Page 32 of Mortal Blood
“Don’t eat the pie,” I warned Ling from the corner of mymouth as we approached.
“Greetings, wary travelers,” a warm voice greeted us as stepped through the door. I turned to the short, ruddy-faced man and his smile dropped at once. “Oh, it’s you.”
His eyes slid past us to Ling.
“She doesn’t want your pie and ale, Aodh,” I said firmly, before he could even try it.
“No, I should imagine she does not,” Aodh agreed, his eyes narrowing as his gaze swept over Ling. “Though perhaps we’ll have a conversation soon.”
“There’s nothing she wants to say to you,” I told him.
“If you change your mind…” he said to Ling, his eyes entirely too calculating for my liking. Ling looked away—to disguise the fact that he was making her want to vomit, I hoped. But after her blushing at Jax’s attention earlier, I was having serious doubts about my friend’s judgement.
“We need a portal to my packlands,” Cole said abruptly, and if anything, the look in the fae’s eyes grew even more calculating. “Usual price.”
Aodh shook his head and sucked in a regretful breath. “You’re an old friend, Cole, but there are four of you this time.”
“You don’t have any friends, you wily old fucker,” Cole retorted, “and your portal magic isn’t affected by how many go through. Usual price.”
“The girl can go through for free, but the other shifter pays full price.” He folded his arms across his chest. “That’s the best deal you’ll get around here tonight.”
“Fine, done.”
Aodh held out a hand and Cole dropped three tiny crystals into his palm. The fae held them up to the light, examining them closely, then nodded in satisfaction and slipped them into his pocket before leading us to an empty spot in the middle of the inn. I frowned, looking around.
“Business been slow?” I asked.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” he said brusquely, but from the corner of my eye I could see a couple of smashed tables shoved into the corner of the room.
“Oh, I wasn’t worried. Just glad to see less people falling for your tricks.”
“Tricks?” He pressed one hand to his chest. “You wound me. I accept only the payment deemed fair for the services I render.”
“And these people think the price is fair, do they?”
“Leave it, Cali,” Cole said, his voice dropping an octave in warning. I opened my mouth, and then snapped it shut again. He was right; these people were beyond my help, and right now we needed Aodh. Didn’t mean I had to like it, though.
Aodh grunted in satisfaction, then raised a hand and muttered a few words, summoning a portal into existence.
Cole gave it only a cursory glance—Aodh might not be trustworthy, but he wouldn’t violate the explicitly stated terms of a deal—before nodding.
“See you around, Aodh,” Cole said, not doing anything as amateurish as thanking him, like I’d almost done the first time we came here.
“Looking forward to it already,” the fae answered, his eyes glittering with greed and anticipation. He flicked a glance atLing. “Some of you more than others.”
I saw the shudder work its way through her frame, and then his gaze snapped to me, and I couldn’t miss his meaning. He hadn’t forgotten about our deal—but then, it wasn’t like I’d thought for a moment he would. But over my dead body would I let him use my deal to get close to Ling.
I glanced Cole’s way, but he missed the look, stepping through the portal with Jax on his heels. I ushered Ling through behind him, and as she vanished from sight, Aodh gave a low chuckle.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I don’t need to use your deal to get close to that one. I have other things in mind for you.”
I lifted my chin and stepped through the portal before I could show him how much that scared the hell out of me.
Chapter Eleven
The sounds ofsnarls ripped through the air, and three huge wolves raced towards the four of us. Cole lifted his chin, taking one small step to put himself in front of me, and the three wolves skidded to a halt as one, cowering down just a few feet from us. With an audible cracking of bones, one of them shifted into a guy in maybe his early twenties, but he stayed in a crouch with his eyes averted, making it hard to be sure.
“Forgive us, Alpha Heir,” he said quickly. “We saw the portal, and—”
