by Jasmine Walt
“Oh, man,” I said, licking my lips. “You know, every time I’ve eaten something today, it’s like trying it again for the first time. It has been that long since I’ve had regular food.”
I opened my eyes just in time to see hunger in Maddock’s gaze that had nothing to do with the juicy steak on his plate. Heat flared in my belly, and I reached for my glass of prosecco to cover up my own reaction.
“I am truly sorry ye had to suffer at the Morrigan’s hands like that,” he said gruffly. “I have suffered similar imprisonments in my past, and I know what they can do to a person.” His eyes bored into me. “Ye seem remarkably well-adjusted for someone who potentially spent years as a slave.”
I shrugged. “I think it helped that my memories had been taken from me,” I told him. “I didn’t know what I was missing, and everything from my time on the island is kind of blurred together now that I have them back.” I popped another bite of swordfish into my mouth, then took a moment to savor it. “Besides, my time in Faerie has made me stronger. I’ve got a lot better grasp on my magic than I did before.”
“Is that right?” Maddock lifted an eyebrow, looking intrigued. “What did the Winter King teach ye?”
“Nothing really,” I said, turning my gaze back to my food. The less time I spent looking at Maddock, the less my body would react to his proximity. “It’s more like old knowledge has been returning to me. I used that voice trick of yours on two store clerks today because I didn’t have my driver’s license.”
Maddock barked out a surprised laugh. “That wasn’t the response I was expecting,” he said, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “I dinnae think yer license was amongst yer belongings, but yer birth certificate and other documents are safe, so ye shouldn’t have a problem getting one re-issued.”
“Yeah…but I had a Chicago one,” I said, a realization suddenly hitting me. “I’ll either have to go back there to get a new one, or officially move here to get one.”
“It is no great matter to get ye to Chicago if needed,” Maddock said, watching me carefully, “but it seems as if yer not sure that’s what ye want to do.”
“I’m not sure of anything right now,” I said. “I don’t think I will be until I get my name cleared.”
“Well, that’s what the lawyer is for,” Maddock said. “Do ye want me to accompany ye to yer meeting? Sometimes it’s good to have a second person to ask questions ye might not think of.”
I opened my mouth, on the verge of saying yes. This was my first time seeing a defense attorney, and I was a little nervous. I’d never been brought up on criminal charges before.
“No thanks,” I said instead, surprising the hell out of myself. But as the words came, I realized it was the right thing to do.
Maddock frowned. “Are ye sure? If I come, then ye at least won’t have to worry about finding a way to contact me.”
“Yes,” I said firmly. “This is something I have to do on my own.” I pulled my new cell phone from my purse and handed it to him. “And I’ve got the contact thing covered. Just put your number in here.”
“Well, well,” Maddock murmured, taking the phone. Our fingertips brushed, and a spark of heat skipped across my skin. “Ahead of the game already.” He punched in his number, then handed it back to me. But this time, he grabbed my hand before I could pull away. “Ye dinnae have to try so hard at being the independent woman, Brooke. I have no intention of being yer nursemaid. But I made a promise to protect ye, and it’s one I must take seriously.”
“Of course,” I said, pulling my hand away. “Wouldn’t want to lose your magic, would you?” I tried to ignore the bitter feeling tightening my throat. Why did he always have to remind me that this was about him? That it had always been about him?
“This is not about me,” Maddock growled, snatching my wrist again. His eyes burned with barely restrained ire. “I have a responsibility to my people, Brooke. What do you think would happen to them if I lost my magic?”
“I’m not questioning your integrity,” I snapped, pulling my grip from his again. I was about to ask him if we could just get the check and skip out of here, but I realized I was being unreasonable. Maddock was being nice to me—nicer than he’d ever been, and I was acting like a total bitch.
“I’m sorry,” I said, letting out a heavy sigh. “It’s just…I’m not used to you being nice to me. And after everything that’s happened between us, I can’t help but question your actions. I…I just don’t trust you, Maddock.”
Maddock’s face went carefully blank. “Of course,” he said, sitting back in his chair. “I cannae blame ye for being cautious.”
Damn right, I thought as he escorted me out the door. I needed to protect myself. I couldn’t afford to rely on Maddock any more than I absolutely had to, not if I wanted to find my place in the world. He might have landed me in this mess with the Salem PD, but I was just as responsible, and it was time for me to be a big girl. And past experience had taught me that handling my relationship with Maddock using kid gloves was absolutely warranted.
But if that was true, then why the fuck did I feel so guilty?
Chapter 18
The lawyer, Jesse Kerrigan, turned out to be a snappy-dressing kitsune with thick, copper colored hair, foxy-looking face, and a lean body beneath an expensive suit. He shook hands with Maddock and exchanged a few brief, but friendly words of greeting that told me the two were well-acquainted.
“Ye’ll call me right away when yer finished here?” Maddock asked. “I dinnae want ye wandering about the city by yerself.”
I held in a sigh. “Yes, Dad.” This protector thing was getting a little overbearing—I could defend myself, and Darun was only a whistle away. The wolf’s tooth around my neck would summon him instantly. “I’ll call as soon as I’m done.”
“Good.” He vanished.
“Well, then.” The lawyer turned to me, all business. “Shall we?”
I spent about an hour in his swanky upper level-office, telling him everything I could about my background and the situation with the Salem PD without divulging too much. He didn’t need to know I was an Unseelie princess, or about the artifacts, or anything else that didn’t strictly pertain to the case.
“Sounds like you’ve got quite a mess on your hands,” the lawyer said when I was finished. He leaned back in his leather chair and pressed the tips of his fingers together as he regarded me thoughtfully. “I suppose we can claim that you were hit by a mugger and lost your memory for a couple weeks, as you suggested, but if any witnesses at all have seen you in the interim, that’s not going to hold up.”
An image of those two Canadian warlocks flashed in my mind, but I shrugged it off—that was only yesterday. “I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. How do you suggest we proceed from here?”
“Well, we’re definitely going to need a signed agreement and a retainer up front,” he said, “but once that’s sorted, I’d say our first action should be to go and talk to the Salem PD chief together. I’d do it tomorrow morning, as it’s better to get this done as soon as possible, but my schedule is pretty full. We can do it the following morning, though.”
A nervous tingle went down my spine. “What are we going to say to them?”
The lawyer and I spent the next couple of minutes working out our story. “It’s likely that they’ll still arrest you,” he warned, “but if that happens, I’ll arrange bail immediately. With Maddock Tremaine at your back, it shouldn’t be hard.” He gave me a sly smile.
I shook my head. “There’s no need to bring Maddock’s money into this. I’m more than capable of handling the financials myself.”
The lawyer blinked in surprise, but he only nodded. “Very well. Let’s get you set up then.”
Fifteen minutes later, I walked out of the office with a signed agreement and a significantly lighter wallet. Night had fallen, and I could hear a stiff wind blowing in the streets beyond the glass doors, so I stayed inside and pulled out my phone to call Maddock.
&
nbsp; A notification was waiting for me on the screen—Maddock had left a voice mail. Man, was he ever going to stop being so overbearing? He was probably wondering what was taking me so long. As if my first meeting with the lawyer was something that should be rushed. Rolling my eyes, I pressed a button and lifted the phone to my ear to listen to his message.
“Detective,” Maddock said, and my spine stiffened at the tightness in his voice. “I apologize, but it seems I have been called away on an urgent matter, and won’t be able to collect ye. I’ve sent one of my men to pick ye up and bring ye back to ENVY, where ye’ll stay the night. He’ll serve as both yer driver and yer bodyguard. Look for a black Mercedes parked at the curb when yer finished.”
Frowning, I hung up the phone. Maddock had been called away? By who? Stepping to the window, I pressed my nose to the cold glass so I could get a better look outside. Sure enough, there was a Mercedes parked beneath the streetlight. A surge of disappointment took me by surprise, and I realized that even though Maddock’s fussing was a little much, I’d been looking forward to him picking me up.
Get over it, I told myself sternly. Maddock had his own life, and I clearly needed to get one of my own if I was actually missing the guy.
I buttoned up my coat against the cold, then asked the security guard to let me out. As soon as I stepped onto the pavement, the driver got out of the car and came around to open the door for me. He was a towering, beefy guy dressed in a suit that sent my supernatural senses buzzing right away—one of Maddock’s trolls.
“Good evening, Miss Chandler,” he said in a gruff, but polite voice as he held the door open for me. Maddock had already taken my bags with him when he’d left, so there was nothing for the troll to put in the trunk. “My name is Talon, and I’ll be your driver and bodyguard.”
“Nice to meet you,” I said, swallowing my surprise. My encounters with Maddock’s trolls had always been less than friendly—they were usually either manhandling me or trying to prevent me from getting into the club. This welcoming approach was throwing me off big time.
The driver got back in the car, then asked me if there was anywhere I wanted to go before we headed back to the club. After thinking about it, I told him to head straight back—I’d done enough shopping for the day, and I really should be laying low. Leaning my head against the plush leather headrest, I let myself relax and watched the world whizz by through hooded eyelids.
God, but was I really going to walk into the Salem PD within the next forty-eight hours and let them arrest me? The very thought made me want to tell the driver to turn around and drive south instead, until we’d reached the tip of Florida. I had enough cash that I could probably convince a guy with a boat to take me to Cancun or Costa Rica, right? It was probably hotter down there than I’d like, but sparkling beaches and sexy guys would make up for that.
But no. Running away wasn’t my style. I was a detective, dammit, not a criminal, and if I was going to walk away from my life as a cop, I was going to do it as a free woman, not a fugitive.
Still, it was going to take a lot of guts to walk in there with my head held high, especially knowing that Baxter was waiting for me. It didn’t matter that I knew I was innocent—every single cop in there was going to take Baxter’s side, and the arrest was going to be humiliating. And what would my captain back home say once he found out about it? He had to already know there was a warrant out for my arrest.
Fuck, I thought, tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. Was my reputation already in tatters? What did the guys back home think? Did they believe what Baxter and the Salem PD were telling them? There were a few guys on the force who I hadn’t gotten along with very well; for sure, they’d be gloating. But I’d like to think the others, the ones I’d put my life on the line with, would at least question whether any of it was true.
The car slowed, and I opened my eyes, wondering if we’d arrived. Flashing police lights up ahead had me straightening in my chair, my pulse pounding, and I craned my neck to see what was going on.
“It’s just a sobriety checkpoint,” my driver said. “We’ll be fine. Lord Tremaine’s car never gets stopped.”
“Right.” Of course Maddock would have an arrangement worked out with the traffic cops. Not that he’d tolerate his employees driving drunk, but I wouldn’t put it past him to have suspicious passengers or cargo in his vehicles. Satisfied, I relaxed and watched Talon stop at the checkpoint and roll down his window.
“Good evening, sir,” the officer said, leaning forward. “Had anything to drink tonight?”
“No sir,” my driver said. “Just taking a passenger home for the evening.”
The cop glanced over the headrest to me, and something flickered in his eyes. “I’m going to need you to take a breathalyzer,” he said to Talon. “Let’s get the young lady out of the back of your car.”
“But, sir,” Talon protested, clearly confused. “I haven’t been drinking.”
“It’s standard protocol,” the cop insisted. His dark eyes snapped back to mine, hard now. “Please step out of the vehicle, Miss.”
A ball of fear rose in my throat, but I did as the cop asked. My heels clicked against the asphalt, and an icy wind whipped around my legs, tossing my skirt up around my knees. The cop closed the door behind me, and my driver moved off to the side of the road, out of the way of the line of cars so he could take his sobriety test.
“Let’s get you inside, Miss,” the cop said, taking me by the upper arm. “A bit cold for you to be standing out here like this, don’t you think?”
“No, I’m f—” I began, but suddenly there was another cop on my other side, and I was being herded to a police car on the other side of the road. “What the fuck are you doing?” I snapped as cuffs were snapped around my wrists. “Am I under arrest?”
“Not yet, and if you don’t want to be, I suggest you come quietly.”
“Hey!” Talon shouted angrily, and I saw him struggling with the cops across the street. Part of me wanted to run back to him—there were alarm bells going off in my head. These cops weren’t following protocol. Something was off.
But maybe the chief was willing to make a deal with me, or at least allow me to explain myself in private. Maybe I’d get the chance to clear the air, and they wouldn’t have to arrest me.
So I let the cops shove me into the back of the vehicle, then get into the car and speed off with me before Talon could get free.
Chapter 19
About fifteen minutes into the car ride, I finally managed convinced myself that everything was going to be okay. All I had to do was get myself in front of the chief, without Baxter around, and I would be able to explain everything. I’d call the lawyer if I had to—it was late at night, but he was on retainer, dammit. He’d come. He had to.
But my heart rate ratcheted right back up when, instead of continuing on the 107 toward Salem, we got off at Market Street. I leaned forward as far as I could manage with the stupid seatbelt on, trying to see if maybe the cop had made a mistake. We were turning around, right? Getting back onto the highway?
Instead, we passed the on-ramp and kept right on going.
“Um, where are we going?” I demanded, a sinking feeling settling into my stomach. “This isn’t the way back to Salem.”
“You’ll see,” the cop said, sounding utterly disinterested in my concern. “Just sit tight. We’re less than ten minutes away.”
“You’re not police,” I said, my hands balling into fists as confusion turned to anger. “Or if you are, you’re dirty fucking cops. Let me out of the car.”
“Sorry, no can do. We’re under orders to bring you in.”
I gnashed my teeth together, then forced myself to sit back and relax. Fine. If they weren’t going to release me, I’d do it myself. Looking down at my hands, I focused my magic into the handcuffs, willing them to freeze. They were made of steel, and if I could get them cold enough, I could shatter them.
But nothing happened. My magic surged into my hands, then
fizzled and died before it made contact with the cuffs. They didn’t even get cool.
“We’ve warded the backseat, you know,” the cop in the passenger’s seat said. “So you’re stuck until we let you out.”
I froze, reaching out with my senses. Sure enough, I could feel magic in the walls of the cab. Shit, there was magic in the handcuffs, too. How the hell hadn’t I noticed it? I’d been so fucking distracted by my inner turmoil that I hadn’t thought to use my senses.
And now I was paying for it. Big time.
“You’re warlocks,” I snarled, vibrating with rage at being so easily trapped. “Are you taking me to the Daire Coven?”
“I was wondering if she was ever going to figure it out,” the cop behind the steering wheel said. “Think she’s worth having in the coven? Mistress Darcia says she’s powerful, but she doesn’t seem too bright.”
I snapped my jaw shut before I said something I’d regret. These bastards had trapped me, and now they were trying to bait me, too. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of responding to their barbs. They thought they had me contained with these stupid cuffs, but I had the distinct feeling that, once I was out of the car, I’d be strong enough to shatter them. And if not, there was always Darun. He’d tear these bastards apart.
They might also capture him, then siphon all his energy, a warning voice in my head reminded me. Witches view the fae as a power source.
Shit. I’d completely forgotten about that. What if Darun came looking for me? Maddock told me that he was waiting back at ENVY for me, and if I didn’t show up, he would get worried. Would the witches automatically recognize him as fae? I’d have to figure out how to escape before he came after me. The last thing I wanted was for him to end up at their mercy.
At least the cops—scratch that, warlocks—hadn’t been lying about the time frame, I thought as we pulled up to a house about fifteen minutes later. It was an old, two-story farmhouse-, perched on several acres of property at the top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. Tingles skipped across my skin as my kidnappers escorted me from the vehicle—there was magic everywhere on this land.