by Helen Harper
“Dragonlette?” purred Solus.
I ignored him, taking a sip of the carefully negotiated room temperature water that sat on the table.
“Mack?”
That I would answer.
“Yes, Solus?”
“If you continue to stare so unabashedly at every patron who comes in here, you do realise that sooner or later you will stare at the wrong person and get yourself into trouble?”
“Well, I wouldn’t be staring at anyone if we’d gone to that café, Solus. You’re the one who wanted to come here. It’s hardly my fault if I am unused to these kind of surroundings.”
“It’s fortunate that I am here to solve these little issues,” he said softly, looking at me with a stern expression on his face.
“What issues?”
He jerked his head over in the direction of the female vampire who I noticed, to my alarm, was heading in our direction. Oh, shit.
“I didn’t…I mean…er…I’ll deal with this, Solus.” After all, as he’d said earlier, I didn’t really need weapons to fight my battles when I had sparky green fire to call upon. I was a dragon!
“Don’t you dare,” he murmured in warning, standing up to greet the walking undead.
The vampire, who’d looked quite pretty from a distance, was terrifying up close. Although I’d certainly heard plenty about vamps from some of the more well travelled pack members in Cornwall, I’d never had the opportunity to meet one myself. I wanted to ask her how she was going to leave the restaurant when it was daylight outside but figured that might be a bit rude. Her skin was not white, exactly, more a sort of ashen grey colour. The whites of her eyes were more yellow than white and there was the faintest whiff of rotting meat that she’d barely disguised with some sickly sweet perfume. I struggled not to recoil away.
Solus inclined his head. “Good day,” he intoned.
She ignored him and fixed her gaze onto me. For my part I remained seated and just looked back at her.
“Is there a problem, little human?” Her voice was icy and filled with the suggestion of threat.
“I don’t believe so,” I replied as pleasantly as possible, although I could feel my bloodfire awakening in the pit of my belly.
“Then why were you staring at me so rudely?”
I opened my mouth to speak but Solus interrupted. “My dear, my partner is but a novice to this side of the world. You will forgive her rude naivety.”
His voice had deepened but I shot daggers at him with my eyes for his words and was about to speak back at him about my so-called ‘rude naivety’ when I noticed the gold flecks of light dancing across his eyes. I flicked a glance at the vamp and realised that she was staring at him, lips slightly parted.
“Of course,” she said in an abruptly breathy voice. “She is forgiven.” She widened her eyes ever so slightly and leaned in towards Solus. “If there is anything I can do to help you both, explaining any nuances of our behavior or showing you around town, then please do let me help you.”
I noticed that she didn’t once look in my direction. The wait staff, who had suddenly been poised for any potential action, had relaxed back into their serving jobs and begun to go back to pretending to ignore us. For my part, I was fascinated by the look of concentration on Solus’ face and the puppy dog look on the vamp’s.
He took her hands and murmured, “You should rejoin your partner, he looks lonely.”
“Yes, I shall.” She held onto his hands for a moment longer than was necessary, and then departed back to her table.
I stared at Solus. “Well I guess these aren’t the droids we’re looking for.”
The pop culture reference went right over his head. “What?”
“You glamoured her. You got her to say and do and act exactly the way you wanted her to.” I thought for a moment. “And you tried to do that to me too! When you came into the bookshop that first time.” My eyes narrowed at him in disgust. “You wanker!”
The heat that had been slowly building with the vamp was quickly exploding into life. Solus held up his hands. “Okay, okay, Mack. Yes, I tried to glamour you. Is it really so bad?”
“It’s brainwashing! I can’t believe you would take advantage of me that way. I cannot believe that you think that would be acceptable!” My voice was rising but I didn’t care.
Solus tried to calm me down, which just annoyed me even more. “It didn’t work though did it? You resisted the glamour so you proved that you’re mentally strong. It was a pretty large clue, dragonlette, that you were definitely more than you appeared to be.”
“But you tried to do it in the first place, Solus.” I stood up, flinging my napkin to the floor. I was aware that I was making a scene but I didn’t really care. How dare he do that to me? “Do you know what? I don’t actually think I need your help after all. How do I know the glamour didn’t work? How do I know that you’re not glamouring me right now?”
Solus’ face suddenly looked alarmed. “Mack, sit down.”
“I will not sit down. I’m leaving and you can sit here alone in your posh restaurant eating your posh food whilst I go kick some ass. And if I see you again, Solus, I swear to God I will…”
“Mackenzie! Sit the fuck down!”
“No! You’re not the boss of me!”
“If you don’t sit down, Mackenzie Smith, then we are both screwed because between transporting you here and doing that glamour to stop that vampire from snacking on you between courses, I don’t have enough energy left to mask your scent.”
“Why the fuck would you need to mask my scent? The only time you need to do that is when…” my voice trailed off. Oh. I looked over at the group of people just entering the restaurant and sat down very quickly.
Corrigan had what appeared to be a huge entourage. I counted at least eight different heads and, despite the lurching sensation of fear induced nausea that was flooding my system, wondered if it helped him to feel important to surround himself with many different shifters. Recognising his de facto chief of staff, Staines, I sank further down in my seat and suddenly became re-fascinated by the window.
“I’d like to remind you that this was your bright idea,” I hissed at Solus, who was looking vaguely apologetic and also alarmingly entertained. I hoped that his Fae nature for causing mischief wasn’t about to suddenly kick in at my expense.
He shrugged an elegant shoulder. “What can I say? I didn’t think he was in town to be honest.”
“Some help you are. And what happened to ‘I am a Fae therefore I have more power than you can possibly imagine’? That’s not much good if you run out of juice before the day has even started.”
“Hey, dragonlette, if you hadn’t insisted on trying to go head to head with a vampire, then we wouldn’t have a problem.”
“We wouldn’t have a problem? Are you kidding me?” My voice rose to high-pitched whisper. “Were you listening when I said that he would destroy every shifter who I consider to be family if he finds out that I don’t have a were?”
“You could try telling him that you don’t have a were because you’re actually a dragon.”
“Yes, because that’s working out so well for me so far.”
I ripped my eyes away from the window to glare at Solus and then sneaked a peek back over at Corrigan. I had to admit that he was looking good, albeit rather tired, wearing an elegant grey suit that was tight over his muscled arms and snugly fitting in all the right places. His dark hair didn’t have a strand out of place and I caught myself wondering if his eyes were really as green as I’d remembered. I tried hard not to stare so that he wouldn’t feel my gaze, but couldn’t resist checking out the rest of his group to see if he’d brought a love interest. Only because I was curious, that was all, not for any other reason. Lucy was there, along with a few other female shifters, but I didn’t see anyone who looked as if they might fit the title of main squeeze. My eyes travelled over them all until I reached one set of blue eyes staring right back at me. My stomach lurched. I gave a
weak smile but Tom didn’t smile back. He just stared. I hoped that I could still count on him as an ally and that he wouldn’t immediately give me to his lord and master.
“One of them has spotted you,” said Solus calmly.
“I know.”
“He’s staring at you.”
“I know.”
“He knows who you are.”
“I know.”
“Mack…”
“It’s Tom.”
“Tom? The one who knows that you are a Draco Wyr? You’d better be right that you can trust him, dragonlette.”
“Solus, I swear, if you call me that again I’m going to punch you in the face.”
I pulled my eyes away from Tom and looked back over at the Fae. He was leaning back in his chair, arms folded and a relaxed smile on his face.
“Don’t push me,” I warned.
Corrigan and his followers, Tom included, started to move towards a table that was fortunately out of view of our own seats and the waitress came over with two steaming plates of food. Before she’d barely placed the plate in front of me, I started shoveling the food into my mouth. Solus watched me, slightly agape.
“What? I’m hungry. And the faster I eat, the faster I can get out of here and away from him.” I jerked my head back to where Corrigan was seated. “And you, of course. Don’t think that just because you’ve been temporarily saved by the presence of the Lord Alpha that I’ve forgotten what you tried to do to me.” I took a large gulp of coffee and swallowed, then gestured toward Solus’ plate. “Eat, Fae.”
Fortunately for him, he did as I suggested and picked up his knife and fork, taking small delicate bites of his quail eggs. It was just as well that the eggs he’d ordered were that small because if he ate like that all the time, he’d never finish any meals. I continued eating my own breakfast, occasionally punctuating mouthfuls with swallows of hot coffee. The burning caffeine just about helped me to forget exactly who was scant feet away from where I was sat.
Before too long, I was putting my knife and fork down on the table and pushing my plate back. Solus barely seemed to have made a dent to the food on his plate. I stared at him and started drumming my fingers on the table, resisting the urge to crane my neck back around to see what was happening with Corrigan and Tom.
“You know, looking at me like that is more likely to just make me feel nervous rather than encourage me to eat up quickly,” Solus stated.
I continued to just stare at him. He sighed and picked up his napkin, dabbing delicately at the corner of his mouth and signalling the waitress for the bill.
“Just so you know,” I said flatly, “I am not trying to run away and hide from the Lord Alpha. I am just recognising when it is prudent to avoid some confrontations.”
“It wouldn’t have occurred to me to suggest otherwise,” Solus said, signing the bill with a flourish.
“But if he spots that I’m here and spots that I’m not a shifter, then…”
“Then he’ll maim and kill all your little shifter friends. Yes, I believe you’ve mentioned that before.”
“I’m not making it up, Solus.”
The Fae stood up and looked down at me with a glint in his eye. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the lascivious look you were giving him, dragonlette.”
I spluttered. “Lascivious? As if! And I told you not to call me that.”
He just grinned and offered me his arm. I scooted round however to his other side so that if Corrigan did suddenly decide to just look up, I would be shielded from his gaze. I still had to try very hard not to start sprinting out of the restaurant however.
I was picking up my silver needles from the security guard, with Solus looking impatiently on, when I abruptly felt someone at my shoulder. Without thinking I put my hand onto their arm and twisted, flipping them onto their back with a dull thud. I instinctively knew that it wasn’t Corrigan – there wasn’t much chance that a simple flip would be enough to floor him – but that it didn’t mean that it wasn’t someone else I had to watch out for. The security guard raised his eyebrows but, when I glared at him, he started to pretend to look busy, shuffling some bits of paper around. I looked down at my would be assailant and groaned whilst Solus studiously examined his fingernails.
“Jesus, Tom, you should be more careful!” I reached down and offered him a hand. He ignored it and staggered to his feet.
“What the hell is going on, Red?”
“I might ask you the same thing,” I said, cuffing him round the head. “You’re looking pretty cosy with the Lord Alpha there.”
“He’s a good guy, you know,” Tom said softly.
“Yeah, up until he rips you from limb to limb for daring to disobey him.”
“He’s not really like that. And besides, Red, I think I asked you first.” He pointed at Solus. “Who is that?”
Solus bowed ostentatiously. “I am Solus. Miss Mackenzie’s companion.” He put an odd emphasis on the word companion.
“Are you fucking a Fae now, Red?”
I bridled. “First of all, it’s none of your business. Second of all, it’s none of your business.” I paused and looked him in the eye. “So is it everything you wished for?”
“What do you mean?”
“Being part of the Brethren. Are you fulfilled now, Tom?”
“It’s not like that. It’s not as sleazy as you suggest.”
“I wasn’t suggesting anything.”
Tom ran an irritated hand through his hair. “You know things got pretty messy after you ran off. The Lord Alpha was…upset that you had gone.”
“I didn’t run off. Anton made me leave.”
Solus raised his eyebrows at that comment but stayed silent. I pointedly ignored him.
Tom took a step towards me. “Are you in trouble? Is that why you’re in London?”
“No.” I shook my head to emphasise the point then glanced back into the restaurant. “I should go.”
“Red…”
“I need to go, Tom. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry if I messed things up. And I’m glad you’re happy now with the Brethren. Corrigan told me you’re engaged to Betsy. Congratulations on your new life.”
Tom started for a moment. “When did he tell you that? Red…,”
“I have to go,” I repeated and turned to walk away. Solus followed me.
“Wait! Red! Mack!”
I stopped for a moment and turned. Tom jogged up and threw his arms around me, squeezing me to him. I clung on for a moment, breathing his familiar scent.
“If you need anything, Mack, anything at all, just call me.” He pulled away and reached into his coat pocket, passing over a small white business card.
I didn’t bother looking at it; I just stuffed it into the back pocket of my jeans and smiled sadly at him. “Sure I will, Tom.”
He reached out and touched me gently on the arm, then I turned again for the revolving door with Solus by my side and left.
“I’ve got to say,” murmured Solus once we were out on the pavement, “the Brethren’s recruitment policy seems to have become rather lax in the last year.”
“Fuck off, Solus.”
“I mean, really, I get that he’s a wolf but…”
“Solus, I swear to God…” I turned and faced the Fae, tears threatening to spill over. “Don’t say another word.”
For once, he seemed to understand, and cocked his head slightly for a moment at me, before offering me his arm again. “Okay,” he said softly. “Let’s go get us some weapons.”
Chapter Sixteen
The streets were considerably busier now than they had been before but Solus moved along at a fast gait, weaving in and out of pedestrians. I had to struggle to keep up with his long legged lope and spent the first five minutes biting down hard on my lip to try to compose myself. We twisted right at the first intersection onto a much quieter road that looked as if it was entirely residential. Leafy trees lined the edges of the pavement and, despite the claustrophobia I felt at being locked
inside a city, I had to admit that it was rather pretty. Solus began to move even faster, with my hand still clutching his arm, and I had to almost start jogging to keep up. Therefore it wasn’t my fault when I missed the uneven paving stone and tripped right over, heading face first down to the ground before he caught me. He grimaced at me in annoyed exasperation and yanked me back upright. Not trusting my voice to be quaver free just yet, I simply shrugged and carried on. At least Solus slowed down a bit after that though.
Eventually he turned right again, into a dark little alleyway that I would have missed if I’d been on my own. Of course, it was a dark alleyway, I figured to myself. ‘Stereotypes are us’ when it comes to the Otherworld. I dodged a few garbage bins lying out on the street until Solus pointed up some uneven stone steps to a door set back into a grimy grey building. At some point the door had been painted a shiny red colour, but now the paint was peeling off and cracking. Solus reached up to the old-fashioned knocker and rapped it a few times.
We waited for what seemed like an age. I opened my mouth to say something but Solus shushed me before I could begin. Annoyed at being treated like a schoolchild, I folded my arms and looked away. Eventually the door opened. At first, I didn’t think anyone was actually there, then I registered movement below my eye line. Standing in the threshold was a short stumpy character with extraordinarily large ears and small dark beady eyes. A troll. I quickly looked at Solus but he seemed unperturbed.
“We need to procure some weapons,” he said solemnly.
“Certainly, my lord. If you’ll follow me.” The troll opened the door wider and motioned for us to enter.
My eyes narrowed at the Fae as I followed him inside. My lord? I frowned at Solus’ back and hoped that the shopkeeper was just being polite.