rogue shifter 07 - cut off (17 page)

"What?

"Wait until your magical skills are honed."

"When's that happening?" I frowned.

"So impatient. Give it a few years. You'll know when you're ready." I opened my mouth, but his finger came up. "Believe me. You will know."

"I'll have to use mind control when I fight him. I'll have to practice."

"Yes."

"How?"

"Start with someone who trusts you completely. Perhaps the bear."

"Jay?"

"Yes. When you've succeeded with him, then work with a fae. Linn, I think."

"Linn? Aedus will flip out."

"Do you trust her not to tell her father?"

"Yes."

"Would you do anything to hurt either of them?"

"How could you ask that?"

"It's my duty to ask these questions. You'll be sorely tempted to...experiment when you have someone under your control. Tell Jay or Linn exactly what you're going to ask them to do beforehand and then stick to it. Don't force them to do something they didn't agree to do. You will lose more than their trust.

"I understand."

"After Linn, you'll need someone much stronger. An adult fae. That could be tricky."

"I think I know someone who might agree."

"Good. I won't ask who. Don't tell me."

I leaned my chin on my fist, my elbow perched on my knee. "Why'd you change your mind? Yesterday you said I should use Kennet in the war and then kill him afterward."

He looked at the mountains, the full moon bright enough to show the shadows of several dragons intersecting in patterns. They were active tonight. Maybe they sensed some of what was happening at the foot of their empire.

Isaiah stood and I followed him up. "Controlling your mind just now made me abhorrent to myself in every way. Kennet enjoys that role. Who knows how often he uses his power at court or elsewhere? He needs to die soon and perhaps it is justice that you are the one to end him."

"I'll wait. Will you help me?"

"Yes." He grabbed me in a guy hug and pounded on my back, then stepped away. "I'm sorry, Charlie. More than you can imagine."

"You had to use the grill, huh?" I grumbled, running my fingers over the new scar.

"If I'd made you stick your head in the pond and smile at the fish would it have been as effective?"

"No, but I may never be able to eat another barbequed steak."

"Pfft. I'll believe that when I see it." His gaze was scrutinizing. "Do you forgive me?"

I grinned in relief. "I'll forgive you, if you'll forgive my asshole move to control you."

"Done. In fact, I've never been more proud of you."

This was getting awkward. "When's dinner?"

"Now. We're having steak." I felt a little queasy. It must have showed. "Okay, I'll have the cooks make you a fried chicken. Then after dinner, we'll work on something new."

"Will they make mashed potatoes?"

"You might have to pay them. They hate to peel potatoes."

"Don't they use magic?"

"They're like Liam. They like to cook." The tone of his voice betrayed his puzzlement.

"I'll peel the potatoes."

"It's your funeral."

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Aymis hovered in front of me, his teal wings beating so fast the buzz made my nose tingle. "They've found another fae body," he reported. This time it was the male who'd been sent to the queen with Cascade's latest message. He'd been murdered and then his shattered body had been returned with a note tucked inside his sleeve.

Aymis had memorized the message.

Your messenger did not please me, as he refused to confirm or deny certain information. Reliable sources of my own have suggested that the young fae is in the Demon Realm. This is traitorous behavior and I must insist that he return immediately.

If I do not receive a satisfactory response, I will torture the vampire tomorrow morning for one hour. Two hours the next day. And so forth.

The full moon is due to rise tonight.

Fionna.

"The full moon?"

"Her powers are at their peak when the full moon rises on the mortal plain."

"Aymis..." I whispered, the crumb of an idea forming in my head. "You know the court. Do you know anyone there who could get a message to Garrett?"

He was silent for several heartbeats. "I know of no one who could
guarantee
the delivery of such a message. However, for you and for Garrett, I would try."

"You?"

"I know the best approaches, the hidden ways."

"I can't ask you to do this."

"I have willingly offered, although my Lady Sinlae will be furious. I may not see her bed for many months if I do not make it up to her." He grinned. Sinlae's three males loved her dearly, always going out of their way to please her.

"Tell her that I required the help of the finest demi-fey warrior in Cascade, and that I chose you."

"She would laugh herself out of the air. Because of the years I spent in a cage, I am the weakest of her three consorts. She chose me to join her here because I have a gift for growing roses and because she knew I would fade without her."

He'd been through hell and back. "Then tell her I needed a spy who knows the court well. She's always had a crush on Garrett. She'll appreciate it if you can help him." He continued to look skeptical.

A light bulb lit up my brain, and I laughed out loud, feeling foolish for having forgotten Sinlae's favorite treat. "There's one thing that will definitely bring her around if she gives you a hard time." I exposed the inside of my wrist.

"I could not ask you for blood, even for my sweet lady."

I threw his own words back at him. "I have willingly offered." I stretched out my hand, resting it on the back of the bench.

"For me?"

"You're risking your life for me and my family. Please..."

He landed on my hand and bowed low. "Then we will exchange blood, forging a ritual bond between us." He straightened. "I, Aymis, Pixiekin warrior, do swear by an exchange of blood, to do all in my power to deliver a message to Garrett Cuvier, held prisoner by Queen Fionna. I also swear to do my best to return with a message from him to you." He bit quickly into my wrist, taking long sips. He stopped after four, wiping his mouth with a cloth that he pulled from his sleeve. Then he bit into his own wrist and offered it to me.

I took only one ritual sip, but that was enough to send sweet tingles through my body. Demi-fey blood protected the recipient from magical attacks. "And I, Jacqueline Crawford Cuvier promise to give Sinlae four sips of my blood if she is angry with you for taking on this mission."

My healing magic sealed up my small wound as Aymis healed his own. "Your blood is unique, Lady Jacqueline." His eyes sparkled. "I understand why my lady, Sinlae, speaks so highly of her blood bond with you."

"So I've been told. It must be the tinge of demon blood."

"More likely the healer."

We discussed what he should say to Garrett, then he disappeared. Poof. With most supes there was always a shimmer or a slight fog when one would disappear into the ley lines, but the demi-fey were much more "now-you-see-him, now-you-don't" in their travels.

Feeling emotionally drained, I slid onto the familiar wicker loveseat on the second floor balcony. It was getting old, some of the twigs poking out and stabbing me in the butt if I wasn't careful, but Garrett and I loved spending alone-time here most nights. We'd cuddle and kiss and talk of simple things, like the day's events, other times making plans for our family's future.

Did we still have a future together? Would Fionna take it away, just to get her claws into my son? I bit my lip, determined to focus on the trust I had in the fae to get him home and not the rest. Charlie was safe with Isaiah. Lord Caelen and his elders were organizing the meeting with Fionna. This was all good. I would not allow myself to disintegrate into a blubbering blob of tears the way my empty heart urged me to.

Sasha had said it perfectly. There was a hole in my core that Garrett filled every day with his love and his laughter, his smiles and his touch. With his solid presence. The emptiness hurt, but I had to be strong. I would be strong. I was strong.

Garrett would be home soon.

CHAPTER THIRTY

I hung from chains attached to the ceiling, shirtless, with only the balls of my bare feet resting on the stone floor. My wrists had blistered overnight from the silver cuffs, and my arms and shoulders ached more with each passing hour. I'd stopped breathing and kept my eyes closed in meditation to save energy for whatever was to come.

I'd been in much worse situations, but when the door opened and the last creature in the world I wanted to deal with walked into my room, I couldn't suppress a murmured curse.

Kennet looked a lot healthier than the last time I'd seen him. "Garrett." He nodded.

"Kennet." I didn't nod back.

"I believe this is the first time we've spoken, although I feel I already know you. Charles, my son, speaks of you with affection, and Jacqueline—well, she has always been a slave to your glamour. Her mind is rife with your Influence."

"We love each other. Something you'd know nothing about."

He conjured a chair and sat facing me, then drew a dagger from a sheath inside his boot, examining it as he spoke. His voice was a shard of ice. "She's taken my son to the Demon Realm."

"She's a warrior who understands your world better than you or your queen imagine. Our son is safe there."

"Under the influence of Naberia?"

"He's with Isaiah."

"Isaiah no longer responds to my summons," he snapped.

I smiled. "That's a shame."

With a flick of his wrist, the knife sunk into my right shoulder. I winced as he twisted it to cause more pain, then pulled it out. "I'm going to make you scream for mercy."

"I've screamed for mercy under Eleanor and somehow survived. In fact I was the one who ended her life. I believe you were a witness to that duel. History sometimes repeats itself."

He smirked, but his expression soon shifted to surprise and finally anger.

"I suppose you didn't know that your mental manipulations won't work on an older vampire's mind. Sorry to disappoint you."

He tried another tactic. "Did you know that Jacqueline kissed me and rubbed her body against mine? She wanted my attentions because you do not satisfy her."

"I've shared her life for sixteen years. I know exactly how she feels about you and your attentions."

"She begged to have my child. Now we are a family."

He was going all out to get me to react in anger, but it wasn't working. Jacqueline had felt many emotions over the years in regard to Kennet, love and respect never entering the picture. If he'd move a few inches closer, I could sink my fangs into him. I'd have to spit out the blood. I couldn't imagine I'd be able to stomach it, even in my desperate state.

He continued to speak, lost to reason. "According to the laws of Faerie, the only laws valid in this realm, Jacqueline and Charles are mine. When Charles arrives, you will be leaving with Caelen and the rest of the Cascade scum. However my son and my mate, Jacqueline, will stay."

"Caelen will not bring them to court."

He laughed, the sound disturbing. "She will be queen when I take the throne, a role she was born to fill."

"Fionna won't give up her throne, and even if she did, she has an heir."

"One daughter whom we rarely see at court. Unlike Charles, the child must be deficient in some way."

He began to circle me as if playing with his food, perhaps running through various scenarios in his head. "It is unfortunate, but my sister does not want you to meet your final death while you are under her protection." He leaned closer. "You'll wish you had."

"I don't doubt your ability with a knife or a whip or a fist when your victim is chained, but as long as Charlie and Jackie are safe, my life and my pain are unimportant."

"Courageous words. I've been directed by my sister to give Jacqueline some motivation to bring me my son. You will be assisting me in this regard, although you will not find the experience to be a pleasant one." I didn't respond, so he smirked and motioned for the guard to come nearer. He was holding a small mason jar without the lid. "Hold it under the wound." The guard nodded, then Kennet used his dagger to slice through my right triceps. The blood dripped steadily, filling the jar in less time than I'd imagined it would. "Step back." The guard obeyed.

Kennet moved closer and grabbed my chin, rocking my head from side to side to get a good look at my face. He placed the tip of the blade under my right eye. "An eye or an ear would be the most dramatic, but Fionna would think it too extreme. Your nose as well. But a finger? Yes, I believe a finger will bring Charles to court. And if it does not—you have many more, correct?"

He managed to get me to scream, but not beg. At least, not tonight.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

"What is it?" Fionna asked, annoyed by the interruption. She and a male I did not recognize were wrapped around each other on the chaise. Her latest consort, Tillion, a sniveling coward with a penchant for making enemies, was out of favor in recent days. Because pillow talk could affect all at court, seeing him sent away would be a relief to many of us.

"I've brought a gift." I pushed Elle down to the floor at my feet.

"That rag?" Fionna asked, gesturing for the male to leave her quarters. He bowed and dissolved. Unlike our father, she considered public shows of affection to be a sign of weakness. They were not tolerated in her presence.

"No, the rag is mine. This." I held up the jar of blood which contained the drifting digit. Fionna's fangs extended automatically, since her stolen unseelie powers left her with little control over her body's more violent responses.

"Lovely. Whose is it?"

"The vampire's."

She frowned and stood quickly, kicking Elle out of her way as she stomped toward me. "I gave permission to beat, not disfigure him."

"It is not a fatal wound, nor is it permanent. The finger will grow back in time."