The Hob (The Gray Court 4)

by Dana Marie Bell

  Lady Moira Malmayne-Blackthorn, nee Dunne, sister of Leo and Shane Dunne, growled at her Sidhe mate with all the ferocity of her leprechaun blood. “And I told you where you could stuff that idea. You think Jaden and I would allow you into a room alone with Cecelia?”

  Duncan rolled his silver-gray eyes. “I’ll hardly be alone, amoureaux.”

  “Neither will she.”

  It had been a while since Robin had seen someone speak through clenched teeth. Robin hid his smirk behind his hand. His week had just gotten a little bit brighter.

  Wait. If Duncan and Moira were here, then Jaden Blackthorn, newly minted Lord of the Blackthorn clan, could not be far away. His Blade would never allow his mates so far out of his sight without direct orders from either Robin or Oberon, which meant Robin could safely assign the Blade to guard Michaela with impunity.

  He stepped aside and allowed Duncan and Moira to pass into the conference room without greeting them. He would let his presence be known to them later.

  Right now, he had a vampire to talk to. Using his blood connection to the young vampire, Robin found him in the lounge, staring at the conference goers with an expression of unholy glee.

  “I thought you were nearby.”

  Robin twitched. The Blackthorn-Dunnes continually surprised him. He bowed, allowing some green to flash through his currently brown eyes. “Jaden.”

  “Robin.” Jaden grinned and waved toward a seat. “Cop a squat and have a cup of coffee with me.” He tilted his head, one midnight brow rising nearly into his hair. “I gather you’re here for the Yates boy?”

  Robin returned Jaden’s grin. “I’m here to find out what our dear Dark Queen is up to with this mad start of hers.”

  Jaden practically bounced in his seat. “Oh. Can I help? Can I? Huh? Huh? Pleeease? I’m so bored.”

  Robin laughed, delighted. “Yes, you may.”

  “Yes!” Jaden rubbed his hands together. “Akane’s gonna be so jealous.”

  “I have something special in mind for you, in fact.”

  Jaden leaned forward eagerly. “Do tell.”

  “I need you to guard someone.”

  Jaden whimpered.

  “Someone Raven MacSweeney has taken an interest in.”

  At that, Jaden’s pained expression disappeared. He sat up slowly, that quick mind of his already going over the implications. “Oh? The Fear Dearc has a girlfriend?”

  The handle of Jaden’s coffee cup snapped off, overturning the cup and spilling hot coffee all over his hand. Jaden yelped and grabbed a napkin, wiping the burning liquid off his hand. He glared at Robin. “What the hell?”

  Robin sat back in his chair and took a deep breath. It wouldn’t do to allow the vampire to see him shaken. Just the thought of Michaela with MacSweeney was enough to set him off.

  Something was going on. Something Robin would have to deal with personally. “Perhaps I should give you my assignment and take the girl on myself.”

  “The girl?” Jaden’s sudden stillness gave him pause. “Not MacSweeney?” The knowing look Jaden shot him had a tinge of fear. “Could she be the one?”

  “Fate is a cruel mistress with very bad timing.”

  Jaden’s brows rose. “I’ll take that as a yes. Fate has an odd way of giving you what you need when you least expect it.” Jaden smiled grimly, his gaze turning inward as he spoke to his bondmates. “Duncan and Moira say hello, and they’re willing to help protect your female. When she’s near the Fear Dearc, Duncan will keep an eye on her. Moira’s going to try and find her and make nice. I’ll watch over her when I’m not protecting Duncan.”

  He hadn’t even had to order Jaden to watch Michaela. He’d volunteered, as had his bondmates. “Are they certain? The Fear Dearc is not one to fool around with, and Michaela is mortal. She would be of no help to Moira in a fight.”

  Jaden waved his hand. “You watched over my bondmates when I couldn’t. It only seems fair we watch over yours. Besides, Moira’s dying to meet her. Hell, she’s already on her way out of the room. Duncan agreed she should go, and for once she didn’t argue too hard.”

  Robin was, once again, touched by the generosity of the Dunne-Blackthorn family. There was only one response he could give, and he would, gladly. “You have my thanks.”

  Jaden lifted his broken cup, grimacing at its emptiness. The vampire had already healed the minor burn to his hand. “You’re welcome.” He set his cup down and stood. “Moira’s made contact.” He grimaced. “She wants a pair of strap-on wings for some strange reason.”

  Robin shuddered delicately.

  “She also has a plan.” Jaden gave Robin a mock sympathetic look. “Be afraid.”

  Robin sighed and followed the vampire. Perhaps assigning the Blackthorns to watch Michaela hadn’t been his best idea. The thought of Michaela and Moira conspiring together had his gut clenching in terror.

  Alone, the women were a force of nature. Together?

  Robin was in deep trouble.

  “Excuse me, can you point me toward the ladies?”

  Michaela pointed without even looking up.

  “Ah. Thank you. Um. I was wondering, is your name Michaela?”

  “Yes. How did you know?”

  The woman looked relieved. “Do you know a man named Robin?”

  Michaela started. “No.” But boy, did she wish she did, especially if it was her Robin. Too bad he was the figment of an overactive imagination.

  Damn.

  The redhead in front of her made a face. “Oh.” She bit her lip. “I’m looking for someone, actually. Long red hair, blue eyes, looks like someone off the cover of a romance novel. His name is Robin.”

  Michaela would have remembered someone like that. Hell, she would have been all over him. That description matched her Robin to a tee. She had a serious thing for redheads. It was Ringo’s only fault, but one she was willing to overlook due to his utter hotness and the fact that he seemed to want her too. “The closest I’ve seen is a guy in a cosplay wig dressed as InuYasha, but that wig was white. Sorry.”

  “That’s okay.” The woman pointed toward Michaela’s wings. “I like them. Do they light up?”

  Michaela smiled. She loved her bright orange and black wings. “Yup. Want to see?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Michaela pressed a button on her special belt, twirling around when the woman gasped.

  “Where did you get those?”

  Michaela shrugged. “Internet.”

  The woman laughed. “My name’s Moira Malmayne-Blackthorn.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Moira.”

  “Same to you.”

  “Are you here for the convention?”

  Moira grimaced. “Nah. Business trip for one of my husbands.”

  One of? “You…have two husbands.”

  Moira nodded, but her open, friendly expression had begun to close off.

  “How do you handle that? I mean, my mom had a hard enough time getting one guy to remember to lower the toilet seat. Then my brothers came, and she swears she became a duck from her butt landing in all that cold water at two a.m.”

  Moira barked out a laugh, her expression easy once more. “It’s not easy keeping them in line, let me tell you. They have a habit of finding trouble wherever we go.” Moira shuffled her feet. “Actually, I have a confession to make.”

  Michaela’s brows rose.

  “My friend wants an introduction, so I was tasked with coming over to meet you, see if maybe you were single?”

  Michaela wished she could give Moira the answer she wanted. “I’m single, but—”

  “Then wait right there.” Moira dashed off before Michaela could finish her answer.

  Michaela was just too damn busy to date. Being a pediatric oncology nurse at PGH consumed all her time. What little time she had left she used to pursue her hobbies, like snowboarding and MX biking. She was even taking classes in mixed martial arts, although she found herself on her ass more there than she ever did when she was learni
ng to snowboard.

  Michaela shook her head and decided to leave before Moira could find her again. The last thing she needed was some stranger trying to set her up on a blind date. She flipped open her program, then glanced at her watch. Maybe she could still make the class on fairy gardening. Someday she’d be able to afford a house with a garden, and she’d want to know what flowers to plant. Even though fairies weren’t real, the possibility that she might attract one was too good to ignore. She barely looked up as someone moved to block her path. “’Scuse me.”

  “Leaving so soon? And Moira thought you would be interested in saying hello.”

  Ringo? Michaela glanced up into deep brown eyes filled with laughter. “Hey, you made it!” She was unable to contain her smile. Somehow, the day seemed just a little bit brighter.

  Good-bye, Robin. Hello, Ringo.

  “I did indeed.” Ringo took her hand and led her back to the smiling redhead. A tall, dark and handsome man stood next to Moira, his arm wrapped securely around her waist. “I’d like to introduce you to Jaden Blackthorn. Jaden, this is Michaela.”

  “Charmed.” Jaden bowed, his movements eerily similar to Ringo’s.

  In fact, Jaden was sporting a grin very similar to Ringo’s. Despite his obvious American Indian heritage and Ringo’s more mixed, Eurasian looks, she couldn’t help asking the obvious question. “Are you two related?”

  Moira jolted as if stung, but Jaden answered easily. “Cousins.” He frowned through his smile. “Most people don’t pick up on it that quickly.”

  “You move the same.” She turned to Ringo and placed her hand on his arm. “Hey, I need to get going if I’m going to catch the fairy gardening workshop.” She ignored Jaden’s muffled laugh and concentrated on Ringo. “Want to grab lunch later?” She could sleep tomorrow, right?

  Ringo took her hand and kissed her wrist. It took everything in her not to shiver. “I would love to.”

  “Cool. There’s this little hole-in-the-wall that has the best pizza just a block or two away.” She frowned. “You do like pizza, right?” Because a man who didn’t love pizza was not the man for her.

  “I adore it.”

  Michaela relaxed. “Excellent.” She turned to Moira and her husband. “Do you three want to join us?”

  “Ah.” Moira exchanged a quick look with Jaden. “We’ll have to talk to Duncan, but if Ringo has no objection, we’d love to.”

  Michaela heard the odd emphasis Moira put on Ringo’s name but decided to let it pass, at least for now. He’d explain it when he was ready. Why he would lie about his name she didn’t know, but his vibe hadn’t changed. Ringo was no danger to her. If anything, she felt a hundred times safer when he was nearby.

  Speaking of feeling safe… “Hey, do you have any idea what happened earlier? All the bulbs blew out.”

  Moira nodded, looking suddenly pale. “It was freaky.”

  “I swear I’m going to be brushing bulb glass out of my hair for weeks.”

  Moira eyed Michaela’s long brown hair and nodded in sympathy, absently fingering her curls. “I know what you mean.”

  “Didn’t you need to hit the ladies?”

  Moira nodded furiously. “Like babies need boobies.”

  Jaden doubled over, laughter erupting from him.

  Moira merely rolled her eyes at him. “I’ll be right back, a ghra.”

  “That sounds sweet. What does it mean?” Michaela followed Moira toward the ladies’ room. She was going to miss the flower gardening workshop, but that was okay. Her new friend was married to Ringo’s cousin and seemed to know some of his secrets.

  Moira blew Jaden a kiss, which he returned despite his continuing laughter. “It means ‘my love’.”

  Michaela couldn’t help it. She risked a glance at Ringo only to find him watching her, an odd expression on his face. She nearly tripped over her own feet when she realized what it was.

  Longing.

  Robin waited until Jaden was done laughing before gently placing his hand on the nape of his Blade’s neck. “What were you thinking?”

  Jaden gulped, his laughter suddenly gone. Good. Despite his affection for the boy, it wouldn’t do to let him think he could get away with something as vital as mucking about in the Hob’s plans. “That she’d trust us more if she knew we were associated with you, since you mentioned you’d already met her.”

  Robin paused a beat, letting Jaden’s fear ramp up. Had he mentioned that? He couldn’t remember. While he was not entirely displeased by Jaden’s actions or logic, openly making friends with Michaela right where the delegation sat had not been in his game plan. It was not the best way to keep her safe, but it was too late now, had possibly been too late when she’d been attacked by the redcaps.

  That and his honest, if misguided, intentions were what saved Jaden’s life.

  He scraped his nail across Jaden’s neck, drawing a minimal amount of blood, just enough to express his dissatisfaction. “I had thought to keep our surveillance secret.”

  “If we’re right and she’s yours, she’ll need something a little more upfront. If we don’t let it be known right off the bat that she’s protected and off-limits, someone might make a move on her before we can get to her in order to hurt you.”

  Robin tilted his head, acknowledging Jaden’s facts without outright saying he might be right. It was a tricky thing, protecting the truebonds of the powerful.

  Robin bit back a gasp.

  Truebond? He had been certain she was his bondmate, but a truebond? A truebond was a bond so deep, none but the gods themselves could break it.

  He stared at the small room Michaela had disappeared into and bit back a growl as Cecelia Malmayne sauntered in, neat as you please. The urge to run in and rip her blonde head from her neck before she could give Michaela so much as a shiver of unease was intense.

  It was official. Robin was fucked, and not in the good way. And to make his day even more interesting, the mirror in his pocket began to vibrate.

  Oberon wanted his report, and Robin had literally nothing to give him but an insane brunette who might or might not be his truebond.

  Chapter Seven

  “How go the negotiations?”

  Oberon waited a beat while Robin, strange looking with brown eyes and hair, tilted his head in thought. “Kael is still in the room. It appears the preliminary pleasantries are over, but I have been unable to enter. I have, however, managed to make contact with Jaden and Moira Blackthorn. They’ve promised to keep me apprised of the goings-on via Duncan, so in essence we have two spies within.”

  Oberon nodded, pleased. That had been his intention in sending Lord Duncan, a man who was mated to a Knight of Oberon and was himself a negotiator of some note. Jaden and Moira’s ease in Robin’s presence would also be of benefit to Robin in his investigations, as they would easily follow Robin’s lead without question or fear. They would also act on their own as needed, something other Blades forced to work with Robin might balk at for fear of incurring his wrath.

  The founding members of Clan Blackthorn were an odd family, but they’d adopted Robin as one of their own and would guard him fiercely. He wondered if Robin was aware of that or not.

  “Apparently, one of the delegates is a bit of an issue, but I do not foresee any problems. We’ve made note of his name, and I will keep tabs on him personally.”

  “Which delegate?” Last Oberon had seen, the list contained the usual names.

  “The Fear Dearc.”

  Oberon froze. “Lord Raven MacSweeney is there?” That could be problematic, as the Fear Dearc had a reputation similar to Robin’s, and almost as sinister.

  Robin’s head tilted further in a gesture that was almost bird-like. “Was his name not supposed to be there?”

  “No.” Oberon waved his hand and the original list appeared in the mirror they spoke through. “It was supposed to be Song Kuan-Yin, a siren.” Oberon frowned. “Perhaps that was the issue, then.”

  “Oh?”

  Robin�
�s innocent expression didn’t fool him. The word siren had his Hob’s ears practically standing at attention. “The King and Queen of Atlantis have lost one of their daughters.”

  “Ah. I see. I am sorry for their loss.”

  Oberon’s brow rose. Robin’s regret was less than sincere, but it would take someone who’d known him as long as Oberon had to pick up on it. “She is not dead. She ran away from an arranged marriage to one of the princes of Pacifica. The ensuing merger would grant both sides much power, but apparently the princess decided she did not want to comply with her parents’ wishes and fled.”

  Robin grinned, and it was vicious. “The last arranged marriage a child fled resulted in the Child of Dunne. Perhaps a consultation with the Seer is in order?”

  Oberon scowled. He had no time for this. His dreams had been…strange, of late, and he was weary. “This is no laughing matter, Robin. Should Princess Cassandra not return to her family, war could break out.” And while Oberon could send someone to negotiate a peace between the two nations, unless directly asked there was little he could do. His main objective was, and always would be, to prevent war between the Black and the White courts. Minor courts, even ones as large as Atlantis and Pacifica, were on their own unless they directly impacted Titannia or Gloriana, or they appealed to Oberon for aid. Atlantis owed shaky, often ignored fealty to Gloriana. Pacifica was sworn to Titannia.

  “Who are you sending?”

  His Hob knew him well. Oberon would keep an eye on the situation, asked or no. “We have few deep-sea nymphs trained as Blades.”

  “I would suggest Dylan.”

  A selkie? In the court of Atlantis? That would be amusing now, wouldn’t it? The Atlanteans could be even more prejudiced than the Sidhe when it came to the “lesser” fae. “He wouldn’t have access to the higher courts.”

  Robin frowned in thought. “I’ll send him, nevertheless. I might be able to grant him access where normally he’d have none.”