We'd set up a new camp and people were busy settling in. My morale had hit perhaps its lowest point, and nobody could draw me from the funk I'd fallen into. Nothing was going right, and we were running in the dark – the lack of visions growing more disturbing with each passing hour. And worse, the knowledge that the spirits hadn't offered a warning of Archangelo's imminent attack, only offering aid after the demons started coalescing. I had no answers to the change in their behavior and the spirits were reticent about providing explanation. Without their help, we were sitting ducks, at risk of attack as soon as we were located again. And we'd made a fatal error, in creating a way of stopping Archangelo from seeing me in his sleep cycles, without considering the possibility that he could reach Kazuki or Patrick.
Even the knowledge that the new angel composite – at least, that's Matt and Clint were calling it – worked so effectively wasn't soothing my mood. During the long months when I'd been in the Realm, Matt and Clint had thought up an idea for a composite material, something which could be used in conjunction with their human weapons to injure demons and vampires. Epi and a group of scientifically-minded individuals had developed the mixed alloy, which mimicked the effects of Nememiah's weapons, albeit at a weaker level. Coating the weapons' blades and dipping bullets into the alloy was being used to good effect by those who couldn't use the Angel weapons. It was a welcome addition to our arsenal, and a way for the human contingent to provide support. They could use their weapons to slow the enemy, injure them, and those of us with Nememiah's weapons could move in to finish the job.
I'd had the opportunity to thank my rescuers – Nat Finton; one of Ambrose Wilkes' tigers; and Kenyon and Ralph from Conal's pack. Kenyon insisted it was payment of a debt they owed, after the fiasco with Conal, and Ralph dismissed his broken ribs from breaking my fall as inconsequential. The werewolves placed great emphasis on honor, so I understood the importance they placed on their actions. I was grateful they'd rescued me from an insufferable situation, but I still hadn't made peace with the mess I'd made of things. Negative thoughts plagued me, endlessly tormenting. I struggled to come to terms with my spineless behavior and was appalled by the way I'd frozen up. Would it happen when I faced Archangelo again?
Sitting on the hillside, I shivered ceaselessly, my teeth chattering and creating a staccato beat in my ears. I should have been warm; I was dressed in heavy socks and boots, jeans, a couple of sweaters and I'd layered a heavy jacket over the top, but it wasn't the cold making me shiver; it was shock. I was suffering from an overwhelming dread I couldn't seem to negate.
I wasn't alone – Nissa was a few hundred feet away – keeping a wary eye on my position while she practiced endlessly with both blade and sword. Phelan and Keenan were also nearby, leaving me to contemplate our situation in peace. They sat together to my east, and every now and then when the breeze blew in the right direction, I heard their voices. I idly speculated on how a werewolf and former King of the Fae could find so much to talk about, but the two seemed to have struck up a strong friendship.
I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, trying to generate some warmth. The weather was cooling swiftly, the trees a rich tapestry of reds, golds and yellows and I was getting showered with leaves each time the wind blew, dropped from the trees in preparation for winter. The thought of Archangelo's plans for Patrick, Kazuki and Misaki was a constant stone of burden around my neck, and I'd been sitting up here for hours, trying to figure out how to keep them safe. Ultimately, what Archangelo did to me didn't matter – but I would move heaven and earth to stop him hurting my family.
The spirits were oddly silent, and I suspected they were conducting their own crisis meeting, searching for a way to pull me back from the depression I'd fallen into. I didn't seek their guidance, couldn't see any point. They'd let me down, and I had no idea why.
I wasn't sure what to call this paranoia I'd developed regarding Archangelo. Was it post-traumatic stress? It seemed a reasonable conclusion, but no matter what name I gave it, I needed to overcome the crippling anxiety… and fast. There had to be a way of moving forward – I just didn't know what it was. I wondered if I should admit how I felt to Jerome, see if he had a magical cure.
I wasn't surprised to see Conal walking up the hill, Patrick tucked in his arms, wrapped snugly against the biting wind. When he reached my side, he lowered Patrick into my arms and settled on the ground beside us. “The little guy wanted his momma.” He leaned across to press a kiss to my cheek. “Can't say as I blame him. I need you back too, Charlotte. Are we okay?”
“I love you, Conal. Nothing else matters as much as that.” Tears filled my eyes, and I brushed them away, watching Patrick. “I froze.” Another bout of shivers shook my limbs and I tried to hide my shaking hands from Conal's view, not wanting him to discover what a desperate mess I'd become.
“I know.” Conal picked up both Patrick and me and tucked us into his lap, cradling us both. “You need to talk about it. You need to talk to me about it, if nobody else. Sitting out here for hours on end, it's not good for you.”
I shook my head uncertainly. “I don't think I can talk.”
Conal brushed his fingers through my hair, watching a curl as he drew it out and let it spring back. “I hate what he's done to you. I hate that he's filled you so full of fear that you froze up the first time you saw him again. I hate that I wasn't there to protect you.”
“That was hardly your fault.” I'd only realized later, once the fight was over, that Conal had remained human because that's what he'd needed to do when I was lost in the Realm. He couldn't direct people in werewolf form, and consequently he'd needed to improve his fighting skills to remain human and provide direction and orders during combat. It was another remarkable thing about this man I loved, and I suffered a twinge of guilt over him being left to deal with everything in my absence.
Conal smirked. “You're quick to tell other people things aren't their fault, but hopeless at doing it for yourself.” He tilted my chin up so he could watch my eyes, and despite my best attempts, I couldn't avoid him. “Why do you think you should be any braver, or stronger than the rest of us? Why aren't you allowed to feel a little sorry for yourself?”
“Because I'm Nememiah's Child,” I responded quietly. “Because I'm supposed to be the leader.”
“We both know that was never the original plan,” Conal pointed out. “You got thrust into this without your agreement.”
“I don't know how to move forward,” I admitted, brushing tears from my cheeks. “I don't know how to overcome the fear, how to win this war, how to keep Patrick, Kazuki and Misaki safe—” I stopped abruptly, dismayed at having revealed information I'd kept secret. I hadn't found the strength to tell Matt about Archangelo's threats, and consequently, I'd avoided telling anyone, including Conal.
Conal's eyes hardened and he studied me. “He threatened them, didn't he? It's not enough that he's frightened you half to death, but the bastard upped the stakes by threatening your family.”
I nodded miserably and Conal wrapped me up in a hug. “Not much wonder you're a mess, Charlotte.”
“He said he would kill them all. That he and I were the only two angels who were important.”
Conal took a deep breath, calming himself before he responded. “We're not going to let that happen. We do have to warn Matt, tell him about the threat and let him decide how to move forward. And we need to consider other ways to protect Misaki and Kazuki, and help you deal with your fears.”
“Charlotte, you should return to camp,” Mom piped up. The sound of her voice startled me and I grimaced at how rattled I'd become.
“What's up?” I demanded, scrambling to my feet and brushing stray leaves from my clothes. Conal wrapped a protective arm around us and I saw Keenan and Phelan were already on the move, having heard the news from the collective minds of the spirits. Further down the hill, Nissa carefully sheathed the sword before she tucked the smaller blade away in her belt.
“Gabby has someth
ing for you.”
Hurrying back to camp, Conal and I strode into the mess. Gabby had Misaki and Matt with her, and Kazuki was in Matt's arms, squirming and giggling as Gabby tied an item around his wrist. She glanced over and smiled. “We should have thought of this in the first place,” she announced. “We should have suspected he could reach Kazuki. The other witches and I have created charms for both him and Patrick, and although I think it's doubtful Archangelo could reach Misaki and Matt's new baby, I'm hoping this little pendant,” she pointed to a necklace hanging around Misaki's slender neck, “will stop him if he tries.”
“Oh, Gabby – thank you!” The prospect of Archangelo getting into Kazuki's head, or Patrick's for that matter, had worried me endlessly. The relief was tangible in my voice and I watched as my witchy friend attached a minute pendant on a leather strap to Patrick's tiny wrist.
Conal leaned across and touched the charm, no bigger than Patrick's smallest fingernail. “Nice work,” he commented.
“We'll do anything we can to help.” Gabrielle pursed her lips, clearly still annoyed because she hadn't thought of this in the first place.
I settled a reassuring hand on her arm. “None of us thought of it. Nobody would have thought he could reach Kazuki's thoughts, not until it happened.” Secretly though, I was annoyed that neither the spirits or Nememiah had seen fit to mention the possibility.
“While we're here, let's see if the Cal-Tech guys have made any progress,” Conal suggested. With the race to flee the last camp, and the time taken to reset and replace lost equipment, the decoding had been delayed. We were down to less than a week before we needed to return to Zaen, and the possibility seemed more remote with each passing hour. I'd worried the Drâghici would investigate the city after chasing us out of the last camp, but it seemed their confidence was still buoyant enough, and their egos big enough, to have them believing Zaen remained ruined. Other than posting extra guards as a precaution, the race to finish the rebuild continued unimpeded.
The only other option was to stay in the woods, and attempt a third changeover with the Fae to buy us another fourteen days, but I'd voiced doubts over the prospect. I still wanted to follow my gut instinct – and that instinct was to return to the city.
The Cal-Tech people were hunched around their computer screens, exactly as they'd been each time I'd checked on progress, and I was beginning to suspect they never left the mess. Judging by the crumpled clothing, bleary eyes and a multitude of disposable coffee cups covering every available inch of desk space, I thought I wasn't too far off the mark. Epi greeted us with a worried frown, and hurried over, pushing his glasses up his nose. “The location change has slowed progress considerably,” he announced. “We have no guarantees they will decode the words in time.”
Grant came to stand beside Epi. The pencil was still tucked behind his ear, although it was considerably shorter than the last time I'd seen it. “We're getting close, but resetting created delays. I hope to have the answer in the next forty-eight hours or so.”
Conal nodded, but his expression revealed his disappointment. “We're going to run out of time.”
Gwynn and Katie came in, distracting me. Katie was gripping Gwynn's hand and chattering excitedly as they strolled towards us. The little girl had grown in the past few months. It seemed as if she'd added inches to her height while I'd been in the Realm, and she was losing many of her babyish features and becoming a bright, happy little girl. When she spied me, Katie grinned and tugged on Gwynn's hand until Gwynn released her, rushing across the mess to wrap her arms around my neck. I enjoyed the little girl's impetuousness and hugged her close. “Lottie! How is baby Patrick?” She was speaking with a definite lisp, created, no doubt, by the missing two front teeth. She released her grip around my neck and knelt beside me to study Patrick's face. “He's sleeping,” she announced.
“Mmmm, yes, he is,” Gwynn agreed, offering me a warm smile. “And I think we should leave him asleep for now, don't you think?” She leaned down and took Katie's hand, stopping the little girl from patting Patrick's cheek.
Katie pulled a chair out from the table we stood beside and clambered onto it, wide eyed as she watched everyone hurrying back and forth. The long trestles were filled with people studying books, seeking additional hints to answer the conundrum of the drawings. “What's everyone doing?”
“Trying to figure out some clues,” I explained, pointing to the chalkboards. “See those? They're pictures I drew, and we don't know what they mean. These people are trying to figure it out.”
Katie wriggled off the chair and walked along the row of blackboards, her expression serious. She stopped beside the one with the pitiful animal drawings and took a few minutes to study each sketch carefully. I walked across to her, watching her little face while she considered. She pointed to one of the pictures. “That's Jerome.”
She was pointing to what I'd suspected was a Newfoundland. I dropped to one knee, studying them from her perspective. “I think you're right.”
Katie studied the drawings again, scratching the top of her head, and dislodging one of the ribbons tying her pigtails. “That's Rafe,” she said, pointing to another.
I glanced at Gwynn and then at the picture, grabbing the ribbon which had dropped to the floor. It was a terrible drawing, but if you squinted, and twisted your head to one side, I guessed it might be a lion. “You could be right, Katie.”
“I is right,” she reassured me doggedly. She took a few steps forward, pointed at the drawing in question while I retied the ribbon. “See? There's his mane. But you crossed him out. Why did you do that?”
I shook my head. “I don't know.”
Katie pursed her lips, and went back to studying the drawings. “That's Cecilia, she a swan. And that's Toby, he a bear.”
I glanced over Katie's head at Gwynn and she raised her eyebrows. “Can you recognize any others, Katie?” she asked.
To our surprise, Katie studied the pictures and pointed out who they were, one by one. Epi hurried over with his ever-present clipboard, taking notes. Exactly what they represented remained a mystery, until Ben spoke up. “The ones that are crossed out – they're the threatening animals. Wolves, tigers, lions, bears, panthers—”
“—and the ones Lottie left uncrossed are the non-threatening!” Gwynn agreed. “But what does it mean?”
Epi studied the chalkboard. “Perhaps we are to use the services of the non-threatening shifters in some manner?”
Conal stared at the chalkboard, his hands fisted on his hips. “Got any ideas?”
“What could the non-threatening shifters do, that the others can't?” Gwynn questioned.
“They is nice. They play with me, and gives us snuggles and kisses,” Katie announced. “They let us pet them.”
Gwynn gripped my arm, her eyes sparkling. “They're non-threatening.”
“I think we've established that,” I responded with a wry smile.
“We can't go to the Realm ourselves to pass on the news about Aethelwine's deception,” Gwynn explained. “But what would the Fae make of the non-threatening shifters? If they were in their shifted forms?” She glanced at the group congregated around the boards. “Most of these creatures are unknown to the Fae. What would they make of them if they were sent into the Realm? What if we could use them to pass on the message about Aethelwine?”
“But how would that work?” Epi questioned. “In their animal form, they're certainly non-threatening, but how could they pass on any message?”
“It would be rudimentary, but it could work – what about some type of flyer?” Ben suggested. “What if they took a written message to the Realm, a message that passed on information about Arasinya's role as the true Queen?”
“How could we do that?” I questioned. The concept was interesting, no doubt, but I wasn't convinced anything they were suggesting was feasible. And what sort of message could be taken to the Realm, which would sway the Fae to believe what they were being told? I couldn't think of any th
at would be viable.
“There must be a way,” Gwynn said, her enthusiasm growing with each passing minute.
Katie tugged at my fingers. “You should write them a letter.”
Ben turned to look at me, his expression considering. “What about if we sent Keenan through to the Realm, let him talk to his people? And let him write the letter to his former subjects? They might be swayed by a popular previous King, rather than an Angel they've heard so many negative rumors about?”
Conal glanced down at me and there was a sparkle in his eyes which had been missing these past few days. “What if Keenan starts a coup?” he suggested.
≈†◊◊†◊◊†◊◊†≈
“What we're asking you to do is incredibly risky. While you're considered non-threatening to us; in the Realm, it's difficult to know how the Fae will react to meeting unusual species of animals. As Arasinya pointed out, some of them might think you're an easy source of food. We hope your…” I swallowed deeply before I continued, “your lack of… aggressiveness will work in our favor. But whether you volunteer for this task or not, is a decision only you can make and this mission is something only you can do. By spreading word of Aethelwine's deceit, and working with Keenan to reach the cities where the Fae warriors are barracked, you could make a real difference. I won't sugarcoat it though—”
Epi cleared his throat loudly and I glared at him, before returning my attention to the people who'd been gathered for this meeting. “What we're asking you to do is, quite possibly, a suicide mission. Nobody can predict the Fae's reactions. We have no way of telling if the Fae you meet are loyal to Aethelwine, or if they can be swayed to our side. If they're loyal to Aethelwine, they'll probably kill you once they view the information on the flyers. If they're loyal to Arasinya, we hope that you'll bring as many as possible through the Elven rifts that will be opened at seven pm each night, to allow you to return. Keenan's role is to bring the Fae warriors to our side, create a coup which will lead to Aethelwine being ousted and Arasinya returning to the throne. If that happens – when that happens – Arasinya will fight on our side against the Drâghici.”
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