by Jayne Hawke
Elijah smirked down at me.
“You think you do.”
There was no way he could know about a good bar that I hadn’t heard of. Was there?
Rex and Jess had peeled off and headed into a small pub not too far from the beach. It blared live music with someone murdering a classic rock song. I was glad Elijah hadn’t tried to convince me that was the place to be. We made our way into the city through the narrow streets with the brightly painted walls. The ground beneath us changed from smooth tarmac to large cobblestones, and the shops on either side went from high-end fashion stores into antique jewellery shops. There was a beautiful pearl ring in the window of the smaller shop with the lemon-yellow frontage. I made a mental note to go back and have a closer look another day.
“You have to swear not to embarrass me,” Elijah said with a twinkle in his eye.
I raised an eyebrow at him.
“You’re the one who embarrasses me.”
He snorted and put his arm around my waist.
I should have shoved him away, but it didn’t feel all that awful. He guided me through a narrow archway in a brick wall that I swore hadn’t been there a moment ago. A small black sign hung over a simple pale blue door.
SALT
He had me, I’d never heard of Salt before. I swore that I knew every place in the city. Elijah opened the door with a flourish and gently pressed my lower back to encourage me to step inside. It was weirdly quiet. Was he leading me into some trap?
Walking down a narrow hallway, we suddenly emerged into a chic bar full of beautiful people. Most of the races were represented. I saw a nymph fluttering around a pair of kelpies, a human laughing at something a bear shifter had said. The interior was dark in that fashionable classy way. The walls were a deep ocean blue that seemed to gently roll as though waves were washing over it. The floor was done in whites and greys. It’d been made to look like a fresh beach with the lines left behind from the waves running up over the sand.
Elijah guided me around the large black tables over to a corner seat that offered us a good view of the space. It wasn’t huge. It could fit sixty people at a push. That gave it a feel of cosiness, though, which I appreciated. Settling myself into the high-backed leather seat, I looked for a drinks menu or something.
A tall man with razor-sharp cheek bones, electric blue eyes, and short blond hair approached us with a small smile.
“She’ll have the Salt special, and I’ll take your newest whisky,” Elijah said.
I kicked him under the table. I didn’t need someone ordering for me.
The waiter gave a small nod and slipped back between the tables.
“Hey, I can order my own drinks.”
He reached out and took my hands in his much larger hands with a sinful smile on his face.
“You’ll thank me.”
“It had better be the best drink I’ve ever tasted.”
“It will be,” he said with absolute certainty.
“I’ve had a lot of really good drinks...”
“Then we’ll put a bet down. When it turns out it’s incredible, you owe me a kiss.”
“And when it’s average, or good at best?”
“Then I’ll buy you lunch for a week.”
“Deal.”
The waiter returned with a deep amber coloured whisky and an artic blue drink with light white froth in a martini glass. He placed the cocktail before me and disappeared again. Elijah lifted his whisky and held it up. I lifted my own drink and waited.
“To new and exciting partnerships.”
We clinked out glasses together, and I took a sip as Elijah watched me very closely. There was a soft tingle of magic running through the drink. At first the drink tasted like a bright summer’s day. It brought a feeling of happiness and calm over me while wrapping my tongue in something bright and refreshing. Then it became something more. The magic washed over me, making me laugh in absolute delight. The taste was bright with a touch of fruit, blueberry perhaps.
“It looks like you owe me a kiss,” Elijah said with a rumble.
I couldn’t argue. That drink had been nothing short of amazing. I’d had magic-imbued drinks before, but none of them had captured the experience of a day by the beach as beautifully as that. I’d have to kiss the gorgeous shifter across from me. The things I did for work...
Nineteen
Elijah moved his chair around closer to mine and hugged my legs between his knees. I should have felt trapped having such a large powerful man holding me like that, but I felt safe. He leaned in and slowly caressed my jawline, his lips parting slightly as he did so. My breath caught as I leaned into him and allowed him to wrap his other arm around me, pulling me closer.
He grazed my bottom lip with teeth sending a chill down my spine. I’d never much liked being teased. I dug my fingers into his thick hair and kissed him hard. Taking control, I revelled in the way he embraced me and returned my kiss with equal fire. Nipping at my lips, he opened his mouth and held me tight against his hard body as I caressed his tongue with my own. My heart was pounding in my chest as I lost myself to him and the moment. I’d never experienced a kiss like that before.
We pulled back, and I tried to look far more composed that I felt. I’d never lost myself with someone like that before. The risk had been too great. Sure, I’d had one-night stands, but the fire and trust I felt in that damn wolf shifter was something new and terrifying. He caressed my cheek with the lightest of touches and looked at me with such gentle eyes I knew that I’d made the right decision.
“We’ll have to do that again sometime,” he said as he pulled back with a smirk.
I took a large gulp of my drink to try and return myself to a normal state, which it very much did not. How could this guy have such an impact on me? Should I be suspicious? I made a mental note to talk to Castor about it.
“Why did you choose Brighton?” Elijah asked casually.
I shrugged.
“It seemed like a fun city. You?”
“I like being near the ocean, and the forests here are good for shifters.”
“How did you come to form your group of misfits?”
He raised an eyebrow at me. I smiled unrepentantly.
“I’m a natural alpha, but there were difficulties within my pack. My brother formed a political alliance that pushed me out and turned my parents against me. I’d seen lone shifters, the sadness it brought them. So, when I met Liam, I knew that I couldn’t just leave him to wander alone. Rex is a natural beta, and Jess is a cat - she does as she pleases. I must have had the right brand of cream.”
I laughed. It was just so natural for him to collect people and give them a home.
“There’s room for a witch, too.”
I froze with my drink halfway to my mouth. Of course I’d dreamt of having a family, a place where I belonged. I had Castor, but it would never compare to a vibrant coven or group of friends that I could really trust.
“I’m an independent woman.”
He’d sell me out the second he found out what I was, what had happened. I couldn’t take that risk. Even if a quiet voice in the back of my mind said that he was different, that his arms felt like a safe haven.
“The offer will be there when you need it.”
I finished up my drink. There were too many feelings, too much gentle earnest honesty. I needed to go and hide away from everything and get my head straight again. It was so easy to be around him, to let myself dream of a time when I could be myself without fear. When I could kiss him like that whenever I wanted.
“Thanks for the drink.”
He frowned.
“I’ll take you back to your car at least.”
I was torn between pushing him away and trying not to be a bitch for no good reason. Sense won out.
“Thanks.”
We wandered back through the city in a comfortable silence. My mind kept going back to the feeling of safety in his arms and the fire of that kiss. I chided myself for being ridicul
ous, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that it was natural and right.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for introducing me to Salt,” I said as I got into my car.
A glance in my rear-view mirror as I drove away showed him to have a deep furrow of confusion between his brows as he frowned at me. It wasn’t his fault. And that was the worst part of it - he couldn’t understand what had gone wrong.
Twenty
I’d stopped by the best coffee house in the city and picked up a couple of large bags of my favourite beans on my way to Elijah’s office. If I was going to be spending that much time there, it was only reasonable that I gave back a bit.
“Did you sleep here?” I asked Liam as I looked over the young fox shifter.
He looked up at me with bleary eyes. His shirt was heavily wrinkled, and his hair was mussed.
“What is sleep?”
“Go home and get some sleep. We’ll figure something out.”
“I just-.”
“Go home, Liam. You’re never be any use to us if you’re exhausted.”
He stood and froze when Elijah strolled into the space.
“Lily’s right, go and get some sleep. We’ll see you tomorrow.”
Liam relaxed and walked out towards the elevator.
“I brought coffee,” I said, holding up the bags of beans.
“Are you saying our coffee is bad?”
I grinned at him.
“You said it, not me.”
Their coffee was actually very good, but I wasn’t going to miss this opportunity to poke at him.
I set the coffee down next to the machine and looked over at Liam’s still-open laptop.
“Did he find anything?”
“No. Nothing. There’s word of a new thief in town, but no one’s hired them or bought anything from them.”
“How far out did he look? They could be in another city.”
“Liam checked the entire Fae Isles. He had some algorithms and other computer things that scan all relevant things. None of his flags panned out. At first he focused on rich humans, then he spread it out to everyone. Nothing. No one.”
I sighed and made myself a strong black coffee with my new beans.
“The humans doing a ritual thing seems like the most logical thing right now,” I said.
“It did, right up until a Caleb Morgan showed up dead ten minutes ago,” Rex said as he stared at me.
“I was here ten minutes ago, why are you glaring at me?”
“Because Caleb was connected to you.”
I ran the name back through my head trying to place it. He wasn’t a client, or was he?
“Wait, was that the prick that tried to get out of paying me by putting a hit on me?”
“Yes,” Rex said with a growl.
“That was months ago.”
“Which would make it the perfect time for you to take him out without as much suspicion.”
“I was right here ten minutes ago. What exactly is my motive? If I killed every moron who tried to get out of paying me, I’d quickly run out of clients.”
“You killed Petr,” Rex said as he stalked up to me.
“Oh, come on! The Russian had it coming. He’d cheated plenty of people out of money, not to mention the illegal drugs and slaves he dealt in. I did the world a favour.”
Elijah stepped in front of me and stared Rex down. I stepped around him, not appreciating his trying to fight this for me.
“Rex,” Elijah growled.
“I’m just saying. You’ve been weird about her for months, now you’re working with her. The shadow stone conveniently showed up, and now this?”
“What exactly are you implying?” I demanded.
“When Elijah takes his life bond, he gains access to his trust fund. His 7-figure trust fund.”
My stomach twisted. I hadn’t even thought about a relationship. The idea of using someone for their money like that, of playing with their heart was beyond me. I was a killer, but I had limits.
“Don’t give me that shit. I know you had Liam look into me, which means you know I have a few million put away already.”
“Caleb pissed off a lot of people. The connection to Lily is tenuous. Back off,” Elijah growled.
Rex dropped his eyes and hunched his shoulders.
“For the record, I never screw with people’s hearts,” I said.
“The role of a second is to protect the alpha and ensure that the pack runs smoothly, freeing the alpha up to look at the big picture. There were other women who did try and get my trust fund. Rex is protective,” Elijah said as he continued to glare at Rex.
“I apologise for crossing a line,” Rex said with a huff.
“Shit happens. So, is this death something we’re looking into?”
I felt like the best way to diffuse the suffocating tension was to move on and re-focus on work.
“We’ll make a note of it and focus on the thefts,” Elijah said.
“What did I miss?” Jess asked brightly.
“Rex thought I was trying to get into Elijah’s pants so I could run off with his trust fund.”
“Does this mean you guys finally screwed? The sexual tension is off the radar.”
I hated myself for it, but I blushed furiously.
“I’ll take that as a no, then,” Jess said.
Twenty-One
We’d spent the day trying to track down potential leads for this thief. Word was that Caleb had been killed by someone who moved like a shadow and left a slight sea-salt smell behind. That could be because he was killed in a seaside city, though, so I wasn’t taking it too seriously.
Castor had been out when I’d returned from Salt before. He sauntered into the living room where I was looking through my laptop trying to see if I’d missed any possible fences or leads that could be used. We needed to get those items back to the clients before our reputations took a hit.
“What happened?” Castor asked as he sat next to me.
“I kissed Elijah.”
“Why did you say it that grave tone?”
“Because it felt incredible, and natural, and I have no idea how to handle that.”
He put his hand on my shoulder, and I turned to look at him.
“It’s ok to be scared. There’s a lot at stake if you trust him,” he said gently.
“If I open up to him and I’m wrong about him, we’ll have to leave the Isles.”
“And if that happens, we’ll do it together. We can go somewhere sunny and start fresh.”
I laughed. He made it sound so easy.
“Sometimes you just need to take the risk. If he really feels that right, go with it. Trust your instincts and your magic.”
“It really was an incredible kiss, and being in his arms felt like I was home.”
“Maybe you were.”
I dragged my fingers through my hair.
Castor gave me a brotherly smile.
“Relax. Just let things happen as they happen. Don’t worry about things before they even happen, enjoy the process.”
“Thanks,” I said as I hugged him.
“What are familiars for?”
“Eating all of my food, apparently,” I said with a laugh.
Castor turned serious.
“When was the last time you used your shadow magic? You need to maintain your connection with it.”
“A couple of weeks?”
“You know you need to be proficient with it, a warrior if needed.”
“Why? You’ve said that since I was sixteen, but you never said why.”
Castor looked away. He was given to me by the same being that had given me the shadow magic, and I was under no illusions that his bond to her wasn’t stronger than to me.
“You’ll know when the time’s right. Come on, run through the basics.”
Sighing, I reached out for my shadow magic. It was a very different experience to the normal witch magic. Where that was all elements with vaguely thread-like sensations, the shadow was far
more nebulous. It wasn’t the shadow of the earth plane. It came directly from the shadow plane.
The inky magic slipped through my fingers like fog. There was the sensation of sentience about it, which was something I’d struggled with at first. Castor had helped me make the shadow respect me enough to flow and form in the ways that I needed it to. Still, there were some pieces or parts that felt more rebellious than others.
I began by grasping onto a large piece of shadow and pressing it down into a long sword. My shadow weapons were sharper than anything made on the Earth plane, and unbreakable. They cut straight through shifter bone with one quick and easy swipe. It felt unfair to use them, but sometimes I had no choice.
Next, I pulled a larger piece of shadow and wrapped it around myself like a full body shroud. I knew that it rendered me as pure darkness. That was my preferred piece of shadow weaving. It allowed me to move through the darkness silently and entirely unseen. It was perfect for my acquisition jobs.
“There, see?”
“The creature,” Castor said firmly.
Standing, I swallowed down the familiar fear. This was the part I hated the most. There were creatures on the shadow plane, sharp-edged vicious creatures that I could pull through the veil and control. I hated doing it and had never done it outside of practise. I’d never faced anything powerful enough to take such a risk.
Reaching through the veil with my mind, I called for a small creature. The huge ones were beyond my control. They would run rampant around the city if I pulled one through. I wasn’t going to have that on my conscience. The creature was the size of a Dobermann, all glass-like angles formed of large shards which made it quadrupedal with an elongated head full of sharp teeth. Its legs were tipped in incredibly sharp claws, which I was told would cut through stone or bone with equal ease.
The creature strained against my mental control. It was eager to get out into the world, to taste freedom. I held it with my mind and allowed it a few steps around the couch. It looked at me with eyes darker than any black I’d ever seen on the Earth plane. There was no malice there, but I could feel it testing to see if I was worthy. Castor had promised they would be far more loyal than any shifter if I gained their respect. I wasn’t convinced.