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‘It’s fine,’ I said faintly. ‘It’s not his fault. It’s a lot to take in.’
‘We’ll make it safe,’ Greg promised her. ‘I’m calling some people. Jacob, guard Mr Barrett from the sky. Discreetly.’ Jacob nodded and strode out.
‘I’ll call Amber and sort out some protective runes,’ I said, and went into the relative privacy of my room at Rosie’s to ring the witch. ‘Hey, Amber, it’s Lucy.’
‘I know who it is,’ she answered brusquely. ‘I have caller ID.’
‘Right. I need a favour. My parents have been forcibly introduced to the Other and I need their house runed to the hilt. Money is no object.’
‘Give me the address,’ she demanded.
Tension drained out of my shoulders; she would help me. I rattled it off.
‘I’ll be there in two hours,’ she promised.
‘Thank you so much, Amber. And now onto more pleasant matters,’ I said. ‘Jess and Emory are getting married and Jess would love for you to come to her hen-do.’
There was a beat. ‘She would?’ Amber sounded surprised and rather gratified.
‘She specifically asked for you,’ I confirmed. ‘Which also got me thinking. I’d love to get her something special as a wedding gift – and what could be more special than the gift of speaking to Gato?’
‘That would be wonderful,’ she agreed.
‘Exactly. So I was thinking – with my piping skills and your witchcraft, do you think we could create some sort of amulet that could contain my piping magic? Something she could wear to speak to Gato?’
Amber was silent for a moment as she thought about it. ‘I’ve seen something like that in my family grimoire,’ she said. ‘I’ll have to see how much it would cost,’ she muttered, more to herself than me. ‘But from what I recall, it needs weeks of constant contact with a piper. Leave it with me and I’ll look into it. Text me the details of the hen-do.’ She rang off abruptly before I could even thank her.
Whilst the hen-do was on my mind, I reached out to the other people that Jess had listed and texted them the time, date and location. We’d hold it in Caernarfon Castle where there’d be plenty of space – and we’d be in the middle of the dragons’ stronghold. It would be as secure as Fort Knox, just as it needed to be if any of us were to relax and enjoy the night. Finally I texted Emory, outlined my plans and asked him to help keep it a surprise for Jess.
Okay, so my professional life was an absolute hot mess but my personal life was doing okay. I wasn’t letting my best friend down over her hen party, my parents were going to be safe, my brother was alive and my heart was full of swoony love for Greg. Things could definitely be worse on the personal front – though professionally I was sucking monkey balls.
With the attack on Ben and the arrival of the Domini into my life, the murder of Scott Larsden had taken a back seat. Were the Domini responsible for it? Was everything else a smokescreen to distract me from the truth? And then there was the possibility that I might have a Domini mole in my pack. I prayed that the rose-spying asshole was a Council member; I’d bet solid money on Aitken or Walker.
Things would have been so much easier if I could just pipe my enemies. The annoying thing was that if my enemies had my power, I knew they wouldn’t be as scrupulous as me. They’d rip into my mind like it was tissue paper.
Piping is not the way to defeat them, Esme said abruptly.
Then what is?
Strength. We are strong. They will see that and they will respect us.
I loved her enthusiasm and certainty; I had never met another female with such unshrinking self-belief. Every woman could do with being more Esme.
Before I’d learned that magic was real, that had been me: strong, independent, rocking it in a male-dominated field. Somewhere along the line my confidence had taken a battering. Who was I to lead? To rule? To be Queen? The real monarchy was trained from birth, tutored in world affairs, politics and diplomacy. My education, even though it had been excellent, now felt somewhat lacking.
I really needed some kind of mentor, but the problem was that most alphas were killed when someone else decided they could do a better job. It hadn’t always been that way – there were records of alphas retiring in old age but that had been centuries ago and they were all dead and gone.
‘I’ll take your mum home and make sure she’s secure,’ Greg offered. ‘I’m sure your dad will make his way there too.’
‘Thanks. Amber said she will swing by in a couple of hours to rune their home.’
Greg gave me a quick kiss, shouldered Mum’s bag and set off for my childhood home, leaving me with Ben, Tristan and Maxwell.
‘You need anything?’ Maxwell asked.
I shook my head. Fire elementals were fantastic when I had an enemy fronting up to me, but until I knew who my enemy was I’d hold them in reserve. ‘I’m okay for now, thanks, Maxwell.’ I paused. ‘How is Grandfather?’ I asked casually. When my grandfather had travelled back in time with me, he’d lost his fire elemental ability, leaving him like any other ordinary vampyr. Unlike any other vampyr, though, he was clan-less.
‘Not himself,’ Maxwell admitted. ‘I’ve never seen him like this. He’s usually indomitable.’
