Faerie Blood: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Changeling Chronicles Book 1) (31 page)

“You were a child. It wasn’t your time to die,” said the transparent stranger. Human. A necromancer?

“And now is?” My voice caught on the word, try as I might to control it. I didn’t think I feared death. Though my awareness of my physical body had shrank to vagueness, part of me still hadn’t truly accepted I’d survived. I’d killed Velkas.

“No.”

I breathed out. “I came here to save other souls that were brought into Death before their time.”

“You have faerie magic. But you’re human.”

“I’m aware,” I said. Winter magic. What kind, I still didn’t know.

“You stole it.”

“From a faerie,” I said. “He gained power from misery and despair. Is it the same for me?” Because no matter how awesome my power might be, I had better things to do but wallow in the past.

“I was a necromancer in life,” said the man. “Faerie magic isn’t my area. But it’s entirely possible you can make the magic your own. You’re human, after all.”

“Yes.” I looked down at my body as it began to vanish into the fog. “I am.”

The man’s face disappeared, and all faded to blackness.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

“Ivy.”

I knew that voice.

“Vance.” My eyes opened slowly.

“You’re alive.” There were worse sights to wake up to than Vance Colton leaning over me, covered in dirt and—snow?
Oh, right.
The blizzard. I’d forgotten he’d taken it into himself. Small cuts marked his face, but he appeared otherwise unhurt.

“So I am.” I coughed, my body deciding to remind me of all the injuries I’d suffered. The healing spell I’d used had taken care of most of the cuts on my arms, but I felt like I’d been hurled into the middle of a tornado. Every inch of me hurt, even after the faerie magic had healed the worst of my injuries. I needed a healing cleanse and a warm shower, in that order.

Instead, I launched to my feet and threw myself at Vance, almost knocking him off
his
feet. I could tell I’d taken him by surprise when he went still instead of responding. Then his arms wrapped around me. “You brought her back. My cousin. She’s—she’s with the others.”

I sagged with relief, my arms still around him.
They made it.
“Isabel?”

“Also alive. Once you disappeared, so did the hellhounds.”

“Thank god.” I leaned my forehead against his chest. He was warm, and solid, his heart racing as fast as mine.

He pried my arms free. “I told you not to stand next to me when I shifted. I might have killed you.”

“Think I was more concerned with the oncoming apocalypse,” I mumbled, but managed to pull myself upright without collapsing. The energy drain was back in full force, but I wobbled and stayed on my feet.

“I knew I made the right choice in recruiting you.”

I snorted. “In your dreams. In case you’ve forgotten, you coerced me by threatening my job.”

His mouth curved in a frown. “That wasn’t my intention. I think the two of us work well together.”

The heated spark in his eyes somewhat restored my flagging energy. Was he remembering the kiss, before we’d teleported here?

He leaned closer. Someone screamed my name.
Isabel.

Goddamn faerie magic. Or mage magic. Whichever. I turned my back on Vance and ran to her, all exhaustion forgotten.

I hugged her, hard. “I thought—”

“You were dead,” she finished. “You’re the one who walked into the afterlife, you lunatic.”

“Technically, I walked into Faerie.”

“That’s even worse!”

I filled her in as we walked to the mages, who’d retrieved the two terrified teenagers who’d reappeared in the field like I had. Vance checked his mages for injuries, a young girl I assumed must be his cousin at his side. As for me, I could only marvel that I was alive.

I’m alive. We’re alive. We made it.

The bodies of the two necromancers lay outside the circle. As I watched, one stirred. The other, though… I’d killed him. Even in self-defence, I somehow didn’t think the necromancers would see it that way.

Yeah. I should probably avoid the guild for a while.

Vance approached Isabel and I. “You’ll need to report on this to the other Mage Lords. As I was a witness, it doesn’t need to be in-depth, but I do need to know what you did in Faerie today. In detail.”

“Take those kids back to their parents first,” I said. “Please. I’ll explain in the car.”

He nodded, to my surprise. He must have called for a bigger car, because the one that waited at the park’s edge was the size of a limousine. Lucky Vance wasn’t driving. Calls from the other mages interrupted us all the way there. Drake appeared to have been given the duty of watching the kids in the back, while Anabel Colton—Vance’s cousin—sat with them. I caught a glimpse of a shy-looking girl with big grey eyes hidden behind a sweep of dark hair, before the doors closed and we drove away.

I’d had an emotionally exhausting day already, and delivering the kids back to their parents damn near finished me off. I had to wipe a couple of tears away when we parted with Swanson’s dazed-looking son, at the final stop. Vance’s younger cousin remained in the back, with Drake. I assumed he wanted to question her at the manor.

But he asked to drop Isabel off at home first.

“Don’t worry,” she said to me. “I called the Cavanaughs and asked them to set up some new wards. They’re on it. We’ll be fine.”

Still, I worried. Sure, the wards we’d had were Isabel’s, not mine, but after last time I’d left her alone, I couldn’t help but wish I was there.

I didn’t want to leave Vance yet, either. When we reached the manor, he let Drake and his cousin out of the car first. And then we were alone.

“My story,” I said. I’d given him some of the details in the car, but these weren’t things I was comfortable sharing with other people. Even Vance himself. “You never asked how I ended up in Faerie.”

“I can put two and two together,” he said. “I looked at your records. You’re listed as amongst those killed in the invasion. Your name’s on a grave in necromancer territory, as are your parents’.”

I looked away. Damn him for prying. Especially as I’d been considering giving him the information of my own free will. I’d about had it with confrontation for one day, so I just shrugged.

“Yeah.” I pushed open the door. “I’ll tell you what you need to know, then I’ll go. I have to get back to—”

His hand barred the way. “Wait. I wasn’t condemning your choice.”

My eyes stung and I shook my head. “I’m not in the mood, Vance. I kept my name because I didn’t want the faeries to take away my identity. Nobody’s ever been nosy and interfering enough to go looking. Not even Larsen.”

He looked me, a deep frown on his face. “I heard what he did. You can’t work for him anymore.”

“That’s my choice, too.” Crap. This was
not
how I’d imagined this conversation going. I’d imagined a lot
less
talking, for a start. “Now our arrangement is over, I’m free to get on with my job without having to report to you. Right?”

“If that’s what you want.” What did he want me to say? That it was okay for him to
spy
on me behind my back? “But you have an offer open to work here with the mages, if you’d like to.”

“You mean, work for you,” I said.

“As a freelancer,” he said. “We’d pay far above the minimal rates that Larsen does. You’d be compensated for the risks you take, and you’d be allowed to choose which jobs you take on.”

I hesitated. This was exactly what I needed. Which was precisely the problem. I worked alone. I didn’t get tangled with mages, nor anyone else. I’d almost been killed, and so had others, because of the faeries. Not to mention the hundred and one reasons working with Vance Colton on a daily basis was a
really
bad idea. Even if the mages’ protection would come in useful after all the enemies I’d added to my list over the last few days.

“I just nearly died,” I said. “And I still haven’t told Larsen to go fuck himself.”

Vance smiled at me. “I’d like to see that.”

There was a gleam in his eyes again. His smile invited me to ask, to push this further. To pick up where we’d left off before the fight.

“You haven’t won this,” I informed him. “I don’t take kindly to people snooping into my life.”

“Not even if they’re curious?” He tilted his head.

“You could have just asked me.”

“And received a non-answer? Up until recently, I wasn’t sure you weren’t a dangerous enemy to the mages. I had to be certain. You’re… a difficult woman to read.” The look in his eyes turned into something deeper, more intense.

“I’m choosing to take that as a compliment.”

He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. I was too startled to react as his lips lightly brushed against mine. My heart rate kicked up again, and all sensible thoughts melted away. This wasn’t a
we might die in five minutes
kiss. This was a tease, a promise of more, and damn, was I along for the ride.

“Lord Colton!” someone called from the manor.

Dammit. I let go of Vance’s shoulders, and he gave me a look that said quite clearly,
we’ll pick this up later.

We’d better,
I thought, climbing out of the car.

***

“Ready?” asked Isabel.

I nodded, opening the front door. Erwin the piskie flew in, shrieking.

“Oh my god,” I said. “I thought that faerie killed you.”

“Not dead!” he said. “Hiding.”

Would you believe I was glad to see the little bugger alive? Who’d have thought it?

First, though, I had an ex-boss to see. The red-brick building looked the same as ever, though I’d been told the majority of the mercs there had barricaded themselves inside when shit hit the fan. The necromancers had managed to keep the undead from leaving the cemetery and flooding the town, but everyone had felt the disturbance when the realms had briefly touched. The half-faeries, from what I’d seen, knew something was screwy on the other side. They’d make trouble, for sure, after Velkas had duped them. If immortality was what they really wanted, though, they’d be disappointed.

As for me, being alive was enough. I pushed open the door to the building with my head high and my sword at my waist.

“You,” said Larsen, leaning on the reception desk. Nobody else was in the lobby. I’d heard his receptionist had quit, for a start, as the rumours began to spread. Rumours I suspected Vance had encouraged, if not started.

“Surprised to see me alive?”

“No. Why would you think that?”

So he was going to play the innocent card.

“Let’s not waste time,” I said. “We both know you tried to get me killed, you despicable bastard. You damaged my property, put my flatmates in danger, and left me open to attack. I’ll certainly never be working for you again.”

Larsen’s mouth twisted into a snarl. “You’re a fool. There are no other jobs for people like you.”

“I beg to differ,” I said. “I’ve just received a generous offer from the Mage Lord himself to start a full-time freelance position.”

He gaped at me. “What?”

“You heard me. And by the way, I have faerie magic, and I know how to use it.” I removed my hand from my sword long enough to let anger fuel the blue light igniting in my palm.

Larsen paled. “That’s not allowed.”

“Says who? I don’t work for you anymore. But if you ever come near me again, you’ll regret it.”

And I left, the doors swinging shut behind me. I’d wanted to kill him, but even the Mage Lord couldn’t make me get away with murder. No. I’d have to be on my guard, but a pissed-off human was the least of my problems. Besides, I wasn’t alone.

My phone buzzed. I hit the ‘accept call’ button.

“How’d it go?” asked Vance.

“As of today, I’m a full time freelancer.”

“So you’re considering my offer?"

“Yes.” I paused. “But with conditions. I’ll tell you about them later.”

“Done,” he said. “Are you free tomorrow?”

“Of course. No job, remember?”

“How about we continue our conversation from yesterday?”

I read ‘conversation’ as ‘making out’. That, I could get on board with. I drew in a breath. “That seems adequate.”

His chuckle vibrated through the phone. “I’ll see you at seven.”

Well, that was something. Or possibly a lot more than something. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t skip a little on the way home.

This wasn’t over. Now I’d drawn their attention, other faeries would come after me. I’d be a fool to expect otherwise. I still owed the Lady of the Tree a favour, for a start. And even with the new wards in place outside my house, more faeries knew about me than ever before.