A/N-Please read, enjoy, and review. I really enjoy the reviews.~A

WSG-Chapter 14

It wasn't a bad crowd for a Wednesday night at the Dahl Riata. Trick was pleased even if he was missing his chef. Eric was filling in for the evening and doing a good job. The salmon in dill sauce was impressive, the dish was delicate and flavorful and flying out the kitchen door, Fleur had created a salad with figs that was very popular among the vegetarians and the standing rib roast, even had him salivating and waiting impatiently for his lunch break. Even though he had already asked the young cook to set aside a generous helping of the succulent meat.

As he looked around at the crowd he was a little concerned that they might run out of the meat laden dishes, even the salmon. This afternoon they had more meat eaters than vegans in his establishment. More new faces too and not as many humans as usual. Unfortunately word had gotten around about their recent trouble and the Dahl's hard-won reputation among the human lunch crowd had dropped a bit. Especially, since their favorite chef had been off for the past couple of days.

What did one expect though, the woman had just lost her last remaining son. She needed a period of bereavement, as her friend and employer and friend he knew that and didn't begrudge her the time. Actually all things considered of late he was rather glad she wasn't here.

The door to the Dahl opened and Trick turned to the door with a smile for the new arrivals. Only to feel the smile fall from his face as a growl slid from the lips of the Blood King. He was rather startled at the noise coming from his lips, a noise more accustomed to his friend Dyson Thornwood, the werewolf. The barkeep knew trouble when he saw it though, and he's been seeing more than his fair share the past couple of days.

The death of the Shifter King had the fae coming out of the woodwork and coming to the Dahl to start trouble. He had no doubt whatsoever that the fae leaders were behind the recent events. Shifters or those who employed Shifters were also experiencing a rise of attacks. Shifter police were not immune to the aggressive behavior of the other fae, .

The dark fae came in and took a table, literally took the table from a trio of fae who were already eating. That was bad enough but as the smaller group got up to move to another table, one of the dark fae liberated the food from a plate. When the fae started to complain, two of the dark fae shoved him into a wall. When Fleur moved toward the fallen fae, two of the dark fae grabbed her, Trick had already decided enough was enough. He was making his way around the bar, when one of a foursome of Shifters said quietly but politely, "Allow us Blood King for the hospitality of your Way Station." The four bowed as one to Trick and had surrounded the six troublemakers.

One reached into the group as one would reach into a barrel of fish and had Fleur out of the fray before it even started, and was directing her to the fallen customer. Meanwhile the other three in what was obviously an often repeated maneuver, each grabbed two of the dark fae troublemakers and slammed their heads together a couple of times, before dragging them out the door by the scruff of their necks. The Shifter who had spoken to Trick and helped Fleur bowed over the pixies hand in a courtly manner, kissing the fingertips of her hand before releasing her to head back to the bar.

He handed a small bag to Trick and said, "I know that coin of the realm is preferred but my kin and I have been traveling a good bit and hope that these baubles will suffice for any damages as well as perhaps start a tab at this fine establishment." He said and then indicating the portion of rib roast on the floor with a sorrowful expression continued, "What a delicious looking waste. If that is any indication of the fare served here I believe we will be visiting this establishment often."

He leaned forward slightly and said in a more confidential tone, "I believe it is customary for visitors to these parts to sign a book for your records, Blood King." He leaned back just as his men returned from disposing of the riffraff. Their leader indicated they should order without him as he rose to follow the keeper of the Way Station.

Trick nodded gratefully before taking the bag and tucking it into the pocket of his vest. "A moment please." he said and went to Fluer's side quickly she and the customer assured him that though a bit bruised they were both unharmed. Reassured he asked Fluer to watch the bar as he turned and led the visitor down the stairs to his office,

Trick went to pull the old book from its position on a shelf in his office, he set it out on a table opening the book to a page marked with a heavily brocaded strip of ribbon. He went and retrieved the pot of ink and quill. He had a feeling he was dealing with an older Shifter and probably an Alpha unless he missed his guess. A bit of old fashioned pomp and circumstance was in order, Alphas were rare since the harvesting of the Shifter young had begun centuries ago. Most were killed off immediately to eliminate resistance to the Harvest.

"Harvest, indeed." thought the Blood King. "That bit of business had come after his rule, and more stupidity he had not seen in many a century. Harvest a word the Ashe and Morrigan of the time had used to comfort the Council and other fae into thinking it was a warm gathering of little ones, rather than the slaughter it truly was."

The man with silver gray hair and beard leaned forward and signed the book with a flourish, before standing again and saying, "With respect Blood King you need a bouncer." Trick offered the Shifter a chair before joining him and sitting in his own favorite armchair.

"The trouble only started when the heir issued her official Challenge and made the declaration that she was going to give the Shifters who had been claimed in the Harvest the right to switch their fealty. That news wasn't well received by the fae leadership. As you can imagine." Trick said still quite formal in his speech patterns to the Shifter.

The keeper of the Way Station hadn't examined the name in his precious book yet. Deeming it as impolite as examining the contents of the small bag he had been given by his visitor earlier.

"So, tis true that the Fae sent assassins to eliminate the heir and they mistakenly or purposefully under the guise of battle killed the Shifter King, and in front of the Lady Ennoi nae less?" the bearded Shifter said incredulously. His accent seeming to thicken to a more noticeable Scottish burr as he relaxed into the conversation with the Blood King.

"Unfortunately yes. Kenzi, the heir, retrieved the stolen Regalia from the Ashe and the Morrigan, and showed in front of the fae court that thy had stolen it. They lost face, the only way to regain it was to kill Kenzi and regain the Regalia."

"The entire court had seen it though. I dinnae understand how they thought to deny it?" said the other man flabbergasted.

"Out of sight, out of mind. The Ashe and the Morrigan are convinced that whatever they say when there is no proof otherwise the fae people will believe, blind obedience." said the bar keep shaking his head.

The Shifter grunted shaking his snowy head as well. "It has been good to talk to someone as old as I, thank you Way keeper. Please examine my token tell me if it is insufficient, in any way. In the future I will attempt to bring the proper currency but for now…it is all I have. Will it suffice?"

Trick opened the small leather pouch and poured the contents into his hand. Jewels fell into his palm, polished or cut to enhance their beauty. Pearls, rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and opals took the dim light of the underground apartment and magnified it to sparkle in the palm of his hand. Their were few who knew that their were a few dwarves in his ancestral tree. The sight of the gifts of the earth thrilled a part of his soul rarely seen, or heard from. Pulling his eyes away the Blood King looked up at the Sifter and said, "I'm sure it will cover your tab for this evening and for many more. I shall endeavor to have them assessed and let you know when next you return."

The Shifter bowed and said, "I thank you for your honesty in the matter Way Keeper."

"There are many of your kind who are already coming into the area for the Challenge. Perhaps more of your kin have arrived and you may have a reunion with them." said Trick kindly as he returned the gems to the pouch carefully.

"Nae, there will be no such reunion for me. The ones with me and myself are all that is left of my pack, of my clan I am the last." said the Shifter as he prepared to leave the apartments and return to the bar upstairs.

"Forgive me for bringing up bad memories," said Trick in sympathy

"Nae, not all bad, and long ago now. But a father should not outlive his bairns, tis a sad thing that..." said the Shifter as he extended his hand. "I would like to return and talk with you some more of the old days. The pups dinnae understand me lingering over the past." he said as Trick took his arm in a warriors grip.

"When you return you may call me Patrick, or Trick if you prefer." the bar keep said with a somber smile.

"I would like that and you may call me Dougal," he said as he turned to climb the stairs, "Dougal Thornwood."

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Ennoi had not moved from the position she had been in when the remains of the Shifter King had dissipated sparks and ash on the wind. She had not shifted from her immortal form either after the death of her son, despite several attempts by her adopted granddaughter to coax her to move, she wouldn't. Occasionally a mournful howl would be heard from her. Kenzi was concerned because her Nonni hadn't eaten or drunk anything since Misha's death. Kenzi knew if it hadn't been for her friends she probably would have been in the same shape as her grandmother.

Right now she was sitting on the couch with her legs pulled up and her arms wrapped around them. She had cried so much that her mascara made tracks down her cheeks. Dyson who was holding her, trying to comfort her, was reminded uncomfortably of the time she had mistakenly consumed Gorgons blood. He had held her like this when the then human had faced her own mortality. Now she was facing the death of a man who had quickly become her missing father figure.

He had offered no platitudes this time for the loss she felt so keenly, he remembered his own loss of clan and pack and knew that no words could ease her pain right now. Instead he simply held her as she rocked, shivered, wept and simply sat dry-eyed staring off into space. He had realized is family as even when she was human that he had a connection to the young woman.

He realized he had wasted a lot of time trying to convince himself, his feelings were friendship for his lovers friend, then friendship for the incredible independent woman that she was. He knew his feelings were growing deeper for the human a long time ago. He had tried to convince himself he could never be with the human, because she was human. Then Hale had introduced Kenzi to his aristocratic fae family as his human family.

Dyson had played along with the deception, and yes he had known it was a deception. After all he did have one of the keenest noses in all of the fae world. He knew the pair had never been together, it hadn't stopped the raging spike of jealousy. Not even the amorous attentions of Hale's lovely sister Val, had distracted him from that. Only his many centuries and the experience of being in several different royal courts had kept his face pleasant and his answers to the head of the Santiago families questions placid.

His usual responses to anything had always been cool and calm, Which was why no one had really thought his behavior all that strange when he had lost his heart or love as it were to the Norn. No one but Kenzi of course. Even

Bo his supposed lover and mate hadn't noticed the change, neither had his partner Hale. Nope only Kenzi had noticed, granted she had been in possession of his body at the time, literally but still… he had finally realized it at that moment and without his heart. Only a mate should have realized the difference, his mate had. The problem, in his mind at the time was that Kenzi was a very fragile human. A fragile human who had survived the machinations of a kitsune, who had survived the Garuda, who had bested a Norn without making a deal to retrieve his heart. A fragile human who had saved his broken wolf ass from being beaten nearly to death by the armies of the Garuda. So much for being the badass werewolf of the pair. He had a feeling that fate was somewhere laughing it's ass off at one Dyson Thornwood right about now, and he deserved it.

The arguing voices of Vex and Bo brought Dyson out of his reverie. Bo was pacing as was her custom when she was in emotional turmoil but not over her love life. Vex however was sitting very still. His legs were folded under him and the spirit tiger sat beside the Mesmer. The two seemed to be leaning against each other in commiseration, Dyson had the incongruous thought of 'how did a body actually lean against a spirit animal, before Bo burst out, "How could you comfort her? She's the one who turned Kenzi in to the Ashe. For all we know she probably led him here."

"How could she lead the Ashe or anyone else to a place she's never been succubus?" asked Vex in a surprisingly calm and reasonable way that surprised Dyson but apparently just irritated Bo all the more.

"Who knows? Maybe she figured out a way to tag us." said Bo as she continued to pace back and forth. 'How could the Ashe and the Morrigan find us at the same time if they weren't tipped off?"

"The Morrigan and the Ashe have worked together in the past on a number of occasions when it suited both of their interests to do so." said Dyson from where he sat holding Kenzi to his side.

"The baby fae is a danger too them. It would definitely suit their purposes to try and kill her and retrieve the Regalia items if they can." said Vex from where he sat. His voice was tired but firm as he spoke, "They save the embarrassment of having lost the Regalia before the court confirms they were stolen in the first place. Plus they save having to face losing at least half of their followers back to the Shifters, not to mention any possible…defectors." Vex added thoughtfully.

"Why are you defending Lauren?" Bo reiterated angrily rounding on the Mesmer, "She didn't want you! She left me, she betrayed Kenzi, hell for all we know, she just let Misha die."

A resounding smack echoed around the warehouse, all heads snapped up to see the Mesmer standing in front of the succubus, who was putting a hand to her reddened cheek. Vex was lowering his hand slowly, fury seemed to crackle around the Mesmer like a living thing.

Dyson started to rise, his protective instincts rousing him from his comforting role. Kenzi stopped him her cold hand on his forearm had him staring down at the figure beside him, and stilled. Eyes glowing silver, Kenzi was back from her drifting sadness and staring at the duo.

"Say it again." he said too calmly. When Bo didn't respond, only staring at him in shocked surprise, he repeated. "Say it again, I dare you succubus." and if possible he stepped even closer to the tall brunette who stunned found herself stepping back.

When she still didn't answer him the dark fae sneered and said, "Can't do it can you?" he said his accent growing deeper as he continued to advance on the woman. "You know why, because you and I both know better. Everyone in this building knows better, even Kenzi." He spat the words at her venomously, before continuing to defend the human doctor. "She did her best by Misha. It wasn't enough because there was nothing anyone could have done, you know that too. You saw the wound Bo, You've been in enough battles to know the truth."

He had been advancing on her and her retreating steadily, now he reached out and grabbed her by the upper arms, halting her retreat. "She hates the Ashe, but she also fears him, just as much as I hate and fear the Morrigan, but she's human she has no power to defend herself with." He shook Bo slightly as if in hopes of shaking some sense into her before he said, "You know that she is probably sitting at the Ashe's compound or back at her apartment, drinking and crying herself sick in guilt over the Shifter King's death, because she feels guilty not because she has a reason to, but because she feels she wasn't good enough to save him."

"She could have come to us…" started Bo in weak defiance. Only to be cut off by the dark fae.

"No, don't, lie to yourself if you want, but not to them…and please," he said with another sneer as he released he and pushed away, "don't bother trying to lie to me, or have you forgotten I'm a Mesmer. I know when you're lying."

"You control minds, Vex. You can't read them." Bo denied hotly in a raspy voice.

"The very strongest Mesmer's, a very few, can read minds, emotions, the future like a pattern woven in time." said a voice, not heard in two days. Not since the fall of the Shifter King. Ennoi sat on the floor, staring up at the pair. Vex gave her a bow and there wasn't a hint of mocking in his face when he raised his head to face her, staying in the deep bow. "Your servant ma'am."

Dyson leaned down and whispered into Kenzi's ear. "I may not be able to fix what I broke between the two of us Kenzi. I am going to try though, and I think I might be able to fix them. Maybe." he said and Kenzi looked up at him in question, and for a moment Dyson felt that connection open between the two of them again.

He knew she understood that he was talking not only about Bo and Vex but also the lady doctor, Lauren. He saw as her eyes glowed with silver magic again and he felt his own shifting to the golden hue of the wolf in answer. Scooting away from her on the couch, he lowered his head until they were nearly nose to nose and they simply stared at each other, sharing the bond. "You approve?" he asked silently, through the connection.

Kenzi gave a wan smile and dipped her head in approval and acknowledgement before the connection was broken again. Her eyes returned to their storm gray color and he moved back into position beside her shifting her to lay her head on his shoulder more comfortably. With a grim little smile, the wolf began to plot. He had a great skill for strategy and planning. He had never put it to use for matchmaking but there was a first time for everything.

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First off, he enlisted the help of the Santiago siblings, they were a pair of romantics at heart. Val could not only capture voices, she could mimic and throw the voices as well. Then there was Hale and his siren ability; always useful for calming angry fae or humans for that matter.

First came the phone call from Val, posing as the fae version of a city health inspector, to clear the club ASAP. They would be closed until further notice, due to an outbreak of vanier poisoning, the fae equivalent of E coli. Val directed the bouncers to follow the directives of a pair of fae officers, who were on their way to Carpe Noctum now.

The several bruisers that Vex used as bouncers and bartenders were not pleased to have to follow the orders of a pair of light fae cops. However, they also knew that the results of disobeying Vex or the Morrigan could be very unpleasant and protracted, if not permanent.

When they suddenly felt very calm as they exited the club, they didn't even notice when Hale started singing. The half dozen impressively built fae became calm, pliable citizens who were more than willing to cooperate with the nice police officers. The pair smirked at each other as the various employees and all the clients made their ways away from the club.

One of the bartenders was detained and his keys retrieved from his pockets with a Sirens song applied for his total compliance and then Val stole his voice.. Before he could rouse from Hale's siren induced stupor, Hale's sister went to work. Mimicking the bartenders voice as her brother and his partner locked up the bar and then secured all but one of the exits with one of their own fae strength locks to the outside of each exit.

"Yeah boss, you might want to get down to the club. They're saying that they have to close the club, because we have an outbreak of vanier's disease and we pose a health hazard to fae. They say we can't open back up until we get it cleaned up and that we can't use fae to get it cleaned up because they might catch it. On the same hand we can't use humans because they might see something they shouldn't. Sounds like the usual bureaucratic runaround to me. As it stands now, they've already sent everybody home and the inspector says she'll meet you at the club."

While Val was taking care of Vex, Hale was dealing with the lady doctor. Explaining "We have a situation down at the Carpe Noctum, there is an outbreak of vanier's. The Ashe would like you to supervise the clean up doctor. I know that it is a dark fae club but since they don't really have anyone qualified to deal with a situation like this… they have asked for our help in the matter. Let's face it doc, the Ashe would relish the chance of showing superiority over the Morrigan in this instance. The rest of the clean up crew, will meet you at the club and please enter through the front door. The rest of the place will be on lockdown to prevent any possible spread of the contagion. Thank you doctor, the Ashe appreciates your cooperation in this matter." Hale said before clicking the cell phone closed.

Dyson at the same time was calling Bo and told her he needed her to come down to the Carpe Noctum. That there was an outbreak of vaniers. Such a localized outbreak is practically unheard of unless their was something or someone nefarious and fae behind it. He told her he would be waiting for her inside of the club

When all three had arrived, Val pulled her voice throwing trick and lured the three into the club and sealed the door behind the trio. As the brother and sister duo left they waved at the wolf as he finished preparing the club. Using a couple of amulets, he put them on the doors of the club. The amulets basically kept everyone inside the club healthy and alive and kept everyone outside the club out until certain criteria were met. Namely the three finally settled their differences with each other. Namely and he hoped he wasn't wrong about this, they had to confess they had feelings for each other.

Dyson placed a sign on the door, "Club closed until after the Challenge." He walked away and was smiling. His methods might be a little unorthodox but he thought the three probably just needed a little time together.

He heard something scuffle behind him and started to turn only to feel something strike him across the back of the head and then nothing.