Hels's Gauntlet [Forbidden Legacy 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (14 page)

He followed the impulse and clasped arms with Helcyon around Cassie. Helcyon kept one hand firmly over her mouth as they grounded her out, dispersing the wild energy. Scorching heat threatened to burn him everywhere he touched her, but the crazed look in her eyes faded, and the pupil began to shrink. It took both of them to catch her. Jacob let go of Helcyon as the Elf swung her up into his arms. Concern deepened the grooves around Hels’s mouth.

Easing up on the bond, he listened through his soul for the restless echo of her mind, still unsettled even in sleep.

“What the hell?” he murmured, brushing the tumble of hair from her face.

“We are bound, the three of us, a triad of power. I may be a point at the top of the triangle, but each of you gains from the connection as well. Cassandra also bears royal blood…”

“She was going to glamour them, compel them to stay.” Holy shit, how much power could she hold?

“Yes. I am the Lord of Sun and Sword, and she is my Lady. Her foremother is a Queen. Your men are her Court.”

Jacob’s heart was a bruise in his chest. “We’re in trouble.”

“We might be.” Helcyon exhaled. “But we will manage.”

“Why am I not filled with great confidence?” An ache formed behind his eyes. He had to talk to the guys. He had to figure this out.

“Because you are not a blind, foolish follower.”

“And you’re really not sure what the hell this means.”

The Elf gave him a long look, but Paul appeared in the doorway. “Jacob. There’s been an explosion in D.C.”

The smell of burnt bodies hung like a low-lying fog over the scene. Dirty water squelched under the hints of ozone, smoke, and the coppery hint of blood. Jacob breathed through his mouth, pushing shallow breaths past his teeth. Despite their suspension from the DHS, no one questioned their presence. In fact, his former boss seemed damn happy to see him.

“Over a hundred dead so far.” Jude’s face pinched in an effort to breathe through his mouth and talk at the same time. “That number isn’t firm, we have at least fifty or so in triage, and they are still pulling out bodies.”

The glass, steel, and concrete structure lay in so many piles of debris. Whatever force destroyed the Walter E. Washington convention center melted the glass to slag, twisted the metal, and shattered the concrete. The building formed a concave crater with only the outermost buttresses still standing.

“It’s a fucking mess,” Miller announced. He and DuPois diverted from their trip back to the compound to meet them in D.C.

“Secret Service is being cagey. Was the President here?” Jacob kept it together, the twin connections to Cassie and Helcyon closed down enough to drown out any background noise. He didn’t cut them off because Cassie needed his energy, but Helcyon could handle the burden for now and he didn’t want the Elf in his head. Not while his men watched him with wary expressions and withdrew physically, mentally, and magically.

“No.” Paul shook his head. Sweat trailed tracks through the ash smearing his face. “He was a block away when it went off, though. They’ve moved him to an undisclosed location. They’re also bringing in the National Guard to seal off the area. We lost ten or twelve Wizards in there, and the Fae may have lost more. I don’t know what their numbers were, and the skinny freak with the pointed ears over there insisted he would say nothing until their liaison arrived.”

“Cassie is not coming here.” Jacob picked out the Fae from human fairly easy, even in the organized chaos that was a rescue effort. “Let’s give these people a hand. We’ll move beams and help them dig down beneath the rubble. We’re faster and more efficient than the equipment.”

“And it’s great press.” Jude smirked, but the snark lacked any kind of rancor. Not since the terrorist attacks at the turn of the millennium had he seen such destruction.

“That won’t hurt. DuPois, see what you can fish from those guys. If he’s trying to contact Cassie, Hels will block him. But we’re not going to be able to keep her out of this for as long as I’d like. Which means it will be better if she makes a statement before the press starts demanding to know why she isn’t here.”

“Boss.” Jude waited for DuPois to head off on his task.

“Yeah?” He wanted more time to talk to the kid. But they didn’t have it right now.

“You know Cassie was supposed to be here, right?”

Every muscle in his body went rigid. “Excuse me?”

“It’s on her public schedule,” Paul answered, a muscle ticking in his jaw. “We canceled her tea with the Queen, but we didn’t publicly cancel this event. I’m guessing the whatever with you and the Elf distracted her. But she was scheduled to make the presentation this morning.”

The use of magic in the attack wasn’t even a question. The presence of Wizard, Fae, and human interest groups along with the U.S. Ambassador newly appointed to the Danae, and the planned presence of the President made figuring out the intended target a logistical nightmare.

“They were all targets.” Jacob scrubbed a palm against his face. He needed more coffee. If Cassie had been on time and even with the President’s absence, a severe blow to human-Wizard-Fae relations would have occurred.

Hell, it still might, considering the carnage.

“Run it down for me, Miller.”

“Attacks on clubs in France, Germany, Italy, and one just a few hours ago in Russia, along with three bombings of dinner pubs in and around the Greater London area. All low-risk targets boasting one, or maybe two Wizards, minimal security, and easy access. The club in Russia, however, just gained infamy for being the favorite nightspot to meet a Fae. So that’s our first Fae target. DuPois pulled some reports throughout the States of anti-Fae and pro-Fae supporters getting into dust ups. This is the first coordinated assault of all parties, however, and a higher risk target with highly secure targets.”

Every word Miller uttered seemed to hammer home another nail. They’d been investigating the possibility that there were organized human groups that didn’t want them out in the world or that the Fae supported such actions to keep the Wizards off their game.

“It’s a coordinated effort.” Paul stripped off his filthy jacket and dropped it in one of the makeshift barrels being used for debris and began to roll up his sleeves. The black ink of numbers on his right forearm flashed upward. “The backlash from the earlier attacks was bad enough. This is going to be a political nightmare for all sides.”

A mental tap from Hels rapped against his mind. He sent a pulse of
wait
. “Okay, gather the information we have. Miller, catch up with DuPois. No one goes alone. Whoever did this could have layered the spell into the superstructure, but without knowing, we need to assume they are still here.”

“Jacob.” Miller caught his arm when he should have been moving.

“Yeah?” Was Miller about to tell him to go to hell?

“DuPois and I have no problem with the Elf. We will want to firm our contract, as that oath goes both ways. But we’re still in.” The man grinned, a crooked, almost lopsided smile. Just like that the subject was settled between them, and he was all business again. “Who gains?”

“From the bond?” His mind hiccupped on the swift subject change, but at Miller’s arched eyebrow, he sighed. The Wizard meant from the attack.
Who gains?
“Too many could gain from this chaos. As it is, we’re seeing lines of division being drawn between those fascinated by the return of magic and those terrified of it.”

Just at the disaster site alone, there were those bearing candles for the fallen and still more bearing placards damning them all to hell for consorting with demons. Demons. Jacob fought the urge to snort. He understood that fear. It’s why the Wizards worked so hard to keep the fallout from touching the humans. Real demons were worse than the Fae.

That said something.

Shaking off the distraction, he cut his hand through the air, palm down. “We have enough problems without borrowing more. We know Helcyon’s brother Kyrian is gathering an army.” It took everything in him not to look at Jude. The younger Wizard was right. He needed to be treated with respect, even if Jacob hadn’t embraced the man’s growing maturity. Hell, he was giving orders to Wizards three and four times his own age, but Jude had been so broken when he found him.

The buzz in the back of his mind grew, and Jacob winced, glancing round for the source. A hollow pop and she was there. Just beyond the restraining tape, with Helcyon at her back.

What the fuck are you doing?
He opened up the connection and stared at Helcyon.

She would not stay.

And you couldn’t make her stay? Why do I not believe you?

Helcyon’s mental sigh felt downright audible.
Because she is right. If we do not act, if we do not get in front of all of this, it will destabilize everything she has worked so hard to do. Everything we have worked so hard to accomplish.

“Fuck me, Cassie’s here?” Jude’s tense words echoed the wild fury building in Jacob’s gut. Bound or not, Cassie didn’t have the right to put herself in danger.
To put their child in danger.

We are right here. I am with her.
Helcyon’s assurance didn’t soothe.

“Miller, get on it. Jude, I know you’re pissed but…”

“No, I got this.” Bless the man, he just waved Jacob off and made a beeline for Cassie. Dressed in an oversized coat—
that better damn well have Kevlar lining it
—her pregnancy would be disguised. Her hair was pulled back from her face and her makeup, if any, was muted.

Jude’s affection for Cassie would keep him by her side, at least while she dangled herself out in the world.
But what if that was the point of this? Wasn’t she one of the targets?

A migraine jabbed at the back of his eye. “You still with me, Paul?”

“You don’t have to ask that, Jacob. It’s not you that I have a problem with.” The words offered little in the way of comfort, but he needed his men. Skimming a look over the destruction, he knew he would need them more than ever. They had to make this work.

“Then let’s do this. There may be survivors in there.” For the first time in a century, Jacob shed his role of human officer and embraced his Wizarding, publicly. Power surged between his fingers, and he called up a blue tracer, infusing it with his life force. The noisy world around him faded, dialing back the press of human need, emotional demands, and the sway of a lover who pushed him to his limits. Fairies raced toward him, homing in on the energy he offered.

Paul’s hand dropped onto his arm, clasping his wrist, and a shield snapped into place around the feast of power he offered. The fairies let out a cry, but they didn’t flit away. It took everything in him not to just order the fairies to do his bidding. The little pixie escapees were a nuisance, but Cassie gave them their freedom and the word spread around the world to the little bastards.

“Help us find the living in the rubble. Help us find the spells. This will all be yours.” He infused request into his words, the tone of a supplicant, and just for good measure, he reached inside himself and opened the link to Cassie. A wave of love checkered with irritation washed through him. As pissed as she was, she still loved him.

The chittery little voices climbed in excitement. The air around him began to glow with the arrival of a dozen more winged creatures. They wanted to help their lady, the lady who gave so many freedoms.

“Don’t look now,” Paul murmured in a too soft voice. “But you’ve got about ten cameras pointed in this direction.”

“Good.” Jacob smiled. He wanted the attention on him. It might, just might, distract them from Cassie.

With a hollow pop, the fairies agreed and swarmed away. Jacob closed his hand around the energy, tucking it away in a pocket of his soul. He would give it all to the fairies and more if it meant finding people alive.

A high pitched noise tugged them forward.

“Hot damn, they’re good.”

“Yes, they are.” Jacob grinned. For the first time since Cassie outted them to the world, he could use it to his advantage. He pitched his voice louder and looked at firemen working to the right of the fairies call. “We’ve got one.”

Paul moved right in his shadow as they plunged into the destruction. Maybe they could cull the number of dead down and chalk up more survivors.

It would be a good day.

* * * *

Cassie focused on the reporter pushing a microphone in her face until he backed up a step. “Thank you. Would you repeat the question without breathing on me this time?”

Nervous laughter shivered through the tension in the crowd. Jacob’s actions distracted the live broadcasters. She couldn’t see him, but she’d felt the pull of him, the caress of his soul against hers as energy filtered through her. She wanted to go and hug him and then perhaps slap him for helping Helcyon to drop her like a rock.

But they could settle that later. Too much was going on right now. Too much that needed her attention.

“Do you think this is an act of terrorism against the Fae incursion?” The reporter, Henry Kramer, gained notoriety through his blog. A member of the self-declared “free” press, he didn’t report for any major outlets unless they picked up his feeds. He offered what he called an unbiased by corporate support opinion.