8. Chapter Eight

"Brin was…" Heath was trying to find something to say as he helped me to my feet. I knew he wanted to step in front of me and protect me because that's what he did. He was an Alpha, the wall between the world and his people.

So, I put my body in front of his instead, keeping myself between him and the ethereal man who stood tall, probably six feet and lean, built like a runner, with flaming red hair.

"I didn't find out until that day Alvina went into my memories," I explained, keeping my eyes on the fae king. It was both an explanation to Heath and to the king. "She was there as a mediator between me and an Alpha werewolf who tried to assassinate me. It wasn't about Brin. She used the opportunity to verify my magic was fae in origin, that I didn't somehow steal it from a werewolf. It needed to be done to stop a war."

"I know," King Brion said patiently. "And to avoid a war with your own species, you have started one among the fae."

"The fae aren't my problem." A war. For some reason, I had a feeling not even my father thought that, or he or any of my family would have said something. Silent wars, a specialty of the supernatural.

"Or mine," Heath said. "So why are you here?"

"They're not," the king agreed. "But humans are your problem, and I am your problem, Jacqueline, daughter of Hasan. And I'm about to become your problem, as well, Heath Everson."

"Brin…" I corrected once he raised an imperious eyebrow. "King Brion, please just explain what you're doing here," I ordered. I straightened and found the courage I needed to keep from dropping my eyes. "You were once a member of the Tribunal, and you know who my father is. I am not one of your subjects, and I need an explanation for this intrusion into my territory. You've entered a werecat territory without permission, which is an act of war."

King Brion didn't say anything, looking around my home as if he was inspecting it. This wasn't the fae I remembered. He didn't walk the same or talk the same. Brin had run a motel and a gas station with his family. He hadn't been supremely wealthy or royalty. When Alvina had told me who he was, I had promised myself to think about it later, but I hadn't known what to think, and nothing could have prepared me for this.

"War…" he said softly, stopping to look at a painting on my wall. "I don't want war with the werecats. As for knowing who your father is, I didn't know who you were when we met. We were both keeping secrets, weren't we?" He turned to me again. "Maybe if we had both been honest about our positions, things wouldn't have come to this. I am here because my wife is human and in need of protection. That's what you werecats do, is it not?"

He clearly already knew the answer, but I knew a test of knowledge when I saw one. He wanted me to admit it, wanted me to walk straight into this conversation the way he wanted me to. It was clear and simple manipulation. He was the most powerful person in the room, so it wasn't hard for him.

He didn't know I was Hasan's daughter when we met, though. That gives me a bit of an edge, right?

"Werecats needed protection, and Hasan decided to use the nature of what werecats are to give them a purpose," I said, my throat tight as I now knew what was coming. "We attach to people and defend those people to the death because we have very few people in our lives, thanks to our solitary lifestyles. Hasan used the idea of Duty to manufacture those bonds between werecats and humans who were important to other supernaturals. It made us irreplaceable. My father told me that story."

"Of course he did," Brion said, nodding as if he was pleased but unsurprised. Then he one-upped me. "I was there when he and Subira sat down and made that plan. I was one of the few who sat down for the initial discussion about peace, drafting up the idea of the Tribunal. I tried to make sure Subira could rule with him, but Corissa was cunning, and she framed her arguments well. Subira was also a witch, which would tip the balance of the Tribunal in favor of the witches."

Of course, it was Corissa. She's ten times smarter and more dangerous than Callahan. He's the brute power of a werewolf, but she's the one who thinks like a wolf, watching and waiting for a weakness in the herd to take a shot. She's the patient hunter.

"So, now there are laws about purebloods," Heath said.

"Exactly. Over eight hundred years, it trickled into a belief that halfbreeds can't be trusted anywhere. But let's get back on topic," he said with a smile, revealing inhuman teeth. "This is my wife, Fiona. She is in need of protection because someone revealed my cover identity to my siblings." His eyes landed on me, and I resisted a shiver at the color of them, an unnatural shifting of varying blues and greens. "Alvina has been chasing me since the moment she discovered it. It didn't take long for my other siblings, nephews, and nieces, and the clan leaders to figure out what was going on."

"You abdicated the throne and disappeared," Heath said, stepping to my side now instead of staying behind me. "Why do they care where you've been, and why is your wife at risk?"

"Simple. I'm more powerful than my younger brother, who is currently on the throne. He's also done a pretty terrible job, from the sounds of things." Brion shrugged, and I saw just a hint of the man I knew in the movement. "Therefore, while I figure out how to deal with things among my family and potentially the Tribunal, you will both be defending my wife."

"Both?" I hissed. "I'm the werecat. You are not going to drag Heath into—"

"You'll both do it, or I'll let slip the rumor of what's going on here," the king said, his face going blank. "As I said when I walked in, I came at the right time. A quiet evening, a romantic dinner, canoodling on the couch."

"Brion," his wife said softly, finally stepping in. "You don't—"

"I told you when we married that I would do anything to keep you safe," he said, turning to her. "Anything. Your life is more important to me than theirs. Your life is more important to me than the Tribunal, the fae courts, any of it. I'm going to do what I must to keep you safe."

I glanced at Heath. We both recognized those words, that ruthlessness. We were both capable of it.

There's no getting out of this. All we can do is swing the odds in our favor.

From the look on Heath's face, even though I couldn't smell his emotions, he was thinking the same thing I was.

"The fae like to bargain," I said, looking back at the king and his mortal wife. "If you're roping Heath into this, then we need this magically bound between us. A deal with set rules of engagement and expectations."

I saw Heath nod out of the corner of my eye. I'd made the right call.

"Of course. Let's bargain." Brion smiled, and magic flooded the room, overwhelming my senses. This was ancient, powerful, and wild magic. It felt as if something had called it into my home, and it was now in control. "You will both defend my wife with your lives. If she is hurt, you will be held accountable. The punishment will be the exposure of your relationship together."

"No, not hurt," Heath said. "We can't be accountable for her stubbing her toe. Hurt is too vague and has no hard boundaries. If she's killed in a situation we could have prevented, you can hold us accountable."

"If she's killed at all," Brion countered.

"We'll take that," I said softly. Heath stiffened next to me, and I turned to him. "Heath, I don't plan on letting her die unless I'm already dead. I have to treat her equally to the way I treat Carey. There's no point in being a protector if I'm not willing to put my life on the line. If she dies, it will be because I'm already dead. You can make your own choices. You have Carey here and Landon."

"Landon will take care of Carey if it gets to the point," he said softly. "I'll agree to the terms." But he would obviously say something to me about it later.

"What do we get in return?" I asked Brion. "What is going to stop you from revealing us once this is over, but we've upset you in some way?"

Brion's eyebrows went up as my question surprised him. "You would question my honor?"

"I don't know you, therefore, I don't know your honor," I countered, trying to sound as if I knew what I was doing. "But you know mine. You know I'm willing to put myself between the enemy and the person I'm protecting. You know I'm willing to get up and do it again. You know I'm willing to break the rules to keep the fighting going. So, I'll ask again…what do we get in return? How do we know we can trust you once the terms of this bargain are fulfilled? Not just immediately but for the future? How do I know a decade from now, you won't start whispering anyway to get something you want?"

Brion narrowed his eyes as he listened to my words.

"If I or anyone in my immediate family, which includes my wife and four sons, reveals your relationship with Heath Everson, I will owe you one boon, something in my power. It can be anything you want."

I frowned. Something felt off about that statement, but I couldn't figure out which part. It kept me from accepting it, and after a moment, everyone realized I wasn't going to say anything. Heath was the one who continued to bargain.

"I want more," Heath said. "I want your protection from any enemies who may come for us. Same conditions otherwise."

The magic in the room felt as though it wanted to choke me, filling my nose and mouth aggressively, but in the end, it didn't really hurt me.

"Brion, they love each other," his wife said softly. "We can offer them protection if they need it."

"It could put you at risk." Brion was clearly not down for what Heath wanted or anything that might put his wife at risk. I respected it, even though I was on the receiving end of his ruthlessness. He was blackmailing us to keep her safe.

"And you're asking them to put themselves at risk for us and our children. Heath has a young daughter. I remember her. She's been through so much, and we're bringing this to their doorstep. It would be fair if we took on a similar risk. Our boys are adults and can defend themselves, but we're asking them to leave that girl without anyone except her brother, who we both know will fight with his father."

Their boys…

"You have three sons," I said softly. "Not four. I couldn't smell it, but don't try lying to me again."

"My apologies for not elaborating. I do have four living sons, and for the record, I've had six children in total. The older three are from my first marriage, and only one is still alive," Brion said, turning back to me. "And once I get my hands on him, he'll remember that he's loyal to me. He'll keep your secret if he ever learns it, although I don't intend telling him."

There was so much I didn't know about this situation, and the only person I could blame was myself. I had trusted my instincts, which for three years had told me to keep my mouth shut about the fae who did magic on me. Only bad things could have come if I started talking about it. And they did. They were right in front of me, all because I had let Alvina confirm it had been a fae to appease the werewolves. I hadn't expected it to be a missing king.

"I should have told my father about you the moment I learned it from Alvina," I said softly.

"Wrong. The only reason you're alive is you didn't tell him." Brion's expression was unreadable, and I couldn't smell how he was feeling, the magic in the air too strong.

I took a step back from the king, and Heath moved and got a half-step in front of me, obstructing Brion's view of me and mine of him.

"I'm not threatening her, wolf," Brion said with the snappiness of being insulted. "Others would have come, tortured her, found the information they needed. Alvina hasn't revealed her source to the public. She can get away with that, but if Hasan knew, he would have stuck his nose where it didn't belong. He and I have history, and he would have been furious to know I did magic on his daughter and pulled her into my troubles. Then others would have easily put it together." He looked at me. "So, while you may regret not saying anything, it's the reason I'm here and not a fae assassin with his owner to gut you and rip open your mind for information."

"You could still get me killed," I reminded him.

"But you have the chance to survive. We all make our choices in this world, Jacqueline. When I saw you, I realized here is a young werecat who would never guess who I am. She's wary and intelligent but fierce. I have a human wife I cherish, and I could use this werecat one day. I didn't think Hasan, still in hiding, would care all that much. I certainly didn't think he would make a replacement daughter, then let her out into the world, half-educated and dangerous. Other werecats, sure, but never him. Especially not after Liza." He waved his hand around. "Plus, you're the reason they found me. I wasn't expecting that. Then again, I never thought you would brush up with my siblings again. Most people brush against the Tribunal once and only once, then do their best to keep their heads down. I underestimated that about you. We both have made mistakes that have led to this point. I don't make many mistakes, and I plan to use this one to my advantage."

"My father will still be furious that you've pulled me into your troubles," I said, going back to that point.

"Well, then you should be careful not to tell him going forward," Brion said with a dangerous smile. "I would hate to see an old friend join a fight that would destroy everything he's wanted to build with the Tribunal and probably his entire family. And it would. At least one of the fae on the Tribunal is my enemy. I don't know about the other. This fight could spread to the werecats if Hasan gets involved. It could spread to the vampires and the witches. It could crack the Tribunal to pieces and let it be destroyed. No one wants that, but I don't have many options to protect my wife. I picked you for the job. Now you will do it."

"Then the bargain is made," I said, although still unsure. I stepped forward again, looking at Heath. He was just as lost as I was, but I couldn't think of anything else. We had to do this and only hope nothing would backfire on us. We were already being blackmailed. It couldn't get much worse than that.

"You will protect my wife's life with your own," Brion said, his voice becoming different, withdrawn and emotionless. "If she dies, I shall expose the relationship between Heath Everson, a werewolf, and Jacqueline Leon, a werecat daughter of Hasan. If the relationship is exposed by my family for any other reason, you shall have my and my family's protection from any enemies you gain in the process."

"I agree to the terms," I said, swallowing a lump of fear.

"I agree to the terms," Heath repeated beside me.

"A bargain is made," Brion said, nodding.

I felt the magic in my home reach out and wrap its claws into my chest. It didn't hurt, but it felt like something I didn't want. I rubbed my chest once it was done.

"Fae magic likes bargains. It is its own type of magic," Brion said softly. "Once a fae begins a bargain, it's an ancient ritual of wild magics that dictate what we are. Many outside of the fae will never feel what you just did."

"And suddenly, you're nice again," I hissed.

"Hasan was a good friend of mine. He won't be after this, but the least I can do is try to teach his prodigal daughter something before the end," he said, his eyes growing softer, the color duller, and his face changed. He went into the glamour I knew him for. "My wife's life is more important than that friendship. I hope you understand." He went to my front door and placed a palm on it. It glowed for a moment, then he opened it, revealing three young men and a landscape that wasn't mine.

"Rian, you'll be staying with your mother," Brion said and let another fae walk into my home. The moment he passed over the threshold, I felt him with my magic. I didn't like that a fae could do that. I relied on my borders to keep me notified if anything entered my territory because they gave me time to respond. One moment, he wasn't in my territory, and the next moment, he was in the middle of it.

I knew Rian, and in the last three years, his sense of style hadn't changed. He had flaming copper red hair in a mohawk, though it was a little more subdued than it had been, with one blue streak still there. He still had facial piercings, but it was down to an eyebrow, snake bites on his bottom lip, and a septum piercing, and his ears were gauged. He was the type of guy I would have had a lot of fun partying with in college.

"I'll check in when I can. Love, you know what to do." Brion walked out, leaving my home and my territory, and the door closed behind him.