“Aye, last great king of our kind, old Arthur was. Said to be more Fey than human. But it didn’t stop the Imnada from doing him in. He bled same as anyone with a sword stuck through his gut. Afterward, the shifters were hunted down, the whole monstrous lot of them. Killed in droves like vermin until none were left . . . or so we thought, the sneaky buggers. It’s said they’ve returned bold as brass and twice as dangerous.”
Corey leaned back in his chair. “They change shape? Into what exactly?”
Hawthorne sighed as one might when confronted with a small child’s incessant questions. But his long exhale was choked off at a single cold stare from his host. “They shift from man to ruthless wild beast. As soon kill you as look at you. The Other are organizing. We’ll not be taken unawares by a bunch of dirty shifters.”
“Pitchforks and torches?” Corey said smoothly. “I’d love to see a mob like that parading down Bond Street amid the hoity-toities. Give them a good scare.” He held Hawthorne’s gaze long enough for the man to move uneasily in his seat before glancing away with a lift of a shoulder and a wave to the barman. “Enough about your bogeymen in the night. I invited you here to find out what you plan on doing about your sister’s continued defiance. I don’t appreciate being made a fool of and I’m sure you don’t want me to change my mind about our arrangement.”
He regarded Hawthorne’s unease with satisfaction. “No, of course not, Mr. Corey. You’ve been more than generous with your offer and I’m indebted to you for your patience in the matter.”
“You’re indebted to me for far more than that, Hawthorne. And I expect payment in full. The girl or the coin. Which will it be?” Though he already knew the answer. He’d made sure Hawthorne was up to his neck in debt with no hope of repayment. Not that it had been difficult. The man had the business acumen of a babe in the cradle.
Hawthorne straightened in his chair, his chubby face breaking into a smile. “You’ll have Callista, Mr. Corey. No worry on that score. I’ve given her a good dressing-down. There won’t be any more of her foolishness.” He took a long greedy swallow of his wine, dabbing at his mouth with a napkin, unaware of the red drops flecking his neck cloth. “She can be a handful at times, but a stern husband should settle her down right quick.”
Corey smiled. Oh, he’d settle Miss Callista Hawthorne down all right. Once tamed, she’d make good bed sport. The woman was ripe for a man’s attentions. All she needed was the right man to show her the way.
But while he would enjoy introducing her to the pleasures of the flesh, it was Callista’s gift of necromancy he truly desired. She was his key in to death. And when one possesses the key, one controls the door—both who goes in and, more importantly, what comes out.
The realm of Annwn was full of dark spirits bound to the underworld’s deepest paths. Dark spirits who only needed a guide to lead them up to and through the door separating life and death. Once that door was breached, Branston Hawthorne with his round little body and unctuous pandering would be the first to die. And from there, who knew . . .
With an army of the underworld at Corey’s command, his grip on London would tighten like a noose. They already called him a gang lord and a prince of thieves.
Soon they’d call him mayor.
Perhaps in time they’d hail him as king—or better. Arthur might have been the last great king of the Other. Victor Corey could be the next.
Some thought him mad to take a dowerless nobody as his wife, but he knew better. Callista Hawthorne would bring him the world as her marriage portion.
2
The gang closed in on the woman from two sides, leaving her nowhere to run but toward the alley. False hope, for that way ended in a brick wall. Too high to jump, and while the stones of the empty tenement backing onto the passage were held with barely more than plaster and a promise, no slip of a female would be able to bring them down and win a way out.
Alone, she was as good as caught, and judging by the ripe odors of alcohol and brutality rising from the men, she’d be lucky to escape with her life, much less her honor. She must have known it, too, for she grabbed up a broken plank, holding it in front of her like a sword. Or like someone who’d never handled a sword might hold one. She whipped the board from side to side, her eyes darting between her captors as they circled.
David slunk from his position in the lee of St. Martin’s Lane, threading the mews, coming up behind the old tailor’s shop. Then through the broken crawl space under the abandoned brewery before arriving at the other side of the wall. Six and a half feet straight up. His fur rippled with excitement. A growl vibrated low in his chest.
Too high for the woman.
An easy leap for a wolf.
He took a short approach before curling his back legs under and vaulting skyward with every ounce of force, front paws stretched for the ledge. A momentary scramble, and he was up.
His gaze moved slowly over the tableau spread beneath him. The woman backed against the wall, her cloak thrown off her shoulders to reveal a heavy satchel dragging her off-balance, her arms wobbling under the continued weight of the plank as her attackers chortled and swaggered with their success. The fizz and burn of Fey-blood magic jangled at the base of his brain, crawled over his skin. Which one of the group bore the blood of the Other in their veins? David tried focusing on the source, but he was interrupted by the woman’s scream as one of her attackers slammed her against the bricks. His mates cheered him on as he tore the plank from her hands and pressed against her, groping his way under her cloak to squeeze her breast.
“How dare you!” She lashed out, her palm connecting with his cheek.
“Spitfire, this one is.”
“Don’t let Corey see ya pawing the girl, Bates. He’ll cut your dick off and shove it up your arse.”
“Just softening ’er up is all.” Bates released her with a shove, but his lecherous, wild-eyed look remained. She scrambled for the plank, but he kicked it to the side and out of reach. “Your brother’s worrit sick about you, he is, miss. Wouldn’t want somethin’ to happen to ye alone in the big city at night. Mayhap you’ll run into a fella who’d want to stuff his cock into ye . . . or mayhap a whole group of fellas with stiff cocks. What-cha think of that?”
The others sniggered.
A mite early for gloating. David’s lips curled back in a toothy grimace, a low snarl rolling up from deep in his throat to bounce eerily between buildings. Immediately, what had been an easy abduction erupted into chaos. They looked up, freezing under the inhuman stare from the enormous black shadow, their frightened shouts warming his heart, his laughter sounding as another low, frightening growl.
In one flowing move, David leapt from the wall and sank his teeth into Bates’s arm. The blood leaked hot into his mouth, bones cracking under the pressure. The man’s face went chalk-white, his mouth opening and closing in a silent scream. Shaking him from side to side, David thrilled at the man’s choking gasps and jerking blood-spattering twitches before he went silent and then limp. Passed out? Dead? David didn’t care. The vile filth had been a rapist and a murderer.
“. . . monster from the papers . . .”
“. . . Devil of Dawlish Street . . .”
David lifted his head, lips pulled back from his fangs in a dripping gruesome smile. Hadn’t heard that one before.
The remaining men retreated, their shouts and panicked cries better than a Beethoven symphony.
“Hold your ground, boys,” someone shouted. “We ain’t gonna let no ruddy animal scare us off.”
The panicked men rallied under the newcomer. A knife sailed past David’s face to clang against the bricks. Then a broken bottle.
So much for easy.
David lunged for his nearest attacker, savaging him with a rake of his claws. Tearing clean a chunk of thigh. Breaking an ankle between his jaws. The man screamed, hunched and shaking against further attack. A bullet smashed into the wall above David’s head. He whipped around in time to catch another murderous bastard aiming a long steel knife. One focused, ruthless look from David was all it took for the rascal to flee in a mad scramble for safety, his shoes ringing loud against the cobbles.
