Chapter Seven
Somehow, when I walkedinto the kitchen to grab something to eat in the morning, a plan formed in my head. Maybe it had been Fin on his knees. Sometimes a girl just needed a good boning to get her brain working right.
I smiled as I grabbed an apple and then ran smack into Hawk’s wide chest.
“I don’t need to ask what that grin is for since the entire house heard you last night.”
Ew. Mood killer in one sentence flat. “You should try it, Hawk. Sometimes a little sex can clear your head.”
He scowled at me and moved out of the way to grab a granola bar from the open box on the counter. “Oh sure, next time Fin propositions me I’ll take him up on it.”
I opened my mouth to respond to that little nugget, but then snapped it shut at his shit-eating grin.
“You’re an asshole. And stay away from my man.”
It did make me feel better to see the usual Hawk back. Not the frazzled grief-stricken stranger who emerged last night. Not that I blamed him one bit. We were both hurting at the loss of The Chief. But I thought we both decided, on our own, that Esteban doesn’t want to kill him, or he’d already have done it. Part of me almost felt sympathy for him. Where the hell did all these men think I got my sass from? The Chief is the King of the one-liner, he just keeps most of them to himself.
I settled on the couch and glanced up to the closed doors on the second landing. No Melinda or Helix in sight yet. “Are they alive?” I asked Hawk.
He shrugged. “I haven’t checked on them. They are grown-ups. They’ll come out when they need something.”
True. I shouldn’t waste my time worrying over the safe people when there were plenty of others to worry about.
“Why are you so chipper this morning?” He asked. “Outside of the apparently outstanding sex you’re having.”
Another ew. I placed my apple on the coffee table, no longer interested in it. “It’s not from the sex, but thank you, it was incredible. I’m smiling because I have a plan forming. Still in early stages, but it has potential.”
“Wanna clue the rest of the audience in?”
“There are a few logistical things I need to work out.”
He lifted his hips off the chair a moment and dug his phone out of his pocket. “Shoot. What do you need?”
When I typically went on a hunt, I went alone. Often with not much support other than a pickup when I finished a job. With Hawk ready to jot down on notes and make shit happen I thought I might have been missing out on his logistical tactics all these years.
“It’s not supplies or anything like that I need. For this to work I need more magical support. Something I don’t think you can help with this time.”
He scowled at my rebuff. “I might know a guy or something. And we both know you’ll never turn down weapons. Since it seems my entire staff quit, I have a lot of very nice weapons just lying around ready for a new home.”
Fin came up behind me and kissed the top of my head. “Now you know you should ask your mate before you go and adopt any more weapons.”
I rolled my eyes at both these idiots. “I say this with respect...fuck off. But actually, I will take those weapons too.”
“Weapons?” Helix asked, as he slowly descended the staircase in nothing but his black boxer briefs.
I averted my eyes, but not before I got a glimpse of a whole lot of nakedness. Helix sat rigid in the chair now, his shoulders hiked back, his posture perfect as he scribbled on the notepad. Interesting, since I hadn’t given him a list to work on.
My gaze stayed on Hawk as I addressed Helix. “Do you have clothes? Since people don’t want to see your junk, you should try wearing some.”
He entered the living room and threw himself down beside me on the couch. “Most of the people in this house have already seen everything a human body has to offer, along with a fae, a mage, a vampire, you name it and they’ve seen it.”
I shoved his shoulder to get him out of my space. “But I sure as hell don’t want to see it.”
I tilted my head back to catch Fin scanning him. “Don’t fucking look. Rude.”
He shrugged and grabbed some fruit. “You don’t want to look, fine, but I don’t mind.”
We both stared at Hawk to learn his opinion, but he refused to say anything, even as his ears turned pink under the scrutiny. How adorable, did Hawk have a crush?
I saved him and switched the topic away from Helix’s junk. “Is Melinda coming down? Is she okay?”
Helix immediately sobered, sitting up beside me. “She’s taken the lack of magic thing pretty hard right now. We both are, I’m just trying to figure out a solution, she wants to wallow.”
“Nothing wrong with either strategy, even simultaneously. But she doesn’t seem the type to wring her hands and wait to be saved. Hell, she already saved herself once.”
Helix shook his head and studied the granola bar on his palm. And no that wasn’t a euphemism. “She’s scared. The Chief is well, The Chief. If Esteban can get to him, then she fears nothing will stop him from taking her back.”
“Except my weapons. Hawk’s weapons. Fin’s weapons. Your...I glanced at his lap and then right up to the ceiling after I realized what I did...weapons. The point is it’s not just her alone anymore, and it’s not both of you together against the world. We can work together to keep each other safe.”
Fin snorted from behind me and trust me, the irony of me lecturing him about teamwork wasn’t lost on me. The Captain probably rolled around in his grave right now witnessing this shit show.
Melinda’s door opened and we all studiously pretending no one looked as we munched on various versions of breakfast. When she reached the landing, she glanced over us one by one and scowled at Helix. “Put some damn pants on. This isn’t your house, remember?”
When he matched her scowl with a smile, I caught a glimpse of maybe what these two were like in private. “I remember quite well this isn’t my home. I’m just trying not to make a bad thing worse by altering my usual habits.”
Instead of arguing further, she huffed, marched into the kitchen, and grabbed a banana. She’d pulled her hair away from her face with a pink headband and still wore the college freshman equivalent of pajamas: on oversized t-shirt and shorts. “Are you all done talking about me? Or should I go back up and let you finish?” She gave me a particular look. “The walls are thin.”
My ears went hot. I didn’t care much about sexual propriety, but I also didn’t want to embarrass anyone either. Not that any of them seemed to care about my own mortification.
“Did you mention a plan? Or were you still dick swinging?” she asked, between bites.
I folded my lips together and glanced at Fin. “Uh someone took their sassy pills this morning.”
“I’m not being sassy. I’m simply tired of running around and hiding in places without a bathroom that solely belongs to me. You all are excellent roommates but I’m far too old to live with so many people and feel content with it.”
Woman had a fair point. I missed grilled cheese so much. Until we figured all this shit out, I wasn’t going to get it.
“We’re all tired of running. Hell...” It was on the tip of my tongue to say Fin and I had been hiding and working since before we met them, but that wasn’t true. She’s been hiding most of her adult life in one way or another. “Yes, I have the dregs of a plan. Be warned, my plans are often stupid and could result a painful and irreversible death. Who’s in?”
“None of us have a choice, Zoey, so chill out,” Hawk scolded.
Alright, apparently everyone who didn’t have a very satisfying orgasm last night was a little grumpy about it.
“There are some things I need to work out though.”
Fin teased my hand into his lap. “Like what?”
“Like I need to learn how to do this sending thing properly. The Captain gave me a crash course once upon a time, but as I’ve learned there seem to be a lot of variables about participation etiquette and the mind’s ability to defend itself while in one.
Thankfully, none of them asked me to explain any of that in more detail. Talking about The Captain right now might be enough to put me over the edge.
“So you need to get better at sending? Why?” Melinda asked, hopping up on the closest counter. She swiveled to face us, swinging her legs gracefully over the edge. “From what I gathered while I was held; Esteban is an expert at it. He can draw people into his world, into their own minds so deep that they can never get out.
Fin made a squeak sound from behind me. “So he’s said. Not only that but he can make himself appear as anyone in a sending. There are other tricks but I’m sure my trauma response is trying to spare me some details right now.”
She nodded. “Yes. He was always very good at mental sort of magics. Fae have their own versions, of course, but mages take it deeper, pervert it. I don’t know if he’s good because of that perversion, or something else. What do you need, specifically, from us to help you with this plan?”
“First, I need to get better at sending, which means practice...which means...”
“You need a mage to practice on.”
Damn, I love a man who catches on quick.
“No.” Melinda said. “They are evil and they are only out for themselves.”
I stiffened and glared. “I take exception to that. I understand you have a different experience level than me, of course, but I’m not evil.”
Hawk snorted.
“Most of the time. Not evil in the same way that Esteban is evil. I’ve met mages who are good and bad in the short time I’ve been a part of this world. I’ve also met some asshole fae, so let’s just assume everyone is on a spectrum of evil and not automatically lump them in with the psychopaths.”
Helix stood and crossed the space to stand beside Melinda. “I have to agree with her. There is no way you’re going to get a mage to agree to help us. Especially against Esteban.”
“Do we have to share that much detail? We can let them think I need help with my powers being surrounded by non-mages of course. Which isn’t a total lie.”
The room went silent as I let everyone consider my current needs. I had yet to go into the detail about trapping Esteban in a sending, but we’d get to that. In my mind, it stood to reason that if Esteban could have special rules with his gifts, me being fae, should also give me more advantages. I just needed a way to keep him from stripping my magic the moment he realized what I was up to. Speaking of...
“We are also going to need to figure out how he took your magic and get it back for you.”
Melinda spoke up again. “I told you I made him things that sucked the magic out of people. The big one he had in his...I guess...lair. It was crafted into the floor. It sort of traps magic, holds it.”
I’d met the one true ring to rule them all, and I wasn’t a fan. “Are there others like you who could be helping him, or someone who might tinker with what you already made to make it do other things.
Her face told me she did not like that prospect. “I guess. And of course there are others like me, both fae and mag alike. We aren’t all walking GQ ads with mind-control.”
A zing went through me as Fin internally flinched from that one. I was well aware Fin’s magic was beyond the normal realm of abilities, as I assumed Melinda, and Helix’s was when at full capacity. We just needed a way to use all of these tools against Esteban so he didn’t suspect anything.
“Okay, well, first things first, I need to learn better sending. Who can help with that?”
Fin cleared his throat. “I might be able to help. Not sure though and I won’t be able to tell you until after I’ve spoken to him.”
“Call him then.” I pointed at Helix. “You, out on some clothes.”
Melinda hopped off the counter gracefully to head toward the stairs. “I might have a way to help as well. I don’t have my magic currently, but I have a lot of artifacts that carry latent magic in my booth at The Night Market. There’s something there that might bolster your mental defenses against him.”
Now we were talking. “Yes. Let’s start there.”
“I’ll keep making some calls, try to pinpoint where he’s been staying with The Chief. If someone I know saw something I’ll get it out of them one way or the other.”
I clapped my hands. “Then let’s meet back here once we’re all dressed and we can head back to the city and rustle us up some bad guys.”
They all groaned, and then Helix and Melinda went up the staircase.
“I’m worried about them,” Fin said, once the doors closed behind them.
I shifted to lean into him, letting him draw my back into his chest. “And me, are you worried about me?”
He nipped my ear. “Only every second of every single day for the rest of our lives.”
A warm tingle spread through me at his words. Forever with an immortal, as an immortal seemed like a very long time. But the way I felt about him, a lifetime didn’t seem like enough to dive into those feelings to reach the bottom.
I scratched my nails over the back of his hand gently. “You sure you’ll be able to put up with me that long? I’m kind of a handful if reports are correct.”
“Then I guess I’ll just have to try until it stops feeling this good to hold you. When it stops feeling this good for you to be mine.”
When I turned to face him, intent on kissing the crap out of him for that one, a loud gong went through the room. We both glanced at Hawk.
“You two are fucking adorable but can you take it elsewhere. Some of us are attempting to work here.”
I knew he meant the words lightheartedly, but it was the reminder I needed.
Save The Chief first. Kill Esteban second. Then proper make out time.
See, I had priorities.