Mercenary

by Jennifer Blackstream

  If I wasn’t concentrating on the ball of nerves that my stomach had twisted itself into, I might have argued that forcing my way onto his case hadn’t been my idea, it had been my mentor’s. But most of my attention was focused on not throwing up in his truck.

  “Look, if Shade says you’re bossy, then you’re bossy,” Peasblossom spoke up, rolling over from her position on top of my head.

  “Thank you, Peasblossom,” I said.

  “You’re welcome. After all, if anyone would know when someone’s being bossy, it would be—”

  “That’s enough support for now, thank you, Peasblossom.” I reached up and groped for her, careful not to damage her wings. “Now get off my head, you’re going to make the wig crooked.”

  The pixie squirmed in my grasp, fighting to stay in place. “Hey! I’m not making it crooked, I was smoothing it down! I’m helping.” I held her in front of my face to see her scowling at me. “If you ask me, wearing a physical disguise beneath a magic disguise is ridiculous. If you can’t have faith in your magic, then you have no business going in there in the first place.”

  “Ian looked right through my spell,” I pointed out. “Chances are this wizard can do it too. At least this way he won’t recognize me right away.”

  “Did you do that makeup?” Liam asked.

  I glanced at him. “No, I had the girl at the makeup counter do it when we stopped at the store for the clothes. Why?”

  Liam shrugged. “It’s well done. But you look better without it.”

  I stared at him for a long second. “Was that a compliment?”

  “It smells funny, too.”

  I scowled. “Thanks.”

  “You two have an interesting relationship,” a man’s voice said from the backseat.

  Jeff’s voice.

  I spun around in my seat, then grabbed hold of the door as the truck veered violently to the right.

  “Liam!” I shouted, my voice choked.

  “Sorry.” He righted the truck, but the steering wheel groaned under the tightness of his grip, and the vein in his temple bulged.

  Jeff sat curled up in the footwell behind my seat. He didn’t even look uncomfortable. Scath lay on the seat, and I stared at Jeff’s hand as he smoothed it down her side. She didn’t seem to mind at all.

  “How did you get here?” I managed finally. “How did you get away from the guards?”

  “I’m a Ranger,” he said simply, as if that explained everything.

  “That’s not an answer.” Liam’s voice was tight, a combination of anger and nerves. “The vampire isn’t just any businessman, that building is a fortress. How did you get out?”

  “Skill.” He hesitated, then shrugged. “And Illyana spent most of her energy healing me. She wasn’t at her best. I got away before they got me in the building.”

  I glanced from him to Liam. “You didn’t smell him, did you?”

  Liam’s grip on the steering wheel tightened again, and the groan of rubber and metal didn’t bode well for the truck.

  “No, he didn’t,” Jeff said calmly. “And I’m sorry, I know that’s unnerving for you. But it was necessary. I had to know the truth. Who you were working for.”

  “So now you’re going to trust us?” I asked. “Now that you’ve broken into Liam’s truck and spied on us?”

  “I still don’t trust you,” Jeff corrected me. “I’ve simply chosen to be here instead of at the Winters building.” His face darkened. “I’ve been thinking about those pictures. I didn’t put them there. Barbara is a friend, but I’ve never considered her as anything more. And I would never do anything to hurt Roger. I want to know who planted that stuff in my place.”

  “Probably Ian Walsh,” I said grimly. “But we’re going to find out one way or the other soon.” I paused and looked back at Jeff. “Barbara told me Ian said you called him that night. He said you told him Roger was attacked.”

  “I never called Ian,” Jeff said grimly.

  “If Ian lied to Barbara about Jeff’s call, then that means it wasn’t Ian Barbara spoke to,” Liam pointed out. “It was probably Stavros.”

  Liam pulled into the parking garage and found a space. His aura writhed like a nest of fire ants, and it took more concentration than I wanted to admit to focus on Jeff. “What exactly did you see at Acme?” I asked.

  Jeff stared at me for a long minute. Finally, he sighed. “I didn’t look in the warehouse. Roger climbed the ladder to look inside, and I watched him from across the street. Whatever he saw, it turned him white, and he just about fell down the ladder.”

  He shifted, rising halfway out of the footwell to balance on his heels. “He ran for his car, and something came out of the warehouse after him. I didn’t realize who or what it was right away.”

  “The baobhan sidhe,” I guessed.

  Jeff winced. “Yeah. I shot him when he grabbed Roger. I stayed to make sure Roger reached the car, then took off. But I wasn’t quite fast enough.” His eyes grew haunted, as if remembering what had happened. “I don’t think I’d like to meet a baobhan sidhe again. Ever.”

  “It’s impressive you survived,” I said quietly.

  “Blackjack saved my life. I managed to get away and call Dr. Dannon. He’s got a reputation as a good man who doesn’t talk out of turn. I had to take a chance.” He shook his head. “I don’t remember anything after that until you showed up.”

  “So you never saw Ian Walsh.”

  “No, but I’d seen the baobhan before. I knew he worked for Underhill.”

  “There’s a chance he went turncoat,” Peasblossom told him. “He’s been talking to Aaban.”

  “Interesting.” Jeff considered that, then gestured at the racino. “So you’re going to go in there and pretend to be a fighting pair looking for a treaty? But really you want to find Roger’s contract and find out for sure whose name is on it?”

  “Eavesdropping a lot, were you?” I asked.

  “Yes.”

  I sighed. “Apparently, Stavros is very fond of making deals. He’s built a reputation for his contract negotiations, especially treaties. The more powerful the opposing sides, the more tempting for him to participate in drawing up the contract and making sure it’s binding.”

  “How can I help?” Jeff asked.

  I glanced at Liam. He was watching Jeff with a less than friendly expression.

  “Well, when we go in, we’re going to demand to see a sample contract. I’ll say I want to test his magic to make sure it’s good enough. I was going to make Peasblossom invisible, so she can steal the contract.”

  “You can’t come in, he’ll recognize you,” Liam said roughly.

  “Then I’ll wait out here as backup,” Jeff said calmly. “How long before you want me to come in?”

  “Give us an hour. Any more than that and check the fight club downstairs. Get in the elevator and press 27486. It’ll take you to the lowest level.” I looked toward the racino. “My guess is if we get caught trying to trick him, we’ll be working it off in the ring.” I hesitated, then added. “If you do end up in the fight club, ask around for a goblin named Kendrick or Asher. Tell them there’s a fight in it for them if they help you find us.”

  The mention of the goblins pushed Jeff’s eyebrows into his hairline. I got out of the truck before he could ask too many questions about it.

  “I don’t like him showing up like that,” Liam muttered as we crossed the parking lot.

  “I wish he’d actually seen Ian at Acme.” I clenched my hands into fists, resisting the urge to mess with the wig again. “If this doesn’t work, it’d be nice to know he could be a better witness.”

  “I guess we better hope this works,” Liam said, opening the door to the casino. “After you.”

  It was seven o’ clock, and the casino was already hot with activity. It was easy to tell the recent arrivals from the morning people who hadn’t made it home yet. The latter had that look of exhausted desperation, as if the bright lights kept them melted to their seats, unabl
e to blink for fear they’d miss the slot machines’ final fruit that meant a life of luxury. The recent arrivals scooted around them as if they were invisible, their wide eyes zeroing in on what seemed like easy money.

  It was hard not to study them and wonder which of these poor souls would be the one standing in front of the wizard at the end of the night, begging him to free them from the crippling debt they’d fallen into. With the current noise level I doubted anyone could hear their own thoughts, which might include a little voice in their head trying to tell them to quit before they were in too deep.

  And of course the free booze would do nicely to drown out any concerns that made it past the noise…

  “Ready?” I asked under my breath.

  “Yeah.” Liam glanced down at me, and something in his eyes sent a shiver down my spine. “Are you?”

  I didn’t answer. Instead, I called my magic—or rather, stopped holding it back. I let it pour up, flood my body until it hummed under my skin. I let out a breath, and with that breath, I let my power dance over my nerve endings, fill me up until I imagined I could exhale a colorful cloud of magical energies. Time to let them know the witch was coming.

  Beside me, Liam proved to me just how much he usually held back. His wolf leapt into his eyes, light blue warming to golden amber. I’d thought the heat rolling off him before was impressive, but now I could barely breathe. Our energies sizzled against each other as we stalked the length of the casino.

  It didn’t take long for the whispers to start. Otherworlders weren’t immune to gambling addiction, and Liam and I dragged more than one of them off their stools as we walked by, the force of our auras piquing their curiosity. By the time we reached the customer service desk, we had a considerable audience.

  “I want to speak to Stavros.” I let my voice echo with power, pushing purple energy into my tone. The short blonde woman behind the desk wasn’t human, I guessed some sort of half-fey, but she wasn’t so strong that she didn’t feel the compulsion in my words. She’d already lifted the phone when she caught herself.

  “I’m sorry, do you have an appointment?”

  Liam stepped closer to the desk, and the girl leaned away from him, wide eyes fixed on his burning gaze. “Tell him the alpha of the Rocky River pack is here to see him. You can take us to him now, or I’ll hunt him down myself.”

  The girl groped for the phone again, and pressed a button. “Mr. Stavros? The alpha of the Rocky River pack—”

  “Tell him Mother Briar is here to see him,” I spoke up, talking over her. “I’m not playing second fiddle to a dog.”

  The girl’s eyes bugged out of her head, and she stared at Liam. Liam growled at me, and the sound drew the eyes of several onlookers as it vibrated my internal organs.

  “Um, Mr. Stavros, Mother— I mean, two— I mean…” She stopped, holding perfectly still as she listened to whatever Stavros was saying to her. She nodded, relief pouring over her face. “Okay. Yes, sir, thank you, sir. Right away, sir.”

  She hung up the phone and her shoulders drooped. “He’ll see you now. If you’ll just follow Edwin?”

  One of the casino employees stood waiting. He had brown skin with faint red undertones and hair cut close to his head. Pieces of silver stuck out of the flesh around his left eye like a grotesque second set of eyelashes, crossing over his cheek to almost touch his nose. The skin around the metal bits was red and mottled. Real silver. It had to hurt like hell, and yet there was no trace of pain on the man’s face.

  “Come with me.” He had a smooth voice that contrasted sharply with the harshness of his metal studded profile. He gestured for us to follow him, and led us around a corner and down a long hallway.

  “What happened to your eye?” Liam asked.

  I hid my surprise behind a glare of annoyance, as if even the sound of his voice irritated me. Our escort glanced back at Liam.

  “Bomb.”

  He didn’t seem inclined to say more.

  “My pack specializes in rehab for silver injuries. We can help you heal that. If you want.”

  “Unusual to offer help to someone outside your pack. You take a risk that my alpha will not approve of your interference.”

  Liam’s gaze didn’t waver. “You don’t have an alpha.”

  Tension hummed between them, and I shifted back a little as both men’s auras flared warmer, the energies flowing forward, testing one another.

  The wolf didn’t say anything more, and a minute later, he led us into a room at the end of a hallway. Stavros’ office was full of antique furniture, but the mix of styles told me he was going for extravagance and expense rather than matching a single era. The wizard sat behind a desk that would have been ostentatious even for Anton Winters, and he watched us enter with unabashed interest.

  “Good evening, Mother Briar, Mr. Osbourne.” He rubbed the dark mustache that covered his lip with his finger and thumb as he studied Liam. “I hope you’ll forgive me for greeting you in alphabetical order? It seems the fairest way since there’s some…tension.”

  He said tension the way a five year old said “birthday present.” I didn’t like the light in his eyes. I hadn’t known brown eyes could be so cold.

  “I’m told you are passable at magically binding contracts,” I said, letting my disdain show in my voice. “We require a treaty.”

  “Yes,” Liam snapped. “Something that will keep her off our land.”

  “You cannot claim the entire park. My coven needs space for rituals!” I glared at Stavros. “And it must be carefully worded to keep these mongrels from trying to breed with my coven.”

  That pushed the wizard’s eyebrows into his receding hairline. “I see.”

  “No, you don’t, but it doesn’t matter.” I sneered at Liam. “He and his wolves are constantly sniffing around where they aren’t wanted. Most of my coven members are intelligent enough to send them running with their tails between their legs. But this last week one of them managed to lure one of our newer, more foolish members under the sheets.”

  “I think I met the witch in question,” Stavros mused. “She was here earlier today.” His smile broadened. “With Mr. Osbourne, if I remember correctly.”

  I did my best to look outraged, hoping the blush in my face would look like anger. I turned to Liam with my magic crackling over my skin. “You are a dog.”

  Liam drew himself up to his full height. “You’re just mad because she’s brave enough to find out what you’ve been missing.”

  His aura flared out against mine, and a fresh flood of adrenaline rose on an unexpected spike of arousal. “Rein in your aura,” I snarled. “An alpha should have more control than that.”

  “My aura is exactly as I want it to be.”

  I clenched my hands into fists. “It is out of control. I can feel it snapping at me.”

  Liam took a step closer, invading my personal space until his breath tickled my cheek when he spoke. My blood roared in my ears, so loud I almost missed his next words.

  “I think you like it,” he whispered.

  The heat in my face pooled somewhere south of my waist pouch, and I spun to face the wizard before I or Liam could think too hard on it.

  “Well, I can certainly help you with a treaty.” Stavros’ eyes glittered and his smile widened to show perfect white teeth. “For a price.”

  “I’m prepared to pay, but only if you have the skills your reputation boasts. Show me a sample of your work.”

  Stavros’ gaze darted between me and Liam, and I could almost see him turning over all the possibilities. “Of course.”

  He opened the bottom drawer of his desk with a key and a short phrase in a language I couldn’t quite make out. The drawer opened and he selected a file. “Here. This one is a matter of public record, so there’s no harm in giving you a peek.”

  I looked it over, taking my time to peruse the words, feeling out the magic. I held a hand over the paper. “Revelare.”

  Silver light exploded, and I stared at the cont
ract, studying the colors and spells that had gone into it. It was an impressive piece of work.

  Peasblossom slipped down the back of my shirt to the floor, making her way toward the desk drawer. The invisibility spell I’d given her would expand to cover the file as she touched it, so all I had to do was keep Stavros from closing the drawer before she got it out.

  Liam leaned over, and his aura pushed hard enough against me that it sank through the layers of my magic. My breath halted in my lungs, and for a moment I couldn’t breathe.

  “And she won’t be able to break this?” he demanded, looking at Stavros.

  Stavros was watching me, noting my reaction. Liam’s breath had tickled my neck, adding a layer of goosebumps to the mounting heat pooling in my lower body.

  “Contracts, like any spell, can be broken with a fairly simple counter-spell,” he said slowly. “But for an extra fee, I will keep the contract here in my possession, as an added precaution.”

  I must have stood there fighting to breathe longer than I thought. Suddenly I felt my invisible familiar clinging to my leg, along with the weight of a file. Relief pulled my shoulders down, and I straightened my spine.

  “Stop breathing on me!” I snarled, shoving Liam’s chest. “I cannot abide you crowding my personal space like a dog in heat!”

  Liam barely moved when I shoved him, his lupine gaze boring into my eyes. Instinct flooded my veins with adrenaline, and just for a second, reality blurred. Our surroundings spiraled away, and the world narrowed down to me and Liam. A question echoed in my mind, as sudden as it was unwelcome.

  If I ran, what would happen?

  “I will draw up your contract, free of charge,” Stavros said, his voice holding a rasp that hadn’t been there before. “In return, you two will fight.”

  I tried to look at him, but couldn’t tear my gaze from Liam’s eyes. The wizard’s voice sounded too far away. “Fight?” I echoed, my voice breathy.

  “Not a war, nothing like that. In the ring. A simple fight. One night only.”

  “No.” I whirled around and stomped toward the door. “No. I am finished. This is war, wolf.”