Raven-Mocking (Book 3 in the Twilight Court Series)

by Amy Sumida

  “Absolutely,” Alex smiled back mischievously.

  “I haven't seen such childish behavior in adults since I was a boy at court,” Raza perused them right back. “Was your maturity somehow stunted by your telepathic abilities?”

  I choked back a laugh, rubbing at my lips to conceal my smile, but Teagan looked horrified. He tried to recover by jumping into the conversation.

  “Lord Raza, this is the psychic investigative team sent over to us by the Human High Council,” Teagan cleared his throat. “Perhaps-”

  “It's alright, Councilman,” Alex waved away Teagan's concern. “We're not easily offended. You develop tough skins when you delve into the minds of others for a living.”

  “People tend to be more offended by us than vice versa,” Alexis added. “To answer your question, Lord Raza, my bond with my brother can seem childish to some but it helps us retain our sanity when so many of our kind have gone absolutely bonkers.”

  “We do apologize for bringing up bad memories though,” Alex went on. “Childhood can be such a traumatic time to those of us who are different.”

  “We understand,” Alexis leaned forward across her brother, and hovered her hand above Raza's as if she were patting it in commiseration, without actually touching him.

  “Do you?” Raza's eyes narrowed. “I don't think you do.” His hand shot up and grabbed hers. Both of the twins reacted violently.

  Alexis screamed, her eyes rolling back into her head as she dropped into her brother's lap. Alex held her while taking hold of her wrist, trying to free it from the dragon. But Raza had a strong grip and his sharp talons insured that if Alexis did manage to free herself against his wishes, she'd pay for it.

  “Stop!” Alex shouted at Raza, pulling a dagger from his belt and placing it at Raza's throat. “Free her now!”

  “Draw one drop of my blood and your sister is dead,” Raza smiled at Alex, who went deathly pale.

  I had stood without even realizing what I was doing, and moved up behind Raza. I laid my hand on his left shoulder and he jerked, making Alexis scream again, but he didn't bother to look behind him. I think he already knew who was touching him. Meanwhile, Alex's eyes shot to mine, full of shock for a brief moment, but then they cleared and he nodded, pulling his dagger away from Raza's throat. He sheathed it and went back to simply holding his sister.

  I slid my hand down Raza's tense arm, over the bulging muscles, until one of my hands neared the dangerous bond he'd forged with Alexis. I wrapped my hand around his, careful not to touch her, but still she moaned and dropped limply across Alex.

  “Let her go,” I whispered into Raza's ear. “You've punished her enough, don't you think?” Raza's jaw clenched but he held tight to the telepath. “Raza, we need her to help prove Raye's innocence. Now, let her go.”

  I slid my fingers further down his hand and gently wedged them between his and Alexis'. She inhaled sharply and her eyes flew open, so wide that the whites showed all around her irises. I lifted his talons one at a time and finally pried Raza away from her. He allowed both actions; flexing his talons back and relaxing his hand into mine. I sighed in relief and wrapped my hand around his as it dropped into his lap. This had me hanging over him, my head draped across awkwardly between a wing and his neck with my arm around the wing. I could feel the buttery softness of the skin of his wings, where they pressed against my chest, and the flexing muscles along the bones of them.

  I'd never thought of wings being muscular but of course they were, especially right at the juncture where they met his back. It was an odd sensation. An intimate contact of skin on skin, of that thick wing base flexing between my breasts, while we were both fully clothed. I could feel the silky weave of his suit right beside his shoulder joint, and a line of hidden buttons beneath his wing pressed into my belly. I would have smiled to have discovered the secret to a wing-friendly suit but he dropped his head and a fine tremor coursed through him, so I instinctively hugged him.

  “I'm so sorry,” Alexis whispered as she stared at us. She had managed to sit back in her chair but her brother still held her hand. “I'm so sorry,” she said again.

  Raza lifted his head and set his glowing eyes on Alexis. “The minds of dragons are just as dangerous as the rest of them,” he gave her a wicked grin. “Remember that in the future.”

  “I will,” Alexis nodded. “I'm sorry I presumed to have something in common with you. You,” she shook her head. “What you went through... I.”

  “Enough,” Raza growled. “My past is not for public consumption.”

  “It goes no further. I promise you,” Alexis nodded and swallowed hard. But then she looked up at me, her eyes terrified and awestruck at the same time. “I don't know whether to feel jealousy or pity for you,” she whispered.

  “What did you say?” I frowned and straightened. Raza caught my hand as I did and held it so I remained pressed to his back.

  “Too many fathers and too many suitors,” Alexis' stare went distant. “So much magic and so much anger. Power and prejudice, blood and fire. Don't get lost in what you lose or you'll never appreciate what you gain.”

  “As cryptic and vague as any precog,” I sighed. “But thanks for the advice anyway.”

  “Thanks for the save,” she nodded to Raza's hand, still clenched around mine. “Just as dangerous as the rest of him,” she mused. “To all but one, it seems.”

  “Is, are you alright?” Alex asked his sister.

  “I'm fine,” she squeezed her brother's hand as I disengaged my own from Raza. “Though I will carry those memories with me to my grave.”

  “I should not have done that,” Raza admitted, surprising us all. “I reacted poorly, please forgive me.”

  “It's an honor to share the burden with you, Sir Dragon,” Alexis bowed her head deeply, like she was addressing a king.

  “Sir Dragon?” I gave Raza a teasing smile as I headed back to my seat. “Is there something I should know?”

  “I'm a knight of the unseelie,” Raza shrugged. “I wouldn't count it among my greatest accomplishments.”

  My own fairy knights stirred, probably taking his statement as an insult, but I didn't bother to defend Raza. I had done enough of that already and Tiernan was looking understandably tense again. I leaned over and took his hand to reassure him and he gave me an irritated glance. I deserved it, I guess. I really needed to stop touching Raza.

  “Nor would I,” Alexis responded to Raza. “But I liked the way it sounded.”

  “Are we quite done with the dramatics?” Councilman Murdock huffed. “If so, I'd like to get back to discussing the possibility of a witch war.”

  “A witch war,” Alexis lifted a black brow at Murdock. “Oh, I almost forgot. Councilman Murdock, your uncle sends his regards.”

  “Er,” Murdock cleared his throat. “Thank you.”

  “Of course,” she smiled and looked to her brother.

  “We don't want a witch war,” Alex winked at his sister. “Do we, Is?”

  “No,” she shook her head. “As much as it has a nice ring to it, I don't think it would be all that fun.”

  “Why do you call her; Is?” I asked Alex.

  “Oh, I thought it was obvious,” he smirked. “It's the difference in our names.”

  “Oh,” I nodded and then said dryly, “Cute.”

  “We have sorted through your information,” Alexis got back to the subject of witches.

  “And we agree with the Ambassador,” Alex continued.

  “What are you talking about?” Murdock grumbled. “We haven't told you anything yet.”

  “And I haven't offered my opinion,” I added.

  The twins gave us identical smirks.

  “God damn telepaths,” Murdock cursed.

  “Send for shaman,” Alex said exactly what I'd been thinking.

  “You're right,” I said to Murdock. “People are even more annoying when they can read your mind.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Shaman Kevin Chepaney
was frightened. He had looked desperate and anxious on the Paranormal Parameters video but now he was flat out scared. A group of extinguishers had grabbed him up off the street and brought him to the Council House in a very men-in-black way (the actual government men in black, not the movie, though I guess that was applicable too). Now he was sitting at a table with me, Tiernan, Cat, Councilman Teagan, and the twins.

  “I hope you haven't started without me,” a man walked into the room. He had Lord Raza's voice but he looked human; tawny skin, blunt fingernails instead of talons, wingless broad shoulders, and topaz eyes. The shape of his face was softer, the harsh edges muted back into human angles, but his hair was the same and so was his physique.

  “Lord Raza?” I tried to peer past his glamour but it was too strong for me... and that was pretty impressive.

  “Yep, that's him,” Alexis grinned.

  “In the flesh,” he bowed and then took a seat at the table with us.

  “Glamoured flesh,” I muttered.

  We were in the council chambers again and it seemed like a huge space without the rest of the council in it. Still, with the curtains drawn back and sunshine bombarding the room, the atmosphere was cheery. Raza's glamour was a good idea, it kept the harmless illusion going, but when you were a clairvoyant, as I'm sure Chepaney was, you could sense the unseen. So as soon as Raza sat down, Kevin Chepaney started to tremble.

  “No one is going to hurt you in any way,” I promised the shaman. “We want to help you.”

  “Help me how?” The shaman's eyes kept straying to Raza. Raza smiled but that only seemed to make things worse.

  “First off, by giving you information,” Teagan took Chepaney's attention away from the dragon-djinn. “Then, hopefully, you'll feel inclined to reciprocate.”

  “I have no information that I feel the need to keep secret,” Chepaney lifted his chin. “If you want to know something, just ask me so I can be on my way.”

  “Mr. Chepaney,” I extended my hand across the table but didn't touch him. “We know about the raven mockers but I'm afraid our raven mockers and yours are different.”

  “What?” Chepaney leaned forward, completely forgetting about his fear. “What do you mean by that?”

  “The true raven mockers are fairies,” Councilman Teagan said gently and we all watched Chepaney for his reaction.

  “Fairies?” The shaman blinked.

  “They really do exist, Sir,” I glanced at Tiernan and he nodded. So I dropped the glamour I had over my eyes and let the shaman see the silver spokes of the stars laid over the sparkling emerald of my irises. “I am half fey. My name is Seren Firethorn and I'm the Ambassador between the Human Realm and the Realm of Fairy. But I'm also the Princess of the Twilight Kingdom in Fairy. The raven mockers are from Twilight. They're my people and I am responsible for them.”

  “You're a fairy princess?” Chepaney asked dryly as he stared at my eyes. “Of Twilight?”

  “Yeah, don't be an ass about it,” I grimaced.

  “But you're so human,” he laughed. “And your skin doesn't sparkle.”

  “I was raised here,” I nodded. “And please don't take the Twilight jokes any further.”

  “But now you live in a fairy realm?” He asked more seriously.

  “The Fairy Realm,” I nodded. “Look, Mr. Chepaney, you understand magic so this shouldn't be too hard for you. Fairies have magic but as far as we knew, humans only possessed psychic gifts. They can appear magical but they aren't, they're more of a mental advancement. They include things like telekinesis, pyrokinesis, and clairvoyance.”

  “Who are you people?” Shaman Chepaney blurted out.

  “No, we're not witches,” Alexis said gently, answering what must have been his unspoken question. Chepaney gawked at her.

  “I apologize,” Teagan took over. “We should have said right away. We are the Human Council, an organization formed to keep the peace between us and the fairies.” The shaman looked even more confused, so Teagan went on. “Let me explain; for thousands of years, we have had a truce with the fey. When they come into our realm, we monitor them and if they break that truce, our military unit, the Extinguishers, apprehends or executes the law breaker depending on the seriousness of the crime. So you see, we watch over humans and you are under our protection.”

  “So you really aren't going to kill me?” Chepaney asked with a little surprise.

  “No, Sir,” Teagan vowed. “We want to help you and we hope that you will also help us.”

  “You're absolutely right,” Alexis said to the shaman. “If we wanted you dead, you'd be dead already. Councilman Teagan is telling the truth; you're safe here.”

  “Extinguisher Kavanaugh, please allow me,” Teagan said patiently and Alexis inclined her head.

  “How could I possibly help you?” Chepaney looked stumped.

  “We saw the video you made with Paranormal Parameters,” Teagan began.

  “You were the ones who stole the footage?” The shaman lifted a brow. “You know, they haven't returned any of my calls.”

  “The world cannot know about the fey,” Teagan said gently. “It would cause a panic.”

  “Wait,” Chepaney frowned. “You're saying that I've been battling fairies?”

  “Yes and no,” Teagan wavered.

  “Your myths are correct, Mr. Chepaney,” I took over. “It's just the label that you have wrong. Well, one of the labels at least. Originally, it was the raven mockers who were taking life from the dying but the other fey attached to your tribe begged them to stop and they did.”

  “The other fey?” Chepaney's eyes were getting bigger and bigger.

  “You know them as animal spirits or gods,” Teagan went on.

  “Coyote, Raven, Thunderbird,” Tiernan offered.

  “Our gods are fairies?” Kevin Chepaney gaped at Teagan.

  “Well, they have looked after you,” I offered. “It was a raven fairy who gathered the others to confront the raven mockers.”

  “So, it's not raven mockers who are attacking people now?” He asked and I was relieved that he was following so well. Must be the shamanic training.

  “No, because of you, we have been alerted to the possibility that there are witches hiding among the humans; people who have actual magic, not just psychic gifts,” I leaned towards Chepaney. “Are you one of them, Mr. Chepaney. Can you do magic?”

  “I work with nature,” he shrugged. “I call on the ancestors and I ask the elements to share their gifts with me. If that is magic, then yes, I am one of them.”

  “But what exactly can you do?” I persisted. “There are psychically gifted humans who can move things with their minds and create fire but that's not magic. Are you talents similar to that or can you do more?”

  “I've never created fire,” he mused. “I use a combination of things; words of power, herbs, and intent. I can make plants grow, call the wind to me, communicate with animals, and you saw what I did to the mocker... or whatever it is.”

  We all sat back in amazement.

  “There really are witches,” Teagan said with just the barest breath of air.

  “You're shocked?” The shaman laughed. “You just told me that fairies exist, that they live in another realm entirely but come over here to play, and you're shocked about witches?”

  “You have to understand,” Teagan frowned. “We have watched over the world for a very long time and we have never found proof of the existence of witches. It is a definite shock.”

  “But here's the real issue,” I broke in. “Witches are behind these murders, Mr. Chepaney. We found traces of magic on the corpse of Mr. Hocktochee and he was not a fairy.”

  “My family has always known of the existence of witches,” Chepaney sighed. “It's an accepted fact. We shamans are specifically taught to protect our people from these evil doers. But although we know of their existence, we don't know who they are. If we did, we wouldn't have to resort to these traps to kill them.”

  Alex nodded to Teagan; Ch
epaney was telling the truth.

  “Mr. Hocktochee was wearing this symbol tattooed on his chest,” Teagan passed Chepaney a photo of the feather symbol. “Does this mean anything to you?”

  “It looks familiar,” Chepaney nodded. “Is it some kind of identifier?”

  “We believe so,” Teagan nodded. “Our research has found that it represents an occult group called Flight.”

  “Well, that would be appropriate,” Chepaney huffed. “Not all that original but appropriate.”

  “We think that this group in particular has picked up the abilities of the true raven mockers somehow,” I continued.

  “Raven mocker mockers?” Chepaney asked.

  “Exactly,” I grinned. “You know how to kill them but do you know how to hunt them?”

  “I'm afraid not,” Chepaney sighed.

  “What about twisting the magic you use to set the trap?” Tiernan asked. “Could you set it to wound instead of kill?”

  “What would be the point?” The shaman shrugged. “They take seven days to die, that's wounded in my book. Fatally wounded but wounded nonetheless.”

  “That's a rather good point,” Raza's eyes narrowed. “So all we need to do is track one after it's been wounded and we'll have seven days to question it.”

  “A dying man is less likely to give up his friends and loved ones,” Teagan observed.

  “Getting information out of the unwilling has never been a problem for me,” Raza smiled.

  “We must follow the laws,” Teagan shook his head. “We do not employ torture as an interrogation technique.”

  “Even when it could mean catching mass murderers?” Raza lifted a dark brow.

  I looked at Teagan, my own convictions in the matter floundering. This was dire. We needed to find these people and stop them. And then we needed to find out if there were more groups like them. Perhaps a little force wasn't such a bad thing.

  “Even then,” Teagan stood firm for all of us and something inside me breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Well done, Councilman,” Raza chuckled. “I applaud your convictions but I was merely testing you. We are fey, remember? We have no need for such deplorable techniques. We can simply render them fairy-struck.”