Silverfall

by McKenzie Hunter

  “It’s the best chance we have. I’ve put out some calls to get some leads.” Picking up a magic reference book, I’d searched through earlier, I showed him an object that looked like an infinity circle enclosed in a bronze circle. “This will undo the demon magic and remove Ian’s immunity to iron if used with a Solomon Stone, which Asher has.” Mentioning the stone that Asher had stolen right from under my nose didn’t evoke the same rage that it had less than a week ago. I reached under my sofa and pulled out the shuriken with Ian’s blood on it.

  “You only have two of the three items you need,” Dudley Downer pointed out.

  “I know. While I try to find the third, this is the best option.”

  Cory made a face. “You can’t get into the Veil without Mephisto. Are you sure he’ll agree to it? He doesn’t seem to be enthusiastic about you returning to it or getting involved.”

  Peter Pessimist was making things worse. It wasn’t going to be an easy task. The thing I was most confident about was taking away Ian’s animancy ability. “I’ll have to convince him.”

  Cory chewed on his bottom lip, worry putting painful looking creases on his face. He stood and grabbed the small wastebasket from the corner and began discarding the supplies used to clean up the dingo bite.

  “You think you can walk up to a shifter and say, ‘Hey, I need to use you as a test subject to make shifters on the other side of the Veil immune to magic, because we aren’t positive it will work’?”

  “What do we have to lose?”

  His eyes widened and he turned away from me. “Are you drinking or smoking the good stuff when you come up with these ideas?”

  He finished cleaning up and went to the kitchen to get a bottle of water from the fridge. He refilled it and took another drink, probably to give him time to come up with an argument. Before he could speak, his text notification beeped. He looked at it and his frown deepened.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. My plans for this evening were canceled.” His attempt to sound indifferent failed.

  “With Alex, right?”

  This would have been their third date or “hanging out” since Cory wasn’t describing it as dating.

  “Did he give a reason?” I asked.

  He shook his head. “I don’t think you should do this,” he asserted. “It’s too dangerous. I know you sometimes manage the impossible, but this is too risky. You aren’t even familiar with the Veil.”

  “Not as dangerous as you think. You know shifters have preferences about where they live. I’m sure Mephisto will be able to get me there. After all, he did live there.” The confidence that I intentionally put into my voice should have swayed him.

  “For Asher! Are you serious? Let them handle this. I have to agree with Mephisto, this isn’t your fight.”

  “I’m not just doing it for Asher or the shifters. I’m doing it for us. For me and you.”

  “What?”

  “Alex is the Northwest Pack’s fourth. Him canceling isn’t because he doesn’t want to see you. You brought Ian here. Asher knew and so did Sherrie. Asher promised to keep the secret, but Sherrie didn’t commit that to me. Nor do I believe she plans to keep it a secret. I’m sure Alex knows. Right now, you are a pariah among the shifters and possibly an enemy.”

  “I can take care of myself.” Cory’s face was alight with anger, and his fists balled at his sides as magic pulsed off him. “It was an accident and I’ll be damned if they make me an enemy over it!”

  Cory liked to believe he was the logical one, but he absolutely wasn’t when he felt he was being falsely accused, his honor was at stake, or someone was accusing him of being reckless with his magic, the very tenets he lived by. I grabbed his arm before he could charge out the door and go find Asher and Sherrie.

  “Asher knows it was unintentional, but that doesn’t change the fact that we have a rogue fae who doesn’t seem to have any weaknesses. I want to take away one of his strengths so he won’t have a pack of shifters at his beck and call.”

  “Do you understand the magnitude of what you’re doing? If you bind them to the shifters in the Veil, they’ll be immune to all magic, not just Ian’s.”

  “I know.”

  “Essentially making them shifter versions of Ian.”

  “No, they’ll still be vulnerable to silver. They will have weaknesses. And they’re still ruled by the full moon.” I didn’t say what I was thinking: Worst-case scenario, if they needed to be reined in, it could be done during that time.

  “Both Asher and the royals tried iron on him. It doesn’t work.”

  “Have we tried runed manacles?”

  My lips pressed into a thin line at Cory’s irrational suggestion. Perhaps runed cuffs would work, but they were always placed on metal that weakened the wearer. Ian didn’t have a metal weakness, and his ability to fly made things especially difficult.

  I was used to supernaturals flexing their power; it didn’t bother me. Showy displays of magic was just another day at the office. Ian, though, was a menace. I needed to stop him.

  “Erin, I think this is a terrible idea. Find another option.”

  “I killed one of Asher’s wolves today.” I blinked back the tears welling in my eyes and looked away.

  He cursed under his breath. Washing his hands over his face, he blew out a breath. Moving close to me, he pressed his hand gently against my cheek, but I found no comfort in it. Because his face spoke volumes when his words would not. It said: You’ve killed before.

  “Is it the shifter’s death you’re trying to atone for?” he asked in a low voice. I couldn’t meet his eyes. It seemed like my life was a series of contradictions and I couldn’t get people to understand that every day I was fighting a battle that I seemed to be losing constantly. I wanted magic. I needed it the way people needed to breathe. The way an alcoholic needed that next drink, and an addict needed that next fix. I battled every day with a body that wanted to betray me. My conscience was in a never-ending struggle between right and wrong, trying desperately to do the right thing.

  Did Cory realize that as much as I loved him, at moments I thought about taking his magic and walking away from it all? So, yes. I was in perpetual need of atonement because I knew my thoughts and I suspected that one day, if I didn’t get a handle on things, I’d kill again.

  “I don’t think it’s atonement. Maybe I’m trying to get karma points,” I said, giving him a weak smile.

  “There are no points for sacrificing your life for them.”

  “What’s that from, the Book of Cory?”

  A bark of laughter filled the room, and when it eased, he placed his hand on my shoulder.

  “I don’t want you to keep taking unnecessary risks in a search for some arbitrary feeling of atonement to right something in your past that can’t be fixed. It’s your past. Let it go.”

  As I debated whether to tell him about what Dr. Sumner suspected, he grumbled a curse under his breath at the knock on my door. I opened it to a pursed-lipped, scowling Madison. She slipped past me without an invitation. Cory was holding his hands out in front of him as if trying to ward off an animal readying to attack. He seemed to believe I was the animal.

  “In my defense, I contacted her when I thought your plan was poorly planned, problematic, and dangerous. Now, I only think it’s dangerous and not well planned. Not much has changed, but I’m feeling ten percent better.”

  “A whole ten percent. Great.”

  That explained his need for the bathroom immediately after I told him what I was considering. Madison was his nuclear weapon that he employed far too often for my taste.

  “How much do you know?”

  Taking out her phone, Madison read Cory’s texts as he found any and everything else to focus on while I glared at him.

  “Good, you know everything,” I said drily. “You can’t talk me out of it.”

  She gave Cory an apologetic look. “I wasn’t planning on it. If you can do this, then that’s one less thing w
orking in Ian’s favor.”

  Wariness of the situation showed in her face. Her responsibility to the royals and her responsibility for dealing with the fragile and tenuous relationship between humans and supernaturals was starting to show.

  “River is really making a case for his ‘riotous and unpredictable shifters and over-powered supernaturals that can’t be managed by STF’ claims. If he finds out about the Veil, I don’t know if I can prevent the fallout.” Making her way to my kitchen, Madison looked at my selection of alcohol and turned up her pert nose.

  Hey, beggars can’t be judgy. I guess if my sister was going to drink on a workday before 5:00 p.m. it wasn’t going to be with cheap whiskey and bottom-shelf wine. I went to the pantry and handed her one of the three bottles of wine Mephisto had sent me, the wine I’d had at his home.

  Her eyes widened when she looked at the label. “Chateau Leoville-Las Cases. When did you get this? How do you even know about this?”

  “She didn’t know about it. Erin has no problem going into the Veil to convince strange shifters to follow her back here, but she takes gifts from strangers, too.”

  “Mephisto is hardly a stranger.” Reflexively I brought my finger to my lips, remembering the gentle brush of his lips against mine. The feelings it invoked didn’t have anything to do with his magic.

  “Not a stranger. What’s tall, dark, and mysterious’s real name?” Cory asked, bemused.

  “Bob.” I flashed a grin.

  “Mephisto is okay with doing this?” Madison inquired.

  “I have to ask him.”

  “So, Cory was right. It’s not quite a plan, yet.” She took a sip from her glass. When she relaxed back against the counter, she smiled and took another appreciative sip. She might have been enjoying the wine, but she had the same look on her face that she had when she was dealing with the incident.

  “I have a meeting with the mayor tomorrow,” Madison told us, refilling her glass. There weren’t a lot of similarities between us, but not adhering to the proper serving size of alcohol was one.

  I didn’t know what to say. What do you say? Good luck.

  “I really hope it will work. It will make my life infinitely easier.” She put a hand up to her hair to fidget with it, then stopped, remembering the mane was gone.

  “Are we sure this will work? The shifters in the Veil are immune to magic, so will Elizabeth be able to cast a spell on them?” Madison asked.

  Cory sidled up next to her and poured himself a half glass of wine then lifted the bottle to ask me if I wanted any.

  I shook my head. If all went as planned with Mephisto, I’d be going into the Veil later.

  After sipping from his glass, Cory finally spoke. “They’re binding shifter magic to shifter magic. Maybe it will work like a software upgrade and repair the patches.” Cory laughed at the absurdity.

  “Can’t be too far off,” Madison offered, but a small smile had settled on her lips as she gave him a sidelong look. “So we’ll be patching the shifters on this side of the Veil.”

  “Oh, that’s what’s wrong with Asher,” Cory said. “His software isn’t quite up to standard.” He narrowed his eyes as he paused to take another sip. “A spell from Mystic Souls brought Ian here, do you think—”

  “Don’t even think about it,” I said, cutting him off.

  By the time Cory left, he still wasn’t fully onboard with me going to the Veil, and no argument was going to change his mind. Doing it without his full support wasn’t going to be easy, but it had to be done.

  Madison closed the door behind him and turned to me.

  “Erin,” she started in a slow voice, “you don’t mind danger. We both know this doesn’t have anything to do with you being fearless.” She gave me a weak smile. “I’m proud of how you’ve been handling things. Do you really see this working or is this . . . you know . . .”

  My history of being reckless was reasonable cause for concern. It was more than being an adrenaline junkie; it fed a need. Lately, I’d been able to control it more than in the past, if you ignored me having to lock my legs around a chair to stay away from Kai, or that weird moment between me and Clayton, or me trying to seduce Mephisto so I could keep his magic. Okay, I wasn’t handling this well at all, but I wasn’t a total failure either.

  “I’m dealing with things fine. I’m better. Dr. Sumner’s really helping a lot.”

  The Sumner lie was a step too far. Madison’s lips pressed into a tight line. “Erin?”

  Shrugging, I said, “Madison, what do you want me to say? I want magic and I know the cost and it doesn’t subdue the desire. I’d never put you through what I did using the spell from Mystic Souls, but I’ll go to the Veil for Mephisto and get whatever he wants to do it.”

  There was a debate brewing in her and she was working hard to keep it to herself. I didn’t need any lectures, warning, or requests for caution.

  “Okay,” she finally breathed out in concession. “Be safe. I’ll be there when you go, if you want.”

  I nodded. She started to head out the door and stopped. “I know you found out about your parents,” she whispered, keeping her back to me as if she couldn’t stand to see my look of anger or disappointment, or both. Madison finally turned and pulled me into a tight hug. It reminded me of one of my mother’s hugs. “I should have told you, but I was sworn to secrecy.”

  “It’s okay.” I had to be okay with it, because I was keeping a lot of things from her too.

  CHAPTER 16

  Mephisto met me with an inquiring look. Peering out into the darkness, he opened the door wider, inviting me in.

  “Two visits in two days. One could get used to this,” he drawled in a deep, silky voice.

  “The gate, is it really necessary?”

  “Of course it’s necessary, Ms. Jensen. What proves to be a minor inconvenience to you is invaluable to me.” Mephisto stayed close, despite the expansive entryway. “You wanted to see me. Is it safe to assume it’s business? Perhaps you’ve considered what we discussed.”

  “My parents aren’t my real parents.” Although the words came out casually, it felt like an elephant had decided to hop on my chest. I thought each time I said it, or thought it, the shock would wear off. The bandage-ripping pain would ease and I’d become used to it. But each time opened the wound anew.

  “Oh,” he whispered. His finger brushing against my hand was a feather touch. I looked down when he took hold of my hand. I took a step back. He was right, there was more between us than magic. Much more. I wasn’t going to explore it.

  Generally, I sucked at impulse control, but with him I would exercise restraint. There was more to him than met the eyes—so much more—and I needed to know what. In a world of horrific gods, of people who survive deals with demons, possess powerful magic, and travel between this world and the Veil, it was smart to learn more about him.

  “I need a favor.”

  “Ah, more favors.” His irritation was apparent. “How may I help you this time?”

  “Technically, you let me see your collection, but I didn’t take anything. So, was that really a favor?”

  He looked at me with marked incredulity. Eh, it was worth trying.

  Without answering, he started down the hall and I just stood there. Am I supposed to follow? Who does that? My clients, that’s who. With the people I dealt with, I was used to eccentric behavior and variations of power moves like this. They walked and expected to be followed without question. My obstinance had its benefits and at times like this was worth its weight in gold. Planted at the entryway, I stayed, as I did with my clients, until he returned.

  “Ms. Jensen, please join me in the Conversation Room.”

  “That’s not a thing, no matter how many of you have it,” I mumbled, joining him in his study. Like all his rooms, this one didn’t lack a breathtaking view of the outdoors. A large bay window offered an enchanting view of illuminated greenery against the backdrop of the dark sky with just a crest of light coming from the
moon.

  A small bar was in one corner. A built-in bookcase took up one wall. Smaller than the other rooms in the house, the room felt warm, quaint, and inviting. I wasn’t sure what I’d expected. Something like a war room maybe.

  I’d prefer the office. That would remind me that I was dealing with Mephisto and our interactions were transactional. He invited me to sit and I dropped into a dove-gray club chair that contrasted with the steel-gray walls. Walls that were very similar in color to the gray of Mephisto’s slacks and shirt.

  He sat across from me with a round table of reclaimed wood between us. I admired the beauty of the craft and the intricacies of the wood and coloring.

  “Kai?” I asked, touching the table.

  He nodded, looking at the table, and showing an appreciation for it in the same manner I had. Concern flashed across his face but was quickly smoothed into a neutral expression.

  Was he concerned that Kai wasn’t adapting to this world? They had similar magic, but Kai’s energy was frenetic, unmoored, raw. Was it because they had to practice restraint to avoid being discovered? Mephisto had magic, but the only time he’d ever used it was in his home, when he repaired my wounds, and in my home, when I borrowed it to go into the Veil. It was obvious that they subdued their magic, masked it when necessary, because I’d felt the full power of it.

  Relaxed in his chair, elbows on the armrests, fingers steepled, Mephisto commanded the room as if he were in his office about to make a deal.

  “What do you need, Erin?” he asked.

  “To go into the Veil. I need to convince a shifter to come to this side so Elizabeth can bind his magic to the shifters here, making them immune to Ian so he can no longer use them in his quest to claim the royals’ position.” I spilled it out as quickly as I could as if that would make it sound less absurd or dangerous.

  Nodding his head slowly, his tongue moved languidly over his lips. I waited patiently for him to speak. The first minute passed quickly; the rest of the time dragged. How long did he need to consider? Was it good that he was taking so much time? At the five-minute mark, irritation flared. I was convinced that he’d given up his right to say no. The justification didn’t make any sense, but it made me feel better to think it.