by Jory Strong
Chapter 1
“You have got to be kidding me,” Kellen said at seeing the white unicorn leave a long scratch along the side of a silver BMW.
He had places to go, women to fuck, and now this. This!
And oh yeah, he saw exactly how this was going to go down. Barking, biting, chasing—not that he minded a good chase, but risking having his jaw broken and his canine teeth knocked out because a sorcerer just couldn’t help himself…
Kellen growled, a low, deep sound that was nearly identical to the one he would have made in his hound form.
A hundred feet in front of him, the aggravated unicorn lunged, impaling a tire in an attempt to get at the dog, a brindle boxer with floppy ears, that cowered beneath the vehicle.
The tire deflated in a hiss. The dog whined and trembled so hard that Kellen felt for the animal. Poor beast’s only crime was going into the backyard for his little person’s birthday party.
Wrong place, wrong time, not unlike himself. If he’d already made it to the night club…
He’d still have been called out since his other form wouldn’t alarm the humans. Taine, standing next to him, sure as hell couldn’t shed his human skin and become a dragon. Though a stream of fire directed at the party responsible… And barbequed unicorn…
Both appealed to Kellen.
“Sorcerers,” Taine muttered. “Just when you think you’ve seen it all…”
“Yeah, just when.”
On the other side of the BMW, another unicorn blocked the dog’s escape route while casting a wary glance at them. The animals weren’t any more intelligent than horses when pulled into the human realm, they were just deadlier. And contrary to the rainbows, butterflies and hearts that seemed to make it into human depictions of unicorns, haul them unwillingly into a different realm—especially this human world where their horns and magic gave them an advantage—and they weren’t going to be sweet, loving or docile.
Kellen’s keen hearing enabled him to catch the sound of a sports car approaching at illegal speed.
“Finally,” Taine said on a relieved sigh, also hearing the car, and shifting from one foot to the other as he did his best not to notice the women pushing their chests out each time they peeled their attention away from the unicorns or Kellen and focused on him. Apparently being mated to Saffron didn’t lessen the dragon’s appeal to humans.
A brunette’s gaze caught Kellen’s. She licked her lips, her eyes sliding downward to the front of his jeans.
Beneath the material, his cock twitched but didn’t start to fill until he thought about the scent he’d encountered days ago, a combination of woman and magic that’d entranced him while he was patrolling the All Things Supernatural Fair in his hound form.
Uneasiness shimmered through him at the strength of the compulsion that came with that memory. Days later and he still wanted to hunt the source of that scent and look at her with human eyes, touch her with human hands, push into her with a human—
Not going there.
The boxer scooted backward toward the rear of the car, sensing that it might have a chance to escape as a breeze brought the scents of people who were only remotely human, causing one of the unicorns to momentarily focus on something else—though it was equally possible that Taine’s underlying dragon scent had the dog willing to risk impalement.
A unicorn lunged at the dog.
It missed by inches but the boxer screamed.
Another lunge and a second tire whooshed and flattened.
Kellen heard the click of cellphone cameras and the murmur of neighbors who’d left the safety of their houses for the chance to grab pictures and send them into cyberspace.
Humans. Sometimes it seemed hard to believe they’d risen to become apex predators.
They milled in front yards, turning their backs on danger to grab selfies, drawn by the presence of the supernatural and the chance for their seconds of fame, clueless to just how easily they could end up skewered.
He’d ask, Can you believe them? But Taine, a relative newcomer to the human world and Supernatural Ops, had already been onboard long enough not to be surprised by human antics.
At either end of the block, the San Diego Police Department had patrol cars blocking the street. But even the cops had their phones out, and behind them, news vans were streaming coverage.
Kellen was glad putting a public relations spin on this wasn’t his job. Even Maksim, head of Interspecies and Realm Enforcement, IRE, would probably get a pass on this one. Some other Supernatural Ops division would get their chance to turn this into a look humans, beings from other worlds exist and there’s no reason for concern moment—or they might decide to discredit this unicorn sighting as a stunt.
Good luck with that, Kellen thought as a frustrated and enraged unicorn bit the flattened tire.
Gaige’s red Maserati rolled to a stop behind one of the police barricades. It was a smart move considering the shape the silver Beamer was now in. And given that the Sidhe prince was still processing the loss of his yellow Maserati—first in a poker game to Taine, then to flames when Taine lost control of his fire and torched the sports car because he’d been thinking about his yet-unclaimed mate, Saffron.
Gaige got out of the Maserati and instantly cameras were clicking and women were sighing, mesmerized by the blond prince wearing jeans, faded denim shirt and cowboy boots.
Taine snorted. Kellen rolled his eyes and said, “Straight from PR casting. He must have drawn the line at wearing a white hat.”
Ground-eating strides carried the prince forward. The golden lariat in his hand bumped against his thigh as he walked.
Seeing the lariat, the less aggressive unicorn wheeled and charged toward an alleyway between houses.
A woman shrieked, stumbled backward and went down as those around her scattered.
At a gallop, the unicorn jumped the fallen human, kicked up clods of lush green lawn and disappeared.
Emboldened, the brindle boxer bolted from beneath the Beamer and sprinted down the street.
The remaining unicorn charged after it, uncaring or unaware of Gaige.
With a throw worthy of a cowboy, the Sidhe sent the lasso flying toward the unicorn to the oohs and ahhs of the gathered crowd.
The loop slipped over horn and head to settle around the unicorn’s neck. The humans clapped and the aggravated, aggressive animal became a cooperative, calm creature thanks to a rope that was actually a weave of magic.
There was another round of sighs and clicking cameras.
Gaige led the now-docile animal to a waiting horse trailer that looked ordinary but was designed to transport a wide range of supernatural creatures. He disappeared inside, emerging a few minutes later with the rope and his usual swagger.
“If only your adoring fans knew,” Kellen drawled when Gaige reached them. “You going to wear that cowboy get-up to the club instead of your usual designer threads?”
“Just might.” Gaige’s smile flashed, causing a large-breasted middle-aged woman to sway and slide to her knees. “When you’ve got it, you’ve got it.”
Kellen snorted. “As if any female in this world is a challenge.”
Taine laughed. “When Gaige encounters that challenge, he’ll have encountered his mate.”
Gaige tapped the coiled lariat against his thigh. “Not happening, my friend. Not happening. At least for the next four or five centuries.”
Kellen shook his head. “Never is too soon as far as I’m concerned. Nothing could compel me to take a mate.”
Taine, wearing the self-satisfied smirk and confidence of the newly mated, said, “Never is a long, lonely eternity.”
“I’ll bear up under that eternity.”
Two of the policemen headed toward them, probably comi
ng to ask if anyone was going after the unicorn that’d fled.
“Your turn to have fun,” Gaige told Kellen. “And right on time, Crew and Kristof have arrived.”
“Fun is what I have planned for the night. Time spent between the thighs of at least one beautiful, completely forgettable female.”
Gaige laughed. “I hear you. Catching the unicorn and parting company from it unscathed is the greater challenge.”
The police cars at the end of the street moved, allowing the black operations van to glide through the opening. It rolled to a stop, its windows deeply tinted and the roof loaded with antennae.
Kellen jogged to the van and got in, ostensibly claiming the passenger seat next to IRE’s human sorcerer, Kristof.
As soon as the door closed, hiding Kellen from view, he swiveled into the operations compartment with Crew. With a thought, Kellen released his human form.
Fey magic reworked his clothing, making it part of reddish-brown fur as he became a larger, heaver version of what was called an Irish Wolfhound in this realm.
For the benefit of the gathered humans, Crew fastened a wide leather collar around Kellen’s neck. Then the two of them exited the van through the rear door.
Kristof sped away, hopefully masking the reality of Kellen’s shapeshifting by creating the impression that the operations van had arrived to deliver a dog and handler.
Cameras zeroed in. There was another round of titters and hungry gazes, this time directed at the newly arrived dragon, Crew.
Crew looked at Gaige’s outfit and smirked. “Should I greet you with, Yee haw, let’s get this show going? Oh, right, based on that get-up, the show is already on.”
One side of Gaige’s mouth quirked upward. “What goes around, comes around.”
Crew laughed. “Quoting humans now?”
“This is their world.” Gaige turned his attention to Kellen. “The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get to wine, women and song, as the humans once liked to say.”
Kellen barked then shook his fur out, making a show of it.
Continuing the show, Crew, accompanied by Gaige, led Kellen to the spot where the less aggressive unicorn had stood. He unsnapped the leash, then, for the benefit of the gathered humans, said, “Find!”
Kellen surged forward. The scent of fey magic lingered so strongly that he didn’t need to lower his nose to the ground to follow the unicorn’s trail.
Destruction marked the animal’s passage. Divots pockmarked lush lawns. Lawn ornaments lay on their sides. Inflatable pool toys had been skewered and tossed to become colorful, flattened vinyl.
Knowing they could easily follow the trail, Kellen left Crew and Gaige behind. He loped at a pace he could maintain for hours if necessary, paused only to check for traffic before crossing neighborhood streets.
Flowers scented the air. And the breeze brought hints of the ocean and with that scent, thoughts of the club they’d already be gathered at if not for an idiot sorcerer.
The man claimed he’d only wanted to give his daughter a birthday to remember, but…
Kellen’s teeth clacked with the urge to bite.
He crossed a street, the scent of fey magic getting stronger. He was gaining on the unicorn.
Its path darted between two adobe houses. A pool cleaner’s truck was parked in front of the house to the right. A wrought-iron gate stood open in a six-foot fence.
As Kellen raced toward it, a panicked man scrambled out of the yard. Gave a shriek at seeing a huge hound closing in on him, glanced over his shoulder and made the sign of the cross.
Kellen streaked past him, heard the gate clang shut behind him and the man’s fervent, “Thank you, God.”
The unicorn, who’d been charging after the man, spun and raced away from Kellen but it was contained in a backyard dominated by a pool.
Putting the expanse of cement and water between it and him, the beast turned to face him, pawed, destroying lawn and flowers.
Kellen lifted his head and barked, sharp quick sounds that said Get here! then settled in front of the gate.
By the time Gaige and Crew showed up, the unicorn was grazing and Kellen had relaxed into a sphinxlike position.
He yawned wide, showing all his teeth.
“Save it,” Gaige said, teasing out the lariat. “You and Crew go right. I’ll go left. Taine’s on his way with the trailer.”
With their first step forward, the unicorn’s head snapped upward and grass fell from its mouth. It pawed, swung its head back and forth with increasing frequency as the distance between the two different threats grew.
It bolted one way, whirled and bolted the other. Eyed the pool and dismissed that option for escaping.
As soon as they skirted the pool, Kellen growled, daring the unicorn to attempt to get past. A few feet away and abreast of Kellen, Crew emitted a low dragon’s rumble.
Kellen didn’t doubt that if not for the risk of humans witnessing it, a stream of fire and smoke would have accompanied the sound. But neither were necessary. The threat posed by the two of them was enough to cause the unicorn to spin and charge the fey prince.
Gaige swung the woven magic and sent the lasso sailing through the air. With its horn pointed at his chest, the loop easily slid over the unicorn’s head.
A jerk and the noose tightened, and with the magical restraint encircling its neck, the unicorn became as docile as its companion had been. It trotted into the front yard at Gaige’s side like a well-heeled dog, and within moments was loaded into the horse trailer hitched to a black truck.
“Our work here is done,” Gaige said. “Now to collect my car and head to Stones for some fun.”
Taine got into the truck’s driver’s seat. Crew opened the truck’s passenger door and with a sigh, Kellen jumped in next to Taine. The door shut behind him, the other two preferring to walk back to Gaige’s Maserati, while in hound form, he had no choice but to accompany the dragon back to IRE headquarters.
Kellen leaned against the passenger window on the drive through San Diego. Unbidden, the remembered scent from the supernatural fair returned, and with it, the desire to hunt its source.
Instinct, he thought, a warning growl escaping as if in an attempt to scare away the truth of what that instinct might imply.
Thankfully, Taine misinterpreted the cause of the growl. The dragon snorted, this time not bothering to suppress twin streams of smoke. “I’d like a few seconds alone with the sorcerer myself. I was minutes from home and Saffron when I got the callout.”
Kellen rolled hound eyes, lifted his muzzle and howled the howl of the pathetically mated and completely enslaved.
Taine’s laugh was self-satisfied. “One of these days you’ll discover you’ve got it all wrong when it comes to women, that sleeping your way through more of them won’t lead to happiness. You’ll meet your mate and realize you were a fool for hoping to avoid encountering your fate.”
The claims were so outrageous they couldn’t be allowed to remain unanswered. Kellen glanced at the sideview mirror though the truck windows were darkly tinted. He quickly scanned the houses and traffic light posts nearby for cameras then gave up the hound’s form, willing the fey magic to return him to his human form wearing jeans and light green shirt.
“You did not seriously just say that to me. I am happy. Very happy fucking my way through the beautiful women of San Diego.”
Taine grinned. “If you say so.”
“I just fucking said so.”
“Right. So that’s why you act like a hound running from the dog catcher anytime you encounter Saffron.”
Kellen couldn’t deny it. And running from the dog catcher wasn’t a bad analogy. A better one was, being around Taine’s mate made him feel like he was about to be fitted with a choke chain. And that analogy made him think of the unicorns, placid and peaceful with the magical noose around their necks.
Not going there.
“You’ve got to risk love if you want to be truly, deeply happy,” Taine said,
and there was no doubting the fact that the dragon absolutely meant it. Then again, dragons were all about treasure, and in their world view—with the exception of Crew—a mate was the ultimate treasure.
“That works for you. Not for me.” Kellen put a little growl in his voice, a hint that he was done with this topic of conversation. Hound females looked at him and saw a means to an end. That had not changed with his relocating from his realm to this world.
Even the humans saw a means to an end when they rubbed against him suggestively or boldly issued an invitation, though admittedly, they were after gifts or bragging rights or seconds of fame, or, the least complicated—and his preferred choice when it came to sexual encounters—they were after a night of pleasure that included a fierce fuck.
“I am happy, very happy fucking my way through the beautiful women of San Diego,” he repeated.
“If you say so,” Taine said for a second time, the hint of doubt he’d purposely put in his voice enough to have Kellen grinding his teeth.
Finally, they reached IRE headquarters. A long curving driveway led downward to a sprawling white adobe generously provided by the United States government to house one element of Supernatural Operations. How much and who, among human leaders, knew what, when it came to the supernatural, was above his paygrade, for which he was damn grateful.
The truck pulling the trailer carrying the unicorns glided downward—at a non-death-defying speed for a change—and Kellen could feel the magic pressing against him. The landscaping had been left in a natural state, with native plants, native soil, native rocks. But house and yard were encircled by heavy-duty wards that could deflect a nuclear blast delivered by humans on the outside or contain a magical detonation caused by mishandling something inside IRE headquarters.
There were plenty of magical items to handle and dismantle—human sorcerers saw to that. Though if he were going to be strictly fair, not every supernatural being who passed through the portal stayed out of trouble. And there were some who came intent on causing trouble.
Taine swung the truck around to the back where Maksim, their boss, stood waiting, a scowl on his face and thumbs jammed into the front pockets of camouflage cargo pants, fingers curled and knuckles resting on his thighs.