My attention was split between the fae royal couple, the wolf attacking me, and the winged person responsible. Taser in hand, I changed position, prepared to defend myself if the wolf managed to get on the car.
“Down! Now!” Asher’s nearly inhuman bellow of command even made me straighten a little. A slight thrum of magic was in the words. Shifter magic.
The shifters gave a strained whimper and rocked back and forth. I quickly realized they were struggling to answer the command of the Alpha to their right and the person behind me who was controlling them. The struggle was profoundly displayed on their faces.
“Brandon, Meredith, Ameri, Jax, Clarisse, down. Now!” The raw animalistic command flowed with another wave of power and magic I hadn’t realized shifters possessed. I had never borrowed magic from a shifter and had been positive I couldn’t. I wasn’t so sure now.
My gaze moved to Asher, the glow of his eyes, the raw energy pulsing from him, the strain on his face as he forced his command over the animals, trying to override the person controlling them. Sherrie wasn’t too far behind Asher and was also commanding her pack to obey. The wave of power commanding her animals to retreat and submit to her spoke to something so primal and intrinsic that I found myself shifting my weight, moving, readying to obey. Forcing myself to ignore them, I watched the Alphas wrangle for control.
Asher was upon one of the wolves surrounding the fae’s barrier. He hoisted the animal back and it hit the ground with a thud, rolled to its feet, and charged him. Sherrie shoved the cheetah away, emitting a vicious growl that rang through the street. It surprised me that people weren’t flooding out of the restaurants and businesses to look at the chaos. There were only two onlookers, who at the sight retreated to their car and backed down the street.
I was dividing my attention between the wolves in front of me and the figure that kept slipping in and out of view like a wraith. More bursts of silver and white sparked from his hands. Asher was on the ground, his hands clamped around the jaw of the wolf to prevent it taking a chunk out of him. Risking a snap, he rolled from under the wolf and secured his hand around the animal’s neck. For several minutes, Asher’s face was strained, the muscles of his arms tensed, his eyes not even remotely human. The wolf eventually stopped struggling as he lost consciousness. Asher was gentle when he lowered the animal to the ground.
Hello, Mr. Alpha. I made a note to never go after Asher hand to hand.
The other wolves were still trying to get to Neri and Adalia. The wolf who had me as its target had backed away. I assumed it lost interest in me in favor of its main objective—the fae royalty.
I was wrong. Instead, it was gaining enough space to get a running start in order to lunge onto the car. I clambered onto the back of the vehicle. The wolf was sliding, unable to get a grip, clumsily chomping at me. I shoved the Taser into its side and kicked it off the car.
Sherrie was trying to wrangle her shifters away from the noticeably weakened barrier. Its luminous bubble was dim and translucent. I drew out my holstered weapon and aimed it at the wolves assaulting the magical barrier protecting the fae.
I couldn’t pull the trigger on the animals. They were innocent. The puppeteer of this madness was using them as weapons. I swiveled and aimed at the winged person on the roof, but a bullet from a handgun wouldn’t reach him. I needed a rifle.
The figure moved out from the shadows and was slowly winnowing down. The unexpected thump that accompanied his landing had its intended affect—dramatically announcing his presence.
Deep pools of coffee-colored eyes with hints of ocher should have been soft, warm, and inviting, but they were hardened to the point they looked hateful. He leveled a look at the king and queen and recognition flared in their eyes. His sheaf of sandy-brown hair blew lightly with the wind. His black and midnight-blue wings commanded the night. Concentrating on the magical protective barrier, his cool driftwood-colored skin flushed. The streets became bathed with his magic, mixing with that of the royals. Long fingers tapped at the air as though striking the keys of a piano.
“Ian.” Asher growled the name through gritted teeth, in a curse.
Ian skewered Asher with a hard stare before redirecting his attention to the royals, his fingers resuming its peculiar beats and only stopping once the barrier floated away like paper on the wind. Asher was a blur of movement as he hurled the royal couple back and out of the way of the lunging shifters who were warring to attack.
I squeezed off two shots a few feet away from Ian. A warning. The next shot intentionally whizzed past his face. His eyes widened and locked on me. I made a show of repositioning, hoping he realized that the next one would hit him.
He put his hands up, not in surrender but to expose a network of markings on his arms. Coils, shapes, and intricate designs that denoted a magical restriction. His gaze moved from me to Asher. Neri and Adalia were just coming to their feet, straightening their clothes as though they weren’t surrounded by raging animals.
“There will be retribution for what you did to me, Asher!” Ian vowed, then he soared into the sky and was swallowed by the darkness. For a moment, I thought he had Wynded, but his flight was just that fast. From where I stood, the strong magic that remained in his wake told me he possessed a great deal of it.
People had finally spilled out of Kelsey’s and other buildings to stare at the aftermath. I could see the measured rise and fall of the shifters’ chests. They were lying on the ground, alive but depleted.
Mephisto’s attention landed on me as I moved from my position on the car. Hearing the approaching sirens of the police department and Supernatural Task Force, I concealed my weapons. Mephisto was gone when I looked for him.
There was a commotion among the officers getting out of their cars and the STF trying to head them off. There was going to be a debate over who would handle this situation. Because it involved shapeshifters, it should be handled by the STF, but I figured the police would argue that because the attack was against me and that some people in the crowd were human, it should be in their jurisdiction. It was always a battle in situations like this.
While they discussed it, a dark-blue sedan drove up and parked next to the police cruiser. River got out of the car and looked directly at me, a shadow of accusation creeping along his square features. His eyes were stone cold, convicting me of wrongdoing without even knowing the situation. His thin lips drew into a tight narrow line. Dressed in a simple button-down and khakis, he was clearly not appropriately attired for Kelsey’s, but he struck me as a person who typically violated dress codes. His badge wasn’t on display, so this wasn’t a professional stop, or maybe it was. He could have been on his way home and saw an opportunity to arrest me and get it to stick this time. As the second person on the scene after the incident, he got an up-close and personal observation of the spin, red tape, and manipulation of the system used to make sure I didn’t spend any time in prison. Putting me behind bars became his new goal.
His stern gaze stayed on me while he reached into his car, I assumed getting something from the glove compartment, before returning to his position next to his car. Yanking his gaze from me, he split his attention between the STF and the police officers discussing the situation and the scene.
Asher eased up next to me.
“What did you do?” I hissed.
“What makes you think I had anything to do with this?”
He couldn’t possibly have thought I missed Ian’s dramatic pronouncement.
“The whole ‘There will be retribution for what you did to me, Asher’ part was a tipoff,” I shot back, rustling through my purse for a pen. “Give me one of your cards,” I demanded. If I hadn’t been attacked by a wolf—Asher’s wolf—and forced to shoot at someone, which was going to lead to me being taken in for questioning, and the magical troublemaker implicating Asher, I would have found it in me to ask instead of demand.
His brow lifted in inquiry. I waved my hand at the scratched paint and dents in the car.
/> “Your wolf, your bill.”
He chuckled, reached into his suit jacket, took the pen from my hand, wrote something on the card, and tucked it under the windshield wiper. Standing next to Asher was the STF, who I suspected had won the debate over who should handle the situation. The unenthusiastic looks on the officers’ faces clearly showed that the win wasn’t a real victory.
“Do I need an attorney?” Asher asked the officers while they studied the naked people sprawled in the middle of the street.
Instead of animals on the pavement, there were now exhausted humans. Someone from Kelsey’s hurried out and covered them with a white tablecloth. It was a sweet but unnecessary gesture; you were unlikely to find a vampire unworthy of a double-take or a shifter without a pleasingly fit body. In human form, they were extremely strong. I don’t think the immodesty was an animal thing but more an awareness of their attractive physique.
“If she presses charges, then yes, your shifters will need an attorney and probably bail. Neri and Adalia said there’s nothing to press charges for. But that’s not the story I’m getting. It looks like the shifters went rabid without any explanation.” Giving Asher a sharp look, the officer said, “Do you happen to know why?”
Face placid, Asher remained silent, answering with just a shrug.
“I’m not pressing charges,” I said, interrupting the tense silence. “It was just a misunderstanding. A game that got a little out of control.”
“A game that got ‘out of control’,” River chimed in, violating the implied jurisdiction compromise established by the police. “Things have a habit of getting out of control when you’re around. Do I need to call your sister? Maybe she can help with this incident, too.” Cool assessing eyes moved from me to the scene. He drew his lips down and raked his hands through his graying hair.
“No, I’m good.” My dismissal and the lack of attention I gave him was a win. I could feel the heat of his anger. He had DA ambitions, and I really hoped by the time he made his way to that position, his animosity and vendetta against me would be resolved.
Disbelief ringing in his voice, one of the Supernatural Task Force officers said, “Tell me about this game that got out of control?”
“You know, the Little Red Riding Hood and wolf game. It’s really popular.”
Asher turned his head and tried to hide his snort of laughter.
The officer’s eyes narrowed in irritation. My brand of humor was just making things worse.
“So,” he said, “you want us to believe there’s a game that incites wolves to chase you.” Although he kept hard, inquiring eyes on me, he directed his question to Sherrie and Asher. Their shifters, their problem. “It seems like a very dangerous game. Someone could have been killed.”
You know there’s no game. But you’re going to go with it, aren’t you? Fine. Let’s do this.
Schooling a neutral look onto my face, I returned his scrutinizing look. “It’s more complicated than that. Like I said, it got a little out of control.”
“Ah, it’s all fun and game until someone dies,” River countered in a voice filled with barely suppressed loathing.
I broke the intense stare with River when one of the STF agents shuffled his feet. Both of the STF agents gave River a quelling look that he missed because his focus was still on me.
I had no idea why Asher wasn’t telling him that a winged man with animancer powers controlled Asher’s animals and made them attack Neri and Adalia, but I planned to find out.
There was some relief in Asher not telling what really happened, because I was sure Ian wasn’t supposed to be here. Cory was responsible for Ian’s presence, and Madison was there when Ian appeared. I didn’t know how it would affect them and I didn’t want to find out. Human knowledge of supernatural existence created a delicate situation. Magic rules were inconsistent, and while an anomaly in science was met with reservation, with magic, it caused fear.
“May I see your ID?” one of the STF officers asked.
That was the last thing I needed. If this person didn’t already know who I was, my name would definitely ring a bell. Having been accused of murder and subsequently getting away with what most people considered a slap on the wrist hadn’t sat well with the human police department or the STF. It was a political nightmare that hate groups used to assert that supernaturals were out of control, and human police to debate the need for humans in the STF or the merging of the two agencies.
Police didn’t like that they didn’t have any jurisdiction when it came to supernatural crimes. I once heard Madison say the police should be happy because they didn’t have to deal with the shifters and their team of aggressive attorneys who were far more vicious and predatory than the half-animals they represented, and the vampires’ representatives were considered even worse.
The officer looked at the name, then me, and then the name on the ID again. Face stolid, he handed it back to me.
“Why don’t you come down and give us a statement?”
“There’s not much to say. You know the wolves tend to run in the streets sometimes. They shouldn’t, and I know there’s a fine for doing it. I saw them, started playing that silly game with them. I got startled by something and ran. Their instinct kicked in. They weren’t trying to hurt me, just enjoying the chase. Then Asher came out and commanded them down.”
The STF consisted of supernaturals, and I was so glad neither of them were shifters because not only would they sense the lie, they would have definitely called me on the BS story.
A game? Really?
But I got it out and Asher would repeat the story if they were taken in. And the shifters now in their human form, barely staying under their coverings, heard it, too. I wouldn’t have to make up something to go with my “game” story.
I moved over to Meredith to cover her better and hide “the girls,” something that didn’t seem to be a priority for her. I wanted that level of confidence and immodesty. On second thought, maybe I didn’t. I did the same with Amerti, even though she was equally indifferent about her nudity. I gave Brandon a look and pulled at the cloth to cover his man berries, too. The others weren’t any better. Eventually I gave up trying to help them with their modesty. They weren’t worried about it, so why should I be?
The officer’s lips were pulled into a tight stiff line, and he kept an accusatory eye on Sherrie and Asher. “Everyone come down so we can sort this out.”
“Are they being arrested?” Asher asked, taking out his phone.
“No, if no one is pressing charges then no. But I’m curious why they were out in the streets. It’s illegal. There are torn clothes over there.” He pointed at the clothes strewn about the street. “That’s not typical. Don’t you all usually take off your clothes instead of tearing through them?”
The officer looked at the three wolves and they looked at Asher. “I had too much to drink,” said one, “and I shifted to burn off the alcohol. I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted to burn off the alcohol. Sorry, Asher.”
Asher shrugged. The woman continued. “I’m dominant and it triggered the others to change.” She looked at the officer. “You realize that happens, right?”
We all looked at the man and he nodded, but only because he didn’t want to seem ignorant about shapeshifter physiology. I appreciated the lack of knowledge—it worked to our advantage—but I would have to tell Madison that her department needed to brush up on shapeshifter norms. A dominant can force others to change but not without touching them. Only an Alpha can do it without touch and that’s on the rare occasion that he lacks control during his change. I call it a Hulk Out. But an unbalanced Alpha with the inability to control his emotions doesn’t stay in his position long.
Sherrie’s shifters gave similar stories and offered their apologies. Either the STF believed us or were rewarding us for our absurd storytelling. The officers cast another look in Sherrie’s direction and then at Asher. The self-assured lift of Asher’s lips seemed to discourage them from wanting to deal wi
th his team of attorneys. It’s a good thing I wasn’t in their place; that smirk would have had me cuffing him and putting him in the back of the patrol car just for the hell of it.
After several moments of deliberation, fines were issued to the shifters. I looked at the paperwork. If I were a shifter, I’d make sure I was so far away from the city they’d never be able to accuse me of changing in a highly populated area. Thinking of how many times shifters took their animal form home from clubs as opposed to using a share ride made me question their money sense. An Uber would cost them seven times less than a fine. Most people were used to seeing animals in the streets, so it was unlikely they’d call the authorities. And if people had grown accustomed to seeing humans running around after they changed back, with their woman and man parts just breezing in the wind, then seeing an occasional wolf, jackal, fox, lion, cheetah, or whatever wasn’t a big deal.
“You two need better control of your packs. A frightened woman and they go after her like rabid animals.” The officer was getting too much pleasure out of chastising the Alphas.
“They didn’t go after me like a rabid animal—”
“Sorry,” said the one who had taken responsibility for the change.
Frustrated, the officer seemed to be looking for additional things to fine them for. But instead I was requested to make a statement. I did, repeating what I had said verbatim.
Once the officers were gone, I turned to Asher. “You meet me at my place in an hour. I need to get to the bottom of this,” I pushed out through clenched teeth.
“No need. I’ll handle it.”
“Like you handled it before—leading to a wrathful . . . whatever he is.”
“He’s a fae. Which is why he attacked Neri and Adalia.”
Silverfall Page 5