Chapter Two

 

I stared after Conall and pressed my lips together.

“He will find the trail if it is to be found,” Breandan said after a terse pause. “We have had so little time to talk and to be together … will you not look at me?”

I exhaled through my nose and fisted my hands on my knees. Turning so I faced him I nodded once. This was true. We had had no time to get to know one another, and surely it would do no harm to forget about Devlin and focus solely on the boy in front of me.

With a hot flush creeping up my neck, and a too hard thump of my heart, I realized this might be harder than I first thought. I was … shy. He was intimidating, and though I should feel comfortable with him when I tried to meet his gaze my eyes fell to his lap. I got uncomfortable because I stared at his crotch, but then I started to think about staring at him so blatantly, and it made me curious as to what his reaction would be, so then I did stare on purpose.

Breandan said and did nothing. He watched me quietly, and was seemingly content to just sit with me.

I could not fathom why I wanted to rub myself all over him. The urge was starkly primitive and astounded me even as I acknowledged how absurd such a thought was. Wasn’t I supposed to want him to kiss and caress me tenderly? What I wanted could in no way be considered tender.

I was not brave enough to stroke him so boldly – yet – still gripped in the vice of my own embarrassment. Scooting close, jerkily, I placed my fisted my hands on his shoulders and waited for him to take the lead.

He noted my silence and hesitation with the briefest of smiles. He trailed his fingers over the base of my wing pinion making me gasp and arch into him. I trembled. My face hovered in front of his, so close his eyelashes brushed the curve of my cheek. I trembled again.

He blinked and asked, “Are you frightened?”

I gulped and found myself unable to hold his gaze, liquid silver and shimmering with amusement. I was a whole lot of things, but frightened was not one of them.

“You’re going to have to work for me,” I said breathless, and backed up until I was half crouched. My lungs filled properly and I felt light headed. I lifted my chin. “You want me? Come get me.”

There was a beat where he withdrew from me completely. My awareness of him winked into nothing and his face clouded over. I felt a split second of panic that swiftly became wariness. Breandan stood, uncoiling from his seat oh so slowly, and paced forward. His nature exploded in a gush of heat and fierce possession to suffocate my own into obedience. Still not willing to bend, panting, I stepped back and held up a hand in warning. He took another measured step and grabbed my hand.

“Are you sure you want to play this game?” he asked in a rough voice that had my eyes widening and my stomach clenching tight.

He had a feral way about him I’d not seen before and I felt his nature caress mine in such a way it would have been indecent if he decided to mirror in the touch as a physical manifestation. He brought my hand to his mouth and kissed each of my fingertips before bringing my baby finger into his mouth and biting it gently.

“You are most beautiful to me Rae,” he murmured and did it again, harder this time.

Dazed, I tried to catch his eye. “Say-say?” The high chime of my voice had taken on a new quality. It was throaty, husky even.

His expression was intense and he cupped my face in his hands like I was delicate, but he did not repeat himself, and I was more interested in touching than taking. I moved forward, pushed him back down so I could straddle his lap. My face felt hot but I was determined to see this through. Leaning into him, I rubbed my cheek against his and made a soft hum at the back of my throat. The sensation of his firmer skin stroking against mine felt good. I shuddered and leaned forward further to rub my entire torso against him, aware of the soft curves of my body as they glided against the rigidity of his. He pushed back and I made a noise – my thigh muscles tightening around his – and acting purely on instinct, enthralled by the sight of his skin pulsing faintly the tip of my tongue flicked out to slide over his earlobe.

His body froze and he choked on his own air mid breath. And I swear even his heart skipped a beat under my palm.

Pulling back slightly so I could look down on his rigid profile, I waited; worried I had pushed it too far.

With maddening slowness, he placed a hand on my waist and another on the nape of my neck. He pulled my head down and my lips met his. I moaned, a sound that reflected the ache I had heard about – but never felt before – spreading across my hips. We kissed softly – lips barely touching – almost as if he was sampling. Then it changed and Breandan pushed me down on the yellowed grass and grazed his teeth along my neck, shoulders, running his hands all over me. I arched into him, loving his weight over me. He was hot, skin ablaze, and when he touched me the fire licked from his fingertips. I pulled him closer, wanting not the slightest space between us. It was natural for my legs to lock around his back by the ankles, hands tugging at the waistband of his trousers. Breandan’s hand pushed my dress up and he stroked my navel, lower. I made a noise and bit his lip. It was inexperienced and my caresses were more of an enthusiastic fumble, but I did not care. Gods, I did not care.

Then he was gone and I was groping the air, legs cocked skyward. I must have looked like an upturned beetle. He was sitting up face a dull shade of red and body strung tight like a bowstring.

“I apologize,” he said quietly. “I should not have let things get so out of hand.”

Annoyed, I rolled onto my stomach and snatched up a twig. I scratched sharp, jagged shapes into the dirt. Stabbing and prodding the earth in front of me with my hand balled into a fist.

“Rae….”

“Just don’t, Breandan.”

The ache was still there. Was there an off switch? Why did I still feel all squirmy and warm?

Sighing, I threw the twig away and twisted into my back so I could see the sky. A few birds zipped past and I saw something small and furry clambering its way up a tree trunk. I closed my eyes and rubbed my face on the grass, wishing it were something else … rather someone else. The grass prickled my skin making me itchy and released a nutty fragrance as they did so. I stretched, enjoying the feeling of the muscles in my lower back and arms popping. I had been scrunched up so tight against him, locked in a bubble of breathy moans and hushed whispers, that lying there felt ungainly.

Already the niggle I felt whenever he was not touching me became uncomfortable. Ana the white witch had warned what could happen if we were separated for too long. I was not sure I was ready to put her words to the test. That and the story of the couple that had bonded before us had scared the crap out of me. The last time the nexus had opened between Breandan and I, there had been intense light. We had only been apart a matter of minutes. Only the gods knew what would happen if it was to open when we had been apart for hours. Surely we needed to practice being apart to gain some kind of control over this connection between us.

I inhaled through my nose and exhaled through my mouth. I remained still and focused on being calm. This was a new feeling – the want – but I had spent years controlling my nature without knowing what I was doing – that I was repressing the fairy in me. This was just another urge to control.

Breandan touched my ankle lightly. The ache lessened and the annoying niggles telling me to seek him out faded. Gritting my teeth I ignored him.

It was true what Conall said. I did feel stronger, healthier when I was near woods. Here was my natural habitat. Here, I could let my senses roam and relax the constant hold on my fairy nature. I could be as feral and strange as I wanted.

I blinked slowly and my lids took a long time to lift back up. The second time my lids closed and stayed closed. I blinked them open slowly. I was tired and with this admission, I felt disgruntled. Breandan did not look tired at all and I was sure he’d been up much longer than I had. And he’d expended more energy. My eyes felt heavy and I pinched my leg but it did nothing but to leave a pain dulled by sleepiness. Then I noticed that the sun was winking out of sight, and that my sudden sleepiness may not be entirely natural. Was the dark was calling to me? I shot up and swayed when my body fought for me to lie my heavy head back down. I did not want to sleep. I wanted to stay awake, but the dark called, I was certain of it. With a small sense of shock, I realized I was frightened. I immediately reached to place my hands on Breandan’s shoulders and held on tightly, my past resolve to not touch him forgotten.

With a soft sigh of relief, he pulled me onto his lap and held me close. “Let your body rest,” he murmured.

“I don’t want to. The last time I slept I dreamed of,” I paused briefly, “I dreamed of Tomas then when I woke he was there.” I was not afraid of my vampire, but of what happened to me whenever he was near. He confused me, spun me about, and it was easier if he was elsewhere.

“That will not happen again. I have you, rest.”

Pressing a kiss to my temple Breandan gathered me closer in his arms, happy to openly show his affection now we were alone. I noticed that he did not like to be all over me in the company of others. I wondered if that was a fairy thing or a Breandan thing.

Resting my head of his warm, bare shoulder my eyes fluttered closed. I listened to his steady breathing, felt the solid pounding of his heart under my palm. Weariness wrapped round my limbs and tugged. The tentacles of sleep slithered into my mind and a wave of fatigued pulled me under, tumbling, tumbling into the inky depths of darkness.

Then I raced through the forest. I did not the wind on my face or the earth beneath my feet. That was the trouble with being dead; you could not feel anything anymore. How had she managed to warm my heart when it had been cold for over a century?

My stomach clenched painfully. I was hungry, starving. My throat burned and my mouth was dry as ash. Without thinking, I honed in on a heartbeat, strong, pumping thick hot blood through veins.

I breathed in deeply and scented the trail.

Then I saw her, picking some berries. I laughed darkly to myself. One so young and pretty should not be left to gather food by herself.

I quickly and quietly tread closer, so careful. She was not human and would be able to hear or smell me if I made too sudden a movement.

Closer still, I moved.

Her heartbeat sounded like thunder.

She smelled delicious and my mouth watered. My stomach cramped, squeezing tighter. The hunger was so acute I thought it would drive me mad.

My fangs ran out and I licked the sharp points. I hummed with anticipation of burying my teeth into her neck and ripping away the flesh. Drinking, slurping, and licking until the burning ache was satisfied. My hands shook.

I needed to feed.

Hand poised to pick another berry she paused, stiffened.

I stood still and silent. She would not hear me, I did not breathe, nor did I sweat. I carried no scent apart from an earthy-mineral fragrance she would attribute to a plant in the forest.

She sniffed deeply then shrugged, and went back to her gathering.

Slinking forward, I made no sound. I clasped a hand over her mouth to cover her scream and spun her round. I held her terrified gaze with my own. She stilled. I felt her relax under my grip and I let her go. “You are safe,” I thought into her head. Her body trembled and her mind shifted, fought to break from my hold. I controlled it and pushed away her free will. “You are safe,” I thought again and pulled her closer. I did not waste time in lulling her into a deeper calm. Fairies were strong and compulsion never held their minds for long.

She went willingly into my arms and sighed as I bit into her.

The blood was wet, thick and tasted rich with earthy undertones. I drank it greedily, already feeling warmth spread through my entire body. I fed from her and gently moved down with her as her body went limp. Her heartbeat stared to fail. I held on, wanting to savor every drop.

She was pure-blooded fairy.

Delicious.

Lost in the peace of the moment, I felt something, someone. A familiar presence I would know for the rest of my days. Rae? Was she here, with me? No. I pushed the feeling away. She had left me, gone with the fairy male. I did not want her, and I did not care if I would die. Just being with her had nearly cost me my life.

She was supposed to be salvation.

And that was what made my heart bleed. So pure a girl would turn her back on everything to save me. A murderer, a true demon bound to his bloodlust, a slave to pain and desire. How could she want a thing like me was not something I understood … yet I did understand the incomprehensible need to have her near me, as I was sure she felt it too. I needed to see her, feel her beneath me. I wanted to own her, to take her, and reveal the beauty of the darkness we could share.

I would go to her. I would take her away and make her mine. I could still make it work; it need not be the end of her if she came with me.

The girl went still beneath my hands.

Her heart stopped beating.

 

*

 

 

My eyes opened, and I stared into Breandan’s face. From my position, I could see his jaw, clenched, his lips pressed together in concentration. He shifted and looked down at me, aware I was now awake.

“You left your body,” he said, voice strained. “I tried to wake you, but you would not return. Where did you go?”

“I– I’m not sure,” I lied.

I had to swallow hard, for my tongue seemed to thicken as I said the words. I know exactly where I had been and what I had seen, but surely, a lie to soothe is better than hurting with the truth.

“For a time, I couldn’t even feel you. Our bond was smothered by darkness.”

The words tore at my heart and I clutched him to me. “You’ll n–n….” I struggled with the lie. “Never lose me, Breandan.”

He stiffened. “Your find it harder to lie now.”

I buried my head in his shoulder. “I don’t want to hurt you,” I said. “I want you to feel like you can trust me.”

“It’ll take time for you to get used to being truthful.” He paused. “Of course soon you will have no choice. It would be better for you if you tried to speak only the truth. Alright?” I nodded. “Besides,” he continued in a light voice. “You are older than me. You should be setting a good example.”

I snorted. “Yeah, two hundred years senior. How does that work again?”

His brows mashed together. “This upsets you.”

Hell yes. I slid off his lap onto the soft grass. “You don’t have to declare my mood to the world each time you figure me out.”

His head cocked. “Now you’re mad.” I gritted my teeth. Breandan ran a finger down the bridge of my nose, over my pressed lips and tense jaw. “So angry,” he murmured.

He let his touch wander down the side my neck, brush lightly over my collarbone. A brief hesitation before his hand stoked the swell of my breast. I gasped. He chuckled and clamped his big hands over my upper arms to pull me closer. His eyes – two pools of iridescent light – flicked over my features as if he could not chose which to settle upon. My heart thumped in my chest as his head lowered and his tongue shot out to lick my bottom lip. He made a humming noise at the back of his throat, like the one I made, but his was almost questioning. Before I could dwell on how odd it was he pressed his lips to mine. Most might have been gentle or had tried to go in softly so not to scare me, but Breandan was a force of all his own, and he had decided he wanted to kiss me. His mouth latched onto mine tongue entwined around my own with enough skill and finesse to have me groaning into his mouth. Instinct. The more it guided me the more I gave it free reign – especially if the pay off was going to feel so damn good each time.

I tried to move closer but his hands clamped down on my arms kept me still. He pulled away to kiss the side of my neck. His attention had diverted from passion to something else.

He said, “You seem tense.”

I held still and waited and when no further explanation was forth coming I replied, “It doesn’t matter, please, don’t stop.”

“Tell the truth. Of whom did you dream?” His eyes sparked, daring me to lie.

Flushing, I shifted and my head drooped, but he did not release his hold. Instead of feeling protected, I felt smothered, but I explained my dream in a reluctant mutter as truthfully as I could. As I spoke, he became increasingly tense. His grip on my arms hurt, but I did not want him to let go of me, so I kept that to myself. When I told him of the last thought – that Tomas wanted me and intended to claim me – his entire body quaked and his grip became so painful I could not hide it. When he realized he relaxed, rubbed my arms, and there was an apology in the touch.

“That thing will never have you,” he grated. “His time grows short.”

The thought of these two boys clashing had my heart shrinking to the size of a raisin – all shriveled up and black. I still disliked the idea of Tomas being closed off to me forever. It seemed wrong, final.

“I would rather you didn’t say things like that,” I said quietly. “Can’t you see that as much as our bonding was unplanned so is this connection Tomas and I share?”

Gaze locked on the middle distance Breandan was hung up on something else. “I only have myself to blame,” he murmured. He was frowning again, and I sighed as I used the pad of my forefinger to smooth the furrows. A tingle from the contact ran down my body and my eyes closed briefly as I savored the feeling. “I was so anxious to get away from you I didn’t pay attention.” He looked at me, apologetic. “Had I simply waited a moment more and focused on you rather than how inconvenient my feelings were I would have known he was there. Had I taken you back to Temple he never would have had his chance to….” His eyes drifted closed and he whispered, “Sometimes I wish he had been overcome and bitten you from the first moment he saw you. Had he spilt your blood I would have known it and returned. Instead of seeking him out you would now be afraid. But our bond was still so new, and my head was in turmoil–”

I cut in, waved my hand to bat away his words. “You were guarding the amulet of protection. I understand. No harm done.”

The despair in his eyes was heartbreaking. How could he blame himself for something that was not even an issue? I understood there was bad blood between the vampires and the fairies, but Tomas had helped us – helped him. I leaned forward. “I know you think you failed me.” I placed my palm to his cheek and made sure I held his gaze. “You didn’t. You never have and I fear you never will. That’s what makes your feelings for me so unbelievable, y’know. I don’t deserve you and I’m worried no matter how hard I try that I never will.”

“Every day I like what and who I am less and less,” he whispered more quietly than before, “because I know you wish for a different life. And I cannot give it to you.”

“You can’t change our destiny. I know that.”

His hand covered mine and he leaned into my palm. His silvery lashes gleamed against his creamy skin. “But you also know that I cannot run from it. It is not in my nature though I know it is in yours.”

I swallowed. No, I could not run from it, my destiny was a sphere of knowing I could never outrun. I was the Priestess and had to bring my kind back from the abyss lest the rest of demonkind spiral out of control. Always did I panic and tell anyone who would listen that I could not, would not do it. Never did I sit up and take the control offered to me from all those who would pledge to follow me. My fear was a blanket I hid behind to mask the truth. I had no motivation to help anyone unless it directly meant it would make Breandan happy. How sick was that? The only reason I did anything was to impress him ... to make him proud of me.

How could I be this legendary being if I thought solely about my own happiness, and that of my mate?

Breandan was strong. He faced all challenges with grim determination and did not stop until he was victorious. He went into every confrontation on his own terms, certain that he would succeed. I was dragged into situations kicking and screaming like a child. Lochlann himself had said I bawled like one. I flushed at the memory. Why had I not been ready to fight and avenge my friend? It should not have been Conall exacting payment for Lex’s life it should have been me. So now, to make myself feel better I was attaching myself to Conall’s heels as he chased Devlin across the region, using the Tribe’s need for the grimoire as an excuse to out run my real responsibilities. How shameful and self absorbed. Worse, I still could not find it in my heart to feel bad about feeling and thinking in such a way.

“Is that is why you saved him?”

“Say-say?” I asked trying to pick up the conversational thread I’d dropped.

Breandan watched me with a curios expression. “You saved the vampire because you think his destiny is entwined with yours?” He no longer sounded angry or disgusted, merely confused, suspicious even.

I titled my head slightly, my hair falling over my shoulder and into my eyes. “I saved him because I care about him.” I thought hard on how I felt, what I felt. “He feels different to you.” I faint shudder rippled through me. “I won’t lie, he does scare me. He is … dangerous, I think. But there is something that I can’t help but like about him. Even if my nature shivers at what he is, who he is appeals to me in a way you can’t.” I looked guiltily down at my lap. The honesty was good, but it was embarrassing.

“The darkness,” Breandan said matter of fact. “Compulsion.”

I pushed at my hair and blew out a short breath through my nose. “It doesn’t work on us.” I was firm in this conviction. “He can’t manipulate me that way.”

“The blood tie makes you vulnerable to him in a way none of our kind has been to one of his. I cannot assure you what you feel is genuine. Only the gods know how he can bend or invade your mind.” His lips twisted. “Even if I could lie to make you feel better I wouldn’t.”

“Does feeling drawn to his darkness make me bad,” I asked quietly, terrified of his answer. “I mean, Devlin is evil, but I’m not evil just for wanting to be close to the dark. I’m not evil.” There was that heavy silence again. “Am I?”

Breandan said nothing.

I jerked up out of his hold, and marched away from him. Pacing a small circle, I yanked at my hair a few times. What? Had I expected him to cuddle me, and tell me I was perfect, and as innocent as newborn babe? Of course, he would not say anything. He could not lie. And why should he comfort or give confidence for me to explore the blood tie. What self-respecting male would?

I stopped my pacing and stood over him. He shifted up and crossed his legs, resting his arms loosely on his knees.

Instead of conceding that he was within his right to fight for me I said, “I wish you could lie.”

“No,” he replied. “You wish you could lie to yourself.”

“Can’t you say something to make me feel better?” I brushed my hands over my arms, as if wiping dirt. “Cleaner?”

“It is my purpose to keep order. I won’t encourage a delusion, even if it pains me not to do so.”

“I’m not a bad person,” I said crossly. “I deserve to have you make me feel better when I’m feeling insecure. I’ve lost my best friend. Can’t you bend a little?”

He sighed. “What could I possibly say that would make you feel better after what happened to your friend?”

I looked down at my hands, fisted on my knees. “You should know what to say. Then again, that is not the real problem, is it? The truth is you don’t know me well enough to know what to say to make me feel better.” I frowned. “And I know nothing about you. Not really.”

How could you feel such emotion toward a person you knew nothing of? I had met him two days ago, and I could not look forward and not see him. If I looked back there was nothing before him. In my mind’s eye the world was surrounded by darkness and he was shimmering silver light guiding me home, keeping me safe until I could see again.

“What do you want to know?”

There was no impatience or mockery in his tone, simply the need to please and reassure me. It made the idea of asking him about himself seem okay.

“I don’t know. Stuff,” I said and waved my hands.

He cocked his head. “No. I don’t know. You have to tell me.”

I resisted the urge to shrug. I was drawing a blank. “You could offer some information. Like....” Finally, Breandan and I were alone, and had time to talk yet I could not think of one single question to ask him. I looked at his face and thought of his lips. I looked in his eyes and marveled at how they matched the silvery gray of the moon. So I looked down at his stomach, let my gaze drift lower over the pale, smooth skin and delineated muscle until it hovered around the tie of his trousers.

“Rae-love?”

I jumped and pressed my eyes shut. He called me love. I giggled and flushed in pleasure. Peeking at him, I took in his amused expression. “Have you ever been with a girl before?” Once I heard the words and realized how they may be interpreted, I blushed yet again, worried the blood rushing to my head was the reason I felt light headed. “I mean, have you ever had a steady?”

His lips twitched, eyes twinkled. “I do not understand.”

Like hell he did not. “A girl who you found special. Who you wanted to … you know?”

He made a small noise. “Ah, a lover?” The words were spoken full of wonder and magic. They coiled around me and stroked me silly. “No, I never found a female.” Ah, a lover? The way he spoke was self assured and confident. Always so sure of himself and what he was doing, what he had done.

My eyes darted to and from his. “Did you look?”

A dull bronze bloomed across his cheekbones. I watched the colour heighten, captivated by him.

“For a while, but I was not suited to anyone.” He met my eyes. “The reason why I never did is clear.”

My fingers danced across his shoulder. I was dying to know all the gory details about any past relationships, but reluctant to push too far in case he asked about mine. Rather, the lack of mine.

“You didn’t like them?” I asked.

“They did not like me. They found me ugly.”

My mouth hit the floor. “Ugly?” I smacked my palm on his forehead, scowling. “I know the rules, but you have to be telling a lie.”

At first he was stumped, face blank with shock. The slowly a look of pure mischief stole across his expression. “You like the way I look?”

No way was I answering that bloody question. Turning away from him slightly, I played with the skin on my leg where the slash in my jeans used to be and was happy for the change of direction it allowed my thoughts to grab onto. The dress I wore was pretty, but I missed my own clothes. Where would I get clothes from now? There was a factory behind the Wall that produced clothes, of course, but I could hardly walk up to the handout booth, smile toothily, and collect clothes anymore. Not that I smiled much before I met Breandan.

Said boy had become stiff beneath me, and it was uncomfortable to sit on someone who was as relaxed as a plank of wood.

His eyes were fixated on my hand. I realized then that my dress had ridden up to pool at the top of my thighs, and my legs were completely bare. His hand had rested on my thigh innocently, but now it flexed and tightened its hold on me. I said nothing. His warm palm moved slowly up my leg, gently kneading. I moaned, surprising myself with the urgency of my own voice and buried my head in the crook of his neck, breathed in the scent of him. I was sure it had imprinted itself on my brain. Sunlight, rain and green things mixed with a spicy masculine smell that was all his own. Touching was so much more revealing than talking. Emotion flickered in my gut as I reached to trawl my fingers over his scalp, loving the feel of the thick dark hair that grew. It seemed his hair grew as fast as mine, and I could not wait to see it longer. Would it be jet black like his eyebrows or be shot through with streaks so dark they absorbed the light entirely and glowed silver?

Yes. Yes, I wanted this. I was unsure of everything else, but this. I wanted to lie in his arms and to love him. I wanted him to hold onto me and to love me.

My fingertips traced the lines of his nose and mouth. I kissed him. His eyes were open and bored into mine as he kissed me back. Then my mouth parted and his tongue slipped out to slide across the seam of my lips. I tingled all over and my eyes drifted closed. His tongue was slow, explorative and tasted sweet. Running his hands down the length of my body, he sighed, and I gripped his shoulders. I waited for the next kiss … but nothing happened. Opening my eyes – drunk on lust – reality filtered through my happy haze. Breandan was looking at me strangely, his mouth pulled into a thin line. Sliding me away from him, he jumped up gracefully, turning away so I got a tantalizing view of his bare shoulders and broad back.

The marks on this side of his body were bolder, more ominous in design. If I had to sum them up in a word, I would have chosen ‘nefarious’. I shivered slightly, and not from the sensations he ignited under my skin with his touch. Why did Breandan – the one person in the entire world I was sure had no darkness – have tattoos like that?

Confused as to why we were no longer touching I surged up, stood on my tail, and then sunk to my knees rubbing it. Tears pricking the corner of my eyes for it hurt, and a faint echo of the pain shot up my spine.

Breandan spared me a glance and shook his head. He paced the floor in front of me. Eventually after pondering gods knows what he settled for stalking back over and yanking my head back. The pressure of his mouth crushing mine almost hurt.

“Let’s go see if we can help Conall pick up the trail,” he said and left me there, already a silvery blur in the distance.

Watching his retreating back irrational rage replaced desire.

Was I supposed to understand what had just happened?

I jumped up and stumbled behind him. He sprinted across the Pride green, the waist length grass crushed beneath his boots. I chased him, as fast as he, and my rage was powerful. I sped up until he was at arm’s length. Before I had the thought, I was pushing off the ground and soaring, latching myself onto his back. I dug my fingers into his bare shoulders, dragging my nails across his skin until I drew blood. He snagged one of my legs and hauled me off him, throwing me to the mossy ground. He pinned me, leaning his weight. He loomed over me; skin pulsing and eyes sparking like an avenging angel. I would have felt the need to prostrate myself on the ground before him if I did not feel so pissed off. Too angry to be shocked at my feral actions I bared my teeth.

Face a mask of rage he leaned down further. “Behave!”

“If you’re disgusted with the way I behave why don’t you just say it?” I tried to push him off. “I’m not proud of how I react when I’m with you but I can’t help it.”

He let go of my wrists and paced away, his hands clasped behind his head. I sat up – my knees bent – and wiped the leaves and dirt from my hair and clothes in forceful sweeps. It ground into my dress, and the rubbing made it worse. I was a bloody mess.

Breandan spun, fists clenched. “Why can’t you see how I feel?” His voice drifted over to me soft-as-ash and filled with longing. “I have left my home and turned my back on my family. Everything I have done I’ve done for you.” Stunned I stared at him. My eyes were wide and my mouth open. He half smiled at the look on my face. “The moment I revealed myself to you I made peace with what I was to do, of what I would be giving up. I belong to you. I choose you, I always will, but you have to understand that everything is not what it seems. And when I pull away from you it’s because I want nothing more than to be close to you. You know how your family and mine feel about us. Why do you continue to doubt me?”

The feeling that overflowed in my chest was euphoric, but tinged with shame. I did not feel good enough for him and it was frustrating. It was like I wore big boots, but my feet were pitifully small, and no matter how hard I tried to run in them without tripping over they were simply too big for me. Tears trickled down the side of my nose. Why was I not brave, honest, and selfless? Maybe there was something broken inside making me selfish and devious.

Breandan dropped to his knees, taking my head in his hands. Disgruntled I tried to pull away, but he held fast and sighed, brushed my tears away. “I do not like to see you cry. Be calm, Rae-love, we will be together. We are together. Alright?”

“I don’t feel like–”

Eyes turning from pained to scary alert his head snapped to the side and he peered across the plain. Seeing nothing in the solid dark I started again, needing to confess everything, how I felt about him.

“Breandan, I–”

“Silence.” He placed a finger to my lips and closed his eyes. He nodded, satisfied. “We are in a shield. We cannot be seen as long as we stay still.” I peered into the gloom wondering what he hid us from. “A demon is close,” he said into my ear as I curled against his chest.

Breathing in deeply I extended myself. Since I had become a fairy, what I could perceive had changed immensely. My consciousness could feel further than just a few feet. My mind could seek life forces miles away and that is what I did, pushing myself to the limit. I started. Someone two natured was nearby, a male. He was coming closer, curious, and wary. He did not want to hurt us; it was his job to check we were friendly.

I opened my eyes and glanced around. My sight was keen and I had paid little attention to our surroundings other than how pretty it was at a glance. Now, I focused then saw a line of the grass moving in the opposite direction of the rest.

“The wind blows east and carries our scent into the Pride,” Breandan explained and pointed to the grass. “It is not polite to run in another’s territory without permission, even if you mean peace. Before we reveal ourselves I want to be sure he means us no harm.”

The scream of a cat echoed across the Pride, and the soft stomping of heavy paws drawing closer found us through the silence. A panther raced into view. He weaved through the grass, unerringly in our direction.

Oddly enough, I relaxed, and my knees went weak with relief.

Breandan secured my waist and slid me behind him as the panther slid to a stop and exposed his sharp teeth in a vicious snarl and hissed menacingly.

Conall simply appeared from thin air, and held up his hands to both Breandan and the shifter; thank gods because it seemed like they would have torn into each other had he not. He shook his head, exasperated. “It is a good thing I decided not to scout too far ahead. Always are you in trouble, Rae.”

I curled my lip at him. How unfair. Like this was in any way my fault.

Roaring, the panther leapt forward a bound. His ears were flat to his head and his claws scratched up the earth. He was huge, coal black, and I found myself wondering how the hell I had not seen him in the green grass. It was taller than him, coming up to just below my breast, but still. After his display of dominance, he turned his head to look at me, and blinked. His beautiful eyes were the trigger that revealed I did indeed have a memory of him.

I laughed and held out my hand. Breandan pushed it back. “Wait,” he ordered and watched the cat carefully. He was not taking any more chances after our last encounter.

“Hai,” I whispered to the panther. “It might sound crazy, but it’s good to see you.”

He padded over cautiously, whiskers quivering when Breandan hissed a warning. The panther slinked low, under Breandan’s restraining arm. Keeping his eyes trained on my fairy-boy he pushed his hand into my hand. His eyes slid closed and purred.

I was strangely touched that he remembered me too.

“You know this hunter?” Conall asked a hint of pride in his tone.

Breandan shifted and the panther’s eyes shot open. He growled then settled on his haunches, tongue lolling to the side. I rubbed him behind the ears and he grumbled happily.

Breandan relaxed. He sat back and inclined his head. “How?” His raised eyebrow was enough to tell me he was surprised, but then he pulled his face into a neutral expression, his thoughts hidden from me. “How did you know it was him?”

I shrugged. “He’s unique. I just knew. He felt the same, y’know?” I glanced at Conall to let him know I had not forgotten his question. “We met in the forest yesterday when Breandan found me.”

The words pulled me up short. Had it only been two days since I’d met Breandan and Conall? Had it been so short a time in which my life had been turned upside down and inside out? My mind shied away from it all. It would do me no good to dwell on such things. It would drive me mad and I was batty enough.

“Did you pick up the trail?” I asked Conall in a rush. “I want to keep moving. I’m rested now and I even slept.”

Conall said nothing. He handed Breandan and I a cracker each and unhooked a small skin flask from his hip. Breandan ate the cracker dry in one bite and swigged from the flask.

I stared at what I had been given in my upturned palm. It did not look, smell, or feel appetizing. Not that food ever did look interesting to me. I did not feel hungry, but sort of hollow and like food would be okay in my stomach, but not that it was an urgent need. Would it be rude to ask if he had a can of fizzy stashed in one of his pockets? Glancing at Conall I decided against it. Little human culture resided in the fairy way, so I simply kept my eyes low, and glanced at Breandan through my lashes.

He was already watching me. “Everything okay?” he asked politely.

Pushing my hair off my face, I plastered on a bright smile, and cupped my other hand under the one forced to hold the cracker. “Uh huh. I’m not much of an eater anyway, and I’m sure there is something else.…” As I spoke I offered the cracker to him, but a glance at Conall showed more of the same kind of dry, mealy food in his hand. “Y’know, I can go days without eating anything.”

Breandan grinned then bent down to bite half the cracker from my palm. In a few moments, his rough tongue was licking crumbs and juices from my inner fingertips. Juices? I looked down to see a clear golden fluid running down my palm.

Breandan smacked his lips then regarded me closely. “You don’t like honey-nectar? It’s sweet.”

“Well to be honest I don’t think I’ve ever tried it. We used to get given lots of bread, milk, and water … and meat,” I said thoughtfully. At the word ‘meat’, the were-panther’s whiskers twitched and his pink tongue flicked out to swipe over his maw. As I spoke, I grinned at him. “And drinks filled with sugar to keep us going, y’know. Like fizzy stuff.”

“We have a much more varied diet,” Conall said after a pause, eyeing Breandan and where he had licked my hand with a dour expression. “But our meat is mostly fish and small game. Red meat makes us sluggish, slow. We avoid it.”

I nodded. “Makes sense. As a people we climb and live in the trees.” My voice was reflective. “We’re quick and light on our feet. It makes sense the food we should eat would be light in substance, but rich in goodness. And it explains why I never liked meat all that much.”

Breandan nodded in agreement. I still held the oozing cracker in my hands and it was beginning to look odd. I nibbled on it and made an appreciative murmur at the firm, wheat biscuit, and its sweet sticky centre. I finished up and Breandan held out the flask. I felt positively doted on and I accepted it with a smile. I took a testing sip. Just water. I glugged it deeply and eyed Conall. “The trail?”

He rubbed the heels of his palms in his eyes and when he shook his head, his ponytail swished behind him. “It is beyond me. Devlin has worked magics. Three different trails can be seen here, each is cold, and each carries his and Wasp’s scent. Less than an hour ago, we were half a day away and gaining. Now, it seems we are days behind and losing more time. It is a trick, a spell, and I cannot see past it.”

I took in a deep breath and handed him back the hip flask, wiped my hand over my mouth. Some sleep, something to eat and drink, and I did feel a little better. Sharper. “Then we follow each trail. One each.”

“No,” Breandan said with forced evenness.

“Apart from the fact it would be most unwise to leave you alone, Rae,” Conall said patiently, “what happens when one of us does find them? Or maybe we will find more false trails that we cannot navigate alone.”

The were-panther – still seated comfortably on his hunches, and tail swinging from side to side – leisurely turned his head each time one of us spoke. His emerald eyes were bright and aware and I knew he was taking in every word. His handsome feline face looked focused.

“Then we follow each one,” I grated through my teeth. “We pick the most likely, follow for a while, and if we’re wrong we’ll backtrack and start again until we get it right.”

“And what of the time we lose whilst doing this? What if we come across more trails that are false? We could spend days going in the wrong direction.”

I opened my mouth to tell him I was ready to spend my lifetime hunting Devlin. Then I saw the stupidity in such words and my shoulders slumped. I burrowed the toe of my boot into the needle leaf strewn around me.

My voice was thick when I said, “There must be another way. We cannot just give up, and not just for the sake of my revenge. Lochlann needs the grimoire before he can start setting things right, doesn’t he?”

Even if Conall would not give into a selfish endeavour – such was the nature of revenge – he was the most loyal warrior I knew. He would do anything to secure Lochlann the fairy-lordship because he believed it was the right thing to do.

I looked up and found Breandan glaring at my brother, who sent him a short look of apology.

“Perhaps, there is something else we may consider. It is not without its dangers.”

“It is not a good idea,” Breandan said firmly.

Straightening, I cocked my head and tried to look attentive and brave, not desperate to crack some skulls. “Tell me and I’ll do it.”

Conall pointed a thick finger to the panther who had gotten bored sitting and was purring rubbing himself into my legs. “The shifters.”

My nipped intake of breath was loud in the sudden silence. I gripped the fur at the base of the panthers and squeezed it. “Yes,” I hissed, new possibilities opening up like a carnivorous black hole before me. “A Pack of were-cats could read each trail and save us time.” I dropped to my knees in front of him. “Could you or your kind help us?” My head snapped up to Conall. “Which is the closest?”

“Byron’s Pack is close and of the Alpha’s he is the most civilized. This panther must be of his Pride.”

“You both forget I have already said no.”

Breandan sent me a pointed look that told me he was serious. I returned it with some extra ‘I’m doing this so back the hell off’. I won, of course. He would not dare deny me this.

“Alright,” he said flatly.

His eyes were trained on the panther that looked rather smug to be weaving between my legs. I stumbled when he lay down. He rolled so he was pressed into my shins belly up begging for a tummy stroke.

I shuffled my feet from under him and accidentally stepped on his tail. He let out a strangled screech and jumped up.

Breandan laughed – his deeper baritone still managing to tinkle. It seemed the setting sun shone brighter and his smile made me blink. His silver eyes were breathtaking and for a moment, I was lost, falling into the gaze that swept over me lovingly. The moment changed, became charged and I was acutely aware of his warm hands at my waist, that his lips were a short sway forward away from mine. I remembered the feel of his mouth, the heady scent of him as he marked me as his own.

The shifter nipped at my leg then buried his teeth in the material of my dress and tugged. The flimsy material tore a bit and I took the hint and moved forward.

“Will you lead us to Byron, hunter?” Conall asked politely.

The cat bobbed his head in agreement and plodded forward, back into the plain. He turned his head back and looked at me.

Breandan pushed me forward lightly. “It is an invitation.”

I blinked, not understanding. “For what?” I asked mystified, and joined the were-panther. I pulled at the fur on his spine playfully. He was so soft to touch and I did not care that in reality I was intimately touching a being that was a man when in human form.

He bunched his front and hind legs together and leapt forward, taking off at speed that made my mouth drop.

“To run,” Breandan said and winked at me a moment before he and Conall took off too.

After a beat, I laughed and started behind them. I passed them quickly, and found myself following just behind the cat’s tail. I tried to catch him up, but always his tail winked in and out of sight. My feet pounded the grass and I found myself going faster. The earth was soft and springy. Unlike the forest, where you often had to jump and doge, here the land was flat and flowed up and down in gentle hills. My wings fluttered and I extended them slightly and found my pace increasing. My tail whiplashed out to steady my balance when I thought I would tumble over, and then I was by the cat’s side, keeping up. I smiled and with a last push took the lead, laughing as I did so.

Breandan shouted something; sounding terrified and I glanced behind, frowning. He panicked too much and too often.

Something brown and heavy crashed into me from the side, and I went down, rolling over the spiky grass. Something sharp dragged at my hip. I smelt blood, and the stabbing pain across my side told me it was mine.

I scrambled up and back up a pace, and hissed, the reaction instinctive.

A lynx stood fiercely before me, head down between her shoulder blades. Her luminous amber eyes locked on me, and her whiskers trembled violently. The tufts on the top of her ears were jet black and the ruff under her neck bright white, the fur stretching down onto her underbelly. She jumped on me and I lurched out of the way, spinning round to meet her next attack. Growling, she crouched, ready to pounce, but the panther skidded to a stop between us and spun to face the lynx.

He roared at her, a series of deafening and commanding bleats. Pacing forward, he bit her on the neck, pushing her down onto the floor. She did not resist him and the change in her posture was instant. She lowered her head and whimpered. Her ears pressed against her skull in submission and her tail pointed down.

The panther shook her roughly and his jaw flexed around her neck. For a moment, I feared he would kill her.

He let go and I breathed out.

He plodded over to me and head butted me in the leg, hard. I got a distinct feeling of anger radiating from him.

Pressing a hand to my side, I brought it away to see a small smear of blood, but my side heated painfully and I knew I healed.

“Sorry,” I said and knelt down to look him in the face. “It wasn’t her fault, and I’m sorry.”

“Good,” Conall said. I had not heard him arrive. It was then I noticed he had Breandan pinned to the floor. He let my scowling life-mate up. “I know you wish to protect her, but you were not needed.”

Anger flashed across Breandan’s face, before he composed himself. “You were right. It would have gone badly if I had interfered.”

My face was flushed, a rush of colour that swept up my neck and spilled into my cheeks. What I had done was plain stupid. Of course, the shifters would have many sentries posted across their borders. Lost in the joy of running I had forgotten we were drawing nearer to the heart of the Pride. The lynx would have smelt me coming and instantly reacted to what could be a hostile invader.

A bad thought came to me and had me saying in alarm, “The Pack isn’t going to be happy about the dead shifter are they?” I asked quietly. I gripped Breandan’s arm, holding him to me like someone was trying to take him away. “Can’t we hide the body? Like, throw it in a ditch somewhere and erase his scent from this place somehow?”

Nobody said anything for a long while and I knew my words had upset the fairy boy’s. The were-cats just stared at me like I was the most fascinating thing they had ever seen. Conall and Breandan honorable – to a fault – and though I knew they saw my idea as a cowardly one, I still thought it was the best one. We had to be honest, it didn’t matter who we were in the fairy world the Pack we were visiting were not going to react well. They probably would have had an issue with us just being there in the first place but throw a dead one of their kind into the mix and things might get complicated. I did not want to have to persuade them we were not the enemy. The idea of going at it against powerful demons made my head hurt. My throat ached, so shouting was not an option for me. My body felt beaten up and I scowled.

The whole healing thing would be much more useful if I could turn it on and off. Conall himself had no control over that area of magic. He could heal others but not himself.

Our assemblage stood still for a moment, before the panther got bored, and with a low catlike mewing sound signaled us to move. He took the lead again. The lynx slinked to his side, head still bowed in submission.

One look at Breandan’s face had me all but pouting. “I guess you want to keep a hold on me now,” I said gruffly and yanked on the end of my hair in irritation. I let my abused throat roughen my voice to remind him to be gentle with me.

A small smile played on his lips. “For a little while.”

Grumbling to myself, I did not hesitate to entwine my fingers with his. His skin glowed brighter and he smiled. I felt my muscles unclench and a troublesome anxiety that had gathered between my shoulder blades release. I relaxed and sighed. Breandan seemed to be experiencing similar sensations, since he closed his eyes and rolled his shoulders.

“That is better,” he said, satisfied, and tugged me along after him.

The were-cats traveled in front of us, and the lynx pulled ahead, but the panther stayed close. Soon, I saw small house like shapes up ahead, smoke, and I caught a faint waft of cooking meat, sweat, and warm animal.

The moment we had come into sight of the Pack Conall had moved in front of me and became somewhat tense.

We drew closer to the heart of the shifter Pride and I sensed may more beings around us. Their auras were disquieted, violent, and unstable, as if they saw us as a threat. I found it upsetting. The shifters caught our scent, a mixture of fairy, shifter, fear, and blood. They paced in an eerily catlike manner waiting for us to arrive.

We passed through unhindered, and I wondered what would have happened if we had tried to come here un-chaperoned.

The panther came to a stop before a man and dipped his head low, made a rumbling sound at the back of his throat and his tail hit the floor a few times.

Breandan shifted so he stood in front of me, shielding my body. I craned my head to peek around him.

I had thought Lochlann, Breandan’s brother was big. This guy was massive, and there was nothing delicate or soft about him. He towered over me and looked as solid as a tree. Muscles were packed upon muscle, and he wore two things, a strip of cloth around his waist that stopped mid thigh, and a leather braid necklace around his thick neck. He was missing one eye and a scar ran down from the top of his forehead to the tip of his cheek over the closed lid. His brown hair was cut close to his head, and his chin was strong, covered in a bushy beard.

The power and dominance radiating from him named him as the Pride Alpha.

And he looked pissed.

“Alec, shift,” he commanded.

The were-panther lay down on its side and writhed in the dirt and patchy grass. I watched, morbidly fascinated by the Change. Soon, I wished I had not. There was no smoke, or graceful movements. No instant shift from animal to human. It was horrible and ugly. At one point, the panther was a deformed mass of quivering, convulsing flesh. Its jet-black fur seemed to shrink back into its skin, which smoothed out to become human like. The mess that had been the panther groaned; half human half animal. I shuddered and cringed into Breandan who wrapped his arms around me. I pressed my eyes shut and buried my head into his solid chest. I could smell blood, sweat, and something floral, but pungent to the point my nose burned. The heat coming from where the shifter was changing was immense; like a fire raged nearby. There was a thick, glooping sound, a crack, and snap of bone followed by the lush tearing of muscle.

I put my fingers in my ears and plugged my nose by holding my breath. A minute passed and I thought my lungs would burst. Breandan pulled one of my hands down and nudged my chin up with the other. I peeked an eye open and was rewarded with the sight of a muscular and naked boy crawling his way toward me.

He nudged his head into my hand. Flustered, I patted him twice, cringing as I did so then stepped back. He blinked up at me, and I recognized the colour of his irises, even if they were a different shape.

“Sorry,” he said, raspy. “It takes a while for my brain to think, human and not cat.

“Rae,” I blurted. “Hai.”

He smiled and stood, up. He wobbled for a moment, but once he had steadied his legs, he held out his hand. “Alec,” he said.

I stared at the hand, then him.

“Oh right,” he said and his eyes touched on my wings, ears and tail. “I forget you fairies don’t like touching much, do you. You seemed okay with me when I was a panther though.”

I was having a hard time. I tried to speak but all that came out was a squawk resembling agreement. A young girl passed Alec a pair of trousers and he thanked her as he jumped into them.

“She is new to this life,” Breandan said over the awkward silence.

The shifter-boy shrugged. “No problem. We do not Change in front of strangers often. I know it can be scary. I’m okay now, honest.” He smiled at me and I relaxed.

Hesitantly, I smiled back. “It looked like it hurt.”

He laughed a loud guffaw. “That’s one way to put it.”

“It wasn’t like I thought…. I mean, I can take my glamour off now without any pain. Is it like that every time?”

“Yeah, sucks y’know.”

I grinned at his use of slum speak. “You’re a dwell?”

“I was,” he said. “Until a full moon had me sprouting fur and a tail one season eight years ago. I can tell you, the neighbors were not pleased. Clerics came for me, of course, but I was long gone.”

I nodded gravely. “How did you get past the Wall?”

“Byron found me. He smelt me on a run and found me pacing the fence. What about you?”

Alec confirmed the man standing before us was the Alpha, Byron, not that any of the other shifters looked like they could match him. He watched us carefully, taking our measure. His nostrils flared, mouth pulled back in a grimace. He seemed to almost be fronting us, goading us on. I looked up at Breandan, who had been silent throughout this entire exchange; his gaze was locked with the Alpha’s. Was he mad? We needed to get these shifters to help us, not put their backs up. I elbowed him in the ribs but he did not acknowledge me.

So I was distracted when I said without thinking, “I was a Disciple–” Alec’s sharp intake of breath had me cringing at my careless words and shaking my head at the suspicion no doubt taking root in his mind. “No, I’m not here to hurt you. You see what I am.” My tail flicked from side to side as proof I was like him, demon. “I was a Disciple who wandered too far into the forest. I got past the Wall and got lost. I saw–” I stopped there for Breandan squeezed me. I sighed, “The rest is a complicated story I don’t think I have time to tell considering Breandan and your Alpha are having a non blinking contest.”

Alec looked between them. “Best we don’t get involved.” He reached to take my hand, but I flinched, and this did reach Breandan through his focus since he hissed quietly.

Byron growled and it all got very tense.

Conall stepped forward and held up his palms. His presence was solid, calming and he bobbed his head respectfully towards Byron.

“You know me, Alpha. We have crossed paths before and parted as friends. Why do you act so?”

The older man’s face twisted briefly. “I remember you well, Conall. A fine talker you are, but also a fine warrior. If the fairies were to attack, would they not send the strongest of you to test us? Would they not sniff out our weakness?”

Conall seemed taken aback. “Why would you think such a thing? We have no quarrel with you.”

Byron laughed; a big-bellied laugh that would have you think he had not a care in the world had his words not held such bitterness. It was then he took his eyes from Breandan and looked at my brother. “Do you not? Has that fairy-lord of yours stopped shooting bolts of fire at my kind if we dare enter the woods?”

“It is not what you think.” Conall sounded tired. “We have broken, Byron. The High Lord has lost his mind and we are fighting him.”

“Devlin is gone,” I said before Conall could speak again. “He’s gone and we’re hunting him.”

Byron ignored me. “You mean to kill him, Conall?”

I tossed my head. “No. I do.”

There was a long-suffering sigh from the fairy-boy beside me.

Byron’s eyes twitched to me, and he cocked his head. He smiled flashing teeth sharp and yellowed. He scratched at his graying beard. “You? Such a small thing.”

“A small and fierce thing,” Alec added and winked at me.

“Why are you here?” Byron asked Conall outright.

My brother looked at me and I shrugged. It seemed the Alpha had a hard time speaking to me.

“As Rae said, we hunt Devlin and his followers. He has taken something important and we need it back.”

Byron picked up on what he did not say. “You have broken off your hunt to come here, meaning your own tracking has failed.”

“Devlin had worked a spell. I cannot see past it. We need your skills to find the right way.”

Byron seemed to think this funny. “You fairies, so proud and bold to come here and ask for our help … the felines who roll in the mud.”

Conall’s face was pained. “The words you echo are the opinions of one fairy that is mad. Can you not see and accept that, Alpha? It seems for all your talk you want something from us. If you did not want us here you could have refused to speak and had your sentries escort us off your Pride. Speak quick and plainly. We do not have time for games.”

Byron’s face darkened. “You think such a speech will affect me?”

“Can we cut this out?” I asked and stepped forward. “We are literally traveling in circles. The day is wasting and if you won’t help we need to go.”

Though we could see in the dark, Breandan had told me fairies tracked better during the daylight hours, when we were strongest. We were wasting time batting words back and forth.

“Tell them, Bryon.” Alec blurted unable to control himself. “They could help.”

The Alpha’s head whipped round, neck muscles bulging. “Silence, youngling.”

Alec visibly snapped his jaw shut and seemed unable to open his mouth again. He made a small sound of repent and hung his head. I felt an inexplicable urge to stoke him to make him feel better.

“Alec is right,” I said in the charged silence. “If you are in trouble, or need assistance of some kind I’m sure we could help.”

I tentatively slanted a look at Breandan to check I was not speaking out of turn. His face was impassive and as readable as a stone slab.

The Alpha chose to ignore me, looking past me as if I was not even there.

“Come now, Alpha. You disrespect our female and behave sullen and you know I cannot allow it. Can we not move past this? You’re making a small bargain difficult.”

Byron suddenly looked old and weary. “You say I am sullen and difficult, but why should I be easy? I have no sons and my daughters have been taken. My line has ended and I have to remain strong for my Pride. You fairies and your squabbles have hurt my people. The vampires are simply mad, and goblins care for nothing and no one. We fight to keep the evils of the witches at bay, yet still they manage to curse us from afar. The humans hunt us like rabid beasts, and other shifter packs are hostile toward us. Tell me, why should I not be sullen and difficult?” His voice took on a sudden and intimidating edge. “And I smell you have spilled blood on my territory.”

The reaction of the Pride rippled outward and soon there was a mixture of open distrust and calls for retribution for the fallen Pack mate. The shifters crowded around us and called for Breandan’s death. Some, so overcome with rage fell to the ground and Changed. The Pride was filled with heat, and cries of agony, as they morphed from human to animal.

These demons were like nothing I had experienced before. They were primitive and hungry for violence. Clutching Breandan by the waist, I glared at anyone bold enough to make eye contact.

Breandan was calm, silent, and simply held Byron’s gaze. Conall buzzed beside me and only then did I realize Alec had left us and had a hand on his Alpha’s shoulder. The muscles in his arms were taut and he murmured low in the man’s ear the tone of his voice urgent.

Byron stamped his meaty foot and shouted, “Silence!”

The Pack immediately fell silent. Those in human form shied away, swelling away from him. Some of the were-cats whimpered, and pressed their ears to their heads. This Pack knew to respect their Alpha.

“Speak fairy,” Byron said. “I give you leave to move freely in my land and you draw blood. Enrage my Pack–”

“Kill the female,” a reedy girl cried. “It is fair.”

“I am in the middle of a bargaining, Sabine.”

“My father is dead,” she hissed. “Screw any pact.”

Byron’s head spun round and he fixed his eye on her. “Your father was half mad and more than likely invited his own demise.” I was sure the pupil had changed shape to become a catlike slit. “You will quiet yourself, youngling.”

The skinny girl, Sabine, recoiled from the authority in his voice and backed up a pace. A few of the shifters next to her shifted away, disassociating themselves from the hot head.

“He laid hands on what is mine, Alpha,” Breandan said calmly. He spoke in a low voice, but one that carried across the Pack to Byron and those in the inner circle. “If you had seen what I had you would have done the same.”

Byron said nothing; he rubbed a large hand over his beard. “It is your word against a dead body. Fairies cannot lie, but you are a tricky sort, bending the truth until it breaks. Making a person hear one thing when it means another.”

I untangled myself from Breandan, who immediately clamped a hand around my wrist when I stepped forward. Conall placed a hand on my shoulder, and I heard Alec growl low in his throat.

I wiggled. “Let go of me,” I ordered. “I can hurt him as much as he can hurt me.”

Conall released me, and so did Breandan, but not before giving my arm a warning squeeze. Alec tried to transmit ‘be careful’ with his eyes. I sent him a reassuring look then trotted over toward the Pack Alpha. Halfway across the space I doubted my plan. Gods, but he was huge. I stopped a pace away from him and slowly looked, up and up and up until the back of my head touched my neck.

“Hai,” I said, even though we had been introduced earlier I felt as if showing good manners could not hurt.

He stared down at me. “You are brave, little fairy. I could squash you like a bug, even in man form.”

The brief yet ferocious urge to defend myself was swallowed by the logical thought that Breandan would never let anything of the sort happen to me. I shook my head. “No doubt you are powerful Alpha, but I’m strong too.”

I tried to push some of the gruffness I had heard in Conall’s voice and puffed my chest out. I do not think overall it was convincing.

He leaned back and rubbed at his beard some more. “I can believe it.” Byron’s eyes flashed with something I might have been able to mistake as admiration. “Feisty, aren’t you.”

“Damn straight. After all I’ve been through speaking my mind is better than lying down and dying.” My frustration bubbled over and had a familiar tide of stupid rising in me and had me blurting, “You shouldn’t give up, the right to hope for a better future, I mean. You tell Conall how hard it is to keep your people safe, but it’s a problem everyone has, not just you. If you give up your enemies win. Your territory will be invaded and your Pride obliterated. Is that what you want? I am sure your daughters are waiting for you, hoping their Alpha is getting ready to save them. If they saw you now they would be ashamed.”

The older man seemed to suck in enough air to fill the lungs of three men. His chest expanded, and his eyes changed shape. They glowed. “So be it, little fairy. You will help me get my daughters back and I will help you track down your rogue lord.”

I blinked. Then my face creased in panic as I held my palms up. “Wait–”

“This fire in my belly was of your making. You best prove you are as fierce as your words would have me believe.”

I shot a look at Conall who bobbed his head. Breandan was exasperated, but he too inclined his head giving his support.

It seemed simple. Save the shifter-girls from the Temple and return them to their Pride. I could see no major downside to this deal. It would win us the best trackers nature had to provide. Devlin would be mine and I would have my revenge.

“Agreed,” I said more confidently than I felt.

“A fairy’s word is law,” he announced satisfied. “You will help me get my girls back home safely, I feel it.”

Grimacing, I thought now was not the time to mention I still had some wiggle room on that particular rule of magic.

“And now to deal with the blood spilled,” Byron continued. “I understand why you have come so close. Do you know that unlike my Pack mates I can partially shift? Will you still do what you came to?”

Meaning was I aware that if he – a great hulk of a man – wanted to, he could turn his meaty hand into a paw, and scratch half my face off in one swipe? Yeah, I was all too aware of that and hoped that these shifters were politely ignoring the stench of my fear no doubt radiating off me in waves. In answer, I took a deep breath, and stepped forward.

“Your Pack Brother tried to mark me.” I said. A surge of anger rumbled down the bond, and a couple of rapid breaths helped to calm my nature’s instant response. I lifted my head back to expose my throat to Byron. The gesture was simultaneously submissive and defiant. “I have been taught shifters are master trackers. No other being, human or demon can match you. I can prove my life was in danger. Your Brother tried to suffocate me and take my innocence. If you don’t believe the bruises, which hurt like hell – thanks for asking – believe what your own senses tell you.”

Byron did not waste any time. He wrapped his large hands around my upper arms and yanked me forward. He buried his nose in my hair, sniffed down my neck. Then, instead of bending down to smell my thigh where the shifter had straddled me, he simply lifted me up high above his head, and sniffed the spot.

Satisfied, he carefully set me down and stepped away.

“The male’s scent lingers,” he announced loudly in a voice that brooked no rebuttal. What fool would try to defy a proclamation from their Alpha anyway? Squirming, I felt in need of a hot bath. “From the marks on her body he tried to take what was not his. Attacked her from behind which is not behavior worthy of a Pack Brother. The fairy is telling the truth. It was a fair kill.”

I exhaled.

“But it was not his place.”

I spun round. Seriously, there was a fool dumb enough to take it there? Sabine, whom I was fast recognizing as troublemaker, piped up again. “Their laws are not our laws. You will let these demons from outside the Pack flaunt themselves and dishonor our way?”

A grumble of agreement rumbled from the watching Pack. Pressure, even I felt it. These people were his people and if they were unhappy, the Alpha must listen.

Byron nodded, if somewhat reluctantly.

“But you know Breandan was only trying to protect me,” I said, frustrated with their narrow mindedness. “I belong to him of course he would react that way.”

I struggled to think of another way to salvage this situation. I needed these shifters to help me track Devlin, and so there had to be a way to resolve this. I did not want Breandan and Conall to start killing them for that would achieve nothing, and we would be back where we started. And I was starting to like it on the Pride.

“That is true, so I have made my decision. The fairy Breandan, shall fight a champion chosen by the fallen ones kin.”

I started. “Uh, that’s it?” If Byron wanted Breandan to kill another of his Pack that was fine by me.

“You look happy,” the Alpha said to me, cocking his bushy eyebrow.

I shrugged. “Your loss, not mine.”

“Oh?” He looked at me with pity when he called over his shoulder. “Sabine, I relinquish my right as Saul’s Alpha to name the champion. This burden falls to you. Which male do you pick to champion your father?”

The skinny girl marched forward and grinned wickedly. “Alec,” she said loudly. “I choose Alec our Omega as my champion.”

“What?” I blurted, incredulous.

A thundering roar of the Pack hollering Alec’s name barely registered in my mind.

I turned and darted back to where he, Conall and Breandan stood. They seemed calm, as if they had expected this.

Alec sent me a weary look and spun on his heel. As he walked his body twitched then he fell to his knees. I turned away, no longer in anyway curious to see him Change, but as is with all gruesome things I couldn’t help but keep turning until I faced him again to watch.

Face contorted in pain, Alec bowed, convulsed once then his spine cracked and a long length of bone jutted forth. Skin wrapped around the new appendage as a thick and dark sweep of hair sprung from the new pores. His hands thickened, wicked sharp claws snapped out, and his head whipped back. A feral snarl tore from this throat as his mouth and chin lengthened into a muzzle filled with dagger like teeth. His nose flattened as his ears moved to the top of his lengthened head. Eyes wide and glowing with a pain and beastly fervor I was strangely ratified to recognize. He hunched over completely, his arms morphing into powerful forelegs ending in fat heavy paws, even as his legs shorted and broadened, rippling with compact muscle. Torso bulging and waist shrinking he shuddered as his glossy coat covered his dark skin, ebony black and gleaming with perspiration. His rolling eyes settled – the pain retreating to leave deadly focus and raw passion.

Breandan hissed, low and long, baring his own teeth. Rather than fearing him in such a dangerous state of mind, I stepped forward, the urge to grab his head and claim that proud mouth with my own the most compelling thing I had known.

Breandan stiffened under my touch and seemed surprised when I crushed my mouth to his, but he did not pull back. Instead, he met my ferocity with his own, his lips daring mine to take more. I started the kiss but he ended it, breaking away from my mouth to kiss my forehead.

Breathless and flushed I said, “You can’t hurt him.”

“That,” he said faintly, “may be difficult. He certainly will try to hurt me.”

I glanced over at Alec who now paced back and forth in cat form. His sleek face was focused, in the zone. He growled, the hair on his back standing up in stiff clumps and paws scratching up clumps of earth.

“Say-so,” I agreed. “Just don’t kill him then.”

I tugged his head down and lightly brushed my lips across his, blushing a deeper red all the while. I stared into his silver eyes and lost my train of thought. A small smile played on the corners of his mouth and he arched an eyebrow. I blinked and glowered at him, not impressed with his ability to confound me by just existing.

“Be careful,” I begged.

The smile became a cheeky grin, a spectacular show of dazzling white teeth. “Alright.”

A smile that lit his whole face up, and made him blaze with white light. How could I leave him when he looked at me like that? He seemed to sense my reluctance to leave his side since he handed me off to Conall who dragged me a few steps before picking me up, and taking us both over to stand beside Byron. He set me down and I scowled, feeling all flustered and hot under the collar.

“I hope that fairy is strong,” Byron sounded amused. “Alec is the best I have. My Omega, second-in-command.”

“Breandan is a warlord, he was a Guardian of the Wylds. I hope your Omega chose has no dependants.”

Byron opened his mouth to retort then his face paled at the look of rueful apology on Conall’s face. My brother was certain my fairy-boy had this in the bag. Before I could tell them both to stop making light of the situation, Alec roared and leapt at Breandan’s face, claws slashing.