by Nicole Hall
Oren chose his words with care. “I would never hurt her. I need her.”
Samantha sent him a pointed look. “You’re not the only one who can hurt her.”
She walked to the back door, effectively dismissing him. Unless he planned to stay for dinner—and Samantha had only set two places—it was time for him to leave.
Oren closed the front door securely behind him. The faint prickle of magic faded as he walked down the steps to the sidewalk. Whatever Samantha was, she knew her way around magic. He considered calling Luc for a ride, but the man had mentioned something about a date earlier.
Seth’s building wasn’t too far from Dru’s house, and he could use a walk in the night air. This wasn’t his first foray into Terra, but he’d been more inclined to stay in Aecantha than his friends. As such, he didn’t have a place of his own here.
The humans he passed gave him a wide berth, and Oren wondered how they’d managed to stay the dominant creatures in this world. They had no real way to defend themselves against magic users, and they denied the existence of magic.
The clans had left this realm long ago due to persecution from humans—and his people had been called gods at the time—so the humans had to have some secret to maintaining power. Oren watched as a man darted into traffic, forcing the cars to swerve around him, so he could get to a brightly lit shop across the street.
He shook his head. Dumb luck shouldn’t be discounted either.
Keris had given him strict orders to find Tamra before returning. Oren had to admit he could see the draw of Terra. Seth and Aiden seemed happy here, and the technology rivaled anything their magic could create. What would Keris do if he simply stayed like his brethren?
Out of the five in his generation, only Oren remained in Aecantha. Tamra had run off to the dryads, Seth and Aiden lived in Terra with their mates, and Lexi…
He shook his head. Lexi deserved her punishment, no matter the tender feelings he’d kept hidden in his youth. She’d pledged herself to a Dark Fae and caused a century of trouble for Seth and Aiden. At the time, he’d believed she’d left him out of it because of a connection between them, one that he’d refused to act on, but after Tamra’s betrayal, he had a different view of the sisters.
He’d been the easiest to control. Lexi had known he wouldn’t follow Aiden to Terra or defend Seth to the elders, and Tamra had stayed behind to make sure he remained ineffectual. Oren grimaced, disgusted with himself. They’d played him as masterfully as they had Seth and Aiden.
Scowling, Oren turned onto Seth’s street. Bad memories had quickened his pace, so he slowed his steps and attempted to let go of the futile anger. He hadn’t helped to stop Lexi, much to his chagrin, but bringing Tamra back to Aecantha would be his way of paying restitution. And Dru was the key.
A block from his temporary home, an annoying melody came from his pocket, and Oren winced. He liked the convenience of cell phones, especially since his telepathy was almost non-existent compared to the rest of his clan, but there had to be better ringtones. He didn’t feel like talking, but Seth’s name flashed on the screen.
“Hey, mofilo.”
“Hey, yourself. How’s New York? Challenged anyone to a fight yet?”
Oren chuckled. “Not today. New York is full of people though, so there’s always tomorrow.”
“Did you find your dryad?”
An image of Dru, angry and fierce, quickly gave way to the feel of her pressed against him seconds after he’d yanked her back onto the sidewalk. His heart had thundered in his ears as he’d watched her stumble forward. He’d already been reaching for her when he’d felt her magic awaken.
“Yeah, but you’re not going to like who Luc led me to.”
Seth was silent on the other end for a long moment. “It’s Dru, isn’t it?”
Oren stopped in front of a dark bookstore and stared up at the ornate building that Seth partly owned. He’d refused to answer Samantha’s questions about Dru, and he felt a similar urge with Seth, even though he trusted his friend with his life.
Seth picked up on the hesitation and continued without waiting for an answer. “Honestly, I’m not surprised. Who knows how far Keris’ influence reaches? Just once I’d like her to give us all the information we need right from the beginning instead of dropping tidbits at the last possible second.”
Oren understood Seth’s frustration, but in all the time he’d spent with Keris, he’d never known her to act without a good reason. “You think she played a part in Dru and Keely ending up at Samantha’s house?”
“Maddie admitted that she got her llama spell from Keris. It was no coincidence that I ended up at Keely’s doorstep.”
“Then why not confront Dru at that point?” The convoluted mess made Oren’s head hurt.
“Keris needed Tamra to reveal herself as the real thief.” Seth grunted. “If I’d been able to stop Tamra in Aecantha, we wouldn’t need a dryad at all.”
“You made the right choice.”
The annoyance in Seth’s voice faded. “I know. I’ll choose Keely every time.”
A prickle of awareness intruded in the conversation, growing more acute as Oren searched the surrounding area with his magic. “I think there’s someone following me.”
Seth snorted. “Are they insane?”
“Hold on.” Oren turned so he could see the faint reflection in the bookstore’s window. Full night had fallen, and he stood in a shadow, but the streetlights provided enough illumination that he could see another figure a few stores back that had stopped to window shop.
A powerless male, unless this person also had the ability to cloak himself, something very few people could do. Samantha’s warning echoed in his mind. You’re not the only one who can hurt her.
Dru hadn’t been far off when she’d asked if he was a bounty hunter. He found things for the elders, sometimes people. His magic gave him an edge that he’d never been able to explain.
The man wore a hat pulled low over his face and nondescript clothes. Oren couldn’t get a good guess for his height with his shoulders hunched over, but shorter than Oren’s six-foot five frame. Admittedly, that didn’t narrow it down much.
A few pedestrians still walked along the street between them, so Oren took his chances and approached his tail. He’d only taken a few steps when the man turned and walked the opposite direction. Even hunched over, he appeared slightly taller than the people he walked past, so not a small man. Oren stopped and filed the information away.
He’d been in Terra for over a week, and today, when he’d finally made contact with Dru, was the first time anyone had paid any extra attention to him. Something else to file away. The man moved around the corner, and Oren focused on Seth again.
“I’m back.”
“Well?” Seth sounded curious, but not worried.
“He left when I started walking toward him.”
“Smart man. Have you considered maybe you’re paranoid?”
Oren gave it serious thought. His power hadn’t worked on Samantha, and he’d been on alert ever since. He glanced back the way the man had departed. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Do you need me to come back?”
Seth’s help would be invaluable, but Oren wasn’t willing to risk him getting anywhere near the doorway to Aecantha and triggering the spell that might kill him. Besides, he didn’t think he could convince Dru to take both of them to Vethr.
“No, but I could use your help in another way.”
“What do you have in mind?”
Oren smiled. Seth always wanted to know all the options before he acted. “Tell me about Dru.”
“This is an easy one. She’s from Connecticut or something, her family is still there. Moved to New York for college and stayed. A couple of years ago, she moved in with Samantha, then Keely joined them. The three of them formed a tight-knit bond that I wouldn’t suggest trying to mess with.”
Oren snorted. He’d already come against that wall.
Seth ignored
him and kept talking. “She can lose anything in less than a minute. Her car is a piece of shit, and she has a truly awe-inspiring ability to lecture for a solid three hours if you let her. There’s a good chance she has a mostly naked picture of me on her phone somewhere.”
Oren straightened and glared at his phone. “What? Why would she have naked pictures of you? Isn’t one mate enough?” He wasn’t jealous. Dru could do as she pleased with her eyeballs.
“What can I say? The ladies love me. Oh, and her best friend is a guy named Nick, who was supposed to share a room with her in Samantha’s house.”
Oren forced his fingers to relax their death grip. He didn’t have any claim on her. Thus far, he’d managed to mostly keep his distance, despite the urge to pull her close again. That moment on the street had given him a taste of her, and he wanted more. But the assignment came first.
“All that aside, she’s kind and loving, and she’d definitely help you hide a body if you needed it.”
“Thanks for the information.” His voice sounded terse, even to himself.
Seth didn’t miss the change. “Keely swears Dru only sees Nick as a friend, but feelings change, as you well know. If you’re interested in her, don’t waste time.”
Oren understood the silent implication. Not like last time. He’d wanted Lexi, but while he’d bided his time, Aiden had won the girl. In the end, that had worked out in his favor, but Oren had learned from his mistake. Slow and steady didn’t always work out the way he hoped.
“Don’t worry about it, mofilo. All I need her to do is get me through the portal.”
“That’s what I thought when I met Keely. A means to an end, but Keris had other ideas.” A thump and a grunt of pain made Oren wonder how long Keely had been listening to the conversation. “What? I didn’t say they were bad ideas. Go back to your book, trouble-maker.” That last part had definitely not been for him.
Part of Oren envied them the easy relationship. Seth had almost died, but he’d found his mate.
The phone thumped a few more times, then Seth returned. “Sorry, Keely has her own suspicions about Keris.”
“Like what?”
“Like we should just listen and follow orders because she’s smarter than all of us combined.”
Oren laughed. “Maybe we should try that some time, just to change things up.”
Seth scoffed. “No way. I refuse to believe she’s smarter than all of us. Seriously, be careful with Dru. I like her, but you don’t know where her loyalties lie.”
He’d bet Keely would disagree with that particular bit of advice. After Dru’s reaction to his request, he didn’t think her loyalties stood with the dryads. Oren needed to find out who the ‘she’ was that inspired such a violent reaction.
“I’ll keep that in mind, but I don’t believe Dru is a threat to me.”
“Famous last words. We can be there in a matter of hours if you need us.”
“Noted, but I can handle this assignment on my own. Enjoy the time with Keely’s family.” He waited a beat. “And Aiden, I guess.”
Seth laughed, as Oren had intended, but the attempt to distract him from potential danger didn’t work. “Be careful. The truth about our parents isn’t worth your life.”
“I will. Try not to piss off Maddie too much.”
Seth muttered a playful curse about Aiden’s mate and hung up.
Sentiment tightened his throat. Not too long ago, Seth would have traded anything for the truth. Oren suspected Keris shared Seth’s previous priorities. Her mate had gone missing with the others, and in all the decades that followed, she’d held herself aloof from the younger generation. Now that they’d discovered the unbelievable connection between Seth’s mate and the only dryad in Terra, it seemed likely that Keris had never stopped searching for the truth.
His phone chimed again before he had a chance to put it away. Seth had sent a text message.
Just to speed things along, here’s Dru’s number. Keely sent Dru yours.
Oren shook his head and shoved the phone in his pocket. Seth couldn’t help but stir up trouble. Warning him with one breath and encouraging him with another. At least he’d provided a place to stay.
Jeff, the regular doorman, stood behind a large circular desk inside the lobby. After Seth had called to clear his presence with the building staff, Oren had spoken to most of the workers on one occasion or another. He’d been traveling back and forth between Terra and Aecantha on orders from the elders for the last two years—since Aiden had broken the seal on the doorway—and he’d found that the best information came from the people that humans tended to overlook.
Oren greeted the man, but walked straight to the elevator. He’d gathered enough information for the day. The ride to the thirty-fourth floor took almost no time, and Oren sighed as the apartment door closed behind him.
When he’d first arrived, he’d called Seth for permission to use his apartment. Compared to the modest houses among the clan, Seth’s home ranked as luxurious. Oren didn’t care about the details, other than feeling appreciation that the bed was big enough to hold his head and his feet at the same time, but the view from the giant windows made him consider staying. He stood next to the glass for a long moment, staring out over the sparkling expanse of lights. The dark room made him feel like he flew over the city.
Seth had offered to pay his way in Terra as well, but Oren didn’t need his money. Keris had provided a legal identity and a healthy bank account of his own. Yet another reason to think there was more going on than he’d been told.
He needed more information before he moved forward. If the rumors about the dryads proved true, he had time to proceed cautiously. Tamra wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while.
3
DRU
Three days. It’d been three days since Oren dropped the D-bomb on her. Dryad. Dru put away her brushes with more force then necessary and reminded herself that she wasn’t mad at Oren. She’d thought about what he’d said, almost non-stop, and come to the conclusion that she could probably use the help of a bounty hunter.
Also, she felt kind of bad for essentially accusing him of trying to kill her. Not bad enough to call him, though. Keely had texted her that night with his number and a cryptic message to be careful. As if she planned to run off into the woods on a crazy adventure. That was more Keely’s area of expertise.
Instead, Dru had puttered around the house. She’d painted. She’d worked in the garden. She’d beaten Samantha at Guitar Hero. She drew the line at cleaning though. Her creativity flowed best in a messy environment. That was her excuse anyway. Mostly, Dru just hated cleaning. Why put stuff away if it’s only going to get pulled out again?
Samantha did not share her point of view. Dru respected Samantha’s rules and made sure to move all her work tools to her room when she wasn’t using them. Speaking of messes, all of Nick’s stuff sat in boxes around her room, but she wasn’t going to start invading his privacy before he’d even arrived.
Once upon a time, privacy hadn’t been an issue. She’d told him everything. Well, everything that didn’t involve her being a dryad and the existence of magic. After the last year, she suspected they both had secrets.
Her secrets had been one of the reasons she’d stopped trying to contact Nick when he’d moved away for work. She felt deceitful for keeping so much of herself back when he didn’t. Now things were sort of awkward, but at least they were talking.
Or they had been. She hadn’t heard from him in over a week. He’d texted to say he’d been given another short assignment, and he’d be delayed. Ah, the life of a securities expert. Dru preferred the term ‘ninja spy’, but she hadn’t told Nick that yet.
The old Nick would laugh, but the new Nick was prone to broody silences. Normally, she’d be all about a good brood, but Nick had never hit her that way. Oren, on the other hand…
Dru sighed in disgust as she put away the last of her tools. It was no use. Every time she tried to think of something else, the image
of Oren on his knees, looking at her with those fiery blue eyes, pushed to the forefront. Followed immediately by the electricity of his touch. Three days of utter distraction.
Now that she thought of it, both Oren and Nick had said they’d be back, and neither had shown up. Men sucked at following through.
Dru mentally went through her latest project as she came down the stairs, then winced as she noticed the bright blue streak of paint on the dining table. Usually, she paid more attention. So much for not cleaning.
She’d only gotten as far as pulling out a rag when a sharp tug on her mind made her take a quick detour to the bathroom. Her birth mother preferred mirrors to communicate, and she didn’t like being ignored.
Dru closed and locked the door behind her. Samantha had left hours ago for work, but old habits died hard. Hollis had been summoning her this way for almost ten years. The mirror was sparkling clean, as usual, but when Dru allowed the connection, the glass fogged and a form appeared.
Flowing dark hair arranged in curls surrounded a pointed face kept unnaturally youthful. Green eyes that matched her own narrowed when they settled on Dru.
“Hello, daughter.”
“Hollis.” Dru had learned to modulate her voice and say as little as possible. Less for her mother to use as ammunition.
“I’ve been informed your life was put in danger recently. Explain.”
Dru pressed her lips together to keep her suspicion that Hollis had been behind it to herself. After a moment, she settled on an appropriate answer.
“It was an accident. I’m not injured.”
“That’s a relief. When do you plan to return home?”
The lack of any emotional reaction proved what Dru already knew. Hollis only cared about getting Dru to Vethr and under her control. “As I’ve told you before, Terra is my home, and I have no intention of leaving here.”
Annoyance flashed across her face, but she buried it under a disingenuous smile. “I’m afraid your intentions don’t matter, darling. Ljos needs a vessel, and you were chosen. Your birthday isn’t for some time, so we can continue to play this game, but in the end, you will submit.”
