Free Bloodmagic (Blood Destiny 2) by Helen Harper

off his fingers, “you’re not human.  Second of all, it seemed like you were both having quite a good time.  And thirdly, did he smell you?  Did he notice that you’re not a shifter?”  Solus glared at me demandingly. “Well?”
    “No,” I sputtered, “but that’s probably just because he was too surprised to notice at the time.  He’ll be sniffing around right now and then -”
    “Seriously?  You don’t give Lord Corrigan much respect for his abilities, do you?  Whereas mine, naturally, are considerable.  If the Pack Lord was going to realise that you weren’t a shifter, don’t you think he’s smart enough to have scented it on you straight away?  Or do you really think he’s that dumb and vapid not to even inhale?”
    I stared at him.  Actually, no I didn’t think Corrigan was that stupid, falling for tall tales about diseases aside.  I was still baffled as to how he’d not spotted immediately what I was – or, at least, what I wasn’t, anyway.  I’d gotten away with it once, after Iabartu had been killed and Julia’s potion had probably mostly rubbed off, but the reek of her corpse and her minion’s had covered mine.
    Solus continued.  “Whilst I have no idea how you managed to hide your non-shifter stink from him and the rest of the Brethren before, it was patently obvious that you had.  I’ve been paying at least a little bit of attention.”  He folded his arms and looked smug.  “I covered your scent up, Rambo.  It is a simple thing.  The Lord Alpha would not have been able to note that anything was different about you from the last time you were together.”
    The wave of relief that flooded over me was almost overwhelming.  “My name is Mackenzie.”
    He shrugged.  “Whatever.  Rambo doesn’t suit you either anyway.  Not unless you fancy putting stripping to the waist and sticking a bandanna round your head, that is?” 
    He leered at me suggestively.  Lunging forward, I aimed for his solar plexus but this time he managed to dodge me easily.  Fucking Fae and their stupid magic.
    “Tsk, tsk,” he said, shaking his head.  “You don’t have much control over you powers, do you?”
    “I don’t have any powers, you freak.”
    “Other than being able to break out of an impenetrable faerie ring, of course.”
    I jabbed his chest with my index finger.  “Stay the fuck away from me, Solus.”
    Turning around, I stalked off in the direction of home.  Then I realised that my home security was hardly tight and that Solus might decide he wasn’t finished playing yet.  I spun round and passed him again, heading back towards Clava Books instead. 
    He called out after me.  “Next time, I might not be so nice.  I might not bother hiding your smell.   You might want to keep me happy.”
    His voice trailed off behind me.  I resisted the urge to look back and kept on walking.  At least Derek seemed to have crawled back into whatever hole he’d come out of, I thought darkly.  I had a lot of pent up fury that I needed to expel somewhere and it was probably a damn sight safer for him if he was out of the way.
    I must have marched in double time back to the bookshop because I seemed to arrive there before I knew it.  I flung open the door, ignoring the furious jangling of the bell, and slammed it shut behind me.  Leaning against the doorframe I took a moment to calm myself down, pulling in deep measured breaths.  After a moment or two, Mrs Alcoon appeared from the back office.  She took one alarmed look at my face and then gently took me by the arm and led me into the kitchen where she inevitably flicked on the kettle.
    “Goodness, what on earth has happened, Mackenzie?”
    “I…,”  I looked at her calm reassuring face and dissembled quickly.  I felt the urge to tell her the truth, and certainly trusted her enough by now to know that my secrets would be safe.  I just couldn’t trust all the other irritants in my life not to concoct nefarious schemes to