Chapter Five

“A lright, what do you mean by that?” Loki asks as he catches me up, and we make our way to the outside of the castle and to the carriage, “I don’t like the way that you worded that at all.”

“It wasn’t reassuring in the slightest, Farren,” Kill adds, with a smirk that says, despite his words he’s amused.

As we all get into the carriage, I smile, “Monty is special. He’s someone that I rescued from my father. You know how I showed you that I can create a decoy body and things that react and behave as the real body would ?”

“Yeah,” Reaper replies, his eyes intrigued.

“Well, it was supposed to be a simple enough assassination or cover-up for me, my father was usually really cold and unfeeling, clinical when he sent me on these sorts of jobs. But this time, he was nervous and angry. Of course he didn’t tell me why but I knew that Monty was important. I had this gut feeling, one that told me he had to live.” I start to explain.

“I take it that you listened,” Zev says with a tiny thread of knowledge in his eyes.

“Yes, but when I got to his shop, people were already there. For some reason, instead of bringing my usual purple signature knives with me, I brought one of my rarer ones, the one with the teal gemstone. I’m guessing that you’ve all heard of the new Centre and her bonded, the one that freed the other Centres about six months before I came to the academy?”

“Yeah, she’s made quite a fucking splash in the Fae realm, although I can’t remember her name,” Rival replies with a smile.

“Sage,” Storm replies.

“That’s it. Anyway, she was there with her men. Looking for information, I used the Void to partially hide myself; they should’ve never known that I was there. But I swear she saw me. There was something about her, something familiar, but that was impossible. I’d never met her before,” I realise I’m getting off track, so I continue, “the voice told me to wait until Sage had gotten what she needed before I did my thing and pretended to kill Monty. The second that the voice told me to, I beheaded Monty, or at least I made it look like I did. They left, and I set up the illusion and brought Monty to the Shadowlands.”

“The voice ensured that Monty gave the Centre the information she came for before you played your part?” Storm checks.

I nod, “Even if I hadn’t, I don’t think that I would’ve been able to carry on regardless. I think I would’ve been stopped.”

Grey frowns, “You’ve never told me about the voice before.”

I shrug, “I’ve only recently realised that I can rely on and trust others, and it was the last job I did before my father found me, and I had to go back.”

His smile is full of what I can now recognise as affection, “Thank fuck that you’ve finally realised, Little Goddess.”

“So the problem is that Monty is old, like really fucking old, he knows things that he probably shouldn’t, and he likes to play games. This trip could be entirely unproductive, depending on whether he’s feeling cooperative or not.” I add, with an affectionate smile, he may be tricky but I like him a lot.

“And if he’s not feeling cooperative?” Zev asks.

“Then we’ll have to come back another day,” Grey replies as the carriage comes to a stop outside a small shop. It’s exactly the same as the store he had before, with thick dark wood beams and lead-lined glass that crisscrosses the glass. There’s a small wooden sign that swings in a non-existent breeze. The store looks tiny, but that’s a well-placed illusion; the inside is a lot bigger than the outside makes it appear.

As I step out of the carriage and onto the cobblestone pavement, I add, “We need to make sure that we leave before dark, or things are going to get hairy, and I’d like to keep our presence here as quiet as possible for as long as possible.”

“Good point,” Grey replies and the others know enough by now that they realise that it’s something to do with the Shadowlands itself and the dangers that live here.

As I push through the front door and the others follow me through, I hear Loki mutter in appreciation, “This place is amazing. There’s a shit ton of stuff here that’s rare as fuck.”

“And stupidly expensive too,” Mayhem mutters.

“I haven’t even heard of some of the things written on these labels,” Rival adds as he looks at the display case behind the dark wood engraved counter.

“Why thank you, I take great pride in the things I am able to acquire,” a disembodied voice mutters, and they all tense.

Monty suddenly appears in front of me, his wide toothy smile the thing to appear first before the rest of him appears, fabulously dressed as always. This time he’s wearing a dark blue velvet suit with a vine pattern embossed on it and a bright fuchsia pink shirt. His smile is broad as he pulls me in for a brief hug.

As he steps back, he says, “You’ve been here for two days and didn’t come to see me sooner. I’m offended, Farren darling.”

“How did you know?” Reaper asks.

Monty smiles, “The same way that I know a lot of things, Reaper, dear.”

“Just go with it, guys. You’re unlikely to be able to get a full answer out of him,” I add, speaking from experience.

“She’s not wrong,” Monty confirms, suddenly appearing perched on his desk.

“He’s as bad as you are with that popping in and out of existence thing,” Zev points out, talking to Grey.

Monty tuts, “Oh no, not quite. Grey’s popping in and out of existence is something else entirely.”

I share a look with the guys, I’m used to Monty’s complicated way of speaking, but any little tidbit of information he can give me about Grey will always intrigue me because he is a supernatural of such mystery, I mean I don’t even know what kind of supernatural he is, and I’m usually really good at recognising Supes, apart from the really rare ones, which means Grey is really rare and I want to know what he is.

I spent a long time with Grey, but I was dealing with the fresh torture that I had just endured for years, and I didn’t have the mental capacity to deal with the mystery of who Grey was. Now I do, and I’m curious as hell.

Grey shakes his head, a smile on his lips but a warning in his tone, “Monty.”

Monty rolls his eyes as he casually does a backflip off the counter and lands behind it, “Fine, Grey. Keep your secrets; it’s only a matter of time.”

Grey crosses his arms over his chest, his eyebrow raised, “Is that so?”

Monty just hums, “I sense that there’s a reason for your visit, so why don’t you fill me in.”

“We need to know about the key,” Storm replies.

Monty’s cat eyes narrow slightly before he tilts his head to the side and studies us all. “Hmmm, yes, I can see that.”

“So?” I question when he just stares at us and doesn’t bother giving us any information.

His grin turns slightly sinister, “You seek information from me, and I want to play so if you solve my riddle, then I will give you the information that you seek.”

I narrow my eyes, “And why do I feel like there’s a hidden catch with your offer.”

“Because there always is, that’s why,” Grey adds.

“Well, if you fail, then you don’t get the information, and I get something from each of you for my collection and my spells,” Monty replies, a crafty and cunning light entering his eyes.

“Alright,” Killian replies, starting to step forward to grasp Monty’s forearm in the handshake that will seal the deal.

Before he can, Monty is pulled into the air as a heavy presence suddenly encompasses all of us. Our weapons are instantly drawn as we try to find the threat, but it becomes clear pretty fucking quickly that the threat is focused on Monty, and although we stay alert, we don’t move as we watch it unfold.

Monty’s clothes whip around him in a wind that only affects him, as he stays pinned to the wall above the desk, reminding me of what happened in his shop in the autumn court, except the Centre Sage and her men aren’t here this time.

Now, isn’t that interesting?

“How many times, Monty? These women are not yours to play with.” A voice I recognise chimes through the room.

“Did you hear that?” I ask Zev who is closest to me.

He looks confused and then shakes his head, “No, Farren I don’t.”

“Fuck.” I hiss, turning my attention back to what’s happening with Monty.

“Alright, I’m sorry. I won’t play.” Monty gasps out, his hands clutching at the invisible force around his neck. His eyes however, they’re glued to me with a knowing light.

Musical laughter echoes throughout the room, “Good, now you will tell them exactly what they need to know at the moment, nothing more and nothing less, not yet.”

“Yes, I know,” Monty replies.

Suddenly the presence leaves, and we all breathe a sigh of relief. Monty straightens his suit and clears his throat as he watches me with a scrutinising gaze.

“Well, that was interesting,” Grey mutters, and I feel the heat of his gaze on me.

“I’ll say,” Rival replies.

“I seem to remember that I found you in a similar predicament when I saved you. Weren’t you trying to keep important information from Sage?” I ask.

Monty shrugs, “Not exactly. I was always going to tell them the information that they needed to know, but I wanted to play first to see if they were really up to their future.”

“Monty, I swear to everything stop beating around the bush, for fuck sake man,” I hear the melodic voice echo.

By this point, I am reasonably confident that I shouldn’t be able to hear her, but I can’t help my quiet chuckle, causing Monty’s eyes to once again land on me.

Grey

F arren shouldn’t be able to hear her. I always knew she was important, but just how important is apparently not something that she deemed necessary enough to tell me. I wish I could just lay everything out on the table and tell Farren exactly what I am. I know I haven’t been incredibly welcoming to her men, but I do like them; I’m just not too fond of the fact that they’ve got something that I can’t have. I can see the way that they look at her, she’s already got bonds with three of them, and I don’t think she knows exactly how extremely rare and precious those bonds are or what they mean.

Monty is as unaware as I am about how Farren can hear her, and that’s worrying and confusing because Monty knows everything far more than he should. I have no idea what it means, but I vow I will be there for her. Farren is under my protection, and as my magic returns to me, although it’s still not at full strength, I will protect her with everything that I am. I wouldn’t have survived the torment in the Underworld if it wasn’t for her, and I’m not entirely sure why she was allowed to stay in the cell near me. It was obvious that I found comfort in our conversation, and although we were careful about speaking when any of the Hellier’s were around, there was an obvious bond between us.

I can see her curiosity growing about me, it was kept at bay when my magic was weaker, but it’s growing now, and it won’t be long until it’s back at full strength, and then she’s going to have questions, ones that I wish I could answer, but I am bound, literally, not to say certain things before the time is right and that pisses me the fuck off.

I would not be able to live with myself if she ever looked at me with hate in her eyes. I think that would be the only thing that could break me. Her.

That makes her extremely valuable to my many enemies, and if the Princes of the Underworld really are intending to make their way here or send their Hellier’s here, then I want her as fucking far away from it as possible. Unfortunately, I am not pulling the strings, and fate has a different plan entirely.

“Come on, Monty, what can you tell us about the Key?” Farren demands, raising her eyebrow and looking so damn fucking sexy that I have to remind myself where I am and that she doesn’t have any idea how I feel about her. Plus, she’s got seven other men who are after her, and she doesn’t even seem to realise.

“Yes, yes,” Monty mutters, and then smiles with genuine affection, “you know I think you may be my favourite.”

Farren does this sexy little half-smirk, crosses her arms over her chest and raises her eyebrow as she asks, “Aw Monts, I’m flattered; your favourite what?”

Monty shrugs, “In time,” he then quickly changes the subject, “the location of the key is not exactly a simple question to answer.”

Storm sighs, clearly getting fed up with the non-answers now, “And why is that?”

“Well, my frowny friend, because it’s in pieces. It was broken up to protect it so that no one could open the gates. The pieces were then scattered.” Monty explains.

“Any idea where?” Rival asks.

“Well, there are at least two pieces in the Shadowlands, that I do know. However, their exact locations I’m not sure of.”

Zev sighs, “Great, so we could potentially get two of the key pieces, but with the Shadowlands locked down, we won’t be able to get to the rest.”

“Which means we need to find out why the Shadowlands is locked down and fix it so that we can get to the rest of the pieces before the Princes do.” Killian points out.

“I’d suggest taking it one thing at a time. Find the first piece,” Monty suggests knowingly, “I assume that you all know about the Wraith problem?”

“Yes,” Loki replies, his eyes on a particularly wicked-looking sword.

“Then I would suggest that you find out why they are suddenly mobilising and what their targets have in common,” Monty replies.

“Alright, Monty, we hear you,” I reply. “Do you have any idea where the first piece of the key could be?”

“I only know the location of one piece, but if you found that piece, there should be clues to the next piece's location.” Monty replies and then looks directly at Farren, “The first piece is in your house.”

Farren jolts slightly as all of her men look at her in shock, “I assume you mean my home here?”

“Yes, that’s the one. The only one that truly feels like home to you, is it not?” Monty replies. When Farren just stares him down, he chuckles and adds, “There is a room that you are unaware of, a library that even the previous few owners were not aware of its existence.”

“I’ve been through that house multiple times. I’ve scoured it while I’ve been trying to decide how I want it restored and showed it the supes working on it, hell Grey’s walked it with me too and neither of us has found any sign of a hidden room, let alone a fucking library. I even used my magic to scout it out.”

“Yes, you did, but you didn’t know what you were specifically searching for. If you go back and set your magic on the hunt for the library, you’ll find it.” Monty replies.

“Is that all the information you have?” Mayhem asks.

Farren’s eyes narrow as Monty replies, “For now. I would suggest that you go to the house tomorrow though; it’s getting dark.”

“Ah shit,” I curse. “Thank you, you’re right. We’d better go.”

Farren says goodbye to Monty, and we all leave the shop; the once bustling streets are now silent as everyone stays inside, knowing that’s where they’re safest at the moment. We all get back into the carriage, and as soon as the door shuts behind everyone they turn to Farren.

“You have a house here?” Rival asks.

Farren sighs, “Yes, but I couldn’t take you there when we first arrived. Not only did we need Grey’s help to find out what was really going on in the Shadowlands, but the house is under renovation. It’s not fit to live in, and the renovations didn’t continue when I had to leave.”

Storm’s eyes narrow as he studies her, “You weren’t going to leave the Shadowlands, were you?”

Killian sits forward, hurt in his gaze as he waits for her answer.

“No, I wasn’t,” she replies honestly, “this place feels like home. It’s dark and deadly; nothing is hidden behind rose-tinted glasses. What you see is usually what you get. I tried to find Kill when it was safe for me to do so,” she meets Killian’s eyes, “but like I said I couldn’t get through to you.”

“I know, Darlin’. We had a pact,” he opens his arms for her, and she willingly goes, taking comfort in him as they both seem to relax with the contact.

Their bond is stronger than the ones she has with the others, it’s been nurtured. I tilt my head slightly as I study them. It’s not fully cemented yet, though. I thought I’d feel anger or jealousy at seeing her in the arms of another, but I don’t. I’m just glad that she’s getting comfort; it’s a confusing feeling and one that I’m not used to, although I have never felt about anyone the way I feel about Farren. She’s the light in the dark.