by Jayne Hawke
I reached out, slowly, carefully. He relaxed, and the cursed shield remained hidden. I wrapped my fingers around his throat and squeezed as hard as I could before the shield drove itself into my forearm, threatening to remove it entirely.
“Threaten my pack again and I’ll take great pleasure in ripping your balls off and shoving them down your throat,” I said sweetly.
“I will very much enjoy indulging in your fire.”
His words sent a shiver down my spine. There was something so cold and sadistic hidden in there. I had to ask myself: Had he always been like that, or did something happen to make him that way?
Thirty-Four
When the pack came in from their run, they were riding the adrenaline. It must have felt like pure freedom to run like that. I’d spent the time since I got back in the sparring room going through my katas, making sure every small detail was perfect. A slight shift in balance could make the difference in a fight against something like a jaguar guardian.
“What happened?” Elijah asked when he was back in human form.
There was no underwear this time. I looked away, although it wasn’t as easy it perhaps should have been. He was a specimen of perfection. I’d grown used to Castor, who had no problems shifting his clothing.
“It’s just a body, relax,” Rex said.
“What happened to your underwear?” I asked.
“That shit’s expensive. We only wear it while we’re in the city. I don’t want to get a fine from the fae for flashing. Which, by the way, is complete bullshit. The kelpies and whatever get to prance around naked, I fail to see why shifters should be any different,” Rex grumbled.
Elijah wrapped his arms around me from behind.
“What happened, Princess?” he asked gently.
“Cameron showed up while I was in the Narrows. He gave me some crap about how we’d be fantastic together, he’d help me fulfil my wildest dreams.”
Elijah growled and held me a little closer.
“I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me. He made a few threats, but he seems to be holding onto the idea of bringing me around.”
He gently nipped the tip of my ear, sending a thrill through me.
“I’m getting a shower, for which you’re welcome to join me. We’ll watch a movie together after,” he said.
There was no room for argument. That was just a thing that was going to happen.
Jess walked around to stand in front of me.
“I really don’t see why you’re trying to cover your eyes. It’s a body just like yours. I don’t care if you see it,” she said.
I could see her point, but that didn’t make me entirely comfortable with her nakedness.
“Fine, whatever, I get the mint choc chip ice cream,” she said.
The shifters left, bar Castor.
“What else did he say?” my familiar asked.
Thankfully, he was fully clothed. His hair was mussed, the clothes wrinkled, but everything was covered.
“He knows about the goddess. He said she was the reason I was trained in combat.”
Castor’s jaw tightened before he smiled, a bright fake smile.
“Don’t worry about that now. We need to focus on the pot and the jaguar guardians.”
“What’s going on with the goddess?” I pushed.
He turned away and opened up the freezer.
“Nothing you need to worry about.”
“Stop shutting me out.”
“You’ll know everything when the time’s right,” he said as he handed me a pot of salted caramel gelato.
Sighing, I let it drop. I knew from experience that he’d just shut me out, and I didn’t want things to grow unpleasant between us. Still, the fact remained that the goddess had plans for me, and I had no idea what they were. I hated not having control over my own life and future.
The movie night had ended with me curled up in Elijah’s arms. The rest of the pack had headed to bed, but I couldn’t get Cameron out of my head. I needed to kill him. There had to be a way around his shield and other protections. I just had to figure it out.
Elijah slowly kissed down my neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps in his wake. Whatever thoughts had been in my mind fled beneath his touch. Maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to indulge in the increasingly rich carnal fantasies I’d been having about the alpha. We were pack, after all. I could trust him.
I gently bit his bottom lip and twisted to straddle his hips with a sinful smile on my face. My heart fluttered when his lips met mine, and slowly we gave ourselves over to each other. I explored his hard muscles with my fingertips, and then my lips and tongue. His breath grew shorter as I teased him, taking my time to enjoy every little rise and valley on his torso.
My fingertips were just dipping beneath the waistband of his jeans when Liam rushed into the room.
“We have a sighting on the Alice guy! The one who disappeared down the hole! Jess is already getting dressed.”
I groaned and buried my face in Elijah’s neck. The timing was awful. We were both pretty invested in what we’d been doing. But no, saving the world called.
“I’ll go. I’m still irritated that I lost him the first time,” I said as I climbed out of Elijah’s lap.
“He’s not far from Damien’s. If you hurry, you can be there in ten minutes,” Liam said.
“You have him on camera?” Elijah asked.
“Yes, and I’m trying out that new surveillance spell. Once I had him on camera, I activated the spell so we should be able to see him no matter where he goes - unless he breaks the spell.”
That was a supremely creepy spell. I needed to ensure I knew how to spot and break that before someone got smart and tried to use it on me. I’d already had two stalkers, and they said three was the charm.
I grabbed my keys, and Jess threw herself over the banister of the stairs, landing on her feet with a huge grin on her face.
“Let’s go and catch us a rabbit!” she declared.
Thirty-Five
I punched the gas, and we flew through the city. Thankfully, it was that eerie hour where the city was like a ghost town. It was the point between where the revellers had gone home for the night and the commuters started getting up and shambling towards their jobs.
Jess had Liam on the phone guiding us towards the location of what Jess was calling ‘the white rabbit’. The reference didn’t entirely fit, in my mind, but she was insistent. Maybe it was a cat thing. I drifted around a corner and slowed down as we came within two blocks of the guy we were after.
As Jess kept reminding me every thirty seconds, we couldn’t afford to screech up to him this time. We had to try and ambush him. Personally, I was frustrated at my fun with Elijah being interrupted, and I was all for nudging him with the front bumper of my car. No one agreed with me. Apparently the risk of his dying was too high.
I parked by the side of the road in front of a puka fashion boutique, and we sprinted down the road towards the guy. I wrapped shadow around us, and we were careful to stay out of the pools of light formed by the tall streetlights. He was casually meandering down the road, looking at what looked to be a notebook or maybe a novel. It certainly wasn’t normal behaviour. I began hoping that he wasn’t planning some big ritual or something. We didn’t have time for things that got planned out in notebooks.
Jess leapt on him. It was an impressive feat. She pushed off and seemed to fly as she stretched her arms and tackled him to the ground from a good twenty feet away. I’d hate to try and play rugby against her, not that I was really a team-sport-playing girl. My competitiveness got the better of me. I was far better at solo games.
“Stay still, else I’ll rip your throat out,” Jess snarled.
“What the fuck?” the guy said as he writhed beneath her.
Jess sank her claws deep into his shoulder and pinned him down to the pavement as I peeled the shadow away from us.
“Oh. It’s you,” the guy said as he went still.
“We h
ave some questions,” I said.
“Is that why you’ve been chasing me around the city? Seriously, I’m just a student. I don’t know what you think you saw or heard, but I promise you’re wrong.”
Jess and I exchanged a look of disbelief. We knew what we’d seen, and I’d never known a magic student to be able to pull something like that off, not that I’d dealt with many. Most who learned magic learned it in their covens or with the fae courts. Schools existed, but they dealt with outside cases like halfbreeds with more magic than connections or orphaned witches.
“You disappeared into a portal rabbit hole thing,” Jess said.
“It really is an easy spell.”
I gave Jess a small nod and she let him up. Her eyes were yellow and everything about her screamed predator. I was pretty sure she was hoping he ran so she could chase him again.
“What do you know about a storm pot?” Jess asked.
I bit back a groan. I was seeing why she didn’t usually do the questioning.
“Look, that piece of magic was very complicated for a magic student. And we’re looking for some people. People with a dangerous artifact,” I said.
The guy held his hands up.
“I swear I’m just a student. I’m hoping to get into transport research. They’re working in teleportation, and I think I could make a real difference there. Can you imagine the difference it would make if we could teleport around the world?”
My first thought was how I wasn’t giving up my damn car. Then I considered what teleportation would mean, and that sounded really dangerous. There was so much room to go wrong, especially if you were aiming to go to the other side of the world. No, that wasn’t something I had any intentions of touching.
“You’ve been connected to the theft of a powerful object,” I said.
“You must have me confused. Really. I don’t have time to do anything as awesome as steal something. Maybe the person was using a really good glamour.”
He was lying through his teeth. I could feel it.
“We’re sure it was you,” I said drily.
“I’ll make you a deal. You come and see the rest of my friends, we’re all students. Have a look around, you’ll see we’re nothing special.”
It was too easy. Either it was a trap, or they’d been ready for us.
“Ok, great. Lead the way,” I said.
Thirty-Six
The guy who claimed to be an innocent student had given us the name Marcus. Jess had been muttering about how she should have brought her glaive as we followed him down a narrow alley towards a lime green door. The alley was clean as such things go, but it was still a great ambush location. They could rush us from the door, and from behind. I kept my senses open, listening and feeling for people coming to surround us.
Marcus opened the door with an ordinary key and stepped into the gloom. We followed with our knives in our hands as we prepared for the worst. He hit a light switch, which turned on a bare bulb hanging from a dull-grey ceiling. The space around us certainly fit the magical student image.
Dirty t-shirts and boxers were sprawled over a tatty old armchair that had stains I didn’t want to think about on its mustard-yellow fabric. The floor was littered with crumpled handwritten notes, books, dried herbs and plants, and a few takeaway containers. Jess stood in the doorway with a look of absolute horror. It must have been torture on her feline neat-freak mind.
The desk in the near corner was buried beneath books and papers. There was a small patch of pale scratched wood carved out between the mountain of leather-bound books on one side, loose pens and papers on the other. I wouldn’t sit on the chair that sat in front of that desk. It was an old wooden chair with two of the legs looking like they were ready to snap. They sat at an awkward angle and clearly weren’t all that well attached to the seat.
“It’s not much, but it’s where we do most of our studying,” Marcus said, opening his arms and gesturing at the room, which was smaller than our kitchen.
“You said ‘us’. Where are the rest of you? And is this it?” I asked.
“There are eight of us in total, only me and Frey are around right now. Come on, I’ll show you the rest.”
He walked through a black door that had dirty socks piled up next to it. Jess walked very carefully, watching to ensure she didn’t step in anything horrifying. I didn’t blame her.
The door led through into what I assumed was supposed to be a kitchen-diner. There was a small sink piled high with dirty dishes, some of which were gathering mould. A counter space was just about visible beneath the jars and vials, all of which were empty. A quick check with my magical senses gave me nothing. They were fully cleansed. The rest of the space was filled by an ancient-looking couch that might have started out as red, or maybe orange. It was riddled with holes and showed clear indents where people sat regularly.
“As you can see, there are no powerful artifacts hidden here,” Marcus said.
I wasn’t convinced.
“Do you have access to this entire building?” I asked.
“The rest are bedrooms, and I don’t feel comfortable showing you bedrooms of people who aren’t here to agree,” Marcus said stiffly.
He was hiding something. Whether or not it was the Huracan storm I wasn’t sure on yet, but he was most certainly hiding something.
My magical senses weren’t giving me much of anything, but we could see what Liam could find. Jess wrinkled her nose as she accidentally breathed deeper than she’d meant to.
“How do you live here? In this?” she asked.
Marcus shrugged.
“We work long hours. We don’t really notice our surroundings all that much.”
His casual stance wasn’t quite right. It was too casual. Too easy. This entire thing just didn’t add up. Who invited strangers into their home to snoop around like that? No, he’d been expecting us, and he’d covered up whatever we weren’t meant to know about.
The problem was, I was working on a hunch. And I couldn’t very well tear his home apart on a hunch. There was a chance that he was telling the truth, after all. His phone rang, so I took the opportunity to return to the first room and snap some pictures. There were some interesting books on his desk and a few symbols painted on the wall. The symbols were almost invisible. He’d chosen a shade of grey almost the same as the wall. Thankfully, my phone picked them up ok.
“If you’ll excuse me, I have papers to finish,” Marcus said.
Jess had picked up a couple of small tumbled stones. Cheap gems that had been smoothed out by nature. I sensed a surprising amount of raw magic in them, though what it was doing there I didn’t know. Someone had to have placed it there, someone with more talent and control than these students should have had.
We were about to walk through the door when Marcus slammed his hand on the wall by Jess’s head.
“If you’d be so kind as to hand my property back,” he growled.
Now that was an interesting reaction.
Jess head butted him, and we ran away cackling like maniacs. It was the most ridiculous reaction, but I couldn’t help laughing.
Once we got safely back to the car and I made sure no one and nothing was following us, I said, “We’re supposed to be professionals. That was pretty shameful.”
“I thought it was brilliant. Anyway, I got some of these stones that make my nose itch and a few of these bits of paper that have weird scribbles on them. He’d hidden them in a hole in the wall I found behind the armchair. I need so much disinfectant right now, though.”
It seemed that the trip hadn’t been a complete bust after all.
Thirty-Seven
I handed my phone over to Castor and Liam so they could pull the photos off and put them through their databases. I knew them from somewhere, but it’d be quicker for them to do their tech thing than for me to pull out my old books and grimoires.
That left me with the stones while Elijah and Jess looked over the notes.
“Why do bad people al
ways use these horrible old languages? Why can’t they just put stuff in good old-fashioned English?” Jess complained.
“It helps hide what they’re doing, and if they’re dealing with gods then using the tongue tied to the god helps things along,” Castor said.
Jess narrowed her eyes at the paper next to her.
“This could be related to the gods? So they really might be our storm pot people?”
“Maybe,” Elijah said.
“What about the cult?” Rex asked.
“Who says they’re not one and the same?” I said.
Rex curled a lip.
“Cultists always wear weird robes, and these ones dance all the time. You didn’t mention anything about robes or dancing.”
I laughed.
“Some of the more modern and intelligent cults can pass as reasonably normal people, especially the higher-level members,” I said.
“I still don’t think he was a student,” Jess said.
“Agreed. The whole place felt staged. I couldn’t feel any glamours, so the filth could have been real. Still, he clearly wanted us to glance at that first room and walk away. There were three more storeys to that building, and I bet there was a basement or access to the tunnels beneath,” I said.
“You’d be betting correctly,” Liam said.
“What about Seth? You were convinced he was the ultimate bad guy,” Rex said.
“He could still be involved,” Jess said.
I was still back and forth on Seth and his involvement.
“Anything of interest in those stones?” Elijah asked.
“It’s weird. There’s magic in here, but it’s basically inaccessible. It would take hours to get it out, and once you did you wouldn’t even have as much as I store in one of my charms,” I said, raising my arm to illustrate. “It’s not complete spells, although I don’t quite recognize the magic. I can’t see any purpose to the stones at all.”
“These students are looking more and more like part of the cult,” Elijah said.