“Someone is there,” Alex said, surprising me. I thought he’d just noticed the look on my face and cleverly created a diversion. “Human though. Male, I think.” He glanced down at the folder that was now burning in my hands. “What’s in it?”
“It’s about me,” I gasped. “It must say about how I’m human. Corrigan can’t read this, Alex, he just can’t.”
“Okay,” he said. “Damage control.” He took the folder and pulled out the contents then spun me around and unzipped my backpack, stuffing the papers inside. He raised his eyebrows at me as he saw the other contents of the bag. “Silver?”
“I’ll explain later,” I muttered.
Alex pulled a book off the shelf. “Spells for the Uninitiated,” he read. “This’ll do. Page 107, if I remember rightly.”
“What’s on page 107?” I asked, as I watched him rip it out and place it inside the folder.
“Love Spell,” he said, with a great deal more calm than I felt. “With any luck, Lord Corrigan will believe that your alpha was just trying to get a bit of sneaky bed action.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I said flatly. “No-one would ever believe John would stoop that low.”
He looked at me, quietly. “Do you have a better idea? They’re on their way back.”
“Fuck. No. Give me that,” I snatched it back out of his hands and shoved it into the folder, just in time to see Corrigan return.
“Your policeman boyfriend is here,” he sneered.
“Nick? But…”
“Go and get rid of him.” He pulled the folder out of my hands.
I tried to protest weakly but he pushed me out the door. The weight of the backpack on my shoulders now felt constricting. Between the silver weapons and the proof of my true identity, if anyone opened it, it would seal my doom. And perhaps the rest of the pack’s too. That might work out well for Corrigan, I thought bleakly. With no Cornish pack, then there’d probably be no more attacks to worry about and he could scuttle back to London in his showy limo and forget we’d ever existed. Oh, this was all so very very bad.
Nick was already in the hall when I entered through the study. It was difficult to concentrate on why he was here with everything else that had just happened. I tried to put on my game face.
“Nick. What brings you here?”
He looked around the hall. “There were some reports of loud noises from this vicinity,” he said slowly. “Had some trouble have you?”
Most of the devastation from before had been tidied up, but one of the paintings had a great rip right through it and there were still some shards of glass from one of the lamps in the corner. At least the dead monster had gone.
“Yes, we…er…were having a party,” I gabbled. “It got a bit out of hand. Most people are away sleeping it off.” I tried to smile disarmingly at him.
He frowned at me. “Apparently it sounded more like a riot, than a party.”
“Crazy times, Nick, crazy times. Thanks for coming over to check it all out though.”
“Would you tell me if something was wrong?” he asked softly.
“Yes,” I lied, looking him straight in the eyes. I was becoming too good at this.
“Okay, then.” He paused for a moment. “Do you mind if I have a look around?”
Yes. “Ummm…”
At that moment, Tom, bless him, appeared. I waved at him frantically. He looked oddly wary of me but came over anyway. “Actually, it’s kind of late and we were going to go to bed.” I flung an arm round Tom’s waist and smiled at Nick apologetically. “How about tomorrow morning instead?”
His face went cold. “That won’t be necessary,” he said stiffly. “Call me if you need anything.”
He walked back outside. I watched him go, feeling sorry for him. In another world, that might have worked, but… The oak door slammed behind him and Corrigan’s voice came from behind me. “That was fast work.”
I realised my arm was still round Tom and snatched it away, whirling round. Corrigan’s eyes were entirely expressionless - and he was still holding the folder.
“I was just doing what you asked, my Lord.”
His gaze flicked to Tom and then back to me. “Whatever you say. Better get some rest. It’s late and we need everyone rested in case there’s another attack tomorrow.”
“And what if there’s one tonight?”
Corrigan sighed and looked at me tiredly. “I have watchers all over the keep. Do not presume to tell me my job, Miss Mackenzie.”
He walked up the stairs, with Staines behind him like a faithful dog.
“Do not presume to tell me my job, Miss Mackenzie, kitten, servant of my own bidding,” I mimicked once he’d gone. “Tosser.” I didn’t think I’d ever seen someone flick between hot and cold so quickly.
Tom looked across at me. “What the hell is going on, Red?”
“It’s…complicated.” I pulled him in the direction of the kitchen. “Come on, let’s get Alex and get a coffee and I’ll tell you.”
Chapter Twenty Three
The three of us congregated around the now upright kitchen table. I set the large copper kettle on the stove to boil and began preparing some coffee, setting out three mugs. Tom kept sending sidelong glances to Alex until exasperatedly I hissed that he could more than be trusted and knew everything that was going on.
“Including…?” The question in Tom’s voice was obvious.
“That she’s human? I’m a mage, dude, I knew within about 0.5 seconds.”
“Alright, dude,” Tom sarcastically snapped back.
“Hey boys, let’s chill, shall we?” I commented, try to aim for a light tone. It was an unusual day when I was the one trying to keep the peace. I guessed that the stress and fear was getting to everyone.
Both of them slumped slightly and looked guiltily at each other. I continued on, all business-like. “So what’s with the funny looks, Tom?” I really wanted to ask him if he was planning on joining the Brethren but, given the circumstances, decided that I’d have to leave that topic alone.
He started. ‘Eh?”
“After you attacked me this afternoon,…”
“I thought you were another monster!” he interrupted, protesting.
I shot him a look and said drily, ‘Thanks. Like I was saying, after you attacked me this afternoon, mistakenly, you kept looking at me like I’d sprouted horns or something. What was that all about?”
He coloured and coughed slightly. “Your blood.”
I looked at him blankly.
“It tasted funny,” he said. “As if it was hot…and,” he fiddled with his cuffs, “tasty.”
Both Alex and I stared at him.
“It’s not my fault! It tasted nice, okay? And strange. But not like anything I’ve ever had before.”
I opened my mouth to speak but Alex beat me to it. “Have you tasted human blood before?”
This again. Alex was clearly still convinced that I wasn’t actually human.
“Of course not!” Tom replied defensively.
“So you’ve got nothing to compare it to then,” Alex said slowly.
“What do you think I am? I might be a shifter, but I don’t go around eating people.” He had a disgusted look on his face.
“Anton,” I said suddenly.
“What?”
“Anton sneaked into the dorm and stole my t-shirt.” I was starting to feel a bit sick.
“Uh, what’s your point? Are you trying to tell me that he’s secretly had the hots for you all these years and wanted to steal your clothes? Or that he’s a closet cross dresser?”
I held Tom’s eyes. “It had my blood on it. He told Julia that he,” I paused and swallowed, “had developed a taste for it.”
“The bloodfire!” Tom exclaimed suddenly.
Alex looked confused so I explained. “When I get angry or upset, I feel hot inside. Sometimes very hot. Like fire. It helps me to think and seems to make me… stronger. And sometimes I can call on it if I need some help to focus.”
“I told you!” Alex almost shouted so that I had to hush him in case we woke anyone up. “You’re not actually human. And you’re just telling me about this fire stuff now. Honestly, dude, for a bright girl sometimes you are duuuumb.”
“Of course she’s human,” Tom said, puzzled. “She’s always been human. She smells human. I mean, not right now with Julia’s lotion on, but usually. “ He looked directly at me. “You’re strong, Mack, but you’re not otherworld strong.”
I took offense at that. “I can beat Anton. And I can beat you.”
“In skill, sure, but not strength. Not really.”
I scoffed slightly but couldn’t really argue. Alex took up the thread again though. “Why can you hear Corrigan’s Voice? Why could you hear John’s and Julia’s?”
“They can’t compel me,” I pointed out. “And I can touch silver.”
Alex shrugged. “Minor points probably related to the fact that you’re not a shifter. Does your blood do anything else?”
I was about to say no, when I suddenly thought of how I’d managed to escape from the faerie ring. There had been blood on my hands by the time I punched through it. “Er…”
At that moment the kettle on the stove began to whistle. I sprang up, glad to have the excuse of tending to it and pouring the coffee. Could it be true? Could I really not be human? I felt both elated and deflated at the same time. Both Alex and Tom remained silent until I’d placed the cafetiere on the table, along with the mugs.
“It’s time you open that file,” Alex said softly.
“What file?” asked Tom.
I filled him in on what had happened in the study, trying to stall having to actually open the damned thing. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know any more. But there had to be a reason why John had papers about me kept in magically locked drawer. It’d be pointless having something that secure that just said I was human, wouldn’t it? Everyone in the keep already knew that.