besides, where else would I go?”
Alex nodded, understandingly. “So if the Brethren found out, they’d…”
“Kill me,” I answered flatly. “Maybe kill the rest of the pack too, I don’t know. Even though it’s not their fault. The geas my mother placed on them meant that they couldn’t tell anyone. So either they murdered me and disposed of my body, or just accepted me in. And like I said, they’re not monsters. Not this pack.” My last sentence was heavy with meaning.
Alex frowned at me. “Are you sure the Brethren would do that? I mean, I know they used to hold with all that ‘death to anyone who discovers our secret’ shit,” he sketched imaginary quotation marks in the air, “but I don’t think they’re still like that.”
I snorted. “John seemed pretty sure they’d react violently. So do all the others now. And I’ve heard proof with my own ears of what Lord fucking Corrigan himself thinks of humans.”
“Really? Word on the street is that he’s a strong alpha, maybe stronger than they’ve had for centuries, but that he’s not a bad dude.”
“I don’t care what word says,” I answered. “I just need them to do their thing and leave so I can carry on with my life.”
“And the alpha? I mean, John, the Cornish alpha?”
“I will find that bitch who slaughtered him and left him here to die and I’ll kill her,” I said matter-of-factly.
Alex looked at me quietly. “Do you know, I just believe you might.”
I faced him head on. “So you understand the consequences if you tell them who I really am?”
“Tell me why can’t they smell that you’re human first. Shifters have noses like bloodhounds.”
“I wear a lotion that Julia, our new alpha, created. It mimics a shifter smell. I think the actual result is a cross between a hamster and a rodent. As long as I keep applying it, they won’t be here for long enough to smell a rat. So to speak.”
Alex moved a bit closer and sniffed, experimentally, before stepping back and shaking his head. I guessed that mages didn’t have superior smell as one of their super powers then. “I still don’t think they’d do the whole killing you thing if they found out.”
I hardened my gaze.
He sighed. “I won’t tell them. I have nothing to gain from getting involved in shifter politics. ‘Sides which, I wouldn’t want to be responsible for the bloodbath that the Mack Attack would create.” He winked suddenly and punched me on the arm.
I smiled at him. I really did feel better now that someone else knew my secret. It also almost seemed oddly better that he was a virtual stranger. And lightning hadn’t struck me or him down yet either. I punched him back lightly and began to search around in the darkness for my throwing daggers. Alex helped me hunt for them in the gloom. One had landed next to the ring of black coals which I pointed out to him. He stared back down at the tree runes from the top of the dune, frowning.
“So it was a woman who was conjured by the scrying?” he asked.
I was puzzled that he didn’t know and it must have shown on my face because he continued with, “I don’t see who I scry because I need to keep my eyes shut to maintain my power. Which admittedly doesn’t make it a very useful tool for a solitary mage to use.”
I laughed slightly and described the blue vision to him. He nodded slowly as if considering the matter.
“So tell me what else has happened.”
As much as I had decided I liked him, I hadn’t exactly gotten the impression of someone who wanted to help beyond what he was being paid for. “Why do you want to know?” I asked warily.
“’Cos I think I like you Mack. And you need help.” He looked in the direction of the keep for a second, even though its distant outline was submerged in the trees. “A lot of help. I might be able to draw on my wizardly skills to do something. Not physical something, you understand, but you never know what I might be able to do to get this sorted out.”
I was tempted for a second to tell him that I could manage this on my own and that it was my fight and no-one else’s, but I realised that no doubt there were things that he might know or could help me puzzle out. I’d be a fool if