by Eve Newton
Lincoln chokes back a laugh, but she glares at me. “I can assure you, if I knew he was yours, Your Majesty, I wouldn’t have made an advance on him.”
An advance? What the hell did she do to him? I glare at him and if he could shrug, that’s what he would do back at me.
“Good. Now that is established, do tell what happened to your own.”
Erica (I find out that is her name) hails from Nottingham where she and her mate were attacked last month, by what she describes as the Wolf Demon from Hell. Far as I can gather from her description, it appears to be that of a stereotypical Hollywood Werewolf, which is interesting in that they don’t exist. Or so we all thought. Maybe someone in Tinseltown knows more than we do? Unlikely. It must be some sort of, as she says, Demon-Wolf cross breed.
“I know of two others who have been attacked and killed in Southern England,” Erica finishes up woefully.
“Do you think there is only the one creature?” I ask her. “Or more?”
“No, it’s the same one. The others described it exactly. It has claw mark scars all down its right flank.”
“I see. So, were you here looking for me and just happened upon Lincoln, or were you just out for another Alpha?”
“Both,” she says, ducking her head. “My Pack is weak without an Alpha male. I knew the Queen was in England but didn’t know where. I followed the mystical energy up to this place, but I didn’t know it was yours, hoping to find some answers to your whereabouts.”
“Mystical energy?” I inquire.
“The Demon-made shadow cover,” she clarifies.
“Oh.” I swish my tail awkwardly as the Demon in question who made that was me. Not so sure she would be very receptive to that news under the circumstances. “You can track energy?” I ask her as a diversion.
“Only that which is powerful. You must know a heavy hitter to have created this,” she points her nose to the air and I mentally clear my throat as Lincoln titters at me in my head. Hopefully in a secret compartment in my head that she can’t hear.
“Do you think you can help us find this thing and destroy it?” she asks me. “It killed the love of my life and I want it dead.” She steps forward in her vehemence and Lincoln growls at her to step back.
“Us?”
“Me and my Pack. We are vulnerable without a new Alpha male. We must find this thing and stop it.”
“Is your Pack with you now?”
“Yes, I didn’t want to leave them alone.”
“Very well. You can stay in these woods tonight and tomorrow night when in Wolf form, until we can figure out what it is. I can only assume it reverts to human form during the day and outside of the full moon, or it would have attacked more.”
“Yes, my thoughts exactly,” she agrees with me. “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kind offer. We would be honored to share your land with you.” She lowers herself to the ground in a submissive position and I huff at her to get up.
“Just remember that land is the only thing we are sharing,” I say as I step even closer to Lincoln.
“Yes, ma’am,” she says quietly.
“Call me, Liv, please. I really don’t go in for all this formal crap.”
She stifles a surprised laugh and says, “Yes, of course, Liv. Thank you.”
She runs off deeper into the woods, leaving Lincoln and me alone. He lies down at my feet and I curl up next to him. He swishes his tail over me protectively and I ask him, “Have you ever heard of anything like this before?”
“No. It doesn’t sound natural to me.”
“Me either. I’m thinking…” I gulp and he finishes my sentence, “Man-made.”
“Exactly,” I sigh. “Just another thing to add to my ‘to kill’ list.”
“Don’t worry about it. I will do all the legwork. You will probably only have to show up and kill it,” he says, snuffling at me, teasing. “You have enough to deal with.”
We stand up and run then. He takes me all over the woods and I feel like we have covered miles. He shows me places I never knew existed and I take it all in, in wonder. He leads us back to the clearing and we flop down. I put my head on his paws and he sighs. “I like this. Just the two of us, like this. It’s special.”
“You are special,” I say to him and wiggle closer.
“Do you think you might be ready yet?” he asks shyly.
Uh-oh. I had been afraid he’d ask me that. “I’d rather we Shift and then I could kiss you and touch you,” I say with my own shyness.
He Shifts abruptly and says, “Well, I don’t need convincing.” And I Shift myself and he throws himself at me, his mouth on mine, flattening me to the cold, damp ground. Again, I can feel the chill and it bothers me momentarily, until I heat up all over as Lincoln drives into me without preamble, ripping me wide open as I scratch my nails down his back in response to his urgency. He yelps as I draw blood and breaks our kiss to rasp, “Turn around.”
I flip underneath him, and he kneels up, bringing my hips with him, and again he is inside me, pounding away until I start to vibrate all over. My fingers buried deep in the damp soil clench further and the ground begins to rumble underneath us like a tremor as I explode in ecstasy. “Oh fuck, Linc,” I cry out as I push back with my hips until he is sitting on his heels and I am on his lap facing outward. His hands come straight up to my breasts and he tugs sharply on my nipples before he drops one hand to play with me. I tilt my head back to his shoulder and he lets me go to pull my head back further so he can kiss me, nipping at my lips with his sharp teeth before he pushes my head to the right and slowly, sharply sinks his teeth into me. I grab his arm and lower my fangs against the sensitive skin of his wrist, grazing him in question. He grunts his acceptance and I bite into him, sucking slowly, savoring the taste of him. We come together and let go of each other at the same time, panting heavily.
“Wow,” he says in my ear. “That was definitely worth Shifting for.”
I giggle and turn on his lap to face him. He shuffles underneath me and lies back, and I flop forward onto his broad chest, caressing him gently. “I love you, Linc. You make me feel so cared for and safe, without being all overbearing.”
“Oh, I can be overbearing,” he says with a laugh. “I just don’t think it is necessary in your case.”
“Exactly my point,” I say as I sit up. “You know that I can take care of myself. I wish everyone else did.”
“I’m glad you brought it up as it leads into something I have to say quite nicely,” he says, also sitting up. “What the hell do you think you are playing at with The Thirteen? You call him by a name and have tea and conversation? I dunno, Liv. Something strikes me as very off about that.”
“I know it does. And I want to thank you for staying out of it before. He has changed, something has shifted in him. When he came to me on Saturday, it was…different. He told me a bit of his past, who he is. His name. You heard what he said about having a change of heart. I want to know what this bigger picture is.”
“You still plan on killing him though?” he asks and then says, “Right?” forcefully when I don’t answer.
“Of course, but now I am going to feel bad about it. But I want to know what his end game is. If he wanted to kill me, I have no doubt that he could have done it by now. Or certainly at least tried again. I just…I don’t know,” I say, slapping my hands lightly on his chest and copping a good feel while I’m at it. It doesn’t go unnoticed and he grins at me before the scowl returns. “Don’t tell the others,” I say. “They will just go all crazy on me. I can’t deal with it.”
“You know I won’t if you ask me not to. But be careful, Liv. He is not to be trusted. You know that, right?” he says reluctantly, and I kiss him sweetly.
“I do know, my special secret-keeper.”
“There are just so many stacking up now, Liv. I’m getting a bit worried about you.”
“I am fine. You don’t have to worry about me. I should go, it’s getting late and Cole will be needing to see
me before I leave tomorrow.”
“Be careful around Sebastian,” he says as I get up to leave.
“Sebastian? Why do you say that?” I ask as I twirl in a circle and end up dressed in sweats and a vest top.
“There is something off about him. I can’t put my finger on it.”
“Look, I know you don’t like him because of what happened in Vegas, but I have forgiven him, and we are moving on. We are friends now,” I say in the hopes of diverting the attention away from this topic of conversation.
“What happened in Vegas?” he asks, confused.
“You know…” I say waving my hand around and he still looks none the wiser.
Oh, crap. He has no idea what I am talking about. I thought the three of them had been awfully good about not saying anything about what they overheard about Sebastian spelling me. I mean, I know I ordered them to keep it to themselves, but there has been no peep of it since. Sebastian has clearly meddled here. But how? He claims he can’t make people forget, but I was never sure of that in the first place and even less so now. And I am surer than ever that he has messed with Devon.
“Liv? What happened in Vegas?” he says, now worried.
I scramble for an answer. “Err, you know, the fight I had with CK and I slapped him and then Sebastian slapped me…”
“And then you flattened him,” he finishes for me. “See, clear proof that you don’t need any of us to look out for you.”
I smile cautiously and he says, “Just watch yourself around him. I don’t trust him.”
“I do,” I say, only half meaning it. “We have developed a relationship. There is nothing for you to worry about.”
“Do I want to know what kind of relationship?”
“Just a friendship. We have some common ground. It’s a good foundation.” That is all I am willing to say, and he drops it.
“Fine, you know what you are doing.” He kisses me for a few minutes then says, “I’m going to stay out for a bit longer.”
“Okay, baby, just don’t be sniffing around Erica, I don’t like to share.” I give him a sassy wink and he laughs.
“So jealous,” he says. “But I like it.” And with that he Shifts and is off without a look back.
Chapter 19
I watch him go and then Astral off to shower and change and then to find the others. I land in the library to various arguments going on, which all stop as they see me. Interesting. I am of half a mind to set up cameras to spy on them when I am not here. See what it is they talk, or argue, about.
My eyes find Cole and I go to him immediately and pull him to me for a kiss, “Hey. Care to share?”
“Hey,” he says back with a small smile. “Enjoy your full moon?” he adds, dodging the question.
“It was interesting. We have a guest in the woods.”
“Oh?” he says, now concerned. “Welcome or unwelcome?”
“Unwelcome at first but now she and her Pack are going to be staying here tonight and tomorrow night.”
“Her Pack?” CK asks and I eventually look at him, thoroughly embarrassed over the gushing I did before. He looks less than impressed that I have my arms around Cole and Sebastian next to him looks furious. Geez. What did I do to piss him off?
“Yes, her Pack. She is an Alpha, whose mate was killed by some weird kind of Demon-Wolf cross breed thing.”
“I beg your pardon?” Xane says from the sofa. “A Demon-Wolf cross breed?”
“That’s what it sounded like. It has attacked two other Packs and we need to find out what it is and stop it. Xane, have you heard of anything similar? She described it as one of those ridiculous movie Werewolf-type things.”
“Please tell me you are joking?” Devon says. “Are we expected to believe that?”
I shrug and say, “I’m only going off what she said. Xane?”
“Well, of course there are cross breeds. I mean Demons and Dragons,” he pauses to let that one sink in, “Demons and Shifters, Shifters and Dragons, but the product of those are all normal as far as I know, taking after the father…”
“Except in the case of female Dragons,” I finish his sentence.
“Yes,” he says. “Been doing some research?” he asks with a look that speaks volumes.
“Corinne mentioned it,” I glance quickly at Sebastian, who is looking a bit less furious and a bit warier.
“So, what you describe sounds something more. Something…”
“Man-made,” I say as he says the same and we grin at each other while everyone else glares at us.
“Genetically enhanced,” we both add and laugh.
“It’s like one brain,” he says, and Cole’s grip tightens on my arm painfully.
I clear my throat and say, “I have sifted through the Council archives and there is nothing recorded with those specs. CK?”
His cold eyes meet mine and I almost flinch at the hostility there, but it softens instantly, and I know his resentment was towards Xane, not me. “No, I can’t say that I have ever heard of something like that, outside of the cinematic experience.”
“So, do you think someone is making these things because that’s what they think Werewolves should be?” asks Cade, who has joined the party.
“About time you showed up,” I say to him. “Where have you been?”
“Out and about,” he says vaguely. “Doing my job.”
I scowl at him as he is cutting me out of the loop on his job activities, and it seems that he and Nico now have a buddy system going on. So much for consensual alliances.
“What?” he says as he catches my look. “You are safe, are you not? You haven’t left the property, so I have been directing my attention elsewhere.”
“Indeed, be sure to have a bag packed for the morning as I will be leaving the country, never mind just the property,” I grouse at him and then sort of regret having said that for various reasons.
“Yes, I am aware of your arrangements. Jess and I are in close contact.” He smiles genially down at the girl who simpers slightly under his attention and I raise my eyebrow at that new development. I really should pay more attention to what is going on in my own house.
“Back to my question?” he prompts me.
“I really couldn’t say. Lincoln is going to poke around, see what he can find out for me. Xane, could you do the same on the Demon side? See if it is maybe something paranormally real.”
“Of course,” he says. “By the way, there is still that conversation we need to have.”
“What conversation?” I ask.
“That one we started outside and then you had Wolf issues to deal with.” His innocent look makes me roll my eyes at him.
“It can wait,” I say, lacing my fingers through Cole’s and looking up at him. “Bedtime,” I whisper to him and he jumps on it.
“Later,” he calls out to everyone as he rushes me, giggling, out of the room with Vampire speed. Up the stairs and to our bedroom, where he doesn’t bother with shutting the door before he pulls my top over my head and he walks me back to the bed. I flick my wrist and the door closes with a magickal bang and with a twist, I lock it. No interruptions.
After several hours of intense goodbye lovemaking, Cole and I fall asleep. Well, me first, as usual. I know I must be dreaming as I am falling, slowly down the inside of this very long, very round well. I’m not afraid of it, even though it is circular. Suddenly, my dress balloons out like a parachute to carry me the rest of the way down.
Hey, wait…
I look down and it is a light blue dress with a white apron. Wiggling my feet, I see white socks and flat, black Mary Janes. Oh, for heaven's sake. I’m Alice.
Expecting to land on the floor of the well, I am surprised when I have fast forwarded to the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. I land in a seat next to the Hatter, who peers at me with familiar blue eyes from underneath his extravagant top hat.
“Oh, for fuck's sake,” I grumble, and he looks at me severely.
“Is that any way for a young lad
y to speak?” comes his very clipped, very British accent, even more pronounced under the circumstances. “Have some tea,” he pushes a China cup, much like my own, towards me.
“I’ll pass, thanks. If I recall, the March Hare offered wine first. Now that, I’ll take,” I say, pushing the cup delicately away from me.
“Hm, there isn’t any,” he says, and I pull my face at him. “And your hair wants cutting,” he adds softly, and that makes me snort in amusement.
“You like the book, then? I’d like it back. In exactly the same condition as when you stole it.”
“Borrowed it,” he corrects me with a rap on my knuckles with his pocket watch.
“Hey,” I say, rubbing them.
“Why is a raven like a writing-desk?” he says instead.
“Seriously?” I ask and he tilts his head to the side, and I indulge him just out of something to do but skipping ahead a few pages. “I think you might do something better with the time, then wasting it in asking riddles that have no answers,” I quote.
Delighted, he replies, “If you knew Time as well as I do, you wouldn’t talk about wasting it. It’s him.”
Gee, that sounds familiar...
“I don’t know what you mean.” I carry on the conversation directly from the book.
“Of course you don’t!” he says as contemptuously as, no doubt, the Hatter would have. “I dare say you never even spoke to Time.” He bangs his fist on the table and all the cups jump.
The Dormouse starts to sing, “Twinkle, Twinkle, little bat; How I wonder what you’re at…” and I stand. I am so out of here.
“Where are you going?” Remiel asks me.
“Anywhere but here. This is the stupidest tea party I was ever at in all my life!” I huff at him as I stamp my foot and he cackles.
“Oh, Alice. You are a joy to play with. Don’t you see how much fun we could have? Every day could be a new adventure, every night a new experience.”
I stare at him now, unable to answer him. My voice has gone and all I can hear now is the Dormouse singing: Twinkle, twinkle, twinkle, twinkle… as I spiral up and out of the dream, sitting up in bed with a start.
