Against the Dawn

by amanda bonilla

  “Since when is life fair?”

  Was he trying to infuriate me? “You’re not helping the situation.”

  Tyler pushed his chair out from the desk and came to sit next to me on the ratty old couch. “I’m going to be the bigger man, Darian. That night, I wasn’t. I acted like a petty and jealous asshole. He had the only thing in the world I wanted and I was pissed off because it wasn’t fair. He lost face in a room full of powerful people. I felt better because I’d humiliated him. I’m not proud of that fact, but I won’t deny it. I chose to be a smug bastard and he shouldn’t have to pay the price for that. Xander didn’t do anything wrong.”

  This is why I loved Tyler. I’d never known a more level, insightful, selfless person in my life. I supposed that was because he’d lived for so long and learned so many life lessons in the process. If wisdom and maturity were a result of our virtual immortality, maybe there was hope for me yet. “What about us?” Ty might have had the selfless thing down, but I still had a ways to go. “We have no idea where they’ll take you or for how long. And when a sentence is pronounced, then what?”

  “Darian,” Ty laughed, “it’s not like I’m going to the gallows or anything. Relax.”

  Easy for him to say. He hadn’t seen the need for vengeance burning in Xander’s eyes. “Tyler, how does the PNT even deal with someone like you?” I’d seen their jail facility. The rows of cells that looked like something out of a sci-fi movie.

  “In a word?” A superior smirk curved his lips. “Carefully.”

  Not. Helpful. “What about the Synod? I can’t imagine they’re thrilled about the attention this has garnered. From what I understand, they’re big fans of the whole cloak and dagger routine.”

  He gave an unconcerned shrug. “They’ve been looking for a reason to knock me down a peg or two for a while now. Looks like they got their wish. But I’m not worried about the Synod. Neither should you.”

  “Fine. Then what about me? What if I need you while you’re locked away in a PNT cell? How am I supposed to wish for my protector when he’s trapped in some sort of magic faerie force field?”

  “Force field?” Ty raised a brow and grinned.

  “Stop being so damned cavalier!”

  “Darian, do you really think I’d ever leave you unprotected?” He grabbed my hand, threaded my fingers with his. The cool temperature of his skin soothed me, gave me a little clarity. What Ty expected from me was a little faith and trust. But, damn, stepping off that cliff and knowing he’d be there to catch me was a scary thing.

  “No,” I said. He’d proved himself to me. Over and again. I trusted him. “I know you wouldn’t.”

  He leaned in and kissed me once. A soft, lingering kiss that caused chills to trickle down from my scalp and over my body in a pleasant tingle. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too.”

  A forceful knock came at the door before I could say all the sappy things that I wanted. “Tyler, it’s Adare.”

  “That was quick.” He gave a nervous laugh that betrayed his earlier calm before calling out, “Door’s opened, and I’m unarmed.”

  Jesus. Was that last bit necessary? “Yes, but I doubt the same is true for Darian.”

  Tyler looked at me with a wide smile, clearly amused. Adare and I weren’t going to ever be chummy as it seemed he could help but be suspicious of me. “She’ll behave. You have my word.”

  Through the door, Adare snorted and I seriously considered not behaving. I had no idea how much backup he’d brought along, but if it boiled down to a one on one fight, I was confident I could take him.

  “Don’t even think about it.”

  I wondered if omniscience went along with that absolute power thing Ty had going on. Because he seemed to know exactly what I’d been thinking. Then again, I wasn’t a closed book when it came to my brash need to rattle the chains of authority. “Fine. I’ll behave.”

  The door eased open and my stomach rocketed up into my throat. The control freak in me railed against the dark unknown stretching out before me and that helplessness reached out from the void to choke the air from my lungs. “I wish—”

  “No, Darian.” Tyler’s harsh command caused a cold ripple of raw power to vibrate under my skin and I shuddered. “This isn’t a situation that a simple wish can fix.”

  I shot up off the couch much to Adare’s dismay. The wary Fae drew his sword, his moss green eyes narrowing as he stepped deeper into the room. “Tylacharir ilndra Drásen, you have been accused of assault on a high king, acts of indecency with a king’s consort, and aiding in the incitement of treason. You are to be taken into custody until such time as the Pacific Northwest Territories’ justice council can determine your guilt. Further, you must agree to the binding of your power and to relinquish any and all claim to said power until the date of your hearing. Do you understand and submit to the will of our justice?”

  Fucking hell! What was Xander thinking bringing that laundry list of ridiculous charges against Ty? Indecency with a king’s consort? Incitement of treason? “Are you fucking kidding me?”

  Several Fae filtered in after Adare, all wielding wicked looking swords and all eye-balling me like they knew I was a hardcore trouble maker. Tyler turned to face me and his mysterious hazel gaze swallowed me whole. Tears prickled at my eyes and my breath sped in my chest in an effort to quell the rush that threatened to spill over my eyes. He took my hand in his, his touch so gentle it gave me chills. His thumb reached out and brushed the silver of my ring and a burst of stone cold power shot through my body. “I submit,” he said to Adare without breaking eye contact with me. “May I have one moment, Adare?”

  “Yes.”

  His tone was clipped with impatience but he must have respected Tyler—or else feared him—enough to grant him one concession. Ty took my other hand in his and I had to bite my lip to keep from saying something to the cocky Fae that I’d regret. “Darian, that envelope on the desk is for you. Don’t open it until you get home, do you understand?”

  “Y-yes,” I said through the thickness in my throat. “What is it?”

  “Just tying up a few loose ends,” he said.

  “I’m coming with you,” I insisted. “I’ll follow behind and meet you at the—”

  “No, Darian. I don’t want you there, do you understand? This isn’t for you to fix. It’s for your own good. Promise me. Promise you’ll keep your distance from this.”

  Faith. Trust. Both things I struggled with and both things that Tyler demanded of me now. If I wanted to prove that I trusted him, I had to do as he said. “All right. But if you need me…”

  “I know.” He leaned in and kissed me, his lips soft against mine.

  “What does Tylacharir Drásen ilndra mean? Are they formal charges? Your possible punishment? I want to be able to look it up so I know exactly what I need to lay into Xander for later.”

  Ty gave me a sheepish smile that melted my heart. “That’s my name, Darian. My really, really old name.”

  “Oh.” Now it was my turn to feel embarrassed. Seemed like the sort of fact one should know about the man she was in love with. What a mouthful. No wonder he went by Tyler now. I smiled back though what I wanted to do was cry. “I’ll go to Xander, convince him to drop these ridiculous accusations. He’s mad now, but not unreasonable. He needs to cool off, that’s all.”

  “Your moment is over, Tyler,” Adare said. Man, he just couldn’t get that stick out of his ass, could he? “It’s time to go.”

  Tyler pulled away, his fingers slipping through mine, and it took every ounce of self-control I had not to hold him tighter, bring him back to me. He took a step forward and faced Adare, his expression impassive. A spark of magic danced across my senses as Adare reached out and laid the pad of his thumb to Tyler’s forehead. Gold light burst from the contact leaving a gilded thumbprint that melted into Ty’s flesh. Apparently mollified, Adare secured a pair of silver cuffs, adorned with swirls and etchings to Ty’s wrists. “His power has been subdued a
nd he’s safe to transport,” Adare said to his crew. “Get him back to the facility.”

  Ty turned to me and winked, an expression so quick I thought I’d imagined it. What did my crafty Jinn have up his sleeve? “I’ll see you soon,” he assured as he was led out of the office. “Don’t forget the envelope.”

  Right. The mysterious manila envelope. Ty’s “loose ends.” I snatched it up and followed Adare’s bevy of guards out of the office, watching with curiosity as this highly trained team of warriors gave Tyler a wide berth. Whether his magic had been nullified or not, they were still afraid of him. Hell, at this point, even I was a little leery of him. He gave me one last backward glance and smile before Adare nudged his shoulder. Ty’s lips pursed with annoyance, but he faced front and strode out of the bar, a prisoner to Xander’s whims.

  Aside from the background music playing from the stereo, the bar was silent. Lucky for us, it was still too early in the afternoon for any sort of audience. Levi, Asher, and I all exchanged a look. Ash looked pretty indifferent, but Levi shared in my concern. Though I had to wonder… “So, are you worried about Ty or everyone else?”

  “Are you kidding?” Levi snorted. “I’m totally worried about them.”

  Yeah. I was too.

  Levi poured me another soda and I sat down at the bar. Really, what else could I do? I’d already tried to appeal to Xander’s more logical side and came up against a brick wall. Tyler refused to let me butt in, and likewise, I had a feeling that if he truly didn’t want to play along, not Adare or anyone else short of the Synod would be able to bring him to heel. Which meant that until Xander cooled off a bit and was finally ready to listen to reason, I was stuck.

  “What’s that?” Asher eyed the envelope I’d set down on the bar.

  “None of your business,” I replied. I was dying to spill the contents out and sift through them, but I wasn’t going to give Asher the opportunity to run back to Xander with any intel.

  Asher sighed as though I’d gone and spoiled all of his fun. “What do you want to do for the rest of the day?” Ty’s arrest had little effect on Ash since he was obviously team Xander. “Let’s go get into some trouble. Pick a fight. I’m sure there’s a chain somewhere you’d like to rattle.”

  “Today’s my day off.” The meeting with Mithras would be finalized tomorrow and one thing I could do for Ty while he was locked up was take care of my mark and close out this job. And since I knew that Asher wouldn’t leave my side until Xander called him off, he’d be getting plenty of excitement soon enough.

  “You know…it’s been pretty quiet now that you don’t come around anymore. I know Raif and my king would be happy to have you back and working for the crown. The team, too. Louella complains that there’s not enough estrogen to balance the scales. Even Raif is moping around the house. He hasn’t barked at anyone in months. I think he’s losing his edge.”

  Levi looked at me from the corner of his eye, as though waiting for the moment when my fist would connect with Asher’s nose. “Did Xander put you up to this?”

  “What do you mean?” Ash’s tone was way too innocent, giving him away.

  “He did.” Of all the underhanded, arrogant, wily… “He told to you wear me down. To do and say anything to drag me back.” As if I’d forgive him for throwing Tyler in a cell for god knows how long. “Nice try, Ash. Besides, Xander banished me. Like, kicked me out of his house. I’m not hanging out with him until he pulls his head out of his ass and comes to his senses.”

  “Darian, seriously. What did you expect him to do? It doesn’t make sense to be angry with your king for doing what he had to do.”

  My king? “He’s not my anything.”

  “At least with the PNT handling the charges against Tyler, you know he’ll get a fair shake. You can thank Raif for that. If it had been up to my king, he would have dealt with the matter himself. And you can bet he wouldn’t have gone easy on him.”

  Funny. I’d begged Xander not to bring the PNT into it. All those months ago, at Dimitri’s funeral, I’d told him to deal with the matter discreetly and within the boundaries of his own laws and rules. I’d failed to consider that might not have been the best idea. “Do you know what’s going on between Xander and his regent, Ash?” Maybe if I knew what Xander was dealing with, I could understand his motives in making an example out of Ty. Maybe. At the very least, I might be able to help and that was bound to earn some brownie points with his royal high and mightiness.

  Levi sidled a little closer to the bar, his ears perked at any hint of juicy gossip. Information paid well, and he made decent money supplying it to the wealthy and curious. Since Xander was at the top of my shit list right now, I didn’t point out to Asher that we had an audience. Besides, I knew that if I asked Levi to keep it on the down-low, he would.

  “I don’t know anything.” Ash looked away. The little liar.

  “Bullshit. You’ve been slinking around, pulling that little invisibility trick of yours. You know exactly what’s going on.”

  His amber eyes sparked with mischief, making him look so much younger than he really was. “Not that it matters, but since you’ve been back, most of my free time is spent keeping an eye on you. Sort of falls under my job description as your bodyguard.”

  “The day I came home, there were two Shaedes in Xander’s council room with him and Raif. They’d been sent by his regent. And I know they hadn’t just breezed into town. You’ve only been my bodyguard for a few weeks, so I know you’ve had your ear to the ground. Spill it, Ash. And don’t lie or I’ll kick your ass.”

  His lips thinned as he regarded me, indecision marring his features. We’d bonded last year to a point. Both of us unique. Both outsiders. Asher was snarky, hard and guarded like me. And I suspected that his formative years hadn’t exactly been a cakewalk. The cushy, royal lifestyle wasn’t the norm for Asher. He served Xander, was loyal to his king. But we shared common ground.

  “Fine, but you do realize that even before you came home, my assignment was to wait for your return. I spent most of my time at your place. Which reminds me, would it kill you to upgrade your cable package?”

  I rolled my eyes. I already had the gold package. If he wanted platinum, he’d need to pony up the cash himself.

  Asher shifted on the barstool and faced me. He slicked a hand through his messy, sun bleached locks and then shook them all out like a wet dog. What a goof. “Here’s the thing. You only see what’s right in front of you. The fact that the king has put down roots, no matter how temporary, from his kingdom has ruffled more than a few feathers. What good is an absentee ruler? Sure, he’s in contact with his regent, who seems to be running the show well enough. But what happens once that regent develops a hunger for the power that’s been handed over to him for far too long?”

  “A coup?” No wonder Xander’s panties were in a bunch. If ever he needed to prove that he was strong, it was now. I didn’t appreciate that Ty was the vehicle for that proof, but at least now, I could better understand Xander’s motives.

  “The word hasn’t been spoken outright, but there’s a lot to hint that it’s coming. The delegates you came across in Xander’s council room were sent to convince him to go home before the situation became unmanageable.”

  Where was home? Since the Shaede King’s arrival in Seattle, I’d dealt with one problem after the next. I’d never had the opportunity to sit down with him or Raif to get the skinny on his kingdom. Was it large? In another realm? Did he live in a castle?

  Ash’s lips curled with amusement. Stupid mind readers. I pulled up my mental shield and directed my best glare his way. “Well?”

  “Near Banff,” he said after a moment. “In Alberta, Canada. So not too far from here. It’s been the center of the Shaede kingdom for at least two centuries. There was more turmoil amongst the Fae than Xander’s grandfather cared to deal with. Unrest he didn’t want to be a part of. Rather than take a side in petty squabbles, he packed up his kingdom and left. Our numbers aren’t many, Dari
an. Several thousand. Maybe more.”

  “Who packs up an entire kingdom and moves across an ocean?”

  Asher gave me a look. “Seriously, Darian? Boatloads of humans did the same thing several centuries ago for similar reasons. Is it too farfetched that a society of Shaedes would do the same?”

  “Of course not.” Now I felt like an idiot. Oh well, too late for damage control. “And the castle?”

  “Huge,” Asher said with a smirk. Bigger than huge. Surrounded by forests and lakes but not too far from society to be isolated. Paradise, if you ask me.”

  He certainly painted a pretty picture. A castle nestled in some majestic forest, surrounded by pristine lakes. A true fairy tale image. Not for the first time, I considered the sheltered state of my existence. My personal knowledge of the world—and the supernatural world—was relegated to the Pacific Northwest. Even in my human life, I’d never left San Francisco. Perhaps it was time I ventured from my hole and sought out the rest of the planet’s inhabitants. Isn’t that what was expected of someone who had all the time in the world?

  “I know you think that Tyler’s arrest is one big jealous hissy fit, but it isn’t. There are greater things at work here. Political machinations that the king has to stay one step ahead of at all times. The royal household is entering into a dangerous time. Allegiances will be made. Whose side will you be on?”

  “Ash, you know where my loyalties lie. I would never turn my back on Raif. Or Xander.” I might have been pissed at him, but I’d spoken the truth when I told Xander I loved him. “I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure any rebellion is squashed and Xander keeps his throne.” I’d been part of Xander’s personal security team. I could do it again. And if Raif wanted me on the front lines, you could damn well bet I’d be there. If Xander’s regent needed to be put down, who better than a trained assassin to see that the deed was carried out? Though to be honest, I didn’t know if Xander would want my help at this point.