by Jo Penn
“Apologies for interrupting, Lady Delia.”
“Please, we are all friends here, there are no need for formal titles, Drax. Tudor called me this morning and requested a meeting. I believe I know what that is about and wish to again say I am impressed with your courage, Tudor. Xavier, darling.” She waved her hand at the vampire.
“Tudor has no knowledge we are aware of this and we felt it best to not bring it up until or if he were ready. Tudor, you received messages from your friend Corey, did you not, and responded.”
Tudor shook, eyes glued to Xavier. He was pale and nodded.
“Yes. Corey has kept myself and a few others informed and I have the master vampire under watch for a time since it was discovered he became fixated on you. At first, it was due to your hiding magic, but we can safely say the vampire leader has become insane and turned this fixation from not just your magic but to yourself also. Is there anything you wish to contribute here, Tudor?”
Tudor sighed and nodded, head staying down. “Corey informed me the vampire leader has begun to send out vampires to…retrieve me. The vampire made it clear I was his property and he would take out anyone who tried to stop him. He is…unbalanced and violent. His coven is large and they are possibly as vicious or just afraid of him. Lady Delia.” Tudor looked up. “I apologize for bringing these problems to you. I called to meet with you so you were aware the dangers and request I be sent away—”
“Enough.” Caspar growled, one hand locked on the back of Tudor’s neck. “You do not apologize for what others do, and you forget, you remain with your mates.”
“Cas, this vampire does not respect mate laws and has a large following. It isn’t safe. I don’t want anyone hurt because he’s after me.”
“We are well equipped to deal with a deranged vampire,” Xavier said dismissively. “Your mate is correct, do not take on the blame for others actions.”
“True. And we have a large number of creatures here who don’t tolerate that sort of behavior,” Drake said firmly. “My mate has explained the situation to me and the Vampire Council has begun proceedings, which doesn’t help at this stage. So we are on alert and will lend soldiers to Cas to keep you all safe.”
“As will the Starters pack,” Drax snapped.
Yeah, Drax was a big protector, had a real thing about creatures getting picked on and harmed.
“As will we,” Mason said calmly. “The vampire needs taking down. It is best to let him come to our territory and deal with him. Tudor will be well protected. I have informed Avenger Vicus and the soldiers not to interfere with the vampires but rather to track and stay close in case they attack. There have been sightings, but as we have discovered, the creatures are using potions and spells to hide themselves from our soldiers.”
“Tudor, thank you for putting aside what this vampire has done to you and inform us.” Delia smiled gently. “I wanted you to know that I am very much against this abhorrent trading but when Xavier informed me of your situation we immediately had to get you out of there the fastest way possible. And at this stage, with your old coven only allowing trading, I utilized this. You are a valued member of this coven. When these matters with the Renegades and the master vampire have been resolved I would like you, like I do with the other members of the coven, to feel free to pick and choose what jobs are sent to us. If you do not feel comfortable I understand and it will be fine for you not to take on any jobs. You always have a place among us, dear. I would also personally like to undertake furthering your training. You have two higher level skills that are very impressive and require nurturing, not straining and exhausting. And your lower level ones can be calmed and reach the same standard of other coven members of your age.”
Tudor gaped at the coven matriarch. “M-me? You would train me?”
“I would very much enjoy this. You are very intelligent and cautious with all you do. It is an admirable trait. Tudor, not all covens are magic drainers. Here we are free to pick and choice, make a life for ourselves. Magic is in us and to be respected, not to be sold. At the Armstrong coven we only take jobs that aid others and do not harm anyone. Unless they are Renegades or mean ill to people. This is what myself and members of my coven aspire to. Mason has studied your work while you have been with us and would also like to assist in developing your skills, not only in magic, but in a liaison position. For now, we will work together.”
Luka felt a burst of pleasure, and not the sexual kind. His poor mate though just looked wiped out, unable to understand what was happening. That dimmed the pleasure a bit, knowing Tudor had been through some neglect and shit with the old coven leader plus the vampire leader.
With the changes Mason and Xavier were working toward, each individual creature type’s council, such as the Shifter Council that governed packs, prides, and other types of shifters, the Magical Covens Council for all magic users, and others, would soon be overhauled and report directly to the High Council, which oversaw all creatures regardless of type. Being the interspecies public relations officer, Luka spent a lot of time negotiating between councils and saw the need to streamline and work together a hell of a lot more. It’d certainly make his job easier.
“T-thank you, Lady Delia…I truly do not know what to say to express how shocked, and astounded I am. Whatever you need in exchange.”
“Just your willingness. And some trust, Tudor. That has to be earned and we are also willing to provide the time to do so.” Delia smirked. “Though your old coven master is an egotistical, greedy prick, he gave credit where it was due. He, too, saw your potential and that is why he practically used you to exhaustion constantly.”
Tudor nodded slowly, eyes darting to Mason. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome, Tudor. I will have trading and the old coven ways outlawed. We have tremendous support, and your knowledge and intelligence can assist in this. Come to me when ready.”
Tudor drew in a deep breath, attention back on Delia. “There is something I wished to ask. It is a lot, Lady Delia, and I apologize for that. But, in good conscience, I have to even though you’ve already given so much.”
“You are free to ask. I do what I can if possible.”
“My friend Corey is pretty much in the same position I was at the old coven, used until he’s exhausted and no freedom outside the coven. Like myself, he is not an immortal wizard and suffers from an illness. Is there any way to help him? I’m not sure the master vampire won’t already have noticed Corey and the help he gave me that day.”
“Corey is being watched.” Xavier waved a hand elegantly. “He has played spy—not a position we wished to place him in, but one he willingly agreed to. My people are set to retrieve him in a few days, but he will have to remain in hiding here for some time as your old coven leader isn’t willing to trade anyone else. He only traded you because of the Senator and Renegade situation and was afraid for his position and attacks on his coven. Corey will have to be snuck out and kept hidden until some of the matters are dealt with.”
“I can’t thank you enough, Prince-mate Xavier.”
“Then don’t. I do not expect thanks. Lives are more important.”
Delia laughed. “Yes, that is my grandson. Darling, you are a wonder. I am most fortunate to have you, Mason, Keeley, and Drake as family, and Laurie, though the boy denies I am his aunt constantly.”
“It is an amusing game we play.” Mason smiled.
“So it would seem. Now, Caspar, I hear you have found a location you like? May I be permitted in sending out some of my coven to assist in securing it with magic? I mean no insult, just that you have so few of your fae here and they will be required to keep you all safe and not drain your magic.”
Luka frowned. “Drain their magic? I thought witches and wizards only got drained if they overused.”
“No, darling, fae and my kind are similar in that way. Granted, the fae have a great deal more magic and can sustain themselves and magic longer, but they can become weakened if they use it continually without
rest, and if overloaded problems occur. I do hope you have not been over taxing the fae, Luka.” Delia gave a knowing smile.
Luka shrugged. “I’m sure I’m not. They seem to have abundance.”
“Thank you, Delia, I graciously accept your assistance. Until my guild arrives in a week, we are down in numbers. I will not move us in until the property is completely secure. And I thank you and Mason for watching over Tudor and offering to teach him. Fae magic is vastly different from yours, so I doubt I would be of any assistance.” Caspar smiled. “But feel free to call upon us when we are settled as we are pleased to return this kind gesture.”
“Wonderful! Now, Drake, there was something else you wished to let us know.”
“Yes, Delia. The Sanchez pride has not wanted to mention this before, considering we are fortunate enough to have Luka whom we consider part of the pride to always keep numbers up, but the last few years we have heard whispers of a similar creature, another shifter to Luka’s wolf. We finally tracked her down to Asia. We were interested because, as you know, felines don’t like to think the wolves or other shifters can have something we don’t.” Drake flashed a grin. “And yes, she’s a feline shifter, a leopard. She has a big pride there that take care of her so no problems. But during this search, and we were real discreet, you know how Emile is.” Everyone nodded, knowing how thorough and pedantic, and damn sneaky, Drake’s brother was. “We ended up getting a call a few days ago from a tiny clan in the UK.”
“There’s a feline pride in the UK?” Delia was startled. “Really? I didn’t think they would enjoy the climate.”
“They don’t. That’s why it is tiny, only about twenty-two from what Emile said. They are actually affiliated with a pride in Europe, like a pod who reports directly to the bigger homestead. From what we understand, they came across a creature a few years ago in the UK and reported this to their associates in Europe. It was never reported elsewhere because of, as you can guess, the delicacy, and how fertility shifters could be targeted and captured. Nowhere else has there been any sightings or reports. No one but a select few know of Luka across the States, and it’s the same in Asia. We’re going to stay in better contact with them.
“Anyway, no one knew where this creature in England had come from. Apparently, he was injured and sought out shifters so he didn’t end up getting picked off by humans or Renegades.” Drake grinned. “Unfortunately for him, he found feline shifters, and apparently he hates my kind. They patched him up and were going to ship him off to their European place until the Council could give better direction, but he got away.”
“Damn.” Drax scowled. “Renegades get a hold of him it won’t be pretty. How come you guys never heard of felines that had the same fertility magic as Luka?”
“Well, they were things of folklore. Never had any in the States or Europe where we’re from and Asia kept theirs very hush hush, understandably. They would be very interested to know there is a wolf but we’re keeping that to ourselves, can’t be too trusting,” Drake assured. “Emile and Sebastian have spent a lot of time trying to trace the creature from the UK, going over what that pride told us, which was nothing really, but they struck gold a few days ago. The creature got caught by Renegades down in New Orleans. The vampires had patrols out and dealt with the Renegades. And as one of the vampires told their Queen, the creature they rescued did not want to hang around and chat but he was injured, again, so they took him in. Emile and Sebastian had ears out, heard, and convinced the Queen to hand him over to the Sanchez pride for safe keeping. We trumped up some charges of trespassing and other nonsense and paid a fortune. That Queen is a hard negotiator, I’ll give her that. So we’ve got a fertility shifter on his way here, should be here by the end of the week.”
Luka grinned. “Cool. You do know this all sounds illegal, right.”
“Sure, but what are we going to do? He seems to get himself injured and swears allegiance to no one.”
“What type of creature is he?” Delia asked curiously.
“That’s another reason to get him here safely, though may be why he doesn’t like felines.” Drake laughed. “He’s a hawk shifter.”
Luka laughed, as did Mason and a few others. Yeah, putting a bird shifter among the cats out there on the Sanchez land was going to be interesting.
“How do you propose to keep a bird shifter, Drake? Will he not simply shift and fly away?” Delia asked reasonably.
“Well, that is what I wished to ask you or Mason about. We understand he’ll need to shift and fly, but that also means he’ll be gone in a blink of an eye. There are few hawk shifters left and what Emile is thinking is that he must have lost his flock. They could have been killed and he’s searching for others of his kind. They’ll need him to help with their fertility rates. There are less than a dozen hawk shifters left, as far as we know. The Renegades took great pleasure in shooting them down when this battle first began as the hawks were our eyes from above. Now it’s time we help the hawks. We just need to bring in Declan Harris and entice the rest of the hawks to the area so we can help protect them and build their numbers.”
“Very logical,” Cas murmured. “I may be able to assist with the flying off dilemma.”
“We’d be happy for the assist. We don’t want to cage him, just keep him from going over the compound wall.”
“A few of my fae and I can go to the compound and cover it with a barrier. We will have to wait until the hawk shifter is there so we can calibrate the barrier to hold him in while not interfering with other wildlife and nature. The barrier will need to be boosted every month to six weeks but once my guild is here that should not be a problem.”
“That is much better than anything myself or my coven could do for you, Drake,” Mason said. “Our magic would be too restricting.”
“Okay. Thanks, Cas. We appreciate it.”
“Considering how your pride has protected Luka, and how Xavier has assisted Tudor, this is one way my fae and I can show our appreciation and alliance. Though if you wish to take back your cousin, I assure you, I will not be offended.”
Marco grinned. “I’ll grow on you yet.”
“Well, I’m very glad you can help this hawk and wouldn’t it be good if the hawk population grew. It was a tragedy what they have suffered.” Delia shook her head. “We will assist wherever needed. Would anyone like refreshments?”
“Love some.” Drake grinned.
“Me, too, I’m starving. The fae don’t feed me enough. They have these itty bitty portions that won’t even fill a cub’s stomach. It’s okay for wolves, they’re scavengers, but we tigers need big portions.” Marco rubbed his stomach for emphasis.
“He’s going to eat us out of groceries.” Vis rolled his eyes. “Sure we can’t talk you into taking your cub back, Drake?”
“Sure, in a week, and I want a report on what he has been doing to help out over there. Marco may seem like the laziest cat in existence, but he has one of the best noses and can fight. He can also cook.”
“You’re on cooking duty.” Vis grinned.
“Oh, man, I thought Laurie was doing the cooking.”
“You two can take it in turns. That’s your punishment. And you can scout around the house with your nose to make sure no one has gotten close,” Cas decided.
“Well then, I will arrange tea.” Delia reached for a phone.
“Thanks, but I better get back to work and report to Uri. Keep me informed, Luka.” Drax walked over to Tudor and tapped his shoulder. “You’re my brother’s mate, and that makes you family. Whatever you need, even if it’s just me to come wrangle Luka into line, let me know. You’ve got courage. Same goes for you, Cas.”
With that Drax strode out.
“I’ll go help with the tea and food.” Mason hurried out of the room.
Luka smirked, catching Drake’s eyes. Yeah, if that wasn’t obvious Mason was hurrying to catch up to Drax.
On their way out later, Keeley stopped them. He wasn’t one to seek others out normal
ly and where he was, Xavier usually lingered close by. But it was Drake this time and Cas stopped to speak to him quietly.
“Hey, Keeley, congrats on mating Drake, you lucky bugger.” Luka grinned.
Keeley blushed. “Thanks, Luka, and you with yours. I just…hmm, just that they were right in there, though your fae was a bit harsh, Tudor.” Keeley got that hazy look in his soft eyes, drifting on his thoughts. “You can’t blame yourself for what others do. You can’t change them, can’t make them do things, even be good. Never take on someone else’s bad behavior, it’s not yours.”
Wow, Luka had always known Keeley had depth, you just didn’t see it often. He was usually too busy giving one of those soft smiles that wiped thoughts and drifted away. Luka patted Keeley’s shoulder. “Thanks, Keels. Like your tan.”
“Like yours, too. Do you tan, Tudor?”
“No, burn and get more freckles.” Tudor gave a fleeting smile looking tired. “Thanks, Keeley, I’ll do my best…it was really good of you to take the time to talk to me.”
“My Keeley is pure goodness.” Drake wrapped his arms around his little mate, petting, as was the tiger way. “We’ll come out and visit when you’re settled and if you want any of the pride to keep an eye on the place, let us know. We’ve got hundreds just sitting around getting a tan.”
Chapter Seven
They left after a good spread from the W&W coven and piled into the fae cars. Luka had asked his friends to go in another car. He had some private things to talk to his mates about. He got rid of Vis by baring fang at the fae and threatening to throw a tantrum. That worked pretty well. Vis growled and, after Cas nodded, stormed off.