I gathered he approved, but why that would be, I didn’t know. He’d just proven his desire to control me. I couldn’t stop the hunt he demanded. He knew this. We both did. So, why be happy that I was more than what they had thought?

  Because he wanted to use me.

  I’d make his life a living hell before I gave him more of myself.

  The Dark Shadow purred. She liked that idea.

  I sent my Light out, seeking, searching, and found his Dark. Hello, Fairy. And then I wrapped my light around it and tugged.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” he said, and the chiming started.

  I tugged harder. He tugged back.

  “This is a waste of time,” he pointed out, reasonably.

  “Time moves slower here than back on Earth. I’ve got enough to spare.”

  “Not always. And time here is relevant now. We must catch these spies.”

  “Or what?” Why was he so keen to help Sofiq? He could challenge her, I was sure. She certainly knew he was up to something; she didn’t trust him if that scene in the throne room was anything to go by.

  Just what was Aliath up to?

  “Enough!” he said, and threw his back into it, pulling his Dark back and attacking my Light.

  I could have let him; it would have hurt less. But the demanding fairy before me needed to learn a lesson.

  Using me would cost.

  Lucinda once told me that Light would always triumph over the Dark. You only had to believe. I hadn’t. How could I? I hadn’t even wanted to be what I was, and then I was so Dark it seemed an impossibility. But I’m not only vampyre, and although Sofiq chose to cut the part of me off that is all Light, she hadn’t stolen it; maybe she couldn’t have even if she’d tried. She’d just moved it. Given it to someone else.

  But my Dark Shadow was all vampyre. And a vampyre’s number one motto was to survive at all costs.

  So, the Dark Shadow released all of my Light. Every single last bit of it. Every drop. Every spark. Every hot, little cinder. She released it all, and as she did, I felt something shift inside. Something change or click into place, it was hard to tell because Aliath was fighting.

  But I thought we might just have this.

  Aliath staggered. His face momentarily showed shock. And then he gritted his teeth and doubled his efforts.

  I couldn’t win. Not completely. I knew that. I’d figured out that much earlier. Aliath was more than his Dark. But I could offer a good fight. I pulled on reserves I didn’t even know I had and punched out.

  And then Aliath started to feed on my courage.

  The Dark Shadow raged inside. She pounded on the cage that held her. She demanded I let her fully out. I almost did. She would have caused all manner of problems for Aliath. But she also would have caused all manner of problems for us.

  I gathered myself and then launched into a spin; slipping the silver dagger out of my boot, registering dimly that I could touch it again without feeling pain and having my skin burn. And then I let the dagger fly. It hit a wall of fairy power, making the cave shudder and rocks fall down. And then we were outside, and Light lit up the night sky, letting anyone who wanted to know that I was here.

  Damn it! I pulled my Light back immediately and leaned my hands on my knees, panting and glaring at Aliath.

  He smiled smugly at me.

  “That was cheating,” I growled.

  “Yes,” he said. “Be thankful I had to resort to it to win this round.”

  I let out a little breath, almost a laugh, and stood up. He’d admitted how close to losing he’d just been. He supposedly couldn’t lie. But still, I couldn’t trust that he hadn’t let me know that little factoid for an underhanded reason.

  Never trust a fairy. I certainly didn’t.

  My breathing stopped. My heartbeat ceased. I stared at him, and he stared at me.

  “We’re wasting time,” he said. “Days are passing on your world. Do you wish to spend them fighting?”

  “Kind of,” I said, making him smile.

  “Hundr,” he murmured. “You are such a delightful surprise.”

  Again with the reveals? I shook my head.

  “Let’s do this,” I announced.

  “Finally,” he said dryly.

  “Don’t push your luck, fairy.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it. Ljós alone knows how long you’d delay to make your point.”

  “I wasn’t delaying,” I said, heading toward what I gathered was the border between Dökkálfa and its neighbour. “I was teaching you a lesson.”

  “I am over six hundred years old. What could you possibly teach me?”

  “Humility?” I offered.

  He stared at me. “What is that?”

  I stopped walking and started laughing instead.

  “You’re not joking, are you?” I finally asked.

  He looked at me, a twinkle in his eye. “I’m not answering that.”

  Well, fuck-a-fluffy-duck, the fairy had a sense of humour. And fighting me had set it off.

  That couldn’t be a good thing.

  And then I smelled it; the scent of burnt peaches on the air.

  “Got them,” the Dark Shadow and I said as one.

  “Let the hunt begin,” Aliath offered.

  For once, I agreed with the man. Fairy. Whatever.

  This was what we had been created for.

  The Dark Shadow purred.

  I smiled.

  We hunted.

  Later I’d worry about the power the fairy had over me. Later I’d worry about what he and others like him wanted. Jett for one. Gregor for another. Two very dangerous vampires. Two very worthy opponents.

  For now, though, I had fairies to hunt.

  Sometimes, it was good to be me.

  16

  Shaken

  “What are you going to do with them?” I asked Aliath, staring at the last fairy spy inside the containment field.

  It had taken us three days to hunt them down. Over lush fields of gold grass that tinkled as we walked through it, between tall ebony trunked trees whose canopy of leaves were lost to the clouds above us, and across glistening ice-blue rivers teeming with iridescent fish that danced and dived beneath the surface, making me want to dance and dive with them.

  I was tired, hungry, and all giving-a-fuck out.

  But thankfully, the call for blood was not as prevalent as it had been since Sofiq hid my Light. Whatever my Dark Shadow had done to release the last of it to me had been permanent. If I returned now to Earth’s realm, I was sure I’d feel the pull of a rogue should one be feeding indiscriminately.

  “That is not your concern,” Aliath said succinctly.

  I stared at the Light Fey inside the shimmering magic circle Aliath had conjured. Two were wounded, and I doubted they’d see the night through. One had his back to us and was meditating, his chiming not reaching me outside of the cell. One of the wounded was unconscious, but the last looked back at me with baleful green eyes. He wanted me dead, that much was obvious.

  I couldn’t say I felt any different about him, either.

  “Well,” I said, turning away from the Light Fey and addressing Aliath. “We’re more than even. Debt paid.”

  Aliath smiled at me with such condescension I tasted blood on my tongue as I gnawed on my cheek, trying to stop myself from yelling back at him.

  “One hunt,” he said. “We agreed to three.”

  “I hunted more than three fairies, Aliath. More than our bargain.”

  “You have much to learn of bargaining with the Fey, Hundr. The terms of our agreement stated use of your skills, once per month, for three months. The first month’s use of your skills is complete.”

  Son of a fairy bitch. I hadn’t specified what classified as “use of my skills”. And “use of my skills” could definitely be interpreted as for the duration of a hunt for Isoleth’s spies. Spies. Plural.

  Motherfucking fairy fucker.

  I seethed for a few seconds, as Aliath watched me with a tilt of his head that always reminded me of a bird. I was sure he found my fury humorous. Or more likely, he found my naivety when negotiating with a member of the Fey humorous.

  I shook my head. What was done was done. I’d wasted three days in Álfheimr. Nut knew how many days that was back on Earth.

  “Fine,” I snapped, and the Light Fey in the circle started to laugh. My teeth ground together, and I glared at Aliath. “I hope you make it painful for them.”

  The Light Fairy stopped laughing and threw himself at the invisible wall of his cell instead, shooting emerald-eyed daggers at me with such malevolence I could almost taste it.

  The Dark Shadow snorted, allowing me to scent the emotion, and therefore definitely taste it.

  Thanks, I said dryly.

  You are welcome, she replied smugly.

  I looked at Aliath.

  “Until next time, Hundr,” he said, and I was somewhere else.

  He hadn’t accompanied me this time, and he never bloody well asked where I wanted to end up back in my realm. So, it took a second or two for me to get my bearings. A second or two which I didn’t really have.

  A sound caught my attention from behind me. I spun and came face to face with Jett.

  Out of the fairy frying pan and into the vampire nest.

  “Georgia,” he said, eyes glinting in the lights of Sensations during daylight hours.

  We were in the bar, the scent of humans, lust, and spilt alcohol filled the air. And a good dollop of stringent ammonia. Jett was pissed at something, and by the look he was giving me, that something had just landed in his lap. Aliath might as well have gift wrapped me and put a bow on top.

  “Hi,” I said.

  “Hi? That is all you have to say?”

  “How long have I been gone this time?”

  He stared at me.

  “Um, what day is it, then?” I asked.

  One blink. That’s all I got.

  “Look,” I said. “It wasn’t my intention to go AWOL. But you’re not the only person who likes to use me.”

  A low rumbling growl emitted from the back of his throat and he took one menacing step towards me.

  I refused to step back, but Jett, when he was like this, all Mastered up and leaking Sanguis Vitam, was a little scary. My Dark Shadow had woken up and started prowling inside. She liked Jett. She liked his strength.

  She did not like that I was scared of him.

  Worthy, she said.

  No, I replied.

  I’d done my dash pitting Jett against Samson. If I had my way, I wouldn’t mate with either of them. But I was increasingly aware that having my way was not on the agenda. So, what’s a girl to do?

  “Where’s Samson?”

  Throw herself in the path of the raging bull it appears.

  Jett’s eyes bled all baby blue and went straight to cyan; skipped over azure and turquoise and went right to the big guns. Sanguis Vitam thrummed in the air. I held mine in check; I wasn’t entirely sure if Jett was acting as the Master of the City or as one half of my fairy-induced amor certamen pair.

  Either was a problem, but I’d wait to see what I was fighting first.

  “Samson?” he said in a low, threatening voice. “Would that be the Samson you marked?”

  Oh, shit. Jett had spotted my Sigillum. That meant Samson had left Wellington and returned to Auckland and hopefully given Mark an update on the Taniwha.

  And probably had his head ripped off by the Master Vampyre before me when he came to Sensations to give him his report.

  “Ah, yeah,” I said carefully. “That Samson.”

  “You have chosen,” Jett said quietly. The quiet was at odds with the fury I saw raging behind his cyan eyes.

  I let a little breath out. I could save myself a hell of a lot of trouble right here and now by saying yes. And make a hell of a lot of trouble for myself come tomorrow.

  “The MPs,” I said instead. “Have they been found?”

  Jett stared at me for a long moment and then nodded his head.

  “They’re alive?” I asked, stunned that a resolution had been discovered without me being around to effect it.

  Strangely, I felt left out.

  “All survived,” Jett said. “But the perpetrators are still at large.”

  “You mean the Taniwha?”

  “The Taniwha are involved, that is clear. But they are not the brains behind the abductions.”

  “More like doggy brawn with a side dish of shark,” I muttered.

  “Indeed.”

  “Then where are we?”

  I meant with the case. What did Mark have planned now? Had Jett made Samson work with him to keep an eye on the Norms? What about Gregor? Had the Taniwha fled Wellington’s borders? I’d missed so much being with Aliath in Álfheimr; it was enough to make me mad at the fairy fucker all over again.

  “The armor certamen is complete,” Jett said. “You have made your choice.”

  One track minded bloody vampire.

  “But there is more than one way to bond you with me,” he added.

  What? I shook my head, brushing off Jett’s narrow-minded and senseless statements.

  “If the MPs are back, I guess that means the Police no longer require my assistance.”

  “Yes,” Jett agreed and moved to sit at the bar. He waved his hand, and two bottles of beer slid out of the cooler and settled next to him. He picked one up and twisted the lid, then set it before the stool at his side. He opened the other and held on to it, then flicked his eyes to me and waited.

  It was clearly daylight outside, so getting out of here was going to be a problem. I could feign exhaustion and claim one of the spare chambers in the building, but showing any sort of weakness felt wrong right now.

  I moved to the barstool beside Jett and took a seat; swiping up the beer and taking a sip from it. I preferred vodka mixers, but beer was OK, and right now I’d take anything that helped soothe me.

  Jett took a sip of his own drink, watching me with still cyan hued eyes. I was guessing he was still vamping out about losing the amor certamen, which meant I wasn’t free of trouble yet and needed something stronger than beer to make things all right.

  He reached into his jacket and pulled out a material wrapped object, placing it on the bar between us.

  “This is yours,” he said, taking another sip of his drink.

  I reached forward, unsure if I should be wary or not, and unwrapped the object. My silver stake slipped out. With only a small hesitation, I picked it up, releasing a breath when my hand didn’t burn.

  I was definitely back to being Mixed Up Georgia again.

  Somehow that soothed me more than the alcohol did.

  “The Master of Wellington City sends his regards,” Jett said softly.

  I swallowed. That soft was just as bad as his quiet.

  “That was good of him,” I murmured. “Did he say anything about the Taniwha?”

  “Why do you care, Georgia? The Members of Parliament have all returned to their lives. Everything is back where it should be.”

  I looked up at him then, having stared at my stake to avoid eye contact. His eyes were still cyan, but a little turquoise had seeped in. His vampire-within had calmed some. I didn’t particularly want to rile it up again, but things didn’t seem right to me. Something was still wrong.

  “Why take them?” I asked. “Why go to the trouble of influencing the witnesses, take the MPs for a week or so, and then return them unharmed? Why?”

  “I do not know.”

  “But you suspect something,” I guessed. “You don’t become a Master of a City without being able to figure things like this out.”

  Jett’s lips twitched slightly. Then he took a sip of his beer, his eyes dancing as they watched me over the bottle.

  “You are right,” he said finally. “I don’t like it.”

  “Neither do I,” I said. “I want to see one of these MPs for myself.”

  “I have already done that.”

  “And?” I pressed. “Was anything noticeably wrong?”

  “They appeared relieved to be home. Their memories, of course, have been tampered with. They have no recollection of what happened or why.” He took another sip of his drink, placing it with care back on the bar top. “They return to Parliament tomorrow.”

  I sat staring at the condensation on the outside of my bottle. It couldn’t be as simple as this. There had to be a reason why.

  “What does Mark say?” I finally asked. Jett would have approached the detective; if he took the time to check on the MPs himself, he wasn’t ready to let any of this go.

  “Check the MPs first,” he said. “Then follow up with the police detective.” He downed the last of his beer and chucked the bottle in the recycling bin. Then he stood up.

  Jett was a big man; he towered over me. And with the cyan still present in his eyes, he looked downright formidable. But he didn’t use his bulk or power to cower me right then.

  As he stepped away, I had the distinct impression that he was nursing a wound. Not a physical one. But an emotional or psychological one.

  Jett Vardi rarely lost any battle he undertook. And he had just lost me to a weaker vampire.

  Part of me wanted to reassure him; soothe his ache.

  But the more sane part of me kept quiet and continued to drink my beer, eyes averted, Light contained.

  “Night falls in two hours, Georgia,” he said, his back already to me. “I’ll send dinner to your room.”

  And then he was gone.

  The bar was eerily still and empty without his presence taking up too much space in it. I turned the beer bottle around and around with my fingers as it rested on the bar top and tried to identify what I was feeling.

  The Dark Shadow was agitated. She did not like seeing the proud and powerful vampire so affected.

  It could be an act, I told her.

  I scented dismay.

  But that wasn’t all you scented, was it?

  No, she reluctantly admitted.

  I knew she still favoured Jett as a mate, even if I had marked Samson. There was something she saw in the Master of Auckland City, something worthy. But the Dark Shadow was not one to lie to herself, either.

  Strong rosemary and garlic, she said. Determination.

  “Great,” I muttered, downing the last of the beer. Just what the hell did Jett think he could go after if he couldn’t go after me as his mate?