Suzanne McLeod - The Shifting Price of Prey

It is rather naïve, bean sidhe , Viviane grumbled, her voice sounding tinny in my head. And I do not mean that in a good way. You could always soften the edges a touch, adopt a more impressionistic approach and add so much more depth and interest into the colours. It is a tad bright as it is. She sighed. Monet did it so much better. I knew him, you know.

‘Yeah, I do. You’ve just told me for the umpteenth time, and this is the first time I’ve done this,’ I muttered. ‘But if you don’t like it you can always lurk in the dark like you did before.’

She sniffed, opened her parasol and positioned it to block out the sun’s glare.

‘Right,’ I said, pointing at the entrance tangled with weeds and brambles. ‘C’mon, Viv, do your stuff. And remember to get the date and time right; we’re aiming for the afternoon of the Summer Solstice.’

I will try to get us as close as possible , she sniped, then dipped her hand into the canal and pulled out a sparkling glyph; it glistened against her fingers for a second, then my own fingers tingled as the glyph appeared and launched itself at the exit. The brambles parted like the legendary Red Sea, and I walked out of Between and into the humans’ world.

To find Gold Cat waiting for us.

Gold Cat looked like it had been pulled through a hedge backwards too. Or a war. Its funky metallic coat was dull and stuck up in dried-tinsel clumps. One ear was ripped, one eye swollen closed. Its ribs showed. And a long bloody gash scored its left flank.

‘What the hell do you want?’ I muttered.

Need help. The words were a low growl in my head.

I gave it a narrowed look. ‘It speaks?’

She, corrected Viviane.

‘She?’

Your ùmaidh, your gender, Viv said cheerfully. How else would she mate with the satyr?

Fury boiled through me and Ascalon appeared in my hand with a burst of green dragonfire. ‘Once she’s dead, that’ll put an end to her mating with Finn.’

Gold Cat opened her mouth and dropped a gold coin. It was one of the Emperor’s. Need me. Save mate.

She means you can’t kill her because she’s got the gold coin the Emperor’s werewolves gave her for the satyr, Viviane said. It’s her invitation into the Forum Mirabilis to barter for him.

I scooped the coin up. ‘I don’t need the cat. Only the coin.’

Viviane twirled her parasol. The coin only works as an invitation into the Forum for the one it was given to, or their nominated proxy. I doubt she will give you her proxy, if you intend to kill her.

Frustration had me briefly closing my eyes. I took a calming breath and let Ascalon slide back into my ring. ‘If the coin only works for her, or her proxy, what’s she doing here? Why isn’t she off to the Forum?’

Gold Cat’s ears flattened. Need you speak.

She wanted me as her mouthpiece. Figured. Except she still didn’t need me. Or she hadn’t when she’d decided to make Finn her mate. ‘Why isn’t she just jumping in and doing her possession bit like she did before?’

Her whiskers quivered in disgust. Not strong.

I took a closer look at Gold Cat. Beneath her ‘been in the wars’ look, her body was faded, almost transparent. She was my ùmaidh . A temporary changeling. They usually had a couple of weeks, sometimes even a month. But Gold Cat didn’t look so lucky. My guess was she had a couple of days at most.

She means she’s too weak because she is dying—

‘I managed to work it out for myself, thanks, Viv,’ I said flatly, despite the anxious pounding of my heart. Carlson had been dying too because his mate had died, so he said. So if Gold Cat was dying and she was mated to Finn— I squatted next to Gold Cat, grabbed her by the scruff, demanded, ‘If you die what happens to Finn?’

Mated you too.

I blinked. ‘Thought you said he wasn’t mine, Viv?’

Was not, Gold Cat said sourly. Is now.

She means the mate bond jumped to you too, Viviane supplied with a touch of smugness, when you reclaimed the satyr just now.

Relief streamed through me. So Finn wasn’t going to die when Gold Cat did. That was the good news. And of course the magic would take its pound of flesh for that little bargain. Still, it could’ve been worse. But that didn’t mean I was just going to accept being mated to Finn; not when it wasn’t what I’d chosen. And for all Finn saying he wanted us to be together he hadn’t chosen to be mated either. If it wasn’t what he truly desired, then sooner or later he’d feel trapped, never mind whatever magic the mate bond was supposed to do to make us like each other. I gave Gold Cat a shake. ‘Can you undo the mating without killing either of us?’

Not possible. Her copper-coloured eyes slowly blinked and my heart sank. For me.

Tentative hope flared in me. Specific questions, Gen. ‘Is there someone that can undo the mating without killing either Finn or me?’

Her pink tongue swiped her muzzle thoughtfully. Yes.

‘Who?’

Shrewdness flickered over her furry face. Save mate first.

I sighed, not even surprised. Standard negotiation tactics. Next she’d be asking me to find a way to keep her alive before she’d tell me who could break the mate bond. After all, she wanted to survive. But saving Finn was more important right now. In that we were of one mind, so we might as well be of one body. I tightened my hold on Gold Cat’s neck and lifted her. For something that looked the size of a chunky tiger, she was as limp and light as a kitten, but then the physical part of her was virtually non-existent.

‘Say hello to your fellow passenger, Viv,’ I said, as I absorbed Gold Cat in a brush of tickling fur. She landed on the grassy bank next to Viviane in a tumble of tail and paws. Viviane sniffed and brushed a couple of loose cat hairs off her dress. Gold Cat staggered to her feet, shook herself then curled up on the grass, tucked her nose under her paws and went to sleep as if she hadn’t a care in the world.

Nice for some. I rolled my shoulders, feeling the muscle ache of swordplay setting in. At least with Gold Cat and her coin on board I could waltz right into the Forum; a way better plan than the original one of letting Mad Max walk me into his ‘trap’. But I still needed backup. And I needed to know what else had happened while I’d been stuck in Between .

I dug my phone out – surprisingly, it was working! – and called Hugh.

‘Genny, thank the peaks. Are you all right?’ His frantic rumble calmed as I told him I was okay and where I was: Primrose Hill.

‘I’ll send a van to pick you up. What happened.’

I gave him the highlights: we’d been kidnapped by the gnome and the cat-shifters. They’d disappeared, and Finn had been taken by the Emperor’s werewolves.

‘Finn’s safe, Genny,’ Hugh said. ‘Half the herd were searching for you two in Between . They ran across him with the werewolves.’

My legs gave way with relief and I sat abruptly on the rough ground. ‘Is he okay?’

‘He’s been injured. There was quite a battle between the satyrs and the werewolves from what I understand, but he’s in a healing trance and should be fine.’

A bubble of joy expanded inside me and I felt a grin spread across my face. ‘That’s wonderful, Hugh.’ I jumped up, punching my arm into the air. Finn was safe. Everything else, like the mate problem and my lost memory, could be sorted out. I told Hugh I had another coin. ‘So now we’ve got three invitations to the Forum auction, which should up the odds of saving the kidnap victims.’