Kandy actually insisted on blindfolding me. Though if I’d been so inclined, I could have probably figured out our location by paying attention to the minimal number of turns my werewolf BFF took to drive us to our destination. After guessing that we were either in Yaletown or Chinatown, I didn’t worry about it any further.
Kandy and Mory guided me down a set of stairs, through a light brush of magic that tasted of my mother’s strawberry-and-grassy witch power, and an exterior door that sounded like it was metal. Once we were through what I assumed were sound-dampening wards, I could hear music. It grew louder as my giggling captors continued leading me along a short hallway and into a room that felt large. Even without the pop song blaring over speakers strategically placed all around us, I would have guessed that we were in a club of some sort. The occasional staccato flashes of light that filtered through the blindfold simply confirmed it.
Laughing, Kandy removed the scarf she’d cinched over my eyes. My first glimpse of her, she was grinning madly as she executed a series of impressive pirouettes with her arms flung wide, spinning into and showing off the space around her. The main room of the club was windowless, suggesting that we were at least partially underground. It was also entirely black, including its slick-looking concrete floor, matte walls, and the steel beams and ductwork that crisscrossed the ceiling. Except for a few tables and chairs that had been pushed to the edges, the place was practically empty. Overhead spotlights were intermixed with typical dance-floor lighting — strobes, disco ball, and such. A low stage built out of risers — again, painted matte black — stood against the far wall between the clearly marked washroom signs.
“The place is ours for the evening,” Kandy crowed. “It doesn’t usually open Sunday nights, and the staff that came with the rental were easily persuaded with a little charmed cash to take the evening off. Add in a little more magic, courtesy of your mother, to keep the nonmagicals at bay. And voila!”
I grinned, probably more relieved than I should have been. But I had been more than a bit worried that we’d been heading to a strip club of some sort. Plus, the idea of being around too many vulnerable humans while being hunted by elves — ceasefire or no ceasefire — was ridiculously irresponsible. It was bad enough that Kandy and I were already dragging Mory, Rochelle, and Jasmine around with us.
We had all managed to cram into Kandy’s SUV — but only barely. And I’m pretty certain Haoxin hadn’t had access to a seat belt. The guardian had also produced a magnum of obscenely expensive champagne from somewhere, then was peeved when she couldn’t persuade anyone else to swig it directly from the bottle. Apparently, she wasn’t concerned about being pulled over for drinking and driving, even if she was in the back seat and this was a bachelorette party.
Kandy dashed forward, tugging me farther onto the dance floor and already swaying her hips to the music. The stage area was set up for a live DJ, but the music currently playing was canned. Maroon 5’s What Lovers Do was a staple from my sparring playlist — and made me suspect that Kandy had created a mix just for the occasion, even though she claimed to loathe my taste in cheesy twenty-first-century pop.
Mory and Rochelle brushed by Kandy and me, heading over to set up camp in the grouping of tables. Jasmine hovered between us and the two younger Adepts, as if not certain whether she should follow them or stay with Kandy, Haoxin, and me. Though she was almost as skilled as her cousin Wisteria at acting unaffected, I could tell the guardian dragon in our midst unnerved the newly remade vampire.
Then, as one of the spotlights launched into an automated sweep of the dance floor, I spotted a huge cake on the right front corner of the stage. No … not a cake. It was tier upon tier of cupcakes. I made a beeline toward it, dragging a chortling Kandy with me to examine this delectable mountain of frosting and cake.
But one step away from getting my hands on the sure-to-be delectable desserts, I stopped short.
The cupcakes were … well … obscenely decorated was the nice way of putting it.
“What the …” Haoxin muttered. The guardian stepped up next to me, picking up and examining a cupcake that I would have sworn was topped with a vagina constructed out of chocolate and strawberry icing.
The … um … vaginal cupcake had been nestled between other samples decorated with icing-sculpted full lips, and … well … rosy-nippled breasts in a variety of skin tones.
The middle tier was dedicated to the male anatomy. Again, with every possible skin color represented. And on the top … actually, without a closer look and better lighting, I wasn’t exactly certain what I was staring at. Toes?
I gave Kandy a look. “Dancing and obscene cupcakes?”
She shrugged. “You said no strippers.”
“And … you wouldn’t happen to have a thing for feet, would you?”
“Me? You’re the one with the shoe obsession!”
“What are the cupcakes on the top tier supposed to be?”
Kandy glanced at the cupcakes in question. “Those are plain iced, dowser. Geez, get your mind out of the gutter.”
I had no idea whether she was lying or not.
Haoxin started laughing. Then she delicately swapped out the vagina cupcake she was holding, selecting a … well, selecting what appeared to be a mocha-iced penis instead.
I desperately attempted to avoid thinking about any male, who might also be a guardian, who might have had smooth, darkly tanned skin, and magic that tasted like coffee and chocolate …
Haoxin caught me watching her. “Do I eat the cake or the icing first?” she asked, feigning innocence while carefully peeling the paper off the cupcake.
Kandy eyed Haoxin’s selection with approval. “Bryn does good work.”
“You roped Bryn into this?” I cried. “While she was in the middle of opening a bakery?”
“It didn’t make sense for her to join us right in the middle of the Whistler opening, but she wanted to contribute.” Kandy’s casual shrug was offset by her wicked grin. “What did you think was in the boxes in the back of the SUV?”
“I didn’t even notice.”
“I would have arranged them differently,” Jasmine said, still making an obvious effort to keep me between her and Haoxin. “Mixing together lips and nips makes sense, but I would have had pricks intermingle with pussy.”
Kandy sniffed dismissively. “Sure you would, vampire. But I don’t mix.”
Haoxin began choking on the rather large bite she’d taken of her cupcake.
Taylor Swift took over the speakers with Look What You Made Me Do.
My phone buzzed. I retrieved it from my back pocket, finding a text message from Liam.
>I picked up minor trace elements at the first location. Slight enough to simply be an error reading. Second location had a definite spike. An elf likely broke in and did something magical. Still no indication of what or why. As far as I can tell they haven’t returned. Heading to the third location now.
Thank you. Keep me posted please.
“Jade,” Kandy said pissily. “It’s your party.”
Nodding absentmindedly, I tucked my phone away. I reached for a cupcake — and then hesitated over which one to take. Normally, I’d grab whichever one had more chocolate without thinking twice about it. But I honestly wasn’t completely sure how I felt about eating —
“Hello?” a deep male voice called out from what sounded like the entrance to the club behind us. I could barely hear it over the pulse of the music. “Is this the right place?”
I spun on Kandy again. “You said no strippers!”
She shrugged, grinning. Again. “I don’t think you’ll complain if these guys decide to take their clothing off.”
The door that led to the street swung open, and Warner, Kett, Drake, and Beau invaded the room. You know, if they were actually capable of conducting a full-scale invasion while appearing to be half drunk.
Warner’s gaze zeroed in on me, becoming smoldering. His hair was perfectly mussed, a slight shadow of stubble edged his jaw, and he was dressed in dark jeans and a black lightweight sweater that barely made the stretch across his broad shoulders.
Mine. All mine.
And then I was halfway across the room, in his arms and being kissed fiercely. He tasted of smoke and chocolate and … peat? Whiskey?
My dragon grabbed my arm, lifting it over my head and spinning me around so fast that the room kept moving even after he’d checked my movement with a hand on my hip.
Laughing, he threw his head back and bellowed over the music, “We’re crashing your party.”
“Are you drunk?”
“I most definitely am.” Warner cinched me against his chest, then dragged me a couple of steps to the right. He clapped his free hand on Kett’s shoulder. “The vampire has connections.”
The executioner, who was clothed in his typical light-gray-cashmere-and-jeans combo, stumbled underneath the weight of the friendly blow. Not because he couldn’t handle it, but because the red of his magic ringing his ice-blue eyes made me fairly certain he was completely buzzed as well. “The Isle of Islay.” Kett smiled contentedly, as if he’d actually provided some sort of clarification.
Of course and as always, I had no idea what the executioner was talking about.
“I’m the designated driver,” Drake abruptly announced, overcompensating in volume to be heard over the music. Then, without further explanation, he wandered toward the tables, tugging off his leather jacket to reveal a short-sleeve printed black T-shirt that he’d paired with black-washed jeans and sneakers. He greeted Mory and Rochelle boisterously. Beau, also in dark-blue jeans and a long-sleeved henley, had already settled in next to his wife, who was gazing at him adoringly.
“Driver?” I echoed, concerned. “Does Drake even know how to drive a car?”
“He does now,” Warner murmured. He wrapped his hand around my waist and tugged me against him so he could sway both of us to the music. “We’re here to dance, aren’t we?”
“Yes, um, but …” I glanced over at Drake worriedly. “Kandy had Bryn decorate cupcakes with genitalia.”
“I’m certain they will be delicious.”
“Warner!” I slapped him on the shoulder. “Stop being drunk for a moment, and listen to me. The fire breather is not going to be cool with you and Kett getting drunk with Drake, then me feeding him penis cupcakes.”
Warner just blinked at me, still grinning. Clearly, he wasn’t grasping the problem.
I sighed.
Beside us, Kett held out his hand toward Jasmine, who was hovering a few steps away. She practically teleported forward in order to take it. He brushed a kiss against her forehead. “All is well, my child?”
She nodded.
“Go play with the wolf, then.” He pushed Jasmine gently back toward the dance floor, where Kandy was already dancing.
The golden-haired vampire grinned as she practically skipped away.
Haoxin had finished her cupcake — and had a second one decorated with a red slash of lips across chocolate icing already in hand. She sauntered toward us, pausing a couple of steps away and eyeing Kett.
A chill ran up my spine. I hadn’t even thought … I mean, Kandy had arranged the guest list, and I had noticed how uncomfortable Jasmine was around Haoxin. But not until seeing her standing next to Kett did I really remember that guardian dragons and vampires didn’t mix. Like, not at all.
I pushed away from Warner. He let me go, begrudgingly.
“Introductions, dowser?” the guardian demanded haughtily.
I cleared my throat. Which seemed the better choice than bodily shoving myself between her and Kett. “Haoxin, guardian of North America, please allow me to present Kettil, the executioner and elder of the Conclave, sire of Jasmine.”
A slow smile curled across the petite guardian’s face. “Reckless and adventurous.”
“Excuse me?”
“That is my secondary title, dowser. If the executioner gets to use two, then so should I.”
Yeah, I still had no idea what ‘reckless and adventurous’ meant in dragon speak. But knowing as much as I did about the power the guardians wielded — with each of the nine fulfilling different obligations and embodying different magic — I knew that being the guardian representing reckless adventure couldn’t be anything other than terrifying.
Haoxin slowly offered her hand, palm down, to Kett.
My vampire BFF swept forward, taking the guardian’s hand and pressing a kiss to it.
“Executioner, the healer was supposed to make an appearance …” Haoxin glanced over at Warner.
“Qiuniu was called away, guardian,” he said, answering her not-quite-spoken question.
“After he joined you in deeply imbibing the sorcerers’ elixir?” she asked frostily.
A large grin spread across Warner’s face. “Indeed, guardian.”
Haoxin sniffed, obviously excessively put out. Then she turned her attention back to Kett. “You may lead me to the dance floor, Kettil. We shall show the children how it is properly done.”
Kett laughed quietly, offering his arm to Haoxin. She took his elbow. And thus entwined, they practically floated over the polished floor toward Jasmine and Kandy.
I stared after them, not completely following the sequence of events. All I could figure was that Haoxin had expected the healer, but knowing that he wasn’t showing, she decided that the executioner of the Conclave was a solid substitution. Never minding that Kett was literally the complete opposite of the guardian of South America in looks and in magic.
Shaking my head, I turned to Warner. “The sorcerers’ elixir?”
“Scotch. Potent, tasty scotch.”
I put two and two together and came up completely pissy. “You went … all the way to Scotland? For magical scotch?”
“Yes.” He playfully slurred the word. “There was a specific process that needed to be conducted in person.”
“A process? Like what? You had to pass a test to prove your worthiness?”
Warner laughed. “Well … a test of taste buds, and magical absorption.”
I gave him my best not-at-all-impressed look. “You mean there was a tasting room.”
“Yes. A brilliant invention of the twenty-first century.”
I didn’t bother disabusing him of the timeline of how long tasting rooms had been a thing. “And if we’re attacked by elves while dancing?” I said instead, not completely certain why I was being all pissy and edgy … though I was definitely worried about the potential fallout of dragging the younger Adepts to a dance club filled with obscene cupcakes.
Warner brushed my curls away from my face, then lingeringly caressed around the back of my ear and down my neck. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
I shook my head. Nothing had really happened. Nothing that Kandy, Jasmine, or I hadn’t already texted in our updates to Kett. But something was definitely happening, or about to happen. “Actually, I’ve inadvertently negotiated a sort of ceasefire with the elves. And I have a bargaining piece from the treasure keeper.”
Warner grunted, acknowledging me but not wanting to interrupt. I gazed up at him for a moment, seeing the gold of his dragon magic glimmering in his eyes. I registered his relaxed body language as he let me look at him, then smiled slightly as he ran his fingers across my shoulder and down my arm.
I threaded my fingers through his, lifting up on my tiptoes so I could brush a kiss against his ear. Then I whispered, “I think … I think I just want to get on with it all.”
He wrapped his hand around my waist, pulling me closer and swaying slightly to the music.
“I … I have this weird feeling …” I pressed a kiss to Warner’s cheek, then brushed my lips against his, heedless of my lip gloss. “An idea hovering just out of reach …” I shook my head, unable to fully articulate what I meant. “Maybe this has just taken too long … the wedding and the elves … I don’t know. I’m restless. I’m worried. I’m … worried that maybe we waited too long.”
“There is no ‘too long’ for us, Jade. There is no rush.”
“There was no reason to delay, either. But I let Gran insist on things. Properly printed invitations and napkins and … now the elves …”
“Four days,” he murmured, slowly moving me closer and closer to the middle of the dance floor.
I heard the dulcet tones of Ed Sheeran, singing the incredibly danceable The Shape of You — and I was a goner. I was in Warner’s arms and I couldn’t resist dancing any longer, no matter how many things felt as though they were hanging over me, weighing me down.
Rochelle and Beau had joined Kandy and Jasmine. Haoxin and Kett were spiraling around and around the room, leaving streams of magic in their wake. The taste of peppermint intermingled with that of chocolate, bitter and sweet, and with apple, and with spicy dragon power. No one was bothering to dampen their magic. It was my bachelorette party, after all. If dancing was on the menu, then magic was as well.
Tucked into the delectable pocket of tasty energy slowly building in the center of the room, and with the strength of Warner’s arms around me, I felt my shoulders finally relax.
“I don’t need a ceremony to tell me I belong to you, Jade,” Warner whispered against my ear.
I wrapped my hands around his neck, rocking my hips against his. He chuckled, sliding his hand up my back, then leading me in a swirling, spinning dance that was more about riding the power surging around us than matching the beat of the music. I gathered that power, all that energy freely given by my friends. I gathered it around us, luxuriating in it, greedily hoarding it in my necklace and knife, even as I channeled it into Warner’s knife.
The sentinel — my sentinel — chose to appear in sweater and jeans courtesy of his chameleon magic, wanting to blend into the contemporary world. But to me, his manifested clothing only ever barely concealed the warrior in dragon leathers. I could always feel the power of the blade that he wore in the built-in sheath on his thigh. A weapon I’d inadvertently created in desperation and terror, tainted by blood magic and the death of a sorcerer. But tamed by Warner.
The songs changed. Then changed again.
We danced. And danced.
At some point, I caught a glimpse of the younger Adepts. They’d left the dance floor and gathered around the tables together. One of them, most likely Drake, had relocated the diminishing stack of cupcakes so it sat between them. Drake, Mory, and Beau appeared to be systematically mowing through the obscene desserts, laughing and shouting. Rochelle seemed content to simply oversee her companions’ extreme indulgence.
Kett passed Warner a silver flask as he and Haoxin danced past us. Warner uncapped it with a flick of his thumb, offering it to me — only to have the guardian of North America snatch it back as she and Kett spun around to our other side.
I laughed, not a bit bothered by missing a sip of my own. I was riding my own magical high. I didn’t need any sorcerer-fermented barley juice to feel a buzz. The room was brimming with tasty and potent dragon, vampire, shapeshifter, necromancer, and oracle magic. And I was —
An elf was standing a few feet from the entrance door, watching us. I caught sight of her just before Warner spun me away.
“Elf,” I hissed.
Warner stopped dancing. The room continued to spin, tip, and swirl around me as I pivoted back toward the door, my knife already in hand.
No elf.
I scanned the room quickly, but with the floor, walls, and ceiling all in black and the random bright lights overhead, my vision was totally compromised.
“Where?” Warner whispered.
Kandy brushed against my right shoulder, still feigning that she was dancing. She had tucked Jasmine behind her. Kett and Haoxin continued to twirl blithely around us, executing the steps of some ballroom dance flawlessly. But by the set of their shoulders, they’d picked up on something. Probably me picking up on something else.
But maybe I was seeing things …
Magic shifted — just a fleeting glimmer, quickly dissipating. Then Mirage appeared a few steps away from me. She was still wearing her yellow jacket and jeans, lifting her hand to the jacket’s zipper. “I thought I could —”
Warner lunged, grabbing her by the throat so swiftly that she was unable to finish her sentence. “You dare, elf!”
Choking, Mira struggled. Her eyes widened as she realized she could neither breathe nor break away. Her magic shifted across her skin, the fine scales reflecting patches of black to mimic the walls. Then they showed a warmer skin tone, presumably matching Warner’s. Seeing that finally confirmed how Mira moved around so easily without being seen. It had previously only been a guess that the elves might possess a chameleonlike ability similar to Warner’s, but I hadn’t seen any direct evidence of that ability before.
Haoxin and Kett executed a final twist, broke apart, and came to a stop behind the elf, boxing her in. Kandy and Jasmine stood to either side of Warner and me. I could feel Drake, Beau, Mory, and Rochelle stepping up behind us.
“Warner,” I whispered, touching his outstretched arm lightly.
He loosened his hold.
Mira stumbled, bending over to cough, then to wheeze. She had gotten her zipper partway down, and I could see the top of the logo on the T-shirt she wore underneath.
Baby blue with pink printing.
She was wearing a Cake in a Cup T-shirt.
I felt like a complete asshole.
I knew what it was like to be an outsider. To not know how to fit in. I’d spent three months living in the guardian nexus, and during much of that time, the only person who’d spoken to me was Drake.
“I’m sorry,” Mira croaked. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Warner scoffed. “We aren’t interested in your games, elf.”
“No?” Mira straightened, her hand still pressed to her neck. “You looked like you were playing some game … or maybe having sex? Or, no … it’s called foreplay in this world, isn’t it? I just didn’t know that you did it in large groups.” She glanced toward the younger Adepts arrayed behind us. “Or with cupcakes.”
Kandy laughed harshly, as if a moment of mirth had been pulled from her against her will.
Warner didn’t take his fierce gaze off the illusionist. “Coming in here was a suicide mission.”
Mira met his gaze, then flicked her eyes to me.
“We were dancing,” I said, painfully aware — again — how foreign and strange everything in this dimension must seem to Mira.
“Ah, yes. A dancing game.” She said it as though she’d only read the word before, not heard it out loud. “I could feel the magic.” She touched the zipper of her coat again, hesitating. “But … I was wrong to approach. I’ve ruined your mating game.”
Damn it. She’d put on the T-shirt because we all wore printed T-shirts every day in the bakery. Because she wanted to fit in …
Or because she was completely playing me.
But if that were true, it would indicate that elves were well versed in human psychology. And it just seemed unlikely that hundreds of years in a guardian prison and three months in Vancouver would have been enough time to work out the intricacies of human emotions.
“I told you dancing was a prelude to mating,” Drake said, cutting through the pop-music-scored tension that had swallowed the conversation.
I had no idea who he was talking to, though. Probably me.
“Shut your yap, fledgling,” Kandy muttered.
Completely ignoring the werewolf, Drake shouldered up behind me. Then he thrust his hand past me toward Mira. “I’m Drake.”
She flinched, then stared at his hand.
“I’ve never met an elf before,” Drake said, completely earnest.
Yeah, I wasn’t the only one easily beguiled by pretty magic.
Haoxin sighed the sigh of the long suffering. “You have absolutely no idea what power this one wields, fledgling. Yet you offer to touch her, to shake her hand.”
“She’s the illusionist, isn’t she? Jasmine has kept us informed by text message.”
Mira’s eyes had widened at Haoxin’s words. She nodded as if she’d come to some understanding. Then she stepped forward, placing her hand in Drake’s. “I am Mira. So named by Jade.”
Kandy glanced toward me. I dipped my chin, acknowledging the assertion without taking my attention from the elf.
The illusionist released Drake’s hand, then offered her hand to Warner. He didn’t take it, so she dropped it to her side again, looking back to me. “I thought to join you. To play with you. Your game. Since you don’t like mine.” She grinned, displaying her sharp teeth.
“This is ridiculous,” Warner snarled. “Her friend in the park tried to kill Kandy.”
“Hey!” Kandy cried indignantly. “Maybe I would have had it under control if you hadn’t butted your fat head in.”
“I believe that was my neck, wolf.”
I raised my hands to the sides, cutting off their bickering. “I have an offer from the treasure keeper.”
Haoxin stepped to the side, clearing her sight line so she could meet my gaze directly. “Do you?” She sounded intrigued. And I suddenly wasn’t certain whether that was a good thing, given her secondary title. Plus the champagne and the so-called sorcerers’ elixir she’d been drinking.
A grin slowly spread across Mira’s face. She leaned slightly forward to whisper, “You know what your dancing game looks like to me, Jade?”
Despite my best intentions to be adult about the negotiations I’d promised the treasure keeper I was more than capable of undertaking, an answering smile spread across my face. “Sword fighting?”
Mira laughed, tossing her head back.
“Elves aren’t known for their ability to distinguish war from peace,” Warner growled. “Or friend from foe.”
“No?” Mira took a step to the side, then a step back, swaying her hips to the music still pounding through the speakers overhead. “I understand dancing. Jade has taught me —”
And then Mira’s hand suddenly shot to her head. She staggered, pressing against the gemstone embedded in her forehead as if it pained her. She looked over her shoulder, back toward the club entrance.
“Come with me, Jade.” Some sort of stress had replaced the elf’s playful tone. “Come make your offer to my liege.”
She glanced back at me when I didn’t immediately answer, reluctantly taking her gaze from the door. “Please.”
“No.” Warner and Kandy spoke in unison.
But it was Haoxin’s gaze I caught over Mira’s shoulder.
The illusionist’s offer was most likely a trap. I could be leading everyone, my friends, into danger. I already knew the telepathic elf wasn’t to be trifled with — and neither was Mira, whether she truly wished to get back home or not.
But … if we were going to blithely walk into a trap, we were stronger together. Formidable, even. Two elves — hell, even a dozen elves — couldn’t get past Haoxin, Warner, Kett, Kandy, and me. In fact, I was pretty certain that Warner and Haoxin could face off against the elves just by themselves. At least as long as the sentinel wasn’t trying to save Kandy’s neck. The guardians had been doing just that for months, cleaning up the mess Shailaja had made when she compromised Pulou.
In response to my unvoiced question, the guardian of North America nodded. Telling me to proceed and that she would back me, all in one simple gesture.
I took a step forward, feverishly thinking about where and when to suggest we meet —
Rochelle’s hand fell on my shoulder. “Jade … wait …” The oracle’s tart-apple magic boiled across my back and up my neck.
Oh, God. No.
“We must go now,” Mira said, taking a couple of steps back toward the entrance. “They’re coming, Jade … and … and I can’t stand against her.”
Mira didn’t have to explain who she meant. And though I was slightly concerned about her indication that multiple people — multiple elves? — were on their way, I needed to deal with one disaster at a time.
First, the oracle.
I slowly pivoted to face Rochelle, ignoring an almost desperate need to tear away from her grasp. Warner and Kandy tightened the space on either side of me, covering my back but not completely blocking me from Mira.
“Jasmine!” Kett snapped. “The music. Please.”
I didn’t see how or if the golden-haired vampire responded. Because all I could see were Rochelle’s eyes and the white power simmering within them, spilling out over her cheeks.
The oracle reached up, placing the fingertips of each hand lightly under my eyes. “Jade,” she murmured. “Something … something is pending. White mist is stretching all around you, obscuring everything else …”
“We must go now,” Mira cried, taking a few more steps toward the door.
The music stopped playing. An almost-deafening silence flooded the room.
I had to force the words from my mouth. “What do you see, oracle?”
“You. Here. In this room,” Rochelle whispered. “You. Jade. The beginning of the end. It’s you. You are the weapon.”
Jesus. But tell me something I didn’t know. “I’m listening. Tell me … tell me …” Tell me what? What not to do? How the hell would Rochelle be able to process that in the moment? The vision was obviously just in the process of manifesting. That wasn’t how her gift worked. “Beau?”
“She’ll need to draw,” Beau said gruffly. “Then we’ll know … then we’ll begin to understand, at least.”
“No,” Rochelle said, shaking her head emphatically. But it was like she couldn’t further articulate whatever she was protesting.
The taste of Mira’s magic splashed around the edges of the room. As I turned to see that the illusionist elf was now standing by the door to the street, I inadvertently knocked Rochelle’s hands away with the quick twist of my head.
Mira wasn’t alone anymore.
A dozen other elves — each at least a head higher than the six-foot-tall illusionist — stood arrayed around her. While Mira was in jacket and jeans, the newcomers were arrayed in white-shelled armor. And bristling with weapons.
“Time to play, Jade.” Mira’s tone had turned bright with false cheer, indicating, to me at least, that the elves showing up hadn’t been her idea.
Haoxin stepped up, taking Kandy’s spot beside me. “I was informed that there were three elves originally imprisoned here. And that you eliminated one, dragon slayer.”
“Yes.”
“Yet a dozen stand before us.”
“Mira,” Kandy whispered. She’d stepped back to make way for Haoxin, standing just behind my right shoulder.
I nodded, agreeing with Kandy’s unvoiced observation. “I felt her magic a moment before the elves appeared.”
“So,” Kandy asked. “How many are real?”
“Let’s find out,” Warner murmured to my left. Then his sweater and jeans disappeared, replaced by dragon leathers. He unsheathed his blade. I felt its deadly, eager magic dance across the bare skin of my hand, wrist, and forearm.
Then I remembered who was standing with us. They were tucked behind the dragons and the other powerful enforcers, and more than ready to follow us into whatever battle was looming. But Mory … Rochelle … even Beau and Jasmine might not have been up for what the elves could deal out. If they weren’t just an illusion.
“Is there a secondary exit?” I asked, not taking my eyes from the newcomers.
Haoxin and Warner were also diligently assessing the power of the elves, all of which remained stationary before us. As if awaiting orders — but from who, I didn’t know. Not Mira. So then the telepath, Mira’s so-called liege, was still hiding herself?
“Also, I need my satchel,” I said. Kandy had blindfolded me before I could grab the bag from my apartment.
“There’s another exit behind the stage. It leads to the alley, but it’s a dead end,” Kandy said. “The SUV is parked on the main street, so the front door is actually safer passage. If it’s the fledglings you’re worried about.”
I nodded.
From behind me, Jasmine reached over my head, wordlessly settling my satchel across my shoulders. I wasn’t certain where she’d gotten it, or if she’d had it the entire time. And I couldn’t even blame my lack of observation on sorcerer’s scotch. I wasn’t even buzzed from the magic I’d been dancing in only minutes before.
“Thank you.” I lifted the satchel’s flap, angling my hip toward Haoxin as I lifted the broken piece of tech from the interior depths, just enough to show it to the guardian. “Shall we try to continue with negotiations first?” I met her intensely blue gaze. “At least until we get some of our companions behind wards?”
Haoxin smirked. “How will they ever learn if you coddle them, Jade?”
“This isn’t their lesson, guardian. They have their own strengths and abilities. They are far too valuable to risk to a brawl.”
The guardian eyed me for a moment — a moment I spent silently pleading that she understood the need for caution just as much as the need for strength. Then she nodded, taking two steps forward.
The elves keyed in on Haoxin. Otherwise, they were still as statues. Well, statues that glistened with magic and emitted a low hum of menace.
Though that last part might have just been my imagination.
“I am Haoxin.” Completely contrary to her petite stature, her declaration was carried forward and around us with a heady wash of dragon power. “Guardian of North America.”
The warriors swiveled their heads to look at Mira in unison. The illusionist didn’t appear overly pleased to realize there was a guardian on the dance floor, but she didn’t otherwise respond.
“This is my territory,” Haoxin purred delightedly. “Cross blades with me and die. There will be no respite. No cushy prison. No simple banishment from this dimension.” The guardian’s tone turned icy, punctuating each word. “I will eviscerate each one of you.”
Mira glanced at me. The warriors kept their gazes on the illusionist.
I waited. Silence stretched tautly through the room. If Haoxin wanted to take the lead, she was welcome to it. Though after that declaration of destruction, I didn’t know how much actual negotiation was likely to be accomplished under her leadership.
The petite guardian nodded at me curtly.
I stepped forward, holding the broken piece of elf tech aloft. “A conversation was requested. An offer has yet to be made. Take me to the one who makes the decisions, and no one needs to die here today.”
Mira smiled tightly. Then, without a word of response, her magic folded back to her and she practically melted through the ranks of the warriors. Amid the folding of the illusionist’s magic, the elves funneled backward, following her out through the door. Then, as I tracked the mossy taste of Mira’s magic, I felt the elves quickly exit the building.
I glanced at Haoxin as I tucked the tech back into my satchel. “I’m not quite sure that was a yes.”
She laughed. “They do like to keep their options open.” Then she strode off after the elves.
Warner immediately closed the space between us, reaching up and smoothing a lock of my hair through his forefinger and middle finger without speaking. His attention was already half on the coming confrontation.
“Take care of your neck, please,” I murmured, unable to let him go without at least saying something. Even though he was more than capable and had much more experience fighting elves — alongside Haoxin specifically — than any of us.
“The only one getting near me is you, Jade.”
“Promise.”
“Promise. Multiple times.”
I grinned. And just like that, we weren’t talking about him accidentally getting his neck broken again. “Well, you have been away for a couple of days.”
Warner swept me forward into a fierce kiss flavored with his black-forest-cake magic. Then just as quickly, he was striding after Haoxin. His power shifted around him, triggering his chameleon abilities, and he had disappeared within the black-shrouded room before he even exited.
Shaking off the sense of dread that was threatening my ability to react rationally, I turned to the others.
Rochelle was rubbing her forehead, clearly still disorientated. But when I met her gaze questioningly, her magic had abated to a shimmer around her pale gray eyes. She shook her head, distressed. “Something is happening. But … the mist usually resolves into a clear picture and it hasn’t … yet.”
Okay. So all I could do was execute the first part of the plan — or what I saw as the first part, at least. “Beau, you’ll get Rochelle to Gran’s. Or the bakery if that’s easier. Behind wards.”
Kandy tossed her keys toward Beau, and the werecat caught them without effort. The green of shapeshifter magic was blazing in both their eyes.
“Our place would be better,” Beau said. “Rochelle is all set up to draw there.”
“It’s much farther away.”
“I won’t risk the oracle’s welfare,” Beau said stiffly.
Apparently, I was stepping on all sorts of toes. And the night was still young. I nodded, then added, “Jasmine, you’ll go with them.”
“No.” The golden-haired vampire jutted her chin out indignantly. “I’m not some fledgling —”
“Kett,” I said.
“You will guard the oracle, Jasmine. She is more important than either you or I will ever be.”
“Geez, old man,” I groused. “Being nicer wouldn’t hurt.”
The executioner gave me a cool look. “Being nicer apparently means standing around chatting while the guardian and the sentinel get to have all the fun.”
“Haoxin and Warner are less than twenty feet away,” I said snottily. “Securing the passage for the others.”
Kett raised an eyebrow at me, smirking.
I shook my head. To my side, I could feel Drake forcing himself to stand still. The fledgling guardian was waiting for orders, like a good soldier. “Drake, Mory is under your protection. You’ll get her to Gran’s.”
“Jade …” the necromancer started to protest.
I shook my head at her, just once. And my look was apparently beyond reproach, because Mory shut her mouth and stepped up beside Drake.
“And then?” Drake asked morosely. It was obvious he wanted to join the epic elf brawl possibly about to break out on the streets of Vancouver — and that he already knew that wasn’t going to happen.
“Then, if you haven’t heard from any of us within twenty-four hours, you’ll get my father.”
He nodded, disappointed. But I knew that he understood that keeping Mory safe was far more important. “The healer and the warrior have been called away,” he said.
“They’ll come if needed,” I said grimly. “But we won’t count on it.”
I glanced at each of them in turn, trying to stress how serious the situation was without belaboring the point. Then I looked at Rochelle in particular. “Oracle … shall we proceed?”
Her eyes were still rimmed with her oracle magic, but again she just shook her head. “I’m sorry. Until there is something more to see, I can’t help.”
I nodded curtly, but honestly I liked it better that way, preferring to make my own choices in the moment instead of worrying about each step ahead of time. “Kandy, Kett, and I will get you to the vehicles.”
I turned toward the entrance, expecting them to follow. They did.
With Kandy, Kett, Drake, and me arrayed around our more vulnerable companions, we traversed the hall and the stairs, making it onto the sidewalk without an elf sighting. Even without a blindfold, I still didn’t have a solid idea of where we were in the city. Based on the direction of the parked cars, noses all facing left, we were on a one-way street, surrounded by apartment tower after apartment tower. Some were still under construction. Large cranes strung with Christmas lights, and one decked out with an actual Christmas tree, loomed overhead. The center of the sidewalk was cobblestones — but new, not reclaimed. Putting that all together, my best guess was that we were somewhere on the outskirts of Yaletown, knowing how that section of the city seemed to constantly shift and grow.
It was raining lightly. Dark. Near midnight. But the city was still brightly lit. The streets and sidewalks were thankfully empty on a Sunday night, but I could hear fairly steady traffic nearby, and I knew they wouldn’t remain so indefinitely. We were close to a main thoroughfare through the city, then. One of the bridges, most likely Cambie Street.
“I’ll drive,” Mory hissed, thrusting her hand palm up toward Drake. They were both standing at the driver’s-side door of a white BMW SUV. Kett’s vehicle.
“I have the keys,” Drake said, completely unruffled by the pissy necromancer, who didn’t even come up to his shoulder.
I took two steps and plucked the keys from Drake’s hand, gave them to Mory, and opened the door to the SUV. I shielded the necromancer — who was busy sticking her tongue out at Drake — from view of the street with my body.
Drake snorted, laughing. “I can better defend you while not driving anyway.”
“Yes, you can.” I shut the door while Mory was still fiddling with adjusting the seat. “Thank you, Drake.”
He nodded, grinning at me easily while he jogged around to climb into the passenger seat. “You owe me a fight, dowser.”
“Hopefully it won’t come to that.”
Kandy skulked up beside me, slipping into the back seat of the SUV as a temporary escort. She moved so quietly that Mory didn’t actually see her until she reached up to adjust the rearview mirror. The werewolf earned herself a death glare from the necromancer, but if my BFF noticed, she didn’t react. Then Mory pulled away from the curb, carefully navigating the narrow street as she sped away. Paid parking spots lined both sides of the street, but after 10 p.m. the meter didn’t need to be plugged until morning.
Haoxin appeared beside me. Kett glanced over at her, completely unruffled, but Jasmine flinched. I could feel Warner’s magic in the shadows about halfway up the block.
“The elves?” I asked Haoxin.
“Waiting for us in the alley.” She gestured across the street and to our left.
In the next parallel parking spot over, Rochelle stumbled as she was climbing into the back seat of Kandy’s black SUV. Twisting her ankle at the edge of the curb, she protectively pressed her hands to her belly.
And for the sickening moment that it took for me to surge forward, I thought something might have been wrong with the baby. But as Beau caught his wife’s elbow and her white oracle magic flooded her eyes, I understood that the gesture was probably instinctual.
“Beau,” I urged quietly. “Now. You need to go.”
“No,” Rochelle gasped. “Jade. Jade. Jade. It’s Jade again. Mist. Endless white mist, trapping her, holding her. But I can’t see! Something is going to happen. But I can’t see it. I can’t see it.”
Jasmine snatched the keys from Beau, stepping forward and climbing into the driver’s seat. Beau gathered Rochelle in his arms, attempting to load her into the SUV even as she struggled against him.
Struggling to reach me?
I closed the space between us.
Rochelle’s fingers brushed my cheek. Her eyes cleared of her oracle magic. And for a moment, she just looked at me, blinking in confusion.
“Tell me what you see, oracle.” It was my name Rochelle kept repeating. And I told myself I could handle anything that might happen to me. Just …
I just couldn’t handle losing anyone else.
Rochelle shook her head. “I’m sorry. I can’t see you clearly, but … I feel … you feel …” The white of her oracle magic flooded her eyes, and she arched upward in Beau’s arms, breaking contact with me.
“Beau?” I asked, uneasy.
“It’ll come,” the werecat said calmly. “Things will resolve, and then Rochelle will be able to draw.”
But given Rochelle’s confusion, I was fairly certain that I didn’t have time to wait around for the vision, aka my pending future, to resolve into whatever shape it was going to take.
“Beware of the stones, Jade,” Rochelle whispered tensely. “The gemstone.”
Fear coiled in my belly — triggered by the terror laced through the normally placid oracle’s tone.
“I hear you,” I said, keeping calm. “I remember the sketch. Text me if you get anything more.”
“I will,” Beau said, climbing into the SUV with his wife in his arms.
“No!” Rochelle cried. “This isn’t that.”
Kett slipped around and into the front passenger seat of the SUV, shutting the door behind him in the same motion. “Go, Jasmine.”
The vehicle lurched into motion. I stepped back, closing the back passenger door and watching as Jasmine drove off.
In the back seat, Rochelle twisted out of Beau’s grasp and began pounding at the side window. I could see more than hear her screaming my name. As the SUV sped off, the oracle was pressed to the glass, her magic streaming from her eyes, her mouth hanging open in terror.
Kandy appeared at the far corner of the street, jogging back from wherever she’d jumped out of the SUV carrying Mory and Drake. Presumably before they’d crossed the Cambie Street bridge.
The SUV driven by Jasmine turned the corner, taking the oracle from my sight. I stood on the sidewalk, chilled to the bone.
“And if she’s seen something relevant?” Haoxin asked. Her tone was level, nonjudgemental. But I heard it as chastising anyway.
“I won’t risk her, or the others, because Pulou chose to imprison elves here without letting anyone know. And then, when he was compromised, he didn’t even bother to mention there might be ramifications.”
“The ramifications of almost being killed, you mean. By the centipedes that you now hold.”
I turned to Haoxin. She was easily four inches shorter than me and much, much tinier. But she could seriously kick my ass. Still. Even despite the weapons that decorated my neck. But now wasn’t the time for that conversation. “I’m not going to attack you, Haoxin. I’m not going to use the instruments. In fact, I was the one who saved Pulou from that assassination attempt.”
Haoxin regarded me dispassionately. “You are perhaps the only one who could have saved him, dragon slayer. But one day you might decide differently.”
“Yeah? Well, today I’m living in the now. Today I’m protecting those who matter, like in the present. Not in some farfetched future in which you envision me going insane, killing all the guardians, and stealing all their magic.”
“Problem?” Kandy asked in a soft, only slightly threatening growl.
Haoxin’s gaze flicked to the green-haired werewolf standing at my shoulder. Then she glanced down, possibly to the cuffs Kandy wore. “No problem, wolf. The dowser was simply telling me how it is … in her present. While I was simply reminding her that the centuries of knowledge that a guardian carries, along with the choices he or she makes … choices that are the best they can be in the time of their occurrence … cannot be assessed by today’s ramifications.”
“Well, that’s totally clear. Eh, dowser?” Kandy asked mockingly.
“Yeah. As mud.” I tore my gaze from Haoxin’s. There were elves to deal with, after all. “All dragons take their lessons from Chi Wen seriously.”
The petite guardian snorted. But she let the subject drop.
And yeah, maybe she was right, and benching Rochelle had been a mistake. But I would rather die in the now than see the oracle or her child harmed in the near future. And if that was too shortsighted for a guardian, she could deal with the damn elves on her own.
I opened my mouth to say as much. But then I decided my time was better spent texting Gran than bandying words with a dragon who was at least a century older than me. Kandy had presumably updated everyone who needed to be updated, but I wanted to make sure. I tugged my phone out of my pocket.
And only then did I realize that I’d missed a series of text messages while dancing. All from Liam.
>Something is going on at BC Place. Elf magic, maybe dormant? At a series of spots around the perimeter. No sighting of actual elves. And I have no idea what the magic means or does.
>Jade?
>Jade?
Against the noise and the movement in the club, I hadn’t even felt the phone buzz.
Sorry. I’m here. Are you still at BC Place?
“Liam?” Kandy asked.
“Yes.” I shifted the phone forward so she and Haoxin could read the texts at the same time.
The guardian swiped her finger lightly across my screen, reading the thread from the beginning. “BC Place? A stadium, yes?”
“Yep.” Kandy pointed slightly to our right. “At the edge of False Creek, right beside Rogers Arena.”
“Ah, yes. I remember.”
Kett stepped out of the shadows a few feet away. “I escorted the vehicle over the bridge. Jasmine will text when they’re behind wards. Beau is insisting on going all the way into Southlands.”
“Thank you.” My phone buzzed.
All four of us leaned in to read the message from Liam.
>I’m still here. What do you want me to do?
“Where the freaking hell are we?” I asked Kandy.
“Abbott. Closer to Hastings than Pender.”
“Abbott …” Seriously, I’d lived in Vancouver my entire life and I still didn’t know exactly where the hell we were. “Gastown?”
“Very edge.”
“How close are we to BC Place?”
She pointed up and slightly to our right again. “About three city blocks, the way the crow flies.”
I nodded, texting.
Stay close, but don’t enter the building. Don’t draw attention. Do you have your gun?
>Of course.
“Gun?” Haoxin asked.
“Sorcerer,” Kandy said, as if that would cover the actually quite complex answer to that question. But Haoxin nodded thoughtfully, so maybe it did.
We’re near. But so are the elves. Possibly dozens of them.
>Okay.
The simple acceptance in Liam’s response chilled me. I didn’t like how everything was lining up … the game playing, the tests, whatever the elves were doing around BC Place, the oracle’s frantic visions. I had done something wrong, taken some wrong step these last few days. Either that or I was about to do something terrible. Terrible enough to make an oracle scream my name.
“Please,” I murmured. “Please God, don’t … let me get anyone killed.”
Kandy pressed against my shoulder, silent but supportive.
I returned my attention to texting Liam. I wanted to tell him to go home, to hide behind the wards on his parents’ house. Except he wasn’t some fledgling that I could force protection on. He was valuable as backup and a player the elves hadn’t engaged yet.
Hole up. Kandy will find you when it’s okay to move. Don’t shoot her.
I angled my phone toward Kandy. She nodded.
>And the elves?
I paused again briefly, desperately trying to piece together all the pieces of the puzzle. But I had no idea of what the big picture was going to turn out to be.
If they come at you, shoot to kill. Through the gemstones on their foreheads.
>Okay.
I tucked my phone in my satchel rather than my pocket. Less chance of it getting broken that way. I glanced up and down the sidewalk. Haoxin had lifted her face to the mist, seeming perfectly content to wait for me to get my shit sorted out. I could feel Warner in the deep shadows across the street, presumably making certain that the elves stayed where the guardian said they were gathered.
“Listen,” I whispered to my two best friends. “If something happens to me —”
“Jade,” Kandy growled. Kett was silent.
“Please.” I could still see Rochelle pressed against the SUV window and screaming my name in my mind’s eye. “You know we’re walking into some sort of trap.”
“Even a dozen elves have no chance against us,” Kett said coolly.
“Listen to me.” My tone was harsher, shakier than I’d intended. “Please.”
Kett wrapped his fingers around my wrist. His cool touch grounded me.
“We three have done this dance before …” My voice cracked. “My life isn’t more important than yours.”
Kandy hissed harshly.
I continued, needing to just get out what I had to say. “If I’m going to fall … if that is what the oracle sees … and someone else can be saved. You save them.”
“Absolutely not,” Kett said.
“The oracle —”
“I couldn’t care less what Rochelle sees for you, Jade. If I allowed my choices to be dictated by others, I’d have succumbed to oblivion centuries ago.” And with that pronouncement, the executioner of the Conclave released my wrist. Turning his back on me stiffly, he crossed to stand by Haoxin.
I looked at Kandy, raising my voice so Kett could still hear me. “I’m not explaining myself very well. I can’t stop whatever the oracle sees, not even if she managed to fully articulate the vision. I can’t stop fate. I can’t fight destiny.”
Kandy shrugged nonchalantly, walking backward toward Kett. “No one thinks you can, dowser. But it’s our territory to defend, isn’t it? Our choices to make. Not just yours. What will be, will be.”
Then the green-haired werewolf turned her back on me as well, leaving me alone on the wet sidewalk while she joined Kett and Haoxin.
I took a shuddering breath, wrapping one hand around my necklace and one hand around the hilt of my knife. I allowed the magic that resided in both to settle me. I closed my eyes and let my power curl out and around me, released from the confines of the artifacts so I could call upon it in an instant.
The taste of Warner’s black-forest-cake magic was pulled into the mix, filling my senses and tickling my taste buds.
I opened my eyes.
My soon-to-be husband was standing before me, resplendent in dragon leathers, and with the gold of his magic flecked through his fierce blue-green gaze.
I grinned at him. Regardless of my attempt to be an adult and make adult choices, I couldn’t deny the anticipation of the fight waiting for us around the corner. At some point, caution always got flung to the side. The pieces would be picked up and mended in the aftermath. That was how things always unfolded. That was how it always ended.
“Ready to kick some ass, my love?”
“Always.”
He chuckled. And together, we followed Haoxin across the street and into the mouth of the alley.