Managing Expectations

by Erin R Flynn

  “Asshole, I don’t need your protection,” I snickered. “You’re insane. This whole new ploy is insane.”

  A few of the guards had enough of me talking to their councilman like that and moved to grab me, but a miracle happened and several wolf shifters who were students went to block them. I didn’t really know them, they weren’t my year, but I knew they were popular elites from the circles I’d seen them in.

  “You’re not taking her,” the woman in front of the group declared. “This is insane. She’s not a vampire. We all know it. I don’t care who Councilman Shurr is. There are laws, and taking whoever a councilman wants for their mistress against their will and resorting to abduction in broad daylight as if you have the right is insane.”

  “Stay out of this, wolf,” the guard warned.

  “No,” a different wolf said, his larger frame towering over the guard. “This isn’t even about Vale. You all act like it’s her and all okay because it’s her, but it’s not. Your crazy councilman takes her, and that’s allowed, so what’s next? What’s the crazy that’s allowed next, huh? My sister? One of your council likes how pretty my sister or cousin is and just decides they can have her because she’s a woman? Fuck no.”

  “We can’t make the councilman leave, but you guards can be tossed off this campus for hassling a student, and we will gladly do it,” the female wolf warned them.

  “No need,” Dean White said as she joined the group.

  “No! She is mine!” Shurr bellowed. “I’ve come to take what’s mine. Tamsin must come home with me where she belongs and stop letting Moore touch her. I cannot stand to think of him touching her, enjoying her body as I should!”

  Everyone around us gasped, and I had a hard time not vomiting a bit in my mouth.

  “Did you really not do anything to him?” the female wolf asked me quietly.

  Dean White shook her head. “Several powerful warlocks have already checked Councilman Shurr. Several were offered hefty bribes to say Ms. Vale did bespell him so she could be arrested, but none were willing to go on the record and get in the middle of all of this after what happened to John McGrath.”

  I snorted. “This is just your guy’s next ploy. There are still lines people should never go over, and declaring me your fucking mistress while lying we’ve been together is so far over the line, it’s gross. Then again, you’re one of the guys who didn’t punish the bastards who gang raped a woman to try and humiliate me. You’re all sick.”

  “It was real!” He lunged for me, but White was ready and had a barrier already up.

  The guards seemed to realize there was no chance, and now it was a matter of limiting the damage to what was left of his image. They grabbed him and tried to act as if they weren’t dragging him off, while dragging him off as he ranted that I was his and he needed to taste my flesh and blood again.

  “Are you alright, Ms. Vale?”

  I glanced at Dean White, realizing she’d already addressed me from the look she was giving me. I shook my head. “I’m fine, just unnerved how far they’re taking this crazy this time.” More like I was unnerved how good of a job my magic was doing, but that was a topic for later.

  “Yes, you do tend to reveal the monsters.” She nodded to the group of us, wishing us a good day and heading out.

  I glanced at the wolves and gave them the best smile I could. “Thanks for the backup. Really. That was…”

  “Yeah, it was,” the woman agreed. “And you’re welcome. It’s not just they can’t keep doing what they want, but—the ‘elite’ shifters normally lead the packs or groups or act like they’re above it all and answer directly to the council.”

  I realized she was trying to explain the supe world dynamics to me, nodding I sorta understood that and wasn’t completely clueless.

  “Geoff isn’t the typical Alpha who’s elite and got the position through muscle and keeps it because he’s a seriously awesome Alpha,” she continued. “And you saved his pregnant mate when the Underground attacked. She’s made it clear she was toast if you didn’t portal in with help and take care of that hawk. You saved a lot of people that day helping, a lot of good people.”

  I swallowed loudly. “Not enough. Too many died and I didn’t know she was pregnant, so I was freaking that I shoved her out of the way.”

  Several of them smiled at me, the guy clapping me on the shoulder. “She and the baby are fine. We’re a lot more durable as shifters than you’re used to growing up around humans. You saved the grandchildren of the chef on our staff and I adore that woman. She broke down sobbing and praying to the gods you showed up that night. You’re a pain in the ass, Vale, but a pain in the ass who does good.”

  “That’s my actual bumper sticker,” I snarked, beaming at him… But then slowly giving Darby, Lucca, Izzy, Hudson, and Juan a death look when they burst out laughing.

  “You honestly don’t know the half of it,” Izzy told them and burst out laughing all over again.

  “Oh, we don’t doubt it,” the woman agreed. “But she also gets results. Word just got out that the former councilman Ainsworth is being sentenced next week. No more bullshit or delays. All the shifters and dragons are banding together as they all had people in those death matches you helped shut down before you even knew about us. They finally caved and grouped together.”

  “I honestly don’t get why it was such a hard fucking decision,” a different guy grumbled.

  I chuckled darkly. “One of the ways bad men keep power is by sticking together. They all toe the line and spout the political propaganda. And one of their biggest rules is you don’t attack what the other council members do. They are untouchable and above the law. That image or falsehood cracks and it’s open season on them. They cut off a few to save themselves once when I first went after them.”

  “And they assumed that would be the end of it,” the woman muttered. “They gave you the crumbs us idiot women should be happy with, and stupid on them for getting caught and being so lax. A lesson to the others to keep their houses in order and not to slip up.”

  “Exactly. But these were crimes so bad that other species couldn’t stomach to let this go or ignore it for once just because they were scared of their own dictators. They were protesting and flat out ready to say they weren’t going to follow the councils’ most unfavorable laws or demand real change if they didn’t at least take the head of such a monster and have some standards.

  “It seems simple, but they know the truth, and this is just the beginning. One of them was touched and held accountable. The other councils bent to the will of the people to save their own asses, so none of them will hold any of their alliances now. They’re all islands and will try to secure their power, make desperate mistakes to do it, and will find they’re sinking ships taking on water.”

  “I would think that would make things much more dangerous for you,” the guy surmised. “Desperate people do desperate things.”

  “Yes, yes they do,” I agreed. “They show their stripes.” I nodded to where Shurr had just been not five minutes ago. “They can’t keep up the masks and like you said, people can’t stand to see the lines crossed. It wasn’t about me, but who they would come for next. They came in full view of humans to abduct me and use me as a crystal and magic-making machine no one saw again.

  “That is a line that cannot be allowed to be crossed, no matter how many hate me. All the rumors of who I am or my parents aside, I’m a person. They stare at me like I’m a mare they can buy and a tool they can use until I break. It’s… I didn’t do this. This was how things were, and I’m simply too juicy a grab they think vulnerable, that they dropped the act and showed everyone who they truly were.”

  “And Shurr was apparently fucking nuts,” the guy said, shaking his head as the group turned to leave, heading towards the cafeteria.

  He wasn’t wrong, but the vampire hadn’t been in the way the guy thought.

  I would lose no sleep over changing it to the crazy everyone would see. Besides, the offici
al decision about Ainsworth meant there was something big in my life to handle next.

  Oh joy.

  12

  “This part doesn’t get old for you, does it?” Zack asked me a few weeks later as we were about to enter the room the former councilman Ainsworth was being held in before his execution was to take place.

  “No. No, it really doesn’t,” I chuckled darkly. “These assholes are all such idiots chasing their tails and really, the answer was right in front of them if they stopped for just a minute and used their heads instead of giddy with greed.”

  “Well, it worked out for the best because we got a lot of information,” Iolas informed me. “Boatloads more than the wolves did.”

  “Good.”

  Once the wolf elders had made it official and were going to set the date for Ainsworth’s execution, I contacted them and asked they hold off until we used our fairy bags of tricks to get anything extra we could. They agreed as long as we shared the intel.

  We agreed as long as I shared it only with the councilmen themselves; no aides, mates, or anyone else taking notes or able to pass secrets. And we got first dibs to act on it since we could do more from the shadows than they could.

  Yeah, they were fine with that. Super fine with that and gave us a few weeks to do all we could.

  We could do a lot in that time and didn’t even need it all to get more than the wolves had with supe magic. Fairies were damn good at getting all the stuff people didn’t want to tell for sure.

  I walked into the room that already had the right barriers and protections up, smirking at Ainsworth. “I warned you this would be the outcome when you first started shit with me. Honestly, I thought it would be messier for you, but patience pays off as now we got so much information from you, we’ll be busy for a while.”

  He snorted at me. “From what I hear, you’re on the outs with Melody Rothchild, so I don’t know what your band of merry misfits will do with any of it. The people I deal with aren’t your human pimps and drug dealers, little girl.”

  I took a seat and smiled brightly. “‘Band of merry misfits.’ I like it.”

  “We should get T-shirts made,” Zack agreed. “I’d wear it.”

  “I would too. A whole merch line maybe,” I mocked, running my fingers along the table. “But that wasn’t the we I was referring to. You still don’t get it, do you, Ainsworth? You still are so in the dark, it really tickles me to let this out of the bag. All you’ve done. The lengths you went to so you got me as yours and under control, and you were never going to.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I’m to die within the hour. You can drop the act, Vale. You’re a witch and we all know it.”

  “No, I’m really not. That’s the best part of this. I never once lied to you.” I let out a whistle I knew the others would hear, one of those fairy whistles my packs answered to.

  The other fairies who had been wearing essence charms and glamours came in and one by one started taking them off. Understanding slowly filled Ainsworth’s eyes.

  “Look, no hands,” I taunted as I held up my hands in front of me so it was clear I wasn’t writing a rune and made ice form all over the table that I then melted and dried up. “Know any species that can do that? Do you really need to see their wings so I can completely mock you, or should we get to the next part of how good this reveal is?”

  He swallowed loudly, focused on someone in particular. It took me a moment to realize who it was just as he spoke. “I never thought to be in the same room as one of the greatest light fairy warriors of my generation, Iolas.”

  “I can’t say it’s an honor,” Iolas drawled. “Though after hearing how monstrous you are and evil your soul is, I will enjoy watching your execution.”

  Several of the brass of both Light and Dark Guardians muttered agreement on that.

  “So now that you understand why you were so stupid to not see what was right in front of you, let me clue you in why you seriously underestimated me when I kept telling you over and over again you couldn’t win.” I leaned forward and extended my hand, knowing full well his were restrained with magical cuffs behind his back. “Hi, I’m Tamsin Vale, Queen Meira’s daughter, heir to the light fairy realm, asshole.”

  I honestly thought the man was going to faint. His thoughts spun out so fast, it seemed like his mind might simply disconnect.

  Then, his body seized as someone sent enough electricity into him that sparks came off his fingertips against the table, etching the wood. I blinked at him several times before looking over my shoulder at the fairies, trying to figure out who had done it.

  “No, I won’t tell you what he was thinking,” Taeral said, not meeting my gaze. “You have the natural gift of telepathy, but I have decades of using the rune and lots of experience listening to minds when they are overloaded from interrogations.”

  “I didn’t catch it,” I confirmed.

  “Good,” several said at once.

  Oh, so it was that horrific. I wasn’t sorry I missed it. “I wouldn’t have asked. I hear enough scary things from monsters to feel the need to go poking for them if someone competent is paying attention and is handling it.”

  “Wise,” one of the Dark Guardian commanders praised. “Very wise, Princess.”

  “No, there’s no way you can be the light’s princess and dark fairies here peacefully speaking with you,” Ainsworth argued, panting as his eyes were too wide in pain.

  “I rather like her,” that same commander chuckled. “She’s honest and diligent like light fairies but blunt as we are. She’s bolder than most any royal I’ve ever heard of. The way she ties up all you tossers into knots is ridiculously amusing. I think the future of Faerie is rather bright with her at the helm uniting the realms.”

  “What?” Ainsworth tried to yell, his voice cracking and hitting an octave I didn’t think possible.

  Wow, that was one fucking zap Taeral had given him.

  Nice.

  I put my finger to the lips. “Shhhh, that part’s a secret, and we haven’t worked out the details. Plus, I haven’t accepted the job yet, so don’t tell anyone.”

  We all burst out laughing, knowing we were going to lock his mind and gag him before he was executed. Dead men couldn’t tell secrets, so we really weren’t worried, and that was the fun of clueing him in. His last moments were realizing just how stupid he was.

  Sounded like some due revenge to me.

  I shot Taeral a wink, knowing he would do what we needed. I waited until he nodded before leaning in so my elbows were on the table, resting my chin on my hands. “Any last words, Ainsworth? You always wanted to get me in a room to say whatever you wanted to me. Now’s your last chance.”

  He opened his mouth but nothing came out. He tried again and again but nothing.

  “I hear impotence is a problem for those who get hard on evil, sick things,” I purred before pushing to my feet. “Give my regards to Hades and all the demons down there. I hope they have the best accommodations ready for you.” I gave a wave over my shoulder as I went for the door, ignoring the noise of his chair scratching the ground and restraints banging around.

  I couldn’t bring back the people he’d killed or right all the wrongs he’d done, but I could at least get a little bit of joy from these few moments fucking with him after all the nights of worry he’d caused me. It was honestly a drop in the bucket of what I owed him, but most scores in our lives wouldn’t fully be settled.

  So I would take this moment and hold onto it. Petty? Probably.

  Yeah, and?

  “I think I enjoyed that as much as you did,” Lageos muttered under his breath as I slid onto the seat next to him. He was wearing a glamour and hiding his essence as well, but he had demanded to accompany me when the date and time was confirmed.

  I hadn’t objected. I might not feel a father-daughter bond with him yet, but I did feel safe with him. Something at my very core recognized that nothing was hurting me while he was around.

  And I hadn’t had muc
h of that in my life, so I was going to enjoy it. Really, I was.

  Councilman Brooks cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention, the stragglers quickly taking their seats. “Normally, this is the part where we read the list of convicted crimes and ruling before we carry out sentencing but after hearing the weeks of confession, I cannot stomach the hours it would take to even go over what we found him guilty of. Much less all the counts of it.”

  All the councilmen nodded in agreement, looking a bit green around the gills. I didn’t blame them since the summaries I’d glanced at had been overwhelming, and I’d needed to take breaks. I couldn’t imagine having to sit through weeks of Ainsworth confessing all his crimes.

  I’d lose what was left of my mind. Truly, I would.

  “While not typical, we’re all in agreement that the one carrying out the sentence is allowed to be a different species as it was her bravery that helped shut down the supe fighting ring that Ainsworth was involved with that took the lives of our wolves. Also, she was one of his victims, and her contacts are the only reason we were able to convict this blight on our society.

  “We thank Melody Rothchild for accepting this task, the Rothchild Clan for supporting our council guards, and the supe police for apprehending as many of Ainsworth’s associate’s as they could, and all the royal dragons who backed this unprecedented move against the corruption in our world. May it be the first of many and let people see no one is above the law any longer.”

  Some people were not happy with that last part, but he ignored the whispers or shocked faces, nodding to Mel she could proceed.

  She thanked him and then whole council, dipping her head to them before bringing out a huge ass battle axe that I had no doubt was made with the Vogels’ mountain bits. Or one of them. Probably the dragon… Iron?

  I honestly had no idea what was the best material for executioner battle axes.

  I think I wanted to keep it that way.

  She shoved Ainsworth to the kneeler and pushed his head down to the chopping block, leaning in and whispering something in his ear I couldn’t hear. Lageos did from the way he snorted. I couldn’t tell if it was an amused snort or he was annoyed.