Wolves and Roses

by Christina Bauer

  Elle winks. “This, I know.”

  Philpot starts toward me. “I need to give my girl a good-bye kiss.” There’s that predatory look in his eyes again.

  Come on, Saturday.

  “Not now,” says Elle. My best friend knows all about the no-touching rule. “Bryar has a mouth full of cold sores. Long story.”

  I point to my lips and shake my head no. “Yucky, honestly.”

  “It’s all right,” says Philpot. “I understand. Happens to me all the time.”

  My stomach twists with nausea. Happens to him all the time? Gross. “See you later.”

  Elle says something about the markets opening in Asia and ushers Philpot out into the hallway. The minute they’re gone, Elle leans against the closed door. “All the people in your life? They suck. Hard.”

  “I know.”

  “No, I don’t think you do know. We keep having this talk, and you keep not wanting to see the full scope of the nastiness here. There’s something wrong with that whole scene.”

  All of a sudden, I’ve never felt more exhausted. The last twenty-four hours with no sleep come crashing over me. “Look, I know you’ve got a point, but I’m way overwhelmed right now. Can we save this chat for later?”

  “You aren’t going to address the thing with your aunties and Philpot?”

  “No.”

  “I won’t drop this. You realize that, don’t you?”

  I point to the ladder set onto the wall. “Sleep first. Boy-talk second. Crazy aunties and Philpot a distant third.”

  “So, we’ll talk eventually. Fine.” Elle steps over to the ladder and pauses. “I love you. You know that, right?”

  My heart warms with her words. “I do. And I love you, too. Thanks for lying your ass off to get me that internship.” I grin. “Although I can’t help but notice you got one for yourself too, along with another line of semi-illegal income. You know Alec will also pay you an insane salary, right?”

  “It’s a win-win. My specialty.”

  “Well, whatever it is, thanks. I really appreciate it.” My voice shakes a little as I talk. What would I do without Elle?

  “Sleep well, Bry. I wasn’t lying about starting on Friday. I talked to Alec.”

  I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. “You already set this all up?”

  “Sure, I did.” Her big blue eyes narrow. “You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, you know.”

  “Oh, I want to.” Excitement zings through me. “I can’t wait to start my internship.” And the fact that Knox promised to show me something about the Denarii while I was at LeCharme? That has nothing to do with my level of happy here. Nothing at all.

  “Cool.” With that, Elle climbs up the ladder and into her loft bed. I turn, ready for some sleep action on the futon. That’s not what happens, though.

  A man now stands in the room. He’s tall with a wide-brimmed hat and snarky smile on his handsome face. He reminds me of that guy from Gone with the Wind, but with salt and pepper hair. Clark Gable, that’s it. The unlit stub of a cigar sits in the corner of his mouth. All of this is way surprising and even more alarming. But it’s not the most dangerous part of this situation.

  That would be the fact that this guy is surrounded by more fairy dust than I’ve ever seen in my life.

  Now, I’ve seen my aunties cast a spell a few times in the past. When they do, they use a little sprinkle of silver dust. But this guy? He’s positively surrounded by a cloud of it.

  So. Strange.

  Magic of that level? It isn’t supposed to exist anymore. He could cause some serious damage. And that is definitely something to be worried about, especially when it comes to fairies. They aren’t exactly known to be predictable.

  That said, I haven’t lived my whole life with fairies for nothing. I know you have to play it cool around them, so I give the stranger a casual wave. “How did you get in here? Elle had like a thousand wards on this place. No one is supposed to transport in without permission.”

  “I’m not no one.” He grins, and I guess that answer is his way of saying that he’s powerful enough to do whatever he wants.

  “Who are you?”

  “Forgive my manners, sugar.” He’s got a lilting Southern accent. “I’m Colonel Mallory the Magnificent. Call me Colonel Mallory.”

  Every inch of my body goes on alert. Oh, no. This is the same guy who cursed me with my sleeping sickness…the very spell that is supposed to end on Saturday when I turn eighteen. And now, he’s here again?

  I can’t handle another curse, so I decide to call in the big guns. “Elle, you want to come down here and meet our guest?”

  “Your friend can’t see or hear me.” Colonel Mallory flicks his fingers, and more silver particles tumble to the floor. “That’s why I need all this fairy dust. Keep her asleep and happy, so to speak. She’s a powerful one, you know that?”

  “Powerful how?”

  “Ah then, you don’t know that.” Colonel Mallory shakes his head. “I shouldn’t have stayed away for so long. A mistake on my part, clearly.” He straightens the lapels of his dark jacket. “That said, there’s no point dwelling on the past. Right now, you and I need to have a little chat.”

  I can only stare at the guy. “What?”

  “You caught my name, right? Colonel Mallory the Magnificent.”

  “Yes, you’re the one they call Mallifi—”

  “No, that’s not me.” Colonel Mallory flashes his palms in the universal gesture for stop right there. “And never, ever call a fairy by their true name. Well, not unless you want them to show up. You were about to summon my cousin. Take my advice. Don’t.” He lowers his voice. “Makes her peevish.”

  “Uh. Okay.” This is happening. The fairy who cursed me is actually standing in Elle’s condo. What should I do? I’m so stunned the words seem to form on their own. “You look like Clark Gable.”

  “No, sugar. He looks like me.” Colonel Mallory pulls the cigar from his mouth. “You caught up with me yet? Gotten your sweet self over the shock? Because I got a lot to chat with y’all about.”

  The little wheels of my mind start spinning again. I’m on the ball once more, and I know the deal. This guy is a creep. “You ruined my life.”

  “Wrong.”

  “What? You cursed me with this sleeping sickness.”

  “No, I saved you, sugar.” Colonel Mallory raises his hand. My inhaler is clasped in his fingers. He tosses it in my direction. “You’ll need that.”

  The world is starting to look a little hazy around the edges, so I take a puff of medicine. This definitely can’t be happening. I mean, how long does it take before sleep deprivation causes you to hallucinate? Not long, I’d guess, especially if someone tried to kill you along the way. I fold my arms over my chest. “This is a dream. A really, really bad dream. You, Colonel Mallory, are an illusion.”

  “I’m not, and you know it.”

  I take another puff of my inhaler, just to be safe. “In that case, I’m losing my mind.”

  “You’re perfectly sane. I come here with good news for you, sugar. What I gave you is not a curse, but a blessing.”

  “Fairies don’t do blessings.”

  “Not as a rule. But you and I, we’re different. One of a kind. And I’m here to tell you that you’re about to get back everything you lost.”

  “I lost something?”

  “More like had it placed under my protection.”

  “Huh. Are we talking about how I lost my life because of the spell you cast on me?”

  “No, sugar. Something else.”

  My mouth falls open. “Something other than being transformed into a freaky Magicorum when I should have been a regular human.”

  Colonel Mallory laughs so hard he tilts his head back and almost loses his hat. “You were never a regular anything. That’s why I came to visit y’all tonight after so many years. Your life is about to turn quite strange. See, you’re coming up on your eighteenth birthday, and your powers are starting
to shine through.”

  A chill prickles across my skin. “Powers? I’m human. My aunties have powers.”

  “What a pretty pack of liars they are.” Colonel Mallory sets the cigar back in his mouth and gives a white-toothed smile. “You wait and see, sugar. Those powers will show. Or more likely, break through.”

  Every cell in my body goes on alert. “Break through how?”

  “I think you know that already. I locked up all your powers for you, good and tight.” He taps the center of his chest. “Should feel like a lockbox deep in your soul.”

  A chill crawls up my neck. The container in my soul. I feel it every time I’m about to have an episode. I always thought it was Colonel Mallory’s curse trying to break out and freeze me… But could I have been wrong? Did Colonel Mallory merely take my magic and lock it up to help me somehow?

  I shake my head. Colonel Mallory is a fairy and a liar. There’s no way I have magic. And I don’t need to listen to any of this garbage. I’ve lived with his crazy curse my entire life. There’s no way he can come in here and pretend that his freezing spell is some kind of blessing.

  “I don’t have any powers.” My voice takes on a desperate edge. “I’m human. The only reason I qualify as Magicorum is because I was adopted by my aunties and cursed by you. Once I turn eighteen, the curse is over. I won’t need my aunties to give me medicine. I’ll be a normal human who has a normal life…normal high school…normal everything.” My dream seems to be vanishing before my eyes. “You’re totally lying.”

  Colonel Mallory only grins once more. “I see. Well, when you’re ready to learn about your powers, you just say my name. I’ll be close by.” With that, he takes the unlit cigar from his teeth. When he breathes on the end, it ignites.

  Wait…did he just light a cigar with his breath?

  Of all the things that Colonel Mallory has done, that is by far the strangest.

  I point right at his face. It’s rude, but I can’t help it. “How did you do that? Fairies do not conjure fire. That’s a shifter skill for…for…” I can’t bring myself to say “dragons.”

  “You’re quite right, sugar. Think on it a spell. You’ll figure it out.” Colonel Mallory tips his hat. “Good night, sweet Bryar Rose.”

  The silver light of fairy dust slowly disappears. Along with it goes Colonel Mallory.

  He’s gone.

  Vanished.

  I shake my head. He was here. The man who cursed my life. For a long time, I can only stare at the spot where he stood.

  What. The. Hell.

  This situation has gone way over the edge. Clearly, I need some rest. I quickly set up Elle’s futon and slip under the covers. It takes me a while, but I eventually fall asleep. By the time I wake up again, I’ve almost convinced myself that seeing Colonel Mallory the Magnificent was all a dream. Almost.

  Chapter Ten

  Knox

  Long after Bryar Rose is gone, I keep the Mustang idled at the curb outside Elle’s condo. My wolf’s voice keeps growling inside my head. “Follow mate. Guard mate.”

  I force myself to sound calm as I reply in my mind. “Bryar Rose is fine. Did you see her take on that Denarii? She can handle anything.”

  “Guard mate.” That’s a wolf thing. Male or female, we never leave our mates alone if we can help it.

  Closing my eyes, I keep talking to my wolf in my mind. “She’s not our mate.”

  My wolf replies with an inner howl that’s so loud, it makes my ears ring. “Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaate!”

  I angrily thump my palm against the dashboard. This time, I speak out loud. “Cut it out. You’re making me crazy.”

  His wolfy voice sounds all snippy this time. “Mate.”

  This is a cluster. Bryar cannot be my mate, although there’s no convincing my wolf of that fact. Something’s got to be done. And at this point, there’s only one guy who might be able to help me.

  Azizi, my adopted father.

  Az taught me all there is to know about being a werewolf. He’s also my only source of info on being a warden. Not that there’s too much to know about that, considering the Book of Magic has been burned up for ages. Still, what there is to learn is all in Az’s head. He lives at Lucky’s bar in Brooklyn, so that’s where I’ll go right now.

  I peel away from the curb with one thought. Screw the speed limit. I need to get to Lucky’s. There aren’t many shifters left in the world, which makes Lucky’s bar incredibly rare. This place is werewolf-only.

  It doesn’t take long to reach Brooklyn, park the Mustang in a nearby garage, and get myself over to Lucky’s. On the outside, the place doesn’t look like anything special. The entrance is on a street corner with a small sign and a flight of stairs going underground. If you didn’t know it was there, you might miss it. Once you get inside, though, that’s when you see the difference.

  Everyone’s eyes glow with golden light.

  Gold. That’s the shade of shifter magic. It’s what empowers us to change forms. Sure, we can tone the shine down—while either in wolf or human form—but that’s only to keep regular humans from getting twitchy. Or cracking out their cameras for selfies with a real Magicorum, which is worse. Plus, keeping a low profile ensures that the Denarii stay off our backs. Those guys kill folks with magic like nobody’s business. But in places like Lucky’s, we can be who we are.

  Once inside, Lucky’s looks the same as always. I’ve been coming here for years. It’s a dimly lit space with low ceilings. A familiar patchwork of small, round tables covers the floor. Random junk has been nailed to the walls. It’s all stuff from New York mostly, like old bagel flyers and bicycle wheels. The back wall is lined with bottles of booze. This time of the morning, the place is relatively quiet. About a half-dozen regulars hang around, drinking coffee or finishing off some booze from last night’s party.

  I scan the floor, looking for “howlers,” a.k.a. humans who’ve become werewolf groupies. As much as I complain about humans who see us as oddities for keepsakes and photos, the howlers are worse. They’ll rip off their undies and chuck them at your face. Some weres like that, but it’s not my thing. Last time the howlers found our place, I had to call in some favors with Alec to erase a bunch of memories and place terror spells by all the doors. Now, any humans who get near Lucky’s should freak out and run in the opposite direction. I scan the bar carefully. There are no howlers around today. Looks like Alec’s spell is still holding. He is one amazing wizard. Not that I’d ever tell him that to his face. Guy’s got a big enough ego as it is.

  The second I start crossing the floor, the room falls silent. Not again. This happens every time. It’s the fact that I’m a warden. Power comes out of my pores or something. It’s nice in a fight, but when I just want to find Az? It ends up being a time suck because I can’t walk across a room without gathering a crowd.

  Someone turns around, and I wince. A werewolf named Joy is here. She’s someone whose attention I really don’t want. Joy is pretty in a “big blonde hair” kind of way. I’m not sure she owns any clothing that isn’t made of denim, either. Weres are fashion forward, as a rule, but Joy totally missed that memo. She dresses like a Bon Jovi groupie. Even worse, we have a history. There’s no way I want to talk to her now, so I keep my head down and march toward the bar. Joy stays put, which is awesome. She’s hanging in the corner with some other were. Hopefully, that won’t change.

  I hit the bar and wave over Thad, the bartender. He’s a young guy with a baby face, freckles, and a buzz cut. He’s also new, which is why he gets the crap shifts like early morning. He strides over with his easy grin.

  “Hey, Knox. You here to see Joy?”

  Damn it. “No.”

  Of course, Joy only hears what Thad said, not my reply. From the corner of my eye, I see her glance in my direction.

  “Definitely not here for Joy.” I say that a little too loudly, hoping she’ll get the hint.

  “What about Constance or Hope?” Joy’s from a family of three werewolf daughters, which
is crazy rare. Her parents gave them all straight-arrow names, so of course the girls turned out wild as hell. If I ever get to name a girl cub, I’m calling her Killer or something. That way, she’ll end up being a nun.

  “Not here for the ladies. Is Az up?” Azizi always hangs out in his room out back. My parents died when I was a cub, so Az is the closest thing I have to a father. In fact, he moved here from Cairo to be near me and help. The reason? Az was the previous warden for shifters. Now that my powers are growing, he’s getting weaker. There can only be one of us at full steam at any point in time. These days, Az is looking and acting older, which bums me out.

  “Yup. Az is here. He’s always here.” Thad can be a little thick sometimes.

  “I mean, is he awake and all that? I need to talk to him, but I don’t want to bug him.” When I was little, I’d crawl all over Az and we’d brawl for hours. Now, he rarely shifts out of his wolf form, and that’s only to use the john before going back to sleep.

  “Oh, I get it. Yeah, he’s awake.”

  Joy starts to make her way over in my direction. Uh, no. I give Thad a quick wave. “I’ll head back. Make sure we’re not disturbed, yeah?”

  “You got it.”

  I speed to the back door before Joy can intercept me. Sweet. That girl’s like a homing beacon sometimes. Not that it isn’t partly my fault. I hooked up with Joy once. We didn’t get too far, but it was still a major mistake. Just one minute into kissing, and Joy licked the side of my face. Total turn-off.

  Before Joy can reach me, I escape through the back door, head down the cramped hallway, and enter the third entrance on the right. Azizi’s place.

  Az’s HQ isn’t so much a room; it’s more of a makeshift cave. Az had the paint stripped from the walls and floor, so everything is just concrete. I find him hanging out in his wolf form, per usual, and curled up in the corner. Other than the chipped black paint on the bathroom door, the place is totally bare. I wish he’d let me hang up a picture or two, but that’s Az. He’s gone wolf.

  The door closes behind me with a soft click. Az opens his right eye. The iris is a milky shade of gold. “Good morning, my son.” Az has a deep rumble of a voice that I love. It totally reminds me of happy times as a kid. Az is also one of the few shifters who can talk in his wolf form. It’s a side effect of being a warden. My wolf can talk, too, but I avoid it. I don’t need anything else bringing attention to my powers.