Bloodmagic (Blood Destiny 2) (17 page)

“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 fucking 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.”

“Fuck 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.”

Chapter Sixteen

The streets were considerably busier now than they had been before but Solus moved along at a fast gait, weaving in and out of pedestrians.  I had to struggle to keep up with his long legged lope and spent the first five minutes biting down hard on my lip to try to compose myself.  We twisted right at the first intersection onto a much quieter road that looked as if it was entirely residential.  Leafy trees lined the edges of the pavement and, despite the claustrophobia I felt at being locked inside a city, I had to admit that it was rather pretty.  Solus began to move even faster, with my hand still clutching his arm, and I had to almost start jogging to keep up.  Therefore it wasn’t my fault when I missed the uneven paving stone and tripped right over, heading face first down to the ground before he caught me.  He grimaced at me in annoyed exasperation and yanked me back upright.   Not trusting my voice to be quaver free just yet, I simply shrugged and carried on. At least Solus slowed down a bit after that though.

Eventually he turned right again, into a dark little alleyway that I would have missed if I’d been on my own.  Of course, it was a dark alleyway, I figured to myself.  ‘Stereotypes are us’ when it comes to the Otherworld.  I dodged a few garbage bins lying out on the street until Solus pointed up some uneven stone steps to a door set back into a grimy grey building.  At some point the door had been painted a shiny red colour, but now the paint was peeling off and cracking.  Solus reached up to the old-fashioned knocker and rapped it a few times.

We waited for what seemed like an age.  I opened my mouth to say something but Solus shushed me before I could begin.  Annoyed at being treated like a schoolchild, I folded my arms and looked away.  Eventually the door opened. At first, I didn’t think anyone was actually there, then I registered movement below my eye line.  Standing in the threshold was a short stumpy character with extraordinarily large ears and small dark beady eyes.  A troll.  I quickly looked at Solus but he seemed unperturbed.

“We need to procure some weapons,” he said solemnly.

“Certainly, my lord.  If you’ll follow me.”  The troll opened the door wider and motioned for us to enter.

My eyes narrowed at the Fae as I followed him inside.  My lord?  I frowned at Solus’ back and hoped that the shopkeeper was just being polite.

We were led through a dark passageway to a room at the back.  There was a rickety old wooden table and two dirty plastic chairs that might have once been white.  I sat myself down on one and crossed my legs, trying to appear relaxed and as if I regularly went shopping for deadly weapons in dodgy back street stores run by trolls.  I hoped there weren’t any bridges nearby.

Solus murmured something to the shopkeeper who went scurrying off. 

As soon as he left, I opened my mouth to speak.  “A troll?  You’ve taken me to a shop run by a troll?”

“What’s your point, dragonlette?”

“They can’t be trusted!  John always said…” 

Solus put his finger to my mouth, again telling me to be quiet.  “Are there any other nearby Otherworld weapons shops you’d rather visit?  Perhaps we could go back to Alcazon and ask the Lord Alpha for a recommendation.”  I scowled at him.  Solus continued.  “And stop your prattling and complaining.  Trolls have excellent hearing.  Offend this one and you are out of options.”

I sighed deeply to illustrate my mistrust but kept my mouth shut.  I tried to remind myself that I should be grateful to the Fae for all his help; after all, he’d only promised to keep Mrs Alcoon safe in return for knowing my secret about being a Draco Wyr.  He had no reason to continue to helping me out.  Before I could wonder too hard about the real reasons for Solus’ charity, the little troll came bustling back in holding a tray.  He set it down on top of the table, glaring malevolently at me as he did so.  Okay, I guess he had heard my comments about trolls then.

Solus looked over at me and raised his eyebrows.  Shrugging, I reached over to the tray.   There were several different dirks and daggers.  I picked one up and was immediately impressed at its balance and weight.  I offered it over to Solus who recoiled away from me.

“Mackenzie…” His voice was strained.  I looked back down at the dagger and realised that it was made of iron.  Oops.

“Sorry,” I murmured, placing it gently back onto the tray.

I reminded myself that I was going to see some mages.  Whether my weapons were made of iron or steel or something else wouldn’t really make a whole lot of difference.  The memory of seeing Corrigan and his cronies in the restaurant was still very fresh in my mind, however, so I picked up the nearest silver dirk instead and rolled it around in my hands.  It felt good.  There was a matching one so I grabbed hold of that also and stood up, feeling the weight of both in my hands.  I tried a few thrusts into the air, being careful to avoid aiming anywhere near the shopkeeper who was leaning against the wall and watching me with narrowed eyes.  I touched the edge of one of them with my fingertip and was pleased to note a bead of blood appear on my skin.  Remembering what trouble I’d invited the last time I’d let my blood fall, I sucked it away and nodded to Solus who was watching the proceedings impassively.  He nodded to the troll.

I cleared my throat.  “I’ll…uh…need sheathes as well, if you have them.”

The troll blinked in acknowledgement and scurried away, tray in hand.  He returned a few moments later with some leather straps.  I selected two at random and began to try to attach them to my forearms, fumbling with the straps.  Solus watched me for a moment then hissed in irritation and reached over and did them up for me, slotting the dirks into place at the same time.  I murmured my thanks and practised sheathing and unsheathing the dirks a few times.  They were different to what I was used to, but they would work.  I rolled down me sleeves to cover them and looked over at Solus who permitted himself a small smile and nodded again to the troll.  Then we left.

Once we were back outside I sucked in fresh air.  It was a relief to be away from the shop, even if the air was sodden with city smells instead of the country atmosphere I was used to.

I waited until we were back onto the main thoroughfare before I spoke.  “Solus, you didn’t pay the troll.”

“Mmm,” he answered noncommittally.

“And he called you ‘my lord’.”

“Mmm.”

“Solus, is there something I should know?”

He paused for a moment and looked at me, then continued walking.  “No, dragonlette, there isn’t.”

“I will pay you back when I get some money.”

He laughed sharply.  “At the rate you’re going, if you live long enough to make even a fraction of the money those knives cost, then I’ll be impressed.”

“I do appreciate your help, you know.  You don’t have to be this nice.”

“I don’t want to be responsible for a sleeping pensioner for the rest of eternity, Mack.  I’m a Fae, remember?  This is entirely self-serving.”

I didn’t believe that anymore, not really, but I chose not to challenge him.  “Thank you, Solus,” I said quietly.

He remained silent for a few heartbeats and then answered back gruffly.  “You’re welcome, dragonlette.  Just don’t do anything to get yourself killed before all this is resolved.”