Page 14

Lach

“Can it wait?” Cate tipped her head in my direction. “I need to sleep, and then I have dibs on killing your brother.”

Ciara paused, her forehead creasing before she nodded. “Understood.”

But she pulled Cate into a tight hug, then tossed a haughty smirk over Cate’s shoulder before pulling away and vanishing inside.

Unbelievable.

“First her. Now you. Everybody talks a big game about saving me from the Wild Hunt but only so they can kill me,” I grumbled as we stepped into the marble lobby. It was nearly midnight, and the night clerk glanced up with a frown, paling when he saw me. He promptly disappeared into the back office.

“And what does that tell you?” Cate whispered as we crossed to the bank of elevators. “Don’t worry. I have plenty of things to tell your sister that will distract her.”

The doors slid open, and I held a hand across the threshold, keeping my voice low in case any more staff were nearby. “You can’t tell anyone about the Terra Court.”

We’d been too busy fighting to get to that.

She waited until we were inside before she started another one. “What do you mean I can’t tell anyone?”

I’d give up more of my soul to steal a few extra minutes alone before we dealt with what waited outside my door, but something told me her patience was running a tad thin. “Just for now.” I started to reach for her but thought better of it. “I think it’s possible that someone is betraying us. Someone on the inside.”

She blinked as if I had suddenly spoken in tongues. “And you think that person is Ciara?”

“Of course not,” I hissed, hoping my sister wasn’t spying on us through the security cameras. “But she’s not great at keeping secrets, so until we know what we’re dealing with, I think it’s better if this stays between us.”

“And Roark,” she added flatly. I could tell what she thought about that. She looked at my hand. “At least you’re not wearing that signet ring anymore.”

“I never let him hear anything,” I promised her. Not that it mattered. At this point, I wasn’t sure she would ever let me touch her again. Not only did she think I was delusional, but she was more upset about the mating bond than I had expected. It was a lot of information to process, and all I could do was give her time.

Part of me wanted signet rings of our own. If only so I could figure out what she was thinking. We were mates, but she was still such a mystery sometimes. But I wouldn’t ask her to let me inside her head before she had decided if she would let me inside her heart.

The compartment seemed smaller with each floor the elevator ascended until it felt like there wasn’t enough room for the two of us. I was suffocating, and she was the air I needed to breathe. Cate grasped the handrail as we arrived on the top floor, her knuckles white. But when the doors opened, no one waited on the other side. Even my quarters were mercifully empty. I guessed my family’s sudden courtesy was a gesture more to her than me.

Cate hesitated when I led her to the door of my room, staring at the mammoth round bed covered in silky black sheets.

“You said you needed to sleep.” I stepped back, leaving the choice up to her.

Half of me expected that she would push past me and continue down the hall to her old room. But instead, she walked inside. I waited for her to ask me to join her.

She closed the door in my face instead.

No one bothered us during the night. I couldn’t decide if it was a miracle or torture. By the time dawn seeped through the windows of my living room, I was on my third glass of Scotch and no closer to answers. Cate had every right to be mad at me. I’d crossed a line. More than one, if I was being honest. She deserved the space to sort out her feelings.

That didn’t stop me from pacing in front of the bedroom door, hoping it would open.

It didn’t.

But knowing only a wall separated us was like an itch I couldn’t scratch. I was about to let myself in when Ciara barged into my quarters. Her eyes skimmed over my wrinkled clothing and the nearly empty glass in my hand. “I take it things went well.”

“There were complications.” I drained the last of the Scotch, washing down the sour words.

She huffed, some of last night’s smugness settling on her face. “I can come back.”

“No.” I rose to my feet. “You might as well call everyone for a meeting.” There was no point avoiding the others, and I needed an excuse to wake up Cate.

Ciara nodded, but halfway to the door, she stopped. “I’m glad she’s home.” She cleared her throat. “That you’re both home.”

I forced a smile. I wondered how long that feeling would last.

There was no answer when I knocked. Opening the door, I found the bed empty, and fear roared through my blood, settling when Cate peeked out from the chair perched by the fire. She groaned as she stood, hastily smoothing her dress. Judging by the circles rimming her eyes, she hadn’t slept much, either.

“You have about two minutes before my family ambushes us,” I warned her.

“I’ll change.” She sauntered past me to rummage through the wardrobe, frowning when she found only suits and slacks and guns.

“Hold on.” I slipped down the hall to the final bedroom. Her scent lingered in the space like she’d been here only yesterday, but she wouldn’t be needing this room anymore. Not if I had anything to say about it. I swiped an armful out of the top drawer of her dresser and snagged a few hangers from the closet.

Cate was wrapped in a towel when I returned, the red dress shriveling in the fireplace. I didn’t comment as I hung the dresses next to my suits. Then moved to make room in the sock drawer for her lacy underthings.

“Am I moving in?” she asked quietly.

A reminder that I was still in trouble.

“I thought you might need a few things in here.” I slid the drawer shut after hooking a pair of lacy panties on my thumb.

Her brows lifted as I tossed them to her. “That was optimistic of you.”

Nothing with Cate was ever easy. But I wasn’t about to give up, no matter how little time I had left to share with her. I would prove to her that everything between us was real, starting with the sock drawer.

Turning, I leaned on the armoire and slid my hands in my pockets. “By all means, go out there like that. I prefer knowing you have no underwear on. Makes it easier.”

She glared but slid on her panties. I moved out of the way so she could grab her own clothes, then took out fresh ones for myself.

We dressed silently, stealing glances at each other, half heated with lust and half teeming with wary energy until she groaned and marched into the bathroom. The door shut with an ominous click .

I was working on my tie when it opened again. When I turned toward her, words failed me.

“Ready,” she announced, raking fingers through her loose waves.

Every time I saw her, she was more beautiful, but this morning, she glowed. Her dark hair was swept up, revealing the slender curve of her neck. A faint blush colored her cheeks—the lingering proof that we’d done more than talk last night. But it was the determination shining in her brown eyes that made my heart swell with pride. Her steps faltered as she caught me staring, and she looked down, brushing a few lingering wrinkles from her sage-colored sheath.

“You’re perfect,” I said as she fussed. Her flush deepened as she lifted her gaze to meet mine. The mating bond strained between us, and I tore my attention away before I acted on it. “I’m ready, too.”

“Hold on.” She stopped me before I could turn the knob. She took a step closer, reaching up with tentative hands to adjust my tie. “There.”

I caught her wrist gently before she could turn away. “I love you.”

“How can you be sure when—”

“No,” I cut her off. I could give her space. Time. Almost anything she needed. But I refused to entertain doubts about that. “You can question my authority. You can question my decisions. You can even question our future, but you cannot question that. I love you.”

I would keep saying it whether or not she believed me, and somehow I would prove it to her.

Pulling Cate closer, I hooked an arm around her waist. It took everything in me not to press her against the door and kiss her senseless. Her throat slid, eyes darting to my mouth as if she was thinking the same thing.

“We should get out of here,” I said roughly.

She nodded, taking a step away from me, as if distance might soothe the electric need running between us.

We made it a few feet into the hallway before Ciara accosted us.

She threw her arms around Cate, who managed to stay upright and return the hug.

“She already got a hug. Why aren’t you this excited to see me?” I grumbled.

Ciara stuck her tongue out over Cate’s shoulder.

“You showed up beaten to a bloody pulp,” she reminded me. “I wasn’t about to reward your behavior.”

I rolled my eyes, but Cate looked between us, alarmed. “A bloody what? What happened?”

“Bain—” Ciara started.

“It’s not important,” I said quickly, but Ciara whispered the story to Cate, earning a fair share of alarmed gasps from my mate. I gave up and started toward the living room before the others came looking for us and joined in on the flagellations. My sister didn’t release her hold on Cate, clinging to her arm as she babbled about everything we’d missed in our absence. Finally, Ciara sighed happily. “I’m just so glad that you’re here.”

“Me too.” But it sounded like a pretty lie.

“You look tired. Been busy?” Ciara winked at her.

At least someone was enthusiastic about our relationship.

I checked my arm to make sure the mating bond was concealed. If Ciara spotted it, she wouldn’t keep her mouth shut, which might scare Cate further. Cate tracked the movement but didn’t say anything. The rest of the welcoming committee was more composed.

Roark nodded at Cate, and she smiled warmly at him, but it faltered as her gaze drifted to Fiona.

“Hello again.” Fiona glared at her from the chair by the fireplace.

Romy placed a hand on her shoulder, murmuring something before she turned to my mate. “I’m Romy—”

“My number one fan,” I muttered. Everyone ignored me.

“Fiona’s g irlfriend ,” she continued. “We’re so glad to meet you.”

“Oh, we’ve met.” Fiona’s mouth puckered as she stared at Cate. “I guess I was wrong when I told you that fae don’t m—”

“Watch yourself,” I growled.

But Cate only rolled her eyes, taking a seat next to Ciara on the couch.

“Care to explain what took you so long last night?” Ciara asked me.

“The Hunt tried to grab us.”

Roark shot me a surprised look. “What? How?”

I filled them in on what had happened when we nipped back from Dublin, stopping when we reached the library.

“A library?” Ciara repeated. “How did you wind up there?”

“No clue,” I lied smoothly. I had my theories about that, too.

“You’re lucky you wound up in New Orleans.” Roark scratched at his jaw. “I guess this means you won’t be nipping.”

“Yes,” I agreed grimly, “but you should all be careful. They could try to grab any of you.”

“Do you really think they would use one of us to get to you?” Fiona asked.

It was a possibility. “As far as I know, no one has escaped the Wild Hunt.” Not for long, at least. “We have no clue how they’ll react to being outsmarted.”

“But we’re here now,” Cate said softly.

Ciara swiveled toward her, tucking one leg under the other. “We had every magical creature in the city looking for a way around Lach’s curse.”

“I wouldn’t call it a curse,” I interjected, but they ignored me.

“And half of New York,” Romy added.

Ciara nodded, her gratitude obvious. “I swear we nearly gave up, but a familiar named Thalia had a stroke of genius.”

“A familiar?” Cate frowned.

“One of the covens of witches,” I explained. “They’re called familiars because of their relationship to vampires.”

“Witches are familiars,” she said like she was piecing this information together.

Romy spoke up. “Not all of us.”

I sighed. This could get complicated.

“When our magic was cursed a couple of centuries ago, some witches sought protection from vampires,” Romy explained. “Familiars. Others maintained their relationship to the goddess. We believe she still watched over us even during the curse. The devout. But, of course, some witches turned to dark arts, others to green magic, some to voodoo. But most of us consider ourselves to be either devout or a familiar.”

Cate’s eyebrows ratcheted up another notch. “I might need a chart.”

“Later,” I promised.

“In case you’re wondering, the bona fides spell is finally stable,” Ciara announced. “Every creature in the city has taken the pledge or left town.”

Cate’s throat slid as she digested this information. “And that will keep the Hunt out?”

“‘Bona fides’ literally means in good faith. No one who won’t swear the oath in good faith to the Nether Court can set foot in New Orleans. The Wild Hunt belongs to no court. They’ll never swear an oath of loyalty,” Roark told her. “So they can’t step foot inside city limits.”

Cate nodded, looking a little dazed. “You got every creature in New Orleans to swear an oath of loyalty?”

“Most of them already had,” I said as casually as possible. “It’s considered to be bad manners if you’re in the city without permission. Now it’s just impossible.”

“What about the tourists?”

“Humans can come and go,” Ciara said with a wave of her hand. “None of them stands a chance against us. But if any creature, fae or otherwise, tries to set foot inside city limits, they’ll find that they can’t.”

Cate stayed silent for a moment before she finally nodded. “It’s actually genius.”

“It’s a Band-Aid,” Roark said quietly. Cate’s eyes flashed to me for confirmation.

“It worked,” Ciara reminded him.

“For now. It bought us time to get this curse removed and keep the Hunt—and Oberon—out of New Orleans.” He crossed his arms and leveled a serious stare in her direction. Things had been tense between them since I’d returned, and it seemed to be getting worse every day. “And you know what will happen if he can’t return to the Otherworld.”

“He can’t return to the Otherworld?” Cate asked slowly.

“The spell is powered by the covens. It won’t work in our world.” Ciara shook her head, her nose wrinkling in frustration.

Cate stared at me. “You can’t return to the Nether Court?”

I nodded.

“But Fiona and Romy are going to look for a long-term solution,” Ciara said. “They’ll find a way to take care of this.”

Cate blinked with surprise and looked at Fiona.

“Believe it or not, I don’t want my brother dead,” Fiona drawled. “Well, at least, I don’t want him dead most of the time.”

“Please don’t start,” Ciara said through gritted teeth. “We’re together for now.”

“Not for long,” Fiona informed her. “We heard back from the Astral Court. They’ll let us use their labs.”

Cate sat up a little straighter, looking happier than she’d been since our talk. “You’re going to see Sirius?”

“Yes,” Romy said. “He’s willing to analyze a sample of Lach’s blood to see how the memento mori curse works, and there are covens in Prague with grimoires that date back further than my family’s. We’re going to find a way around this.” She squeezed my sister’s shoulder, but Fiona’s sour expression didn’t change.

I suspected Fiona cared more about getting away from New Orleans than finding a loophole to remove the death mark on my neck.

Cate bit her lip, eyeing Romy. “Do you know anything about the Belle Mère?”

“Yes.” Romy held up her hand to show the triple-moon tattoo inked on her skin. “She is the patroness of my coven.”

“The witches who helped me escape said I should seek out their sisters.” Cate glanced around the room, hesitating on Fiona, like she’d rather not admit this vulnerability in front of my icy sister.

“We’re leaving today,” Fiona said. “You will have to find someone else.”

Cate didn’t shrink from her glare.

“My sister, Willow Broussard, might be able to help. She tends to be a bit of an outsider. You can trust her.”

Like Romy.

Cate smiled gratefully.

“Speaking of, the covens want a meeting,” Roark said. “They aren’t happy.”

“When are they happy?” I asked.

“Ciara made this happen. But that doesn’t mean that they aren’t going to fight you on it.”

“I suppose I should remind them they’re here under my protection.”

No rest for the wicked. Dealing with the city’s various factions was one of my least favorite parts of the job, but it was unavoidable.

“Tensions are high,” he warned us. “We can’t tap as much magic as normal from the Otherworld to help shore up the spell from our end.”

But Fiona interjected, “It’s not just because of the spell. Someone put down a rougarou last week off Esplanade.”

“A what?” Cate asked across the room.

Ciara leaned to whisper. “Kinda like a werewolf.”

“A rougarou?” I repeated. “I didn’t know we had any in the city. Have the werewolves dealt with it?” If a werewolf had bitten someone, they needed to hold the guilty party accountable.

“You know how insular the packs are,” Roark said. “They’ll deal with whoever did it privately.” And publicly, none of them would claim the creature, since rougarous weren’t born werewolves like they were. They were cursed. “But it’s been decades since one was caught in the city. Second Parish is in an uproar over it, thinking the bona fides spell drew it out. They fought hardest against the spell.”

“And I would’ve thought the vampires would be the biggest pain in my ass,” I grumbled.

“Don’t worry. They’ll still be a pain in your ass. Baptiste wants to discuss the clover problem.” He grinned and clapped a hand on my shoulder. “So, the sooner we get this meeting over with, the better.”

Vampires weren’t known for their patience. We needed to keep the witches happy or risk the bona fides spell, and my sister’s success proved she should be the one at the head of the table. “Ciara is still in charge.”

I was on borrowed time, and she needed to be prepared in case things went south.

“No way.” Ciara abandoned the couch and stalked toward me. She twisted off the signet ring and thrust it in my direction. “I never asked for this. You are still the Prince of the Nether Court.”

Over her shoulder, Cate bit back a smile.

“Not this again.” Roark sighed, throwing up his hands.

I didn’t take the ring from my sister. “It sounds like you handled everything well.”

“Of course I did. But I need a margarita, a massage, and a nap. Not necessarily in that order.” She stamped her foot. “Make Fiona take it.”

“I’m leaving,” Fiona reminded her with mock sweetness.

“Okay. Shaw, then,” Ciara implored.

“Not an option.” He was just a kid.

“Where is Shaw?” Cate asked, looking around the room like she’d just realized he was missing.

Shit . My sister and I shared a look.

“You didn’t tell her,” she accused.

“Tell me what?” Cate asked slowly.

I took a deep breath. This was going to hurt. “At the hospital.”

Cate jumped to her feet. “Hospital? What’s wrong?”

I held up a hand before she ran out of the damn building. “Don’t freak out. Nothing’s wrong.”

“You wouldn’t have to tell me not to freak out if everything was okay.” She crossed her arms as her chest began to heave. “Out with it.”

“He’s keeping an eye on Channing.”

“Channing?” His name came out strangled. “But Oberon said…”

“Let me guess. Oberon lied to you about your brother?” Fiona said with a snort of disdain.

Cate’s face crumpled, and I resisted the urge to rip Fiona’s head off.

I was at Cate’s side instantly, lifting her chin. “Oberon lies,” I whispered. “Channing is okay now.”

“But why is he in the hospital?” The hitch in her voice broke my heart.

“He was shot.”

She swallowed hard as she digested this news. “Again?”

“Yeah. He was in a coma, but he’s awake now.”

Her eyes narrowed on me. “Why do I feel like there’s more to this story?”

Definitely should have told her this before. Now I had an audience for my inevitable evisceration.

“I might’ve had to use vampire blood to wake him up,” I confessed. Cate squawked, but I hurried on. “He was the only one who knew where you were. I did what I had to do.”

Her lower lip trembled. “Will he be a vampire now?”

I exhaled hard. I deserved worse than a reasonable question.

“You have to die with vampire blood in your system. It’s actually pretty hard to do, since vampire blood has healing properties.”

“And you’re sure?” she pressed.

I kissed her forehead. “Positive. You can visit him as soon as possible—”

“Now.” She pulled free from me and turned to Ciara. “Will you take me?”

So, being reasonable might not be the same as being forgiving.

“Of course.” Ciara jumped at the chance, undoubtedly to get out of the meeting with the covens.

I stopped myself from telling her she couldn’t. If Cate wanted her there instead of me, I would respect it. But I wouldn’t like it.

Cate didn’t bother to look at me as she stormed out of the room.

Ciara stood to follow, giving me a smug smile. “I think you’re in trouble.”

“No shit,” I muttered. “Just keep an eye on her.”

She nodded before hurrying after Cate.

Silence fell over the room. Fiona finally broke it. “Wow. She really loves you,” she said dryly. “I can see why you threw your life away, at least.”

“Fi!” Romy grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the chair. “Let’s go pack and have that talk about not saying everything we’re thinking out loud— again .”

I stared at the door as they left. Crystal clinked behind me, and a second later, Roark passed me a glass of whiskey.

“Ready to face the music?” he asked as he raised his glass in a toast.

I took a sip, too numb to feel the burn. Everything was a mess. “I think the covens will be more forgiving than Cate.”

“That’s optimistic.” Roark laughed before downing his drink in a single swallow. Then he clapped a hand on my shoulder and pushed me toward the door. “But there’s a first time for everything.”