by Jo Penn
“Yep! Okay, starving.” Luka grabbed a plate and scooped out eggs, body still vibrating.
“Back in a minute, mate. Tudor, sit here with Mason, update him on whatever you’ve heard about the bombing yesterday. Cas, give me a minute.”
Everyone did as Drax commanded. Mason smiled at Tudor, who looked a little awkward while casting longing looks toward to his wolf mate, who was eating as if he hadn’t fed for a week. He wasn’t bothered being ordered about by his mate. Nope, Mason knew if he disagreed, he just had to say so, but why would he? Drax knew what Luka needed and was taking care of his brother and helping out Cas and Tudor so they could do the same.
“So, what’s the gossip?” Mason asked. “Luka, there are pastries in the fridge, feel free to have those.”
While Luka cleaned out the kitchen of food, Mason and Tudor chatted about coven business and Tudor’s potion making. When Luka finished eating, he joined in, informing them of what he’d heard about the investigation, which wasn’t much, unfortunately, as the findings so far were being kept confidential.
Drax returned. “Cas is waiting for us downstairs, pup. Let’s—” Drax stopped and frowned at Mason. He looked stumped and scratched the side of his head. “So, how do we do this, mate?”
Amused, Mason decided not to torture Drax by prolonging his answer. “Why don’t you and Luka shift and run? I am happy to follow behind. What about you, Tudor?”
“Laurie and I have an experimenting room booked in ten minutes. But I can walk with you.”
Mason shook his head. “No, you and Laurie have tests coming up. I will have Lawson schedule a time for us to meet and begin working on our plans for dealing with these barbaric covens. Perhaps Cas will walk with me.”
“Yeah, he usually follows. Sometimes he runs and man, is he fast! Oh, Uri got me assigned to the investigation, so I’ll know more of what’s happening this afternoon,” Luka said. “We have our first meeting to share information. Ryson Durand should arrive by lunchtime, and as the vampires have already been cleared of having anything to do with the bombing, they are heading the investigation now.”
Mason nodded. “I’m surprised you were allowed in, considering it was your brother’s truck that was bombed.”
“I’m impartial, part of my sworn allegiance. They’re aware that can only go so far with a wolf shifter’s allegiance to family and pack but in this case since the pack are in the clear of any wrong doing, I’m in charge of public relations between each of the groups and the Council. Let’s shift and run, bro. Oh! And Ran’s here somewhere. I sniffed him when I came in.”
Well, it looked like Mason was right. The Armstrong coven was going to be overrun with shifters from now on. He briefly wondered how his sometimes uptight, twitchy fellow witches and wizards were going to fare.
Funny how five minutes later, in the main section of the coven where his kind bustled about performing their duties, there was a small crack, a puff of white powdery smoke, and then a feline shifter went flying through the air into a wall, cracking a minute piece of plaster. Mason’s grandmother and the coven’s leader, Lady Delia, tutted, striding out of the room regally and looked at the downed shifter.
“Really, Gus, I did say not to touch that. Curiosity and cats. Well, you will learn, and if you don’t, I’m sure turning you into a book will suffice.”
Yes, his kind, he was certain, would grumble and turn anyone who irritated them into books. This made Mason smile. He was never going to feel alone again, or overwhelmed with work, or even lacking entertainment. Now he had Drax who was solid as a rock, his protector, and mostly, his incorrigible, never wavering mate.
Drax howled outside, Mason hurrying to catch up.
* * * *
Drax had covered the entire coven grounds with his brother Luka and surrogate younger brother Ran, all in wolf form using their heightened sense of smell to scent anything out of place. They found nothing, except the wasp nest Ran tumbled into. Drax had never seen the pup run so fast!
He kept an eye on his mate and wasn’t surprised that Mason and Cas talked the entire time about magic. Spells. Potions. The differences in fae and wizard magic.
Once back at the mansion, he realized they had shifted inside, and it wouldn’t be a good idea to shift back to human and stride buck naked through the place as wizards and witches were peculiar little prudish creatures that took offense at the strangest things. So instead, he led his brothers up to the suite he now shared with Mason and they shifted there.
Downstairs, he found Cas and Mason in the office he would now be using with his mate. Avenger Vicus was also there, seated comfortably in an overstuffed armchair. Ran smiled and ambled over to his mate and climbed onto the deadly creature’s lap, sniffing and petting. Drax’s brows shot up at seeing how Vicus purred and cradled his small mate carefully and lovingly. Vicus was renowned for being cold and liked a good distance between himself and others. Drax guessed that was what having mates did to you, changed your perspective a bit, what you wanted.
“And then they chased me!” Ran exclaimed.
“Wasps.” Vicus twitched, eyes narrowing.
“Here? On the coven grounds?” Mason had been having a deep discussion with Cas, despite Luka rubbing up against his fae mate. Mason whipped his head around so fast that he was sure to get a pulled muscle.
Ran blinked huge sapphire blue eyes. Vicus drew his mate closer into his arms and petted a little.
“Yes, I see from Ran’s mind where they are on the property. I will remove them.”
“Huh? I don’t get it. Yeah, they chased Ran, but he’s a fast little bugger, easily outran the insects. What’s the big deal?” Luka asked.
Drax was curious also, what with both Mason and Vicus’s reactions.
“Wasps are like leeches to witches and wizards,” Mason said. “They are attracted to the magic, and like a firefly that lights up with a chemical reaction of oxygen, magnesium ions, and adenosine triphosphate, wasps react with a combination of magic and a taint being given off.”
“You mean they are drawn to magic that has turned bad?” Cas asked, frowning.
“Yes. If there are wasps here, they are consuming the chemicals given off from the combination of magic in the air and the magic turned bad. They grow larger and become dangerous to witches and wizards. If they have this combination inside them and sting us, it pollutes our bodies, corrupting our systems and disrupting our magic so badly we may never regain control of it.”
“Holy shit! Those little insects can do all that? Why didn’t we know this?” Luka asked.
“It is not something we advertise of course. And like Luka’s gift, it must remain between us. We simply say some witches and wizards are highly allergic to wasps to cover ourselves.” Mason sighed. “This proves there is a witch or wizard within the coven whose soul has turned black.”
“Can you go near them?” Drax asked Vicus.
The Avenger was a rare creature, who, instead of inheriting one or the other of his parents’ lineage, had in fact inherited three creature types. Falcon shifter, lion shifter, and wizard. If witches and wizards were so affected by wasps—hell, wasps?—then Drax should get a lot of insect repellent and carry a blowtorch.
“I can—”
“Best not to.” Mason shook his head, adamant. “They’ll swarm you immediately. They mustn’t have been there too long. Otherwise, we would have them invading the mansion. Are they only small in size?”
“Yep. Ooh, you’re allergic to wasps! I’ll go chase them away.” Ran went to stand up but was securely held by Vicus. “Ugh, you’re not going to do that hugging thing now are you?”
“You will not go near the wasps. They must have scented me on you and that is why they chased you,” Vicus growled.
“Good point. So, I’ll get a shitload of bug spray and maybe set fire to the tree. Marco’ll help.” Luka ambled toward the door.
“I will join you. It may be wiser to spray them. I can see how setting fire to a tree could burn the entir
e coven down if you and Marco are in charge.” Cas hurried after his mate. “I will be back to aid in the hunt for the evil wizard, Drax.”
Drax glanced at the wall clock, trusting that Cas would take care of the wasp situation and not let Luka and Marco burn the coven down around them. Chane, his brother, and their entourage would arrive soon. Drax wanted to have everything set up so there’d be no mishaps when the pair arrived. If Archie could spot the magic wielder with the darkened soul tainted by evil magic, then Drax could interrogate the creature and find out how many were involved in the plot to turn Milson City groups against one another.
Then he might actually get to spend time with his mate and finish their bonding.
That thought motivated Drax. He grabbed Mason, gave him a swift kiss on the lips, and growled at not being able to do more.
“Let’s get organized, mate. I have plans for us later.”
Chapter Eight
Drax spent the next hour and a half organizing security throughout the coven, briefing them on what to look for, what to expect and keeping an eye on the grounds. He kept quiet about the wasps. He didn’t want to cause a panic among the magic wielders here who would know they had a soul-tainted member in the coven if wasps were about—and, hells, wasps? Drax was still stunned by that one—and he and Mason only told a few high-level witches and wizards what was planned for today.
Lawson, or Law as Mason called one of his assistants, trembled when Drax, Lady Delia, and Mason informed him what was going on. Mason was adamant Law had nothing to do with the situation, and as Drax could scent Law was a relation of some sort to the Armstrongs, second cousin perhaps, he agreed but would be keeping an eye on the pup.
“What relation is he?” Drax asked when Law left the room.
“Relation? Law isn’t a relation. It is only my father, mother, Grandma, Xavier, Laurie, and myself left.” Mason frowned.
“Yes, unfortunately we lost one branch of our family tree a century ago in that horrific attack by Renegades.” Delia sighed, eyes far away. “Cousins, so young. They all perished. We had been so isolated, the coven far from others. This is why I moved the coven to Milson City a hundred years ago and built alliances here. I never wanted us to be vulnerable again.” Delia suddenly smiled at first Mason, then Drax. “Have you considered a surrogate?”
“Grandma!” Mason exclaimed, shocked.
Drax smirked. “I wouldn’t mind a few little magic-wielding tykes running around.”
And Drax wouldn’t. He could just imagine a couple of pups with Mason’s light brown blond hair and icy blue eyes tumbling around and causing mayhem with their magic. It was a picture he’d had in his head for years now, hoping one day his mate would want to make the picture a reality.
“Wonderful! Xavier still refuses to even discuss this with me, but I know he has the Armstrong magic gene. I think it best I bring that up with Drake. I’m sure he would like some cubs.”
“I’m so embarrassed.” Mason looked shocked, shaking his head and staring at the ground.
“Part of life, mate.” And since Drax wasn’t one to beat around the bush, he filled them in. “Lawson is an Armstrong. My nose can smell the family scent on him. I’m surprised Xavier didn’t smell it in his blood. You should ask him to take a good whiff of the pup, and that’s what he is, can’t be more than sixteen.”
When both Mason and Delia stared at him with equally stunned faces, Drax frowned.
“What? You didn’t know he was so young?”
It took a few minutes, but Mason recovered first. “Well, no, Drax. What on earth is going on? Maybe you’re right. Maybe he is the one and your nose is confused.”
“No, no…I think Drax would know best about these matters. Lawson has only been with us a year, and I noticed he always rushes away when Xavier is home. He also has little magic.” Delia paced, thoughtful. “It was chaos that night. Humans helped, as did creatures to fight off the Renegades, but we lost so many, lost track of so many. Maybe a child survived and was taken away.” She sighed heavily. “Lawson is human with a strand of magic. It could be possible he is one of ours, the ones we lost that night were just babies…perhaps Alannah or Michelle.” Delia snapped her fingers and a phone appeared. “I want Xavier here now.”
Looked like Drax had caused a shitstorm.
“How come you didn’t mention this before?” Mason asked, curious, not accusing.
“Thought you knew he was a relation, and that’s why you had him working as an assistant.”
“Hmm, that is a fair assumption. We will wait until Xavier arrives and assesses. In the meantime, we don’t act any differently toward Law. Best not to spook him in case he does something foolish. Now, Chane and Archie should be arriving in a few minutes. Let’s take our places.”
Chane Taunton was a vampire who had a special talent with plants. At one stage in his long life, he had been a monk, and had perfected natural healing ointments, going on to make his own all-natural moisturizers and other products that not only used good ingredients, but also aided in healing the body. A short time ago, Chane arrived in Milson City with an assassin hot on his tail and ran into one of the tiger princes, Dominic, who claimed Chane as his mate.
These days Chane lived with Dominic at the Sanchez compound, made his moisturizers and healing ointments there and at the Durand vampire coven. And as an herbalist, taught at the Armstrong coven twice a week.
His younger brother, Archie, also a vampire, liked to hang out with Chane and was often here helping with the classes. It was Archie who would be able to see if a creature here had a tainted soul by utilizing his aura-reading gift.
Drax kept a good eye on them during the class, a little surprised to see the youngest vamp prince here also, Tyler Durand, who since coming to live at the coven in Milson City had settled down a bit and wasn’t as whiny and cheeky as he used to be. In fact, the pup had grown on Drax, but not so much he’d let Tyler get away with anything. He noticed that Archie and Tyler were close and Chane treated both as his younger brothers, and both stirred, teased, and had the class laughing. He also saw how bossy Tyler was, and that Archie watched everything Chane did, never letting Chane out of his sight. While Archie somehow managed to talk to just about everyone at once, Tyler got them doing what he wanted, the way he wanted.
Drax was going to be watching this pair closely from now on, he could see they were going to be just as boisterous and get into as much strife as Luka, Marco and Laurie did. Drax cringed at the thought of Archie and Tyler becoming friends with Luka, Marco, Laurie, Ran, and Deakin. Yeah, the city would become one big party town for these pups.
After class, Dominic took his mate and the other vampires to the dining hall. Drax and Mason joined them there. Chane always attracted a lot of attention and spent most of the time answering questions from curious magic wielders while Archie and Tyler laughed and joked, causing a ruckus, but it actually helped cover the fact Archie was eying everyone in the room and anyone who passed in the hall. Cas entered with Luka and joined them.
Forty minutes later and no reaction from Archie, Drax figured they wouldn’t find the traitor today. They couldn’t stay here much longer either as the witches and wizards would become suspicious with them just hanging out. It wasn’t something they did in the dining hall. He was about to make the signal to Dom when Archie stiffened in his seat and turned pale, sweat breaking out on his forehead.
Chane noticed immediately and nudged Dom who, like Drax and Mason, followed where Archie was staring.
Right to one of Mason’s four assistants.
Jack, the huffy one.
Drax rose and began stalking, signaling security. Jack was quick to catch on and, with a screech of outrage, grabbed trays, and food, and flung it at everyone, then moved onto plates and knives, creatures screaming and ducking, running around the dining hall to get away.
Leaping over a table and a few magic wielders, Drax narrowed in on the tainted wizard fast, but the creature was a slippery little prick and tossed a
glass container at a witch directly in front of Drax and Dom. The glass shattered, and instantly the witch turned into a griffin, out of control, breathing fire and crashing into furniture and creatures. Security had no choice but to help get everyone out and try to contain the griffin.
Drax remained focused on Jack, who was out of the dining hall and running. He could feel Mason right behind him, Dominic beside him and Cas and Luka racing to catch up. Mason threw out a hand, and lightning struck the ground where Jack had just been. The wizard returned fire by using telekinesis, tossing furniture and ornaments at them.
Jack was fast, Drax would give that wizard that, but he was a wolf, bigger and faster. Putting on a burst of speed and dodging flying objects, Drax was within grabbing range when the evil creature made a good move at evading capture and grabbed Tudor, who stepped out of a room with Laurie and Marco.
Jack stopped and pressed an ornate dagger to the other wizard’s throat.
Madness shone brightly in the tainted creature’s eyes. Maniacal, delusional. . How had they all missed it?
“This is your fault!” Jack yelled at Mason. “If you had just died when I poisoned you five years ago, none of this would have happened! But noooo, you had to survive and then you end up mating with him! I was trying to kill him, too! You just had to make this more difficult, and now the Master is mad—”
“Calm down, Jack. We can sort this out. First, let Tudor go. You do not wish to harm him. Your problem is with me, remember,” Mason said calmly.
Drax could feel the soothing waves in the air and knew Dominic was using his soothing gift to try to calm the madness-riddled wizard down. Drax though was plotting how to get to Jack and save Tudor, his brother’s mate.
“All your fault! The Master was so proud of me for getting rid of the second and then you turn up. Why didn’t you just die? I gave you the poison, but you didn’t die!” Jack screamed.
