New World Order (War of the Fae: Book 4) (22 page)

“And what did the email say?” asked Dardennes, politely ignoring my psychosis.

I took over to answer, “It said my mom’s been in an accident and she’s dying.”

“Oh, my goodness,” said Céline, “that’s terrible.”
 
She looked very concerned, which made me like her even more.
 
She really was a nice person ... fae.

“Yes.
 
The only problem is, I don’t know if it’s true or not.
 
And if it is, I’m willing to bet just about anything it was her asshole husband that caused her to have an accident.
 
He’s a violent person with zero morals – total sociopath.”

“This is a problem,” said Dardennes, deep in thought from the looks on his face.
 
“Of course you must return, in the event that this is unfortunate true news of your mother.
 
Walking the Gray will not help us – we cannot depend on a clouded and skewed version of what’s really happening – we need to know the reality of the situation.
 
But of course, we cannot have you going back into something that was designed to get you there.”

“What are you thinking, Anton?” asked Céline.

“I’m considering sending her with a contingent of fae – a few we can afford to spare right now.”

“I’m not going without Chase,” I said emphatically.

Céline looked at me with pity.
 
“Jayne, you know that’s not possible.
 
He’s Dark Fae now.”

“Yeah, but I’ve talked to him recently.
 
I know he’ll come.”

Dardennes raised an eyebrow at this, looking at Céline to see if she had the same reaction.
 
She was just as surprised as he was.
 
I guessed from this interaction that news of my escapades from yesterday had not yet made it out to the rumor mill.

“And how did you get in touch with him?” he asked.

“Through Becky,” I said, hesitantly, realizing I should have probably come and reported all this to them as soon as we got back, especially the Becky part.

“Explain, Jayne,” said Dardennes, a shadow moving across his face.
 

“Yeah ... uh ... sorry about that.
 
I really should have mentioned it before.
 
I guess we got kind of distracted.”

“Yes,” he agreed, still waiting for the explanation.

“Okay, so a few of us went into the forest to get in touch with Chase yesterday.
 
And we ended up contacting Becky instead.
 
She came and talked to us, telling us how she hadn’t been killed, just injured by a witch who doesn’t know her asshole from a hole in the ground ... ”

My explanation was interrupted by Dardennes clearing his throat and raising his eyebrows, but I soldiered on, ignoring his whatever it was – admonition maybe.

“... And so Becky’s in the clinic over there for a few more days before she joins us here again.
 
She’s not Dark Fae or anything – she’s just using their medical care.
 
And Chase said he’s coming back too.
 
When his treatment is over and when he’s ... um ... finished with some other business.”

Now Céline was giving me ‘the look’.
 
All adults seem to be able to do this completely without effort.

I sighed heavily.
 
“Okay, more shit I probably should have told you yesterday.
 
I’m glad you’re sitting down.
 
So, turns out, Chase
is
from the Overworld.
 
At least that’s what he says.
 
He’s here to stop an uprising of the Underworld or some such nonsense I’m not exactly sure I understand or believe.
 
All those orcs we’ve been seeing – and yeah, before you go off on me, I have seen a couple more of them and it’s totally my fault you don’t know and I forgot to tell you – well, supposedly these orcs are only the beginning of all the bad demon-types we’re going to be seeing around here.
 
Chase is trying to work with the Dark Fae to get them to see reason ... then he’s coming back here to work on convincing you guys.”

I stopped for a breath and a reality check.
 
I couldn’t tell from their faces whether they were mad, sad, or anything in between.
 
I sucked at reading silver elf minds.
 
I wondered if Tony could.
 
He was pretty damn good at reading mine.

Tony started talking next, filling the uncomfortable silence.
 
“I was going to speak to the gray elves about it this evening, actually.
 
I’m not sure how much of Chase’s story I believe, but I think it’s worth looking into.
 
I am quite sure that Chase believed what he was saying, if my empath skills were working properly.”

Céline looked at Dardennes and he nodded at her.
 
She began speaking.
 
“We have heard some things similar to what you are saying now – that Chase has expressed to you; however, we consider the more immediate concern, the one involving the Dark Fae attacking our people, to be of greater importance right now.
 
Therefore, for the time being, that will be our focus.
 
But of course we would welcome Chase or Becky back into our midst, so long as they are able to pass the test of loyalty when they return.”

“Test?
 
What kind of test?
 
Like a lie detector?”

“Yes.
 
In a way,” said Céline.
 
“We just need to be sure we are not taking any spies into our midst.
 
You understand, I’m sure.”

“Sure,” I said, nodding, looking over to Tony to confirm his agreement.
 
He seemed to be of the same mind.
 
“I totally agree with that.
 
I know Chase is one of the good guys.
 
I’m not worried about it.”

“So you believe you can convince Chase to go back to Florida with you?” asked Dardennes.

“Yes.”

Dardennes looked to Céline again.
 
“Who else could we spare?”

“Why not the twins?”

My face broke out in a look of horror.
 
“You can’t possibly be serious!”

Dardennes and Céline both looked at me, confusion on their faces.
 

“You’re talking about the twins who almost sucked me dry last night, right?
 
Or are there other twins around here not being talked about by every single fae male in a five mile radius?”

“No,” answered Dardennes, “there is only one set of twins in the compound at this time.
 
Two succubi from California.”

“Yeah.
 
Okay.
 
No thanks.
 
You can keep those bitches way the hell away from me,” I said emphatically.

“Jayne!” laughed out Céline involuntarily, “Please, don’t be so ... quick to judge.”
 
She immediately got herself back under control with a little cough and throat clearing.

“Have you ever been attacked by two playboy bunnies with a craving for a Céline energy cocktail?
 
No, I think not.
 
Otherwise you wouldn’t be suggesting I take them with me.
 
No friggin’ way.
 
I’d rather take Gorm than them.”

“You cannot.
 
He eats humans.”

“Yeah.
 
I know.
 
That’s what I mean.
 
I’d rather have a cannibal with me than a couple of So-Cal, spirit-sucking psycho-cheerleaders.
 
Maybe he could eat my mother’s husband and save me the trouble of blasting him to hell and back.”

Dardennes smiled.
 
“I will assure your safety and the safety of the others who are travelling with you.
 
I believe the twins are your best offense and defense.
 
If you were to run into trouble, I’m certain they could assist you better than anyone – other than your daemon of course.”

“What about Jared?
 
I could take two daemons with me instead of two cheerleaders.”

“Jared is busy recruiting.
 
We do not expect him back for another week.”

I hadn’t seen him in what seemed like ages, so I knew they were telling the truth.

“How about some witches?
 
How about Valentine?
 
How about
Niles
, for crying out loud?
 
Anyone else.
 
You have no idea how much shit I’m going to get from everyone, going on a trip with them.”

“What do you mean?”

I shook my head, resigned.
 
I really didn’t want to have to explain the humiliation of the fae-gone-wild rumors that Finn and Spike were only too happy to spread.
 
“Never mind.
 
Who else can I take?”

“We could probably spare one green elf as well.
 
Tony, I assume you will want to go?”

Tony nodded his assent.

“Okay, so I have Tony, Chase, the twins, and Finn.”
 
I looked over to verify with Finn that he was with us and he nodded, so I continued, “You think that’s good enough?”

“We’d like to send more, but we have problems to manage here and many other fae joining us who need to be brought up to speed with our plans.”
 
Céline shared a look with Dardennes before continuing.
 
“Would you like me to go, Jayne?”

“Can you fight?”

Céline shrugged.
 
“I’ve been known to lift a sword on occasion.”

“Seriously?”
 
I looked at Céline with newfound respect.
 
“Okay.
 
You can come.
 
Bring the sword.
 
Your biggest, sharpest one.”
 
She’d be able to keep those damn twins away from me and possibly stab Rick the Dick – or maybe even cut off his protruding parts.
 
I was feeling better already.

“I will get the plane ready.
 
Anton, can you please speak with the twins for me?”

“It will be my pleasure.”

I nudged Tony.
 
“I need you to get in touch with Chase.
 
Can you do it?”

“Yes.
 
Come on.
 
Let’s go do it now.”

“Please meet us by the airplane door in three hours,” said Céline, all business now.
 
“We should be able to get the flight plan filed and the plane fueled by that time.
 
Luckily, a group of Light Fae just landed, so the jet is warmed up.
 
We just have to find our back-up pilots since the ones who just flew are already too near their daily maximum flying hours.”

“I’ll take care of all of those details and of notifying the council.
 
Céline, you go gather your things.”
 
Dardennes nodded at Tony and me as he strode from the room.
 
Céline was on his heels, her long cloak swishing around her legs.

 
“Come on,” said Tony, grabbing my hand.
 
We ran from the room and down the hall, the Infinity Meadow our destination.

As soon as we were outside, Tony dropped to the ground to sit cross-legged.
 
“Okay, take my hand and think of Chase as hard as you can.
 
Anything about him will work.”

I sat across from him and grabbed his hand, focusing on my memories of Chase.
 
The Green snuck in a little and lent a feeling of fantasy world around it all.
 
I thought of his strong arms, his Adonis-like face, his loyalty to me.
 
I remembered him like he was – stoic and calm in the face of any situation – and I remembered him like he is now – talkative, expressive, and full of what I hoped was desire for me.
 
I tried not to let my sexier thoughts intrude, but it was nearly impossible.
 
I decided not to try and block them, since I really needed Tony to be able to reach him.
 
Tony squeezed my hand as images of Chase without his shirt on flitted across my mind.
 
I whispered, “Sorry,” under my breath, but kept going.
 
I remembered what it had felt like when Chase picked me up inside the Dark Fae compound after I’d been beaten and tortured – how safe it felt there.
 
And I thought about the secrets he’d shared with me yesterday and what it could mean for us in the future.

Tony dropped my hand, pulling me out of my internal movie line.
 
“It’s done.
 
I reached him.
 
He’s on his way.”

“Is he coming here?”

“Yep.
 
All we have to do is wait.”

I smiled at him, squeezing his knee.
 
“Do you have any idea how cool that is?
 
That you can just walk between realms and find people like that?
 
Talk to them?”

Tony grinned back at me.
 
“Yeah.
 
It is pretty awesome.
 
I wish some of my friends from computer club could see it.
 
They would totally go nuts.”