by Amber Lynn
“As long as everyone remembers that Frank is mine, I think we are good. This is our first real battle against the force we have been fighting for most of our lives. I have no doubt we will come out victorious and bring our wolf leader home. Keep your senses opened and eyes peeled. We will allow surrender from their forces. You will disarm those wishing to turn against the Collective and join the winning cause.
“I trust everyone brought restraints with them, so please use them. No matter how believable they may seem, we will be taking them back to our compound secured. It is my greatest wish that once their ringleader has been taken out the rest will cease to fight against us. Oh, and above all, protect your princess or queen. It is your duty to ensure her safety.” Shouts of affirmatives echo through the crowd at the end of Jonas' pep talk. It was a nice little speech.
“Aren't you supposed to be the leader of this army?” I ask Alex. That is supposed to be his day job, so to speak.
“I am, but Jonas was rallying the troops long before I came along and we decided to keep things the way they were. Plus, I think he really likes to hear himself talk. We shouldn't be far now. I am going to have to leave you in Sebastian's capable hands. I love you, Nyx, and I cannot wait to get you home, with your dad, and welcome Sophia into this world. I am just a thought away if either of you need a thing.” He leans down and places a lingering kiss on my forehead before reluctantly walking over to Hilda and Walt.
I wonder if the fact that I look like Phee now had anything to do with him not trying for the lips. I know I better not find him pretending to make out with Hilda. If Peanut wasn't connected, I wouldn't hesitate to send him a really nice image of what I would do to him if I caught him in a compromising position. I will just have to draw him a sketch of it later.
Chapter 14
There is only one correct answer
It doesn't take us more than another two minutes to find the Dark Forest. The Dark Forest isn't something you really find, though. It kind of finds you. There was no warning; one minute we were walking in a nice green oasis and the next the blackened trees were surrounding us.
The change in scenery is definitely not for the faint of heart.
It isn't exactly like what this world looked like when we first stepped over. The basic color scheme is the same, but there isn't a cry for help to fix the dying earth and the amount and general shape of the trees makes them feel spooky.
“Well, at least I have found a place to send Clyde when he misbehaves,” I say looking up at the sky, which was blue just a second ago. Now, it is as black as midnight and flashes of lightening arc across it.
“Ha. Ha. You are just so hilarious. Why don't you leave the jokes to the professionals and keep to things you are good at. Like having babies,” Clyde so kindly suggests.
I don't think he likes this place. For some odd reason that makes me like it just a little bit.
The thought that no one discussed what the angel among us will be doing during the battle jumps to the forefront of my mind. Now that we are into the forest, I don't think it is safe for me to voice my questions for all to hear.
“I will just be an observer today. Unless my sister is in danger, then I will assist in any way possible,” he replies without me needing to blow my cover. I have to remember to be careful. My words a second ago about Clyde might have appeared odd coming from Phee.
Sebastian grabs my hand and gives a nice, strong squeeze. As he does it I feel a tremor ripple through my belly. There is a slight, almost miniscule, needle prick of pain that accompanies it.
“Was that what I think it was?” I ask glancing down at my invisible tummy.
“It is our daughter wanting to break out of her cage. We are going to have a handful with that one. I will go on record now as saying we shouldn't let her see the outside world until she is twenty.”
“And how do you plan to accomplish that? She is going to have all of you guys wrapped around her little finger the second she comes out. You and Alex are already hopelessly whipped. I am sure Walt already has a pony lined up for her and is planning to walk her around town on it as soon as she can hold her head up.” I caught him looking up breeders the other day, so I think my claim is valid.
“Alex and I are waiting for our 'Congratulations, you were just born' present to be finished. A lifetime supply of chastity belts takes a little while to form and such. We guesstimated her to be about your size when she matures so hopefully she doesn't inherit my stature. We may need to place a future order if that is the case.”
I cannot help laugh out loud at his ideas. Just the thought of a baby, not even born yet, having a chastity belt waiting for her is hilarious. Add the fact that I am ninety nine percent for sure he isn't joking and you have the best joke punch line ever invented.
Alex doesn't see the humor, so he adds, “Laugh all you want. We thought about making you a matching set, but decided we didn't want the hassle of having to dig out the key every time we wanted to play with you.”
Yup, that stops the laughing real quick, again because I know it is true. Now, Sophia needs to come out so we can punish her daddies together. It shouldn't take long for me to impart my devious ways onto the little peanut. Her being able to communicate from the get go will come in handy.
“Teaching our daughter how to threaten to cut off body parts and come across sounding sincere is not going to win you Mother of the Year awards,” Sebastian suggests.
It is a good thing I didn't think for a second that I would make it past the preliminaries. Unless the panel consisted of axe murders and serial killers, I have absolutely zero chance of being nominated.
“There is trouble up ahead. I sense a Grim,” Ian says causing us all to halt. “And he is not alone. There is a Cailleach Bheur with him. Those two banding together cannot bode well.”
“Jolly good,” Hilda says mastering my voice, but the words aren't something I would find myself saying. “Ian, would you be so kind to inform the rest of us what we are in for?”
“Yes, ma'am. I believe you will find a Grim to be similar to Reaper Demons on your side of the veil. Our version doesn't make deals, though. They just like to kill everything in their path. The Cailleach Bheur, or Blue Hag, is just about as friendly. You will want to watch out for her staff. One touch from it and you are turned to dust.”
What a charming pair. I bet I could convince them to vote me in for Mom of the Year.
“Now, young Fae, why do you have to go about warning all the easy targets about stuff like that?” a scratchy, womanly voice echoes through the trees.
“Really, it would have been so much more fun to just toy with you one by one. Although after being less fleshy for so long a little bit of a fight might be in order,” a deep man's voice booms from the other side of the forest.
“Any recommendations on getting us all out of this alive? You guys do have a magic solution for fighting them off, right?” I ask drawing two knives. No time like the present to test out the fine print on the one that claims to kill anything.
“For the Hag, it is easy. Don't let her touch you and you are golden,” Ian says as he and the other Fae fan out and get ready for action. “The Grim can shoot a blue flame of fire at you and if it hits you, you aren't going to like it. The bad part is once he targets you with the flame, it won't let up until it hits the target.”
“I am not hearing a way to defeat them in that explanation,” I yell getting highly agitated at the situation.
“That is because there isn't a way to kill them. If you have iron, and can actually use it on them, you might sting them a little, but it won't keep them from doing damage,” one of the other Knights of the Round Table says.
My forces start forming a protective circle around me. I don't know if they are even cognizant of what they are doing. It looks like a well-choreographed dance routine. I end up with a two man deep ring about eight feet in front of me on all sides. Sebby and Gabe stand close to me ready to attack.
“Nice dwellers of this fores
t, is there anything we can do to get our passage granted without a loss of life?” I ask just throwing the thought out there.
“You brought brains with you today. That is a new one for you Fae,” the woman says and I am betting she has come out for everyone to see. Everyone except the one who still doesn't meet the height requirements at the amusement parks.
“Are we allowed to see the wise one?” the man asks. He too sounds closer.
“We would prefer you didn't,” Ian claims. “She does pose an interesting question.”
“That she does,” the man replies. “To answer it, yes you can be granted free passage to wherever you are heading in the woods, for a small price.”
The woman laughs and I expect the price we are going to have to pay is going to be steep.
“Name it. I will find a way to pay it,” I vow. Yeah, it is probably a stupid move on my part, but in the heat of the moment it sounds good.
“Great. You really are the smart one in the group. The fee is simple. Give us one person to play with and the rest of you are free to go,” the man answers.
I should have seen that one coming. It is an old familiar tune that has been played out so many times in history.
“Can we take a second to talk about this?” Sebastian asks.
“Of course, just keep in mind that whatever the wise one answers with cannot be changed. I suggest you choose wisely. Ah, but since she is so wise to begin with, that shouldn't be difficult.”
The main circle stays in place, but my personal guards do turn around to add their input.
“If you can promise me you will take care of Frank, I will stay behind,” Jonas starts us off.
“No, you deserve to get that retribution yourself, I have lived longer than you so I should stay,” Walt says.
“No way, you are both better fighters than me, I nominate myself,” Jake says.
“If that is the criteria we are basing things off of, I am the least trained here,” Will says. “I could actually be an issue in real battle. Maybe I should hang back.”
Holy crap. I didn't see the talk going like this. I wasn’t expecting a talk to begin with.
“If it were between me and Alex, I would say pick me to stay. My legacy is already in place and he has work left to do,” Sebastian states.
“No, I will give myself up before the King,” Marcus says and that is enough for him.
“It would be an appropriate punishment for my months of doubting you,” Smitty adds.
“Just to comment on Sebastian's statement, it would need to be me you picked if you were choosing between us,” Alex claims. “He has to be there for your child. I don't.”
“You two are idiots. She cannot choose either of you because at your demise she goes too. Go ahead and pick me,” Dante says. “I am kind of the new kid on the block and odd man out. You have stronger connections with the others.”
I really wish they would slow down. It is hard to take all of their requests for death in at once.
“I will point out that they said play and not necessarily kill,” Gabe says. “Either way, me or the Hellhound would be the best choices. We are sturdier than the rest of you. They might not even be able to kill us.”
“I am game if that means you get Grandpa back home safe and sound. I will bark at them a couple of times and watch my breath eat away their skin.”
I really hope they are done because I don't want to hear anymore. If I give the Fae an opportunity, I bet I will hear more of the same and I already know that the standard guards would all offer. “I choose me,” I say before anyone can stop me.
“No!” Is shouted by enough voices that I swear the trees start shaking.
What did they really expect me to say? I love everyone here in some fashion. I cannot just hand one of them over to be the new play toy of Dr. Creepy and his wife, Mrs. Stabsalot.
“Are you sure about your answer?” the woman asks. She doesn't sound as upbeat.
“No, she wants to reconsider,” Sebby says before I can open my mouth.
“I do not. You guys said my answer would be final, so your question is moot.”
“I won't let you stay by yourself. I am staying with you and Sophia,” Sebastian states.
It would be really handy if Sophia would come out right now. I know I have said, or thought, that a few times, but I could hand her off to Sebby and let him go on his way. I was afraid he would stay behind, but I wouldn't change my choice.
“I will have to stay, too. I cannot let you two die alone,” Alex says and comes over to take my hand. “We are all in this together, to the very end.”
They are making me a little emotional, but I am going to be strong. I don't need other people deciding they should stay back as well.
“It won't be necessary,” the Grim says. “She answered the riddle correctly. I can't say that has ever happened before. It really takes the fun out of things.”
“Riddle?” I ask. What in the world is he talking about? If he thinks his little ultimatum was some kind of riddle, someone needs to get him a dictionary.
“This sucks. I was really looking forward to having some fun,” the woman claims. “She even had people offering and that doesn't tend to happen either. One claimed we probably wouldn't even be able to kill him. What kind of logic is that?”
“Wise logic. We have finally met our match, Helen.”
“It just isn't fair, Alastair. They won't even let us see her. We should be allowed that much, right?”
At least I have names for the duo. I do like the woman's name since it happens to be the same as one of my favorite knives.
“I think it is safe to stand down. I gave myself up anyway,” I point out. “I am still looking for some clarification on what just happened.”
No one makes a move to part, so I have to take matters into my own hands. Everyone is going to be in trouble later for make me waddle around. The closest exit point is straight ahead through Walt, which is about the equivalent of a beetle taking on Mount Everest. The fact that he looks like Sebastian at the present moment isn't abnormal at all.
“Walt, don't make me do something crazy.”
“I think you already did, Niece. You remind me more of your father every day. He is going to be so proud when he gets to see you again.” He moves out of my way and the guard in front of him does the same. Sebby and Alex are tight by my sides.
I am able to see the two figures standing in the clearing in front of us now. The Blue Hag looks just like I would imagine. She looks like an old crone with a huge misshapen nose and puffy, slightly distorted face. She is wrapped in blue rags, accounting for the blue in her species name. I see the staff Ian mentioned clasped tightly in her right hand. It looks like it is the only thing keeping her vertical.
The man is covered from head to toe in a black robe. With his hands crossed at his chest, I see no skin at all. He may as well be a green alien from outer space.
“This is her? She is so pretty, and young. Why do you glow?” Helen asks.
“My name is Nyx. I don't really know if you are seeing the true me or the one I am pretending to be.”
“The glamour doesn't work on us. Unless there is another spell in place, we are seeing you,” the man replies. “What are you?”
“Are you going to answer my question about the riddle?” I think since they have been toying with us, it is only fair that I get my questions answered first.
“Grims like to pose riddles to their victims before killing them,” Ian answers. “It didn't sound like much of a riddle to me.” Me either.
“Doesn't really matter. I consider it a riddle and it is my favorite one to ask a group. No one can ever solve it. I was sure when everyone started offering themselves to you I was going to win again. It really is too bad. You have such a strong force gathered here. Any one of them would have given us hours of enjoyment.”
I meet so many weird people. “There is three of her,” Helen gasps. Hilda and Phee skip over to get a closer look at the pair.
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br /> “The world is not ready for that,” Alex says under his breath. I am pretty sure I had earlier thoughts along the same line. If not, I should have.
“No, they are my decoys. Some idiots are holding my father hostage in your lovely woods and since I am pregnant, we devised this plan to hopefully protect me. Why I am telling you all of this I don't know. Is it okay if we are on our way? We are on a deadline here.”
“The baby would account for some of the glowing, but not all of it. You are otherworldly, right? Angels haven't been allowed in this land ever. How did you get clearance?” The man is looking me over carefully.
“I don't think it was known when my entrance visa was granted. Once I got here, it was too late to send me back.” They are showing no signs of being done with the conversation. I wonder what they would do if I just walked away.
“Interesting. Well, Nyx, maybe we will be lucky enough to meet you again. For now, you mentioned you were otherwise occupied, so my request that you come visit for some tea and crumpets will have to wait. A visitor is closing in fast and I am not sure if he is friend or foe to you. We will leave you to decide,” Alastair says and then him and Helen turn into smoke and float away on a breeze that came from out of nowhere.
“Nyxie, boy am I happy I found you first,” a voice says before sweeping me up for a bear hug. Only one person calls me that and I know his gesture isn't going to go over well with my mates. He has proven that he is still an idiot. I have my knives still in my hands and hugs are not wise with an armed girl. Add in that he is squeezing my belly and you have an armed, unhappy girl.
Chapter 15
A strange blast from the past
Alex starts growling to let Ryan know he is about to become reindeer chow. Ryan doesn't let that deter him and he gives an extra squeeze. Is he trying to push Sophia right out of me?