by Raven Steele
Briar snickered and mumbled to me. “You don’t get a title. I’ll be happy to inform them that you’re a Breaker of Men.”
I ignored her. “Thank you for inviting us here to your sacred place. We appreciate your willingness to work with us to stop those who wish to harm this city.”
“Who said we wanted to work with you?” a woman said with long black hair. She openly twirled a stake in her hand.
“That must be the bitch,” Briar mumbled again.
Lynx shot Briar a dirty look, then looked back at the group. “Like we’ve already discussed, Amanda, we need to work with shifters, vampires, and whoever else we can to fight Korin and the Phoenix. It’s the only way we can prevent what’s happening.”
Amanda shook her head and looked at the others. “I still can’t believe this. How can we even consider working with a Morgan witch? Has everyone forgotten what her ancestors did to ours?”
“That was a different time,” Owen said, his voice hard.
“We don’t want to cause problems,” I offered. “We came for the SJ. It is important to free vampires from Korin’s control so they might aid us.”
Amanda snorted. “We don’t know that they will help.”
“Amanda,” Owen warned, “enough. This has already been decided. Go grab the SJ.”
Amanda tossed her wooden dagger hard across the room. It bounced off the wall and clattered to the floor as she stormed away.
“I thought they wanted to work with us, Lynx,” Briar said.
“Most of them do. There’s just a lot of bad blood.”
Amanda returned, holding a briefcase. She handed it to Owen, then spun on her foot toward us, her hands outstretched. A blast of invisible energy hit all three of us, knocking us to the floor. “I won’t let you ruin us again!”
Air exploded from my lungs. I remained down, resisting the urge to jump to my feet and remove her head. Briar began to do just that. I grabbed her arm, keeping her down. “Wait.”
Her arm shook under my grip, and I could tell it was taking every ounce of strength not to fight back. Lynx rose to her feet, her eyes alive and pulsing with raw energy. She snapped her hand forward in Amanda’s direction. Amanda yelped as her body rose several feet into the air. The other witches in the room gasped and stepped back. Even Owen, for the first time, looked concerned.
Lynx twisted her hand rotating Amanda’s body until she was hanging upside down. Lynx strolled over to her, keeping her right hand in the air.
“Put me down, you crazy bitch!” Amanda shouted. She frantically waved her arms around, probably trying to use her own magic, but she was no match for Lynx.
Lynx brushed her fingers over Amanda’s face and across her lips. Amanda’s mouth closed tight with magic. “What happened in the past will stay in the past. We have no desire to control witches or harm them in anyway. We only want to find and destroy the Phoenix and men who might be helping him, like Korin. Samira and her vampire friends, Briar and the Silver Claws, are not your enemies. We can help each other. That’s all we want. Then, when this is all over, you can go back to living your miserable life wishing you were as powerful as me.”
Briar opened her mouth probably to follow up Lynx’s words with something sarcastic, but I flashed a look to silence her. This was Lynx’s moment and she had to establish herself as a dominant figure among her kind. Someone to be respected. Someone to be feared.
“We want that, too,” Owen said.
Lynx stepped to the side of Amanda’s dangling body to survey the rest of the group. “Will the rest of you support us or do you want to end up like Amanda?”
Lynx kept her hand up in the air, mentally suspending Amanda in the air. She hid her other hand behind her back. It was shaking.
“We will join you.” A woman stepped forward. Several more added their approvals until every one of them was nodding.
“Good,” Lynx said. Her gaze shifted back to Amanda. “That leaves just you. Will you be good or do you need to leave town for a while?”
Amanda’s mouth became slack. “Fine,” she growled.
Lynx snapped her fingers. Amanda fell to the ground with a grunt.
I came to my feet, taking Briar with me. Owen walked over and handed me the briefcase. “There are three dozen ampules inside. They can either be injected or ingested. The user will need a good thirty minutes to recover, so be sure to inform them.”
“Thank you. We really appreciate it and will return the favor any way we can.”
“Just help us find our missing brothers and sisters. Another one of us came up missing this morning. A girl barely eighteen.”
“I knew her,” Lynx said, her eyes tearing.
Briar rubbed Lynx’s arm. “We’ll find her. My pack included. We really do want to help.”
Amanda came to her feet and brushed herself off. “One chance. That’s all I’m giving you three.”
“That’s all we need,” Lynx answered.
“What can we do to help?” Owen asked.
“We’re making plans soon. Lynx will let you know. And thank you for helping. We can’t do this without you.” I looked from him to the witches. “Without all of you.”
Lynx said goodbye to them and led us outside.
“Where was Roma?” Briar asked.
“Trying to convince the rest of the witches to join us.” Lynx opened the door leading out of the restaurant. “These were the ones who were interested in what you had to say.”
“You mean that wasn’t all of them?” She rubbed at her head. “That’s a lot of power if we can get them all to agree to help.”
“We will,” Lynx answered confidently.
I hoped she was right, but I wasn’t going to hold my breath. There was too much history between witches and other supernatural species. Too much pain. It would be the perfect group for the Phoenix to blend into and cause strife among us all. I’d have to be more diligent than usual around them.
“You were pretty amazing back there,” Briar told Lynx.
“About killed me. My head is pounding.”
“Go home and rest.” I opened my car door and set the briefcase inside. “You did well tonight, Lynx. And even you, Briar.”
She turned to me, her eyes wide. “I did?”
I nodded. “Yes. You managed to keep your mouth shut.”
“Oh.” She frowned, while Lynx tried not to laugh. “Yeah, yeah, I’m starting to get it.”
“Are you two heading home?” Lynx asked, still smiling.
“We have one more stop.”
Briar groaned. “I was hoping to have fun tonight with Luke and a bottle of chocolate syrup. Maybe a sausage or two.”
Lynx grimaced.
“We have to go see Eddie,” I said.
“You were serious about that?” Briar gaped at me. “I told you, we can’t involve humans. Tell her, Lynx!”
Lynx laughed, a tired sound. “I’m staying out of it. I’ll see you soon.”
She walked back toward the restaurant, her head down. Not even a shadow of the person she’d been inside the Apex. A leadership role would be taxing on her, but in time, I didn’t doubt she’d rise to the occasion. Once she figured out where all that power inside her came from. Not even I knew the answer to that.
“Get in,” I told Briar.
She mumbled a string of curse words, but did as I asked.
I pulled away from the curb. “When we get to Sinsual, I want you to pay attention. Notice the small details. Use all your senses.”
“It’s a smelly club. I’d rather not.”
I said nothing else as we drove back to Sinsual. As her questions went unanswered, she fell into a tense stillness instead of arguing. She was learning.
Adjusting my grip on the steering wheel, I eyed the briefcase at Briar’s feet and thought of Faithe. A dark and familiar pain stung my heart. I tried not to entertain it for fear of letting the Kiss spread its poison past my heart and into my mind. Instead, I pushed back against the rage and kept my thoughts to
a minimum. If Faithe was being compelled into staying with Korin, then this SJ could change all of that. She could run away far from him, just like she had when I also disappeared all those centuries ago. But would she be safe? He’d found her once before. I doubted Korin would give up. Which left me with only one option.
Kill Korin.
Chapter 22
Sinsual was just beginning to get crowded, which I was grateful for, but that was all due to the time. It was barely nine o’clock. Within a couple of hours, this place would be packed with bodies, all ignoring the allotted human capacity sign at the front. Clear negligence on Eddie’s part, but I had bigger things to worry about.
Briar and I walked past the bar. A human man called out, “Hey Briar! Give us a show!”
She looked back at me with a hopeful gleam in her eye. I shook my head.
“Maybe later!” she called back to him. To me, she said, “I miss it, you know. The opportunity to just let go and not have anything to worry about, no decisions to make.”
“You’re Alpha now. That is part of your sacrifice as a leader.” I said the words because they were the truth, but I knew how she felt. I couldn’t remember what it felt like to let go anymore. Every action I made, and even my thoughts, had to be tempered and well thought-out.
“I’d only admit it to you,” she said as we walked up the stairs to Eddie’s office, “but sometimes I regret it. Becoming Alpha.”
“It can be a heavy burden,” I agreed. “That feeling only verifies that it was the right decision. The best leaders do not crave power, but lead because they must.”
Briar stopped me before going into the office. “I still don’t know what we’re doing here. I don’t want Eddie to get hurt.”
I searched her eyes and knocked on the door. “Do you trust me, Briar? Because that is the real issue here.”
She nodded.
“I cannot give you the information you seek because it is not my truth to tell. But pay attention and you may discover something.”
Her eyes narrowed just as Eddie’s voice said to come in. We entered the room, and I closed the door behind us.
Eddie sat behind his desk, a pen in his hand. He pushed aside a stack of papers. It only took me a few seconds to spot the faint glimmer of light around him, nearly translucent. Eddie wasn’t really here. This was a projection of himself. I glanced at Briar, but she didn’t see it. Not yet.
Eddie looked from Briar to me. His gaze lingered on mine. “What are you two doing here?”
“Um … “ Briar looked at me, waiting for me to answer.
“Did you want to work tonight?” he asked hopefully, looking at her.
“Sorry, but I think my bar dancing days are pretty much over.”
He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk. “I’m sorry to hear that, but I guess you have more important things to do.”
She frowned and looked at me.
“Eddie,” I began, “we need your help.”
Briar’s frown deepened. “Are you about to ask him for a loan? Because I am swimming in my money now.”
“Quiet.” I looked back at Eddie. “It’s time. We found a highly guarded warehouse and need help getting inside.”
His mouth tightened, and he leaned back with a thoughtful expression. “We’ll need more details.”
“We?” Briar glanced from me to him. She narrowed her eyes. “What are you?”
“You haven’t told her?” Eddie asked me.
“It’s your secret to tell.”
Briar shifted her weight. “Told me what?”
He sighed. “I’m fae.”
She stared at him and blinked. “Well, butter my ass and call me a biscuit. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Just like you told me you were a shifter?”
She snorted and waved her hand at him, dismissing his indignation. “Good point, fae boss.”
He turned to me. “Can you meet me at Black Glen in twenty minutes? I’ll meet you out front and escort you in. I want to hear this in person. Folas will want to know as well.”
“What the hell is Black Glen? And what do you mean hear it in person? You’re right here!”
“I’m not. I’m using astral projection.”
Briar looked at me, mouth open. “Is he serious?”
“Very. And Black Glen is where fae folk live,” I answered. “Let’s go.”
I turned to leave, but she stopped me.
“Hold up.” She walked around the desk and stared at Eddie. “I can see it now. This weird shimmer around you. I’ve seen it before, but thought it was some kind of spiritual aura thing.”
She reached out with a pointed finger and touched his chest. Her finger went right through him.
“Don’t do that.” Eddie rubbed at his chest. “It feels weird.”
“But it doesn’t hurt you?”
“No.”
“This is the coolest thing ever.” She cocked her fist back and punched it through his face. “That’s for lying to me.”
His face evaporated but then returned to its form. “Briar! You’re giving me a headache.”
“How long have you known I was a shifter?”
“Since the first day I met you. It was hard not to feel your shifter powers pulsing from you.”
“Then you know about the Silver Claws?”
“Of course. I know everything about you. And would like to say that I’m quite happy you quit taking protection money from all the locals.”
She grinned and flicked at his head. “You’re welcome.”
He groaned and rubbed at the back of his neck.
“Are you finished, Briar?” I asked, checking the time. I wanted to make sure I’d have enough time to meet up with Mateo to give him half of the SJ. “We need to go.”
She narrowed her eyes at Eddie. “I’ll be seeing you real soon.”
“I’d love to have a chat about your Komira status sometime.” His eyes glowed with mischievousness.
She sighed loudly, brushing her hand through his astral projection as she waved him away.
We left Sinsual, Briar complaining the whole way that Eddie didn’t tell her he was fae. I listened for a while, even inside the car, but finally I’d had enough. “This is on you. You should’ve noticed he was different.”
She flopped her head back into the headrest. “It’s barely noticeable!”
“But it is noticeable. These are the small details I need you to pick up on. It could save your life someday, maybe even other’s lives.”
She dropped her head to the side, looking at me. “This is that important to you?”
“Of course! Have you not thought about the Phoenix being able to change forms? He could be anyone around us. We need to look at everyone with an eye of scrutiny. Notice every little detail, something that might give away his identity.”
“I guess I never considered that.” Her voice was quiet, and she remained silent, deep in thought, all the way to the park.
After I parked, I exited the car with Briar at my side and walked to the front entrance. Moonlight just barely illuminated the tops of the trees. If it weren’t for nearby lampposts, we’d have been bathed in darkness.
I squinted my eyes, just barely detecting a faint shimmering in the air. “What do you see?”
Briar stared into the park. This time, instead of questioning me, she focused her gaze, and I felt a burst of power pulse outward from her. “Something is different here. I feel power, lots of it. And the air … it’s almost like I can see the hum of electricity within in it. But that can’t be possible, right?”
I smiled, proud of her. I knew she was strong enough to notice the details; she just needed to allow herself those quiet moments to spot them.
In a low voice, I breathed the same words, in Eddie’s native tongue, he had spoken last time we were here.
Briar stared at me with wonder on her face. “What language was that, and what did you just say?”
“It’s the language of the ancient fae. ‘By
the moon's light upon the floor, reveal the secret, open the door.’”
“Door?”
I motioned my head toward the park. Briar slowly turned and jumped when she saw rows and rows of houses and shops appear before her. “Is this Black Glen?”
I nodded and walked toward it. “Come on.”
It took her a moment to follow after me. She didn’t say anything for a long time as we weaved our way through the numerous houses and shops, bustling with different fae folk who all seemed to have a destination, despite the late hour. This had to be the first time in her life Briar was speechless.
I checked the time. Twenty minutes was nearly up. I circled back to the entrance to meet Eddie. I wanted to give Briar time to take in what she could about the fae, and I also wanted Eddie to know I could get in here without him, something he would surely report to Folas. I didn’t want them to underestimate me. Ever.
We stood just inside the entrance staring outward at the street. A man on a bicycle peddled past completely unaware of the great city bustling just to the side of him. Eddie was there, looking up and down the street wearing a tight t-shirt and jeans. I noted the top of a pitchfork tattoo peeking out the top of his shirt. It looked similar to the one Folas had on his arm.
“Eddie!” Briar called.
He turned around and frowned when he saw us. He searched beyond us and hurried over. “How did you get in?”
“Easy,” I answered.
Briar punched him in the shoulder.
He flinched and rubbed at his arm. “What was that for?”
“Just want to make sure it’s really you.”
“Where’s Folas?” I asked him. I wanted to get this over with. I was anxious to return to Winter’s Cove.
“Up at Warwick. We’ll go there now.”
While we traveled to the center of Black Glen, Briar asked Eddie all sorts of questions about the place. I listened in. Most of the information was useless, but I did learn the fae “moved” Black Glen to Rouen nearly two hundred years ago. This surprised me. That meant they had been here for the witch’s wars. It made me wonder how involved they had been. Secrets had been revealed about the Ames de la Terra’s movements in taking out the witches, and I had never uncovered how they had been revealed. The information had made us almost lose the war.