Black-Market Magic: Book 8 in the Twilight Court Series

by Amy Sumida

  They smiled at me warmly and Tsohanoai put his arm over the back of his consort’s chair, mimicking Thor and I. The reminder of how intimate I must look with Thor made me wince and sit straighter. I could practically feel him frowning at my movement. I turned and looked over my shoulder… yep, big Viking frown. I think I preferred it to all the smiling he’d been doing anyway.

  “Is this everyone?” I was still a little ticked off at being so out of the loop and having to blunder my way through all the surprises. These were beings I hunted for the good of humanity, I didn’t expect to be having tea with them and I still wasn’t convinced they weren’t all evil. The only thing that kept me from bolting was the power of Thor’s blood. I could still feel it zipping through my body. I knew deep down that he’d made a true oath and he wouldn’t harm me. That didn’t prevent others from attempting it though.

  “We’re waiting on two more,” Thor had a little crease between his eyes and I was thoroughly enjoying his discomfort. “Ah, here they are.”

  There was a loud screeching followed by a muttered oath and the sound of crashing. Thor didn’t seem the least bit concerned. In fact, he had a little of his smile back. An average sized man walked in waving his arms about his head furiously. A large falcon swept past him and landed on the armor in the corner.

  “Curse you, Horus,” the man griped. “Watch where you’re flying.” He noticed the group of us staring at him finally and smiled brightly. “He can be such a birdbrain.”

  A loud screech filled the room as the falcon launched himself at the man, who then dove for cover. The falcon stopped short and hovered with great flaps of his wings. Bird-form blurred and elongated until it was no longer a bird but a man dressed in a black, short-sleeved shirt and slacks.

  “The falcon is one of the wisest winged creatures there is,” the ex-bird-now-man looked down his long nose at the other, who was climbing to his feet.

  “Then why do they even have the term birdbrain?” Mr. Average stretched his neck up so he could poke his face impudently into the taller man’s. He was dressed more casually, in torn jeans and a yellow shirt which read Everyone panic, I’m here. They looked like two opposite sides of the social spectrum.

  “It’s a ridiculous term made by humans who know nothing of the amazing avian mind.” The ex-bird was as regal looking as he sounded and I was back to staring again. His skin was the light gold of a falcon’s feathers and his nose was just a step away from the beak it previously was. There was more intelligence in his brown eyes than warmth and his bearing was so grand, my knees buckled with the urge to curtsy. Good thing I was still seated.

  “No one knows the avian mind because they have no mind. Their brains are about the size of a pea.” The smaller man batted at his curly brown hair which kept falling into his eyes. It seemed to want to play as much as he did. It was kind of charming. In fact, the more you looked at him, the more charming he became. His lips seemed to be constantly on the verge of smiling, even when he was fighting with the bird. His hazel eyes held even more merriment than his lips and his face ended in a pointed chin like an elf. To top it all off, I caught a glimpse of little horns hiding in all those curls.

  “Pan,” Thor’s voice rumbled out, making the name into a warning.

  “Pan?” I couldn’t keep the disbelief from my voice. Both men turned to me, Horus with a frown and Pan with a radiant smile. “Pan, as in reed pipes and wood nymphs?”

  “The one and only,” he bowed gallantly and left Horus sputtering behind him. “And you are Lady…?”

  “Vervain,” I said as I smiled. Why was I smiling?

  “Ah,” Pan's smile turned sensual, “I love flowers, they have such sweet nectar in their depths.”

  “It's actually a herb,” I said but Thor spoke over me.

  “Pan,” Thor’s voice was a low growl and the potted orchid on the table actually shook.

  “My mistake,” Pan backed away still grinning. “I didn’t know this bloom was already plucked.”

  “There's been no plucking,” I shot a nasty look at Thor, hoping he caught the message that I didn’t appreciate this type of protection. What; did he think it would make it easier if everyone thought we were an item? Not like he could be seriously into me or anything and not like I cared… much.

  “Hmmm,” Pan moved forward again, this time he claimed a chair next to the Navajo goddess. “Which is it then, Thor, plucked or un-plucked?”

  Tsohanoai moved his wife closer to him as he eyed Pan.

  “She’s spoken for,” Thor leaned forward to glare at Pan.

  “Hey now,” I shrugged Thor’s arm off. “There’s been no plucking or speaking of plucking and there will be no plucking period. Can we find another word for plucking, one that doesn’t rhyme with plucking?”

  “Enough,” Horus walked stiffly to the table and sat in one of the end chairs like he was about to bring the meeting to order. Big surprise there. “We’re not here for you to play your silly games with a human, Pan. I would like to know what she’s doing here though.” He looked pointedly at Thor.

  “I caught her stealing the same information I went to Valhalla to collect,” Thor leaned back and let that tidbit sink in before continuing. “When I realized who she was, I decided to ask her to join us. I think she’ll be valuable and besides, it’s the humans’ fight too.”

  “And who is she? What makes her so valuable?” Horus crossed his muscular forearms and the short sleeves of his linen shirt rode up to expose a detailed tattoo of a falcon in flight. Too detailed in fact. I’d never seen ink like it. It was like a real bird had been miniaturized and pressed into his skin. Kinda creepy actually.

  “She’s the only human who has ever managed to kill our kind,” Thor spoke very quietly but the words seemed to ring out.

  Horus and Pan sat forward with a gasp. Evidently, I was known by sight to only some of the gods. I felt like I had just had my superstar status revoked. Oh well, there goes my fifteen minutes. Fame can be so fickle.

  “The Hunter?” Horus lifted his head and scanned me dubiously. “This is the Godhunter?”

  “There’s no need to get nasty now,” I didn’t know what was worse, having a nickname among the gods or not living up to it.

  Horus narrowed his eyes. “You don’t look strong enough to kill gods.”

  “Well you don’t look like an asshole but there you go,” I almost clamped my hand to my mouth.

  I had no filter; the words went straight from my brain and out my mouth. It made me a horrible liar and got me into heaps of trouble. I think the only thing that saved me was the immediate laughter of all the other gods.

  “Come on, Horus,” Thor clamped a large hand down on Horus’s shoulder and I saw him wince. “Admit it, that was funny… and you deserved it.”

  Horus did no admitting and no laughing but the tension did seem to ease from his shoulders. He sat back, nodded, and that was that.

  “Okay,” Thor said, “let’s get started then. Vervain, the documents please.”

  I leaned back into the chair so I could reach down into my jeans, which also put me further into Thor’s side. His breath was in my hair, his scent suddenly stronger, and I quickly yanked the papers from my pants. He took them from me and smoothed them gently on the table. I watched his touch linger over the paper and had a brief moment of imagining those fingers somewhere else. What was it I said about amateurs falling for their prey? I was starting to feel like a supreme moron. Thor turned abruptly and stared at me, slowly raising an eyebrow.

  “What?” It came out a little harsher than I intended. Nerves have a habit of turning me into a bitch.

  “Did you want to look this over with me?” Thor’s eyebrows shot downward and I felt even worse for being paranoid. So, of course, I got snappier.

  “Why, do you only read Old Norse?” As soon as the words came out, I felt like an ass. “Sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  “I could hazard a guess,” Pan piped up from across the table but was
shushed gently by Estsanatlehi.

  “It's forgotten,” Thor hadn’t even glanced at Pan. He started to skim over the document. “The next strike will be in Washington DC; they’re going to instigate an attack on a peace rally through some al-Qaeda terrorists.”

  “Well, that’ll put a damper on the party,” I leaned in closer to see it for myself.

  “Even the protesters will back the war after being shot at,” Horus twisted his lips into a mockery of a smile. “Nothing like murder and mayhem to beget more murder and mayhem.”

  “So what do we do about it?” I looked around the table and the whole thing took on a surreal quality for me. These weren’t just people I was talking shop with, they were gods.

  They all looked at me, the lone human in their midst, and I’m sure more than a few of them wondered how I could possibly help. Hell, I wondered it. I was more of a surprise ambush kinda girl and even then, I had to psych myself up every time I got ready to hunt. I guess all warriors have a battle cry to help bolster their spirits. Mine went something like: I don’t wanna diiiiiie! Well, it was more of an internal battle cry.

  “So we go and we stop them,” Brahma looked bored. In fact, he was paying more attention to the minuscule pieces of dirt beneath his fingernails than he was to us. When he finally looked up and saw our expressions, he huffed. “What? How hard could it possibly be?”

  Pronunciation Guide

  Aideen: Ay-deen

  Ainsley: Ains-lee

  Aodh: Ee

  Balloch: Bal-lock

  Baobhan sith: Baa-vahn-she

  Barra: Bare-ah

  Basmhor: ba-svar (Gaelic for deadly)

  Beag: big(k)

  Bean-sidhe: ban-she

  Cailleach Bheur: CALL-yack Burr or COY-ick Burr

  Catan: KAH-tan

  Cliona: CLEE-oh-nah

  Conn Dealan: Cawn Ja-lahn

  Criarachan: CREE-are-rock-ahn

  Craos-Teine: Cr-oo-SH Teh-nay (Gaelic for a blazing red hot fire)

  Cúl tóna: cool tone-ah (dickhead in Gaelic)

  Dathadair: Dath-ah-dare (death omen in Gaelic)

  Daxon Tromlaighe: Dack-son Trahm-lie-ya

  Dhoire: Doy-rah

  Diocail: JU-kel

  Duergar: Doo-ay-gahr

  Each-Uisge: Ech-oosh-kee-ya

  Eadan: Ae-dan

  Eibhleann: Eve-lin

  Elara: Ee-lah-ra

  Ewan: You-win

  Fir Darrig: Fear-durg

  Fuku-Riu: Foo-koo Ree-you

  Gancanagh: Gon-cawn-ah

  Gatik: Gah-teak

  Ghillie-Dhu: Gill-ee-doo

  Glastig: Clee-stickh

  Gradh: Grah

  Greer: Gree-air

  Gwyllion: Gwith-lee-on

  Han-Riu: Hawn Ree-you

  Hrafn: Ha-raf-in

  Iseabal: Ish-bal

  Ka-Riu: Kah Ree-you

  Katsuo: Kaht-soo-O

  Keelut: Kray-ee-oot

  Keir: Keer

  Kinryu: Kin-ree-you

  Kiyohime: Kee-yo-hee-may

  Kuniyoshi: Koo-nee-yo-she

  Lana Clach: Lah-nah kLax

  Latharna: LA-ur-na

  Lonnegawn: lonny-goon (forest dwelling plant-person)

  Lorcan: Lore-cawn

  Mairte: Mahrj-tah

  Marcan: MOR-kawn

  Matvei: Maht-vay

  Mizuchi: Me-zoo-chee

  Mo shíorghrá: Muh HEER-grah “my eternal love” in Gaelic.

  Moire: Moy-rah

  Mór: Mo-ore

  Mufasa: Moo-fah-sah

  Nathair-sith: Nah-hith-she

  Nighean: Na-yee-in

  Nuckelavee: Nuke-ah-lah-vee

  Otohime” Oh-toe-he-may

  Paslein: Pahs-leen, a type of fairy butterfly with crystalline wings

  Qalupalik: Kah-loo-pah-look

  Rayetayah: Rah-yay-tah-yah

  Raza: Rah-zah

  Ri-Riu: Ree Ree-you

  Rodaidh Cruthaich: Ro-Dee Crew-hick

  Ryujin: Ree-you-gin

  Ryvel: Rival

  Sanna: Sah-nah

  Searc: Sherk

  Seelie: See-lee

  Seren: Sare-rin

  Seudachan: Shay-da-kan (jewel box in Gaelic)

  Sileas Trachd: Shu-lee-ah Tahh-k

  Sorcha: SORE-sha

  Sui-Riu: Soo-ee Ree-you

  Tayotama-hime: Tah-yo-tah-mah He-may

  Tiernan: Teer-nin

  Torquil: Tore-quill

  Tursa: Ture-sah (a type of fairy bear)

  Uisdean: OOSH-jan

  Unseelie: Un-see-lee

  Character List

  There was a request made for a character list for my other series, so I thought I'd do one for the Twilight Court too. I'll try to keep it as updated as possible but be prepared for it to get long. Please just skim it and use it as a reference.

  Abigail Teagan: Extinguisher. Seren's close friend.

  Aidan: Pack witch, Alpha of Missouri, werewolf.

  Aideen Evergreen: Twilight dryad. Works at Gentry Technologies.

  Ainsley: Twilight sidhe, knight, and member of the Star's Guard.

  Akhila Trivedi: Flame elder, witch.

  Alan Murdock: Head of Human Council House in San Francisco. Brendan's father.

  Albert Fremond: Quake witch who got thicker and taller after visiting Fairy.

  Alby: Twilight knight and member of the King's Guard.

  Alex Kavanaugh: Extinguisher, telepath and twin brother to Alexis.

  Alexis Kavanaugh: Extinguisher, telepath, and twin sister to Alex.

  Aluki: Unseelie qalupalik.

  Amanda: Human girl Seren saved from Unseelie.

  Aodh Silvereed: Seelie sylph and brother to Nighean.

  Arran: Unseelie corrigan caster.

  Balloch: Unseelie shellycoat Seren rescued from Seelie, friends with Raza.

  Bambam: Unseelie bunyip, Lord of Australian rath.

  Barra: Seelie King of Idaho Underground

  Barran: Twilight sidhe and hunter.

  Baxia: King of the Court of the Nine Sons, sea dragon.

  Beatrix: Unseelie corrigan caster.

  Beixi: King of the Court of the Nine Sons, sea dragon. And yes, I know these sea dragon names are really similar to each other but I didn't come up with them, these are the names from the myths.

  Bian: King of the Court of the Nine Sons, sea dragon.

  Bixi: King of the Court of the Nine Sons, sea dragon.

  Breasal: Twilight knight and member of the Star's Guard.

  Brendan Murdock: Extinguisher. Grew up with Seren and had a crush on her until she rejected him. Now he's a bit of an ass.

  Bress Thorn: Unseelie sidhe, Marquess, and Seren's cousin.

  Brett: Unseelie sidhe, knight, and member of the King's Guard.

  Briana Sloane: Head of Human Council House in New York.

  Cailleach Bheur: Unseelie hag who caused a bit of trouble with her staff in Pixie-Led.

  Cat(riona); Seren's best friend and twilight puka.

  Catan: Head of Twilight Council House.

  Chad: King Chiwen of the Court of the Nine Sons, sea dragon.

  Chantelle Robinson: Elder of Tide, witch.

  Chaofeng: King of the Court of the Nine Sons, sea dragon.

  Clay Sullivan: Extinguisher from Oregon

  Cliona Timberstride: Seelie sidhe and Tiernan's ex-wife (AKA that bitch who broke Tiernan's heart).

  Conn Dealan: Bress' father, a seelie sidhe.

  Conri Shatterhowl: Twilight bargest and knight, on Seren's Star's Guard (and is a horrible flirt).

  Corc: Twilight sidhe. The dungeon guard when Moire came for Bress.

  Crispin Arterbury: Elder of Bite, witch.

  Cyrus Frost: Unseelie Lord of the Wild Hunt.

  Dagur: Unseelie dark elf.

  Daiyu: Queen of the Court of the Nine Sons and sea dragon.

  Daniel Claybourn: Elder of Casters, bite witch.

  Davy: Unseelie sidhe and Lord of the Alaskan Rath.

  Da
xon Tromlaighe: King of the Fairy Underground in CA, unseelie Count.

  Desmond: Daxon's right hand man, also a cu-sidhe.

  Diocail Shadowcall: Seelie sidhe and Tiernan's father.

  Dylan Thorn: Unseelie sidhe, duke, heir to Unseelie, and Seren's uncle.

  Effie: Unseelie qalupalik.

  Elara Blair: Caster witch, ex-Storm witch, Killian's mother.

  Elena: Twilight sidhe and lady-in-waiting.

  Digby: Twilight knight and member of the Star's Guard.

  Eadan Gale: Lord of the Wild Hunt, unseelie sidhe.

  Eibhleann Evergreen: Seelie oak dryad, and Aideen's mother.

  Ed Teagan: Extinguisher: Worked on the Cailleach case with Seren.

  Ewan Sloane: Extinguisher, raised Seren. He believed himself to be her father until the truth of his wife's adultery came out.

  Fell: redcap who works for Daxon.

  Frederick: Storm witch who grew tiny dragonfly wings after visiting Fairy.

  Fuku-Riu: Good luck sea dragon from the Court of the Dragon Kings.

  Gabriel Alegre: Elder of Beckoning, witch.

  Gatik: unseelie naga on Daxon's Elite Guard.

  Gradh: Twilight sidhe, knight, and the only female member of the Star's Guard.

  Greer: Councilman of the High Fairy Council, seelie sidhe.

  Haoxian: King of the Court of the Nine Sons, sea dragon.

  Hana: Unseelie dragon-djinn, countess, and Raza's cousin.

  Han-Riu: Sea dragon from Court of the Dragon Kings.

  Hinrik: Light elf

  Horacio: Unseelie duende, hunter stationed in Hawaii.

  Hrafn: Seelie hunter.

  Iain: Twilight sidhe, knight, member of the Star's Guard.

  Illarion Maksimov: Elder of Storm, witch.

  Iseabal Bloodburn: Queen of the Seelie, seelie sidhe, and Keir's mother (Seren's grandmother).

  Ivor: Unseelie corrigan, caster.

  Jack Teagan: Extinguisher from Oregon.

  Jake Sloane: Worked on the Cailleach case with Seren.

  James: Seelie keelut.

  James Penderson: Human politician caught up in Cailleach's schemes (Pixie-Led).

  Jared Kavanaugh: Extinguisher from Oregon.

  Jared Turner: Elder of Quake, witch.

  Jarne Vinter: Elder of the Pack, witch

  Jason Murdock: Extinguisher. Worked on the raven-mockers disappearance with Seren.