by Helen Harper
He blinked. I rather thought this was the first time I’d ever truly managed to shock him. ‘That’s never happened before,’ he stuttered. ‘It’s a lifetime position. You’re not dying, are you?’
I grinned. ‘Nope.’
He coughed. ‘Excuse me, Lord Corrigan. I think the Summer Queen would like a word with me.’ He walked off in her direction, his pace brisk. I narrowed my eyes. He was up to something. Even now, I still didn’t entirely trust him. I definitely didn’t trust the Fae Queen either. When the pair of them walked over to Mack to engage her in conversation, my mistrust increased.
Tom bounced up with Betsy on his arm, forcing me to pull my attention away from Mack and towards the happy couple. ‘Congratulations,’ I told them both. I meant it fervently.
‘Thank you, my Lord.’
‘I think all the Brethren are standing with you today. We needed this. I’m very happy for you both.’
Betsy blushed. ‘It’s the best day of my life. Even better than joining the Brethren. I hope one day you’ll see what it’s like to get married too.’ She sent a knowing glance towards Mack, then frowned. I followed her gaze. The Arch-Mage and the Summer Queen remained in place but Mack had vanished. Damn it. They must have said something to piss her off. My fists curled. I had a pretty good idea what they’d wanted. Well, it wasn’t going to happen. Not this time.
‘Excuse me,’ I muttered. I had to find her before she did anything rash. Chance would be a fine thing.
Chapter Twenty
I jogged through the familiar woods, easily following the trail of Mack’s scent. She’d burst this way with considerable speed. Her pace suggested she was upset - or at the very least in an incredible hurry. Still, there weren’t any other fresh tracks so I assumed she was alone. The moment I heard the unmistakable sounds of a fight in progress, however, I knew I was wrong.
Mack was on the ground, her back against the grass. Standing in front of her was a young looking human. I’d never seen him before in my life and had no idea who he was. He obviously knew Mack though.
‘Your kind is unnatural,’ he snarled at her. ‘You should not exist. You’re disrupting the balance of nature.’
He had to be ‘they’ - the other danger she’d alluded to. He had to be part of it. Not only that but he seemed to be getting the better of her – as impossible as that was.
I roared in my head, projecting an image of the scene to all the shifters back at the wedding party. The cliff! Now! Then I immediately shifted, bounding out of the tree line and in the direction of Mack’s attacker.
The others are on their way, I told her. The relief on her face was both clear and very worrying.
The guy became aware of my approach long before I reached them. As my muscles bunched up and I powered ahead with all the speed I could muster, he turned back to Mack, muttering something at her and then grabbing her clothes. With one sharp movement, he yanked her up and then pushed her off the cliff edge. The last thing I saw were her wide eyes and pale face before she disappeared, plummeting down to the beach far below.
I didn’t think. A howl ripped out of me and I pelted past her attacker and over the edge after her. Mack’s body was spinning faster and faster out of control. I dove down, using the physics of aerodynamics to reach her. Right before my claws dug into her, however, she transformed. One instant human, the next dragon. I slammed into her back, gripping onto her scales. Air whipped past my fur. The ground was almost upon us.
Then, finally, with one massive beat of her wings, Mack gained control. I could feel it rippling through her. She flapped again and again, her massive wings stretching out. Instead of ending up as splattered panther and dragon on the sand, she swooped, curving round to avoid the danger of the rocky cliff and moving away from the attacker above. I could feel her heart beat underneath me. I clung on for all I was worth. If I’d been in human form I would have let out a huge whoop. She was incredible.
Her claws skidded down into the wet sand as she wobbled down with an ungainly flop. Breath expelled out of me at the suddenness of it. Then I felt her scales shift underneath as she started to transform back. Following her lead – after all it wouldn’t be seemly to be seen by any beachcombing humans – I did the same. I forced my pulse to calm down but adrenaline was still throbbing through my system. As I lost my werepanther form, the cold reality of what had just happened took over from the exhilaration.
‘Who the fuck was that and why did you take so long to transform?’ I placed my arms on either side of her naked body and stared down.
Mack grimaced. ‘It’s a long story, but essentially he and all his family are sworn to kill the entire race of Draco Wyr.’
Shit. I gazed at her in disbelief. An entire group of people out for her blood? So much for thinking we would have some peace now that Endor was gone. She pushed back her hair.
‘And,’ Mack continued, ‘when they’re next to me, all my powers seem to fade away. I can’t do anything. No fire, no dragon. Nothing.’ Her frustration was clear. ‘I guess when he pushed me over the cliff, I eventually got far enough away for everything to start working again.’
I felt the familiar burning rage that only she could cause. ‘And you were planning to tell me this when?’
‘I just told you now!’
‘For fuck’s sake, Mack! I can’t keep you safe if you keep running into danger and keeping secrets from me!’
It was entirely the wrong thing to say. Her body went rigid then pulled herself away from me, standing up. ‘Keep me safe? Hello, your Lord fucking Mightiness. Who saved your sorry arse at Bird World? Who saved you from being smashed against a pile of rocks just now?’
Her hands were on her hips and her pale body gleamed against the sun. Blotches of red were on her cheeks but I’d take furious naked Mack over just about anything. Her long red hair reached down, just covering the tips of her breasts. Every other part of her was revealed to the world, however. Despite – or perhaps because of - what had just happened, it was incredibly erotic. I couldn’t help my mouth from quirking up.
‘What?’
Her irritability somehow just seemed funnier. I started to laugh while her eyes flashed dangerous yellow in my direction.
‘What?’ she demanded again.
‘You’re magnificent when you’re angry,’ I breathed. ‘Can you always be naked when you get pissed off? It’s so much more entertaining.’
Mack’s cheeks turned an even brighter shade of scarlet. I didn’t mean to make her embarrassed. Flipping up to my feet, I leaned in to cup her face and give her a well deserved kiss. Unfortunately, she wasted no time in pulling away.
‘What’s wrong?’
She refused to meet my eyes. ‘The Summer Queen and the Arch-Mage…’
Ah. It wasn’t just strange young men with crazy powers who were the problem. In the heat of the moment I’d all but forgotten about the ongoing politics. ‘I saw them talking to you,’ I said grimly. ‘Let me guess. They want you to stay on as head of the council. Which means you can’t be with me.’
Her head drooped further. ‘I pretty much told them to fuck off. And I mean it, I do, but…’
‘But they can be very persuasive.’ I understood. I bet I knew exactly what they’d said to her. Something along the lines of ‘we need you. You’re the only one who can bring the Otherworld together.’ Yaddayaddayadda. They were almost disappointingly predictable.
She tilted up her chin and sucked in a breath. ‘I won’t do it, Corrigan.’
I smiled at her tenacity, even though I felt worry gnaw at me. ‘I won’t let you. Not this time.’ They’d kept us apart for long enough. Besides, they’d have no argument if I abdicated. I grabbed her hand. ‘Come on. Let’s face them together.’
She relaxed slightly. We wandered down the beach, hand in hand, eventually turning off into the dunes at the far side of the cliffs which had almost seen Mack’s doom. The Arch-Mage and the Summer Queen notwithstanding, the information she’d given me about the group of
people who wanted to kill her was echoing round my skull. That man had told her she was unnatural. That she shouldn’t exist. Something inside me hardened. No doubt he’d think the same about our child – or children. Human or not, I’d destroy them if they tried to hurt her again.
We reached the trees, skirting round until we hit the track leading back up to the top of the cliffs. Although Mack stayed silent, still holding my hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world, my mind was churning. It was never going to be over for her. I could abdicate as Lord Alpha a million times over and she would always be in danger. She was a Draco Wyr; you didn’t just shrug and get on with your life when you transformed into a bloody dragon. Get past the council and the responsibilities others were determined to keep piling on top of her and there would still be people after her. Get rid of them and no doubt someone else would crawl out of the damn woodwork. Would she ever be free? Would our baby ever have a chance at a peaceful life?
My ears prickled once we began to draw closer to the scene of the crime. My shifters had wasted little time in getting to the clifftop. I knew without looking that they already had that human prick under control. Leah began to cry, a sound which struck at my heart. She wouldn’t be that upset unless … understanding flitted through me.
‘Shit.’ Mack leapt forward coming to exactly the same conclusion as I had. ‘They think we’re dead.’
Before she could spring out towards them, I grabbed her arm and pulled her back. ‘I can turn it off, Mack,’ I said in an urgent undertone. ‘I can turn off the Voice for good.’ The beginnings of a plan formed in my head. ‘They’ll think I’m gone. We can leave together. Now. We’ll be done with this forever.’
‘You mean…?’
I nodded. Part of it seemed a completely crazy thing to do and part of it seemed to make absolute sense. If we did this, she would be safe. Our babies would be safe. We’d have a real future. It wasn’t a decision I was going to take alone though. I could only present her with the option. ‘If you want to,’ I said carefully, looking into her eyes.
A cloud of emotion crossed her face. ‘We’ll be free,’ she said slowly. ‘No-one else will come after me if I’m dead.’ I just watched her while she considered it. We were short on time here and I didn’t want to pressure her. ‘Our children will be safe.’
The hope that suddenly flickered in her eyes was almost painful to behold. I reached across and caressed her cheek.
She shook her head. ‘But they need us. You’re the Lord Alpha. What will the Brethren do?’
‘They’ll find someone else.’ Three someones, in fact. ‘It’s a fucking pain in the arse job as it is, kitten,’ I told her honestly. ‘I’m not going to miss it.’
Mack was still troubled. ‘But Mrs Alcoon…’ Her voice trailed off as a thought struck her. Her face relaxed. I was guessing that the wily old Scottish woman had already given an inkling that this escape route was a possibility.
We were far enough back in the trees that most of the group out on the exposed clifftop couldn’t see us. Mack gazed out at them all. I stiffened when Solus turned and looked directly at her. Shit. Perhaps the decision had already been taken out of our hands. Then he mouthed a single word.
‘Go.’
Gratitude swamped me. Solus understood. He knew she’d never get peace unless we did this and he was giving us his explicit blessing. We could do this. It was still possible. As I watched, he nudged Floride next to him and said something. A sudden grin spread across the mage’s face. Solus wasn’t the only one who got it. I was pretty sure that Leah would understand too.
‘We’ll have ruined their wedding day,’ Mack said softly.
I grimaced. ‘They’ll get over it.’ I was pretty certain someone – either Solus or Floride – would have a quiet word with Tom and Betsy and explain things to them. They could be trusted to keep this secret.
Mack swiveled round and met my eyes. ‘What if we don’t make it? As a couple?’
I stilled, watching her. ‘Do you think we won’t?’ I asked carefully.
She shook her head, a light suddenly reflected in her eyes. We were meant to be together and we both knew it. We might have fought against it – her probably harder than me – but this was what was meant to be. I drew in a breath.
‘We’re in this for the long haul, kitten, no matter what.’ I squeezed her hands. ‘But this is your decision. We leave now and never return, or we go and tell everyone that we’re okay. Make a choice.’
She moved my hands to her stomach, pressing them against her softness. ‘If we don’t do this, they’ll always be in danger.’
I quirked up an eyebrow. ‘They? You think it’s twins too.’
She grinned. ‘A boy and a girl. Probably.’ A shadow crossed her eyes. ‘We’re making this decision for them though. They’ll never know what it’s like to grow up in the Otherworld with all it has to offer. All its danger and unpredictability and assassins lurking round every fucking corner…’ She put a hand over her mouth. ‘Sorry,’ she whispered down. ‘I’m going to stop swearing. I promise.’ She leaned in towards me and wrapped her arms round my body. ‘Let’s go now. If they ever really need us again, then Solus or Alex will call.’
‘They’ll be fine.’ I smiled, using her own usual refrain back at her. ‘They can look after themselves. Our children can’t.’
Mack’s faced smoothed over, absent now of all the worries and stressed which she normally carried with her. ‘We’re naked.’
‘We can change that.’
She grinned. ‘Then let’s get a move on.’
Epilogue
It was a good day for a picnic. Mack packed a hamper, complete with a flask of dark sticky coffee made from some Fae grown beans which Solus had brought over on his last visit, along with sandwiches, cakes and juice, and we ventured down to the beach, watching the kids play in the surf before they danced away to explore the caves at the far end. Mack leaned back against my chest and sighed contentedly.
‘Are you purring?’ I teased.
‘Don’t,’ she growled.
‘Because,’ I said, ignoring her warning, ‘it sounds like you’re purring. And only kittens…’
She reached round and thumped me. ‘I can still take you in a fight, you know.’
I laughed. ‘I have no doubt. Only if you can keep a handle on your temper though. Once you see red, you know I’ll find the chink in your armour and get you flat on your back in seconds.’
Mack raised her eyebrows. ‘Flat on my back? I hope that’s a promise.’
I pressed my cheek against hers. ‘Always,’ I promised.
There was a sudden wail. We both stiffened as a small figure came running towards us on short stubby legs. Mack pulled away from me and stood up. ‘Thomas John Staines,’ she said sternly, ‘what is wrong? And where is your sister?’
His bottom lip trembled, his bright red hair glinting against the sunshine. ‘She hit me.’
‘Did you hit her first?’
‘No.’ His eyes dropped. ‘Maybe.’
Mack and I exchanged a look. I got onto my knees. ‘You shouldn’t hit girls, you know.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because it’s not fair.’
‘Why isn’t it fair?’
‘Because,’ Mack said, joining me, ‘girls like Mereia are stronger than boys and she’ll only hit you harder and then you’ll come crying to us.’ She gestured at him. ‘Like now.’
‘I only wanted to touch the doggy,’ he mumbled.
I frowned. ‘What doggy?’
A vicious snarl which most definitely didn’t come from our absent daughter could be heard from the caves. I exploded, clothes ripping off in a heartbeat and crockery and glasses flying. Mack was even faster. Within seconds we were both standing in front of the dark opening. Before we could enter, however, two shapes came flying out. The first was unmistakably a wyrm. Its long neck stretched out towards us and its eyes were bulging in panic. Hanging off its tail was a tiny panther cub. Mereia�
�s teeth were digging in and there was no way she was about to let go. I bunched up, ready to dart forward.
Don’t, Mack said calmly. She’s got this.
The wyrm, which had to be at least five times the size of Mereia, flapped its wings. It was a struggle for it to get off the ground with her latched onto it as she was but it still managed. She rumbled in irritation and shook her head, her black fur giving way to blacker scales. Her own little wings beat in the air as she took off, tussling with the wyrm as she did. It was an effort to stand back but I managed it.
The wyrm apparently decided that attack was the best form of defense. It curved its head round, its jaws snapping at Mereia’s side. From behind us, there was an angry yell, followed by a stream of green magic.
‘Leave my sister alone!’ Thomas screamed.
They’ve both got this, I projected.
Mack nodded. Well, I suppose we know what happened to the Michaelsons’ pony now.
And, I grinned, it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen again.
We shared a look. You can’t keep a good werepanther Draco Wyr hybrid sibling team down.
I leaned my head over to the side, rubbing it against her flank. We’re really going to have to come up with something far catchier than that.
Gifted Thief – Exclusive sneak peek!
Prologue
The girl with no name scurried down the corridor, hiking up her skirt to avoid the hem from trailing along the dusty floor. She’d already been in trouble once today for her appearance when the cook had cuffed her ear for wearing a stained apron. The fact that it was stained simply because she’d been in the garden and picking mudberries on the cook’s orders didn’t seem to matter. It was one thing, however, to be told off in the kitchen; it was quite another for it to happen in the grand hall in front of goodness knows who.
She hadn’t been in the Bull’s presence for months. The last time she was summoned it was to make up numbers at a cocktail party. Not, of course, as a guest; it was her role to hold up canapés to the mingling party goers – no mean feat for someone who was short for her age and surrounded by towering Sidhe adults.
