Confessions of a Dangerous Fae (The Supernatural Spy Files Book 1) Page 15

  Standing alone outside of Gilmerton Cove, I eyed the small mining cottage warily. It looked pretty normal, as far as secret hideouts for murderous supernaturals went. The white little house sat on a nondescript road cutting through a southeastern suburb about four miles outside of Edinburgh’s city centre, squatting right next to a vet clinic.

  I tapped the hidden bluetooth mic and whispered, “You lot sure this is the right place?”

  “Affirmative,” Uisnech replied in a giggle. This whole mic thing had been his idea. Something he’d seen off of one of those American SUV or CSI shows, or whatever they were called. Everyone was listening in. The twin warriors who were nearby and watching my every move. Lugh, who lurked in the pub across the street. And Uisnech, who had stayed behind at the castle to oversee the guard team there. Even though we were out prowling for the Cauldron Tossers, the castle still needed protection, just like always.

  I rolled my eyes and pushed open the door, surprised to find it completely unlocked. Inside, I found a flight of stairs with only about a dozen steps leading into shadowy darkness. There was a bright red arrow taped to the wall, pointing downward. Gee, which way should I go?

  “Current status,” the hobgoblin’s voice rang in my ear. “Echo, stat, affirmative.”

  I huffed. As much as I was starting to like the creature, I wished he would stop buzzing nonsense into my ear. “I’m inside. There’s a flight of stairs. I’m heading down it.”

  “Careful, Moira,” Lugh warned.

  I gave a nod, even though he couldn’t see me, and a slight ripple of panic went through my gut. My feet hit the first stair, and memories flooded my mind. Sluagh lurching out of the shadows. Creatures pinning me to the ground. I shook the thoughts away and continued downward.

  When my feet hit the bottom stairs, I flicked on my torch. A long dark tunnel stretched before me. Wetting my lips, I pressed onward, hoping that the twins were right behind me.

  “What do you see?” Lugh’s voice crackled in my ear.

  I whispered into the mic. “Dark tunnel. No one’s here.”

  The crackle erupted in my ear, and I grimaced, smacking my hand against my head. A second later, the static vanished. I poked at the mic. “Hello?”

  No response. I poked it again and whispered Lugh’s name. Again, no response.

  Great. Now I had no contact with the outside world. Down in the underground chambers, the signal was blocked. Still, I continued forward, heart hammering. Saoirse’s life was hanging in the balance, and I wouldn’t turn my back on her.

  Somewhere ahead of me or behind, I heard the unmistakable echo of footsteps. My heartbeat sped up, and I flicked my torch left and right. The tunnel twisted left, and I followed, feeling like prey walking straight into a trap. At any moment, the big bad wolf would lurch out of the darkness and chomp me in half.

  A hand pressed against my back, and I screamed. I whirled in an instant, dagger in my hand. Warin blinked back at me, his hands raised before him. “Whoa. Moira. Chill. It’s just me.”

  Swallowing hard, I jogged a step back, my daggered hand still raised before me. “What are you doing sneaking up on me in the tunnel like this? You’re supposed to stay hidden.”

  And now, he’d just totally given us away. If the tossers were watching, they’d know I’d come with backup.

  “You’ve been walking in a circle. Boudica and I searched every chamber, and I’ve been using my hearing this whole time. No one is here. The whole place is empty.”

  My stomach dropped into the floor. “What? But this is where they told me to come.”

  He shook his head. “I know they did, but they must have left.”

  “Is there another way out of here?” I asked, voice going high-pitched.

  “Not that we could see.”

  “But you would have heard if someone else had been in here and left?” I prodded.

  He pressed his lips into a grim line. “Yep. I had my hearing tuned in the entire time, and the only other fae I heard down here besides Boudica and me was you.”

  “Bollocks.” I pushed past Warin and rushed back down the tunnel, and then charged up the stairs. All the way, I poked at the mic, waiting for the crackling static to return.

  When I reached the top of the stairs, Uisnech’s cheery voice rang in my ears. “Echo, beepedo ten four!”

  “Uisnech. No one’s here. It’s some kind of trick.” My heart hammered. “I think they’re heading straight for you.”

  17

  The castle was in chaos when we returned. Fae were streaming left and right across the courtyard, some charging into the Great Hall and others pounding on the front doors of The Royal Palace. On the way back, Uisnech had kept us updated through the bluetooth mic system until he’d abruptly cut off. Now, he met us as we came up through the hidden back tunnel.

  He leapt toward us as we climbed out of the car. “About twenty of them showed up. They came in this way, and we didn’t see them because the guards were watching the front gates. They swarmed the Royal Palace after setting off a bunch of fires to distract us from what they were really doing.”

  “The palace?” Lugh’s voice went sharp. “Did they...?”

  The hobgoblin shook his head. “I had enough warning to hide the spear.”

  I cut a sharp glance Lugh’s way. The damn spear again. Why would Uisnech need to hide it from the attackers? I wanted to ask, but I knew Lugh wouldn’t tell me now, not with everything else going on.

  “They trashed the palace looking for it,” Uisnech continued, “but when they realised it wasn’t there, they ran.”

  Lugh stopped short. “They just left?”

  Uisnech gave an eager nod. “They came here for the spear, but they weren’t prepared to fight. When I finally got the guards charging toward them, they fled. I managed to get a few photos of some of them when their masks got ripped off during the fight. I’ll send you the images. None of them are members of the Court, not that I saw.”

  Lugh swore and dropped back his head to stare up at the sky. “I don’t know what this means. How did they know about the back gate? Have they determined how to use the cauldron? Is that why they’re after my spear? Or are they just getting desperate?”

  “Hi. Lugh.” I tapped his arm. “I might be able to help more if I knew the deal about your spear.”

  “Not now,” he growled. “But we clearly need to keep it hidden from now on.” He turned toward the twins, who were watching the entire exchange with flashing eyes. “You two, help the rest of the team round up the fae. I’ll give a speech in the Great Hall shortly, as soon as we ensure the gates are secure. We’ll have to shut down this entrance since the enemies know where it is now.”

  The twins gave a nod and set off across the courtyard toward the scrambling fae.

  Uisnech blinked up at Lugh. “What would you like for me to do, King?”

  Lugh grasped the hobgoblin’s shoulder and gave it a squeeze. “You’ve done enough tonight, Uisnech. Recharge. Go have your feast.”

  I cocked my head, new questions swirling through me. What the hell was the hobgoblin’s feast? And did I really want to know? Uisnech gave Lugh a brilliant smile and disappeared down the tunnel, heading toward town instead of the castle.

  Lugh strode in the direction of the Great Hall, and I fell into step beside him. “What are you going to do now?”

  “Now.” He raked his hand through his midnight hair. “Now, I have to be King.”

  After Lugh gave a speech to his wide-eyed and fearful fae, they seemed to calm down, at least a little. He’d called the entire Court into the Great Hall where he’d sat on his throne of twisting vines, fielding questions. His voice had been calm and soothing, but he’d also stood his ground in such a way that they couldn’t help but listen to him. He had ordered them to return to their rooms and get some rest. There were enemies out there, he told them, but he would keep them safe.

  He had said he would be King, and he’d been right. They needed him, and he’d lived up to their
expectations. It was a damn important trait for a King, and I couldn’t help but feel a bit of respect for him myself.

  Afterwards, he asked me to join him back in the palace. The traitors had completely trashed his quarters, desperately searching for his magical spear. I helped him clear it up a bit, stacking torn books against the wall and sweeping up broken glass. In the end, his room ended up close to as clean as it normally was, which wasn’t saying a great deal.

  He sank into the sofa and dropped his head into his hands. “Everything is spinning out of control, and I don’t know what to do about it. Tonight I put these fae’s lives in danger. That’s not even counting the fact that Saoirse is still in trouble. I hate that she’s out there and there’s nothing I can do. If anything happens to her, I’ll never forgive myself.”

  I pressed my lips together. “We’ll find her. We just need to think two steps ahead of the enemy instead of two steps behind.”

  Not that I had any idea how to do that.

  “I should do something.” He pushed up and stalked to the broken window, glaring out at the dark night. It was almost midnight. There was nothing we could do. “I should go out there and rip the city apart until we find her.”

  “Lugh. I’m not sure using your brute strength is the right course of action right now, not in a city full of innocent humans.”

  Softly, I stepped toward him and joined him at the window. The cool breeze fluttered my hair away from my shoulders, making me shiver. With a glance down, he wrapped an arm around me, rubbing his warm hands along my chilled skin.

  I tried to keep my face blank. It was impossible. My whole body had lit up from his touch. Even after everything that had happened, all the danger and the terror, I still wanted him more than ever.

  “There must be something we can do,” he insisted. “Something they don’t expect.”

  An idea sparked in my mind. “Actually, I do have an idea. Uisnech got some photos, right? I’ll send them to Kyle, who is this master hacker friend of mine, and he might be able to get a trace on them. I bet they won’t see that one coming.”

  Lugh didn’t look particularly thrilled by my brilliant idea, but he didn’t argue as I made the call. Even at this late hour, Kyle answered. I quickly filled him in on what had happened and shot the photos over to him. He promised he’d at least find something for us within the day. Thanks to CCTV, he’d be able to get a hit on their faces by hacking into the human databases.

  I hung up the phone and gave Lugh a weak smile. “Kyle’s on the case. He’s going to use his famous hacking skills to track down their registered addresses. Now, we just have to wait.”

  “I don’t like asking for help from the Queen,” he muttered.

  “Well, that’s fine then,” I replied in a snap. “Because you’re not asking for her help. All I did was call up an old friend of mine.”

  “It’s more than that, and you know it. He’s a member of her Court.”

  I propped my fisted hands on my hips. “Is that what you’re upset about? If that’s how you feel about help from members of Clark’s Court, then you should have sent me away in the first place. I am a member of her Court, too, you know. Why the hell keep me around if the Queen’s help bugs you so much?”

  “Because,” he growled, but I never heard the end of his sentence. He twisted toward me and sank his lips onto mine. With a gasp, I leaned into the kiss, wrapping my hands through his tangled curls.

  His hands slipped down around my bum, and he lifted me from the floor. I wrapped my legs around his hips and arched against him. He growled, and his hard length dug into my thigh.

  His kiss deepening, he began to stride across the room with his arms wrapped tight around me. He carried me into the bedroom and kicked the door shut. Heart pounding, I pulled back and stared into his inky eyes.

  “I thought you didn’t want to do this,” I whispered.

  “I didn’t want to do it when Sapphire was rushing through our veins,” he murmured, teeth nicking my neck. “But I very much want to do it now, knowing that your want for me is real, not manufactured by drugs.”

  Oh, it was real. It was very, very real.

  Lugh set me gently on the bed. He stood back and surveyed me, his fingers dipping to the buttons on his jeans. Swallowing hard, I watched as he stripped to nothing. His clothes formed a pile around his feet until nothing but his full masculine glory was before me. Heat flooded through my body as I gaped. His entire body was corded with pure muscle that rippled as he moved.

  “Your turn,” he murmured.

  I stood and pulled my shirt over my head without missing a single beat. As he watched me with fiery eyes, I pushed down my trousers and toed out of my panties. Even though he’d done nothing to touch me since the moment we’d begun undressing, my core was aching and my nipples had hardened.

  I didn’t even know how I was breathing. Was I breathing?

  Lugh grabbed my hips and lifted me onto the bed where he tipped me back onto the blankets. Spreading my thighs wide, he leaned over me. His length pressed against me, teasing me, making shockwaves of desire shoot through my core, but all he did was smile.

  I reached up and dug my fingers into his thick strands, pulling his mouth down to mine. He groaned against me, tongue twisting with mine. His fingers trailed up my sides, and his hands cupped my breasts.

  My thighs tightened around his hips instinctively.

  But he took his time. His tongue lapped against my peaked breasts, teasing and sucking and taunting me with each exquisite stroke. Wriggling under his touch, I dropped back my head and moaned so loud that my voice echoed off the ancient lofted ceiling.

  Lugh didn’t seem to care. Instead, it seemed to excite him even more.

  He pulled back, sucking in a breath as his midnight eyes raked across me.

  “You’re the most beautiful female I’ve ever seen,” he said in a deep growl.

  Smiling, he dropped back down to kiss my stomach, his lips trailing across my skin, his fingers digging into my hips. My whole body shivered with anticipation as his mouth went lower and lower and lower. Until it hovered teasingly just an inch from my core. He leaned forward and dragged his tongue between my aching thighs.

  And oh my god, I’d never felt anything like that before in my life. It drove me absolutely wild, and I couldn’t stop my body from bucking on the bed and my legs from tightening around his neck.

  “Oh, you like that, do you?” he murmured before diving back in. His tongue slid inside of me, sending new shockwaves of pleasure through my trembling body.

  I wanted more, more, more, but it felt so bloody good that I couldn’t hold on anymore. His fingers dug into my hips, and that was it. My orgasm stormed through me so hard and so fast that my ears roared with the thunder of my exhilarating release. My body shook and shuddered, my thighs squeezing tighter around him.

  “That was just the beginning.” Lugh shot me a wicked smile as he stood and lifted me from the bed. I kept myself wrapped around him, heart hammering hard enough to shake the very ground on which we stood. He carried me across the room and slammed me against the wall. Books fell all around us, joining the mess.

  His need was hungry now and fierce. He growled as he nipped my neck, his length pulsing hard against me.

  And then his grip softened. Loosened. His mouth opened, and his tongue pressed through my lips. Moaning, he began to kiss me hard, sending shivers of delicious magic through my veins.

  I sighed against his lips, relishing in the feel of him. The hard planes of his stomach shifted against my body where he trapped me against the wall.

  “I want you, Moira,” he breathed as he pulled back to meet my eyes. The coldness I first saw in him was completely gone, replaced not only with heat but with warmth. Something was happening between us now, something far more than sex. And it made my pulse race even more than it had before.

  Because I felt it. Deep in my gut. I wanted the King of Wraiths more than I’d ever wanted anything before.

  My en
tire body trembled.

  Gently, Lugh slid his cock inside of me. It hurt, just a little, but I found pleasure in the pain, dropping my head against the wall to moan loud enough for the rest of the Court to hear.

  Luckily, the walls were soundproof.

  His mouth massaged my ear, my throat, my mouth as his length thrusted in and out of me. I held on tight, my fingernails digging deeper into his skin with each and every slam against the wall. I could feel my core clenching tighter, the desire and lust building up inside me to an overwhelming crescendo.

  It was all I could feel. It was all I could see. Nothing else existed in this world but us.

  His pace became rougher, quicker.

  “Lugh,” I panted out, squeezing my thighs tighter around his hips. “Lugh, I—”

  I cried out, clutching his shoulders like a lifeline as the orgasm ripped through me, harder and faster than I’d ever felt before. He shoved into me one last time, grunting out my name as his cock hardened and then throbbed hard, his seed pouring inside me.

  We panted, clinging onto one another. My ears rang, and my throat felt hoarse from my screams. I had no idea how or why this had happened, but I wanted nothing more than to stay like this forever.

  Blood singing with magic, I traced lines on Lugh’s chest. He twisted to face me, sleepy satisfaction shining in his eyes. He rubbed his hand against mine, pressing my fingers tight against his beating heart.

  “I enjoyed that,” I said with a smile. “Very much.”

  “I bloody hope so,” he said with a chuckle. “Otherwise, your screams meant something very different.”

  “Hmm.” I kissed his chest. “You’re very good at that.”

  “So it seems.” He sounded very pleased with himself. “I am happy to oblige your needs any time you’d like.”

  A thrill went through me. “What about...now?”

  We’d only just finished ten minutes ago, but I was already feeling that need again. All he had to do was look in my direction and I wanted him. And we were doing far more than that now. I was naked. He was naked. Our bodies were pressed together. There was no telling how much longer I had here at the castle. Might as well make the most of it.