CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Zak

" 'Seal it with a kiss?'" Aaron wrinkled his nose as he looked at me, "What the hell was that all about?"

"Tsst," I shook my head and took my phone from my inside pocket, "I have no idea."

"Probably some kind of magic from their world… Weird magic." Kai muttered, and started walking into the night that was slowly returning to the clearing; while Aaron and I followed close behind.

"You calling Kit?" Aaron asked, taking a look at my phone.

"Yep." I was going to text him actually, because if I called him he'd feel the need to remind me that he was up by one in the chess 'tournament' he'd insisted upon having after I kicked his ass twice in a row.

I pulled up my messages and, unsurprisingly, 'Shakespeare' a.k.a. 'Kit', was at the top, having sent me another cat meme from his seemingly endless supply of cat memes.

Zak: Busy?

Shakespeare: I'm watching 'Terminator 2'… Does that count?

Zak: No

I need you to get me the profiles on all the Druids registered in the Vancouver area.

Shakespeare: What?

Shakespeare: Why?

Shakespeare: Shouldn't you already know this though?

Zak: Why would I know this?

Shakespeare: B/c you're YOU. And aren't Druids like super rare?

I figured you guys had a book club or something where you discussed Druidry issues.

Zak: I need that info NOW Kit

Shakespeare: Ok! Keep your pantyhose on.

Shakespeare: There are only 10. And that includes you, your

lovely lady and future boobulahs.

Zak: Where do you even hear these words?! Send me the file.

Shakespeare: PDF: Porn

Zak: Really?

Shakespeare: :p

"Hah!" Aaron snort-laughed as he looked at my phone. It was funny. I stopped walking and opened the file.

The first one that popped up was a combo profile of twin girls with long brown hair and green eyes, smiling brightly.

Alexis Semenov and Lisa Semenov.

Ages: 19

Consorts: yes

Occupation: Students at University of British Columbia

The next was a stony-faced woman with shoulder length brown hair who I recognized, the Tempest Druid.

Josephine Pisk

Age: 37

Occupation: Bounty hunter

Consort: yes

Definitely didn't need to worry about her.

The next face that came up was a young man with short, tousled, dirty blond hair, golden brown eyes and tanned skin that suggested he spent a lot of time outdoors. And, unlike the other's photos, I was almost positive that his photo was the top half of a mug shot. I recognized this guy too. I'd wandered onto his territory a year or so ago, we didn't exchange names, though I'm sure he had a good guess of who I was, as he made a show of pushing his sleeves up, revealing that he had about at many tattoos as I did. But let me pass through with out argument. And, that many tattoos suggested he was on good terms with quite a few Fae. Daniel Singer, 23, beekeeper. Hmm, might have to pay him a visit.

Then a picture of a strawberry blonde woman wearing a small smile.

Carolyn Smart

Age: 32

Occupation: NICU nurse

Consort: yes

Lastly was Thomas Yang, a fit, dark haired man with the expression of a patient teacher. Fitting, because he was a Professor of Environmental Science at… UBC.

"Fuck." I hissed, and raked my hair.

" 'Fuck' what?" I looked up from scrolling to see Kai standing in front of me expectantly.

"There are more druids here than I expected…"

"How many?" Kai pressed. If there was one thing I liked about Kai, it was that he didn't bullshit and got straight to the point.

"Ten, including myself, Saber and our babies." I shook my head in frustration.

"That is a lot. I expected, maybe, six; including you guys." Aaron frowned, and reached over to scroll on my phone.

"And, three of them are at UBC." I continued, exhaling slowly. "But at least all of them are consorts."

Unlike most Mythics, who could choose to ignore their magic, druids didn't have that option as their energy attracted Fae like magnets, who saw them as a either a battery or a delicious snack. And while druids were powerful, they needed Fae favors to use their magic; thus consorts. The Fae protected the druid from other, less than friendly Fae, and provided gifts and favors, while the Fae itself consumed some of the druid's energy.

There were also two types of consort agreements. One: the Fae consumed a small amount of magic, leaving the druid with a plentiful amount of magic.

Two: An arrangement where the Fae consumes almost all of the druid's power, so they pass off as another class. I found this one to be less than palatable. But, Rikr and Saber had had a similar arrangement, albeit, unknown to Saber. Maybe this deal was more popular than I'd thought. To be fair, the only other druids I'd dealt with were either bounty hunters or psychopathic criminals. Both of whom required a lot of magic. Not something college students in an urban area needed. I was hoping that this was the arrangement most of them had.

I scrolled one more time before texting Kit back.

Zak: You're 100% sure there are no kids?

Shakespeare: None that are registered.

Zak: Ok. thanks

Shakespeare: No prob, man. But why are you suddenly so interested in your druidic bretheren?

Zak: A Fae that enjoys killing druids for sport is rumored to be coming here.

I figured he didn't need to know about the vengeful fae god part. Especially after the all too recent shit show with Rikr and Lallakai.

Shakespeare: I feel like you should have opened with that… I'll have them informed.

Zak: And DO NOT let them gather in one spot, you'd be setting up a buffet.

Shakespeare: Got it.

Zak: Thanks. And keep this as quiet as possible.

Shakespeare: Obviously : ) I got your back.

By the time I finished texting Kit, we'd made it back to the house; where the scene playing out inside stopped the three of us in our tracks.

Saber was still resting on the couch, sipping something hot from a coffee cup and chatting with the Dagda. Nicely chatting… Something that worried me just a bit as she had been the one to suggest we disembowel him only a few hours ago.

The Dagda himself was part sitting, part leaning on the sofa's arm and was thanking Tori as she handed him a tumbler of… Whiskey?

Ryker was standing close to the Dagda, arms crossed but looking relaxed.

Ezra was sitting in the middle of the couch, next to Saber, arms braced on his knees, a look of mild confusion on his face.

Sam was sat on the sofa's arm at the far end of the couch watching the Dagda intently and exuding the same child like energy as he had when I first met him.

Then there was Dean, the only one who had noticed us come in, leaning casually against the table, arms crossed over his chest and watching the whole scene with suspicion. I noticed also that his gun was placed conspicuously at his right, machete still belted at his left hip and the knife Kai had lent him was still strapped to his right thigh. Obviously he didn't particularly care for this weird little after party.

Aaron leaned in towards me, "What the hell is happening?" he whispered.

All I could do was shake my head. The three of us just stood there for a few more seconds, staring stupidly until we all seemed to reach the same conclusion: might as well join in. Aaron and Kai headed to the far end of the room and started stripping off their heavy combat gear, while I headed to the kitchen table.

"What did you give him?" Dean asked in a monotone.

"What?" I peeled my steel knuckled gloves off and they landed with a light clack on the table.

"You heard me. What did you give him?" He asked eyes still focused ahead of him.

I shrugged off my jacket and draped it over the chair, "Nothing. He just wants our help." I replied tersely. And took off my combat belt and knife, setting them neatly on the table.

"Bullshit." He sneered, "I don't know much about Fae, but they seem as sneaky as a demon. Contracts like his always come at a price." He turned his head to look at me. "Unless," he canted his head and glared at me "he promised you something."

"Fine." I could feel my jaw tick as I answered, "He promised he wouldn't kill all of you. And…"

" 'And' what?" he pressed, his tone edged with hostility.

I leaned against the table so I was next to him, my hands gripping the table's edge, propping me up, then took a deep breath before I answered. "He promised to teach me how to protect my family."

Slowly, his eyes softened as he eyed me up and down like he was considering me and my answer.

"I would have done the same thing." He frowned and nodded, then turned his attention back to the after party

Well, hadn't expected that response. I blinked and cleared my throat, "Thanks by the way." I mumbled.

He turned his attention back to me, "For what?"

"The blood oath. It was exceedingly stupid, but…Thanks."

"Heh," he smiled, "well, you looked about twenty seconds away from doin' something 'exceedingly' stupid."

"Fair assessment." I nodded.

"Plus," he continued, "can't have you dying on my watch. I'm one hundred percent sure your girl would gut me if you did."

I snickered, "Yeah, that's true."