This just got worse, and I needed to know exactly what type of fae Cory had unleashed and how to put him back in the bottle.
“An all-powered being who can fly and control animals is someone I want to know about. I also want to figure out why he’s doing it.”
Asher wiped a hand over his face. “He shouldn’t be here,” he whispered so softly it was nearly inaudible. “I need to fix it,” he said, walking away from me. I took hold of his arm.
“Asher, I need to know”—I considered telling him that if he didn’t tell me, I was going to recant my story, but I had dealt with Asher long enough to know that wouldn’t work—“I want to help you.” My words rang sincere because I was sincere. I needed to fix whatever Cory had done, especially if it could be linked to us and Asher realized that we had used the Mystic Souls book. I didn’t know if he had put the pieces together yet or even if he would, but I needed to do something about Ian.
CHAPTER 5
“We really have to amend the ‘When you call, I come,’ rule,” Cory complained, folding his arms over his chest before dropping onto the sofa.
“It was your rule, remember?” The pact we had was that before I borrowed anyone’s magic, I would call Cory. Then that warped into each other being the first call for anything and everything. And he was my first call, with the exception of the incident. I had to call Madison for that because she was the only person who could help.
Cutting his eyes in my direction in frustration, Cory gave me a reluctant smile. “I know. I just didn’t know the calls were going to come so frequently and so late at night.”
“It’s eleven, grandpa.”
Waving his hand from his head to his toes, he said, “This requires sleep, exercise, good food, and occasionally a glass of fine wine. I’m not sure what deal you made with a dark lord that lets you function on whiskey, the garbage you eat, and naps, but let me know if it was worth it.”
“I was right. You’re an old soul,” I teased, my chest wrenching at the thought of my mother—or rather, the woman who raised me. No. She wasn’t just the woman who raised me. She was my mother. And my father was my father. They were my family.
“Erin, what’s wrong?”
I gave Cory a forced smile. “I think I know who you released from the Veil. He wanted out and it involves Asher, who will be here in a few. Hopefully he can sort things out,” I said warily, allowing my mind to drift to the worst-case scenario. An Alpha shifter, the king and queen of the fae, and a powerful winged animancer fae—what kind of trouble could that involve?
“We’re going to need magic on this. Probably a lot.”
“For the record, I don’t have an egomaniac or jackass removal spell to help Asher. He might just need a hug from his mommy or something, but hopefully I can help with the other problems.”
The resounding hard knocks interrupted my laughter.
“I don’t think my ego is at a mania level and frankly, being a jackass is underrated. It’s quite fun. There’s freedom in it. I get to brass tacks and no one expects anything more of me. Allows me to be quite efficient and productive with my time. And”—Asher strolled into the room, his ever-present smirk intact—“regarding hugs. I think my mommy doted too much on me. Or that’s what I’ve been told. I distinctly remember little things like ‘you’re perfect,’ ‘the best son any mother could have asked for,’ ‘little angel,’ and ‘a perfect little god’ being said.” The arch in his brow mirrored his smirk.
I hated to blame the mother, but . . .
“Then he was made into an Alpha,” Cory breathed to himself, but Asher’s enhanced hearing made it as audible as if Cory had yelled it. Asher bared his teeth in a smile that contained a hint of warning. The menace directed at Cory bothered me.
Asher slowly turned his attention away from Cory, who was glaring at his back, elevating the testosterone level in the room. “But I do enjoy hugs,” Asher purred, a playful grin replacing the menacing one. He opened welcoming arms.
“You really don’t want me anywhere near you right now. Who the hell is Ian, and how did someone without the ability to use magic magically restrict him?” I asked. Whatever Asher had done to Ian had made him very determined to return. Cory wouldn’t shoulder the full brunt of that blame.
“Like you said, I couldn’t do it.”
“Based on the hate glares he shot at Neri and Adalia during the attack, I’m going to assume they’re your partners in whatever happened.”
Asher swallowed what he was going to say and turned his attention back to Cory, making it apparent that I’d earned his trust, but Cory hadn’t.
“Asher.” My voice dropped to a whisper. “This is a problem. You can’t possibly want a person like that out there. Someone with the ability to control shifters and who has a vendetta against you. Let me help.”
I moved closer to him and he studied me for a long time, his eyes narrowed to a sliver of silver. His ears twitched slightly. That was what I hated most about shifters. Everything was under the scrutiny of their internal polygraph. If he were a vampire, I’d be concerned by the way he was looking at my neck, his gaze dropping to my chest—not my breasts, but the rise and fall of my chest. His gaze finally dropped to the floor.
“Repeat your last statement,” he said. It was a weird demand, but I did as asked.
He devoured the few inches between us, his voice a whisper for my ears only.
“Something’s off,” he admitted.
“With me?”
Fates, his skill wasn’t just peculiar, it bordered on creepy. Did he know that we were somehow involved with Ian being released? Did something about me give it away? Asher’s eyes slid to Cory and then back to me.
“I have no idea how he got out. He shouldn’t have been able to return. I was there when he was extradited back to the Veil. I couldn’t see it,” he said in a hollow voice. I became hyperaware of his intense observation of me and Cory. “When the spell was performed, he was there one minute and the next, he was gone.”
Several awkward moments of silence passed.
“My pack will be affected,” he said, mussing his hair as he ran his fingers through it. Stopping, he directed his full attention to me. “I know we still have problems, but I trust it won’t influence how you handle this. I need to know you will do whatever you can to help me.”
When it came to his pack, he lost all pretensions, leaving a person raw and desperate to do whatever was necessary to protect them.
“Of course. I don’t want this guy on the street either. If what he displayed today is an indicator of what he’s capable of, it definitely needs to be handled.”
Asher regarded me for another long moment before he moved his head slightly into a nod. Then he took a step back and looked at Cory; it was apparent Asher didn’t want him there. He’d have wanted him gone even more if he knew Cory was responsible for Ian’s release.
“If magic is needed, Cory will be involved. He can be trusted,” I said.
Asher paced the floor, perhaps to give him time to edit the story he was about to reveal.
“I was assured he couldn’t cross the barrier.”
“Barrier?” Cory asked. I shot him a look. Cory realized his mistake and snapped his mouth close.
“The marks on him work like an electronic monitor. Once we put the markings on him, he couldn’t cross.” Asher wasn’t telling us anything we didn’t know. “He’s been here before and pulled the same stunt. He’d created an army of shifters and was attempting a coup to take Neri and Adalia’s position.” Asher shrugged. “I don’t care about fae politics. As far as I’m concerned, he probably couldn’t be any more of a pain in the ass than they are. Neri and Adalia are arrogant, pretentious, and morally questionable when it comes to the fae and the protection of their position as royalty.”
I shot Cory a quelling look before he could point out the pot/kettle situation.
“He returned four years ago,” Asher went on. “I attempted diplomacy and requested he make a binding blood a
greement that he wouldn’t use his animancy abilities, but my proposal was rejected.”
I was going to go out on a limb and assume the “diplomacy” was a thinly veiled threat that if he used those animancy abilities, he would live to regret it. Based on the gleam and predatory sharpness in Asher’s eyes and the dark minacious look that flashed over his face at the recollection of the conversation, I was sure I was correct.
“And when that meeting didn’t go as planned?” I inquired.
“We took other measures. I was prepared to pump his ass full of iron and drag him back to wherever he came from.” His lips lifted into a snarl. “But the bastard’s immune to iron. A fae who isn’t weakened by iron. What the hell exists in the Veil? A person without any discernable weaknesses is too dangerous to exist.”
Then why does he? I wasn’t under the illusion that a threat like Ian would have been allowed to survive. If the pack hadn’t sought to eliminate him, the fae definitely would have. It didn’t make sense.
“Neri was concerned about his immunity. Then he remembered warnings he’d heard about a protective spell being placed on the people in the Veil. Neither he nor Adalia can see the Veil.” He let out a dark, mirthless chuckle. “They probably didn’t believe it existed until Ian showed up. Neri said he heard rumors about a penalty for taking their life—loss of magic. We sought out the Woman in Black. She didn’t confirm it but wasn’t able to disprove it. No one wanted to take the chance. She was able to send Ian back and put a spell on him restricting his return.” His gaze slipped in my direction, knowing the stories that accompanied visits to her.
“What did she want in return?” I asked.
“A sample. One from each species. Hair and blood.” He must have been more desperate than he was willing to admit.
“Then we send him back again, using the same spell.”
“It’s not that simple. The Xios was destroyed in the process. That’s the price for using it. And I don’t know if there is another.”
“What did it look like?” I asked. I never took any names at face value when it came to magical objects because they often went by different names, and if you were dealing with a witch and mage, they would definitely call it something different. Dealing with them and their petty squabbles was exhausting. It was like the difference between Coke and Pepsi. You’re the same thing!
Asher scrolled through his phone and showed a picture; the plum-colored object with its irregular curves and shapes reminded me of a porcelain lotus flower. He scrolled to the next picture, which showed a pile of dust.
“It was destroyed.”
“Did you all keep the remains?”
“I considered that, but part of it was swept away with Ian so it wouldn’t have been able to be used. Ian didn’t have those marks when he was sent back to the Veil. I assume the remains of the Xios are what made them.”
It was always a good practice when destroying a magical object to shatter it and remove a piece so it could never be made whole again. Even if ground into dust, the remnants should never remain together.
“I need to do some research, but I plan to send him back and ensure he doesn’t return,” I said.
The hardness in Asher’s eyes expressed eloquently that he’d prefer an irreversible option, and it was only the spell on the Veil that was keeping him from it.
I made sure Asher was out of the building to prevent him hearing anything I said. When I closed the door, Cory jumped to his feet, his long legs devouring the small space as he paced the room.
“I did that. I’m responsible for unleashing that man on the city and doing that to Asher’s pack. Neri and Adalia . . . the fae.” He cursed under his breath, scrubbing his hands over his face.
I took his hands and held them and looked him in the eyes. “And no one will ever know,” I assured him. The pseudo confidence in my voice made it seem like I had a plan. I didn’t. Cory’s brow remained furrowed. He was a powerful witch and he shouldn’t have feared the shifters. But covens were small and not set up like packs. You mess with one coven, that’s it. You have one coven angry with you. You screw with one pack and you suddenly have hundreds of enemies.
I liked to poke the bear, wolf, cheetah, lion, or whoever, but I wouldn’t knowingly pick a fight with one, and showing my disappointment with Asher after his betrayal could have ended badly for me. But he kept it to himself. Even if I’d nicked him . . . or stabbed him, depending on who told the story or which officer was filling out the police report, Asher would never mark me as an enemy of his pack. He was too arrogant for that. Most of them were.
“We’re going to fix this,” I said, “and no one will ever find out. Chances of it being discovered are slim.” Not as slim as I’d like, especially since my returning the Mystic Souls to Asher coincided with Ian’s appearance. Would he piece it together?
“How?” Cory sounded as anxious as he looked.
“We need to send Ian back to the Veil. If it was done once, it can be done again. I just need to find a way.” There was always more than one object that could be used to accomplish a goal. It might require more magic, adjunct objects, and be a Herculean task, but it could be done. I hoped.
“What about the dragons, Mephisto, even Asher? They all collect magical objects, so they should have something,” Cory suggested.
“And the STF. We have options.”
The options weren’t nearly as abundant as they seemed, though. The STF had to justify the use of a confiscated magical object, and that started the whole bureaucratic process, which often took longer than finding the object, even if I could use Madison’s connections. I really didn’t want this to be traced back to Madison. River would be skulking around, trying to find a way to pin it on me. My stay at the Stygian wasn’t satisfactory sentencing for him. And I got it. It wasn’t for a lot of people.
I had to find a way to get Ian back into the Veil and reactivate the restrictive marks on him. It was doubtful that Asher had any useful objects, although he’d freely give them up if I could rid him of Ian. The dragons might have something. If they did, it would prove I was right to strike up a business association with them after discovering they were responsible for the theft of several expensive objects from some very high-profile people. People they didn’t want as enemies. I could purchase the object from them. Mephisto would be harder because he was a collector and unwilling to share. He’d have to be my last option.
But before I could find who had the objects, I needed to figure out which ones I needed.
CHAPTER 6
“What’s wrong, Erin?”
Madison’s voice was tight, the weariness in it leading me to believe she already knew what I was about to tell her.
“I know what came through the Veil, when Cory did that spell.”
“Let me guess, does it involve the shifters?” Her sharp exasperated breath made me wish I had stopped Cory from doing the spell. “Someone’s driving the shifters mad?”
“Mad? No. Someone’s able to force them into shifting and then controls what they do. He’s a fae.” I shared everything Asher had told me. It was met with a string of curses, some in French, many in English, and a few that were a mélange. After the first ten fucks, I lost count.
It wasn’t dealing with the shifters that bothered her. Neither they nor their lawyers bothered my sister. It was the fae. She was a fae, so technically Neri and Adalia’s subject. It was a peculiar dichotomy, but all the species dealt with it. The vampires’ lives were easier because they were their own subculture. They rarely worked for agencies or in the community. If they worked at all, it was usually for their own pleasure.
Shifters tended to work for companies owned by their corporation. Most of their business was in security contracts and real estate. It seemed like they had a contingency plan to separate from the community if needed. When they came out, they weren’t easily accepted, so perhaps they were waiting on humans to turn on them again.
“I hoped it wasn’t anything like that. I heard about wha
t happened at Kelsey’s, and of course, River definitely thinks you’re involved. I’m dealing with a situation right now.”
“What situation?”
“One at Hagard’s Park.”
Turning the car around, I headed toward the park while giving Madison the details about Ian, including Neri, Adalia, and Asher’s part in Ian feeling aggrieved.
“If he was trying to get back at Asher, why did he have them attack you?” Madison asked.
“I don’t think it had anything to do with me. It seems like he’s trying to force their hand. Imagine rogue shifters attacking people and the Alphas unable to control it. A fae being responsible. Humans won’t see the nuances. They’ll blame us all.”
Madison released another string of curses in blended French and English. Some made absolutely no sense. Fuckbuster isn’t a thing, Maddie.
“Neri and Adalia are okay?” she asked. Genuine concern overlay her words as she spoke about them with a level of reverence I wasn’t able to understand. It was the same way I’d heard vampires speak to Landon, the acting Master of the city, since the actual Master had lost interest in living among humans and supernaturals. We were nothing more than the “unremarkable,” a denotation given to humans and supernaturals alike. As the years passed, he found us less deserving of his time and no longer entertaining to watch. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought he believed we existed to entertain him and had failed to do our job. That’s the problem with living hundreds of years, life becomes mundane.
But Madison’s situation was different. It wasn’t just reverence; she was Seelie fae, technically under their rule, and tasked with serving both the royals and the STF.
“It gets worse. Ian has an immunity to iron. Asher believes there’s a spell that protects people from the Veil. There seems to be a penalty that goes with that. No one knows the specifics. What if it’s something as draconian as if you kill him you forfeit your life?”
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