Legacy: The Niteclif Evolutions, Book 1 (12 page)

Tarrek was gone for a while, returning having changed into more formal clothes of his own and carrying a gown for me. It wasn’t what I would have chosen. He brought me a lovely dress that was more appropriate for a Celtic festival than it was for fighting crime. But I didn’t initially complain too loudly. Beggars and choosers and that whole lot.

Tarrek looked reserved yet shy as he handed me the green dress. “Bahlin was allowed to dress you in his dream walk. I’d dress you, even just once, in reality.”

“Okay.” I didn’t know what else to say. He handed me the garment, and it was softer than anything I’d ever touched except the jacket he’d given me. The fabric was fluid like Tencel but even lighter without being see-through. The dress had an empire waist and buttoned down the back, though with luck I’d be able to simply pull it on over my head. The scooped neck would show my cleavage to great advantage but probably leave the fabric tight enough to bounce a quarter off of since it didn’t seem to stretch. The length of the dress left it brushing the tops of my feet when I held it up to me. The shoes he handed me were soft, doe-colored ballet slippers but they were leather all around, no real soles. I accepted the clothes and was grateful to head into the bathroom and shut the door.

Both of these men were freaking gorgeous, but neither of them was attached. Problem number one—why didn’t they already have women in their lives?

Both had maneuvered themselves close to me from the beginning. Problem number two—what did they hope to gain by being close to me and to this investigation?

Both of them had stuck around after I’d been wounded. Problem number three—who were they trying to protect me from and why hadn’t they owned up to the truth about it?

And finally, neither had answered the biggest question I wanted to know but was afraid to ask. Problem number four—had either of them been the man at the stone circle four nights ago who had watched me drive away?

I turned on the shower and adjusted the water temperature to hot and just this side of scalding. I felt grungy from not having bathed since that first night at the hotel. The shower was divine, and I scrubbed until my skin was pink and glowing. I stepped out of the shower and toweled off, running the problems through my head over and over, then tried combining the problems I had with the men with the limited facts I had from the case. No clear picture emerged on either front. I left it alone for the moment. Compartmentalization at its best.

I dressed, did the best I could with my hair, then stepped out into the bedroom. Both men stared at me like I had something on my face. I ran my hands down the front of the dress and their gazes followed my hands. I stopped. So did their collective gazes. The back of my neck felt hot, and I wondered what the hell they were staring at.

“You, Maddy, we’re staring at you,” Bahlin said.

“How did you know what I was thinking?” I shifted from foot to foot, suddenly uncomfortable.

“I didn’t. Your discomfort is all over your face. It isn’t hard to put the pieces together.” He stood up and backed away from me, side-stepping down the wall toward the door in the face of my unfolding temper. He apparently remembered my right hook.

Tarrek had walked up behind me. He laid a hand on my shoulder and I jumped, turning to face him. “Why have you dressed me like a doll? I need work clothes, not a party dress,” I whispered in a hard voice. I was tugging at my hair again, agitated.

He dropped his hand and eyed me coolly. “You’ll meet both my parents, who are king and queen, as well as the High Council tonight. The Council has been summoned to the sithen as a whole for the first time in recorded history in an effort to make your life a little easier. You need to dress the part of the Niteclif for formal events, which this is. You can’t meet the Council in jeans and a T-shirt.” His voice rose slightly as if he were having a hard time not yelling.

“I have
already
met some of you in jeans and a T-shirt,” I snarled. Then I thought about what he said. This was a formal event. I needed to look the part.

I took a deep breath, and they apparently thought I was going to argue because Bahlin sighed and said, “For the love, Maddy, shut your trap before you dig a deeper hole for yourself.”

I stood there gaping at him, then burst out laughing. No one had ever said that to me before. In fact, no one had ever spoken to me as harshly as he just had. Of course, I didn’t think I’d ever behaved so ungratefully before so it hadn’t ever been necessary. I walked up to Bahlin and tugged his hand downward. He bent slightly, not sure whether to trust me or prepare to defend himself. And he was a dragon. Ha. I kissed his cheek. Then I turned and did the same to Tarrek. Apologies were hard when you were on the delivery side of things, but I was ashamed of my behavior.

“I’m sorry, honestly.” How could I explain my fear and insecurities to two supernatural creatures without appearing weak? They looked at me expectantly and I caved, sticking to the apology and holding my worries hostage in my mind. “I’ve been a little nutso since all this started after I left the stone circle. It’s made me a bit, well. A bit something. Unpleasant? Seems some of what I’ve inherited as the Niteclif is a wicked temper and a sharp tongue. I’ll try to be better.”

“It’s only been four days, Madeleine…
Maddy
,” Tarrek said, correcting himself and surprising me. “You’re doing remarkably well. I think we’re all a bit on edge, or nutso as you so delicately put it.”

Bahlin hung back a bit, not trusting my radical mood swings or, apparently, my apology. While I was sincere, I couldn’t blame him.

“Look, Bahlin, I’m sorry. Really, I am. It’s only that it’s all so new and I’m not handling it entirely well, especially internally, despite how things appear.” I smiled up at Tarrek. “The voices in my head have yet to quit screaming and for the love of Pete, I was
shot
then
poisoned
. Can’t a girl catch a break?”

“Who’s Pete?” Tarrek asked.

I burst out laughing and suddenly Bahlin joined me.

“Faerie, you’ve made my day. Let’s go greet the High Council.” He turned toward me and held out his arm in a courtly manner. “Fair lady?”

I walked toward him, working very hard to appear graceful. I took his arm and he smiled down at me. All appeared to be forgiven, if not forgotten.

“Tarrek?” Bahlin asked. “You’ll need to lead us to the others. We’re not familiar with where we’re going in your catacombs.”

“The sithen is not a catacomb any more than it is a place for the unwelcome visitor, Bahlin. You will do well to remember that.” Tarrek stalked forward and offered me his arm on my available side. To keep the peace, and because I couldn’t help but wallow in a little female satisfaction at being put between two such unearthly, stunning creatures, I took his arm. Oh, there was some fear there, don’t be mistaken. But I was the Niteclif, and we don’t cop to fear too easily…out loud, anyway.

We walked out of the room with Tarrek still muttering, “I still don’t understand. Who is Pete?” and Bahlin and I trying our best not to goad the faerie with our suppressed laughter.

The two men led me out of the room, with Tarrek slightly in front as we went through the doorway. The minute we stepped out of the bedroom Tarrek’s guard fell in around us, three to the front, three to the back, and one next to Tarrek. Bahlin’s side was left unprotected. The hallways were more than wide enough to accommodate the four of us as we walked toward our destination. The same lighting seemed to be present throughout the sithen, as if there were another sun that shone solely for the benefit of Faerie. With every step down the hallway, my stomach seemed to get tighter and tighter. I might be the Niteclif but I was human, and I had a feeling that nothing else I would meet tonight would be.

The guards seemed to know where we were going without any need for direction, so it felt as if we were swept along in the tide of leather and weapons as we moved toward our destination. Bahlin’s arm tensed under my hand and I felt his anxiety. Maybe some of his stress compounded mine? I don’t know, I only know I felt it through every fiber and nerve ending in my body.
Hold it together
,
I thought to myself.
Now’s not the time to make your insecurities public. Deep breaths, straight back, one foot in front of the other, Niteclif.

“Maddy?” Tarrek looked at me. “There’s nothing to fear tonight.”

“How do you know I’m afraid?”

“You’re going to draw blood with what’s left of your fingernails if you don’t relax your grip on my arm at least a little.” He was compassionate in his words, but I could tell he meant it. I looked down and realized he was right.

“Sorry,” I said, and attempted to draw my hand away from his forearm.

“I didn’t ask you to let go of me, only to relax your grip.” He looked over my head at Bahlin, who stared back.

“Of course,” I muttered. I wondered what the guards thought of my miraculous recovery. I was shot, now not. A human up out of bed so quickly would bring questions, and there were only so many answers that were logical.

“Uh, Tarrek? What will we tell people who ask about my speed in healing?” I whispered.

“Not to worry, Maddy.” Tarrek squeezed my hand then looked around at his guards. “My closest men are trustworthy and discreet. They’ll have a good idea how the healing occurred, but none will share the speculation with anyone outside my contingent.”

I wondered about that, because he’d had absolute faith in Maddox too. And that hadn’t turned out so well for me.

Bahlin snorted, apparently as concerned as I was at Tarrek’s blind trust of his people. I squeezed his arm, hard, and he looked down at me. His eyes glittered in the muted light and it was disconcerting. There shouldn’t have been enough light for that type of reflection. He continued to stare at me, and I stared back until Tarrek cleared his throat.

“We’ve arrived,” Tarrek said. And the guards drew open the huge wooden doors. Showtime.

The room we were led into was cavernous. Carved out of the subterranean stone and floored with the continuing theme of marble, the room was structured like a Roman amphitheater. Hopefully the entertainment venue wouldn’t be the same. Seats and tables went up three sides, the seats filled with what I could only assume were the residents of the sithen. I was surprised at the number of fae, which I estimated to be around two thousand. Who knew? As Bahlin walked in I heard the murmur, “Dragon!” and “Niteclif!” over and over so that it sounded like wind speaking through the dry leaves of a tree: soft, whispering, persistent. Bahlin never visibly faltered, and I did my best to follow his lead.

Deep breaths
, I reminded myself.

Straight across from the great doors was a huge dais, and on it were two thrones made of giant carved tree trunks polished to a glass-like shine. Jewels were set in recess into the wood and the value of each had to be enough that it could have provided Greece’s financial bailout several times over. The thrones were empty. Across the floor of the amphitheater and in front of the thrones, a large table had been set up and covered with a diaphanous cloth. Refreshments sat scattered across the table, but I couldn’t have told you what was on the menu. I was too absorbed with the beings sitting behind the table to notice.

Sitting at the center of the table was one of the most imposing men I’d ever seen. It was hard to tell how tall he was because he was seated, but his upper half was impressive. He was well muscled like a Mac truck is large, and his skin was very lightly tanned as if he worked in a garden regularly. His hair hung down to the middle of his back and was that blond that’s graced with darker and lighter colors. His eyes were pitch black, like his pupils had eaten the iris and left nothing behind. It was scary as hell. The power radiating off of him made me stop in my tracks, causing the others around me to stop awkwardly. There was a shift somewhere inside me and I felt like my soul reached out to him, as if we’d somehow known each other before, yet this had to be our first meeting. I would have remembered him, if not for the fact that his eyes scared me then surely because I inexplicably yearned for him from somewhere deep inside.

“Hellion, that’s enough,” said a soft, rich voice, thus breaking the spell. My eyes shifted over to the left, and I was suddenly looking at one of the most striking women I’d ever seen. I could tell that she was petite even though she was sitting, but she was no wallflower. Her hair was as dark as Hellion’s was light, her eyes equally dark, and she had the same mild tan he had. Her power was immense. It felt like a weight pressing against my whole body. I could tell she was holding it in check, almost as if she was waiting to see how I would respond to Hellion. I relaxed a bit, and felt the fingers of invasion in my mind. I thought, “
No.”
Just like that the mental door was shut. She smiled a genuine smile and revealed perfect white teeth. I wondered what these two were to each other. I looked up at Bahlin and raised my eyebrows in question.

“Mates,” Bahlin whispered. I didn’t think he was talking about them being best buddies, either.

“Who’s on the council?”

He squeezed my hand in warning and said, “Hellion is our Council member. He requested special permission to bring Gretta for this single meeting.” His implication was clear. She was a guest, and her crap wouldn’t be tolerated. Oh good.

“So it’s true,” she said. “We have a new Niteclif. And a woman, at that. Very good.”

Hellion looked at me with his soulless eyes and said, “You and Bahlin seem unnaturally close for such a short acquaintance. Is there anything you wish to disclose?” And with the word disclose I felt compelled to tell him everything that had happened. Before I could speak, I noticed that Gretta and Hellion had taken each others’ hands, presumably in an affectionate gesture unless you were attuned to the increase in metaphysical pressure in my head. I blindly reached for Bahlin’s hand and, just as I was about to spill all my secret suspicions right down to my guess at his shoe size, the pressure was relieved.

“Hellion, Gretta, that’s rude,” said Bahlin in an almost casual manner. His hand had tightened on mine to a point just this side of pain, and the pain seemed to have helped me think more clearly.