Intoxicating Magic (34 page)

Holy crow. Asher had set him up. If Beau had never met Hunter or Talia, would he still be with us today? It was possible, but I wasn’t naïve enough to believe nothing would’ve ever happened. The gift was too strong a lure.

“After that, it became apparent Asher was after Beau,” Hunter continued. “We set up a plan to turn a group of vampires into daywalkers as his security team. But Asher got wind of it and picked them off one by one until he gathered enough information to get to Beau himself.”

I sat back, horrified. Poor Beau. He’d been so young and all his resources had been new vampires. I turned to Carrie. “Did you know about all this?”

She shook her head. “Not at first. Not when he was aligned with Asher, anyway. Beau knew my sister was a vampire and didn’t want to upset me. He felt strongly about protecting humans but didn’t want to fight about it. It wasn’t until he knew he was in real danger that he told me. I was already making a plan to get us out of Eureka when Beau was killed.”

The familiar ache in my heart throbbed. I missed my brother more than words could convey. And today, with my defenses so blown apart, his absence hit me harder than it usually did. I glanced at little Beau and took comfort in the fact my brother had left such a beautiful gift behind.

“So he turned Vince, Grace, and you into daywalkers?” I asked Talia.

“Yeah, and Victoria.”

That explained why I hadn’t felt her vampire energy, either.

“He’d planned to turn a few others but never got the chance.” Talia’s tone was sad as she continued. “After that, I made it my mission to take Asher down. But he went into hiding and no one knew where he was. I teamed up with Hunter, and we’ve been looking for him ever since. We got close once or twice, but it wasn’t until he recruited Rox, Grace, and the others recently that we got a real line on him.”

“Why?” I asked, genuinely curious. “You could’ve just gone off and lived your lives. Especially after four years of false leads.”

She met Hunter’s gaze and an unspoken communication passed between them. Hunter nodded, and Talia took a deep breath. “First, if it wasn’t for me, Hunter and Beau never would’ve been involved with Asher. I felt responsible.”

“I did, too,” Hunter added.

Once again, the knowledge of Beau’s dangerous secret life made my heart ache. Why hadn’t he ever said anything?
To protect you,
the thought ghosted through my mind, and I knew it was true
.

Talia cleared her throat. “But mostly I did it because it’s my fault Asher found Beau. I was the only one who knew where he’d be at all times. I was supposed to trust no one, because we knew someone was feeding Asher information. But I was scared and needed someone to talk to. I told one person. Grace. She was quiet back then, with an air of honor about her. She was always talking about right and wrong, trying to live a moral life.” She let out a huff of sardonic laughter. “I was so gullible. Within two hours, Beau was gone.” Her eyes misted with pink-tinged tears.

I frowned. “But yet you continued to work with her undercover this whole time?”

“No,” she said forcefully. “I actually went solo for a long time and only infiltrated their group after I started working with Hunter again. That was a few months ago. Yesterday when you were kidnapped from the bar, I had no idea Vince was going to do that. It was supposed to be a recon mission, which was fine for undercover work, but by the time I realized what he had planned, it was too late. I did everything I could to get you away from him.”

I narrowed my eyes, not sure I could believe her. “How do I know you’re not lying to me?”

Allcot spoke up for the first time since I’d entered the room. “Everyone has been given Truth Clusters. Her story meshes with the information we’ve ascertained from the remaining prisoners.”

Oh. Right. He’d placed an order at my shop recently. I stared at him. “Did you suspect someone on your team was disloyal? Is that why the emergency order?”

“Yes, Ms. Rhoswen. And as it turns out, I was correct. Our guard, K.C., was a mole. He’s been eliminated, along with the vampire Vince. The other vampire and that traitorous fae will undergo more questioning before we decide their fate.”

He was talking about Meredith and Grace.

“I see,” I said, trying to suppress the desire to find Grace and end her. It was her fault Beau was gone. My only consolation was my certainty that Allcot wouldn’t show her any mercy. A small twinge of guilt twisted in my gut, but it was hard to feel bad about it after all we’d been through.

Phoebe entered the room, her brilliant blue eyes scanning as they always did. “Everyone okay in here?”

There was a murmur of agreement. “How is everyone else? Harrison? And Mom?” I stood suddenly. How had I forgotten about Mom? “Where is she?”

“Relax. She’s tending to Harrison and the other guard. David levied some impressive blows on them while they were under Meredith’s compulsion magic.”

David frowned. “It’s not like I had a choice. They were trying to kill me. And hell, at that point, I had no idea who was on what side.”

“You did what you had to,” Hunter said.

“But Harrison is… dammit. He’s our most loyal guard and my best friend.” David blew out a long-suffering breath. He must have been in a lot of pain still, but just about the only thing that would help him now was fresh human blood. And he wouldn’t accept any from the humans in the house.

“He’s right,” Carrie said quietly. “Harrison won’t hold it against you.”

Beau chose that moment to run over to David, a toy truck still in his fist. “Uncle David?”

David’s expression softened as he smiled at my nephew. “Yeah, little man?”

“You’re hurt.” Beau dropped the truck and climbed up on the couch to sit next to him.

“I’ll be okay.” David smoothed Beau’s red hair down ever so gently.

“I can hep,” he said, his toddler lisp adorable, and then he turned toward Carrie. “Right, Mommy?”

Carrie smiled at her son and then at David. “We’ve been working on a few healing spells.”

“Beau has magic?” I asked, surprised I hadn’t heard about this before.

“Of course he does,” Carrie said lightly. “How could he not with who is parents are?”

I laughed. “I was just surprised it’s already surfaced. It’s a little early, isn’t it?”

Carrie shrugged. “We haven’t had a lot to do considering we’ve spent the majority of our time indoors these past few years.”

That made my heart hurt and it must have showed, because Carrie gave me a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Wil. Things should get better now that Asher’s out of the picture. Right?”

There was a cautious murmur of agreement around the room. Asher’s second in command was still out there somewhere. But Carrie was right. The main threat was gone and we had a solid lead on Asher’s second. With any luck we’d have him in custody soon. Hopefully Beau would have a relatively normal childhood now.

“I can fix Uncle,” Beau told his mother.

“Sure you can, baby,” Carrie said, humoring him. She cast David a questioning glance to see if he was game.

He shrugged slightly and nodded.

“It’s just a simple healing spell. He’s practiced on me a few times. Pretty harmless. It might not even work on you.”

“Nothing could be worse than this.” David waved at his leg and chuckled. “Go ahead, little man. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Beau grinned up at David, then furrowed his brow as he focused. He ran his small hands along David’s leg, parallel to the wound.

David stayed totally still, giving Beau his undivided attention.

“Ready?” Beau asked David.

“Ready.” David made a show of closing his eyes as if to prepare for the sting of Beau’s magic.

Beau bit his lip and scrunched up his face in concentration. “By the magic of the sea, I give you what you need to be healed by me.” Magic burst from Beau’s fingertips and latched onto David’s skin, skittering across his large body until David glowed with it. The magic brightened into a flash of white light and then it vanished.

David’s wound was completely healed.

Beau let out a loud laugh and clapped his hands together. “I did it, Mommy. I did it!”

Everyone in the room was completely silent as we gaped at David.

“Mommy?” Beau asked, suddenly self-conscious. “I fixed him, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, baby,” Carrie said softly. “You fixed him.”

I stared at David, taking in his tired eyes and softer physique. His features were less defined and his marble-like frame had vanished. Beau had fixed him all right. Totally.

The vampire was gone.

David was once again the man I’d dated—a human.

Chapter 33

One Week Later

I stood behind the counter of The Fated Cupcake, blissfully filling the case with a new batch of Hibiscus Healing bars. It was my fourth day back in the shop after spending three days filling out reports and sitting for interviews for the director of the Void regarding the events surrounding Asher’s demise. Phoebe and Hunter had apprehended Asher’s second in command and, thankfully, the case had been put to rest. Phoebe and I were both on a much-deserved break from everything vampire related.

“Willow?” Jasper called from the register.

I stuffed the rest of the bars in the case and smiled at my newest employee. I’d asked Phoebe to track him down to come talk to me. The fact that he’d sent Phoebe after me after I’d been sold to Rox had weighed heavily on my mind. He hadn’t willingly chosen the gang life. He’d been born into it, and I’d wanted to give him a hand up. So I’d made him a deal. Leave the gang for good and he had a full-time job with me for as long as he wanted. If there was ever even a hint of trouble, he was out. No second chances.

He’d accepted on the spot. Today was his third day, and I was confident in saying I’d never had a more willing or eager employee. Especially one that was willing to show up at six a.m. for the morning shift.

“What do you need, Jas?”

“There’s a delivery for you.” He nodded to a woman holding a thick envelope sealed with wax.

“Thanks,” I said absently.

Oh jeez. It had to be from the Cryrique. The old-fashioned grandeur was their thing. I rolled my eyes. What did Allcot want now? Officially, I was no longer tied to them in any way. Talisen was, though. I bit my lip and signed the form, indicating I’d gotten the letter. The courier nodded and moved to the counter to order a Mocha in Motion.

I stuffed the envelope in my pocket and went back to stocking the shelves, preferring to remain blissfully unaware of whatever it was Allcot wanted. But after a few minutes, my curiosity got the better of me.

What if it was about David? What if whatever Beau Jr. had done to turn him human had caused side effects? We’d collectively decided to tell the Void that the fae Meredith had turned him back to human with some unknown magic so Beau would be protected from any testing or interrogation. With Meredith safely locked away in Allcot’s care—or worse… I didn’t want to know what he’d ultimately decided to do with her—no one would ever know Beau’s ability. It wasn’t something we wanted to explore. Not right now.

The envelope started to burn a hole of curiosity in my jeans, and finally I touched my assistant’s arm.

Tami paused from filling a pastry box. “What’s up, boss?”

“I’m going to my office for a bit. Can you keep an eye on Jasper in case he needs anything?” I’d decided to be the one to train him, considering his checkered past. But he was doing so well I didn’t think letting Tami take the reins was going to be an issue.

“Sure thing. I’ll call you if we need anything.”

“Thanks.” I knew she wouldn’t unless the place caught on fire or something. I grimaced at the unfortunate thought. The Red Door and Allcot’s mansion would be undergoing construction for the next few months to repair the damage Asher had caused. In the meantime, I’d heard they were all staying at David’s house in Mid-City.

I stepped into my office and was instantly cheered by the man sitting at my desk. “Hey,” I said. “When did you get here?”

Tal stood and opened his arms wide. “About forty minutes ago. You seemed busy with the new kid, so Link and I just slipped in and got to work.”

I moved and wrapped my arms around Tal as he tugged me to him, his embrace perfect and warm. I glanced over his shoulder at Link. He was curled up in his dog bed, blissfully sleeping. “Looks like someone is well on his way to a productive day.”

“Lucky dog.” Tal chuckled.

I felt the rumble in his chest and decided I could get very used to that. Tal had been staying at my house the past week. Mostly we’d been sleeping a lot, trying to recover from the toll taken on both of us. During the day he’d started to come into the shop to work on some healing spells until he could find his own lab.

“I’ve been thinking,” I said.

“Yeah?” He pulled back slightly and glanced down at me. “What’s that?”

“There’s extra space here. There’s a storage room that’s just full of extra junk. Why don’t you use it as your lab? Maybe even team up with me to work on a few things?”

His eyes sparkled with interest. “Like?”