Until a year ago, I had set myself up as a freelance investigator/bounty hunter, but then life had intervened. In the space of twenty-four hours both I and my best friend, Angel, had gone from struggling to make our way in the world to being employed by Herne, who ran the Wild Hunt Agency. My official job was to help keep peace between the Fae Courts—or, at least, helping to contain the collateral damage, which seemed terribly ironic given my heritage.
But that job had expanded, and now in addition to keeping the ever-warring factions from offing innocent people with their petty sparring, we had branched out to facing the coming darkness. And somehow, within a very short time, Herne and I had been drawn together, and I was learning what it meant to be the consort of a god.
And to complicate matters, I was pledged to his mother Morgana, a goddess of the Fae and of the sea. And my father had been pledged to Herne’s father—Cernunnos. In the past year, I had seen things I never dreamed existed, and I had passed through the Cruharach—a ritual all members of Fae undergo as a rite of passage when they come of age.
A lot had changed in a single year, but even with the coming shadow, I wouldn’t alter anything that had happened. For the first time in my life I belonged to something bigger than myself. I had my own home, I had friends who formed an extended family, and I had found love. And all the darkness in the world couldn’t overshadow all of that.
I yawned and dragged myself under the shower. I didn’t like pulling all-nighters, but we had no other choice than to check out reports when they came in. It was seven a.m. and we needed to dress and head into work. After soaping all the grime off, I blasted myself with cold water and almost shrieked, but it shocked my system enough to drive the brain-fog away.
After toweling off and blow-drying my hair, which had grown noticeably longer over the past year, I dressed in a spare outfit I had left at Herne’s—a blue corset over black jeans. I fastened a silver belt around my waist and zipped up my stiletto ankle boots. I didn’t anticipate needing to go gallivanting around the forest today, and if the need did arise, I kept a spare pair of boots at work, one more suitable for tromping in the woods.
“Triple-shot mocha?” Herne asked as I entered the kitchen. While I showered and dressed, he had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and was now pulling shots of espresso.
“Quint shot, please. I need more caffeine than that to make it through the day. All-nighters aren’t that easy, even for the Fae. We don’t all have the constitution of a god.” I stuck out my tongue at him.
He playfully returned the gesture. “Fine. Five shots. Seriously, though, if you need a nap, you can come in late.” He didn’t even look winded.
“No, that wouldn’t be fair to the others. I’ll manage, though I may grab a few winks this afternoon, if we’re not run ragged.” I paused, sniffing. I could still smell his musky scent from where I was standing. “Um, not to be indelicate, but don’t you need a shower before we go? I love your scent, but…”
“But I’m a little funky for the office?”
“I was going to use the word ‘rank’ but yeah, that works,” I said, grinning.
He laughed and handed me my drink. “You eat and I’ll have a quick rinse.” He headed for the bedroom.
I slid onto a tall stool at the kitchen island, taking a long sip of the iced mocha before devouring my breakfast. I was still hungry when I finished, so I poked through the cupboards and found a box of doughnuts. Herne kept plenty of snacks around for me. The gods didn’t need to eat nearly as much as the Fae or even humans, but he liked food and made sure his fridge was well stocked. I had finished my second one and was on my third when he re-entered the room, clean-shaven, tidy, and smelling like fresh rain.
“Yum, the new bath wash you bought does the trick.” I polished off the rest of the doughnut. “I left your sandwich alone.”
“How generous,” he said, catching me by the waist and pulling me in for a long kiss. He swatted my ass. “All right, love, let’s get this show on the road.”
As we gathered our things and headed out to the car, I paused, staring at the sky. It was a clear morning and the sun was shining, but there seemed to be a pall over the city. With a sinking feeling, I realized it wasn’t smog. It was an energetic cloud, hanging low and ponderous. I could sense when a storm was about to break, and right now, I could sense a dark one on the horizon. Suddenly pensive, I kept my thoughts to myself as we headed downtown.
Chapter Two
Downtown Seattle was bustling. The Seattle area only got about sixty-five cloud-free days a year, and full sunshine was so rare that almost everybody was out and about, taking advantage of the good weather. The streets were packed with early shoppers and people on their way to work. Most of the big corporations, especially the high-tech industry, allowed flextime, so the early morning crowd was sizable.
Seattle was a vibrant city, and its nickname—the Emerald City—was well deserved. The tree-lined streets were wide and spacious, although riddled with potholes. The city grew upward rather than out, due to the limited confines of the shoreline, so skyscrapers dominated the skyline, and a dizzying array of sleek new office buildings interwove with the old red brick walkups and the concrete behemoths.
Down on the docks, the ferries chugged in from across Puget Sound, ferrying in commuters. Only a block or so away from the harbor, the Viaduct Market—once known as Pike Place Market—held sway over the downtown area. Like an enclosed bazaar, hundreds of vendors set up their daily markets selling everything from flowers to food to clothing to services.
The Wild Hunt was in Old Town, which had originally been known as the Pioneer Square area. The five-story brick walkup was on First Avenue, a wide, tree-lined street that was home to a number of the streeps, the ever-present street people who chose, either unwillingly or willingly, to make the city itself their home. They slept in homeless shelters or crashed at the flophouses or hunkered down in the back alleys, and during the day they panhandled, offering music or dancing or other talents for their money. We knew a number of the locals by name, and they were mostly good sorts, though a few were lost in a fog, and even fewer were dangerous.
Across the street from the five-story walkup that housed the agency was an array of fetish brothels, all legal, offering all sorts of kink for a price. They were kept busy, but we never had any trouble from the sex workers or their clients. Tattoo shops, delis, and small restaurants were interspersed among the sex-for-hire shops, and a pot shop had recently joined the lineup. MJ’s House brought in a lot of business for everybody, given the combinations of pot and sex, and pot and food, were irresistible.
We jogged up the concrete stairs leading to the main floor of the building. Recently the owner of the building had, by order of the city, began installing a handicapped access ramp to the side. When done, it would curve around to the left like a backward “C,” starting right of the stairs. The landlord had also agreed to do more than a jury-rig fix on the elevator, which was constantly breaking down.
The first floor of the building housed an urgent care clinic focused on treating the SubCult, though humans were welcome to come in if they needed help. The second floor was home to a daycare and preschool for low-income mothers, the third floor belonged to a yoga and dance studio, and we had the fourth floor. The fifth floor had long remained empty, but someone had finally rented it out and now we had an alternative-care clinic overhead. With a chiropractor, three massage therapists, two acupuncturists, and a nutritionist, the Stone & Needle had brought in a steady stream of clients in the month since it had opened in mid-March.
Herne and I took the elevator to the fourth floor. The car opened right into our waiting room. At night we locked it to prevent anyone from accessing our floor. Only the janitor and building owner had keys to it besides us.
Angel looked up as we entered the building. She was frowning, and before we could even say good morning, she motioned for us to stop at her desk. “The deputy mayor booked an appointment this morning. She’ll be h
ere at ten and she wants the entire agency at the meeting. I told her Charlie couldn’t be there, but he’s going to Skype in to hear what she has to say.”
Herne frowned. “Any time Maria asks to see us, it usually means trouble.”
“She sounded tense. I could tell something’s seriously wrong and it’s going to get dumped in our laps.” Angel was extremely good at reading people, just by their voice. She had never really utilized her empathic nature before, but now she was working on expanding her abilities, and she had made some remarkable strides, especially during the past month.
“All right. You say she’ll be here at ten?” Herne asked.
Angel nodded. “That’s what she said. I ordered some pastries and sparkling water.”
“I’ll be in my office, getting ready.” He gave me a quick kiss before disappearing into his office.
I sat down in the chair opposite Angel’s side of the desk. “I’m so tired. We didn’t get home till almost dawn.”
“Did you find anything?”
I shook my head. “Not exactly, but the water elementals in the park say that the spirits are waking up—spirits that should be long gone.”
“Not good. But we’re probably going to be in for this a lot. I assume we’re going to hand the cases off to Raven?”
Raven BoneTalker didn’t work for us, but we occasionally sent cases her way. She was one of the Ante-Fae, and she was a bone witch. She was also a good friend of ours.
“Yeah, and others like her, if she gets inundated. I know that Herne’s looking into a few necromancers we might be able to trust.” I yawned. “How’s Mr. Rumblebutt?” Mr. Rumblebutt was my cat. He was a black Norwegian Forest cat, and he adored Angel, so when I stayed at Herne’s, he was absolutely fine until I came home.
“Mr. Rumblebutt was purring up a storm when I left home this morning.” She frowned, staring at me. “You sure you don’t need a nap?”
“Of course I need a nap. But it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of you if I took the day off.”
“Not fair? Hey, you worked all night. Charlie works at night. You’ll notice that he’s not in here in the morning. Of course, he can’t be, given he’s a vampire.” She pushed a file folder across her desk toward me. “Here’s the breakdown of the expenses on the Quatro case. You ended up spending more on the case than you earned from it.”
I sighed. Vivi Lind Quatro had hired us to do one thing: she had wanted us to eradicate a serious case of garden noles, small but dangerous creatures that liked to hang out in gardens. They had the intelligence of a toddler, the temperament of a badger, and they had very sharp teeth. Luckily, unlike nixienacks, they didn’t travel in packs.
We had taken the case thinking it would be a simple one, but unfortunately, the noles had proven trickier than we expected. It had cost us a lot more time and manpower than we had originally quoted. Herne was always good to his word, so we ended up losing money on the case. I wasn’t sure how much, but I knew it hadn’t been cheap, given the tenacity of the noles.
“Thanks.” I opened the file to me and scanned the figures. We had lost over two thousand on the case. Grimacing, I said, “It’s not like we can’t afford to do pro bono work, but seriously, that was a hot mess.” I yawned again. “Excuse me. I have one hell of a headache brewing.”
“Try to get some rest. Herne’s a god. He can go for days without sleep if he needs to. You’re not a goddess, and even the Fae need to sleep.”
I flashed her a grin. “That’s the truth. Well, I’ll be home tonight. I’m not up for another night without sleep. Besides, tonight’s our meeting with Marilee and she’ll have our heads if we skip again.”
Marilee was my magical mentor, and she had taken on Angel as well. I was learning to actually utilize my magical abilities with water, and Marilee was teaching Angel some basic magical skills. Angel was proving adept, so much so that I suspected she had some magic-born blood somewhere in her background. Mama J. had been adept with the cards, and Angel had inherited her empathic nature.
“True that.” Angel held up the Quatro file. “Are you done with the case?”
“Yeah, as much as we can be. Noles always come back, but we’re not going to make the same mistake twice. If we have to go out there again, we’re charging more.”
“I’ll file it then.” She tossed it in the to-file bin on her circular desk.
I yawned. “I’ll be in my office until the staff meeting. See you in the break room.” I wandered off down the hall, turning to the left at the end. My office was near the end of the hall, on the right. I shut the door behind me. Staff meeting was at nine-fifteen, and it was barely eight. I decided I might as well take Angel’s advice so I set my phone alarm for nine, curled up on the sofa that sat under the window overlooking the alley, and promptly fell asleep.
When I woke up, I felt a little better. I may have only slept an hour, but I had slept deep and the looming headache had backtracked into the distance. I stopped in the bathroom to splash some water on my face, then gathered my tablet and notes and headed for the break room.
Talia and Viktor were there, along with Yutani. Talia had brought a container of homemade fudge. She motioned to the pan.
“I heard you and Herne were up all night, so I thought you might be dragging butt. You want a sugar jolt?” The harpy was wearing a linen pantsuit and looked as fresh as the day was young. She had sleeked her long silver hair back into a ponytail. Something looked different about her. Since we had taken out Lazerous, the liche who had stolen her powers when she was young, she had seemed more carefree. Today she was humming under her breath.
“You seem chipper today, and thanks. I’ll never say no to fudge.” I accepted a piece and bit into the candy, smiling as the chocolate melted against my tongue. “Mmm, good. Peppermint.” The crisp mint filled my mouth. I stared at the pan, thinking I could eat the entire thing.
“I feel good.” She chuckled, staring down at her tablet.
“You’ve got a new beau,” Yutani said, snickering. “I recognize the symptoms. You’re dating someone.”
Talia coughed, then gave him a long look. “What are you doing, spying on me now?”
“No, but I remember the last time you smiled like that. You had started dating Gerard.” Yutani swept his hair back out of his face. The son of the Great Coyote, he was also our main techie. He often left me wondering about the man behind the mask. Yutani was reserved in a way that often left me wondering.
“Oh, Gerard. I haven’t thought of him in a long time. I hope he’s doing well, wherever he is,” Talia mused. “It’s been a long time. And a lot of miles.”
“Well, are you?” Viktor asked. The half-ogre was poring over an issue of X-Treme, a magazine about extreme sports. Viktor and I had shared a common interest in our love of watching all manner of snowboarding, dirt biking, street luge, and other extreme games.
“Am I what?” Talia asked, offering me more fudge. I didn’t turn her down.
“Dating someone,” Viktor said.
Talia threw up her hands, surrendering. “All right, I’ll tell you. Yes, I just started dating someone new and it’s going well. And before you ask, he’s independently wealthy, he’s a wolf shifter, and his father owned a multimillion-dollar company specializing in organic baby food. Tanjin inherited the company.”
“Tanjin? That’s an unusual name, even in shifter families. So he’s a shifter? What’s he like?” I knew full well that Yutani would be logging into the computer, doing research on the guy. We all looked after each other, and nobody wanted to see anyone get hurt.
Talia gave me a smug look. “Before you start snooping, yes, he’s a wolf shifter. He looks about thirty, though I think he’s in his sixties. He spends his days at the office, but he’s set up the organization so his sister runs the day-to-day duties, since she’s vice president. Tanjin is also managing his father’s fortune and he organizes charity drives. His father never donated a dime to anybody, but Tanjin and his sister, Cali, are philanthropists. Tanj
in’s never been in trouble with the law, he’s an upstanding member of the Shifter Alliance, and he’s a well-respected member of the Chamber of Commerce.”
Viktor laughed. “Well, he sounds nice, and the fact that you’re telling us about him means it’s more than a casual fling.” He turned to me. “Talia never talks about her boy toys unless they’re a serious item.”
I was about to ask how long they’d been seeing each other when Herne entered the room, followed by Angel. They sat down and the meeting began. We covered all the usual points, including two new potential cases that had come through in the last twenty-four hours, but we all knew we were just marking time until Deputy Mayor Serenades got there.
We didn’t have long to wait. Angel hustled to open the elevators when Maria texted her to say she was on the way up. She returned with two women behind her. One was a police officer, the other the deputy mayor.
Deputy Mayor Serenades was about my height, with shoulder-length blond hair pulled back in a sleek French braid. She was trim, wearing a navy blue pantsuit, and she carried a large briefcase. The look on her face was grim as she entered the room.
Herne stood, extending his hand. “Maria, I’m glad to see you.”
“Thank you, Herne. This is Officer Wyles.”
As the police officer took her place near the open door leading to the hall out into the waiting room, Viktor hurried to pull out a chair for the deputy mayor.
Sun Broken: A Wild Hunt Novel, Book 11 Page 2
