Ada's Protective Mate

by Jo Palmer

  “Huh. Bor-ing. So no sex?”

  “As I said, brownies do not necessarily have to engage in sex to discover who their mate is…and I feel he has endeavored to avoid sex—”

  Remika shrieked, dropping her raspberry tart to the plate and drawing every creature’s attention in the café. Ada sighed at the dramatic reaction at first, then frowned and snapped.

  “Yes, he is ridiculous.”

  Suddenly Remika laughed. “Oh hon, he’s being smart and chivalrous! Wow, that’s real special.” Remi turned serious, lovely sky blue eyes softening, pretty features studying Ada as she gripped her hand. “I want absolute happiness for you. For a werewolf to take the time to let you two get to know one another is beyond my assessment of the usually loyal, domineering creatures. And he’s boiling hot for you also, must be absolutely killing him to keep himself in control.”

  Ada lowered her coffee cup. The coffee was pleasant, but since having vamp coffee, she found this one lacking.

  Ashamedly, she realized she had not thought of the werewolf’s side of this mateship. He was holding back, and that would be painful for a werewolf, excruciating even. Those creatures had an extremely high sex drive and combined with the mate connection, it would be unbearable to go without.

  He had sacrificed for her? To give her time to feel the connection, perhaps? Get to know him? For…them?

  “Dammit! What a truly annoying creature!” She growled.

  Remika leaned back, blinking. “Annoying? Huh? How’s that, hon?”

  Ada shook a sugar packet a little too vigorously in her agitation, sugar spewing over the table and the four creatures at the table beside them. The creatures, two imps, a demon and a werewolf, all objected to this by jumping up, some growling, others shrieking and turning to tell her off.

  The werewolf took one look at Ada and her face flushed. The wolf tried to shush her companions.

  Remi grinned. “Hey, it was just a bit of sugar! I can understand the big old demon there being antsy, that’s demons for ya, but imps! We love sugar!”

  The imps snapped. “Not tossed over us, you stupid tart.”

  “I disagree.” A tall toffee haired striking woman breezed over, phone in one hand, a coffee in the other. “I heard from Rigoberto how imps love sugar poured on them for a little…” Penny smirked. “Pleasurable entertainment.”

  There were a few smiles of acknowledgment, but the imps and demon turned to Ada and glared.

  “Not by a brownie though! Sneaky, deceiving—”

  “Remika, as lawyers for the High Council, how much time are creatures indebted to others for making slanderous remarks?” Ada lazily flicked open her tablet computer. “I am not as yet update to date as Senior Councilor for the brownies and—”

  The imps both shrieked in alarm and took off fast, leaving behind the still fuming demon while the werewolf was now standing guard beside Ada. That was so annoying, as if she required a werewolf’s protection.

  “I do not need you, go werewolf.” Ada glanced at the big boned attractive Amazon werewolf. “Who are you? Some relation to Nathaniel I’m sure.”

  The werewolf raised a brow at the demon who looked like he was about to choke, face turning a peculiar shade of purple before he inclined his head and walked away. Once he was a few steps out of the café, the demon bolted as three werewolves jumped down from the roof and took off after him.

  Ada sighed and rolled her eyes at their antics.

  “I’m Sonya. Nope, no relation…” She frowned. “Hmm, maybe through my second aunt—ah, nope. Just a loyal werewolf, ma’am. And I don’t mind sugar.”

  Ada gave a grudging smile. “Well, you may stand down, Sonya, I am more than capable of taking care of myself.”

  “Yeah, heard how you took out the werewolf bastard Byrnes. I’ll head off. Need anything, let me know.”

  Curious, Ada halted the werewolf. “What is it you do, Sonya?”

  The werewolf stopped. She seemed young, maybe only just out of werewolf adolescence.

  “Studying.”

  Ada glared, having no time for such nonsense. “I’m waiting, werewolf.”

  Heaving a sigh, the werewolf shoved her hands into the pockets of her pants, which were actually a bit too big for her big-boned form.

  “Art…I like metal work…and the olds make me do business.”

  “Are you any good at artwork?” Penny asked without looking up from her phone. She had taken a seat at the table with Ada and Remi.

  The werewolf growled, then blew the hair off her face. “Yeah, kinda.”

  “I’ll text Ruine. Go to the demon castle tomorrow. He’s looking for an apprentice.”

  The werewolf looked so shocked she might have a stroke. They all stared at her until she nodded slowly, muttered thanks, and took off.

  Remi grinned. “See, Pen, told ya Ada is pretty awesome. She acts all tough and disinterested like she couldn’t give a fuck if she saw you getting run over in the street, but beneath it she’s OK.”

  Ada merely took another sugar packet and this time managed to get it into her coffee without spurting it over everyone and causing another table of disgruntled creatures to bother her. There were so many around, she wouldn’t mind ticking some off, but she knew that would draw more attention to them. Then more annoyingly protective werewolves would appear. At least her kind let her fight her own battles.

  “Yeah, I see it. How did you know the werewolf was needing something, Ada?” Penny asked, now sipping coffee and putting her phone aside.

  Ada shrugged. “It is my gift. An annoying one I assure you. She is a big bugger.”

  “Yeah, werewolves and demons generally are.” Remika grinned. “I like that about them.”

  Laughing, Penny nodded. “So do I, but no one touches me because I have a big powerful immortal cousin, a big ruler uncle, and a surly, deadly big brother. And a dozen of their sentinel friends.”

  “You should learn to sneak. Ada’s real good at that. So is the ancient one by the look of it.” Remika inclined her head to the roof across from them.

  Penny and Ada look to where Remi motioned and were blinded by shimmering sparkles as the ancient fairy disappeared from where she’d been standing on the roof of the council building. Penny reacted in a way that surprised Ada. The immortal grabbed her phone and tossed it in her bag, put that on her shoulder and with a touch of her hand on both Remi and Ada, shifted them from the café to the roof. Ada was so shocked she very nearly slid off, and would have but for Penny keeping a hold of her.

  “Holy blood of the devil! Penelope you skank! Warning!” Remika shrieked.

  Penny donned sunglasses and looked around. “Search for the ancient one, she’s under an order to be brought in.”

  Ada didn’t know much about this ancient fairy creature, but the little she’d seen, the fairy was dazzling and well able to move about without detection. Now that she thought it, she found it a little alarming for the security and magic measures Galdorcwide had in place disallowed easy movement between here and the Outside. Yet that did not appear to bother the ancient fairy in the slightest.

  “For real?” Remi’s eyes were wide with shock and a little excitement. “You know, there is an old tale about her and an imp, that curse and the aligning of moons—oh shit! Look up!”

  They did and saw something truly amazing.

  Penny went pale. “Galdorcwide’s moon is aligning with the humans…no one said that would be happening, it was not foretold.”

  Creatures had stepped out of cafés and buildings to stare up at the sky, and in the distance, Ada caught sight of a blinding shimmering spark. The ancient fairy was on top of a hill near the imp palace and, with a sweep of her hands across the sky, covered the land in silver, white, and gold dust. She blinked out of view.

  “Well, this is alarming.” Ada looked down to see Nate standing beside his cousin Blaine and his mother Stephanie, Queen of the Werewolves, all looking up at her.

  Nico appeared beside them. “Where did this f
airy dust come from?” He caught hold of Ada’s hand and squeezed.

  “Holy bloody moons, they are nearly aligned! There is a legend about that, I don’t know it, but the imp queen does.” Remi shook with excitement. “It was the ancient fairy! She was up here on the roof, then on the hill over there, and covered the land in fairy dust. Oh, my fucking Gods! The moons are changing colors!”

  “You were supposed to catch the ancient fairy.” Divij snapped at Ace and Ruine. “You knew she had information we needed and was up to something. Why did we not foresee the joining of the moons?”

  “Because they were not due to be joined for another hundred years.” Empress Tacie of the Imps swept into the large council meeting room, imps following and simpering behind her, one being Princess Missy who wasn’t simpering, too busy looking shaken. “Your fairy must have felt they needed to be joined now, or has grown impatient.”

  Queen Giselle of the fairies stood with hands on curved hips, big glorious breasts jutting out of her silky dress and golden eyes snapping fire.

  “My ancient fairy is full of goodness! If she is bringing the moons together, there is a valid reason for it.”

  “You are sooo young, Giselle, you barely know anything.” Empress Tacie said dismissively.

  This caused the Fairy Queen’s eyes to snap, fists to clench and she would have gone for the Empress if Ace and his father hadn’t grabbed and calmed her.

  “If you know something of value, Empress, it is best to tell us, and perhaps not needle Queen Giselle,” Chase advised.

  Penny was very curious and very shocked at the way the two royals could not seem to stand each other, and she wondered why. After all, Queen Giselle’s mate and father to her three children, Dareios, Ace and Jaac, was Consort Andre, an imp and brother to Queen Tacie. He was shorter than all three of his son’s and a few inches shorter than his six foot one wife and mate, statuesque, stunning Queen Giselle.

  “Oh please, let us not fight, Your Highnesses.” Lady Tamsin was Consort Andre and Queen Tacie’s sister, and an imp. “We must find the ancient fairy and find out why she has brought the moons together to align them.”

  “This is the point.” Divij paced. He never paced and never looked worried, but right now he was very much on edge.

  Penny glanced over to see Ada being fawned over by Nate, who had not liked his mate on the roof. Queen Stephanie of the werewolves was astutely watching her son and new daughter-in-law and had placed herself in front of the pair, including Blaine and Nico in her protection also. The queen was very protective and knew that with the magic and tempers here, anything could happen if someone lost control.

  Her claws slid out. “Cease these squabbles. Tacie, this legend of the moon alignment and anything you know of the ancient one should be disclosed immediately. I have been informed the ancient one may be in danger from Grydern and another creature, one she called the desolate one.”

  “The desolate one is who cursed her and took something that drove all love from the ancient one. I am one of the eldest here; your sultana knows a little also, Chase, Ruine.” Empress Tacie slapped one of her niece’s hands as she fiddled with a dagger. “Give me that, child.”

  “Pretty.” Ace grinned, letting go of his mother. “The dagger and niece.”

  “Down, boy, she’s your second cousin,” Andre said indulgently. “That is the ceremonial knife, is it not, Tacie? Dareios, I prefer you behind your mother, Ace, and me.”

  Dare simply cast his father an insolent look but sighed when Andre, using his imp magic, sent his son away somewhere. Tamsin smirked and nudged her brother, who grinned in return. Those two were awfully close.

  “Yes, Consort Andre, this is the ceremonial knife.” She dropped it on the ground and crunched it beneath her feet. Everyone gasped. “A fake. The ancient one has…borrowed the real ceremonial knife and left a copy.”

  “What the devil’s spawn is the fairy up to?” Chase demanded. “Tell us, Tacie.”

  Tacie raised her brows. “The moons will align and change color fully. When this happens, all curses will be removed, all deals broken, all vows freed—”

  “No!” Tamsin exclaimed, flushing when everyone looked at her. “I had not heard this. Can it be true?”

  Penny glided over to Remika, who had inched along to the demons. Knowing Remi, she was going to get close to the big hunks and get as much gossip as she could, and maybe ravished in the process. No way was Penny letting her dear friend have that fun, so she snagged her and pushed her to the imps. Princess Missy grinned and patted Remi’s head.

  “Leave them alone, girl. They’ll steam you up, and that’ll lead to conflict in the council.”

  Remika sighed. “Yeah, yeah. So what’s the gossip here? What’s the ancient one doing? Removing the curse over her? If so, why now? Since she’s so freaking awesome powerful, why didn’t she do it like thousands of years ago when she was cursed?”

  “Valid points.” Tacie frowned at Remika. “You will only work for the imps at the council until I say further. No aligning yourself with the brownies again.”

  “OK, Empress!” Remika twitched. Obviously the Empress had snapped power at her.

  “We know only a little about the ancient one and moon alignment. I will begin with the moon alignment. The curses on her will not be broken. They may be weakened, though. They were blood magic. Other curses, deals, and the like will be broken, vows will not if they were honestly made from passion, blood, sweat, tears, and the heart. Powers will…be amplified,” the Empress said cautiously. “Tempers and emotions also. Do not worry, the alignment itself will only be brief, an hour at the most, then the moons will begin to move past one another. The reason and timing for the ancient one to bring the moons together, I am unsure of. Perhaps she seeks changes.”

  “There must be a reason,” Ace murmured. “She doesn’t care about her curses, and to be honest, I think she can offload them herself but doesn’t for some reason—” Ace’s eyes shone brightly. “Something, or someone, has a hold on her, and she wants it stopped. Maybe the moon alignment puts an end to it.”

  “That makes more sense. But what sort of hold? What means the most to her?” Divij said seriously. “If we knew this, we could draw her to us, trap Grydern, and bring him to his knees.”

  “Grydern?” Penny exclaimed.

  “He wants her,” Blaine said. “And it ain’t because she’s one of the strongest so he can take her power. No doubt he’ll take her power because she can defeat him, but he wants to control her, so he’ll take her power most likely and keep her alive.”

  “Wow, that sucks.” Missy pulled a face. “Yuck. What, did she touch him or something? You know she can’t touch anyone without them falling in lust and love with her.”

  “It’s the manifestation!” Penny exclaimed. “From the tablet. That’s real old isn’t it? And Grydern was consumed by it when he read it.”

  “Got it in one.” Nico smiled indulgently. “The fairy herself alluded to this. She was in fact warning you, Ruine and Chase, and that she would not allow herself to be caught.”

  “I did not figure she’d start aggression against him, doesn’t seem her style,” Ruine rumbled. “Not that I’m complaining. A bit of fighting and strategizing can’t hurt.”

  Penny grinned up at the war demon. “You’re so transparent. You just want a big, bloody war.”

  “Yeah, that’d be good. OK, so we track the ancient one and very delicately bundle her up and return her to the fairies for safekeeping. Can you put her back into one of those hibernations she does, Gis?”

  Queen Giselle looked like she was going to hyperventilate. “Do not call me that, Ruine Diablo of the Demon clans! Ugh, too familiar, and stop bending my fairy palace doors!”

  Everyone winced at the fairy scream. Consort Andre immediately went to calm his mate. Giselle waved a hand and a fountain appeared. Penny edged a little closer, keen to see what would happen. She had only ever seen a seeing fountain used once.

  “Ooh, the seeing we
ll!” Ace hurried over to join his sparkling mother. They were a matching pair. “Maybe we could look for Jaac again—wow, there he is, the little twat! Oops, gone again.”

  The queen took a calming breath, closed her eyes briefly, and breathed out. The queen’s eyes glittered with a fierceness that Penny hadn’t known the fairy was capable of.

  Ada went to move closer also but Queen Stephanie held up a hand, instantly stilling her. Ada stared at the queen of the werewolves in astonishment and got an affectionate pat on the cheek.

  “Such a sultry, earthy little brownie. I am most pleased. It is a while since we had new stock for our lines. Most pleased indeed.”

  Yeah, everyone thought the werewolf king was the most protective and into keeping his lot together, but that was shit. The king was domineering and fearsome, but he was also jovial, heaps of fun, a rascal, and a scoundrel. It was the queen no one messed with.

  Meanwhile, Giselle’s search wasn’t going well, and with a loud scream of outrage and frustration, she threw the fountain at a wall. Creatures in the room scrambled out of the way and used magic to shield themselves from the debris.

  “I take it that means you couldn’t find your missing fairy, huh,” Empress Tacie taunted mercilessly. “And you fairies are supposedly the most magically powerful.”

  The look in Queen Giselle’s eyes had every creature in the room standing stock-still and not breathing.

  “Uh, Ma, maybe we should go home and think about where fairy Perry has gone—”

  “Fairy Perry?” The queen lowered her head a little, hands beginning to raise, fingers wiggling.

  “Oh, crap.” Empress Tacie winced.

  “Yeah, that’s what some bedazzled vamp called our ancient fairy when she rose this time—oops, sorry about that, Nico. Ah, could you leave my friend alone, he didn’t name our fabulous and most loved fairy some ridiculous name like Perry Twinkle—oh shit! No Ma, leave them alone!”