by Sadie Moss
When another knock came at the door, none of us jumped. I’d almost been expecting it.
“Come in,” I called softly, aware that we were now sharing the house with Retta’s family and several others from the Outskirts. I wasn’t sure what time it was, but I was positive they were all sleeping. Some were farther down the wing on this floor, and some were on the third floor.
The door opened slowly.
“Lana, are you—?” Jae stopped short at the sight of the three of us. A slight flush crept up his cheeks; it was the first time I could ever remember seeing the mage embarrassed. He started to back out of the room. “Sorry, I didn’t—”
“Wait! Come in. What were you going to say?”
He paused, the door halfway open. “I just wanted to make sure you were all right.”
“I’m okay. Thanks, Jae.” I watched him carefully, trying to read the subtle emotions that shifted his expression. His face was like an open book in a language I didn’t understand. I knew the thoughts and feelings were there, but I couldn’t tell exactly what they were.
He lingered for another moment, half in and half out of the room, before he seemed to decide something. Leaving the door open a crack, he walked to the bed and sat on the end of it, reaching out to rest a cool hand on my ankle. That small contact set off a flutter in my stomach. He didn’t touch me as often as any of the other men did, but every time he did, it felt like there was a mountain of stifled emotion behind the gesture. My eyes locked on his, unable to look away from the beautiful, deep green.
A movement flickered in my periphery, and I finally tore my gaze away from Jae to glance toward it. Akio stood in the hallway, peering through the gap in the door with a cranky expression on his face. I almost laughed when I heard him mutter, “What is this, a fucking slumber party?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly what it is,” Fen called contentedly, his nose still buried in my hair.
The incubus rolled his eyes but pushed the door open anyway, kicking it shut behind him as he stalked toward the bed like a panther. His shirt was off again, and I couldn’t stop myself from drinking in the sight of his smooth, muscled arms and torso covered in swirls of black ink. His abs didn’t have any tattoos, but they were breathtaking in their own right, subtly carved with ridges of muscle that stretched and flexed as he moved.
“I’m not braiding anyone’s hair,” he grumbled, sinking down onto the bed on the other side of Corin. He draped an arm across the pillows above Corin’s head, sliding his fingers over my scalp from my hairline to the crown of my head then repeating the movement. My eyes practically rolled back in their sockets, and I wondered for a moment if I should kick everyone else out so he and I could—
No!
I forced my eyes to refocus, giving my head a little shake to clear it.
Damn Akio.
He’d told me incubi could charm people through touch alone, although he’d never done it to me before. I shot him a glare over Corin’s head but somehow couldn’t bring myself to make him stop massaging my scalp.
As if he knew he’d won this round, he smiled at me with languid satisfaction. “Goodnight, kitten.”
A few moments later, Jae crawled up onto the bed next to Fenris. Even though he was no longer touching me, I still felt his presence like a balm.
No one spoke for a while, and eventually the sounds of breathing around me settled into a slow and steady rhythm. Akio’s hand in my hair stilled, Corin’s arm rested across my stomach, and Fenris muttered a soft grunt into my hair.
My heart swelled with an emotion too strong and overwhelming to name.
Fen had known it all along, had called it before any of us, and I was done trying to run from the truth of it.
I was theirs.
They were mine.
And I would do anything to protect them.
Chapter 25
The large gate swung open, and Jae revved the engine softly, driving through and leaving the Capital behind.
It was my first time back in the Outskirts since I’d gone to live with Beatrice, and while it was comforting to be home, a pall seemed to hang over the place. Plumes of smoke dotted the horizon, probably from fires left burning by Gifted mobs. Even the air smelled burnt.
Not a single person walked the streets either, giving the whole place an abandoned feel. I wondered how long it would be before people started fleeing the Outskirts entirely, hoping to find peace and safety somewhere else. I could’ve warned them it wasn’t any better in the Blighted settlements outside the cities.
When Jae pulled the car up to the old warehouse I’d used as a drop-off point for my bounties, the car fell silent for a moment. Then Corin sucked in a sharp breath and dug the phone out of his pocket. He pressed a few buttons before raising it to his ear, and my heart thudded heavily as I watched him from the backseat.
“Christine?”
His voice sounded almost normal. I doubted anyone but those closest to him could pick up the subtle tension in his tone. And if the Resistance leader did notice anything off about the way he sounded, hopefully she’d attribute it to the stress of our undercover operation.
“We have some news. Gerald, the man Lana was paid to collect as a mercenary, was killed yesterday.” He paused then nodded. I did the same thing when I used my communication charm, forgetting the other person couldn’t see me. “Yes, that one. We think he had information about who stole his magic and orchestrated the bombing of the People’s Palace. So his death set us back significantly. But there’s good news on that front. We were able to track down a friend of Rat’s, someone he apparently confided in. This guy says he knows who hired Lana to bring in Gerald. He has a name, physical description, everything.”
I clenched my bottom lip between my teeth so hard it hurt. Was she buying this? We’d spent a long time the previous night coming up with a story that was vague enough to be unverifiable, but specific enough to present a real threat to Christine and whoever she was working for—if she truly was a traitor.
“Yeah, that’s what he claims.” Corin answered a question I hadn’t heard. “But he said he’d only give us the info in person. We’re going to meet him this evening; we’ve got a few leads to follow up on in the Capital first.”
The lie slipped off his tongue easily, and I caught Akio’s nod of approval from my periphery. As if he were a connoisseur of fine lies, and Corin’s had been a particularly good vintage.
Corin glanced over his shoulder, his blue eyes swirling with emotion as they met mine. “He lives in the Outskirts, in an abandoned warehouse off Dalia Street and 96th. A squatter, I think. He doesn’t seem to have many other friends, maybe none now that Rat is gone.”
I released a shaky exhale as he finished speaking.
There it was—our bait for Christine laid out like a shiny piece of foil for a magpie.
Please don’t take it, Christine. Please let me be wrong.
Corin wrapped up the call quickly, asking for an update on other Resistance activity before promising to contact her again in the evening after we’d spoken to “Rat’s friend.” He pressed the button to end the call then dropped the phone on the center console like it had burned him.
Jae pulled the car slowly into the empty warehouse, parking it in a dark corner. On the far side of the warehouse, near the entrance, a hole in the ceiling allowed the midmorning sunlight to stream in, brightening that part of the building, but this side was cast in shadow. We’d cover Jae’s car with some of the old tarps we’d brought, and it should be unnoticeable in the dim, dingy warehouse.
While Akio and Fen draped the tarps over the shiny vehicle, I observed as Jae put an illusion spell on Corin. Unlike the illusion spell he’d taught me, this one didn’t make Corin invisible—it changed his appearance entirely.
Corin had offered to be my guinea pig so I could learn the spell. But as touched as I was by his faith in me, apparently this was a much more difficult kind of illusion to create and maintain. Invisibility was a sort of “set it and forge
t it” spell, whereas with an appearance-altering illusion, you had to keep part of your mind focused on maintaining the illusion at all times. Lapses of concentration could lead to unsettling things like eye colors shifting, ears, noses, or other features changing shape, or an even more horrific “face melting” effect, where the features sagged and blurred.
Not wanting to risk this entire operation on the strength of my mental focus, I’d accepted wholeheartedly when Jae offered to be the one to disguise Corin. Now I stared in complete fascination as the tall, handsome man in front of me with the sandy hair, bright blue eyes, and breathtaking smile transformed into a much younger, much scrawnier man. He looked a bit like Rat’s older brother—if he’d had one—with a similar bulbous nose and thin face. But while Rat’s hair had been brown, Jae made Corin’s a coppery red and threw a few freckles on his face for good measure.
“Stop looking at me like that,” the kid said in Corin’s deep voice, and I almost choked on my tongue.
“Sorry,” I spluttered. “You just look so…”
The red-headed boy scowled. “I’m guessing you’re not about to say ‘handsome.’”
“Different,” I finished lamely, trying not to lean in and study him like he’d grown a second head.
A loud snort rang out from behind us, and when I whirled around, Fenris was bent over laughing. Akio stared up at the ceiling, his lips twitching like he was trying not to smile.
“Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Next time, you get the disguise,” Corin said from behind me. He sounded just like his regular self. When I wasn’t looking directly at him, it was almost impossible to believe he’d undergone a change at all.
I shot a glance at Jae. “Illusion spells don’t affect the voice?”
He lifted a shoulder. “They can. It’s more difficult than just changing the physical appearance, but it’s possible. It’s much easier to do that when you’re casting the illusion spell on yourself though. And Corin shouldn’t need it. Hopefully, we’ll know what Christine’s intentions are before he even has to speak, and worst-case scenario, he can modulate his pitch himself.”
“Do a voice! Do a voice!” Fenris called, pointing at Corin and chuckling again.
The red-haired boy glowered at him, remaining tight-lipped.
“All right. Let’s get into positions.” Jae glanced around at our little group, and Fenris’s laughter died as he nodded solemnly.
I knew he took this mission as seriously as the rest of us. We all had our own ways of calming our nerves, and his seemed to be trying to find some measure of fun in every situation, no matter how dire. Humor definitely wasn’t my go-to coping mechanism, but he’d brought more laughter into my life, and I loved him for it.
Before covering up Jae’s car, Fen and Akio had grabbed the last few items we’d need from the trunk. We gathered it all up and headed toward the brighter part of the warehouse, depositing our load next to a stack of empty wooden crates. It wasn’t much, just some blankets, a trash bag full of clothes, and a little stool. Pretty much everything a Blighted squatter would own.
Trying to keep my staring to a minimum, I helped Corin arrange it all, creating a “lived in” look in this little pocket of the warehouse. Once it was set up, he stretched out on the blanket like a big morsel of cheese in a rat trap. Jae and I cast invisibility spells on ourselves and pressed up against one of the long walls of the warehouse, while Akio and Fen took cover behind a chunk of the collapsed roof several yards away on Corin’s opposite side.
We didn’t want to wait too close by and risk Christine sensing our magic. But every foot separating me from Corin ratcheted up my anxiety another notch. I hated using him as bait like this, but he’d insisted on it, and I knew it was probably our best bet at fooling Christine.
Corin lay his head down, pretending to sleep.
Then we waited.
And waited.
Hope and fear warred in my chest as silence filled the large space like a physical presence. My nerves were strung tight, my muscles ready to leap into action at a moment’s notice, and staying so alert for an extended period of time had my stomach roiling with unused adrenaline.
Would she come?
And if she didn’t, would that really be enough to convince me she was innocent?
I couldn’t stop fidgeting, clenching and unclenching my fists and fingering the daggers in my thigh holsters. I was back to my more practical outfit of slim-fitting dark pants and a simple black T-shirt and boots today, so I didn’t even have to lift my skirt to reach my blades.
As I ran my fingers over one of the sheathed weapons for the tenth time, a cool hand touched mine, pulling it into a strong grip. I couldn’t see Jae by my side, and I knew he couldn’t see me. But I flashed a smile toward him anyway.
Several hours later, I started to think maybe I’d made a huge error in judgment.
Christine wasn’t going to come.
Corin the redheaded boy was still sprawled out on his blanket, chest rising and falling slowly. Had he actually fallen asleep? I found myself squinting at him, trying to peer through the illusion to the man I knew was hidden under it. But I couldn’t see past the spell. I wondered whether, if I touched him, I’d be able to feel the familiar lines of Corin’s body, or if—
Movement by the open warehouse door caught my attention, and my gaze snapped over.
Christine stood in the huge doorway, peering into the warehouse.
Well, fuck.
Jae’s fingers tightened around mine, the grip almost painful. Then he released me to free up his hands for the fight.
When she spotted Corin in the corner, illuminated by a bright shaft of sunlight, Christine’s shoulders stiffened. She drew the long, curved knife from its sheath at her side, creeping forward. My muscles strained with the effort of holding still, of not rushing in to attack her right now.
We had to know for sure.
My heart rate picked up with every step she took closer to Corin, her movements as silent as a stalking cat. She didn’t even hesitate when she reached him. She crouched down quickly, the tip of her wickedly curved dagger pressing to the side of his neck, just below his ear.
“Now!”
The shout tore from me, and in the split second Christine looked toward the sound, Corin moved. His arm flew up, grabbing her wrist and forcing the blade away from his jugular. Then he yanked on her other wrist, pulling her off balance and sending her to the floor. Christine let out a grunt but recovered quickly, rolling away from Corin to stand and then charging back toward him, dagger raised.
“Fuck!” Corin ducked, narrowly avoiding her strike.
I raced toward them both, letting my invisibility spell drop and raising my hands before me. As Christine’s muscles coiled for another attack, I reached out toward her with my magic, lifting her off the ground. It had worked pretty well against the witch I’d fought at Akio’s house, and it worked again now—with no purchase under her feet, she couldn’t move or run.
She was still armed though. The Resistance leader turned her head over her shoulder, her eyes widening with shock when she saw me. A split second later, the dagger left her hand, flying straight toward me.
I dodged, but not fast enough. The blade cut across the side of my arm, and blood welled. I hissed in pain, momentarily distracted from the spell I was casting. Christine dropped to the ground, landing in a crouch. She charged toward Corin again.
Oh, no you don’t, bitch!
I lifted her in the air once more at the same time a ball of ice hurtled toward her back. I dropped the levitation, and the ice hit her between the shoulder blades, driving her forward as she fell to the ground. This time her landing wasn’t graceful. She skidded against the dirty concrete floor, rolling over and over until she finally came to a stop.
Akio reached her and pressed a booted foot to her neck, pinning her down. Fenris, in wolf form, growled at her. A moment later, Corin was there, hauling her to her feet with her own knife held to her throat. He had one arm wrapped around
her middle, and he looked like himself again. Jae must’ve let the illusion drop.
“So it was you.” I stalked toward her.
At the sound of my voice, Christine’s eyes darted quickly to me, then to the mage beside me, then over to the incubus and shifter. When she turned her head slightly to look behind her, her eyes bugged at the sight of Corin.
“Corin? Akio, Fenris, Jae. What are you doing here?” Her voice held the commanding tone of a leader, and she didn’t shrink away from the blade pressed against her neck.
“Is it true, Christine?” Corin’s voice was low. “Did you betray us?”
“What? Why would you think that?”
“Because you were about to fucking kill him,” I snapped. Her calm, dominating demeanor was starting to get under my skin. I wanted more groveling and pleading for forgiveness. Not that she’d ever get it from me.
“No. I wasn’t. I came here to get information that you said would be extremely valuable. You told me you weren’t going to meet with the informant until this evening, and I didn’t want to risk the possibility of losing another potential lead.”
If Christine was scared, she didn’t show it. She wasn’t even fighting Corin; her hands hung at her sides, pressed against the cargo pants she always wore.
“It didn’t look like you planned to ask him any questions. It looked like you were going to gut him like a rabbit and walk away!”
Her eyes were hard as she stared at me. “I was trying to gain the upper hand before he woke up. I’ve found most people talk more easily when they’ve got a dagger held to their throat.”
“Oh yeah? Should we test that theory?”
I wanted to grab the dagger from Corin’s hand and dig it into her flesh a little deeper, let her feel the sting of that first cut. Although he had a firm grip on her, I could tell he wasn’t pressing hard with the blade and seemed loath to use it on her.
“As much as I love to see you with your claws out, kitten, that won’t be necessary.” Akio stepped forward, his dark eyes glittering as he looked at Christine. “I can charm answers out of her.”