by Alanea Alder
Liam walked over to them. "Do you all need a fifth?" he asked, pointing to where Ilar Ri'Mierlan stood watching them. When their eyes met, Ilar gave a short nod.
Ari shook his head. "We're good. We've been operating as four for so long, adding someone in would probably hinder us more than help us."
"Must be tough to share your unit leader with palace duties," Liam sympathized.
Ari shrugged. "We've known nothing else, so it's hard to say."
Liam blinked. "That's right. Aren't you all the youngest unit amongst the four pillar cities?"
Ari tried to hide his grimace. He must not have done a good job, because Liam clapped him on the shoulder. "I don't mean anything by it."
"We know that the Éire Danu units are sometimes called 'Advanced Training' units." He sighed. "And up until recently, I could see why. With the city being in its own pocket, parallel plane, our greatest concern was fighting boredom, not ferals."
Gage stepped up beside him. "Who is having the last laugh now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
Ari had to chuckle. Both he and Gage knew for a fact that their placement with Tau was due to their families' requests, mostly to keep them safe. "Our parents must be getting anxious now that we're actually doing missions like regular units."
Gage rubbed the side of his nose. "Priest and I have a running bet as to how long it will take Jedrek to have sudden need to send you to another country to check on 'Lionhart' business."
Ari groaned. "Don't jinx me."
Liam pointed a finger to Gage. "You mean similar to the letter the queen will receive later today asking for your reassignment?"
Gage paled. "How do you know if the queen has not even received the letter yet?"
Liam smiled slyly. "I have friends everywhere, including House Géroux."
Gage simply shook his head. "I will call home when we get back."
"Time to snip those apron strings," Liam sang.
"You mean burn the damn apron," Gage muttered.
Liam placed a hand over his heart. "Ahh, the problems that come with being beloved and the babies of your families."
"Liam! Stop torturing the Tau Unit and get your ass over here! The Unit Commander and his team should be here any minute," Cadoc Baines, the Vanguard leader, barked out.
"Coming, dah-ling," Liam called back.
When Cadoc glared at him and turned to face the portal, Liam winked at them. "He hides how much he loves me."
Ari kept a straight face and nodded. "We can see that."
Liam gave a final wave and jogged over to his unit leader.
Kincaid turned to him. "Will we be okay?" he asked quietly.
Ari knew exactly what the witch meant. Not that they personally would be okay, but that they wouldn't cause problems for the other warriors due to their inexperience.
Ari nodded. "Aiden himself has said on more than one occasion that he's pleased with all of Éire Danu's units. He isn't the type of commander that would say something he didn't mean, especially with so much at stake. Have confidence in yourself, Kincaid. We're doing more at our age than any of these old geezers ever did." Liam, without looking, simply raised a middle finger, causing them to laugh.
Gage was about to respond when the portal lit up, and their commander stepped through. Accompanying him were Kendrick, Micah, and Ben. Around them, to the man, the Vanguard straightened.
Aiden noted the change and gave a short nod. "As you were." He waved them over. "Gather round, men." They formed a loose circle around Aiden. "According to my mate's research, there were nine fae families living in Monroe, most included multiple generations. We're looking for approximately seventy-five people." Aiden pointed to Kendrick. "Kendrick Ashwood, Alpha's acting witch, will explain how we'll be tracking our missing persons."
Kendrick stepped up to stand next to Aiden. Those closest to them unconsciously stepped back. If Kendrick noticed, he gave no indication that he saw it or that he cared. He held up what looked like a cross made of gems, dangling from a chain on a key ring. "I, along with the Ashleigh brothers, have created this to act as a compass." He tapped the clear center stone. "Queen Aleksandra has provided some of her light to track her children, since she is tied to them all it shouldn't matter which human city we search." He pointed to the surrounding stones. "I have charged each gem with my own elemental magic. Emerald for North, topaz for East, ruby for South, and sapphire for West. The gems will react with the queen's light in the center diamond and light up accordingly. There will be widely spaced blinks of light if the fae are farther away, rapid blinks as we get closer, and a solid light when we are within a hundred yards. The center stone's color itself will give us a direction. For example, green for North, but greenish yellow for Northeast." He smiled down at the device. "Kinda genius, really," he marveled.
"Kendrick," Aiden murmured quietly.
"Right. In the event we don't get any readings, we have this." He held up a tiny vial. "This contains the queen's own blood. Blood will give us a wider range, but there may be some interference if any in this area are descendants of the fae who made their home here. So, we will primarily be relying on the center stone's stored light." He grinned evilly as Ilar groaned. "This gentleman has figured out the one true flaw to this approach." He pointed to the gems in his hand. "All fae Vanguard must be magicked so they won't interfere with the Divining Compass."
Ilar scowled. "Witch magic messes with my equilibrium."
"It's a small price to pay," Kendrick retorted, not looking in the least bit sorry.
"Fae warriors, line up," Aiden ordered. Ilar and Kyran Li'Alriden moved to stand in front of Micah and Kendrick.
Ari noticed that Kincaid's eyes had yet to leave the compass. "What?" he asked.
Kincaid stepped close. "Look around, Ari, I'm not the only one staring."
Ari looked around the clearing. Every single witch unit warrior's eyes were locked on the compass. "What?" he whispered.
"You don't get it because Kendrick explained the compass so casually, but what he's holding could be considered a once-in-a-generation national treasure. He's treating it like a cool keychain." Kincaid's voice held awe and frustration. "He also just confirmed that he has mastered all four elements, something no other witch has done. He just threw it out there that he charged the compass using all four elements like he simply charged his phone." Kincaid looked up at him. "I don't think there's anything he can't do."
Ari snorted, but then saw the truth in Kincaid's eyes. He looked over to the strange witch. "He's just an archivist, right?"
Kincaid exhaled. "Maybe that's all he's allowed us to see."
Gage eyed Kendrick as he and Micah finished warding the fae. "Glad he is on our side."
Priest nodded. "No lie."
When Micah stepped away from Kyran, Aiden looked to Kendrick. "You're up."
Kendrick held the compass. "Invenio." He frowned when nothing happened.
Micah smirked at his friend. "You did remember to charge it right?"
Kendrick glared at the other witch. "Of course I did." He looked around. "How far are we from town?"
Liam pointed to the west. "Monroe city limits are about ten miles thataway."
Kendrick scowled down at his compass. "That should easily be close enough." He tapped it harshly, causing every witch to groan at its rough handling.
Aiden pointed to Kendrick's pocket. "Maybe you should try the blood."
Kendrick stared at the commander. "Didn't you just hear me explain that we would only try that in the event we don't get any readings."
Aiden raised an eyebrow, and Kendrick blinked. "Oh." He pulled out the bottle and very carefully released a single drop on the center stone. It immediately began to blink rapidly, in a blue light. "Son of a bitch," Kendrick muttered.
Aiden looked down. "If it's blinking rapidly, that means there are fae close by, to the west of us, right?" Kendrick just gave a short nod. Aiden pointed to the diamond. "Then why didn't the light work?"
"I h
ave no idea. Then again, this type of compass did come into existence this afternoon, there may be a learning curve," Kendrick replied acerbically.
Aiden shrugged, then pointed westward. "Move out."
*****
"Are you sure this is right?" Aiden asked for the fourth time, pointing to the large, generic-looking warehouse.
Kendrick looked like he was about to reach over and throttle their commander. "Yes, I'm sure!" he hissed. "The stone is a solid blue color now. It looks more like a sapphire than a diamond."
Aiden reached up to tap the comms unit in his ear. "On my signal," he said quietly.
Aiden, Kendrick, Micah, and Ben would be joining the Tau unit when they entered the building. The other ten Vanguard split into two teams. One would be entering from the back of the building, while the other would enter from the side.
Aiden peeked around the corner of the building of the adjacent warehouse. "I don't like this. Why would fae be in here?"
Kendrick stepped out into the open, heading toward the front of the building. "Only one way to find out."
"Arrogant bastard," Aiden growled. He reached up to his ear. "Go!"
Ari's heart was pounding as he ran alongside Aiden to enter from the front of the building. They fanned out, clearing each of the small offices before moving to the door leading to the main storage area. When the door opened, he fought his body's urge to gag. "Gods! What is that stench!"
"Gods, no," Aiden whispered, as he ran forward.
They quickly joined the other two Vanguard teams standing in front of a large clothing pile.
"Why do those clothes smell so rank?" Kincaid asked.
Kendrick turned to him with uncharacteristic kindness in his eyes. "Look closer, Kincaid, it's the bodies that smell, not the clothes."
Kincaid paled so fast Ari moved to wrap an arm around his waist. In seconds, Gage was on Kincaid's other side.
Their warrior brother shook his head. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
"It's not just you," Ari replied, as the sound of retching reached them. Across the room, Liam was bent at the waist, emptying the contents of his stomach.
Cadoc walked up to Aiden. "We need Cam. His crime scene investigator is a vampire and does double duty as the medical examiner. We may miss something if we start moving bodies."
"Call him," Aiden replied, his eyes never leaving the stack of deceased fae. "Kendrick, would you estimate that to be about seventy bodies?"
Kendrick closed his eyes and nodded. Aiden ground his teeth together. "I think we just found the missing fae of Monroe."
It was as if his words released the men from their shock. Ilar turned to the nearest wall and began to pummel it. From the crunching Ari heard, he was certain the fae's hand was shattered. Cadoc went to him and struggled to pull him away from the wall. Despite being a bear shifter, he could barely keep the fae from hurting himself. "Monty! Some help!"
Montgomery Sandalwood, Cadoc's Vanguard witch, raced forward. "Sopor!" Moments later, Cadoc was lowering the sleeping fae to the floor. "Godsdammit!" he exclaimed, clearly upset at Ilar's pain.
Kyran collapsed next to Ilar. "I will watch over him. Please help my people," he begged, unable to look at the bodies. His request seemed to give Cadoc an avenue for his anger. "I swear I will do all I can for them." He walked over to where Manon Decker, his squad's vampire, was already on the phone with Cameron.
Ari knew that Aiden, and even Cadoc, was treating this as a crime scene, but his mind was racing forward. "Aiden, can you call Darian here?"
Aiden's eyebrows shot up. "You would have me call him here? With this?" He pointed to the bodies.
Ari nodded. "Yes. We need his ability to open a portal directly to the palace." He lowered his voice. "We can't carry seventy body bags thru the portal to be paraded through Éire Danu."
Aiden looked ill. "I hadn't gotten that far yet. Thank the gods you're with us." He painstakingly typed out a message for a few moments then tossed him the cell. "I texted Darian a brief sit-rep and told him we had injured that needed to return. "Call whomever you need. I'm putting you in charge of getting them home without causing mass panic."
Ari caught the phone. "You got it."
He jogged back to where his men waited for him. Kincaid looked a lot steadier on his feet. "What can we do?" he asked.
"We need to arrange the logistics for getting them home." He turned to Gage. "Can you call the fae you know from Houses Orthames and Liordon. Have them report to…" He looked around. "Micah! I need your mate's phone number."
Micah glowered at him. "If you think for even one second about asking her to come here—"
Ari shook his head. "No, I need her to act as a point of contact in the palace along with Amelia in arranging support." He pointed to Ilar and Kyran. "They will be treating cases of shock and dealing with the aftereffects the grief will cause."
Micah frowned. "I'm not sure that's much better. I'll tell her myself, so don't worry about getting her up to speed." He turned to Aiden. "If Serenity will be using magic to treat loads of people, I need to head back."
Aiden didn't even hesitate before waving him off. "Darian should be here any moment; you can return via his portal."
As if Aiden's words conjured it into existence, a glowing portal appeared, and the fae princes stepped through, immediately followed by the Ashleigh brothers.
Thane looked around until he spotted Ilar and Kyran. He whispered a few words, and the sleeping fae rose and headed toward the portal. "Since Aiden's text mentioned injured, Serenity is standing by to treat him."
"Kyran, you're to return with Ilar to Éire Danu and stay with him until we get back," Aiden ordered.
Kyran nearly sagged forward with relief. "Sir, I…"
Aiden's expression softened. "That's what warrior brothers are for. I support you when you need it, and you help me do the things I cannot. It all balances out. Now, go."
Kyran was too choked up to respond; he simply placed his fist over his heart and followed Ilar thru the portal before it closed.
Ari watched as the Ashleigh brothers walked over to Kendrick as Darian and Oron moved to stand next to Aiden, they all looked sick at the sight before them.
"Right." Ari turned back to Gage. "So let Houses Orthames and Liordon know that Serenity is on standby at the palace and to report in to her." Gage nodded and walked a few feet away to make his calls.
Ari looked at Priest and Kincaid. "I'm going to call my brother to mobilize the Lionharts so we can help those who may be affected by so many deaths. Can the two of you stay close to Aiden? There's no way in hell I'm facing Meryn if her mate returns with so much as a splinter. Kincaid, if he gets even a paper cut, heal him."
Kincaid gave him a sour expression. "You're just saying that because you know that healing is the only spell I don't fuck up."
Ari lowered his voice. "And it will keep you close to Kendrick and the Ashleigh brothers. You may not get many more chances to watch them at work."
Kincaid blinked. "You're right." He practically ran back to where Aiden was standing with the witches. Ari winced at Kincaid's enthusiasm. Priest clapped him on the shoulder. "I got him."
"Thanks, Priest."
Ari watched his unit brother walk away and dialed the one number he knew he could always call, no matter what.
"Hey, baby brother. How's the mission going?" Rex asked when he answered the phone.
"I need your help."
"Where are you?" his older brother demanded.
"I'm fine, I promise. In fact, there wasn't even any fighting, well, at least on our end." He eyed the bodies.
"What do you need? I can come to you."
"I need you where you are." He thought about where exactly that could be. "Are you at home or at the palace?"
"Home, why?"
He swallowed hard. "They're all dead, Rex. All the people we were sent to find," he whispered.
"Gods!" Rex exclaimed. In the background, he heard his mother demanding to know what was wrong
. "The palace will need us," he said, ignoring her for the moment.
"I knew you'd figure it out. There's over seventy dead fae here, Rex. Gods knows how many generations. This will impact a lot of people. The palace will need the Lionharts to provide steadfast strength through this ordeal."
"I assume Darian is there."
"You'd be right."
"I'll arrange for one of our meeting houses to be used for storage and identification. I'll need one of those freakishly powerful witches that I'm going to assume, again, are standing within ten feet of Aiden McKenzie."
Ari shook his head in wonder. His brother was amazing. "Again, you'd be right."
"I'll need them to spell the room to lower the temperature and possibly preserve the bodies." He paused. "How bad are they?"
Ari gulped and walked closer to the stack. He hissed at the smell, before backing away. "I'm no expert on how fae decompose, but there's a fair amount of bloating, but they aren't blackened yet. Most facial features should be identifiable."
"I hate that you are there," Rex growled.
"I'm a unit warrior, Rex. Where else would I be?"
"Safe, at home, with your family," he responded.
"I'll be home soon enough." He hesitated, then continued. "Can you tell Cord, maybe something light tonight. Not a lot of meat?"
"Of course. Don't worry about a thing. I'll handle everything concerning the receiving of the bodies. You just focus on getting them to us. Tell Darian it's the meeting house on Maple Street."
Ari felt relief at his brother's words. "Thanks, I will."
"Come straight home, Ari."
"What was that? Do my job diligently?"
"Brat," Rex replied before disconnecting.
Ari looked up, and Gage was waiting on him. "How'd it go?"
"They're heading to the palace. I heard the last part of your conversation and let them know that Rex is setting up on Maple Street. He is a genius to think of converting one of the rooms to a freezer."
Ari smiled. "That's my brother."