Scorched Fury: A SkinWalker Novel #5 (DarkWorld: SkinWalker) (7 page)

He gave a cool smile which seemed to drop the temperature in the room a few more degrees. I considered standing and bowing, but Tara didn't indicate that I should. So I didn't.

"Elan, Prince of the Winter Court, at your service." He gave a small bow. Light glinted off a diamond-carved clasp that held his long white coat at his left shoulder. The cold shimmer of the jewel matched the waves of ice that emanated from him. And despite the nice words I suspected he was very far from at my service. Probably the ice in his eyes. He studied me the way Sean looked at Ash.

Racist Fae.

"Nice to meet you, Elan." I fell silent, finding little to say in the face of his contempt. Probably the wrong move, because he studied me head to toe, his expression dismissive.

"My Queen. If you're done mixing with the rabble, you are needed upstairs. We are about to begin."

"As it happens, Elan, Kai is here about the-"

I touched her arm. "We do have to go Tara. But I promise we won't be gone long."

Tara's eyes shifted away from the snowy-haired fae to me. She frowned as she considered my words and then her eyes cleared, understanding the deeper meaning. She gave Elan a suspicious glance.

Then, to my relief, she gave a firm, regal, don't-try-to-change-my-mind nod. "Tell the council I'll be a bit late. I have an important errand to run."

Elan's pale blue eyes turned paler still, ice-chips now as the air frosted, and ice crept up the sides of the walls behind him. At his feet, frost covered the wool carpet, and crackled against the window beside me.

"My Queen, may I suggest that this is a very bad-"

"Elan." Her voice shut him up. "I will return in a while. The council should be satisfied that what I am attending to is of the utmost importance. I am not known for my frivolity."

Elan gave me a glance. "Very well. But I hope that should this creature be duping you, you will end her swiftly and return to your duties?"

I raised my eyebrows.
End me?

Tara laughed. "How easy that would be Elan, to end every creature who disrespected me or used me." She paused and watched his face. "Or lied to me."

So it was possible for the ice prince to go even whiter. His blue hair had turned into blade sharp shards and the tips of his collar points both hung lower with icicles.

"As you wish, my Queen." He bowed low, but as he rose he said, "I must assure you though that should you not return within the hour, I will be forced to send out the Royal Guard with orders to eliminate any and all threats to your safety, perceived or real."

He shifted his gaze to me. "Friend or not."

CHAPTER 8

"I
S
THAT
SO
?"
ASKED
T
ARA
,
HER
expression just as cold as the Fae's.

I hid my smile and watched the Ice Prince cringe as Tara took a step towards him.

When she spoke, her voice shivered with an echo that terrified even me. The powerful, Royal side of her that I'd never seen. "Please inform the Council to await my arrival. I will be back within the hour. Should I not return, then I would suggest you send out a search party for both the Panther Alpha and myself. Only one reason will impede my return, and that is if both our lives are in danger."

The Prince's face turned a few shades grayer, though his eyes darkened with something akin to hatred. "Yes, my lady." He bowed his head. "Please forgive me. My only concern is that of the safety of my future bride." He back-pedaled a few steps, then turned and left the room.

I raised both eyebrows and stared at Tara. "Future bride?" The words echoed around us, my horror impossibly loud. "Please don't tell me you're going to make babies with
him
?"

The future bride snorted, then glared at the empty threshold. "In his dreams." Then she sighed and met my eyes. "A marriage arranged by my mother when I was born."

I gave a shocked, choke. "Gracie did that? Why would she do such a thing? And where is she anyway?"

Tara opened her mouth to respond, her face bleak, as if drained of all emotion. Then she cleared her throat and her expression transformed, now calm and serene.

"So? What are you waiting for? Take me to the tree." She lifted her chin imperiously but the mischievous smile on her face spoiled the effect.

"I thought you could get there yourself?" I asked, grinning. Fae possessed the enviable ability to move great distances without being seen. Not entirely a jumper's ability, but they still moved with incredible speed and could cloak themselves in invisibility whenever they wished.

"I can, but I think it would be safer if we travelled together."

Before I could ask why, Mel materialized beside us. Tara blinked and smiled. The two women greeted each other, friends too.

Mel held out a hand, one to each of us. "We'd better be going. I'll drop you off at the tree, then I have an errand to run."

We both nodded and Mel jumped us to an alley a block from the Chicago Ash Tree.
 

We appeared, then used the shadows to scan the street for nosy passers-by. Mel disappeared after giving us a quick wave and a promise to be back in half an hour.

I was about to step into the street and Tara grabbed my arm and pulled me back. "I'm using a glamour to hide us both. I should've said before. I think it's the safest way."

"Good idea. You probably don't want people to see you here."

"Nothing gets by you, does it?"

We exited the safety of the alley, and cloaked by her glamor we crossed the road, passing a small group of college students sprawled on blankets on the grassy knoll beside the tree. Heading across lawn, we stepped around two couples picnicking before the tree. The Ash towered a few yards away, and you'd have to be blind not to see the condition of it.

"I don't think I would have believed you." Tara shook her head and sighed. "No, I wouldn't have wanted to believe you.

I frowned and looked at her, more because the sight of her was better than the sight of the dying tree. "Why wouldn't you want to believe me?"

"Because this." She nodded at the tree, placing hands on her hips she studied the roots. "
This
is a problem. "

"You don't say," I said dryly, folding my arms

"Shit," Tara said as she stared up into the branches.

"Language much," I said softly, but she wasn't listening.

"This is the reason I was called away all those weeks ago." Her voice echoed in my ears, an effect of the glamor kicking back the sounds we made.

I frowned. "You knew all those weeks ago that the tree was ailing?" What I didn't add was that she'd known and she'd done nothing about it.

"I was called away because
A
tree was dying."

"The Boston Ash?"

"I guess it no longer makes sense to keep this under wraps." Her sigh floated around us.

"You don't say," I said dryly.

Tara gave me a look that confirmed she felt bad about not revealing the truth sooner, but that she didn't regret it. She began to walk around the base of the tree, slowly inspecting each wound, each poisonous excretion. "It's exactly the same. Both trees are afflicted with the exact same disease."

I cleared my throat. "And your people still have no idea what the problem is?"

Tara shook her head. But she studied me with an odd look on her face. "What is it you know?" she asked.

"What I know is something that your people should have known weeks ago when they initially investigated." I shook my head and stared at her. "I don't understand why you don't know this. Unless of course they're keeping the truth from you. For whatever reason."

"Kai," said Tara, the warning clear in her voice. She was using her regal queen voice. Completely unnecessary.

"We had the black substance analyzed. Pieces of the bark, leaves and even the roots." I took a deep breath, my throat tightening. "The tree is poisoned."

"Poisoned? Poisoned with what?" asked Tara, her voice, volume and tone, a little bit higher, a little bit more frantic.
 

I pulled my phone from my pocket and swiped through my emails until I found the report. Handing it over to her, I waited while she read. 

When at last she returned the phone, the veins in her hand were tight and distended.

"Send me copies of those, please?" she asked softly.

"Consider them sent."

I watched her, staring off into the distance, her mind elsewhere and decided it was time to speak. "I'm a little worried about you, Tara. Why are your people keeping information from you?" My eyes narrowed as I studied her face even as she tilted her head away from me. "Something going on? Why are they keeping you out of the loop? Why don't they want you to know the truth behind the poison?"

Tara looked at me, head on now, as if she'd decided to face it. "The best reason is that someone within my court is guilty of poisoning the tree."

I gasped. "Don't you think that's a bit of a drastic assumption? Maybe they're concerned for your safety. Maybe whoever is killing the tree is after you as well." I was grasping at straws, and I sounded like it too, but for some reason as the words left my mouth I realized that they were a possibility.

Tara's wide eyes said she was on the same wavelength.

She began to pace. "I sent everything out weeks ago to be analyzed. The results came back within a few days. The lab assured me that it was just a phase, that the tree was purging toxins that had built up over the years. I should have understood then what was going on. That it was just a bunch of bullshit."

"You really think they would do this deliberately?" I asked, side-stepping a human couple pushing an adorable gray-eyed baby in a stroller. The baby gurgled as I passed, keeping her eyes on me. If I ever doubted that babies could see through the glamor, then in that moment I was convinced.

"I'm not sure. It's entirely possible especially since . . ." The baby laughed louder as she stared at Tara. I could just image what my Fae friend would like to a human eye, all glowing and gold dust.

"Tara? Maybe it's time to tell me what's going on?" I suggested, mentally crossing my fingers that I didn't have to find creative ways to get the information out of her.

She turned and looked at me, her face filled with worry. "I'm not sure."

"Don't you trust me?" Hurt seared like an iron fresh from the forge.

Beside us, the mother lifted the baby from the stroller, curious what had gotten the kid so excited.

"It's not about trust," Tara said softly as she curled a long lock of hair around her ear. "It's got more to do with protecting the people around me, than with keeping things from you."

"Okay." I spoke with a patient tone, although I didn't have much of it left. "But I can look after myself, as you well know. And if it means protecting
you
from danger then I want to know. I deserve to know."

Tara sighed, and lost the glamor for a brief moment. The baby gurgled. The mother squeaked, her eyes widening at the sight of us. I knew she'd be seeing a shimmering image, almost like a mirage before we solidified.

Thankfully, Tara drew the glamor around us again and we hurried away. A glance backward confirmed the baby's big eyes were still trained on us while the mother stared blindly around her as if demons were about to pounce.

If she only knew.

"Sheesh. That was careless," Tara grumbled as we hurried back to the alley.

"And yet perfectly understandable. With everything going on I have no idea how you're keeping it together." I sent a text to Mel as we walked, and she replied almost immediately. We had fifteen minutes. "So now, tell me what is Elan's problem. Apart from the fact that he likes ending Walkers." I gave a dry smile.

"Elan is . . . complicated."

I pursed my lips. "Not so complicated. He's got the hots for you, that much is obvious. But he's conflicted because he would prefer that
his
ass was on the throne and not yours."

Tara snorted. "Again, you don't miss much do you?" She sighed and leaned against the sun-warmed brick. Now, close to twilight, the warmth was beginning to recede as we stared at the tree in the distance, it's height still making it easily visible above the buildings along the street. A dark pall hung over the Ash, as if the shadows of the underworld were already there to claim it.

I must be upset if my imagination was becoming so melodramatic.

Tara cleared her throat. "We were called back to Allira because the council refused to allow me to choose any longer. They'd been patient with me for long enough apparently, and Gracie's coddling was no longer to be tolerated."

"Where is Gracie, by the way?" I grinned as I asked.

Tara let out a silent breath. "Gracie is dead."

My throat closed as I stared at her, stunned. Unexpected and unwanted news. "What?" The word came out a hiss of air.

After a few moments, I was able to ask, "How?"

Tara watched me, her eyes a green so dark it bled black. "Sometimes bargaining chips end up losing their value."

My ears began to ring."They killed your mother?" Righteous fury filled me, making me want to go right back to Boston and rip all of their throats out one by one. "I never knew the Fae held their royalty in so little regard as to just kill them off when they wished." My limbs shook with anger.