“Why?” I asked. “Why would you forgo the audience? You seem to love holding court.”

He frowned at me. “I didn’t say I would forgo an audience. I said I’d be the bad guy. It’s much more fun.”

Twenty-Seven

I sat and stared at Elliot, mulling over what he’d said. So much of it had struck a chord. The more I thought about it, the less I doubted him. His story checked out, as crazy as that might be.

But it was hard to let go of the hate. It was hard not to blame him for all the hell I’d been through.

“What do you think?” I asked Austin, turning my head a little.

He shook his head. “This isn’t something I can direct you on. Either you trust him or you don’t. I’ll back you whatever you choose.”

“Including sitting on my chairs without a towel under your naked butts,” Elliot said softly.

I quirked an eyebrow at him.

He shrugged and looked away. “Common courtesy.”

This wasn’t the time to laugh, but I wanted to.

“You’re positive he smells like Sebastian?” I asked Austin.

“Yes. But given his powers as a mage, it’s probably wise to get a second opinion.”

“He’s Sebastian. Here’s your second opinion,” Ivy House said.

“I’m not so inclined to trust you. Or talk to you right now.”

“I sided with Austin when you two had your spat. I was right then, and I’m right now. I look forward to eventually telling you I told you so.”

“By all means.” Elliot waved his hand. “Let them through.”

I stared hard at him.

“You didn’t think I’d be totally alone here, did you?” He frowned at me. “You trust too much, Jessie Ironheart. Your shifter does, too. Never trust a mage. Never.”

“And yet you are sitting here, asking me to trust you…”

“Okay, well, yes, I can see where that would be confusing.” He rubbed his chin. “I’m not a typical mage, though. Also, I’ve taken you on as an apprentice. In mage-land, that means that I will only help you achieve, because your successes will reflect favorably on me.”

“Until the student outstrips the teacher and the teacher gets jealous and tries to kill the student.”

“You’ve watched too many movies.” He crossed his ankle over his knee. “In case you are wondering, my longtime friend and second-in-command has been watching us. She is taking down the spells and letting your people in as we speak. She could have come in and tried to prevent you from killing me. She didn’t. We’ve always known my death was a possibility, and she has helped me orchestrate all of this. That should tell you how serious we are about what we’ve been doing. What we’ve done.”

“So let’s say…” I felt my people rush forward. Elliot hadn’t been lying—someone else had taken down the spell and let them in. “Let’s say I forgive you for making my life hell. Then what?”

“I’ll ask for the privilege of training you.”

“Where? Here?”

“Of course not.” He held out his hands. “There is no here. Your basajaun destroyed it. I have very little left other than a couple of guest rooms and this common area.”

“I highly doubt that.”

He grinned. “Okay, fair enough. I do have a great many other places I can go in the world. But none of them are home. I haven’t had a real home since I stepped back from the magical world and started preparing for you. We could train wherever you prefer, although I assume that would be on Ivy House soil, where you are best protected.”

“Not so sure about that anymore,” I muttered.

“You rose in the magical world after your sister died?” Austin asked.

“Yes,” Elliot answered.

“Why? Why not just start preparing then? Why climb to the top, with all the sweat and tears that must’ve taken, only to step down?”

“Climbing to the top was preparing,” Elliot responded. “I established myself as a key power. I created a network. Everyone knew my name. You knew my name, which made it easier for me to tamper in your lives. To get people to come to this meetup. It’s easy for me to get an audience with whoever I want. Stepping back doesn’t mean disappearing when you’ve reigned as mob king. Your return will always be feared. As it should be. Also…I like holding court, as Jessie said.”

“If you moved to our town and started training me, wouldn’t the people who’ve been watching you show up and try to kill you?” I asked, monitoring my people above me. They hadn’t been magically transported part of the way like I had been, which meant it would take them longer to reach us.

“Yes. And now you, too. Beating Kinsella put you on the map in a big way. Showing your might here has officially made you a talking point. You are still an enigma, I think, but a powerful one. Welcome to the big leagues.”

“So you’ve painted a target on my back.”

“No. I’ve scrolled a marquee above your head that says, ‘Do not tread lightly.’ Without that marquee, what you’re about to do next would’ve put a target on your back, and your life would’ve been a lot harder, trust me. A lot more dangerous.”

“What do you mean, what I’m about to do next?”

“First things first. Let’s make sure you trust who I am.” Elliot uncrossed his leg. “And if you want to put on some sweats, that would be fine too. I stole some of those purple ones Mr. Tom orders. They are just…” He motioned at a table across the way, and it was the first time I noticed the neatly folded articles of clothing on it. “Whatever makes you comfortable. I will point out that I am not comfortable, because your big shifter keeps…animating certain parts of his anatomy, and it is incredibly distracting. I’m not used to casual nudity, and I am less used to casual nudity when it’s a man who keeps getting aroused for no reason that I can discern.”

“It’s the mating,” Austin replied. “I’m drawn to how she is handling you.”

“Oh, great. That’s lovely.” Elliot looked away. “Not at all terrifying. God, this is awkward.”

My people came through the door, Niamh first with a surly expression, followed by Mr. Tom. At the back was Broken Sue with his arm out and looped around his hip, straining as though he were carrying something like a bag of sand.

Elliot noticed, and his lips tweaked up into a smile. “I told you, Nessa! Didn’t I tell you that simply being invisible wouldn’t work with these shifters? Now look, Broken Sue has caught you.”

“It isn’t the nicest of holds,” came a disembodied female voice, “but the muscle I am squished up against isn’t unpleasant. He has a lovely, earthy smell. I could definitely be in worse places.”

“Here, what’s goin’ on, Jessie?” Niamh demanded, walking over to us. Broken Sue didn’t drop his cargo. “Why isn’t he dead?”

“He claims he’s Sebastian,” I answered, turning and finding Edgar, already drifting toward one of the corners. “Edgar, I need you.”

“Oh, how nice. I love to be needed.” He loped toward me.

“I’ll never get used to how that vampire runs,” Elliot muttered.

“Elliot says that you bit Sebastian. Can you tell a person by the taste of their blood?” I asked.

“Yes, of course. Mostly.”

I lifted my eyebrows, losing confidence. “Okay, well, can you bite him, then?”

Kace walked forward from the flank of my crew. “Alpha, I smelled Sebastian when he was in town. Should I verify?”

“How do we know this isn’t mind control?” Niamh asked. “Sebastian told me that he could control minds if he wanted.”

“I said I could control moods, not minds,” Elliot said. “I cannot implant ideas into people’s minds. If my scent didn’t match, or my blood, I could make you feel okay with that, but I couldn’t erase your knowledge of the discrepancy.”

“All due respect, miss,” Mr. Tom said as the basajaun found the nearest wall and put his hand on it. “How do we know he isn’t lying?”

“Ivy House says he is Sebastian as well,” I replied.

“Yes, miss, and that is interesting, but she is also old and bored and cunning, and she’ll slit a proverbial throat to help you get ahead. I do love that house, but she is rooting for Austin Steele, and I must say one final time that a gargoyle would be just a bit more fitting, don’t you think?”

“He’s never going to let that go,” Austin murmured, and he didn’t seem mad. But then, how could you be with Mr. Tom? There simply was no point.

“The house’s goal is to keep Jessie alive,” Niamh said. “What’s that ye say, Jessie? Ivy House approves of Sebastian?”

“I don’t know that she—”

“I approve of him,” Ivy House cut in.

I gritted my teeth. “Turns out she can hear my conversations no matter how far I am from Ivy House, so that’s something you might not have known, and also, yes, she apparently does.”

“Well, then.” Niamh looked around the room. “That’s fine. Do ye have any whiskey? I could do with a pint. Or maybe a bottle. This situation has made bags of the day, so it has.”

“So, shall I…” Edgar stopped just beside and a little behind Elliot, hands at his sides, looking down at the mage’s neck.

Elliot breathed deeply, his gaze rooted to mine, his expression saying he was not comfortable with Edgar standing there. Which was understandable, really.

“Yes.” I motioned Edgar on.

“I also have those flowers for the basajaun, if he can taste the difference,” Elliot said, his voice strained. He held up his hand. “Oh, wait, this is going to put me out.”

Edgar’s bite caused his victims to temporarily lose consciousness.