by Jessica Sims
Finian was silent.
I found the fae’s silence a bit unsettling. Didn’t they want to keep the primordials happy? From what Hugh had told me, the primordials did all kinds of dirty errands for the fae, and did them willingly. Why wouldn’t the fae want them back?
But Finian was saying nothing. He was simply glaring at Hugh, his fists clenched.
“Think of it as a consolidation of forces,” I blurted out, trying to help the situation along. “You get the men and the women together, and everyone’s happy. Don’t the women want to be with men of their own kind? Aren’t they lonely?”
Finian’s glare turned to me. “I am sure they are.”
“So let us talk to them,” I said. “Pick a representative and bring her here, and we’ll discuss it with her. I’m sure the women want families, too.”
Still Finian said nothing.
“You cannot keep us trapped without mates forever,” Hugh said, his voice hoarse with anger. I felt the hand on my waist tighten, as if he was barely controlling himself. “It is unfair to both my men and to the women you deprive of companionship.”
“Let us just talk to one of the women,” I cajoled. “How hard can that be? What’s the leader’s name?”
Finian glared at me, angry panic in his eyes, and hesitated.
And an awful realization hit me. “There are no women, are there? You’ve been lying to them.”
Two bright red streaks of color flared on Finian’s famous borrowed face. “Of course there are,” he said quickly.
I stepped out of Hugh’s embrace and approached Finian, crossing my arms over my chest. “Oh, really? What are their names, and what are their shifter animals?”
“Please,” Finian blustered. “As if I would remember their names? I’m much too important.”
“Yes, but you’ve worked with them for centuries, right? I’m sure you know a few names. Just give me one.”
“I don’t have to tell you anything, you changeling mongrel,” he said furiously. “Nor am I required to rattle off the names of useless shifters just to appease you.”
“Where do they stay?” Hugh asked abruptly, surprising me.
“Excuse me?”
“The female primordials. Where do they stay?”
“Why, in their own realm, of course.”
I turned to look at Hugh. His body seemed relaxed, but I could sense the tension in his face. His eyes were narrow slits of anger and loathing. “You told me once,” Hugh said, his voice deadly soft, “that maintaining a separate, private realm for the primordials cost the fae a great deal of time and energy. That we should be grateful that you cared so much for our well-being that you would do this for us. That we owed you.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And now you tell me that you hold not just our realm but a realm for females entirely separate from our own.” Hugh’s eyes looked as cold as ice. “And you will not combine them?”
Finian said nothing.
“My mate is right,” Hugh growled, and the sound was so deadly that I shivered. “You have been lying to me. All this time. There are no females in a separate realm, are there? There are only the fools kept locked in our own private realm, called out when the fae need a favor. Yet we cannot remember these things with clarity. How many times have you called upon us?”
Still Finian remained silent. Behind him, Walter twitched, his wings folding back. His gaze was entirely on Finian with something akin to devotion.
“I suspect you do something to make us forget our memories. That is why we believed you when you told us you would bring us females.” Furious, Hugh strode forward until he was looming over Finian. “Do you deny it?”
Finian straightened, smoothing a hand down his jacket. It looked as if the man was fighting not to take a step backward. “I have nothing to explain to you.”
Hugh grabbed Finian by the front of his jacket. His long canines were bared in a feral snarl. “You have lied to us and manipulated us all this time. I should kill you.”
I gave a squeak of alarm and surged forward to pull Hugh off Finian. “Hugh! No!”
Walter made a distressed sound, moving behind Finian and trying to pull him backward, as if he could somehow safely drag him away from Hugh’s anger.
As I watched, Hugh’s fangs distended, and his eyes became more catlike. He was losing control of his humanity with his rage. He leaned in closer to Finian, threat evident on his face.
“Don’t kill him,” I said, placing a calming hand on Hugh’s arm. I didn’t know what might happen if he harmed a fae prince. “Finian’s going to bargain with us,” I said, thinking fast. “It’s in his best interests.”
“Oh?” Finian still managed to sneer despite the long fangs inches from his face. Sweat had broken out on his forehead.
“Yes,” I said. “You’re going to release all claims on me and the primordials. And in return, we’re going to keep our mouths shut about how you managed to lose everyone in one fell swoop. I’m sure the other fae will be wondering just what happened to all their little playthings. And I’m sure they’re going to be curious—and unhappy—if they find out that you lost everyone.” I gave him my most winning smile. “So in return for our silence, you’ll leave us alone for the rest of our lives. And Hugh lets you keep your face.” I fluttered my eyelashes at him. “Because he really, really wants to remove it right about now.”
Hugh let out a growl so menacing that even I shivered.
I watched Finian’s Adam’s apple bob nervously. After a long moment, he said, “You’ll stay silent about who was responsible for the primordials’ release?”
I made a locking gesture over my mouth and pantomimed tossing away the key.
Finian’s gaze flicked from Hugh, to me, then back to Hugh. He swallowed again. “I suppose that all this is only costing me an ugly changeling.”
I gave him a fake smile. “I don’t know if you noticed how big Hugh’s claws are? I don’t think he’ll take it well if you keep insulting me.”
Hugh clicked his teeth menacingly at Finian.
The fae nodded quickly, his eyes wide. “I accept your deal.”
“I thought you might.”
Finian’s rune necklace was returned to him. In return, a new vow was placed on Hugh, tattooed across his wide shoulders so it could not be broken at any cost. The primordials were free. In exchange, they would be silent to all fae parties about the terms of their release.
My “mark of ownership” was removed from my thigh with a touch of Finian’s hand.
After everything was established, Finian couldn’t leave fast enough. He grabbed Walter and hastily exited, the car peeling out of the parking lot moments later.
I sighed with relief. An enormous weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
Next to me, Hugh collapsed on his stool.
I looked over at him in alarm. “You okay, Hugh?” My hands moved to his hair, and I stroked it off his forehead, worried. “Not regretting things, are you?”
He pulled me against him and pressed his face to my chest. He said nothing for long, long moments. I began to get worried. After what seemed like an eternity, he said thickly, “To think I almost gave you to him in exchange for mates that did not exist.”
I gently ran my fingers through his hair. “You didn’t know. Finian and the others clearly did something to make you forget whatever tasks you did for them. Who knows how many times they’ve offered you mates, only to wipe your memories afterward?”
“I should have killed him,” Hugh growled. His hands tightened around me. “He didn’t deserve to live.”
“That’s not our choice to make,” I told him and kissed the top of his head. “But the bad news is that you’re stuck here with me. He took his rune back, and the primordials are trapped here, too.”
“Mmm. So we are.” He nuzzled at my breast
s, distracting me and making my changeling side flare to life all over again. “I can say that I am not displeased with the situation. Not in the slightest.”
“Will the others be disappointed?” I pulled Hugh’s head away from my breasts and forced his attention up to my face.
“Only if they are fools,” he said and pulled me down for a long kiss.
Chapter Twenty
And so it was all a lie,” I told the stone-faced primordials filling the Russells’ huge kitchen.
Savannah, Bath, and Beau stood in the back of the room, making piles of sandwiches. I sat at the head of the table on Hugh’s lap, straddling one of his enormous thighs.
The room was silent as they digested my words.
“So there were no females?” Artur asked, his ugly face pulled down in a frown. “It was all a ploy?”
Hugh nodded, expression grave. “He lied to get me to do what he wanted. There was never any intention of following through. It was all for nothing.”
“You made the right choice after all,” I told Hugh, patting him on the arm wrapped around my waist. I was transformed back to my changeling form, but I didn’t care. The primordials had seen me like this before. And if one or two of the Russells were staring really, really hard at me, well, they were bound to figure out my secret somehow.
“So we are to remain here,” Hugh said. “My place is at Ryder’s side.”
Just hearing him say that aloud gave me the warm fuzzies. “But you guys don’t have to stay here,” I added quickly before anyone could speak up. “I am sure that if you wished to go back to the primordial realm, you could. You just know what you are getting into now.”
Silence fell. There was no sound except the scrape of sandwich cutting in the background. What were they thinking?
“The women here,” Cahal began. “We can mate them?”
“Provided the women say yes,” I told him. “And, if they are human, provided you get the permission of your clan leader.” I was told that Beau and the other alphas were still working through the kinks of allowing human women to date shifters, considering the fact that the whole shifter thing was supposed to be a secret.
“But women are not a rarity here,” Cahal said, face serious. “We can take mates and not worry that our brothers will be without?”
I nodded. “There are just as many females here on earth as there are males. There are fewer shifter females, but you can always go human, I suppose.”
“Are all the females like Gracie?” one wanted to know.
“No, not many,” Bath said tartly. “And that’s something you should be thankful for.”
Bevan banged a flat hand on the table. “We wish to stay here and find women.”
“Are you all sure?” I asked.
“This world is full of opportunity,” Cahal said, rubbing his hands together.
“And pizza,” chimed in another.
Many of the primordials chortled, as if sharing an inside joke.
I groaned.
About the Author
Jessica Sims lives near Ft. Worth, Texas, with her husband. She has cats, plays video games, and confesses to reading comic books.
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2014 by Jessica Sims
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First Pocket Books paperback edition September 2014
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Cover art by Aleta Rafton
ISBN 978-1-4767-5397-3
ISBN 978-1-4767-5401-7 (ebook)
