I looked at the others. “That was unexpected.”
“Really?” Mac crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you. And honey, that man trying to get close is the least unexpected thing ever.”
“She’s right.” Eve grimaced. “But you can’t forget the Cursed Mates thing. That could be deadly.”
I swallowed hard. She was right. I looked toward the door. “I hope I didn’t piss him off. He’s powerful, and I’m new in town.”
“He’s used to getting what he wants,” Mac said. “But we’ve got your back.”
I nodded shakily and turned to Eve’s desk. “Let me take a look at that second object.”
“Thanks.” She walked around it to retrieve the golden chalice she’d asked me to look at.
The door to the shop jingled again, and I turned, expecting to see the Devil of Darkvale. Instead, a man and a woman in dark trousers and red jackets emblazoned with the crest of the Council of Guilds stood there. As with all supernaturals in Guild City, their magical signatures were on lockdown, but I could still get a feeling for what they were.
Shifters.
Something about them, a leonine grace or the cunning in their eyes, made me think of animals.
All guilds in the city sold something, and the shifters sold protection services and fighting forces. Which meant that these two were basically the cops of Guild City.
“Penelope. Garreth.” Mac’s voice was a bit cold. “What are you doing here?”
“We’re here to escort Guild City’s newest citizen to a meeting with the Council.”
What the hell?
Had the Devil set this up? Was this retaliation for my refusal to help him?
My gaze flashed to Mac’s and Eve’s, and I swore I saw the same questions reflected there.
But no, the Devil had just left. Would he really have had time to arrange this?
He was powerful. He could have had them waiting on standby. Would he really have done that? Thrown me under the bus?
You don’t know him.
The thought flashed, and it was so true. We’d shared an almost-kiss that had nearly made me lose my mind and a bite that had definitely made me lose my mind, but I didn’t know what it had meant to him.
And there was that little matter of the Cursed Mates thing.
He wasn’t on my side.
I couldn’t forget it.
I shoved him from my mind and looked at the two shifters. “Okay, I’m coming.”
Garreth pulled something from his pocket, and I spotted two golden bangles. They looked like bracelets, but from the way Mac gasped and Eve scowled, I knew they couldn’t be.
“Really?” Mac said. “Magicuffs?”
“You know the rules, Mac. She isn’t in a guild, which makes her dangerous. Illegal.”
“No person is illegal.”
“This one is,” Garret said.
“She’s new in town,” Eve said.
“She’s been here a week,” Penelope said. “More than enough time to approach the Council about joining a guild.”
“They require this.” Garreth held up the cuffs. “Not us. Let us do our jobs.”
Mac growled, but I held up a hand. “It’s fine.”
This guild member stuff was serious. And I’d known I was supposed to join one—Mac had explained how things worked here. But I’d been nervous. I didn’t have control of my magic or my magical signature, so I’d hesitated, reluctant to approach the Council on uneven footing.
Apparently, they weren’t willing to wait.
Or the Devil had sped up our meeting.
Either way, I was going there now, and I was doing it in handcuffs.
2
The Devil
Disappointment flickered through me as I walked away from Eve’s shop. Idly, I rubbed my chest, totally unfamiliar with the feeling. It had been centuries since I’d felt like this.
One, because I rarely wanted anything.
And two, because if I did want something, I got it.
And I wanted Carrow.
Not just her help, but the woman herself.
And damned if it wasn’t strange.
Faint morning sunlight flickered though a large tree that grew up through one of the Fae shops. The trees were a rarity in London, but there were quite a few here in Guild City, especially around the Fae enclaves.
Sunlight sparkled through the green leaves, and I marveled that I could now see the brilliant colors. That I could now smell the freshness of the leaves and taste the dawn on the air. Feel of the cool morning breeze on my skin.
Because of Carrow.
She’d brought me back to life. Her blood, specifically. I’d drunk the blood of thousands over the years. First, in a frenzy. When I’d been made nearly five hundred years ago, I’d fallen into the blood lust that plagued all turned vampires.
Unlike most of them, I’d survived, keeping to the shadows so the vampire hunters wouldn’t find me.
But I’d never drunk blood like hers. It had returned the sharp senses the turning had stolen. Back then, I’d retained my excellent hearing, but the rest…gone. I’d had new skills to compensate, but I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed seeing the full spectrum of color in the world. Smelling and tasting and feeling.
There was something special about her—about her blood—that had done this to me. The Oracle had said she would thaw me, but I’d dismissed her.
Now, I didn’t know what to believe.
I stepped up onto the pavement in front of the Fae shop, trying to force Carrow from my thoughts. The owner was out sweeping the step, and he moved away from me, pressing himself against the wall.
I nodded at him and continued walking.
I reached the corner and looked back at Eve’s shop. Pathetic, perhaps, but I couldn’t help it.
Two figures stepped out, both wearing the signature red and black of the Council of Guilds. Penelope and Garreth, shifters who worked on the payroll.
I’d only been gone a few minutes, and already they were coming out?
A smaller figure stepped out behind them, her brilliant gold hair shining in the light. I still couldn't believe how beautiful she was, now that I could see her fully.
The unexpected glint of gold at her wrists caught my eyes.
Magicuffs.
Protectiveness surged inside me, followed by rage.
How dare they cuff her?
I stepped toward them, a blood lust rising in my veins that I hadn’t felt in hundreds of years, but the sight of her in danger…
At the last moment, I pulled myself back.
No. That wasn’t the way to handle the situation.
I shoved the beast back in its cage. I’d learned over the years that the best way to power was through cunning first, strength second.
But fates, it was hard to remember that when my only desire was to kill the shifters who’d cuffed her.
Carefully, I drew in a deep breath.
I would find out what was going on and remedy it.
I would protect her.
The urge was strange, but undeniable. I embraced it.
Carrow
I’d left my friends behind in Eve’s shop, telling them to stay put. Mac had resisted, but when she’d finally nodded, I’d caught a gleam in her eye. It was the same gleam she’d had when she’d let me go into the Devil’s club alone—she’d said I’d need someone on the outside to break me out.