“I don’t like it when you get that look in your eyes,
Cerridwen. What will you do?”
“I will call in some markers I have in places you
don’t want to know about.”
“It is almost dawn and we must go down into the
vault,” a breathless Vampire sentry said as he went down on one knee before
Elder Vlad. “Caleb never came back. We have searched high and low for him. He
could have been injured or killed by our enemies.”
“I highly doubt that,” Vlad said coolly, feeling his
energy waning with the approaching light. “My registers would have informed me
of his extinguished existence. Find him, now!”
“Your Excellency?” The bewildered sentry looked up and
then glanced at the blue-gray sky through the mansion window.
“Have our human friends hunt for him
by day.
Be
gone from my sight before I decide to allow daylight to make you wiser next
time.”
The sentry stood and quickly backed out of the room.
Elder Vlad released a weary sigh and then stood to go to the false wall that
would lead him down to the sun-proof vault. But just as he turned, his floor
frosted over and the message from Queen Cerridwen Blatant of Hecate was crystal
clear.
“Will it always be like this?” Jennifer asked in a
tight whisper, pressing her face into the crook of Crow’s shoulder.
“No. uhm, you mean war? Naaaah.
things will normal out. Just—”
“War? That, too? Dragons?” she said in a high-pitched
whisper. “Plus, all the women in your family, when they saw me they, they,
turned into really angry wolves and then your big pack brother, Bear Shadow, he
got in between me and them—thank God he was there—then dragons showed up. I thought
I was hallucinating, and then everything went black.”
“Look, baby, don’t mind them. They were just trying to
battle-challenge you to see what your rank would be in the pack, you know?”
Jennifer rapidly shook her head. “No! I don’t know,
Crow! Are you crazy?”
“Uh, well, yeah, I feel you. That probably didn’t come
out right. But what I meant was, you were new.”
She drew back from him and stared at him with wide
eyes. “I’m new?” She looked around the beautifully appointed room. “No.
this
is new.”
“Yeah, the Fae are kinda cool, if I must say so
myself. Very fly how they hooked up the room with the Fairy dust and Pixie
sprinkles and whatnot, clothes, food, hey. and their baths, man.
wait till you get in the tub.”
“Fairies did this?” She squeezed her eyes shut
tightly. “Now you’re telling me there are actually Fairies?”
“Yeah, girl. where you been? Beats
Vampires and demons—but, like, we can talk about all that other stuff when you
feel better.”
When she began to hyperventilate he gave her a kiss
and smiled a wolf smile, then took her by the hand to lead her to the bathtub.
“So, if the rustic outdoors just isn’t you. Sir Rodney might be
cool with letting us rent a room in the palace or something. He doesn’t have a
problem with you being a human and me being a wolf. Besides, the more I think
about it, this really isn’t a bad place to raise a kid.”
“You haven’t slept at all,” Shogun said, spooning Amy
in a possessive embrace.
“How can I sleep, Husband? People died because of me.
my parents—”
“No one died because of you.” Shogun climbed over
Amy’s body and faced her. “No one. You must never think that. This was the
doing of demons and Vampires.”
“No,” Amy said quietly, sitting up. “I can feel her,
still, your aunt. She is not in me, but she is still. somehow—she
exists.”
“Sasha sent her to the Light. We killed her in the
bayou. What you have left is horrible memories and some of the physical traits
that she left in your body when she tried to take you over and possessed you.
but that is all.”
Amy shook her head. “Shogun, just saying something is
so doesn’t mean that it is. I know what I feel.” She hugged herself as though
staving off a cold chill. “There is a good witch in the castle. the
one who became blinded by your aunt when she was helping Sir Rodney help you
search for me.”
“Esmeralda? Yes, she lives here in the sidhe,” Shogun
said in a worried tone. “But what would you need—”
“I want to talk to her. She is also psychic, yes?”
“I don’t feel comfortable about any of this.” Shogun
stood and paced at the foot of the bed. “At sunrise, we go to war with the Fae.
We will overturn every Vampire grave until there are no more. I will not let
them harm you. The sidhe has been sealed to demon breach. I swear upon my
life—”
“That’s just it,” Amy said quietly. “I don’t want you
to swear upon your life or to go to war. There must be another way.” She stood
and searched for a robe. “My decision is final. I want to speak to Esmeralda
before anyone else has to die.”
Somewhere in the night, Hunter had climbed into bed
beside her. But she’d been so exhausted that she never even stirred. Now his
warmth soaked into her bones. The steady rise and fall of his chest and his
deep breaths kept her hovering in the twilight between being awake and not
quite. But she knew she had to get up. Morning was not long away, and if they
were going to redress Vampires they would need every moment of available
sunlight to lob a strategic offensive.
Yet when she tried to extricate herself from Hunter’s
arms he slowly tightened his grip on her.
Sasha smiled and yawned. “I thought you were asleep.”
“I was,” he said in a deep rumble, and kissed the back
of her head.
“We have to get up; daylight’s about to burn, man.”
“You promised you’d kiss my boo-boo, later. It’s
later.”
She chuckled and snuggled back against him. “You do
realize we don’t have time for that this morning, don’t you?”
“Yeah. but since I was half-asleep, it was
nice to dream.”
She snuggled more deeply against him. “How’re you
feeling?”
“Much improved, can’t you tell?”
Her chuckle deepened as she felt his morning salute
against her backside. “Uh, yeah. But I’ve been thinking about this whole
demon-deal thing. Something about a fighting force as strong as Erinyes
breaching a sidhe stronghold, all over some young woman’s body they were
promised, seems a lot like overkill. I think we’re getting played somehow, and
I wanna talk to Rodney and Cerridwen before this thing gets even further out of
control.”
“Okay, I’m up,” Hunter said, sitting up and scratching
his head. “But damn, Sasha, can a man get a cup of coffee, first?”
“I feel that after all you’ve sacrificed, I have no
right to even be here asking you to possibly sacrifice more.” Amy turned her
wedding band around and around on her finger as she spoke quietly, keeping her
eyes averted from the pretty, sightless woman who’d not long ago given up her
eyes to find her.
“This is more for me than it is for you,” Esmeralda
said, lifting her chin. “Sir Rodney means the world to me, always has.
and when he came to me with a just case, I could not refuse him. And now.
now that the empress has taken my eyes in an act of pure cruelty, any
opportunity to foil her—even if it means my life—gives me more joy than you can
imagine.”
“This could be dangerous,” Sasha warned, looking
around Garth’s magick room at the others.
“You have guards who are adepts,” Esmeralda said
calmly. “This room is full.”
“Aye,” Garth said, placing a gnarled hand on her
shoulder. “The shaman of the wolves is here, Silver Hawk, as well as the one they
call Doc. and I am no novice. Shogun and Hunter, two warrior wolf
brothers, are here with their enforcers. Sasha’s team: the dark arts
specialist, Bradley, and her seer, Clarissa, plus two familiars—Woods and
Fisher—and the young computer adept, Winters. And of course my wizards are all
here to guide you.”
“Thank you for letting me know who was in the room
with me,” Esmeralda said, and then reached over her shoulder to squeeze Garth’s
hand. “You always try to casually slip it in and to treat me as though I’m not
blind, but I am. However, I have strengthened my other senses since the
accident.”
Garth gave her a kiss on the cheek and touched her
hair. “I understand why Rodney will always love you so.”
Silence hung in the room as Garth drew away from the
young woman.
“So let us begin and call Lady Jung Suk’s spirit from
beyond the other side of the veil.”
Garth swirled his wand over the gleaming round crystal
table as Esmeralda grasped Amy’s hands. Others in the room formed a tight
circle around Garth, Amy, and Esmeralda. Garth’s wizards lit the stone walls,
ceiling, and floor with strange-moving protective Celtic symbols and then
nodded to Garth.
“Anything that comes in here from the darkness will
not escape should it be so foolish to manifest and attack,” Garth said. “We
begin.”
“And what if the Erinyes return while she’s in trance
or if Lady Jung Suk comes forward?” Shogun asked, glancing around the room at
the warriors present.
“Then I have something for that bitch, just in case
the white magick doesn’t work,” Sasha said, patting an Uzi that was packed with
silver shells. “I am so tired of her, you have no idea.”
Hunter offered his brother a half smile and a shrug.
“She woke up like that this morning, man. What can I say?”
“My queen,” Elder Futhark said, going down on one knee
before Queen Cerridwen in the castle war room. “A missive from the Unseelie
provinces that Vampires are poised for tunnel deployment coming in from
overseas,” he added breathlessly as the garrison leaders and Sir Rodney
listened intently. “Our sources from gnome underground camps say they’ve felt
rumblings coming as far away as the old-country maps—Romania, Bosnia, Croatia,
the old Czech Republic, Russia, and of course Transylvania.”
“Thank you, Futhark. You have done well. Are my forces
in place?”
“Yes,” he said, still kneeling. “But suffering
terribly in the heat of the swamp.”
“As are all of Sir Rodney’s men,” she said with a
dismissive wave of her hand. “Rise and please await further instructions from
our monarch.”
Elder Futhark stood slowly, sharing confused glances
with the Seelie leadership who were present.
Sir Rodney nodded and stood and then began walking
around his massive round table. “The Scots, are ye ready? Sir Gordon, I trust
you with my life.”
“Aye,” a ruddy brunette said, glancing around the
table and gaining nods from his fellow dragon riders. “Till the last man
stands.”
“Good man.” Sir Rodney went to him and exchanged a
hearty warrior handshake. “Glad to have ye with us, Cousin.”
“Muldane,” Sir Rodney said, turning to a bulky warrior
with a thick red beard. “The fighting Irish be with us?”
“Indeed, sire. Wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
“Nor I,” Sir Rodney said, chuckling as he patted
Muldane on the back.
“Do not count out the Welsh,” a sinewy fighter said,
his gaze intense despite his jaunty smile.
“Nor the Brits!” another called out, each receiving a
personal handshake of recognition from Sir Rodney.
“Good,” Sir Rodney said, after making the rounds.
“Seelie ground forces will work with Unseelie Gnomes in the underground
ambushes. Gnomes dig up; my infantrymen slash and burn on the surface. Anything
that goes airborne gets shot with Unseelie ice to make it fall, and as it’s
hurtling earth bound our aerial squadrons scorch it. Archers remain in the
trees, focus on keeping gargoyles grounded. I want all forces poised to bring
the battle to the bayou, not over human populations. Draw the Vampires out and
into battle near the UCE courthouse, deep within the swamps, we clear? You wait
for my signal. Any questions?”
Nervous glances passed around the room and finally
Muldane cleared his throat.
“The Bonnie Isles are with you all the way, sire, but
we must confess this is a bit unusual in two ways.” Muldane looked around the
table. “No disrespect, but me and my men never expected to be fighting side by
side with Unseelie forces. I think I speak for the men present when we say this
somewhat. I don’t know what to call it.”
Queen Cerridwen lifted her chin and Sir Rodney thrust
his shoulders back.
“Whot is to know is that demons and Vampires threaten
our collective Fae way of life. Is it not the Fae way to fend off the enemy
first, and then sort out our differences behind our own Sidhe walls?”
“Aye,” Gordon said, casting a frown toward Muldane.
“That is enough of an explanation for me.”
Muldane smiled and gave Sir Rodney a curt nod. “Then
that be enough for me—no feathers need to fly.”
“You said you had a second question,” Sir Rodney said,
slowly circling the table. “Get them all out before we commence to battle!”
“The timing, sire,” Muldane said, nonplussed. “Why
wait for nightfall when we can catch these bastards in their lairs asleep?”
“Because we are waiting on séance information—it is
not just the Vampires we are dealing with, but also the Erinyes.”