“All girls’ school?” asked Mason.
“No, but I never danced with boys.”
“There’s so much I don’t know about you,” said Mason, echoing my earlier thoughts.
“There’s so much we don’t know about each other,” I said.
“Just let me lead,” he said. “I know this dance very well.”
I relented and Mason took charge, which was a relief. He knew these moves much better than me, and I found that my predictive ability allowed me to follow his steps, no matter how complicated. It was nice to let him take charge.
"Other girls? Didn't you dance with the boys?"
"Oh, no. None of the boys would dance with me. Raymond had me chaperoned by the other pack members. I didn't dare go home with the scent of another male on me." I shuddered at the memory of Raymond's rage.
"So, I'm your first"—three steps, a twirl, and two steps backward—"male dance partner?"
"And my last."
Dancing with Mason, to this unearthly music, in this strange world, was divine. I wanted the dance to go on forever. We were close enough that I could grind against him for a second. I hoped no one had noticed.
A glance at the other dancers showed my worries were needless. We were not the only couple grinding on the dance floor. Naomi's pheromones were taking effect.
Naomi and Kuga were also dancing—not in our pattern, but in a complicated routine that kept time with the music. Their dance also allowed them to circle the floor. I could faintly see the outline of Naomi's tails swishing back and forth as she spread her pheromones through the crowd.
Some couples at the edge of the crowd and out of the darting spotlights were in deep embraces. The snaps of closures opening and the smooth slithering sounds of clothes coming off added to the excitement of the dancers.
We passed close to Ruby. The pupils of her red eyes were almost black, her lips swollen, and there was sweat on her brow. The scent of fairy arousal wafted around us. Her partner had his head buried in her breasts. She seemed to have gotten over the death of her champion quickly.
Princess Citrine and Princess Alexandrite had chosen the same man and were each tugging an arm. He smiled, pulled them both close, and whispered in their ears, and they left together. Did that poor man have any idea what would happen?
Another princess had grabbed two men by their arms and was dragging them away. She nodded at a group of three female officers and they also joined her group.
Perla was squirming on her throne like a cat in heat. I had always avoided the compound when Mom and Raymond mated, and wanted to save Mason the same embarrassment.
I pulled Mason toward the edge of the crowd. "Let’s get out of here before it gets any crazier."
The sounds of the orgy followed us as we raced to our room.
I locked the door and leaned my back against it. It was nice to take a deep breath that didn't reek of fairy secretions.
"It's crazy out there. I hope Naomi didn't overdo it."
Instead of answering, Mason pushed me back against the door, trapping me between his hard body and the solid door. A deep kiss took my breath away.
Mason's fingers did something and the slit in my gown opened, allowing cool air to caress my body. His fingers lightly stroked my ribcage through the gap and sent tingles down my spine. I wrapped one leg around Mason and kissed him back. He reached my left breast under the gown and started thumbing my nipple.
"Stop!" I said as I pushed him away. Sudden doubts intruded. "How do I know this is really you, really us? Could this be more of that vixen's vapors?"
Anger flashed in Mason’s eyes for a second. Then he took a deep breath, and got a faraway look in his eyes. "It's hard to spend time with people who are masters at mental manipulation and thought control. Whose sweetest words contain the nastiest poisons. If you have any doubts, we'll stop."
"How can you trust yourself?"
"I built up resistance over the years. For you, I think you can trust your wolf. What does she say?"
I questioned my other half, not expecting an answer. Here in this moonless world, she seemed to only rouse when we faced danger.
But answer she did.
Mason, mate.
Suddenly, my heart was free.
I hugged Mason and whispered in his ear, "Does that sound dampening spell of yours work here? I feel like making a lot of noise."
23
When morning arrived, Mason informed me that they had invited us to join his mother and the princesses for breakfast.
"Yes, I'm starved. All that dancing and—and, other stuff burned off a lot of calories. Let's go!"
As soon as we stepped out of the room, I smelled it. The stench of a dead fairy. I looked around but could see nothing.
I grabbed Mason by the arm and stopped him. "Someone died here."
"Who? One of my sisters?"
"No. Not your family, but a fairy. The only thing is, we should be right on top of the body and I see nothing."
"I don't see…" muttered Mason. Then he made a gesture and the colors in the hallway became dazzling, then very dim, as if a strobe light had gone off.
"There he is,” said Mason.
"He's a she."
It was barely visible—a very slight outline of a body slumped near a wall. Mason reached down and pulled a colorless hood from the body, revealing a female fairy head. She was dead, and her ears had been sliced off neatly, leaving bloody stubs.
Mason crouched down next to the woman. "Assassin's Guild."
With the hood removed, a lot of smells were now stronger. Strong enough to tell me her age, blood type, and even the distinct scent of other people whom she had been in contact with. But unless I met those people, the scents wouldn't help.
Mason sighed in relief when I said, "She hasn't been near your family or anyone we met last night."
"So Mother didn't send her?"
"Maybe she used an intermediary." I shook my head in frustration. "Where was she going? Was she here to kill one of us? Or one of your family?"
"We'll never know. They keep their secrets well. With those magical camouflage outfits and their stealth training, they almost never fail."
"Will there be more of them?"
"The price goes up tenfold with each failure. The highest I've ever heard of is two failures."
"Third time's the charm." I held the hood up to my nose and took a deep sniff.
Neutral shampoo, tiny traces of soap, the scent of her blood—ah, there it was. The tiny magics woven into the cloth, amplifying the light-bending properties of the fabric. The wolf and I communed; she would now recognize this scent as a mortal danger and warn me.
I stuffed the hood into my purse. "I'm keeping this for a souvenir."
We left the floating, earless head in the middle of the hallway and continued toward the breakfast room.
Every one of the royal family was seated around a long table, Perla at the head. They all looked exhausted, drooping heads and stifled yawns all around.
"Good morning, everyone!" I said loudly. "Don't know about you all, but I slept like a queen last night." I winked and nudged Mason, "You know, those few minutes we did sleep." I took an empty seat, opened a napkin, and grabbed the juice. "It must have been something in the air."
The rainbow princesses stared at me in anger—except for Ruby and Amethyst, who averted their gazes.
Mason sat next to me and poured his juice.
"What's wrong? Who died?" I asked.
"My champion," said Amethyst.
"The fighter? But we didn't fight. You guys did that quick-change dance-of-death routine instead. What did you do, screw him to death?"
Her stricken face and instant tears almost made me feel bad. Then Naomi giggled and said, "Perhaps we should vow not to use mind control on each other. It seems to lead to unfortunate results."
Citrine glared at Naomi. "I hardly think the bodyguard of our sister-in-law is in any position to offer vows."
Naomi looked at
her until she squirmed. "I understand your confusion. What's that cute English phrase? 'I wear two hats.'"
She turned to address Princess Perla, and shifted to the form of address used for equals discussing business. "Because of yesterday's excitement, we cut our introductions short. I am an envoy of the kitsune queen. She has empowered me to discuss trade arrangements and to bargain for mutually beneficial treaties."
Perla wore a composed expression, but we could scent her excitement and accelerated heartbeat. "While it would intrigue us to discuss trade relations with the kitsune queendom, the fact remains that your portals are on the other side of our world. I believe those portals are controlled by the dragons."
"There are portals closer to your fiefdom that might be used." A quick glance at Mason, and she added, "We also plan for the long term. It might be possible to discover portals congruent to our two lands."
At least she hadn't given away the secret that Mason had crafted the means to create some extra portals without resorting to nuclear weapons.
The spells Mason had used flashed through my mind. Had he set up the talismans so they could couple any two points in our respective worlds? That would make the damn coins a hundred times as valuable. No wonder Naomi had been so eager to get her hands on one of them.
Citrine interrupted. "Are the humans going to start dropping bombs again? We would have no interest in trading with a dead world."
Perla and Naomi shared a look, then Perla said, "Now is not the time to discuss trade. We can schedule a discussion once the Challenge is over. Also, we need to give Amethyst time to mourn her champion."
"Agreed. However, my original point—to agree to eschew any more attempts at mind control by either of our parties—remains a good idea."
"That was your fault? That sickening orgy?"
Naomi stroked Kuga's arm. "My fault? No more than inviting a siren to entice unprotected mortals was your fault. Princess Perla."
Princess Perla sputtered for a moment, then recovered and said, "We take your point. Had we known one of your party was fully human, we would not have used that entertainer."
Naomi smiled her mischievous smile, the one that encouraged you to smile along with her. "I believe we understand each other. No more shall be said of this incident, as long as no future mistakes occur."
"Agreed."
Naomi sat down and returned to her meal.
"And what of my champion? His body lies cold in my room."
"Hardly my fault," said Naomi. "I merely encouraged passions already present. If you were too much woman for him to handle, how can that be my fault?"
"Speaking of dead bodies," I said, to change the subject, "you’ll need a cleanup in aisle six."
Eight perplexed looks. Maybe I was being too indirect? I pulled the invisible hood out of my purse and waved it around. It was strange the way my hand seemed to disappear as it gripped the cloth.
"We found a recently deceased murderer in the corridor outside our room this morning. Mason said she was from the 'Assassins' Guild.'"
"You dispatched an assassin?"
"No. She was already long dead when we walked past."
I was hoping for a reaction to indicate that the assassin had been sent by Perla. Either she was innocent, or murder was so common here that the discussion didn't upset her. I couldn't get a read on her emotions.
"That should mean good fortune for the contractor," said Naomi. At my look, she continued, "The Assassins' Guild offers a double-your-money-back guarantee. Either the assassin succeeds, or the person gets twice as much money back."
"I heard that the Guild raises their price by a factor of ten when one of theirs fails."
"If the patron insists on continuing the contract. The Guild has few failures, and fewer still determined enough to continue the contract."
I shook off all the distractions. "But we don't know who the assassin was targeting. It could be any of us. Me, Mason, Princess Perla, or any of the seven sisters."
Ruby interrupted, "We also don't know who among us is talented or vicious enough to kill an assassin. If this mysterious patron continues the contract, the Guild will send a much more skilled assassin." She looked at me. "The only person I can think of strong enough and murderous enough to kill an assassin is Luna."
"Thank you for the compliment. I wish I could take credit for the kill, but I was very busy last night." I stared her in the eyes and added, "I will also thank you to refer to me as Princess Luna in public." She tried to meet my gaze, but finally looked down.
"My apologies, Princess Luna," she said with enough vitriol to kill a hundred assassins.
Princess Perla shifted the subject. "The Guild will insist on getting that hood back. They are very particular about the secret to their camouflage getting out. I can return it for you."
"Screw ’em," I said. "They can take it up with me. I'm thinking of making this into an invisible purse."
When we walked back to our room, the assassin's body was missing.
"Did the staff clean up here?"
"They wouldn't have touched the body without a command from my mom. The Guild must have sent someone to retrieve the body."
"So more invisible assassins are walking around the castle? Don't you guys have any security?"
"We have security—but there's no present danger from the Guild. There's a mandatory truce period after an assassination. Even a failed assassination triggers a truce. It allows the parties involved to mediate an agreement."
"Well, if I bump into something invisible, I'm just going to kill it, truce or no truce."
At noon, they called us back to the throne room.
We stood in front of Princess Perla, seated upon her throne. Her daughters were arrayed beside her.
Mason was on my right, Naomi and Kuga three steps behind us. I tilted my head to my left and Ruby and Amethyst reluctantly stepped away from their mom and joined our group.
Princess Perla gave us a sour look.
"Looks like the scales are tipping in our favor," I said. "Where's this fairy I have to kill?"
Princess Sapphire answered, "Your opponent awaits you in the stadium. The match starts within the hour."
We trooped back to the stadium. The field was now an empty, sand-filled expanse. They had learned that I could turn almost anything into a weapon, so had tried to eliminate any props.
The crowd was now close to a thousand strong. Word must have gotten around after the last match here.
The scent of a bull was strong in the air. Maybe there had been a bullfight as a warm-up act. I put the thought out of my mind. The warm-up act was over, and it was time for the main event.
"You shall both fight unarmed," said Princess Sapphire. There was the scent of trickery around her.
"A level playing field," I said. "I love it. Your fairy won't stand a chance."
I leaned close and whispered in her ear. "Any magic tricks with the sand and I'll make sure you die before your champion."
"I didn't cast that spell."
"Doesn't matter who casts the spell, if it happens again, you're dead."
"Let's get this over with." I pulled off my top and slid out of my skirt, then stepped out of my shoes. I regretted leaving the high heels behind; I could do a lot of damage with the metal-reinforced heels. But they would be clumsy in the sand. I was better off with my bare feet. I pulled a scrunchy from my purse and pulled my hair back.
There were sour expressions all around at my naked body. Stuck-up fairies. I debated making my defeated princesses disrobe, just to show how much I disliked them. But that might embarrass Mason.
"Don't be shy around Luna, ladies," said Naomi with a big smile. "You were all practically screwing on the dance floor last night—but I'm sure she doesn't hold that against you."
I didn't know how she did it. If I had said the same thing, there would have been vows of vengeance. But they all giggled at her comment. Naomi was much better than me at influencing people.
Naomi stepped clos
e and whispered, "Be careful. They have a surprise for you, but I can't tell what it is."
I considered working the crowd with my cheerleader act, but I was tired of fairy games. I vaulted the low wall and dropped the twelve feet to the stadium floor, extruding calluses on my hands and feet in midair.
Once again, the heat in the arena was oppressive. I started to sweat immediately. I trotted out to the center of the arena, wary of surprises from inside the walls or interference from the crowd.
As soon as I reached the center of the arena, a door on the far side opened and my opponent appeared. My mouth went dry at his appearance.
He stood about eight feet tall, and was massively muscled and covered in black fur. Unlike me, he wore clothes—if you could call a filthy kilt ‘clothes.’ His legs ended in hooves and his hands were huge. His neck was almost nonexistent; the space where a neck would be just sloped down to merge with his shoulders.
He needed those massive shoulders—needed them to support the horns that protruded from his head. The horns curved like a bull’s, and were wider than his shoulders. They had sharpened the tips of his horns to a needle point. The bastard outweighed me by at least five hundred pounds.
I turned to Sapphire and shouted, "A fucking minotaur? Are you kidding me?" Now I knew why she had never referred to this monster as her champion. He was merely my opponent.
She smiled so I could see her teeth. "Mason will verify that this is within the rules. Since you are neither fairy nor human, nor should your opponents be."
The ground shook as the man-bull raced up behind me, giving me plenty of warning. I spun out of the range of his horns.
But not out of the range of his long arms. He grabbed my upper arm in an unbreakable grip. I looked down at his hand and saw that his fingers ended in tiny hooves instead of fingernails.
Then I was flying, thrown by overwhelming strength.
If we had been close to a wall, the match would have ended there. But instead of smashing into stone, I had time to twist and turn in midair and make a safe landing. I made sure I ended up facing the bull when I rolled to my feet.
Lycan Legacy - 4 - 5 - 6: Princess - Progeny - Paladin: Book 4 - 5 - 6 in the Lycan Legacy Series Page 20
