Chapter 13

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

M iss Triband's zombified cat wasn't as complicated as Gwil had expected and he'd managed to restore order with half a tin of tuna and magic-enhanced catnip—the latter he would deny having in his possession if quizzed. He'd not heard from Hyax since the day before and if he didn't show up soon he'd have to try to use a couple of contacts to reach him, one of them being his sister, and he'd rather not have that conversation unless he had to. It wasn't just the job, but he was used to seeing Hyax most days, he'd become accustomed to the blond-haired git ignoring boundaries he'd once tried to set, like keeping his visits to the office and not his living space, which lasted all of three days. They'd not parted on the best of terms. Telling someone you thought their parents were hiding something from them was never a good conversation topic, and he'd not been pleased that Hyax hadn't believed him about him fucking Chase.

He had finished a stack of invoices when Hyax walked into his office and sank into the chair opposite. However, there was none of the usual refinement or elegance about his appearance, in fact it looked as if he hadn't slept in a while and was best described as rumpled.

"Did you get hit by a truck?"

"No, royal protocol. It's much worse."

"I suppose you didn't ask to be a fairy prince."

"Fae, not fairy. I don't call you a neck-sucker." Hyax tutted. "Stop trying to wind me up."

"I'm not, well, not much. Besides, you never get bothered by royal protocol, you keep telling me you're too far down the succession line to worry about it."

"I am. Usually. But when I confronted my mother about the stone, she called a family meeting and then afterwards, all of a sudden being fourteenth in line to the throne involves a lot more state interference." He yawned, just about covering his mouth in time. "Chase's tale also fits with Goya being called to the palace. Then I had to explain the strange feeling I got in the British Museum, because there was concern other fae might already be experiencing the effect of the stone being missing, which in turn led to our association as I offered our help. They triggered an ancient rite to distract me."

"Who's they ? And distract you from what?"

Hyax tutted and rolled his eyes. "My parents and the Stone of Ljin or, as you know it, the green one ."

He'd come to the conclusion Hyax hadn't known what was going on since he'd disappeared and had taken so long to come back. "Chase called it a stone of transmutation."

"Yeah, that's right. Each of the stones relates to a core magical fae theorem. My mother confirmed that the bloody thing's been stolen, so it's no longer aligned with others in the coronet and is causing misbalance in certain aspects of fae magic."

"Like at the museum?"

"Exactly, and because I've a high proficiency in fae magic it affected me proportionally. I should've realised something wasn't right, but the British Museum has a number of artefacts in its archive and so I put it down to that. Now, looking back, something must have amplified the upset."

"I can imagine it's causing a bit of upset at home as well," Gwil said.

"To put it mildly. And it is also a huge embarrassment if not a political minefield as the other tribes aren't aware. The fae losing an important magical object is unheard of. Goya's only been told it's a missing jewel. And my parents didn't want me getting involved."

He could understand that the disappearance of part of the crown jewels would be a touchy subject, but Hyax would be ideally placed to help, especially if the jewel turned out to be in London. "Sounds like you persuaded them otherwise."

"After a fashion, but it did mean that I had to do a little bit of thinking on my feet. But in the end I've been able to combine both."

"Both?"

Hyax rolled his eyes. "You're slow today. Investigating the theft and dealing with the rite." He wrinkled his nose. "I'm not sure you're going to like it, though."

Dear God, what had Hyax gotten himself into now? "Are you going to have to stay in the fae realm for longer, or something so you won't be available to help me here?"

"Er… no… that's not what I meant about you not liking it. My parents have informed me that they expect me to get married—that's the rite in question."

Why did he have to fall for a fae? A bloody royal one at that, who might be low enough down the succession list that his parents tended to leave him to his own devices but could call on tradition to pull this sort of bullshit if they wanted.

"I… er…" It felt like he'd been punched, while Hyax was unattached he could harbour his little fantasy about getting together one day, but not if he were married. "Do they have someone in mind? Might some of them object to you working with a vampire?"

"There's fucking list of suitors," he spat. "Has been since I reached the age of consent but none of them are to my tastes. But they don't have specific anti-vampire tendencies beyond the average reticence."

By the sounds of it Hyax wasn't going to capitulate without a fight but how easy that would be he had no idea. "I hope you told your parents of your displeasure."

"I did more than that, I told them I was already seeing someone—I put it a little stronger than that, I said I was betrothed. Although we had yet to set a date for the wedding."

"Betrothed? I don't think I've heard that term since the 1890s." He was aiming for bemused, maybe nonchalant, but he didn't think he'd managed it.

"Archaic nonsense is a family trait. But the only way to stop them from marrying me off was to have beaten them to it. The rite can't be enforced if the party cited is already attached."

"Right, and who is this fantasy fiancé of yours?"

Hyax bit his lip and looked sheepish. "You."

Gwil knew he hadn't led a blameless life, and his afterlife was even worse, but surely he didn't deserve this extra layer of torment. It was bad enough having to be around Hyax with his feelings for the ridiculous git, now he might have to pretend he was his actual boyfriend. "You've done what?"

"It's not that bad." Hyax pouted. "I needed to give a name and you were the first that came to mind."

Gwil wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing. "Glad to hear you gave it due consideration."

"I had to think on my feet. I'm sorry, but I thought as my friend you wouldn't mind."

"Of course I fucking mind! Please tell me you've not agreed to bring me home to meet your parents."

"Er…"

"Hyax!"

"Well, you'll need to come with me at some point so they can meet you. I'll have to cast some enchantments so the fae realms doesn't cause any damage to your vampire self."

"Have you forgotten the mess your bloody portals make of me?" He swore the idiot was trying to kill him, even before his parents got the chance. "I'd be a vampy smear in seconds."

"No, you wouldn't. Travelling through fae intraspace to get to places in the human realm causes a different type of energy drain compared to when you were just going fae realm to human or visa versa—then there's no feedback loop for one-way travel and so that shouldn't be an issue."

It was all gobbledegook to him, and Hyax wasn't getting the main point. "Oh, well thank fuck that won't be an issue, cos there'll be plenty of others!"

Hyax didn't look repentant in the slightest. "It's a blessing in disguise, really."

"In what fucking way can this be a blessing? You're a prince and I'm a vampire, your parents must've gone ballistic."

"My mother wasn't exactly happy, but I managed to convince her we were suited, and there's nothing in the statutes that say I can't marry a vampire. Remember, you're a known entity since we've worked together for years so there's no concern that you'll try to take advantage. Of course I'll have to lay off all to schmoozing I do, but they understand that."

" Schmoozing ?"

"Yeah, the dates I go on. I'm usually after specific information on individuals of interest to the Fae Crown…" He shrugged. "Sprinkle a bit of fae dust around, they get a bit confused and start talking, and the job's done."

He would need to think about that, because he'd always assumed the men Hyax had dated were more a collection of sex toys he spat out once he'd finished with them, and there was nothing deeper in the selection than if they had nice legs or twinkly eyes. "Right, and I suppose if they think we're dating you can hardly be seen sneaking around behind my back."

"True. Seeing as my parents have eyes in the most unexpected of places we should probably be seen out as a couple a few times. We can go visit our new house together—I told them we were moving in there as a couple."

He was definitely being punished for something. "I haven't agreed to pretend to be your fiancé yet."

"You're not going to say no, not when it means my parents will engage us professionally to investigate the disappearance of the Stone of Ljin."

"Oh, God, that's what you meant when you said could combine the two." And Hyax was right, they'd be no way he'd miss a chance like this. "You're serious? The royal family are going to let a non-fae help with the investigation?"

"Yes, but only because he's betrothed—soon to be cohabiting with—one of the princes. You wouldn't be allowed within a lunar cycle of this if you were just a random vampire."

He was going to have to keep a close lid on his emotions but this was too big an opportunity to pass on because he was in love with his business partner, okay, best friend. "Putting it like that then I don't suppose I have any objection."

"Didn't think you would." Hyax played with a stapler on Gwil's desk. "I wasn't going to mention this, but there's been some other rumblings and I wondered if you could look into it for me?"

"I don't know, we've not even been fake boyfriends a full five minutes, and you've already moved yourself into my new house and now you're asking for favours. I should have known there was an ulterior motive."

"Ha, ha, your sense of humour is why I stuck around so long."

"Here's me thinking it was my dashing good looks and personal cologne."

"They go without saying." Hyax smirked and he wasn't sure if he was being flippant or not. "But what I wanted to know is if you've heard anything about Stardust. More specifically a heightened or tainted blend. I was about to ask you about it when Chase happened."

It wasn't that he'd forgotten about Penelope asking or that Hyax had brought it up, but that her request had fallen towards the end of his to-do list; however, he would now need to give it some proper thought. "Funny, Penelope cornered me the other evening, she was interested in the topic as well."

"You didn't tell me you'd seen your sister?"

"I was a bit caught up trying not to die from a fae portal, and then you were too busy accusing me of shagging another fae to bring it up. Oh, then there was the whole stolen stone that seems a tad bit more important than a few dust heads getting overexcited."

Hyax clenched his jaw and Gwil guessed he was trying not to react. Which was a good idea as he didn't have a leg to stand on in terms of him being an argumentative prick. "Fair enough. I like your sister, that's all."

"Well, she is your future sister-in-law so it's great you feel that way." He gave Hyax a nasty smile.

He responded with a one-fingered salute. "Although I hadn't factored her into the ruse. She might threaten to pull my wings off if I hurt her big brother."

"You don't have wings."

"I don't have wings in this realm but I do at home, you'll get to see them soon enough. Anyway, what did she want?"

The thought of Hyax having shimmering wings sent a pleasant image to other parts of his anatomy he needed to keep in check. "Same as you, she had heard something and wanted me to use my connections to have a look."

"She wants you to use your dirt devils?"

"You can't call them that!"

Hyax huffed. "If the cap fits. But see what they say… if it is contaminated Stardust, then we're going to need to track down who's doing it."

"Since each batch seems to be affected in a different way, that's going to be tricky. It's difficult to track down something that's constantly changing."

"But there's a common denominator, and that is that it affects fae magic. If we get a sample of a new bad batch then if I do the right incantations, I might be able to identify something about the maker."

He didn't think that waving a few spells in the right direction was going to cut it. "I would have thought if it were that easy you'd have done when that fae was treated for shedding magic at the Dominion hospital."

"It's not straightforward, I'll need to ingest it, and depending on what happens see how it affects me."

Had Hyax no sense? "That sounds like a fucking stupid idea. The stuff could drain your magic, or bloody kill you."

"Unlikely. As long as it's under controlled conditions with someone I trust present it should be okay."

"I still don't think?—"

"It needs to be done, so either be there to support or don't."

He hated it when Hyax got all defiant and noble—he was even more attractive than normal, and made Gwil want to both protect him from all the bad things and shag him across his desk. "You know I'll be here for you."

"So you'll engage your dirt devils? I was thinking they could be the ones to get the drug for us."

He wasn't going to say no to Hyax, and although he didn't like the direction this was going he wouldn't have him face it alone or with someone else. "I did send word to Copperpipe a few days back since Penelope asked, he can be a bit sporadic at times but I'm meeting him later this evening. Do you want me to ask about the stone?"

"Not just yet, I think we need to dig a little deeper ourselves first."

"I suppose it's a bit of a sensitive topic and Copperpipe makes his living out of information. Someone might pay a lot of money to know the fae have lost an important relic."

Hyax played with a hank of his hair—a habit when he was nervous or annoyed. "Hopefully we won't need to go that route. Why don't you go and meet your manky mate, and I'll head over to our new place or what I've been referring to as our love nest to my parents, to start on the renovations?"

" Love nest ?"

"I said we were moving in together and had a house in one of the best bits of Paranormal London. Which is actually true."

"The only truth you told them by the sounds of it."

"Grumpy sod. Come on there must be worse fates than being seen as my beau. At least I can get you into the good clubs."

He knew this was a terrible idea, but he had endured worse. If he wasn't already dead, Hyax would be the death of him. "I'll hold you to that. Expensive place, somewhere proper showy."