6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

Tan

" A re you sure about this?" Remi asked me for the hundredth time.

I sighed. "Remi, I love you, but if you ask me again, I'm going to strangle you."

"But—"

"No buts. You've got to take a chill pill. I don't know what you and Garrick have against each other, but you both are just going to have to get over it and get along."

Remi stared at me like I had three heads.

"What?"

"Since when do you call the king Garrick ?"

I rolled my eyes. "Since I started doing favors for him." I waved him off, absolutely not letting him ask me about that. "Not the important part. Why do you hate him so much?"

Now the stare turned into something like disbelief. "Uh, maybe because he allows fae to be treated like second-class citizens. Bel was living on the fucking streets in arctic weather with a ton of other fae because your precious Garrick lets people deny employment just because someone's fae. I mean, I could go on all day about—"

"Okay, okay." I took a breath, hiding my wince. "You're right. He definitely has a lot to answer for."

It was weird, though, because when I was around Garrick, I kind of forgot all of the shit he let happen in his territory. It was like my brain was hijacked by my attraction to him—also known as my dick—and all the reasons why I knew he was a horrible leader flew out the window.

Nerves and uneasiness made my stomach churn, so I gave Orangelica a pet to soothe myself, even though she was sitting on top of my head, the booger-butt.

Remi stared at me for a long moment. "Well, maybe you can give him a nudge in the right direction or something. I mean, if you're on a first-name basis, he's gotta like you, right?"

I blew out a breath and gave him a single nod. "Yeah, I think so."

"So then, maybe that will put us in a position to help people."

"What if he fires us because I start going off about politics?"

My best friend shrugged and crossed his arms over his broad chest. "Then we don't have to work for him anymore."

"You say that like it isn't a big deal, but he has the biggest account we've ever dealt with."

"Yeah, and I'm not gonna lie and say it wouldn't be a big hit for business here in Gauhala, but you and I both know that the company is lucrative enough in Brinnswick to sustain the fallout."

"You'd rather lose the business here and try to help the fae than have me keep my mouth shut." It wasn't a question.

"Of course I would."

I eyed my best friend for a moment before grinning and shaking my head. "For a minute there, I forgot who I was talking to."

His brow furrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"That you're an Ellwood, and every Ellwood I know stands up for those who can't stand up for themselves. All of you always help people. Always."

He shrugged, but a pleased smile spread across his lips. "I'll give you that, but, Tan?"

"Yeah?"

"You know you're a part of the Ellwood family too." He stepped close to me and squeezed my shoulder. "Never forget that."

I patted his hand, warmth spreading through me at the sentiment. I might not have ever been adopted by Remi's dads, but he was right. I'd always felt like I was a part of their family. Much more than I'd ever felt with my actual family.

"Thanks, Rem."

He shook my shoulder a little, then pulled me into a quick hug. "I know I just told you to talk to him about the fae, but don't put yourself at risk, okay? If you feel threatened or feel unsafe, get out of there. And if you can't get out safely, give me a call."

I grinned at him. "Thanks, but I already promised to call your dad if something happens."

"What? When did you talk to him?"

"Last night. Ailin made me promise to call him if I need help."

"Of course he did."

"He even sent me a reminder text this morning." I pulled out my phone and held the screen up to Remi.

Ailin: Don't hesitate to call me or Seb if you need anything at all, kiddo.

Me: Thanks, A. I will.

Ailin: You better.

Remi laughed. "I love how it sounds like a threat as much as it sounds like having backup."

"Right?"

Remi shook his head in amusement. "You can still call me. I'm closer."

I decided not to point out all of the magical ways Ailin and Sebastian Ellwood could travel here quickly. In fact, if Remi was at the office and had to drive across the city to get to me, his dads would likely get there first just because of traffic. "Thanks, but I think I'll stick with your dads."

He huffed. "Rude."

"To be fair, they're much scarier than you."

Remi barked out a laugh and pushed me. "Shut up."

I laughed as I walked the rest of the way to my car and gave him a wave before removing Orangelica from my head, hopping in with her, and heading toward the dragon king's tower.

The tower itself was a beast of a building and sat right smack in the center of the city. It was so tall, the top practically disappeared into the clouds, and you could see the damn ugly-ass thing from every single part of the city. All of my friends said it felt like a threat, like the tower was warning everyone that the king was watching.

But for some reason I couldn't understand, I'd never felt threatened by it at all. I'd always felt like it was there to help protect its people.

No one else felt that way, though, so maybe I was just weird. I mean, I was weird, but maybe I was even weirder than I realized.

It really did feel completely out of character compared to the rest of the city, though. It stuck out like a sore thumb and wasn't the prettiest thing I'd ever seen. But after living here for a year, I was used to it.

When I arrived at the tower with Orangelica wrapped around my neck, the man at the reception desk on the first floor handed me an ID card on a lanyard and said it doubled as a key to get through security. I wasn't sure why I was so surprised that Garrick and Roman had given me access this way—they were asking me to guard the king himself, after all—but I was.

With my new keycard in hand and Orangelica on top of my head, I held onto the strap of my laptop bag, headed for the elevator, and took it up to the top floor—or at least, the top floor that was listed in this elevator. There were rumors that there was another floor above this one, but no one knew how to get to it. I had no idea if that was true or not, but I wouldn't put it past the king and this strange tower he worked and lived in.

The receptionist greeted me and sent me through to Garrick's office without a hitch, and I took a breath before knocking.

"Come in!" he called out, so I pushed open the door and stepped inside.

I made sure to close the door and take a deep breath before I lifted my eyes to Garrick's. The dragon was sitting behind his desk as usual, looking regal and sexy and grumpy as hell with that scowl on his face.

Roman was in the chair on the side of the desk, staring at me with a strange grin. Was that… smugness on his face? What did he have to be smug about?

I rolled my eyes at myself inside my head. He was smug about getting me to help them; I just knew it.

Ignoring Roman—what was he? another dragon?—I stared into Garrick's golden orbs and said, "Good morning, Gar-Bear." And then I walked over to the couch in the corner and set my laptop bag on the coffee table.

As I went to sit down, I realized that I hadn't greeted Roman or even given Garrick a small bow like I was supposed to. Come to think of it, I hadn't yesterday either.

With a wince, I turned to the pair at the desk. Garrick was openly staring at me with his normal grump, and Roman was grinning like I was the best entertainment he'd ever seen.

I sighed and faced Garrick. "Sorry. I'm not used to the whole"—I waved my hand around in his general direction—"royalty thing. I forgot about bowing or whatever." I waited a beat, but he didn't respond. "Should I… bow now then?"

Roman barked out a laugh and slapped Garrick on the shoulder as he spoke to me. "This is the best thing I've ever seen."

I sighed.

Roman shot me a wink. "But no, you don't need to bow. Like you said yesterday, the two of you are becoming friends. Friends don't bow to friends, at least not here." Roman glanced at the dragon king. "Right, Gar?"

Garrick blinked and seemed to snap himself out of a daze. "Of course. You never have to bow to me, Tanyl—Tan."

I stared at him for a long moment before nodding. "Thank you."

He waved me off. "Have you had a good morning thus far?"

Thus far? Who the hell spoke like that?

Roman let out a snorting laugh, but I ignored him and answered, "Sure. It's been great thus far ."

His lips twitched in that aborted smile kind of way, and I couldn't help but grin. One of these days, I was going to get the man to smile, and it would be glorious.

Before I got started on my real work, I figured we'd get everything else out of the way, so I placed my hands on my hips and glanced around the room, using my witch sight to find all the magic floating around. And boy was there a lot… and most of it was old as hell.

While continuing to examine everything, I said, "Do you want to show me your condo now so I can start working up a security plan?"

Garrick took a deep breath before nodding. "I'll show you, but I'm afraid that you are the only one who'll be allowed inside. Well, you and Rome, of course."

My brow furrowed because it wasn't like I had other people here. "Wait, do you mean Orangelica can't come with me? Because that's not okay, especially if you want me to sleep there. She—"

He held up a hand to stop me. "I apologize. Of course your Bonded may come with you. She's a welcome guest. I only meant that I don't want strangers coming into my home to install security devices or whatever else you have planned."

"Oh." I pursed my lips and gave Orangelica a few pets. "That's fine. I can install things myself."

That seemed to make Garrick's entire body sag in relief.

I mean, what did he expect me to say? If he wasn't comfortable with people in his home, then why in the world would I ever send anyone there? I wouldn't do that to him. It was clear to me that the man had some… issues with trust. I wouldn't break it or make him suffer in any way if I had a way to avoid it.

"Thank you, Tan," Garrick said in a voice that was softer than his usual gruff tones.

"No problem. Now show me your lair." I said it in a weird voice, like I'd suddenly become an announcer at the state fair. What the hell was wrong with me?

Roman coughed, but he was clearly covering up a laugh, and Garrick only nodded and acted like I wasn't a complete dork.

The dragon king stood and walked over to one of the bookshelves on the side of the room. I had no idea why he suddenly wanted to read a book when he was supposed to be giving me a tour, but then he reached into one of the shelves and… pushed on the back of it.

I heard a click a moment before Garrick swung the entire bookshelf out like it was a freaking door.

My eyes widened, and I felt my lips curve up into a smile. Holy shit. A secret passageway!

"You have a secret passageway in your castle!" I practically squealed as I ran over. "How freaking cool is this? I always wanted a secret door or something in my house growing up. I thought it would be so cool and a great way to escape my family." Realizing I'd said too much, I just shrugged at the dragon and waved at the dark tunnel. "Um… can you go first?"

Roman snorted and reached past me, flicking on a light.

"Oh. That works too." I stuck my head in and found a metal spiral staircase. It went up and down, so I wasn't sure which way to go.

"Rome's home is down one floor. Mine is up," Garrick said. "Let me go in front of you so I can unlock my door. There isn't a lot of room up on the platform."

I gave him a nod and stepped back so he could walk past me. His shoulder brushed against my chest, and a herd of butterflies went crazy inside my belly. I heard Garrick suck in a sharp breath, so I wasn't the only one affected.

But he didn't acknowledge it, whatever it was, so I didn't either.

I did narrow my eyes at him, though.

And then I ogled his ass as I followed him up the spiral staircase with Roman following close behind me.

Garrick unlocked the door on the next floor, and I couldn't help but ask, "What's above us?" I gestured to the spiral staircase that kept going up.

"Roof access," Garrick muttered quietly before pushing the door to his condo open.

I took a breath and followed him inside.

I passed through the wards with ease, and I jolted in surprise. Garrick had somehow allowed me passage without me noticing. Had he done it earlier? How? How had he added me when I wasn't around? It wasn't like he was familiar with my magic. I knew some people could add their family members to their wards without them around, but that was because they knew each other's magic.

But if he didn't add me earlier, it meant that he'd added me without my noticing. He'd added me, and I hadn't even realized he was using magic. What the hell?

I… didn't understand how he'd accomplished that.

I wanted to ask, but Garrick seemed tense, so I let it go and looked around… for now. I could always ask later.

My first thought was that the decor here really matched his office downstairs—dark chestnut wood furniture with gold accents and a hint of maroon or blue or green here and there.

We walked into a living room, dining room, and kitchen area that was all open. There was a huge brown leather sectional sofa that actually looked kind of comfy, a giant television on the wall with bookcases on either side, a large dining table with eight chairs around it, a China cabinet that I wanted to inspect, and a kitchen done in the same color scheme with marble countertops and a large kitchen island.

All in all, it was a very nice place, but it didn't really feel lived in. It sort of felt like one of those homes where there were rules about not actually sitting on the couch so it didn't get messed up. Definitely a place where you weren't allowed to put your feet up on the coffee table.

Definitely not a place where you came to relax.

"Living room, dining room, kitchen—help yourself to whatever you want. There's plenty of drinks and snacks in there, but if there's anything specific you want, let me know, and I'll make sure to have it for you tomorrow."

The offer surprised me, and I couldn't help but freeze and stare at the dragon. From the look of the place, I hadn't expected that at all.

Sensing my stare, Garrick turned to face me. His usual grump was on his face, but his eyes felt… softer somehow.

"Thank you," I managed to say after a long pause.

His lips twitched, but he didn't smile. "Of course. I want you to be comfortable here." Then he turned on his heel and headed toward a hallway, not even realizing how much his statement had hit me in the feels.

Roman gently nudged my shoulder, quietly murmuring, "He means it. He wants you comfortable here, and he'll get you anything you want." He shot me a small smile. "Go on. Let him finish his whole spiel. He's been nervous about this tour."

A snort came out of me before I could help it. "I highly doubt that." As if the dragon king would be nervous about something so simple as showing me his home. Why in the world would he even care what I thought?

Roman made a face I couldn't interpret, so I lifted a shoulder in a half-shrug and followed Garrick down the hallway.

There were seven doors in total. Four of them were open, so it wasn't hard to guess what they were, but I still listened to the dragon's words.

"This is a closet. I mostly keep cleaning supplies here. There's the bathroom, and the door beside it is the linen closet. The rest are bedrooms. Three guest bedrooms and my room's at the end."

Each of the bedrooms was done in a different color scheme—blue, gray, and green. They were large bedrooms, probably the size of my room at home, and all had queen beds, dressers, an armchair, televisions, a desk and chair, and bookshelves—there were books everywhere in this place.

Garrick walked to the end and opened the door, and low and behold, there was more dark chestnut and gold. He clearly liked that color scheme.

His bedroom was much the same as his guest rooms, except he had a king-sized bed, and his bookcases were filled with more books. It was clear that the man liked to read.

He also had two other doors in his room—his closet and one that led to an en suite bathroom. His room was also a bit bigger than the others.

It was just as nice and meticulous as the rest of his home.

"You have a lovely home, Gar-Bear," I said after he pointed out the en suite.

He stared at me for a long moment, possibly checking to see if I was joking, and after a bit, he nodded. "Thank you. When you stay here, you can pick any of the guest rooms. I figured you and Rome can each pick a different room so we don't have to worry about constantly changing sheets."

"Works for me."

I glanced back down the hall, debating whether I wanted the room closest to the door or closest to Garrick. Since I'd add my own wards, I'd know if someone was trying to get in, so it was probably better to be closer to the dragon.

"I'll take the blue room, if that's okay with you?"

Roman nodded. "Sure. I'll go with the gray one." The blue and gray rooms were across the hall from one another, so I figured Roman had the same thoughts as me on keeping Garrick safe.

I gave him a nod, then turned back to Garrick. "Now that the tour's over, I think I should add my magic to your wards. I can tell that your wards are strong already, but you said someone got through them, right? Who was it? What kind of creature were they?"

He grimaced and crossed his arms over his chest. "They broke through quickly and efficiently. No one has ever gotten through my wards like that. They were a witch."

Roman made an aborted move, as if he was going to add something, then decided against it. I glanced at him to find him frowning at Garrick. Which could only mean one thing. The dragon was hiding something from me. Great. We were off to a really good start. For fuck's sake.

"What is it? What aren't you telling me?"

He sighed. "It was a blood witch."

My brow furrowed. "What the fuck's a blood witch?"

Roman snorted, and Garrick sort of growled, although I didn't think it was aimed at me. At least, I hoped it wasn't.

Roman said, "They're bad news, that's what they are. They're powerful and typically do evil deeds to boost their magic. The fact that they're sending blood witches again means they're desperate because blood witches are known for turning on the people who hire them. I don't know what the hell they're thinking."

"Who's they ?" I asked.

He opened his mouth, but Garrick cut him off before he could speak. "All you need to know is that they send assassins after me on a regular basis, but they haven't sent blood witches in well over two decades."

Holy crap on a cracker, these people have been after him for over twenty years? How was that possible? How hadn't they been caught yet? I couldn't imagine being… hunted for that long.

The thought gave me chills, but I did my best to focus on the rest of his statement. I truly didn't think that was all I needed to know, but I let it go for the moment. I'd pry it out of him eventually.

"Alright, let's go set the wards, and then I'll figure out what other security we need, alright?"

Garrick sort of growled again, but it was under his breath, and he nodded, waving me out of the bedroom. I walked out, wondering why the hell that'd made him growl.

Grumpy asshat.