by Jayne Hawke
Glancing over at Jess I frowned, I didn't want to put them in the line of fire. Not against the goddess, the one who I'd made a deal with. They were my pack, if it came down to it then I'd face the goddess and the consequences alone.
"Are we going to get badass call signs or whatever they call them? I want to be Lioness."
"Isn't that a bit obvious?"
She frowned and crossed her arms as we came to a stop at a red light.
"Ok, well." She sighed. "This is harder than I originally thought."
"I think we'll do ok just working as we are. Would you even be able to remember everyone's signs?"
"If they made them reasonable, like Rex is Grumpy."
I laughed. The name certainly fit the wolf, but I didn't want to have to shout it across some battlefield.
"Do we need more weapons? I only have fifteen swords at the pack house, and I'm getting a bit bored of my glaive. Maybe I can switch to sai."
I wished that I could have the flitting optimistic mind that Jess had. Nothing seemed to get to her, or really concern her. Everything was food, or glittery death. There never seemed to be any weight or worry about much of anything. And I envied her that. The pressure from everything that before us was threatening to crush me.
"I think it'd be best if you used your usual set up and adapted it to whoever we end up going against," I said evenly.
Elijah was rubbing off on me. I caught it in the tone and slight inflection there. Dammit, were we going to be one of those couples who ended up all matchy-matchy and talked like each other? I sighed.
"Oh! Do we get awesome uniforms? No spandex, although I look amazing in spandex I do not want to see Rex in all of that."
"Why would we want uniforms? And where would we get them from?"
I could almost feel her mind hopping around from idea to idea, each of them shinier than the last.
"All the best people have uniforms."
"Name three."
"Iron Man. That dude from Watchmen. And erm. The X-men."
I tried not to roll my eyes, she was trying so hard.
"Name three real people."
"Oh come on, that's not fair!"
"Why?"
"Because normal people don't wear badass uniforms, because they haven't realised how cool it would look. It'd be like modern wode paint, where they put blue paint on themselves and charged at the enemy."
"You do realise they did that while naked right...?"
"I can fight naked.
And I believed that she would.
"I am not fighting naked. I'm pretty sure the guys would rather keep their delicate parts protected too."
"It would suck to have your cock chopped off,” Jess said thoughtfully.
I realised that was my life now. Chaos, Mayhem, and cutting dicks off.
Thirty-Three
There were bears milling around the parked cars in front of the house. Huge hulking grizzly bears, one might have been a kodiak. I wasn't what you'd call a bear expert. I could however tell you that they were very big, and in my way.
"The Black Forest crew are here!" Jess said with a little squee.
"Are they all bears?"
"There are a couple of dire wolves, and a lynx," Jess said before she jumped out of the car which hadn't stopped moving yet.
I pulled into the space behind Rex's car and watched as Jess flung her arms around the muscular neck of the closest bear. She bear pressed its head against hers and made what I assumed was a happy sound.
As I got out of the car they all started to shift. When I got to the front door I was flanked by a group of incredibly muscular naked people. An even mix of men and women, all of which had that bear scent about them. Rex opened the door as I reached for the door handle.
"Elijah gave the go ahead for you to sleep on the lawn," Rex said with a grin.
I didn't think I'd seen him so happy. It wasn't as if wolves and bears usually played well together. There had been a few vicious wars when wolf and bear shifter territories had overlapped. Yet there he was like he'd just been greeted by his favourite movie actress. I walked around him to find Elijah and see what exactly was going on.
"So er, there are bears," I said.
Elijah shook his head.
"They're not a bad pack. I wouldn't like to live next to them, but they fight well and will have our backs. I assume Jess made you go and meet Kay and May."
"They were... an experience."
Elijah laughed.
"I think Jess views them as some sort of heroes. They're a handful, but their speed and accuracy will be useful."
We were really doing this. We were going to war with Varehn.
"Do we have any progress on the murderer? What exactly are we going to do about and with him?"
I went looking for coffee, I needed it. Nia was still doing her alchemy thing in the kitchen. Her face was scrunched up in concentration as she slowly poured some gold liquid into a smoking pot full of glittery purple ooze. A puff of yellow smoke floated upwards and Nia's shoulders relaxed as she put the now empty vial down.
"I'm done. You have a selection of grenades, bomb-orbs, which really need a better name, and a few magical traps. Oh and there are some vials of magical poison, it leeches the magic out of whoever you hit it with rendering them human. Or human-ish. Their magical healing, shifter, casting, all of it will fade. It only lasts fifteen minutes or so though, so if you use it act fast."
She was turning out to be a good person to have around.
"Does this mean we get our kitchen back?" Rex asked.
Nia blushed.
"I'm sorry about that, I just got so into my work I didn't really think about how it was actually your kitchen."
"You're fine Nia. Just bag and label everything for us," Elijah said.
The bears were meandering around the hallway and living room behind Rex completely naked. No attempt had been made to find some clothes. They did have clothes, right? It wasn't that I was opposed to muscular men being around, I just didn't want everything on show. Especially given how awkward it would be to look when Elijah was right there.
"You live with shifters, relax," Rex said gruffly.
"It's not unreasonable to not want to look at naked men other than my other half," I said.
"You're the one making it a whole thing. No one cares if you look. It's all natural," Rex said.
He was right. I was the one making it a thing. I had no doubt that it was completely natural and normal to them, but I wasn't them. And in that moment that was a painful reminder. I was a witch amongst shifters. Infinity pressed a little closer against my skin, a small reminder that I wasn't alone. The stress was starting to eat at me and it was making me irrational.
Turning away I looked through the fridge for something to sate my annoyance. Coffee didn't look like it was an option, at least until I could be sure that Nia had cleaned away all of her alchemical stuff. I wasn't ready to risk mixing my coffee with alchemical sunshine, or bedrock. Given I was a witch it was likely to end in an explosion as there'd be a mix of magical types. Maybe one day I'd really look into alchemy, but that day wasn't it.
A small woman with long legs and soft fluffy pale grey hair brought me a box full of divine looking cupcakes.
"It's rude to come into someone's home without a gift," she said in a thick German accent and a smile.
"Thank you, that's very kind."
"Mila."
"Lily."
I picked out a white frosted cupcake with small blue sparkles and offered the box back to her. The cupcake was light with a taste which reminded me of first snow.
"Do not fear. We are made for war," Mila said.
That was exactly what I was worried about. Wars were bloody, brutal, and full of death. I wasn't ready to lose any of my pack.
Thirty-Four
Thankfully the bears had all retired to the far end of the garden to sleep for the night. I was realising that I really didn't do well with strangers in my home. It was supposed to
be our sanctuary, and it was being overrun with bears of all things. I quietly thanked whoever was responsible for ensuring that Kay and May weren't staying with us. That was something I wouldn't have been able to handle.
Elijah wrapped his arms around my waist as went to open the freezer and pull out some much needed icecream.
"We're going to be ok. One thing at a time. Varehn's people won't stand a chance against us, and Liam's making progress on the hunt. His new friends seem to be speeding everything up."
I leaned back into Elijah embracing the security and happiness that his presence brought.
"New friends?"
"Mhm, they showed up twenty or so minutes ago."
I had to admit that I didn't think of the little fox as having friends. He was so glued to his laptop. I pulled the icecream out of the freezer and filled two bowls with it. It was time to indulge and make the most of the little things while the storm grew around us. We couldn't know how, or who was going to come out of this. Not that was I thinking about that if I could help it.
We walked into the living room where I found Liam sitting cross-legged with three people around him. They might as well have had neon signs screaming 'we're assassins' above their heads. All three of them were lithe and in all black with very serious expressions on their faces. The woman with deep red hair glanced up at me, frowned, and returned to glaring at her laptop.
"We have his location narrowed down. We should have it by the morning. He's been more clever than we gave him credit for," Liam said.
"Do we have a name? A motive?"
"Derek Salter. It looks like his family were murdered by a pair of mixed blood fae high on some dangerous new drug fresh out of the Narrows. Likely from the kelpies. He walked in to see them take their last breath before the fae fled," the woman said.
I squeezed my eyes closed. His pain must have been unbearable, to be so helpless. I couldn't blame him for wanting revenge. Not that I condoned it. The brutality he'd shown those fae.
"Did the fae he killed have anything to do with his family?"
"No. The fae who killed his family disappeared about a week after the incident. Likely taken back to fae to suffer punishment there. If my reading's correct they'll be tortured for a year or so before either being retrained as good little court guards, or killed," the blond guy on Liam's left said.
No one could accuse the fae of doing things by halves. Although I had to ask myself, why exactly hadn't they figured out this guy was the murderer? His motive was very clear, and they knew of the crime committed against him and his family.
"They were toying with us all along," I said.
"'fraid so," the woman said.
They'd known who the murderer was, they just wanted an excuse to play a little game. We were in some elaborate fight ring for their amusement.
Thirty-Five
Nia had given me something to help me relax and get some sleep. It was the only thing that had stopped me from pacing around the living room thinking about ways to take my fury out on the court. The real problem was that I couldn't act out any of them, not without bringing down all of Fae on my head. Bastards.
When I got up to do my morning workout I was surprised to find Henri and Alexander the jaguar guardians hanging out in the kitchen drinking coffee.
"Why?" I asked.
I wasn't entirely awake enough to form the rest of the thought. Being awake enough to hit things was a very different awake to being able to talk to people.
"I asked them here. They agreed to stand with us and push back against the court and this bullshit," Elijah said.
My feeling on the impending battle improved somewhat. The guardians were formidable and having them on our side was going to be a big bonus. Not that I was going to tell them or anyone else that. Their egos were already plenty big enough and I wasn't going to risk pissing the bears off.
The Black Forest crew were all in their animal forms sprawled out on the grass fast asleep. I needed to ask Rex what made them a crew instead of a pack, pack sounded so much better. It couldn't have been because they were mixed, the Sentinels were mixed and they were still a pack. Thankfully. I didn't want to be part of a crew.
"We brought you coffee. The stuff we tried last time we were in the city was awful," the one I thought was Henri said.
I happened to think that Brighton had some fantastic coffee, but they could have gone to the shitty places. There were a few roasteries that looked fancy but were awful. How did they make freshly roasted coffee taste like ash!? I wasn't going to turn my nose up at coffee, not at that time of the morning.
The other guardian, Alexander, pulled a large golden bag from the cupboard and set about making Elijah and me some coffee. Henri stood sipping his coffee just watching us. They clearly weren't what you'd call conversationalists. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but it was increasingly uncomfortable and weird.
Henri handed me a mug of coffee. I was breathing in the rich chocolatey scent when Liam shouted.
"We have him! He's holed up in a warehouse!"
Couldn't they have waited five more minutes?
"Get everyone together. Liam, we need blueprints. Now. Does Varehn know where he is?" Elijah shouted.
"Done. Yes, Varehn knows."
Well shit.
I sprinted to our bedroom, coffee in hand. To my great pride I didn't spill a single drop of coffee on the way up the stairs. I grabbed my phone and rang Hazel and Reed. This was happening. Now.
I'd managed to knock back the coffee, which was far better than anything I'd found in Brighton. Dressing in my full battle leathers with fully charged charms running up both of my forearms I felt like I was as ready as I could be.
Infinity was still tangled within my hair. It offered reassuring sensations.
Raising my chin, I walked down the stairs and out to the garden ready to lead our little army. Or at least stand by Elijah's side as he did so.
Everyone was there. Kay and May were bouncing on the balls of their feet with impatient expressions on their faces. They looked even smaller as they stood in front of the muscular bear shifters, who were thankfully all somewhat clothed. Hazel and Reed stood aside from the rest, I noted the array of blades on Hazel and guns on Reed. The jaguar guardians were casually drinking coffee as they leaned against the wall near the doorway looking as if they were watching a beautiful sunrise somewhere.
Liam had found a large white board from somewhere and had attached the blown-up blueprints of the warehouse where Derek the murderer was hiding out. He and the assassins stood clustered next to the whiteboard, all dressed in black with serious faces. Jess and Rex were covered in blades and had a cold predatory glint in their eyes.
I took my place next to Elijah and hoped that I felt stronger and more capable of being an alpha than I felt. This was it. Time to step up.
"If they’re still there when we get there, it’s a trap. That said, we need what they have, so here’s what it’s going to look like if and when it comes to that. The Black Forest pack will go in through the back door." Elijah gestured at the blueprints. "May and Kay go in through the roof. Stay up above the group and act as our eyes. Henri and Alexander stay with us. The... the assassins in black, I don't remember what you call yourselves. You're going in through the east entrance. The Sentinels and knights will go in through the main front entrance."
It was a simple plan. We were going to cover every entrance and exit and hope to overwhelm both Varehn and his lot, and the murderer. Now we just had to hope that this went as smoothly as possible. The real problem was going to be getting Derek out of the way and safely in our hands so Varehn couldn't claim the bounty. This would all be for nothing if that little shit got the bounty. It wasn't about the money any more, it was about proving a point.
The gods knew I hoped that we all came out of this alive.
"And me?" Nia asked quietly from behind me.
"Stay here. We'll deal with you when we return," Elijah said.
"Don't fear, we
have a plan," Henri said in what I thought was supposed to be a soothing tone.
Nia paled and stepped back into the kitchen looking like a pack of death dealers were crowding in around her.
"Is everyone clear on their role?" I barked.
"Yes!" came back the cry.
My stomach was twisting into complicated knots. It was a simple in and out job, but the stakes were far higher than I would have liked. There were so many lives on the line, but we had no choice. This wasn't something the pack could handle alone.
Thirty-Six
The bounty was in there. Varehn was in there. A small army of others were in there. The only question was, why weren’t they moving? I couldn’t exactly complain that the guy who got to the bounty ahead of us was sitting on it instead of collecting his money, but my luck wasn’t that good. They were waiting us out, using the object of the contest as bait. I’d suggested just letting them starve in there awhile and taking them out in a few days, but they were probably dining on faerie caviar straight from Fae delivered on the hour. Damn fae.
We’d set up the plan for a commando insertion, but part of me hadn’t expected to actually need it. I figured we’d get here, find them heading out in a train of Humvees or some such, and have to think on our feet. Actually sitting outside the place staring at a bona fide warehouse siege was surreal. I felt like there was an action movie quip on the tip of my tongue, but I still hadn’t come up with it when Elijah gave the signal to go in.
As one, all seven of us threw a bomb at a different section of the frontage. I’d felt the life essences in advance and knew we had breathing room at the front, and that meant we could go in big. With all eyes on us and an unmissable cue, the split-second sequence of explosions drove the entire front of the warehouse back in chunks, sheet metal shrapnel making a mess of the greeting party. Before they could react, we threw another volley of bombs, a mix of light and nonlethal poison gas. We couldn’t risk killing the bounty, but there was nothing wrong with a little vomiting and diarrhea or an ill-timed nap.