Page 10

Chapter Ten

On the bright side, I was back at the Crow and Hammer. It felt like returning home after an unpleasant vacation, and I had the strange urge to wipe counters.

On the not-so-bright side, it was god-awful early. Six a.m.? Seven a.m.? Whatever the time, it was too early for consciousness. Also, I was still covered in fae markings. And on top of that , I was mostly naked in front of a bunch of people I didn’t want to be naked in front of.

I stood in the center of the room, arms held away from my sides, wearing nothing but my bra and undies. And seventeen people were staring at me.

To be fair, two of them weren’t paying attention to my near nudity. In one corner of the second-level workroom—filled with long tables, whiteboards, and computer desks—Ezra was sitting on a chair while Sanjana, the guild’s apprentice healer, treated the gouges in his forearm .

But the other fifteen people were staring at me. Or, more precisely, at the markings that started on my right palm, ran up my arm, covered most of my chest, coiled down my side and hip, then petered out at my right knee.

Off to one side, Aaron was pacing while Kai leaned against a table, his open laptop beside him. He watched me and the mythics—all of whom he’d called in at this ungodly hour to examine me.

Tabitha, her porcelain skin flawless and jaw-length brown hair neatly styled, observed like a queen overseeing her court. She was only here because she was the on-duty officer, and she’d already graced us with an icy lecture on involving me in guild work. Oddly, her chilly anger was threaded with worry, which irritated me. I wanted to despise her, not consider that her resistance to my presence was partly motivated by her concern for my safety.

Then again, the other part was her elitist desire to keep the guild human-free, so I wasn’t changing my opinion of her anytime soon.

Felix, the guild’s third officer, was also present. Kai had called him because he specialized in the detection and dispelling of magic. The other sorcerers included Andrew, an experienced team leader, and Lyndon, a counter-magic specialist.

Weldon had also come in, but I didn’t know him particularly well—mainly because I didn’t care to. An old man who always wore a greasy cowboy hat and matching boots, he’d gotten on my bad side during my first shift, when he’d given his drink order to my boobs. I was especially displeased to be standing in my underwear in front of him, but to my surprise, he seemed as focused on the markings as the others .

The final two sorcerers were a pair I’d barely spoken to: Lim and Jia Chen, an elderly couple who rarely drank anything but herbal tea. With wispy white hair, wizened faces, and thick glasses, they were tiny and hunched and looked like a mild puff of wind would blow them over. But they were the first ones Kai had called.

After calling Darius, I should say. That had been a fun conversation. The guild master wasn’t present, only because he was already dealing with the Red Rum angle—and the very real threat that the notorious rogue guild would retaliate against the Crow and Hammer.

Rounding out the group of voyeurs were all five of the guild’s witches. Chewing her lip worriedly, Kaveri finally broke the silence. “I can’t detect the fae. Can anyone else?”

Sitting beside her, Kier—her boyfriend—shook his head. With a beefy build, rugged features, and longish hair tied up in a man-bun, he reminded me of a super-Zen Jason Mamoa.

Philip, the middle-aged leader of our witches, rubbed his stubbly jaw. “The fae must have withdrawn as far as possible. Perhaps the binding magic exhausted him.”

“It’s disgusting.” Delta tossed her braided hair over her shoulder, their decorative beads clattering noisily. “Stealing a fae’s will is utterly profane.”

“Can we worry about morality later?” Aaron cut in, halting to glare at the witch. “We’re here to break the connection between Tori and this fae.”

“Lim and Jia,” Kai said quietly, “what do you think?”

Jia took her glasses off and folded them, her dark eyes nearly lost in wrinkles. “It’s a complex amalgamation. I suspect elements of Arcana, Spiritalis, and Demonica.”

“Demonica?” I repeated nervously .

“The binding elements are related to the contracts that subjugate demons,” she explained. “When a demon is summoned, its contractor gains near full control over its power.”

“You’d need something equally binding to control a fae like this,” Lyndon said, drumming his fingers on the tabletop. “I’d bet this fae is even more powerful than a demon.”

Jia levered herself out of her chair and hobbled over, scanning the markings. “Arcana and Demonica are not what concern me. They are simple in their complexity. Two plus two always equals four.”

She poked a big rune that spanned most of my right hip. “What worries me are the Spiritalis elements. These are not as simple to unravel.”

Philip joined the ancient sorceress. “It’s not just Spiritalis. The silver sphere relic Tori described was fae-created. Even witches don’t understand fae magic. It follows rules we can’t grasp.”

Jia tapped another rune on my side. “Fae magic combined with a dark Arcana ritual. This is beyond my knowledge.”

“Mine as well,” Lim agreed in his gravelly voice.

Around the room, every mythic agreed that they didn’t know enough to undo the bond. Sick dread sank through me and I wrapped my arms around myself.

Aaron appeared at my side and handed me an oversized sweater. I pulled it on gratefully, then put on the sweatpants he offered next.

“Don’t worry,” he told me. “This doesn’t mean we’re giving up.”

“We will begin researching immediately,” Jia announced. “Lim and I will visit our friends at Arcana Historia. They are very knowledgeable. ”

“I’ll put out feelers among my old comrades,” Lyndon offered, rising from his chair. “They’ve done their fair share of dabbling on the edge of illegal magic. They might have a few ideas.”

“Be careful what you ask,” Kai warned. “We don’t want to reveal too much.”

“I will.” He headed to the stairs.

Andrew stretched, stifling a yawn. “I know you were hoping I’d seen something like this before, but I’m sorry to say I haven’t. I’ll ask around too and see what I can find out.” He left, followed by Jia and Lim.

Philip rubbed his hands together, the gesture more nervous than thoughtful. “Those O’Conner sisters are downstairs, correct? I’ll speak to them before I leave.” He offered me a reassuring smile. “We’ll sort this out, Tori.”

Keeping my doubts about the O-sisters’ usefulness to myself, I nodded as he and the other witches headed off. Olivia and Odette were waiting in the guild’s basement, presumably too scared of Kai to leave without permission.

Weldon, the sometimes-creep, got up. “The others can ask around all they want, but this ain’t your next-door conjurer’s type of magic. You need a dark-arts master.”

“We don’t have one of those on speed dial,” Aaron snapped.

Weldon held his wide hands up placatingly. “I’m just sayin’, boy. Without a fae-magic expert or a dark-arts practitioner, you won’t get far.”

“You’d know something about dark-arts practitioners, though, wouldn’t you?” Kai asked sharply. “That’s why I called you.”

“So would you, eh, Yamada?” Weldon shot back. “I don’t know nothin’ about this fae crap. Good try, though. ”

With a farewell shrug, he slouched down the stairs and out of sight.

“I can’t think of a single time Weldon has been useful,” Aaron growled. “I don’t even know why he’s a member.”

“He’s useful, I promise.” Felix scrubbed a hand through his short blond hair. “There are a few dispelling techniques I could try on Tori, but I’m not keen to start experimenting right off the bat. She seems safe enough for now, so let’s see what the others come back with. Kai, make sure Tori isn’t left alone.”

“Of course.”

Once he was gone, Tabitha also headed toward the stairs. She paused at the top, her cool eyes sweeping over us. “Not here, however. Miss Dawson can’t be at the guild while the MPD investigation is ongoing.”

“I’m aware,” Kai replied, his voice even chillier.

She left. I sneered at the spot where she’d vanished, then asked, “Do I need to leave right now?”

“Not yet,” Aaron answered. “Ramsey should arrive soon. I want to see if he knows of any artifacts that might be helpful.” He fought back a yawn. “I need caffeine. I’ll go put on a pot of coffee.”

His departure left just me and Kai in the large room, plus Ezra and Sanjana in the corner. She’d drawn fancy sigils all around his injured arm and was chanting quietly.

I slumped into the chair near Kai’s laptop. Sitting as well, he tapped a key to wake the machine and turned it toward me.

“Does Llyr Llediaith sound like the fae’s name?”

Echo had spoken the fae lord’s name several times, but with all the chaos and adrenaline, we couldn’t quite remember it. I peered at the short Wikipedia article on the laptop screen .

“It was Llyr-something, but that doesn’t sound quite right.” I scanned the article, anxiety clenching my stomach. A Welsh sea deity from ancient legends, and the name was close enough that I had to assume it was the same being. “I really screwed this up, didn’t I?”

Kai braced his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his palm. “Actually, this is probably the best outcome we could have hoped for. If the fae was already caught in the binding and had to be tied to someone, better you than a Red Rum witch.”

“Why do they want this fae so badly?”

“I have a few theories. Red Rum is so difficult for MagiPol to fight because they run their operations from international waters. Their highest-ranking members live on luxury yachts, plus they command a veritable fleet of smaller vessels. Controlling a sea god would make their ships unassailable.”

Oh, yay. Didn’t that sound like a fun guild to piss off? I glanced at my palm glowing with runes. “I’m glad Red Rum didn’t get the fae, but I’m not feeling so great about me getting it instead.”

“We’ll figure it out.” He pulled me close to his side. “Together, there isn’t much we can’t handle.”

I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes wearily. Keeping me tucked under his arm, he clicked on his laptop with his other hand. I listened to Sanjana’s quiet incantation, trying to calm the twisting dread lodged under my heart.

Kai’s arm was warm and comforting. He wasn’t really the affectionate type, which made me all the more grateful. After too few minutes, his shoulder shifted under my cheek.

“Looks like Sanjana is almost done. We’ll head out soon. Why don’t you find Aaron and Ramsey? ”

“Sure.” Sliding out of my seat, I trudged down the stairs to the bar. The sight of scattered chairs and dirty glasses stacked on the back counter should have been irritating, but longing rolled over me instead.

Male voices rumbled out of the kitchen, so I circled behind the bar and reached for the saloon doors.

“… worried about Tori.”

I paused at the sound of my name.

“Philip is concerned about what the fae bond might do to her,” Aaron continued in a low voice. “She’s human, not Spiritalis.”

Why did everyone keep rubbing that in? I scowled silently.

“How is she?” The other voice belonged to Ramsey, the weekday cook and our in-house artifact expert.

“Pale and tired, but I don’t know if that’s from lack of sleep or what.” He made a low, unhappy sound. “I shouldn’t have brought her with us. What was I thinking?”

“Don’t beat yourself up, Aaron. She wanted to go, didn’t she?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled. “She did.”

“It’s a damn shame she isn’t a mythic,” Ramsey mused. “She’d make a great combat sorcerer.”

Emotion flashed through me, but Aaron replied before I could examine it.

“She would, and that’s why I keep forgetting she isn’t one.” His voice hoarsened in a way I rarely heard from him. “I’m going to get her killed.”

Standing with my hand on the saloon doors, I didn’t move, unsure what to do. Walk in? Back away?

“What’s the deal with you two?” Ramsey asked after a moment. “Are you a couple or…? ”

“Hell if I know.” Aaron sighed. “I really like her. She’s smart, funny, hot, brave as a damn lion. I know we have chemistry, but…”

Ramsey was quiet, maybe waiting for Aaron to continue. “But what?”

“But there’s something missing,” he answered softly. “Half the time I think she just wants to be friends, but she’s never suggested we shouldn’t date. It’s like she’s holding back or… or she’s just not that into me. I don’t know.”

“Damn,” Ramsey muttered. “That’s rough.”

“Tell me about it. I haven’t got a clue what to do, so I’m just going with the flow.”

Ramsey said something in response, but I was backing away, my heart banging sickeningly against my ribs. I retreated to the farthest end of the bar, a hand pressed to my chest.

Eavesdropping was bad and I was a bad person. I was also a self-centered twit.

Here I was, happily doing the casual dating thing with Aaron, oblivious to the fact he didn’t want to be casual. Justin had questioned whether Aaron was stringing me along with unspoken promises of something more, but I was the one doing that to him . And he, being the good-natured guy he was, was rolling with the punches, hoping I’d give him a clear signal.

Well, I felt like a royal piece of shit.

Swallowing hard, I called, “Aaron?”

Their voices paused, then Aaron replied, “In the kitchen.”

I walked back along the bar and pushed through the doors. Forcing a smile, I waved at Ramsey.

Tall, lean, and goth—though less goth than usual with no eyeliner and his hair hidden under a ball cap—he gave me a quick smile in return. “Heard you got yourself a shiny new fae lord for a familiar.”

“I don’t think that’s quite how it worked.” I showed him my rune-marked palm, the only part of the intricate pattern visible now that I was dressed. “Don’t suppose you have an anti-fae-magic artifact tucked away somewhere?”

“Not precisely.”

I sighed.

We talked to Ramsey until Kai, Ezra, and Sanjana joined us. The healer dragged me into the pub, sat me in a chair, and gave me a basic checkup. Declaring that I was exhausted but otherwise healthy, she turned me over to the guys.

A few minutes later, I was settling into Aaron’s drafty car as he started the engine. Ezra had climbed onto the back of Kai’s bike—the car’s back seat was full of broken glass and unfit for passengers—and the motorcycle zoomed out of the small lot ahead of us.

Aaron drove out after them. A few blocks down, Kai turned off the main road, but we continued toward my apartment. I stared moodily out the window at the early morning gloom, shivering as wind swirled through the car. So nice of Echo to break the back window.

“Sin is on her way,” Aaron told me. “Kaveri will join you too, in case you have issues with the fae. Since we don’t know what to expect from this sea lord, having a witch nearby is the best we can do. She’s swinging by her apartment to pack an overnight bag first.”

Since I needed mythic supervision, I would rather have stayed at Aaron’s house, but thanks to MagiPol’s stupid investigation, that wasn’t an option .

He stifled a yawn with one hand. “I’m beat. Once I’ve gotten some sleep, I’ll pick up a burner phone to replace my regular one and text you the number so you can call me if you need me.”

“Sure.” I rubbed his shoulder. “You guys need to rest. The fae bond isn’t going anywhere.”

“You need rest too. You look even tireder than I feel.”

“Tireder?” I repeated in amusement.

“You can’t expect me to English properly on this little sleep. Especially after that fight.” The car rolled to a stop in front of my bungalow and he cut the engine. “I’ll wait with you until Sin arrives.”

“That’s okay.” I unbuckled my seat belt. “She’s on her way. I’ll be fine on my own for a few minutes.”

He hesitated, worry shadowing his blue eyes. “I should probably…”

“I’ll be fine ,” I reassured him. Leaning across the center console, I planted a kiss on his frown. “You’re exhausted. Go home and get some sleep.”

Heaving a sigh, he gave in. “Okay. But have Sin text me—wait, no, my phone is fried. Email. Have her email me when she arrives.”

“I will.” I hesitated, then leaned in again and brought our mouths together.

My kiss was slow and deep, full of emotion I hadn’t had time to process. My hand found his stubbly cheek, fingers stroking his warm skin. I pressed my mouth harder against his, an inexplicable surge of desperation rising through me.

When I pulled back, a hint of confusion lurked in his gaze, but he smiled. “Have a good nap. I’ll call you when I’m up again. ”

“I’ll be waiting.” With a final wave, I got out of the car and shut the door. The engine grumbled to life, and he leaned sideways to search my face through the window. Then the vehicle rolled away, and I waited on the sidewalk until the red sports car was out of sight.

Turning on my heel, I hastened toward the house. My messed-up relationship with Aaron would have to wait. I had ten minutes before Sin arrived and I couldn’t waste it. As I strode into the backyard, I pulled out my phone and dialed a number. It rang while I unlocked the door and stepped into the vestibule.

Ten rings. Twelve. I growled, loping down the stairs. Pick up, pick up, pick up . I let it keep ringing. Fourteen. Fifteen.

The line clicked, and a deep, husky voice rumbled in my ear. “You’ve never called before. This better be good.”

“Hello, dah ling,” I purred dramatically. “Tell me how desperately you’ve been longing to hear my voice again.”

A long, heavy pause, then the line went dead.

Swearing, I called right back, a hand on my hip as I let it ring another million times. Finally, the line clicked.

“You have no sense of humor at all,” I complained before he could speak. “I am calling for an actual reason, you know.”

“And what reason is that?”

I scrunched my face, nose wrinkling. The words were difficult for me to say, but I didn’t really have a choice. Weldon had said only a fae-magic expert or a dark-arts practitioner possessed the skill to deal with my problem.

Conveniently, I happened to know someone who was both—assuming he didn’t hang up on me again.

I sighed. “Zak, I need your help.”