Soul Kissed (29 page)

The mind reading thing. Cari now wished for that power herself. Her fantasy about Fletcher liking her was already crumbling. This was not how she’d imagined it going.

The door closed and Mason shoved his son toward her. “Fletcher, this is Cari Dolan. Cari, Fletcher.”

Um . . . ?

Cari attempted to lower herself vertically as much as her dress would allow. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.”

But the boy—beautiful kid, really—just looked sullen and angry. He wouldn’t meet her eyes. He had killer lashes though. Was going to break hearts when he grew up, just like his daddy. Fletcher was already breaking hers.

“Apparently Webb told him that he’d traded Fletcher in a business deal,” Mason said.

Cari looked up at Mason. “That’s not how it was.”

“And he thinks you killed Liv.”

Cari opened her mouth to say no, but no sound came out. This was too horrible to contemplate.

“I told him already, but he doesn’t buy it.”

Cari looked Fletcher in the eyes as deep as he’d let her go. “I swear on my House, on my father’s name, on my life . . . I did not kill your mother.”

Fletcher just looked at her, unimpressed, though it was the only time in her life she’d ever made such an oath.

She straightened. “I don’t know what else I can say.”

Mason brought round a chair so that she could sit. “I thought we could explain our plans, let him weigh in. He might hear better after he gets the whole picture.”

Cari settled back as Mason pulled up a chair for himself. She chewed her lip, trying to think where to start, then opted for the beginning to win him over. “The plague killed my father. Burned him up from the inside.” Any sympathy? Nope. Moving on. “And I inherited my House. Dolan House. Have you heard of it?” Adult skepticism on the face of a child. That would be a no, too.

Mason jerked a nod for her to continue. What had happened? But his face was as stony as his son’s.

“The mage Council asked me and your dad to find out who started the plague. And we did.” No congratulations or way-to-go! “And at the same time we were investigating, we . . .” Cari looked up desperately. She didn’t want her explanation to sound like Mason had been having fun while his kid was lonely.

“I got the girl, too,” Mason finished. Blunt. Efficient.

Fletcher slid his gaze over to his dad, then back.

“But I knew that your dad could never be happy without you, so I offered to trade the only valuable thing my House has so that you two could be together again. Your dad was so worried.”

Fletcher’s hard expression didn’t waver.

The issue of the moment. The impending claim. Even now Kaye was waiting for the announcements to begin. And this one was the first. “Fletcher, if it’s okay with you—”

“No,” Mason cut in. “It’s happening whether it’s okay with him or not.”

Cari opened her hands, helpless. She was obviously terrible with kids. She’d cry about it later. “But maybe we should wait. Give him a little time to get to know me.”

“Cari.” Mason’s voice had lowered. “There is no time. Martin came fucking armed to the teeth.”

Um . . .
language?
She’d take that up later. A couple of wild wolves they were.

Cari looked back at Fletcher and sighed. She reached inside herself to find the right words to let him know that she only wanted to give his dad and him a home, and in return she’d get a family. The trade was pretty uneven, when she thought about it. She came out way ahead.

She was staring hard to figure out what to say when she caught sight of a wisp of his umbra. Little mage, so tough. Trying to be just as big and bad as his dad. They were twins, which meant Fletcher was going to be a handful. Already was. The more she looked at him, trying to see past the Mason in his DNA to the person he was on his own, her Sight revealed the shape of a child’s hand, made of Shadow, clamped tightly on Fletcher’s mouth.

She blinked. Looked harder. Yes. A child’s hand covered Fletcher’s mouth.

Cari dropped a hand to Mason’s knee and gripped. “Fletcher’s been bound.”

The kid’s hard eyes—not hard, no—
brave . . .
his brave eyes widened. Begged.

Mason slid off his chair, face reddening, to be closer to his son. He put his big hand over Fletcher’s heart. “Wha—? How?
Fuck
Webb.”

The vehemence in his voice was frightening. And it exactly matched her own. The language in this case was absolutely warranted.

“Oh, yes. Webb will pay.” Cari clenched her hands together. “Let’s see to Fletcher first though.”

That hand across Fletcher’s mouth was made of the umbra, the Shadow soul, of some other mage. A child, strangely. Cari reached forward and peeled it away from Fletcher’s face. The hand smoked into obscurity.

Only a Dolan could’ve perceived it. Without her intervention, Fletcher would have lived his life with his mouth closed.

“Bran did it,” Fletcher said, angrily. His face was pink, blotchy, and his eyes shined. And somehow Cari knew to look away, anywhere, so that he wouldn’t be ashamed of himself. Stray pride.

“You will tell me everything,” Mason said. He was shaking, so Cari put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s so I don’t say anything about Webb House.” His voice was off. Forced.

Cari looked at him again. Looked at him as a Dolan should look at everyone. There’d been a hand to his mouth. And pitch if there wasn’t another holding on to his umbra soul.

To do this to a child. To have another child do this to a child. Riordan Webb would come before the Council and explain. Cari would see to it, if she didn’t kill the bastard first. He was not getting any part of DolanCo’s Umbra project, that’s for sure.

“What about Webb House?” Mason asked.

Cari relaxed into her power. There was so much of it after her rush through Twilight to get here from Dolan House. Webb had a great aptitude for magic, but Dolan’s was still stronger. She reached with her own hands of umbra—careful—and forced the child Bran’s to release its grip on Fletcher.

And then the words just tumbled out of him, fast and free. “I don’t know. That Webb’s a dick, maybe. I got the files off Mr. Webb’s computer, but I left it inside his wall. No way could he or his search dogs find me. I peed everywhere I could.”

“You left his files—? Search dogs?” Mason seemed to be having trouble keeping up. Each thing worse than the last.

“They are files on a flash drive, duh. And I can walk through walls. It’s how I got away.”

A Walker trait, Cari thought, from Livia. Oh, this kid was going to be trouble. But he seemed okay now. Natural. A little cocky, which made her warm inside.

Cari flinched as Fletcher suddenly looked over at her. “You got
both
hands?”

Mason sat back, even more confused.

Fletcher had noticed. He must have felt the difference and had just connected it to her.

“Yeah, I got rid of the second one.” To Mason, she said. “Bran had him by the umbra, too. Seemed like they weren’t about to let Fletcher go.”

“He had him by his umbra?” Mason growled.

“I guess you’re okay,” Fletcher said, examining Cari more carefully. “For a girl.”

Considering her initial reception, Cari was more than happy to go with this. She had a feeling parenthood would be very humbling. “Thank you. Umbra is my thing, as Shadow walking is apparently one of yours.”

“Huh . . .” Fletcher’s expression soured.

Oh, no. She’d screwed up again somehow.

The sour turned into a full-fledged frown of disgust. “You and my dad don’t hump, do you?”

 

 

“He’s a thousand-year-old soldier,” Mason said to introduce Jack Bastian.

“I’m older than that, actually,” Jack said to Fletcher, holding out his hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

Mason looked over at Kaye, who was waiting with Cari. Kaye raised her eyebrows as if to say,
Any time now would be good.

Got to get the kid squared away first.
Just wait until Kaye had children.

“You’re the one who came to our cabin in New Mexico,” Fletcher said.

“That would be me,” Jack said. “But I didn’t see
you
anywhere.”

Fletcher smiled smugly. “I know.”

Smartass. Kid needed a mother, Mason thought. Why hadn’t he seen it before?

“That lady over there is Kaye Brand,” Mason said, “and she’s waiting to tell all these people how great I am.”

Fletcher grinned.

“Try not to give Mr. Bastian too much trouble.”

“I’ve got him,” Jack said. Which meant that if Martin or anyone else should make a move, the thousand-year-old soldier would make sure his son was safe. It would have to be good enough.

Mason gripped the top of Fletcher’s skull with one hand—an old joke they called “the claw of doom”—and turned to join Kaye and Cari in the empty space in the room. Mason found he didn’t like being in the spotlight. But then, who’d be looking at him with the ladies in all their cleavage and jewels? He couldn’t take his eyes off Cari.

A flute of Black Moll was handed to him as Kaye raised hers.

The room fell silent.

“First, thank you to Greatmage Maya for opening his wards to the Houses tonight. We are gathered here this evening to celebrate the success of Cari Dolan and Mason Stray’s investigation into the mage plague. Not only did they discover the source—an ancient rogue angel by the name of Xavier—but they killed him, too, thus ending the threat to our people. The Dark Age is upon us, and we have greatmages the likes of the Old Ones among us. I raise my glass.”

The gathering sipped at their Moll. It burned down Mason’s throat. He glanced over at Fletcher and Jack Bastian. Fletcher held a glass of the black stuff, too. Trust Jack to know all the mage ways.

Cari stepped forward before everyone’s glasses came down. A low rumble of “Do-lan, Do-lan, Do-lan” swept the crowd. Mason knew it was support for what they hoped was her bid for Brand’s seat. Kaye was a lit wick of poise behind Cari’s armor. His princess, ready to do battle.

Mason blew out his breath.
Here goes . . .

Cari swept her gaze across the room. “Dolan House has stood for time immemorial because we can sense the character of those around us, and so have gathered powerful allies to augment our own power. My father taught me to recognize value, and it is glaringly obvious in Mason Stray. Whatever his heritage, the man has proven his worth a thousand times over. He is the equal of anyone in this room. Dolan House claims Mason Stray and his son, Fletcher Stray, for our own. If any House challenges me in this, I’ll scrape them off the earth.”

Mason’s soul was rocked by her proclamation. His blood boomed in his ears and bleached his vision. He was electrified all over. Cari awed him. And how amazing was it that he got to hump that woman whenever he wanted. It was a good day to be born stray.

Cari turned and looked at him with her fae-black eyes. He glanced at her lips, his favorite feature, and read happiness in their fullness. He gave her a smile of his own. He’d have to get to work on that ring right away and claim her right back. A little piece of jewelry, one of a kind, which would tell everyone that she was his, too. He wished he had it now.

“Dolan for the High Seat!” someone cried from the crowd.

“Dolan!” another seconded.

Moment over. More fighting now.

A clamor rose among the throng, Shadow rising as they got their blood up.

“The Dark Age needs no Order!”

“Give us pure blood!”

Mason refused the urge to grab Cari and put her behind him. Besides the fact that the violent rabble here
wanted
her,
supported
her, near-immortal Cari didn’t need his protection. Her blood was so pure, she was almost fae. It was Kaye, who’d taken an angel for her consort, who was threatened.

And Kaye stared them all down, even as her skin leapt suddenly with faefire. The red of her dress made sense. She was a living flame, untamable.

Jack Bastian must get burned every night.

Kaye raised her arms to heighten the stretch of the golden-hot light. “Dolan House, do you challenge me?”

The unmistakable sigh of a blade unsheathing turned the black gazes of magekind on each other. The crowd began to move, the Houses taking sides, men edging forward. Jack had a grip on Fletcher’s shoulders, which meant that Mason would do whatever he could for Kaye, if this came to violence.

Cari turned to Kaye, her profile to the gathering. “Greatmage Brand, I do not challenge you.”

“Honor your father!” someone shouted.

Caspar’s memory was probably her only weakness. Mason knew her father had wanted the High Seat for her, and Cari could do the job spectacularly. But . . .

In a voice that carried, Kaye said, “Prove it.”

It was simple really. Not much to do.