Falling for Shifters: A Limited Edition Autumn Shifters Collection
Page 133
As I put one foot up on the running board, I glanced down and saw a pile of iron chains at my feet. I bent down to scoop them up and haul them into the truck.
“These are perfect,” I exclaimed.
Now that I knew Cass and her guys were out of the way, I didn’t have to drive carefully. I aimed the truck toward the spot I’d pinned in the map app, stepped on the gas, and drove hell-bent for leather, bumping over rocks and vegetation along the way.
When I got to the top of the rise overlooking the fairy mound that Kellen was using to move to the Winter Court, I turned the truck around. From here, it looked like Cass and her boys had taken out a lot of fairies, but a lot of the werewolves were still moving—incapacitated, not killed.
I guess it isn’t really their fault that they’ve been fighting on the fairies’ side.
Fine. I wouldn’t hurt them as long as they stayed out of my way. And if I could, I’d find a way to keep Kellan from using them again.
I might not mention that part the next time I saw my father. He’d be horrified.
With an irrepressible grin, I put the truck in reverse and began backing it down the hill, directly toward the fairy mound. Several of the few remaining fairies ran up behind me, waving their arms as if to tell me to stop.
Yeah, right.
I floored it.
The rear end of the truck slammed into the small cave-like opening at the front of the mound, jarring me in my seat. Still grinning maniacally, I began working the controls to tip the bed of the truck. It had been a long time since I’d driven anything like this, but I hadn’t forgotten any of it.
As the rebar began to slide out of the tilted bed with a loud scape and a whine, I laughed aloud. Then I stopped the tilt, moved forward a little, and began again. More rebar tipped out of the bed, this time slamming into the fairy mound, filling the entry.
All around the truck, fairies dropped to the ground, overcome by their proximity to iron.
Grabbing the chains I’d found in the woods, I slid out of the driver’s seat. Wolf followed me, and the two of us stalked around to the back of the truck, where several fairies had collapsed near the mound.
Briefly, I wondered how many had been trapped inside—and if the Winter Court was cut off now. “Serves them right if they can’t get back,” I said to Wolf, who yipped in agreement.
Still, I couldn’t see the one fairy I wanted to grab. I moved through the prone shapes, nudging several of them with the toe of my boot to check their faces.
And then I heard the laughter behind me, as chilly as the expression on his face when I spun, grabbing one of the shorter rebar spikes on my way around. He held a silver knife in his hand, and we squared off against each other.
“You really think iron would incapacitate a king? Especially one as strong as I am?” He spat on the ground beside him, and Wolf sniffed the air. Blood. I could smell it, too. I didn’t know what that meant, but I didn’t question it.
“I think you’re worse off than you’re admitting,” I said, trying to circle around him.
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. If I die here, the Winter Court will come pouring through every opening into your world and wreak havoc like nothing humankind has ever seen.”
“And if you live?” I worked to keep my tone light and even, but the image he’d invoked of fairies pouring out to kill us shook me.
His voice dropped to a low caress. “If I live, I’ll make sure you and your cousin and all your pets”—he threw a sneer at Wolf—“pay for what you’ve done here tonight.”
Part of me wanted to shiver, to let his words shake me.
But I wasn’t afraid of fairies. Iron didn’t faze me. Even the silver he held in his hand wasn’t enough to intimidate me. And I had seen much worse than this Frozen reject.
I had seen Gracie die.
As long as Cass was safe and away from here, nothing he could do worried me. “Hey Frosty,” I said, shifting my grip on the rebar. “You need to chill out.”
And then I threw the bar. It didn’t impale him, though. I hadn’t planned for it to. While he was focused on deflecting it, I moved in and dropped a loop of the chains over his head and around him. Then Wolf grabbed one side in his strong jaws and together, we wrapped up the Winter King.
He didn’t struggle long. Especially once we’d pushed and pulled him into the bed of the truck and piled rebar up over him. Several of the werewolves, now out of his magical grip, helped us. Including the one who could have been Wolf’s twin.
“You going to give me any hint about that?” I asked Wolf, tilting my chin at the other wolf. He shook his head without meeting my eye. I sighed. “Just because I’m dropping it now doesn’t mean I won’t come back to this,” I said.
Despite Wolf’s unwillingness to give me any info, I half-expected the werewolf pack’s leader to shift to human form and speak to me, but he didn’t. None of the wolves spoke—not even those in human form.
In silence, Wolf and I climbed into the cab and headed back to the parking lot to meet up with Cass and her fairy princes.
I just hoped they could stand to drive home in the van with Kellan chained up in the back.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cassidy
Orin, Avery, Drake, and I stood at the far corner of the parking garage as we watched Kellan stirring beneath his chains. He was still unconscious, still out of it, but he was fighting the iron, even while he was chained up.
He was fucking powerful if he was able to do this. Even thirty feet away, the noxious fumes from the iron were giving me a headache. I felt sick to my stomach this close to it, and I didn’t know how my boyfriends could stand it.
Standing closer to the Winter King, Blaize glanced at us, apology in her expression. “Want me to try waking him up?”
Oh, how I wished that I didn’t have my iron allergy. I’d be able to get closer to Kellan and deal with him myself.
As it was, I had to be so far back, there was no way I’d be able to strike fear in him. It was infuriating.
Thank you, ancestors, for allowing the demon to give me such a shitty curse.
“Sure,” I said. “Give him a good slap for me.”
Blaize strode up to Kellan, who twitched in his sleep. She followed my suggestion and slapped him. Punched him, more like, her hand in a fist as it connected with his cheek.
Blaize always could throw a good punch. I rubbed my jaw in memory.
Kellan coughed up a mouthful of blood and spat it onto the floor. He took in a shuddering breath before painfully turning his gaze back toward us. He sneered up at Blaize, then looked at the four of us.
“Oh,” he said, his voice hoarse. “The lovers have reunited.”
“Don’t forget about us, shithead,” Blaize growled and punched him again. I’d be lying if I didn’t feel satisfaction at the crunch of something breaking, like his nose. “I’ve been up for nearly forty-eight hours because of you.”
Like that was the worst crime he’s committed this whole time.
I suppressed a grin. Still the same old Blaize.
“Let me take care of this,” Avery told me as he stepped forward. I could see his Adam’s apple bob up and down in his neck as he got closer to the iron. After tonight, I would have had enough iron for a lifetime.
Not to be outdone by the Spring Prince, Orin stood right next to him, his eyes locked on Kellan. Drake stayed behind with me, his head resting on my shoulder. He kept his hand locked with mine, a vice-like grip that made my hand cramp. Testament to how awful he felt after being tied up by the iron chains.
“Do you realize what the punishment is for kidnapping a prince of a different court?” Avery asked. “For threatening two other princes? For assaulting their consort? For enslaving another supernatural species?”
“Among other things,” Orin muttered, crossing his arms.
“Not death,” Kellan said with a laugh. It was cut short by Blaize’s fist. She couldn’t seem to get enough of punching him. I didn’t mind.
“No, we can’t kill you,” Avery conceded.
A slow smile came to Kellan’s lips. “So we’re in agreement.”
To my surprise, Avery strode forward and yanked Kellan’s head back by the hair. The Winter King groaned in pained. Sweat broke out onto Avery’s brow as he stared down Kellan. “But we can take you to someone who may make it very difficult for you to do anything from here on out.”
Kellan’s eyes narrowed, and Avery’s lips pulled up into a sadistic grin, one that I hoped he would never turn on me.
“Drake?” Avery asked. I felt the Autumn Prince jump at his name. “Where’s the closest fairy mound to the Autumn Court from here?”
“Just in Dolores Park,” Drake answered softly.
Avery glanced at Orin and then Drake. “Think you two can help me teleport this motherfucker there? I think your father has some things he’d like to discuss with Kellan.” He gripped Kellan’s white hair tighter and yanked it back even farther.
“Plus,” Orin added thoughtfully, “I’d hate for Kellan to miss out on the Winter Court’s challenge.”
I held my breath as Drake considered this. Then he nodded. “Gladly,” he answered, his voice sounding stronger.
He summoned his strength and lifted his head from my shoulder. His fingers left mine as he walked over to stand next to Orin, his skin a sickly hue as he approached the iron. He nodded to Orin first, then at Avery.
“Let’s go,” he said, through gritted teeth. “Give him what he deserves.”
Orin and Drake disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving what I liked to call their “fairy dust” in their wake. Avery blew me a kiss before grabbing Kellan’s shoulders. The Winter King had enough in him to yell out in horror just as they teleported, too.
And just like that, it was Blaize, Wolf, and me. Again. Having three boyfriends barely left me with any time by myself, so their absence left me feeling oddly alone.
“Think they’ll be all right?” Blaize asked. She grinned at me. “Without you?”
I nodded. “With the three of them together, they’ll be able to handle themselves. I think,” I added playfully.
With the iron chains gone, I sighed happily, closing my eyes. I felt like I could breathe again.
“What do you think will happen to Kellan?”
I shrugged, thinking about Aelfdane and his fiery temper. I knew he wouldn’t kill the Winter King, but beyond that? “I don’t know,” I said truthfully. “I think once the Autumn King sees what happened to Drake, he’ll flip his lid. Even more so than he will over the play against his lands.”
Blaize leaned against her van, her arms crossed. The gesture came so naturally to her, I guessed she did that often. “Don’t fairies heal quickly?”
“Not from iron.” I shook my head. “It scars pretty badly.” Drake would carry his scars for the rest of his life.
A secretive grin played about Blaize’s face as she watched me. “Have you thought about trying colloidal silver on those wounds? They may help.”
I quirked an eyebrow. “The same stuff I used on my werewolf bite? That colloidal silver?”
“Yeah. Maybe it helps neutralize all kinds of supernatural wounds.”
I chuckled dryly. “For someone who forgot about what Uncle Ronnie told us—”
“Hey, it was a momentary lapse! It’s not like I can use the stuff.”
“—that may just work.” I thought about it another moment. “I’ll tell them when they come back.”
“Which will be when?”
“Who knows with fairies? Hopefully not that long.”
But I felt that ache with all three of them gone, and I needed to do something to keep my mind occupied. Maybe take another bath and wash off the mud from tonight’s events.
“Let’s get back. We’ve had a long, long day.” I opened the passenger door to the van and glanced at my cousin, who was flanked by her ridiculous werewolf companion. I paused, looking down at the ground, suddenly sheepish. “Thank you,” I whispered.
She blinked and looked at me, almost in shock. “For what?”
“For...coming to my rescue when I needed you. I know I haven’t been in touch much since Gracie…” My voice trailed off. I couldn’t say the words, even though the truth hit me as hard now as when I first found out about her death. Because Blaize and I had just had an adventure, and we’d never have another one with our cousin who kept us together.
I licked my lips and looked up to see Blaize’s eyes fill with tears. “I miss her, too, Cass.”
And before I could stop myself, I rushed forward, nearly tackling her with a hug. She stood there, stock still for a few heartbeats, before she wrapped her arms around me, and held me. I felt Wolf pawing at our legs, trying to offer his own support, but this was something that demon-hunting cousins only could share in.
We stayed like that for a long time.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Blaize
I stood far back from the bathroom door.
“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” Cass said, holding the bottle of silver-infused liquid over her boyfriend’s iron-burned hand. I was having some trouble telling them apart—except for Drake, with his dark hair and dark eyes contrasting against his too-pale skin.
He had purple-black circles under his eyes, the sole visible remains of his ordeal. The colloidal silver had healed the rest of him.
My own dark circles had disappeared, though I still had slept only a few hours.
I knew grief had caused mine. And I wasn’t done grieving Grace yet—I might never be, not really—but I finally thought I might eventually come to terms with losing her. More so now that Cass and I had talked about it, even that little bit.
The boyfriend—whatever his name was—gritted his teeth and nodded, and Cass poured the silver liquid into the wounds on his hands. I leaned into the bathroom far enough to watch as his wounds began to close.
“Wow,” I breathed. Then the silver fumes began to burn against my eyes, and I backed out into the single room of the apartment, coughing and waving my hand in front of my eyes. “And that’s my cue to leave.”
Cass leaned out of the bathroom. “You’ll be back tomorrow, though, right? Since this is working, we’re going to rent bikes and ride across the Golden Gate Bridge. You need to see the ocean for real—not just in the middle of the night on a hunt.”
“Across...the bridge?”
She grinned at me. “Yeah. It’s super touristy and shit. You’ll love it.”
I glanced down at Wolf, whose tongue lolled out of his mouth, and laughed. “Fine. We’ll be here. But let’s keep it low-key, okay?”
“Absolutely.” Cass nodded firmly. “Low-key. Nothing too serious. We’ll just ride across the bridge and go to lunch in Sausalito. It’ll be a nice way to spend a day. No fighting, no monsters.”
Well. No monsters except the ones we bring with us.
I didn’t say it aloud.
Things were going too well for me to want to screw it up.
The view from the Golden Gate Bridge was glorious. Cass hadn’t been lying about that. The ocean beneath us—really a “bay,” though I didn’t know why that mattered—and stretching out to the distance was stunning. It was a bright, sunny day, apparently something of an anomaly in San Francisco, and there were lots of people out on bikes today.
But Cass and her fairy princes were the only ones I’d seen on a four-person tandem bike. I had to snicker as I listened to the men sniping at each other and Cass trying to keep the peace among them.
Beside me, Wolf huffed, and I glanced down at him. “Guess you’re the only werewolf on a leash, too, huh?” I whispered, reaching down to ruffle the fur on his neck, right beside the turquoise collar. He rolled his eyes at me and stared off into the distance.
I laughed aloud as he pretende
d to ignore me, and Cass and her guys wobbled off on their bike in front of us.
For the first time since Gracie’s death, I actually felt like everything might be okay.
I felt happy.
“Come on,” I said, standing on my pedal to start the bike moving again, and pulling gently on Wolf’s leash. “Let’s go find out what’s on the other side of this long-ass bridge.”
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About Margo Bond Collins
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USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times bestselling author Margo Bond Collins is a former college English professor who, tired of explaining the difference between “hanged” and “hung,” turned to writing romance novels instead. (Sometimes her heroines kill monsters, too.)
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Sci-fi junkie, video game nerd, and wannabe manga artist Erin Hayes writes a lot of things. Sometimes she writes books.
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