White Witch (Haven Book 1)

by Lil Hamilton

  “We have a feel for a potential mate before we ‘mate up’,” Lan said, so clearly amused.

  “I don’t think the Queen quite believes that. Maybe because my mother is fae and not a demon. How can your mate be of a different race?”

  “Actually, it does happen. Not in any recent history, due to the animosity, but demons and fae come from the same people, whether they like it or not and so some have mates within the fae they will never find unless there is peace,” Lan said.

  I laughed so hard I snorted a little. “Right. I can see that happening. Your people don’t call fae whores for no reason. The fae don’t have this mate bond and usually they tend to be flexible about sexual relations. The Queen currently has fourteen lovers, along with her Consort.”

  Although her Consort, the Faerie King, who had ruled in his own right for thousands of years and considering his current state of mind, having chosen the Queen as his wife had not worked all that well for him. Or anyone really.

  “If there were a solid treaty, many more demons would be bonded properly,” Lan said.

  I eyed him up. The mate bond in demons was vital. They needed to be bonded before they could conceive a child. Unbonded over time demons became reclusive and eventually lost the will to live. Suddenly the tradition of kidnapping fae women made a little more sense. “Ah, make love not war.” I let my aura sweep over him; saw as he soaked it in. “This from a Demon Hunter who likely has killed many fae.”

  He shrugged. “That was war. We have young bloods that need to be mated.”

  Well, I had killed many demons myself before the treaty, so I could understand the casual indifference.

  “Right,” I said slowly. Maybe demons did enjoy the thought of snagging the occasional fae to bond with. Likely, they thought it was part of war spoils or some such thing. It didn’t change the fact that even in times of uncomfortable peace; they killed each other readily and hated each other deeply. I was young and of both races, so I didn’t bother with all the hate on. Others though lived centuries; they hated the fae for things done thousands of years ago.

  “I hope you didn’t come here to tell me to tell her.” It might be an amusing concept for her, but one she would use against the demons.

  “Perhaps, in time,” Sebastian said. “Father wants his wife back and is getting a bit moody as time passes without her. He needs her back and so he needs a strong treaty to be made. This stalemate saves some lives. A treaty, with various rules, would be strongly desired. We will come to you to help us negotiate that. But thankfully that does not fall to me.”

  “But on me, great,” I said. I liked to give the Queen as little opportunity to notice me as possible. Living in the border realm helped a great deal. With my mother captive and me a servant to the Queen, my father would have little to negotiate with. I stood up. “Who wants tea?”

  “Cofee?” Bas said with a large grin.

  “Tea it is,” I muttered walking away.

  Chapter 4

  There is no time like family time. No time. Ever.

  I escaped to the kitchen while I brewed some cream Earl Grey in loose tea form, as is proper. Gave me some time to take a breather. I could hear them talking to each other but, naturally, they knew to keep their voices low enough to not pick up. It was just a low mummer just not quite intelligible. Tea sufficiently steeped I brought it out on a tray and sat it down with no particular interest in whether they took it or not. I did take mine though, adding in honey and milk.

  After I took a sip and Mmm’d it I said, “So where were we?”

  “Inter-breeding and so forth. Father has already tolerated the insult of mother and you in their custody for too long. Let me say, father wants you home. He doesn’t want you trapped in Faerie, to be potentially used against him. He wants you properly mated.”

  “What now?” He lost me on that last sentence.

  “Mated, as in, tied the metaphysical knot,” he said and then grinned.

  “Huh. And which of his lovely suitors would take a mate with fae blood?”

  “Let him worry about that. Having you mated will relieve some of the tension.”

  And get me on the fast track to the eternal Fade. What the hell was my hellish father thinking? I barely knew the man and he was always trying to insert demons into my life, which frankly would not please the one I served at all. Even if I wanted to explore my demon heritage, which I didn’t, the Queen wouldn’t tolerate any connection to demons when it came to me.

  “So he wants me back to flaunt me around hoping someone will find me appealing and hopefully I even can make the mating merge,” I said scanning him for any indication he was joking. “Maybe pop out a few babies before the Queen rips my fucking head off?”

  It was an odd suggestion to say the least. The last time I was in the Hells, I was not well liked, barely tolerated and involved in more than one duel. Some of those duels I was fairly certain were arranged by my father to see if I was up to par. Most duels didn’t end in death, so at least I can be reasonably certain he didn’t want me to actually die.

  “Hoped, being the operative word, since you refused his summons. He can’t ensure your safety so far from the Hells, even if you do reside in this neutral land rather than in Faerie itself. The fae queen still holds you to serve her, holding you to loyalty with your mother’s welfare as well. So to compromise, he is going to slowly expose you to unmated males, which you will have to be around since you are a point of contact with us on this realm. He watched you closely during your time with us and he watched the unmated males as well. He made a list. All fine warriors. I’m sure you will go for one. In fact, since we were coming here anyway he specifically chose Lan as the Demon Hunter.”

  “Cause he is on the list,” I said slowly.

  Lan grinned.

  I rubbed my hands over my face and looked at Lan again. Un-freakin-believable.

  “Yes. He would like you to use this time to see if there is potentially a bond. It is more of an exploration. To see if you are capable of a demon merging. Consider it a fun experiment.”

  Lan looked amused and, also, was skimming his eyes down my figure. I admit, I was looking as well. No doubt this ’testing’ would be no hardship for him. Demons tested numerous women to find a mate. Humans called it hooking up. Although, hooking up didn’t usually end in being shackled to the other person for all eternity. “Maybe I’m more fae in nature as well as looks. Maybe I enjoy the freedom of having more than one lover,” I said, in the faint hope the idea would disgust them and they would drop the issue.

  “A harem like the fae whore?” Gabriel snarled. “Over a male that would be bonded to you?”

  “Don’t be so sexually uptight, demon. I’m quite aware of demon’s behaviours prior to this elusive bond. They shag anything that moves,” I said lightly, with a slight smug smile that I had riled up one of them.

  “But you don’t have a harem of men,” Lan said, obviously reading something in my expression. Or, more likely, interpreting something in my scent or energy signature. Lan felt like an earth demon to me. Earth demons were one of two things generally; healers or trackers. A Demon Hunter had to be a tracker and that meant he had highly tuned senses to read me like a large print book. That curtailed my ability to spin out a plausible lie. And I could lie, unlike some pure born fae. My words didn’t have that sort of power and therefore had no magical consequences. I found it to be an essential skill. I wondered if I could successfully work a little fae voodoo on all three of them. Yeah, I’d have that strong of a glamour in my dreams.

  “No, if I were that way, I would be in Faerie still,” I admitted. “No, I like this world. Makes things simpler.” By which I meant, less violently explosive to me. “I may have to do some favours for the Queen, but I like the neutrality of this border realm.”

  “With no potential mates at all?” Sebastian asked. Perhaps he was surprised; given mating bond was something to be craved, as was touch and anything sensual. They were very tactile beings and very s
ense orientated. I abhorred touchy feely.

  “I have some booty call friends, friends with benefits, in Faerie and here. Hooked up with an incubus for a while and what a blast that was. A woman’s got to meet her needs, you know what I mean?” I said, with a grin. I wasn’t ashamed about my sexuality in the least, nor did I have any problems admitting I had commitment issues. Seelie fae all had commitment issues, but honestly wasn’t centuries spending time with one person extremely excessive by anyone’s standards? Except I suppose demons, with the whole mating thing they had, which was quite a bit worse than marriage, since there was no escape clause. Gods, I was getting panicky just at the thought of it.

  “And so it shouldn’t be a problem. You have no rivals in Faerie. You’re free to seek an unmated male,” Sebastian said. “Out of respect for your father, the king.”

  I rolled my eyes. Yeah, I had loads of respect for royalty. As an absentee father, I wasn’t inclined to follow his desires either. Besides, after a few centuries a girl was allowed to do her own thing without asking permission from her parents.

  “You’ll get me killed or does that not factor in as a concern?”

  “I do not think it should be an issue. You have a public role in the community and are expected to deal with all races. You own a detective agency that is known to take cases that involve all the races. No one can fault you for associating with the occasional demon.”

  “Yeah, right, associating. I don’t think you get it, bro. I can lie about this. I can be seen with a demon and say it is because of a job. The Queen will get irked by it but perhaps find it amusing, as long as none of my family was involved. But no matter what I am oath bound to her. She wants the truth from me and she will get it. Makes it hard to hide the fact my father wants me to associate with more than one male for an indeterminate time.”

  “We will take that into consideration and make the appropriate adjustments, but for now, in this case, it should not be an issue.”

  Yep, they were definitely aiming to get me killed.

  “So how does a male feel someone might be his mate?” I asked. I actually had no desire to have this bond with anyone. It honestly freaked me out and kept me from even attempting to have High Demon lovers, just in case, although, thankfully, most of them assumed I was flawed as a demon with my diluted blood. This whole thing was likely just another attempt for my father to see how demon I was. Or on the off chance my genes were strong enough to create such a merge; this would give him more rights over me and thus another slap to the bitch Queen. And a slap it would be if I actually mated with a demon. Such an insult would be a grave offence and for the sake of my safely I would have to bide in the Hells for a very, very long time. No way was that happening.

  “We merge energies,” Lan said. “Basically the full merge is inevitable from there. In this case, we will be seeing if your essence would be open to a bond. Demons can know from a touch, but they’re not sealed behind layers of energy fields. Strip those away and it will be easier.”

  I shivered. “I’d rather not.”

  They were called shields for a reason.

  “Father did say a good kidnaping would be in order if you don’t agree to this less intrusive exploration of possible matches.”

  “Bloody Hells, that man really needs to work on his negotiation skills.” While I remained still and expressionless my mind whirled for a few long seconds trying to find an alternative. I was safe in my own home. Demons couldn’t teleport me out. That didn’t mean they couldn’t snag me off the street whenever they pleased. I could be hyper vigilant and intensely paranoid but in the end it would do no good. The border realm was the place for the fae and demons to battle for a good reason. Any advantage I had with fae magic was weakened. Full blooded demons could break through any personal physical shield I could throw up. Since my father seemed to have a vested interest in me, when he so chose, it was rarely one demon sent to do the grab and run. Damn it. He had to know the situation he was putting me in and likely thought it was a bonus. Sure he could say I was safer being bonded to a mate, but in effect it would sever my ties to Faerie altogether. “What do I have to do then?” I asked. “In order to appease him? Date each one a few times see if I get a vibe?”

  “You have to live with them for a few days, explore it and then after if it doesn’t suit they’ll return home,” Sebastian said. “You’ll be working with Lan anyway on our mission here. I will, of course, be staying in the usual hotel along with Gabriel. We will just be here in an official capacity, in case Lan runs into any mortal legal issues. Besides I love Haven.”

  “Fine, I agree.” It was not too much of a sacrifice. Demons were very sensual, but much more so with a mate. In all likelihood, my very fae looks would deter any actual desire to discover if I was. Attempting to lower my shields and do this merging thing would not hurt me any. By accepting I would have time to figure a way out the whole ’list’. I packed some metaphysical punch. I could handle myself when it came to most lower demons and Unseelie. When it came to the pure bloods though, I was rather mid rank. That meant I could not simply refuse the whims of those who obviously had too much time on their hands. I would rather they paid me no attention at all, but when they did I needed to carefully ponder my options before being spontaneously stupid.

  Sebastian laughed and shook his head. “Much as I’d like to take your word on it, father said we would have to get you to make an oath. Fae oaths being binding and all. For some reason he thinks you’ll get out of it somehow or use some careful spell work to get your paramours to leave. No idea where he got that idea.”

  I winced and Sebastian grinned. Yeah, so I was plotting various devious pranks to pull. I had every right to make this ‘decision’ difficult. Or at least have some fun chasing them off.

  “Oh, so I’m demon enough to fix up for a mating, but not demon enough to be bound by all your High Demon honour codes?” I said, acting insulted.

  “Yep.”

  “Damn it. Fine. Let’s see… I do solemnly swear to let this hot Demon Hunter shack up with me for a bit and maybe cop a feel. Does that work for you?”

  “Sorry, sister mine, formal oaths only.”

  “For a formal oath it would have to be in one of the three spell tongues. So unless you know one, you wouldn’t know if I said it right anyway.”

  “Sedantrik.”

  “Ah, you know that one, eh?”

  “In centuries of war you kinda pick up the language to give you an edge in battle.”

  “Er, I don’t know that one all too well. It’s actually more of lower court spell language.”

  “Wing it.”

  “Sometimes, Bas, you get so very close to not being my favourite brother.”

  I thought for a moment. If I got the tense wrong I could be binding myself to an oath way more abiding than I desired.

  “Jurmas incadreze as acordio expuse. Eun nill va folsis za magi sa interfereze cu acordulment,” I said slowly. Sounded like I was a two year old gargling marbles. I felt the sharp snap of the oath hit me and grimaced.

  “That’ll work.”

  “Bet it does. You know usually when a fae gives such a binding oath she gets something in return.”

  Sebastian winked and nudged his elbow at Lan. Lan gave a slow easy smile.

  “Something not included in said oath taking,” I specified.

  “I do so solemnly swear to not kidnap you if you keep to this agreement.”

  “Well, that’s rather useless since I am bound to keep to the agreement.”

  “What would you like then, sister mine? All that I have is yours.”

  “Huh. Since you’re all anti-technology that isn’t much. Buy me a new iPod and we are even stevens.”

  “I can get you a new iPod.”

  “Works for me. As long as you don‘t get one right off someone‘s head.”

  “Are we finished negotiating?”

  “If that is what you call negotiating.”

  “Would you like to hear why we ha
ve come all this way?”

  “I suspect you came to be all evil incarnate by pestering the mortals, visiting the gaming halls and drinking as much tequila as you can.”

  “You suspect correctly. It is frightening how well you know me. Must be our sibling connection.”

  “Yeah, that’s it. Or you are rather predictable in your vices. So down to business then, you guys after a renegade?”

  “Not exactly,” Lan said.

  “You’re High Demon pure born?” I asked. Pure simply meant coming from the dozens of strong family lines, but in the end it made the Hells similar to the lower and upper fae courts. High demons were all agathodemons and the lower courts all eudemons and cacodemons. Then there were the thousands of races that lived in the Hells beneath them.

  “If you want to know if this world will drive me crazy, then, no,” Lan said. “My family comes from a long line of Hunters that have bred in a tolerance to this realm.”

  Which was in fact my interest. The real reason demons could not claim the same land rights as fae in the border realm was because this world, its physical laws, were not the right vibe for them. Oddly enough the more refined the breeding, the more this was true. My brother could stay in this world for about a month, with some discomfort, without letting his aura spread. After that, then certain psychological, instinctual symptoms appeared and then they just went crazy. This is why rogues, who stayed too long, needed to be hunted down and returned to the Hells or killed. The lower families of power were also affected, but in more specific and controlled ways.

  “Well good, because then I don’t have to worry, Lan, that you might have the sudden desire to eat my intestines.”

  “Hadn’t planned on it.”

  “What is it then? Please say it is something bizarre and unusual.”

  “Like a pack of Incubi on the prowl that you need to stop with your feminine wiles?” Sebastian suggested raising a brow.