CHAPTER Fifteen
“I don’t know much about the interior of the Ministry’ headquarters, you understand, just its whereabouts in London,” Solus stated solemnly.
“Yes, yes,” I dismissed him with a wave. My mojo was returning and having the absence of a workable floor plan was not going to get in my way.
“I can transport you from here to about half a mile away. That way we’ll definitely avoid triggering any of their sensors. The combined magical forces of the Ministry in protecting their own can be…formidable.”
“Ooooh, is the great Solus scared of a few pesky human wizards?”
“Shut it, human.”
“I’m not human, I’m a dragon.” I pulled back my shoulders and tried to look impressively wyrm and scary like.
Solus stared at me in baffled puzzlement. “What ARE you doing?”
I slumped ever so slightly. “Nothing. I’m just mentally preparing myself for battle.”
“Well, you’ve changed your tune, my little Konglong.”
“Konglong?”
“It means terrible dragon in Chinese. You know, they revere the dragon in Chinese culture and…”
“My name is Mackenzie,” I said primly. “You may call me Mack. Nothing else.”
“Whatever you say, gorgeous.”
I thumped him on the shoulder. “I’m going to need some weapons. All I have are my needles and silver ain’t going to do much against a mage.”
Solus stared at me. “You can shoot fire from your fingertips and you want some weapons?”
I shrugged. “I would feel more comfortable with some steel to work with. Can we make a pitstop somewhere along the way?”
He harrumphed. “Fine. I might know a guy.”
“Great.” I looked around the gloom. “There’s absolutely nothing on this plane at all, is there? We should leave.”
“I would beg to differ, Mack. This is a halfway house between your world and one of the underworlds. The portal was created to provide a link for the dying between what you call Earth and, well, hell.”
I was alarmed. “Hell?”
“One of many,” Solus stated airily. “Of course it’s been out of action for centuries. I don’t think anyone ever comes this way anymore. I was surprised in fact that you found your way here, although I have to admire your ingenuity.”
“Hell?”
“Yes,” he said impatiently. “Where you go when you die.”
“If I kept walking down that way I’d be in hell?”
“Really, Mackenzie. For someone who has lived her life amongst denizens of the Otherworld, your education is sorely lacking.”
“We lived quiet lives in Cornwall,” I protested feebly. “We didn’t go thinking about…hell. Where’s heaven?”
“It’s not THE hell. It’s just A hell. There are many. And really heaven or hell are just words. You end up in the same place.”
“But…”
“Do you want to leave this place or not?”
“Okay, okay, I want to leave.” A shudder ran through me. “Now would be good in fact.”
“Then let’s do it.”
Solus gripped my shoulder and the air around us started to shimmer. The nausea began rising in my stomach again until I was biting back the urge to vomit. I screwed my eyes shut tight and held my breath.
A few moments later, Solus’ hand squeezed my shoulder painfully and then he removed it. “Okay, we’re here now.”
I opened one eye and then the other. It was daytime and, after the darkness of the limbo plane, it was painfully bright.
“Do you know, I think I must be getting better at this. I don’t think I’m going to be sick this time,” I said confidently, just before my stomach rocked greasily and I started retching.
“Yes, you’re a real dimension tripper,” Solus stated without a trace of humour.
I stood up, wiping the back of my mouth with my sleeve. “Oh God. I’m going to need food and a toothbrush before we do anything.”
“And here was me thinking that you were a big bad scary dragon who needed nothing more than a sword to batter down the Ministry of Mages.”
“Well, I could bowl them over with my breath, I suppose, but I’d rather do it on a full stomach.” I eyed him seriously.
“Fine,” he said, and starting pulling me across the road. Oblivious to the rules of good road safety, Solus ignored the car careering round the corner and slamming on its brakes to avoid hitting us. The owner honked its horn loudly and painfully. I gestured an apology to the driver, who gestured something far ruder back.
“How terribly ill-mannered,” I murmured.
“What?” snapped Solus.
I didn’t bother to give him an answer. Spotting a small café on the corner of the street, I began heading in that direction. Solus looked at me, annoyed. I gestured towards the café.
“Food.”
“Please.” Solus rolled his eyes. “I am not eating there.”
“Why not?” I protested. A huge fry up would be just the thing to settle my stomach. I bet with myself that they did vast urns of coffee as well. If I was going to take on the entire Ministry of Mages, there was no way I was going to do it uncaffeinated.
“Alcazon is round the corner. We shall eat there.”
“Alcazon?”
“Yes, it’s very cultured. You’ll like it.”
I’d heard of Alcazon. The girls back at the Cornish pack had often mentioned it in conversation. It was Otherworld friendly – and particularly over-priced and frequented by the elite at the same time.
“Solus, don’t you think we should be flying under the radar rather than going somewhere where people go to be seen?”
“I like the pickled quails’ eggs with celery salt,” he said simply.
“What? That’s not food! I want bacon and eggs and beans and coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.”
He stopped for a moment and looked at me. “Do you have any money?”
“Ummm…,” I paused. I was pretty sure I’d given everything I had away to Yellow Anorak for the use of his phone.
“Well then. I’m paying, so I get to choose.”
“Solus, I’m wearing clothes that reek of bonfires. I’ve not showered for two days. I’ve not cleaned my teeth for two days. I’m carrying a backpack with all of my worldly possessions in it and look as if I’ve slept on the streets for a week. I don’t think Alcazon is the kind of place that will like having me as a patron.”
“You’re with me, you’ll be fine.”
I took that moment to glance him over. He was wearing some kind of tailored suit with a perfectly crisp white starched shirt. How did he manage that when we’d just been planted for hours in a halfway house to hell? I supposed I should be thankful that his shirt wasn’t gigolo transparent this time. But really, whilst my appearance was the least of my worries, being clean would surely be some kind of vague prerequisite to gaining admittance to one of the swankiest restaurants in town.
“My face has been plastered all over the Pack website for months. If someone spots me…”
“Mackenzie, people at Alcazon don’t care about that. They care about their own celebrity too much to be paying attention to a grubby little girl, whereas I care too much about what I put into my mouth to want to eat anywhere else that’s within a fifty mile radius.”
“Solus…”
“Shut up.”
I bristled, but kept my mouth closed. I’d save my battles for when it was really important. It would be all Solus’ fault though if some Pack hero spotted me and tried to take me down. He’d be sorry if I ended up as some minced up dragon meat on the floor of the swanky restaurant, so he would. I stuck my tongue out at him behind his back. He turned and glared at me and held out his arm. I looked down at it and then back at him.
“What?”
“Mackenzie, if you are not going to look like a lady then at least pretend to act like one.”
“Huh?”
“Oh for goodness’ sake, take my arm.”
Oh. I caught on and hooked my arm round his, beaming at him.
He sighed. “Not like we’re maypole dancers, Mack.” He unhooked my arm and then placed my hand on his forearm, just so. “Like that. Like you’re a lady.”
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously?”
Solus glared at me.
“I thought you’d have liked maypole dancers, being a faerie and all, you know.”
“Just because I am in your company right now does not mean that I am not usually refined and cultured. We Fae are creatures of renaissance. We are not thugs.”
“I am learning an entirely different side to you, Solus.”
“And you would do well to remember it, my little dragonlette.”
“My name is Mack.”
“Whatever.”
We rounded the corner and ended up at the base of a gleaming building, all chrome and shiny glass. The morning sun was hitting the edges of it, making it painful to even look at directly. My grip on Solus’ arm must have tightened somewhat because he shot me another look of irritation. I loosened my hand and smiled at him, batting my eyelashes. He sighed yet again and looked away. Maybe this would be fun after all.
A doorman wearing a bespoke red uniform and a very silly hat bowed as we walked through the door. I had gone no more than three steps inside however when an alarm started to sound. Oh dear god, was this the fashion police coming already? My cheeks started to warm as a security guard came over.
“I’m sorry madam, but it appear that you are carrying some weapons upon your person. You need to check those in at the desk before you proceed.”
I stared at him blankly. I didn’t have any weapons on me, other than the silver needles in my hair, and they could hardly be counted as real weapons. Not in the human world at least.
“Uh…”
“I believe your hair ornaments, madam?”
Really? I reached up and pulled the needles out and gazed at the guard askance. He smiled without showing his teeth.
“Thank you madam. You may pick them back up again when you leave.”
He turned on his well polished heel, holding the needles out in front of them as if he was worried he might catch some terribly contagious disease from them. I looked at Solus with a question in my eyes.
“You’d obviously already heard of this place, dragonlette.”
“Yeah, so?”
“Well, its patrons are hardly going to be comfortable coming here if anyone can just walk in with silver or iron or the weapon du jour and take them out with a quick swish. Alcazon prides itself on being a sanctuary free from inter-species violence. This is why we shall visit the weapon shop after breakfast, not before.”
“And here was me thinking it was because you had some regard for my stomach.”
Before Solus could retort, we were greeted by the ma?tre d who clearly recognised my Fae companion and inclined his head before leading us through the restaurant to a quiet corner. He pulled a chair out for me and, after I was seated, proceeded to unfold a crisply starched white napkin onto my lap, all without saying a word. I had to admit that I was impressed at his lack of reaction to my unkempt appearance. Perhaps I would like it here after all, I decided.
We were seated towards the back of the restaurant, next to a vast smear free window that briefly reminded me of my efforts at cleaning the shop front to Clava Books. I contemplated asking the silent ma?tre d for tips on window cleaning, but decided it would probably be unwise. I have to admit that I did take a surreptitious sniff to see what products I could detect, but Solus sent me such a terrible glower that I backed quickly away. Fortunately, an impeccably dressed waitress deposited a menu in front of me before he had the chance to make further comments of my lack of unladylike qualities.
After ordering a sumptuous sounding plate of eggs benedict with apple wood smoked bacon and grilled asparagus, and lots and lots of coffee, I took a moment to drink in my surroundings. I had never been anywhere as ostentatiously posh as this before. The greasy spoon at the corner it definitely wasn’t. I smiled to myself at the thought of my old pack mates seeing me here, and then soberly remembered just why I was here in the first place. To distract myself, I sneaked a few peeks at the other diners, trying to see if I could work out what manner of otherworldly creatures they were. There was a gentleman wearing an old-fashioned suit that looked like it included a jacket with tails, a la Bing Crosby. With old-fashioned dress sense like that, he had to be one of the longer living otherworlders. Vamp, perhaps, although I couldn’t sense much power emanating from him. His companion however took that moment to lick her lips, displaying a set of scary white fangs. She must have sensed my stare because she looked up in my direction. I hastily switched my gaze to another table before I caused myself any more problems.
“Dragonlette?” purred Solus.
I ignored him, taking a sip of the carefully negotiated room temperature water that sat on the table.
“Mack?”
That I would answer.
“Yes, Solus?”
“If you continue to stare so unabashedly at every patron who comes in here, you do realise that sooner or later you will stare at the wrong person and get yourself into trouble?”
“Well, I wouldn’t be staring at anyone if we’d gone to that café, Solus. You’re the one who wanted to come here. It’s hardly my fault if I am unused to these kind of surroundings.”
“It’s fortunate that I am here to solve these little issues,” he said softly, looking at me with a stern expression on his face.
“What issues?”
He jerked his head over in the direction of the female vampire who I noticed, to my alarm, was heading in our direction. Oh, shit.
“I didn’t…I mean…er…I’ll deal with this, Solus.” After all, as he’d said earlier, I didn’t really need weapons to fight my battles when I had sparky green fire to call upon. I was a dragon!
“Don’t you dare,” he murmured in warning, standing up to greet the walking undead.
The vampire, who’d looked quite pretty from a distance, was terrifying up close. Although I’d certainly heard plenty about vamps from some of the more well travelled pack members in Cornwall, I’d never had the opportunity to meet one myself. I wanted to ask her how she was going to leave the restaurant when it was daylight outside but figured that might be a bit rude. Her skin was not white, exactly, more a sort of ashen grey colour. The whites of her eyes were more yellow than white and there was the faintest whiff of rotting meat that she’d barely disguised with some sickly sweet perfume. I struggled not to recoil away.
Solus inclined his head. “Good day,” he intoned.
She ignored him and fixed her gaze onto me. For my part I remained seated and just looked back at her.
“Is there a problem, little human?” Her voice was icy and filled with the suggestion of threat.
“I don’t believe so,” I replied as pleasantly as possible, although I could feel my bloodfire awakening in the pit of my belly.
“Then why were you staring at me so rudely?”
I opened my mouth to speak but Solus interrupted. “My dear, my partner is but a novice to this side of the world. You will forgive her rude naivety.”
His voice had deepened but I shot daggers at him with my eyes for his words and was about to speak back at him about my so-called ‘rude naivety’ when I noticed the gold flecks of light dancing across his eyes. I flicked a glance at the vamp and realised that she was staring at him, lips slightly parted.
“Of course,” she said in an abruptly breathy voice. “She is forgiven.” She widened her eyes ever so slightly and leaned in towards Solus. “If there is anything I can do to help you both, explaining any nuances of our behavior or showing you around town, then please do let me help you.”
I noticed that she didn’t once look in my direction. The wait staff, who had suddenly been poised for any potential action, had relaxed back into their serving jobs and begun to go back to pretending to ignore us. For my part, I was fascinated by the look of concentration on Solus’ face and the puppy dog look on the vamp’s.
He took her hands and murmured, “You should rejoin your partner, he looks lonely.”
“Yes, I shall.” She held onto his hands for a moment longer than was necessary, and then departed back to her table.
I stared at Solus. “Well I guess these aren’t the droids we’re looking for.”
The pop culture reference went right over his head. “What?”
“You glamoured her. You got her to say and do and act exactly the way you wanted her to.” I thought for a moment. “And you tried to do that to me too! When you came into the bookshop that first time.” My eyes narrowed at him in disgust. “You wanker!”
The heat that had been slowly building with the vamp was quickly exploding into life. Solus held up his hands. “Okay, okay, Mack. Yes, I tried to glamour you. Is it really so bad?”
“It’s brainwashing! I can’t believe you would take advantage of me that way. I cannot believe that you think that would be acceptable!” My voice was rising but I didn’t care.
Solus tried to calm me down, which just annoyed me even more. “It didn’t work though did it? You resisted the glamour so you proved that you’re mentally strong. It was a pretty large clue, dragonlette, that you were definitely more than you appeared to be.”
“But you tried to do it in the first place, Solus.” I stood up, flinging my napkin to the floor. I was aware that I was making a scene but I didn’t really care. How dare he do that to me? “Do you know what? I don’t actually think I need your help after all. How do I know the glamour didn’t work? How do I know that you’re not glamouring me right now?”
Solus’ face suddenly looked alarmed. “Mack, sit down.”
“I will not sit down. I’m leaving and you can sit here alone in your posh restaurant eating your posh food whilst I go kick some ass. And if I see you again, Solus, I swear to God I will…”
“Mackenzie! Sit the f*ck down!”
“No! You’re not the boss of me!”
“If you don’t sit down, Mackenzie Smith, then we are both screwed because between transporting you here and doing that glamour to stop that vampire from snacking on you between courses, I don’t have enough energy left to mask your scent.”
“Why the f*ck would you need to mask my scent? The only time you need to do that is when…” my voice trailed off. Oh. I looked over at the group of people just entering the restaurant and sat down very quickly.
Corrigan had what appeared to be a huge entourage. I counted at least eight different heads and, despite the lurching sensation of fear induced nausea that was flooding my system, wondered if it helped him to feel important to surround himself with many different shifters. Recognising his de facto chief of staff, Staines, I sank further down in my seat and suddenly became re-fascinated by the window.
“I’d like to remind you that this was your bright idea,” I hissed at Solus, who was looking vaguely apologetic and also alarmingly entertained. I hoped that his Fae nature for causing mischief wasn’t about to suddenly kick in at my expense.
He shrugged an elegant shoulder. “What can I say? I didn’t think he was in town to be honest.”
“Some help you are. And what happened to ‘I am a Fae therefore I have more power than you can possibly imagine’? That’s not much good if you run out of juice before the day has even started.”
“Hey, dragonlette, if you hadn’t insisted on trying to go head to head with a vampire, then we wouldn’t have a problem.”
“We wouldn’t have a problem? Are you kidding me?” My voice rose to high-pitched whisper. “Were you listening when I said that he would destroy every shifter who I consider to be family if he finds out that I don’t have a were?”
“You could try telling him that you don’t have a were because you’re actually a dragon.”
“Yes, because that’s working out so well for me so far.”
I ripped my eyes away from the window to glare at Solus and then sneaked a peek back over at Corrigan. I had to admit that he was looking good, albeit rather tired, wearing an elegant grey suit that was tight over his muscled arms and snugly fitting in all the right places. His dark hair didn’t have a strand out of place and I caught myself wondering if his eyes were really as green as I’d remembered. I tried hard not to stare so that he wouldn’t feel my gaze, but couldn’t resist checking out the rest of his group to see if he’d brought a love interest. Only because I was curious, that was all, not for any other reason. Lucy was there, along with a few other female shifters, but I didn’t see anyone who looked as if they might fit the title of main squeeze. My eyes travelled over them all until I reached one set of blue eyes staring right back at me. My stomach lurched. I gave a weak smile but Tom didn’t smile back. He just stared. I hoped that I could still count on him as an ally and that he wouldn’t immediately give me to his lord and master.
“One of them has spotted you,” said Solus calmly.
“I know.”
“He’s staring at you.”
“I know.”
“He knows who you are.”
“I know.”
“Mack…”
“It’s Tom.”
“Tom? The one who knows that you are a Draco Wyr? You’d better be right that you can trust him, dragonlette.”
“Solus, I swear, if you call me that again I’m going to punch you in the face.”
I pulled my eyes away from Tom and looked back over at the Fae. He was leaning back in his chair, arms folded and a relaxed smile on his face.
“Don’t push me,” I warned.
Corrigan and his followers, Tom included, started to move towards a table that was fortunately out of view of our own seats and the waitress came over with two steaming plates of food. Before she’d barely placed the plate in front of me, I started shoveling the food into my mouth. Solus watched me, slightly agape.
“What? I’m hungry. And the faster I eat, the faster I can get out of here and away from him.” I jerked my head back to where Corrigan was seated. “And you, of course. Don’t think that just because you’ve been temporarily saved by the presence of the Lord Alpha that I’ve forgotten what you tried to do to me.” I took a large gulp of coffee and swallowed, then gestured toward Solus’ plate. “Eat, Fae.”
Fortunately for him, he did as I suggested and picked up his knife and fork, taking small delicate bites of his quail eggs. It was just as well that the eggs he’d ordered were that small because if he ate like that all the time, he’d never finish any meals. I continued eating my own breakfast, occasionally punctuating mouthfuls with swallows of hot coffee. The burning caffeine just about helped me to forget exactly who was scant feet away from where I was sat.
Before too long, I was putting my knife and fork down on the table and pushing my plate back. Solus barely seemed to have made a dent to the food on his plate. I stared at him and started drumming my fingers on the table, resisting the urge to crane my neck back around to see what was happening with Corrigan and Tom.
“You know, looking at me like that is more likely to just make me feel nervous rather than encourage me to eat up quickly,” Solus stated.
I continued to just stare at him. He sighed and picked up his napkin, dabbing delicately at the corner of his mouth and signalling the waitress for the bill.
“Just so you know,” I said flatly, “I am not trying to run away and hide from the Lord Alpha. I am just recognising when it is prudent to avoid some confrontations.”
“It wouldn’t have occurred to me to suggest otherwise,” Solus said, signing the bill with a flourish.
“But if he spots that I’m here and spots that I’m not a shifter, then…”
“Then he’ll maim and kill all your little shifter friends. Yes, I believe you’ve mentioned that before.”
“I’m not making it up, Solus.”
The Fae stood up and looked down at me with a glint in his eye. “Don’t think I didn’t notice the lascivious look you were giving him, dragonlette.”
I spluttered. “Lascivious? As if! And I told you not to call me that.”
He just grinned and offered me his arm. I scooted round however to his other side so that if Corrigan did suddenly decide to just look up, I would be shielded from his gaze. I still had to try very hard not to start sprinting out of the restaurant however.
I was picking up my silver needles from the security guard, with Solus looking impatiently on, when I abruptly felt someone at my shoulder. Without thinking I put my hand onto their arm and twisted, flipping them onto their back with a dull thud. I instinctively knew that it wasn’t Corrigan – there wasn’t much chance that a simple flip would be enough to floor him – but that it didn’t mean that it wasn’t someone else I had to watch out for. The security guard raised his eyebrows but, when I glared at him, he started to pretend to look busy, shuffling some bits of paper around. I looked down at my would be assailant and groaned whilst Solus studiously examined his fingernails.
“Jesus, Tom, you should be more careful!” I reached down and offered him a hand. He ignored it and staggered to his feet.
“What the hell is going on, Red?”
“I might ask you the same thing,” I said, cuffing him round the head. “You’re looking pretty cosy with the Lord Alpha there.”
“He’s a good guy, you know,” Tom said softly.
“Yeah, up until he rips you from limb to limb for daring to disobey him.”
“He’s not really like that. And besides, Red, I think I asked you first.” He pointed at Solus. “Who is that?”
Solus bowed ostentatiously. “I am Solus. Miss Mackenzie’s companion.” He put an odd emphasis on the word companion.
“Are you f*cking a Fae now, Red?”
I bridled. “First of all, it’s none of your business. Second of all, it’s none of your business.” I paused and looked him in the eye. “So is it everything you wished for?”
“What do you mean?”
“Being part of the Brethren. Are you fulfilled now, Tom?”
“It’s not like that. It’s not as sleazy as you suggest.”
“I wasn’t suggesting anything.”
Tom ran an irritated hand through his hair. “You know things got pretty messy after you ran off. The Lord Alpha was…upset that you had gone.”
“I didn’t run off. Anton made me leave.”
Solus raised his eyebrows at that comment but stayed silent. I pointedly ignored him.
Tom took a step towards me. “Are you in trouble? Is that why you’re in London?”
“No.” I shook my head to emphasise the point then glanced back into the restaurant. “I should go.”
“Red…”
“I need to go, Tom. I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry if I messed things up. And I’m glad you’re happy now with the Brethren. Corrigan told me you’re engaged to Betsy. Congratulations on your new life.”
Tom started for a moment. “When did he tell you that? Red…,”
“I have to go,” I repeated and turned to walk away. Solus followed me.
“Wait! Red! Mack!”
I stopped for a moment and turned. Tom jogged up and threw his arms around me, squeezing me to him. I clung on for a moment, breathing his familiar scent.
“If you need anything, Mack, anything at all, just call me.” He pulled away and reached into his coat pocket, passing over a small white business card.
I didn’t bother looking at it; I just stuffed it into the back pocket of my jeans and smiled sadly at him. “Sure I will, Tom.”
He reached out and touched me gently on the arm, then I turned again for the revolving door with Solus by my side and left.
“I’ve got to say,” murmured Solus once we were out on the pavement, “the Brethren’s recruitment policy seems to have become rather lax in the last year.”
“F*ck off, Solus.”
“I mean, really, I get that he’s a wolf but…”
“Solus, I swear to God…” I turned and faced the Fae, tears threatening to spill over. “Don’t say another word.”
For once, he seemed to understand, and cocked his head slightly for a moment at me, before offering me his arm again. “Okay,” he said softly. “Let’s go get us some weapons.”