Daegan drew in a deep breath of air that smelled fresh and lively. He grinned, opening his arms wide. "Now this is fit for a king."
"Actually, it's fit for a queen," Storm said, kissed Evalle on the temple, then went to a cabinet built into the side. He opened a door to what these people called a refrigerator and pulled out bottles of water and beer.
The world had progressed in some very handy ways since Daegan's youth.
Adrianna and Evalle accepted water.
Daegan nodded his thanks at the beer offered to him, glad to see Tristan and Storm also drink a brew. It wasn't as if any of them could be intoxicated with a few beers.
Perched upon her chair and wearing a tidy outfit of jeans, small boots and a frilly red shirt, Adrianna's blond hair had been fussed into an attractive, but all-business, style on top of her head.
Daegan had learned that the human named Isak had treated Adrianna poorly, but this woman was no wilting flower to be wronged easily.
Evalle and Storm took the wide lounge seating, which stretched halfway across the end of the room. Once they did, Tristan sat on the next available chair, looking around and clearly impressed by what appeared to be his first visit as well.
Adrianna asked Storm, "Evalle told me about this room and how she can sit up here without the sun affecting her. How did you do that, Storm?"
"I brought in a shaman who spent a series of days blessing this area, plus I created a special ward," he said, not really giving specifics. "There's a little more to it than that and I'd appreciate it if you all kept this secret. From the outside, it looks like bricks along the exterior of this level."
When Tristan caught Evalle's eye, he leaned over and quietly said, "Nice crib, E. Glad you can finally have a place to call home."
"Thanks."
Settling into a chair, Daegan sighed in delight at the comfort. "Okay, time to get down to business. I've managed to visit most of the North American Belador divisions and quite a few of the European ones. I'll meet more of our forces as I have time. For now, word should be spreading about my taking over Macha's position and that I will protect my people." Allowing that to sink in, Daegan asked, "What is this Tristan tells me about Belador families being targeted, Maistir?"
Quinn filled everyone in on a troll nest raid that had been successful earlier that evening. He said, "We saved two teens, but we still have six more missing and three dead Belador spouses."
"Six? This has to stop," Daegan announced with heat. "Do we know who is behind it?"
"The trolls are being paid with Noirre majik to kidnap the children, so our guess is Queen Maeve."
Daegan agreed, "Sounds like her. She's tucked inside TAmr Medb with Cathbad the Druid. Between the two of them and their coven, they could hold off a Belador army if we tried to invade that tower."
"That was our thought as well," Quinn said.
"We are not leaving here without a plan of attack, but I want to hear everything before we strategize." All of this reminded Daegan of another pressing issue with Queen Maeve. "Speaking of children, what progress have you made in locating your daughter, Quinn?"
"Sadly, very little. I spoke with Garwyli after you asked him to assist us. He's been searching on his own. He's checked on all female Beladors born under the PRIN star who would be the age of my daughter, but there is no guarantee that she was born under that star."
Adrianna spoke up. "If it's not asking confidential information, I've heard Garwyli mentioned, but could someone explain who he is and what you mean by someone being born under a star?"
The other four looked to Daegan who said, "Adrianna is part of my inner circle, and as such, she is trusted with all that goes on with the Beladors."
The petite Sterling witch gave him a deep nod. "Thank you. I will never betray that trust."
Evalle spoke up. "Now that you're cleared for any classified information, future Belador warriors are born under the PRIN star, but that doesn't mean all Belador children will be. The way I understand it, when it does happen, our druids locate them as children and whisper a Gaelic phrase into their ears. As they come of age at eighteen, the druid returns to tell them of their destiny. He gives them the opportunity to join the Beladors as warriors, or not."
"Hold it right there," Tristan said. "No one came to see me or my foster sister as kids or when either of us turned eighteen."
"You know, I think you mentioned that once but we don't talk about this much, so I forgot," Evalle admitted. "We should ask Garwyli about you two when we're in Treoir again. I'd say it's because we're Alterants, but a druid did come to see me at eighteen. That's how I got out of the basement where I was locked up. When he asked if I wanted to be a Belador warrior, I jumped to escape."
Storm curled his arm tighter around her shoulders and hugged her to him. "You're amazing."
She beamed at her mate. "Thanks."
Tristan made a curt noise.
Storm sent him a look that promised pain.
Daegan snorted at the two, then wondered aloud, "That is strange about Tristan and his sister not being contacted. We'll look into it at some point."
Tristan shrugged. "I don't care how I got here. I was just clearing it up that not all future Beladors are found as kids."
Adrianna had been listening with her head cocked to the side. "Good point. Now, what about Garwyli?"
Evalle continued, "He's an old Celtic druid."
Tristan said, "Ancient is more like it. He's older than dirt." Then Tristan caught himself and looked at Daegan and said, "Unlike our dragon king, who is robust with health."
Evalle laughed. "Nice save. While you drag your foot out of your mouth, I'll finish. Garwyli normally stays in Treoir. I don't really know his history, but from all I've seen he's powerful and wise." She smiled at Storm when she added, "He gave us a gift that we may never be able to repay."
By the look of thankfulness on Quinn's face, he must have known of the gift Storm and Evalle received.
Storm nodded then glanced at Daegan. "Seems to me Garwyli lived during your time. Did you know him?"
"I knew of him. We were aware that Garwyli was a powerful being, and he received high respect as a druid during my day, but I didn't know him personally back then."
At that, Quinn sat forward, leaning his elbows on his knees. "Now that everyone knows some of the Belador history, you'll understand why I had hoped Garwyli could shed some light on locating Phoedra, but that hasn't happened. I have no idea if she's inherited Belador powers from me or Medb powers from Kizira, something from both or nothing at all. The biggest problem is that I can't expose her presence to anyone outside of our group, which limits the resources I'm able to access."
"I've tried to tap Witchlock for locating your daughter," Adrianna admitted, raising eyebrows around the room. "It could be possible, but I'm nowhere close to being proficient with the power, I'm sad to say."
"How close are you?" Storm asked.
Adrianna folded her hands neatly in her lap. "As you have all trusted me with your world, I want to tell you the truth about where I am with controlling Witchlock. When I bring up the power, like this ..." She paused and extended her right arm, then opened her hand where a tennis-ball-size, white energy spun. "I can feel energy that would allow me to easily topple a building or kill a mage without question."
Murmurs fluttered around the room at that admission.
Daegan was glad to have Adrianna on his team and not as an adversary.
Adrianna said, "However, I keep the majority of that energy contained. Let me give you a reference point for what all of Witchlock energy feels like. First, visualize standing in front of the Hoover Dam, which has thousands of gallons of water pressing against it."
"I think I read forty-five thousand pounds of water per square foot," Evalle supplied.
Everyone looked at her.
"Hey, before Storm came along, I spent a lot of time alone with a computer and a miniature gargoyle whose vocabulary consisted of ten numbers."
Adrianna smiled then returned to her example. "Okay, now that you have visual of the pressure against that wall, think about a mouse standing there trying to figure out how to release a little water at a time, but knowing one wrong move could crack open the wall and all of that power would crush everything in its path. If I unleash Witchlock without being sure I can control it, I could kill myself and millions in the blink of an eye."
"Wow," Tristan uttered.
Daegan had never known anyone who admitted to possessing that level of power and yet being unsure how to use it. Tristan had filled him in on whatever he knew about each person on Daegan's team. Tristan had known Witchlock was formidable and put Adrianna into her own witch classification, but the amazed look on his right-hand man's face indicated the word formidable had been a severe understatement.
Quinn said, "Thank you for trying, Adrianna."
"You're welcome, Quinn, but I also want to share that I'm having visions when I sleep."
"Do they relate to Phoedra?"
"Not necessarily, but I can't rule that out. I always had visions growing up, but once Veronika took my twin and used her to generate power, I gained an unwanted connection to Veronika."
Daegan said, "Tristan filled me in on Veronika, but is she still an issue?"
"She shouldn't be. She's imprisoned beneath VIPER for an undetermined amount of time. She'll likely live out her days there because she threatened every being with any level of power."
"Even gods and goddesses?" Daegan clarified.
"Yes," echoed around the room.
That surprised Daegan. "Based on everything I've heard about the Tribunal, I would have expected them to put her to death. Why didn't they?"
Evalle said, "I think they're afraid of her. I would be very careful killing her after meeting her ancestors. Adrianna and I went to a realm where the spirits of Veronika's ancestors continued to thrive as the landscape, animals, insects, anything in that realm." She shuddered. "Creepy place with a buttload of power constantly being generated, and she has a strange connection to it."
"Why did you go to her ancestors' realm?" Daegan still had much to discover about this group.
"Evalle was trying to help me free my twin," Adrianna replied, giving Evalle a look of appreciation. "Veronika had put my sister there to drain her power and use it to boost her own abilities when it came time to take control of Witchlock."
Daegan shook his head. "I've never heard of such a thing."
Tristan said, "Glad Adrianna took Witchlock. Veronika's realm sounds like a place we need to make sure she never accesses again."
"Evalle is never going back there," Storm stated in a tone that dared anyone to contradict him.
Evalle rolled her eyes, but agreed, "I have no desire to go back."
"Anyhow," Adrianna said, pulling everyone back to the point. "I was getting at the fact that I've had dream visions, but I can't give you specifics. I just sense that Veronika may be trying to open a connection to me."
"What does she say or do?" Evalle asked.
"That's just it. I can't pinpoint what's going on. It feels like she's testing a potential link between us. I'm telling you this for one simple reason. My sister died helping me take possession of Witchlock before Veronika could call the power to herself. If Veronika ever does open a path between us and I lose my grip on Witchlock ... " Adrianna paused, meeting the gazes of every person in the room before finishing. "You all need to realize that you can't allow her to live, even if I go down with her."
Evalle broke the silence that dropped over the room. "That's not going to happen as long as we can kick her butt. You may get a few bruises, but you're not dying any time soon."
Adrianna gave Evalle her signature wry, half smile. "Just know that I told you so."
"Understood," Daegan said in tone intended to let everyone know he was ready to move ahead.
"I will continue searching every way possible for Phoedra," Quinn said, tilting his head at Adrianna in thanks. "But for now, we must focus on stopping trolls and Medb from getting to our people. That's why I asked Tristan to have you meet with us, Daegan. On the way here, we learned of some missing Belador families."
"More families being attacked?" Daegan boomed.
"Possibly. But it's also possible that some warriors may have packed up their families and taken them into hiding."
A heavy layer of quiet settled on the room until Daegan said, "We have not yet established my rule to the point the warriors are ready to trust me. First, we will make it safe for all of their families. At that point, those who have gone into hiding will be given a chance to return and see that from there on, we must stand together to protect all."
"I think that's generous," Quinn said. "Since yesterday morning, there have been five attacks on the human families of Belador warriors. We're investigating more reports every hour. I'm going to speculate that any entire missing families are Beladors who have pulled away, because it appears the trolls and Medb are after teenagers. I say we put our resources to finding those children first."
"I agree." Daegan rubbed his head and dropped his hand. "We need a castle."
"You have one," Evalle pointed out.
"I mean in this land. We need a place to keep our people safe."
"That's not realistic when their lives are spread out in different areas."
"I understand," Daegan allowed. "We will round up every troll and member of the Medb coven if that's what it takes to protect our people."
"It may take more than that," Tristan pointed out. "I have a troll I consider a friend, and I caught up with him on the way here. He told me he believes the trolls we're hunting are coming in from outside of Atlanta for the Noirre majik bounty. It's not local trolls, because he has heard nothing of the bounty and the locals know they're allowed to reside here as long as they don't touch humans. They don't like this trouble any more than we do."
Daegan asked, "Can we bribe them to give us information on the new trolls coming in?"
"No." Tristan held up his hand to stall any argument. "They would help us for free just to clear any dark cloud over their people, but one of the elder trolls brought this problem forward yesterday at a meeting. He was killed right after he left. The rest of their people have gone underground, literally, which means they aren't out and about to see what's going on. I was lucky to get a cell call to connect, and my friend won't say where he's got his family stashed."
"I do hate to add to our troubles," Quinn interjected. "But on top of all this, our people are running hard around the clock to deal with terroristic preternatural activity popping up in different places. Humans are reporting strange beings sighted around the city, which sounds like trolls and/or the Medb are actually trying to out us all to humans. Plus there's also been a rash of missing adults from the human community. Nothing about those crimes points to a human serial killer and from what we saw earlier, we think the trolls are taking them for a food source."
Frowning in thought, Daegan asked, "Do you think this trouble is related to me meeting with our Belador warriors?"
"I doubt it." Quinn looked around and everyone agreed with him. "You've been gone from two to three days at a time over the past six weeks, so I don't see an obvious correlation. We had an increase in demon and troll activity for a while, but we thought it was Queen Maeve's witches and warlocks retaliating for her getting booted from VIPER."
"And?"
Evalle lifted a hand, asking Quinn for a chance to speak. "During the raid tonight on the troll nest, we found three human men, which was where we got the idea adults were being held for food. But one of the men is a journalist who ..."
"Journalist?" Daegan asked.
Evalle quickly explained the media and what reporters were. Daegan nodded. "Carry on."
She smirked and replied dryly, "Yes, your highness."
Storm coughed in the middle of drinking his beer, but failed to cover his smile.
Tristan and Quinn just gave her a look of no-you-didn't.
Daegan rolled his eyes. "Mouthy wench."
She laughed, then turned serious as she got back on track. "This journalist said people were following advertisements for information on paranormal sightings."
Evalle looked over at Tristan who said, "I know the group behind those ads."
"Can you not track this advertisement back to those who created it?"
Tristan said, "I can, but at the moment that group is harmless and not a threat to us. I have someone on the inside keeping me posted if that changes. Someone else is placing look-alike ads online to use as a trap for humans."
"Online what?" Daegan asked, starting to be annoyed at the things he didn't recognize.
Two thousand years had passed while he was out of touch.
"Online means they're using computers. It's difficult to trace illegal activity on the internet."
Quinn said, "I have people working on that, but their first feedback is that we're not going to find the source of these ads, as is usually the case with tracking hackers."
"We have to find out who is arranging the deals with trolls on behalf of the Medb. I doubt Queen Maeve will risk coming to the human world herself," Daegan said. "More than that, we need to figure out what the devil she has in mind for those children."
"That's just it," Evalle said, picking up the thread. "The journalist overheard the trolls arguing. One wanted to forget their deal and run, but the leader said once they accepted the Noirre majik they had no place to hide if they didn't do their part. The journalist said they spoke in another language at times so he only got pieces, but he picked up that the trolls were being paid in Noirre for something a queen wanted. This is how we put together the theory that the queen in question is Maeve, and that she is trading for teenage children of Beladors."
That bitch. Daegan would crush her for harming a child.
"As I mentioned earlier, we are woefully shorthanded and it's getting worse every day," Quinn added.
Daegan found that hard to accept. "We should not be shorthanded considering how many warriors we brought in recently from areas with low paranormal activity in central states."
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