AllFreeNovel
Share Us
ONE
Alys
Normally, conference rooms were one of the most boring places in the world. Given thus far that the day’s treats included someone trying to assassinate my son, an attack by a mercenary company trying to kill me, and wrapped up with me promising a night of wild sex to an elf, one of the most dangerous creatures in the world, I could handle boring. Boring was good.
Watching Chance saunter away, his movement is easy, reminded me forcibly the universe was unfair. Why did he always get off so easily? He was almost untouched by events, except for a streak of dirt here and there.
Of course, he'd say that it was prior planning. I didn't buy it. Some dark power from beyond must be protecting him.
“Do you have any idea where he's going?” Joan asked, her fog-gray eyes on me.
I shrugged. “If I had to guess, he's going to be digging at whoever hired William’s Wolves. He's incredibly nosy and probably annoyed that the fight broke up his maybe date with you. Why were you and he at the Dumont’s house, anyway?”
“Someone needed to explain what had happened by the river.” Joan’s lips curved into a smile, fey and remote. I hadn't forgotten that the elf, Dmitri’s father, had left her there in the garden instead of Robert. Elves were weird, but it still meant that he thought she was more dangerous than Robert, a trained battlemage.
“That would be Chance?” I asked.
She nodded, uneven hair bouncing. “I was there for moral support. You ran late, didn't you?”
Walker’s call ended the conversation. “I have a transport ready.”
When we arrived at Walker’s home, his housekeeper Dove greeted us. “It’s good to see you well, ALys. This way, Mrs. Dumont,” she said quietly, gesturing down the hall. Elise nodded at her as she entered. I carried Dmitri, who had fallen asleep on the way to the house. Each step sent jolts through my chest, but I clung jealously to him.
The room Dove led us to connected to a smaller room, decorated for a child, though the characters on the walls were decades old. The scent of lavender and exotic woods permeated all of it, soothing and gentle.
“Thank you,” said Elise as I settled Dmitri on the child’s bed.
“What happened before I arrived?” I asked, low. I hadn’t asked earlier, while Dmitri was awake, because I didn’t want him upset by the answer.
Manicured fingers curled around the bedpost as she leaned against it.
“I’m not totally sure,” she admitted, lines of weariness showing by her eyes. Her perfect makeup had been damaged but not destroyed by the day’s happenings. “We were with Kara’s new friends, Joan and Chance, and Dmitri and his substitute nanny—Becky had the day off—were in the garden. He’d wanted to use the toy gun Robert gave him for target practice on the apple tree. He’d been cranky all morning, and I hoped it would put him in a better mood so he wouldn’t fuss about everything all day.” Her face closed as she looked inward.
“He screamed. I’ve never heard anything like it—” Misery and fear swam in her eyes. “I saw blood on him and ran out. There was something in the new nanny’s hand, blocked from view by Dmitri’s body. Then Robert pulled me back—a massive energy flux exploded out from Dmitri, and the nanny burned.”
Elise shuddered. “She was screaming; Dmitri hadn’t stopped shrieking. Robert and Chance both threw up a ward. I pounded on it, then lightning struck Dmitri.” A long, trembling breath. “I thought he was dead.” She rocked, cradling the arm she’d injured. Someone had attended to it, but pain rolled off her in waves. “You know the rest.” She breathed in and out, still shaking with reaction.
Even knowing Dmitri was safe, my blood ran cold. The new nanny had tried to hurt him, to kill him-and he’d reacted. Thank whatever god there was that Robert had been there too, I didn’t think Elise’s shields would have kept her from being fried. That would have been terrible.
Always slender and delicate, she now edged on breakable. A flicker of sympathy surprised me, and I sat next to her, brushing my arm against hers and letting the emotion seep into her. I didn’t have much calm to give, but it seemed to help.
I’d seen the fragile, delicate emotional connections she’d made with Dmitri. I wasn’t happy they’d formed, but the fact they existed meant that I couldn’t hurt her without hurting him on some level. It was difficult to express how it made me feel, even to myself.
Simply, I’d gotten to rather like her, and it would have hurt Dmitri to have killed her accidentally.
“Do you know others of his heritage? How to help him to not…”
“Stormdust or elf?” I asked, my acid tone making her flinch. “No, Elise, we’re no more crazy than Guilders. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time when Dmitri’s father found me, and I lived because I’m tough and lucky. But segments of the Guild are too interested in Stormdusts, especially one as young as Dmitri.”
It took me a moment before I could continue, but I managed to. “So yes, I’ll tell you what you need to know. Because he needs it and you love him, even though I had hoped it wouldn’t be required.” A wry smile twisted at my mouth. “He’s an early bloomer.”
“I know we aren’t friends.” She dropped her gaze to her lap, speaking so softly I could barely hear her.
“He cares about you and Robert. So, I can’t kill you in your sleep—” Her head snapped up as I continued and I restrained my smile before continuing. “I propose a truce. If I find a way free, I’ll let you be near him after I take him. Until then, I’ll expect the same and I’ll try to show you how to avoid incidents.”
I stopped to regain control of my voice as the rage I’d felt at the Guild wanting to steal my son’s affection from me using them as proxies clawed at me. They were doing the best they could, given the situation.
“She hurt him. He was bleeding. That triggered it.” Her voice was almost too soft to hear.
