Someone put her hand on my shoulder. Nails dug in. This was her traditional greeting. I wasn’t really in the mood for Killer, but it didn’t matter. It was rude to have a shield in such a crowded room. Unfortunately I was on my best behavior today.
“If you want to keep that hand, I suggest you remove it.”
She laughed a blood-curdling rumble then sat down next to me, leaning against the bar, legs stretched out so anyone walking by would have to take the long way around.
“Aren’t you going to look at me?”
I turned my head and there she was, hair a mixture of reds and golds this time, face coated in exotic makeup while her legs were tightly clad in leather. The corset bustier thing reminded me of Penny’s swimming suit. I turned back to face the bar.
She elbowed me. Ow.
“Drake, what brings you here? I haven’t seen you for years. You’re all grown up.”
“It was last summer. You said the exact same thing. Of course, you were drunk out of your mind and probably said that to everyone before you tried to kill us all. It’s a pity you don’t remember. It was a great party.”
She laughed. “Oh, you were at the anniversary party? You must have gotten there after I’d already started drinking. Uncle Stoneburrow is too sober. I have to drink to compensate for his sobriety.”
“Put it that way and you sound like a saint.”
She snorted. “I’m just honest about what I am. Tell me about Zach’s whore.”
I swallowed hard and my hand started trembling. Penny was many things. Whore was not one of them. “Watch your mouth or I will remove it.”
“How can I watch something on my face? It’s true then? You were going to marry her but then you traded her to Zach for something instead?”
That was an interesting rumor. Our engagement was a matter of public record. “I don’t remember you being a harpy. You used to cause gossip, not repeat it.”
She laughed. “I’m getting old. You did know that I retired last season, didn’t you?”
Had I known that? I didn’t exactly keep up with tourney news these days. I glanced at her then at the dance floor where Penny was examining a particularly well-crafted pair of pants. A girl happened to be wearing them.
“I did not. I thought you were determined to die on the fields with your partner, what was her name, something Destroyed.”
“Hope Destroyed. She married a mage. It wasn’t the same without her.” She sounded so sad. Probably like Penny felt after she’d lost Lit. It was still mind-boggling to think of Penny as Pitch. I couldn’t help but look at Penny again.
She was talking to the girl about her pants. I didn’t have to hear her with the way she gestured, and then the girl started talking animatedly until they were probably best friends forever.
Killer stood up and walked over to Penny, pushing through the crowd like she enjoyed the conflict, which she did. I itched to head her off, but instead, I watched. Penny was Pitch. She could hold her ground against a second tier Tourney player like Killer.
Killer shoved the girl Penny had been chatting with so pleasantly. Penny moved fast, kicking out Killer’s feet out from under her while grabbing the other girl and keeping her on her feet. After that movement, a spin of extraordinary grace that belied how horrible of a dancer she was, she landed with one boot sole on Killer’s chest, staring down at her.
I used a spell to listen to this conversation.
“Zach’s marrying Pitch’s hurter maker?”
Never mind. I didn’t need a spell. Killer’s voice was loud enough to cut through the music and chatter.
Penny cocked her head and glanced down then back up before she shifted and hauled the tourney player upright. “Joy Killer. Are those reverse compression boots?”
I sighed because Penny talking about clothes to someone like Killer was so perfectly like her. I turned to the bar and asked for the bottle.
Chapter 18
Witch
Drake was there.
I’d planned on giving the entire room a show, a lesson that Zach wouldn’t soon forget, but I’d seen Drake, felt the throbbing in my shoulder and promptly settled for being Pitch’s hurter-maker so that this contract stuck. I tried to act normal. Normal Pitch’s hurter-maker, anyway. The group of people was such a bewildering mixture of magic and mayhem, dark then bright, movement and stillness, thought and mindless laughter; I felt dizzy and disoriented.
Joy Killer was a spot of familiarity in the mess of glitzy women and dangerous men. Not that I wasn’t accustomed to dangerous men, but most of the ones I knew kept their shirts buttoned. Chest hair and gold chains freaked me out.
Drake was so beautiful. Not that I looked at him, not directly. I watched Zach as well, aware of the way he watched me with his wild Peter Pan face. He was so alive. Happy. At least someone was.
“Can I buy you a drink?” Joy asked.
I hesitated. Should I or shouldn’t I? Drake was over at one of the bars. Maybe we’d end up drinking next to each other.
“Welcome to our little island,” an icy voice said from behind me. Joy tensed up and automatically reached for the small dagger she kept up the back of her bustier. I’d noticed that first thing.
I turned to face the woman I’d noticed standing in the middle of the dancing. She’d been soaking up their energy, their vitality, their motion. Most witches weren’t so attuned to energy. I’d have to watch her.
“Thank you.” I gave her a cool nod.
She stepped closer, invading my personal space. Joy stepped behind me until I was pinned. Was this going to go sideways? I glanced over at Zach and he stared at me openly, drinking his bottle of water and gave me a small smile that only looked like a smirk. He was much more the kind of mage who belonged to that face than the other one, the pretend face. I never would have thought he was nice.
“You offered my son a contract without first applying to me or my husband.”
I stared at the woman, her sharp nose, chin and cheekbones, strangely soft curls framing her face, and clothing of all shades of brown and orange, and none of it modern or stylish. She had an orange fuzzy sweater that reminded me of the cat, Peanut. And why a sweater in the club? It was warm enough that I was barely chilly in my tank.
“You’re very good with energy.”
She lifted her chin slightly. “Am I?”
I gestured towards the dance floor. “I could see you soaking it up. I thought some of their tech had a woman’s touch.”
She smiled slightly. “It isn’t common knowledge that I’m involved in any of the technological aspects.”
“Your secret is safe with me.”
She smiled a little bit more. “I understand you were engaged to Drake Huntsman. Do you love him?”
“Yes.” I shouldn’t have said that. Why had I said that? I shrugged because it was true. “But it won’t work. Zach will be good for me. We work well together.”
“Do you? What about children?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know.”
She studied me for a long time before she sighed. “Zachary hasn’t always made the most practical choices. I’m a little bit surprised that he made an alliance that will be so advantageous to our business. He loves Pitch. You know that, of course.”
I nodded.
“Why a marriage instead of an alliance?”
I glanced over at Zach and then back at the woman. “It’s a requirement from my grandmother’s will that I marry before I’m eighteen to a mage from Rosewood.”
“Why is he marrying you?”
“Because it brings him close to Pitch.”
She raised her eyebrows in alarm. “You must not get married as a matter of legality. Marrying each other only to take separate lovers will rip your lives apart.”
I blinked at the passion in her voice. She sounded like she’d been to some serious sermons. “I’ll do my best. After a year, we’ll reexamine the contract and decide if we wish to renew. I don’t think that Pitch will be Zach’s lover any m
ore than Drake will be mine. Drake is loyal to Zach.”
She sniffed. “They’ve always managed to balance their power and personalities very well. But the way he looks at you, Huntsman still considers you his.”
My heart pounded and I felt a rush of exhilaration I tried to push down. “I appreciate the warning, but he’s made it very clear that he is finished with me.”
“Then why is he binding himself to you this way?”
I smiled sharply. “I have something on him.”
She raised an eyebrow while her brown eyes sparkled. “Be cautious when playing with that kind of mage. My son as well. He’s accustomed to having his way. If you don’t wish to have intimate encounters, you’ll have to take precautions. Joy, why don’t you take Penny down to the lab and set her up with some basic security equipment. Spell it heavily for her. No one does security spells like you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Joy Killer said and turned, heading through the crowd away from the bar where Drake sat.
I spent hours of bliss, welding the most amazing door the world had ever seen. It was for my room on the island for the rest of my stay. The best thing about the door was that once it was in place in the doorway of Zach’s room, these little magic worms spread through the walls and ceiling and floor until the entire room was a veritable lockbox.
But would it keep out a Scratcher?
“Why are you marrying him?” Joy asked me as we were sitting on tables eating sandwiches bought from the vending machine.
I shrugged. “Why do you wear a corset for welding? I’m going to have Zach heal my burns when we finish up.”
“He’s an alright healer.”
“He’s a solid mage. There’s nothing that he’s truly terrible at.”
She laughed. “Except kissing.”
I wrinkled my nose. “You’ve kissed your cousin? Isn’t there something taboo about that?”
She shook her head. “Naw, who else are you going to experiment on?”
I leaned closer to her. “You’ve actually kissed him? What was it like?”
“You haven’t kissed him? You should. Stoneburrow will want children. Zach’s sister was fierce, didn’t want any kids, but they tied her down to a silver-tongued mage who talked her into one more and one more until they have four. I don’t think they’re done.”
I rubbed my arms. Children were so sweet. Zach was good with animals. Did that translate to children? I should see him with his sister’s kids. Drake. He was incredible with my princesses. I shook my head. “That’s not an issue. Either we do or we don’t, but I’m not making any promises. What about you? Did you really retire from the tourney? You were such a great performer.”
She inhaled deeply. “It’s just my tech work that was so high quality, mostly because I have access to the world of Stoneburrow. I wasn’t ever on Pitch’s level. You don’t ever play in tourneys, do you?”
I shook my head and took a big bite out of the slightly soggy chicken salad sandwich. For a vending sandwich, it was seriously top quality.
She didn’t say anything else, didn’t push me for hurters or Pitch, just let me head out of the lab and into Zach where he leaned against the wall opposite the door, arms over his chest.
I walked past him but he fell in beside me.
“What did you do to my door? I can’t get in my room.”
“It’s not your room. It’s mine. Drop dead.”
He grabbed my arm and I didn’t dislocate his fingers and light them on fire. “I’m sorry about dragging you here without telling you.”
“And the skanky clothes?”
He smiled slightly. “You do realize that everything I gave you was less revealing that what you made for yourself.”
“I only had the materials on hand to work with. Did you really kiss Joy?”
He laughed and let go of my arm, walking ahead like we were going to my room together. We weren’t. “Jealous?”
“Definitely. I want to kiss her.”
“She’s pretty open-minded. I’m sure she’d do that for a dare or a hurter.”
“She thinks that I should kiss you.”
“We kissed. Cheeks, remember? That’s all we need to know about that.”
I grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop until he was facing me. “Zach, maybe this is a mistake. Your mother is right. Us being in love with different people is asking for heartache.”
He studied me for a very long time before he leaned close and kissed my forehead. It was a slow kiss, solid, steady. “There. Now we know.”
“Know what?”
His lips twisted into a sort-of smile. “It was better than Joy’s kiss. Viney’s too. Joy is a terrible kisser.”
“That’s what she said about you.”
He snorted and started walking again. “Drake went back to Rosewood. You won’t run into him again here. You should do the whole bondage thing when we get back.”
“Excuse me?”
“Don’t get so excited, Penny. I’m talking about his chest and your shoulder. I should be there so it’s really awkward.”
“Yeah. Because the whole marriage contract thing isn’t nearly awkward enough.”
“You didn’t need to go through all that effort to keep me out of my room.”
“I’m shipping one to Rosewood. They’re so beautiful. I think it would keep the window from being blown off too.” I shivered.
Zach took my hand and squeezed it. His hand was so warm and he didn’t take it and drag me somewhere, just held it, kind of loose and sturdy.
“Nothing is going to get you here. I don’t have Drake’s vulnerabilities.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Don’t tell me that you didn’t do your research.”
I’d done my research. Stoneburrow was first defense, second offense. If I wasn’t safe here, I wasn’t safe anywhere. When I got to the room, a red-haired man was sitting cross-legged on the floor, pouring over a laptop. Drake?
My heart stopped and I yanked my hand out of Zach’s. The man raised his head and smiled beneath his mustache. Drake’s dad.
I sighed as Zach nudged me and headed over to the man who rose gracefully to his feet.
“Huntsman, what can I do for you?”
“I have a few words for Miss Lane.”
Zach glanced at me. I shrugged. He took a few steps away and leaned against the wall, arms crossed while he watched us like a hawk, or a fox, something wild and feral.
Drake’s dad lifted his hand, rubbed his nose and then it became a little quieter. He must have spelled a sound shield and scratched his nose at the same time. Tricky.
“I saw the contract. You don’t have to do that.”
I stared at him. “I have to get married before I turn eighteen.”
“You’re binding Stoneburrow to Huntsman to protect Drake. It’s very clear to all of us except Drake, I think.”
I looked over at Zach then looked into Drake’s dad’s dark eyes.
He nodded. “He knows.”
I shrugged, rubbing my cold arms. “It’s like you, scratching and spelling at the same time. Two birds with one stone.”
“Is that right? Are you certain you wouldn’t rather marry Lester Creighton?”
“Lester is great. He’s going to join a monastery brotherhood so he’d be an extremely easy husband, but I’d have to marry him without a contract since Zach and Drake wouldn’t let me sign one with him.”
“A monastic brotherhood? Ah, that explains his appeal. It doesn’t explain why Zach is so paranoid about him.”
I didn’t begin to understand Zach. I glanced over at him, jaw clenching and unclenching as he waited in pretended patience, face so strikingly sharp and alive, he looked like a genius tech mage on the edge of a violent chemical reaction. Why would he agree to marry me knowing that I was doing it this way to protect Drake? “Who can understand the method behind the madness, or the madness behind the method? I’m glad you’re back. Drake needs you.”
He raised his eye
brows, dark eyes specked with green that glowed for a moment. “I could say the same about you, Miss Lane. A difficult reality of life is that you cannot always have what it is you need.”
He tilted his head at me and walked out of the soundproof bubble, towards Zach. He held out his hand, holding the laptop with one strong arm, fingers more sinewy, larger and worn than Drake’s hands.
I turned and ran into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me with a clang and a bright purple light as the entire room engaged. I flung myself across the bed and screamed for Zach, Drake and Señor Mort. Also for me.
When I woke up in the night with a clawing scream in my throat as memories of my father ripping out my ribs filled me with pain and fear, I stumbled out of bed out the door and over the mage sleeping in the hall.
I landed on top of his body and for a moment gripped his wrist and inhaled the skin of his neck. Zach. He put his hand on my hip and the circuit connected us. The fear slowly leached away leaving me shaking against him.
“I thought you’d have a nightmare and come looking for your weasel.”
“You thought I’d settle for a fox?”
He laughed, sharp. “Is that what I am?”
“Clever mage, what else would you be? Teddy has Señor. Let’s go kill him.”
He ruffled my hair then made a sound. “What you did to your hair is incredibly unethical. How are you going to get out all the knots and engine grease?”
“It’s not as bad as Pitch.”
“I guess that’s true.” I felt him press his face against my hair and inhale, his chest rising against mine in that inhale until I sat away from him, heart pounding.
The lights came on and I sat there, blinking at him.
“You look good in my t-shirt. That used to be my brother’s.”
“You have a sister and a brother? Why so many kids?”
He shrugged and I realized that he was still gripping my hip beneath the band of my borrowed boxers. He let go and grinned at me. “Why not?”
“Because witches and mages hate each other. Your parents are different?”
Deadly Morsel: Rosewood Academy of Witches and Mages (Darkly Sweet Book 5) Page 15