by Riley Storm
“Are you sure?”
She frowned. “Is that really the line you want to use right now?”
Kasperi coughed, tried to backpedal quickly. “Um, I just meant. You know. That like, a lot’s gone on. And I just want to make sure that you’re, like, you know…”
He finally trailed off and hung his head, which only brought Amber to tears as she howled with laughter. “Oh, you big lovable goof. Come kiss me,” she half-growled through the happy tears, rolling on top of him, smothering him with her affection.
“I’m sorry,” he said a minute later. “It’s just…I’ve been dreaming of hearing you say that since I woke up on the couch. When I looked around, and you weren’t there, I knew you’d gone to try and fight Korred, and my heart froze.”
He looked up at her where she lay, her face inches from his, and Amber’s breath was stolen away by the depth of the worry she saw there. The fear, the doubts. She’d never before been granted such an unguarded look into what went on behind his steely visage.
“Oh, Perri,” she whispered, resting her forehead against his, left hand running along the side of his head, feeling his hair whisper by under her fingertips. “I never meant to scare you. I’m sorry. I’m here now though. It’s okay.”
A singular tremor coursed through his body, then he was still again. The moment was over.
“I don’t want to lose you,” he whispered, the last bit of vulnerability she was going to see just then.
“You didn’t,” she said, kissing him hard, a forceful reminder that she was right there in front of him. “And now you’re going to be stuck with me for a while. I hope you can handle that.” She kept her voice light and fun.
Kasperi growled, and she gasped as his arms came up, sliding around her and pulling her in close. Heat suddenly erupted from his core, and she felt something stirring between his legs as it brushed against her skin.
“How do you have the energy for this?” she protested half-heartedly. “We’ve been working so hard.”
Kasperi rolled her onto her back. Then, when her eyes unconsciously looked between his legs, he gave his hips a shake. “For you, baby, I’ve always got energy,” he purred, burying his face in her neck.
“Oh, my God,” she groaned, rolling her eyes skyward.
Then something long, hard and thick slipped between her legs.
“Oh, my God,” she repeated, in a very different tone.
42
She sat cross-legged on the couch, magazine perched on her knees.
“What do you think of this one, dear?”
Kasperi didn’t immediately reply, but a few seconds later, came wandering out of his study to the sounds of his printer warming up. “What do I think of what?”
“This rug,” she said, pointing at the hand-embroidered Persian number in the catalogue.
“You want to replace my rug too?” he moaned, sitting down on the brand new couch next to her.
“This place screams like it’s straight out of some governor’s house from two centuries ago,” she said. “I am not some ‘governor’s wife’. I want to enjoy living here. Now, the rug?”
Kasperi chuckled. “The Manor is closer to five hundred years old, at least the original structure. Lots of additions since of course, but you might not be that far off. These quarters were probably added two-hundred years ago, maybe a little more. The rug is lovely, darling.” He gave her a big, fat, slobbery kiss on the cheek.
“Ew!” she yelped, grabbing his sleeve and wiping her face dry. “I’m getting the pillows now, just because of that.”
“The hideous pink and floral striped ones?”
She nodded maliciously.
“Absolutely not. Those are ugly as sin.”
“They are not ugly. They are chic.” Truthfully she hated them, but it was just fun to tease him.
“You wouldn’t do that to me,” he gasped mockingly, giving her his best sad puppy dog look.
“You keep kissing me with that tongue, and you bet your ass I’m going to get them.”
Kasperi’s face twisted into a ridiculous leer. “You don’t normally complain when I use my tongue like that.”
“Normally, you don’t act like some inbred who failed women’s anatomy class and doesn’t know where to put it,” she countered.
Trying in vain to keep a straight face, Kasperi clutched at his heart. “A mortal blow. You’ve got me!”
She giggled and tilted her head back to receive a real kiss. “Now go back to whatever it is you’re doing in there that’s so secret, mister. I’m going to pick out some new sheets next I think.”
“What? You’re joking right?”
Amber turned her head with slow, exaggerated deliberation, while the fingers of her right hand found the sticky note she’d put in it. Without looking down, she flipped the magazine open to the page with bedsheets and covers on it.
Kasperi groaned, but he didn’t protest. “They had better be comfortable,” was all he said, but despite the “threat,” there was an obvious twinkle in his eye. He was enjoying the back and forth.
In the study, the printer stopped its obnoxious clanking. Kasperi’s head whipped around, and just before he turned to walk away, Amber caught a glimpse of a smile on his face.
“What are you doing in there?” she called, bedsheets and duvets completely forgotten.
There was no response, just the sounds of Kasperi shuffling papers around. A few seconds later, he emerged with a plain manila folder which he extended to her.
“These are for you.”
Amber took the folder tentatively, eyes focused on her mate. “What is for me?” she asked.
“Open it,” Kasperi urged, a smile tugging at his mouth.
Whatever it was, he was excited for her to see it. That should have made her excited, but something about the anticipation was giving her mild anxiety.
Looking down, she flipped open the folder, and began to read.
“These are records,” she said calmly. “From the…what is the MCNA?”
“The legal term doesn’t matter, but in our world, it stands for the Mage Council of North America.”
“Oh.” She kept reading. “It’s admission letters, graduation letters. For a Heather Loccie and a Michael—” Amber gasped and looked up at Kasperi in astonishment.
“Keep reading,” he said, no longer bothering to hold back his smile.
She flipped the page. “This is a marriage certificate. For Heather Loccie and Michael F—” her voice cracked and the writing on the page became blurry.
“Those are your parents,” Kasperi said gently, coming to sit next to her, putting one arm around her.
“My parents?”
“Yes. I have a couple of contacts within the Mage Council. Not many, but enough that I was able to get them to send over these records. Your parents were both full-blown members, Amber. Which explains why you are so strong.”
She was shaking. “How did you find all this?” she asked, looking through records of meetings with them in attendance, even a paper that it seemed had been authored by her father. “I mean, I know you just told me but…Kasperi…”
He held her tight and kissed her. Amber leaned into him, trembling so bad she could barely turn the page. Then she sobered. The next page was a death certificate.
“It says they died in a freak accident,” he said, thumb wiping away tears from her eyes as he held her face.
“They weren’t evil?” she asked hopefully.
“No. They were regular members of the Mage Council. Nobody hunted them, nobody killed them on purpose. Just an accident.”
Amber didn’t know what to say. Overwhelmed by the caring on Perri’s part, and the sudden revelation that she wasn’t born to be evil either... That she hadn’t inherited some sort of darkness from her parents. They were good people, normal people, aside from the magic part.
“Thank you,” she sobbed as the tears came full stream now. Burying her face in his chest, she let his huge arms swallow her up an
d hold her tight while she bawled without restraint.
“You’re very welcome,” Kasperi whispered into her ear. “You’re so very welcome. You deserved to know the truth. To know that you aren’t evil.”
Amber shuddered. “I love you,” she said through the tears, squeezing hard. “I love you so much.”
He twitched happily in her arms. “I love you too Amber. Even if you insist on redecorating the entire place.”
Now she was laugh-crying. “Stop it!” she said. “Crying is bad enough. You can’t make me laugh. I’m a mess.” But she was cheered anyway.
Her parents might be gone, but now she would be able to live with a memory of them as she remembered them, the vague bits that were there. And on top of that, she had Kasperi, and that certainly made the future a lot brighter.
43
“What the hell is this?” he muttered just a bit too loudly as they walked through the doors into the Throne Room, hand in hand.
A reproachful glare from his Queen combined with a hushing squeeze of his hand from his mate slapped his lips together.
“Obviously, it’s important,” Amber whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “So try to act all proper-like, okay?”
He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.” They came to a halt in front of the Queen.
Not just her, but also the Captain, the Champion, Hunter, Assassin…the entire sitting House Ursa Council was present. Whatever it was, it could not be good.
“Kasperi.” The Queen’s voice echoed through the room, but it faded faster than normal.
He glanced up, where the hole in the roof had been covered, but was not anywhere near finished being repaired. The material preventing the winter’s chill and the snow from entering the room was very sound absorbent, giving a slightly eerie vibe to the room.
“Whatever it is, I didn’t do it,” he said, drawing a chuckle from some of the assembled shifters, and another frown from his Queen.
“I take it you don’t have any idea why you’re here today then, do you?” the Queen asked conversationally.
“Not the slightest. I’m very confident that any wrongdoing I’ve done lately has gone undiscovered.”
More laughter ran through the room. Amber elbowed him. His Queen rolled her eyes.
“Well, that’s about to change,” she said, the gleam in her eyes suddenly making Kasperi worried.
What was going on? What did she have planned for him? He opened his mouth to say something more, but Amber kicked him in the shin.
“I say that it will change, because I intend for you to come work much more closely with me in the future. In a capacity that will best serve the House by helping to bring us together, while also forcing us to open ourselves up to new possibilities.”
He didn’t like where this was going. Not one bit. “Why do I get the feeling I’m about to be given some sort of job?” he asked uncertainly.
“Because if you would just be quiet, I’m trying to make you the Magi of the House,” the Queen drawled. “Is that okay, do you mind if I finish now?”
Louder laughter circled through the Council and the shifters assembled behind him in the viewing areas. Kasperi barely heard it though. He was too busy gaping at his Queen.
“Are you insane?”
Wrong question. That was the wrong question.
“I don’t believe so,” the Queen said bemusedly.
“You are so dead,” Amber hissed from next to him. “I can’t believe you’re embarrassing me like this.”
The audience laughed some more.
“Embarrassing you?” he said. “I’m the one being told I have to do something I barely know how to do. They want to make me a bigwig. I don’t know anything about that. What if I screw it up?”
Amber’s shoulders slumped forward. “Too late for that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hi? Hello? Can I continue?” the Queen asked, her voice light, but a bit of steel added to it.
Kasperi straightened. “Of course, my Queen. My apologies. I’m just in shock, not quite processing what you’re saying.” He pressed his lips together and fell silent.
“I’m saying that you are the best magic user among us. That makes you the most qualified to take over the position of Magi. There is nobody else. Nobody to challenge you.”
He frowned, but managed to keep his protests to himself. There was someone better than him. Someone more qualified, who had long since surpassed him with finesse and skill, even if he likely did have more brute strength with magic.
And she was standing right next to him.
“I expect you to train hard, to ensure you are worthy of the title,” the Queen continued. “You and your second in command must get up to speed as fast as possible. It will not be easy, but I have faith that you are up to the challenge.”
Kasperi blinked. “Pardon, my Queen. But second in command?”
The Queen sighed and flicked a finger to his right. “Who else do you think I mean? Your mate, of course.”
Now it was Kasperi’s turn to chuckle as he witnessed the astonished look upon Amber’s face.
“Doesn’t feel so good, now does it?” he muttered. “Having huge things like this sprung on you.”
“The two of you will need to work together. As partners, not just as mates.” The Queen looked back and forth between the two of them, before her gaze finally landed back on Kasperi.
He swallowed.
“Can you handle mixing business with pleasure?” she asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“If he can’t, he’s going to learn real quick,” Amber muttered loudly from at his side.
This time, even the Queen laughed.
“You’re lucky I love you,” he said stiffly.
“And you’re lucky our training rooms are private, so the others won’t see me whooping your ass,” she shot back, resting her head on his shoulder. “Come on boss. We’ve got work to do.”
Oh, shit.
Epilogue
The six of them sat around the table in the Queen’s private meeting rooms. No others were present. Even her guards were located outside the doors. What was to be discussed was of the most sensitive nature.
“Gentleman,” Kaelyn said softly, not as their Queen, but as their comrade. This was a grouping of equals tonight.
Kasperi looked around at the others present. There was much of the so-called “young blood” on the Ursa Council. He was there as the Magi. Kirell the Captain, Kincaid the Hunter, and Klaue the Champion were also seated around the table. Much to his surprise—though he did not question it—Khove was also there. Not as the Queen’s primary bodyguard, but as a peer.
It was obvious the man felt uncomfortable being included as such, but none of the others seemed to mind. That was what set them apart from the rest of the Council. He and his fellows were open to change. Welcomed it. Most of all, they knew it was needed.
“Will anyone else be joining us tonight?” Kirell asked.
“No,” the Queen replied. “None but us. The new wave. Truthfully, I don’t think the others are going to be up for what is to come.”
Kasperi frowned. “What are you saying?”
“I will be asking them politely to abdicate, over the coming months,” Kaelyn said heavily. “All but Kvoss, in whom I have faith to be up to the task.”
Kasperi wondered if that would change if she knew how Kvoss truly felt about her. Still, that was neither here nor there. There were three older shifters still on the Council: the Herald, the Priest, and the Reaver. Though none of them were a problem, Kasperi understood what his Queen meant. The times ahead would be trying, and youth and vigor would be what got them through.
That, and the willingness to accept changes, such as a potential tightening of bonds with House Canis, if their younger generation survived the coming schism that everyone knew was approaching their own House. The times were changing, and only the strong would survive.
“Do you think they’ll accept?” Kincaid asked. “I’ve had just about
enough infighting.”
The others muttered their agreement, looking to the Queen to confirm their feelings.
“As have I,” she said softly. “I think they will understand. It won’t be seamless, but we’ve survived much worse in recent times.”
There were snorts and nods of agreement all around.
“Speaking of which, any answers about how Korred managed to do all that?” Kasperi asked. “I’ve gone through his study, his private rooms, even a couple of secret rooms I discovered, and there are no records to indicate where he would have gotten the knowledge or strength to do what he did.”
“What do you mean?” Klaue asked.
“Well, mind control magic is blatantly illegal. To any magic user. The texts for it are extremely rare, and most are destroyed as soon as they are found, to prevent the knowledge from passing on. You all saw how he almost destroyed our entire House with it. Yet I found no books upon it. Not even anything written in code.”
The others were silent, watching him. It felt weird to be speaking as a member of the Council, but Amber had done wonders to assure him he deserved it, and she’d been pushing him hard the past two weeks to ensure he was worthy as well. Both of them had made great strides in their magic use, working together to further their own knowledge.
“And what about the Fae? Is nobody going to mention that?” Khove all but spat. “To control so many of them like that. Such efforts.”
“From all I can gather, it must have taken him over a decade to enslave that many,” Kasperi informed the non-magic users. “Korred has been at this a long, long time, I’m sorry to say. But again, I found no knowledge of who may have given him such spells. Or even the power. I did not know he was that strong.”
“None of us did,” the Queen said. “It certainly wasn’t Canis, however; their Magi is weaker than Korred was. Which means we’re looking at an outside influence.”
At that, there was dark muttering around the table by all present. Each of them knew the Queen feared something was coming their way, something big, but she couldn’t figure it out. This was just another example of shadowy fingers manipulating those she cared for most, and Kasperi could tell the Queen was upset about it.