Never More (4 page)

Little did they know he’d been desperately trying to find a way to free both himself and his mother from the grasp of the Dark Queen. Taking those missions, while risky, had given him a chance to get away, to research ways he might be able to escape her grasp. It wasn’t until he’d met his father that Raven finally found the freedom he’d sought, but it had cost him dearly. In punishment, the Dark Queen had his mother killed and her remains shipped to him in pieces.

And that was only the start of it.

She was sending her best hunter after him, a man known for his cleverness and cruelty, and he wouldn’t just target Raven. He’d go after Raven’s newfound friends and family, making sure they all suffered before they died from horrific wounds to both their bodies and souls. Sayyid would love to get his hands on anyone associated with the Hob. He was the most bitter about their father’s so-called rejection, unaware of the lies the Dark Queen had spewed, poisoning his heart against everything Robin stood for.

Sayyid was one of the ones Robin knew without a doubt would never turn to the Gray. He adored Titannia, viewing her as a mother figure and a goddess all in one. He would die before betraying her. Raven would have no choice but to kill him if he went after any of Robin’s patchwork family.

He’d have to warn his father of who was coming after him. It was only fair. Robin would want to assign guards to his people, protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves. Michaela especially would be vulnerable. She might be Tuatha Dé Danann, but she was so new she still shone. Protecting her would be Robin’s number one priority.

“Shh.” Raven reached down and pressed his hand to the redcap’s chest. “You’ve given, and now you shall receive.” He flexed his fingers, bringing a swift end to the redcap’s life. He stood, shaking off the feeling that he’d missed something vital.

He couldn’t return to the Dunne farmhouse without first inspecting the car and its battered victims. It didn’t take him long to find the earpieces they’d been wearing. He swore softly, wondering who, if anyone, had heard his conversation with Bonearse.

Raven plucked one of the earpieces out, loathing the thought of inserting it into his own ear but finding no other options if he wanted answers. He placed it into his ear, listening silently for any hint that there was someone else on the other end.

Nothing. Not even static. The piece was either dead, or had been cut off.

Raven gripped it hard, and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed the now-familiar number and waited for his favorite smart-ass to answer.

If anyone could help him with this, it was Liam.

“Yolo!” Liam spun in his chair and spoke to thin air. Who needed a cell phone when you could simply tap into the local cell tower?

There was a reason he was called Big Red. As the head gremlin, Red had more power than any three gremlins combined. He could tap electrical impulses that had been turned off, make a GFI outlet spit out enough current to stop an elephant’s heart and make a race car go from zero to sixty without once touching the gas pedal. Or being in the car.

Or the state the car was in.

Hell. He could kill someone with his brain. Brain waves were nothing more than chemistry and electrical impulses. One zap, and it was bye-bye bad guy.

Being a gremlin fuckin’
rocked
.

And then there were times when it didn’t, like now, when he was staring at the picture of a dead Sidhe lady. A prominent one, whose death would bring the White Court down on Oberon’s head.

Whoever had done this was silent and lethal. A sword stroke that took off Lady Mei-Xing Zhuansun’s head cleanly, implying great strength was used. No signs of forced entry, no fae magic, and no witnesses to question. Just a decapitated fairy lady who’d been vocal in her distrust of one Raven Goodfellow, née MacSweeney.

Needless to say, some obvious conclusions were being drawn, conclusions Li just couldn’t see. Raven was Gray Court now, sworn to Oberon and, more importantly, to Robin. Robin had asked Li to look into it for him, but so far Li was drawing a big, fat blank. Her ladyship had been home alone when she was killed; no Internet activity had occurred, no phone calls in or out until the one where her bondmate called in the Blades, much to the White Queen’s dismay. It seemed the husband did not share his spouse’s distrust of the Gray Court and wanted an impartial view of her death.

Trying to keep the peace between two queen bitches definitely kept Liam on his toes. And now that King Oberon had mated Queen Cassandra, things were going to heat up big-time. Neither Court was pleased with Oberon’s decision to take another bondmate, let alone a truebond. Liam was thrilled for Oberon. Cassie was a strong siren, and more than capable of standing at Oberon’s side and facing both queens down. Seeing Oberon actually smiling? Far more worth it to Liam than all the electrons in the universe.

Titannia had to be peeing purple kittens over the whole thing.

Speaking of Raven, the man was trying to contact him. Li concentrated, and Raven’s voice filled his ears before he could say hello. “I have a problem, Li.”

“Raven, my man, my main dude, my Edward in training. What can I do for ya?” Red spun until his monitors were once more in front of him and cracked his knuckles. “Have you met your Bella yet?”

“They’re sending in the big guns to get me, and I can’t leave Nebraska.”

Liam winced. “Ah. I was gonna head there in a few days myself. Who are they sending?” He began tapping keys, looking for any sign of Black Court activity. One name popped up, one that had him shivering in his canvas sneakers. “Sayyid is already in the area.”

“Shit.” Raven sighed heavily. “Trace this earpiece I’m holding. I want to know who was on the other end.”

“Was?” Liam tapped into his powers and followed the signal coming from their connection to the earpiece Raven held. “Ew, you touched a redcap’s ear?”

“Liam.”

“Fine,” Liam huffed. He found the faint ozone traces left behind by the electrical signal and followed it to a little B&B right off of…

“You have problems. Big ones. He’s closer than I thought.” Liam’s tone deepened to the more familiar tones he used when he became Big Red, the pet gremlin of Robin. With Raven, as with Robin, he spoke in his Seeming’s voice, but with all others he was Red, the deep, gravelly voice who helped them crack databases and track down baddies. Not many would recognize Liam Kang-Dae Kwon, the Korean-American computer expert with the tenor voice and thick glasses. Every Blade the world over, however, was familiar with the deep, resonant tones of Big Red. “Sayyid is commanding the redcaps from a B&B in Omaha.” He began typing furiously. “Damn it. Did the ladies go out tonight?”

From the clacking sound Raven made, they had.

“Yeah. He was in the nightclub with them.” Tracing the signal through its electronic signals wasn’t hard for a gremlin of Red’s power. His chair creaked as his increased bulk tilted backward. “Good news is, his ass stayed put while he sent those dead—I assume dead—redcaps after them.”

“Track his movements. Robin’s mate may be in danger.”

“Again?” Red switched back to Liam, his voice returning to its normal tenor. “Damn it. I lost a bet with Howard. I said it would take two more days before she got into trouble.”

Raven barked out a laugh before cutting the connection.

“Love you too, cupcake.” Liam was used to the way the other Blades would cut his connection to them. He was rarely in the field the way they were, and often cutting him off was to save their own asses, or his. The times he did go into the field…

Well. None could track Big Red if he didn’t want them too.

“Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to work I go,” he sang softly as he began tracing the locations of the Black Court heavies tracking Raven into Soybean Land.

And if he happened to find them on their cell phones?

Zap.
One less bug to worry about.

Chapter Four

Duncan and Jaden had taken one look at Aileen Dunne’s face and decided they really needed to visit Shane in his workroom. They’d left the women alone to face the wrath of Leo’s tiny, adorable mother, running so quickly for Shane’s converted silo they actually kicked up dust. Robin and Michaela laughed as they watched, but the laughter died as Aileen took hold of Michaela’s arm and, ignoring Robin’s sudden growl, put her with the other women. Aileen had ushered the women inside without a word, mom-guilt hanging heavy in the air. She led them into the kitchen silently, lining them up execution-style.

“Well, well, well.” Aileen tapped her wooden spoon in her hand with all the precise, cool contempt of an army general facing a group of soldiers who’d fucked up their mission beyond all hope. “Did you enjoy your evening out, ladies?”

Sean Dunne coughed, earning a glare from the petite redhead and matriarch of the clan. “I said nothing, my love.”

“Good.” That piercing glare returned to the people who’d earned her ire, namely Moira, Ruby and Amanda. Amanda tried not to squirm too much. “Now. You wound up
in jail
, an hour away from home—” Aileen held up the spoon when Moira tried to speak up, “—yes, I know you don’t live here anymore. That’s not the point.” The spoon hammered down on the kitchen table and Moira jumped at least a foot. “The point is,” Aileen continued in a sweetly reasonable tone, “you, Michaela, are still learning. You can’t defend yourself yet.”

Michaela nodded with wide-eyed silence. If she was as terrified as Ruby she was doing a good job of hiding it. If anything, she seemed almost amused.

“Ruby.”

Ruby whimpered in fear and tried to duck behind Amanda.

“You are
pregnant
. You shouldn’t be anywhere near alcohol, let alone jail, while carrying my grandchild.”

“Yes’m.”

Ruby ducked even further, her chin almost on Amanda’s butt, when Aileen frowned.

“Moira,” Aileen cooed, her brow smoothing out once more.

“Ma,” Moira whined.

“How long have you lived in this area?”

Moira darted a glance toward Amanda. “Most of my life.”

“All of your life. And how many times have you been arrested?”

“Never.” Moira grinned cheekily at Aileen. “The charges were—”

“Moira.” The spoon hit the table again.

“Once.” Moira’s shoulders slumped.

“And just why did you wind up there, hmm?” Tap tap tap went the spoon on the table.

Amanda stumbled forward from Ruby’s push just as Michaela and Moira pointed at her. “She did it!”

Amanda bit her lip to keep from laughing. “It was worth it.”

Aileen’s eyes flitted over her, her expression neutral. “Was it?”

Amanda crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin. “And I’d do it again in a heartbeat. No one steals from my friends.”

Aileen’s gaze softened slightly. “Oh?”

“Someone tried to snatch my purse.” Ruby actually straightened up. “Amanda saw it and tried to stop her.”

“But the bouncers thought
Amanda
was the one who started it,” Michaela added.

“She kind of did.” Moira shrugged when Amanda rolled her eyes. “You did throw the first punch, after all.”

“I did not!” Amanda scowled at Moira. “That makeup tutorial dropout did.”

“She wasn’t
that
bad,” Ruby laughed.

“Please.” Amanda rolled her eyes. “No wonder blush seeps out of her pores like that. She probably mainlines Sephora.”

Aileen huffed, the spoon still tapping on the table. “I can’t let you out of my sight, can I?”

Amanda pointed to her chest. “Me? I’m just the defender of the innocent.”

That earned another cough from Sean, who wisely ducked out of the room just before Aileen’s gaze fell on him again.

“You—” the spoon lashed out, stopping just short of Moira’s nose, “—tell your mates to come and collect you.”

“But, Ma—”

“Now.”

Moira grumbled and left the room.

“You—” the spoon tapped Michaela on the shoulder, “—find Robin.”

“Aye aye!” Michaela saluted and walked much more calmly toward the front of the house where no doubt Robin still waited for her.

“Ruby.”

Ruby clung to Amanda’s arm like she was waiting for a death sentence.

“Do you have your purse?”

“Yes’m.”

Aileen nodded sharply. “Good. Take it and go upstairs. Leo would like a word with you.”

Ruby’s eyes went wide. “Aw, crap.”

Aileen smiled, the expression utterly evil. “Indeed.”

Ruby darted a quick glance at Amanda before abandoning her to Aileen’s tender mercies.

Amanda sighed and sat at the kitchen table. “You’re hiding something from me.”

Aileen looked startled for a moment before dropping the spoon on the table. “What makes you say that?” She turned her back on Amanda and began making tea.

“The way you all look away from me when discussing things, like the fact that Michaela can’t fight.”

“Michaela has no business fighting anyone.” Aileen slammed a cabinet shut, obviously upset.

“All right.” Apparently Aileen Dunne bought into the stereotype that blondes couldn’t find the eleven when dialing 9-1-1. “How about the fact that Michaela’s eyes change color whenever she’s upset?” They’d gone from a lovely brown to gold more than once during the night. And not gold as in light brown, either. They’d been shinier than the 24-karat chain Amanda wore around her wrist.

“Did they?” Aileen seemed to shimmer for a second before handing Amanda her tea. “Are you sure about that?”

Amanda frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Well.” Aileen settled down with her own cup of tea and handed Amanda a homemade sugar cookie. “It was more than likely the light shining in her eyes. You were in a nightclub, yes?”

“I…suppose.” The more Amanda thought about it the more she realized she must have been seeing things. No one had metallic eye colors. That was impossible. “That must have been it.”

“What else have you been worried about, dear?” Aileen patted her hand.

“How Jaden has fangs.” Amanda remembered the flash of white fang just before Jaden kissed the side of Duncan’s neck. She’d ducked back out of the room before they saw her, both startled and not wanting to intrude on an intimate moment between the two.

“Fangs?” Aileen’s tinkling laughter warmed her, invited her to share in the joke.

She blinked and laughed. “Was he playing some kind of game with Duncan?”

“Yes, I believe so. It’s something of an inside joke between them.”

“Is Moira in on it?” Amanda smiled, thinking of the three of them. They seemed right somehow, like a triangle. It couldn’t exist without three.

“Oh, yes. She finds it highly amusing.” Aileen shook her head. “Can I ease your mind on anything else?”

Amanda shook her head. “Nope, I think that’s it.”

The back door flew open and Raven sauntered into Aileen Dunne’s cheerful kitchen. His thick-soled motorcycle boots squeaked on the tile as he skidded to a halt. “Um. Hi.”

Amanda blinked innocently. Something about the man made her want to tease him unmercifully. “Who
are
you again?”

Goth-boy looked annoyed before shooting her a wicked grin. “Raven Goodfellow.” He held out his hand. “And you’re Amanda Pierson, Ruby’s friend.”

“Yup.” Mesmerized by his sapphire eyes, she gave him what he wanted, shuddering as he kissed her palm. She never realized how badly she needed simple touch until he let her go. Her palm tingled as she cradled it to her chest.

“You have beautiful eyes.” He reached out again and cupped her cheek, his smile so soft for a moment the tough image he exuded faded away. “I’d like to paint you someday.”

“You’re an artist?” That explained a lot.

He nodded. “Not in glass, like Shane. I work in pencil, watercolor and oil.”

“That’s awesome.” Amanda had a lot of respect for artists. She couldn’t draw a stick figure, but she could design the theme for a party from three words written on a damp napkin by a drunken hippo.

And she had.

“Raven tilted his head, the thick band of red in his nearly black hair hiding his left eye. He studied her face as if he was memorizing every inch of it. “You would be my greatest work.”

“That’s not creepy at all,” Amanda murmured. No way was she letting this guy know he was getting to her.

His fingers lingered on her skin as he pulled away. “You’ll have to allow me to paint you.”

Amanda put on her most mindless expression. “It puts the lotion in the basket.”

Raven threw his head back and laughed. The sound was deep, rich, with just the right edge of darkness to it to send Amanda’s heart fluttering like a stupid teenage girl’s. “We’re going to get along very well.” He lifted her chin and caressed her lips with his fingertips. His eyes focused on her lips, his blue eyes darkening. “
Very
well.”

Amanda stood, removing herself from this dangerous man’s space. Geez, it was like he had a fuck-me-now aura she could barely resist. What the hell was wrong with her? She’d wanted men before, had slept with a few, but never like this. Never so badly her hands were shaking just because he spoke. She held up her hands when he moved to follow her. “Sit. Stay. Good goth-boy.”

The memory of that lethal grin seemed to follow her all the way to bed, where it then dominated all of her dreams.

Raven had walked into Aileen Dunne’s kitchen and nearly come unglued.

The Sidhe was rolling Amanda’s mind, and he didn’t like that one little bit.

If Raven was right, the roiling feelings of possession and protectiveness could only mean one thing. Amanda Pierson was his other half, the woman meant to be his. His truebond.

It seemed the Goodfellow luck was in full swing, because he’d found the woman of his dreams right in the middle of an assassination attempt on his life.

It didn’t get any better than this.

Not.

Raven watched Amanda leave the kitchen, her stride composed, her expression serene. When she was gone he settled at the kitchen table to warn away the matriarch of the Dunne clan. “Don’t do that again.”

“I have no choice, and you know it.” Aileen Dunne set a cup of tea at his elbow. “It’s better for her. Safer.” She ruffled his hair, and some of his ire diminished. Aileen made it difficult to be angry with her. She mothered everyone who came within her sphere of influence. “Believe me, I wish I could tell her who, and what, we are. She’s Ruby’s best friend, the sister of her heart. I’d protect her just as I do Ruby. And the best way to protect her is to keep her ignorant.”

Raven sipped the tea, smiling at the taste of cinnamon and apple. It was so…
homey
. In her own subtle way, Aileen did her best to make it clear that she accepted Raven into her home just as much as she did Robin. “There’s something about Amanda that draws me to her.”

“Oh?” Aileen’s tone was far less subtle than her tea. She sat across the table from him and reclaimed her own tea cup. “How so?”

Raven shrugged, uncertain how to explain himself and oddly embarrassed by the whole thing. “I saw her for the first time on Red’s monitors. She was on the flight here, reading a book, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. Then, when I saw her heading out tonight, I just wanted to stop her and…” No way could he tell Aileen about the caveman feelings he’d had.

She tilted her head, ignoring the way his words had trailed off. “Do you think she could be your bondmate?”

Bondmate. Raven rolled the word around in his head, tested the weight of it against the strange attraction he had for a woman so completely different from the one he’d thought he loved.

Amanda had already proven she wasn’t like Michaela. Where Michaela was all bubbling warmth and good cheer, Amanda was a risk-taker. She’d had no hesitation in taking on someone who’d wronged her friend, and she’d refused to back down when Aileen had gone hardcore Mom on her. And the way she’d bantered back with him, refusing the desire they both felt? Oh, yes. That had been a serious turn-on.

Her voice both soothed and inflamed him. Her scent filled him with a hunger he’d long thought dead to him. The forced matings with Titannia had driven him to the edge of insanity. Until he met Michaela, he’d thought his cock dead. It had twitched for the nurse, showed an interest he’d thanked the gods for, but it hadn’t gone full-mast until a certain blonde had appeared on Liam’s screen reading about cowboys.

Amanda’s gaze and daring smile had brought life back to his libido, and he’d barely met her. He wanted to bathe in her scent and bring her the shiniest toys he could find to make her smile.

Fuck. He wanted to goddamn
nest
, and if that wasn’t enough to tell him the truth then nothing ever would be.

Amanda was his truebond. She had to be. There was no other explanation.

Was there?

Raven had never thought to find himself blessed with a truebond. If what Aileen was hinting at was true, if Amanda really was his truebond, then Raven had more to be thankful for than simply his cock getting hard.

“How do I know?” He sipped the tea, unable to meet her gaze. For some reason he felt both embarrassed and cautiously optimistic.

“Hmm.” Aileen sat back, a small, nostalgic smile crossing her face. “When I met Sean, all I could see was him. When I caught his scent, I wanted it to become a part of mine so I could smell him whenever I wanted. And his laugh, oh, his laugh.” Aileen sighed happily. “Nothing could make the sun shine brighter than Sean Dunne’s laugh. The first time we kissed and I tasted him I knew. He was my truebond, the only one in the world who could complete me.”

Even in the Black Court they’d heard of the Malmayne-Joloun non-mating. Hell, because Aileen had followed her truebond and refused to bond with Duncan Malmayne, the entire Malmayne clan wound up falling to the Black. For the Black Court it was the coup of the century. Titannia had been ecstatic. She’d plucked one of the strongest White Court clans right out of Gloriana’s fingers, and she’d barely had to lift one of her own.

Of course, the fact that Duncan had upheld the marriage contract and truebonded with
Moira
Dunne, the direct descendent of Aileen, hadn’t stopped the Malmaynes’ fall. Instead it had been the tipping point. Leo, the closest to true-blooded Sidhe of Aileen’s children, truebonded with a human, Ruby, and refused to set her aside for a Malmayne. Shane, the eldest and the only one to be a true hybrid of both his Sidhe and leprechaun parents, had truebonded with another hybrid, Akane Russo. Of course, the Malmaynes hadn’t wanted someone of mixed blood in their precious bloodline, so Shane had never been a contender for mate.