Discord (Bound to the Fae Book 1)

by J. Kearston

  She climbs out and laces her fingers in mine. “A girl has to hold onto some of her mysterious nature, Dorian. If I spilled all of my secrets, what would keep you intrigued?”

  Pulling her to a stop, I place a lingering kiss on her lips. “Trust me, Cambria, you don’t need any tricks to keep me interested. Just keep being you.”

  She thumps her head on my chest. “It’s hard though,” she admits. “I’m putting a lot of effort into pretending things are okay because I saw how much it fucked with Atlas and Lucien’s heads during our trip to the castle. I don’t want them to worry any more than they already do. I’m used to this sort of routine, but they aren’t.”

  I tug her down to sit beside me on the steps leading to the front door. “It screwed with all of us, Cambria, let’s not pretend otherwise. But I know I speak for the others when I say we would prefer you to be honest than lie and say you’re okay for our benefit. It’s okay to not be okay all of the time.”

  She braces her hands behind her and looks up at the night sky, her fingertips brushing against mine. “I don’t think I know how to handle it any other way,” she admits. “There’s the Cambria that’s afraid to speak without being spoken to, the one that loves to sing and dance with the humans. And there’s the one that likes to play pretend, to throw my entire self into any role and forget who I am for just a little while and be happy. There are so many versions of myself depending on where I’m at and who I’m around, that I’m not sure I know which one is the real me and which ones are just faces I hide behind at this point.”

  The door creaks open as Atlas comes out to sit behind her and she leans back into him without hesitation. “You’re making things too complicated, angel. Everyone’s that way, and I mean everyone. We act a certain way based on the situation we’re in. Even Luce is a different man at work than he is at home.

  “Don’t worry about sparing our feelings and pretending to be alright if you aren’t. You’re stuck in a shitty situation that seems endless, but nothing’s permanent. We’ll figure something out eventually and until then, take the moments where you can find them. You’ve spent enough of your life miserable without ruining any trace of happiness by overthinking too.”

  She tilts her face up to him and he bends down to kiss her forehead. Lucien pulls up to the house, slamming his car door and I jolt from the sudden hostility, internally cursing myself and trying to settle my reaction. He comes storming up to the house with hard eyes and a clenched jaw. I see Atlas wrap his arms around Cambria’s collar from my periphery, so I imagine she startled in a similar way.

  “Get in the house, please,” Lucien deadpans and I look up to him in confusion.

  “What’s going on?”

  He turns to glare a little ways down across the street. “That car was here the last three days and I had an associate run the plates. Sure enough, the car belongs to someone that works at Victor’s company.

  I blanch, realizing how careless we were. Luce warned us after the party to be careful, but that was a couple of weeks ago and we’ve been falling back into old habits.

  “I thought you were mostly worried about him catching you with me and turning it into a scandal?” Cambria asks softly, rising to her feet with the rest of us and heading into the house.

  Once inside, Lucien rubs his temple. “It’s more than that, love.” He gently tugs her away from Atlas and embraces her. She’s stiff for a moment before melting into him, relaxing. “He hasn’t let this go. He’s been digging into death records, trying to find out who your family was and my ties to them. The lack of information is only making him that much more interested. He can’t find any trace of you which makes him think he’s onto something big that he can use to destroy my reputation and my business.”

  Cambria bites her lip. “I’m so sorry. If I had realized how much backlash would come from it, I never would have said a word that first day in your office.”

  Lucien bends down to kiss the top of her head before ushering us further into the house. “I don’t blame you, what’s done is done. But it means I’m going to need to call in a few favors, get you some paperwork and a plausible explanation as to why your information was concealed.”

  Cambria’s eyes fly open as an idea strikes her. “I was joking before, but it could completely work. Witness protection! Faked my death, new name, new life.”

  I blink a few times before shrugging. “That...actually has some merit.”

  “It sounds so dramatic,” Atlas disputes.

  Lucien tilts his head as he thinks about it. “Actually, it might work. I’ll make a few calls and join you guys for dinner later, alright?”

  He heads to his office and closes the door, leaving me to cook while Cambria and Atlas fall into a discussion of the quickest ways to repair the damage to my store. They only have their preliminary assumptions to base anything off of, unaware of the full extent of the damage yet, but I adore them for it.

  When Luce finally emerges over an hour and a half later, he has a smile on his face. “I think you’re going to love me for this one when you see it,” he tells her, sitting in his chair at the table.

  “Bold of you to think I love anything besides myself,” she retorts instantly with her spoon still in her mouth. “Ow!” Atlas flicks her arm, playfully scowling at her. “Go on,” she prompts Lucien, narrowing her eyes at Atlas, but Luce shakes his head.

  “I wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise and miss seeing your face. It’ll take about a week to get everything in order, but it should be solid enough to withstand scrutiny.”

  He starts eating happily, and that in itself is as strange of an adjustment as living with a fae. Lucien’s been happier and more relaxed than I knew he was even capable of since accepting Cambria into his life. He smiles more, even laughs. He still gives off a dangerous air when we’re in public, slipping into the cold persona he’s accustomed to, but at home? He’s practically like any other living, breathing human.

  “I can’t imagine how much something like that cost,” Cambria voices.

  Atlas pins her with a look. “Don’t worry about that. Consider this for all of our benefit. We don’t want anyone digging so deeply they expose you as a fae and get us into trouble. The last thing any of us want is to be dragged off because we weren’t able to keep the secret under wraps.” He takes another bite.

  “Besides,” Lucien smirks, “if this plays out anything like I imagine it will, it’ll be the most fun I’ve had at work in ages.”

  ***

  Two days later Cambria, Atlas, and I are back in my shop. Luce got the insurance agents to expedite my claim, so someone came to have me sign papers and issue a check. It’s not the first time I’ve been impressed by the amount of pull he has, and I doubt it will be the last. My phone chirps in my pocket and I pull it out, opening the attachment without thinking about it.

  And promptly hit back four hundred times while simultaneously trying to mute it, shut it off, and pray for a swift death.

  The elderly agent looks down at me reproachfully as I shove it back in my pocket, finish the papers, and he leaves with a scoff. As soon as he’s gone I march over to the bathroom where Atlas and Cambria are already busy making repairs.

  “Why? Why now?”

  She blinks up at me innocently. “Why what, Dorian?”

  Atlas looks confused, pausing in his efforts to rip up the destroyed laminate flooring to get at the subfloor underneath. I groan, mildly embarrassed.

  “Why’d you choose now to send me a sex tape?”

  Cambria busts out laughing. “It only just came through? I sent that before we left the house this morning and figured you were mad, so I was giving you some space before I apologized. If it makes you feel better, I acknowledge I should have asked first, so I deleted it immediately after sending so that you’d have the only copy. You can delete it if you want and pretend it never happened.” She slips her phone out of her pocket and offers it to me. “You can even check that I’m not lying.”

  I don�
��t take her phone and Atlas is snickering at my expense. “You got it when that stuffy old guy was standing there, didn’t you?”

  I nod once sharply. I’m not a prude by any means, but I’m not as open as Cambria is with all of this stuff. All of my experience has been behind closed doors and I’ve never done something like this before. I’m not mad at her. Honestly, it’ll probably be part of my nightly routine for a while. I was just blindsided and that always leaves me a little unsettled.

  Cambria senses my discomfort and frowns. “I’m sorry, Dorian, I really should have checked first. I just thought it’d be a fun gift, but I forget humans aren’t as open as I am. I’ll do better.”

  I crouch down and kiss her. “It was fantastic and I am one hundred percent on board with filling my computer with Cambria featured porn. I was just caught off guard, but I should expect you to always keep me on my toes.” I straighten up and smile down at her. “Maybe give me a heads up next time first though? What if I had said something embarrassing?”

  She sighs in relief. “Then you could watch it on repeat and cringe for the next twenty years or edit it out? How about next time I get a maybe not so brilliant idea, I run it by Atlas or Lucien first to make sure it’s not going too far?”

  She stretches her hand up in offering and I shake it before pulling her to her feet. “Sounds like a deal. I better get back to cleaning if we want any hope of making progress today.”

  Atlas snorts. “Yeah sure. Cleaning. We all know you’re going upstairs to watch the full video and jack off ‘till you black out.”

  I leave the room laughing, feeling far better than when I walked in.

  I wasn’t planning to before, but I could spare twenty minutes.

  Chapter 20

  Atlas

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” I shout.

  Lucien glowers at the crowd of people as they bump into us. “We need to preserve our new cover and locking her up in the house would just make us all look suspicious. We need to give time for the paperwork to get pushed through before Victor makes his move.”

  Cambria’s hair is back to normal, the multicolored strands fitting into this crowd far more than I anticipated. It would actually be very easy to lose sight of her and that shouldn’t send as much anxiety through me as it does.

  For fuck’s sake, she’s been on her own for how long? She doesn’t need us to hover over her, but I can’t help but feel overprotective. She went through so much shit alone, suffering in silence, and I just want to lock her in the house so nothing can hurt her anymore.

  I’ve gotten so used to one of us being with her at all times because of the marks that I’ve taken it for granted. That first day she called Lucien when he was a five minute drive away, but what if he’d kept going? Was she in pain even then? How did she know? I never asked her, but I should have. If we do get separated, how long until something happens to her or us?

  “You look ready to hit someone,” Lucien points out casually, giving me the opportunity to talk if I want.

  So much has changed between us over the last month, blurring the lines we didn’t cross before. He and I will never be as close as he is with Dorian, but it feels less like an employee/employer relationship and more like actual friends now.

  “Just running through hypotheticals in my head,” I admit.

  Dorian is sticking close to Cambria as they race ahead into the street fair that’s taken over several city blocks. We decided to walk because parking was a nightmare and it wasn’t far from the house.

  Lucien huffs. “Can’t say I blame you. I haven’t been sleeping well for the same reason.”

  We work through the crowd to catch up to them browsing through the many stalls selling everything under the sun. Lucien beats me to it, making his way towards her and slipping the pocket knife out of her shorts, putting it back on the table before anyone notices.

  “Why can’t you behave?” he chastises. “You have money, I just paid you.”

  I snicker as a few people turn to blatantly eavesdrop, Luce not even realizing how terrible he’s making this sound.

  Cambria bites her lip, warring with herself because he’s making it so easy, but has already caused enough of a headache with her games. “It’s like I’m just asking to be punished or something.”

  Lucien narrows his eyes in warning while Dorian tugs her hand and leads them away from the crowd salivating over the drama and off into a different section before any more fuel is added to the fire.

  “Seriously though, he has a point. I get stealing stuff when you’re desperate, but you’re not anymore.”

  She shrugs. “Old habits die hard? Maybe I’m just a kleptomaniac.” She starts towards some of the game stalls, but I gently catch her elbow.

  “It’s something more than that, isn’t it? Just spit it out, no judgment.”

  Her eyes are an onslaught of emotion, flitting between vulnerable, nervous, and settling on hard determination. I watch as she wars with herself before coming to a decision, and despite the fact that I asked, I’m not sure I can handle many more revelations.

  “You’re right.” She tugs us off to the side into someone’s empty front yard off of the sidewalk to speak low without people overhearing. “Like Dorian pointed out, I soak up human adoration and attention in a similar way as when I go home to recharge. Now that I haven’t been working at the club, I’m only able to feed off of you three. I want to actually last the three days before having to cross over again, and Lucien’s been so busy with work, that I’m poking the bear a bit to get his attention.”

  Her eyes are hard, already preparing herself for being yelled at and admonished, but deciding to be honest anyway. All that ‘attention whore’ garbage the fae drilled into her head has really messed with her, and the way humans regard people that constantly try to be the center of attention isn’t much better. The fact that she’s admitting it to us though, and waiting to see if we’re going to condemn her in the same way, stings a bit. I thought she realized by now that we aren’t those kinds of people.

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  Still guarded, she side-eyes me warily. “What was I supposed to say that wouldn’t come off as needy and annoying?” She’s lashing out, trying to defend herself, yet no one is attacking her. I just wish she could see that as clearly as I do.

  “Exactly what you just did. Now that we know, we can help.”

  She blinks at me a few times and Lucien reaches out to gently stroke a knuckle down her cheek. “It may be unconventional, but Dorian was right to urge us all together. I get so lost in my own head sometimes that I don’t see when I’m being an asshole. I’m glad you had them to give you what you needed while I was busy, but I’ll try to do better. Alright?”

  Cambria just stares, dumbstruck and thrown off kilter, the conversation not going the way she anticipated. Dorian bumps his hip against hers to snap her out of it.

  “It’s just like having a succubus for a roommate, and I don’t know about the other two, but I am one hundred percent here for it. Suck me dry as often as you need,” he teases and we start heading back into the crowd, veiling our words more just in case.

  Cambria smiles softly, the icy armor she wrapped herself in thawing rapidly. “Noted. When we get home, I’ll jump online and see what I can find.”

  “Huh?”

  She turns to wink at me over her shoulder. “I take my roles very seriously, good sir.”

  As she shares a look with Dorian, I put two and two together, guessing they do some pretty weird role playing behind locked doors. Though I doubt the kinky little thing ever locks them; she’d likely not bat an eye if one of us decided to join them.

  Not the time or place for those thoughts, Atlas.

  Cambria curses suddenly, practically shoving us between two stalls. I stumble at the abruptness before getting my wits about me and start scanning the area for threats.

  “What is it?”

  “Fae. I should have expected it,” she sighs, annoyed.


  Lucien peers out behind the edge of the tents. “You think they followed you here? We should head home.”

  He’s already reaching for her, but she puts a hand on his arm to calm him down. “I’m not that important, Luce. It’s a festival. A good chunk of fae refuse to ever set foot over here, but there’s just as many that come to fuck shit up or get fucked, remember? Events like this usually draw a few interested ones to the area.”

  Dorian grimaces, his previous excitement drained away. “Should we, I don’t know, try to fence off the clearing so no one else stumbles through the ring that shouldn’t?”

  I snort. “We aren’t the supernatural police, D. We have enough fae on our hands to deal with already. We don’t need to get involved with anyone else’s business.”

  Cambria voices her agreement. “And I hear tales that I’m a handful as it is.”

  “Isn’t that the damn truth?”

  I really should have expected the kidney shot she gives me for that one.

  “Like you have any room to talk, stalker. It’s your fault you’re in this mess in the first place,” she reminds me.

  “You say that like I regret it.” I kiss her cheek and her anger deflates.

  Lucien clears his throat. “Still, it might be better to head home before they see Cambria and start something. I wouldn’t put it past a fae to reveal themselves and find a way to blame us for it.”

  I scratch the back of my head. “Sucks, but you’re probably right. Votes?”

  Cambria releases a tired breath. “Yeah, let’s go home and call tonight a wash.”

  Dorian interlocks their fingers as we start heading home. “I have a better idea, come on.”

  A little over an hour later we’re settled into a hotel room and changing into swimsuits in our room.

  “I can’t believe you’d waste the money on a hotel when we live a few miles away.” Cambria shakes her head in disbelief as she finishes slipping into her swimsuit. As much as I would adore seeing her in a bikini, the one piece suits her better.