“As long as she says she wants to be here, we’re going to let her stay.” Lochlan ordered, holding out his hand for the sword.
Once the grip was firmly in his hand, the blade emitted a brilliant light that had my eyes clenching shut in pain. “Jesus that’s bright,” I hissed in response as the light faded and my eyes were left to adjust back to the dim lighting.
“It’s finally time.” Came Ronan’s voice, gravelly and horse. The light had stirred him to consciousness and he slowly lifted his head to take in his jailers.
Lochlan stepped within reach and placed the end of the sword to the side of Ronan’s neck. Ronan’s Adam’s apple bobbed nervously and his chest rose and fell in a hurried pace as he leaned his head away from the blade with a grimace.
“How long have you been in league with Morgan?” Lochlan began in a low voice.
Ronan’s lips pursed and twisted as he struggled against the magic compelling him to answer truthfully. “Always. Since the day she took me in as a boy.” He spat, eyes narrowed at Lochlan with raw hatred.
“Have you fed her information all this time?”
“Yes.” Ronan drew out the word, his lips lifting in a smirk.
“What does Morgan have planned?”
“I’m so sorry, Lochlan, but I can’t tell you that. I don’t know what her plan is.” Now his lips pulled back to a full-on grin, dimples showing on his grimy cheeks.
“How is she opening the portals?”
“I don’t know.”
“Were you kept in the dark to protect this information?”
“Yes, I’ve only ever been told what I needed to know.”
“Why is she orchestrating this uprising?”
“Guin, it’s only ever been about Guin.”
“Are there others in the Hunt working with you?”
Ronan clenched his jaw and began to turn blue in the face before his blurted, “No.”
From behind Lochlan I watched as his shoulders visibly relaxed—one of his biggest fears was that the betrayal had run far deeper than just Ronan.
“Who else are you working with?”
“No one.”
“Let’s learn some more about Morgan…”
I had held a firm conviction that I wanted to be present for Ronan’s interrogation and even his death, but as I watched the broken man purge his secrets one by one, all I wanted to do was leave. My logical mind understood that he deserved everything he got, but my softer more emotional side felt like watching the spectacle would change me in ways I wasn’t ready for. The bloody image of him alone would stay with me for a very long time, let alone watching his death. The questions could go on for hours, and I felt confident that seeing him chained to the wall and battered had served to adequately assure me that Ronan would not be able to hurt me again.
I slipped from the room and backtracked to the elevator, pulling out my phone to text Ashley. She told me to go on without her so I silently hurried from the building. Weeks of riding a rollercoaster of emotions made me unstable at best and seeing Lochlan lip locked with another woman followed by Ronan’s interrogation was more than my sensitive psyche could handle. Who was I kidding? The overwhelming despair I was feeling had little to do with Ronan and was almost entirely owed to a certain blue-eyed man who made me lose focus of everything else around me.
Tears running down my face, I let myself inside my apartment and went straight up to bed. I didn’t change my clothes, I didn’t take off my makeup. Instead, I curled up under my covers and listened to the noises coming in off the street.
I had told myself no more sex, but apparently that had not been strict enough. My ban would have to extend itself to no Fae men. No more heated glances, no more soft touches or gentle kisses, no more daydreams and no more wanting. My goals had been to protect myself, stop the war from coming, and to kill Ronan—nowhere on that list did I need to find a love connection. I had checked off one of the three tasks, just two more to go.
Part 2
12
My back slammed onto the mat but the impact that would have knocked me breathless months ago did little to slow me down. I instantly rolled to my side and with a quick kick-up I was back on my feet in a defensive stance across from Lochlan. We sparred every day for hours, day after day, month after month—I was immensely proud of my acquired physical skills, and equally disappointed with how little magic I had learned.
Every time Lochlan attempted to teach me to trace or manipulate memories or even do a simple glamour, nothing happened. Like I had some kind of magic learning disability and needed to go to Special Ed for Faeries.
After I had manipulated smoke for the first time, I spent every night with a Zippo lighter and tree bark up on the roof of the Huntsman. I froze my ass off but it was worth the exhilaration of watching the smoke slither back and forth like a snake or tie itself in a knot. I could make the smoke separate into different sections, dissipate until almost unseen and then reform, and condense until appearing almost solid.
Those sessions kept alive a glimmer of hope that I would somehow figure out the rest of my powers, assuming there were more. I learned early on not to ask Lochlan about working with magic, all he’d give me was a surly, ‘I’m working on it.’ Instead of dwelling on something I could do nothing about, I put all my energy into hand-to-hand combat skills.
I learned to use my size to my advantage and accepted the necessity of fighting dirty. The Fae may be hard to kill, but they felt pain just like humans and that meant a good kick to the balls or a finger in an eye socket were effective techniques no matter the race of my attacker. I learned to throw knives with pinpoint accuracy and how to fight with a knife without stabbing myself, hopefully. We also trained with a variety of other weapons but our primary focus was knives.
As I improved, Lochlan started sparing in only a pair of shorts to minimize my ability to grab hold of him and make my job more challenging. Not wanting to give him an advantage, I starting showing up in a sports bra and spandex shorts. I had considered myself tone before, but I had been soft in comparison to how I now looked. My new training regimen had sculpted my body to perfection. Not that I was vain, but I may have caught myself staring in the mirror a time or ten.
The respectful distance Lochlan and I had maintained deteriorated piece by piece each day. A heated stare when he pinned me to the floor or an extra touch when correcting my form built itself into an inferno of sexual frustration. Soon our exchanges bordered on hostile—an onlooker would have had trouble determining if we were flirting or fighting. It’s true what they say, it’s a fine line between love and hate.
That particular day Lochlan snuck in a lightning fast grab at my wrist and pulled me toward him. I immediately went limp and dropped to the ground, punching up at his unprotected junk but missing as he stealthily jumped backward. He had not released my hand so I was tugged along with him and used the momentum to swing my legs around and wipe his feet out from under him. Still not relenting his hold on me, I was flung on top of him as he went crashing to the ground on his back.
Our chests heaved as we both fought for air, eyes locked in a battle of their own. Unbeckoned images of him lip-locked with the redhead assaulted me and I broke the stare, rolling off him. It had been months since that day, and I hadn’t seen him with another woman since, but that didn’t seem to erase the memory.
We both lay on our backs for a moment, each to our own thoughts—we had been at it for hours and were both exhausted.
“We’re done for today. You need to pack a bag, we leave for Faery in the morning.” Fatigue wore at Lochlan’s voice.
“Are you going to give me any more than that?” There were only so many times I could drag information out of him before it made me stabby.
“Michael’s found someone who could help, someone who is familiar with Shadow magic. Since it seems your powers are more similar to those of the Shadow Fae than Seelie, I think he should be able to teach you.”
“So that’s where Michael’s bee
n—was there a reason you hadn’t told me?”
“You didn’t ask.”
“Would it kill you to offer information without me having to ask?”
“It might.”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “Well, it sure took him ages to find this guy.”
“It’s not easy navigating through the Wild and the Shadow Lands. You should be grateful he went.” His tone became gruff and I realized how my comment must have sounded.
“That’s not what I meant, I’m sorry. I’m enormously grateful to both of you, and I’m thrilled to hopefully learn my powers,” I offered softly.
He rolled his head in my direction and our eyes met. The air around us electrified and his blue eyes gave off a subtle glow, jaw clenched tightly. I wondered if he would finally say something about this thing between us—each day we danced around the enormous elephant in the room, neither of us willing to be the one to call attention to it. Part of me desperately wanted to quit worrying and let myself get swept away in the lust. But I had already let myself give into that temptation and it had been a terrible mistake that I didn’t want to repeat. It wouldn’t be the same mistake, but it would be a mistake nonetheless. Especially when I lived down the hall from the man and spent each evening training with him. If we took our relationship to an intimate level, it would change everything, and if things went south—I wouldn’t be able to come back from that. I needed his help, plus, watching him be with other women would be torture. I may have lusted after him, but I had no misconceptions about him being committed to me in any way. Sleeping with him wasn’t going to change that, it would just make everything worse.
“Just to prepare you, we’ll have to stop at Guin’s palace on our way there.”
His words jarred me back to our conversation. “As long as she isn’t going to keep me there, that’s fine with me. How long is this journey going to last?” The last time I’d been in Faery, a full day in Faery had only been half a day back on Earth. If that conversion held true, it would mean a week in Faery would only be a few days on Earth and that shouldn’t be too much time to miss from work.
“I’m guessing a month or so.”
“What?” I gasped. “There’s no way I can do that. I have a job, Lochlan. I can’t just disappear.” Fergus may have known about me being Fae but Lochlan didn’t know Fergus was a druid, and I was under oath that it would stay that way.
“I’ll take care of it.”
“What does that mean? Are you planning to use your Fae mojo on my boss?”
“My Fae mojo?” He sat up and looked down at me with a smirk and raised eyebrows.
“Yeah, when you do that magic where people suddenly forget who they are.”
“I was going to plant a false memory that you were on a trip, if that’s what you’re asking.”
If Lochlan tried to alter Fergus’ memories, the magic wouldn’t work and Lochlan would know that Fergus was a druid. That was unacceptable. If I told Lochlan not to worry about it, he would be suspicious as to why my boss would allow me to leave for weeks at a time. The only way I could see through the issue was to tell Fergus what Lochlan planned and have Fergus fake it. Oh, the webs we weave… “I guess that’s okay, but you better not jack with him any more than necessary.”
His smirk lifted into a feral grin and mischief lit up his eyes. Little did he know that the joke was on him.
That night I lay on the couch thinking about the trip when Ashley came in. She slammed the door and when our eyes met hers were an iridescent blue.
“What’s going on, Ash?”
“Nothing, just had a rough day.” She let out a long sigh as she dropped down onto the couch where my legs had been.
“You haven’t been the same since Ronan took you—I know something’s wrong. Why won’t you talk to me about it?”
“You mean since Merlin changed me into a Fae.” Her voice was unnecessarily harsh but I brushed off my hurt.
“That too. You want to tell me what’s going on?”
“It’s nothing you need to worry about. I hear you’re going on a trip.”
“Well I do worry and I wish you would talk to me but I’m not going to force you. As for the trip, I just found out about it myself. Lochlan and I leave tomorrow, and as excited as I am to hopefully learn my magic, I’m dreading a month with Lochlan,” I grumbled.
“You said things had settled down between you.”
“That awkward tension has been building again and I don’t know how to squash it.”
“What would be so wrong with giving in and seeing where it goes?” she pushed, a little more impatiently than I would have expected. We usually supported each other whole heartedly in whatever romantic decisions the other made. If she wanted to have a fling, I reminded her to text and let me know that she was safe. If I wanted to break up with a boyfriend, she showed me pictures of hot guys to remind me that there were plenty of options available. Rarely did we try to dissuade one another from being in or breaking off a relationship.
“Because I’m not interested in being with a man-whore. He can be all seductive and kissing me one minute and five minutes later have his hands up another woman’s skirt—I’ve seen him! Right now my job is to stop a war and I’m not wasting time with someone who can’t keep his dick in his pants,” I spat with frustration. I was taking out my anger on her rather than Lochlan, who was the appropriate party, but it didn’t seem to matter.
Ashley stood with her hands on her hips, lips pursed together. “Have you even asked him about it or are you jumping straight to judgement?”
“What is there to know?” My voice raised as I stood up. “He had his tongue down her throat and her skirt around her waist just hours after he had kissed me! In what fucked up world am I supposed to be okay with that?”
Ashley’s stormy eyes held mine for a long moment before she whirled and stalked to her room, slamming the door shut. I dropped down onto the couch, bewildered at what had just happened. How had our conversation deteriorated so quickly and why had Ashley defended Lochlan? How could she in good conscience suggest I give him a chance?
I didn’t think I had ever been so hurt and frustrated with my best friend. I knew she was struggling with her transition, but how was I supposed to help her if she wouldn’t talk to me? Not to mention she wasn’t the only one with problems—I was the one who was supposed to save the world. I had bigger things to worry about than her dramatic tendencies so instead I worked on packing for my trip.
I had been instructed to limit myself to a single backpack—everything I would need to go to an unknown place with an unknown climate for an unknown duration. In a single backpack. Was he nuts? It was hard enough for a girl to pack for a trip without taking double the clothes she needed. What he wanted was freaking impossible so I spent the next two hours agonizing over what to bring before finally giving up, throwing some random articles of clothing into the bag and going to bed.
13
The next morning Lochlan drove me to work, and I tried to ignore the implied intimacy of such a domestic chore. We each had our bags ready and would leave as soon as he talked to Fergus. I was an anxious mess about the exchange and the trip to Faery where I would be seeing Queen Guin again. She had been adamant that once my transition was complete I had to move to Faery. Would I know when my transition was complete? Would she? I had too many other problems to add her to my list.
We arrived at the museum early and I was relieved to find that Cat had yet to come in. I had not explained to her what was going on because I wasn’t sure I wanted Cat’s mom to know my business. I couldn’t get around telling Fergus where I would be, and I knew Cat would be pissed when she figured out I was gone, but hopefully she would get over it. However, if Lochlan took it upon himself to try to use his Jedi mind tricks on her without my warning, it could ruin the whole charade.
We found Fergus in his office already on his phone talking animatedly. When he caught sight of Lochlan the pen he was holding dropped from his hand and his ey
es leisurely traveled the length of the Fae warrior.
“I’m going to have to call you back,” he said before hanging up without waiting for a reply. He slowly rose to his feet and puffed out his chest as a wide grin spread across his face. “Why Becca, please introduce me to your friend.” His brogue noticeably thickened and his eyes never strayed from Lochlan.
I looked between the two men in confusion—Cat seemed to be familiar with the men of the Hunt and I had assumed Fergus would as well, but that didn’t seem to be the case. I had told him who I was bringing over and as terrified of the Fae as the druids were, I figured he would be uncomfortable around Lochlan, not drooling over him. “Fergus, this is my friend Lochlan.”
Fergus came around the desk, eyes only for Lochlan as he set a hand on the Fae man’s bicep. “The pleasure’s all mine,” he offered with a suggestive smile. As Lochlan glanced down at Fergus’ hand still placed on his arm, Fergus gave me a conspiratorial wink.
I had to bite my lip to hold in a peel of laughter. The old devil was having a blast toying with Lochlan.
Lochlan’s lips parted just slightly in confusion and his brows pinched as he assessed the situation before tactfully attempting to take a step backward.
Fergus tugged on Lochlan’s arm, pulling him to one of the empty visitor’s chairs. “Please, have a seat and tell me about yourself, or if you’re busy now we could get coffee sometime.”
Lochlan had started to sink into the chair before he caught himself and quickly stood tall, clearing his throat. “Fergus, Becca is going to spend the next several weeks on a work trip acquiring a new artifact for the museum. She will be out of touch but you will not be worried, she will get in touch with you when she is able.”
Fergus’ eyes glazed over when Lochlan spoke and I wondered if the magic had actually worked on him. When his trance ended and Fergus regained his faculties, he bent over the desk and started to scribble on a sticky note. He folded the paper in half and extended it toward Lochlan. “Just in case anything happens to Rebecca on her trip and you need to get hold of me, I want you to have my number. That’s my cell so you can call or text me anytime.”
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