“She needs this,” Pasquale said out loud.
Hmmm, she agreed. Needed him.
“Are you talking to her? Is that what can happen between wolf-to-wolf mating?”
Zoey’s voice was tinkling bells. That was awesome. Giuliana didn’t realize how much she liked that sound. She stood to her feet, wanting to get closer to it.
Pretty.
You can’t approach the Alpha mate like this.
But I want to meet the female.
You know Zoey, Red.
No … not her. The other female. Alpha.
Pasquale clenched her neck, holding her in place. That’s sort of hot.
“Dominic, uh …”
“What?”
“She wants to meet the Alpha female.”
All this talking was really irritating her. She was driven, pulled to put her nose to Zoey’s stomach, and the stupid males were stopping her.
“Giuliana.”
Giuliana lifted her head at Dominic’s call. Or at least she thought she did, but her wolf only had eyes for Zoey.
“Red.”
That’s me.
Her wolf lifted her head and looked at Pasquale and huffed.
“Who the fuck is Red?” Romano stood to his full height, the immediate threat gone.
“Her wolf. Look, it’s a lot to explain. But Giuliana or her wolf would never hurt Zoey. You know this. Talking about the … myth upset her.”
“The myth?” After a moment, Dominic’s face cleared. “Fuck.”
“Do you know why?”
“Back off. You haven’t claimed her yet, and she’s still my Enforcer. I don’t have to tell you shit. That’s her choice. Giuliana … or Red. Go see Zoey.”
Finally.
Pasquale let her go, and she hesitated for a moment. She really liked his hands on her, but she had to get to the Alpha female. Decisions, decisions. After a moment, Pasquale placed his hand on her neck again.
“Let’s go.”
She moved with him, heading right to Zoey. The small woman with the rounded belly sat back in her chair and blinked. “You have really big teeth, Giuliana.”
Scared. You scare her.
I’ll be gentle.
Giuliana lowered her tail and ears, whimpering as she pressed herself to the floor. She crawled, scooting across the floor until she rested at Zoey’s feet.
“Thank you. Now, I’m really sort of scared shitless of you biting my belly, so if you could sort of not do that, I’d love that.”
Giuliana and Red both snorted at that but lifted their head as gently as possible, pressing their nose to her stomach. A wave of power rippled through the room as Zoey’s stomach moved.
“She’s moving!”
The baby pressed back against Giuliana’s nose. Her Alpha call was different than the males. More subtle, searching, but no less powerful. It slipped around Giuliana, pulling her in before she realized she was ensnared.
“I don’t think you have to worry about the baby letting anyone hurt her momma if they are shifter.”
Pasquale’s words made Giuliana go duh in her head, but men were slow and sometimes needed some help with simple understanding.
She’s strong, like you.
Awe, thanks Red. But I’m not a female Alpha.
No, but you’ll help shape her.
Thank you.
For what?
I feel better now.
Always.
You know I love Snape, right?
Who doesn’t? He was the bravest man we knew.
You just quoted the last line! Ugh, you’re the best wolf ever. You know that?
Love you too, Giuliana.
I won’t threaten to not shift for thirty years again.
Can I mate with Snow now?
I take back my last statement.
Knew it.
But she did feel better. The Alpha female moved away from her, and the power receded in the room. Giuliana could breathe, finally, without thinking her brain was going to explode. She’d have to deal with explaining, maybe, but for now it seemed everyone in the room was just giving her what she needed.
Family.
This was what family did, and she couldn’t help acknowledging the fact Pasquale was still at her side, in the center of it all.
“You can shift back now?”
She nodded and reached for her change. She was standing at Pasquale’s side when it finished, her head not as clouded as before.
“We won’t round up the Bianchi, but you’re taking point on finding the men who hurt Heath. Romano, reach out to Boulder and see if there’s been anything going on, or if they have information on the group that shall not be named so Giuliana doesn’t lose her shit again.”
Snort. They’re Voldemort.
She bit her lip not to laugh at her wolf. Yeah, she got the reference, and laughing about it would be easier than falling back down the crazy path.
“Will do. They may have more insight on their movements and patterns. Anything to help us figure out why and where they could be.”
“Pasquale, you will bring the Bianchi wolves more into the fold. We need any information we can get on these guys, and we also will need some of your best men together to hunt them. We can’t do this with just you and Giuliana. After we’ve gathered what we can, we plan our next move.”
She let out a pent breath. At least he wasn’t condemning an entire pack based on what a few had done, for now, and they had some heading on what was going on.
But …
“Who’s going to talk to Lorenzo?”
And that would be the worst moment of all. How do you tell someone their best friend was gone? Zoey hit the nail right on the head.
“I will,” Giuliana offered. “You can’t take that sort of emotion right now. I’ll take care of it.”
“Do you want me to go with you?”
Pasquale, the man meant to be her mate, was right there taking the step beside her. Showing her what it could be. But the divide would grow. What the Bianchis had done, been involved with, grew more and more horrible with each passing action. Eventually, Dominic wouldn’t be able to stomach them if this kept going.
And what would that mean for them?
When he realized Pasquale was Primo’s son. When Zoey knew Fabiana was his sister. When they realized Giuliana knew all of this and hadn’t told them.
She didn’t know if she could think of it, or how it would all turn out. So she only focused on the fact he stood beside her now, that he’d follow her wherever this would lead.
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
Because there was no telling when he’d be gone.
Chapter Nine
Kalinda rubbed the back of her aching neck and sighed. Okay, so being the head bitch in charge of the Trinity Council was amazing and all that jazz, but she really wished she could just have a break. The National Council was making much ado about nothing—aforementioned “nothing” being her position as Ales.
Turns out it was much rarer than Silva, her Cosantiór, had told them.
Like … to the tune of there were none.
Well, except for Kalinda, and that meant Kalinda’s Katering was predominately handled by her handpicked baker with Kalinda only able to complete orders once a month. Of course, it led to big bank when people knew she was the one actually making their order instead of infusing it with her power through the baker.
Big bucks notwithstanding, Kalinda was freaking tired. And her pack—that was something she was getting used to saying—was hurting, with one of their own missing. She hadn’t gotten many updates from Romano about it.
It was something they agreed on, keeping their work as separate as possible. It was enough she was the leader of the Trinity, and it gave the Lombardi Pack a hefty lift in social standing and power. But internally, she never made a move for them to keep things neat and tidy, so she didn’t have mages out searching Encantado for Heath even when she really wanted to.
“You’re doing that frown
y thing that makes your forehead look like a sideways vagina.”
Kalinda flicked her hand, sending a heavy paperweight right at her Cosantiór’s lovely face. Silva ducked and let it slam into the wall, sending plaster and wood everywhere.
“If that had hit me, it would have smashed my face!” Silva yelled.
Kalinda blew her a kiss. “A marked improvement.”
Silva snorted. “At least your sense of humor is still intact.”
That was something Kalinda had to put squarely on the shoulders of her mate. Just thinking of him made her hot. He’d taught her how to let go, to laugh, to give into her emotions. The iron will she had allowed her to control her skill better with each passing day, but the level of freedom she had in being herself made her magic all the stronger.
Slay.
Silva perched on the couch in Kalinda’s office—the former solarium of the Mage Council’s headquarters. The place had a major remodeling after she took office, pushing Amalia, Lennox, and Yon into the west wing of the estate so she had the entire east wing to deal with her business. Not that she stayed there often, because home was where Romano was, but she had times where she had to spend days on site, and it had enough space to house Silva and her collection.
The Fae Queen had slowly started gathering items from her homeland that showed up in portal cities from across the country. Spent a pretty penny too, but there was nowhere safer for it to be. Silva still couldn’t get back home just yet, and she wasn’t so sure she wanted to. According to her, leaving Kalinda unprotected wasn’t an option, and Kalinda wasn’t ready to travel through the Chaos Realm to get there.
Yeah, that was a well-kept secret Kalinda hadn’t been able to share with her pack or mate. The Chaos Realm was actually a byway from the Fae world to the Human one, a separation only those who had Fae blood could traverse without losing their goddamn minds. But for some reason, the Chaos Realm wasn’t letting Silva near it without sending her magic into a dangerous spiral.
Silva snapped her iridescent wings—today’s color was cherry-red to match her dress—and rested them over the back of the seat. “Where are the Three Stooges?”
“My Trinity are currently on assignment to the FBMC to get me further literature on the Pendulum Swing of the 1950s.”
“So … busy work.”
“Partially. As much as I want to hate them for trying to wreck my life, Lennox did believe the Ales was to be controlled by the Trinity, based on the little information he was afforded from the National level. Can’t really blame them for what they attempted.”
“What about what they did to Zahara?”
“That’s why I said partially. Benedict had a lot more to do with it, but they shouldn’t have let him run wild like that. Maybe if they hadn’t, Dominic would have grown to know his mother and had a different life.”
“Not that I want to get philosophical, but there are reasons for everything. If he hadn’t lost her the way he did, he may never have met Zoey, or you wouldn’t have met Romano.”
There was that. She couldn’t argue what they’d done had indeed given a new path to the ones they’d tried to control. But Kalinda still couldn’t look them in the face without wanting to punch them, so she sent them away.
“Either way, understanding how the Pendulum Swing occurred may help us ensure it doesn’t happen again.”
The Pendulum Swing of the 1950s had spewed magic into the Human world from the Fae—an amount no one was prepared for. It forced those with magical gifts to be exposed and their number increased. Of course, there was magic long before that moment. Kalinda’s bloodline was a testament to that fact, but their public awareness wasn’t something they’d had to contend with. And since the Chaos Realm was still very dangerous, and twisted beyond what it once had been, Kalinda wanted to understand why.
Why were there no more of the Ales bloodlines?
Why was the concentration of magic so diluted to where only a few held great power?
In essence, the lower mage plight was a microcosm of other issues in the world, and Kalinda was going to do what she could.
“When are they set to come back?”
Kalinda stretched in her seat, joints popping as they realigned. “When they have something useful.”
“That could be forever.”
“That’s fine with me.”
“You’re such a bitch, and I love you for it.”
“Of course, you do.”
They laughed, a moment of levity in the otherwise fast-paced job Kalinda had taken on. It’s why she appreciated having Silva with her. The Fae wasn’t just a pretty face; she could be a drill sergeant when needed, and she also made sure Kalinda was never bored. And while she didn’t remember everything from her past, she was slowly regaining some of the regal thought processes Kalinda relied on when she was working with Encantado policy.
Kalinda, a politician. Who would have thunk it?
Silva’s laughter cut off abruptly and she twisted around to face the door into the office.
“What is it?”
“Lennox.”
“What? They only left a week ago. They shouldn’t be back so soon.”
The powerful Level 9 mage walked into her office without a knock, though he bowed at her. “Good afternoon, Ales.”
Kalinda frowned at him. “I have a door for a reason.”
“Yeah, for knocking. Or fucking against.”
Kalinda barely refrained from sputtering at Silva’s addition. Not that she was wrong, but … “Did you find something?”
Lennox’s white hair glowed in the sun streaming in from outside, appearing almost to flicker. It was a testament to his greatest affinity to fire. Long, slender fingers danced with sparks of flame as he stepped closer.
“In a manner of speaking.”
Silva jumped to her feet. “Shields up.”
But the call came a bit too late, and a force slammed into Kalinda, tossing her away from her desk and shooting pieces of paper into the air. In slow motion, the pieces fluttered in the wind, and Silva expanded her wings. Lennox’s smile was deadly, and his gaze was focused on Kalinda.
“It’s time for things to change, Ales. You’ll excuse me if I’m a bit rough. I’m a little rusty.”
What the hell is he talking about?
There was no time. Lennox threw his hands in the air, palms facing outward, and whispered an incantation. Silva used her wings to push into the air, spinning in a circle to slam into him, but he didn’t budge. Silva was blasted away, careening into the wall with a sickening thud.
“Silva!”
“Ah, ah, ah. I think all eyes should be on me.”
The fear in Silva’s gaze as she looked at Kalinda made Kalinda’s blood run cold. Silva was pale, her violet eyes sparking with power but dancing with abject terror. No one should have been able to do that to her.
Silva forced herself to her feet again and lashed, her body a blur. Lennox dodged, slipping like water and striking out with claws. Sprinkles of blood splattered to the floor. Swinging wide, Silva used her leg to sweep at Lennox’s feet, but he leapt, twisting mid-air. Landing on her leg as if he weighed nothing, he punched her.
They went back and forth, trading blows at rapid speed until Lennox pressed one palm out in front of him. “Wynathraeda.”
Kalinda didn’t understand the word Lennox spoke, but it was decidedly not English, and not in a tone of voice she’d ever heard him use. And it sent Silva spinning back to the ground.
Silva coughed, struggling to get to her knees. “Welhuroth ren uthu?”
Lennox looked over at her, the wind picking up out of nowhere and spinning around him. Kalinda and Silva were pinned by the force. Kalinda groaned under the weight, her ribs pressed hard against the marble floor. She reached inside for her Ales gift, pulling from those spirits she carried deep in her heart.
But they were silent.
Nothing.
Just darkness.
Come to me!
No response.
<
br /> “Here’s a better question, Quinuneestanay. Who are we?”
Lightning exploded, the sound loud enough to make Kalinda scream and her ears ring. She curled into herself, unable to grasp her magic as a large, gaping maw of black opened against the wall next to Silva. Four men stepped through in gleaming armor of black and red.
If she could call them men.
They were tall, so fucking tall, with impossibly broad shoulders and sharp fangs hanging over their bottom lips. Daywalkers? Kalinda knew there were vampires in Encantado, but she’d never dealt with them. Most chose to live in outskirt portal cities. But as she continued to look at them, she reevaluated. They had pointed ears and eyes dark as night.
“Unseelie!” Silva screeched.
Kalinda couldn’t make sense of a thing, didn’t know what to do.
Something in Silva changed. Her face grew red, thin blue veins spreading like a spiderweb across her skin, and she lifted to her feet without touching a thing.
“You are not welcome here.”
“Like we’ve ever followed your rules.”
What the fuck was going on? Lennox was not Fae. Silva would have been aware of that, right? This didn’t make sense.
“Allow me to formally introduce myself. I am Kieran of the Shadow.”
The visage of Lennox faded and morphed. He grew taller, his shoulders broader and stronger. His face turned pale, nearly white, with dark eyes full of silvery stars, a short beard curling over his jaw. Long black hair whipped around his face in the maelstrom, but he seemed unaffected.
He was painfully beautiful, nearly impossible to look at, and he sported the same sharp teeth and pointed ears as his companions.
The men in armor surrounded Silva, pointing wicked spears at her neck. A howl cutting through the air chilled Kalinda to the bone. It was a call to war, to blood and bones, nothing like what she’d heard from the Lombardi Pack.
Five large wolves, all black, leapt through the maw Kieran had created and surrounded him.
“You see, you should have stayed hidden, Niamh Danaan of the Silver.”
Silva spat at him, uncaring of the spears ready to tear her apart.
Mated to the Prince (Portal City Protectors Book 3) Page 7