“Well,” I drawled, “I could do that. But won’t our little group outside wonder why I’m chucking an entire plate of food under the table? I’ll have you know that I am generally thought of as having rather good table manners.” I grinned to myself. This was just too much fun.

“Mack,” he whined, “I’m hungry.”

“So stop acting like a weirdo and come out.”

“I can’t.” There was a plaintive note in his voice.

I began to dig into my breakfast, spearing a bite of bacon and chewing loudly. “Why not?”

“I’m a master fucking vampire that’s why not.”

“I hate to break it to you, Aubrey, but you’re not a vamp any longer. Now you’re just a strange little man who is hiding rather ineffectively under a table.” I took another bite, and deliberately moaned in pleasure. “This food is really very good, you know. You should try some.”

Aubrey groaned. “Mack…,”

“Mmmm?” From across the road I watched as Beltran edged closer to the mages to try to get a better a vantage point. The one nearest him shot him a filthy look and turned towards him, saying something that, by the expression on his face, wasn’t particularly nice.

“I can’t let anyone know what’s happened! I’ve got a reputation to maintain.” Aubrey’s fingers were beginning to dig uncomfortably into my skin.

“Aubrey,” I said, sighing, “sooner or later everyone is going to find out. It’s a done deal. You’re human.”

“Not if I can find someone to turn me back again.”

Now Lucy appeared to be getting involved. Her arms were tight by her sides as if she was afraid that she might launch into fisticuffs at any moment. The other mage was facing her, a snarl across his dark features.

“For that to happen,” I responded mildly, “you need to find someone to turn you back. A vamp. That means you need to tell someone that you’re no longer a creature of the night. Then everyone will know your secret anyway.”

“There are a few I can trust,” he huffed. “I just have to find a way to contact them without anyone else finding out.”

The mage on the right was reaching out towards Beltran with an extended index finger, pointing at him rudely. Lucy’s body language radiated the threat of potential violence in the way that only a shifter could.

“What if you find out that being a human isn’t so bad?”

“I don’t want to be a fucking human! I’m a vampire! Other vampires are afraid of me. You were afraid of me! Now you treat me no better than an animal. Give me some food!”

“You didn’t say the magic word.”

The mage next to Beltran had taken the rather foolish step of jabbing him in the chest with his finger.

“Mack…” Aubrey was starting to sound desperate.

“You do realise that I could just compel you to come out?”

“You wouldn’t that.” His voice drifted up towards me confidently.

“And why not? You got my friends killed, Aubrey, why should I care what happens to you?”

A car drove past the posturing Otherworlders. I noted white faces staring at them. That probably wasn’t good.

“Because you’re nice.”

“No, I’m not.”

Aubrey sniffed loudly and gulped. “I’m so hungry. I’ve never felt a sensation like this before. How long does it take for starvation to set in for humans? I’m already feeling weak.” His grasp around my ankle loosened. “See? I can barely even use my hands any more. I’m getting fainter by the second. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stand up again. So dizzy…”

I watched in growing alarm as both mages clenched their fists, a sure sign that they were about to raise up some Protection magic. Lucy’s tanned skin was starting to darken, and Beltran was murmuring something to himself. Okay, this had gone far enough. I yanked my leg away from the rest of Aubrey’s grip and pushed the chair back.

“Mack? What are you doing?”

I rolled my eyes, and picked up his plate of black pudding, practically throwing it down towards him. “There. If you think I’m treating you like an animal then stay there and eat like an animal. I’ll be back shortly.”

I stood up and marched over to the café door, flinging it open. My so-called trackers on the other side of the street paid me absolutely no attention whatsoever. It’d serve them right if they had to go and explain to all their respective lords and masters why a monster had suddenly appeared and killed me on the spot while they were kicking metaphorical sand in each other’s faces. I stomped over the road and put my hands on my hips, facing all four of them.

“What the fuck are the lot of you doing?”

As one, they all turned towards me, suddenly guilty expressions on all of their faces.

I continued. “Do you see where you are? This is a village! You don’t think that someone is going to notice you lot about to get into some kind of stupid brawl?” I pointed to the mages. “You are about to use magic to attack. It’s broad daylight! How fucking thick are you? Do you want to spend the rest of the day going around and casting memory spells on this entire place so they forget that they saw blue freaking flame spouting from your fingers?”

Both mages stared at me, like schoolboys caught in the act of leaving a frog on their teacher’s chair. Lucy was looking a bit too smug. I flicked my eyes over to her.

“And you! You were about to fucking shift! In the middle of the street, no less. I wonder how your Mighty Lord Corrigan would react to that?” Her face went pale and she looked down at the ground.

I turned my attention to Beltran and jabbed a finger in his direction. “Don’t think that you’re any better than the rest of them either. You were obviously about to try something too. The whole lot of you should be ashamed of yourselves.” I scowled at each and every one of them in disapproval.

The Fae recovered first. “Perhaps, Miss Mackenzie, if you didn’t make it quite so hard for us to keep track of you, then we would be feeling less stressed and less inclined to do something all of us might regret.”

“So this is my fault? The four of you almost exposing the secrets of the entire fucking Otherworld to a village of humans is because I decided I wanted to get away for a few days?”

Lucy chimed in. “To be fair, Mack, you’re not making our lives very easy.”

I spluttered. “Easy? What do you think it’s like for me having idiots like you follow me round all the time?” I gazed at them all in exasperation. “My life does not belong to your fucking supernatural organisations, no matter what you might think.”

The mage on the right stepped forward. When I glared at him, he swallowed and stepped back, but cleared his throat and found his voice. “We’re just doing our jobs. We’ve been told not to let you out of our sight. Less than two days ago you almost died thanks to a bunch of bloodsuckers. If that happens again then our lives won’t be worth living.”

I folded my arms. “Well, I’m sorry if my death could potentially inconvenience you. But your antics out here are fucking inconveniencing every single member of the Otherworld. Besides which, the vamps are not going to bother me again.”

Lucy’s eyes widened. “Did you kill them all?”

I stared at her. “No. You know why? Because there was only one.”

They gaped at me.

A furrow creased Beltran’s brow. “But I thought…”

“That I was a great almighty being of power who lets nothing stand in my way? Well, everyone has off days. Besides, said vampire is currently cowering under a table in there.” I pointed back towards the café.

Lucy drew herself up. “I will destroy him.”

I moved in front of her. “No, you fucking will not.”

“Lord Corrigan…”

“Screw Lord Corrigan. You know why?” And it’s not because he makes me go weak at the knees and literally want to fulfill those crude words, I added to myself.

A gleam lit the mages’ eyes. “Why?” They asked together, eagerly.

“Because that vamp over there is no longer a vamp.”

Even Beltran looked shocked at that. He opened his mouth to speak and then shut it again with a snap.

I glared at them all. “But you can’t tell anyone. He is having some readjustment issues and needs some time. All you need to know is that I am in no danger.” Not from vampires anyway. From trying to help out a bunch of tree nymphs, then perhaps the opposite was true. Which gave me a sudden idea. I pursed my lips. “So, this is what is going to happen. I will not run away. You will not do something earth-shatteringly stupid like give away all your identities because you’re a bit pissed off at each other.”

I received petulantly sullen looks from them all. I sighed. “I can’t have four people trailing me round all the time. Not here where any strangers already stick out like sore thumbs. Lucy, you can stay with me.”

A smile spread across her face and the other three began to protest.

“That’s giving favouritism to the fucking shifters yet again!” spat one of the mages.

Lucy turned to him. “Well she did grow up with us, you prat,” she shot back in return. “She’s virtually family.”

“Enough!” I shouted. “Lucy will stay with me because the rest of you can help me with something else. Then you can all toddle back to your little organisations and tell everyone what a grand job you did getting into the good books of the Draco Wyr.” I pointed at the mages. “A couple of miles away from here is an area called Haughmond Hill. There’s a warded area that’s been concealed by magic. Inside is a crucified dryad.” Both of them blinked. “I need you to find out what you can about the ward. Will breaking it trigger off any alarms? Who might have cast it in the first place? That kind of thing. I will be back there later this afternoon and I will see you then.”