Forbidden Forest

by Tenaya Jayne

Zefyre knew ending up back in a relationship with Lush was a possibility when she decided to solicit information from him. Knowing didn't ease the irritation she felt about it, and using herself as collateral was distasteful. On the other hand, she couldn’t deny that she’d missed him a little since she’d kicked him to the curb. She'd learned many secrets from him that were to her advantage, but now he was growing nosy. He pushed and pushed until she was ready to garrote him, but eventually she caved and told him her purpose. He was her accomplice after all.

  Lush propped his head up on one arm, lying next to her in bed, a look of amusing shock on his face. All remains of arrogance and pleasure were gone as his mouth hung open stupidly. She knew he was about to implode, and it could take a long time for him to calm down, so she jumped out of bed and put on a brocade robe. If he shouted and she felt the need to shout back, at least she wanted to respect herself enough not to get dragged into a naked shouting match.

  She waited, but he just continued to lounge there in her bed with his mouth hanging open.

  “Can’t you think of anything to say?” she demanded.

  “Well…well, you’ve turned my world on its head, and I’m having a hard time adjusting to your vision of the future.”

  Lush sat up and began looking around for his clothes. Obviously, he also considered this conversation too important to have naked. Zefyre went to the kitchen, poured herself a drink, and sat back down on the living room couch.

  A few minutes later, Lush surfaced from the bedroom fully clothed and sat down across from her. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave her a calculating stare. “You’re going to try to sell me this scheme aren’t you?”

  “Of course,” she said lightly. “You’re already a party to it by feeding me information. You might as well subscribe to the ideology.”

  “So you’ve been feeding intelligence mixed with disinformation to Philippe via sacrificial messengers?”

  “Yes.”

  “In an attempt to control the outcome of the war?”

  “Yes.” Lush was quiet for a moment, piercing her with his eyes and scratching his chin. “To what end?” he asked aggressively.

  “To destabilize the Vampires and Werewolves; causing enough chaos to shatter all forms of existing power and government, so we can begin anew. A republic, Lush! Can’t you imagine it? Initially under the stewardship of the Rune-dy.”

  “Under the stewardship of the Rune-dy,” he repeated with a disbelieving tone of voice. “Why the Rune-dy? They’ve never showed any interest in power, and they terrify everyone.”

  “That’s why. You just said it. They aren’t interested in power, yet they have more than anyone else in Regia. They have just chosen not to use it to make any changes.”

  “Until now.”

  “Yes,” she said, “until now.”

  They sat staring at each other in silence for a minute.

  Lush narrowed his eyes at her. “You’ve been playing both sides a long time, haven’t you?”

  She gave a deep sigh. “Yes. A very long time.”

  “You were playing me back when you used to tell me you loved me,” he accused.

  Her eyes flashed. “No! I might have manipulated you at times, but what woman doesn’t? When I expressed feelings for you, I meant them.”

  “Sure. I’ll just take your word for it,” he said sarcastically.

  “Oh, don’t go acting all injured. You used to revel in the fact that we could never make our relationship public.”

  Lush sulked, but he was mulling-over her vision of the future. Being a vampire, he naturally enjoyed that vampires were in power, but he was a politician. Under the crown, he could only advance as far as his bloodline would allow. He saw how he could emerge as a more powerful leader in a new republic. Nothing made him more drunk than the prospect of power, except Zefyre. He was in. There was just one thing he needed squared away before plunging ahead.

  “What if we're caught? Who takes the fall?”

  “Well that depends on the timing,” she explained. “If we are caught and it looks like we are trying to help the wolves gain power, then Frost and Gagnee will take the fall. If things have progressed further and the Elves come under fire, then Kindel will be framed as the mole.”

  “Why not throw Forest into the fire with him? Anyone could believe she was a conspirator.”

  “No!” Zefyre said firmly. “She will have a bigger role to play in the new world.”

  Lush sneered contemptuously at the thought of Forest having any power. “Says who?” he demanded. Zefyre smiled nastily at him. “Her father.”