CHAPTER Twenty-Four
Several moments and several retches later, I was picking myself up off the dark mossy ground at the Clava Cairns. Unlike the last time I’d been here, there wasn’t a soul in sight. In fact, other than a patch of blackened grass from someone’s abandoned campfire, there was no trace of the winter solstice festivities that, for me, now seemed half a lifetime ago.
Solus was standing a few feet away, hands on hips, and head slightly cocked. He looked vaguely amused.
“Don’t say anything,” I growled at him.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. I glared at him in further warning and he shrugged and wandered off to inspect some of the standing stones. Spitting on the ground to rid myself of the taste of bile, I began to cast around for signs of the blisterwort. There appeared to be a cluster over to my right so I strode off, ignoring the Fae further.
I figured that I’d probably require a great deal of the stuff. Whilst it was by no means indigenous to Inverness, I had absolutely no idea where else I’d be able to procure some so it made sense to get as much as I could right now. I was careful to dig into the cold hard ground with my fingertips and uproot the plants completely however. At least that way Julia would be able to make proper cuttings to encourage it to grow elsewhere – preventing any future outbreaks of the disease. As I did so, I entertained myself with visions of Corrigan falling at my feet in abject gratitude at my having saved the entire Pack from oblivion.
“I will never call you kitten again, Mack, my savior,” I grunted, scrabbling into the earth while on my knees. “Neither will I have my minions capture you and throw you into a cell. Instead I am clearly out of my league as leader of the Pack. You must take my place and I will become your servant.”
An image flashed into my mind of myself draped over a chaise longue and Corrigan, wearing nothing more than a loin cloth, dropping grapes languidly into my mouth.
“What are you muttering about?” asked Solus from right behind me.
I started, blushing involuntarily as my daydream immediately evaporated. “Uh, nothing.” I cleared my throat. “Make yourself useful, Solus, and help me get as much of this as I can.”
The Fae moved round in front of me and knelt down, waggling his fingers in my face. “Do you see these?”
“Yes, you have fingers. Congratulations. Now put them to use.”
“Dragonlette, you fail to see what is right in front of you. It takes considerable time and effort to maintain such perfectly manicured and groomed fingers as these. I am not about to ruin such good work by shoving my hands into some frozen Scottish dirt for a shapeshifter. In fact, truthfully, I don’t really understand why you are doing it either. We are talking about the people who threw you out because you weren’t furry enough to be one of them and from whom you’ve been hiding for the last six months.”
“Well, by the sounds of things I didn’t have to be hiding from them at all. I had kind of got that wrong. They were only worried that I might have gone rogue, not that I might be a human.” I shoved the blisterwort I’d already collected up at Solus. “Here. If you’re not going to help dig it up, then the least you can do is hold the bloody stuff.”
He reluctantly took hold of the plants, with the faintest expression of someone who’d been asked to carry nuclear waste. “That still doesn’t explain why you’re so keen to help them. What have they done for you?”
I sighed and moved over to another patch. “Life isn’t all about quid pro quo, Solus. Sometimes it’s just nice to be nice.” I tried conveniently to forget that I’d just been fantasising about exactly what quid pro quo I could get from Corrigan.
“Bullshit,” he said mildly. “You’re not nice.”
I began to splutter, pausing from my digging. He waggled his eyebrows at me. “Oh, come on, dragonlette. You have an outrageous temper. And when was the last time you were nice to someone?”
“I’m nice all the time!”
“Go on. Name the last time you were nice.”
I stared up at Solus, slightly open-mouthed as I tried to think. Surely there must be lots of times in the last few days? I rocked back on my heels. “Oh god. You’re right. I’m a horrible person. I can’t remember the last time I was nice. I’m a bitch.”
Solus laughed at my mournful epiphany. I shot him a look filled with daggers, then realised that probably wasn’t very nice. “Dragonlette, you’re not a bitch. You’re just a dragon. You have a bad temper and a strong sense of survival but you’re so much more than nice. Relax.” He grinned at me. “And stop changing the subject.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re not helping the shifters because you’re nice. You’re helping them because you want them to like you. Or rather because you want a certain black haired, green eyed cat to like you at least.”
“Corrigan? You think I’m doing this because I want Corrigan to like me? I can’t stand him! He’s a total arse. In fact, he’s a megalomaniac who has done nothing but cause me trouble.”
“And?” prompted Solus.
“And what?”
“Oh come on. You clearly fancy the pants off of him.”
“F*ck off! I do not!”
I pulled myself up to standing and eyeballed Solus. He just calmly looked back at me. “It’s okay, dragonlette, you can say it.”
I shook my head at him in glum confusion.
“Say ‘Solus, you are always right’.”
I stared at him. “I do not fancy Corrigan,” I enunciated.
He smirked. “Sure.”
My mouth was suddenly dry. I thought about the Lord Alpha and the last time I’d seen him, with his green gold eyes roving irritably over me, and the ridiculous disappointment I’d felt when he’d turfed me out, as well as the way his muscles had rippled under his shirt despite the tiredness that was no doubt caused by the red fever.
“Oh God,” I whispered.
“There you go,” said Solus smugly. He licked his lips. “It’s alright though, I can wait.”
It took me a moment for his words to register and for me to find my voice. “Wait for what?”
“Till you work it out of your system.” The Fae leaned in towards me and lowered his voice. “It’s because he’s so unattainable that you have, what do you humans call it? The hots for him? You’ll get over it and I’ll be here.”
My eyes narrowed. “You’ll be here? Solus…”
“Shhh,” he said, placing a long finger against my lips. “This is a discussion for another time.”
I opened my mouth to speak again but realised I had no idea what I would say, and shut it again. Solus might be right that I had a tiny crush on the Lord of all shapeshifters and he was probably right that it was just because I couldn’t have him. However I knew deep within that there was not even the faintest flicker of attraction inside me for the Fae. I shifted uncomfortably, hoping that the reason he’d helped me so much had not been because he thought he might get something out of it by the end, before remembering that he was on the point of giving me up to the Summer Queen. It was probably more curiosity about shagging a dragon that had piqued Solus’ interest, rather than any real emotion. I relaxed.
I moved away from him and changed the subject. “It’s getting light. I need to get back to London to give this to Julia and then return to the mages.”
Solus cocked his head and sketched a quick bow choosing not to remark on my sudden volte-face. “As you wish, dragonlette.”
I began to snap at him not to call me that but the air was already starting to shimmer and the all too familiar nausea was rising in my stomach. I felt the Fae press something into my hand and dully registered that it was the cluster of blisterwort. My vision started to go blurry and the night sky swirled around in dizzying clouds. And then I was back in the entrance hall of the Brethren’s hide-away, on my knees, nails clutching into the cool decorative floor tiles whilst around me I heard ripping clothes and the growls of changing shifters. Why Solus couldn’t have picked a less conspicuous spot was beyond me. I looked around for the Fae, forcing down the nausea, but he was nowhere to be seen.
A tawny wolf took a step towards me, teeth bared. A sliver of drool hung from its mouth.
“Careful,” I said slowly, trying to get control of my stomach and getting up to my feet, “you’ll mess up the pretty floor.”
From behind me I felt something snap at my calves. I sighed. I wasn’t quite sure I was up to another fight just yet. As more shifters came into the hall, some already transformed, I knew that the odds would be massively against me anyway. I just had to get hold of Julia and pass her the blisterwort.
“I’m not trying to cause you any trouble,” I shouted out. “I have something to help you.”
The growling around me got louder. Goddamn shifters and their hardheadedness. I caught sight of a familiar figure, her body lowered and ready to pounce.
“Lucy! Look, you know me.” I coughed slightly. “Well, sort of. I need to give this to Julia. It’s for the red fever. It’ll cure it, I think. Please, just let me…”
Before I could finish my sentence a giant paw cuffed me on the side of my head and I went sprawling back onto the floor. The familiar flames answered the ringing pain in my head and, without thinking, I jumped to my feet and prepared to defend myself. I saw through narrowed eyes that the attack had come from Staines. I was going to enjoy this. Tingling heat ran through my veins and I felt my fingertips prickle. Interesting, that meant that the green fire was returning. I made a mental note of how long it had taken the strange magic to recover and hastily stuffed the blisterwort down the back of my jeans so that it didn’t get singed. It rubbed irritatingly against my skin and I inwardly cursed the stupid shifters who I was actually trying to help.
I concentrated on my hands, damping down the fire before it got started in one rational moment as I decided that I’d make this a fair fight, and then kicked out at the bear, not quite connecting, and rolled immediately to my left and back onto my feet. The other shifters around me moved back, clearly allowing the Lord Alpha’s right hand man the chance to take me down on his own. Fine, if that was the way they wanted to play it then I’d rise to the occasion.
Staines leapt towards me, with more lithe grace than I would have expected from his lumbering form. I managed to spring out of the way in time, however, and jumped up in to the air, scissoring out a hard kick and connecting with his shoulder. I landed back on the floor in a crouch as he began to barrel towards me. His right flank was vulnerable though and I saw my way in to slapping him down for good. I shifted my weight, preparing myself, and then stopped as I abruptly remembered the promise I’d made to Corrigan. Goddamnit. Although Staines had made the first move, I supposed that I had materialised rather dramatically in the middle of their home.
I jumped out of the way and turned, straightening up and holding my palms out in the universal language of surrender. “I don’t want to fight you, Staines.”
He snarled at me in bare acknowledgement of my words.
“I mean it.” As much as it galled me, I forced myself to completely relax. “I’ve just come to bring you this.”
I reached behind me to pull out the herb. The muscles in Staines’ shoulders tensed.
“For f*ck’s sake,” I spat, “I’m just trying to help you. These,” I produced the blisterwort out with a flourish, “will help you.”
He sprang forward, knocking me to the ground, until he was on top of me with his muzzle in my face.
“Jesus, you lumbering oaf. I’m one of you.”
Staines snorted to show just how much he thought of that statement and opened his jaws to reveal sharp teeth. I twisted my head to the side to avoid his unpleasant hot breath and gasped. “Way Directive 14, you idiot.”
He paused, dark eyes staring at me unblinking. Way Directive 14 stated that no shifter could attack another creature who surrendered without prejudice. I had to hope that he was a stickler for the rules. He growled and leaned back, still in bear form. I raised myself up to my elbows.
“I give myself and my loyalty to the pack,” I intoned formally. “And if you’ll just give these to Julia she can use them to cure the red fever.” I pulled at the blisterwort that I was still clutching tight in my hand and waved it in his face. I softened my voice. “Please, just try it.”
“Oh, yeah?” came a sarcastic voice from the side of me. It was the were-tiger, un-transformed, who’d carried me in so unceremoniously earlier in the day. “How do we know that’s not some kind of poison?”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” I hissed. “You know what I can do.” For a split second I let the green flames flicker on, and then off again. “Do you really think I couldn’t hurt you if I wanted to? I lived with the pack for most of my life. I wouldn’t harm a shifter unless I had to.”
“You went rogue.”
“I can’t go rogue if I’m not really a shifter now, can I?” I was trying to keep reason in my voice. “And the only reason I left was because I thought that you – the Brethren – would be pissed off enough that I was human to kill my pack. I wasn’t to know that that was just some kind of myth.”
“We did used to do that, Mack. It’s just that nowadays that sort of thinking is considered a bit old-fashioned.” It was Lucy, back in naked human form and speaking more softly than her were-tiger brother.
“It doesn’t mean that we can’t resurrect the old ways,” snarled the were-tiger.
“Logan,” sighed Lucy, “just leave it for now. She helped us alright? In Cornwall. I would have died if it wasn’t for her.”
“From what the evidence suggests, you wouldn’t have been in danger in the first place if it wasn’t for her.”
I tried to move but Staines held me in place. “Look, I’m sorry, okay. Just take the plants. If you decide not to use them, then that’s up to you. But I’m telling you,” I added with a desperate note in my voice, “that they’ll help you. They’ll help Corrigan.”
“Well then I suppose I’ll have to try them, won’t I?” Corrigan’s voice boomed down from the landing of a grand staircase in the front of the hall.
I swallowed and tried to shift over to see him. He still looked good. A bit pale around the edges and there was the hint of a red flush rising from under his collar. But he wasn’t bedridden just yet. I felt a wave of relief flood through me. Thank God.
Staines finally moved off of me so I was able to scramble to my feet. I ignored the large circle of shifters that was around me, many of them still in were form and staring at me with wary malevolence.
I stuck out my hand and shook the herbs in the air. “It’s called blisterwort. Someone once told me that it was good for something called blushing disease or red fever. It sounds like what you’ve got. I really do think that this will help.” And, I thought silently to myself, I can always get you to suck my blood as a last resort, as Solus had suggested.
“Fetch the Cornish woman,” Corrigan instructed one of the shifters near him who took off at a dash. He surveyed the whole scene before him and made a dismissive wave with one elegant tanned hand. The shifters in the hall almost immediately melted away. Jeez, it didn’t matter how often I saw his control over the Brethren, it always astonished me.
Staines made an odd guttural noise, still in bear form. Corrigan looked at him and some sort of unspoken communication passed between them. I tried to see if I could make use of my own meagre Voice powers to listen in but it was to no avail. Staines lifted his large body up into the air for a moment and then slunk away.
Corrigan gazed down at me, his green gold eyes entirely expressionless. My knees felt slightly weak. “Uh, thanks,” I muttered.
“I spend months searching for you and then once I find you and let you go, you don’t seem to want to leave, kitten.”
My insides squirmed. “I’ll leave, my Lord,” I said quietly, “but, please, first take this.” Yet again, I stuck out the blisterwort and waved it around. “I really do think it’ll work.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because Mrs Alcoon, the woman that I need to go back to the mages for, told me about it. Honestly, it sounds like it cures exactly what you’ve got.”
“No,” he murmured. “Why did you come back with that? Why are you helping us?”
Nonplussed, I stared up at him. “The pack is my family. Of course I’d do whatever I could.”
“I’m not your family.”
“No,” I said softly, “you’re not. But, I…” I took a deep breath. “I don’t want you to be hurt. I think you’re alright, Corrigan.”
My cheeks were burning and I looked away, sure that he could see right through me. He gave a short bark of laughter and started moving unsteadily down the stairs. Alarmed, I ran up beside him and put an arm around his very broad shoulders to support his weight, telling myself that it was only because I didn’t want to see him topple forward and down the stairs because if he did Staines would probably have my head. Heat was emanating off his skin and betraying the strength of his illness but he smelled so very good, a mixture of citrus spicy goodness. I inhaled deeply.
“My Lord, I think you should sit down.”
“I prefer it when you call me Corrigan,” he said gruffly. “And before I sit down I want you to explain to me what you mean by saying that I’m ‘alright’.”
He turned his emerald green eyes towards me with the flecks of gold flickering within their depths. I licked my lips.
“Mackenzie, dear, you’ve come back! What’s this about a herb?”
“Good timing, Julia,” I muttered under my breath.
Corrigan’s eyes turned sharp but he didn’t comment.
“Pardon, dear?”
“Nothing.” I carefully extracted myself from under Corrigan’s arm, making sure that he wasn’t about to fall over, and trotted back down the stairs to where Julia was waiting. I stuck out the cluster of herbs. “Here. I think this will cure the red fever. It’s…”
“Blisterwort, yes, goodness. I haven’t seen it in years.” Julia peered up at me. “What makes you think it’ll provide a cure?”
“A little bird told me. I’m sure it’ll do the trick, Julia. And if it doesn’t…,” my voice trailed off, not wanting to put into words the idea that the Pack could bleed me dry and then they all might quite possibly be completely cured. Fortunately she didn’t really seem to notice.
“Yes, yes!” Julia’s eyes were gleaming in sudden excitement. “This might work. If I brewed it up with some lemon to make it palatable. Mackenzie, you may have just saved us all.”
Before I could be embarrassed at her words, Corrigan interrupted. “Aren’t you being just a little premature?” The skepticism in his voice was slightly galling.
“Perhaps not, my Lord. Blisterwort is an ancient remedy and something that I simply hadn’t thought of. I suddenly feel really quite optimistic.” She beamed at me and patted my hand. “I’ll go and try it out now.”
She wheeled round and sped her way out of the hall. I watched her go and then turned towards the door.
Where do you think you’re going?
I didn’t look back. I’ve done what I came here to do. The blisterwort will work, I’m sure of it.
You seemed to have another suggestion if it didn’t.
Damn him, he didn’t miss a trick. It will work.
“You should stay in case it doesn’t, Mack.”
It occurred to me that his words were the first time in what seemed like forever that someone had used the name I actually liked to be addressed by. I gave him credit for the thought and finally turned. “Thank you.”
He looked surprised. “For what?”
“Calling me by my name.”
His eyes gleamed at that. “What? You don’t like kitten?”
I scowled at him, but he just grinned. “You know, Mack, I’m feeling a bit shaky up here. Perhaps you should come up and steady me again.”
“A few hours ago you couldn’t wait to push me out of the door.”
He shrugged. “That was before you told me that I was alright. So, I’ll ask you again, what did you mean by that?”
He was looking at me much like I imagined a cat looked at a mouse before it chomped its head off. I was tempted for a moment to tell him that it turned out I thought he was more than alright. That it took all of my willpower not to start drooling whenever I was in his presence and that his scent made me weak at the knees. And despite his illness, his flirting left me in little doubt that he’d be happy to oblige my fantasies. I thought about the pictures on the Othernet of him with other women that I’d seen and wondered if I was prepared to be nothing more than a notch on the Lord Alpha’s bedpost. Probably.
“I suppose I meant that I like you.” I took a deep breath and watched his reaction.
“You are the most infuriatingly unfathomable woman I think I’ve ever come across.”
My bloodfire stirred in nervous irritation. “What the hell do you mean by that?”
“Just that, kitten. One minute you are purring and begging to be stroked and the next you’re hissing and spitting at me. Is it that you’re just high maintenance?”
“High maintenance?” I sputtered. “How dare you!”
I stomped up the staircase to look him directly in the eye. When I reached his level I opened my mouth to show him exactly just how much spitting and hissing I could really do, but he grabbed me instead with both hands.
“Got you.” He said it lazily, in a very self-satisfied manner, but I caught a shaky inflection in his voice. I looked at him closely and realised in alarm that the whites of his eyes were turning red. Oh shit.
“Julia!” I shouted down the stairs. “Julia! It’s Corrigan, you need to come quickly!”
“You need an old woman in a wheelchair to come and rescue you from the big bad Lord Alpha?” He wobbled slightly, only just managing to steady himself.
“For f*ck’s sake, Corrigan.” I extricated myself from his grip and began to lead him down the stairs. His skin was starting to feel clammy. I swallowed and tried not to panic. He leaned on me, making me realise that if he was prepared to show me that amount of weakness, then he must be feeling very bad indeed. There was still no sign of Julia so I tried a different tack.
“Staines!” There was a high pitched note to my voice that I didn’t like. I was starting to feel uncomfortably heat flaring inside, but my bloodfire wouldn’t help Corrigan this time. Fortunately, the bear appeared, transformed back into a human – and clothed, thank goodness. He took in the scene at a glance and bounded up the stairs to take hold of the other side of Corrigan. Between us we got him down the stairs and onto a nearby wooden bench that was elaborately carved with different animals.
“We need to get Julia. The blisterwort will help him,” I gasped.
Staines stared at me with mistrust in his eyes.
“Staines, please. She can help. You might not be able to trust me but you know you can trust her.”
He grunted in grudging acquiescence. “She’s on her way.”
The words were barely out of his mouth when Julia came bustling in with Betsy right behind her carrying a cup of something steaming. The smell of the brewed blisterwort immediately reminded me of Mrs Alcoon and the debt I still owed her. I watched anxiously as Staines knelt down and put the cup to Corrigan’s lips. I was running out of time to get back to the mages and work on getting her released so this had better work. Corrigan drank down the tea, unfocused eyes on me the whole time. Once he was done he closed his eyelids.
“I’m going to need to get him upstairs to his rooms,” said Staines to no-one in particular. “The last thing the rest of the Pack needs is to see him like this.” He turned to me and fixed me with a steely gaze. “You do realise that if this doesn’t work, and that it hurts him instead, I will rip you from limb to limb, Way Directives be damned.”
I barely acknowledged him, instead keeping my own eyes trained on Corrigan. I had no idea how long the blisterwort could take to act. I’d been so sure that it would work, but if it didn’t…
“I need a knife,” I said, softly.
“A knife? Do you really think that we would give you a weapon?”
I turned to Staines with baleful eyes and pointed at my arm. “Then cut me.”
“What?”
“Make me bleed, Staines.”
“You’re f*cking crazy.”
“Staines…”
Will you two shut up?
We both turned and stared at Corrigan on the bench. His eyes were open and, I noted, his eyeballs were back to their normal shade of brilliant white. Julia was by his side, checking his pulse.
“Still a bit fast,” she said calmly, “but the blisterwort already seems to be doing its job. It works unbelievably fast.”
“Get it to the others, Julia,” said Corrigan, sitting up a little more.
“Yes, my Lord.” She was unable to keep the smile of relief out of her voice but as she turned to go out she shot me a look that I knew well: one that said she wanted words with me. Oops. I probably shouldn’t have been so quick to bring up the whole blood thing. Despite the fact that the plant I had brought was going save the whole Pack from the red fever, wanting to open up my veins would still look more than a little odd.
Staines turned to me. Here we go, I thought. ‘Thank you,” he said gruffly.
I almost fell over. “What was that? Can you speak up a bit? I didn’t quite catch it the first time.” I waggled a finger in my ear to emphasise my point.
“F*ck off.” His gratitude was clearly short lived. He went back to ignoring me and turned to Corrigan. “My Lord, we should get you to bed.”
“No. I need to check on the others.” He stood up and shook himself slightly. Staines moved away to give him space while I watched him warily. Pulling his shoulders back in an unmistakably feline manner, he blinked slowly and looked over at me. “I suppose I owe you a thank you.”
I waved a hand dismissively in the air and sketched a dramatic bow. “I am here but to serve you, oh Lord and Master.”
He snorted loudly, and then abruptly stumbled against me, the weight and warmth of his body suddenly heavy against my shoulder. I staggered a bit, but Staines was there immediately, hooking one of Corrigan’s arms round his hefty shoulders to take the weight. “You are going to bed to rest, my Lord Alpha.”
“Staines, I said I would check on the others and that is what I am damn well going to do,” Corrigan growled.
“And what good is it going to do them if you keel over on top of them?”
“It is my duty.”
“Shut up, my Lord.”
I was watching the two of them with my mouth slightly agape. This was a side to Lord Shifty and his minions that I had most definitely not experienced before.
Staines clucked like a mother hen and continued. “A few hours’ rest and you will be raring to go and fighting fit.”
I hadn’t taken Staines to be a cliché man up till now and I just couldn’t resist throwing in one of my own. “As right as rain.”
The pair of them turned to state at me as if they’d forgotten that I was even there. Good God, they were like an old married couple. Staines bowed stiffly to me, which was no mean feat given that Corrigan’s weight was still slung round his shoulder. “As the Lord Alpha stated, again, thank you.”
I couldn’t help myself from grinning cheekily back at him and winking. He rolled his eyes and turned to move away but Corrigan resisted. “Mack?” He spoke softly but there was a persistent question to his voice. “Will you stay?”
I held his gaze for a moment, before shaking my head regretfully. “I have to go, my Lord. I have a prior appointment that I must keep. I’m sorry.” I realised that it was true. I wanted like nothing more than to stay there, with him, with the other weres, where I felt as if I belonged, even if only slightly.
“Don’t call me that.”
“Err…what?”
“My Lord. Don’t call me my Lord. You aren’t one of us.”
I felt a stab of pain and hurt through my chest. I swallowed, trying to ignore the pricking of tears behind my eyes. “Of course.”
He sighed. “The two of us seem to live in a world of constant misunderstanding. What I mean, Mack, is that you aren’t one of my subjects. In fact, after having saved my life and quite potentially that of the entire Pack’s, you are most definitely my equal.”
Staines sucked in his breath at that but it barely registered.
Corrigan leaned forward slightly. “Whatever manner of creature or mage you might be.” He grimaced for a moment and then reached out with his free hand to clasp mine. His skin was cool to the touch, but his grip was strong and reassuring. “I don’t just owe you a thank you. We all owe you a true debt of gratitude. I would like you to keep in touch, Mack. And, know this, if you ever need help of any shape or form, then the Pack will be at your side. Do you need intervention with the mages?”
“I…” Lost for words, I swallowed and tried to regain my composure. “No. Thank you. I gave them my word that I would return to them. They won’t hurt me, they just want to help me.” Well, by making me spend five stupid years in their stupid school, I thought ungratefully. I looked regretfully up at Corrigan and reached out to brush his cheek with my hand. Then I thought better of it and let my hand drop to my side. Something in his eyes flickered a moment and then disappeared.
Staines coughed. “I can have someone drop you back at the Ministry.”
I was about to retort that I didn’t need his damn help before remembering that I was still completely penniless. “Okay. Thanks. Can you say goodbye to the others for me? Julia and Betsy and Tom?”
“You don’t want to say goodbye to them yourself?”
“I, uh, no. It’s best this way. I’m going to be gone for a long time.”
Corrigan stared at me unfathomably for a moment, before pulling shakily out from under Staines’ arm. He leaned forward until his face was scant centimetres away, then pressed his lips to mine with such a feather light touch that I wasn’t even sure whether it had really happened or not. “Then I’ll be seeing you, kitten.” He turned back to Staines, who gave me a brief stiff nod, and then they both left.
I stared after them for a moment, drinking in the lingering male scent that Corrigan had left behind him. There was a knot in my chest that didn’t seem to be going away and that had nothing to do with my blood fire. I clenched my fists and glanced down. A tinge of green light surrounded my hands, reminding me that time was short.
The pack’s limousine pulled up outside the Ministry’s imposing metal gates. Unlike the last time I’d been here, there was now a rather scary looking guard posted at the front. I allowed myself a small smirk at the mages’ renewed energy for security. The window in the front rolled smoothly down and the driver murmured something inaudibly to the guard, who nodded briskly and gestured with one hand. The ornate gates opened and the car slowly drove in and up the short drive.
Once we came to a complete halt outside the front door, I moved to get out, not waiting for the driver to come round and open the car door. This didn’t seem to make him very happy because he rushed out and almost sprinted round the car. A weredog, I thought. It figures. He bowed deeply to me and doffed his cap. What a difference a day makes. I smiled at him absentmindedly and made my way up to the front door. Before I had a chance to knock, however, it swung open with a dramatic motion.
The Archmage was standing in the hallway, with a crowd of others behind him, none of them looking particularly thrilled to see me. They’d probably been hoping I wouldn’t show up so they could flex their magic muscles in a fit of retribution. I shrugged. Bully for them.
“Ah, Miss Smith,” intoned the magician. “So good of you to join us.”
I snorted “You didn’t exactly give me much choice now did you?”
“I hope that’s not bitterness in your tone. You do realise that by receiving this opportunity to study with us and control your gift, you are privileged beyond what most mortals could ever dream of? “ He paused for a moment and gazed at me assessingly. “Although I doubt that if you were truly mortal I’d have had both the Lord Alpha and the Seelie court demanding that I guarantee your safety.”
I raised my eyebrows slightly. The Seelie court? That didn’t bode too well. I mentally cursed Solus and his big blabbermouth and hoped that it was just him looking out for me, and that he’d not given away my heritage to all his fairy buddies. I also tried to ignore the little thrill that Corrigan showing interest in my well-being gave me.
The Arch-Mage held out his hand. “Well? Are you ready?”
I wasn’t going to roll over that easily. “You promise to release Mrs Alcoon?”
He looked irritated for a moment. “As we have already stated.”
I attempted to eyeball him for a moment but he just looked at me implacably. I shrugged and then clasped his hand in mine. “Then I guess I’m good to go.” The air began to shimmer and my stomach started to lurch in familiar anticipation. Damnit. I closed my eyes tightly and hoped for the best.