by Chant, Zoe
“Bondmarks,” he said softly. “We are truly joined.”
Side-by-side, the two patterns became one. They looked like looping, knotted cords tying their arms together.
Tamsin turned her wrist a bit. Light gleamed from the mark, flashing with blue-green iridescence. It was very obviously not a tattoo.
“I love it,” she said, a little ruefully. “But, um, I’m either going to have to wear long sleeves all the time, or pretend that I’m really into body-painting.”
Cuan laughed. “Do not fear. It will be invisible to regular humans, unless you will it to appear. Just as my own faemarks are hidden from mundane eyes.”
“Well, that’s a relief.” Tamsin snuggled against him, admiring her new markings. “I really do love it. Did you have any idea that this might happen?”
He shook his head. “I thought that bondmarks could only appear when fae mated. Then again, I suppose you are fae now, thanks to our link. I wonder whether you have also acquired any of our magics…”
Cuan traced her bondmark. It shimmered under his fingertips, glowing brighter. Tamsin caught her breath as a jolt of heat struck through her, straight to her core.
“Well now.” Cuan’s eyes gleamed. “How interesting.”
“Okay,” Tamsin gasped, catching his wrist. “Now I understand why you broke the bed when I stroked your marks. This is something we’re going to have to explore later.”
“Later?” He ducked his head, breathing lightly across her glowing mark, and her toes curled. “Not now?”
Now was starting to seem like an excellent idea.
The door creaked, shouldered open by Angus. He gave them both a withering glance that clearly stated he knew exactly what they were doing, and did not approve. He barked.
Tamsin sighed, reluctantly pulling her wrist out of Cuan’s grasp. “I know, baby, I know. Breakfast is coming.”
Chicken.
Tamsin started. It wasn’t exactly a word in her head. More…a feeling, an impression, that her brain was doing its best to translate into words. It was the taste of chicken, succulent and meaty. And the smell of chicken too, although smell hardly described that complex, multilayered cocktail.
Tamsin stared at Cuan. “Are you doing that?”
From his blank look, he wasn’t. “Doing what?”
Angus licked his chops.
Chicken, he demanded again, in her head. Get me chicken. Lots of chicken.
“Uh, Cuan?” Tamsin said slowly. “What was that you were saying about me getting fae magic…?”
Epilogue
“Blizzard!”
The whole family rushed forward the instant she led the husky into the police waiting room. There could be no doubting that they really were the dog’s owners.
The white husky went mad with joy, leaping and licking every face. His family huddled around him, laughing and crying, taking it in turns to hug him.
Tamsin stepped back, grinning. “Now that’s what I call a happy ending.”
At her side, Betty smiled too, watching the joyous reunion. “Nice when it all works out, isn’t it?”
The husband broke away from the group, coming over to seize Tamsin’s hand. He was a huge, tough-looking guy with a bristling beard, yet unabashed tears stood out in his eyes.
“I can’t ever thank you enough.” He had a broad Highland accent. From what Tamsin had gathered, the whole family had leaped in their car and driven all the way down from northern Scotland the moment they’d received her tentative message. “We were all just devastated when Blizzard disappeared, especially the wee bairns. But how did you ever track us down?”
Tamsin exchanged a small, secret glance with Betty. “Oh, well. We have our ways. And Blizzard was determined to find you too.“
Blizzard’s ears perked up at his name. Shaking off clinging toddlers, he came over to push his big wet nose into her hand.
Tamsin scratched him under the chin, smiling. “He’s a very special dog. And clever.”
Yes, Blizzard said in her mind. His tail wagged. Good boy, good boy Blizzard. Can go home now?
As always, it wasn’t exactly words. Her own brain did that, her magical gift turning the dog’s inner thoughts into human language. Blizzard’s idea of home was mostly smell-based—sheep and hay and wet heather, and the complex, individual scent of each member in his ‘pack’, as he thought of them.
But he’d been able to supply her with enough images of his owner’s car to let her pick out the license plate number. After that, it had been a simple matter for Betty to look up the address in the police databases.
“Yes,” Tamsin said to Blizzard. “You’re going home now. Betty, do you need me to help with the paperwork?”
“Nope,” the police officer replied. “I can handle it from here, if you need to take off.”
“I do, actually. Got another appointment.” Tamsin smiled again at the Scottish farmer. “It was nice to meet you. I’m so glad I was able to help Blizzard find his way back to you.”
It still took nearly twenty minutes to extract herself from the family’s hugs and tearful expressions of gratitude. By the time she finally slid back into the driver’s seat of her car, she was rather rumpled, and also late.
“Sorry about that,” she said to Cuan, a little breathlessly. “Got delayed.”
“I passed the time comfortably enough.” He turned a page in his book. “I wish I could send this to Aodhan. Though I am not sure whether he would be amused or infuriated by the depiction of mage-craft.”
She checked the cover, and grinned. Ever since Betty had sorted Cuan out with a fake id, he’d been tearing through the local library at a phenomenal rate. Apparently he’d moved on from the history volumes.
She pulled out of the parking lot. “So Harry Potter isn’t accurate, huh?”
He glanced wryly across at her. “I hope I am not very much like a house elf.”
“Well, you do do a lot of chores.” She smirked. “But apart from that, no, not really. Guess J. K. Rowling never took a trip to the fae realms.”
“Mmm.” He turned another page, fingers skimming down the text thoughtfully. “Though I must say, there is the occasional startling passage that does make me wonder if the borders between our worlds are not quite as securely-guarded as I thought.”
“I hope that’s true. It would be nice to be able to visit Aodhan and Motley in person occasionally, rather than just talking through a portal.”
“The sidhean may be closed to us now, but I trust that Motley will find some other place where our realms lie close together eventually.” Cuan sighed, just a faint breath. “As long as he does not forget.”
She patted his knee reassuringly. “He has my button, and something of yours too, right?”
“A silver ring, yes. The only token I ever had from my unknown phouka father. I gave it to Motley when we first met.”
She cast him a startled look. “That was quite a gift.”
Cuan’s mouth quirked. “Well, it was that or my only pair of trousers. This was well before I’d joined Maeve’s court. I was a feral, ragged little thing. Motley helped me. I had to repay him somehow.”
“There you are, then. As long as Motley has something to remember us by, he won’t forget.” She thought of the odd way the raven shifter had seemed to be able to pull her memories out of the token she’d given him. “He’ll probably remember things better than we can, in fact.”
“You may be right there.” Cuan looked thoughtful. “I was but a youth when I first encountered Motley, yet he…he was exactly as he appears now. The years do not seem to touch him. Perhaps he will remember us long after we ourselves have passed into shadow and story.”
“Are all raven shifters so long lived?”
Cuan shook his head. “Motley is unique. In many ways. But what he is, and where he came from, and how he came to be as he is…must all remain a mystery. I can only hope that one day he finds his own memories, somehow.”
It wasn’t far from the police stati
on to Cathy’s house. Tamsin pulled up outside, switching off the engine. Cuan, who hadn’t been here before, gazed curiously around as she led him up the path to the front door.
“Mistress Cathy’s lands seem to be growing somewhat unkempt,” he murmured in an undertone, gesturing at the straggly lawn. “You said that she had no man to assist her with such manual tasks. Would she be offended if I offered to scythe her meadows for her sometime?”
“If you turn up on her doorstep with a scythe, she’s likely to be more alarmed than offended,” Tamsin said, smothering a laugh. “It’s a good idea in principle, though. Cathy never asks for help, but she could use a hand around the place. I’ll teach you to work a lawnmower.”
She knocked. Cathy opened the door, looking considerably neater then she usually did. Instead of her usual single-mom uniform of practical jeans and baggy tops, she wore a dark green dress that flattered her curves. Her brown hair was sleek and smooth, twisted in an elegant knot. Still, no amount of concealer could completely disguise the tired shadows under her eyes.
“Hey girl!” Tamsin stepped back, giving her friend an appreciative once-over. “Looking good! All ready for the speed dating event?”
Cathy tugged self-consciously at her low neckline. “You don’t think it’s too much? Daisy insisted that I buy this dress, but I feel silly. Maybe I should change.”
“Absolutely not,” Cuan said firmly. “On behalf of my entire gender, I forbid it. You are radiant, Mistress Cathy. Warriors shall swoon at your feet, heart-struck with longing.”
Cathy flushed, but her eyes sparkled with embarrassed pleasure. “I don’t think there will be many warriors there. I’m just hoping for a nice middle-aged accountant.” She sighed. “One who doesn’t mind that I’ve got a kid.”
Cuan’s forehead wrinkled. “Surely your child only makes you even more desirable, to any right-thinking male?”
Cathy gave him a look. “You’ve clearly never met my son.”
“Speaking of which,” Tamsin interjected. “Is it okay if Cuan sticks around and babysits with me tonight?”
Cathy gave Cuan another, even more incredulous look. “You want to help babysit?”
Cuan bowed. “It would be my very great honor. If you would permit it.”
“You’d be doing me a huge favor, actually. Kevin doesn’t really have many strong male role models in his life.” Cathy sighed, her shoulders dropping. “I do the best that I can, but, well…he’s twelve, going on seventeen, apparently. The last thing he wants these days is a mom. Just a silent live-in housekeeper who dispenses snacks and cash on demand.”
Tamsin gave her friend a brief, sympathetic hug. “You’re doing a great job, Cathy. It’s just a difficult age. Once his hormones stop running riot, I’m sure he’ll settle down again. He was always such a sweet kid.”
“He was,” Cathy said wistfully. “Now, though…sometimes I look at him, and I can’t see my baby at all anymore. Guess that’s just what happens, when kids grow up.”
She turned, gesturing them to follow her. “Come on in and make yourselves at home. Kevin! Can you turn off the PlayStation for a second, please?”
The sounds of simulated warfare coming from the front room did not diminish. In fact, they got louder. Tamsin saw Cathy stifle a pained sigh.
“Kevin,” Cathy said, more firmly. “Come say hello to Tamsin and Cuan. They’ll be looking after you while I’m gone.”
A sullen grunt was the only response. Kevin slouched on the couch, surrounded by a litter of empty candy wrappers, clutching a game controller. A half-eaten bag of M&Ms was scattered across the floor. He really did look like the worst stereotype of a teenager.
“Kevin!” Cathy stepped in front of the TV screen. “You’re being-”
“Shut up!” Kevin snarled. Tamsin was honestly shocked by the complete lack of respect, or even basic politeness, in his tone. “Don’t tell me what to do, you stupid bi-”
Behind her, Cuan made a low, rumbling growl.
Kevin glanced up at them at last—and his face went utterly white. He leaped to his feet, scattering snacks.
“Y-you,” the boy stammered. “Y-you’re—”
Cuan cut him off with a savage snarl. Tamsin glanced back at him, and froze in shock. His faemarks were alight—not with the swirling gleam that she saw in their bed, but with fierce, crackling energy.
Cuan’s swords appeared in his hands. Cathy gasped, and flung herself between the blades and her son.
“Cuan!” Tamsin yelled, grabbing at his wrist. “What the hell?”
Cuan’s jaw tightened. “Show them. Or I will make you show them.”
For a second, Tamsin thought that he was talking to her—but his blazing eyes were still fixed on Kevin. The boy cringed for a heartbeat longer…and then straightened, letting out a peeved sigh.
“Well, fuck,” the kid said, in a voice that was not at all a child’s. “Thanks for ruining my sweet set-up, you great galloping dingleberry.”
The boy’s features blurred. Kevin’s rounded cheeks collapsed into gaunt, lined hollows. His nose lengthened, sharpening, as did his ears. In an instant, a gray, wizened creature stood there, still in Kevin’s clothes.
Cathy’s hands flew to her mouth. The gray creature leered at her, exposing sharp yellow teeth.
“What, good mother?” it said, and it was Kevin’s voice once more, coming out of that horrible alien mouth. “No kiss for your own dear boy?”
Cuan started forward again, and this time Tamsin let him go. He lunged round the shocked Cathy, striking at the creature—but it laughed, skipping over the blades. It made a rude gesture at him, spun round, and disappeared in a puff of foul-smelling smoke.
Cathy let out a small scream. She pushed past Cuan, groping at the thinning smoke. “Where—where did he go? Kevin? Kevin!”
“It’s okay, it’ll be okay.” Tamsin hurried forward to grab her friend, hugging her tight. She looked over Cathy’s shoulder. “That wasn’t really Kevin, was it?”
Cuan had not banished his swords. He stood there, every inch a high sidhe warrior, and she had never seen him look so grim.
“No,” he replied. “But I know where Mistress Cathy’s true son is.”
* * *
Cathy journeys to the fae lands - but who will be her mate? Find out soon…
Want more Cuan and Tamsin now? Sign up for my mailing list, and I’ll send you a free bonus story - where Cuan meets the Fire & Rescue shifters!
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You can learn more about Betty and Hope in my Fire & Rescue Shifters series. Start with the first book, Firefighter Dragon.
Also by Zoe Chant
Fire & Rescue Shifters
Firefighter Dragon
Firefighter Pegasus
Firefighter Griffin
Firefighter Sea Dragon
The Master Shark’s Mate
Firefighter Unicorn
Firefighter Phoenix
Fire & Rescue Shifters Collection 1
Fire & Rescue Shifters: Wildfire Crew
Wildfire Griffin
Wildfire Unicorn
Wildfire Sea Dragon
Wildfire Pegasus
Wildfire Hellhound (coming soon!)
Wildfire [SPOILER!] (releasing in 2020)
Fae Mates
(set in the same world as Fire & Rescue Shifters, with some characters appearing in both)
Tithed to the Fae
… and many more! See the complete list at www.zoechant.com
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