by Brenda Trim
“Sentient discovery. We endeavor to link to the source of this potion. Bring to me the path that will lead us to the origin’s location. Amid the chaotic universe. Shine a light to mark the way. Reveal the hidden with haste. By the Power of Three, so mote it be,” the witches called out in unison.
There was no mist this time. Instead, there were flashing lights that began above their hands. Blue, gold, and even green and yellow filled the sky. The brightness made Blaine’s eyes water as he blinked furiously to clear the spots. The lights twined together and rose into the air, making him tilt his skateboard-sized head back to follow the illumination.
Wind whipped through their gathering and carried with it the scent of sherulla fruit and something else. He’d always associated them with the witches and knew it was their magic he smelled. Izzy told him one time it was strawberry and peaches. Blaine hadn’t spent enough time in the Tehrex Realm to be familiar with the fruit, but they made his mouth water for a taste. It was what drove him to flirt with the stunning witches when they met.
The electrical current that sizzled through the air heated Blaine’s blood like it did every time the sisters did magic. Energy swirled around him and wove in between and around them all.
After soaring fifty feet into the dark purple night sky, the lights twisted together like a French braid and shot out across the tops of the buildings. Blaine crouched down and waited for Isis and Braeden.
“You ready to fly, babe?” Isis asked her mate.
Braeden looked at Blaine for a second then shrugged his shoulders. “Anything to free Donovan.”
Blaine extended his front right leg and folded his wings to his back. Braeden boosted Isis as she scrambled onto Blaine’s back. Braeden took a couple steps back and ran up his leg then leaped into the air with a whoop and landed hard behind Isis.
Blaine lifted his snout and trumpeted before he hurdled off the side of the castle. He felt hands grab the top of his wings where they protruded from his back. Given the fingernails digging between his scales he had to guess that was Isis.
“Wait for me,” the King called out as Legette and Lorne joined Blaine in the air. “We go together.”
Blaine noticed Pema rode Legette and Ronan rode Lorne. He should have allowed someone else to take Braeden. He preferred to have Isis ride him. Gods he needed to finish this case so he could find a female to share his bed. It had been too long, and his need was distracting.
Angus’s building-sized charcoal body launched into the air in front of them followed by Kiera. The Queen was a sea dragon, so her form was sleek with rough green scales that matched the color of her hair. Typically, her kind couldn’t fly, but she learned so she could join Angus in the sky.
Blaine followed behind Legette and the King as they soared over the city and toward Mt. Batia. He loved exploring the caves and visiting his hoard in the Cuelebre mountain. Most dragons were given a secret cave to hide their treasures and keep it safe. Cyril had his foawr inside the tunnels. It tended to stay close to the volcano in the center, but they’d never been able to find their hoards and place traps.
Blaine angled his body and skimmed the treetops, making Isis squeal on his back. He huffed a laugh that sounded and smelled more like he’d passed gas, but he couldn’t help it in his dragon form.
Blaine thought they were going to the Unseelie side of the realm until the lights veered away. Blaine scanned the location in the distance where they’d managed to reclaim some land and force the Buggane to abandon their headquarters. The foliage was rapidly reclaiming the buildings the vile ogres called home. It was a beautiful sight to see.
They continued and landed in the last place Blaine expected to be lead. They were near the portal Cyril had sealed for over a thousand years keeping Angus out of Khoth and allowing his creations to slowly destroy Gaia in an attempt to make the Cuelebre go extinct.
The guy needed to get over the fact that Kiera rejected him for Angus already. It made him look desperate and insane. Blaine couldn’t imagine going to such lengths for a female. If she chose someone else move the fuck on and find another one. It wasn’t that difficult to figure out. And would save the Unseelie King from becoming the most hated male in the realm. Now, no female, or male for that matter, would touch him with a ten-foot pole.
Blaine lowered to his belly and angled his body so the couple could slide off his back. Once Isis and Braeden were on their feet, Blaine shifted back to his male form and pulled his clothes from his bag.
“Thank you for the ride, ahh,” Isis cried out.
Blaine laughed at the way the witch had averted her gaze. “How is the spell going into the portal?” Better to avoid the confrontation with Braeden. Mated males were a possessive bunch. It was one thing for Blaine to compliment them and another for them to comment on his bait and tackle.
Lorne and Legette landed a second later. Angus had already landed, shifted and gotten dressed before they arrived. Gunner and Scar were on guard duty at that moment and were standing off to the side with wide eyes.
Pema walked up to the stone archway and ran her hand over the engravings. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”
Isis joined her sister. “But it explains why we have only gotten limited information when we cast our spells. I’d bet money the phantom is no longer on Khoth, so we could only get past events.”
“Looks like we have an adventure to undertake,” Pema added with glee.
“What about the kids? We can’t just leave them,” Ronan pointed out.
Angus held up his hands. “We need to regroup before you do anything stupid like jump through there and right into a trap. And before you argue, I remind you that Cyril is involved. He will have something planned.”
Blaine stepped into his boots. “Not necessarily. He wouldn’t have expected us to be able to follow the trail. That isn’t a spell a Cuelebre dragon could have cast.”
“We need to gather more information before anyone goes through,” Angus announced as if everyone present was going to listen to him.
Blaine would because he couldn’t defy his king, but the witches weren’t bound by the same rules.
Isis didn’t disappoint Blaine as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not waiting for him to prepare a trap. I agree that he wouldn’t have anticipated our ability to locate him, but they would have felt the tracker enter his space. We have to move fast before he has time to erect a defense against us.”
Pema and their mates agreed with Isis. Angus scowled at the four as he considered the situation. Blaine decided to head off another argument. “This isn’t ideal, but I think it’s our best bet at discovering the phantom, or any information about why Troy was taking a Fae potion and talking to Cyril. We shouldn’t send them through alone though.”
Angus shifted his focus to Blaine. “And who do you propose goes with them? You?”
Blaine looked around at their group. “Since I’m the one following this case I should go, but I suggest Gunner join me, as well. With two of us we would be able to shift and get them away from most Unseelie.”
Gunner stepped forward. “We can’t allow them to go alone, Sire. It’s our duty to help our allies. Besides, their spell kept my parents and sister safe from Cyril’s barghests.”
The King sighed and shook his head. “What’s happened since the light passed through?”
“Nothing has tried to come through in the past ten minutes since the light pierced the portal,” Gunner relayed.
“Alright,” Angus conceded. “I want everyone armed and ready for battle before you cross. And my maahes will be going through first.”
Blaine and Gunner nodded once in acknowledgement then hurried to the small barracks they’d built and stocked with food and weapons for patrols to use while on duty. Blaine grabbed two swords and crossed them over his back then added half a dozen daggers to his bag.
He grabbed a jacket on the way out, unsure what they would encounter. Outside Isis and Pema were pulling boots and leathers from the b
ag over her shoulder before checking their other supplies.
Blaine’s gut squirmed and his heart raced when they finished and stood in a group close to the portal.
“Do quick recon then get your asses back here. If you find an army return right away. We can send another group with more knights. I doona want anyone hurt. We’ve all lost enough already.”
“You and Kiera will watch the kids?” Isis and Pema both demanded at once.
“With our lives,” Angus vowed.
Determination shone in the witch’s eyes as they bobbed their head to the king and turned to the portal. “Time to find a phantom.” Isis gave Blaine a pointed look.
Without another word, Blaine headed to the portal while sending a silent prayer to the Gods to protect him and the others. Certainty tingled in his mind. He’d set himself on a course that would change his life forever. He liked his life the way it was and almost stopped before crossing. Was he ready for it to be different?
One foot entered the silver liquid that activated the portal. Too late to turn back now.
Chapter 17
“The second those lights turn away we need to run across the field. There will be another fence in the distance.” Hayden’s heart was beating like a timpani drum in his chest, comforting in its familiar rhythm. The fear that had reared its ugly head when he first approached the base was gone.
He was the Omega. The most powerful shifter alive and one of the strongest supernaturals in the Tehrex Realm. They might be outnumbered with the sun rising soon, but they would be the victors in this.
He had found his Fated Mate and his best friends had forgiven what he’d done. Humility wasn’t an emotion he’d ever experienced until that day. There was no doubt in his mind if the roles had been reversed and Zander or Evzen had put them at such risk he’d have ranted and raved at them for being so stupid.
It was a lesson he needed to learn to be a better leader. There was always more to the story and taking the time to have a conversation would get to the bottom of things faster than being angry and yelling. That didn’t come naturally to him and would be a challenge to keep that in mind.
He’d have to learn how to determine if it was necessary to exercise patience. Dealing with individuals that might be overtaken by their primal side had made using anger a necessity to keep shit from going sideways.
“Shite.” Zander’s curse burst from him. The lights shifted away from them and Hayden was off like a light.
“Shouldn’t we try to jump the fence on the other side? This is in the opposite direction of the way we need to go to get back to the cabin with your mate. You can guarantee the soldiers will be oot in force now.” Zander’s voice was right beside him. He knew his friends would follow when he took off.
Hayden glanced over and met the Vampire King’s Sapphire eyes. “We aren’t returning to that cabin at the moment. Pack lands are in this direction and Killian will have let them know we ran into trouble.”
“We can’t leave them with your samples. They will hunt supernaturals until they find them. Not all of our citizens are military minded. Hell, I was one of them until recently.” Evzen wasn’t wrong about any of that. They couldn’t leave this, but they needed a better plan. Hayden was still shocked at how his intellectual friend had grown and changed over the past few years.
Before Zander found Elsie and life in the Tehrex Realm had shifted, they hadn’t been as tight. They’d formed the Dark Warrior Alliance centuries before when the war with demons first began, but they had each done their own thing for the most part. Now they work together daily.
Hayden ducked behind some trees and paused with his back to the base. They’d traveled across the space so fast none of the humans would have seen them. “We aren’t going to leave them here, but we need to regroup before we go back in. Sunrise isn’t far off and if we get caught out here, Zander won’t be long for this world.”
Zander tilted his head back and looked up. The lightening sky was just visible through the canopy. “Hayden’s right. I canna be oot here much longer. And I will have to decline their invitation to become a guest in their little hotel of horrors. How far away are the pack lands?”
“Hayden poked his head around the tree trunk and saw soldiers canvassing the area, but none of them were focused on their location, so he continued traveling southwest. “I can’t say for sure, but I’d guess fifty to a hundred miles. We will be cutting it close to get back before you’re fried.”
“Fuck,” his friend cursed.
Evzen muttered under his breath. “I will do my best to keep you shielded. We will all make it back.”
They had no choice. Zander couldn’t stay there. There was nowhere for him to hide. They ran as fast as they could, with Hayden following his connection to the pack. It took longer than he expected to reach the fence securing the base. It was a tall chain link affair topped by barbed wire.
The three of them stood there catching their breath while studying the barrier. “I’ll just use my magic and cut through the links and let us out.” Hayden considered Evzen’s offer.
It would be the fastest way for them to get out, but it would leave a trail and point in the direction of the pack. Not something Hayden was willing to do. “Too risky. We don’t want them searching in this direction. Right now, they have no idea where we came from. Let’s keep it that way.”
Zander sighed. “Over ‘tis then. Not ideal, but we doona have time to debate.”
Zander was climbing before Hayden responded. The Vampire King quickly scaled the fence and used the sleeves of his jacket to protect his hands. He did a handstand then flung himself off the other side. He flipped in the air and landed on his feet.
“Show off,” Hayden muttered as he did the same.
Evzen was a second behind him and paused when Hayden threw himself over. “I liked it better when I stayed home with my head stuck inside books.” The Guild Master wasn’t graceful, but he managed to fall over the other side. Hayden caught him before he fell on his face.
“We like you better in battle,” Hayden admitted with a smile. They were off and running again in no time. They ran into soldiers ten minutes after they scaled the fence. They were alert but didn’t seem to be aware they might be out there. That was good.
Hayden was glad he hadn’t shown them his speed or strength. Otherwise, the areas they ran through would be crawling with search parties. The fact that it was early morning and most were sleeping in the homes they passed made it easy for him, Zander and Evzen to hear and avoid danger zones.
Hayden felt the energy of his shifters getting closer as they ran. He considered sending out a warning but decided against it. There was no reason to put any of them in danger of being discovered. None of them slowed until they felt the magic surrounding the pack lands.
The sky was light grey and orangish-pink behind them, but Evzen hadn’t had to cover Zander yet. A tightness eased in Hayden’s chest when he was certain his friend would be alright. He hadn’t realized before that moment how much it bothered him that he might be the reason Zander was injured or worse.
Hayden nodded to the sentinels guarding the property. The magical barrier they’d just crossed repelled humans and made them move away from the pack, but every area had CLAW patrolling the perimeter to ensure nothing and no one unwanted crossed into their territory.
Leading Zander and Evzen to the mess hall in the center of the homes, Hayden thought he sensed his mate. It made no sense. She wasn’t there. Heart picking up speed like the gas pedal being pressed, Hayden hurried through the area.
He burst into the mess hall and his heart skipped several beats. “What are you doing here?” He hadn’t meant to growl the words at her, but he couldn’t stop it either. Too much had happened between them and he was still very much unsure if he could trust her.
Millie turned around and he saw the tears shinning in her eyes before she ran toward him. Her long, black hair flew out behind her. She jumped into his embrace and wrapped her arms around
his neck.
He caught her and held her close. Her body was shaking as she clutched him. “I was so worried about you.”
Protective instincts he usually reserved for the striplings reared up and had him rubbing her back and cooing in her ear. He didn’t do anything soft. Yet the ice surrounding him melted as he felt her terror.
“What do you mean you were worried about me? We’re fine, as you can see.”
Lifting her head, she wiped a tear away and swatted his shoulder. “I didn’t know that, did I? We were sitting there waiting to hear from you when all of a sudden, I knew you were in trouble. Gerrick told me you were fine, but I couldn’t shake the feeling. It was like you were inside me. And then he got a call from Killian who said you guys were being chased through the base. I was sure Jack had you in the cell again and I made Gerrick bring me here so we could get help rescuing you.”
Hayden set her on her feet and met Bhric’s smirk over her head. The warrior shrugged his shoulders. “She’s you’re Fated Mate. It’s no’ like she willna visit the pack at some point, and I couldna rescue you three alone.”
As much as Hayden wanted to rant and rave at the male, he understood. It was true. Hayden hadn’t thought their situation through. He might want to believe he could keep her at arm’s length, but that wasn’t how it worked between mates.
The alpha approached Hayden. “Congratulations, sir. I look forward to the celebration of your joining. After we eliminate the latest threat to our kind. The pack is ready to help in any way we can.”
“Thank you. We will need to use this space as a meeting place. I need a computer and some coffee. And I will need you to cover the windows. The Vampire King and his brother don’t care for sunlight.”
“Right,” the alpha replied and turned to have others help him. The shifters kicked into gear and keeping Millie close to his side, they joined the vampires out of the range of the sunlight now filtering through the windows.
Zander pulled his phone from his pocket. “Dante, we need you and as many warriors as can be spared oot here in Virginia before night fall.” After they lost Nikko Dante had taken over the training, scheduling and staffing of the Dark Warriors.