Iron Master

by Jennifer Ashley

  “But where the hell is he?” Dimitri growled. “I’ve been trying to call him.”

  “So have I,” Stuart said. “I keep getting voice mail.”

  Peigi had turned to the window while they debated, taking in the bright mid-morning. More wind sprang up, fluttering the dried branches on the old tree, as though the tree itself were moving.

  Peigi’s jaw went slack. The tree was moving. Its bole flexed and two branches rose and fell, exactly like a person might stretch when he woke in the morning.

  The bark of the old tree rippled. Peigi gawped, too transfixed to call out to the others, who went on discussing the door, the house, the Tuil Erdannan, and Ben.

  The tree’s branches thickened until they resembled arms hanging from broad shoulders. The roots came out of the ground, as though the tree had bent a knee and flexed its toes.

  As the tree walked forward, the bark flowed together to become skin—tough and leathery. The large round knot on the front of the trunk could be its face, the remaining leaves and branches on top its hair.

  The creature became less and less treelike as it approached the house, though it retained the characteristics of the tree in its barrel shape and solid strength. By the time it reached the porch steps it had clothes—jeans, sweatshirt, and motorcycle boots. The knot had indeed become a face, with a broad forehead, wide nose, and very dark eyes that held the wisdom of ancients.

  The man sprang up onto the porch outside the parlor and rapped on the window.

  “Hey,” he said to Peigi. “Can you let me in? I think I dropped my key.”

  “Ben!” Jaycee cried behind her. “There you are. About time.”

  Chapter Seven

  Ben sauntered in past Peigi and gave her a sly wink, which made Reid’s annoyance flare. Peigi continued to gape at Ben in shock.

  “Sorry I wasn’t around to welcome you,” Ben said. “Things to take care of.”

  Peigi drew a breath as though to throw questions at him, then she snapped her mouth shut and bathed him in a frown. Ben only grinned at her, as though they shared a secret, which made Reid simmer all the more.

  Dimitri waved Ben to the wall and tapped it. “Can you bring back the door? Reid is trying to get through.”

  “So I heard.” Ben slid his cell phone from his pocket and thumbed through his screen. “On, what, eight messages?” He clicked the phone dark and replaced it in his pocket. “I have to apologize again—you’ve wasted the trip. The door doesn’t come to my calling. Jazz said she never saw it before, and I haven’t seen it since I moved in to take care of the place.”

  “Damn,” Jaycee said softly. “Like the swimming pool.” To Reid’s raised brows, she said, “Swimming pool appeared when I needed to cool off. Jazz told me later she didn’t have one.”

  Peigi cleared her throat. “Maybe if we ask the house nicely?”

  Ben grunted a laugh. “Maybe. But if the house thinks it’s too dangerous for us, it won’t comply. The only reason the door appeared before was to give Jaycee a way to rescue Dimitri.” Dimitri nodded at this, unoffended.

  “So you can’t help us.” Peigi scowled at Ben, angry at him for some reason.

  “I didn’t say that.” Ben returned her gaze neutrally. “This house is on a ley line. That might be some use.”

  Jaycee studied the blank wall. “Ben, I heard that you can find your way into sort-of pockets between this world and Faerie. So said Bowman from North Carolina when he had a meet-up with Kendrick. How about doing that?”

  “I can,” Ben said hesitantly. “But it might not do Reid any good. He could get stuck in that pocket, or find his way to someplace that was neither Faerie nor here. Do you know anything about the multiverse theory of quantum physics? The idea is that there are infinite numbers of worlds out there—and they aren’t kidding.”

  Jaycee flinched. “That’s unsettling.”

  “Most of the time we don’t notice, or care, in our everyday lives,” Ben went on. “But every once in a while, enough energy from one coalesces, and a gate opens. Usually on a ley line. Faerie has a strong enough connection with our world that we get there the easiest, but we could go other places by accident.”

  “Like I said, unsettling,” Jaycee repeated.

  Reid nodded agreement. “Even if we do get through a gate to Faerie, there’s no way of knowing where I’d land there. It’s a big place.”

  “I know,” Jaycee said glumly. “I saw a map of it once. That’s why I suggested Lady Aisling. She would know the way and have transportation.”

  “If she was interested,” Reid said, his impatience growing.

  “Hang on a sec,” Ben broke in. “I met Lady Aisling. She’s one frightening lady. You do not want to piss her off. You talk about her like she’s a friend, Jaycee, but she’s a Tuil Erdannan.”

  “Ben’s scared of her,” Jaycee said in amusement.

  “Because I’m sane. She can kill all of us with her pinky.”

  “Aw, I thought she liked you,” Jaycee said. “That’s what Zander told me.”

  “She was interested in me,” Ben said. “I am not going to test that.”

  “None of this is helping Stuart.” Peigi stepped forward, and everyone but Stuart blinked, as though they’d forgotten her presence. Jaycee and Dimitri were more dominant than she was, but when Peigi decided it was time to make a point, she let dominance go to hell. “If Stuart can’t go through to Faerie with this route, then where can he? Not the Austin ley line. I agree with him about that.”

  Ben rubbed his chin. “Have to think about it. There’s a ley line in Las Vegas, you know. Runs right under your Shiftertown.”

  “Which I got stuck in,” Reid said. “I don’t think it’s open all the way anymore.”

  “Is there a map of ley lines?” Peigi asked. “With helpful pointers to where working gates exist?”

  “Huh,” Ben said. “Would be handy. I know Andrea had one she mapped herself, but she turned all that research over to Sean for the Guardian database. Guardians, I hear, have a way to know, through the database, when a gate opens and closes. We could ask one of them.”

  “One I can trust?” Reid sent Ben a quizzical look. “Most Shifter leaders like me where they can find me. Would they let a Guardian help me? Trust that I’d go back to Faerie and not cause a shitload of trouble? And come back out again?”

  “Zander’s mate, Rae, is a Guardian,” Jaycee said. “And trustworthy.”

  “She’s a relatively new Guardian,” Ben said. “She’s still learning about the Guardian secrets and their knowledge pool. I was thinking more of the Guardian of the North Carolina Shiftertown, a Feline called Pierce Daniels. He’s smart and sort of trusts me. We could talk to him.”

  “Hell of a d-drive,” Dimitri said. “Why not your own Guardian? What’s his name—Neal?”

  Peigi broke in. “Because Eric might stop him. Stuart is an asset.” She said the last word in disapprobation. She didn’t like that Eric used Reid anytime he needed him.

  “That’s why I thought of Pierce,” Ben said. “His Shiftertown leader—Bowman—does his own thing. Bowman wouldn’t give a shit if Eric didn’t want Reid leaving. And Pierce might not bother telling Bowman he was helping us. The Shifters out there are seriously independent. I guess that comes from living in the middle of the woods.”

  Reid considered the suggestion. “All right, contact him. Anything Pierce knows about finding gates would be helpful. Doesn’t mean I can get through, but it’s worth a shot.”

  “Don’t you need a Fae artifact to help?” Jaycee asked. “Or a chant or something? Dimitri got pulled through by a spell and stinky incense.”

  “Depends.” Ben tapped his fingertips together. “Humans and Shifters, yes, need some magic to help open a gate. For a Fae, I don’t know. They seem to be able to move back and forth at will.”

  “I’ve gone through gates before,” Reid said impatiently. “But I won’t find out if I can until I get to a gate. If the house won’t open the door …” He glanced
at the wall, which remained stubbornly solid. “Jaycee, Dimitri, Ben, Peigi—sorry I wasted your time.”

  “Not a w-waste,” Dimitri said. “You needed me to tell you about Cian.”

  “I still think I should talk to Lady Aisling,” Jaycee said. “Ask her opinion if not for her help.”

  Ben stopped tapping and laced his fingers together. “The way you say that, like you’ll simply call her for a chat, is seriously terrifying. Be careful, Jaycee. Being casual with the Tuil Erdannan is like playing around with an antitank missile.”

  “It sounds like everyone has a plan.” Peigi’s voice was calm, but her anger cut at Reid. “Why don’t you pursue it, and Stuart and I will go home and take care of our cubs.”

  Again, the others broke off and turned to her in surprise. Peigi was good at staying quiet while everyone argued, but when she did speak, she made people listen. She didn’t just blather to fill space.

  Dimitri sent her a big smile. “Yeah, we’re kinda useless. But you’re in this big house, and it’s a long journey home. Rest, chill out, and we’ll start back in the morning. Ben and I will make calls, Jaycee and I will argue about her contacting Lady Aisling, and you and Stuart can take a little vacation. There’s lots of food, beer, TV, online games, whatever you want. This place is like a resort for Shifters.”

  Peigi relaxed a smidge. “Probably won’t hurt for us to rest a while. But please tell Marlo to meet us as close by as he possibly can.”

  “Or we can go into New Orleans and p-party,” Dimitri said. “We know a Shifter club …”

  “If you mean the one where I got thrown off a balcony, then no thanks,” Ben said, shaking his head. “I’ll hang out here, cook burgers, stay safe.”

  “I’ve never been to a Shifter club,” Peigi said.

  That earned her more startled expressions. “Never?” Jaycee asked in amazement. “I thought there was a great one in Vegas.”

  “There is, but I don’t go.” Peigi sounded wistful. “Cubs to take care of. Plus I haven’t felt up to it until lately.”

  “New plan then.” Dimitri laced one arm around Jaycee and drew Peigi lightly into the embrace with his other. Nothing sexually charged, just friendly. “We make our calls, take some naps, freshen up, and hit the club tonight.”

  “Are you sure it will be safe?” Peigi asked nervously. “What if we’re carded? Shifters aren’t supposed to travel out of their states.”

  “I’ll call the guy I know who lets people in and out,” Dimitri said. “He’s a friend. No one has to know.”

  Dimitri spoke with the confidence of one who knew how to get away with anything, but Reid wasn’t happy with this plan.

  He started to say firmly that, no, they’d stay put until time to go home, but he didn’t miss the eagerness on Peigi’s face. She truly hadn’t had a chance to have the fun that Shifters took for granted. She was slowly coming out of her shell, tentatively trying new experiences, but of course taking care of cubs took precedence. While the Shifters in Las Vegas piled into cars to head to Coolers, the Shifter bar, Peigi fed cubs macaroni and cheese and read them bedtime stories.

  “All right,” Reid said, deciding. “We can spend a few hours at the club and enjoy ourselves. But that’s it. I need to focus.”

  “You don’t have to go at all,” Peigi said quickly. “I know hanging out with a ton of Shifters isn’t your thing.”

  “What are you talking about?” he asked in feigned astonishment. “I hang out with a ton of Shifters every day, in our house. If I can handle the cubs, I can handle a club full of drunk Shifters. And like hell you’re going out without me.”

  Peigi’s eyes went starry, and her smile warmed everything inside him. Reid was so focused on her it was a moment before he noticed the other three were highly amused about something, Dimitri nudging Jaycee.

  He realized he’d said our house and our cubs, without thinking about it. As though he and Peigi were mates, in Shifter terms, sharing their lives.

  Well, they were. Reid returned his friends’ gazes without wavering, and didn’t take the words back. He’d said what he said, and he believed it in his heart.

  Ben tried to run from Peigi when she descended from her long nap and shower to find him alone downstairs. The sky had darkened with night, and Ben tried to fade into the shadows of the back hall.

  Peigi, who’d learned long ago how to keep track of cubs who could hide anywhere, quickened her steps and went after him. Ben slid out the back door, but Peigi caught up to him on the veranda. He tried to blend in with the darkness there, but Peigi’d had to be too watchful in her life to fall for that trick.

  She stopped right in front of him, arms folded, and Ben looked sheepish.

  “Was that your true shape, or were you just eavesdropping?” Peigi demanded.

  “How could I be eavesdropping?” Ben had to tilt his head to peer up at her. “You came right up to me and started talking.”

  “And you’re not going to repeat a word of it.” She bent a stern eye on him. “My private thoughts are just that, all right?”

  “Hey, don’t worry. I can keep a secret. I’ll pretend I was your confessor or something.”

  Peigi relented, but only a little. She didn’t know Ben well enough to decide whether to trust him.

  “But seriously, you’re a tree?”

  “What?” Ben said, outraged. “No. I’m a goblin. We can take various forms, whatever we want—well, within certain parameters. But I’m not a tree. No photosynthesis here.”

  He was definitely man-shaped, complete with hard muscles, tatts, black hair, and vibrant dark eyes. He looked a little like the tree-thing she’d seen, mostly in height and strength.

  “I get it,” Peigi said. “Same way a stick insect resembles a twig but isn’t even close. Or a praying mantis resembles leaf. Right?”

  Ben huffed, offended. “Sort of. I guess. Don’t even think about calling me a stick insect.”

  “I didn’t. I’m trying to understand.”

  Ben deflated. “Yeah, well, there’s a lot of shit I don’t understand either. Do me a favor, though, take care of Jaycee tonight. She has faith in her friendship with Lady Aisling, but Lady Aisling is dangerous. I met her, and I was impressed, but I’m still aware of her power. To her, Jaycee is a dust mote. Lady Aisling might be interested in the dust mote at the moment, but as soon as she’s done …” Ben made a flicking gesture with his finger and thumb.

  “I know.” Peigi’s voice softened in understanding. “Powerful people will always throw around their power. They don’t know how not to.”

  “That’s what I like about you, Pegs. You don’t say much, but you have a wise head on your shoulders.”

  “That’s how I survive. I listen and learn, and keep my mouth shut.”

  “Is that you telling me you’ll keep my secrets?” Ben asked.

  “If you keep mine.”

  “Deal.” Ben held out his hand.

  Peigi took it. “Deal.”

  Ben’s grip was tight, a strong man in a compact body. On impulse, Peigi tugged him closer and enfolded him in a Shifter hug.

  “Oh, this is good.” Ben’s voice quieted, and he returned the embrace with a tight one of his own.

  A brush of wind touched Peigi, and suddenly Stuart was next to them. “When you’re done,” he growled at Ben.

  Ben opened his arms and hastily stepped back. “Only being friendly. Shifter-style. No groping, nothing hands-y.”

  “I hugged him,” Peigi said to Stuart, her face heating. “For being nice.”

  “Nice. Yeah, that’s me. Mr. Nice Guy. Who is going away now …”

  Ben’s voice faded with him, leaving Peigi facing Stuart. “I really was thanking him.”

  Stuart gave her a nod meant to be nonchalant, but Peigi scented his rigidity. “You sure you want to go tonight?” he asked.

  “Yes, I do. It’s a rare night I’m not looking after cubs.” Peigi thought a moment. “All right, this is the only night I haven’t been looking after cub
s since I can remember.”

  Stuart’s rigidity evaporated. “You should have said. Any time you want, I’ll talk Shane into babysitting, and take you out. We can go as human—they have swank clubs in Las Vegas. I know—I used to raid them when I was on the force.”

  Peigi let out a laugh. “That’s your club experience? Knocking down the door, weapons drawn?”

  “We didn’t knock down doors. We cornered the manager and told everyone to leave. Lot of drug dealing in back rooms.”

  Peigi’s amusement continued. “Well, if that doesn’t make me want to go dancing, I don’t know what will.”

  “Not what I meant. I mean—I know some nice places if you want …”

  Peigi touched her fingers to his lips. “I’m teasing you. I do that. Let’s go out tonight. It’s New Orleans. I might never be able to visit again, and I don’t want to miss out.”

  Stuart had gone completely still. His mouth was quiet under her touch, lips smooth and warm.

  They stood alone on the porch, Ben having banged into the house, Dimitri and Jaycee laughing about something upstairs.

  Peigi moved her fingers away, and before she could stop herself, she leaned into Stuart and kissed him on the mouth.

  Chapter Eight

  Reid froze as Peigi’s lips touched his, her breath warming everything cold inside him.

  Her mouth was soft, hot, strong. She stepped closer, her tall body against his, Peigi nearly matching him for height.

  The world stopped. Reid’s heart halted between one beat and the next, and then he ceased caring whether it started again. He let out a muffled groan and caught Peigi in his arms.

  Reid expected her to pull away, to turn in embarrassment and go. Instead, she deepened the kiss, flowing against him. His hands found her sleek hair, the satin skin of her neck, the supple curve of her waist.

  Mouths moved, Reid tasting her, his body as incandescent as the brush of her tongue. His blood was on fire, need suppressed far too long roaring forth.