His father had been old-world Portuguese, proud and clannish, steeped in tradição. “Fada and fae don’t mix,” he’d said, his battle-worn face stern. “We’re like oil and water. The fae are sly, tricky creatures who’ll smile even as they’re stealing the fish right out of your net—or the woman out of your bed.”
And—although his pai had never said this aloud—the purebloods looked down on the fada for their mixed genetics, believing them little better than animals.
Now Dion wondered if his father had been wrong to keep the two clans apart. Maybe Rock Run should’ve made an effort to ally with the Rising Sun fae. Not only were they their nearest neighbors, they’d lived in this land for centuries and done well—better than the fada, for all that his people were hard, disciplined workers. Maybe they could learn something from the sun fae.
There was a splash nearby and two dolphins arced through the air—Rodolfo and Luis, right on time. Rodolfo kept his dolphin form, but Luis shifted to man so they could talk. He pulled himself onto the rock while Rodolfo traced lazy circles around them both.
“You ready?” Luis asked.
“As ready as I’ll ever be. The meeting’s at the stone house. Follow me upriver, but not too close.”
Luis inclined his head. The stone house was a small dwelling used by the clan to receive visitors. For security reasons, it was upriver and on the opposite shore from the fada base. No one but their closest allies knew the base’s location.
“I want Lady Olivia to think I’m alone,” Dion added. “Stay out of sight. You two are just there as backup.” Olivia would be less guarded if she believed he was alone, and she might let something useful slip.
“Got it.”
Luis dove back into the creek and Dion followed, the two of them not bothering to shift for the short swim.
The house was in a clearing fifty yards from the creek, set in the forest so that it wasn’t visible from the water. A hundred yards in the other direction, a narrow dirt road ended at the garage that held the clan’s vehicles. When they reached the shore, Dion went into the house to get dressed, while Luis and Rodolfo changed to otter and took posts on either side of the clearing, hidden in the trees.
Dion pulled on the black button-up shirt and slacks that he kept for times like this. Fae considered it an insult if you didn’t arrive at a meeting shined up like a new penny. Assholes.
As he dragged his wet hair into a ponytail, he eyed a pair of wing-tips but decided against them. He was damned if he’d jam his feet into stiff leather shoes to impress Lady Olivia.
He’d deliberately arrived before the appointed time to emphasize he was the host and the sun fae lady the petitioner. Now he returned to the clearing to wait for Olivia. She arrived soon after, early as well. The air several yards away shimmered and she teleported into the clearing.
So the lady had the Gift of wayfaring. Interesting. Her power must be nearly equal to Cleia’s; only the strongest fae could teleport.
She hadn’t come alone. She’d brought a man, an earth fada by the scent. He was young, not much older than Tiago, his slim, muscular body poured into a tight bronze shirt and black pants, his good-looking face arrogant under spiky black hair with the tips bleached blond. A chunk of quartz hung from a leather cord around his neck.
Definitely an earth shifter, then: they had some mystical connection with their quartz. Exactly how they used their quartz was a closely guarded secret. All Dion knew was that if he ripped it from the other man’s neck, he’d be hurting.
The stranger eyed him with ill-concealed insolence. He remained a step behind Olivia, deferring to her, but just barely. Dion’s first thought was that the buff young shifter was Olivia’s lover, but the man didn’t have the scent of a male guarding his woman. No, he was simply doing a job.
Dion’s hackles rose. He didn’t like how the other man was eyeing him. In fact, he had a bad feeling that he was about to meet the Baltimore earth alpha.
He inclined his head to Olivia, tall and proud in a long, burnt-orange-and-blue dress that, paired with her copper hair, made her resemble a column of living fire. They exchanged polite greetings and then he raised a brow in the earth shifter’s direction.
“Who’s the kid?” he asked, just to jerk the other man’s chain.
“Lord Adric,” she replied, confirming his suspicions.
Damn. Dion’s instincts went on high alert, but he inclined his head to the other alpha. “Peace to you and yours.”
“Peace to you and yours,” Adric returned, the ritual words more of a snarl than a greeting. He stared into Dion’s eyes.
Dion stared back. Their gazes locked as they silently tested each other’s dominance. Adric looked away first, but Dion didn’t fool himself that the other man was conceding supremacy. No, he was merely biding his time.
“Lord Adric has offered his services to help track Queen Cleia,” said Olivia.
Dion stilled. He should’ve expected this. The sun fae couldn’t track Cleia—he’d been too careful for that—but another shifter just might be able to. “So you haven’t found her yet?”
“No,” Olivia said, lips tight. “As you well know.”
Dion returned her suspicious gaze with a bland look of his own. “Now why would you say that?”
The woman simply raised a brow, her eyes dark and very cold against her pale face.
Ice trickled down Dion’s spine. He had to stop himself from taking a step back. He hadn’t forgotten Cleia’s warning, but until now Olivia had been careful to appear harmless. Now she let the façade fall, making it clear she was an old, powerful fae—and that he was the prime suspect in her cousin’s disappearance.
“Let’s not play games, my lord,” she said. “The sun fae need their queen. We must have her back for the midsummer celebration. If not, we’ll be forced to find someone else to lead our ritual.”
“She’s that important?”
“Yes. You don’t need to know why, but we will find her and bring her back before midsummer.”
Dion shot a glance at Adric, who was listening as avidly as he. Dion knew the sun fae drew energy from the sun, but what did their queen have to do with it? “I’m sorry, my lady. I’d like to help, but—” He spread his hands.
The lines around Lady Olivia’s mouth tightened. “Name your price, my lord. I promise we can pay it.”
“I’m sorry,” he repeated, “but I can’t help you.”
Her aristocratic nostrils flared. “You lie,” she hissed. Power crackled in the air and Dion guessed he was moments from being blown to smithereens.
He gathered his own power. There was no nearby thunderstorm for him to draw on, but he could take energy from the flow of the nearby creek, using it to throw up a shield—and then pray to all the gods and goddesses it held. From the corner of his eye he caught Luis moving but he made a slight gesture. Not yet.
“Do I?” he asked.
He and Olivia stared at each other, the seconds ticking by in slow, tense increments. Then she drew in a breath, visibly bringing herself under control, and inclined her head. “Very well.” Her tone made the phrase a thinly veiled threat. “Thank you for your time. Peace to you and yours.”
He bowed his head as well. “Peace to you and yours,” he returned, including Adric in the farewell.
The earth alpha gave him a cocky grin. “I’m the clan’s best tracker, you know. Even our old men”—he emphasized the ‘old’—“can’t hide from me.”
“Ah, sim? But even the most skilled tracker should take care lest he step in a pile of shit.”
Adric’s brows shot up. Then he chuckled. “Thanks for the warning.” He gave a short, deliberate nod in first Luis’s direction, then Rodolfo’s, making it clear he’d picked up their scent, and then joined Olivia at the edge of the clearing.
The sun fae lady chanted something in an ancient Celtic language. The air brightened and twisted in a way that was uncomfortable to watch. Dion blinked and when he opened his eyes, the two of them were gone.
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Luis trotted up beside him and shifted back to a man. “Damn. I thought she was going to blow you into the next county.”
Dion expelled a breath. It had been a long time since anyone had made him sweat like that. “She came close. But I was counting on the fact that she’s smart. She has to know that if she kills me she’ll never see Cleia again.”
“You have balls of frigging steel.” Luis shook his head in reluctant admiration. “I stayed out of her way when I was with the sun fae. She never raises her voice but she’s damn scary. Those cold black eyes make a man want to check himself after she leaves, just to make sure she didn’t freeze off the most important parts.”
Dion snorted. But he couldn’t help glancing down.
“She’s not going to wait much longer,” Luis pointed out. “She’s going to make a move.”
Dion nodded and motioned for Rodolfo, still in otter-form, to go ahead of them, and strolled with his second toward the house, where he shrugged out of the uncomfortable clothes.
“Cleia’s more important to them than I realized. More than just their queen. Do you know why?”
“No. I was there during the midsummer festival, but they didn’t invite me to the ritual. They threw a helluva party though—it lasted for three days.”
“Figures. Maybe they need her to conjure up extra champagne or something.”
The two of them left the house and headed back to the creek. Luis shot him an unreadable glance. “She’s not a bad person, you know. Whatever she did to me and the others, I’d lay odds it wasn’t deliberate.”
“Não?” Dion refrained from pointing out that Luis, having been caught in Cleia’s snare, was hardly unbiased. “She still has to be stopped.”
“But do you have to keep her underground with her eyes bound? That has to be torture for a sun fae.”
“I have no choice, not unless I want her to escape—and blast me to bits on her way out. I don’t like it any more than you do, but I can’t allow it to continue. You, Rui, Rodolfo…and the children, the vineyards. I had no choice. You of all people should know that.”
“You’re right, of course. And I supported—support—your decision to bring her here. But we can’t keep her underground forever. She’s a sun fae. If you keep her from the sun too long, she’s going to die. Do you want that on your conscience?”
“She’ll give in soon,” he said, although he was no longer as certain of that as he’d once been. “My decision stands.” But he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince—Luis or himself. Because if it came down to it, he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to stand by and watch her die.
Luis shook his head but let it drop. The two of them paced forward.
“Tell me,” Dion said, “what did you think of Adric?”
“He’s hungry—and damn sure of himself for a man that young.”
Luis’s thoughts mirrored his own. “He’s powerful for his age,” Dion allowed. “But then he’d have to be, to bring the Baltimore shifters to heel. I’ll tell you one thing, I don’t like this alliance he’s made with the sun fae.”
“You think he’s more than the hired muscle?”
“Not right now. But he’s got to be hoping it’ll lead to more.”
“His clan’s small,” Luis demurred, “and he’s nowhere near your strength. Only a fool would pick a fight he hasn’t a prayer of winning.”
“He may be young, but he’s no fool. Helping the sun fae proves it. He gets a big payment and the sun fae’s gratitude besides. Down the road, that might be worth even more than the payment. If he attacks us, for instance, the sun fae will be inclined to favor his clan. Lord knows, they have no love for Rock Run at the moment.”
“Sim. It bears watching.”
Dion nodded. It did indeed. He’d kidnapped Cleia as a last resort. Now he was one misstep from having the whole thing blow up in his face.
He and Luis reached the creek where Rodolfo waited. Dion thanked them and said he’d meet them back at the base. “I’m going for a swim.”
“Be careful,” Luis said. “Lady Olivia would turn you into a toad if she thought she could get away with it. And Adric is going to be hunting you. If he’s as good as he says he is, you’re going to have a hard time shaking him.”
Dion smiled coolly. “He can’t track me in the water—not from land. I don’t care if he has the best damn nose in the world. Just to be sure, the three of us will all head in a different direction. Take your time and don’t return to base until you’re sure you’ve lost him.”
He dove into the creek and shifted to dolphin, Luis and Rodolfo right behind him. They saluted him with a slap of their tails and then split off in separate directions.
In this form he could hold his breath for as long as seven minutes. When he came back up, he’d be a half-mile downriver. Sucking in a breath through his blowhole, he dove deep and for good measure, used his Gift to all but disappear.
* * *
In the woods a hundred yards upwind, Adric crouched on a log in his puma form. Leaping lightly to the ground, he crept forward and watched as Dion vanished under the swiftly flowing water.
He growled and swished his tail in irritation. Frigging river fada.
The Rock Run alpha was correct. This job with the sun fae had been a gift from the gods. When Lady Olivia had come around asking about the missing queen, he’d never guessed her chief suspect was Dion himself. But he’d offered his services as a tracker anyway—his clan could always use the cash—and she’d taken him up on it. Then he’d found out the Rock Run shifters were in it up to their thick, ruthless necks.
It was the opportunity he’d been waiting for. The river fada were a thorn in his clan’s collective paw, interlopers who had appeared out of nowhere some ninety years ago and claimed prime land in what had always been considered earth shifter territory. To add insult to injury, they also competed with his clan for the same jobs.
But his people had been too busy battling one another to go up against them, so as far back as Adric could remember, they’d had to settle for Rock Run’s leavings.
Not any longer.
Adric had wrested control of the clan and set about methodically eliminating his challengers—starting with his own brutal and corrupt uncle—until there was no one left to stand against him. Then he’d heard rumors about the river people fighting off a mysterious malady—one that left them open to a takeover by another clan.
And stones, Adric craved their lands.
Not for their vineyards and fishing rights, but for those vast tracts of fertile woodland and the sweet springs crisscrossing them. As shifters who turned into big cats and wolves, his people needed land in which to run, prey to chase down, territory they could mark as their own. But small and poor as they were, they could only eye Rock Run’s territory with envy. Any attempt to take it over would be suicide.
Then the rumors had started trickling in. Something was wrong at Rock Run. Something that made them weak…vulnerable. He’d started to investigate when Lady Olivia had contacted him.
Now he watched, narrow-eyed, as Dion disappeared underwater. But he wasn’t one to cry over something that couldn’t be helped. Muscles bunched in his powerful hind legs. He bounded forward, racing along the river’s edge, on the off-chance one of the dolphins would resurface. True dolphins were rare this far from the ocean; any sighting was almost certainly a river fada.
But as Dion had said, it was impossible to track a water animal from land, especially if the animal could stay underwater for long periods of time.
After ten minutes of hard running, Adric admitted the Rock Run alpha had lost him. He let out a vicious snarl and clawed at the grass, tearing great scrapes in the soil. Marking the other man’s territory as his in the most primitive way possible.
Dion would recognize the scent as Adric’s and know he’d been tracked deep into his own lands. Adric’s lips peeled back in a savage smile. To add to the insult, he lifted one leg and pissed on the grass.
When he
was finished, he trotted back to where he’d hidden his clothes and motorcycle. There was more than one way to skin a cat.
A half hour later he was at the sun fae compound, assuring Lady Olivia that everything was going as planned. “Now that I have Dion’s scent,” he told her, “I can track him to his lair. If your queen is there, I’ll find her.”
The fae pinned him with her black-ice eyes. “I hope that’s true, my lord, and not a young man’s crowing.”
He bristled. He might be young but he’d cut down more terrifying people than Olivia to get where he was.
“I don’t crow,” he replied in a voice as cold as hers. “I’ve never met a man—or woman—I can’t track, once I have their scent.”
“Good,” was the curt reply. “Because you’ll get nothing more from the sun fae if the queen isn’t returned to us for the midsummer festivities. Is that understood?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll find her. You’ll hear from me as soon as I locate the Rock Run base.” He bid her goodbye, and after first using his quartz to set up a meeting with his top lieutenants upon his return, headed back down I-95 to his den in east Baltimore.
The Rock Run fada weren’t what you’d call sociable, but even they didn’t stay in their base all the time. And when they weren’t, they were often found at the Full Moon Saloon, an old establishment near the Baltimore waterfront.
Although the owner, Claudio, was a river fada as well, he’d chosen to live as a solitary with no clan of his own. Claudio was a smart S.O.B. He’d realized he could make a bigger profit if he opened the saloon to all fada and enforced a neutral-territory rule. It was one of the few places in the mid-Atlantic where shifters from different clans mingled freely.
Adric drank at the Full Moon himself. He’d noticed that the normally disciplined Rock Run shifters kept to themselves—except for the young ones, who felt safe enough to let their hair down, flirt with women and get drunk away from the eyes of their alpha and his tenentes.
Adric smiled. It was a weakness, one he intended to exploit.
He looked around at his lieutenants—three men and a woman, his sister Marjani.
Seducing the Sun Fae Page 10
