Waking Her Tiger (3 page)

Maddy took the object designed with swirling, fanciful creatures and the unmistakable hum of power. She slipped the chain over her head and picked up her bags. “Ready when you are.”

Mary Alice chuckled. “I admire how politic you are, not commenting on my appearance.”

Maddy shrugged. “You look good in blue, and my kind are used to changes in the skin.”

The woman laughed. “Very true. Here we go.”

The light started from a dozen points around her feet and swirled around her in a growing column until she was engulfed in the woven energy. Maddy could breathe in her column, which was good as she watched her home whisked away, and then, she was between worlds.

She had no idea how long she was held neither here nor there, but when the light faded, she fell to her knees.

Hands helped her up while she fought for air. What had been in the column had been burned off minutes earlier. Her vision was blurred and someone lifted her, another person said they would bring her bags. She was carried from the spot she had landed, and after a short journey, she was tucked into bed.

A woman with a perky smile was sitting at her bedside. “Glad to see you are up and around. Your transporter was a bit of a moron. She tried to double up on your transport by setting you into place under the connection and then up the conduit to the Crossroads. She got you there early but left you in the space between dimensions. She is getting a reprimand by the Transporter Guild Master as we speak.”

Maddy scooted up against the headboard and took in the comfortable, if slightly Victorian, room. “How long have I been out?”

“Seven hours. You have regained your colour and are looking much better. My name is Spike, and I am your local medic and bartender.”

“Maddy. What the hell is this?” she held up her wrist and took in the charm with the gleaming stone in it.

Spike laughed. “It is a charm bracelet that will shift with you. We ask that you don’t eat any of the locals, but you are welcome to chase them around if they are amenable. The small gemstone lets the fey know that you are up for their attentions if you two have a mutual attraction. I have to say that the new program is doing fairly well. Soon, they are going to allow variations on the theme.”

“This is all new to me. I learned of it for the first time when Mary Alice arrived and tried to explain it.”

Spike cocked her head and smiled. “I will explain it then.”

She did. She poured Maddy a cup of tea and explained the problem that the fey were having with losing population and magic all at once. Maddy listened with rapt attention. She was pretty sure that shifters had never thought to pay seers to make a love connection.

When the tea was gone and her vision was clear again, she sat up and swung her legs off the bed.

“What am I supposed to do now?”

Spike let out a sharp laugh. “You get changed into something you would use on a date, and you either go for dinner or head to the bar. The charm is your key to pay for everything here, and everything you buy or consume is on the fey court’s tab. They want you here, so they are paying for your stay.”

“Nice. I didn’t actually ask Mary Alice about any of this stuff. She sort of surprised me.”

Spike sighed.

Maddy could see her watching as she got up and rummaged through her clothing. Her mom must have been drinking because some of the clothing was just this side of trampy. She grabbed a few things and ducked behind the screen in the corner, changing as she called out questions.

“Is there anything else I need to know?”

“You can ask any of the locals. Anyone at a business or building something is usually a good bet. Did you need to go for a run?”

“No, I am good. I stretched before dinner a few hours ago. I should be fine until tomorrow. Wait, what time is it here?”

“Three in the morning. Come on, I will introduce you to your hostess. Teebie is a riot, and she is a font of information on both the Crossroads and the fey.”

Maddy finished changing into her long skirt and comfortable shirt. The man-style button-down shirt was her favourite, and it suited her larger frame. She kept her sandals on and emerged from behind the screen. “What happened to the charm I was wearing?”

Spike made a face. “Teal and Tony are dealing with it. While the idea was sound, the execution was lacking. She could have lost you between worlds with that thing.”

Maddy winced. “Well, I am here now. So, where is my hostess? I hope I am not keeping her awake.”

Spike chuckled. “Teebie sleeps at odd hours. She’s a writer. I don’t know what that has to do with it but that is the explanation she gives.”

They left the room and headed down the stairs. The thick carpeting muffled their steps, and Maddy kept her mouth shut as they passed other doors that felt occupied.

A blue woman was standing at the base of the stairs with a smile. She beckoned them into a sitting room and exhaled. “We can talk in here. There is a silencing charm in the walls just for this sort of occasion.”

Maddy nodded. “I am Madeline Black, Maddy.”

“Teebie Montrose, djinn. I understand you have met one of my kind already.”

Spike snorted.

“If that is what Mary Alice is, yes, I have.”

Teebie’s brows rose. “Mary Alice?”

Spike coughed and excused herself. “I will see you tomorrow, Maddy. Just to make sure you have recovered. Good night.”

“See you.” She turned to Teebie again. “Yes, Mary Alice, the transporter.”

“I don’t know about that. I was referring to Suran Yffa.”

Maddy blinked. “He’s a djinn?”

“Yes. One of the high families. He has been assigned to the North American court as permanent bodyguard to the king. For him to be here, it has to be important.”

“That would explain the glamour. I thought he was just making himself pretty.”

Teebie laughed, and a tray of sandwiches and other treats floated in. “You must be hungry.”

“You are correct. I apologise for keeping you up.”

“No apologies necessary. I am actually asleep right now. This form you are seeing is light, magic and an animated dress. I find it is less disturbing to use the magic at night. It seems to be easier for shifters to accept.”

“We think we are dreaming. Our senses are tired and willing to trick us. Our beasts know better, but our humans play along.”

Teebie chuckled. “Whatever the case, the food is real. Eat. I will keep you company.”

“You said that Suran Yffa is a djinn?”

“Yes. I saw an image of him once, years ago. His clan slowly died out, so the gathering of djinn offered him to the fey king, Larion. He is the last of his bloodline, and it will die with him. The djinn want it to die with him. His power was considered too dangerous to keep without family ties to hold him, so they bound him to a king instead.”

“So, why did he show up on the radar for mixing with shifters?”

“The seers see what they see. It will come to pass, one way or another. We are helpless in the machinations of fate now. Some fey say that the seers can push the future, others say that they are merely looking into a mirror and interpreting what they see. I have no idea. He is here because the king ordered him here and the seers whispered into the king’s ear.”

Maddy took one of the sandwiches and nibbled while she asked Teebie about the other fey that were in residence. Two forest dwellers, a fey of the air and clouds, and a dark fey, all looking for a shifter to call their own.

Nothing intimidating about that at all.

Shopping in the pre-dawn was a little surreal, but the attendant at the general store was most helpful with sizing, and when she returned to the Open Heart, she had arms laden with bags of clothing suitable for stalking a mate.

Maddy didn’t blame her mother for packing unsuitable clothing. Maddy’s wardrobe was unsuitable for this sort of thing. It was not an eventuality she had ever considered.

She took her bags upstairs in the silence of the morning and slipped back into her bedroom. The sundress she put on felt like nothing at all, but it was much more flattering than her standard garb. The heels of her shoes brought her close to six feet tall, if not slightly above.

When dawn finally showed up, she was dressed, wearing light makeup and ready for company. She left her room and paced down the stairs, heading for the dining room. If she had to meet strangers, she wanted to be on firm footing when she did so, that meant getting to the territory first and making it her own.

Teebie came in and winked, pouring coffee for her. “You are looking lovely this morning, Maddy.”

Maddy reached out and touched the back of Teebie’s hand, sending a spark up her own fingers and making Teebie jerk.

“Sorry. I had to check.”

“Don’t be sorry. At least you settled for my hand and not my face.” Teebie winked and headed back to the kitchen.

Maddy added cream and sugar to the coffee before sipping it carefully. The scent of fresh baked goods filled the air when the muffins cruised out on a platter with honey and butter following close behind.

She tucked in and had her cheeks full of still-warm muffins when the fey trooped in as if scheduled to arrive together. It was ridiculously easy to put them into their categories; fey looked like what they were when they didn’t have their glamour on and none of these men did.

The fey males drew up short, and one by one, they introduced themselves. Friadon, Kriliak, Nemro, Othwiar and Suran.

Suran looked up during his bow, and his pale eyes twinkled in his dark-blue skin. “Good morning, Madeline. I despaired at your delay and delight to see you safely here.”

She frowned, and Teebie hissed at him, slicing her hand across her throat. It was too late. “How long was I missing?”

Teebie sighed and Suran took his seat at the table, scowling at Nemro until the dark elf moved down a space, leaving the spot next to Maddy open.

“You were gone for four days before they were able to find you and pull you in. Mary Alice is on lockdown. She won’t be allowed to transport anyone until she spends the same amount of time in limbo that you did; the difference is that she will be tethered to the normal world during the punishment. It will give her a memory that will keep her focused when she endeavours to launch anyone again.”

“I am sure she didn’t mean to lose me.”

Suran grumbled. “She is lucky that I was already here and waiting, or she would have more than a light punishment waiting for her. I would tell my sister, and she would learn the wrath of her mother.”

“I thought you didn’t have family.” She blinked in surprise, clinging to the information that didn’t sound like a gory threat.

“Leatha was raised by my parents, but she is not really blood kin to me. Her daughter was born of a human mage and a djinn several decades ago, but it is not balanced in her blood. The magic rocks from side to side without settling. She should come here and learn from Teebie. Her blood is stable and her power is extreme.” His voice was low, and he leaned toward her as he spoke.

She could feel heat coming from him in waves, but she kept her focus on her meal. When she had cleared her plate, she turned her head to Suran. “You look different.”

Kriliak looked up in surprise. “You two have met?”

She nodded. “He came to recruit me while I was at work. While I can’t say his timing was good, I took the time before calling the transporter, and she set me on the path to getting here, even if it went in the wrong direction for a while.”

Suran scowled. “She lost you. The medallion made it more comfortable for her, but it masked your signal so the dragon had to seek you out and bring you here. The dragon is on a vacation and has no interest in remaining here for the duties of hostess.”

Teebie smiled. “My aunt Dira. She is very good at moving between worlds and even better at hunting magical prey. She found you in under an hour once it was discovered you had not arrived yet.”

Maddy realised that it was more than simple inconvenience for her. She could have died. Suddenly, her appetite failed her. She wrapped her hands around the coffee cup and focused on it. “Ah. Well, tell her thank you.”

Teebie came over and put her hand on Maddy’s shoulder. “I already did. So did all the organizers and everyone waiting for you. This is her space, getting you here was part of her job.”

“Well, that is something.” She sipped at her coffee and watched a platter of bacon float in to settle in the centre of the table.

She really wanted the bacon, but her stomach was roiling. Out of instinct, she reached out and snitched a piece, nibbling it absently. Her stomach settled, and she focused on the fact that she hadn’t had any protein other than the sandwich fillings for what appeared to be four days.

A second platter of bacon with ham slabs arrived and settled close to Maddy. Teebie winked. “That one is for you.”

Her nausea was partially due to hunger, and as soon as she bit into the first slab of ham, reflex took over.

When one of the fey tried to sneak some ham off her platter, she heard Teebie hiss a warning at the same time that Maddy’s left hand lashed out and clawed him. He howled and jerked back. She didn’t even look up. Suran laughed.

She glanced at him. It hadn’t been one of his hands on her plate. He appeared to have common sense.

She heard one of the fey mutter
savage.
Maddy brought her head up, wiped her lips and rose to her feet. The air fey had a sneer on his lips and slices on his hand.

She moved quickly, standing behind him and pressing her claws to his throat. She felt his skin part under the light pressure, and she murmured, “That was a very rude thing to call a woman who hasn’t eaten in four days. It was even worse that you tried to steal my food when Teebie would have brought you what you wanted.”

He swallowed slowly. “I apologise. You are correct; I was rude. I have not been among shifters very long.”

She whispered in his ear. “If you call the woman you intend to take as a mate a savage, I guarantee she will do more than draw a tiny amount of blood.”

He nodded cautiously. “Understood.”