Chapter 13 Saxon
“UH. DOES YOUR aunt live here?” Danny asked. “She doesn’t look happy to see us.”
I heard the rush of my own blood, drumming through my veins. Instinctively, I shielded Danny. I searched for a threat. I found nothing. “She definitely does not live here.” I didn’t want to leave Danny alone, but also didn’t want him near my aunt. “Stay here.”
I moved quickly to reach her. “Aunt. Why are you here?”
She leveled me with a sharp look. “We must talk.”
She was here in this place that had been magical for Danny. Contaminating it. “I’m busy.”
Her expression grew even sharper. “You are cavorting with a human. So whatever you’re doing can wait.”
What little patience I had was gone. “Do not speak of my companion like that.”
“Saxon. I implore you. You are needed in our territory. I cannot overemphasize the urgency of this matter.”
“If it’s so important, then tell me what’s going on.”
“Now is not the place. Go home. Speak to your mother.”
The place that my mother lived wasn’t home. Nothing about my mother represented home in any way. But that was neither here nor there.
My aunt’s fingers curled into her palm. That kind of tic wouldn”t mean much for most people. But for my aunt, a Fae who was even older and even more self-composed than my mother, it was colossal.
In that case, I would find out what they wanted. If the demons were back, I’d be forced to act. The demons superseded whatever I might want for myself. “I’ll be back in New York in twelve hours. She can come to the club if she wants to see me.” I sure as hell wasn’t going to concede enough to visit her property.
Was it the demons? If it was, it didn’t make sense for my aunt to cover it up. If it was an emergency, a text or a phone call would have sufficed.
If it wasn’t an emergency, then I wasn’t going to cut Danny’s trip short. I turned away from my aunt and went back to my omega. “Danny. I’m sorry for the interruption.”
“Do we need to go home? Is something wrong?”
“Everything she said was cryptic. But no. We’re not leaving.” I kissed him on the top of his head.
He tucked his hand into mine. “Let’s go. I’ve seen so much already.” He lifted his hand to trace over my forehead. “And you look worried.”
He was right. My aunt was just as frustrated with my lack of interest in leading the Fae as my mother was. Was this visit a ploy to manipulate me? “I’m sorry to cut your trip short.” I let my hand linger on his lower back. “I was having such a good time too.”
“So was I. But you said we could come back one day, so don’t worry.”
With great reluctance, I dragged Danny to the car. The driver took us to the hotel, then to the airport.
The jetlag caught up with him, and he slept all the way back. I did my best to keep my anger at a low boil. The Fae knew I wanted out. They should be finding my replacement, not dragging me back in.
I shook Danny awake as Crestfire Hill came into view. “I’ll take you home first.”
“No. I”ll go with you.”
“I’m going to the club.” I’d make my mother meet me there. I was not going to set foot on her land. Not today.
“I know.”
“Danny, you don’t want to be there. You were quite emphatic.”
“I’d like to see it.”
I could tell that he was compromising what he was comfortable with, for me. I wasn’t sure if it was intuition on my part, or the way he fixed his jaw in place while he said he wanted to come. I couldn’t let him change his values for me. I was a Fae. He should not trust me. “Why?” I asked.
“You’ve looked through every one of my textbooks. You’ve sat on the phone and listened to my ideas about my research papers, and you helped me brainstorm thesis ideas for my future master’s degree. You took me on the trip of a lifetime to England. The least I can do is visit the club that you own.”
“It’s not the same.” Talking about British classics was no hardship for me. In some ways, those books were much more familiar to me than the current bestsellers. Listening to Danny talk about his passion was enjoyable. It caused me absolutely no distress. I doubted he could say the same about the prospect of visiting my club.
But I wasn’t going to try to control him. I did want him there. I wanted to show him off, and lay claim to him. I pictured him by my side; he was my sugar baby, and I wanted people to know it.
“I should put on a new outfit,” he said.
I’d had a personal shopper pick up a few things for him in London, with his permission. He hadn’t even gotten to try them on yet. He got up and went into the bathroom to change.
“Wow,” I said, blinking at him. Danny was stunning at all times, whether he was completely naked or whether he was wearing his jeans and university sweater. But this outfit made him stand out. The black trousers had been a slim cut already, and the tailor had made them an even better fit, just from Danny’s measurements. The charcoal gray pullover hugged his lithe frame, showing off his lean muscles and all his masculine angles. I had to tuck my hands into my pockets to keep from stripping him immediately.
“I look okay for your club?”
“Sweetheart, there is no one you need to impress. But in any case, you are extraordinarily good looking, both in those clothes and out of them.”
His blush made it all the harder to keep my hands to myself. After we left the airport, we stopped at a coffee shop and he loaded up on caffeine. Then we headed to the Silver Moon Exchange.
As we made our way to the front doors, a bear shifter that I’d seen a few times before paused, looking Danny up and down. “Bringing in some new blood, boss?”
Danny stiffened, and a growl ripped from my chest. “Danny is my guest here. Do not insult him.”
“Oh hell, boss. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any disrespect.” He nodded in Danny’s direction. “Sorry for being forward.”
“It’s not a problem,” Danny said. He even gave the bear shifter a small smile.
When I’d wanted Danny to visit the club, I’d only thought of my own pride. I hadn’t thought of what being viewed as a sugar baby might do to him. How it might harm him. I pulled him into the front storeroom. Only I had the key. “Do you need to leave?” I asked. Fuck my mother and whatever she wanted. Danny came first.
“No. I’m fine, really. For some reason I can tell he didn’t mean any harm.”
“Some of the shifters are more refined than others,” I said, not able to keep the grumble from my voice. “Some of the bears live in the wilderness, and only come into town every few months.”
“He thought you were going to rip his head off.”
“Maybe I should.”
“He backed off.”
“He had better.”
Danny leaned into me, letting his omega scent fill the small room. “I’m fine,” he said.
I didn’t want him to have to placate me, so I pulled him back out into the main hallway. I introduced Danny to the front of house staff, making sure to keep my arm around his slender waist. I did not want any other members to get the wrong idea, and think he was available.
I showed him the dining room with vampires, and the ones with wolf shifters, since he was familiar with those types of Alphas, but we skipped the other rooms. I didn’t think he needed to see people writhing against each other on the dance floor. Haven had enjoyed it quite a bit, but I couldn’t imagine Danny wanting to drag me out there and gyrate to loud, pulsating music.
“It’s really nice,” Danny said, and I could tell that he meant that, even though I was well-aware of his apprehension.
“Here’s my office,” I said.
My brother was inside, waiting for me. His eyes flicked to Danny.
“This is my brother Simon,” I said. “And this is Danny.”
“Nice to meet you,” Danny said. He looked up at me. “I’ll go read in the courtyard while you two talk.” He held up one of the books he got in London.
I wanted to argue, but he didn’t need to hear whatever my brother had to say. “Where’s mother?” I asked.
“She sent me,” Simon said.
Hmm. She sent Simon, even though she’d been adamant that he wasn’t qualified to take over. I’d asked her, time and time again, to make him the heir. She’d refused.
“He’s too soft,” she’d said. “You know that.”
The implication was that I wasn’t soft at all. And I wasn’t. I’d been hard, and I’d been cruel. Ruthless. Vicious. Uncompromising. Things I didn’t want to be anymore.
As soon as he was gone, I pulled up the surveillance feed for the courtyard. I didn’t want anyone hitting on him. I radioed one of my guards. “Keep all Alphas away from the omega on the bench. The one with the book. He’s mine.” Once I was satisfied, I turned to Simon. “Speak.”
“You’ve got to come back,” Simon said. “We need you.”
“Tell me what’s going on.”
He leaned back and propped his hip on my desk. He was trying to look casual, but it had to sting that they were treating him like an errand boy. “They didn’t tell me.”
“So they’re playing games again.”
“No,” he said. “That’s not it. They need you.”
“You never hold them responsible.” I sighed. I shouldn’t expect so much from him. He wasn’t even thirty years old yet. “I’m no different than any of them. Or you.”
“Saxon, come on.” He left his spot by my desk to pace. “You’re more powerful. You”re good at strategy and fighting.”
I don’t want to spend the rest of my life fighting. Demons? Sure. But I didn’t want to kill others. They were trying to rope me back in to be their prize mercenary, a killer who’d jump into action as soon as they said my name. “No. I am going to officially declare myself independent.”
If I did that, it would formally sever my ties to the Fae clan. I would no longer be allowed to act as the heir. My mother would never speak to me again. I would never have access to their resources, besides the money I’d inherited. That was mine to keep. I wouldn’t have their tactical backup either, if I needed it. A drastic measure, but necessary.
My brother’s step faltered. “You can’t.”
“I can. Watch me.”
“Saxon, please.” He stopped moving and faced me. “Don’t leave us in the lurch. It’s not just feral shifters and rogue mages.”
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t know. I told you, they haven’t told me anything. What if it is demons? Possibly from another dimension.”
“Now you’re just speculating.” This was a classic tactic from my mother. Manipulation. She couldn’t affect me now that I’d refused to be her pet warrior, so she brought my brother in. “You came up with this to bully me into coming back. Mother didn’t get her way. Our Aunt didn’t get her way. So they said, “I know. Go act scared in front of Saxon. Act like you think the demons are back. He won’t say no. He always does what he’s told.”
“That is not true.”
“Little brother, I love you.” I took him by the shoulders and peered into his light green eyes “But the Fae do not love anyone. Do not fall into the same trap that I did.”
His mouth tightened. “I have no choice.”
“You do not have to do their bidding.”
“I do.”
It was true that my brother did not have my power. If they ever named him heir, it would put him at risk. But he could learn. If they’d only invest in training him. I grabbed him and held him to me, hugging him tightly in a way I hadn’t since he was very small. “Be careful.”
***
I found Danny outside in the courtyard, perched on a bench under a blossoming cherry tree, intently reading his book. A soft smile lit up his face when he saw me.
He was innocent. And fragile. And I’d just dragged him into my world. I didn’t regret bringing him to the Silver Moon Exchange. I would never be ashamed of my club, even if it wasn’t to everyone’s taste. The problem was that I’d brought him into my life. The Fae part of my life.
“I shouldn’t have brought you here,” I said. “It was wrong of me.” I had to end our relationship. I had no choice.
He closed his book “What do you mean?”
“I’ve just exposed you. To all of this. I have spent the last few years doing my best to escape it. And now I’ve possibly put you in danger.”
He gripped the book in his hands. “How am I in danger?”
“The Fae know that we’re dating. That means anyone could know.”
He stood up, brows drawing together in a frown. “But it’s a contractual agreement. They won’t think I matter.”
Goddammit. If you only knew how wrong you were, Danny. But that was the story – he was my sugar baby. I wasn’t supposed to have feelings for him. Why did he have to be so rational? “That doesn”t matter. My connection to you can be exploited. Used.”
“I’m sure you’re right. But I’m not scared.”
“You should be.”
He laid his book down on the bench and took my hands into his small ones. “Saxon.”
I couldn’t let him talk me out of this. “Danny. I know you’ve been through hell. Hell at the hands of your own family. But that is nothing compared to what a Fae could do to you. This is over.”
“What?” He pulled his hands from mine. “You can’t end this.”
“We don’t have a contract,” I said.
His sweet scent turned to bitter caramel. Fuck. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt him. My family was going to escalate this issue. The Fae didn’t back down. I refused to let Danny be caught in the crossfire. I clasped my hands behind my back and breathed in. I let the callous Fae part of me take over as I cast an imperious gaze around my courtyard. “Do I need to remind you that I can do whatever I want? You’ll get your money. That’s what you were here for right?”
My throat stung with grief even as I said the words. I was accustomed to cutting deep, to peeling back the armor and ripping out an opponent’s throat. But Danny wasn’t an opponent. And he wasn’t a cutthroat Fae. He was sweet, and pure and he didn’t deserve to be treated like this.
His big brown eyes filled with tears. “I thought you were different.” He turned and walked away, leaving his book on the bench.