Page 28 of Buzz Kill (Smoke & Mirrors Tavern #7)

Chapter twenty-eight

ALWIN

We arrived at Aiden’s and were rushed inside. Luckily my glamour concealed all the blood from the fight or Aiden would have had even more reason to be annoyed with me. Declan had been given one of Jet’s shirts and baby wipes to clean up with in the car and he still looked pretty rough.

The dragons cleared a spot next to my brother and Bastian and I peered into the bassinet, finding the egg still intact but with a crack running down one side.

“How long has it been like this?” I asked.

“Hours,” Aiden answered. “I’m starting to get worried.”

Bastian patted Aiden’s shoulder. “Nothing to worry about. Dragon egg shells are imbued with our innate magic, that’s why we can’t hear them moving around in there. While it protects them from dangers, it also can take some time to break through when the time comes. It moved not long ago, and look at the size of it! It must be twice the size of any dragon egg in the past two centuries, at least! Our big strapping boy will be making his appearance any time now.”

Aiden swatted a hand at his mate. “Stop calling them that! If it’s a girl, she’s never going to want to come out. She’s going to think you’ll be disappointed.”

Bastian chuckled and pulled his mate into his side. “Nonsense, I could never be disappointed. This child will be showered with so much love, it will never doubt that.”

Aiden relaxed at his mate’s reassurance and their closeness had me turning to find Declan hovering against a wall just inside the room.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

Declan glanced around at the anxious dragons and arched an eyebrow. “Trying to stay out of the way.”

“I meant why aren’t you over here?”

He shifted uncomfortably. “Because this seems like a family thing.”

“Since you are my mate, you’re the hatchling’s family as well.”

Three shouts of “what?” rang out in the room, making the egg jerk in the nest next to me. Apparently the hatchling could hear us even if we couldn’t hear them. I’d expected Aiden and Ollie to be surprised, but Declan had blurted out the same response. Perhaps I was mistaken when I assumed we had things figured out. He said he trusted me. He’d protected me with his magic, and even tried to avenge me when he’d believed I’d died. Could I have been wrong again?

“You didn’t know?” I asked.

Declan’s eyes darted away in a guilty gesture that told me he’d suspected the truth.

“Then… you’re surprised that I knew?”

Declan winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “Kind of? Or at least surprised that you’d admit it. I don’t have any delusions about the fact that I’m a terrible match for you, but I suspected that might be the reason you put up with me hanging around for so long.”

“A terrible match?” I echoed. How had he missed the fact that I was always the one chasing him down?

“Everyone knows that a sorcerer who can’t use magic is nothing more than human,” he explained.

“And what’s wrong with being human?” Aiden snapped unexpectedly.

Declan shook his head. “Don’t get me wrong, I’d rather be human than a sorcerer any day, trust me on that. But having a human mate would only hurt your brother in his world. Elves respect power. I have none, and it would make Al appear weak. His court would be attacked again and I can’t help him protect it. Only trouble would come from being mated to someone like me.”

“My understanding is that you protected him more than once in the demon world,” Aiden answered. “Thank you for that, by the way.”

Declan waved him off and looked away. “It was definitely the other way around.”

“Mates protect each other,” Bastian cut in. “Often in different ways. That is the way it should be. Alwin is a respectable man, he would not deny his mate because of your lack of magic.”

A sad smile made the corners of Declan’s lips quiver and it took a second for him to speak. “The best way I can protect him is to stay away. Maybe I should have done it sooner, but I’m selfish, remember? I told you all that from the beginning. All I wanted was to steal a few memories of my own before my family caught up to me again. And in the process, I dragged him into a bunch of trouble. Because of me, he nearly…”

His words cut off and he pressed his lips together. I couldn’t even try to read his expression because he refused to look up from his shoes. Then suddenly, his shoulders straightened, and he forced a smile.

“Anyway, didn’t mean to ruin your happy occasion. I’m going to get some air.”

And then he was gone.

Surprisingly, Aiden smirked and stared at me with humor in his eyes. “Well, look at that, the sorcerer can do magic. He put an expression on that stone face of yours. But it’s a little weird to see someone your age pouting.”

I forced whatever was showing on my face away and returned my brother’s stare. “I am not pouting.”

He laughed and poked my shoulder. “Tell that to your face. Seriously, stop freaking out. That man is completely in love with you.”

“He just said he wanted nothing more than a few memories with me.”

Aiden shook his head. “What he said was that he wants to protect you and he hates the fact that you got hurt because of him. Were you planning on giving up already? Have you even told him how you feel about him? Has the word ‘love’ even passed through your lips in all of your centuries?”

“Of course it has, though perhaps not in the context you’re implying. Love is something you do, not something you say. Words are meaningless if they are not backed by action.”

“Does Declan know that?”

“He does,” I answered firmly.

“Are you sure about that?”

Aiden had struggled with my lack of expression growing up and it led to some difficult times as we learned to understand each other. He’d been born a free spirit with no interest in adhering to an elven way of life. He was an artist who leaned into expression rather than perfection, and our differences meant it took some time to learn to communicate. But Declan had never seemed to have the same trouble understanding me. While we clearly weren’t always on the same page, this was the one thing I was sure of.

“I am.”

“Then maybe you should take some action to show him how you feel,” Aiden waved a hand toward the egg. “Don’t worry, you have some time. It seems they’re waiting to make their grand entrance.”

“Call me if anything changes.”

Aiden nodded and waved me off. “Obviously.”

DECLAN

“Well, that was a disaster,” I grumbled as I wandered around the back of the house and found a chaise to plop down on. I buried my face in my hands, feeling the heat on my cheeks slowly fading.

So, it was true . Neither sorcerers nor elves paid much attention to things like true mates when alliances among families were a far better way to gain power, but that didn’t mean that true mates didn’t exist among them. Alwin and I might have stumbled into each other by chance, but I’d never expected him to actually accept me. The elf was practically made of strength and strategy. There was no place for someone like me in his life. To think he’d even consider otherwise was unimaginable.

The elf was more sentimental than I’d given him credit for. What a huge miscalculation on my part.

I let out a heavy sigh. Everything I’d planned for when I came to Eastbend had fallen apart spectacularly. I’d heard the Beaumont wards on Elliot’s inherited house specifically protected against Prescott sorcerers, and I’d tracked my long-lost cousin down with the intention of hiding behind them. Except the whole town was already on guard against our family when I arrived and they hadn’t trusted me for a second. And once I did finally gain access to his house, the man was sickeningly in love with a baby on the way.

Even if I could put up with walking in on one too many loved up encounters all over that house, putting a new Prescott heir on the family’s radar was out of the question. Thank the gods that kid didn’t turn out to be a sorceress, but being a demon didn’t keep her out of harm’s way either. It was still best I that I kept my distance.

And then Alwin just had to find me at my lowest after Acacia caught up to me and started her sadistic game of cat and mouse once again. It was only a matter of time before I was back in their cage at that point, and if it wasn’t for Alwin and everything that had happened, that’s probably exactly where I’d be right now. Back in their clutches, searching for another way out where I could claim a few more weeks of freedom. A trapped rat seeking out a sliver of sunlight in the dark, only to be dropped right back in the maze over and over.

Only this time was different. This time I’d gotten a sweet taste of freedom. At first I’d thought this brief reprieve would help me get through the next time they found me, but now I wonder if it’ll just make the darkness all the more bleak by comparison.

Some things were inevitable. My family was too strong, and I have always been powerless against them. Every time I thought I’d found a way, they showed me how wrong I was. I’d found a way to block magic with the tattoos on my hands and it took them seconds to find a way around it. I found a way to ensure they couldn’t kill me, and they taught me that there were things far worse than death. Alwin might seem like a gift on the surface, but my family would find a way to use him against me.

My chest tightened at the thought of Alwin being subjected to the things my family was capable of, and it was suddenly impossible to pull in a breath. My vision went dark as I struggled to wheeze in some air, and of course, that was the state Alwin found me in.

I was drowning in the nightmares flooding my mind when two warm hands cupped my face.

“I’m here.”

Crystal blue eyes filled my blurry vision and his two simple words loosened my chest enough to allow air into my lungs.

“For how long?”

The words fell past my lips, exposing my true fears before I had the chance to grab them back. Because everything I’d said in there was true, my family would never stop coming after me and Alwin was bound to get caught up in it. I’d already caused him so much trouble, and no one’s patience was infinite. It was better to warn him off now than lose him after I’d gotten attached to his presence.

But the pain radiating through my chest at the thought of not seeing him every day told me it was already too late.

“For as long as you’ll allow me to stand by your side,” Alwin answered sincerely.

Unable to accept that, I shook my head. Al was as reliable as they came, but no one ever stayed in my life unless they wanted to use me for something. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to believe him, it was that I couldn’t . My heart simply wasn’t strong enough to take that leap.

Al sat next to me on the chaise and pulled me into his arms. “You don’t have to believe me right now, but I have been looking for you for a very long time.”

“Is that why you turned down all those marriage offers? You were waiting for your true mate?”

“Not a mate, no. I was looking for you . Every time I bought a young servant who was being mistreated, I was trying to make up for failing you. I just didn’t realize it was you until today. When you told Ollie your true age.”

I pulled away enough to look at Alwin. “What are you talking about?”

Alwin touched the intricate pendant on his chest. “This is the mark of my court. You asked me about it once before, was it because you recognized the design?”

When I could only stare at him dumbly, he activated a glamour in the charm. It was a very different one from the face he’d used at the hunting facility. This one had the appearance of an elf and I nearly fell on my face in my rush to scramble out of his arms.

“It was you?” I spluttered.

“This is a face I often use for business in this world. Your family tried to hire me to take them to a very dangerous part of Faerie where the native beasts make the demon world seem like child’s play. I refused to take them without knowing their reasons, and they refused to provide one, so our business relationship ended before it began. But during that visit, I ran into an injured boy and since the Prescott sorcerers would have the best healers available to them, I assumed he was a servant and tried to negotiate a purchase.

“At the time, I didn’t understand why I was so moved to get involved. It certainly wasn’t the first time I’d seen a servant mistreated, but I couldn’t let it go. When I pressed them, they finally told me that the boy was a member of their family who’d injured himself using magic beyond his capabilities and that the healer was on the way. In the end, all I’d been able to do was slip him one of my healing charms. That boy, it was you, wasn’t it?”

I couldn’t answer. When I did nothing but stare at that familiar face, Alwin continued.

“When you said you were a Prescott, I’d assumed he must have been a relative of yours since you would have been too young. But when you told Ollie your true age, I realized it had to be you.” Alwin shook his head. “All these years later, I never could get you out of my head. The guilt I felt for leaving you behind never made sense, I even went back for you once. Your family turned me away, but one of the servants told me you were gone. They didn’t seem to be lying.”

I was dumbfounded. How was it possible that elf had been Alwin? And he’d gone back for me? I never knew.

“I ran away every chance I got,” I explained when I finally found my voice again. “But my family has a long reach and few are willing to cross them. They might not have been lying at the time, but my brief bouts of freedom never last. This is actually the longest I’ve ever been away and it’s probably only because my father is too busy to deal with me at the moment. He knows there’s nowhere I can hide. He will always be able to find me when the time comes, so there’s no hurry.”

Alwin took my hand and pulled me back to the chaise. “Now that I’ve found you, there’s nowhere he can take you that I won’t come for you.”

Those were words I’d wanted to hear my whole life. But now that I finally did, they only caused me pain. I rubbed at my chest. “You can’t. You don’t know what they’re capable of.”

“And they don’t know what I’m capable of,” Alwin snapped in a tone that was very unlike him. “But if they lay a finger on you, they will find out. Your family is powerful, I am aware of that. But I have been alive for almost three centuries and I am not without my own strengths and connections.”

Eyes wide in the face of his anger, I gave a nod. “I know. But—”

“Moreover,” Alwin cut me off in a rather rude way. “You are not the type of person who will accept others protecting you indefinitely. It would make you feel like a burden, and if anything happened to anyone in the process, you would blame yourself. Thus the current situation is not sustainable long term.”

“Obviously,” I muttered, a little at a loss on how to deal with this suddenly chatty Alwin.

“Therefore you should begin training with myself and Ollie immediately.”

“… Huh?”

“Your family has tried to keep you defenseless in an effort to force you to use your magic. But, as you were smart enough to figure out for yourself,” he said, tapping the spells tattooed on my hands. “There are ways around that. Ollie and I have access to magic items that can rival the Prescott’s most valuable treasures. She can train you to use active magic without using your own, and I can train you to defend yourself in a more physical way. You already have vast knowledge of other beings and their weaknesses. If we combine that with the strength to apply your knowledge, you will have nothing to fear. In addition…”

Alwin hesitated, choosing his next words carefully and I knew I wasn’t going to like where this was going.

“Why stop now? You seem to have all kinds of of bottled up opinions,” I teased.

“I know you won’t like the idea, but I believe it would be beneficial to bind you and Rith. For his safety as much as your own. With a binding, he could not be claimed by another sorcerer, and Elliot said it would be possible to track either of you down using that connection if it ever became necessary.”

“Absolutely not,” I immediately answered. “I will not let him be harmed by what they do to me.”

“You won’t have to. That part of a binding can be left off. There’s no one else Rith would trust to do this. There’s no one else I trust to bind him either.”

I chewed my lip because I didn’t have an argument for that. Even if Elliot agreed to another binding, Rith likely wouldn’t accept him. With four demons already bound to him, if Rith fought against the binding, it might cause problems for Elliot. But running around this world as an unbound demon was too dangerous. Especially if my family found out about his connection to me.

“One condition,” I agreed, seeing no better option. “We reverse the connection. If anything happens to Rith, the binding takes from me to heal him. It’ll mean I should know immediately if anything happens to him, and there’s a chance the curse could keep him alive.”

Alwin didn’t seem thrilled with that idea, but he eventually nodded his agreement. “Then it is settled? Maybe you can’t face your family head on today, but there will come a time when it won’t seem so impossible that you can claim your life for yourself. With me.”

“Is it settled?” I questioned. “What about your court?”

“Declan, you’ve never met more than a couple of my servants and guards, why do you keep assuming you know our capabilities?”

A glimmer of amusement reflected in Alwin’s eyes and I stared at him in confusion.

“Well then, how many elves are in your court? You’re always saying you have a small court and as you pointed out, I’ve never seen more than a couple of human servants at your house.”

“Those you’ve met in my personal residence are my most loyal and highest ranked soldiers. Beyond the gardens is where the rest of my court resides. A small court, by elven standards, of over a hundred and fifty. Most are half-elves who found their way to the only court that would accept them as equals instead of servants. That is why so many considered my court weak over the years. My highly trained, exceptional fighters quickly disabused them of that notion. Each season more and more humans and half elves in Faerie find their way to me and our court grows. In the past few years we’ve had a significant number join us and begin training. Back when attacks on our court were common, we won battles with no more than fifty soldiers. These days, few dare to challenge us.”

I was speechless. “But… why is your house at the front of the court?”

It was unheard of to put the main estate at the entrance of a court. Anyone visiting or attacking should have to go through the rest of the court to reach its master. The lavish mansions typically sat at the court’s center. I’d visited Faerie with my parents many times when I was young and never once had I seen a court that hid its people behind what essentially amounted to royalty.

“Because when my court was first established and I began taking in half elves and humans, they needed my protection. As time went on, they became capable of protecting themselves but since we still take in vulnerable runaways, I saw no need to move my residence and treat my court as cannon fodder. Renna insisted on moving in with me to help protect the court and she selects a secondary from our top fighters when necessary. Thalen was moved into the position several years ago.”

“Thalen? I thought he was a butler or assistant? That guy is one of your top fighters?” He seriously didn’t look it.

“Everyone in the main estate is either in training or an elite soldier. Thalen is our best marksman, he has a sharp eye that misses nothing and can take out targets from distances that even I find challenging. Since we are rarely attacked anymore, he chooses to work as my assistant so he has something to do besides training the others.”

My head was aching with this new information. “Adding me to the mix still makes things more dangerous for all of you. If my family came after your court the people you’re protecting could end up getting hurt.”

“That is true for nearly everyone I’ve taken in. They know the risks when they join my court and we defend each other. It is why every man, woman, and child that joins us is required to train with me and my soldiers. We have artists and bakers and craftsmen, the same as any court. The difference is that they can all defend what they’ve built if any one of their courts comes seeking to reclaim them.”

“And what about your family here? Do you really want to put Aiden in danger?”

The corner of Alwin’s lips twitched as he glanced toward the house. “Aiden was always my one exception. No matter how hard I tried to train him, he was a free spirit who could not be tamed. But he is mated to a dragon prince now. He and his child are fiercely protected not only by me, but a clan of dragons as well.

“The Prescott Sorcerers are impressive, but they are not invincible. If they choose to go after the heir to a dragon clan as a way to get to you, they will sorely regret their actions. In addition, I am the one who killed Acacia’s demon. It is very likely that I am now on their radar regardless. It is something I will have to deal with in time.

“Challenges are inevitable, whether they come from the hunters, the elves, your family, or some enemy we haven’t met yet. If you will have me, I would very much prefer to face whatever future the fates throw our way, both the good and the bad, with you.”