Night Broken
Page 3
Beauclaire. I sucked in my breath. I knew who he was, and so did anyone who watched the viral YouTube video someone had filmed. Beauclaire was the fae who killed the man who had kidnapped his daughter with the intention of murdering her as he had so many other half-blood fae (as well as a few werewolves). Beauclaire was the man who had declared the fae independent from the US and all human dominion. He was a Gray Lord, one of the powerful few who ruled all the fae.
But he was more, much more than that, because hed given up another of his names on that day.
Gwyn ap Lugh, I said.
Id looked up Lugh after an encounter with an oakman fae who had tossed Lughs name about. The results of my research were confusing to say the least. The only thing for certain was that in a history of legendary fae, Lugh stood out like a lantern on a dark night. Ap Lugh meant son of Lugh, so at least I wasnt dealing with Lugh himself.
The fae on the other side of the door paused before saying, slowly, I have gone by that name as well.
You are a Gray Lord. I tried to keep my voice steady. As Beauclaire, this one had lived a long time in human guise, and hed been, from all the interviews of his friends, ex-wife, and coworkers, well liked. No sense offending him if I didnt have to, and keeping him on the porch might just do that.
Yes, he said.
Would you give your word that you intend me no harm? Not offending him was important, but so was not being stupid. Though I was pretty sure if he wanted in, a door wasnt going to keep him out.
I will not hurt you this night, he said readily, and so unfaelike in his straightforward answer it made me even more suspicious.
Are you the only one out there? I asked warily, after examining any possible harm he might be able to do without breaking his word. And would you promise not to harm anyone in this house tonight?
I am the only one here, and for this night, I will ensure no harm comes to those who are within your home.
I engaged the safety on the gun, backed into the kitchen, and put it under a stack of dish towels waiting to be put away. Then I went into the front room and opened the door.
The cold night air, still around freezing this early in the spring, made the long t-shirt I wore, a black Hauptman Security shirt washed to gray, inadequate for keeping me warm. I dont sleep na**d: being the wife of the Alpha means unexpected visits in the middle of the night.
I am not shy or particularly body conscious, but Adam is not okay with other men seeing me na**d. It makes him shorter-tempered than usual. Adams t-shirts were exactly the right size to be comfortable, and having me wear his shirts helped him keep his cool around other males.
Beauclaire didnt look below my chin. Politeness or indifference, either one was okay by me.
He smelled like a lake, full of life and greenness with a hint of summer sun even though he stood under the light of the stars and moon with the bare-branched trees that held only a hint of bud. Reddish brown hair, lightly graying at the temples, gave him a normalcy that the still-sleeping werewolf in my bed told me was a lie.
Beauclaire was medium tall but built on graceful lines that didnt quite hide the whipcord muscle beneath. Warren, Adams third, was built along the same lines.
He didnt look like a sun god, a storm god, or a trickster, as Lugh was variously reputed to be. Beauclaire had been a lawyer before his dramatic YouTube moment, and that was what he looked like now.
Of course, fae could look like whatever they wanted to.
When I stepped back and gestured him into the living room, he moved like a man who knew how to fightbalanced and alert. I believed that more than I believed the lawyer appearance.
He walked into the living room, but he didnt stop there since the main floor of the house has a circular flow. He continued through the dining room and around the corner into the kitchen, where he pulled up a chair with his back to the wall and sat down.
I was fairly sure that his choice was importantthe fae place a great deal of emphasis on symbolism. Maybe he picked the kitchen because guests came to the house and sat in the living room. Family and friends sat in the kitchen. If so, maybe he was trying to present himself as a friendor point out that I didnt have the power to keep him out of the center of my own home. It was too subtle to be certain, so I ignored it altogether. Trying too hard to figure out the meaning in what the fae say or do would send anyone to Straightjacket Land.
Ms. Hauptman, he said after I sat down opposite him, It is my understanding that you have one of my fathers artifacts. I have come for the walking stick.
2
I dont have the walking stick, I told Beauclaire.
He should know that. Id told Zee, and, according to his son, he had told some of the other fae to protect me from exactly this scenario.
If he didnt know, was it only because he was not from the nearby Walla Walla fae reservation? Or did that mean that Zee didnt trust him?
Where is it? His voice slid silk sweet and dangerous into the room.
If he didnt know, I didnt want to tell him. He wasnt going to like it, and I didnt want to enrage a Gray Lord while he sat at my kitchen table.
I tried to give it back to the fae, I told him, stalling for time. I gave it to Uncle Mike and it just came back.
It is very old, Beauclaire said, and his voice was halfway apologetic. The fae dont have it, at least none of the fae in the local reservation. Do you know where it is, now?
He was assuming that Id given it to the fae again. If it hadnt been for the apology in his voice, I think I might have been happy to not lie, not precisely. Because I didnt know where the walking stick was, I only knew who it was with.
Not exactly, I told him, then stalled out. Zee had been very clear that the fae would not be amused at where that walking stick had ended up.
Then what exactly do you know? Whom did you give it to?
There was a thump from the stairs, and both of us jumped. Beauclaire focused his attention, and I felt his magic send shivers of ice along my arms.
Hold on, I said. Ill check. Before the first word had left my mouth, I hopped out of my chair and headed for the stairway. Whoever had made the noise was likely to be someone I cared about, and I didnt want them to get blasted by a Gray Lord.
I turned the corner, and Medea stared up at me from the fourth step from the bottom. Its okay, I told Beauclaire. I picked her up, and, true to form, the cat went limp and started purring.
What was it? he said.
I know its a horror-film clich, I said as I walked back into the kitchen. But, really, its just the cat. I thought you put her to sleep like everyone else?
Beauclaire frowned at my cat, the magic in the air dissipating gradually. Isat down, and the cat consented to continue to be petted.
Cats are tricky, he told me. Rather like you, they tend to shed enchantments. I didnt expect to find one in a house full of werewolves, and magic on the fly, delicate magic, is not my specialty. He looked at me, and there was a threat in his voice when he said, Hurricanes, tidal waves, drowned citiesthose are easier.
Dont feel too bad about it, I told him, my voice conciliatory. His brows lowered, and I continued in a bland tone, No one else has heard of a cat who likes werewolves, either.
Medeamaybe because dangerous men with threatening voices, in her experience, were the people most apt to drop whatever they were doing and cuddle herdecided that Beauclaire was fair game. She oozed from my lap to the tabletop and began a very-slow-motion creep across the table toward him.
We were talking about the walking stick? he said, raising an eyebrow. I couldnt tell if the eyebrow was at me or at my catwatching Medea do her slo-mo cat stalk can be disconcerting.
An oakman used the walking stick to kill a vampire, I told him. It was either the beginning of the story or a diversion, I wasnt certain myself.
I reached up and wrapped a hand around one of Adams dog tags, which hung from my necklace along with my wedding ring and a lamb. If I was going to keep Beauclaire from destroying me and my all-too-vulnerable family in a fit of pique, hed have to understandas much as I didwhat had happened to the walking stick.
Medea made it all the way across the table and hunkered down in front of Beauclaire. She focused on him and moaned. Id never heard another cat do it.
The oakman told me afterwardI raised my voice a little so it would carry over Medeathat Lugh never made anything that couldnt be used as a weapon. I frowned. No, that wasnt quite what he said. It was something along the lines of never made anything that couldnt become a spear when needed.
Medea upped the volume on her yowl, then turned into Halloween kitty; every hair on her body stood at attention, and if shed had a tail, I was sure it would have been pointed straight in the air.
Medea, who dealt with werewolves on a daily basis, was pretty much immune to fear. She even liked vampires. And she had no trouble with Zee or Tad.
Beauclaire ducked his head until he was face-to-face with Medea. He dropped his glamour just a bit, and I caught a glimpse of something beautiful and deadly, something with green eyes and a long tongue as he hissed at the cat. She all but levitated off the table and disappeared around the corner of the kitchen and up the stairs.
I felt my lip curl in an involuntary snarl. Overkill, I told him.
He relaxed in his seat. So the walking stick is with an oakman now?
I shook my head. No. It came back after that. But last summer the otterkin
Ive heard about you and the death of the last of the otterkin. He shrugged. They always were bloodthirsty and stupid. They are no loss He paused, looked thoughtfully at me, and said, You killed them with the walking stick?
It was what I had. I tried not to sound defensive. And I only killed one with it. Adam had taken care of the rest, but I wasnt going to tell him that. There was something wrong with the walking stick when the otterkin died. Something hungry.
Something wrong, he repeated, thoughtfully. Then he shook his head. No. It is only the great weapons that are quenched when they are first made, usually in the blood of someone worthy, someone whose traits will make the sword more dangerous. The walking stick was finished long ago.
I wondered if I should mention that Uncle Mike had thought that Id quenched the walking stick. Maybe I should tell him that the otterkin wasnt the only thing the walking stick had killed that day. Maybe I should tell him that I was pretty sure the walking stick had killed that otterkin mostly on its own.
But before I had a chance to speak, Beauclaire continued, The blade you know as Excalibur was born when her blade was drowned in the death of my father. He paused, showed his teeth in a not-smile. I understand that you might be acquainted with the maker of that blade.
I quit worrying about the walking stick for a moment.
Jumping Jehoshaphat. O Holy Night.
Siebold Adelbertsmiter had made blades once upon a time. Hed been the owner of a VW repair shop when I met him. Hed hired me, then sold me the shop when the Gray Lords decided that it was time that he admit he was faedecades after the fae had come out to the public. I knew him as a grumpy old curmudgeon with a secret marshmallow heart, but once hed been something quite different: the Dark Smith of Drontheim. He wasnt one of the good guys in the fairy tales that mentioned him.
Part of me, still properly afraid of Beauclaire, worried that his grudge against Zee might be turned toward me. Part of me was horrified that my friend Zee had killed Lugh, the hero of hundreds, if not thousands, of stories. But the biggest part of me was still stuck on marveling that Zee, my grumpy mentor Zee, had forged Excalibur.
After a moment, I started processing the information in more practical paths. That story was the answer to why Beauclaire didnt know what Id done with the walking stick.
If Zee had killed Lugh, Lughs son wouldnt be exchanging kind words with him or anyone who associated with him. No one holds grudges like the fae.
But we are not speaking of one of the great weapons, Beauclaire said, temper cooling as he pulled away from an old source of anger. So tales of the walking sticks being used to kill a vampire or otterkin are not germane. The walking stick is a very minor artifact, for all that Lugh made it, nor is it useful for important things.
Unless I decided to raise sheep, I said, because his disparagement of the walking stick, to my surprise, stung a bit. It had been old and beautifuland loyal to me as any sheepdog to its shepherd. If it had become tainted, that was my fault because it had been my decision to use it to kill monsters. Then all my sheep would have twins. Might not be important to you or the fae, but it would certainly have made an impact on a shepherds bottom line.
He looked at me the way my mother sometimes did. But he wasnt my parent, and he had invaded my house, so I didnt cringe. I narrowed my gaze on him and finished the point Id been making, If I were a sheep farmer, I would have found it to be powerful magic.
It is an artifact my father made, said Beauclaire who was also ap Lugh, Lughs son. I value the walking stick, do not mistake me. But it is not powerful; nor is its magic anything that would interest most mortals or fae. For that reason, it was left with you longer than it should have been.
But he was more, much more than that, because hed given up another of his names on that day.
Gwyn ap Lugh, I said.
Id looked up Lugh after an encounter with an oakman fae who had tossed Lughs name about. The results of my research were confusing to say the least. The only thing for certain was that in a history of legendary fae, Lugh stood out like a lantern on a dark night. Ap Lugh meant son of Lugh, so at least I wasnt dealing with Lugh himself.
The fae on the other side of the door paused before saying, slowly, I have gone by that name as well.
You are a Gray Lord. I tried to keep my voice steady. As Beauclaire, this one had lived a long time in human guise, and hed been, from all the interviews of his friends, ex-wife, and coworkers, well liked. No sense offending him if I didnt have to, and keeping him on the porch might just do that.
Yes, he said.
Would you give your word that you intend me no harm? Not offending him was important, but so was not being stupid. Though I was pretty sure if he wanted in, a door wasnt going to keep him out.
I will not hurt you this night, he said readily, and so unfaelike in his straightforward answer it made me even more suspicious.
Are you the only one out there? I asked warily, after examining any possible harm he might be able to do without breaking his word. And would you promise not to harm anyone in this house tonight?
I am the only one here, and for this night, I will ensure no harm comes to those who are within your home.
I engaged the safety on the gun, backed into the kitchen, and put it under a stack of dish towels waiting to be put away. Then I went into the front room and opened the door.
The cold night air, still around freezing this early in the spring, made the long t-shirt I wore, a black Hauptman Security shirt washed to gray, inadequate for keeping me warm. I dont sleep na**d: being the wife of the Alpha means unexpected visits in the middle of the night.
I am not shy or particularly body conscious, but Adam is not okay with other men seeing me na**d. It makes him shorter-tempered than usual. Adams t-shirts were exactly the right size to be comfortable, and having me wear his shirts helped him keep his cool around other males.
Beauclaire didnt look below my chin. Politeness or indifference, either one was okay by me.
He smelled like a lake, full of life and greenness with a hint of summer sun even though he stood under the light of the stars and moon with the bare-branched trees that held only a hint of bud. Reddish brown hair, lightly graying at the temples, gave him a normalcy that the still-sleeping werewolf in my bed told me was a lie.
Beauclaire was medium tall but built on graceful lines that didnt quite hide the whipcord muscle beneath. Warren, Adams third, was built along the same lines.
He didnt look like a sun god, a storm god, or a trickster, as Lugh was variously reputed to be. Beauclaire had been a lawyer before his dramatic YouTube moment, and that was what he looked like now.
Of course, fae could look like whatever they wanted to.
When I stepped back and gestured him into the living room, he moved like a man who knew how to fightbalanced and alert. I believed that more than I believed the lawyer appearance.
He walked into the living room, but he didnt stop there since the main floor of the house has a circular flow. He continued through the dining room and around the corner into the kitchen, where he pulled up a chair with his back to the wall and sat down.
I was fairly sure that his choice was importantthe fae place a great deal of emphasis on symbolism. Maybe he picked the kitchen because guests came to the house and sat in the living room. Family and friends sat in the kitchen. If so, maybe he was trying to present himself as a friendor point out that I didnt have the power to keep him out of the center of my own home. It was too subtle to be certain, so I ignored it altogether. Trying too hard to figure out the meaning in what the fae say or do would send anyone to Straightjacket Land.
Ms. Hauptman, he said after I sat down opposite him, It is my understanding that you have one of my fathers artifacts. I have come for the walking stick.
2
I dont have the walking stick, I told Beauclaire.
He should know that. Id told Zee, and, according to his son, he had told some of the other fae to protect me from exactly this scenario.
If he didnt know, was it only because he was not from the nearby Walla Walla fae reservation? Or did that mean that Zee didnt trust him?
Where is it? His voice slid silk sweet and dangerous into the room.
If he didnt know, I didnt want to tell him. He wasnt going to like it, and I didnt want to enrage a Gray Lord while he sat at my kitchen table.
I tried to give it back to the fae, I told him, stalling for time. I gave it to Uncle Mike and it just came back.
It is very old, Beauclaire said, and his voice was halfway apologetic. The fae dont have it, at least none of the fae in the local reservation. Do you know where it is, now?
He was assuming that Id given it to the fae again. If it hadnt been for the apology in his voice, I think I might have been happy to not lie, not precisely. Because I didnt know where the walking stick was, I only knew who it was with.
Not exactly, I told him, then stalled out. Zee had been very clear that the fae would not be amused at where that walking stick had ended up.
Then what exactly do you know? Whom did you give it to?
There was a thump from the stairs, and both of us jumped. Beauclaire focused his attention, and I felt his magic send shivers of ice along my arms.
Hold on, I said. Ill check. Before the first word had left my mouth, I hopped out of my chair and headed for the stairway. Whoever had made the noise was likely to be someone I cared about, and I didnt want them to get blasted by a Gray Lord.
I turned the corner, and Medea stared up at me from the fourth step from the bottom. Its okay, I told Beauclaire. I picked her up, and, true to form, the cat went limp and started purring.
What was it? he said.
I know its a horror-film clich, I said as I walked back into the kitchen. But, really, its just the cat. I thought you put her to sleep like everyone else?
Beauclaire frowned at my cat, the magic in the air dissipating gradually. Isat down, and the cat consented to continue to be petted.
Cats are tricky, he told me. Rather like you, they tend to shed enchantments. I didnt expect to find one in a house full of werewolves, and magic on the fly, delicate magic, is not my specialty. He looked at me, and there was a threat in his voice when he said, Hurricanes, tidal waves, drowned citiesthose are easier.
Dont feel too bad about it, I told him, my voice conciliatory. His brows lowered, and I continued in a bland tone, No one else has heard of a cat who likes werewolves, either.
Medeamaybe because dangerous men with threatening voices, in her experience, were the people most apt to drop whatever they were doing and cuddle herdecided that Beauclaire was fair game. She oozed from my lap to the tabletop and began a very-slow-motion creep across the table toward him.
We were talking about the walking stick? he said, raising an eyebrow. I couldnt tell if the eyebrow was at me or at my catwatching Medea do her slo-mo cat stalk can be disconcerting.
An oakman used the walking stick to kill a vampire, I told him. It was either the beginning of the story or a diversion, I wasnt certain myself.
I reached up and wrapped a hand around one of Adams dog tags, which hung from my necklace along with my wedding ring and a lamb. If I was going to keep Beauclaire from destroying me and my all-too-vulnerable family in a fit of pique, hed have to understandas much as I didwhat had happened to the walking stick.
Medea made it all the way across the table and hunkered down in front of Beauclaire. She focused on him and moaned. Id never heard another cat do it.
The oakman told me afterwardI raised my voice a little so it would carry over Medeathat Lugh never made anything that couldnt be used as a weapon. I frowned. No, that wasnt quite what he said. It was something along the lines of never made anything that couldnt become a spear when needed.
Medea upped the volume on her yowl, then turned into Halloween kitty; every hair on her body stood at attention, and if shed had a tail, I was sure it would have been pointed straight in the air.
Medea, who dealt with werewolves on a daily basis, was pretty much immune to fear. She even liked vampires. And she had no trouble with Zee or Tad.
Beauclaire ducked his head until he was face-to-face with Medea. He dropped his glamour just a bit, and I caught a glimpse of something beautiful and deadly, something with green eyes and a long tongue as he hissed at the cat. She all but levitated off the table and disappeared around the corner of the kitchen and up the stairs.
I felt my lip curl in an involuntary snarl. Overkill, I told him.
He relaxed in his seat. So the walking stick is with an oakman now?
I shook my head. No. It came back after that. But last summer the otterkin
Ive heard about you and the death of the last of the otterkin. He shrugged. They always were bloodthirsty and stupid. They are no loss He paused, looked thoughtfully at me, and said, You killed them with the walking stick?
It was what I had. I tried not to sound defensive. And I only killed one with it. Adam had taken care of the rest, but I wasnt going to tell him that. There was something wrong with the walking stick when the otterkin died. Something hungry.
Something wrong, he repeated, thoughtfully. Then he shook his head. No. It is only the great weapons that are quenched when they are first made, usually in the blood of someone worthy, someone whose traits will make the sword more dangerous. The walking stick was finished long ago.
I wondered if I should mention that Uncle Mike had thought that Id quenched the walking stick. Maybe I should tell him that the otterkin wasnt the only thing the walking stick had killed that day. Maybe I should tell him that I was pretty sure the walking stick had killed that otterkin mostly on its own.
But before I had a chance to speak, Beauclaire continued, The blade you know as Excalibur was born when her blade was drowned in the death of my father. He paused, showed his teeth in a not-smile. I understand that you might be acquainted with the maker of that blade.
I quit worrying about the walking stick for a moment.
Jumping Jehoshaphat. O Holy Night.
Siebold Adelbertsmiter had made blades once upon a time. Hed been the owner of a VW repair shop when I met him. Hed hired me, then sold me the shop when the Gray Lords decided that it was time that he admit he was faedecades after the fae had come out to the public. I knew him as a grumpy old curmudgeon with a secret marshmallow heart, but once hed been something quite different: the Dark Smith of Drontheim. He wasnt one of the good guys in the fairy tales that mentioned him.
Part of me, still properly afraid of Beauclaire, worried that his grudge against Zee might be turned toward me. Part of me was horrified that my friend Zee had killed Lugh, the hero of hundreds, if not thousands, of stories. But the biggest part of me was still stuck on marveling that Zee, my grumpy mentor Zee, had forged Excalibur.
After a moment, I started processing the information in more practical paths. That story was the answer to why Beauclaire didnt know what Id done with the walking stick.
If Zee had killed Lugh, Lughs son wouldnt be exchanging kind words with him or anyone who associated with him. No one holds grudges like the fae.
But we are not speaking of one of the great weapons, Beauclaire said, temper cooling as he pulled away from an old source of anger. So tales of the walking sticks being used to kill a vampire or otterkin are not germane. The walking stick is a very minor artifact, for all that Lugh made it, nor is it useful for important things.
Unless I decided to raise sheep, I said, because his disparagement of the walking stick, to my surprise, stung a bit. It had been old and beautifuland loyal to me as any sheepdog to its shepherd. If it had become tainted, that was my fault because it had been my decision to use it to kill monsters. Then all my sheep would have twins. Might not be important to you or the fae, but it would certainly have made an impact on a shepherds bottom line.
He looked at me the way my mother sometimes did. But he wasnt my parent, and he had invaded my house, so I didnt cringe. I narrowed my gaze on him and finished the point Id been making, If I were a sheep farmer, I would have found it to be powerful magic.
It is an artifact my father made, said Beauclaire who was also ap Lugh, Lughs son. I value the walking stick, do not mistake me. But it is not powerful; nor is its magic anything that would interest most mortals or fae. For that reason, it was left with you longer than it should have been.
