by Erin R Flynn
“Yes, well as a telepath I’m sure you know better than anyone how often a person’s thoughts don’t tell the full story,” he accepted, easing down as well. He nodded when I snorted. “But no matter when I learned what, I made a vow and I will honor it.”
I shook my head. “You should seriously—”
“What? You of all people aren’t going to lecture me to control my mate, are you, Ms. Vale?” he asked, giving me an amused look.
I snorted again, shaking my head. “No, not at all. I was going to say something about mate swapping which is distasteful, but they want to be together and you would be someone who actually appreciates Lady Jean. In this sexist society, an offhanded joke like that could be taken seriously as women are seen too much as a commodity but I wouldn’t have meant it like that.”
“Yes, well, there is also more at play than you understand,” he muttered. “Alliances and all of that were made with the matings.”
“I’m sure but her family can’t possibly be—”
“My sister is but one woman who needs to learn her place,” a deep voice said from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to meet the gaze of a man who looked ready to pound me. “As do you.”
“Is that a fact?” I purred, turning to face him, smirking which only infuriated him more. “I can only imagine what place that would be to an outdated, knuckle-dragging, narcissistic, and self-inflated brain like yours.”
“That’s enough from you,” he snapped. “You’re nothing but an unknown with some power the king and queen have taken pity on and protected. Stop embarrassing yourself and them with this hysterical display—”
“Funny how women are always hysterical anytime they get the littlest upset,” I drawled. “You’re way more upset than I am. So, can you stop the temper tantrum and return to speaking like an adult instead of giving demands like a child?” I pulled out my phone and smirked at him. “And I’ll show you my place.” I dialed Marisol Gonzalez’s number and waited for her to pick.
“Leave, now,” he demanded.
“I own the damn property. Do you have no manners?” I taunted.
“Chica, what do you need? I hate to be short but I am busy,” she greeted as she answered.
“No problem, I understand. Mel’s going to send you a name, a bug we need to squash. A sexist man who sold his sister for an alliance marriage and doesn’t care she’s being abused and wants to put me in my place.”
“Oh, my favorite type of cucaracha. You want the full package?”
“Yes. I want all the skeletons. I want to know where the bodies are buried. I want the tax evasions, the secret accounts—everything he wouldn’t ever want anyone to know. The full package and where to take him out, any weak points as all bugs have them.”
“Understood. Is that offer to use that vacation home still an option?”
“Always.”
“I will take that as payment. I need a break.”
“Glad to help.”
“I’ll contact Mel. Be well, chica.”
“You too.” I hung up the phone and smirked at him, not done yet and hearing from his thoughts he thought I was a complete bluff and unable to do shit to him. “You act like I’m trying to break up a happy mating here.” I glanced over at Lord Nicholas. “It’s not like you’re mates more than in name. What would Catherine think?”
He fell right into the trap, his nostrils flaring. “Of course not. I would never want Jean in that way. I’ve never touched the cow.”
“Never consummated it, right?”
“Never,” he snapped.
“What?” her brother roared.
Lord Nicholas rolled his eyes. “Our alliance is still fine.”
But not things for Jean’s brother. My eyes went wide when I heard what he was thinking and he realized what I knew. He reached for me but another dragon moved faster to block me.
“Touch her and you die,” Hudson growled. “She’s under our family’s protection or did you forget that as you forget yourself?”
I took the opportunity of the distraction to snitch. “King Xavier, I don’t think I’ll be able to provide the crystals to help the glamours for this family after learning they’re not loyal to you.”
“Wait, she’s giving the crystals?” Jean’s brother demanded as he shook with rage.
Mr. Vogel ignored him. “How is Lord Alfred disloyal, Ms. Vale?”
“He lied to Lady Jean and said you declared that no females would be able to become head of the family. She petitioned to speak with you personally and he forged a letter from you saying the decision was already given to Lord Alfred and then he sold her to Lord Nicholas. He thought if she ever found out later it wouldn’t matter as the mating would be consummated and final.
“So, she’s the rightful head of their clan and he stole it and sold her. I ask you speak with her and annul her mating from her abusive mate if she wants. Until then, I’m sorry, I don’t think I can help you protect such a disgusting leader who would do that to his own family.”
“I’m disgusting?” Lord Alfred sneered at me. “You’re blackmailing the safety of those we protect if you’re indeed the one helping with the crystals for what you want.”
“Nice spin,” I hissed. “I’m not willing to help a criminal stay in power. If you’re noble then step down and give the power where it belongs. You’d risk them all to keep it. I can hear your thoughts. You think I’ll cave because I’m a bleeding heart and the king will force me because he’s kind and that’s a weakness to you.”
“Why you little bitch,” he seethed, reaching for me as if Hudson wasn’t there.
Bad move. Hudson thrust his hand out into the guy’s chest and the dragon went flying across the room and into wall, crushing the wood paneling and decorations we had there. Hudson winced, his thoughts telling me he would pay for it.
“Totally worth it,” I assured him.
I wasn’t sure what was going to happen next but there was a knock at the outer door and Lady Jean came in, glancing around until she found me. “I’m not sure what that noise was, but Natasha is asking for you, Ms. Vale. Is everyone all right in here?”
I nodded, smirking at Lord Nicholas as half the room gawked at Lady Jean and her new look.
“Yeah, you’re an idiot. Half the room wants her and she was yours but you didn’t appreciate her. You let your ex-lover bully her and intentionally do everything to make her seem ugly because Lady Catherine was jealous. You were blessed to have a gorgeous gem at your side you didn’t see and one with a kind heart whereas Lady Catherine—”
Lord Warren cleared his throat and I nodded. Fine, she was still his mate and he wouldn’t stand for anyone talking bad about her. I could accept that and I appreciated a man as loyal as him.
She didn’t deserve it though and I said as much.
“I made a vow.”
I shook my head. “Your happiness is worth more than a promise you gave as a kid because you were pushed into it. Divorce her and let them be happy together.”
“We would be happy,” Lord Nicholas snapped.
I snorted, looking at him over my shoulder. “No, you wouldn’t. People like you will never be happy. You blame everyone else for everything. It’s your parents’ fault for forcing you. It’s Lady Jean’s fault that she’s your mate. It’s Lord Warren’s fault he mated Lady Catherine. The only one at fault is you. You made the decision to accept the title and power over Catherine.
“She did the same. You could have run off and mated. You could have fought harder. Others have. Others do. You made the choice so man up and own it. No more excuses or abusing the woman who did nothing wrong because you blame her.” I met Lady Jean’s mortified gaze. “You did nothing wrong and he abuses you. You think it’s not and it’s not over the line, but it is.”
“Enough of this. Jean, we are leaving,” Lord Nicholas declared, storming towards his mate… Who flinched away from him.
Which confirmed everything I’d accused in front of everyone there without her ha
ving to say a word. She went pale as she realized that and the look of fear that filled her eyes as she understood that. She would have to leave with him and that was heartbreaking.
And I’d started all of this. Shit.
2
“Lady Jean, I wish to speak with you in private,” Mr. Vogel said before anyone else could try to spin things. “It seems Lord Alfred spoke on some matters on my behalf and you asked for an audience with me that I was never informed of.”
Her gaze snapped to her brother, understanding instantly filling her eyes along with tears. “Alfred, how could you?”
“Be obedient and know your place, Jean,” he warned.
“Know when you’re beat, asshole,” I snapped but then smiled as I felt what I’d been waiting for, the timing perfect. “You think you’re so special and you know the place of women? Fine, let’s have a bit of a show and let you see how much more the Vogels will value me over you so you understand it’s not pity they feel for me.”
Before anyone could ask what I meant, Zack James, one of the Alpha lone wolf bodyguards I had appeared in the doorway. “You were right. We’ve got uninvited guests.”
I gave him an evil smile. “I know bad guys and one of two were not going to miss this opportunity to test the limits like children and try to pressure me.” I waved for everyone to follow as I headed for the door. “Time out on this and let’s go kick some ass.”
“What is going on?” Hudson asked as he immediately fell in step with me as I exited the carriage house.
I was momentarily distracted with the energy that danced over my skin. It had been almost a week since we had been together and clearly my body was in desperate need of him and his attentions.
It was never hard to talk me into that after all.
When we made renovations, we took a page from other elites and their estates, having a guardhouse by the gate and the portal there so there was another layer of security. It was smart… Especially right then when we had trouble on our hands.
I didn’t even flinch when I heard several people cursing behind me, clearly knowing people in the group.
“I’m sorry, this is a private party,” I greeted the ringleaders.
“Oh, come now, it’s not nice to exclude friends, Tamsin,” the woman mocked. “Didn’t your mother teach you that?”
I rolled my eyes at the lame attempt to land a hit. “No, never met the woman but I did have a foster mom that taught me sassy girls got the belt. Should I show you that?” I smirked when her eyes flashed shock I would share that and she flinched when she could tell I was serious. “And we’re not friends. We won’t ever be friends.”
“But we’re friends with the ones hosting the party,” she tried again.
“Real friends don’t crash parties,” I argued, holding up my hand to ward off what she might try next, focusing on her mate. “And I’m certainly not going to be your alibi, Alec.”
The leader of the Australian dragon’s nostrils flared. “That’s Alpha to you.”
I snickered. “You’re not my Alpha. If you had any authority over me at all you’d be able to get that meeting you’ve been begging for.”
“I don’t beg,” he sneered.
I shrugged. “I thought that was nicer than ‘pathetically demanded’ but whatever. Sure, that meeting you keep pathetically demanding like you’ve got some ace up your sleeve and right to demand shit from me.”
“You should be smart and take the meeting.”
“And you should be smart and stop underestimating me.”
“What does that mean?” he asked, giving me a bored look.
“The only time I meet with murderers is when I plan to dole out justice so do you still want to meet with me?”
“How dare you,” he hissed.
I raised an eyebrow. “You can call what you did a takeover, coup, or whatever other term you want but I looked into it and you murdered innocents. You murdered children of the royal bloodline. Mates of the knight clan. Pregnant women. Don’t tell me you didn’t deal the killing blow because you ordered it. One day someone will make that bill come due so don’t think it’s over.”
“Bold words but empty ones, little girl.”
I chuckled darkly. “I didn’t say it was going to be me, simply how the world works.” I shook my head when he tried again. “Enough with the drama. Your ploy failed and you won’t find an alibi here. Leave. Now.”
There was a whistle behind me, one most supes couldn’t make and of a lesser degree than I could give as a fairy so I knew it came from a hobgoblin. I didn’t have to look to know it was Keya, the hobgoblin who was in charge of the estate along with her mate, Mourn, and who she was calling.
The pack of fae dogs who agreed to guard the place and weren’t sworn to me, but were willing to trade a safe place and food to do it. We were up to five packs making that deal and five sworn to me. I got the feeling there were more coming as they were cautious beings. Plus, they had gone far to hide so it wasn’t like any major city had fae dogs to trip over.
Humans would really have found out about supes fast if that had been true.
They came running and didn’t turn on their fire, but made it clear that they were ready to throw down with uninvited guests.
Colton Rothchild came out of the guardhouse and did a double-take when he saw what was going on before looking for Mel’s dad who was there to guard Mr. Vogel. “I apologize for interrupting whatever I’ve walked into, but we have a situation at the castle. We need you immediately, Uncle.”
“You don’t,” I corrected. “You need Melody. She knows how to unlock the traps I laid for the spies sent to test security while so many were here.” I smirked at Alec and his mate, Kim, who was the one who had made the jab about my mother. “As I said, you won’t find an alibi here as your play was pretty basic. But just so we’re clear, I stand on the side of the Vogels.”
“Yes, you’ve made that clear in your communications from your attorney,” Alec sneered.
“Good, then let me be crystal fucking clear in a way that my PC lawyer won’t,” I purred. “I stand with the Vogels, but I will bleed for the Rothchilds. Melody Rothchild is my family and her clan by extension. You or any of your friends try for them to get to the Vogels and your castle will not be enough protection. Spread the word.”
“If the Vogels are having problems with security, that has nothing to do with us,” Alec lied.
“Just because you’re wearing a charm to hide your lying tells doesn’t mean nothing can bust you,” I reminded him. “I’m a telepath. Don’t assume because you don’t see Tanesha, you’re safe. Besides, the spies we caught in my traps will tell everything.”
“What traps?” Mr. Rothchild demanded and for once I didn’t even blame him for being demanding with me as I could feel the tension behind me that I did something at the Vogel castle behind their backs.
“Zack,” I said, the wolf not hesitating and pulling one out of his pocket. I saw him turn and I assumed tossed it to Mr. Rothchild so I explained. “You can find the most interesting things in rare, expensive books if you take the time to look through the piles of them. I found a book of protection and defensive magic that was used long before modern technology.
“Funny thing about that is people tend to forget about it then and don’t look for it. But it can’t be hacked around and is completely undetectable. I also upgraded it along with a few tweaks, combining a few of the methods. So, I didn’t develop the intruder/spy rune, and it’s well tested from what I read so it only catches the bad guys.”
“It’s way more than that,” Colton pushed. “The guys are contained in a barrier. We can’t touch them and they won’t shut up.”
“Ah, yeah, that was my additions,” I chuckled. “I used the protection barrier someone gave me and inverted it to be a containment one so they couldn’t shift and flee. Also, that interrogation rune I learned so they’ll spill everything. Along with a bit of mind clouding so they can’t follow any orders they have like killing
themselves if caught. The range on them is impressive too.”
“Yeah, they really are,” Zack muttered, clearing his throat. Hopefully people assumed we knew that from the books and didn’t ask how we’d tested it.
We really weren’t going to be able to explain we’d used my fairy estate properties to catch a few bad guys who were checking things out and testing the barriers. We’d quietly dropped them off to the supe police—well, we didn’t. We’d gotten Geiger to do it through his contacts and back channels. Still, we’d tested them so it wasn’t a shot in the dark and risk.
However, it took a lot of power to do and a lot of focus to make just one. I’d spent a lot of time working on combining all the parts and then could only make one in a night. In other words, I’d had a pretty busy first quarter of the semester and instead of relaxing over spring break, I was dealing with this shit.
Yeah, I needed a vacation for sure.
“I don’t know about all of this nonsense but we certainly won’t stay where we’re not welcome,” Alec said, giving a dismissive wave as if he could sweep away all the rest of what was said and we knew. “I suggest you take that meeting and soon, Tamsin Vale. So far you’ve been very lucky falling into our society with your power and no one knowing how to react to you.”
“Oh, plenty of people know how to react to me but they just won’t get what they want from me,” I countered.
“But that won’t last. You won’t be able to keep fighting all your enemies and threats on all fronts forever. Someone, someday will get through and win over you if you keep on this path.”
“I know.” I shrugged when I felt the tension shoot up behind me and saw the shock from everyone in front of me. “No one can dodge forever. I’ve accepted the end result one day. That doesn’t mean I’ll stop fighting and yield. I do know two things though and you should be well aware of them before you plan your next move, Alec.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
