Shaedes of Gray: A Shaede Assassin Novel

considering moving your headquarters to Seattle?”

I tried to discern any pattern of energy coming from Dylan as I studied him top to bottom. Graying salt-and- pepper hair, fine lines at the corner of his eyes when he smiled. Dylan seemed as average as any guy walking down the street. “I am, in fact, planning a move. We’ll be anchored here by spring.” He turned his attention fully to me and took my hand. A firm but not unusual grip.

“What kind of consulting do you do, Mr. McBride?” I couldn’t help but ask. Maybe he advised pixies on the best brand of magic dust to buy.

“I’m a financial consultant. I also manage business ventures for clients who have an issue with blending into normal society. Estate sales, acquisitions, stocks, bonds—I pretty much do it all.”

Dylan’s gray eyes sparkled, and I looked to Raif, who mouthed the word human. Sure, why not? Everyone else seemed to be here. Why not a human or two? I needed a drink.

“Nice to meet you, Dylan,” I said, stepping back behind Xander. Dylan clapped the king on the back and moved on, smiling and chortling with his cohorts as they passed.

“Surprised?” Xander asked with a sideways glance in my direction.

“You have no idea,” I said, sour and not afraid to show it.

His arrogant laughter sent chills down my spine. I hated the way he affected me, made me want to silence him for good. “What now?” I asked, my mood taking a dive. “More meet and greet, or are we going to get this show on the road?”

“I have one more person I’d like to speak with. By then, I believe we’ll be ready to start.”

Xander plowed ahead, Raif beside him and me trailing behind, trying to look like I had my shit together. But I so didn’t. Not even close. Son. Of. A. Bitch. How in the hell could I have been so blind? I was walking through a supernatural pep rally with hundreds of attendees, by my estimation. How had I never noticed them before? Or was it like Levi had said, and the supernatural population had suddenly shifted their focus on Seattle and the brewing conflict between Xander and his heir? I felt like throwing up.

We approached a man and a woman, both tall and unusually thin. Their pale skin appeared luminescent against the warehouse lighting, an aura of pinkish light hovering around them. With features too similar to ignore, they had to be related. Faun-colored hair, straight and fine, trailed down the woman’s back, while the man’s had been clipped short. Their eyes, the lightest blue and hauntingly empty, only made their faces look more ethereal. As we came near, identical smiles graced their mouths—a baring of teeth that could only be described as predatory. They were a frightening pair, and I rested my hand near my dagger, ready to defend if need be.

“Sidhe,” Raif whispered close to my cheek. “The oldest living creatures in the Fae lineage. Older than recorded time. Do not look them in the eye.”

Okay, easy enough. Just a glance in their direction made my skin crawl. Literally. A powerful energy, greater even than what I’d felt from Luna, crept out from where they stood, slithering over my skin like rough-skinned snakes.

“Alexander, I bring greetings from your father’s father,” the woman said. “To you as well, Raif.”

Raif bowed his head, and Xander followed suit. My own gaze I kept toward the floor, but I felt an urge to drop lower, as if invisible hands pushed me down. I looked up, just enough to see the man staring at me, his pleased smile telling me he was the one pushing my buttons. And I refused to let him. Without looking him straight in his eyes, I focused my gaze at his hawkish nose, fighting his influence with all I was worth. It felt like I was squatting five hundred pounds, but I resisted the power flooding from him as well as the urge to kneel at his feet.

His sneer faded into amusement, and still I would not meet his eyes. I don’t bow for anyone. Period.

“I have matters to discuss with you,” Xander said to the woman, brushing aside my silent power struggle. “You know what’s happening in my kingdom.”

“I do,” the woman said, seeming disinterested.

“You will not intervene?”

“No.”

The word carried enough finality to draw my attention. I looked at Xander; pain was written on his face. I knew that look; it was a reaction to betrayal.

“We will not involve ourselves in this matter,” she continued. “Fate will see the victor.”

“I’m putting this matter of war before the delegation today.” Xander’s tone had become more frigid with every word. “I will ask for aid if it comes to war. I cannot risk my kingdom.”

With a slow inclination of her head, the woman rested a pearlescent hand on Xander’s shoulder. “Then Fate be with you,” she said. “I do not wish to see your kingdom in danger. Nor you or yours. But the die has been cast, and these events must be seen through to their end.”

The sound of a gavel banging saved me from having to plunge my dagger into anyone’s belly, and the siblings retreated toward the far end of the warehouse. The man cast a backward glance at me as they left, and I felt something in the invisible energy pulsing around him. Nothing malicious or even taunting. But, rather, curious. As if he’d been testing me. His lips turned up in a soft smile that spread to warm the chill in his white-blue eyes. He looked pretty damn pleased, actually. I stumbled, my attention inexplicably drawn to the Sidhe. In turn, Raif snatched me by the elbow as we followed Xander to his seat. “I’m proud of you, Darian,” Raif said. “He is an ancient, and very powerful.”

“Does he have a name?”

“I will not speak it,” Raif answered. “The older Fae will not be named. They believe that by giving someone their given name, they are giving up a portion of their power. Few know their true names.”

Wow. Supernatural 101. I hoped there wouldn’t be a quiz later. “What do you call them, then? You have to call them something.”

“Moira, and her brother is Reaver.”

Cheery names to go with their cheery faces, no doubt. “They mentioned your father.” Or was it his grandfather? “I didn’t realize he was still alive.”

“Technically, he isn’t.”

Another round of gavel banging interrupted our conversation, and Raif and Xander promptly took their seats.

Curiosity burned little scorching paths through my brain as I rounded the rectangular table. Technically? What in the hell did that mean? I took my place at Xander’s left side and used the moment of inactivity as an opportunity to take in each and every detail of the other beings seated along the tables.

I’d never known, let alone seen, such an assortment of creatures gathered in one place. Tall, short, fat, thin—and, for the most part, remarkably human in appearance. Everyone, that is, but Moira and her brother. They seemed to flaunt their otherness with brash arrogance. Beneath the facades of the delegates, I caught a glimpse of what these creatures really were. The glamour must’ve allowed them to pass for human. But a shimmer in the fabric of reality blew away as if on a soft breeze, and their true faces were revealed. A tiny girl sat to one side of Xander, her hair tossed in wild curls almost to the floor. She gave the impression that she could’ve crawled out from under a tree before taking her seat. Across the square from her, a pair of nymphlike creatures sat. A male and female, their skin glistened as if they’d just taken a swim. That wasn’t all. Creatures with fur and some with feathers sat side by side with others covered in scales. And ignorant as I was, I couldn’t even place a name with their shapes. Faeries, gnomes, werewolves; I wouldn’t know a vampire from a shape-shifter, if either were present. And under the cover of their glamour, they appeared no different from the humans on the street.

My face felt hot all of a sudden as the embarrassment seemed to crawl right up my cheeks. Damn Azriel. I bet he was getting a good laugh over this right now. It must have been his goal to keep me in the dark, both literally and figuratively. His actions had become inexcusable, and the thought of his death not only acceptable but appealing.

Xander turned from his conversation with his brother and beckoned me. Like any good employee, I moved closer to see what he needed.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“I think I’m an idiot,” I said, low, next to his ear.

Xander laughed and some of the spark returned to his eyes. I didn’t miss the dark glance he shot in Tyler’s