Truce: Book 1 in the Aftermath Series

by Alainna MacPherson

  I knew I owed Liam a ton for thinking about all the small stuff as well as the big while we were gone. Not to mention Ro, who’d probably thrown himself into this project. I still felt a pang in my chest from the idea of how long they had to wait for our return. I frowned at Lugh’s back as he checked out the bathroom. The wound was fresh on that one and I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to forget it.

  I’d already forgiven him, though. I had ignored what was pulling at me, to him, from the beginning. I had no idea he felt the same.

  He turned around to say something, only to stop with his hands in the air, seeing the sorrow shadowing my face.

  He glanced over to Gearden who stood at the foot of the bed, then crossed to me at the head. Slowly, as he closed in, he slipped his hand along my waist, wrapping his arm around my back, holding me as he used his other to cup my cheek, tilting my head back.

  “Are you alright?” I read his lips.

  I nodded, not taking my eyes away from his, caught in the trance that he had me trapped in.

  “Can I kiss you?” he asked, his own gaze locked on mine.

  I tried to drag my eyes away to look for Gearden, but he held my head still. “I’m asking you,” he reminded me.

  I felt it, the pull, it was stronger now than it had ever been. My eyes teared up as I found myself nodding, probably resembling a bobble head on a moving car.

  He licked his lips, and I found myself doing the same, seeing that he watched my tongue as it peeked out. Before I could prepare myself or second guess this crazy thing, he swooped in and pressed his lips to mine. They were so soft, molding to mine and resting there for a moment before he pulled back. Before pulling away completely, he gave one small peck, and I realized my eyes had closed. It was so quick, it left me wanting more. I could feel Luna prowling in the back of my mind, her agitation fueled by the confusion we shared. Before I could tell her to calm down, Gearden was there at my side, tugging on my hand, bringing me into his grasp. The second I gasped, he dived, feasting on my lips like he was desperate for something, something that Luna felt the need for as well.

  “He feels your confusion, and so do I,” he whispered in my mind, nipping at my swollen lower lip. “You belong to me, to us. Don’t doubt us, trust us.”

  I couldn’t have imagined the relief his words would give me. My knees went out from under me, but he was there, pressing me flush to him, where I felt his heart pound. Lugh stepped up at the side of us, brow lifted in a silent question. A watery laugh escaped me but I held a hand out to him, beckoning him to me. He took it and I heard Luna only give a small, disgruntled rumble. My wolf wasn’t ecstatic with the idea of two men in my life, but she understood that she and Gearden weren’t enough for my magical needs.

  “Do we have to be romantic?” I asked Lugh, trying to calm the jitters that were making my hands shake.

  He chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Not if you don’t want to be.” His words gave me hope. Maybe we could make this somewhat normal? Then, something clouded over him, hurt. “I can keep my hands off you if you need me to.”

  The idea of hurting him sent my heart into a painful flop and wrench, like someone had thrown it to the ground and stomped on it. I reached out and took his hand again, sliding partially out of Gearden arms to meet him partway, bringing his hand to my chest to cover my still aching heart. “Can we take it slow?”

  Hope returned in his eyes and he nodded, giving me a small smile. I brought his hand up to press a kiss to his wrist, holding it still as I took Gearden’s with the other, pulling them both to the bed.

  “I need a nap,” I told them. Leaving them standing at the edge of the bed, I climbed onto the memory foam mattress, curling up in the center, hugging a down pillow. Exhausted, I was already seconds from passing out completely by the time they both sidled up on either side of me.

  Neither got too close, in fact Lugh just stretched out, hands tucked under his head as he looked up at the ceiling in front of me, while Gearden only touched my hip from behind. Their presence was all I needed to feel safe. It felt weird to kiss Lugh in front of Gearden, but I was thankful he was there for our first time.

  Holy shit, I had two men in my life. I was sleeping with one, eternally bound to him, and kissing another. What does that make me?

  Confused, that’s what.

  Chapter Nine

  Lugh

  Five seconds, that’s how long I felt her pillowy lips on mine. Five whole seconds that made me want to reach out and pull her into me across the bed. She laid a foot away from me and I dared not move an inch for fear I’d succumb to the urge to feel her again, for longer than five seconds.

  Gearden lay with his eyes closed, trying to appear like it wasn’t weird that we were all sleeping on the same bed together. I mean, we were just supposed to be napping. No, we were just watching over her as she slept. She hadn’t intended for us to sleep with her, just to be here with her. She needed us to just be here. I could totally do that. I was doing that, right? Is that what I was doing? Because I really just wanted to reach to my side and brush my fingers against her forearm that was regaining some of the tan that she’d started with when she first arrived at Seelie Hill.

  A soft thumping sound from the people downstairs had me lifting my head, seeing Gearden watching me with alertly.

  Using just our eyes, the predators in us communicated that I would go downstairs and handle things, clear everyone out, he’d stay here.

  After slipping away and shutting the door behind me, I found Ro and Bri cleaning up the food while Bobby was helping the new roommates, Marshall and Shelly, bring stuff in through the door.

  “Maeleigh’s sleeping,” I told Ro and Bri.

  He tipped his chin in acknowledgement and looked at Bri, who was wiping down the counter.

  Tossing the wet rag into the sink, Bri placed her hands on his hips before pinning me with her steely gaze.

  “You want to tell us what’s going on between you and her?” she asked, her tone telling me that I’d find it hard to avoid answering.

  I ran a hand down over my head, tugging at the hair and braids as I did. “Something I wasn’t prepared for in the least,” I admitted.

  Bobby, Marshall and Shelly pretended not to listen as they passed by and trudged up the stairs with bags and boxes in hand.

  Bri’s eyes flicked over to Ro’s briefly. Then, “Is it romantic?” I could tell the question made her uncomfortable.

  I took my time answering that one, as I wanted to be sure I gave her the best answer I possibly could. What came out, was, “It feels like it.”

  Ro frowned down at me, like he wanted to punch me for not being sure.

  “Look, I know it’s all confusing, because it’s confusing for me, too.” I perched on the back of the worn couch, my heels keeping me upright as I hung my head.

  Bri’s feet came into view as she stepped closer. When I looked up, she lifted a brow at me, a daring gesture. “Are you going to hurt them?” she asked me, the danger evident in her voice.

  Looking her dead in the eye, I replied, “Never.”

  She studied me for a minute longer, then finding my answer acceptable, she nodded and turned away. Ro didn’t seem as satisfied but remained silent. Just then, Dom and Tomos entered.

  “We should go,” Dom said without preamble.

  I pushed off the couch, turning to face them. “What—”

  A series of chimes went off in the room. I swung around to see Bri pull her communications device from her pocket, they called it a phone. A quick glance at the face of it, she looked up at Ro.

  “Liam says there are hunters in town, making their way to the house,” she said, panic entering her voice.

  “Son of a bitch,” Ro cursed.

  “I’ll get Maeleigh and Gearden,” I offered, but the second I moved towards the stairs, a rush of feet descending them met my ears. Maeleigh, followed by Gearden, Marshall, Boddy and Shelly, came racing down the stairs.

  “We have to get to McInt
ire, now,” Maeleigh said, heading for the door, a quick glance around the room telling her we were all hot on her heels.

  A few minutes later we were packed into the van again, this time followed by another beat up looking vehicle someone called a truck, loaded down with Marshall, Bobby and two other males I’d never learned the names of. I wondered if Maeleigh remembered them from their brief introduction this morning. As much as I focused on the anxiety pumping out of Maeleigh, I was also trying not to fear for our lives ending rather soon with the way Ro was taking the streets.

  We arrived at McIntire in what felt like half the time it took to get to Westboro. Maeleigh nearly crawled over Tomos to get through the side door before we could all climb out.

  The fellow looked conflicted with either shoving her back or letting her past. He was smart not to touch her though, as she would have probably removed his hand from his body before Gearden or myself would have torn the rest them off.

  Still, he looked disgruntled as he followed her out, Dom close behind, as Gearden and I took her flanks. I saw the rest of her new pack come up at the sides, still behind her, taking her lead.

  Hearing a noise coming from behind the house, I tapped her on the shoulder. “Around the back,” I told her.

  Nodding, she glanced around, seeing that everyone was still with her before heading to the side of building they parked their vehicles in. The backyard was deserted but we could all see movement down the hill to the compound. Racing down the steps, I tried not to swallow my tongue at the sight of Maeleigh’s body transform on the move. Expecting a wolf, I was surprised when she seemed to take on a bestial form instead. It was neither human nor wolf. She was in her full faerie form. Those with animal magic could transform in whatever animal their nature bonded with, and use it to still maintain their untransformed mind, keeping control over a large part of their emotions and a hold onto reasoning.

  Still, she looked like something no one wanted to mess with. The instant she leapt from the last few stairs to land in the compound clearing, she had the attention of everyone around. There were two obvious sides of what looked like a battle scene. The hunters on one, the lycan and Cearer on the other. None of my people were in sight, thank goodness. Not getting the answer he was hoping for from Maeleigh, the coward had come here, without her protection or mine.

  “What are you doing here?” Maeleigh snarled, her words almost indiscernible.

  The colonel whipped around, stumbling back just a little at the sight she made. I must admit that I got a little pleasure in seeing his fear. It was only momentary though, before it was replaced by defiance.

  “I came to get answers that you weren’t giving me,” he said.

  Maeleigh tilted her head to Gearden, making me wonder if being in this new form made it harder for her to read lips. “You have no right to come here. To threaten my people—”

  “Your people?” he cut her off. “You can’t claim them all,” he scoffed. When he chuckled a little, some of his men had the balls to join in.

  Maeleigh’s snarl ended it though.

  “I do claim them!” she roared, taking a step forward.

  Laughter gone, replaced by defiance as he tilted his chin to a soldier next to him, who immediately trained his weapon at her.

  “I wouldn’t,” came a voice, stilling Gearden and Dom as both readied to attack. Turning, I watched as a familiar face walked from the clearing.

  “Reshan?” I asked, the fog of her memory coming to the surface in my mind from thousands of years ago.

  Her gaze quickly swept to mine, then back to the hunter. “What’s your name, hunter?” she asked him.

  He turned to look at her, the other man keeping his aim steadily on Maeleigh. “Longsten,” he answered.

  “Well, Longsten,” she said, stepping closer, “I advise you to put down your weapons and leave.” As she said it, she turned to look pointedly at the outskirts of the compound. I followed her gaze, seeing what she saw.

  All around the compound were faces in the shadows of the trees and cabins. The sun had started to fall behind them, the night growing nearer. I expected to see familiar faces of my people, instead I saw new faces, with glowing red eyes and elongated teeth. Hissing sounds threatened the hunters as they finally noticed the danger they’d walked into.

  Longsten stumbled a little as he quickly turned around on his heel to check his back, seeing that they were indeed surrounded. Panicked, he looked back to Reshan, eyes wide. Before he could make another move though, a scream echoed from deep within the encampment, followed by raised voices.

  I snapped my attention to Maeleigh, who was already shifting back to her human form, the seams on her shirt having popped from being stretched out through the transformation. Gearden had probably informed her of the ruckus as she met my eyes worriedly, then turned to Dom and Tomos, telling them to, “Stay here!”

  In the same tone, she ordered Reshan, “Don’t move,” and darted around elbows and asses to get to the tents, with me hot on her heels and Gearden taking the lead.

  The large alleyway between the row of tents was clear except for the telltale crowd towards the center. I could hear Weis give orders for people to stand back, the excited voices of shocked onlookers making my ears ring, though it could have been the shock of seeing what laid at the center, like a broken doll, that had my brain going fuzzy.

  “Ariela!” Maeleigh’s scream was ragged as she rushed to the side of her fallen friend. The bloodied mess that used to be her chest and the faded look in her gaze, told me the faerie was gone. Maybe not by long, but still, too far to save. My heart wrenched at her loss but shattered at the sound of Maeleigh’s sobs as she picked up her friend’s limp hand and held it to her chest, almost as if she were willing her back to life.

  It was like a switch went off in her sorrow the next instant though. Shoulders going stiff, tears sniffed away, she carefully set Ariela’s hand down and slowly stood up. When she turned, Danu’s mark shone brightly on her cheek. As one, the crowd took a collective step back, giving her space as she calmly strode through the sea of people that parted as she approached. With dangerous purpose, she walked back to the intruders, the Unseelie guard, Reshan and her followers. Gearden and I jogged behind her, trying to keep up, still at a loss for what she planned to do.

  We found out soon enough when she bypassed Reshan, Bri and Ro as she walked straight up to the hunter’s leader, Longsten. Finally, he made one smart move that evening, by stumbling back and away from the angry demi-goddess with death sparking in her eyes. The air snapped and crackled around her, making her a force to reckon with. She was a sight to behold and I felt the presence of Danu in that moment more than ever before.

  “Was it you?” she demanded, bearing down on him, not giving him one inch to dart away. The men behind him seemed to collect themselves, drawing their weapons to point them at Maeleigh. The next second, there were more growls and hissing, the obvious sounds of people shifting behind me. This would become bloody soon, depending on what Longsten’s next words are.

  “Was it?” Maeleigh screamed again, this time a mere foot away from his face. “Did you kill her?”

  He stilled as understanding dawned, which was answer enough.

  “My men and I haven’t killed anyone…tonight.” No one batted an eye at his last word, we were all aware of his and his men’s reputation. Maeleigh and Gearden had filled me in about the hunters the first week in Seelie Hill.

  Maeleigh looked like she might try to gouge his eyes out to get the answer she was looking for but it was obvious that he’d already given her the truth. At once, Gearden and I gripped each of her arms, pulling her back and into us. When she didn’t resist, I knew that she knew it to be true as well. The hunter wasn’t responsible for Ariela’s death.

  “Leave,” Reshan hissed at him as he gained his feet.

  He stared for a moment before lifting his hand up to make a stiff circular gesture over his head before turning to walk up the hill and back to the front
of the street.

  “Be sure they leave,” she said into the air, knowing her orders would be obeyed. Goddess, she hadn’t aged a day. She still looked like the young girl I remembered. We were born the same year and though I’d aged – not like a human would, of course – she still looked almost younger than Maeleigh.

  Gearden rounded to stand in front of Maeleigh, seemingly to talk her down, but Danu’s mark still shined brighter than ever on her face, nearly pulsing.

  “Lugh of the Silver Arm, as I live and breathe,” Reshan’s voice broke through my gawking.

  I watched as she walked towards me. When she neared, I opened my arms and we both clasped each other in a tight hug. “Good to see you, old friend,” I told her, my surprise still overcome by the shock of another longtime friend’s body lying a few hundred yards away.

  “You, too,” she told me, pulling back to get a good look at me. “It seems like I’ve come at just the right time.

  “How do we know you didn’t kill her?” Bri asked from Maeleigh’s side, her hand holding her friend’s, as silent tears ran down her cheeks.

  She didn’t respond but to briefly glance at Bri, then pinned her gaze on Maeleigh.

  Dom and Tomos didn’t seem to move once inch, which seemed to perturb me but I’d have to touch on that at a later date.

  “She didn’t kill Ariela,” Maeleigh answered for her, looking to Bri, who, then, let it go.

  “You two know each other?” Gearden asked, eyeing Reshan cautiously.

  “Old friends, from before the war,” I offered, finding myself smiling, despite the poor timing. The guarded expression on Maeleigh’s face made me pause a moment.

  “Who are you?” Maeleigh asked her, breaking upthe reunion.

  Reshan didn’t blink an eye before answering, “I am – was – Zerena’s second. Knowing that she’d had conversations with the Druid, we decided to investigate.”

  Gearden and Maeleigh shared a confused look. “Investigate? You don’t know who killed her either?” he asked.