by K. N. Banet
“Get some sleep,” Heath whispered. “Tomorrow, we’re going home.”
I nodded as I fell onto the bed. Curling around my back, holding me, we slept.
23
Chapter Twenty-Three
Someone let us sleep in, and breakfast was already waiting at our small table when I opened my eyes. Heath yawned and rolled out of bed first, me quickly following.
“We’re heading home today,” I said with a smile. “One day in the fae realms is enough.”
“Agreed,” Heath said as he sat down and divided up the food between us. Whoever had made our meals knew we needed a lot of food between us. It took a minute for my groggy mind to remember the chef was a werewolf. If he knew who the guests were, he would know what we needed. Or maybe Cassius and Sorcha were smart enough to plan it out. Either way, it was a nice service. It reminded me of my visit home over the summer.
“Do you think everything will be cooled down by the time we get back?” I asked as I sat across from him.
“No, I bet it’s going to be worse. I’m trying my damnedest not to think about it, but I’m worried about Carey. Landon is there, and he would do anything to keep her out of the hands of the fae. They might not even think to go after my daughter and son. I don’t know.” He lifted his phone from the table. “These don’t work, so it’s not like I can call him. But I’m still worried. Waking up and realizing it’s been a day since I’ve seen them…”
“You’ve been taking this really well.” I was a little ashamed to admit I hadn’t really considered Carey would be in danger. I knew we had to get back, but there were capable men protecting her. I trusted Dirk and Landon immensely.
“Probably for the same reason you are,” he said softly, but when he blinked, his eyes turned ice blue. “But I am more in control of what I am than most werewolves. If I were most other Alphas, I’d have already tried to fight with Cassius and gotten myself killed. I’d have demanded he take us back immediately and deal with his father on my schedule, not his. I try to be more rational. Plus, it’s almost a good thing we spent the evening here. We’ve made two more allies.”
“We did, but two new allies aren’t why I’m taking this well,” I said, reaching out to rub his cheek. The ice blue seemed to glow. “Dirk and Landon are both strong men who will do anything we need them to do,” I said with a small smile. He nodded, but I continued. “They can be trusted with Carey. If they have to, they’ll go on the run. As you said, Landon would have realized we were gone less than an hour after it happened. If they were truly desperate, they’d call…” I stopped, and my appetite disappeared. “Dirk would call…”
“Niko,” Heath finished for me. “There’s a chance nothing has gone that wrong. They’ve probably packed up and headed out of your territory, just in case. My house isn’t meant to protect from fae attacks, and neither is Landon’s. I mean, how does one expect to be attacked by fae when we don’t do much business with them? They’re probably just driving around, keeping their heads down. They might have gotten a hotel room in Tyler with one of our emergency identities.”
“Yeah.”
There wasn’t much else to say. We’d find out when we got back. Heath forced me to eat. Every time I pushed the plate away, he pushed it back, a silent battle of wills. I finally relented and ate about half, and he didn’t push it any further.
“Let’s go find out what’s going on,” I said, standing and stretching. We finished getting dressed in our dirty, day-old clothing and headed into the hall. We were greeted by a man wearing a crisp black suit, totally different from the leather armor-like gear of everyone else I had seen.
“Of course, the day I take time off, Lord Cassius has unexpected guests,” the fae said, sighing heavily. “I am Leith, the butler and personal assistant to the lord and lady. You must be Jacqueline and Heath. I hope breakfast was enjoyable.” When Heath and I nodded, he seemed pleased. “I will pass along your compliments to the chef. Fiona and Rian have already met the lord and lady in the gardens. If you will, please follow me, and I will take you to them. The lord and lady have already prepared to leave, so if you are ready, they will begin working with Rian to make the portal back to your territory.”
“Thank you,” I said, following him as he turned on his heel and walked away.
“No need to thank me. It’s my honor and privilege to serve the lord and lady.” He walked at a brisk pace. “You were fortunate the wildness of fae magic, especially untrained in a young man like Rian, brought you here and not other more unsavory places in the fae realms. Or into the hands of your enemies. Many get lost in these realms, so you are even more fortunate Lady Sorcha discovered you while she was out hunting. Even these relatively peaceful lands can be full of dangers.”
“Yeah,” I agreed as we moved through the halls.
“You are also fortunate the lord and lady are used to strays coming to their doorstep and needing protection,” Leith continued.
“We are very fortunate, we understand,” Heath said, directing a confused look my way before he went back to looking at the back of the butler’s head.
“Do you?” Leith asked as he stopped in front of a door and turned to us. “Other fae would call in a favor from you for this. They will not.”
“What do you want us to do?” I asked, realizing Leith was leading us somewhere.
“A favor for my Lord and Lady I wish to call in. Do not let his father hurt him. Lord Cassius has done much for the fae on these lands. We love our Lord, and we are glad he found a wife to share his life with. He finally healed from the abandonment of his father. You will make sure his father doesn’t use him and get him hurt. The entire staff here and the lady would consider it a gift.”
“Isn’t Lady Sorcha coming with us?” Heath crossed his arms, a severe frown bringing his brows together and adding wrinkles to his face.
“She is, but she can’t ask this of you in front of him.”
“So, she sent the very professional and tough butler to pass the word along. Okay, we’ll do our best to keep Cassius from getting hurt. You can tell her we agreed in return for the help you’ve all given us since we accidentally fell into the fae lands.” It was going to be a lot, trying to defend Fiona, Rian, and Cassius, especially since one of them had no idea his name was on the list. There was a chance it could backfire, something I knew Heath was thinking about, thanks to the look he shot me, but he didn’t speak up or contradict me.
“Thank you.” Leith bowed, then opened the door. We followed him into the garden Heath and I couldn’t see from our window. What we could see had been rolling fields and perfectly maintained trees. This was not…that. Hedge walls covered in roses and other flowers I couldn’t identify surrounded natural-looking stone paths and wild trees, their shade stretching out. There was something intimate about the garden. This wasn’t maintained by a world-class gardener. It was disheveled and lush. As we were led deeper in, I heard Sorcha.
“Remember to trim the hedges but not too much.”
“Of course, my Lady.”
“Good.”
“Love, they aren’t going to ruin our garden,” Cassius said as we entered their view. He saw us first. Leith went to Sorcha, whispered in her ear, then bowed while Cassius greeted us. “Good, you’re both awake and ready to go. Rian, just like we talked about—”
“Wait!” Sorcha ordered, holding a hand up. “You.” She pointed at me and came closer, looking over me with a frown. “None of you said you were injured yesterday. It took me all night to realize it had to be you. I can sense the silver left over. It’s only a trace amount, but I would like to take it out before we go back. It’s toxic to you, isn’t it?”
“It is, but I’m not bleeding, which means I’m healing. It’ll pass on its own,” I promised, stepping back. “I’ve already had this happen to me once before, which got me into this situation. I’ll be fine, really.”
She frowned. “Yes…Brion. Well, then…if you’re not comfortable, we can be on our way, I guess.” She
waved a hand at Cassius to continue whatever he had been planning. Cassius only gave her an indulgent smile of a husband waiting patiently for his wife, then sent a curious expression to me.
“Are you sure?” Cassius asked. “She’s the best metal worker of the sidhe. You probably wouldn’t feel a thing.”
“She wouldn’t feel a thing,” Sorcha corrected.
“I’m fine. Positive. No need. I actually forgot it was there.” It was such a small amount left in my system, I knew I would be fine.
“Fantastic. Let’s get on with this.” He grabbed Rian’s shoulders, pointing him at a garden shack. “Rian, I want you to think of Jacqueline’s home, picture it in your mind. If you’re having trouble, Jacqueline can be used as an anchor to that place.” He waved me over. “Hold his hand.”
I grabbed it and smiled at Rian, who looked a touch grey. I squeezed gently.
“We all need to learn sometime, right? You made a really good portal yesterday. Shouldn’t be hard to do it today,” I tried to reassure.
“Positive attitudes are useful, but only in a placebo sense,” Cassius said, still behind us. “Jacqueline, think of home. Think of the feelings you have there. You have territory magic, which should make this easier for Rian. Your anchor to that place is stronger than most people and their homes.”
I closed my eyes and pictured my living room, the cool greys and large windows looking out onto the forest that surrounded my home. I thought about the connection I had with my territory, the comfortable feeling of knowing I was where I belonged.
“That’s it,” Cassius whispered.
I inhaled and got a deep lungful of magic, rich and wild, but I kept the picture of home in my mind.
“Open the door, Rian,” Cassius softly ordered.
There was a soft creak, and a breeze sent me the scents of home, my cleaners, my things.
“Now we have a portal,” Cassius said, clapping once. “You can both relax. As long as the door stays open, the portal will stay open.”
I released Rian and saw he was holding the shack’s door open with his other hand. Beyond the frame was my living room, which was a complete disaster. Our assassins had torn the place up, not just the broken glass or the furniture we had moved around. They had pulled books down from the shelves and opened drawers, tossing things everywhere.
“I feel I should say, this is not how I keep my home,” I said softly to the noble.
“I’ve seen worse,” Cassius replied. “You can go through. We’ll be right behind you.”
“Cassius!” Sorcha snapped. “She’s our guest.”
“She’s tougher than the rest of us, and it’s her home,” he retorted.
I looked back at Heath, and he came forward to take my hand. We walked through together, and I felt more at ease immediately, my connection to the land welcoming me back like a lost friend.
“My phone works,” Heath said, his relief clear. “Do you feel Landon?”
“Yeah. He’s at his home, and there’s no fae around. Seems as if they moved on.”
“Good,” Heath said with a satisfied growl. He dialed his son, and I looked back to see the rest of the group was through the portal, and Rian was closing the door.
“We can go to my bar. It’s just down the drive,” I said, taking charge because we were finally back in my space. “It’s closed today, so we won’t run the risk of humans seeing us or overhearing our conversations.”
“Landon! Yeah, Jacky and I are back…You have Carey? Good. Did the fae give you any troubles?” A pause. “We were in the fae realms. I’ll explain later.”
I smirked as Cassius nodded.
“Let’s go.” He took a step, and something crunched. “When I see him, I’ll tell my father he needs to pay for this.”
“It’s fine,” I said, waving a hand dismissively. “Repairs are easy when your boyfriend owns a construction company.”
Heath grinned at me, and I felt a flush heat my cheeks. I didn’t call him my boyfriend often, if ever.
“Landon will meet us at Kick Shot,” he said, hanging up the call. “He has everyone. Apparently, the fae checked my house but not his. He only bought it a month ago.”
“And if the timeline is right, the assassins didn’t spend a lot of time doing research. They knew I had Fiona, so they came.”
I led them out of my destroyed home. When we got to Kick Shot, I unlocked it and let them in.
“Does anyone want drinks or a bite to eat?” I asked as I filed them into the main dining area. Once they were seated, I closed all the curtains, made sure the closed sign was on, then went behind the bar. I poured a glass of water for myself, then filled the orders called out to me. Sorcha sat on the other side of the bar, and everyone spread out around her.
“Nice place,” she politely said as I slid her the water she requested.
“It’s mine. I like it,” I said, shrugging as she looked around.
“It’s charming,” she said, this time with more oomph. “Cassius, when this is over, we’re going to come here when it’s open. I want to feel the atmosphere of this place. We can give Jacqueline our patronage as a sign of goodwill between us.”
“Okay,” he said, wrapping his arms around her from behind and kissing her cheek. “When this is over, we’ll do that. I promise.”
24
Chapter Twenty-Four
When Landon arrived, he helped Heath push together several tables. There was a question hanging in the air of what would happen next. When I sat down, Heath sat on my right while Landon sat on my left, an odd place for him.
“You okay?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you be seated at Heath’s side?”
“Carey asked me to make sure you were okay. So did Dirk and Oliver,” he said simply. “Instead of getting in your face about it, I decided to stick close and make sure you don’t fall over.”
“Why don’t you go get her and me some clean clothes?” Heath asked around me. “Make yourself useful. We’re both fine, and you can pass that along.”
Landon growled but got up and left. Landon was temperamental, but he’d follow his father and Alpha to his dying breath.
“Your son?” Cassius asked as he sat across from us.
“Yes, Landon. My middle child and my second, in terms of werewolf rank.” Heath gave the noble a lopsided smile. “He looks like his mother.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Sorcha said diplomatically. I could see her working to avoid the obvious. Landon was biracial and did take mostly after his mother, but there were pieces of Heath in him. It had taken me some time to notice them, but they were there. “He has the same eye shape as you and jawline. Those are both yours, but yes, it does appear he has mostly taken after his mother. He seems like a good young man, though. You have a fine son.”
“I wouldn’t call him young to his face. He was born in eighteen sixty-three, and sometimes, I think he feels every one of those years,” Heath said with a chuckle, Sorcha joining him after a moment.
“Yes, some days, the eternal youth of immortality doesn’t seem much like a blessing, does it?” she pondered, nodding as she grew more relaxed.
“We’ll wait for him to get back and you both to change before we go further,” Cassius said, pulling out a phone I hadn’t known he had. “Then we’ll discuss what we can do about this situation.”
It only took Landon fifteen minutes to return with changes of clothing for me. Dirk arrived five minutes later with clothing for Heath. Carey wasn’t with him, and he gave me a sympathetic look.
“I left her with Oliver at Landon’s house. Do you need anything else, boss?”
“No, I’ll be fine. You get back there and keep your head down.” I patted his shoulder and sent him on his way. He was barely out the door when I turned to Landon. “You should go, too.”
“She’s right,” Heath said softly, looking at his son. “Carey is going to need someone if this finds any more ways to go sideways.”
“Yes, sir,” Landon agreed, nodding h
is head once, then he was gone as well.
“So, what’s next?” Heath asked once his son was gone with Dirk, their trucks rolling out of my parking lot like a convoy.
“I have a solid idea, but I’m still thinking of ways to go about it,” Cassius admitted.
“You can just help us protect Fiona,” I said, shrugging. “That would do enough for me.”
“No. If Oisin has sent someone to grab her, the best option is to contact Alvina and my father. They need to come together to defeat Oisin. I’m sorry to say it, but your territory might be the best place,” Cassius explained as he sipped his water. “If not, this could drag on for several more months, if not years. Fae politics can go either very quickly or very slowly. The last thing we want is for them to disappear into one of the deeper realms or trap each other there. If we convince them to meet in this realm, where you can manage the protection of the meeting, we would be able to handle this quickly.”
“Are you sure Alvina is loyal?” Heath asked.
“Positive. She hates Oisin. Learning about Brion, she’s made it very clear she wants the rightful king back,” Sorcha said mildly. “She had to move fast because if Oisin kills Brion, he has a more legitimate claim to keep the throne.” Sorcha reached out and played with her husband’s hair, duller and more natural with his glamour up. His blue eyes were the same way. He was still a beautiful, almost inhuman man, but it was subdued. He could blend in as a model. “Cassius, you’re going to be a target now.”
“I already was,” he whispered, taking her free hand and holding it. They sat in silence for a moment until he lifted her hand and kissed the back. “The only reason we haven’t seen too much trouble is they’re my lands, not my father’s. I’m my most powerful there, and my people are loyal. It would be too much of a fight, which is why we stayed there.” He looked back at us as Sorcha continued to run her fingers through his hair. “Alvina is loyal. She’s the rightful queen and has always worked to live up to the legacy of my mother and Titania. She does well in the role and hasn’t fallen to any of the temporary or not-so temporary insanities that plague my family.”