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CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

H yax tapped the surface of a scrying mirror to see where the mark was—they had been lucky that a new member of staff was due to start. Solivatus had the reach to identify them and where they lived. Jack, already wearing the other guy’s face, crowded behind him, and stared over his shoulder.

“He’s about to leave, we’d better go. Your portal or mine?”

Hyax laughed. “That sounds like a dodgy pick-up line, but let’s use mine, you be ready to stun our friend.”

“Did I read correctly that he’s part dryad?” Hyax asked.

“Yeah, no magic, but aware of the paranormal world. Sounds like he got a bit of a rubbish deal out of life.”

He opened a portal into the living room of the unsuspecting John Collins. The poor bloke shrieked, not prepared to be accosted by someone wearing his own face, and Jack silenced him before he had the chance to kick up a ruckus and alert the neighbours. “Are you going to contact Ashley?” Hyax asked.

“Yeah, Ashley will collect our friend, and leave him in stasis until I’m done borrowing his persona. The Warlock Ruling Committee will look after him and he’ll think he’ll have been in a coma, then we’ll arrange for him to come into some sort of unexpected windfall.”

Hyax hadn’t expected the guy to be compensated. “Very generous of you.”

“We’re not vampires, and the kidnap and sedation of an innocent man isn’t something we’d usually condone, but there’s too much at stake.”

Jack levitated the sleeping form onto a sofa, in the corner of a small, not very nice flat. It was a bit odd to see the two of them together, knowing they weren’t twins. Hyax thought this John bloke had got lucky—a long sleep and a lottery win and he’d be able to escape his mediocre existence without ever knowing why.

There was a plastic document wallet on the table and on closer inspection, Hyax saw it was the papers John would need for his first day all completed. “He’s even done the forms for you.”

Jack gave them a cursory check. “Looky here, there’s a space for a preferred name. John’s gonna be a Jack from now on, which will make things easier.”

“Best get going,” Hyax said.

Jack was going to use John’s car to travel to the facility as John was a local living in the nearest town about five miles away. Hyax would catch a ride to the perimeter to avoid using his magic and see what he could glean from the outside. He wasn’t expecting much, but he was doing that more to find alternative escape routes for Gwil than for rescuing Simon. John’s car was parked in a designated bay at the back of the block of flats, and it was a box on wheels with an unhealthy amount of rust. It started first time, which was something, and Jack didn’t seem bothered about driving it.

“Have you heard from Gwil?” Jack asked as they drove along.

“Not yet.” Alex had sent word that Sebastian had got a text from Robin saying they’d been chosen. “We agreed he’d only contact me once he was somewhere safe. Since Sebastian has let us know they’ve been selected, I guess I’ll just have to be patient.”

“I’m guessing they won’t take them to the facility until the morning, it’ll make it more disorientating to have them stay a night somewhere else then drive them around a bit first.”

It made sense to Hyax. “Good job you’re starting on the night shift then.”

“Yeah, I’d have preferred the morning, I’m not nocturnal. I’ll need to keep my wits about me, although I rarely sleep more than five hours in a go.”

Hyax wondered if that was the influence of his siren side, but he wasn’t rude enough to ask. “I suppose in your line of work you have to adapt to whatever’s going on.”

“You’re the one with a vampire boyfriend, hasn’t that meant you change things up?”

Hyax shrugged. “A little but the fae don’t need the sleep humans do, even after they’ve been turned into bloodsuckers.”

“Aww… cute pet name.” Jack sniggered. Hyax liked him, he wasn’t as serious as Ashley but he was as powerful.

They left the town and headed into the country where the roads were narrower and dark due to no streetlights. “Did Robin mention to you about how he saw Simon wearing a set of golden cuffs?” Hyax asked.

“Yeah, I haven’t had much time to look into them, but I suspect they’re what’s containing Simon’s magic.”

“Agreed, they could be fae or elvish, the examples I know of are used to bind criminals during trials and then punishment.”

“Trouble?” Jack asked.

“Pretty much. If they are something similar to the ones I’ve seen, you won’t be able to get them off easily without damaging Simon, and I imagine they are keyed to the wards or the lich, so you’ll need to factor that in.”

“I need to find a way to drop the wards so you and Ashley can portal in and contain the lich, but those cuffs might make things tricky.”

Hyax had been thinking the same. “I’ll keep researching from my side, but once you get the chance to check them over, let me know if you can, it might help me find a way to get them off or block them long enough that we can work.”

“Between you and me, I think we’re being a bit optimistic on how this might turn out,” Jack admitted.

“You don’t think the plan will work?”

“It’ll work up to a point. The vampires aren’t known for their patience and this has all been done in a rush. While I think the magic you’ve used for the transfiguration is sound, the rest of the plan is a bit less thought-out.”

“I didn’t want Gwil involved, but he was adamant he’d help,” Hyax said. “Do you think Gwil’s in danger?”

Jack sniffed. “I heard he’s been undercover before. I’m less concerned about him and more about Robin not being able to control himself when he sees Simon and giving the game away before we can act and the lich disappears with Simon.”

Hyax grimaced at the thought. “I wouldn’t like to be the one to tell Sebastian.”

“No, if things go south, take Gwil to the fae realm and stay there a while. Sebastian can be a bit indiscriminate in his handing out of punishments and while I don’t think he’d do anything to a fae prince, your Gwil is a vampire and fair game.”

“I’d remove Hewel’s head before he could lay a finger on Gwil.” His protective instincts were already heightened, even Sebastian Hewel would pay if Gwil was hurt.

“As much as I’d love to see you try, I’m not sure how successful you’d be so let’s not let it get to that.” Jack glanced over. “I’ll do my best to keep Gwil safe, of all the people dragged into this, he’s been the one with the least choice. He’s a good bloke and the way vampires work means he’s collateral to the likes of Sebastian, but I’m one to root for the underdog.”

“Thank you. I will be grateful.”

“I’m not looking to be in your debt, just making sure that if there’s any kickback over this, then it’s not the one who deserves it the least.”

The fae had dealings with the warlocks—fellow magic-users tended to stick together—but he’d not heard a warlock be as forthright as Jack. He was powerful enough not to be cowed and several hundred years old so had seen more things than most, and that gave Jack a different perspective. Hyax decided he would be someone to keep closer ties with in the future.

Jack pulled the car up in a layby, this was as close as Hyax would get. “Good luck,” he said, getting out of the car.

“You too. I’ll be in touch.”

The car pulled away and Hyax found himself alone in the middle of nowhere with only the moon for illumination. His night vision wasn’t great, nothing like Gwil’s but he conjured a light orb and masked the signature as best he could. He squeezed through a gap in a gate and into a field, his magic tingling, ready to react. Copperpipe had spoken of a forgetmist and he was on the edge of a strong incantation. He would need to be careful so as not to get disorientated and end up sleeping in a ditch.

The land underfoot was uneven so he chose to manifest his wings despite them not usually being visible in this realm and a drain on his magic he hadn’t accounted for. From what he could tell, there were no buildings in range, there was a copse of trees and rolling fields but no large manor house, the spellcraft to create an illusion on that level was superb. Hyax knew within half an hour of trying to track a perimeter that he couldn’t pin down he was on a hiding to nothing without exposing himself by casting invasive spells, which would defeat the purpose.

He flew back towards the road, keeping behind the hedgerow as he put more distance between himself and where the edges of the forgetmist started, and when he was satisfied he was far enough away, he landed, hid his wings and opened a portal.

Stepping back into the living room of his and Gwil’s house made him feel empty on two counts. First, his little adventure into the English countryside had been for nought, and second, the lack of Gwil’s presence hit him like a brick. Knowing Gwil wouldn’t be back here tonight, or for several days, sent a pang deep into Hyax’s core.

He checked his phone—nothing so far—and made himself some green tea and raided the biscuit tin. If his fae friends were to see him now, sitting alone on a sofa in a nice but hardly palatial house, they’d have questioned his sanity. He could be surrounded by servants being waited on hand and foot, lavish food and the finest wines, but he was content to be sipping tea and mainlining custard creams. Gwil had fucking ruined him in all the best ways.

Determined not to brood, he worked his way through some case files.—Gwil made meticulous notes—and he set out his to-do list for the next few days to avoid himself going crazy worrying about Gwil wearing someone else’s face. His phone pinged and he saw the message.

Will: Am at a hotel with R. Let me know when good to talk, he’s having a bath.

He would have trouble reconciling Gwil with his persona of cheating fuckboi, but it was better than him playing himself and having to drape across Robin Flint. He replied with his fake credentials.

Mal: Ready when you are. I’ve eaten all the good biscuits.

He answered as soon as it rang.

“You better have left me the Jaffa Cakes.”

Hyax laughed. “Where are you hiding them? They weren’t in the tin.”

“I’m not telling you, you can go through a whole packet in minutes.”

“What can I say? If humans do one thing right, it’s the baked goods.”

Gwil snorted. “It’s good to hear your voice. How did seeing Jack off go?”

“Pretty uneventful.” He decided not to tell Gwil about Jack’s comments about how things could go wrong. “Once he’d dropped me off, I had a stomp around, but I couldn’t get anything. How’s the hotel?”

“Well, there’s only one bed. So obviously me and Robin are going to succumb to our base desires.”

Hyax laughed. “Are you now?”

“Yeah, so since we’re British, I’ve made us both a cup of tea. He’s having his in the bath.”

“You fucker. I miss you already.”

“I’m sure Midnight will keep you company. Robin says he doesn’t snore so he’s got one up on you.”

“Hard to snore when you don’t breathe. And I’ll have you know, your jiggly leg thing is far more annoying than my snoring.” He’d give anything to portal to Gwil and kiss him but they’d be discovered and ruin their chance of finding Simon. “Best not kick the big fang in your sleep.”

“Twat.” Gwil sounded so fond. “I’ll text when I can. We’ll be at the facility tomorrow, and we’ll see if my phone works.”

“Be careful, if you do something stupid, I’ll find a way to kill you again.”

“Love you too.” There was a muffled conversation, he couldn’t catch. “Sorry, Robin’s out of the bath. I better go.”

“Love you.”

The call dropped and Hyax felt bereft. He spotted Midnight asleep on the chair and without a second thought, scooped her up and plonked her on his lap. He didn’t expect her to stay but maybe she was missing Gwil too and settled down. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he comes home.”