She's No Faerie Princess (10 page)

"And into it all walks a Fae who we can't send home because the gate she needs to go through has been cursed shut."

"You're sure that's what it was?" Graham asked.

Fiona shrugged. "I don't see what else it could havebeen, but it would have to be a pretty damned powerfulcurse. Letting things through is a gate's entire reason forbeing. It takes some serious mojo to interfere withsomething enough to keep it from fulfilling its most basicpurpose. That's what we call bad magic."

Walker and Graham both cursed. Lupine irritation instereo.

"So, to summarize," the alpha said grimly, "we have extremely delicate negotiations that mean life or death for the Others, a demon on the loose, with no idea who summoned it, a malfunctioning gate to Faerie, and someone with way too much power who seems to be taking a little side trip to Black Magicville. Fabulous. And to top it off, we also have an unauthorized Fae visitor and a queen who has made it perfectly clear that she blames us for all such occurrences, no matter how hard we try to keep the idiots out. No offense."

Fiona rolled her eyes. "If I took offense every time awerewolf insulted me, I'd have suffered an aneurysmwithin five minutes of meeting Mr. Congeniality overhere." She jerked a thumb at Walker. "No offense."

Jake snickered, and Walker frowned at her. He thoughthe'd been behaving pretty well toward the princess overthe last few hours, but apparently she wasn't about toforget the first few hours of their acquaintance.

"But if I could offer a suggestion," she said, addressing Graham directly. "I might be able to lessen the horrible inconvenience of having me here."

The alpha crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows. "By

all means."

"Well, since it looks like I'm not going to be going

anywhere for the moment, I don't see any reason why

you shouldn't put me to use." She slanted Walker a

glance that had his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "At the

moment, it appears you have a little demon problem on

your hands, and since it's been so long since you've seen

one, most of you humans are pretty in the dark about

them. I don't claim to be an expert about them, or

anything, but they're a big part of our legends, in a way I

doubt they are in this world. I could share what I know

about them, help you track this thing down. Maybe even

help you send it on its way."

"Aren't you the one who just pointed out that the Fae haven't dealt with demons in three thousand years?" Walker asked. "How does that make you an expert? There are plenty of sorcerers right here in Manhattan with a closer acquaintance to demons than that."

"Three thousand years doesn't seem nearly as long when you're practically immortal. And besides, do you really want to rely on the help of someone who willingly and knowingly consorts with demons?"

"The alpha will never allow it." Walker ignored the uneasy feeling the idea of her being immortal gave him, as well as the image of her smooth, young legs wrapped around his wrinkly, arthritic hips. "It's too dangerous. Or have you forgotten how you ended up the last time you tangled

with this thing?"

"Um, hi. Have we met? Because I thought I just heard

you try to tell me what I can and can't do."

Graham spoke over Jake's ill-disguised snicker. "Not tointerrupt the hostilities or anything, but the girl has apoint, Walker."

"She what?" he asked, turning to face the alpha, his eyes wide with surprise. "But she could get hurt—" He cut himself off and cursed silently. "I mean, what would Queen Mab say if she got hurt?"

"Quite likely the same thing she'll say just because she finds out one of her subjects came over here without permission. Whatever it is, we're going to get blamed for it." Graham sighed. "Look, whether we like it or not, she's Fae and she's here. She's also likely to have a better idea of how to go about tracking down a demon than any of us do." He looked back at Fiona. "Is it true that the Fae can follow a demon's trail?"

"Depends on how you mean it. It's not like we're all some kind of bloodhound, but demons are magical, and magic has distinctive flavors. If a demon has spent any length of time in one place, or if it's done anything that required a significant amount of energy, it will leave a mark. I should be able to tell."

"Even tell one demon from another?"

She nodded. "Maybe. Probably, if they're not the sametype of demon. Venom and horns, for instance, have verydistinctive magical profiles."

"I don't care if the ground they walked on fluorescent neon every time she sneezes on it," Walker pressed, trying to keep himself from just issuing the ultimatum he could feel building in his chest. The protectiveness he felt at the idea of the princess in danger was as

uncomfortable as it was insane. "She can't go running

around after a demon that almost killed her."

"Actually, I think she has to."

"Graham, come on. Be realistic."

"Right after you, Tobias," Graham said, his voice

dropping and his spine straightening. He didn't raise his

voice, but Walker got the message loud and clear. The

alpha was turning his opinion into an order, and as beta,

Walker could either toe the line or have his ass handed to

him on a platter. Torn and bloody.

He bit nearly through his tongue to suppress the urge tosnarl out a dominance challenge. He didn't really want tochallenge his cousin, but something about the princessmade Walker intolerant of the idea of anyone elseclaiming responsibility for her. Being beta generally suited Walker to a T. He liked being almost in charge withouthaving to sit and listen to petty disputes between packmembers or even significant disputes between Othersand humans, but he didn't like the idea of Fiona puttingherself in harm's way. Not even if his alpha ordered it tohappen.

For the first time in his life, Walker itched to take that laststep up the ladder of Lupine authority. He still could havecared less about sealing property disputes betweengammas, but he wanted to have absolute authority over Fiona. He wanted to be able to tell her to plant her buttsomewhere safe where he could watch it 24-7.

Hell, if he had his way, she'd be locked in a secure roomcovered by armed guards. Or maybe just tied to thenearest bed where he could keep an eye on her himself.

And a mouth and two hands and the throbbing erectionthat had barely subsided since the first minute she'dcatapulted into his life.

"Someone dragged me away from the hot toddy my wife very kindly prepared for me, not to mention dragged me away from my wife," a voice drawled from the doorway to the office. "You have to understand that with the negotiations taking up so much of my time, this is not a disturbance I appreciate. So if I am here for no other reason than to witness one of your idiotic canine pissing contests, I am going to be left feeling rather testy."

"I've got no idea who you are, so I can't help with why you're here, but I think the fact that you're going to see a pissing contest is pretty much a foregone conclusion." Fiona smiled at the newcomer and waved from her place on the sofa. "I'm Fiona, by the way. It's nice to meet you."

Out of the corner of his eye, Walker saw the head of the Council of Others lounging in the doorway, lookingcustomarily elegant and relaxed in black trousers and agray V-necked sweater. It was a good thing Rafael De Santos was very happily married to a gorgeous,possessive, and terrifying human witch, because evenknowing that didn't stop the reflexive surge of territorialitythe handsome Felix inspired when he smiled at the Faerie princess.

What the hell was wrong with him?

"The pleasure is mine," Rafael said, turning his lazy white grin on Fiona. "I am Rafael De Santos, and I feel I should say right now that I have nothing in common with the savages before you."

There were many, many things wrong with him, Walkerrealized. At the moment, chief among them was the factthat he couldn't seem to keep his hands from clenchinginto fists. Or keep himself from picturing those fists in theface of any man who smiled so charmingly at theprincess Walker couldn't get out of his mind.

"Don't mind them," Fiona said from behind him. "I don't know what's gotten into them, but I'm beginning to believe that this is normal for them."

"You could very well be correct."

"Nah," Jake said, "they've gotten a lot worse than this, but not usually with each other. Generally it's the two of them against someone else."

"It'll be us against you if you don't keep your mouth shut,

puppy," Walker warned.

"I'm glad you're here, Rafe," Graham said. "It looks like

we might have some trouble on our hands."

A quick summary of events brought Rafael up to speedand had him frowning right alongside Walker and Graham.

"I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the timing of this

could have been better."

"Oh, for goddess's sake," Fiona said, "you all are just going to have to get over it, okay? I'm sorry if my vacation ended up coinciding with some top-secret kaffeeklatsch of yours, but how was I supposed to know? It was
 
a secret
!"

The men ignored her. "What do you have planned?"

Rafael asked. "What is the next step?"

"The problem is that we need to take two steps. We need to find the demon before a human does, and before it kills someone," Graham pointed out. "Unfortunately, we also need to find out what the hell is wrong with the Faerie gate so we can get Fiona back before the Fae come looking for her."

"You people have quite a penchant for beating the dead

horse, don't you?" Fiona muttered in the background.

"They have a plan for the demon. Fiona is going to find it," Jake offered, cheerfully enough to earn a killing glare from his uncle. At that point, Walker couldn't decide who needed to meet his fists the most. The choices seemed infinite.

"Ah, yes. That makes sense." Rafael nodded. "And if I might suggest, my wife might prove helpful with the gate problem. Tess has quite a talent for the magical milieu."

"Whatever it takes. Getting the princess home is the

priority."

Rafael turned to Walker and quirked an eyebrow.

"Princess?"

"Tobias has a fixation with my family tree. He's all bent out of shape thinking my aunt is going to kick his furry little tail, or something."

Walker swore under his breath while Jake turned aninteresting shade of green. Rafael just quirked the otherbrow until they nearly met his dark hairline. "Does thatmean your aunt is someone like Queen Mab?"

"As like as can be. Identical, as a matter of fact."

"Shit!" Graham roared. "I thought 'princess' was some kind of term of frickin' endearment, you son of a bitch! Are you telling me that you've trapped the niece of the Queen of Faerie in pack lands with no way to get her home? Are you insane?"

Walker squared off against Graham and roared rightback, almost grateful for the opportunity to vent some ofthe frustration that had been building inside him. "Oh,right. Like I planned for this. Do I look like a goddamnmartyr to you? I'd rather have my claws pulled out with arusty tweezers than be in this situation, you idiot!"

"What did you call me, Beta?"

"Gentlemen," Rafael interrupted, stepping fully into the room and putting himself not between the two Lupines but close enough to take action if they went for each other's throats. "Let's please keep our focus on the issue at hand."

Fiona pursed her lips. "By that, I take it you're referring tome."

The Felix flashed her a charming grin, which managed todrag Walker's attention away from Graham and into asnarl. "You do seem to have made quite an impressionon my friends, Your Highness."

"Would you
 
please
 
not call me that?" she grumbled. "Like I've been trying to tell Mr. Thick-as-Concrete, I'm not wild about the title."

"But you do hold it."

Her eyes narrowed. "Reluctantly."

"Then I'm afraid that despite what I'm sure were your best

intentions, things have become rather complicated."

"Ya think?" Graham bit out. "If Mab gets wind of this and decides to come here to kick our asses, the entire negotiations will be shot to shit. These talks are too important. The last thing we need to do is bring up the ongoing power struggles in Faerie. The humans would run for the hills. No matter what they've told us they're willing to accept, they still expect one or more of us to fly off the handle at any minute."

"And that's my fault, how?" Walker saw Fiona glaring at the alpha and was glad to know that for at least a few minutes she had directed her ire at another victim.

"Well, if you folk had sent someone a little more diplomatic to the negotiations to begin with, we might have a bit more room to maneuver."

"What are you talking about?" Fiona frowned. "The Fae didn't 'send' anyone. As far as I know, no one in Faerie knows these negotiations are even happening. The Summer Court certainly didn't appoint a delegate, if that's what you're implying."