Shifter Fae Romance: a Dragon Mate 02

When Emera snuck in Nico's bedroom window she had been expecting to find him alone. There were two figures sprawled beneath his sheets. Her eyes narrowed at the long brown hair tossed across his pillow. Even worse, she was certain she recognized the woman he was sharing the bed with.

"Mancia," Emera whispered. She gave the woman a not-so-gentle shake.

When Mancia's head groggily rose, Emera was already holding up her crumpled dress. It had been tangled in a heap with Nico's tunic on the floor. There were no doubts about what they'd spent the night doing.

"Time to go."

It took the other woman a moment to realize what was happening. She crawled lazily over Nico and let out a huff when he didn't so much as groan at the movement. A smile pulled at Emera's lips. He always slept like a damn rock. For once it was to her advantage. The faster Mancia was gone the faster she could give the statue to Nico and get home.

"S'that you Emera?" Mancia slurred as she staggered to her feet. She held her arms up and Emera shoved her dress over her head.

"Yes. Looks like you two had some fun," Emera muttered. Four bottles laid in a pile on the floor next to the bed. Silver liquid had pooled and begun drying on the wooden floor where the glass had spilled.

Mancia let out an airy giggle. "We did!" She let out a loud hiccup, and then groaned as Emera tightened the sinching on her corset. As Emera worked, she led Mancia out the bedroom door and into the hallway.

Mancia stomped her foot as they reached the front door. "Don't I get to say goodbye?"

Emera rolled her eyes. She clapped the other woman on the shoulders. "There, you're all set. I have important business with him, sorry. I'll see you at work tonight?"

Mancia turned to face her. She raised a brow at Emera's all leather outfit but, thankfully, did not ask. Emera wasn't sure she had the energy to create an elaborate lie. Mancia gave her a begrudging nod instead.

"Fine. See you tonight!" Mancia left the apartment, banging the door shut behind her.

Emera felt like she was walking on numb legs back to Nico's bedroom. Now that she was in his apartment, she could feel the exhaustion weighing on her. Nico was groggily waking up. His blonde hair was a messy array of curls around his head. He rubbed his eyes. "Emera?" His voice was husky with sleep.

Emera leaned against the door frame.

Once, seeing Nico a disheveled mess at the hands of another woman had bothered her. She had spent countless nights trying to explain away the feelings she had felt for him. Once.

When the war had first begun, everything was uncertain. When she thought this might truly be her last day, or week, or month alive she had thrown herself at him fully. But now that was over. Survival now meant facing bitter truths. Nico didn't love her, and he never would.

"Hey." Her voice was rough.

"You look like shit. And you're late," Nico said. He slowly got out of bed and tugged on his clothes.

Emera frowned. Despite accepting the truth something still tugged at her gut hearing him speak. She was too tired to consider that. "I could say the same about you."

He wiped his mouth, frowning at the silver tinge to his spit. His entire mouth was still stained silver. When he saw the open window, he grimaced. "I told you not to come here. You should have met me at the-" his voice faltered, and he actually stopped talking for once at the withering glare Emera levelled him. He swallowed and tried again. "Did you at least bring

it

?"

Emera rolled her eyes, opening her pack to reveal the little figurine she had stolen. Satisfied, Nico finally stood up and brushed past her into the kitchen. His apartment was mostly bare. There was a long table set up exactly where a dining table would be, except it was strewn with various potions ingredients Nico stole from his neighbor. Emera had watched him brew plenty of black-market love potions sitting there. Her cheeks heated at the thought, remembering the heady smell that still clung to her.

The rest of the apartment was simple: a bookshelf with various novels and textbooks. Three sitting chairs around the mortar fireplace. Emera kicked at the trash on the floor.

Nico brought a decanter of silver liquid with him to one of the chairs. He plopped down heavily, stretching himself out and hooking a knee over one of the armrests. "Well?" He asked. "Why are you late?"

Emera stared at him. Half in shock, half in disbelief. She had thought he'd been kidding earlier. "Why am I late? Why do you think?" He flinched at the vehemence in her tone. "You didn't even have the care to

warn me

?"

Nico grimaced. He took a gulp straight from the decanter, silver sludge leaking from his mouth to dribble onto his shirt. He was stalling. Emera could feel the heat rising, the anger growing from a small annoyance to a full-blown fit. She'd nearly died last night, while he was romancing one of her friends.

"You've never been afraid of a job before. No one gets in and out as fast as you. What would I need to warn you about?"

The anger was boiling now. She contemplated jumping across the table and attempting to strangle him. "Oh, I dunno, that you were sending me into the prized room of a fucking dragon shifter!" Her voice was turning shrill. She took a deep breath, trying to control herself before she began to scream. When she spoke next, her voice shook but was calm. "You know I will do it- I will risk stealing from the fae, for the right price. But a shifter? Are you out of your fucking mind?"

Nico raised a brow. "Doesn't matter now, does it? You got the figurine." He put the decanter down on the table and held out his hand for the object.

"Barely," she muttered.

She hesitated, unwilling to hand it over. She felt a strange sort of protectiveness over the stupid thing. She'd stolen a ride on the back of a wagon to get there just before dawn, and she'd studied it the whole way. It was a source of some sort of power. And it felt... strong. Now that she was separated from the dragon shifter for a good while, she could sense it more clearly.

"Emera. Give it to me." Nico's voice had lost its patience. His words were even but hinted at threatening.

Her nostrils flared as she glanced up at him. She still held the object tightly in her hands. "How much did they offer you, huh? Who is it this time? Some gang from the Black Waters, wanting to piss off one of the strongest fae within the city?"

Nico rolled his eyes, but he was still tense. "You know I can't share that information with you. If you want my protection and to stay separate-"

Emera's laugh was a shrill squeal. "Oh, separated! That's hilarious. It's real funny coming from you. I almost died last night, I'll have you know."

Nico rolled his eyes. "The fewer details I know the better. Now give it here."

He waved her closer, and when she stood stubbornly still, she felt his magic come alive around her. The air was punched from her lungs. It felt like hands were grabbing at her, yanking her forward until she fell forward practically into Nico's lap.

It was a little terrifying, and a little thrilling as she realized his magic felt nothing like the oppressive force that had held her completely still the night before. Nico plucked the statue from her hands and then froze. He stared over her once more. His voice was dark. "What did you do?"

Emera felt her cheeks flame. Up close, she could see the way Nico's eyes washed over her. She hadn't planned on Nico finding out the

finer details

of what had exactly transpired the night before. "I told you, I almost died. I had to... coerce my way out of it." She struggled to find some excuse, anything other than-

"Coerce your way?" He grabbed her face, yanking her head to the side to examine her bruises. Thankfully the high neck of her jumpsuit covered the more serious marks the dragon shifter had left. Nico's touch was nothing like his. She tried to suppress the thought as soon as it came.

Nico's voice was full of accusation. "You fucked him, didn't you?"

She pulled away, slapping his hands from her face. He burst into laughter. Her stomach churned. Any chance she'd had of impressing him with this heist was over.

"Wow Emera, I truly didn't think you had it in you. Let me guess, you were so God awful he let you go out of sympathy?" He was practically wheezing with laughter now.

Emera's eyes narrowed at him. She picked up a shirt off the floor and tossed it at him. "Very funny. And congratulations," she said dryly. "You got your stupid figurine. Where's my cut?"

Nico sobered up quickly. "So, you fucked him, that's it? And he just... gave this up?"

"Oh no, I stole it while he was asleep. Thank the gods for the extra teleport spell. Its truly a miracle I'm alive." She left out the rest of the details, knowing it would only spark jealousy in him. Like,

did you know the dragons magic was more powerful than anything you've ever attempted? And his cock-

She sat down on the couch across from Nico, feeling the workings of a headache begin. She rubbed her temples soothingly. "Aren't dragons known for being... possessive? He kept mentioning it was his horde..." She paused, watching Nico shift uncomfortably. "How powerful is the enemy you've just made us, Nico?"

He grimaced, leaning back in his chair until his head fell against the rest. "Shifters... especially dragons are... possibly top of the list of fae not to piss off. Why do you think I offered you 500 gold coins for this job?"

Emera swallowed past the lump in her throat. 500 gold coins was enough to leave Faewren behind. Enough to bring everyone she loved with her, but not much further than that. Nico's guidelines had always kept her safe. Maybe she was getting too comfortable, too overconfident in herself. She had been caught for the first time. If she were forced to make anymore heists, they would need to reconsider their guidelines.

No. There would be no next time.

"Well, its in your hands now." She stood, wincing at the way her leather suit clung uncomfortably to her skin. "When will my cut be ready?"

Nico scratched the back of his head. "It's got to go to auction first Em. I could get you say, 100 of the 5 now though?"

Emera glared at him. "Always the same with you. Fine. I'll take 100 now."

Nico frowned but moved to the bookshelf where a small safe sat. "What's the rush? If you can wait until after the auction-"

"I want to go somewhere nice for a while," Emera mumbled. She couldn't leave the city, but even renting a nice room in a tavern across the city would make her feel safer. All she could see when she closed her eyes was the dragons red eyes. Goose bumps prickled her arms. "I'll take the rest of the gold when I'm back."

That seemed to satisfy him enough. He counted out the coins in coppers and silver until it was the equivalent of a hundred gold. Emera was tucking the pouch of coins into her satchel when the figurine on the table began to vibrate.

The two of them looked at each other, then at the table.

"It didn't do that before," Emera blurted.

Nico reached for the figurine. When his hands closed around it, he let out a hiss of pain, dropping it back onto the table and snatching his hand back as if it burned. The figurine was shaking so badly now it was about to go flying off the table. Without thinking, Emera snatched it up before it could fall and break.

The thing was hot as if someone had left it sitting in the coals of a fire. Strangely, it didn't bother her. As soon as she picked it up the heat began to dissipate. Slowly the shaking stopped. She looked at Nico, who was still nursing his hand where a burn blister was forming. She placed the figurine on the table and then went into the kitchen to rummage for a salve. When she returned to the living room, she handed the container to Nico and crouched down to look at the figurine closely.

"What's wrong with it?" Emera asked. It looked the same as usual, the brass-coloured metal gleaming in the early morning light. She already had a handful of guesses, but she had no real magical intuition like Nico did.

"Some of that bloody dragon's magic," Nico hissed. "You've got some of it in you still, I can sense it. Must be why it didn't burn you." He swore again. "I knew it was bloody suspicious he had no obvious wards in the room! Must be his magic protecting everything."

The figurine began to shake again, and Emera quickly grabbed it off the table. "What are we going to do then?"

"It should wear off eventually. If not, I suppose I could make some magical seals up. It would take me a few days... change of plans. That

thing

can stay with you. The auction is on Friday, you'll need to bring it to the venue."

"But my vacation-"

"It can wait," Nico ground out. "One percent. The terms have changed. If you bring this object to the auction house Friday unharmed, I'll give you one percent cut of the profits."

His offer was enough to make excitement flutter within her

. More than 500 gold?!

She schooled her expression. Her lips formed a hard line. "What's it worth, anyway?"

Nico grinned at her. "You'll see. Grab my signature from the kitchen. You'll need to get something nice for the auction. They don't let your kind in usually without an escort."

Your kind

.

"So it isn't a

regular

auction then?" Emera asked carefully.

Nico shook his head. "No, it'll be Underground."

Nico was a changeling, with a low fae born father and a human witch for a mother. Outcasted in both human and fae worlds. The half-fae tended to stick together, stealing, selling, and running their own underground market. Nico was practically their king.

Emera had known him too long, had grown comfortable with his ways to be able to distinguish what set him apart from other humans. He blended in easily within the city. No one had ever recognised his fae heritage by looking at him.

Once, the fae had blurred the line between their worlds. When Emera was a child, fae used to visit their kingdom with human guards as escorts. They often escaped their escorts, but they never tried to cause real harm. The fae were always considered dangerous and mischievous but had respected the treaties between their kinds. Half-fae, half-human babies were sometimes born.

No one knew what exactly had changed. One day, the fae attacked. They had always considered themselves above humans. Even Emera couldn't deny the truth the in that. Now all fae were now considered a threat. All fae were now the enemy. The half-fae either had to blend in pretending to live as humans or go into hiding. The Underground offered them protection, but it wasn't much.

Emera had never visited the Underground. The thought of being around more of the half-fae made her nervous. She tried to keep her expression neutral at the thought.

"Fine. Anything else?"

Nico took another swing from his silver bottle. "One of the crows was here last night. He heard some news."

"News? You mean more rumours from the local drunks?"

Nico let out a bark of laughter. "C'mon now. I know you're just jealous because I haven't turned you into a crow yet too."

Emera shuddered at the though. It was a sick joke that Nico considered it an honour to be one of his spies. Turned into a crow using potions so they could sit outside taverns and drink puddle water and hope to learn something useful. They didn't get their bodies back until they proved their worth. "No thanks, I quite like my legs, actually. What did they find?"

"Trev said all the city guards are dead. The fae are guarding the city gates now. You'll have to be careful traveling to work."

Emera froze, and then shook her head in disbelief. "It must be an exaggeration. The fae hate us! And besides, the council would have stopped them. We have the fae-human treaty now."

"Do you really think the human council can control any of the fae?"

Emera bit her lip.

They rewrote the laws after the invasion, and the fae agreed to them. They can't just slaughter us when they want

. Her argument died in her throat. She knew that wasn't true. The fae weren't supposed to be able to lie. They were supposed to be bound to their agreements and forced to cooperate with humans.

But Emera had seen Wren Palace burn when the fae had invaded. There had been a treaty then too, promises from both fae and humans not to hurt each other. Even so, the fae had no problems burning through the palace like it was paper.

Whatever she had been taught about the fae- some of it had to be lies, or exaggerations. If only she knew the difference. Most of what she knew, Nico had taught her. And he had learned it third hand too. None of the half-fae knew their fae relatives, and the fae murdered them just as brutally as any other human. Her hands tightened into fists.

Nico seemed to sense her inner turmoil. "We are at the fae's mercy, yes. I suppose you understand that more intimately now more than anyone." He gave her another appraising glance. Emera wasn't sure what he saw when he looked at her anymore. "This changes nothing though. Business continues as usual. No one else in this damn city wants to accept this is just the beginning. The Fae are going to take over the kingdom soon. Unlike the rest of

them

," he gestured out towards the window, to the city around them, "we won't be dying at the feet of the fae."

Emera swallowed. "You have a plan then? Some way to convince the fae not to make you their lunch?"

Nico grinned. "Precisely."

Emera sighed. She didn't bother asking for the details. He never shared them with her. All apart of the guidelines they had come up with. "Don't do anything stupid just because of the crows. Who knows if their information is correct. I've never seen one of them doing anything useful."

Nico shrugged off her concerns. She didn't like how much trust he placed in them. On more than one occasion she'd found out the information they'd slipped Nico had been downright lies. There was only one way for her to find out the truth.

"I guess I better get going. Anything else before I leave?" Emera asked.

Nico shook his head. Instead, her reached out for her. His hug was warm, but not nearly hot enough. He squeezed her tightly and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"If something happens, the figurine comes first. Promise?" he asked.

Emera rolled her eyes as she pulled away. It was always like that with Nico. Business first. "Promise. I'll see you Friday then." She picked up the figurine, glowering at the little object.

Some of his magic is inside you.

She felt a shiver ripple down her spine. She made her way out of the apartment and back into the bitter autumn cold.

***

It was early afternoon by the time Emera reached her hovel on the outskirts of the city. Her legs felt like jelly as she made her way up the final steps to her door. Three days of straight sleep probably wouldn't be enough.

When she finally got her cut

, over five hundred,

she would quit her horrible job and go somewhere sunny where she could sleep all the hours away. Whatever plan Nico had; it couldn't protect them for long. She would leave before the fae had a chance to truly destroy the city. The thought of escape was still as thrilling as when Nico had first told her about the statue.

She greeted her cat Penny at the door. She crouched down for a few minutes to run her hands through the cat's thick white fur. Penny sniffed her several times, seeming uncomfortable with the strange smells accompanying her owner.

"Sorry I was gone baby," Emera cooed. "Let me make it up to you. How do fresh fish heads for dinner sound?"

Penny purred, rubbing up against her as if in agreement. Her debt with Penny settled, Emera moved further into her apartment. It was a small, two-room house in an overcrowded building with hundreds of others stacked in similar fashion around her. She could hear the neighbor's children screaming upstairs, the echo of footsteps around her. Down the street, the smithy was heating his bellows, the sounds of the forge ringing. Wagons clopped past on the street outside. She lived constantly around the noise and dirt of the city.