Chapter 41 #2
My aim was quivering, my jaguar heart pounding with the hackle-raising trepidation that was the closest thing to fear my animal could feel.
It was an unusual sensation. One I hadn’t felt since my childhood.
Everyone seemed scared shitless over what this fucking bear monster might do.
Aaron was a bear shifter, right? Was this him! ?
“You take one more step closer to my mate,” Hunter shouted at the bear, “I’m coming for your eyes. And your fucking balls too.”
“No. Don’t you dare. And don’t shout, please. Don’t make him angrier.” Ceci stepped toward the beast gingerly, her tone feathery. “Hey, over here.”
With surprising speed for such a big fucker, it swung round to see Ceci in her bare feet—the high heels discarded so she could run. Her slender arms outstretched, beckoning. “Come here. It’s okay.” She knelt and repeated the soothing mantra.
It lumbered toward her, lying on its belly like a tabby cat.
Stroking the giant, she crooned her reassurances, the words a melodic lullaby that rapidly calmed the creature resting its head at her feet.
“There, it’s okay, no need to be angry. You did such a good job.
Saved Serenity. Now calm, calm. There you go, close your eyes.
” She continued to soothe him. “It’s all over now. I’m so proud of you.”
The bear started to shift back into—I’d guessed it—Aaron, that softly spoken professor I’d met at the funeral. Me, Hunter, and Seb all ran to Serenity, but Hunter shoved to the forefront, pulling her into his arms. “I can take it from here,” he told the prince.
Osric obliged, standing to yank the dirtbag Fae up onto his feet. “So, you’re the traitorous bastard behind the worst night of my life.”
Wham! Prince Osric dropped that flame-haired nut back to his knees with an impressive headbutt. Not exactly regal. But justified.
The guy who’d almost become that bear’s next morning dump looked to me, making no attempt to defend himself as Osric hammered two punches into his face. The blows cracked hard. This prince could fucking swing.
“Please, Detective, you can’t let him beat me senseless. I don’t want to fight.” He held up his arms higher, palms open. “Please, this is lawlessness. I surrender.”
A fogginess wrapped around my mind. My jaguar raked at my insides, telling me to not listen, to wake. “This is lawlessness. Your Highness, he surrenders. We should let him—”
Smack! The prince elbowed him in the face. “Enough with your rancid enchantments.”
I shook my head. The fog cleared, and a mild headache thumped in my temples. Was that what he’d done to Serenity and Seb?
Everyone was talking at once. Seb took out his phone, turning on the light bringing a broad and solid radius of illumination to the situation.
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you? Did he touch you?” I asked Serenity, whose eyes were fully open now.
Hunter gently eased her onto her feet, steadying her. “I feel a bit sick, but I’m okay,” she said weakly. “I don’t remember much. I just know we danced, and it felt like a dream.”
“You see? We only danced. This is a huge misunderstanding. We came to the darker part of the gardens to see the stars. I didn’t want to. She was drunk. She dragged me here.”
That was one hundred percent bullshit. And now that I could see his eyes more clearly under the light, no lie was getting past me. “Tell it to the judge. We’re going back to the hotel. You’re under arrest. And if you try running, I’ll empty my gun into your head. Do we understand each—”
“He’s too dangerous to live, Dagger.” The prince’s stony voice dripped out in slow, dangerous snarls.
His face was masked in contempt as he glared at his Fae subject.
“I’m sure he’s part of the illegal magic sales I told you about.
And I know he gave power to the killer who almost murdered Ceci.
He’s a traitor to my people. Fae are never allowed to share their gifts with outsiders, and certainly not for ill will. He deserves execution.”
“He’s got to be the guy Conrad was talking about!” Hunter pulled Serenity closer to his chest and bared his teeth at me. “Make him talk, Dagger.”
“He’s got to face justice, but not like this.” The professor was butt naked, shivering, as Ceci rubbed his arms and shoulders. “From the courts.”
A crescendo of opinions filled the phone-lit orchard.
It wasn’t clear what he’d been planning, so I had little probable cause.
Just hearsay from the prince. And anyway, this mind-fucking douche was worth a lot more to me alive than dead right now.
I’d seen the terror the professor’s grizzly struck in him.
If I could get him alone in an interrogation room with me and Teddy Bear, maybe I could get him to talk.
I could figure out the connection between him and the Temple and the drug dealing.
And why the hell he’d lured Serenity out here.
I’d caused quite a stir back in the hotel. I could still hear a ruckus of rushing footsteps and confused, garbled cries. We didn’t have much time alone, I wagered.
“Seb, give the professor your jacket to cover his cock. You, Fae fuckwad, on your feet.”
When my handcuffs came out, Hunter scoffed. “You only go by the book when it fucking suits you!” His voice still rasped like the animal within. “Where’s the rogue cop drug dealers run scared from? Make him talk! He’s working for Conrad!”
“It doesn’t work that way, Hunter. He’s unarmed, he’s surrendered.”
The redhead stumbled toward me, and I grabbed him by his neck to straighten him, squeezing much harder than needed. “And you’ve got plenty to tell me, don’t you?”
He clutched his swollen face. “I’ll tell you whatever you need to know, Detective. And thank you, thank you.” His voice softened, the words slithering into my ear. The fuzziness to my thoughts returned, surging back and forth. “You know, the prince brutalized me. He should be arrested too.”
My jaguar spiked a claw into my guts that shook me awake.
Crack! I walloped him with a left jab, sinking him to the ground like a sack of rotten potatoes and opening a cut beneath his eye.
Damn. Shouldn’t have done that. But he was using his powers on me again. It was self-preservation.
I dragged him back to his feet. “I’ll see you’re in a jumpsuit and shackles soon enough. Now quit with the magic, or I’ll hand you over to your prince.”
That wasn’t enough for Hunter. “He’ll use his magic and lawyer his way out if you take him in. Give him to me, Dagger. I’m not fucking around here. I’ll make him tell me—”
Floodlights clanked and dazzled, bathing the whole orchard in a painful flare.
A battalion of cops surged in, shotguns and sidearms drawn, along with Bryce and the grizzly fuck-ups.
Bryce’s wide eyes sought out Serenity as he hovered just inside the protective security ring.
His shoulders loosened in relief after a quick scan of her body.
A bunch of rubbernecking guests followed.
Gruffly nudging his way through the crowd to stand at the front was Chief Morgan.
Broad and balding with a side serving of stress wrinkles, he took in the scene and sighed hard.
“Pierce, please elaborate. And by God, make it good.”
“Sorry for spoiling the party, sir, but this Fae’s under arrest. I suspect he’s been abusing ancient Fae magic for criminal—”
“You suspect? Do you have hard evidence?”
Not really…
The Fae swayed forward, sagging in my hold and reaching out a supplicating palm to the chief. “Exactly! What charge? What have I done? Chief Morgan, please, this is preposterous, inhumane. Please, look at my face. I’ve been tortured. He has a gun in my back even as we speak.”
“Pierce, put your piece away.”
“But sir, I—”
“You waved that thing around in the hotel on your way out here, scared people half to death. Now put it away, goddammit, or you’re suspended!”
I holstered my Colt, and the Fae effortlessly wrenched free of my grip. With considerable force. Fucking weasel was playing the damsel in distress. And why hadn’t he used any ethereal armor or other magical weapons to protect himself? I got the overwhelming feeling I was a pawn on a chess board.
The Fae walked forward toward the crowd, nursing his bruises for all to see. The chief looked close, scrutinizing and tutting. “Who did that to you, Mr. Winterborn? Pierce, was that you?”
The prince opened his mouth, but I cut in.
There was no point in both of us getting in the shit.
“It was. But with good reason. As I say, I felt the influence of magic. A compulsion. Prince Osric assures me that’s this Fae’s power.
I warned him to stop once. It was necessary force to remain clearheaded. ”
“Liar!” The redheaded Fae, who was apparently called Winterborn, shouted at the top of his voice, scowling hard at me. Full of renewed bravery now he had Morgan’s attention. “They all assaulted me, this so-called professor turned into a monster and tried to bloody eat me!”
The prof shook his head, his voice shaky as Ceci wrapped the navy tux jacket firmer, rubbing his arms to warm him.
“That’s not what happened. He was taking Miss Dawson, the lady in the rose dress, to the bottom of this place.
I think I saw two figures waiting in the darkness, maybe a glimpse of red eyes. ”
Vamps. It didn’t take Sherlock Holmes to figure out which ones either. Fuck.
But there was no evidence to hand to my chief, of course. Apart from the hotel side, the entire high-walled orchard—stretching a good half mile to the bottom—was empty except for grass and apple trees.
The chief approached Serenity with a softened affect. “Young lady, did Mr. Winterborn harm you or… violate your person in any way?”
She sighed, still rubbing her eyes. “Not in a way I can prove. I think he messed with my mind, but it’s all a blur.”
Morgan sighed. “Mr. Winterborn, you have the department’s apology for the premature detainment and your injures”—he raised a finger when the Fae opened his mouth to gush—“but if another case of suspected unconsented compulsion magic ever crosses my desk again with your name on it, I’ll make something stick.
Consider this an official warning.” He smoothed his tie, and a sour expression pulled on his face.
“Of course, I’m obliged to ask if you wish to file charges against Detective Pierce and this other gentleman”—he pointed to Aaron who was now getting helped to his feet by Prince Osric and Seb—“for the violence you’ve suffered? ”
The Fae’s smile was smug and words oily as he paused, staring, before clearing his throat, brushing off his jacket and saying in a genteel voice, “No, that won’t be necessary.
” His eyes glinted. “I am, as anyone who knows me well will tell you, a very forgiving and peaceful person, and we all make mistakes, from time to time. I’m just glad it’s all over.
” He wagged his finger across my friends’ side of the orchard.
“Just let this be a lesson to you all about overreacting to innocent activities. Next time, I may have to press full charges.”
Ah man, that fucking news reporter, the ice bitch, came shoving through the crowd. She coddled and comforted the fire-haired fuck stick. “My love, what have they done to you? Your face, you’ve been mauled.”
“Just an incident with a local cop.” Winterborn’s eyes went to me.
Scowling at me, her eyes iced over. “When he’s elected governor next fall, we’ll be putting an end to police brutality. How dare you, you grubby little street grunt!”
Bryce’s pained face appeared from behind his security team.
“If he’s elected governor next fall,” he countered calmly.
“Assumption makes a fool of many. Now, it’s cold out here, let’s make our way back to the hotel.
Mr. Winterborn, you’re no longer welcome on any of my properties.
I’d like you to leave immediately. You’ll have your ticket money refunded. Good evening, sir.”
“He’s my date.” The blond from TV protested.
“Doesn’t matter.”
She shut her hole, but her stare at Bryce was icy.
The night was ruined now. Bryce and his team escorted us back, with Serenity now cradled against Hunter in a bridal carry. My twin was steaming, casting irritated, accusatory glances at me for not letting him pummel her would-be kidnapper.
I’d have told him to stuff it… if I wasn’t so rattled by all the threats coming out of the woodwork. And how close this newest one had come to taking Serenity.