by Holly Evans
“They’re young, not fully trained yet. Their fathers are doing good work with them and have given them a small shop of their own to start getting their feet under them.”
“So, you think because they’re new to this they’re more likely to bend the rules?”
“No, I think they’re the closest to both here and the restaurant I plan on taking you to afterwards,” Alasdair said, that predatory edge back in his eyes.
I was playing with fire.
“You’re going to Cole and Fi’s place? Tell them they’re expected at the next big family dinner,” Grayson said.
“They’re his cousins,” Alasdair said.
“My uncles are their adoptive dads,” Grayson explained as he headed out the door.
“Does everyone know everyone?” I asked as we followed Grayson through the cafe.
“I wouldn’t go that far, but it’s a good idea to network and make connections. There are these things called friends, too…”
I rolled my jaw and resisted the desire to bare my teeth. The humans would pay too much attention to what they’d see as such an odd gesture.
“Don’t give me your usual line, either. You’re perfectly charming when you want to be. There are plenty of people who’ll look past your,” he gestured at me with a sweeping motion from my feet to my head, “and be happy to engage with you as a person they enjoy.”
He reached over and placed his hand on my cheek when we were both in his car.
“I understand, Niko. You’ve been running your whole life, but you have a pack now. Embrace that.”
I squeezed my eyes closed and exhaled slowly. He leaned in, his scent wrapped me in a feeling of calm belonging. I opened my eyes to see his silver eyes dancing and his face barely inches away from mine. He brushed his lips over my cheek.
“Have a little faith,” he whispered.
The anger and frustration bubbled up. It was so easy for him to say. He commanded any room he walked into. He was a Guardian and a born dire wolf shifter. Closing my eyes and leaning back in the seat, I allowed it to dissipate. It was a defence mechanism, and I damn well knew it. The goddess had given me an amazing opportunity. Breathing slowly, I focused on that. I wasn’t going to drive away my chance at a pack just because it was easier to do so.
Thirty-Nine
The drive took all of three minutes. Alasdair pulled up in front of a fashionably scruffy building with an array of pretty glassware in the window. It proudly proclaimed that it was the finest herbalist and niche glassware shop in all of Paris. A lot of alchemists work under the cover of being herbalists or New Age shops, though a few use pharmacies as fronts. A number of potted plants stood tall and proud on the corners of the frontage. Their foliage was bold and bright, suggesting an elf’s touch. Brightly blooming flowers overflowed the elegant wrought iron balcony above the shop. The shop practically glowed with life and vitality and stood out along the cream and white street in a fantastic way. The little red scooter leaning against the wall was the final touch.
Alasdair stepped into the small shop with its soft orange lighting. The glass orbs hung from the ceiling low enough that I could feel the soft hum of magic from them: fae lights. That seemed like a ballsy move.
“They give the right ambiance,” a guy my age said with a small smile.
He was slender with the sharp cheekbones that came with pixie heritage. His leaf-green eyes glittered, and his hands were tucked into his slim-fit jeans. Alasdair grinned at him while we weighed each other up. The guy opened his arms wide and pulled Alasdair into a tight hug.
“You’ve been away too long, Dad’s been dying to catch up with you.”
“Poke and prod me, you mean!” Alasdair said with a laugh.
“This is my partner Niko, Niko this is Fi.”
“Fionn, I’m Fionn,” he said, holding his hand out.
I shook it with a firm grip showing I wasn’t weak. He glanced at Alasdair who gave him a small smirk.
“He’s yours, is he?” another guy called out from the dark doorway behind the broad wooden counter.
“This is my brother, Cole,” Fionn gestured.
I gave a small nod.
“We’re here about a few ingredients. We were hoping someone might have bought all of them recently,” I said as I handed the list over.
“You’re bringing him to the next reunion, right?” Fionn asked as he lifted a section of the counter for us to walk through.
“Grayson told me to remind you that you and Cole are expected to be at the next big family dinner,” Alasdair said.
I felt completely lost and extraneous.
“You’re a made,” Cole said as I walked into the back room after Alasdair.
I prepared for a familiar fight.
“We’re fuckups, too. He’s half pixie, I’m half sidhe. Our fathers adopted us aged thirteen because no one else wanted the shame of having half-breed mutts attached to their bloodline,” Cole said.
I didn’t know what I was supposed to say to that. I bristled at the idea of being a fuckup or a mutt, but I also felt some sympathy for his position.
“Ignore him, he’s having a day. Where’s the list?” Fionn asked.
I handed Fionn the list and looked around the room we were standing in. It was large enough for two six-foot tables in the middle, both of which were covered in glassware, herbs, and bowls of ground up things. Cole was standing watching me. His bone-structure was finer and more delicate than his brother’s, but he still had the soft golden glow of the sidhe and the point to the tip of his ears. His stormy grey eyes finished the picture beautifully. He could easily have modelled.
Turning my attention away from the alchemists, I tried to be polite and continued to survey the room while Fionn frowned at the list in his hands. Dried plants hung from the ceiling, forming an odd swirling pattern that I swore I recognised but couldn’t quite put my finger on. The walls were covered in shelves, all of which were full to the bursting of jars, vials, and books. That being said, it seemed that everything had its place, even if it was a bit hectic.
“Why do you wear the moonstone?” Cole asked.
“It helps me blend in better, or was supposed to. Given you knew I was made the moment I stepped in the door…”
He smiled, showing his teeth to be sharper than normal human teeth. It was an oddly disconcerting expression, simultaneously friendly and threatening.
“I cheated. We have a couple of alchemical aids set up so that we know exactly what anyone who walks in the door is. It’s a security measure,” he said with more than a little pride.
“Yea, you’re a real genius,” Fionn said with a smile.
“Sorry, we don’t even sell fractured shadow. We can ask our dads, though,” Fionn said, handing the list back to Alasdair.
“That’d be great, thanks. Give them my best.”
“Don’t forget to bring your boy toy with you to the next meal,” Cole said.
I bared my teeth at him, which only made him laugh.
“I like him,” Cole said with unfettered delight.
“Leave him be, Cole, don’t you have a salve to finish making?” Fionn said.
Alasdair put his arm around my shoulders and guided me back out to the car before I could start something. I’d never gotten on well with fae. They were pushy little shits with twisted senses of humour.
Forty
Alasdair insisted on taking me to a cosy little restaurant serving traditional Parisian cuisine. It came complete with suspiciously romantic low lighting and a table small enough that I kept catching my knee against Alasdair’s under it.
“They have excellent food here,” Alasdair had said with that smirk of his.
I ignored the looks we received from the other diners and ordered whatever was at the top of the menu. The entire thing was making me horribly uncomfortable.
“Relax, Niko, we’ll start early tomorrow. We have a few days before the next incident,” Alasdair said as he took my hand in his.
I didn�
�t look at him, instead I searched for the waiter and hoped to order before I had to start on small talk. The entire situation felt far too much like a date, and I didn’t date. I never had.
The waiter only made things worse. He gave us one of those knowing looks, which Alasdair encouraged. I squirmed in my seat and hoped to get it over and done with so I could slip away to anywhere else.
“How did you meet Cole and everyone’s father?” I asked.
It sounded so weak, but I needed something to fill the time.
“Cole and Fionn’s fathers are different from Grayson’s father, they’re three different people.”
I gave him a flat unimpressed look. I’d gathered that much, there was no need to nitpick and be a dick.
“I met all of them, Grayson’s parents, Cole and Fionn’s parents, and their priestess a few days after the Prague incident. I was called in to help wrap things up. We hit it off immediately and remained friends since. I’ve known the boys since they were born. Your family was involved in Prague, weren’t they?”
I took a long drink of water. I didn’t want wine, and even I knew beer wouldn’t work with coq au vin. He was talking about the huge ritual that changed everything. There had been some suggestion that my family had been involved with that in some way, but no one had told me anything. The coven had been tied to Prague, as was demonstrated by their moving back there when I was ten. I’d never seen any reason to dig into those ties, though.
“Maybe, no idea.”
“You don’t know the history of your family?”
“Not really, no. It never interested me.”
His lips pursed.
“Given your particular history, I thought you’d have been very interested.”
“People in my position weren’t given much opportunity to look.”
I was glad the waiter arrived with the food, and I ignored any etiquette and dove in. The meal was rich and brought a smile to my face. The red wine they’d chosen was deep and still had soft fruit notes that complimented the chicken wonderfully. I was never much of a foodie, but I could appreciate good food when someone handed it to me.
“I told you they did good food here,” Alasdair said.
The moment we finished our food, I called the waiter over and asked for the bill. I wasn’t spending a second longer in that uncomfortable situation than I had to.
“I’ll see you at the apartment; I’m walking,” I said.
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
“We went through this, it’s not safe.”
I resisted the urge to bare my teeth.
“I can handle myself.”
“It’s not forever, Niko. Just until this unpleasant situation is resolved.”
I could feel the people on the next table over from us listening, trying to glean what we were referencing. They’d never believe us if we explained it.
Much to my chagrin, I knew he was right, and I wasn’t going to risk my position as a trainee Guardian or whatever they called me by being a petulant cub. If the hunters were spreading word that I’d killed one of theirs, then they’d be out for my head. I could handle a couple of them, but they didn’t much like fighting fair.
Something was wrong when we got back the apartment. The shadow fell a little too thickly around the building. Alasdair parked in the last space, and I peered into the darkness, trying to pinpoint what exactly was wrong there. The hackles on the back of Alasdair’s neck had risen and given him a fearsome appearance that I doubted many people would want to face. We stepped out of the car, both tense and ready for a fight.
A man with sharp fae bone structure stepped out of the darkness and approached us with a thin smile. His dark eyes looked almost as black as his three-piece suit, complete with black tie.
“Leave us, Guardian, we have business,” he said.
His voice was soft and commanding. It felt like ice water running over me. Alasdair bared his teeth. I could feel his wolf barely beneath the surface of his skin.
“Come here, Nikolai, there is much to discuss.”
I felt the tug at my heels and somewhere around my sternum, but I refused to budge. His magic set my teeth on edge, and every instinct was screaming at me to run away. Alasdair was openly snarling at my side.
“Go inside, Guardian,” the man with his flawless porcelain skin said.
Alasdair grudgingly went inside the building, his steps stiff and his face one of pure fury.
“Come here, Nikolai.”
I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow.
“No. What do you want?” I demanded.
He was full-blooded fae of some form. It was a very bad idea to piss off any form of fae. Confusion crossed his face.
“Come to me, Nikolai,” he commanded.
I rolled my eyes, ignoring the tugging sensation at my heels.
“No.”
“My mistress will be pleased,” he said before he vanished and the shadow around the building with him.
I remained rooted to the spot for a long moment, looking around and trying to figure out what had just happened. It wasn’t like Alasdair to do as he was told, and who on Earth was his mistress supposed to be? I walked into the apartment building feeling lost, confused, and frustrated.
“Why is the Fear Dorcha after you, and how did you resist him?” Alasdair snarled when I stepped into the apartment.
“I have no idea what half the words you just said mean,” I said.
He snapped his teeth, his wolf was bristling.
“The Fear Dorcha is the sidhe queen’s lap dog. He is an incredibly powerful fae being bound to the queen. No one can resist his commands, and then there’s you. How do you not know even the basics, Nikolai?”
I bared my teeth at him and felt my magic pulsing just below the surface.
“Don’t give me the line about being made or a useless male, either,” he said.
“I don’t know a fucking thing. I have no idea what the whatever-the-sweet-fuck-he-was is or wants with me. I have no idea how I resisted him. I felt nothing more than a faint tugging,” I snarled.
He softened, and his wolf slipped away within him, giving me some room to breathe. I pushed my magic down and covered my teeth again. He ran his fingers through my hair and pulled me to him, nuzzling his face against my neck.
“What have you gotten yourself into?” he whispered gently.
Forty-One
Simone woke us up the next morning with a phone call saying that she’d managed to track down a pair of wolves from the bloodline. I pulled on the same pair of jeans I’d worn for the past few days, much to Alasdair’s dismay.
“We need to take you to the tailor,” he said.
I rolled my eyes.
“Another pair of jeans will do me fine,” I said as I walked out.
The wolves lived outside of Paris in somewhere called Clamart, and Simone had contacted them ahead of us letting them know we were on our way. When I pressed Alasdair about how she’d pulled that off, he remained silent. So much for no secrets.
Alasdair parked in front of a simple cream house on the outskirts of the forest. There was something sad about the place. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but the mood was noticeably melancholy. The forest was full of slender-trunked trees and wide well-kept paths that I had no doubt many people enjoyed. My wolf itched to run, but it was far from the time. We garnered a few curious looks as we approached the house. A few people were going about their business nearby. Alasdair was certainly striking in his suit, and I expect we looked like quite a pair with my jeans in contrast.
An older woman with dark blonde hair and pale blue eyes opened the door before Alasdair had a chance to knock.
“Come in, we knew you were coming.”
The interior was simple with pale wooden floors, white-washed walls, and a rustic-style kitchen where the shifter sat at the small table with the other wolf at her side.
“I am Etienne, and this is my mate, Gaspard,” she said as she took her mate�
�s hand and waited for us to speak.
“Do you know why we’re here?” Alasdair asked.
“Someone has been killing our bloodline. They’re using us to appease the shadow god. We knew this time would come,” she said.
The resignation consumed her, from the soft slope of her slouching shoulders to the faint glassiness to her eyes.
“Do you know where the others are? We want to help you,” Alasdair said.
“There is one other in our pack. Alain may know where the others are.”
“Can you tell us where Alain is? And anything you might know about the rituals.”
“We know nothing more. Please do not contact us again. We will not be here if you return,” she said as I caught the movement of someone moving in the window behind her.
She passed a small piece of paper to Alasdair. Alasdair stood and gave them a polite smile before we returned to car with nothing new.
“I’ll drop you off at the apartment. Take your bike and visit two alchemists, ask them about the ingredients. I’ll give you the addresses.”
“And what are you going to do?”
“Speak to Alain,” he said.
“You’re not worried the hunters are going to come for me?” I said with a grin.
He ignored me.
The first alchemist on my list had a reputation for dealing with the darker end of such things. I was unsurprised to be told that he was an elf. Elves were notorious for being ruthless businessmen. Their ethics left a lot of be desired. The pharmacy at the front was an old-fashioned affair complete with large bottles of elixirs with odd names on them lining the back wall. The woman handling the customers wore a black apron and had her hair back in a fierce bun.
“I’m here to see Sean,” I said when it was finally my turn.
Her thin lips pressed together so tight I was sure they’d vanished.
“He will expect payment.”
I fixed her with a predatory stare. She huffed and lifted the counter for me to step through the navy-blue curtain into the back.
