Ana, you must stay here.
Her jaw dropped.
But I can help.
You re safer here than anywhere else, and I need you to watch over Rae s friends.
The inflection of Breandan s tone had a deeper meaning, and I squeezed his hand when he didn t elaborate. He lowered his voice,
Another protector of the grimoire is needed as well.
Ana had no trouble understanding whatever secret message he had for her since she sighed like a martyr.
Fine. I stay.
She looked at me.
Take care, Rae.
Before I could answer, Breandan led me away. We hadn t gotten far, barely past the outermost copse before he stopped and turned to regard me shrewdly.
Your parting words were harsh. Needlessly so.
I crossed my hands over my chest and looked down at my boots grumpily.
They deserved it.
He tipped my chin back and I hated how disappointed his expression was.
Do not be unkind, it does not become you.
Huffing, I pulled myself from his grasp and sat down, leaning back against a tree. I wanted to sulk. I wanted to stamp my feet and shriek, but that would be too juvenile even for me.
So, you know where we re going right?
I asked him.
He snorted.
Oh yes. I knew the moment you figured out Cael was your brother that you would go and try to reason with him. I know there is little point in asking, but is there anything that would change your mind?
No. I want him to tell me to my face what all of this is about though I have more than an inkling it has to do with our mother.
I bashed my head against the tree.
I wonder if she knew how badly we d suffer when she was gone.
Remembering something Lochlann had said to me once, I turned worried eyes to Breandan.
I m not like her, am I?
I never knew her, but possibly, at times,
he replied smartly, no doubt still frustrated he could not get me to consider avoiding the trip to Blackthorn Coven.
After everything that had happened, I wasn t in the mood to fight him. That didn t mean I was going to roll over and play nice either.
Bite me,
I hissed.
A raspy chuckle drifted to me on the wind and preceded soft footfalls close by.
Great. Perfect. As if the day couldn t get any more wonderful.
Sinking deeper into the mire of my bad natured sarcasm, my toes curled, and I gritted my teeth as Wasp sashayed out of the shadows and propped her shoulder against the tree I reclined on.
What are you doing here?
I asked, faking the apathy that laced my voce. My hands fisted on my knees, and I tilted my head to see her smirking. She knew exactly how much she angered me. I stood slowly.
Don t I still owe you a punch to the face?
Well, I had my anger well under control didn t I?
She smiled and motioned me forward, a blade already in hand.
I d like to see you try.
Enough,
Breandan snapped. He wrapped an arm around me to rest his hand on the swell of my hip, tugging me closer. He speared Wasp with an icy look.
Why have you come here?
Take me with you.
No,
Breandan and I said simultaneously.
I flushed because it seemed he was thinking the same thoughts as me. Some alone time on our journey to find Cael was an attractive notion. One neither of us was willing to give up on a deranged whim.
Rolling her eyes in disgust, Wasp tucked her knife away and relaxed her battle stance.
Think north of the groin for a second, and you ll figure out that you re going to need me to watch your backs when you find the Coven.
She dropped a soft cloth bag on the ground.
And I m sure my hunting skill will come in handy.
I didn t buy it.
The idea of you guarding my back does not fill me with any sense of security.
Those vampires stole my love, killed my Devlin. Believe me when I say with me around none of them will touch you because they ll already be dead.
The intense emotion that carried in her voice left me with no doubt she meant every word.
I stopped Breandan s rebuttal by placing a hand on his chest.
She has a point,
I conceded quietly. Nobody could deny Wasp wanted vengeance and that she d be damn good at getting it.
You cannot be considering this.
Breandan sounded appalled.
Hear me out. Up until now we ve been reactive, scrambling to keep up when Cael is two moves ahead. Maybe it s time to catch him off guard, and confront him where he feels safest. You ll be busy watching my back I know that. Who will be watching yours?
A plan was beginning to form in my mind, and one I m ashamed to say I wasn t too proud of.
What are you thinking?
Breandan asked, and used the pad of his thumb to smooth away my frown.
Lochlann is going to execute the humans. And there is nothing we can do about that?
He sighed.
They took Maeve s life, there is nothing we can do to save them from his sword.
I stared up at him.
Not all of them are guilty. They were controlled by magics.
He shrugged.
Guilty by association. Such spells only work on those who are susceptible. These people would have turned on us regardless, Cael just gave them a push.
That is so not the right way to look at things, but that s not what I m talking about right now. I m thinking they could be useful in another way.
How?
I disregarded the guilt of what I had to do, and straightened my shoulders.
A bargain.
Breandan was confused, and his questioning gaze told me so.
Wasp, however, understood.
Clever. How many do you need?
Um, three?
I suggested.
The bear guards them. It shouldn t prove too difficult to get what I want. Wait for me.
Wasp practically skipped away, her red dreadlocks bouncing off her green back; thrilled her gamble to side with me had paid off.
Breandan took my shoulders.
You re in harmony with that mad one. This troubles me greatly.
Honestly, I m concerned about that too, but it seems the best way to find Cael.
He took my chin in his hand and kissed me.
Explain,
he demanded.
We don t know where he is, except he s close to the vampire Nest. We need Gwendolyn to show us where he is &.
I trailed off knowing he had the smarts to guess the rest.
I see. You re sure you want to do this.
Of course not, but I m tired of waiting around for the next disaster to find me, and I refuse to go back to that Meet and justify my actions to those people. I do my best, and that is what I ll continue to do. They can t just decide I can no longer be a part of my own families fate.
Alright. Daphne? We could wait for her if you wish?
I paused, the temptation to wait the long hours until sunset for my vampire guardian all too tempting.
No. I don t want her to feel conflicted, and though she would never admit it, Cael terrifies her. There s this haunted look she gets in her eye when his name is mentioned. Let her stay.
Not much time had passed before Wasp came back. With her came three humans bound by lashings of rope around their hands, and gags over their mouths that also covered their ears.
There s no need to be unkind,
I said shortly, and took of the gag of the eldest Cleric.
He wasn t someone I recognized right away, but then he opened his mouth, and the sadistic bile that spewed forth made my gut roil. I stuffed the gag back in place and turned his head to the side. There was a large chunk of his ear missing. This Cleric had been one that helped in my torture, one that Runt had bitten to get him of
f me.
Rae-love?
Breandan sensed my fear down the bond and was concerned as to what caused it.
I stared into the man s face, seeing his hatred, and all the things he wanted to do to me glitter evilly in his eyes.
With the bad mood he was in, if Breandan discovered who this man was he would kill him, and I suspected painfully wouldn t begin to describe what my fairy would do to bring this death about.
Nothing,
I croaked, and left them for Wasp to deal with.
Absolutely nothing.
Wisely, Breandan didn t question me further.
The journey back to the Northern City wasn t a pleasant one. We were hampered by the fact we had three human tag-a-longs to guard and feed, and Breandan became more overprotective the closer we got.
At one point, Wasp had pointed out I should use my magics to take us there. I had tried, made myself red in the face trying, but there had simply been too many people to carry over such a vast distance. Even if I did manage it the trip would drain me, and I would need that energy to face Gwendolyn then Cael.
I stayed away from the Clerics the entire journey. The less I thought about them and why they were with us the better.
When we saw the tops of the outer city buildings Breandan grumbled sullenly.
We walked down streets where glowing eyes peered at us from the gloom. A supernatural mist shrouded the ground, and hugged the base of the buildings everything appeared suspended in white vapor.
The air had that icky mineral smell that permeated everything when large groups of vampires were near. It was so pungent the odor stuck at the back of my throat and made my eyes burn.
An uninvited escort tracked us to the Nest. They quietly passed from shadow to shadow, and all we were able to glimpse was the occasional gaunt face and skeletal limb.
The slap of bare feet on concrete had Wasp taking her knives in hand, her head whipping from side to side uneasily. I could understand her agitation. The last time she had come here Devlin had been taken, and her friends slaughtered.
I was more concerned that the vampires would lose control and attack to get their fangs on the humans before I had a chance to put my plan into action.
Breandan and I led the way to the Nest hovel, and when we arrived my eyes twitched to the spot where Tomas body had lain.
It shouldn t have surprised me to see Gwendolyn curled up on her side on the very spot.
Such an open display of pain had tender feelings towards the vampire Queen blooming in my chest.
Then she inhaled deeply and rolled over to face us.
Oh. Those tender feelings? Yeah, they withered and died.
Her eyes blazed with an unholy fire before inking over to black pools. Her hands curled into claws and wrung around an imaginary neck. Her fangs ran out, and she snarled menacingly.
Her?
Wasp asked.
I ignored the question and took the rope that secured the humans.
Gwendolyn, I have a proposition for you.
Jumping up Gwendolyn shook back her ringlets, and dusted herself off. Unnecessary considering how grimy she was. The woman looked as if she d bathed in a river of blood. Chunks of flesh and gore were spattered over her ashen skin and clothes. The wild desperation around her intensified the darkness that shrouded all vampires, yet, she didn t look as starved as when I d first met her.
She smiled slyly at my curious inspection, and her eyes wandered off to the side.
Moonlight highlighted a pile of dismembered bodies.
A goblin Horde,
Gwendolyn explained.
Most of them got away, they are horrendously strong, but the few we did catch &.
She licked her lips.
Tasty. Most goblin s are more human than demon now. I suppose that shouldn t surprise me. During the Rupture, the goblins had a taste for human females.
She sighed dreamily.
I can still hear the screaming sometimes if I close my eyes.
My first instinct was to rush over to the mutilated bodies and search for Runt. Goblin Hordes were secretive and notoriously tricky to seize. For one to be out in the open, and travelling, had to mean they were heading towards Wyld land, to the Meet. Lochlann had sent Runt with a fairy protector to offer them a chance to participate in the Meet, something Ana and Amelia had been keen to do before Ana s incarceration, but I had put it out of my mind completely.
Done tiptoeing around, I said,
Take me to Cael.
There was a weighty silence before she snickered. It descended into a deranged chortling, and she dabbed at her eyes. Her fingers came away bloody.
No.
Don t you want to know what I m offering in return?
I inclined my head and held up the rope.
The corners of her mouth attempted to lift into a grin, but the facial movement was more like a tick, and fell into a jittery blankness.
My answer is no. I think I ll just kill you.
That s not going to happen, and you know it.
Where is Daphne,
she asked abruptly.
My consort was fond of the girl, and I m dying to ask her a question or two.
I seriously doubted Gwendolyn wanted to ask Daphne questions after the vampire-girl had dragged her to the ground by the hair and smashed her head on the ground repeatedly. More like she wanted to claw her, bite her, and tear her to shreds.
Not here,
I replied shortly.
I know you,
Gwendolyn narrowed her pink-rimmed eyes at Wasp.
Have I fed on you before?
Wasp s hiss splintered the silence and rather than being sensibly terrified, Gwendolyn smirked.
No. You ve not yet known the touch of fang, but you will.
Breandan,
I whispered.
The plea was needless, he d already secured Wasp in his iron-like grip to keep her contained.
To those who didn t know the fairy it would seem unnecessary, but the deadly look in her scarlet eyes left Wasp naked. She was living the dream. In her mind, Gwendolyn was being sliced into small pieces by her knives, and I suspicioned Wasp bided her time until she made that dream the vampire Queen s reality.
I didn t come here to reminisce about the past … situations we ve found ourselves in. I came here to try and help you. I made a promise that I would help keep your Nest from starving. Consider this the first stage of that, but to do the rest I need you to take me to Blackthorn Coven.
Gwendolyn took her contemptuous gaze from Wasp to me.
I see no need to lower myself and bargain with you. There are three of you and an army of me. I ll just take the humans and
In one swift move, Breandan unsheathed his dagger and threw it to me. Catching it hilt first, mid air, I placed the edge of the blade across a Cleric s throat.
I don t have time for your games, Gwendolyn. I m offering two options. You take me to Cael, and these humans are yours. Or &.
I pressed the blade edge into the Cleric s jugular to draw blood. The coppery scent added a faint tang to the air and Gwendolyn s nostrils flared.
I kill him then the rest of them,
I raised my voice,
and as many of you as it takes until Cael notices and comes here.
I bared my teeth in what small smile I could manage.
And believe me when I get going he will notice, and he will come demanding an explanation.
I felt no sympathy when her face rippled with fear. Unrelenting, I carried on, needing to seal the deal.
I wonder how he ll react if somebody told him Tomas brought me here on your wishes. I don t like to make assumptions, but I m guessing you kept my presence here a bit of a secret huh? I mean, you wouldn t be rushing to tell your overlord you d sought out his sister to destroy him, would you? Oh, and I don t think he d be too happy that Daphne had the grimoire hidden under your very nose, do you?
Breandan and Wasp slid into battle ready poses ready to back me whichever
way this was going to turn.
The Nest vampires eased back and gave a silent signal to their leader what their preference was.
Gwendolyn bared her fangs, indecision flickering in her eyes. She snarled low in her throat, and her eyes went a bit crazy. She leaned forward, body vibrating with tension. Gasping, she grappled at her throat as if something strangled her, and tears of blood rolled down her cheeks. Tossing her head, she shrieked, but rocked back on her heels.
I d won.
She jerked her head once in agreement.
Leave the humans and follow me.
Breandan whispered in my ear.
She is mad. That was risky.
I shrugged. I didn t agree. The last time I was here I d seen how terrified Gwendolyn was of Cael, and how hungry her Nest was. There was no way she d turn my bargain down, no matter how much she wanted to get her fangs on me. Her loyalty to her Nest and fear of the he-witch that governed her might not protect me forever, but & I risked a glance at Wasp. She was calm, her eyes fixed on the back of the vampire Queen s head. No & Gwendolyn didn t have the slightest chance of ever getting her dirty hands on me.
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