by Jayne Hawke
Copyright Jayne Hawke (2020) ©. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents and dialogue are purely from the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is fictionalised and coincidental.
Licensed material is being used for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted in the licensed material is a model.
Cover art by Deranged Doctor Design
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Forty-Eight
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One
Blank spaces have no energy. Poems aren’t written by witches. The three of us, Rex, Elijah, and I, stood in silence in the blank space of their sparring room, all magic having been cleansed from it after the possible mirror spell had witnessed Elijah’s and my little moment, and waited for someone to make a move. The pack was holding their place because they didn’t want to embarrass themselves against an opponent they didn’t yet understand. I was holding mine because I didn’t want training injuries to destroy the delicate ritual of integration that had been forming over the past couple weeks.
“If you couldn’t handle me, you shouldn’t have entered the ring,” I said, and Elijah relaxed, a wry smile beginning to spread over his face.
He thought I was bantering, which meant he had time to play love interest. My fist broke his nose and the follow-up split his lip, turning his pretty smirking face into a mask of tragedy before he could react. That was a lesson in keeping his guard up he’d never forget, not with his second looking on.
Rex stepped in with a playground roughhousing roundhouse kick, a tae kwon do move that didn’t suit him, and I let it catch my jaw in order to use the time to press home and deliver an uppercut to his solar plexus that could as easily have left him sterile. And he knew it. His abs were stronger than I expected, the muscle enough to make my strike nothing more than a body blow, and he punished me for expecting him to double over. He made two quick jabs to my face and a right to the body that I felt in my bones.
I stepped back, catching my breath, learning my own lesson in respect. Before I could take a second breath, my new lover followed up on what must have been a familiar move from his beta and made a sweeping kick at my leg. It caught me in the calf and hurt like hell, but it wasn’t quite strong enough to take my legs out from under me. I stumbled to my right, almost catching my balance before Rex took up the initiative again and put in another right against my balance that finished my trip to the ground.
The two of them leapt at me like wolves, Rex falling into a knee strike to the stomach while Elijah made a Hong-Kong-Action flying straight punch towards my chin. I deflected it and, instead of letting it slap harmlessly into the mat, I folded his forearm so that he overbalanced instead of catching himself. When he brought his other hand up to catch himself, putting his entire weight on it, I lashed out hard and snapped the elbow, driving a forearm strike into his chin as he fell over my head onto his back.
His beta still had his weight on my stomach and held me there as he turned and began to rain punches down on my face, a stunningly fast barrage fuelled by his frustration at seeing his alpha injured. I fell limp and he leaned down, his wolf coming forward as his face partially transformed, snarling into my face as saliva dripped down, triumph in his voice. Taking the opportunity, I grabbed his jaws, one in each hand, and used the leverage of their elongation to snap them open beyond their limits with a sickening crunch. He threw himself backwards with an ugly ululation of agony and I followed him over, pinning his useless lower jaw to the side and raising my fist for a throat strike that would put him down for good.
I looked over my shoulder to see a half-wolf Elijah rushing from me several feet away and smiled.
“He’d be dead before you took another step, Big Bad Wolf.”
Elijah let out a snarling roar of frustration and bowed his head, recognizing the end. As I stood, his eyes rose to challenge mine, narrowing and darkening. He had more in him, and he was going to show me when the time was right. Rex, on the other hand, was going to be in boot camp for a month. This was part of pack life, I’d been told. Everyone kept everyone else strong, and when there was weakness it was purged with fire. Today, I was the fire.
The wolves had knocked back a few healing potions to help their natural shifter healing along while I was in the shower. Rex was sullen, keeping his eyes down and his muscles tight. He’d live. Castor was practically bouncing around the kitchen with a broad smile on his face. He’d settled into pack life very quickly and looked far brighter for it. I was still coming around to the concept.
It was nice having Elijah nearby, but it had been a long time since I’d spent that much time around that many people. The coven hadn’t been all that welcoming, so it was an adjustment period. I reminded myself that it’d only been ten days.
Breakfast was a selection of meats, eggs, more meat, and some incredible French toast. I ignored the bacon, sausages, and black pudding in favour of more French toast. The pack, on the other hand, stuffed their faces with what must have totalled out to a whole pig. Even Liam, who was the smallest of the bunch, managed to eat six sausages, and there wasn’t a scrap of fat on any of them. I needed to start joining them on their runs if I was going to maintain peak conditioning.
“I haven’t stolen anything in a while,” Jess said idly.
“When an acquisitions job shows up, you’ll be the first to know,” Elijah said.
Jess pouted and crossed her arms.
“You know the deal. No thefts unless we have a good reason,” Elijah said.
Jess rolled her shoulders.
“But I’m bored.”
“Then go and find us some clients.”
I tried not to laugh as the cougar shifter huffed.
I’d expected to be drowning in clients after news spread about us taking down the best thief the city had ever known. Unfortunately, whispers had spread about the local lord stepping in, and that had made some cautious. I didn’t need to work, but the gods knew it was boring as fuck when I didn’t. I was tempted to join Jess on that little crime spree. There was a thrill to stealing things right out from under someone’s nose.
Two
I’d refused to give up my office. Elijah had rearranged everything at his, but it felt like too much too fast. It was one thing to hang out and do some work there, but to actually use it as my real office was some
thing else entirely. The pack was great, I was enjoying their company, but I needed some time and space.
Settling down into my chair, behind my desk, I allowed the familiarity to wash over me. I’d worked my ass off to get that office, and I was proud of it. It hadn’t been easy working my way up through the ranks within the city. I was a nobody back then, secret shadow magic or no. Castor had helped a lot, but when it came down to it I put the hours in.
My phone rang. I assumed it was a new client. Of course they’d come to me instead of Elijah. They knew who the better choice was.
“Good morning, Lily Harper here.”
“Do you find lost cats?” a young voice asked.
I bit back a deep sigh. This was not the client I was hoping for.
“No, I’m afraid I don’t.”
The kid on the other end sniffled.
“Have you tried Matt Fielden?”
“No, does he find cats?”
I had no idea. I just knew he was cheap and I didn’t like him.
“He sure does.”
“Thank you!”
And they hung up.
I began twiddling my thumbs as I looked around. It was the first time I’d been ten straight days without a client in years, and I hated it. Damn the local lord for scaring people off.
“I see you’re drowning in work,” Elijah said from the door.
“Oh, absolutely. I solved two cases already this morning.”
He grinned at me and made himself comfortable in the chair opposite me.
“The pack’s working to remind people that we’re the best they have. I heard that Cassie already lost two clients due to ineptitude. And India was nabbed by the mercs for a theft. She didn’t even steal the item she’d been commissioned to steal!” Elijah said with a laugh.
I rolled my eyes. It took a lot more than people realised to be good at what we did.
“People will come flooding back to us soon,” I said.
“You mean to me, and the pack. We are the ones who solved the finfolk bullshit after all.”
“Fuck off did you.”
He leaned forward with a feral grin.
“Oh, really. Are you saying that it wasn’t Liam who made a key breakthrough?”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
“I’m saying that without my magic you wouldn’t be sitting in that chair right now.”
“You know, I don’t think I’ve seen you do much of anything without your magic.”
I laughed.
“You forgot this morning real quick.”
His nostrils flared and he leaned back with his lips pressed into a thin line.
“Rex was arrogant.”
“And you weren’t? Can you honestly tell me you didn’t see some little witch and nothing more?” I challenged.
He shook his head.
“You’ll never be just a little witch to me, Lily. I saw your strength before anyone else.”
I was pretty sure Castor would argue with that, but I wasn’t going to nit-pick.
My phone rang. I braced myself for another bullshit call.
A grin slowly spread over my face. It was a real job. I’d just been hired to acquire a necklace laced with sun magic straight from the fae plane.
“I just got a job,” I said.
“Where are we going? Who are we taking out?”
I laughed. The assumption was so brash.
“We?”
Elijah grinned at me.
“You’ll need someone to cover your ass.”
“I managed just fine on my own for years.”
He stood and turned towards the door.
“Save yourself the energy; we both know you want me there.”
I was tempted to tell him to go screw himself. The idea of turning this into a challenge, a competition, won out.
“We’re retrieving a necklace tonight. The site is a fancy old house in the country about forty minutes away. The current owner is a human with far more money than sense. I bet I can get the necklace and be out of the house before you can set eyes on it.”
Elijah grinned at me, teeth sharpened and eyes yellow.
“You’re on.”
It was time to remind the wolf who was really the best in town.
Three
Jess had given me a sour look when I’d told her that she wasn’t joining us for the acquisition. I’d made a mental note to check my bed for dead mice and bunnies before I got into it later.
The client had sent over a picture of the necklace in question. It was quite a simple elegant thing. When I’d been told it was worth a couple of million, I’d assumed it would be some awful gaudy monstrosity so that everyone knew the person wearing it had that kind of money. Instead, it was a small simple yellow stone which slowly pulsed on a slender golden chain. It still wasn’t my thing, but I could appreciate it as being quite restrained.
Elijah watched the world go by as I drove. He’d picked up his keys and assumed he was driving, as he’d gotten used to. As it was my client, I made a point of driving. The wolf was a lot of fun to be around, and I was growing to care for him more than I probably should have. That didn’t mean I was going to sit back and let him run everything.
We pulled up by the side of a narrow road with tall hedges on either side. The house we were sneaking into was five-minute jog through the woodland just up the road and over a seven-foot-tall stone wall. Nice and easy. Elijah had dressed all in black with military-style boots laced halfway up his calves. I appreciated the way the trousers hugged his narrow hips and well-formed ass. He flashed a grin at me before he took off up the road.
It was on.
I tugged on the life magic from the surrounding trees and the air magic all around us to give myself a little extra speed and plenty of oxygen running to my muscles. The wolf might have had a head start, but I wasn’t going to lose. We reached the big stone wall at the same time. Woody ivy had grown over the wall in some places. The vine had damaged the great stone blocks in places, helping to form hand and foot holds.
Elijah walked back a little and got a running start before he vaulted over it. I scrambled up and landed running. Wrapping the shadow around me to stay hidden, I pushed myself as hard as I could go. He had the advantage of the wolf side, but I was a damn good climber. He was going to have to break in through the front door, whereas I’d spotted a balcony with an open door I could slip into.
The old house was built of pale silvery stone with roses growing up around the doorway. Highly manicured lawns wrapped around the square building with gently sweeping rose beds breaking up the sea of green. I preferred something a little wilder, myself. The manicured thing just didn’t do it for me.
Elijah shot towards the back door. He had more sense than I’d given him credit for. I threw myself at the wall running up alongside the balcony. There were no lights on inside. I reached out with my magical senses, trying to pinpoint the life magic within. There was only one person that I could feel, and the gentle ebb and flow of their life magic said they were fast asleep. This was going to be an easy win.
There were plenty of hand and footholds to quickly scale the wall and silently land on the generously sized balcony. I remained close to the wall and used air magic to ensure that my footsteps wouldn’t make a sound. Peering inside, I saw a bedroom with a bed big enough for four or five people. It even had one of those Princess canopies and four posts. My mind slipped to sinful places thinking about the uses Elijah and I could put a bed like that to.
Snapping myself out of it, I wrapped the shadow tighter around myself and moved slowly and smoothly. If the shadowy shape that I was moved too quickly, the person might spot it if they woke up. Elijah was into the kitchen downstairs. I felt his life magic move into the confines of the house.
The client had said this human was arrogant, but they might as well have had a death wish given I hadn’t come up against any form of security system yet. An older woman with silver streaks in her hair was fast asleep in the middle of the bed. The
silk sheets were pulled up beneath her chin. She let out a soft snore, and I began looking around for a safe or somewhere someone like that would store the necklace.
Frowning, I saw what looked suspiciously like that very necklace right there on display on the vanity unit surrounded by perfumes and make-up. This was far too easy. Remaining still, I reached out trying to find the magical trap that just had to be there.
The system was finely woven. I almost missed it the first sweep. There was a slight change in the texture of the magic in that area. The necklace was a trap. The second someone touched it, earth magic would wrap around their arm, holding them in place, before an alarm screamed.
Now to find the real necklace. Closing my eyes, I reached out and tried to feel the sun magic. Elijah was coming up the stairs. Time was ticking.
A soft warmth called to me from the door next to the vanity unit. The dark wood looked to be far older than I was with swirls of pitch black running through it. Not daring to touch it, I slipped into the room beyond and found myself in a thief’s dream. The attempts at security wrapped around the hundreds of expensive items of jewellery were flimsy at best.
Snapping the threads of magic around the necklace, I slipped it into my pocket and returned to the room to grin at Elijah. He narrowed his eyes at me before I ran out to the balcony and leapt over onto the lawn, using air magic to soften my fall. He wasn’t an idiot. He wouldn’t fall for the fake in the bedroom.
I hoped.
Four
“There’s a good reason why there are cat burglars and not wolf burglars,” Jess said smugly when I walked in.
Elijah growled at her. That only caused her grin to widen.
“She has you there,” I taunted.
“It’s ok, boss, you don’t have to be the best at everything,” Jess said in a blatantly fake soothing tone.
I could feel Elijah desperately wanting to say that I cheated with the shadow magic.
“Everyone has their strengths and skills,” he finally said with a shrug.
At least he wasn’t being a dick about losing.
