by Holly Evans
“I was so worried. You weren’t answering your phone, and now this,” he said.
I kissed behind his ear and lost myself in his presence. I needed him.
“Are you hurt?” I finally asked him.
He shrugged and smiled.
“Nothing that can’t be healed.”
He lifted my burnt hand, a red mess of welts and blisters.
“Fire elemental.”
“Aren’t you going to ask how we are?” Shadow asked with a broad smile.
“You’re shifters, you’ll heal,” I said with an equal smile and good humour.
Keirn helped me to my feet, and I slowly returned to myself. Unfortunately, that meant facing the incredible pain.
“What the fuck happened?” I asked the cougars.
“The ceremonials are trying to shut down Fein’s moves to stop the slaves. A number of criminal organisations have taken that as an opportunity to test his power,” Luka growled.
“What happened to you?” Tala asked.
“We heard you went off with some blood magician,” Shadow said as Keirn helped me out onto the street.
Someone had called a taxi, thank the gods. I couldn’t face the walk home.
I looked around the group. It didn’t seem like a good idea to answer them, especially out in public.
“We’ll talk about it back at home,” I said.
“I wouldn’t betray you,” Tala said quietly.
“We know, little wolf,” Keirn said.
Did we, though? I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to shut out the increasing pain. What would Tala do if he knew my secret? It felt scarily close to slipping out into the world as it was. Maybe it was time to stop trying to hide.
38
Tala sat near me and watched as Keirn carefully applied the healing paste to my broken ribs and damaged hand. Keirn patiently explained each piece of the process to him while I allowed my eyes to close so I could focus on the soothing healing sensation.
“What did you do this time?” Vyx asked.
I half-opened my eyes to see her standing in front of me, arms crossed, a very disappointed expression on her face.
“You’re going to have to stay home for a while, Vyx,” Shadow said firmly.
Vyx’s lip curled, revealing a sharp canine tooth.
“We’re trying to keep you safe. Things are getting messy,” Shadow said.
“So I can see,” she said, gesturing at me.
I leaned into Keirn, seeking solace in his presence.
“Tell me what happened today,” Caiden said from somewhere behind me.
The rustling of paper bags caught my attention as my stomach growled. The cougars apparently had the same reaction as they focused behind me.
“I brought Thai, so start talking,” Caiden said.
“Shadow walkers waged an attack on the Cat’s Whiskers. Luckily, it was just the four of us there; we were talking to Tala about his future prospects. There’s a Cun Sith that we think could be a great fit for him as a hunter. The next thing we know, shadows telling us to back off, that Fein’s too weak to run the city, and they swarm the place. We called Dacian in from wherever the fuck he was, and he drove them back with his ink. We killed all of them,” Luka said.
Caiden handed Tala a large carton of food. The feral proceeded to try to give it to me.
“There’s plenty to go around wolf, enjoy your food,” Caiden said, pushing the carton back to Tala gently.
Tala nodded.
“I appreciate the gesture,” I said.
It truly was a big move from the feral. I was honoured that he felt so strongly about me, that he considered me pack.
“Where were you, Dacian?” Keirn asked.
I rolled my jaw and tried to think how to phrase it. All eyes were on me. I decided to just come out with it.
“The blood magician at the conference was an ambassador like me. She said there are books on ambassadors. We went looking for them. We weren’t the only ones. There was a blood bath at the node temple. Chris, the draconic that the tattoo magicians were dealing with, was there. They killed a number of vessels trying to get ahold of the books, but someone had beaten them to it. Leona, the blood magician, used blood magic to kill them all. They were drained of life. There was so much blood. Just so much blood,” I said, reliving it all over again.
Keirn kissed my temple and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
“You’re safe now,” he said.
“How was your day?” I asked Caiden.
He flashed his teeth and settled back into the armchair he’d claimed.
“About the same as yours. I spent the morning doing political bullshit with the council and the ceremonials. They’re both trying to shut down Fein’s moves to stop the slavery. Then my afternoon was spent trying to free a small group of slaves from a group of particularly vicious Sidhe mixes. They were well organised; we were heavily out-numbered. We lost a pair of good shifters.”
I ate my food without paying attention to what it was. My body needed the fuel to help it heal. I was numb. There had been so much death and destruction. All for what?
“Vyx, we need to ask you to limit your movements. They’re targeting everyone close to Fein, and that includes you. We don’t want you hurt, little vixen,” Caiden said.
Vyx glared at him for a few beats but looked away and nodded.
“I understand. I’m not a fighter like you. I won’t be selfish. I can focus on my paintings for a few days, but I won’t be pushed out. I will help you free those slaves,” she said.
“Any information you have on ferals would be useful,” Shadow said.
Tala lifted his chin and looked at the cougars.
“Don’t worry, Tala, you won’t be left out of the fighting. What was supposed to be a surgical action has now spread across the city. You’ll be joining us in the fight,” Shadow said.
“What do you need from me?” I asked.
“Start with sigils to protect as many people as we can, and we’ll work from there,” Caiden said.
I nodded. I had to do everything I could. There would be no more blood on my hands.
39
Everyone had been quiet and withdrawn for the night. There was none of the usual banter and pushing that occurred during the evenings. The feeling of it all weighed on me, gnawed at me until it felt like it was a living, breathing entity pressing down on my chest. Keirn guided me back to our room at the soonest possible opportunity. His fox remained close to Tala along with Kyra, who was sulking because I hadn’t allowed her any fun. The wolf feral had remained close to me. His usual tension had shifted from protecting himself to protecting me. The shift didn’t go unnoticed. I appreciated it, but had no idea how to broach that.
Keirn pressed me down onto our bed and pulled my shirt over my head before he began slowly stroking his fingers down over my chest and abdomen.
“I’ll keep you safe, Dacian,” he whispered.
Slowly, the weight lifted, and my thoughts became clearer. The emotions became less overwhelming, and the world regained a little colour. Keirn lay next to me and stroked over my cheeks and through my hair. Everything became more bearable, and I felt like myself again. My dear elf looked pale and exhausted by the time he’d finished.
“I couldn’t leave you so unbalanced, you were hurting so badly,” he whispered.
I pulled him close to me and kissed along his jaw, savoring the feel of his skin beneath my lips.
“I love you. I don’t want to picture a world where you’re not at my side,” I whispered.
He smiled and nuzzled his head against my shoulder.
“I’ll always be with you,” he said before he slipped into sleep.
I hoped that Leona was ok. She’d looked like hell when we’d parted ways. Still, I had a lot of my own shit to deal with, and she hadn’t made any sign that she wanted me interfering. The ink network crept forward, and I mentally squared up to it.
“You had no right to take control like that in
the bar.”
Flashes of crimson and violet exploded around me.
“No. You don’t get to be pissed me. You took control without so much as thinking about asking permission.”
More reds.
“Protect son.”
“Don’t start pulling that ‘son’ shit, either. You’ve never been a mother to me.”
I was taking everything out on the network. Maybe it was wrong, but I didn’t care.
Deep stormy greys swirled around me before it shoved me back into my body proper.
Keirn groaned in his sleep and wriggled closer to me. I kissed his temple and allowed the simple pleasure of his body pressed to mine to wash away the anger and sorrow of the day. Tomorrow was another day, and it would go better. It had to.
Keirn had been called to the front line, so to speak. As an experienced and rather vicious fighter, Fein had asked him to head out with the cougars to push back against those that were challenging him. He’d left me with a hard kiss and a promise to come back in one piece. Tala had left with Caiden, who’d sworn to keep him safe. I was left with a pile of paper and instructions to make sigils. The ink network was positively tempestuous. It swirled around me and had small bursts of bright white and neon blue appearing every now and again.
“Stop being so fucking melodramatic and help me form these sigils. I need to help people.”
It pulled back entirely for a long moment, retreating too far away for me to easily access. It calmed, but remained prickly and stubborn. The magic was sluggish as it flowed through my hands down into the straight lines and heavy marks. The sigils were ugly and utilitarian, they lacked the artistry I usually tried to add into them. The ink network was having none of it. It was hard knowing what sigils to form. I didn’t know what to protect the people against. There were so many options, and I had neither the paper nor the brain space to form a sigil to protect against everything. I opted to block out shadow walkers, dream walkers, and mental attacks. I had no doubt that there were loopholes in there somewhere, but I needed to get the sigils out as quickly as I could. Good people were being attacked for doing the right thing.
“Is Keirn here?” Fein asked from the doorway.
I jumped, I’d been entirely wrapped up finishing the sigil that I hadn’t heard him. The elf smirked at me. His hair was ruffled, and he was wearing casual pants and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up. I didn’t believe I’d seen him out of a suit before. I wasn’t entirely sure he owned anything other than suits until that moment.
“Yes, why?”
He pursed his lips and sighed.
“I wish to speak to him.”
Keirn came up behind Fein. He moved with a stiffness that I didn’t like. Blood clung to his white hair and the corner of his mouth. I stood and went to hold him, to feel that he was safe.
Fein’s eyes dropped and a frown formed on his face.
“They’ve taken Tyn,” he said in a harsh whisper.
Fein’s face became a mask of rage and fury. He and Keirn’s ears pinned back against their heads. Both bared sharpened teeth. Fein’s expression of sheer rage slipped into something else, something I never expected to see on his face.
“He’s so much more than my Cait Sidhe,” he whispered to Keirn.
Keirn wrapped his arms around the wood elf and whispered, “We’ll get him back.”
Fein recovered and embraced his anger in barely two breaths.
“They will pay dearly if they hurt so much as a single hair,” he snarled.
Fein pulled out his phone and began speaking in rapid elvish, his tone sharp enough to make me pause.
Keirn wrapped his arms around me. “I’m only here for a moment. We’re going to break out another batch of slaves soon.”
“Let me help. I need to do more than this,” I gestured at the sigils.
“You can help free the slaves. We’re going to need all the people we can. This is turning into a war, and my war hound is stuck dealing with politics and diplomacy,” Fein said.
I had a horrible feeling that I was going to regret my decision.
40
We were back under the city on the edge of the underground market. The air was cool and damp. It somehow clung to my skin and felt claustrophobic. Fein had gathered a good number of his people, from various forms of fae to elementals and shifters. The wood elf took point, entirely unfazed by the idea of getting his hands dirty. A multitude of rose-coloured orbs floated over our heads, shining a faint pink light over the entire affair. It softened the harshness of the moment, added a kindness to the war we were engaged in.
Fein fought side by side with the cougars and his other enforcers. I’d been put closer to the back of the lines, but the ferals and criminals pushing against us were numerous and determined. Aris was somewhere nearby, sending happy feelings down the bond as he sank his long fangs into someone’s throat. I couldn’t keep an eye on him or anyone but the owners of the fists and feet that kept colliding with my increasingly tender body.
The exposed brick overhead dripped cold rotten-smelling water on my head and in my eyes. A thick fog rolled over our feet. It wasn’t a natural fog, and it hid sharp, painful, biting things that latched onto my calves and ankles at every possible opportunity. The slaves themselves were in the middle of our group. They were sorry-looking beings with dull eyes, skin pulled tight over fragile bones, and multiple scars apiece. I glanced back at them as I took another punch to the stomach and reminded myself that we were fighting for them. We were going to give them a chance at a good life.
The fact was, both the slaves and those who were attacking us for trying to free them were ferals and other similar beings. I was beginning to understand just how much more brutal the world around me was than my privileged life had led me to believe. My desire to ignore the darkness was slowly diminishing and being replaced with a need to help people like Fein change things. I could make the world a better place. I couldn’t turn that chance down.
Fein was savage in his attacks. He made the cougars look demure and gentle as they gutted people and tossed them aside. The wood elf tore into people with everything he had: teeth, hands, and even the broken bones of the enemy’s fallen comrades. I hoped I never got on his bad side. He kept in close to his enemies, not giving them room to maneuver or escape him. Where the cougars wasted no time in gutting their opponents and moving on, he broke ribs and even tore out the heart of one of the ferals. His expression was one of pure rage, as though every single one of those daring stand against him was personally to blame for Tyn being taken.
Time seemed to stretch on forever, and the enemies kept on coming. I tried to focus on a moment-to-moment basis rather than becoming overwhelmed by the sheer volume of bodies and attackers. I wasn’t made for battle. The sound of breaking bones and cries of agony began to eat at me after a while. It wore me down mentally almost as much as the constant pain of the increasing number of injuries did. But we did it. Keirn tore out the throat of the last incubus, and a victory cry went out among Fein’s people. The slaves had been freed, the battle had been won. Somehow none of our people had been killed. A good deal of blood had been shed, but everyone had made it through. Fein said nothing. Tyn wasn’t among the slaves here, and that was clearly all that mattered to him.
“Let’s get them somewhere safe. We’ve won this battle, but there are more to come,” Fein said.
We approached the slaves as quietly as we could, but time wasn’t on our side. The council was baying for our blood, and the last thing we needed was those assholes locking us up thanks to multiple murders. The slaves all recoiled away from us, as I would have done in their situation. We were all covered in blood, most of it not our own. Still, we corralled them as quickly as we could down the narrow tunnel, up to a small grassy park on the edge of the magical district. There they were separated out by species: witch’s familiar, feral, and others I wasn’t entirely sure on. The ferals went away with the shifters to be rehabilitated and placed in good packs. The familiars went
with tinkers and other magicians with kind eyes and gentle hands. I lost track of the rest of them. They all slipped away into the city, hopefully to good homes and fresh starts. That was why we did it. To give those lost souls a chance at something better. I held onto that.
One remained. A small familiar, a feline of some form, if I had to guess. Her large hazel eyes tracked every movement, her mouth remained in a rigid line, and she stood tall despite the fresh blood stain over her ribs. Fein approached her slowly with his eyes partially downcast and his hands open and facing her.
“We need to know everything you can tell us about your captors,” he said.
“They were picky. They didn’t want me. I wasn’t right. They split us into two groups. Slaves, and those for the ritual,” she said, her voice strong and assured.
“Ceremonials did this?” Fein asked.
“No. Shadow walkers.”
My stomach dropped. I remembered the shadow walker that had cornered me a month back and said that they wanted Tyn. I’d shrugged it off. I had no idea they were going to kidnap him for a fucking ritual.
“What type of ritual?” Fein asked gently.
“They’re to bring through one of those big predators of theirs. They say they’re tired of being the runts.”
Why couldn’t they bring through something happy and fluffy? Why did it have to be a shadow predator? I wrapped my arm around Keirn and took a brief moment with him while Fein got the finer details from the familiar.
“Mr. Corbeaux. Kindly come and attend to this,” Fein called over.
I approached the familiar in much the way Fein had so as not to startle her. She lifted her chin in defiance and held an ornate collar out to me.
“I stole one. It was pretty. I wanted it. They’re using these for the ritual.”
“She said it has ink magic,” Fein elaborated.
I looked between them. Shouldn’t he be more subtle and pretend I was taking it somewhere? The elf’s eyes hardened when I paused.
“Tyn is missing, Mr. Corbeaux,” he ground out.
