Corrigan barrelled into me, knocking me down as the wraith’s lethal swipe came whizzing over my head. Then it shot up into the air and vanished.

Chapter Eighteen

I picked myself up off the ground, aching all over, and turned angrily to meet the were-panther head on. “What the fuck did you do that for?”

Corrigan began to shift, black fur retreating against his skin and bones cracking as he re-formed back to human. He pulled himself up and bared his teeth at me. “For the same reason you told me not to attack.”

I cursed him, trying very hard to ignore the fact that he was stark naked, all tanned steel muscles set into an aggressive stance of flat out male perfection, and turned back to the Arch-Mage who was still on his knees.

“Are you alright?” I asked, helping him up.

“I’m good,” he gasped, although the pallor of his skin suggested otherwise.

I turned to look at Aubrey, whose gaze was on my fallen dagger that was gleaming against the grey tarmac of the road. He flicked his eyes up at me and I shot him a disarming smile and shrugged, as if to say that it wasn’t my fault that his bouncer hadn’t noticed it.

His red eyes flashed. “I hadn’t realised that were-hamsters were so aggressive.” He leaned forward, displaying his fangs, the corner of his tongue curling round to lick one, lapping at the sharp point. “Or that the pack was capable of using magic.”

Corrigan planted himself in front of me. I scowled. I didn’t need his sodding protection.

“Why don’t you tell us exactly what it was that thing was after,” he growled.

I couldn’t see Aubrey’s face any longer but I could picture the expression on it.

“Ask your girlfriend,” he spat. “Somehow she seems to know.” He began stalking back off to the house.

I side-stepped my way out from Corrigan, and called after him. “Hey!” He ignored me. “That was Tryyl, wasn’t it? You didn’t kill him, you just tortured him and then let him go. No wonder he’s pissed.”

The vampire spun round. “Idiot. You can’t kill wraiths, they’re already dead. And what do you know about it anyway, little girl?” His eyes fixed on the Arch-Mage. “All contracts are meant to be confidential.”

I started in surprise. Oops. I hadn’t known that.

The Arch-Mage coughed, still feeling the effects of the fight. “Not all mages work alone, Aubrey, you know that.”

“Yes, but since when did the wizards work with the beasts?”

Both the Arch-Mage and Corrigan visibly stiffened. I rolled my eyes. These guys really had to get over themselves.

Aubrey’s gaze switched back to me and he jabbed a finger in my direction. “There’s more to you than meets the eye, and I’m going to find out what it is.”

He twisted round again and continued for the safety of his lair.

“Yeah,” I shouted back. “And what about the Palladium? Obviously there’s more to that than meets the eye too!”

The door slammed shut in response. I exhaled a cloud of disgusted air and then pulled my dress back down over my thighs, feeling the sudden brush of the cold. I wondered what had happened to Solus and whether he’d run off at the first sign of action. Untrustworthy Fae. Irritated, I turned back to where the wraith had been hovering. There was something there, lingering. I took a few steps forward and realised with a sinking feeling what it actually was.

Corrigan joined me and knelt down, touching it, then raising his fingers to his nose and recoiling away in disgust.

“Fucking hell!” he swore. “What is that?”

I didn’t know what it was, but I knew where I’d seen it before. It was the inky dark gloop that I’d found on the wall of the academy. The wraith must have sensed the Palladium was there and had gone to find it. The wash of relief that flooded through me that we’d gotten the statue out of there before Tryyl had decided to attack was overwhelming.

I just shook my head slightly. “It doesn’t matter. It’s the vamps’ problem now. They created this situation in the first place anyway.”

Corrigan’s eyes narrowed. “How?”

I looked at the Arch-Mage for permission and he nodded so I filled Corrigan in on the details, leaving out, of course, that until about half an hour ago I’d been the one with the Palladium in my possession.

Once I’d finished, I checked with the Arch-Mage that I’d gotten the details right.

“Yes. Although Aubrey is right that all contracts are confidential. I assume that it was Mage Florides that told you about it.” His eyes were hard. “I will have words with him.”

I pursed my lips. If that was the worst thing that came out of all this – well, that and one dead vampire anyway – then things were not that bad. Alex was a big boy, I was pretty sure he could deal with one telling-off.

An engine started up nearby. The Arch-Mage glanced at me. “I can give you a lift back to the Ministry so you can transport back to the academy. Don’t you have shoes?”

I looked down at my bare feet. “Not any more.”

The mage shrugged and turned towards the car. I glanced over at the still disturbingly naked Lord Alpha. Didn’t he even feel the bloody cold?

“Is that okay with you?” I inquired, attempting to maintain a dignified front.

He growled. “What, you’re asking me for permission now?”

I shrugged. “We were on a date. It seems appropriate.”

“I thought you said that it wasn’t a date. And the bloodsucker is right. There is more to you than meets the eye, and somehow I can’t help thinking that you had more to do with the events of this evening and that thing than you are letting on.”

I blinked innocently up at him. “You always think the worst of me.”

“Perhaps I’m just copying your lead. You don’t tend think much of me either.”

I gave him a sad half-smile and turned to go. Corrigan’s hand snapped out and latched onto my arm, pulling me towards him. I let out a little squeak. His skin burned its way through the fabric of my dress as he pressed my body against his.

“You really did look lovely tonight, kitten,” he breathed. “And after all you put me through this evening, I think the least I deserve is a good night kiss.”

And he inclined his head towards mine. I squeaked again, but this time the sound was muffled as Corrigan’s lips hit mine. A squiggle of hot heat zipped through me all the way down to my toes. His hands cupped my face as the kiss deepened and everything else around us faded into obscurity. My arms reached up involuntarily round his neck and I leaned into him.

A car horn sounded, blaring into the now empty street. I jerked back, coming to my senses, and pulled away. Corrigan glinted down at me with the definite expression of the cat who’d got the cream.

“Are you feeling entertained now, kitten?”

My insides fluttering with annoying little flips of happiness, I glared at him. “Why the fuck can’t you just call me Mack?”

He laughed throatily, and I turned away and padded stormily down the street to where the Arch-Mage was waiting.

Corrigan called out after me. “You will tell me what you really are and what is really going on sooner or later.”

I shook my head as I walked away. No way, my Lord Furriness, no fucking way.

*

Once I was safe in the backseat of the car, the Arch-Mage beside me, I couldn’t get the memory of Corrigan’s kiss out of my head. I could still taste him on my lips. Damnit. With everything else that was going on, an entanglement with the Brethren Lord was the absolute last thing I needed. My life was complicated enough. I had a pretty good idea how it would go if things progressed any further. I’d jump into bed with him, we’d have utterly mind-blowing, earth-shattering great sex and then, with the chase over, he’d dump me and move onto the next thing. In the meantime the mages would hate me even more, and across the entire Otherworld my name would be mud. I’d be just another pretty thing that had climbed into bed with the all powerful leader of the shifters. Just another conquest. I’d seen enough photos on the Othernet of Corrigan and various dates hanging off his arm to know what he was really like. Not only that but it was not beyond the realms of possibility that put into the vulnerable position of pillow talk, I’d blurt out to him exactly what I really was – not human, not a shifter, not a mage, but instead a Draco Wyr. There were already too many people who knew the truth about me. I was just lucky that so far I’d been able to trust all of them enough not to use it against me. The memory of Iabartu’s actions were still fresh in my memory. And besides, Corrigan was just intrigued by me because I kept saying no. Next time I’d just have to say no to myself as well.

I leaned back against the leather upholstered seat and felt my purse with the Ancile within it digging into my back again. Reaching behind, I pulled it out and stared unseeingly down at it.

“So,” the Arch-Mage began with a hint of iron clad steel in his voice, “tell me exactly what is going on.”

Looking up, I found his gaze fixing me into place. “I don’t know what you mean, sir,” I replied tiredly.

“First of all,” the Arch-Mage ticked off, “you know about the contract that Florides had with the vampires to retrieve the Palladium. Despite your prior relationship, I find it difficult to believe that he would reveal it to you without some kind of reason. Secondly, you left the academy in order to go to the gathering tonight with the Lord Alpha. I had not previously been under the impression that the two of you were romantically linked, regardless of the frisson in the air between you tonight. I can only deduce, therefore, that you had some other reason for attending. And,” he moved forward, “I expect you to tell me what that was.”

I sighed deeply. I was getting a bit tired of the same old stuck record. “I just needed to get out of the academy. It was becoming a bit stifling and I needed a break.”

I had no idea what Alex was planning to do with the Ancile now that we had it in our possession, and if he wanted to come clean with the Arch-Mage then that seemed like a good thing to me. But I wasn’t going to betray him, no matter what my personal opinion on the matter was.