3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Leaving Jess and Emory was hard, but they were planning on packing up and heading to Jess's house. Neither of them had mentioned their wedding and I didn't want to be the one to raise it; I guessed I'd either get an invite or it would be postponed.

In the circumstances, I wouldn't have blamed them in the slightest if they'd pushed it back. It certainly wouldn't be the high society wedding that Elizabeth Manners had been planning for them, that was for sure. A wedding was supposed to be a joyous occasion but Emory was bound to be grieving his change in circumstances for some while to come; I certainly would have been if I were in his shoes. My crown was new, but I already knew that I'd find it hard to relinquish. I knew it was my destiny to bring about good changes for the wolves, and I was sure Emory felt the same about the dragons .

Becoming the Queen of the Werewolves had been a hard concept to wrap my head around, but now I found that I desperately wanted to serve the packs properly. I wanted to put an end to abusive alpha behaviours, even if that meant ending those alphas permanently. I wanted to make the packs strong again – in the right way.

I hadn't managed to see Amber DeLea before I left for home and I wasn't even sure if she was still at Caernarfon castle; if she was, I'd bet she was nursing one heck of a hangover. Jess's hen do already felt like it had taken place ages ago. Momentous occasions had the effect of weirdly distorting time.

I texted her as Archie drove me home, asking if she was coming by today for us to keep on working on the amulet. Amber and I had been working together on a special amulet to allow Jess to speak directly to her hellhound, Gato. Even if the wedding was delayed, we could give it to Jess as a ‘pick me up'. God knows, she could probably do with one.

I immediately got a response: Amber was already out and about and she promised she'd arrive at my lands soon. I gave her a thumbs-up in response, pleased that we were both on the same page about continuing to work on the amulet. It had to be nearly done by now.

As we pulled up on the mansion's gravel drive, calm settled over me. I was home. ‘Thanks for coming to get me,' I said to Archie, who'd been my silent chauffeur for the day.

‘You're welcome, my Queen.' Archie wouldn't make eye contact with me; he was still punishing himself for lying to me about Larsden's death.

I sighed internally. I'd let it go and I wished he would. I truly didn't blame him for keeping Thea's secret; if Jess had killed someone, I'd bury the body and not tell a soul about it. Actually, I'd probably feed the body to our unicorn, Ares, but I still wouldn't tell anyone about it.

I climbed out of the car but didn't go into the mansion; instead I went to see Nina. Before I could knock on her wooden door it swung open and I walked in to what I thought of as ‘my rooms'. Nina had built a suite just for me as well as many separate rooms for the loners.

I had used the Great Pack to call all the lone wolves to me, but I'd been shocked when so many had shown up at my door. The mansion was full to bursting already, so Nina had somehow expanded herself to accommodate the loners. What I couldn't work out was how she'd done it, even though I'd seen her in operation; when one of the loners walked to the front door, it opened into their abode but when I walked up it opened into mine. Magic, I guessed.

‘Hi, Nina,' I said warmly and patted her walls. ‘It's good to see you. Could you ask if my grandfather is available?'

After my grandfather had shown up at the mansion panicking about his forthcoming duel, I had called Voltaire and left him a message demanding that he facilitated a delay for the fight. I'd pointed out that he owed me, since he'd persuaded Abberdon to attack me despite his vow not to. Voltaire hadn't answered but we'd received a note on our doorstep with a new date, time and location on it, signed with an obnoxiously large ‘V'.

The rearranged date was tonight. I had arranged for some wolfie allies of Lord Samuel to hang out with me in the hope that they would become my wolfie allies. Naturally they'd arrived today, but I was a woman so I could multi-task like a bitch.

The ceiling to my room opened and Alessandro was dropped through the gap. He gave a strangled cry and looked pissed off as he landed on his ass; he'd clearly just woken up and was halfway through getting dressed. ‘Hey, Grandy,' I said weakly.

‘Rude woman!' He shook his fist at Nina's walls. ‘She needs to learn to knock,' he snarled. ‘You can't just go around removing floors!'

‘Sorry! It was my fault. I asked her to see if you were available. I didn't expect her to … well, drop you into my room.'

‘She's a menace,' he growled.

‘She's enthusiastic,' I countered diplomatically. ‘She's just trying to help me.' I patted her walls again. ‘Anyway, I've come up with a plan. Kind of.'

‘I can't wait to hear it,' he said flatly. ‘I do love a plan to save my life. Kind of.'

I sighed. ‘Old age has made you crotchety.'

‘Losing my fire magic has made me crotchety,' he shot back as he fastened the remaining buttons of his shirt.

There was a knock on the door before Archie popped his head into the room. ‘Amber DeLea is here to see you, ma'am.'

‘Perfect timing. Show her in.'

‘To here?' he asked, surprised. I hadn't let many people come into my personal domain in the seat of power.

‘Yes, please.'

Archie bobbed a bow then returned a few moments later with Amber in tow. She looked around with interest. ‘So this is your seat of power. Very nice.' She reached out to pat the walls. ‘My honour to meet you,' she intoned to the house and bowed.

Oh, I like her, Nina said warmly.

‘She's very pleased to meet you,' I said aloud. ‘How are you doing, Amber?'

‘I'm fine. Better than Emory,' she replied drily.

I sighed. ‘Yeah. It's not ideal.'

She shrugged. ‘He's not a man you can keep down for long. He'll be fine.' She looked at my grandfather. ‘Alessandro,' she said respectfully, giving him a regal inclination of her head. Man, I needed to get that move down.

‘Miss DeLea,' he intoned formally, giving her a slight bow in return.

‘You two know each other?' I asked, surprised.

Amber raised a haughty eyebrow. ‘Of course we've met before. I know everyone of importance.'

‘As do I,' Alessandro smirked.

‘Great. Glad you're big fans.' I sobered. ‘So you heard about Emory's trial? It's a fucking travesty.'

‘It is,' Amber agreed with a disappointed shake of her head. ‘Though for some reason, I find myself doubting he'll be down for long. The man has more charisma than Winston Churchill. He's a leader through and through. If the dragons are done with him – then the Connection better watch out.'

‘The dragons aren't part of the Connection, though, are they?' I asked .

‘Not historically, but I wouldn't put anything past Emory. His accomplishments in life won't be diminished by the naysayers around him. He'll seek another path of greatness and I just can't wait to see which.'

I loved her matter-of-fact tone and her simple and unquestioning faith in the man that Emory was. She'd known him far longer than I had, and I had no doubt that she was right. Something in me eased. A door might have shut for Emory but I was confident that he'd smash through the walls and create a new window. I grinned. ‘You're right.'

‘Of course I am,' Amber said, matter of factly.

I laughed. ‘Of course you are. After we're done with the amulet, I have a little favour to ask.'

The witch sighed. ‘Of course you do,' she muttered. She often complained that people always called for a favour and not for a drink and a catch-up.

‘Hey!' I objected. ‘We drank loads of champagne together last night.'

Her lips twitched. ‘Don't remind me.' She touched her forehead. ‘My head was pounding this morning. Luckily, it wasn't anything a potion couldn't fix.' She shot me a rare smile. ‘Okay, fine. You get a favour, but quickly. I have … places to be later.'

‘Oh, really?' I dug a little .

She ignored my implicit request for more information; instead she pulled the amulet out of her bag together with her gloop and paintbrushes. She did her thing and then, when the amulet was open to magic, I pulled up my piping skills. It was easy to connect to the amulet and I siphoned off my magic into the huge metal pendant. After a few moments it lit up and shone like a lightbulb.

‘Finally!' Amber bitched. ‘It took long enough!'

I tied off my magic, leaving behind the part I'd pushed into the amulet. ‘We're all done?' I asked hopefully. I liked Amber but making the amulet was a constant interruption to both our days. I hadn't realised what an undertaking it would be before we started. I didn't regret it, but it hadn't been easy – Jess had better appreciate the damned thing!

‘We're done,' Amber agreed triumphantly. ‘Fingers crossed it works after all this.'

‘It will,' I said confidently. ‘It's brilliant. Thanks, Amber. Jess will love it.'

‘She'd better,' Amber muttered, echoing my thoughts.

I grinned at her. She packed up the amulet then turned to me. ‘What's the favour?'

‘Can you make something invisible?'

She blinked. ‘No.'

‘Fuck.' Well, that was Plan A out of the window .

Amber glared pointedly at me over my expletive; she didn't believe in swearing. ‘I can't make something invisible because that requires some dark blood magic, but I can make it so that no one will register a specific object.'

I frowned. ‘What do you mean?'

‘Whatever it is will be there, but people won't notice it or care about it if they do.'

‘So it might as well be invisible?'

‘To all intents and purposes, yes.'

‘Fantastic.' I grinned and addressed the house. Nina, can you pass me Terrance?

I was prepared this time when the ceiling opened and in fell Terrance. I caught my haunted crown with two hands.

My Queen! he greeted me brightly. How are you this fine morning?

I'm fine, thank you. And you?

Splendid, splendid. I've enjoyed catching up with Nina.

I'm glad to hear it.

How can I serve you, Your Majesty?

I was wondering if you could help my grandfather?

The Royal Family? Say no more! Of course I can. There was a beat of silence. How exactly do you want me to help him?

I resisted the urge to point out that Terrance's question did require me to say some more. My grandfather used to be a fire elemental but he lost his powers. Some vampyr prat has noticed that he hasn't been using them of late and challenged him to a duel. We need to set the rumours to rest that Grandfather's powers are gone forever.

Ah – now, that I can do, Terrance said complacently . He's not my kin, so he can't wear me on his bonce, but he can carry me in his hands and I will assist his fiery endeavours in this matter.

I grinned. Perfect.

Amber studied me. ‘Sentient crown, huh?'

‘You bet,' I smirked. ‘Can you make it so no one will notice the crown?'

She looked at the gold circlet in my hands. ‘As long as it's happy with that.'

You okay with her making you invisible, Terrance? I asked.

Well, I do love to be resplendent but I am willing not to be to assist the Royal Family. As long as I'm not hidden forever, Your Majesty.

Thank you. ‘He's good with it, as long as it isn't permanent,' I told Amber.

‘No,' she assured me. ‘It'll wear off in a couple of weeks after the runes fade or I can remove it sooner, if you prefer.'

‘Great. Thank you. '

She rifled through her tote bag again, selected a number of paintbrushes and got to work.

‘And how,' my grandfather asked derisively, ‘is a werewolf crown supposed to help me?'

I beamed at him. ‘It's not any old crown, Grandy, it's a magic crown. It's haunted by a fire elemental called Terrance.'

He blinked. ‘And Terrance still has his powers?'

‘Yep.'

‘Most unusual,' he mused aloud. ‘He can't be dead, then. More likely he has been transformed into a non-corporeal being. Ghosts aren't real,' he explained absently to me.

I shrugged. ‘Call him what you will, he's definitely haunting this crown – and thank goodness he is. He'll be your salvation.'

For the first time in ages, Grandy looked vaguely optimistic.