by K. N. Banet
“It’s not the first time.”
“No, it’s not. You’re a magnet for trouble, young and righteous. Your type always finds trouble.” The hard stare she gave me threatened to make me wilt like a flower in the hot sun. “The young and righteous tend to get themselves killed.”
“Thanks, sis. Really appreciate the vote of confidence.”
Zuri’s hard stare softened. “Be careful.”
“I will. I’ll call once we’re on the other side of this.”
“Good. I’ll be waiting, and I’ll keep the family off your back. Keep your security down. I wouldn’t have spoken up for Davor if I had known…” She sighed heavily. “I’ll figure something out. They listen to me, and they know we’re close. They’ll trust me when I tell them you’re fine.”
“Are you okay with lying to the family for me?”
“You lied to them for me. It’s only fair,” she answered with a shrug. “Good luck.”
“Well, we still have her as an ally,” Heath pointed out, staring at the blank screen.
“Yeah. Who are you going to tell?” I asked, turning to him.
“I was thinking about the few friends I have left. Not the Dallas pack. They’re too close and could be dangerous. Definitely not Callahan or Corissa.”
“Then who? Whoever you tell will tell them.”
“Good point,” he said softly, pushing his hair back. That thick black hair begged for fingers to go through it. For a moment, I wished they were mine. “I was thinking of telling Geoffrey in Seattle. He’s a good man. He spoke up for you even when Price was trying to get away with murder. He would tell the NAWC for sure, but he wouldn’t make it seem like a hunt needs to happen.”
“He is a good man.”
With the silence created by the end of the call, I heard music playing below. Frowning, I looked at the floor. “Let’s get back downstairs and check on our resident fae. They’re up to something.”
“You hear it, too?” He stood and stretched, his arms pulling his shirt up to reveal the well-maintained muscles of his abdomen. Heath wasn’t a bulky man, falling more on the lean side of builds, but he worked hard in his free time to maintain his form. Not that he needed a six-pack to be strong, but it was certainly nice to look at.
He caught me looking and smiled. “You look as if you want to eat me,” he teased.
I reached out and slid my hands under his shirt. “Maybe I do,” I retorted. “Got a problem with it?”
“I thought I was in love with a werecat, not a black widow,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss me. “But I’ll take it.”
We walked out of my office together, trying to fix our clothing. I made it downstairs first to find someone had connected their phone to the system that controlled the speakers, and the music playing was a waltz.
But it was the dancers themselves who were utterly enchanting.
26
Chapter Twenty-Six
I leaned on the wall, watching them swirl around my bar as if it was a ballroom in Europe. Sorcha only had eyes for her husband as he guided her around the room, and Cassius’ expression could only be described as seductive as if he was trying to win his wife all over again. His hooded eyes promised things even I could read from across the room, and Sorcha was eating it up.
Heath wrapped an arm around my waist and kissed my cheek.
“If you want to learn, I know how,” he murmured in my ear.
“You do?”
“Of course. A proper gentleman knows how to lead in a ballroom dance,” he whispered. “My parents made sure, as every educated man was expected to know. I taught Richard and Landon as well.”
“Ah…” I nodded slowly but kept my eyes on the magical couple who transformed my bar into something more. The song came to an end, Cassius bowed, and Sorcha curtsied. She seemed strange doing it in her pants, but the form seemed proper. I had no idea, but she was too graceful to think it was wrong.
“It’s that easy,” Cassius said, turning on Rian. “If our father takes the throne, you’ll be expected to already know how. We can teach you.”
“Plus, dance is one of the best ways to win over a woman,” Sorcha added with a wink. “It’s a seduction before you ever make it to the bedroom door. On the dance floor, you can discover if someone moves like you, are you in sync, or is the rhythm off? You can find out without ever needing to be alone with them. Come on, brother-in-law. I’ll walk you through the steps.” She extended a hand to Rian. “Cassius, will you start the music again?”
“I’ve got it,” I said, declaring Heath and I were back as I walked to the phone. “Same song?”
“Yes, please,” the fae said with a dazzling smile. “I hope you don’t mind how we’ve moved all your tables around.”
“Oh, it’s fine. Moving them back won’t be a problem,” I said with a smile in return. I didn’t hit play, waiting for her cue.
“Cassius, why don’t you teach Fiona?” Sorcha said, clearly not needing me anymore now that she had my approval. “She can surprise Brion with it later.”
Cassius said nothing as he offered his arm to his stepmother, and I watched as Fiona fought to say something or maybe keep her mouth shut. Eventually, she took his arm and let him guide her into the center of the room. Cassius and Fiona were awkward, taking each other’s hands, but they were nothing compared to the fierce blush Rian had as Sorcha pulled him to an open spot.
“Most fae love to dance. You’ll see ballroom dances from all over the world, picked up by wandering fae and brought home. You’ll see traditional jigs and tap dances. Any excuse we can find to dance, we will,” Sorcha explained, putting Rian’s hands where they belonged.
“The same goes for playing music, if that is more your style,” Cassius added.
“I like playing the drums and guitar,” he mumbled.
“My son wants to be a rock star,” Fiona muttered.
“Among the fae, he’ll be able to do that,” Cassius said diplomatically, not really looking at her, staring at the wall beyond her. “Among the fae, he’ll be a noble who can do as he pleases, so long as he answers to the king and follows the laws of our people. If he wishes to be a wandering bard, that can be his calling, and no one will stop him. In fact, many will be pleased to see it and encourage it. Brion doesn’t produce musicians. He’ll be the first. Music, the call to perform, the ability to produce it, it’s magic all its own.”
“If you’re so wise, why didn’t you just become the king?” she asked.
“It wasn’t my calling.” Cassius looked at me, and I was paralyzed under his unnaturally blue eyes. “Please start the music.”
I hit play and watched as Cassius and Sorcha began teaching the steps. Heath came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, watching the drama of this family unfold once again. Rian caught on sooner than I would have guessed. He wasn’t as graceful as his brother, not by a long shot, but he got the steps quickly and was able to lead Sorcha. He was more like a gangly teenage boy at that moment than he was the adult man I knew him to be. It was as though he had been stunted by his upbringing, still growing into the boy he had been.
Cassius and Fiona were different. She clearly already knew the steps, but Rian was more graceful. She seemed clunky in comparison to the fae around her. She seemed dull and, I hated to think it, insignificant.
When the song ended, Cassius and Sorcha flowed into a partner switch as the song started again on repeat. It left Rian and Fiona dancing together, without their guides. Rian stumbled once, but he got back on track in only two beats.
Once again, I was caught under the spell of the couple who seemed to own whatever space they were in. I knew they would make crowds stop and stare if they did this in public. I knew the magnetism they exuded. Zuri could turn it on and off when she needed to display power and perfection. Hasan carried it on his shoulders like a well-worn cloak. I was used to the power of werecats, rough, wild, and dangerous. When we wore the veneer of humanity and flexed our power, there was something rou
gh to it. Even when Zuri was a majestic queen, she was ruthless, and there was an undercurrent of the feline she was.
Cassius and Sorcha weren’t rough. They were gilded in gold and perfect. They were both wearing human glamours, but it did nothing to stop the effect.
As the song ended once again, I hit pause and blinked several times. Cassius looked across the room and gave me an apologetic smile.
“Would you care to dance?” Heath growled over my shoulder, and Cassius laughed. “Of course not. Let me take over the music and give you both a chance.”
“I’ve got it,” Rian declared, letting go of his mother. Half jogging, when he got to us, he leaned in. “Please. I don’t want to dance with my mom again.”
Heath grabbed my elbow and had to nearly drag me onto the floor.
“You’re not dancing with a fae princeling,” he said stiffly, leaning in as he grabbed my hand with one of his and placed the other on my waist. “I think that finally hits the end of my patience and tolerance.”
“Oh, so the werewolf has finally decided he has to defend his claim?” I chuckled as the music started.
I wasn’t graceful. I could be when I was in my werecat form, but that grace was natural instinct, the predatory grace every big cat had, but even then, there were ranges. Leopards were more graceful than lions, and I was more like a lion than I was a leopard. I took heavy steps and grew frustrated, unable to glide as the others did, but I figured out the steps with Heath’s help and trusted him to lead me.
In the end, I was laughing instead of growling in frustration.
“With a little practice, you’d be wonderful,” he murmured, kissing my cheek after he bowed.
“She would be!” Sorcha agreed, throwing an arm over my shoulder. “You know, maybe I’ll take you under my wing. I only have one female friend. A second would be nice.”
“Oh?”
“And she doesn’t dance,” Sorcha continued. “When this is all over, Cassius and I can come back. We need more friends.”
“We need more allies is what she’s trying to say,” Cassius said, pulling his wife off me. I chuckled.
“Allies are never a bad thing. I would think a fae prince and noblewoman would have plenty, though.”
“I would think the same,” Heath agreed, pulling me firmly into his arms.
“One would think that, certainly, but a smart fae prince and his wife try to keep a very small circle of trusted allies. We’ve effectively removed ourselves from most of the goings-on of our people. We stay close to home or live in this realm.” Cassius looked away from us. “Any allies I had from before my father left are no longer my allies. After he left, I made my own circle away from his, one that didn’t rely on his support or people using me to get close to him. One that didn’t rely on my heritage at all.”
“It more heavily relies on his position as a Tribunal Investigator. He’s made his own name, away from Brion.”
“And you?” I asked softly, eyeing her. “You’re a noblewoman. There’s no fae out there willing to give you a favor or two?”
“No,” she answered with a cold smile, one that promised cruel repercussions and danger. “There’s no one that foolish anymore.”
“My wife wasn’t born into nobility in the traditional sense. Let’s leave it at that,” Cassius said.
“I used to be a renowned fae criminal, and to make me follow the law, Brion thought it was smart to give me a title,” she continued, even as Cassius closed his eyes and sighed in dismay. “I was a weapons dealer…an arms dealer. If you wanted something to kill your enemies, I was the person you wanted to talk to.”
She’s more dangerous than I thought.
“Brion brought me in and gave me a deal. I took the nobility and started cleaning up my act. I fell in love with his son, even when his son didn’t want to admit I existed. It took several decades for him to notice me.” She smiled at her husband before looking back at me. “Generally, we just tell people I bought and paid for my title because, in a sense, I did. With blood, sweat, and magic, I paid for my place in the fae nobility.”
“I noticed you.” Cassius didn’t say more and didn’t appear to want to say anymore. In fact, he looked as if he wanted the conversation to drop completely. “Why don’t we have an enjoyable evening while we wait for Alvina and my father to get back to us?”
“That’s not a smooth transition from the topic at hand,” Sorcha pointed out.
“Maybe I just want to dance with my wife again.” He took her hand and spun her around before tugging her into him. “Maybe I think the past is useless to discuss because it’s so long ago, and it didn’t have you in it.”
“I was there,” she said softly.
“It didn’t have you in my arms,” he murmured, kissing her softly, just a simple graze of their lips, but it was enough to heat up the room ten degrees.
I turned to Heath, smiling. He chuckled, grabbing me as the music started playing again.
We danced.
We danced for most of the day, swapping stories in our breaks. Sorcha had many of them, telling me more about the different types of fae.
“I don’t know much about those outside the fae. I kept my business among my own people because it kept the Tribunal from looking at me too closely. I could handle Brion and the nobility. They would never have brought me in for execution or punishment.”
“I do wish we could keep the topic off this,” Cassius mumbled, looking at his wife, who only laughed.
“It’s going to be brought up if this continues. They’ll see me and say there’s King Brion’s pet criminal, his son’s bad wife.” Sorcha waved a hand around nonchalantly. “You know it. It doesn’t matter how long I behave or wear the responsibility of nobility, to them, I will always be who I was in my wild youth.”
“You know, I can give you information about werecats. Obviously, I won’t give you anything you can use against us, but if you want to learn…” I was trying to oblige Cassius and keep the topic off her past. Truthfully, her past was making me uncomfortable. This wasn’t just a powerful fae. She was a criminal of note and probably had a laundry list of her own enemies. The last thing I needed was to feel indebted for her help in my fae education.
“Oh, that would be wonderful,” she declared, smiling brightly.
“I’ll tell you a little about werewolves,” Heath added, less enthusiastically. “If you want to hear it.”
“Werewolves…I’ve figured out your kind already.” She rolled her eyes as Cassius laughed.
“We had some political maneuvering to do with Alpha Wagner in Phoenix,” Cassius explained. “She had a crash course in werewolves.”
“But werecats? Well, the only thing I’ve learned about your kind is from a snake.” Sorcha grinned.
I chuckled, and the sun set as we talked, even Rian coming to our table to listen as Sorcha’s playlist continued over our speakers. We didn’t stay on werecats for long, and I had a feeling Sorcha knew more than she claimed, but it was fun to talk about the interesting world we lived in. Only Fiona sat away from the group, keeping to herself.
“I’m going to freshen up,” Sorcha declared out of the blue, standing suddenly. “Is there a bathroom I can use?”
“You can use the staff bathroom upstairs,” I said, pointing to the back where the stairs would lead her up. “It’s bigger and cleaner.”
“Thank you,” she said, quickly walking out to the back. Cassius followed her with his eyes, never taking them off her.
“To be in love,” Heath said, chuckling.
“Yes,” Cassius agreed softly. “I’m sure you know a thing or two about it.”
“I thought I did. I’ve certainly known a few types, but I think it’ll never cease to surprise me.”
I raised an eyebrow at my lover, but Cassius chuckled.
“Different types of love. That’s a fine way of thinking about it.”
“You know—”
I didn’t finish that thought as magic crackled through the room
like electricity.
27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
I was the first on my feet, but only by a margin of a second, Heath and Cassius tying for second. I snarled as I watched the door of my bar open, even though I had certainly locked it. As he stepped into my bar, my territory magic picked him up and told me of the visitor as well.
King Brion was back, strolling in as if there wasn’t a worry in the world.
“Well, it seems we’re throwing a party,” he said, looking around the bar at the empty glasses we had left there, then up to the speakers playing music. When his eyes finally fell on us, they narrowed. He was smiling, but it didn’t reach his eyes, which were cool and cunning, looking us over in an inspection I had a feeling we would fail.
He took two steps forward, and his older sons walked in behind him, quickly taking in the environment. When one saw their mother, he went to her, and they embraced quickly.
Brion watched me, Heath, and Cassius as his children and Fiona greeted each other.
“Cassius,” Brion said carefully, coming closer to us. “I was wondering if you would help our family.”
“Hard to do anything for a family I didn’t know existed,” Cassius retorted. His tone was sharp and angry, the words becoming a blade that cut through any pleasantries. It was like when I had met him and mentioned Brion. There was a deep, unresolved pain there, and Cassius was more than willing to share it.
Brion lifted a hand, a tempering, peaceful gesture. “My son—”
“Don’t play fatherly now,” Cassius growled, stepping around Heath and me, putting himself between the king and us. “You’ve made a fucking mess of things. The first words out of your mouth should be an apology.”
“Kings don’t apologize,” Brion whispered, his eyes beginning to glow with magic. “Don’t expect me to.”
“Fathers do,” the son retorted furiously. “Not that you’ve been much of a father.”
