by L. A. Banks
“You gonna eat that?” Hunter asked, not waiting for her reply before cutting a huge hunk of rare sirloin off her plate and gratefully accepting her ale.
Sir Garth never missed a beat in his conversation as he paced around his dungeon magick workshop with his hands clasped behind his back. It was virtually impossible to keep her eyes on the small, ancient Gnome and eat at the same time. His elliptical movements around the room were giving her motion sickness.
“So you see the delicate nature of this endeavor,” Garth said, and then stopped to close his eyes so tightly that his bushy white brows knit in the center as one.
“We get it,” Hunter mumbled with his mouth full. “Sir Rodney cannot lose face with his subjects or his lover.. Thus we cannot accuse her of fraud—lest we lose a friend for life. But he also cannot afford to ally with Queen Cerridwen, if she is playing him.”
“Nor can he afford to go to war with the Vampires over some bull that he wasn’t even involved in.”
“I love the way of the wolf,” Garth said, now staring at them both with bug eyes. “Simplistic. Honest. Practical. Yes. That is what we are endeavoring to be here in the Sidhe—practical. But we cannot ever have it appear that we are attempting to undermine our monarch.. That is the last thing we would do. His top advisors have all sworn a blood oath.”
“No offense, but didn’t the last castle insider who betrayed him swear loyalty?” Sasha shrugged. “I’m not trying to be funny.. I’m just saying.”
Garth frowned. “True, and after that we all created an irreversible spell that would explode a liar from the inside out if they ever tried to do anything but help Sir Rodney. When we say ‘blood oath’ here in the Sidhe, we mean it.”
“My bad,” Sasha said, impressed.
“Totally,” Hunter said through a swig of ale. “All right, now that that’s settled, we should talk to Rodney—that is, if he’s, uh, available yet?”
“We’ll rouse His Majesty,” Garth replied, seeming annoyed at the situation. “Rupert can get him to receive guests.”
Sasha gave Hunter a look. “Maybe I should be the one to explain our sudden, unexpected visit.”
“I don’t care who leads the conversation, but why—”
“I don’t have silver in my aura like Hunter,” Sasha admitted, cutting off Garth’s question. “Normal Shadow Wolves can’t, well. bend the truth. If they do, it’s easily detectable in the silver energy of their auras. I was genetically engineered. I don’t have the same limitation.”
“Oh. ,” Garth said quietly, looking from Sasha to Hunter. “Then, by all means, please lead the dance, milady.”
It was not the kind of thing one wanted to admit in front of one’s mate, especially if there were pending issues regarding the veracity of one’s claims that nothing was going on with Shogun. She already knew that this lack of a silver truth barometer in her aura was going to come up in a future conversation with Hunter, but she couldn’t worry about all of that now. What was paramount was protecting Garth’s position within the sidhe and finding out whatever she could on Sir Rodney’s behalf for his own good.
Monitoring the subtle tension in Hunter’s stride as they left Garth’s private chambers to head to the Roundtable Room, Sasha let her shoulders slump. Why was her life a series of extremes, either really jacked up or passionate euphoria? The ping-pong between those two states of being made her head hurt. She could just do even keel and dull right about now.
“I’ll return with Rupert,” Garth said, ushering them past the palace guards and into the huge state room. He waited until the massive round table pushed out a chair to receive Sasha, and then hustled back toward the door. “Please rest yourselves. Hopefully, we will return to you before too long.”
The moment the door closed behind Garth, Sasha’s attention snapped toward Hunter. “Before you say it, let me tell you the answer is ‘no.’ ”
“I didn’t have a question.” Hunter crossed the room and went to stare out the window, giving her his back.
“Yeah, you did. I’m just saying that even though I don’t have silver in my aura, I never lied to you about Shogun, okay?”
“This is neither the time nor place, Sasha. Besides, there are larger issues to consider.”
“It’s because there are larger issues that I want to get this out of the way, all right?” She pushed herself away from the table and dragged her fingers through her hair. “Listen, okay, I admit it, there was a time when something could have happened. But here’s the important fact—it didn’t. And it will never happen. Period. I know that. He knows that. You need to know that.”
“I accept whatever happens, Sasha. I can’t be your warden.”
“First of all, that is probably the first lie you’ve ever told me. You do not accept any of this and I don’t expect you to. Second of all, you can’t be my warden and don’t have to be. but if you are going to let Shogun’s wistfulness for what could have been but what isn’t jack your head around every time you see him sooner or later you guys are going to get into a confrontation that will forever change your relationship. I know you well enough to know you don’t want that.”
Hunter let out a long breath and continued to stare out the window. “No, I don’t want that. But just like there are some stirrings in your gut that you cannot let go, then you must respect that there are some stirrings in mine that are not so easy to eliminate.”
This time she fell mute. What the man said was too true. Her lack of an immediate answer made him turn around and finally capture her gaze.
“You’re right. I accept that and respect that.” She didn’t look away, blink, or stutter when she answered him. “Just remember one thing: No matter what you feel or perceive. remember that I love you.”
Hunter drew a breath as though about to reply, but the large oak double doors opened. Advancing ahead of Rupert and Garth, Sir Rodney strode into the room beaming.
“Welcome! You two are a sight for sore eyes! What a great surprise. What brings you? Not that you don’t have a standing invitation.”
For a moment Sasha and Hunter glanced at each other, and then she swallowed a smile.
“It’s great to see you as always, Sir Rodney. uh, you look well.”
Hunter cleared his throat.
“I am well,” Sir Rodney said, gesturing broadly with his hands. “And you?”
“We are adequate,” Hunter said carefully.
“Oh, come on, old buddy—you are more than adequate with a beauty the likes of Sasha as your mate.” Sir Rodney laughed at his own joke and went over to fully embrace Hunter, who seemed slightly uncomfortable. “Now, really, what brings you to sidhe?”
“We have a bit of distressing news,” Sasha hedged, making Sir Rodney’s smile wane. “We’ve heard that Vampire graves have been daylight exposed, and just this morning Hunter and I saw something. well, not exactly saw something but rather felt something invisible lurking near. It didn’t feel friendly. All of that spells danger where I’m from.”
“Really.. ” Sir Rodney backed away from Hunter and rubbed his jaw with the flat of his palm. “That’s not good at all.”
“No. It’s not,” Hunter said in a low rumble.
“We came to warn you,” Sasha chimed in. “If they think we were all involved, and you know for a fact that we were not, it could kick off a war.”
“Then we need to investigate,” Sir Rodney said quickly. “They already think it was Cerridwen, and she is innocent.”
Sasha cut a glance toward Hunter. “Well. maybe we can do a little digging on everyone’s behalf. Do the Vampires know you’ve allied with the queen?”
Sir Rodney frowned. “What makes you believe that I’ve allied with Cerridwen?” He drew himself up and sent an accusatory gaze around the room toward his staff.
Sasha shrugged. “Just making the assumption because you’ve already concluded that she’s innocent, even though the Vamps beg to differ. Plus, knowing your chivalry, one can only assume that you won’t allow her to com
e under attack if you strongly believe she’s done no harm.”
“Aye,” Sir Rodney said, visibly relaxing and causing the rest of his staff to breathe again. “You see why I say that you are more than adequate, Hunter. With a mate as gorgeous as she is sharp, how can a man have a care in the world?”
“My worry,” Hunter said slowly, “is that tonight there will be blood and we have a very small window of opportunity to find out who actually attacked them and then the more difficult task will be to get credible word to them.”
“What if that invisible thing that lurked around our cabin was some sort of succubus or incubus trying to gather intel for the Vamps during the day?” Sasha looked from Sir Rodney to Hunter. “It felt seriously dark. I don’t know what it was, but I do know that it was watching us and we hadn’t felt anything like that for the whole time we were up in New Hampshire.”
“The fact that it saw us up in New Hampshire is possibly the only thing that might keep the Vampires from believing that the wolf federations were involved in their grave lettings. but to be safe, you might want to tell your local Fae populations to batten down the hatches.” Hunter stared at Sir Rodney. “That is just wisdom, and I would do so before nightfall.”
Sir Rodney glanced at Garth and Rupert. “Send out a call back to the Sidhe to our local Fae. They are right.”
Garth and Rupert bowed and withdrew from the room, their eyes offering a silent thanks to Sasha and Hunter.
“Even though this isn’t your fight,” Sir Rodney said, his tone now more subdued, “and you most likely will not be blamed. we could use your support in helping us find out what’s going on.”
“In for a penny, in for a pound,” Sasha said as they made their way toward the NAS.
“I don’t like it,” Hunter said. “Even though we’re sworn allies of Rodney’s, all of this feels like an ambush.”
“I know. But I’ve got to warn Madison. If these guys start gunslinging magick in the middle of the streets again, then we’ve gotta do something to protect the human population there.” Sasha blew out a long breath as they approached the guard shack on foot. “First order of business, though, is to move my team to the best and closest military facility.”
“Agreed.”
Digging in her back jeans pocket, Sasha produced her wallet and ID for the young soldier in the guard shack. “We need to get an escort to Colonel Madison’s office to meet with him on an urgent matter.”
“Is he expecting you, ma’am?” The young guard studied her ID and then looked at Hunter with a steely glare until he produced his wallet and showed his contractor ID.
“No,” Sasha said with a weary sigh, “but he will definitely want to see us.”
“I should be glad to see you, Captain,” Colonel Madison said, standing behind his polished walnut desk. “But when you show up on my doorstep unannounced and with urgent news, I’m never sure if I should immediately start loading a sidearm or call Washington.”
“Maybe both, sir,” she said, feeling an odd sense of comfort that he’d greeted her by her former rank, totally ignoring her retired status.
The colonel nodded at Hunter and extended a handshake in Hunter’s direction. It was another first, and she watched Hunter step forward seeming a little taken off guard by the unusually warm gesture.
“Please, have a seat,” Colonel Madison said, motioning toward the two leather chairs in front of his desk. “What’s the sit-rep?”
Sasha and Hunter sat, but Hunter simply looked at her to do the explaining. “All right,” she said, blowing out a long breath. “We’ve received intel that the Vampires have experienced daylight grave invasions, making them additionally paranoid and aggressive. They believe that the Fae are the culprits, even though the Fae claim that they had nothing to do with it—and the wolves are innocent bystanders, simply old allies of the Fae. But we have reason to believe that there will be retaliation in the near future from the Vampires, which could spill over into the local human population. I may also need to temporarily put my team out here at the Naval Air Station to keep them out of harm’s way.”
Colonel Madison’s walnut-hued complexion turned ashen as he stared at Sasha. “Then what can we do? If we start blowing away Vamps, they’ll come after innocents for sure.” Panic was evident in the colonel’s eyes as he searched for answers.
“That’s why this is only an advisory update,” Sasha said, glancing between the colonel and Hunter. “If we can investigate quickly and get word to the Vampires that the Fae were not involved in this, then it might make them hold off for a little while. The one thing I am sure of is they know humans weren’t so crazy as to go busting into vamp graves. or at least let’s hope not.”
“If they had been, they’d be dead already,” Hunter said in a blasé tone. “Humans are easy to track from their sweat scent and any adrenaline in their bloodstream. So if it was a bunch of wannabe Vampire hunters or idiot college kids on a dare, that would have been addressed with the first grave that got hit. Therefore, if humans stay out of the way, then they won’t be in immediate peril.”
“So, what do we do—declare martial law again and make people stay indoors at night?” Colonel Madison looked from Hunter to Sasha and then stood, unfolding his athletic six-foot-three body from the chair to begin pacing. “If we do that, it’ll start a panic. If we do that, all the media and crazies that are still down here trying to corroborate the existence of supernaturals will stay and it’ll undo all of the public sanitization we accomplished after the last debacle. I’d have to contact the Joint Chiefs to get clearance to do that, and right now all we have is speculation.”
Sasha and Hunter stood. “I realize that, sir,” she said, stepping away from the desk. “We’ll stay in close communication, but we wanted you to know.”
Hunter nodded. “Our goal is to investigate, get word to the Vamps, and try to keep human civilians out of harm’s way.”
“Thank you,” Colonel Madison said, looking at both of them. “But just to be on the safe side, we’ll get more boots on the ground with anti-Vamp weaponry in the highly populated areas, with orders to protect civilians and clear the streets of pedestrians in the event of open warfare.”
CHAPTER 7
“That went well,” Sasha said in a sarcastic tone as they walked into a shadow on the base. “I think the man ages five to ten years every time he sees us.”
“He didn’t look well at all when we left, but there was no other way but to deliver the facts.”
“Yeah, but remember when we met him? He wasn’t gray at all. Now he’s really salt-and-pepper.”
Hunter shrugged. “It could be worse. It could have all fallen out from the shock or he could be on the verge of howling at a full moon. Remember, he was passed over and left alive by a demon-infected Were.”
Sasha just shook her head as they walked deeper into the misty shadow path. “One day I’ll have to deliver that cheerful tidbit of information to the man over a beer.”
A slow smile crept into Hunter’s expression and it lifted her spirits. It was the first time she’d seen him smile since they’d woken up and started the day.
“Okay, you’re the master tracker,” she said as they came out of a shadow cast by a huge shade tree behind the team house. “How do we find something invisible that cruised us, and more important, how do we gather new information from a Vampire crime scene that’s already been thoroughly trampled through by the Vampires?”
Hunter shrugged. “Why don’t we ask them?”
Sasha placed both hands on her hips. “Be serious.”
“I am being serious.”
She looked at Hunter hard, but then her attitude softened as he nonchalantly began walking toward the front of the house. “That is genius.”
Hunter turned and looked at her for a moment. Everything about him seemed calm, and he spoke as though his suggestion were the most rational thing in the world.
“If one has nothing to hide, Sasha, then it stands to reason that one can go in
as a neutral party and simply state the facts—we heard there were crimes committed against the Vampire Cartel. That is a fact. Peace in the region is in every group’s best interest. That is also undeniable truth. We do not support any group being attacked without cause, even if they are our allies. Very simply, the way of the wolf. We also have reason to believe the Fae whether the good Seelie or the bad Unseelie were not involved, even though we cannot prove it at this time. Also a fact. We can offer to help investigate as neutral parties, especially if it can avert the unnecessary waste of resources and lives. Humans caught in the cross fire are expensive collateral damage and could bring in the human military, which is already panicked and prone to extremes. That is in no one’s best interest. The Vampires know this, even if they don’t admit it to us. They can reject the concept of us investigating, but the question will linger long enough to maybe buy us enough time to learn more.”
“And you just came up with this out of thin air?” Sasha folded her arms, amazed.
“No. I’d been thinking about it all along. ever since whatever I’d chased eluded me back at the cabin.”
“But you never said anything.”
Again he shrugged. “I don’t speak until I’ve fully formulated my opinion or theories.”
She tried not to smile and only narrowed her gaze. For the sake of peace she’d let the quiet dig slide. “’Nuff said.”
“Okay, this is freaky,” Clarissa whispered, pressing her nose to the porch window.
Bradley rang the doorbell again. “This is the fifth psychic’s tarot house we’ve been to and nobody’s home? Is there a psychic convention in California or something that we didn’t hear about?”
“Not likely, and if there was, I would have heard about it.”
Bradley looked at her. “Yeah, but then why didn’t you pick up on this resource outage?”
“I don’t know,” Clarissa said quietly. “I should have felt it, especially if all the area psychics were panicked enough to leave town or go underground. Something is really wrong with this picture.” She turned away from the window and stared at Bradley. “Better stated, something really big and really bad is about to go down. That doesn’t require telepathy to figure out.”
