Not Quite Prey

by Kaye Draper

  I sighed and stuffed a chocolate-covered, cream-filled pastry in my mouth. I almost choked when I felt a cool, sensual wash of sea-scented magic and a smooth, melodic voice spoke from behind us. “Try this, Sam. It pairs well with the sweets.”

  A long arm snaked between me and Emerson and set a flute of champagne on the table by my plate. I held my breath to stop myself from inhaling his scent. Fin leaned around me and sneered in the general direction of the asshole who had invaded my personal space. “What the fuck do you want?”

  My thoughts exactly.

  Angel withdrew his arm and moved around to set two more glasses out for Fin and Emerson. Then he took a seat at our table opposite me, giving the ogre and the fuming leprechaun some space. He gripped the stem of his own champagne flute in a graceful hand, lifting it with a wry tilt of his lips. “You look nice, Sam. Cheers.” Then he took a sip of his drink.

  I narrowed my eyes and did not watch him lick his perfect lips. “Go away, siren.”

  He just flipped his long silver braid back off his shoulder and turned his chair slightly so he could see the stage where Theo would receive his title and probably yammer on for hours on end just to torture us all. “Sorry,” Angel said, sounding anything but sorry. “Assigned seating, you know. Did you think you and your guild were the only VIPs in the room?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “The ‘P’ in VIP doesn’t stand for prostitute, you know that, right?”

  His eyes narrowed at my jab, but he just took another drink from his glass.

  “Sam,” Emerson said, in pleading voice.

  Fin snorted and pointed a warning finger at Emerson. “Oh no. Don’t you dare go feeling all sorry for that sniveling snake!” He shot a glare at Angel. “No.”

  The ogre-cross rubbed his injured eye. “I wasn’t—”

  I held up a hand, cutting them both off, stopping this before Angel could act all betrayed or Emerson could come up with some sappy bullshit about feelings. The charm hidden under my shirt pulsed with Angel’s magic and I had another urge to draw blood. Boy, I just fucking loved parties. “Everyone just shut the hell up.”

  My eyes traveled over Angel’s profile as I pretended to look at the stage. He was just as damned gorgeous as ever, dressed more conventionally today, in trousers that clung to his long legs and probably hugged his perfect ass, and a gray and gold silk vest that accentuated his narrow waist. Angel’s gold eyes stayed glued to the empty stage, but I saw the bastard’s lips curl up in silent laughter before he hid behind his glass again. He knew I was watching him, knew he made me uncomfortable—and he was enjoying the hell out of it.

  I went back to eating, wishing Theo would just hurry the fuck up already and get this shindig over with before I shanked someone.

  Finally, a woman in a no-nonsense navy-blue suit took the stage and rambled off a practiced welcome speech and introduced the officials who would be swearing in the new sovereign of Westhold. Theo joined them on stage, and I was once again struck by how the man could be so ordinary and harmless looking, with his average build and his boyish chestnut curls, yet carry such an air of authority and charisma. His bright blue eyes flashed, and he smiled for the cameras and cracked jokes that had the crowd laughing while he signed the required documents with a flourish.

  Then he took the stage and launched into his inaugural speech. I scanned the crowd as the sovereign spoke, watching the body language of the humans and the few curs that filled the room. Most of them looked relaxed and happy. But there were definitely more than a few who were tense, their body language stiff and their smiles rehearsed. Probably rivals or naysayers that Theo hoped to bring over to his way of thinking now that he was in charge. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

  Who the fuck actually enjoyed playing games like that? I couldn’t believe Theo had actually wanted me to join in this madness.

  I huffed a humorless laugh and poured myself a glass of water from the pitcher that had been supplied for our table. Angel met my eyes and smiled. “Try the champagne,” he mouthed, quiet enough to avoid interrupting Theo’s speech. He pointed at my glass. “Expensive—the good stuff.”

  I glared at him. “No thanks,” I hissed, just a little too loud. “I’d rather not be roofied again tonight.”

  He shook his head and his shoulders fell, his gold eyes shimmering with regret.

  I wasn’t buying it for one damned minute. I picked up my water glass and took a long drink. Fuck him.

  Emerson watched the interaction with his soft, understanding eyes. Then he picked up his champagne flute, his big hand dwarfing the cup like it was a child’s miniature. I reached out to grab his arm and stop him from taking a drink, but he shook me off easily and lifted the glass, not stopping until he’d drained it in one go.

  Then he set the glass down on the table, gave me a look, and went back to watching Theo.

  Angel smothered his laughter in his hand and pretended to pay attention to the speech too.

  I leaned toward Emerson. “I’m not finding you a healer when that poison kicks in, you damned traitor,” I whispered furiously.

  He hunched his big shoulders but didn’t respond.

  I sat back in my seat and nibbled at a cube of meat while Theo moved on from talking about how he was going to change the world with his radical anti-discrimination policies to thanking the people who had supported him in along his journey to becoming sovereign. I had to give it to the idiot, it was well done. He didn’t focus on empowering the non-humans by giving them rights and protections. No, he focused instead on all the ways getting help from the non-humans would strengthen the human city. He sold the idea that the other cities were missing out on a valuable resource by refusing to accept their other citizens.

  It was still boring as fuck.

  My butt was going numb from sitting on the damned hard chairs for so long, and I was about to just get up and leave, when the lights around our table went up and the whole room was suddenly staring at the group of curs in the VIP seating.

  I put down the meat cube I was holding and sat up straighter, tensed and ready for something awful. Then Theo’s words started to actually register….

  “…has been protecting this city and all its citizens for years. They will be my right hand, my eyes and ears on the streets, and there is no one I trust more to act in the interests of Westhold’s working-class citizens.” He smiled warmly, his flame blue eyes right on me. “I won’t ask you for a speech, Sam. I know that’s not your style. But please, stand up so the people can recognize their new viceroy!”

  I blinked at him. What the actual fuck?

  “Why didn’t you tell us you accepted?” Fin hissed from my side. Emerson’s dark eyebrows were nearly touching his hairline.

  Angel was watching me expectantly. “Stand up, Sam. Everyone’s waiting.”

  I swallowed hard. I had not accepted this stupid fucking position. Theo had some balls, to just force it on me. I could feel hundreds of eyes on our table, waiting, curious to see who had been entrusted with the position. Everything in me said to run. But every hunter knew that running just triggered the hunting instincts of the blood-thirsty creature that was stalking you. I planted my hands on the table and pushed myself to my feet, pulling my spine straight and lifting my chin. My gaze flicked toward the stage as I opened my mouth to tell Theo to go fuck himself.

  But my eyes snagged on the table beside ours, where Ada sat, her blue eyes bouncing frantically between me and Theo. I could see her concern there. She was afraid of what I was going to say. If the person the new sovereign trusted most decided to loudly and rudely decline the position, what would that mean for Theo’s rule? Would it undermine all the stupid, optimistic changes he wanted to make to the city? Would it prove that curs couldn’t be trusted? And what about me? The humans would probably turn on me just for the insult.

  So, I swallowed down the angry words and gave Theo a short, stilted nod, hoping to convey with my eyes that I was going to murder him with my own two h
ands the moment I managed to get him alone. Clapping erupted around us and I broke out in goosebumps. I hated drawing attention to myself. My instincts had me wanting to spin around, to watch my back, to grab my blades and keep them in hand so I was prepared for the coming attack.

  I let out a slow breath and sat back down, tasting blood where my fangs had punctured the inside of my lip.

  Angel tilted his head, his gold eyes thoughtful and a wrinkle appearing between his silver brows. He clearly smelled a rat. Good. Maybe he wasn’t as fucking stupid as he acted. He met my eyes and gave me a small, sharp shake of his head as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. No, a killing spree was probably not the best course of action right now. Thank you for your feedback, asshole.

  I felt Fin and Emerson’s eyes on me and Angel as we had this silent conversation like we could read each other’s minds. Fuck it. I needed something stronger than water. I picked up my champagne glass and drained it. Then I grabbed Fin’s and sipped that one more slowly. This night couldn’t get any worse.

  Two hours later, after a whole bunch of pomp and circumstance and nicey-nice political bullshit—and after about a dozen more glasses of booze for me—everyone was still milling around the ballroom chatting, drinking, and striking up alliances. I kept my eyes on Theo as the smarmy human charmed his way through the crowd, shaking hands and laughing at terrible jokes, a pair of guards at his back.

  “Finally,” I muttered, as he took his leave of a group of casually dressed, glowingly optimistic cur activists and quickly disappeared out the door.

  I slunk around the crowd, waving Fin and Emerson away. I needed to have a word with our new ruler. And it would be a lot less obvious if I wasn’t trailing a leprechaun and a giant green guy. I slipped into the hallway, where the crowds were thinner. A few people tried to engage me, now that I wasn’t flanked by an ogre, but I kept my head down and waved them off, following the faint trail of Theo’s scent to his personal study.

  I opened the door and slipped inside without knocking. Theo was standing at the bar pouring himself a drink while Jules yammered on about something to do with the next day’s schedule. The new sovereign looked up in surprise, his irritated look at the intrusion morphing into a warm smile when he saw me. “Sam! I tried all night to make my way to you, but I kept getting derailed. I promise, we can meet tomorrow and I’ll go over everything with you. I can’t tell you how happy I am that you accepted.” His whole being was full of a sickeningly convincing happiness. Too bad I was onto his whole innocent act. He might get one over on his human followers, but I wasn’t an idiot.

  I crossed the room in a few rapid, silent steps and pushed into his space, using the couple inches of height I had on him to loom. “You lying, sneaking fucker!” I hissed in his face. “How fucking dare you go behind my back and make a damned public spectacle of me in front of all those people? I’m not your fucking personal freakshow to be paraded out any time you want to shock the masses!”

  He blinked at me in surprise, the tumbler of scotch dangling from his soft, manicured politician’s fingers. “What?”

  I slapped the glass out of his hand, ignoring it as it smashed on the floor, flinging around alcohol that cost more than I paid in rent for the year. “Viceroy? Really, you arrogant asshole? I said no. Repeatedly. Is there something wrong with your hearing, or is it just your tiny human brain that’s the problem?”

  He pressed a hand to my chest, right between my breasts, trying to push me back a step. I didn’t move an inch, my skin buzzing with magic as his hidden personal charms and wards hit my own energy field. He was practically crawling with magic tonight. He’d probably spent a fortune on charms and borrowed spells in case of an assassination attempt.

  “Sam, calm down. Are you saying you didn’t agree to be my viceroy?” His face fell, and the hurt in his eyes looked almost genuine.

  I snarled. “Stop playing dumb,” I said, leaning further into his space.

  He squared his shoulders and narrowed his eyes, not removing his hand from my chest. His blue eyes sparked with something, there and gone again in a flash. I bared my teeth at the unexpected flash of…magic? “What the fuck?”

  “I’m sorry,” he breathed. He cleared his throat and struggled to put his calm mask back in place. Something wasn’t right with the little shit. His hand spasmed against my shirt and he opened his mouth to speak. Then everything went to hell.

  Jules shouted from out in the hallway. The door to the study burst open, splintering into a dozen pieces. I leapt forward, closing the narrow space between me and Theo, wrapping my arm around the human’s waist, pulling him flush against my body and throwing us to the side just as a spray of bullets peppered the room.

  We hit the floor hard and I rolled, taking Theo’s weight to cushion the fragile human as we hit marble and skidded. The gunfire started up again and I rolled us once more, bringing us up under Theo’s big desk, my body covering the human’s like a cur shield. I grunted as a bullet ripped through my leg. Another one hit my shoulder and I hunched around Theo to make sure he was covered by as much of my scrawny body as possible. He grabbed double fistfuls of my shirt and tugged, trying to get me off him, wriggling his hips under me as he tried to get up.

  I felt a flash of heat as his personal wards flared to life and I hoped like hell whatever charms he wore didn’t think I was the threat. The shots petered off as I heard what must be guards firing on the attackers. The heat between us was increasing. Theo’s wards or charms or whatever the fuck had activated and were gearing up for something nasty. I moved off Theo and into a crouch, hauling the human up and shoving him further under the big desk. “Are you hit?” I growled, my eyes scanning his tailored suit for any signs of bleeding, half my attention still on whatever was going on behind us.

  His eyes met mine, and they were glowing. Sweat covered his face and he clenched his jaw like he was in pain. “No. I’m not…hit. There’s…gun. In the bottom drawer.”

  He jerked his head to the right, and I snaked a hand around to pull the drawer open. Peeking around the desk, I saw three guys in black wrestling with the guards. Jules had a third one pinned to the floor under a bubble of water. I watched for a second, shocked, as the attacker drowned in the middle of the library. Whatever the butler was, I needed to stay on his good side.

  I shook myself and reached into the deep drawer, my fingers shoving aside hanging folders and finding the familiar cold metal weight of a pistol. I yanked it out and checked the ammo. Fully loaded. Flipping the safety, I pulled my bleeding leg under me more firmly and prepared to stand.

  Theo wrapped a hand around my arm. “Sam, don’t! I can’t let you get killed.” He was still pouring sweat, his face red and mottled as he spoke through clenched teeth. His hand burned where it touched my skin. What the fuck was wrong with him? His eyes locked on the blood pouring down my chest from where a bullet had exited my shoulder.

  “Don’t worry,” I told him with a dark grin. “I wasn’t done yelling at you yet. I’ll be back once these fuckers are done twitching.” He might be an entitled, pompous asshole. But he was my asshole. I was saving the pleasure of murdering him for myself, so these other jackasses could just fuck off.

  I pulled away from Theo and focused long enough to shift one hand into claws. Then I stood, taking aim and plugging one of the gunmen with a bullet to the head while he was distracted with the guards. His body fell to the floor and I turned to the other gunman. He had the guards backed into a corner with his automatic weapon, but the dumbass left his back wide open. The first shot I fired hit his back with a puff of fabric and a dull thud. He must be wearing a vest. I adjusted my aim. Theo might want them for questioning, so I took out both the asshole’s legs instead of his head. He dropped the automatic as he fell, and one of the guards immediately kicked it aside.

  I scanned the room, all my senses on high alert. The gunmen were all either dead or incapacitated, but my instincts were still screaming danger. A growl spilled from my lips unconsciously as I tr
ied to figure out what the problem was. Then I felt it. Magic. A shit ton of power was rapidly building up in the room, like a bomb about to discharge. A wave of heat pulsated around me from somewhere nearby.

  I spun and ran to the desk, the heat increasing with every step I took. Grabbing Theo, I hauled him to his feet. “We need to get out of here.” The human stumbled and I turned to really look at him. “Theo?”

  He was…glowing, his whole body rimmed in a red-orange light. My hand burned where it touched his skin. Jules appeared at my side. “We need to get him outside. Now.”

  Theo’s bright blue eyes had gone eerily vacant, flickering like live blue-white flames. Jules waved a hand and water appeared, dousing Theo. Steam rose up and the halo of power around him dimmed, but didn’t die out. I didn’t ask questions. I just tossed the gun away and bent, driving my shoulder into Theo’s middle as I hefted him over my shoulder and stood using what was left of my shifter strength. The bleeding had slowed to a trickle, but healing gunshots took a lot of energy. And it still fucking hurt every time I moved my leg or my arm.

  Jules flowed into motion, leading me toward a set of glass doors that led to a courtyard. “The back garden,” he said, his voice calm, but his motions sharp and urgent. “It’s warded. Go!”

  I jogged in the direction where he had pointed, and the butler followed along. I dimly noticed a few guards taking up positions at the back of the house. Theo didn’t fight or make a sound as he bumped along on my back. I gripped his thighs hard to keep him from falling off my shoulder, but he clung to the back of my shirt like he at least had enough awareness to know not to fall. Theo was shorter than me, but a bit broader. I was more than strong enough to carry him, but it was awkward.

  We rounded the back of the mansion, pushed through a screen of trees, and arrived at a big, private garden. Police and firetruck sirens started wailing behind us. I could feel the tingle of strong wards as I stepped past the tree line. “Put him down and come with me,” Jules said urgently.