaked Mrs. Craftsman on instinct, not wanting it to get out we were hanging together.
Call me paranoid, but I mostly thought it was pragmatic.
“I don’t know what you did to my mate, but you fix it, whore!” the woman screeched at me.
I blinked at her and then at her friends. “Who the fuck are you?” I rolled my eyes when they gasped. “Oh for fuck’s sake, get off your shit. You’re clearly not as important as you think you are—so who are you?”
“Councilman Shurr’s mate,” she bit out.
I snorted. “Yeah, so not important at all. He’s a councilman, and your only claim to anything is you share his bed.” I held up a finger to hold off her wrath. “And tell the fucking psycho you mated to leave me alone. I’ve only met him in passing, and there were tons of people around. I’ve not done a damn thing to that obsessive nutfuck, and he needs to get his head checked. Far away from me.”
“I don’t believe you.”
I raised an eyebrow at her, making it clear I looked down at her. “Oh, well, wait here while I check my bag for all the fucks I don’t give. You don’t believe me?” I fluttered my hand to my heart. “How will I ever go on? The nutfuck’s mate doesn’t believe me that her mate is jonesing to cheat on her and get me for money and power.” I shrugged with a smirk. “Okay.”
She reached for me when I went to turn away, freezing in her place when I glared at her.
“You touch me like you have some right and I’ll break you just like I would a man,” I warned. “So please do so. I’m tired of the shit from you and the vampire council. All of assholes on it are pains in my ass, and now all you whores who mated for power are raging on TV that I’m a whore when I’ve never been near the man.”
“How dare you speak to me that way!” she gasped.
I turned and got in her face. “I checked into you. Your mate said it on the news. Your mating was an alliance. You sold yourself for money and power. You are a whore. You are no different than those who work the street corner and take money for each lay, except they know what they are. You lie to yourself and call yourself important. You’re not, just because you had his children. You sold yourself too.”
I caught her hand when she tried to slap me and squeezed it until I broke the bones and her wrist.
“I think we’re done with this conversation,” I chuckled as she squealed like an injured pig in pain.
“I won’t ever shop here again! I’m canceling my order for tomorrow,” she wailed. “You need all of us to buy the wares and—”
Esta, the head of the bakery, came out from behind the counter, her skin bright red in anger and stormed over to Mrs. Shurr. “We certainly do not and you lied to us. You did not order anything, as your whole family is on the blacklist and you know it. You ordered under your friend’s name and they are now blacklisted as well.”
“Oh, big mistake,” I chuckled darkly. “There’s no way to get around the hobgoblins’ blacklisting.”
“Of course there is,” one of the posse argued. “She just said we did. Another of us ordered it all.
I shook my head. “That’s great, but as soon as you brought it all to the Shurr house or party, it would have turned to ash. You can’t get around the hobgoblin magic, you idiot. They’re not Santa writing a damn list and so what? They’re fair folk with powerful fucking magic. They put you on the list and their goods turn to ash if they come into the possession of any of those people. People have reported it.”
“People say a lot of things that aren’t true,” she snapped. She had me there, and I was about to agree with her until she kept talking. “Like you’re a beautiful woman and your hair isn’t a bad dye job. Clearly, people aren’t to be trusted as even your glamours to try and help can’t fully fix your looks. Have you thought of plastic surgery like the humans you so love?”
“Get out of here before I sic the dogs on you,” Esta shouted, more pissed than I’d ever seen her. “Are women nothing more to you than their looks? Why is there nothing in your head of value that you think that?”
The woman looked down at Esta and snorted. “I’m surprised you’re not green with envy that you can never look like us instead of a disfigured creatin left behind as a relic of a world that has died out and won’t ever placate you that you matter like they used to.”
“The only creatin here that’s a relic who should die off is you,” I seethed. “Now get the fuck out of here before I risk taking on your whole fucking council just so I can bash your sickening face in, you monster.” I thought better of it and pretended to write a rune on my arm before launching something at her.
She screamed but then settled down, giving a muffled laugh as nothing happened. “Guess the girls at Artemis were right, and you were going to fizzle out like the nothing you are, Vale. Too bad there’s not a pill to keep you performing. I hear whores like you need it.”
I smirked at her. “I performed just fine, idiot. I find revenge is best served cold, but if you ever speak to another hobgoblin like that, I’ll get you when I’m good and pissed and burn your ass as I break you. Now, I said to get the fuck off my property as I’m well within my rights to toss out trespassers. And I don’t have to do it carefully.”
They left in a hurry.
“What did you do to her?” Esta asked when they were gone, her tone amused.
“Imposed a glamour on her so she’ll see her worst nightmare in the mirror every time she looks.”
“Well done.”
“Yes, that is exceedingly fitting,” Mrs. Craftsman agreed once I took the cloaking off of her. “Vile women like her need a taste of their own bile.”
“Amen.”
“Agreed, but I would like to know what you did to that Shurr person,” Lageos said from behind me.
“I’ll leave you to handle whatever this is, unless you’re not okay,” Mrs. Craftsman hedged.
“Mary, this is my father, Lageos,” I introduced. “This is Mary Craftsman, Julian’s mother.”
The shock on her face was priceless. “You found him. Congratulations.”
“Yesterday.”
She extended her hand so they shook, giving his aura an odd glance, but then smiled. “It’s lovely meeting you, but I’ll excuse myself so you get a chance to spend overdue time with your daughter.”
“Thank you. It’s nice to have met you. Julian is a rare warlock like few I have ever seen. I look forward to getting to know you both.”
“I feel the same.” She gave me an encouraging wink and left with Esta.
Leaving me to answer Lageos’s question. So I did.
He covered his face with his hands and tried to smother his laugh, but missed the mark. “Oh, you are so my daughter. Truly, you are.” He winced and peeked out at me. “I might skip telling your mother this part. She would not approve.” He gave me a wink as he lowered his hands. “But I do. You get this part of your darkness from me for sure. She was all light and understanding in her justice.”
“And sometimes you need a bit more salt and vinegar to get the job done right,” I purred, smirking when he did. I decided to address what he’d said though. “A lot of it is the way I’ve lived—what I’ve lived through.”
“Undoubtedly,” he agreed. “I heard already that you had a theory that you were born of a l
ight and dark fairy because you were a blending of both. They truly are not all that different.”
“I know.”
“You do because you did not grow up with them and that will be an asset, but your theory was sound. I want you to know you got that from me. The temper, the darkness that wasn’t life lessons is all my blessing upon you. Lots more, as gods and demigods are known for wrath and going further than most would. So that’s all I mean.”
“Fair enough.”
I showed him around and then we headed out back to the resort, loaded to the gills with treats. There was more I wanted to show him another time, but there was no rush. We were both still overwhelmed with each other and while he tried to hide it, I could sense how much being trapped in that darkness while remaining aware of it had unhinged him.
Hell, I’d need a padded room if I’d endured that.
My gaze caught sight of Lucca when we arrived, and I took a moment to simply appreciate the work of art the bear shifter was. Six-six and buff with the guns one would think essential of a bear shifter. He was mixed-race with light mocha skin that looked as delicious as it was soft and went perfectly with his chocolate hair that hung in his face.
But it was always his hazel eyes that disarmed me.
The ones that were currently full of rage.
Fuck.
I hadn’t caught that at first or his fisted hands, hurrying to set down what I was carrying and go over to him.
“I don’t disagree,” Neldor said firmly. “She absolutely should not connect with Faerie again. That is not my point here. This new information we’ve learned from Tamsin and Lageos is vital and I am taking it seriously. What I’m saying is now that we know it and how dangerous a queen or heir tapping into Faerie can be, that’s a reason for them not to rule either realm.”
I walked right past Lucca and went for the dark prince, clocking him in the face and sending him flying so he landed into the pool. The moment he surfaced, I froze the water and him in it just as I had not long after we’d first met and he’d said something just as unforgiveable to me. I squatted down at the edge and didn’t hide my hate for him.