by Quinn Loftis
“I’m sending you back to your home.”
Lilly’s stomach dropped to the floor and her heart clenched painfully in her chest. Damn, didn’t see that one coming.
“Have you heard any news?” Decebel asked Peri.
“Nothing definitive,” she told him through clenched teeth. “The forests are restless; nature knows when evil is among us. He’s out there. He’s not hiding out behind another veil in another land or hunkered down in a hole somewhere.”
“Did you just say hunkered?” Jen asked with a sly smile.
Peri’s eyes snapped over to the female alpha. “I find that being around you humans is expanding my vocabulary. And unfortunately, it’s not in ways that make me sound intelligent.”
“We aim to please, Peri fairy.”
Peri snorted. “Judging from the look of your expanding belly, I would say you must be succeeding.”
Jacque spewed the water she had been drinking out of her mouth as laughter bubbled up.
Jen patted her rounding stomach and grinned over at her mate. “What do you think B? How’s my aim?”
“Jen,” Jacque was still laughing as she tried to talk, “your aim is not the one you should be worried about.”
Jen paused as she thought about Jacque’s words and then a wicked, wicked grin spread across her face. “Good call, Jacque. Alright, I’ll revise my question,” she looked back over to Decebel. “B, how’s your aim?”
The room erupted into laughter. Decebel bared his teeth at his mate. “I would say it’s spot on Jennifer,” he growled through their bond.
“Dec says it’s…,”
“Jennifer,” Decebel interrupted her and she was laughing too hard to continue.
“Can we please get back to the matter at hand?” Vasile asked as he rubbed his forehead. The group gathered around Vasile had been chosen months ago, chosen to lead, and chosen to stand as examples to each of the races. Vasile had called this meeting to discuss what could be done about their mutual enemy. The only ones not present were Sally and Costin. Decebel had told his second that he thought it best that he stay away for now. Costin had not been happy about it, but then he could not defy his alpha.
“Well, in this case, no news is not good news,” Peri said as her eyes met Vasile’s.
“I’ve been trying to go through the archives to see if we have any information on this Reyaz character,” Wadim spoke up from where he sat on the floor.
“Have you come up with anything useful?” Decebel asked.
“Not much, just that he’s the warlock king’s brother and that they had a falling-out. But the records don’t go into the history as to why.”
“It’s obvious what we need to do then,” Peri glanced around the room.
“Please tell me it has something to do with eating,” Jen muttered.
Decebel placed his hand on the back of Jen’s neck from where he stood behind her.
“I’m not going to let you starve, Jennifer,” he teased her.
“You know I get cranky when I’m hungry.”
“When are you not cranky, baby?”
“Not the point, B.” She reached back and smacked his hand away, but he just chuckled and put it right back where it had been.
“As important as your appetite being satisfied is to all of us Jen, it’s not quite the top priority,” Peri’s voice was gentle as if she was talking to a child.
“It should be. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Noted,” Peri nodded. “What I was going to say before the pregnant woman enlightened us with her needs, and surprisingly enough they were not carnal in nature, is that we need to get Cypher over here to explain just why his brother is…,”
“Mad cow disease crazy?” Jacque interrupted.
Peri grinned. “That’s one way to put it.”
“MCDC,” Jen piped in, “awesome acronym, sounds like a band.”
The room let out a collective groan as they all looked at Jen.
“Jen, get a clue and read Wadim’s shirt.” Jacque told her dryly.
Jen glanced over at Wadim who, oh so helpfully, pulled his shirt out so that she could read it.
In black bold letters it said, “No really, I’m a werewolf and you’re a human, which essentially translates into a steak with legs.”
“Are you implying that Wadim’s going to eat me, cause I don’t know how Dec would feel about that.”
Decebel rubbed his face as he let out an exasperated breath. “Jen, Jacque, hush. Wadim, quit encouraging them with your stupid grin.”
“I will get in touch with the warlock,” Vasile continued as if the banter between Jen and Jacque hadn’t taken place.
“I think I should go, Alpha,” Peri spoke up. “It will be quicker and I want to check out what’s going on in his forest. From what I’m hearing from some of the warlocks I’ve spoken with, there seems to be a lot of turbulence in the air.”
“Fine, do it quickly. Tell him I’ll expect him tomorrow.”
Peri nodded at him and then was gone.
“I so wish I could do that,” Jacque said looking longingly at the spot Peri had just occupied.
“As for the rest of you,” Vasile stood as he addressed the group, “I know it’s easy to get complacent as we wait to see what our enemy has planned, but you must not let this happen. Females, you need to be training for combat, except Jen,”
Jen snarled at him, but Vasile just kept going. “The healers need to continue to learn and do whatever it is they can to prepare to help the injured, wolves and fae alike. Decebel, it would be helpful if you would stay in touch with the Alphas that have returned to their packs. We need to continue to build the relationships that we have started; we must stay united. Males, I have asked Thalion, prince of the elves, and Adam to train with you. We are strong and fast, but they are faster. It may well be that we need to learn a few new fighting techniques ourselves. They will also be teaching you archery. We need to be prepared to fight back in whatever form the attack comes.”
All of the males nodded and murmured their agreement.
“Alright, we will meet again tomorrow when Cypher gets here.”
“This means I get to eat now right?” Jen smiled as she stood up.
“Oh my goodness, someone get the girl some food so she’ll shut up.”
“I heard that, Jacque.”
“I meant for you to hear it, you dork,” Jacque told her.
Jen looked over at Fane who was standing just behind Jacque. His eyes seemed dull, no longer the bright blue they had once been and his lips were tight.
“Fane, you need to control your woman.”
Jacque’s head snapped up as her eyes collided with her friends. They were wide and were giving Jen the what the hell glare.
Jen shrugged. “It’s time he got his head out of his butt and joined the rest of us back here in the living.”
Fane didn’t growl; he didn’t even acknowledge Jen’s words. He just placed his hand on the back of Jacque’s back and began to guide her from the room. Jacque continued to glare at Jen until she stomped past her.
Jen looked over at Decebel. “I don’t get it B. Our baby is scheduled to die on the day she’s born and you don’t see me walking around with a perpetual scowl, looking ready to kill everyone in my path. Don’t you think it’s time for Fane to snap out of it?”
Decebel met Jen’s gaze and reached out to caress her cheek. “Not everyone is as resilient as you, baby.”
Jen’s eyebrows creased together as she watched her mate. He was hiding something from her; she knew it without a doubt. But she couldn’t find out what it was because he was keeping his mind shut from her. He kept their bond open just enough for them to feel each other, but he didn’t give her the open access as he once had. As he stared at her now, the look in his eyes confused her, but she knew that if she asked, he would just deflect the question.
Jen finally turned away from him, knowing he would follow her. She paused and glanced back over her shoulder at him an
d raised a single brow. “You can’t hide from me forever, Dec. At some point, you will let your guard down. And when you do, I won’t be kind and give you your privacy. I will take what is my right to have, your complete trust and openness with me. So you can continue to delude yourself that you can keep things from me, but I always get what I want. And I’m not just talking about information. Don’t think I haven’t noticed that you seem too distracted at night to take care of your husbandly duties and it’s pissing me off. A girl has needs, B. Put that in your beef jerky and chew on it.”
Decebel followed behind his ticked off mate and tried not to smile at that last comment. “Did you just say husbandly duties?”
“Shut up Dec.”
Chapter 3
“It never ceases to amaze me how the males of the supernatural races think that they are protecting their females when they try to put them in a bubble. You would think that after seeing this strategy backfire many times, they might learn better. But apparently dogs aren’t the only ones to which you can’t teach new tricks. Wolves and warlocks seem to have the same problem. And I don’t think all the kibble n’ bits in the world could condition them to change. Although Jen might be onto something with her type of conditioning, and her poor wolf doesn’t even realize it.”~ Peri
Peri stood just on the outskirts of the forest that Cypher’s magic encompassed. She was leery about entering the warlock’s territory. She could feel the wrongness in the air, and see it in the way the plants and trees appeared to be cringing. She narrowed her eyes as she tried to look past the human realm and into the magic that she knew was lingering among the trees.
There¸she thought as she watched the black swirls that were moving and shifting, intertwining themselves with the green swirls that she knew to be Cypher’s magic. His was incredibly strong, but the black swirling wisps were having no trouble interposing themselves and adding their own pungent evil.
Peri huffed in irritation. “Just once could we please have a foe that wasn’t versed in the dark arts and psycho crazy with black magic? Would that be too much to ask? Couldn’t we just have some pixies hell bent on stealing all the lime popsicles in the world?” she muttered softly. As she stood there, her unease growing, she made the decision to call Cypher to her. She didn’t want that taint on her and didn’t want to draw attention to herself.
“Cypher, King of the Warlocks, I request an audience,” she didn’t speak loudly, for she knew that his magic would carry the message to him on the wind.
After several minutes of waiting, she finally saw him emerge as if walking from trees themselves. He wore his signature green cloak and she noticed that his face was tight with worry and anger.
“Peri,” he nodded in greeting.
“Cypher,” Peri responded. “Do you feel the darkness in your kingdom?” she decided to just lead with that because there was no better way to chat up a king than to tell him he needed to get his ass in gear and protect what was his―right, smart move Peri.
“It comes and goes,” Cypher acknowledged. “I know it is the work of my brother.”
“Are you going to do anything to stop it or are you just going to just hang out in your mountain drinking warlock schnapps and wooing that new mate of yours?”
Cypher snarled at her and she was rather impressed with it, but she didn’t back down.
“I am king here, Perizada of the Fae. I decide what’s best for my people and you should not be spouting off about things you do not understand.”
Peri let out a bark of laughter. “Things I don’t understand? I think you forget with whom you speak. I’m older and more wise than your finite mind can fathom. I have watched evil rise and fall for thousands of years and I know what happens when we turn a blind eye to what is going on around us. You have to do something before he has a hold on your forest, on your people, and on your mate.”
Cypher looked away from Peri, but not before she saw the flash of guilt and pain in his yellow eyes.
“I am taking steps to protect all that I can. I have those who are strongest in magic working on spells to protect the mountain and land. I have my smiths forging weapons and I am sending Lilly back to her home.”
Peri’s mouth dropped open at his last declaration and then a smirk danced across her face. “And pray tell, just how well did your female take that?”
“I think she was angry.” He still would not meet Peri’s eyes.
“What would give you that idea?”
“She used lots of words that would ordinarily make her blush, and…” he paused.
“And…” Peri prompted.
“Then she started throwing things at me.”
Peri laughed even louder this time. “How’s her aim?”
Cypher finally met her gaze and glowered at her. “Is that really important?”
“Oh it will be if she decides to pick up something a little more deadly than a hairbrush or book or most other things females grab in fits of rage.”
Cypher stood in silence as he remembered his fight with Lilly. She was angry, but more than that, she was hurt. But he couldn’t worry about her feelings; he had to worry about her safety, about her life. He could handle her rage as long as she was alive to direct it at him.
“Peri, what did you come for?” he finally asked.
“Well, aside from the juicy gossip, Vasile is requesting your presence tomorrow.”
“I will be there. What time?”
Peri shrugged. “You males never pay attention to detail. Show up when you’re good and ready. Will you bring Lilly?”
He shook his head. “I’m sending her home tonight.”
“Alone?” she asked as her voice rose in surprise.
“She will be safe in the states. My brother has never left our homeland. Sending someone with her would just alert him that she’s gone,” he explained.
“And what makes you think that he won’t follow her?”
“He wants me dead. If I’m here, he will stay here.”
Peri let out a laugh that sounded less than amused as her brow rose at him.
“You just keep telling yourself that, warlock, if it helps you sleep at night.”
Cypher was quiet as he continued to stare at Peri. He didn’t want to think she was right. He didn’t want to believe that his brother would follow after his mate, but he was beginning to think that what he wanted didn’t change what simply is.
“Will you go to the airport with her?” he suddenly asked.
Peri was taken slightly by surprise by the request, but her curiosity got the better of her. She definitely wanted to see how Lilly Pierce was handling being shipped off like a fragile piece of china.
“I suppose so,” she said attempting to sound disinterested, “what time?”
“Her flight leaves at eight o’clock.”
“I will be here at seven fifteen.”
Cypher shook his head. “That won’t give you time to get to the airport.”
Peri rolled her eyes. “I’m not planning on taking a car.”
“Oh, right,” Cypher said absentmindedly.
Peri was about to leave when a slightly wicked idea emerged. She tilted her head to the side as her eyes narrowed at the king. “Have you thought about what might happen if you send her back?”
Cypher didn’t respond.
“Lilly is a beautiful woman. Her daughter is grown and gone, leaving her at home by herself every night, every weekend. At some point a man will pursue her. At some point she will let her heart heal and move on, and let somebody else give her what she needs. She’s done it before.”
Peri watched as her words began to sink in. Apparently he had not thought about this scenario at all. His eyes began to glow an eerie shade of yellow and his skin flushed with anger. By the time Peri had said that Lilly would move on, Cypher’s large hand was wrapped around one of the smaller trees and he was squeezing it so hard that he left indentions in the trunk.
“Alright,” Peri said cheerfully not bothering to acknowledg
e his anger, “my work is done here. I’ll be back to get her in a little while.” Before the king could respond she was gone.
Cypher did not make any move to leave—not yet. He needed to calm down before he went back into the mountain. Peri’s words had ignited a feral rage inside of him and he feared that the slightest annoyance might set him off and some poor innocent warlock would get killed. He had not considered that Lilly would move on. He thought that he would eventually get her back once it was safe. He had no idea how long that could take, but he just assumed she would wait for him. But he couldn’t entertain that idea, or he would keep her here, and if she was here, then she was in danger. He pushed the idea of her with another male as far from his mind as he could and brought his thoughts to the matter at hand, his brother and the threat he posed. Everything would have to wait, even his desire to have his mate by his side.
Jacque sat quietly on the bed in her room. After Vasile had dismissed them from the meeting, Fane had taken her back to their room and then gotten her something to eat. He hadn’t said much, but he did ask her how she was and if she had spoken with her mom recently. Afterwards, at the request of Vasile, he had gone to do some training with Adam. Now she sat in solitude, lost in her thoughts. She could go hang out with her friends, but right now she just wanted to be alone.
After Sally had spoken with Fane, he had been genuinely apologetic about his actions. They had talked for hours and had even done more than talk, which was a vast improvement over the short kiss good night he had been giving her. He had once again been keeping their bond open, and she could feel the torment and anger that still raged inside of him. He had told her he was angry with Costin, but he knew in his mind that he had no right to be. Costin had not done anything to deserve Fane’s wrath. She could see that he was afraid: first, that she would no longer desire him, and second, that he had pushed her too far.
Jacque had gone to talk to Cynthia about the situation because she wanted to know if werewolves ever needed antidepressants. Jacque thought it nearly laughable, except for the fact that her mate needed something and she was desperate to help him. Cynthia had explained that the males feel emotions extremely intensely about their mates, and she didn’t know if we could even begin to understand the depth of those emotions. Because of that, everything was magnified—their joy, love, anger, pain, fear. All of it was multiplied by a number greater than could be counted. Jacque asked if there was anything Cynthia could do, and Cynthia had surprised her with her answer.