by Lisa Kumar
“You’ve been ignoring my texts and calls.” Something ugly flashed through his eyes, and he took a menacing step toward her. “I can’t allow that.”
Andrian tensed, anger igniting in his gut, but he didn’t intervene. At least not yet. He sensed Livvy wanted — and needed — to handle this as much as she could. So far, she held her ground and didn’t let Devin cow her. Andrian’s muscles, though, were coiled tight and ready to go into action at the sign of any true threat.
Shaking her head, she crossed her arms over her chest. “We have nothing left to discuss. I’ve told you to get out of my life. I’ll get a restraining order if you don’t.”
“And how will you do that? I haven’t done anything.”
“You hit me, among other things.”
Andrian’s hands clenched as his fury radiated outward. He wanted to put his fist through the bastard’s face.
“Once. I hit you once.”
She cast Devin a disbelieving look. “You also pushed me through a wall, and I have the healing bones to prove it. And the medical records.”
A growl rumbled in Andrian’s throat. Furious insanity descended in a red haze over his eyes. He’d obliterate the scum from this planet.
“Why, you ...” Devin sputtered, anger contorting his face. He threw himself at Livvy, who shrieked and tried to move out of the way.
Andrian spun in front of Livvy and knocked the man back with a vicious kick aimed at the gut. Devin crashed into a table before falling on his ass. A long moan of pain escaped the fallen drunk as he clutched at his stomach.
Cold, hard satisfaction rolled over Andrian. Maybe the bastard would think twice before putting another woman through a wall. Just the thought of the ass using his undoubtedly stronger-than-human strength to hurt Livvy made the insanity rise up before him again. With a few calming mental exercises, Andrian pushed it back and focused his attention back on Devin.
The man breathed shallowly. Good. He’d be even sorer tomorrow. If Andrian was truly lucky, maybe he’d broken something.
After a bit, Devin blinked owlishly at him from the floor. “Who the hell are you?”
With a will of iron, Andrian pushed his madness back. Aistiane had said no unnecessary killing. With an unpleasant smile affixed, Andrian leaned down until only a few inches separated their faces. “Your worst nightmare if you don’t leave.”
Apparently, some of the idiot’s sense returned, and he took a good look at Andrian before losing all the blotchy color staining his cheeks. “You ... you’re ...”
A pleased, shark-toothed smile bloomed across Andrian’s lips. Ah, his return to Earth had apparently spread to even the half-breeds. “Yes, I know who I am. I’m surprised you do.”
“My father told me about you,” Devin all but whispered.
“Then you know to stay out of my way” — Andrian’s gaze cut to Livvy, who watched on with wide eyes — “and hers.”
The drunken bravado left Devin’s eyes. “Okay, man. I don’t want any trouble. I’m not crazy enough to tangle with the likes of you.”
“Good. I’m crazy enough for the both of us.” Andrian reached down and grabbed the man by the collar of his coat, hauling him up. “Funny you say you don’t desire trouble, but you sought it out, regardless. Let me escort you out where you belong.”
After dragging a frozen and terrified Devin to the entrance, he hauled open the door. ”All refuse goes outside, so out you go.”
A frightened squawk escaped Devin as Andrian fisted his hands into the back of the man’s coat at the neck and the bottom edge. Swinging him like a battering ram, he let momentum take over and tossed Devin headfirst out onto the sidewalk.
Andrian dusted off his hands and turned to find everyone watching him. Livvy seemed as if she were in a trance, but then she jolted out of it and hurried to him. “Thank you so much.” She laid a hand on his arm. “Are you okay?”
Her touch and the concern in her gaze made him swallow the peach pit in his throat. “I’m well. Not a scratch on me.” As if that half-breed could’ve injured him. Had Livvy known just whom she’d been involved with? She didn’t seem to suspect he himself wasn’t human, so he doubted she knew the truth of Devin.
“I’m so glad.” She withdrew her hand, and the immediate loss traveled like a chill through him. They stared at each other and appeared equally at a loss for words.
Evelyn walked up to them, relief apparent in every line of her body. “Thank you, Mr. ...” she trailed off, looking at him expectantly.
“Andrian,” he said automatically and then realized he needed to proffer a last name, as was customary in the human world. “Eriannon.”
He smothered a grimace at thoughtlessly choosing Eria’s capital as his last name. Out of all the names at his disposal, he had to decide on the one that reminded him of his previous life and his estranged brother, Talion. As king, Talion resided in the capital most of the time.
Evelyn smiled. “What an unusual and lovely name.”
“It’s foreign.” She just had no idea how much.
“Mr. Eriannon is from Norway,” Livvy said. She ran a hand over her face and then looked up sheepishly. “Sorry. This evening has really shaken me.”
“Why don’t you go home, dear? Your shift is nearly over, anyway. Erica and I can certainly manage things here.”
Livvy’s countenance brightened. “You really don’t mind?”
“Not at all. In fact, I insist.”
“Okay, I’ll go grab my stuff and hightail it home.”
Evelyn frowned thoughtfully. “You walked?”
“Yeah, my car’s in the shop, and it’s not far for me to walk home.”
“After what happened, I don’t like the idea of you walking alone.”
Neither did he. Who knew what lurked outside, lying in wait for a beautiful woman? “I’ll walk you home.”
Evelyn clapped her hands. “Great. It’s decided.”
“Oh, but —”
“No buts, missy.” Evelyn shook a stern finger at her. “You allow this nice young man to walk you home.”
His lips twitched. He was millennia older than she was.
Then she turned that finger on him. “And you, young man, will see her home safely. No funny business.”
Why would he want funny business? The idioms of this age were quite confusing.
Chapter 27
The first thing Eamon noticed as he and Caralyn entered the Fried Apple Eatery was that Kaiden West had already claimed a booth and that a human woman was with him. Could this have been the Ashlee the holdout had been talking to on the phone? If so, this lady must be Kaiden’s woman. With her shiny brown hair, she was pretty enough but had nothing on his Caralyn, who’d grown uncommonly beautiful for some reason.
His Caralyn? Yes, he quite liked the sound of that. If he had any say, she’d be his for as long as he wanted, maybe forever. For good or bad, he’d grown attached to her. That was a sobering realization because he hadn’t truly relied on anyone since his mother. Serrina had quickly reinforced the notion that he couldn’t put his trust in anyone but himself.
As he and Caralyn strode over to the table, Eamon shook his attention back to the present — and whatever Kaiden had wanted. Everything else could wait, especially mushy thoughts about Caralyn that he didn’t even know how to process.
Kaiden inclined his head to them. “Thank you for meeting us on such short notice.”
Eamon internally rolled his eyes and remained standing. “You didn’t give us much choice, as you said you’d track us down if we didn’t meet you. And I love that you chose such a public locale.”
“No, I said I’d track you down if you didn’t show. I trust Caralyn implicitly. And I’ve already put up a muffling charm, as you well know.”
Yes, he did, but he loved being a bastard. “But you don’t trust me?”
“Not at all.”
Eamon shrugged, not concerned in the slightest. No matter what the holdout thought, the sun didn’t rise and set on
what he thought of Eamon. “Not to cut these oh-so-delightful pleasantries short, but what do you want?”
Kaiden just stared at him. “Where’s your sidekick?”
“My what?”
“Andrian? The guy who has reason to hate you with a fiery passion and does.”
“You know about him?” Eamon shouldn’t be surprised, but he was.
“There’s little I don’t know. It comes with the territory of representing my people.” Kaiden waved a hand to the other side of the booth. “Sit down, and then we’ll talk.”
“So bossy.” He glanced at the woman by Kaiden’s side. “How do you put up with it, Ms. ...?” He trailed off pointedly.
The woman aimed a frown at Kaiden. “Where are your manners, Kaiden? Please introduce us.”
Eamon snickered to himself and let a grin cross his lips. Then Caralyn elbowed him in the side and ruined it.
She shot him a glare. “I know what you’re doing, and it’s not helpful.”
“I am ever helpful,” he said and motioned for her to scoot into the booth.
“Yeah, right,” she muttered, taking a seat.
“Eamon and Caralyn, this is Ashlee Trent, my fiancée. Ashlee, this is Eamon and Caralyn Alberts, his ... well, I don’t know what.”
“Such a charming introduction,” Eamon drawled, sitting next to Caralyn.
Kaiden lifted a brow. “Much more charming than yours would be, I’m sure.”
At that moment a middle-aged woman strode over to their table, and Kaiden dropped the muffling spell. The gray-haired woman smiled. “Mr. West, I see the rest of your party is here. What can I get you all?”
“Coffee and two appetizer plates, Evelyn.” He sent the woman a disgustingly cheery smile. “I don’t think anyone wants a full meal.” He glanced around at the rest of the table. Caralyn and Ashlee shook their heads.
Eamon, not to be outdone, said, “We’ve already had dinner.” Here, he let a dazzling grin come to his lips. “But I might have to try some of your decadent desserts later.”
He could practically hear Caralyn roll her eyes as the woman twittered. “Oh, you have the most divine accent, just like the brave man from earlier this evening had.”
The smile on his face froze. Andrian? Could he have possibly been here? “Really? Maybe I know him. What did this man look like, and why do you call him brave?”
“Tall with long blond hair. One of my waitress’ has an ex who didn’t take kindly to her breaking up with him, so he decided to pay her a visit here. Our hero saved the night by escorting out the disgruntled, drunken man.” She squinted, apparently trying to remember something. “I think he said his name was Andrian.”
Internally, Eamon scowled before silently sighing. Wherever he went, he heard Andrian’s name being bandied about with adoration. Even here, he couldn’t get away from it.
He slapped on a smile that probably looked more like a grimace. “That sounds like him — always trying to protect everybody.” Well, always his graykindred.
“Ah, so you do know him! Yes, he’s very solicitous. He even insisted on walking poor Livvy home. She was so shaken up from ...”
Eamon tuned her out. So Andrian was seeing a woman named Livvy home? Interesting and possibly useful. Though the graykindred was protective, that usually only applied to his own people, not to other elves or faekind. Andrian had never been overly fond of humans, so why would he start now? Maybe the graykindred felt some sort of misguided loyalty to their safety now that he lived amongst them. Or ... or was he interested in just one lone human female? Eamon didn’t know, but he would find out.
As soon as the woman left with their order, Eamon deigned to get to the core of the matter. “So what do you want?” He wanted to get home as quickly as possible and do wicked, wicked things to Caralyn.
Kaiden steepled his fingers and rested his chin on them. “What do you think I called you about? The weather?”
“I hope you didn’t. It’s not very enthralling.”
“You know this is about your father.”
“Really? I hadn’t guessed.”
Kaiden turned to Caralyn. “How do you put up with him?”
“I don’t have a clue,” she said, a small smile playing about her lips.
“It’s my many talents.” He was only half-teasing.
“Well, you do make a mean omelet.”
“We both know where my true brilliance lies,” he said, admiring the ever-growing flush in her cheeks. However, she seemed determined not to let his comments bother her any further than that.
“In the kitchen cooking me yummy food, doing the dishes, and rearranging my cabinets.” Abruptly, she sobered. “But we need to be serious now, not goofing off.”
“If we must.” He gave a dramatic sigh before he turned a penetrating gaze on Kaiden. “So what is this about my father?” He didn’t really want to know, but Caralyn and Aistiane would insist.
“I have an insider who says a huge deal is about to go down in the next few weeks. Your father has agreed to give some very precious elvin artifacts as payment. Even as we speak, he’s working to gather all the items now.”
Caralyn gasped. “He’s revealed who and what he is?”
“My father wouldn’t be that stupid.”
“But stupid enough to deal in items that haven’t been seen on this Earth for untold millennia?”
Eamon scowled. “Point acknowledged. However, my father is surely counting on the fact that no one, not even the experts, will know what they’re looking at. He’ll try to pass them off as mysterious human antiquities.”
“A dangerous proposition. Humans are more innovative than ever and have ways of finding out truths that are often better left undiscovered.”
“And often blind to what’s in front of them.” A derisive snort left his lips. “The mainstream public wouldn’t believe any news of the fantastical even if it poked them on the nose.”
Two twin human glares flew his way. Kaiden raised a placating hand, all the while shooting a warning look at Eamon. “I don’t think humans have the corner on that market. Faekind can be just as oblivious to certain things.”
Eamon realized diplomacy when he saw it. As horrible as the holdout’s word may be, a grain of truth resided in them. “Be that as it may, it does nothing to help us with the current problem of my father.”
Just saying “my father” left a sour taste in his mouth. If he never saw the man again, it’d be too soon.
Ashlee spoke up, a frown pulling her brows downward, as she stared at Eamon. “Where is he obtaining these items for the trade? Would there be some way to apprehend him while he’s getting them?”
“He most likely has or is obtaining them through various means. Many are probably family heirlooms. The rest he’s bartered for or stole.”
Caralyn’s shocked gaze searched his face. “Stole?”
Eamon couldn’t stop his cynical smile. “This is my father we’re talking about. Why so astonished?” Besides, it wasn’t like Eamon himself hadn’t stolen before, a prime example being the orb. Like father, like son.
She nodded. “Yeah, true.” Then she hesitated. “It doesn’t bother you he’s financing his evil plan to take over Eria by selling, in part, your birthright?”
“There’s little I want from the man, birthright or not.” Up until he was banished, he’d had had full use of his mother’s fortune of gold, priceless gems, and other precious stones and metals. He’d even had some access to his father’s not-inconsiderable wealth because his father had only been too happy to help fund the darkindred.
An expression of compassion shone on Caralyn’s face. “Understood.”
He shifted in his seat, aggravation and unease unfurling in his stomach. He didn’t want her pity, but conversely it felt almost nice that someone appreciated his thoughts. Forcing his mouth to work, he said, “Anyway, Aistiane has taken care of any money issue I may have here. It’s — what do they say? — sky’s the limit.”
“Yeah.” Caralyn
’s worried look only lightened marginally. “Talking about Aistiane, could she do anything to help stop him from getting the rest of the items he needs? Could she alert the Erian king?”
“On the first account, probably not. She and the veil don’t work that way. Everything they do takes more of an indirect route. They guide and manipulate covertly. It’s through their endeavors that I’m here at all. I think Andrian and I are their method of helping.”
Kaiden snorted. “What a piss-poor plan.”
“Oh, like you have a better one, holdout? You’ve known for how long my father has been here and done nothing to stop it?”
“I had to gather intelligence —” Kaiden said, bristling.
Ashlee sighed, pinning both males with a reproving look. “Guys, this isn’t going to solve anything.”
“Yeah,” agreed Caralyn. “Working together would be much more beneficial than fighting. Getting back to what I’d been asking, could the veil alert the king?”
Eamon shook off the slightly abashed feeling that tried to take root and swallowed his snarky reply. “I’m sure she has, but my father’s wily and has his own loyal followers. He won’t be found unless he wants to be. He could literally be anywhere in Eria or on Earth. With the veil weakened, it doesn’t have as much control when and where it shows up. Indeed, the mist can be influenced to appear, and now, more than ever, it has less power to deny the summoner, especially if that person is strong magically. Given all that, I don’t think Aistiane can deny my father entrance.”
Caralyn blew out a breath. “Okay.” After a few moments of silence, she cocked her head to the side. “If the veil’s so weak, I wonder how Aistiane can function, let alone exist.”
He’d always wondered that about the thorn in his side, too. “My guess is that she’s such a small part of the veil, she doesn’t drain much energy from the veil. But no one knows the inner workings of the mist, so that’s merely conjecture.”
