by May Dawson
“Tell me all about it,” I said.
The sooner I pledged my allegiance to this doofus, and made sure my court was safe, the sooner I could find my way back to Maddie’s side where I belonged.
There wasn’t a world that could tempt me away.
Chapter Forty-One
Maddie
Our new hideout was the lavish vacation home of some rich man who rarely used it; it stood on the cliffs overlooking the ocean, which crashed against the shore all night long. It was a little warmer here and it rained often, the sound of the rain beating against the roof combining with the sound of the waves breaking.
The sound of the storm and the waves together might have been oppressive, but it was warm and bright in the house, and Silas’s laughter rang out in the kitchen. His voice made me smile. I could hear him bantering with his friends. Isabelle’s anger at Frederick and Sebastian already seemed to be mellowing; they’d talked a long while when we first arrived.
Talked. Shouted. Broken things. Thrown punches.
It turned out shifters weren’t the only ones who dealt with their feelings in big ways, when they finally had to deal with them. But now they seemed to have remembered they loved each other, just as we all did.
Jensen came up behind me as I was watching the storm out the window, and slid his arms around my waist. He pressed a kiss to the top of my head before he rested his chin there. “Twenty-four hour mission, day five.”
“I would have said we’re another step closer, but go on with your cynicism.”
“I’m not cynical. Not when I have you.”
I twisted to regard him skeptically. He admitted, “Imagine how bad I would be without you.”
Then Sebastian was calling us to eat.
The table was heaped with good food, and drinks ran freely too. It was good to hear Silas’s oldest friends teasing him and the way they all told stories. I was sure they all had their demons, but tonight, they were giddy at freedom and survival.
Later that night, I joined Silas in the kitchen, where he was washing up. “Isabelle makes too much food,” he muttered. “You can tell she used to work in an orphanage kitchen. You don’t usually have to tell the cook, relax, it’s only seven people, don’t cook so much.”
I smiled as I joined him in putting the leftovers into the icebox and then beginning to wash the dishes.
“Seeing you with your friends,” I said, “I have to wonder if they need you.”
He grinned at me. “Let’s be honest. You all need me.”
“That’s a true story.”
I could tell the words surprised him. Maybe I shouldn’t have interjected quite so much honesty into our usual playful banter.
I winced as I reached for the dish rag, and Silas said, “Let me heal you. I should have done that right away—in the chaos of our escape—”
“It’s not any worse than the academy,” I promised him, because I didn’t want him to feel guilty.
“That’s what I told Rafe,” he said, and he looked guilty about it.
“You tried to hurt his feelings,” I said.
He shrugged one shoulder. “He and I both said a few things.”
“He usually does.”
“Not like this.”
But before I could ask what Silas meant, he was gently turning me away from him. His hands slid up my hips, and even through my clothes, the touch was sexy.
“Let me see,” he said, “Just once. And then let me heal it and maybe we can pretend it never happened.”
“We don’t have to pretend.”
“I think Rafe and Jensen do,” he disagreed.
I nodded, just once, and he began to ruck my shirt up, raising it as his fingertips glided over my sides.
I heard his faint inhale when he reached my shoulder blades, where the first of the welts were across my back, and I twisted to look at his face. “I know you’ve seen a lot worse, Silas.”
“It’s different.”
“It’s nothing to me.”
“That’s part of why I love you,” he said, “and that’s part of why it’s everything to me.”
He kissed my back, finding a spot between bruises that was only faintly tender. His lips felt good on my skin.
“People think because I never had parents, siblings, even a girlfriend to love, that I don’t know how.” He kissed my shoulder again, finding another place where his lips felt cooling. My skin tingled under his touch; maybe he was healing me already. “For years, I thought they were right. And I took some pride in it. I believed I could be the best of Rebel Magicians because I didn’t feel very much.”
He kissed my shoulder, his hands lightly circling my waist, then said softly, “I was so proud of my magic. But I didn’t realize how little I knew then.”
“The truth is,” he said, his hands rising to rest on my bare waist, “I might not be very good at loving someone the way you’d expect, the way I should. I’ve only had my friends to practice with, and our upbringing was not… warm. But I’ve also had all that love stored up for a long time.”
“Now it’s all yours,” he finished, with another feathery kiss, with more tingles as the pain faded.
I was suddenly breathless.
“And what are you going to do with it?” I asked softly.
Even when he promised his love to me, he mentioned his friends; it was no wonder when they were like his only family. I didn’t want to take him away from them.
But I was selfish too and I wanted Silas. I couldn’t imagine my life without him.
“I don’t know,” he said.
His hands on my hips turned me around. I whirled into his arms, my hands gliding up his chest to his shoulders.
Standing in the doorway far behind him was Rafe. He must have just walked into the kitchen, because he stopped dead suddenly. Rafe had a look on his face that I couldn’t quite read, his eyes dark.
Then he took a step back out of the kitchen.
Silas had twisted as if he felt him too, and he looked at me.
“What’s going on with you and Rafe?” I asked.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I think it does,” I said.
Silas kissed me then, and I wasn’t sure if it was an apology kiss or a shutting-me-up kiss. As if he could distract me for long. He should know better than that.
But the questionable nature of his kisses didn’t stop me from kissing him back.
I was always glad to have Silas Zip, even not knowing if I could keep him.
Chapter Forty-Two
Chase
Blake and I were patrolling the perimeter of the academy, making sure the walls and wards were intact. We’d run our first patrol as wolves, but Blake had gotten distracted by a rabbit and when he shifted back and realized he’d eaten raw rabbit, he’d puked. This time around, he wanted to stay human.
“I’m sorry you’re trapped here,” I told him.
“I’m stuck here?” He raised his eyebrows. “You still haven’t told me the story of how you became a werewolf.”
“You’ll think I’m an idiot.”
“You’re my brother. I always think you’re an idiot.”
“Cute.” I struggled for where to begin that story. “The werewolves found me. I was recruited to become one of them.”
“Why?” Blake asked with a frown. I’d told him about our mission into the Greyworld already and why we were fighting to protect the academy, but there was so much to tell him and so much I hadn’t gotten to explain yet.
When I’d told him how the packs would come to try to prevent Maddie from making it back with the shield, so they could keep their power, he’d felt highly protective of Maddie and the others. Seeing that emotion written across his face me feel a swell of hope. Maybe they were all becoming a family.
“The wolves are divided into packs that fight with each other, they’re possessive of their territory and sometimes they go to war to take over each other’s territory. The council of alphas tried to establish some unity, a
nd they made the Council’s Own, who are their police and army. But not all those alphas really want unity. The Council’s Own are supposed to put the Council and the general good above their own packs.”
“What does any of that have to do with you?”
“They thought if they could turn wolves themselves, wolves without any pack, we’d be loyal to the Council’s Own.”
“How’d you get picked for that party?”
“Lucky, I guess,” I said. “They were looking for big guys, survivors, someone desperate. There were three of us but the other two chickened out.”
“That didn’t make you think twice?”
“They paid me.”
“I figured.” Blake looked thoughtful. “I know I give you a hard time sometimes.”
That was an understatement, but I nodded, prepared to hear whatever he had to say. I definitely wasn’t perfect.
“I try to take care of Skyla and I suck at it,” he admitted. “I realized when we were kidnapped that I was a jerk for no good reason. And maybe I’ve been the same way with you.”
“There was a reason,” I admitted. “I’m not around enough.”
“Because you’ve been protecting us,” he said. He gestured around. “All of us. Look at this crazy world. Magic is real.”
“Magic is real,” I admitted. “You’d think it would be more fun.”
“It is fun,” he said. “I don’t… hate being a wolf.”
I looked at him skeptically, and he ducked his head, smiling. “I mean, I want to be a vegetarian wolf. But maybe it’s not all bad.”
“It’s definitely not all bad,” I admitted. I’d come to love being a wolf, being part of a pack, fighting on our missions. I just didn’t want to betray my family because I selfishly loved fighting so much.
“I’m going to be better at taking care of Skyla,” Blake said. “And then you can focus on taking care of the world.”
I stopped and stare at him. “You’re a good brother, Blake. To both of us.”
He shrugged as if he doubted that, but his face lit up with what looked like pride.
Maybe being a good brother wasn’t as narrow as I’d thought it had to be, when I thought I had to choose between my pack and my siblings.
There was noise up ahead, and I tensed, ready for a fight.
Then a girl with long brown hair emerged through the woods. She had a grouchy look on her face and she was batting away a branch like she’d just walked into a spider web.
When the girl saw us, she jumped—then pulled a knife.
“Hey, Rosemary,” I said. I’d barely seen Lex’s sister, because we were all all-hands-on-deck patrolling, and life had been crazy. But I’d heard about her.
She looked at me with sudden dignity. “Well, hi.”
“Hi,” Blake said, a heartbeat later.
He sounded odd, and I resisted the impulse to make a face. He’d been in love with an evil witch in disguise a week ago; maybe he could take a month or so off from flirting.
“What are you doing out here, Rosemary?” I demanded.
“Wow, you sound just like Lex.” Judging from her tone, that was not a good thing. “I’m doing my part to patrol too.”
“No one patrols by themselves,” I said.
“Don’t mind him,” Blake told Rosemary. “The academy brainwashing happens awfully fast.”
I didn’t want Blake to discourage Rosemary from staying at the academy; I knew how much Lex needed to know she was safe and learning to protect herself. But I wasn’t going to argue them into a different perspective, so I let it go.
Lex emerged from the trees, an irritated expression written across his face.
Rosemary raised her hands. “Okay, you caught me.”
Lex looked at the three of us, his expression exasperated, and said, “We’re supposed to be patrolling. Not loitering around, gossiping.”
“Gossiping?” Rosemary demanded, her brows arching.
“Let’s go,” Lex said. He looked at her as if he wanted to grab her arm and drag her off, but he managed to smile instead—a rather tortured looking smile.
Apparently, Blake and I weren’t the only ones with some serious sibling drama.
Just then, the woods in front of us began to change. Magic rippled through the trees, and strange new light seeped through.
A rip.
“Run!” I shouted, pushing Blake.
The four of us raced through the trees as the woods behind us opened up.
Two dozen wolves poured through. Two witches—perhaps the last remnants of the Day, but enough to cause trouble—strode through behind them.
Chapter Forty-Three
Maddie
Silas hadn’t lied about how good his friends were at disguise. By the time Isabelle was done with us, I barely recognized Silas in front of me. He’d altered the way he carried himself again, throwing his shoulders back and looking down his nose at everyone like a stereotype of some aristocrat. A sexy, smug aristocrat.
I said as much, and Silas said, “Well, hopefully you don’t lose me in the crowd at the party, because it’ll be a castle full of smug.”
The rest of us underwent transformations too. Isabelle altered my face through clever makeup, contouring new cheekbones and changing the shape of my chin and nose with subtle extensions. She colored my blond hair to a chestnut brown, which made my face look strangely pale to me. I barely recognized myself in the mirror.
Rafe stared at me for a long second, then said, “I hate this.”
“Which part?”
“Every part. But most of all, I don’t like seeing you changed.” He sat on the stool that Isabelle had just vacated. He studied my face, a frown denting the space between those deep brown eyes.
“It’s only temporary.” I framed my face with my hands and gave him a big smile. “Enjoy the novelty. I hear monogamy gets old for a lot of men and anyway, Isabelle made a face for me that’s more beautiful than my own, and it’s a limited-time-offer.”
He stared at me. “You really do want me to spank your ass, don’t you?”
“What?”
“You’re the only girl for me,” he said. “There’s no more beautiful woman in the world. And I don’t like hearing you suggest otherwise.”
Even when Rafe was speaking sweetly, there was steel in his tone.
“Those are the most domineering compliments I’ve ever heard.”
He huffed a breath. “Well, Isabelle can change my jawline, but not my personality.”
“Good,” I said. I took his hand in mine. “I happen to like you just the way you are.”
“Even when Silas and I are fighting?” His eyes gauged me carefully.
“What are you fighting about?” I demanded. “It better not be me.”
Rafe hesitated. “It’s not just you.”
“Oh great,” I said. “That really clears things up.”
I wanted to keep talking to him, but there was a knocking sound on the side of the door.
Silas leaned in the doorway. “There is one kind of magic that will get by the sensors, and that gives us an opportunity to bring the equipment we need into the ball.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Everyone will have gowns made of magic so they won’t think twice about scans picking up magic on your dress,” Silas explained. “Mere fabric won’t make gowns spectacular enough for a bunch of spoiled nobility set on impressing each other. Even though they barely keep the gowns on.”
“Excuse me?”
“These balls are pretty debauched affairs,” Silas said. “We just need to navigate around the drunken public sex and get to the shield.”
“Does every world besides ours have lavish parties full of drunken public sex?”
Silas flashed me one of those dizzying smiles. “Makes it seem pretty odd that some of the Fae go to our world to vacation. Because our world seems like an Amish village compared to the others.”
Thinking of the Fae world reminded me of how much I missed Ty
son. “Do you think Ty made it back to our world yet?”
“I hope so.” Silas said. “I miss him.”
I looked at him quickly, but he just looked away, clearing his throat. “Mm, I need you to undress so I can start making your gown. I’ll build the materials we need into the structure.” He held up narrow rolls of lock-picking tools and delicate weapons.
“Of course,” I said.
“I’ll… leave you to it,” Rafe said. He hesitated, then told Silas, “I miss Ty too.”
He clapped him on the shoulder and headed out of the room. Silas had a bemused look on his face for a moment.
I peeled off my shirt and trousers until I was standing in front of Silas in my underwear. He was studiously trying to watch my face or looking away, and I frowned at him. “What’s bothering you? You’re being weird.”
“I’m always weird.”
“No, you’re not,” I disagreed. “Weird, dreamy Silas was an act. I know you a little better than that, Silas Adelphus Zip.”
“Do you?” He turned to me with a challenge in his gaze.
“Of course I do.”
He shook his head. “I don’t understand what any of you are talking about half the time. Rafe wanted to murder me a day ago—no, that’s not true, it was worse than wanting to murder me. He’s always tempted to end Penn and Jensen and me for various iniquities. He wanted me to stay.”
Those final words came out flat.
“No,” I said. “Rafe wouldn’t…”
“Don’t get mad at him,” Silas said. “Maybe he has a point. Do I really fit into your world, Maddie? You’re a shifter princess. I’m not a shifter.”
“I don’t care,” I promised him.
“You don’t care now,” he corrected. “What if I choose you and the others, what if I give up my world, my family, my identity as a Rebel, and it doesn’t work out? You don’t choose me back?”
His words struck me hard. He’d clearly been thinking about this, because of the way he articulated his fear so clearly. “What are you talking about? Why would you give up your world?”
He shrugged. “I can’t go back and forth lightly.”
