Chapter 4
Chapter
Four
Ihated being right.
While the representative Caelan sent wasn't a child in the strictest definition of the word, he wasn't an adult either.
A shifter of about sixteen stood at the edge of the wards, his hands shoved in his pockets and a wary expression on his face. Several feet back, a female shifter waited, worry etched into the tightness of her jaw.
His mother most likely.
Caelan was a dick.
Rowan stepped up to the edge and stared at the teenager, his eyes flicking once to the woman before coming back to rest on him. “Name?”
“Je-Jensen,” the boy stuttered.
“Is that your mother?” Rowan jerked his head in the woman's direction.
“Y-yes.”
“She stays outside the wards.”
The woman stepped forward, her hand outstretched for her son.
Rowan jerked his gaze to her and slowly shook his head.
Empathy stretched through my heart. The woman was one of Caelan's people, but she was a mother first, and she had been sent to what her Lord considered enemy territory.
She had no idea how this Lord would treat her son once he came onto Keep lands.
Even though I knew Rowan would open a vein before he harmed a child, this woman didn't know him. She only knew the lands she lived on were in stasis, and her Lord was trapped, a trap set by the woman who now stood beside the enemy Lord.
Her hand trembled, but she dropped it, clenching her fists tightly against her thighs.
Jensen turned to look at his mother.
She forced a smile and nodded, dread glimmering in moist eyes. “Go ahead. Your Lord asks this of you.”
She looked away and met and held Rowan's gaze.
Most Lords would consider eye contact an insult, but Rowan wasn't like other Lords.
He inclined his head in acknowledgment to her worry and her son's bravery.
Rowan wasn't a full shifter and would never be like the others.
What he saw was a mother who loved her child and was forced to send her son into a potentially dangerous situation.
Rowan could have allowed the mother in, but word would get back to Caelan, and he would find a way to use Rowan's empathy against us. He wouldn't promise this woman anything, but he would ensure the child's safety.
I held my hand up and opened a small slice of the wards. “Enter,” I said quietly.
Jensen looked at me for the first time, fear and awe written all over his face. From the slight widening of his eyes, I knew he recognized me. I was the woman responsible for their Lord's plight.
But I finally didn't feel the urge to apologize. Caelan had made his bed. I was only making him lie down.
The young shifter hesitated, his throat working as he swallowed. He glanced once more at his mother, who gave him a small smile and a reassuring nod. He straightened his shoulders and walked onto Keep property.
I released my hold on the wards, allowing them to close. Rowan put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. He tensed, but when Rowan merely murmured something and led him toward the main house, Jensen relaxed just a hair.
“I’ll follow,” I said quietly, knowing he’d hear me.
“He will return shortly,” I said to the boy’s mother.
“You are Evie.”
I nodded. “And you are?”
“Sheila.” She made no move to come closer to the wards.
“You’ve raised a brave young man.”
Her eyes flashed. “He should not have to do this.”
“I’m aware. Did Caelan tell you why he could not go himself?”
Sheila’s lips tightened. “No, but there is a rumor you have confined him to Keep lands.”
I nodded. “The rumor is true.”
Silence fell between us. Sheila studied me for a long moment before her brow furrowed. “May I ask why?”
“The answer is too long and sordid,” I said with a half smile. “A more concise reason is Caelan tried to kill Rowan while on his lands.”
“The Lords have been in constant conflict since they began their power games.”
“Perhaps,” I allowed, “but I’d mated with Rowan before Caelan’s attempt. He knew and tried to kill him anyway.”
Sheila sucked in a breath.
“We did not allow him onto Keep lands. He worked with someone else to gain access and attacked Rowan when his back was turned.”
The shifter paled and shook her head. “He wouldn’t.”
“He did. Rowan would have died if I hadn’t realized what was happening.”
I allowed my words to sink in before continuing. “I was well within my rights to kill Caelan. Some think I should have. Instead, I gave him…options. Caelan knows what he must do before the hold on his lands eases.”
A dozen emotions crossed Sheila’s face before she spoke again. “What must he do?”
“He has two options. Caelan can make amends and broker a peace between us. If he does not wish to do this, he must find his mate.”
Anger flashed over Sheila’s features. “Finding a mate does not always happen.”
I allowed a flash of the Chimera to shine through my eyes. “Then he’d best be rehearsing his apology note then, shouldn’t he?”
I turned, but before I left, I couldn’t resist adding one more barb. “Rowan is not Caelan. He would never harm anyone’s child, even if they belonged to his enemy. Your son will be returned when his message is given.”
The wards were all but impenetrable after I’d gotten a hold of them after Dad released the lock on my power, but the space between my shoulders itched as I walked away.
“Wait!” Sheila called.
My footsteps slowed, and I turned.
“Will you spare us?” She wrung her hands together. “If you and Lord Caelan go to war, will you harm his people?”
A shiver of disgust wormed its way through me. How much war and strife had the shifters seen to ask me this question? How low had their enemies sunk?
“Have I ever harmed any of you? At any time? I was willing to marry your Lord, to give him a crown and bear his children. I boosted the health of his lands and gave him all that I was, only for him to throw it all back in my face. Even then, did I harm you?”
The woman stared at me until understanding flickered over her face.
Every woman knew the cost a wrong man could bring to their doorstep. Every woman knew war was only the answer when all else had failed. I never wanted this, but Caelan had brought war to my home, and I was only responding in kind.
Sheila nodded then, her anger washed away with realization. My battle had never been with them. It had always been a battle with myself and my demons until Caelan had involved Rowan.
When he’d done that, I was willing to wipe him and everything he loved off the face of the earth. If Rowan had not been there to bring me back to myself, I would have.
Now I only wanted Caelan to face what he’d done and try to broker some sort of peace between us. Rowan was still a Lord, and working with Caelan was part of the job. Even if I’d made him surrender his Lord title while all this was going on.
I’d made the possibility of Rowan and Caelan working together all but impossible.
I couldn’t bring myself to feel bad about doing so.
“Would you like some coffee or tea?” I asked.
Sheila blinked, opened her mouth and closed it before sighing. “Yes. I would. Coffee would be wonderful.”
I nodded. “I’ll send someone out.”
Moira, like Tess and Ash, had a key to the wards. She was the safest and deadliest person to send minus one of Rowan’s people, and I thought Sheila might feel more relaxed if someone neutral brought her coffee out.
Not that Moira was in any way, shape, or form neutral. She’d tear someone’s throat out if she thought they were looking at me sideways.
But Sheila didn’t know that, and Moira could be sophisticated as they came when she wanted to.
Not that she wanted to very often.
“Be nice to her,” I whispered. “Her son is alone on enemy land.”
Moira snorted. “Have you seen your husband? He and the boy are out on the deck playing checkers.”
I blinked. Sounded about right. “Of course he is.” With a snicker, I sent Moira out the door with a small tray of coffee with cream and sugar. Was I being too nice?
Psychological warfare meant you had to play with your enemies’ heads just a little. Even the slightest seed of doubt planted in one of Caelan’s people’s heads, and we might win the day.
Moira grinned and added a few fresh baked chocolate chip cookies from the mysterious shifter pastry chef who kept slipping in and out of our kitchen without getting caught. Even Rowan was mystified because they left behind delicious goods and left no scent behind.
I suspected Moira, but she’d denied being the culprit.
I also suspected she was lying. She stress baked, and Moira had been on a tear over Ethan for a few weeks now.
He’d done or said something to her she didn’t care for, and she refused to tell us what it was—only that he was a sonofabitch and she’d tear him apart next time she saw him.
But after that, delicious baked goods started showing up in our kitchen.
“Be careful,” I warned.
Moira rolled her eyes and sailed out the door.
I grabbed a handful of cookies and went to find Rowan, spotting him and Jensen hunched over a small table on the patio, both intent on a rowdy game of checkers.
Rowan was losing.
He looked up when he felt my presence and grinned when he saw what I was holding.
I handed over the loot, keeping two for myself and took the spot beside Rowan.
Jensen stiffened at my presence. I squashed my hurt and leaned forward to stare at the board.
“You’re losing, husband.”
Rowan let out a put upon sigh. “Best of three.”
A smile tugged at Jensen’s mouth. “Mom will worry if I’m not back soon.”
“Raincheck then?” Rowan asked.
“Maybe. If they let me come back.”
I doubted Caelan would. “What’s your favorite cookie?”
He glanced up. “Snickerdoodle.”
“Even in the summer?”
Another tug at his mouth. “Yes. Cinnamon has no season.”
Rowan chuckled. “I agree. Cinnamon in all its forms is something to behold. Unless it’s one of those fake cinnamon brooms you can taste in your mouth when you walk into the store.”
The teen grinned. “Mom hates those, too. They make her sneeze.”
I glanced at Rowan. Sadness glimmered in his eyes. He hated this as much as I did. Caelan using this boy to further his agenda was a shitty thing to do. He knew we wouldn’t harm Jensen, but he’d put the boy through this to make a point.
“Ha!” Jensen crowed, double jumping to take Rowan’s last two pieces on the board.
Rowan snorted. “I’ll be damned. I really am terrible at checkers.”
He wasn’t. Rowan kicked my ass all the time in both checkers and chess. When you looked at my mate, you wouldn’t see a scheming, manipulative male. You’d see a handsome and charming rogue who could talk you into just about anything, but you’d underestimate him.
Rowan, like most fae, played the long game. He never wanted to be a Lord and never wanted to hold this much power over people.
But doing so kept the people he loved safe, and so he’d stepped into the mantle of a Lord and had been doing it ever since.
He was good at strategy and mind games and staying two steps ahead of his enemy, but he also trusted too much. Far more than I ever had or would.
Maybe that meant he was a better person than me, but he hadn’t expected Caelan to come sailing through the air to put a knife in his back. And I had wondered all along.
Rowan and Jensen put the game away. When they finished, Rowan tossed Jensen one of the extra cookies. “Let’s hear the message, Jensen.”
All the tension came back to Jensen’s face and posture. He cleared his throat and straightened his posture, the cookies lying forgotten on his thigh.
“Lord Caelan wishes to meet Evangeline Quinn in person. He has a message he will share with no one else and has asked that she come alone and meet with him inside his Keep home.”
The bond between us burned with Rowan’s fury. I watched his eyes go from the bright hazel I loved into a molten pool of multicolored swirls.
Jensen swallowed hard and tried to press himself into the couch cushions. I put a hand on Rowan’s thigh and sent a pulse of love through the bond.
“Did he say anything else?” I asked.
Jensen licked his lips. “Umm. Just that he has set the meeting date for three days from now. He has granted you safe passage through his territory.”
Rowan snorted at that. I controlled Caelan’s territory right now. Caelan was merely a figurehead—one who couldn’t step one foot off the right path without suffering a grisly fate.
The only one who didn’t have full safe passage on his own lands was Caelan.
“Alright,” I said quietly. “Was there anything else, Jensen?”
The poor teenager was trembling with fear. “Just—” He licked his lips. “Just that if Evie refused, there would be consequences.”
Claws slid from Rowan’s fingers—thick, sharp claws that cut through the fabric of his athletic pants. I gave his thigh a gentle squeeze.
“Thank you for relaying his message to us.” I rose and reached for Rowan’s hand. “We’ll walk you back to your mother now.”
Jensen stood as well. “Umm. Do you have a message to take back?”
I smiled, though with the way Jensen shrank back, the gesture wasn’t as comforting as I thought. “No,” I said. “We will reach out to your Lord directly.”
Jensen’s gaze flicked back and forth between Rowan and me, possibly trying to figure out which one of us was the most dangerous.
Normally, I would have said me, but Rowan’s posture was tight, and the glow in his eyes had not faded. He was close to losing control.
I had dealt with enough of Caelan’s bullshit to know he was posturing. We both knew who had the upper hand here, and it wasn’t him.
“Come,” I said. “Let us walk you back to your mother.”
Jensen nodded and walked ahead of us, his shoulders tight and his head bowed.
I had a message for Caelan, alright. One I would delight in giving him very soon.