Fae Unchained (The Mage Shifter War Book 2)

by Ann Denton

  My teeth gritted together, and I grabbed the door handle with a little more force than necessary. Behind me, I heard Bodie mutter, "You better fill me in on what the fuck is going on real soon."

  I assumed he was talking to Easton, but I didn't get the chance to find out. I just shut the door behind me and wandered aimlessly down the hall.

  I do not care about Drake. I don't. He cut me too deeply when he kept my father's murder a secret from me. I can't just forgive and forget that. No matter what my stupid heart might feel.

  Kick the bitch while she's down, my brain rioted. Forget her and listen to logic. He’s evil. Awful. He’s the mastermind who trapped you in the first place… stole you away from everything you loved!

  But my heart glared up from the puddle of tears she was sitting in. No, kick your cousin before she takes what’s ours.

  I ignored my heart’s feeble request. She could deal with this shit on her own. I was done. Fuck the internal drama.

  My feet carried me down the stairs and into Tee's room on autopilot.

  It was almost a habit at this point—just going in there for some solitude and staring at the walls so I didn't have to acknowledge the irritating shit my heart and head were arguing about all the damn time.

  I stepped in and shut the door behind me, slowly sinking to the floor as I usually did, but to my immense surprise, my eyes were drawn to movement in the cage. I blinked and scrambled back onto my feet, rushing over to the cat carrier to peer inside.

  "Tee?"

  She groaned like she was seasick or something, but it was the first sign of life she’d shown since the cabin, and I was clinging to it like a flotation device.

  I opened the cage and very carefully pulled her out. I sank down to the carpet and leaned my back against the wall as I cradled her in my hands.

  "Tee?" She didn’t respond.

  Fuck. I leaned my head back against the wall, sadness and bullshit feelings churning back to life thanks to my disappointment and guilt over her condition. Why the hell wasn’t she okay yet? Larry had tried at least three restorative spells.

  A single tear dripped down my face as I muttered, "Tee, I miss you. I need you to come back and tell me what an asshole I’m being. Tell me that I should hate Drake. Like completely and utterly. Okay?" I coughed and wiped away the treacherous tear. I shouldn’t have been crying. I really shouldn’t.

  I tried to pull up a happy memory with my father. He’d let me buy whatever I wanted, and he’d always given me a gift when he returned from a trip. I’d never gone without.

  But did those things actually equate to happiness?

  I stared at the office desk, trying to think.

  There’d been no bedtime stories from my parents. Travel, yes. But usually with a nanny to watch me so they could go off to their dinner parties. My dad had tried, I supposed. He’d taken a hands-on approach with my physical training, teaching me how to fight and also how to control my fire. That thought did drag up a happy memory.

  I glanced down at Tee. "Did you know my dad could make his fire into the shape of a unicorn? He did it for me when I was seven. I told everyone about it for days." Saying it out loud made another tear drip down my cheek.

  That was a pretty old memory, though, so I tried to pull up a newer one.

  Dad had hugged me—might even have had tears in his eyes—when I’d become Chief Enforcer. But it was hard to remember the good times. Part of me wondered if it was my fault, because ever since my failed engagement, I’d purposefully stayed away, hardly seeing or speaking to either of them.

  Not that it mattered, now that he was gone. There would be no mending fences. I’d get no more chances to make happy memories with him.

  And that was because of Drake. The dragon’s shifter’s face drifted into my mind.

  "I wish he would have told me, Tee. I wish..."

  But I didn't know what I wished. Instead of fury like before, everything about the situation filled me with sadness this time. At least with Drake, there was still a chance for me to mend all those metaphorical fences. There was a chance to repair all the shit that stood between us.

  I just didn’t know how to do it. I’d never done it before. I hadn’t forgiven my parents. How the hell was I supposed to forgive him?

  I was so fucked—

  Suddenly, Tee stirred in my hands and I leaned down, looking her over from head to toe. She groaned and her eyes flickered open.

  "Tee, oh my god, are you okay? How are you feeling?" Relief soared through my chest when I saw her blink and scrunch her nose.

  "Like shit," she muttered, pushing up on shaking arms to try and get into a sitting position. She blinked hazily, her gaze unfocused as she asked, "You got any Health Potions lying around?"

  I sniffed out a laugh. "Probably. The guys and I..." I almost told her about raiding the precinct, but then I thought better of it. "We've collected a variety of potions over these past few days. But for now, how about I grab you a nice cup of coffee?" A cup for her would be more like a thimble, but I didn't have those laying around. Hopefully, she could make do with a regular mug.

  Tee sat up in my hand and stared around the office, dazed. "What the fuck kinda hut is this? What did you do to that tree?" She fluttered out of my hand and ran her fingers over the desk. "Poor thing," she muttered to it.

  Alarm bells and sirens started going off in my head. "Tee… are you feeling okay?"

  "Already told you I’m not. Where the fuck is Aaron? Is he off hunting things?" She flitted around the office frantically, landing on a keyboard. When the computer screen lit up in front of her, she leapt into the air with a scream and fell into the office chair.

  I rushed toward her. "Tee?"

  "Mage magic. We are in a mage house. Shit, Aubry. Mages don’t invite people to their homes! We’re going to get killed!" She flew at my face and ended up tangled in my hair. I reached up, trying to untangle her as her wings whipped my cheek and her tiny fingers scratched at me.

  "We have to leave, Aubs. The only place worse than this would be a shifter’s den!"

  I extracted Tee the rest of the way and held her gently but firmly in my hand. Trepidation filled me up. She’d woken up and seemed to know me, but she definitely wasn’t acting normal.

  "Tee, this isn’t a mage’s home. This is a bank."

  "A what?" She scrunched her nose.

  "You know, a bank, where humans bring their money."

  "What the hell are you talking about? What’s a human?"

  Oh fuck.

  My stomach sank. Her utterly confused expression told me she wasn’t joking. Not even a little bit. She had no idea what humans were. Or computers. Fuck. Larry hadn’t just wiped the memory of a day, of her kidnapping. He’d wiped out an entire species. The fucking species that ruled the planet. And with it, I suspected Tee had lost her knowledge of every human thing.

  Shit. Shit! I had no idea if there was any coming back from this. I had no idea if there was a spell we could do to reverse the damage.

  "Does this thing make Healing Potions?" Tee asked, fluttering off my hand and over to a side table that held a coffee maker that might’ve looked like a potion brewing stand. "I’d really like one before Aaron gets here."

  "Oh, Aaron. Um…" I didn’t know how to tell her that she couldn’t see him. Based on the way she spoke, it didn’t seem like she remembered her kidnapping at all. I chewed my lip.

  "Yeah, he’s gonna be here soon. My mate bond is going berserk. And I really need one of those potions to help freshen up, you know?"

  I froze as horror poured like burning coffee down my throat. "What about your bond?" I spun back toward her.

  Tee squinted and said, "It's going nuts. My heart's hammering like a pixie playing the sticks. You think he’s okay? He feels really distressed…"

  My teeth almost broke when I ground them together. Shit! Did that mean her mate had finally found her now that she'd woken up? Was he literally on his way here right now? Tense music started playing in my mi
nd, the kind that played during action flick chase scenes.

  "Tee," I asked hesitantly, "what's the last thing you remember?"

  She groaned, moving her palm from her head down to her heart. "I remember getting kidnapped by your shifter mates and falling asleep in a strange place. But that's about it. Why? What's going on?"

  Great. Larry's stupid fucking memory wipe spell hadn't even worked. She still remembered the kidnapping. She probably still remembered Easton's and Bodie's faces. All this was a total fucking waste. And now Aaron might be on our trail.

  I had to find out if she could feel him getting closer, the way Bodie could feel me leaving. But I needed to be subtle.

  I wandered over next to her and pushed start on the brewer. "Yes, this thing makes magical potions that perk you up and make you feel more alert as soon as you drink them."

  "Oh perfect!" she said, eyes lighting up as the coffee began streaming into a mug.

  I kept my tone casual and crossed my legs, leaning back against the table as I asked, "Do you remember anything about your assignment? Or any broadcasts you might have seen on TV?"

  Her brows knit and her nose scrunched. "What the fuck is a TV? Seriously, Aubry. I feel like you're fucking with me."

  I laughed, but it was just as hesitant as the rest of my actions. She honestly didn’t seem to remember TV. "Alright, Tee, truth time. You were given a memory wipe, but it was clearly a dud. You're just now waking up after days of being asleep. I'm trying to figure out if you're still good."

  She winced and wiped a bead of sweat off her little brow. "Seriously, my heart is racing like a mage who lost his wand. What the fuck was in that Memory Potion? And why the fuck did you give me one?"

  "Well... they guys said it was either that or kill you, and obviously I wasn't going with the latter option, so..."

  "You got some interesting mates, huh?" she commented dryly. "Whatever. Mine's pretty hardcore, too. I can’t wait to see what happens when they finally meet face-to-face. Aaron’s probably gonna kill them for kidnapping me."

  Shit. So she did remember that. I put a little stirring straw in the cup of coffee and set it down in front of her. "He hasn't been able to find you, Tee. We've been moving around a lot and being extra vigilant with precautionary methods."

  "Not vigilant enough for my Aaron—he found me once when I hid in the forest in a knot in this huge old Redwood—he can find me anywhere," she said, rolling her eyes before taking a sip of the steaming black liquid before her. "Oh my god, what is this shit? It's awful."

  Okay, she was seriously starting to worry me. "It's coffee, Tee. You love coffee. And what do you mean, not vigilant enough for Aaron?"

  "Well, it's nasty, and there's no way I ever loved it." She tried to push the mug away, but either the bars interfered, or she was still too weak. "How could something that tastes so awful possibly help perk you up? I mean, honestly."

  I grabbed the cup and decided to drink it myself. "Tee, focus. What did you mean about Aaron?"

  "Oh," she said with a shrug. "Just that he's getting closer. I can feel my mate bond relaxing—finally."

  Shit! I spat my coffee and hurriedly set it on the desk before running out into the hallway. That action music inside me turned to horror music.

  "I told you that shit was awful!" Tee called out after me as I took the stairs two at a time. Adrenaline rushed through me, river rapids churning through my veins.

  If Aaron was getting closer, then he had finally found Tee. And if Aaron had found Tee, he was most likely about to attempt a rescue, and if he was smart—which he was—he wouldn't be doing it alone. In other words, we were about to get hit.

  Motherfucking shit!

  I ran across the lobby floor and burst back into the meeting room. God, it really did smell like sex and pho in there. Not a bad combination, actually.

  "We're about to be attacked!" I shouted breathlessly. It wasn't the stairs that had winded me, or all the running, but the fucking stress. The near-constant stress of death.

  Drake, Bodie, and Easton immediately shot up from their chairs and asked questions at the exact same time.

  "Who?" Bodie asked, believing me immediately; he just needed to know who to kill.

  "When?" Easton added, hopping on the belief train, too, but required just a bit more info.

  "How do you know?" Drake asked, irritating the hell out of me with his lack of faith.

  "Aaron and the Mage Police," I said, answering Bodie's question first.

  Bodie's eyes narrowed. "Who's Aaron?"

  Ah, sweet jealousy. It looked so fucking good on him as his green eyes flashed gold.

  "Tee's mate," I explained. "The little pixie downstairs? She finally woke up. I think it triggered their mate bond. She said he feels close."

  "Fuck!" Drake cursed, slamming a fist on the table. He then directed his attention at our guests. "Alright, grab some weapons and assemble your best fighters. We meet them head-on and we keep the fight upstairs and away from the shifters below. No mage gets through our defenses, got it?"

  Everyone nodded before moving into go-mode, determinedly pulling out and checking the weapons they had on them, then stalking from the room like grim reapers about to sow death and destruction.

  "Thanks for the heads up," Drake muttered as he passed.

  A thank you? What!?! My heart pattered hopefully but my eyes rolled in response. "Oh, now you're being nice to me? I thought I always had a shitty attitude and disposition?"

  Drake shrugged. "Never said you didn't. Only said thank you."

  "Yeah well fuck you, Mushu!" I retaliated because, apparently, my comebacks were lacking lately.

  "Back at ya, Mulan," he retorted before disappearing around the corner.

  Huh. He'd gotten the reference. Actually, I was pretty sure he'd gotten all my ridiculous pop culture references. Not that it mattered. It didn't make him a better person or anything. He was actually the worst person. Ugh.

  I trailed after him, sure to leave some distance between us as we crossed through the lobby.

  A moment later, the bone chilling sound of shattered glass filled the lobby along with the sound of hissing potions and gunfire. Bodie, Easton, and I sprinted into action as quickly as we could. Rocco disappeared downstairs.

  Cowardly fuck.

  "Do not breathe!" Kira commanded everyone, and suddenly her wings flared out. She stood still as she moved them faster and faster, activating her wind power. She blew huge gusts of air toward the broken front doors, expelling whatever potions Aaron and the mages had thrown in. Probably sleep grenades. Possibly Weakness Potions. Maybe even Pixie Dust Potions. Her winds were so strong that the front walls started to bow out a little near the windows.

  Rage roared through me and my battle hungry inner lion sprang to life. I hoped that Kira’s blowback hit those fuckers right in the face. We had innocent kids below.

  As the air cleared of smoke and dust, it suddenly filled with the alluring sound of music. Siren music.

  Oh, fuck.

  "Cover your ears!" I shouted.

  Bodie did as ordered but spun around and shouted at me, "How are we supposed to fire our weapons with both hands on our fucking heads?"

  He had a damn good point.

  For people like Rocco—who had guns so large they took both arms to wield—it was nearly impossible to cover their ears in time. Aaron’s compulsion magic immediately dropped him to his knees.

  I knew siren magic pretty well, considering Aaron used to be on my team. It had the power to force anyone to do anything physically, but not mentally. Rocco and the few others who’d been affected were just going to have to wait long enough for Aaron to get distracted…

  Speaking of… I watched as a big chunk of bricks fell down from the top edge of one of the shattered windows, and finally Aaron’s song petered out.

  As soon as the sound was gone, an idea came to me. It'd be super ironic to fight Aaron using the same power as the mate he was trying to rescue, but it was the best I could
come up with off the top of my head.

  "Drake!" I shouted, taking a hand off my ear so I could point to the pouch on his belt. "Pixie potion!"

  As he fumbled around for the little black potion bottle, Aaron's song started back up again, the tune filtering into the dragon shifter’s exposed ears. His motions slowed until he stopped completely. Then he took a mechanical step toward the door, like he was going to just welcome the siren in with open arms.

  Shit! I knew exactly how that felt. I raced over to Drake with my hands still clamped over my ears and my elbows flapping like I was some mutated chicken. I hopped onto his back and quickly plugged his ears with my elbows while still cupping my own with my palms. A couple steps later and he paused once more.

  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Aaron step through a broken window, looking like vengeance personified. His pearlescent skin glowed and his eyes were wide and angry. His mouth was open and even through my hands I could hear a little of his enchanting melody.

  Drake tried to shake his head, but I just squeezed down on him tighter.

  "Don't even think about it, Drogon. Just reach into the bag and pelt that fucking siren with pixie dust!" I ordered. Then I started to yell tonelessly, trying to block the siren song.

  The dragon shifter did as asked, which was a little difficult considering he couldn't really move his head. But he launched a bottle skyward and it busted at Aaron’s feet. The siren was surrounded in a swirling vortex of buzzing black pixie magic. It was like thousands of miniature flies biting at his skin, scraping it raw, as they flew around in a flurry.

  Needless to say, his song ended as he focused all his attention on battling the magic around him. I quickly climbed down from Drake's back, annoyed at the heat swirling around my lady bits because of their close proximity to his body. Just because he was hot—his skin, like his temperature, not his body or his face—didn't mean we had to be.

  I’m looking at you, vag.

  My vag opened her lips to retort but another round of potions crashed in, only one from the left, one from the right—so either Aaron had brought less backup than I feared and only had two people with him, or they were simply trying to fake us out. I peered through the windows, trying to see.