by JL Madore
I brushed at my hot cheeks, diamonds clinking off the ceramic plate beneath my chin. “You must all think me ridiculous. I feel foolish.”
“Nonsense,” Kobi said, pushing diamonds around on my plate. “Forget all about the woman in the bathroom. Look at these. You’re a money-making machine, sweetheart. Purple diamonds must be worth a fortune.”
“Besides,” Lexi said, “that’s just the Cosmos and lack of food talking. If anyone came out looking like a fool tonight, it was Julian, not you.”
Julian stared at the purple tear gemstones on my plate and then studied my face. “Oh, shit, Zophia? I . . . uh.” He finished the last swig of his beer and shook his head.
The table burst into another round of roaring laughter, and he raised his palms to the group.
“All right, I deserved that. Yuck it up, everyone. Get it out of your systems.”
CHAPTER FIVE
I woke to the sensation of someone licking my ankle. Blinking against the fog and blotches blocking my vision, I tried to focus. There was a little girl at the foot of the bed, and she was, indeed, licking me. That is, until she bit.
“Ouch.” I pulled my leg back and sat up.
“Sorry,” Bruin said, rushing into the room and scooping my attacker up in his arms. “This one got away on me. Kiara’s a biter. You okay?”
I rubbed at my ankle, disoriented by my surroundings. Gold bed linens had been replaced by navy blue. The space where I was accustomed to a kitchenette was filled with weightlifting workout equipment. The weapon’s vest and men’s clothing tossed around the room sealed the deal.
“Uh . . . Bruin, where am I?”
“You’re in my home. The Dens. You don’t remember?”
I shook my head, tugging the sheet to cover my bare legs. Okay, t-shirt and underwear. At least I wasn’t naked. “And whose room is this?”
“That would be mine,” Kobi said, strutting into the room from a connecting door opposite the bed. He held a black towel across his hips, the rest of him bare and freshly washed. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember last night. I’m crushed. I consider myself unforgettable.”
When the towel dropped to the floor, my gaze dropped as well. Before I was caught staring, I snapped my attention back to the man’s face. The warrior grinned and stepped into a pair of black jeans without underwear. Disjointed images from the night before flashed through my mind, but nothing—
“He’s fucking with you, Zo,” Bruin said, dangling the little girl by one ankle and swinging her around. “Don’t be a dick, Demon. Look at her face.”
“Dick is my default setting.” Kobi pulled on a black t-shirt and then collected his weapons vest from where it hung slung over the back of a desk chair. After shrugging it on, he poked the dangling child in the belly. “And what have I told you about coming into my room without permission, little lion?”
“You eat me,” the girl said, twisting as Bruin tossed her up in the air.
“That’s right. I’ll slather you with barbeque sauce and roast you extra crispy.” With that, he flicked his thumb against his forefinger and flame leaped from his flesh.
Kiara squealed, and Bruin set her on her feet. “Say sorry to Miss Zophia for biting her, and to Kobi for trespassing.”
“I’s sorry,” she giggled, her gaze locked on the flame in Kobi’s hand. “No eat me, Koki.”
“You’re lucky I already had breakfast, little monster.” Kobi extinguished his thumb and tugged a lock of her hair. “Now go beat up your brothers.”
Bruin pinched her bottom and the two left, Kiara screeching in laughter all the way down the corridor.
Kobi closed the door behind them and turned back to me, an evil grin firmly in place. He scratched the back of his neck, and my eyes followed the flex of muscles across his arms and chest. “Now, back to last night.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear what happened. The warrior was tall, dark, and notoriously promiscuous. Though I was far from being a prude, if Kobi and I had gotten naked while drunk and I couldn’t even remember it . . . my life truly was spiraling out of control.
“You really don’t remember?”
I shook my head. “Did Bree and I sing to the moon?”
Kobi laughed, grabbed a wooden chair from beside the dresser, and spun it around. Straddling the seat, he rested his arms on the back. “Not sure about that. Jade tired out around midnight, and Nyssa and Lexi walked her home. You and Bree rocked on with us at the Hearthstone for a while, then came back here for an afterparty.”
“And how did I end up in your bed?”
“Around 3:30, you waltzed in, passed out, and here we are.”
“And my pants?”
Kobi waggled his ebony brows. “Gone before you got here. I can’t help you there.”
“And where did you sleep?”
He pointed to the bed and laughed again. “Listen. It was late, and you were out. I’m an Incubus Demon, not a twenty-year-old, frat boy creeper. When I hit the horizontal, my partners are fully aware, I assure you.”
“And why did I come here? What did I say?”
Kobi fished a pack of cigarettes out of his vest pocket. “We didn’t get that far. You lifted your shirt and danced around a bit, asking if I liked your lacy underthings. I said I did. Then you crawled onto my bed and face-planted into my duvet.”
I closed my eyes, my cheeks burning hot. “I don’t remember any of that.”
“You were pasted.”
The next round of questions skidded to an abrupt halt as my alcohol overindulgence swirled in my gut. Kobi seemed to recognize the impending outcome because he gripped under my elbows and ushered me to the bathroom.
The tile floor chilled my shins, and I shivered as I retched. A warm, damp cloth draped across the nape of my neck. “This is getting downright domestic, lacy girl. You’re tarnishing my image as a selfish asshole.”
I heaved again, gagging as my eyes and nose watered.
“The view makes up for it. Damn, you’ve got a great ass. If you were feeling better, I would sooo drop down and ride you from behind.”
I spat bitter bile from my mouth and waved for him to get out. “Don’t worry. I think your image is safe.”
After the vomiting spell in Kobi’s bathroom ended, I found he’d left for his Talon shift. I took the opportunity to shower and get freshened up before searching his drawers for a pair of pants. Everything he owned was so . . . male. The thought of coming out of his room wearing his clothes was too much to face. I decided to dematerialize back to Jade’s guest room.
I got nowhere and tried again.
The queasy unease rose once again as my form remained as solid and corporeal as ever. Either my power to dematerialize had been stripped from me like my station and my right to visit my mother, or Bruin had upped his security since I’d visited Lia a few weeks ago.
“Knock knock,” a woman said. “It’s Mika, may I come in?”
An indigenous woman peeked inside the room. I had yet to meet Bruin’s human mate but recognized her from my sisters replaying her Were bonding almost nine months ago. Gods, how they laughed at the chaos they had caused by joining an authoritative, overprotective Were with an independent human journalist. It was a nightmare for everyone while they sorted things out as mates. It almost ruined Bruin and Lexi.
“Please, come in,” I said, “though I apologize for standing here with no pants.”
“Thus, the reason for my intrusion.” Mika stepped further into the room with a stack of folded clothes between her palms. “I wasn’t sure about your style but was pretty sure the back-combed rocker hair and painted on ripped jeans was only for the Hearthstone band night. I brought you a selection. Borrow whatever you like.”
I accepted the clothes with my thanks. “Did we meet last night? I’m embarrassed to say I don’t remember anything after the bar.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ve woken Blackout-Betty a couple of times myself. Nothing to be embarrassed about. You were with friends, and
it was just good fun.”
I looked at the tousled sheets of Kobi’s bed and blushed. “Kobi assures me nothing happened, and—”
Mika waved away my concern. “Kobi paints a macabre picture of himself but anyone who truly knows him—and that’s likely no more than two or three people—knows that he’s far more than he shows the world. The first time I met him, he and Bruin saved me from being raped by three angry bikers. If he were the type of man to take advantage of a woman who couldn’t give proper consent, he’d never live in my home.”
Kobi had said as much, but hearing Mika vouch for his character went a long way to ease my mind. I slid on a pair of navy slacks and held up a copper peasant blouse.
“Aust said you’ve been dealt a lot. He’s worried about you and your mom.”
“He’s sweet to worry.”
“That’s the way he’s wired. Too sweet for his own good. He didn’t come home last night, and when I spoke to him this morning, he seemed upset. Any idea what that was about?”
I leaned toward the mirror and fingered my damp hair. My reflection seemed so unfamiliar: the short hair, the clothes, the leftover makeup from last night. “He stayed with me and my mother last night. I’m not sure what upset him . . . well, beyond the obvious.”
Mika brought her braid forward and played with the end. “No offense, but I don’t want Aust drawn into someone else’s drama. He’s been hurt enough. He deserves better.”
I turned in time to see Mika close the door behind her, leaving me feeling like I’d just been told off. I wasn’t taking advantage of Aust’s loyalty to my mother, was I?
The moment I stepped onto the outer plateau of the Dens, the zing of my powers tingled in my cells. Blessed be. So, the block on dematerializing was an increased security measure. I exhaled, surprised at both how vulnerable mortals must feel unable to exit a situation at will, and how vulnerable I felt thinking that Dane had somehow taken that from me too.
The thought of my temporary exile burned hot in my blood. I threw my molecules to the wind and made my way across the mountain to a door I swore I would never pass through.
Walking up the beige hall and into the surveillance room of the Gatehouse, I waited until Julian gazed up from his monitors. “I opened the door, and a chime announced my arrival just as you asked. Will you speak civilly with me today, or is the man from the bar only sweet to drunk strangers?”
Julian gestured to the chair opposite his desk. “I deserve that. I made you feel unwelcome, and you bore the brunt of a very bad mood on a very bad day. It won’t happen again.”
I didn’t think it would. “When I came before, I was bound by my station not to reveal things I knew. I’m now suspended from my position and, for the moment, don’t feel the same obligation of duty.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. Jade only mentioned trouble with your family. For what it’s worth, you’re the only Fate anyone respects. It truly is their loss that you’re no longer one of them.”
I took the chair offered and ran damp palms down the crease of my slacks. “For now, at least. And while I’m not bound to silence, I want to revisit our conversation. This time, hopefully, with a more successful end.”
“The one about Savage.”
“Among other things, yes.”
“I still don’t understand why you want to know about him.”
Never had I brazenly stepped beyond the tenet of my duty. To discuss what I must to get answers was an outright betrayal of my station. But it was no longer my station.
I gathered my hands in my lap and exhaled. “His life history is one of the two tapestries I found inaccessible in the Hall of Destiny. At first, I thought the frames were blocking me, and simply refused to heed my call. Upon further thought and investigation, I am now convinced they were removed.”
“Removed? Does that happen?”
“Never.”
“Could someone take them?
“I don’t see how?”
“Why would someone want them?”
“Information gained. Information to be kept from others? I honestly don’t know.”
“So, who has access to take them?”
I sat back and folded my hands in my lap. “Only someone who can enter the Veil, who possesses the divine ability to call a tapestry forward.”
“Someone couldn’t just go back and grab it?”
I frowned. “It’s not like selecting a blanket from a linen closet, Julian. There are more than a hundred thousand members of the Realm of the Fair. Each tapestry is enchanted to respond to a summons.”
“And I take it they aren’t labeled.”
“No.”
“And every member of this realm has a tapestry?”
“Yes.”
“So, if someone did steal them, they’d first have to call the tapestries forward and then get themselves out of the building and away from the Palace without raising suspicion.” Julian tapped on his keyboard, and notes appeared on one of the large screens on the wall. “Is this Hall of Destiny in a private section of the Fae Palace or on the grounds somewhere?”
“It’s a separate building, but within the restricted grounds of the royal family.”
“Who wouldn’t seem out of place . . . who also has access to the Hall and possesses the power to call forth a tapestry?”
“That is the crux of it. The only ones who fall into each of the categories you mentioned are the original three, my sisters, and me.”
Julian stopped typing, his pale green gaze meeting mine. “That’s a very short list.”
“I know.”
“And an alarming list as well.”
“You share my concern.”
Julian reached into a drawer of his desk and pulled a long red strand of candy out of a plastic package. “Licorice helps me think. Or at least I say it does.”
He handed me a piece and stepped away from his desk to pace the room. “Okay, so let’s work our way backward. We know you didn’t take it. Next, your sisters.”
“I can’t see any of them interested enough in realm life to care. Especially in Savage. To them, he is simply a termite crawling on the mound.”
“I didn’t get a warm and fuzzy when they were here for Lia’s hearing.”
“They would never jeopardize Castian’s anger for what . . . curiosity? Mischief? What would be their gain? They enjoy the fallout of meddling. It makes them feel powerful. Superior. What would the theft of two tapestries give them?”
“Two that you are aware of,” Julian said. “You can’t be sure there aren’t others. As you said, there are over a hundred thousand members of the realm.”
“I hadn’t considered that, but you’re right.”
“Okay, well, Savage shielded you from the attack. Maybe your sisters wanted to fuck with you?”
“I don’t think so. I only mentioned him after I found the tapestry missing. Their attention span doesn’t support a plan that takes days or weeks to come to fruition. It might have been months until I called that particular frame.”
“Okay, so, they either have a different motive, or we’re looking at the original three. Man, I don’t want to go there. That’s scary shit.”
“I know. Honestly, Castian has no reason to take it secretly. He has full access to everything. Besides, when I mentioned my troubles with the loom, he seemed genuinely concerned.”
Julian reached over his desk and grabbed a handful of licorice and started chewing on a second. “Rheagan is a frightening thought. That she could get her hands on the lives in progress of all the members of the realm. That’s a shit-ton of access to information.”
I bit the end of the red strand and chewed. What a bizarre, artificial flavor. The sweet, textured bits in my mouth slid across my tongue, both smooth and chunky.
Rather disgusting.
“I don’t think it’s Rheagan. Castian warded the Veil against her, and though no one is certain what her powers are after all these years, in her non-corporeal form, I doubt she could access m
y station and make away with the tapestries.”
“You’re assuming she’s still an evil fog floating around somewhere. Maybe her lapdog found her a body.”
I shook my head. “I don’t believe so. I studied Abaddon’s tapestry up until Lia’s hearing. He hadn’t moved on any other innocent.”
“What about after the hearing?”
I set the remainder of my strand of candy on the desk. “That’s the most alarming point. Abaddon’s record of life is the other tapestry missing. Without it, there’s no way to know what he’s doing or has done.”
He stared at me, shaking his head as he started chewing on his third strand of licorice. “Oh, I am hating this. Okay, on to the last name on your list.”
“Dane.”
Julian frowned. “Do you think Dane would work behind the scenes against his own brother?”
“He’s never liked living in Castian’s shadow. He also petitioned the Fae Council to have me removed from my station behind Castian’s back. I hadn’t told anyone except Castian about the missing tapestries. Maybe he thought if he got rid of me, no one would figure it out.”
“Have you ever seen him lurking around near the Hall of Destiny? Maybe scoping things out? Maybe figuring out how to gain access?”
I shook my head. “He wouldn’t need to. He knows the stations of the Fates as well as we do and drops in unannounced all the time.”
“Why, what business does he have there?”
I stepped to the water cooler by the door. After filling a tiny cone cup with water, I washed away the foul taste in my mouth. “He’s our father.”
Julian stopped chewing, his pale gaze bright against the warm mocha of his skin. “You’re the daughter of one of the original three?”
“All four of us are, yes. Though, I have a different mother and was raised apart from them.”
“Thank the gods for that. Or goddess, I guess. So, who is your mother?”
Though members of the Pantheon didn’t offer the twists of the royal family tree, Aust and Jade knew who my parents were. It wasn’t a secret exactly, just private. “My mother is Shalana.”
Julian choked on his candy. “That’s one powerful parental pairing, Zo. I had no idea. So, you must be like, super juiced with Fae mojo.”