by Lexi Blake
“Well, I’m as surprised as you, Kelsey.” Quinn stood beside his partner, his dark head shaking. “Daniel didn’t bother to mention it to me. I would have told Albert to hold off on the soufflé. It’s very delicate and the timing on serving it has to be precise. It’s likely ruined now.”
Donovan rolled his blue eyes, and I might have laughed because sometimes Quinn sounded like a nagging wife. I might have laughed, but I could still see Trent standing in the background. He had a gun visible on his belt. I had no doubt whom he would use it on.
“I planned a perfect meal to get back in her good graces,” Quinn complained. “Do you have any idea how long my goddess will rage at me if I don’t get this girl to like me, Daniel?” Quinn’s green eyes turned to me. “I’ve basically been on parole since you left. Zoey was extremely angry. She actually blamed me and Daniel for you fleeing the country.”
I had to admit, as jealous as I could be of the queen, she was awfully likable sometimes.
“She cut me off for two weeks.” Quinn sounded like a boy who’d had all his toys taken away.
“I got cut off for a month, Dev,” Donovan shot back, looking irritated at how the conversation was going. It was obvious to me he wanted his partner to shut up.
Quinn didn’t get the message. “Well, you’re too stubborn, Dan. You have to grovel when she gets in that state. I’ve found that getting me on my knees puts me in the perfect position to…”
“Dev,” the king barked through clenched teeth. “Guest.”
The faery shrugged. “She’s practically a wolf. You know they aren’t prudes.”
I wasn’t. It didn’t bother me at all that Quinn wanted to talk about screwing his wife. If he was a friend, I’d have a long conversation with him about how good Marcus was at oral sex, but he wasn’t and he wouldn’t care. I didn’t really have anyone to talk to or giggle about my suddenly awesome sex life with. A vision of Liv Carey swept across my mind, but I shoved it ruthlessly down. I wasn’t ready to deal with her or Nate or my mom. I’d talked to Jamie, my oldest brother, on the phone several times. That was about as close as I wanted to get to my family.
“She was raised human. Treat her like it.” Donovan turned from his partner, focusing on me, and there was an apology on his face. “Would you like to finish your lunch with Dev?”
I saw an opportunity in that face. I sighed and let myself look down, like I’d been properly chastised. What I wanted to do was beat the shit out of both of them. I would settle for getting the hell away. “I’m not hungry anymore. What’s the next thing on my schedule, Your Highness?”
Quinn’s face fell. I suspected his wife had told him to make friends or else. “But I had a lovely meal planned and then I was going to show you your rooms. The apartments are beautiful. I connected two units and completely renovated the bathroom per your trainer’s instructions. I understand you need a peaceful setting.”
“I’d rather see my office, Mr. Quinn,” I replied. “I’m jet-lagged and I just want to get through the day. I want to be able to go to my cell and be with my boyfriend.”
“It’s not a cell, Kelsey,” Donovan insisted. “There are no bars on the doors.”
“I can come and go as I please?” I found that hard to believe.
Donovan’s face fell. “No. You can move around the complex all you like, but I need to know when you leave and where you’re going.”
“Then call it what it is, Your Highness. A cell,” I said, knowing it would make him feel guilty and therefore more amenable to what I was about to suggest. “I would like to see my office and meet my assistant. If Mr. Wells wouldn’t mind?”
The Brit smiled. He was a dapper gentleman and he held out his arm. “I would be delighted, dear. I suspect I’ll be seeing much more of you. The king requested I spend some time here. Am I taking over her training?”
Donovan nodded shortly, his brows knitting together in a defeated expression. I was frustrating to him. I got the feeling the king preferred to be the good guy, and I constantly put him in a position to play the opposite role. “Yes, she needs an academic. I would love a shot at training her myself, but I doubt she would allow me to do it. You’ve trained Hunters before and you don’t have a companion.”
I put my arm through his and he placed his hand over mine. He sighed and I knew he felt the sensation, too. Marcus had explained it as something like being on the same frequency. An academic’s brain worked differently than the other classes, and for some reason it harmonized with mine.
“I do have a mistress,” Wells reminded the king.
Donovan shook his head, his jaw tightening. “Then don’t sleep with her, Hugo. She has a boyfriend. Marcus managed to keep his hands off her. I don’t understand this whole connection thing.”
“Because you’re not an academic, Your Highness,” the British vampire replied.
The fertility god was back. “Daniel, it’s a little like a drug, the connection between trainer and Hunter. I don’t understand how it came about, but it serves an important purpose. Academics form close bonds with the females they take to their beds. Kelsey would be able to feel the emotion from her academic lover. It teaches the Hunter that she’s desirable and lovable. It trains her to be able to accept love and affection from others. It’s extremely important. She’s dangerous if she doesn’t have close connections to others. It’s why I advised you to allow the Italian to train her. He wanted her the moment he saw her.”
Daniel smiled sadly. “I think there have to be reasons Marcus chose to leave her alone. Your host has done an awful lot to push Marcus as far from our circle as he can.”
“He will have to accept it one day, but for now, perhaps it is best Marcus doesn’t watch Evangeline grow up. It could be…disconcerting later.”
“Yeah, I know,” Donovan said. “I’ll miss the hell out of him though.”
The faery wrested control of his body back from the fertility god with a deep frown, as though he hadn’t appreciated the conversation. “We don’t have to worry about it. Now Kelsey, feel free to look around. Hugo, her office is on the fifth floor. Justin Parker is going to be assisting her, but he won’t be up until nightfall, which is almost thirty minutes away. I’ll let Angelina know to send him up to the office. He has all the information you need on your hours and the generous salary you’ll be provided.”
I nodded as Hugo was finally able to lead me out of the dining room door and into the hallway.
“What was all that stuff about Evangeline?” My curiosity was growing about the feud between Quinn and Marcus. I wished the fertility god had kept talking because Marcus was mum on the situation. “That’s their baby girl, right?”
Wells nodded. “She’s the biological daughter of the faery prince and the queen. She’s also an extremely bright companion. She’s almost as bright as her mother, probably will be as she matures.”
A lot of stuff finally made sense. “Quinn thinks Marcus will want to take her as a companion one day.”
“I suspect so.” There was a hint of chill in his voice. It wasn’t rude, but he lowered my hand and walked beside me without touching me. His next question had a hint of disdain to it. “Is your lover a supernatural creature?”
He was upset with me about Marcus. I hid my smile as we walked toward the elevator. “Yes, he is.”
“And how was Marcus when you left him?” It took everything I had not to giggle. He was worried I’d ripped Marcus’s heart out. I had a vision of Marcus forlorn and heartbroken over little old me.
“Asleep.” It had taken me several minutes to force myself to leave him. He’d looked beautiful sleeping peacefully in my too-small-for-both-of-us bed. We’d had to cuddle, and this morning I hadn’t wanted to leave the comfort of his body behind.
Wells stopped in the middle of the hall. “You left your trainer without even a good-bye? How heartless are you, girl? Perhaps I should tell the king to train you himself. If you cannot form a bond then there’s no purpose in bringing me into it at all. I woul
d only find myself involved with a creature who cannot love.”
“Would you?” I’d wondered about this for a while. Before Marcus and I had run off together, the king had talked about another academic training me. “If you trained me, is it inevitable that you would fall for me?”
I’d felt an instantaneous connection to Marcus the moment I saw him. While I felt the spark when Hugo Wells touched me, it was a small thing compared to what Marcus did to me.
Wells crossed his arms over his big chest and I felt the weight of his disappointment. “Perhaps not. I’ve trained three Hunters over the years. One of them was too old when we found her. She’d been through too much and I couldn’t reach her. She was cold. There was no way to touch her or form a connection. It was one of the most heartbreaking relationships of my life. I have no desire to repeat the experience. As I told the king, I have a mistress who I care about. I will not ruin my relationship with her for a woman who couldn’t even accept a man like Marcus Vorenus.”
I got in the elevator and Wells reluctantly followed. I pushed the button for five and grinned up at the vampire. It was fun to tease him. “Well, he is a large man. He can be rather intimidating the first time you see him, but I promise you I accepted him just fine.”
The vampire flushed slightly as he stared down at me. It reminded me that though Donovan might be a modern sort of man, most vampires were products of their times. Hugo Wells was slightly shocked I would speak that way, but he was like Marcus. Academics are extremely tolerant. “They didn’t even ask you his name, did they? The king and the prince assumed they would get their way.”
“Nobody but my uncle has asked me,” I admitted. “I’ve only been gone for a few months and my training has been…intense. I spend every minute of the day with my trainer, and when I sleep he’s with me, too. I’m not sure how they think I picked up a lover along the way.”
Hugo Wells sighed, smiling with a relieved expression. “What is the name of this boyfriend you light up over, dear?”
“His name is Marcus,” I said with a happy sigh. “And I doubt he’d ever let you close enough to train me. He does that personally. He’s also the tiniest bit possessive.”
“I can imagine. I’m pleased to hear it, dear. It will be good to have him back with us. Henri Jacobs is here, too. It’s been a long time since we three old academics got together.” The elevator door opened and Wells gallantly held out his arm again. I slipped my hand through it and we walked down the hall. “I hope Quinn doesn’t give him too much trouble.”
“He isn’t on the Council anymore. He’s only here as my boyfriend and trainer. Quinn will have to deal with it. I’m not giving him up.”
“I hope it’s that easy. Quinn is a funny fellow. He likes to get his way and he can play dirty to get it.”
I saw the door to my office and told myself I could handle Quinn. I wouldn’t let him come between me and Marcus. He’d already cost me Gray. I wasn’t giving up another man I loved because Dev Quinn didn’t like him. That faery would discover I could play as dirty as he could.
Chapter Three
My office was a lovely three-room space. It shared the floor with several other businesses serving the supernatural community that had sprung up in the Council’s compound. As we walked toward my office, I noted I shared space with a therapist, a doctor, a dentist, and a lawyer. A stunningly handsome man with pale-blond hair and blue eyes was coming out of his office as Mr. Wells and I walked past.
“Good afternoon, Felix,” Wells greeted the man who smiled openly.
He appeared to be approaching forty and wore a sport coat over his slacks and dress shirt. It was a testament to Marcus’s flair that I considered the man walking out of the therapist’s office to be somewhat casual.
“Hugo, good to see you,” the man said. He studied me for a moment and then held out his hand. “I suspect you’re Ms. Kelsey Owens. It’s an honor to meet you. I held your father in the highest regard.”
I shook his hand, wondering if I would ever get used to the fact that my biological father had been someone people valued. Apparently the simple fact that I was his daughter bought me some respect with a lot of people. It wasn’t a feeling I was used to. The man I’d grown up believing was my dad was neither respected nor loved. “It’s nice to meet you. I guess I should point out I’m not my father. I have an appointment with you next week. I’m sure my father wouldn’t have needed a psychotherapist.”
Wells and Doctor Felix Day both broke out in great wails of laughter. The blond shrink finally wiped his eyes with a shake of his head. “I have known few people who could have used some time on my couch more than Lee Owens. Just because he was a loyal and brave man doesn’t mean he wasn’t completely insane. I look forward to discussing it all with you over the next few months. See you soon, Kelsey.”
“It appears you already have a client, dear.” Wells nodded toward my office at the end of the hall.
The vampire’s grip tightened on my arm as I glanced down the hall and saw a woman in a pretty yellow skirt and white sweater standing outside my door. She looked lovely, but then Liv always did.
“Not a simple client then? I can feel your emotion. You’re very angry with that woman. Take a deep breath. Acknowledge the emotion without letting it get the best of you. It’s all right. I’m with you. You won’t be forced to do anything you don’t like.” The vampire’s hand gently pushed the sleeve of my sweater up and his thumb rubbed soothing circles across the skin on my wrist. He pushed a sense of calm toward me and I accepted it. It helped me think with a clear head.
Act. Don’t react. My life had become a series of psychiatric homilies. Acknowledge the emotion so it can’t get the best of me. I remembered a time when I acknowledged the emotion by drinking a bottle of tequila and pretending it didn’t exist, like the rest of the human world. Of course, that was before I realized I had a violent, bloodthirsty she-wolf sharing my soul, and she loved to react. So I took a deep breath and promised I wasn’t going to fight. I didn’t need to. I won by simply staying calm.
Liv turned toward us and her eyes lit up. “Kelsey, they said you were coming back, but I didn’t quite believe it.”
She walked toward us, her heels clacking on the hardwood floors.
Everything about Olivia Carey was delicate and feminine. She was a witch of moderate power and I’d met her in high school. I’d been an outsider all my life, the weird kid no one really wanted to be around. Growing up, I’d only had my two brothers, Jamie and Nathan. Jamie was six years older, so he had taken the role of protector. Nathan had been my playmate. The man who raised us had been a hard, violent person who despised my existence for reasons I only so recently understood. It had been difficult to make friends under those circumstances. Liv had been the first person outside of my brothers to take that chance.
Of course, she’d also been the person who offered me up to the king on a silver platter. Rather than giving me a heads-up on the whole “you’re a freak and the king wants to put you in a cage” front, she kept her mouth shut and encouraged me to walk into the cage on my own.
“You look great,” Liv said with a wary smile.
She looked fragile, like she hadn’t slept much lately. It struck me that Liv was the type of woman the king would likely sit down with and discuss her troubles and find out how he could help her. He would treat a woman like Olivia with respect and kindness. He wouldn’t scream at her and slap leg shackles on her to see if she’d turn from Jekyll to Hyde for him. I wasn’t the girl men opened doors for or sought to take care of. I suppose that was why I’d immediately fallen for the two who’d done those things for me.
I turned my chin up to look at my escort. I focused on keeping my emotions buried under a nice protective wall. The last thing I wanted to do was upset Marcus. I’d managed to shield when the king had tested me. I wasn’t going to upset him over this. “Could you take me to my rooms instead, Hugo? It’s been a long day. I think I’d like to take a nap and wait for Marcus.”
>
Liv’s lips turned down as she turned from me to the vampire. “Kelsey, please. I need to talk to you.”
As for Hugo, his eyes narrowed as he glanced from Liv to me. “I read your file, Kelsey, dear. This is the friend who betrayed you?”
“Yes,” I replied. “I would prefer to avoid her.”
“You can’t avoid me forever,” Liv said stubbornly.
“I can sure as hell try,” I grumbled.
Wells took a step toward Liv, his eyes not unkindly. “It would be best if you waited to confront her when her trainer is around. She has strong emotions concerning you and while she’s doing an excellent job of controlling them, it would be easier if Marcus was the one with her. I’m merely a stand-in.”
“Why does she need someone with her?” Liv’s questions became rapid-fire bullets, pelting the vampire. “What are you doing to her hand? Are you trying to control her? I want to know what’s going on. I tried to call her for months, but someone named Lucia kept putting me off.”
“Ms. Owens is in training,” Hugo began.
The door to the elevator dinged suddenly. It startled me for a moment, a sure sign I was emotional. I turned, looking for a threat, but I smiled as my world was filled with glorious, grubby little boys. My mood went from dour to shiny in an instant.
“Kelsey!” Lee Donovan-Quinn plowed off the elevator and powered down the hall. He was nine years old and so heartbreakingly handsome I feared for women everywhere when he came of age. Now he was a boy in a T-shirt and jeans, with sneakers that needed to be tied.
I knelt down and braced myself for impact. I had a ton of reasons I didn’t want to come back to the Council HQ. Lee was the one reason I did. Somehow I’d formed a connection with this kid, and I didn’t even try to deny it.
“Hi, Lee,” I said as he threw his arms around me.
He’d written me while I was in Italy, his warm e-mails full of questions about how my training was going. We’d talked a few times over the computer, his little face a welcome sight as he told me all about how school was and which Xbox game he was currently playing. I’d written him back or told him about all the places Marcus took me to. Holding Lee in my arms made me understand how much I had come to care for the boy. I couldn’t help myself. I kissed the top of his thick dark hair. It felt right to be with him.
