Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

Wade shook out his hands, getting rid of the tingling sensation at the tips where his claws wanted to punch through. He resisted the urge to shift mass but let the hint of his aura bleed back into him. He'd learned through trial and error and one grudging telephone call with Reed how to hide his presence so that people didn't register him, which was different from hiding his aura to appear as human. It wasn't quite magic—nothing with spells or command triggers—but something all dragons were capable of so they could stay hidden in the modern world.

He'd used that trick in Seattle when he'd gone searching for Spencer the other year, keeping the locals from seeing him as he dived into a graveyard. Sound was a different problem, but he'd gotten better at buffering a void of silence between his dragon-sized presence and anyone close by not within its boundary.

It meant no one had seen the scuffle—he couldn't even call it a fight—and now the fae were leading them down Joy Street while Riordan seemed tenser than was probably healthy. Wade nudged the other man with his elbow, raising an eyebrow when Riordan turned his head to meet his gaze. His eyes were a deep brown that made him wonder about Riordan's sealskin, what it might look like. But Sage had drilled it into him plenty of times that it was rude to ask questions like that, so he didn't.

"It'll be fine," Wade said.

"You're demanding time with Lady Caith and not going through the proper channels," Riordan said.

"Would those proper channels have gotten us an audience before the end of the week?"

"It's Thursday."

"Exactly. We can call it bad manners if she takes offense. My pack is always yelling at me about those."

"Our lady will take offense," one of the fae up ahead called over her shoulder.

Wade made a face. "Then she can take it up with my pack."

"The Boston god pack knows better than to trespass."

"Not my pack," Wade said in a singsong voice.

Riordan winced, but the other man didn't clue the other fae in on what pack Wade came from. Wade would let them wonder about it until Lady Caith asked him a direct question. If she hadn't fought in the Battle of Samhain, he didn't think she would know who he was or even know his pack on sight.

"You are certainly trouble," Riordan muttered under his breath.

"It's a calling."

And right now, it was calling him to a massive redbrick five-story home with a front garden filled with plants that were definitely not a local species. Wade paused just past the wooden gate to poke at something that might have been a rose and which probably looked it with glamour. All the other plants were just as beautiful and strange, the floral scent reminding him of the grove where Gerard and órlaith had gotten married.

"I think there are laws about invasive species," Wade said.

Riordan hooked a hand around his elbow and dragged him down the walkway to the gleaming mahogany front door. "What the mundane humans don't know won't hurt them."

"That's a lie if I've ever heard one."

He should know. When he was younger and newly orphaned, bouncing from group home to group home, he hadn't known what he was. But those hunters who'd found him had known he was something—something unique enough to tempt a god.

Wade had thought he was a werecreature for most of the years he was a prisoner, mostly because he hadn't known any better. It had taken getting a god-locked collar off his throat and tumbling into Patrick's and Jono's lives to learn his own kind of truth. Sometimes he wondered how things might have been different if his mother had lived long enough to explain what he was. But she hadn't, and he'd never known his father or wanted to find the man. His life was better these days than it ever had been, despite the horror he'd survived.

And if meeting with this Lady Caith to keep others from experiencing it was something he had to do, then he'd deal with her annoyance.

Wade let Riordan drag him to the front door, where a threshold of significant power hummed in his ears. The two fae guards stepped across it easily, but Riordan stayed on the porch, waiting for permission to enter another fae's territory. Wade didn't need any, so he followed the fae inside, earning himself double-takes from each of them.

It also resulted in the pair of them pulling a pair of swords out of thin air to hold them threateningly in his direction. Wade perked up. "Are those magic swords?"

"How did you cross the threshold?" one of the fae demanded.

Wade gave her his most innocent look. "What threshold?"

"I will take hospitality," Riordan said from the porch, still not having entered the home. "Wade will too."

"Sure thing. I hope you're offering chocolate," Wade said. Hospitality was just a way for him to get a couple of bites to eat. Most people offered bread. Most people wouldn't take an offering from the fae if they were smart, but Wade was starting to get hungry again.

The fae didn't put their swords away. Neither did they offer up hospitality. Behind them, another fae walked down the hallway to meet them, dressed like he was on his way to a black-tie event, if fae even had those. Daffodil-yellow hair fell down to his waist, and the fae's eyes were citrine in color, with no warmth to them. He was taller than Wade, broader too, and wore slim-cut dress pants, an actual morning tail suit jacket, a ruffled scarf-type accessory that looked like something Wade had seen in a historical portrait in a museum once, and way too much gold jewelry.

"Who are you?" the new fae asked, staring down his nose at Wade.

"He's here under my protection, Tadgh," Riordan said, hovering in the doorway but still not yet having crossed the threshold. Wade doubted it had anything to do with the kind of power that would keep a vampire out and more about deference to a higher-ranked fae.

"I thought you were under mine?" Wade asked. He waggled his fingers in the face of Riordan's glare. "I need to speak to Lady Caith."

"The Lady of Wind and Sky has a schedule. You are not written in it," Tadgh said.

"So write me in." Wade pointed at the bowl of fruit definitely not from any nearby farms sitting next to a pitcher of what smelled like mead. "The quicker you let me take hospitality, the quicker you'll get rid of me."

"He's dangerous," one of the fae guards said in their language, Wade's head easily translating it. "And he is not human, no matter his appearance."

Tadgh looked at Wade and immediately frowned. "We did not offer you that."

Wade bit into the juicy not-apple-pear-peach fruit he'd taken from the bowl and crunched his way through a bite. "You didn't? It was sitting right there. I thought it was up for grabs."

Tadgh took a step forward, and Wade slowly crunched his way through another bite. The fae's disdain was pretty clear to see, but if he thought his better-than-everyone attitude was going to get Wade to toe the line, then clearly he was dumb as a brick.

Wade took another bite, wondering if órlaith had any of these fruits she'd be willing to send him. They were really good. "Let me talk to Lady Caith, and then I'll be on my way."

"No," Tadgh said. "Whatever problems the kin have, they aren't ours to fix."

"I'm not asking you to," Riordan said. He seemed to get over being polite and entered the home, coming to stand by Wade. "I promised to show Wade around town."

"Our lady's home is not a tourist attraction."

"I've seen better homes," Wade said. The insulted looks tossed his way by the two fae who'd led them there made him snicker. "Look, the faster we get through hospitality and I meet with your lady, the quicker I'll be out of your way. What aren't you getting about that?"

Tadgh pointed at the door. "You can leave now."

Wade bit at the core of the fruit, the pit there catching his teeth. He bit down on the stone, shattering it, and swallowed the bits that fractured off. Wade blinked, then blinked again, letting his pupils change shape for half a second. "One of yours is taking people and enslaving them, and I don't like that."

Tadgh's finger wavered, dipped, his hand falling back to his side as he stared at Wade. The disdain left his face, replaced with a wariness that proved maybe the stuck-up asshole wasn't as dumb as his silly little outfit made him look. "What are you?"

"You know, my dire keeps telling me that's a rude question to ask."

"Ella has better manners than you."

"Ooh, good try. Still not my dire." Wade ate the last half of the fruit's core, crunching through the stone. "That would be Sage Taylor, of the New York City god pack."

The way the fae went preternaturally still was almost funny to watch. Beside him, Riordan tensed, as if he was going to throw himself between Wade and the others if they attacked, which was awfully sweet of him. Stupid but sweet.

After a moment, Tadgh approached the credenza and poured two glasses of mead, of which he handed one to Wade and one to Riordan. Then he grabbed some berries bunched like grapes but which looked like raspberries if they were bright blue and picked off a few to hand to Riordan. "Both of you be welcome."

Wade tossed back the mead—not as good as Thor's—and stole one of the berries out of Riordan's hand. Riordan sighed at him. "You literally ate your way through almost two dozen cannoli not even half an hour ago."

"Yeah, but the fruit is good."

"Lady Caith will see you," Tadgh said stiffly.

"Lead on," Wade said, snagging another piece of fruit from the bowl before following Tadgh down the hall.

The interior of the house was decorated in a monotonous beige color scheme that seemed out of place for fae. Cold, immaculate—kind of like the Unseelie Court and their fae or an Upper East Side housewife following the latest home décor trend, where nothing was personable. It made him want to let Lillian draw on the walls.

As depressing as the inside was, the back garden was incredible.

Tadgh led them out into a swathe of green and vibrantly colored foliage that looked as if it had been transplanted wholesale from Underhill. The trees lining the back fence were tall, their branches spread wide to block the view of the houses behind them. Flowers and bushes covered the earth on either side of the flagstone path that wound its way through all the greenery in a circular way to the small center grove.

Seated at an ornately carved wooden table beneath a pergola draped in flowering vines with butterflies fluttering about the blossoms was a fae who smelled strongly of magic and just the faintest touch of ozone. Wade would have cut through the grass and the plants, but Tadgh led them properly down the entire circular path. Since Riordan wasn't in any hurry, Wade figured he didn't have to be either. Once they reached the small grove, Wade realized the butterflies were actually pixies.

He scowled at the bitey little fae, snapping his teeth at one that got too close. "Don't even think about it. Go annoy your friends with the swords."

Riordan coughed and discreetly elbowed him in the side. Wade went where prodded, right up to that wooden table where Lady Caith sat, watching them with fathomless indigo eyes. Her hair was a deep magenta, twisted up in a braided crown atop her head and held in place by silver thread. Jeweled cuffs hid the pointed tips of her ears, and the fire opals that dangled from them made Wade's fingers twitch with the urge to slip them into his pockets. They'd match his new ring nicely.

"Lady Caith," Riordan said, inclining his head in a respectful manner.

Wade just waved at her. "Hey."

Lady Caith set aside the book she was reading, flattening her hand over the leatherbound cover. She wore jeweled rings on every finger, and Wade's attention lingered on the largest, shiniest diamond. Tadgh moved to stand at her back, attentive like a butler.

"You are a long way from New York City," Lady Caith finally said.

"It's not like you're in Los Angeles."

"This isn't your pack's territory."

"Nope," Wade said cheerfully before pulling out one of the wooden chairs to sit, ignoring the soft, slightly strangled sound Riordan let out. "We don't want Boston. Never have, never will. New York City is enough."

"We?" Lady Caith tilted her head, the dappled sunlight making all her jewels shimmer. "You speak for your pack that easily?"

Wade reached for Riordan and tugged on the other man's arm, urging him to sit down. Riordan reluctantly did so, but only after a faint nod from Lady Caith. "I lost the draw this time around, so I was sent out."

Despite the serene gaze she focused on him with, Wade knew fae were rather conniving. "And who are you in your pack?"

"I'm Wade."

Lady Caith raised one finger and then dropped it in a gentle tap that was probably a louder reaction for her than if she'd done a full-body twitch. "I see."

"Do you?" Wade leaned forward. "The Boston god pack reached out to my pack for help because they're magically restricted from getting any within Boston. Riordan here is in sort of the same predicament. One of your people is taking hostages, which isn't nice."

"Niall is not one of my people."

"Oh, good. You know who I'm talking about."

"Niall is not welcome in my territory and holds no claim over mine."

"I heard he stole a corner of it from you."

Lady Caith's dark gaze flicked to Riordan for a split second. "Fae politics are not meant to be shared."

"Niall is indiscriminately targeting the leaders of the preternatural and supernatural communities. Wade offered a point of particular note," Riordan said.

"And what would that be?"

"That you hold dominion over the fae on land in Boston, which makes you a target as well."

"You speak highly of yourself, kin."

Wade scowled and pointed at her. "Lay off. Riordan is with me."

"He is kin. His people's problems are not ours."

"You're all fae. Just because people call you lady doesn't mean you're better than them."

"You forget your place," Tadgh snapped.

Lady Caith's eyes narrowed as she raised her hand in a gesture that had Tadgh staying put. She was pretty, Wade had to admit. Pretty in a cruel way. Definitely not someone he wanted to deal with beyond this not-so-friendly little talk, but he had a feeling that wouldn't happen. Patrick's kind of luck must have rubbed off on him before he left New York. In which case, Patrick could take it back any time now.

"I have it on good authority you got kicked out of the Seelie Court and Brigid hasn't let you back in. Good on you for not throwing yourself in with Medb because wow, would that have been a dumb idea," Wade said. Beside him, Riordan very politely palmed his face. Wade ignored him. "You didn't fight with Brigid in the Battle of Samhain because you're still pissed she won't let you back home until you grovel. Which you won't because you fae are all stubborn. So you took up space in Boston, which, honestly, I would want for the cannoli and clam chowder. Good choice. But now there's some other fae creeping into your territory and making trouble. Niall wants this city, and if you think he won't go through you to get it, then you really are dumber than even Medb was when she tried to throw down with Brigid."

Lady Caith stared at him, never blinking. "You speak rather freely of our goddesses."

"Your crappy hospitality offers aside, you're a better host than Medb was."

Riordan's head snapped around to look at him. "You were taken to the Unseelie Court?"

"Patrick was taken. I tagged along." It wasn't his fault they'd gotten separated from the pack that one time, and he hadn't been about to leave Patrick alone to make dumb decisions without backup. "He's the one the gods favored. Even Brigid. But he's stuck in DC right now; otherwise, he'd be here dealing with this mess, and trust me, you really don't want that. Your city doesn't want that. I'm the much better choice."

Wade leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. For a few minutes, no one spoke, the garden quiet. What sounds he could hear came from within the house and the street beyond, but he could see the glitter of wards and glamour running along the property line if he squinted. He bet none of the others could hear the cars driving down the picturesque street they were on.

"You truly believe Niall would dare to strike against me?" Lady Caith finally asked.

Wade tilted his head in Riordan's direction. "I'm betting you won't step foot in the sea, so Niall went after the fae who does. Which means you're the fae he would have to take down next to claim the rest of your people's territory in Boston. He's taken the alphas of the Boston god pack, and I don't think I need to tell you how difficult doing something like that is. Taking them puts all the other packs at risk. I don't know who else is a power player in this city, but if there are any more, then they'd be targets as well."

"The Faneuil Coven would be who he would need to eradicate if he wanted to break up the covens and set them at odds with each other. Their current high priestess is a mage who retired from the Mage Corps."

"Anyone else?"

"Abhartach," Riordan said.

Wade mouthed the name but didn't try to pronounce it. "What's that?"

"Not what. Who. He's the master vampire of the Boston Night Court."

Wade scowled. He absolutely hated vampires. It didn't matter that these days, he could eat them and get rid of the problem in one easy bite. Wade would never find any redeeming qualities in them, no matter what Spencer said, because Spencer was always talking with his dick when he did. "Ugh, vampires. Why do they always have to be involved?"

"You have much history with them?" Lady Caith asked.

"You could say that." He didn't elaborate, letting her think whatever she wanted to fill in the gap. "So two fae, a mage, god pack alphas, and a master vampire. Anyone else?"

"None of the other communities who call Boston home have enough clout to be of any threat to our borders."

Never let it be said the fae weren't arrogant. "Do you know if the mage or master vampire are missing?"

"I would assume not."

"Yeah, but you didn't know Harper or Casey were missing or that Riordan's clan had been targeted. You must've been treating Niall as a threat, though, if you were sending out patrols." Wade let out a loud sigh. "I guess that means we have to make sure those other two are still in charge."

The mage would be easy. Most magic users across the board were pretty friendly with his pack because of Patrick. With the Faneuil Coven being led by a mage from the Mage Corps, Wade figured it would be easy to knock on their door, get some answers, and hand out a warning if the high priestess was still around. If she wasn't, it would be just another person he'd have to find.

It was the master vampire he didn't want to deal with.

Lady Caith focused on Riordan. "Which skin did Niall steal?"

"You don't have to answer that," Wade said, doing his best impression of Sage.

Riordan gave him a tight smile. "I know. But Lady Caith already knows one was stolen, so it isn't much of a loss to tell her it's Saoirse's."

"And have you been looking for it?" Lady Caith asked.

"On land and in the ocean."

Lady Caith tipped her head to the side a bit, the motion causing sunlight to splash over her face and head. The fire opals glittered a little brighter, drawing Wade's eye. "There is something dangerous that calls the deep home these days."

"How do you know? You don't live in the sea," Wade said.

"I don't need to swim in the ocean to know there are predators beneath the waves." She folded her hands together over the polished wooden table, thin shoulders straightening. Wade didn't like how she looked at Riordan—like she wanted to hoard him. Which, no, Wade got first dibs.

"Will you give your sister to Niall? Or did he provide you with another offer?"

Wade scowled at her. "What's it to you? We aren't here to bargain."

Lady Caith trained her unfathomable gaze on Wade, which he preferred. "Do you know the history of kin?"

"They're fae, just like you."

"They can shed their skin and be kept, with or without their consent."

"You know, we call that slavery here in this country." Wade leaned forward, digging his fingers into the wooden table, baring his teeth. "I'm gonna take it personally if you try that with Riordan or anyone else in his clan."

"Boston is not your territory."

"Nope. Cannoli aside, I'll take New York City any day of the week." He flattened his hands on the table, reached deep inside for that sense of self he could always touch, and shifted mass just enough to break the table into dozens of jagged pieces with what appeared to be a single touch. "But you won't be taking Riordan, or his sister, or anyone else. I know you fae like your games, but this is one you'll lose if you try to play it with me."

Lady Caith staggered to her feet before the shattered bits of wood could fall on her lap, aided by Tadgh's quick hands. She stared at him with eyes gone fractionally wider, a brief scent of fear wafting off her before she could fully shield herself. Riordan had jerked back at the collapse of the table, nearly tipping over, and would have if Wade hadn't grabbed the back of his chair and kept him from falling. Wade casually brushed off some of the wood shards from his lap.

"You accepted our hospitality," Tadgh snapped.

Wade smiled meanly at him. "Did I?"

At his taunt, Tadgh rescinded the offer with "You are not welcome here in our lady's home."

Wade waited. And waited some more. When it was clear that nothing was going to happen—that the home's threshold was not going to recognize him as a threat and magically kick him out—Wade tilted Riordan's chair back so all four legs were on the ground, let it go, and stood. He sketched a mocking bow in Lady Caith's direction that would probably make Patrick proud. "If you wanted us gone, all you had to do was ask."

"You are no werecreature," Lady Caith said, the smell of magic edged with ozone thick like pollen in Wade's nose. It made him want to sneeze. If she was an immortal of some sort, she clearly wasn't on the same level as Gerard. Demi-goddess, maybe. Still someone he didn't want to deal with.

"I'm pack." Whatever she saw when she looked at him would be human, even after that display of strength Wade had shown. "And you should remember it was mine that fought and saved this world against the gods of hell when you didn't heed Brigid's call. Neutral isn't a good look on you. Maybe you should try rectifying that this time around when it comes to Niall."

A warm hand wrapped itself carefully around his left upper arm, tugging a little. Wade glanced at Riordan, who was staring intently at him and not the other fae. "You don't need to fight for me or my clan."

"See, that's where you're wrong. This is a what would Patrick do kind of situation, and Patrick would definitely be pissing people off. We don't like it when people try to enslave others. We wouldn't want that to even happen to you, Lady Caith."

That magic scent hadn't faded one bit. Tadgh looked as if he'd bitten into a lemon. Wade wondered if he was the one trying out some spells that just weren't hitting. Lady Caith still stood amidst all the broken wood, having not yet moved, and all her attention was off Riordan and on Wade, which was what he wanted.

"Your warning about Niall was helpful. I will take it under advisement," Lady Caith said after a moment.

Tadgh very deliberately looked at her, which would probably be a spit-take from anyone else. Wade wondered just how unexpected that careful response was. "You do that. We'll leave you to your garden party. Oh, and I'm taking the rest of the fruit in your front hall."

He reached up and grabbed Riordan's hand, turning and hauling the other man after him with easy strength. The farther he got Riordan away from the other fae, the better he'd feel. Wade didn't let go of Riordan until they reached the front hall, where he swiped all the fruit in the bowl beneath the glowers from the two fae they'd met on the street. He waved at them on the way out, something like a plum but the size of a large apple clutched in his fingers.

"It's been fun. Next time, offer chocolate," Wade said.

He shoved the fruit in his mouth on the way out, biting through the center stone with ease. By the time they reached the sidewalk, he'd devoured two and was working on the third.

Riordan glanced at him, then did a quick double take. "You really brought the fruit with you?"

"I said I would," Wade mumbled around his latest bite. "It's tasty."

Riordan stared for a moment before shaking his head. "If you're that hungry, I'll get you something to eat."

Wade perked up at that. "Where are we going?"

"I'll give you the address when we're back at your car." They walked for a few minutes in silence before Riordan finally spoke again. "You aren't obligated to get between my clan and Lady Caith, but thank you for trying."

Wade stopped walking, grabbing Riordan's wrist before he thought about what he was doing. Riordan's skin was warm beneath his fingers, and if he dialed up his hearing and focused, Wade could probably hear his heart beating. But he didn't because Patrick was always going on about keeping his nose and ears to himself and respecting people's privacy.

"Just because the way you shift means you lose your skin doesn't mean anyone has the right to take it." Wade let go of Riordan's wrist, plucking at the supple leather jacket he wore. "I meant it when I said my pack doesn't hold with slavery. We all stick our noses into those kinds of problems, even if werecreatures aren't involved."

He still remembered what it was like to fight with a collar around his throat, forced to kill or be killed as entertainment for the rich. The way sometimes someone would pay a ridiculous sum to spend time with him after a fight and do whatever they wanted to him. Wade knew what it meant to be beholden to a master, and he wasn't ever going to let Riordan or his clan experience that if he could help it.

Riordan stared at him with a narrow-eyed intensity that made Wade's breath catch in his throat a little, something warm curling in his chest that he couldn't blame on the fire he could breathe. "If those are the kinds of values your god pack holds, then it's no wonder the gods favored you."

Wade couldn't help the face he made and forced his fingers to stop stroking Riordan's jacket. "Ugh, gods are assholes."

Riordan laughed softly, snagging Wade's hand and pulling him down the sidewalk. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Wade stared at their joined hands all the way back to the car.