by Erin R Flynn
“Yes.”
I was in front of him before I blinked, slapping him across the face with all I had. My lower lip quivered as he cupped his cheek, probably not because I really hurt him but shocked I’d struck him. “You fucking liar. You told me you didn’t know what that was!”
“I didn’t—I thought it was only between dragons,” he defended as he reached for me.
I stepped away, curling into myself as if he’d hit me and he reacted as if I struck him again. “You had a fiancée and yet you didn’t tell me knowing we were mates. How—you bastard.”
“I was—she wasn’t real and it wasn’t official just something said before we were born. I hated her and I told Father I needed to get out of it. I was working on it. Please, please, let me explain, my prin—”
“Don’t fucking call me that ever again!” I screamed, shocked my voice hit that octave but seriously I’d hit my limit. “Fuck you, Hudson.” I angrily wiped my tears that I couldn’t hold back. “Fuck you! You had every chance to explain any of this to me but you said nothing. I was going to end things anyways after hearing you made me the other woman. I don’t care it wasn’t real. You didn’t tell me.”
“I know, I should have but it’s common and she was dating others. Juan has one too and I didn’t think—”
I could almost forgive him that if it was a dragon royal tradition and not something to hit his radar as actually cheating or what most would consider it… But the rest? Fuck no.
“No, you didn’t. Again,” I cut in, my voice cracking as I backed away from him. “Again, Hudson. You don’t tell me after you lied that you didn’t know what that energy was and I trusted you again. I believed in you and you kept this from me. You tell your parents before me, humiliate me like this. Is this what I am to you?”
“No, no I—you’re not. I’m sorry, I didn’t—this all happened so fast and I was—”
“So fast? We’ve been hooking up since the fucking ball at the beginning of the school year! When were you going to tell me we were mates? Before we graduated? When did I get to know? When were you going to respect me enough?”
“That’s not fair. You—I didn’t even know—”
“Don’t make this about me being a fairy,” I growled. “I kept that to protect you. That’s about me. You kept secrets about us knowing I didn’t understand. That’s completely different.”
He bobbed his head. “You’re right, it is. You’re absolutely right. I wasn’t saying it was the same but you being closed off and—”
“It doesn’t matter,” I whispered as I backed away from him even more, shivering as coldness filled me down to my soul. “You didn’t tell me. You told your parents so they didn’t take me away like a toy you still wanted. So fuck you. Fuck you, Hudson. I won’t be with someone who treats me like that and I’m—”
A hand moved over my mouth and Mrs. Vogel hugged me to her with all her strength, kissing my hair. “I beg you with all the love you feel for me as a friend not to finish that sentence. I know he deserves it. By the gods I know my son is an idiot and deserves every ounce of your wrath and your pain is justified but I beg you not to finish that sentence. You do not understand what you would do to him.”
“He would go feral,” Mr. Vogel rasped tears in his eyes. “Please don’t deny him. Please? This changes everything. He’s sure. It makes so much more sense why his dragon went on a rampage when Hudson hurt you last semester. That was simply hurting you. If you break it off with him, deny him as your mate… We would lose him. Please, we cannot lose our son.”
I turned in Mrs. Vogel’s arms and broke down crying. I knew it wasn’t fair as she wasn’t my mom but his but I didn’t have a mom and none of this wasn’t fair to me. Still she comforted me, hugging me tightly even as I felt her tears on my hair as she cried as well.
When I could pull myself together enough, I detangled from her and faced Hudson, shocked to see he’d been crying too. I searched his eyes and saw his dragon riding him. “River, I need you to be good for me, okay? I need some time. Please?”
“River?” Mr. Vogel asked quietly.
“My gods, she named his dragon,” Mrs. Vogel gasped.
Was it really that odd? I ignored them and focused on him. I waited until he chuffed and nodded. “Take care of Hudson for me, okay? Don’t fight with him. This is people stuff you don’t get but he was bad and I deserve to take time. He hurt me again.” I covered my face and turned away, smacking Hudson’s hand when I felt him touch me. “You promised not to—I cannot believe you kept this from me.”
“I’m so sorry.”
I realized something else and slowly looked at him in horror. “Lucca? Is that why I connect to Lucca’s mind so easily?” I wanted to scream when he flinched, that the only answer I needed. “You both knew and told each other but didn’t tell me? Does his father know?”
“No, no,” Hudson hissed. “His father would be the last person we’d ever tell you were his mate. He wasn’t sure at first either. It was why he made such a big deal about the telepathy. He’s not actually even sure because…”
“Bears aren’t sure of their mates until their intimate,” Mrs. Vogel filled in. “So, it’s still a guess at this point. A good one, but you being a telepath might have confused it all.”
I nodded I heard her but still backed away from Hudson. “Both of you stay away from me for now. I need to think. I need to…” I waved my arms wildly around as if reminding him I was trying to handle all of Faerie. I glanced at Mr. and Mrs. Vogel. “I’m sorry. I didn’t—I understood—”
“No, we’re sorry we were going to interject ourselves in what we clearly shouldn’t have,” Mr. Vogel said gently, sounding truly contrite which surprised me.
Mrs. Vogel shrugged. “The gods know what is best and clearly they understand the match. We thought as leaders and maybe parents, but not your feelings and this is a humbling reminder that we should have stayed out of it.”
I opened my mouth but then closed it, trying again and then simply shaking my head. That was a huge fucking about-face and I didn’t even know what to say to it.
So I didn’t. I headed for the portal shaking my head. There was a lot to already handle like the grandfather of my boyfriend who had abducted me, branded me, tried to do unspeakable things to me, and had to other fairies.
Yeah, little stuff like that.
20
Minutes later we were walking back through the portal to wherever Grandpa Moore had brought me to and a hysterical giggle escaped as I realized I didn’t even know where that was. I was about to ask when Darby came flying into the room, his eyes darting around and taking in the scene.
“‘Rare game hunters,’ huh?” I seethed, my hands fisting as I itched to knock him out as his grandfather who was still unconscious.
His eyes locked with mine and he swallowed loudly. “Agra—”
“Don’t fucking agra me, you rat bastard,” I hissed. “When did you figure out I was a fairy? Was it always the plan to bring me home to the family to be a slave and make babies for you that you could drain?”
“What?” Hudson roared.
“What happened here?” Mrs. Vogel asked as Mr. Vogel restrained his son.
“It seems the Moores hunt fairies knowing the secret that their blood is super charged for vampires. They magically brand them as property and can always track them and it makes them want to make lots of babies that they always track and take blood from to sell to their network of sick fucks.” I gestured to my exposed ribs and then the brand sitting in the fire place.
“I-I didn’t kn-know any of th-that,” Darby stuttered, looking green around the gills and completely disgusted.
“There must be something to that theory I’m born of a noble family as my magic ramped up and burned off the brand and he was quite certain I was doomed,” I told them. I explained everything he’d said including the potion to silence me and how it was a well-oiled dance… And how he’d implicated Darby in all of it.
“I did
n’t know,” Darby swore when I was done. He shook his head when the Vogels gave him looks that I knew now was when supes were busting someone for not telling the truth. “I wasn’t sure. I knew there was more to the rare game hunting. They way Grandad would talk when drinking and Da would shush him but… Nothing like this. I thought maybe they used to hunt rare supes.”
I looked to Mrs. Vogel who nodded. Okay that was the truth.
It was Hudson who put the rest together for me. “So, you went to talk to your family when you had issues drinking from Tamsin and your fucking lunatic grandfather figured out she was a fairy from that and started prepping for this.” He gestured around to where we were standing.
Right about that… “Where are we?”
“Our old hunting lodge in Ireland,” Darby answered.
“Hunting,” I growled, gesturing to the chains and torturing equipment that was clearly not for animals.
“I haven’t been here since I was a child, Tamsin and never down here,” he muttered. “We moved long ago. I didn’t even know we still had this place in my family.” He stepped towards me but Hudson moved like he was going to intercept Darby. “I would never hurt her. Not ever. You know that.”
“I do but you’re also depleted and I don’t understand this whole fairy blood to vampires thing,” Hudson muttered.
“Depleted?” I asked, glancing between them.
Darby shot me a destroyed look. “I didn’t come here willingly. He jumped us. The fucking arsehole blew some sort of dust in your face and knocked my noggin in.”
I gasped when he turned around and I saw there was dried blood all down his sweater. I hadn’t seen it on his red hair or since it was on the back of his head but yeah, against a light blue sweater it was damn obvious.
And a lot of it. Dayumn.
“How long have you known Tamsin was a fairy?” Mrs. Vogel asked him.
A while. It was written all over his guilty face.
“I need some air,” I whispered as I brushed past him and headed for the door. I didn’t even begin to know how to process all of this or what to do next. There was no way I could let Grandpa Moore live knowing what I was and apparently there was a whole network of vampires who branded and treated fairies like livestock for blood.
Yeah, I wasn’t going to let that continue even if I was the only fairy left because I didn’t plan on that always being the case.
I made my way out of the hunting lodge and the moment I realized I was on my first trip to Ireland like this, I found the nearest tree and puked out my guts. My life was such a fucking mess! I mean, there was a limit as to how much crazy there was allowed to be in one person’s life, right?
Right?
I wasn’t sure how long I sat out there but I was vaguely aware people started showing up. It was all in the background though, as if I was underwater in the pool in the Bahamas again and couldn’t really hear what was happening around me.
Someone snapped in my face and I blinked into Professor White’s concerned eyes.
“Zach and Ray,” I gasped, remembering they had been guarding me at dinner. I hadn’t even thought about them until then.
“They’re fine,” she assured me gently. “Something was slipped into their food and they passed out at the portal for a bit. They woke and immediately started contacting people with what they knew. They’re discussing changing your security procedure that both guards never eat so this doesn’t happen again.”
I nodded, looking past her to see all the usual people… Besides one.
“He’s busy with work,” she explained, probably seeing the disappointment in my aura. “We made sure to inform him.”
Right, work. The person he supposedly loved was abducted again—couldn’t forget it was again—and he was busy with work and didn’t come. I shook my head. Whatever, I was pretty much done with men anyways. All they did was… Yeah, everything painful.
There were bigger things on the table than Craftsman neglecting me. “I don’t even know what to do this time, Professor.”
“You don’t have to. This time the adults will handle it and quietly,” she promised. “You’ve been through enough and start enough trouble. This is the time we are better equipped to navigate this world we know rather well and behind the scenes which we know very well.”
“I have no idea what that means,” I admitted.
“It’s best you don’t this time, dear,” Mrs. Rothchild said as she pulled me into a hug. “But we’ll track down these monsters and make it safe for fairies to come back or at least discover the network so when they do the fairies can handle it in their way.”
Now that sounded like a plan I could get behind. I nodded, soaking up her strength. I rubbed my stomach and realized I hadn’t vomited simply because of upset but whatever Grandpa Moore had done to me.
“Salzman, we need to know how to treat her,” Mrs. Rothchild called over. “She’s still ill.”
“White, give her a healing rune,” he replied. “This powder isn’t advanced. I’ve reviewed it and it’s simply the fairy version of normal knock magical knockout powder. She was too weak to heal herself.”
“Get all of this gathered and boxed for evidence and we’ll figure out where we’re setting up,” Mr. Rothchild ordered.
My eyes went wide when I saw Colton and several of Mel’s cousins. They all knew now? What the fuck?
Mrs. Rothchild cupped my cheeks and forced me to focus on her, feeling my panic. “Yes, we told our clan but only after Trigger swore the oath to you for the entire clan. You can trust us like family and our loyalty is the same to you as it is to the Vogels with their blessing. You are the last and to be protected, Tamsin. You are a sister to our daughter and we will protect you now and forever.”
“She’s also Hudson’s—” Mr. Vogel started to say but shut his mouth when I shot him a look. He gave a slow nod and a tight smile. Yeah, there was no way we were telling people that I was Hudson’s mate. I was not acknowledging that just yet and certainly not when I was seconds from telling him to fuck off forever.
And I wasn’t stupid. If he told people he was pushing me into accepting it.
Which Hudson seemed to realize and my eyes went wide as steam about came out of his ears. He grabbed his dad’s arm and dragged him off, not caring who was around and ignoring all the shocked faces and expressions.
Well at least he could pull his head out of his ass on something.
I still wasn’t about to forgive him anytime soon.
Mel showed up and I broke down again when she hugged me. I could feel the concern pouring off of her I was acting like this but she didn’t know half of what had happened. I’d fill her in but later and every time I tried to gather myself, I spiraled again.
Finally, White put a few crystals in my hand and instructed me to absorb the magic. That helped. That really helped. Being down on the tank spiraled me out when I was faced with so much crazy it seemed and lately I couldn’t get a moment to recover enough.
“Ya dead to me, boy,” Grandpa Moore bellowed.
“Ya dead to me, ya sick fuck,” Darby roared, launching at his grandpa. My eyes went wide as the two Irishmen traded blows right there in front of all of us. “I came to ya for help and ya tried to take away the woman I love and for blood? Money? Force her to make ya babies like cattle? Ya a sick fuck and I won’t be family of ya anymore! All she does for all of us and ya tried to brand her. I’ll fucking kill ya!”
“Well we know who’s side he’s on,” Mel muttered.
“His dad and brother are probably in on it too,” I filled her in.
“Aww fuck,” she groaned.
“Yeah. And Grandpa Moore seemed pretty sure Darby knew the family business and was luring me in.” I shook my head when she tried to object or ask more. “I don’t know, Mel. My brain is mush. He figured out I was a fairy. That’s all I know. That’s all—I can’t handle anything else today.”
“Yeah, I’d be overloaded too.” She sighed and then was the adult. “Pull him
off the fucker before he really kills him. We need to interrogate him for information and contacts.”
“I got the list of fairy estates we’re in charge of watching and keeping an eye on still,” Colton said as he came over. “Which are yours?”
“Technically all of them,” Claudia answered. “But Tamsin would only claim those of confirmed deceased families.”
I glanced between them and thought about what Mr. Rothchild had said. “We’re finding a place to set up a secret base for this operation and handle all this mess? Take down this whole network and interrogations off the books and all the bad, illegal shit so no one finds out about fairy blood and vampires?”
“Yes, exactly,” Claudia confirmed.
I blinked at her for several moments. “That’s seriously illegal. That—you’re an attorney. Isn’t that against your supe police or the council or… The vamp council at least or something, right? How much trouble will this get you all in?”
“None actually,” Geiger chuckled, mirth dancing in his eyes.
“How can that be?” I pushed.
“You getting involved in the affairs of other species is problematic but this is fairy business and a threat to your people,” he explained. “And as their representative on this world—the only one currently—that makes you the council, light queen’s representative… All of it. This is an imminent threat to all fairies, confirmed and valid—”
“And fucking dire if we don’t shut this down and more vampires find out about it,” Claudia added. “So as the queen’s representative, as the trust was set up by her representatives and you claimed it and, thus, became her representative in a way, you’re authorized to act with her authority on this.”
Oh, I doubted that was how it would really work if I wasn’t the last and probably a really big stretch if we got busted. Then again… We did have a lot of bullshit constantly. It would be nice to have something easy. I could handle that for once.
“Plus, you’re protected by all the dragon royals, two of which who know what you are and are desperate to keep you alive,” Geiger reminded me.
