The Courtship of Julian St. Albans

by Crook, Amy

  “Perhaps he was jealous of your dates,” said James in that dryly amused way he had.

  Julian giggled. “Maybe, I think he was just unimpressed by my untutored palate, I insisted on trying a bunch of stuff again. The grilled squid was still the best, I think.”

  “You were the best part of that dinner that I recall,” said Alex, intending it to be teasing, though it came out more earnest.

  Julian blushed, but he also glowed at the compliment. “Flattery will get you everywhere,” he said, leaning close and tilting his face up.

  Alex obliged him with a soft kiss, which came to an end when the waiter reappeared with the first of their food. There was rose-scented water and mugs of milky chai tea, pakoras and samosas, and a little carousel of sauces that were sweet or spicy or both. Everyone dug in, Julian taking little bites here and there while the other three ate heartily. The Guardians used their magical senses as part of their duties, and expended a fair amount of energy between that and their special brand of alertness on several planes. Alex, of course, was healing and doing magic, and still needed to put back the weight he’d lost in the hospital.

  Julian was too nice to ask, but Alex could see he was impressed with the amount of food the three of them managed to make disappear over the course of the meal.

  Conversation turned to reading, with Alex admitting that most of the books in his library were work-related, but he had a weakness for formula mystery novels, the sort that came in themed series with unlikely protagonists. Julian, it turned out, was a big fan of the one with the cats, and even Jacques had read some of them, so they managed to chat about that for half the meal while James kept quiet.

  Jacques fell quiet and James picked up the threads when they started talking about actual history, but there was a tension in them both that worried Alex.

  “Is there something I should be worried about?” asked Alex, looking from one to the other.

  James chuckled. “I don’t think so, but there’s a different feeling to the restaurant tonight, don’t you sense it?”

  Alex hummed under his breath, listening to the music of the place and then he chuckled. “Birthday party over on the big room, it’s for someone young so the place is full of kids, but she’s reasonably well-off because there’s a couple of those charmed plush toys in the packages,” he said. “We run across them in crime scenes sometimes, they always ping my radar because of the enchantments.”

  Jacques laughed. “I don’t know that I’ve ever seen one, but we’ve never had a charge with children.”

  “None of them sound like the insect-constructs,” said Alex, relieved, “so I think it’s just a coincidence.”

  “I hope so,” said Julian, looking less relaxed himself. “I’m pretty full, should we go soon?”

  “I made a sweet for afters,” said Jacques proudly. “But we could get a few things here to go, if you want to try them.”

  “Let’s do that,” said Alex, getting a nod from Julian. Alex decided to be a bit silly and he gave Julian a quick kiss, then sent a dozen little green-and-yellow butterflies out past their screen to find their waiter, who came back laughing to see what they needed, following the fluttering illusion.

  “I was helping with the birthday party, you made her night,” said the waiter with a big grin. “What can I do for you?”

  “We’d like to get all this packed up, and get an assortment of sweets to go, please, my date’s a bit tired,” said Alex politely, “and the check, of course.”

  “Of course,” said the waiter. Julian looked appropriately wan for him, and he added, “I’ll take care of it in a trice.”

  He left them, only to return a moment later with an armful of boxes and a couple of other waiters who helped pack everything up efficiently. Once that was done, they all vanished, and it was a bit longer before he came back with a final bag of goodies and a silver tray with the check and a little bowl of candied fennel seeds.

  “Thank you,” said Alex gratefully, starting to feel the fatigue he’d assigned to Julian. He knew it would fade, but the magical cacophony was getting to him a bit now that the Guardians had made him aware of it. He handed over his card and they shared around the fennel, then waited in tense silence to be done.

  “It’s not just you,” said Julian after a few moments. “It feels different now than it did earlier. Less friendly.”

  “It’s good we’re going,” said Jacques. “I’ve texted Jones to come around, he says he’s done eating and will be out front momentarily.”

  Alex’s card came back and everything was taken care of, and the waiter even volunteered to help them bring the food to the car.

  “Thanks, that would be a help,” said Alex, though he did snag the bag of sweets himself. That left three, so the waiter took two and Julian picked up the other one, leaving the Guardians’ hands free.

  When the trouble came a moment later, it was almost anticlimactic.

  “Whassis?” said a thick voice, and the screen was roughly pushed aside to reveal a large man and his two friends, all three of them drunk and belligerent. “Why’re you hidin’ the rich boys?”

  “Is that a big ol’ bloody diamond?” said one of the others, leaning forward to stare at Alex’s cravat.

  The Guardians exchanged a look, and then James asked the waiter politely, “Would you like these men removed from your establishment?”

  The big man laughed raucously, and Alex felt very bad indeed for the little girl whose birthday party was being spoilt much the same way as his date. “What’s a little thing like you gonna do t’me?”

  “Clearly, you’ve never met a Guardian before,” said Alex. He set his food down and tugged Julian close to his side.

  “Any assistance you wished to provide would be appreciated,” said the waiter, looking very worried indeed.

  “Off we go, then,” said Jacques.

  The two Guardians stepped forward in eerie unison, and Alex heard a spike of magic coming from the pair of them, Jacques high and James low in a harmony that piqued Alex’s professional curiosity. Despite the fact that there were three opponents, the two Guardians didn’t even twitch toward their weapons. Instead, Jacques slid to the left and around to put the big man in a very firm choke-hold, while James slid to the right and, quite literally, knocked together the heads of the other two. Another graceful shift in position put James behind them, and he hooked a hand in each collar and tugged them backwards, off-balance, and then the magic peaked and all three men went limp.

  James and Jacques grinned ferally and dragged them outside so precisely that they didn’t even hit any furniture along the way.

  The waiter swallowed and looked at Alex, wide-eyed. “So, those are actual Guardians, then.”

  Alex couldn’t help it, he laughed. “Yes, those are actual Guardians. Their combination of magic and combat is fascinating, isn’t it?” he said, the last in a perfectly innocent tone.

  “There was magic?” said Julian curiously.

  “Oh, I suppose it would be hard to tell if you aren’t sensitive,” said Alex. “Yes, there was a spell that helped them out, and knocked out their opponents once they were subdued. Probably better for them in the long run than a concussion or oxygen deprivation.”

  James and Jacques came strolling back in, still grinning those adrenaline-fuelled grins. “That was fun,” said Jacques.

  “The police are coming to retrieve them,” said James. “They’ll wake once they’re cuffed, you may tell the officers if we’re already gone.”

  “That was brilliant,” said the waiter, and then, spontaneously, the whole restaurant applauded, Alex and Julian included.

  The two of them turned and bowed, then gave Alex and Julian a look that said they wanted to discuss something as soon as possible. “We’ve got to be going,” said Alex, “but I’m sure the police will be here very soon.”

  “Of course, of course,” said the waiter, and two more bustled up at his gesture to take the extra bags of food and help escort them all out to
their car.

  The food went into the trunk, and the police drove up just as they were getting settled, so James took a moment to speak with them and promise to come by tomorrow to give statements, though from a Guardian protecting his charge, very little would need to be said. Especially not with so many witnesses to attest that the drunken men had most definitely made the first threats.

  The cuffs clicked on, and the men woke as from a sleep, groggy but mostly unharmed. James shot them a predatory smile as he got into the car, and they looked up at the cops with drunken confusion for a moment before the protests started. Jones pulled away before Alex could see how the scene played out, but their waiter stayed outside to deal with it.

  “I think they were influenced,” said James.

  “I felt a bit of foreign magic on them, something that enhanced their belligerence and send them in our direction,” said Jacques.

  Alex took a deep breath, letting it out with a sigh. “Well, the reservation’s been on the books a few days, so it’s quite possible it’s our killer, if he’s also turned stalker. Which isn’t unlikely, given his lack of success eliminating me so far.”

  Julian snuggled closer to Alex and said, in a small voice, “You don’t have to keep Courting me to investigate, I’d let you have access to the house anyway.”

  Alex gave him a soft, serious look, and then a very sweet kiss. “I know that, Julian. Whatever other reasons I might have had for entering your Courtship, I’m here now for you.”

  Julian melted and kissed him rather passionately for being in a car full of other people, but Alex wasn’t about to stop him.

  James chuckled after a moment. “Before you get too distracted, I did tell the officer to have them checked for magical coercion and to tell Smedley if they came up positive.”

  Alex broke the kiss regretfully, then kissed the tip of Julian’s nose and snuggled him closer. “You guys are amazing at what you do, thank you. I’m fascinated by the magic you two used, I suppose it’s a trade secret?”

  The two Guardians exchanged wry looks. “Something like that, yes.”

  “It doesn’t always work, anyway, a lot of people have magical protection,” said James.

  “But those three were already under the influence, so we risked trying the easy way first,” said Jacques.

  “I’m not helpless, anyway,” reminded Alex.

  “That’s why it was worth risking,” agreed James. “They weren’t the sort of threat that couldn’t be coped with, even with a few mistakes.”

  “That’s why it was fun,” said Jacques with another of those grins that showed the vicious warrior under his cheerful personality. If Alex had wondered why Jacques was a Guardian, he didn’t anymore.

  “Always glad to provide some entertainment,” said Alex wryly.

  Julian giggled.

  CHAPTER 22

  In Which Sweets are Enjoyed and Magic is Made

  Alex’s flat was just as they’d left it, though a quick check showed that a few things had poked at the wards while they were gone.

  “We’re going to clear the apartment, can you take Julian into your work room?” said James, when they saw the signs.

  “Yes, Dad,” said Alex, though they did pause to hang up their coats before doing so. “I wasn’t going to show you this yet,” said Alex shyly, “but it’s the safest place in the flat.”

  “I’ve been dying to look,” said Julian with a grin, “so I don’t mind one bit.”

  Alex laughed and escorted him into the room, waving at the Guardians before closing the door. He whistled at his wards, pleased to find these showed no signs of tampering, then turned to Julian with a shy grin. “Do you want to hear what things are or just poke around?”

  Julian looked at the room, neat despite the huge amounts of stuff, and then back to Alex. “I want you to kiss me with no one watching,” he said softly.

  “Oh,” said Alex, breath tight in his chest. He turned them around, pressing Julian against the door and nuzzling at his neck, bracing himself so he could lean the cane nearby and use both hands to hold Julian close. He breathed in once and moved up to lay a soft kiss on Julian’s parted lips. “I want to do so much more than kiss you, Julian.”

  Julian let out a hungry little sound and kissed back, hands curling in Alex’s hair and body melting in his arms. They kissed and kissed, snogging like teenagers there up against the door, Alex’s hands roaming over Julian’s body, slipping under his frock coat to stroke the warm fabric at his back and sides.

  The knock at the door startled them both, and they jumped and laughed. “All clear!” called Jacques. “I’ll get the sweets ready.”

  Alex rested his forehead against Julian’s. “I wasn’t sure I really wanted this,” he said hoarsely, “but whenever I think of you, all I can think of is making you mine.”

  Julian reached up and stroked Alex’s cheek. “I hope we can make it work, your life and mine,” he said, soft and a little sad. “I love your flat, and the people you’ve surrounded yourself with, but I have responsibilities, too.”

  Alex kissed him again. “If we can’t get you out of the velvet trap, then I’ll join you in it and find a way to make us happy,” he promised. It didn’t even feel reckless, after his time the other day at the Temple; he’d already come to terms with the fact that he was falling in love with Julian and would be willing to work to have a life together.

  Whatever form that took.

  Julian leaned up for one more achingly sweet kiss and grinned. “Come on, I want to see what Jacques cooked for us.”

  Alex laughed and hugged him close, then retrieved his walking stick and let them both out. They headed into the brightly-lit kitchen, where the table was covered in sweets and empty boxes, James putting every single item from the restaurant into proper dishes while Jacques put the finishing touches on the Opera cake he’d made earlier. He was cutting them each a rectangle and decorating it with a curl of chocolate with a level of concentration that Alex found rather adorable.

  Julian just looked a bit stunned. “We’re not going to eat all that, are we?”

  “We might,” said Alex. “What do you want to start with?”

  Julian giggled. “Tea,” he said, “and this.” He sat down in front of one of the plates of Opera cake and picked up a fork. “This looks amazing, my chef hates making any of these sorts of things with all the layers and the soaking.”

  “It helps that no one makes me do it,” said Jacques cheerfully. “Hobbies are always more fun.”

  “That’s so true,” agreed Alex. “I always enjoy making things I want to make more than things I’m paid to make.”

  Julian dug into the cake and took a bite, making a very appreciative noise as he chewed and swallowed that got Alex’s undivided attention. “Well, here’s to hobbies, then,” he said, grinning. “This is delicious, thank you, Jacques.”

  “Yes, thank you, you guys have really helped tonight,” said Alex, sitting next to Julian and digging into his own piece of Opera cake. He echoed the noises Julian was making, and once again briefly considered never solving the crime just to keep the Guardians around. “How did I rate you two?”

  James laughed. “He doesn’t usually cook for our charges,” he said, “Most of them have their own staff, you’re an exception all around.”

  “So you usually keep him to yourself? Cruel,” said Alex, taking another bite. “So cruel, mmmm.”

  They all laughed at that, and then the tea was done and poured and they sat around the table and nibbled and chatted about nothing of importance. It felt like friends, like something Alex hadn’t bothered to cultivate much before this, and he hoped it wouldn’t all go away when he was done.

  “All right,” he said, once Julian had gotten to the stage of picking at things rather than eating them, “want to see what I’ve got for you?”

  “Yes!” said Julian, grinning and wiping his hands. “In the living room?”

  “In the living room,” agreed Alex. He freshened up their tea
and then they went on out, leaving the Guardians in the kitchen to continue their chat.

  He’d laid out two things on the coffee table. The first was Julian’s gift, so it was covered with a makeshift wrapping box, and in front of that there was a line of objects. “So, gift first or our evening’s activity?”

  Julian looked intrigued and annoyed. “Oh, I hate choosing! All right, gift, you know I love presents.”

  Alex grinned. “I know,” he said. “That’s this, if you hadn’t guessed, just lift it off.”

  Julian complied, revealing a neat little window-box of plants, each with a green thumb charm stuck in the dirt next to it. The cheap little trinkets consisted of a bit of copper wire wrapped around a glass bead, which would change colour if the plant needed water, nutrients, space, or relief from pests. Right now they were all a soft green, indicating Alex hadn’t managed to harm them in five days he’d had them in his care.

  “All right, explain,” said Julian.

  Alex grinned. “Fairy flowers,” he said, pointing to three of the seven plants, the two outside and one in the middle. “They attract a certain sort of fae, and having them out is said to bring good luck. These two,” he said, pointing to the inner pair, “are ward-thistles, which help to dissuade wandering creatures of ill luck, and these two,” he said, pointing to the outer pair, “are lucky clover.”

  Julian laughed and kissed him. “You, my Mage, are so very clever. I assume you’re suggesting it go outside my bedroom window?”

  “If there’s space, yes. You could also put them inside the bathroom if it gets enough natural light, though they won’t do as much good.” Alex gently stroked one of the green leaves. “They’re not powerful magic, but they’re old magic, natural magic.”

  “Magic that doesn’t take a mage to use,” said Julian. “Thank you.” He leaned up for a warm, sweet kiss that turned a bit warmer than perhaps intended.

  Alex didn’t mind a bit.

  “Mm, as nice as this is, we have magic to do,” said Alex after a bit.