Faerie Magic (3 page)

Like I’d be that lucky. The Mage Lord stood on the doorstep, coat sweeping around him—more due to the autumn wind than his mage special effects.

“Oh,” I said. “It’s you.”

“Don’t look so happy to see me,” said Vance Colton. “Are you baking?” He walked right past me, and before I could gather my wits, walked over to Isabel. “Those look nice.”

“Oh, take one,” she said, with a cheery smile. I shot her a glare, which she ignored. Dammit. Compliment Isabel’s cooking and you’d pretty much got an open invite for life.

Vance picked up one of the cookies and bit into it. I turned my glare onto him.

“Did you just invite yourself into my house?”

“Technically, your friend invited me in.”

“Then I’m uninviting you.”

He put on a mock-wounded expression. “Such a cutting tongue. Isabel, can you give me the recipe for these?”

“I—yeah. Sure.” Her face flushed like a traffic light.

Great. Not only had he invited himself into my flat, he’d charmed the wits out of my best friend.

“Vance,” I said warningly. “Tell me why you’re here or I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

“Really.”

I glared at him. “No bullshit. What do you want?”

“Wouldn’t you believe I wanted to make a friendly social call?”

Isabel wisely ducked out of sight. I heard her bedroom door close and sighed inwardly. Great. Exactly what I least needed.

“What the actual hell, Vance,” I hissed. “It’s common courtesy to let people know you’re planning to vanish off the face of the earth. Especially when you’ve just offered them a job.”

His smile vanished. “I apologise. I was called to an urgent meeting and forbidden to take my phone with me.”

Oh.
“Right. Any reason you didn’t text me when you came back? Or talked to me yesterday when you weren’t pulling your creepy super-powered Mage Lord trick on the half-faeries?”

“I rather think it’d have spoilt the impression.”

I crossed my arms. “You think I’d have wrecked your street cred? That’s beside the point. You disappeared. Right after we—” Nearly died. As he knew well, the dickhead. He’d also kissed me. Several times. No, I wasn’t keeping a tally.

“You’re suggesting I ought to have told the entire town the council of mages were gone?”

“You have my number,” I said. “And I had the impression you—” What? Liked me? Wanted me?

One eyebrow rose. “Yes?”

“Intended to finish our conversation,” I said, already regretting speaking. “Never mind. I should have figured you’d disappear as soon as you had reason to.” He was the Mage Lord. He probably had hordes of swooning fangirls hanging around his
manor.
Sure, I’d never seen any, but we’d only known one another a couple of weeks.

“The leader of the East Midlands mages was murdered,” said Vance, stunning me into silence.

“What?”

“Murdered,” he repeated, with a flash of anger in his eyes. “By a half-faerie.”

I gaped at him, unable to hide my shock. Half-faeries might be anti-human and pretty much anti-supernatural, too, but even they showed basic respect to the mages. The Mage Lords, most of all.

“Who?”

“That’s what we’re trying to determine,” he said. “It appears to be an isolated act of a madman, but our supernatural alliances are fragile, and this might mean dividing further.”

“The half-faeries live behind an impenetrable hedge,” I said. “Pretty sure that’s as divided as you can get. And one of them was murdered yesterday, actually. By another half-blood.”

He raised an eyebrow again. “Really.”

“Yes.” I didn’t say Larsen had told me. Like absolute hell would I admit to the Mage Lord that I’d nearly taken work from Larsen. Even if he’d driven me to it. “Obviously, I haven’t been able to poke around, because when we got there, the whole place was about to go up in flames.”

“Why were you near half-blood district in the first place?”

I scowled. He always managed to ask the questions I least wanted to hear. “On a job. Might have escaped your attention I’m short on cash.”

He frowned. “You just got paid for our work bringing those children back from Faerie.”

He doesn’t know?
“The necromancers took it.” My hands curled into fists. The bastards. Sure, I’d killed one of them, but he’d been possessed by a half-faerie ghost and trying to kill me at the time. The necromancers didn’t see it that way.

Vance’s icy cold expression could have frozen embers. “I see.”

“Don’t,” I said warningly. “They had reason to. We messed up their territory, and I—you saw me stab one of them when those ghosts took control of their bodies.” He’d critically injured another necromancer himself, but even Lord Evander wouldn’t dare press charges against the Mage Lord. Instead, he’d waited until I was alone, then pounced. I had no evidence against the testimony of two hundred necromancers and the spirits they summoned.

“Lord Evander and I will have words,” he said, putting emphasis on
words
so it sounded more like
I’ll hang him up by the neck.
Nobody implied threats quite like the Mage Lord.

“Don’t we have a more urgent problem?” I asked. “The necromancers won’t do jack shit to help us with the half-faeries.”

“Neither will anyone else,” he said. “The other supernatural groups hate the half-bloods, and with good reason. The faeries exposed us to the world, in addition to the damage they wreaked.”

You didn’t get a bad deal,
I couldn’t help thinking. The Mage Lords were now the most powerful people in the world. Before the invasion, they’d hidden along with witches, shifters, and other supernaturals. Half-faeries, as far as I was aware, hadn’t been heard of until the invasion. While most faeries were fighting a war, others decided to seduce humans. I’d put the average age of a half-faerie at nineteen or twenty. What we’d witnessed last night was nothing more than a group of teenagers collectively throwing a tantrum… with deadly magic.

“So what then?” I asked. “Someone clearly needs to
talk
to them, find out who died. Or if anyone knows about this… other death.”

His expression darkened at the reference. Had he known this other mage well? Maybe they’d been friends.

Maybe he had an excuse for running off after all. Nobody had handed the Mage Lord a guide to ‘not being a dick in social situations’. I’d think twice before trusting him again, but I could count my allies on one hand. I’d rather be on Vance’s side than against him.

“Yes,” said Vance. “Someone needs to talk to them. I rather hoped it’d be you.”

I froze. Forced a laugh. “What?”

“Half-blood territory is deadly to most humans,” said Vance. “As for supernaturals, the half-faeries would attack most of us on sight.”

“And you?” I raised an eyebrow. “Pretty sure they wouldn’t attack you.”

“No, but I doubt they’d confide their deepest secrets, either.”

“What the hell do you think I am, the faerie whisperer?”

He arched an eyebrow.

I went on, “You can’t be serious. Even if they didn’t try to kill me the last time I went in, they’re out for blood and begging for a scapegoat. We’re not even allowed to take iron weapons into their territory. And unlike some people, I can’t bend space and grab a sword whenever I feel like it.”

And
I’d rather avoid them finding out I had faerie magic. Okay, I’d told Vance and Isabel. And Larsen. But judging by how easily the half-bloods had been fooled by Velkas, the evil faerie lord promising immortality, they’d believe any rumour. The last thing I needed was a reputation amongst them as well as the mercenaries.

“I’m not asking you to go into their territory,” said Vance. “Merely meet a representative at their gate. Tell them you’re there on behalf of the Mage Lords as a human intermediary.”

“What? Everyone thinks I’m a witch.”

“You aren’t registered.”

“Not this crap again.” I rolled my eyes. “I thought it didn’t matter.”
I thought you trusted me.

That stung. Never mind how he planned to send me running into danger—if not for his being here, I’d probably be off raiding a troll’s nest. No—he was acting like a significant portion of the last two weeks never happened.

“It matters to the faeries,” said the Mage Lord. “I doubt they’d mind if you were. Witches have no arguments with half-bloods.”

“
We
do,” I muttered. “Do I get compensation for running risks? You promised me a contract.”

“Yes, I did,” he said, looking almost insulted. “I’ll draw up the contract, but I’ll be nearby when you meet with them anyway. Just in case.”

“Just in case they decide to skewer me. How thoughtful.”

Vance frowned, moving one step closer. “You don’t think I’ve considered your safety?”

“Half-blood territory and
safety
don’t fit into the same sentence, Vance,” I said. “Yes, I’ll do it, but I’d prefer it if you didn’t criticise me for taking risks and then send me running into one of the most dangerous places in town.”

“Point taken. Anything else you’d like to add?”

“There’s only one thing I want from you, Vance.”

“Yes?” He lifted an eyebrow again.

Goddammit. “An apology.”

“For not telling you where I was?”

“No, for letting the necromancers take away my cash and force me to spend yesterday evicting piskies from a garden shed.”

“What?”

I turned away, my face heating up. “What I said. I don’t want an argument.”

He paused, hands slightly forward like he intended to reach out and touch me but thought better of it.

“I’ll see to the necromancers,” he said. “For now, I wanted to offer you this assignment. Talk to the half-blood guard. Find out what they know.”

“There’s a reason I’m not a diplomat,” I said. “I’m better at stabbing things than negotiation.”

“The Mage Lords aren’t welcome in their territory,” he said. “And most are still in Nottingham making arrangements for the election of a new Mage Lord. I came back early to be sure nothing had happened in my absence.”

“Did I answer that question?” The words came out snappier than I’d intended. Or maybe I had meant it. Dickhead.

“Ivy—”

“All right, I’ll do it,” I said.

“Good. Come and see me at the manor at ten.”

“Eleven. I have to return a stack of paperwork to clean-up.” In response to his questioning look, I added, “Because of the piskies. Don’t ask.”

Damn him. There’d been no reason whatsoever he couldn’t have called me. Sure, his excuses were solid. I really shouldn’t care so much. Plainly, he just saw me as another potential ally, as he had from the start. The mages were big on partnerships and alliances. When he’d kissed me, though—it definitely wasn’t something a potential employer would do.
Well, he’s not exactly a conventional boss.

I looked away from him. “I’ll sort this out, then come and find you.”

“As you like. I’ll be waiting.” He turned around, then paused. “I apologise, Ivy, for not telling you.”

I blinked, and he’d vanished. Dammit. He just had to get the last word in.

“Whoa,” said Isabel. I jumped, not realising she stood behind me. “What did tall, dark and chiselled want?”

I snorted. “Tall, dark and chiselled?”

She grinned. “Didn’t you make out with him before he disappeared?”

“Yes. Unfortunately.”

“That bad?” Her expression shifted to say,
no bullshit.

“No. Good. Too good.” I sighed, brushing my hair over my shoulder. “We were supposed to be business partners. No wonder he didn’t take me seriously enough to tell me he planned to vanish for a week.” Emergency or not, you’d think there’d have been a system in place to deal with people back here who wanted to see him. But the gates to the mages’ headquarters had been locked from the inside. “Anyway, he’s given me a job in
half-blood
territory. He thinks I’m his lapdog, apparently.”

“No, he likes you.”

“Don’t,” I said warningly. “He’s a complete wanker. He ditched me once already, and we’d never have got away with it if we’d carried on as we did. Some new girl would have come along, or the other mages would have wanted me kicked out…” Hell, the power imbalance alone was enough to make me want to run in the opposite direction. I had nothing but his word, and the last week alone proved how reliable
that
was. He could disappear at any time, leaving my livelihood up in the air.

Stupid of me to think a kiss or two meant I was safe. I should know better.

“Ivy.” Isabel gave me a look I’d describe as pitying. “He might be a wanker, but he’s leader of the supernatural council. He wouldn’t kick you out with no warning. I think you’re letting your last—” She cleared her throat—“Bad dating experiences cloud your judgement.”

“Mages are known for reliability, are they?” I shook my head. “Never mind. This job he’s offered me… he’s asking me to walk into half-blood territory again. It’s like handing me a Valentine’s card with a trip to the gallows printed on it.”