by K. N. Banet
I struggled to get to my feet, dizzy. I felt the heat of blood on the back of my head. I tried to focus my vision, knowing Brion was getting bigger as he came at me.
Hasan was suddenly in front of me, and I fell onto his back.
“This is what happens when you involve the inexperienced in your plots,” my father said, meeting Brion’s glare head on. “This is not her failure but your own.”
Brion roared, but it was silenced as Cassius stood up.
“Stop,” the prince whispered. “Stop this now. Father, look at her body.”
I was able to look around Hasan to see Brion turn to see it wasn’t Fiona lying on the ground but another fae. It had been a trick. The fae probably wasn’t supposed to die. Those left in Oisin’s entourage opened a path, and Fiona came running out, looking at the fae in surprise.
“I…she was supposed to convince you to stand down,” Fiona whispered. “And they were keeping me safe until you surrendered…”
It was Heath who jumped into action, running for Fiona, shoving her to the ground as another arrow flew and slammed into him. I wasn’t the only one staggering to walk and reach them, but Brion beat me there, grabbing his wife into a hug, leaving Heath on the ground.
I didn’t think of anything but reaching him, pulling away when someone tried to stop me. Callahan and Corissa were moving now as well. I sobbed as I went to my knees and pulled his body to me.
Then a hand touched my shoulder.
“He’s not dead, and the arrow might not be poisoned,” Cassius whispered, kneeling next to me, looking rough, his voice betraying he was a broken man. Yet, somehow, he was still strong enough to come to my side. At that moment, I had more respect for him than I thought was possible. His strength broke through my fear. “Let the healer see him. Quickly.”
It was still a struggle to release him, but the healer was there, and she took the arrow out of him.
“No poison on this one.”
“Someone, find that damn archer!” Brion roared, finally jumping into action. “Now!”
Everyone was scrambling. More people died. If they were holding a bow, they were killed, but I didn’t care or pay attention, watching the healer try to fix my werewolf.
“Daughter, let’s go,” Hasan ordered.
“No,” I whispered, waiting to see if Heath would continue breathing, desperately hoping this wasn’t the last adventure we would have.
36
Chapter Thirty-Six
The healer worked quickly, magic flowing from her hands into Heath’s body. The bleeding stopped, but his breathing was shallow, and his pulse was weak. Every second that ticked by, I wondered if it would eventually give out. His eyes were closed, and I could smell his pain. It was the only thing that mattered to me. I didn’t pay attention to people walking around us, talking softly, trying to decide what needed to be done next and how to clean up the mess.
Heath was the only thing I cared about.
Eventually, the healer pulled her hands away.
“He’s going to need to recover. It punctured his lung, but once the silver tip was removed, I could pull it from his body, and he began to heal on his own. I just added some magic to speed up the process,” the healer said, wiping her forehead. “Moon cursed…you heal when you Change, do you not?” She directed the question to me. I nodded. “Then I recommend he Change to continue accelerating the healing and to stop any more blood from entering his lung.”
Heath growled softly.
“And poison?” I asked.
“No poison on these arrows.” She didn’t just have the one from Heath. She had those used on Fiona’s body double as well. “Whoever was using the poisoned arrows either only had one shot or is long gone. They had a target…”
“Sorcha had enemies,” Brion said, closing his eyes in grief. “She made many during—”
“Shut your fucking mouth,” Cassius snarled, standing. I clung to Heath’s fur, but my eyes drifted to the confrontation. “Look at what you brought!” Cassius yelled as he waved a hand at the death and devastation around us. “Look! My wife is dead because of you!” He moved closer to his father. “Never speak to me again.”
“You promised ten years of loyal service to help me repair the damage done by Oisin,” Brion whispered.
“I’m going to put my wife to rest,” Cassius snarled. “You can send your boys to bring me word. I don’t ever want to hear your voice say my name again.”
He marched away but staggered once he reached Sorcha’s body. He began to lift her when another fae walked forward, silently offering to help. Cassius growled, but the other man just raised an eyebrow.
Brion’s gasp made me realize this person was special. The king himself went to a knee. Hasan’s hand came to my shoulder and tightened, a silent warning to be still.
Cassius was stunned as this fae, looking like no one special, began to change into someone else. A silver crown of antlers formed around his head, and he grew to be over seven feet tall, but his body was lithe like one of the sidhe. I couldn’t make out many details past that, but there was no missing how he glowed.
“Allow me,” the fae whispered to Cassius.
Cassius could only nod as tears once again broke free. It was heartbreaking to watch as the man lifted Sorcha’s body and carried it away to the silence of the crowd. Not a single person dared to breathe.
It was how they all went to their knees and stayed silent that finally told me who this man had to be.
Oberon.
He walked with Sorcha’s body cradled gently in his arms and met a woman near a path. She was also tall and lithe, and her expression was one of deep sadness. Like Oberon, she wore a crown, but I couldn’t tell what hers was fashioned to be. Unlike Oberon, she didn’t glow. In fact, it felt as though the world was shadowed around her, darker as if the sun couldn’t reach her as well as it could everyone else in the courtyard.
She must be Titania.
They left with Sorcha, disappearing into the paths of the courtyard.
Hasan reached down and wiped tears from my cheeks. I jerked away as Heath groaned in wolf form underneath my hands.
“He’ll be fine if he Changes. I’m certain of it,” the healer whispered.
“That’s good,” I whispered.
Brion turned his attention to me.
“Jacky Leon and Heath Everson…I owe you for saving my wife. Thank you.”
“He did the real work,” I mumbled as Heath tried to move.
“You both did your best, and Hasan jumped in to protect you as I knew he would. Without that, you wouldn’t have been able to—”
“Don’t,” I snapped at the fae king, who was keeping Fiona close to him. His other sons were there now as well, both bleeding from a number of spots, but nothing looked fatal. “Don’t ever speak to me or mine again,” I growled. “Send us home. I want nothing but that. I don’t want your thanks or your gratitude. I just want to go home and never see you again.”
“Daughter…” Hasan warned with a single word, but I disregarded it. I got to my feet, and Heath, growling in pain, began to change. Leith suddenly appeared, taking out clothing from a bloody bag. The butler looked as if he had been roughed up, and I could see he had been crying. He had fought his own battles today.
Once Heath was done Changing, we waited for him to get dressed. The healer fluttered about, trying to put a bandage on him.
“Let’s get out of here,” Heath said softly. He looked at Brion expectantly, but Hasan lifted a hand. I didn’t care about Brion or Hasan, though. Heath was standing, pale but alive. He was alive when so many others weren’t. He was alive even though he and I had thoroughly failed at our task and had been lucky it hadn’t actually been Fiona who took that arrow.
“I would like to know what exactly happened here,” Hasan said, the growl in his words a warning that someone needed to start talking. “Jacqueline, you owe me an explanation. What did Brion use to blackmail you? I can fix it, so no one does it again. Please talk to me.”
&nb
sp; I took a deep breath and looked at Brion. He stoically met my glare.
“Make us a portal home,” I demanded. “Now.” He started walking away, so I followed him. “Brion—”
He stopped ten feet from a door and pointed at it. “You’ll find your bar on the other side,” he said simply.
“Thank you.” I looked at Heath pointedly, and he made his way to it, limping and holding his side. He opened the door and waited for me.
I turned to look at Hasan.
“Brion didn’t care if I was called to Duty or not. He blackmailed Heath and me, and it’s not something you can fix or make go away, but I can fix it right now by just removing the leverage so no one can use it again. If we failed to keep Fiona alive, Brion was going to reveal that Heath and I are in a relationship.” I watched Hasan’s face flash through surprise, fury, and betrayal. “There it is. I am in love with Heath Everson, and he loves me. I am done keeping it a secret.” Turning on my heel, I walked to the door. I forced Heath to go through first, then tried to walk through, but a hand grabbed the back of my shirt and held me. Heath’s eyes went wide as he looked beyond me.
I looked over my shoulder to see Hasan. The betrayal in his eyes cut deep, but it wasn’t my problem that he hated werewolves. Heath was nothing but loyal and loving. He was mine.
Hasan was just going to have to get over that in his own time.
“Repeat that,” he growled.
I didn’t. Cassius was suddenly there, forcing his way between my father and me.
“My wife very much enjoyed the company of Jacky and Heath. They were under her protection this day, and in the light of her passing, they are under mine,” Cassius said, meeting my father’s gaze. “She has said what happened. You will allow both of them to return home. If you raise a hand against them, I will consider it a personal offense. You don’t want to offend me or the memory of my wife right now.”
“Really?” Hasan snarled at the prince. “Are you fit—”
The ground rumbled, and it was clear Cassius could make good on his threat.
“I am the direct grandson of gods,” Cassius whispered. “You are moon cursed. Old and powerful, certainly, but I am well beyond your league.”
“I need to speak to my daughter alone,” Hasan growled. “Move aside, boy, because you don’t scare me.”
“There’s nothing to speak about,” I said, refusing to look at him. “I love Heath Everson. Do what you will with that information.”
“He could be using you,” Hasan hissed softly, trying to lean around Cassius to grab me. “Being with a werewolf isn’t safe. He could be using you for information about this family and sending it back to them. He is going to break your heart, daughter. I won’t stand by and watch it. You can’t expect me to.”
“That’s exactly what I expect you to do,” I whispered, then walked through the door.
Surprisingly, Cassius followed and was able to slam the door closed before Hasan could get through.
Heath stared at me with wide eyes as I closed the distance between us.
“There were better ways—”
I grabbed him and pulled him into a long kiss, refusing to release him until he relaxed and enjoyed what I was offering him. When it was over, he was smiling.
“I love you,” I told him fiercely. “My father will just have to get used to that.”
“And I love you,” he murmured, kissing me back.
We held onto each other until Heath winced and grabbed his side.
“We should call Landon and get back to our lives. We need to prepare for people to be furious with us. This is going to spread.”
“I’ll send word to Zuri first thing,” I promised, helping him find a place to sit down. “You’ll tell Geoffrey?”
“I will,” he confirmed. “Callahan and Corissa are probably dealing with Hasan right now, so they probably are learning if they didn’t overhear you. They were still with the others from the Tribunal.”
I hadn’t been paying attention to them. They wouldn’t have cared that Heath was lying in that courtyard dying. Of course, they didn’t get up to check on him.
“Excuse me…”
I turned to see the fae who had followed me through.
“Yes?” I asked softly.
“Do you mind if I…I stay here for a few days?” he asked, looking over at me.
“After what you just did? Yeah, you can stay,” I said, nodding. “Do…do you want us to call anyone? Do you need anything?”
He shook his head and went to sit in a booth, the one he had shared with Sorcha during our short time at the bar, then he broke down again. The strength he had called on to help me get out of the fae realms had now failed him.
I looked at Heath, who shook his head. He didn’t know what to do either.
“At least it’s over, and we’re home,” I said, leaning on him.
“At least there’s that,” he agreed, kissing the top of my head.
As if the universe needed to send a reminder, the world kept turning, Oliver walked into the bar and dropped everything he was holding when he saw us.
“You’re back!” Rushing to us, he looked me over, then Heath. “You’re alive!”
“We are,” I confirmed. “What are you doing?”
“It’s Tuesday. Kick Shot is opening soon. I need to prepare for the week. Dirk will be here soon. He was right behind me on the road.” To Heath, he continued. “Landon took Carey to school today. He’s been hovering over Dirk and me since, so he’ll probably—”
The two men walked in, laughing over something. Landon reached out and played with Dirk’s hair, and my nephew blushed.
“What?” he demanded when he saw us looking at them.
“I take it you two figured it out?” I asked softly.
“Yeah, we did, and it’s none of your business,” Dirk said, looking furious with my nosiness for a second before relief washed over his face. “Glad to see you two back. Who’s…that?” Dirk was the one who noticed Cassius first.
“The reason Heath and I both made it back, and the reason we’re going to be closed today and possibly several more days. Call everyone, Oliver, and let them know they don’t have to come in. Free paid time off.”
37
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Nearly a week later, I was standing in the bar, waiting for Carey to come over for our Monday hang out. Kick Shot still had its visitor, who had barely moved since he followed us home. I wasn’t only in the bar waiting on Carey. On Sunday, after being forced to remain closed for an entire week, I finally broke and called the number Sorcha had given me. It hurt even looking at the card, knowing she had potentially been a great friend, snuffed out before I really got the chance to know her. I could barely walk around Kick Shot without thinking about how they had danced together, a beautiful couple, their love blinding those who dared to look at it for too long.
“Residence of—”
“Leith!” I exclaimed. “I’m so glad I got ahold of you.”
“Miss Leon, what do you need?”
“For someone to come and get Cassius,” I answered, feeling a pang in my heart. “He’s been here, drinking my bar dry for five days, going on six.”
“Of course…” Leith sighed on the other end of the call. “I know who to send.”
“Tell me it won’t be his…”
“I will never let that man see Cassius,” Leith answered darkly. “I’ll send someone who knows how to manage him without hurting him further.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. “He really helped me and Heath out, but…he’s a broken man…”
“You have done a wonderful thing, letting him stay there as long as you have.”
“I would put him up in my house, but he won’t move, and…it’s still being repaired.” I had been staying at Heath’s. I could do that since everyone was quickly learning we were together. It made the idea of a Monday hang out with Carey comical, but she and I both wanted the normalcy. We were meeting at Kick Shot, then I was
taking her to the movies.
“No, no, it’s fine,” Leith said quickly. “They’ll be there tomorrow.”
So, waiting on Carey on Monday, I was also waiting on the people Leith was sending to pick up Cassius. It was a race to see who would arrive first. I sat at the bar, watching Cassius drink straight from the bottle. He had gone through all of my wine options and was slowly drinking his way through my harder stuff. He killed off the whiskey, scotches, and bourbons. Now he was on vodka.
Heath walked into the bar with Carey, frowning at Cassius as Carey came around the bar and stood beside me, leaning close.
“Is that him? The prince?”
“Yes,” I whispered back. “Leave him alone. We’ll leave soon.”
“Okay.” She went quiet. I could have diverted her attention by asking about school, but I already knew how school was going for her. She suffered through another week of bullying, but Heath had received good news about getting her into hybrid schooling, mostly online, at her own pace, with only two days a week in class. They would be driving her not too far away to Tyler for those days.
Heath sat on the other side, not caring to look at Cassius. I knew he was just as grateful as I was for the fae prince, and both of our hearts hurt for his situation, but there was nothing we could say that could fix anything for him, and if all three of us were staring, it was just rude.
“Can I join you both for dinner tonight?” he asked nonchalantly.
“No,” Carey and I answered at the same time, then smiled at each other. It was certainly strange staying at their home, away from the center of my territory, but they were welcoming, and repairs were happening quickly. Heath promised I would be back in my own house before a month was up.
“It’s girl’s night,” Carey continued. I pointed to her, giving Heath a look that she was correct.
“Fine, fine.” He lifted his hands in mock defeat. “You’re probably just going to talk about boys.”
“Ew. That would mean Jacky would talk about you.” Carey’s face twisted in disgust, an appropriate response. She turned to me, looking sick. “I promise not to get into any more fights if you promise never to talk about how he kisses.”