“A mate, a partner, a spouse? Someone you belong to.”
Zaira swallowed. Hard. Her thoughts turned to questions of why he wanted to know, if he still cared for her in the way he’d claimed to back in Imortia. That path of thought destructive, she deleted it. “I have my wolves.”
That was all he needed to know.
He let out a breath and she forced herself to not wonder if it was a sigh of relief or a breath of frustration. Through the seeing mirror, she watched the burning pile of hunter bodies as it started to fizzle out, watched her wolves mingle with Addix’s group.
“Imortia is too dangerous for most of them.”
She nodded, having already thought the same thing as she’d watched her group through the mirror earlier. “They are loyal to me though. They want to come with.”
“You’re their leader. Their ruler. Don’t allow it.”
“I’d think you’d want as many warriors with you as you could find.”
“I’m not the bloodthirsty beast you referred to me as earlier,” Addix said coolly. “I fight when necessary but I don’t lead lambs to slaughter. I’ve been observing your wolves. Some, I think, could make it. This one …” He pointed to Jason. “He’s strong, in body and mind. Smart. Strategic. Bold, but doesn’t take unnecessary risks. He doesn’t care about looking heroic. He simply does what needs to be done when it needs to be done.”
“It’s barely been a year that he’s been a werewolf.”
“Seriously?”
Zaira nodded, grinning with pride. Jason was one of her favorites. A natural leader. “The pack leader before him was twisted, cruel. I brought Jason and the pack leader’s sister together and he, as you put it, did what needed to be done when it needed to be done.”
“He killed the pack leader?”
“And took his place. Yes, and it was for the better. He’s a born leader, and a good one.”
“What about this one?” Addix pointed to one of Jason’s enforcers.
“That’s Mercury.” Zaira frowned. Mercury was one wolf she’d tried to avoid. It was funny how even after so many generations, one’s ancestry could be so evident. “He’s a good fighter, but I don’t know if he’s good enough for Imortia.” He’d be great, she was sure, but she didn’t want the two of them together, where their resemblance would be so obvious.
“I disagree. I think he’d do well. He kind of reminds me of me.”
Ice clogged Zaira’s veins, chilling her.
“Any reason why he looks so much like me?” Addix turned knowing eyes on her. “I’d assumed that Fairuza sent you to this realm with other Imortians she’d turned into Weres, but she didn’t, did she? You were carrying the beginning of the pack inside you.”
“I am the mother of the werewolf race,” she answered, bracing herself for whatever reaction would come next.
“None of them were immortal?”
“No,” she answered, also answering his unspoken question: Was their child still alive?
Addix nodded his understanding, took a deep breath, and returned to looking at the seeing mirror as if she hadn’t just told him he’d had a child he’d never had the chance to know.
“I need to leave some of my Weres here to help yours in case of another attack, but I have to be sure they will be safe. This Mercury, he has a thing for my dragon. I think she’d be safe here if he were with her. I don’t trust this other one that spends so much time with him though.”
“That’s Rico. Your dragon hurt him. He’s very proud. I don’t think he’ll be getting over that soon.”
“All the more reason I don’t trust him near her. She’s the best fighter I have. She’d protect your wolves but I’m not comfortable leaving her here to protect someone who may hurt her. I won’t command her to put up with him, but I don’t think he’s a good enough fighter to bring to Imortia.” Addix gave her a warning look.
“Rico and Mercury are Jason’s enforcers. They follow his orders.”
“Jason will be with us. New wolf or not, he’s the best you have. If there’s going to be a fight and something goes wrong, if I go down, I know he’ll protect you.”
“Ming will be having his baby any day now. I know Jason. He is loyal to me, but his mind will be on Ming and their child.”
Addix grunted, not happy. “Then we take Mercury. And Merta. I’ll leave Lana.”
“The anaconda?”
“Your wolves seem to like her, and she’s a good fighter. She’s not as volatile as Merta so I don’t have to worry about her erupting, and she hasn’t made any enemies. That’s it. Me, you, Merta and Mercury. The rest can stay here in case hunters come.”
“Just four of us?” Zaira forgot about her concerns of Mercury and Addix being in prolonged contact. “We’re going to Imortia, Addix. Fairuza has ruled that realm for centuries and you think she’s going to be defeated by just four Weres?”
“No, I think she’s going to be defeated by you.” He looked down at her. “Merta and Mercury are coming with us in case we run into trouble along the way, but as for Fairuza? There is only one who can destroy her and that is you. It has always been you.”
“What?” Zaira shook her head. “No. I can’t take her on by myself. She banished me from Imortia and you think I can actually take her down?”
“You won’t be alone. Fairuza can’t be taken down in a mere fight. You have to go for her power source and you are the only one who can do that.”
“You’re insane.” Zaira laughed. “I don’t know how you’ve spent the years since she banished me, but you have clearly been driven to madness during that time. Go for her power source? What does that even mean?”
“How does one defeat a ruler? Your best wolf knows that answer.”
Zaira thought about that. “Jason? Jason killed the former pack leader. Rong was powerful, but he wasn’t Fairuza. He ruled over a pack of werewolves, not an entire realm.”
“Fairuza only holds claim to Imortia because she rules its people. She rules them with the same thing this Rong ruled the wolf pack with. Fear. Jason ended that. You will end Imortia’s fear and you will take down Fairuza.”
“How? I haven’t even been to Imortia since I was banished.”
“Imortia remembers you. Imortia believes in you. Why do you think Fairuza has always hated you? Even she knows, has always known, that you would be the one to destroy her. You are the one the people believe in. You are the one that Imortians will follow, just as your wolves follow you here.”
“How do you know this? How can you be sure?”
“It comes with the horn.” He smiled, just a slight upturn of his mouth. “You may have lost your faith in me, may not believe anything I said in the past to be true, but you know I hold a unicorn spirit inside me now. You know that alone prevents me from saying anything that isn’t true.”
She stepped back, the air between them suddenly too thick to breathe. “You’re telling me that I will defeat Fairuza. That only I can do this?”
“It is your fate to do so. Yes, Zaira, you will take her down and rescue the people of Imortia.”
“She is immortal, and powerful. How do I defeat her?”
“Easy. You take her kingdom.”
EIGHT
“Only four of you?” Jason’s nostrils flared as he stood with arms folded, eyes smoldering as he shook his head. “That’s an awfully small number.”
“There will be a larger number once we get to our destination,” Addix responded. “No harm will come to your enforcer or to Zaira. I give my word to return them to you, if that is what they wish.”
Zaira frowned. First, what larger number was Addix referring to? Second, what was this about if they wanted to return? Did he think she’d stay in Imortia? She might take Fairuza’s kingdom, if that were possible, but she’d immediately set it free. The responsibility she had to protect her wolves was a heavy enough burden. Once Imortia was rid of Fairuza, once she knew the woman could no longer harm her wolves, the Imortians could do whatever they wanted with the realm.
<
br /> “Ming needs you here,” she appeased the pack leader. “She is due any day now.”
“Dammit.” Jason ran a hand down his face. “Fine. I stay here, but you should take some more people with you. At least your own Weres.” He directed this statement to Addix. “If there are others like them in that realm you’ll need them.”
“There may be dragons and gargoyles, but they are not Weres. We are stronger than them. A large group would be more dangerous than a smaller one. The four of us will draw less attention. Trust me, I’ve been scouting the whole time I’ve been here. After working through every scenario possible, I’ve chosen the best for this mission.”
Jason’s jaw clenched, but he nodded. “You have one job,” he said, turning to Mercury. “Protect the White Wolf. Don’t get distracted.” He made the last comment while looking at Merta. The dragon shifter grinned smugly.
Mercury nodded. “I will not fail.”
The pack leader and his enforcer clasped hands and nodded once to each other, sharing a silent exchange. Merta and Lana bumped fists, both smirking. Zaira got the feeling they enjoyed battle and both were ready to show off their skills to the group they were assigned to protect. She hoped they didn’t get the chance. She didn’t want to think about her wolves fighting hunters while she was away, nor did she want to think about losing Mercury while in Imortia.
But greater than that, she no longer wanted to fear losing everything and everyone she cared for in Fairuza’s sick game of revenge. Her hand forced, she had to do this. The madness of it all needed to end. Animals being robbed of their spirits to punish those who stood against her, an entire race of people’s lives held precariously in her hands; Fairuza had to be stopped.
“Ready?” Addix asked.
No. Not really. But what choice did she have?
She nodded, rather than speak the lie. Addix believed she could destroy Fairuza. Unicorns didn’t lie. She had to hold onto that and hope his faith in her was enough for them to win this fight.
“So what exactly is the plan here?” Mercury spoke low so the two walking ahead of him wouldn’t hear. “Is there a plan?”
Merta eyed him curiously. “We go to Imortia, defeat Fairuza, and call it a day. What other plan would there be?”
“That’s not exactly a plan.”
The dragon shifter chuckled but said no more. Mercury expelled a breath. He had no problem fighting. He was an enforcer for the pack leader, after all. Guarding and defending a leader was his job. He wasn’t doing anything different now, except instead of Jason, he was defending the legendary white wolf who’d created their entire race. Or that was the story.
Therein lay the problem. What was a story and what was real? When he fought to defend Jason, he knew what he was doing and what he was up against. He had no idea where he was going now or what he would be against when he got there. All he knew was he had to be ready to fight to protect Zaira, a woman his entire race looked up to and would defend with their dying breath. Even though they didn’t know jack about her. The life of a werewolf sure was fun, he thought without humor. “So tell me about Imortia.”
“You don’t know anything at all about it?” Merta seemed unable to believe this.
“Nothing at all. And I also don’t know who this Fairuza is. I have no idea where I’m going or who it is we are fighting. Or why. I don’t like it.”
“But yet you’re still going.”
“I’m a wolf. I’m part of a pack. My leader gives me a mission, I fulfill it.”
A smile played around her mouth. “Well, count your lucky stars you get your orders from the good guys. Fairuza is the big bad, the ultimate evil. Imortia is where she lives, where she rules. Our mission is to destroy her and save a lot of people. That about sum it up?”
Mercury thought about this, trying to work Zaira and his pack into the equation. “Zaira …” the name felt strange rolling off his tongue but it was less of a mouthful than The White Wolf … “came from Imortia?”
Merta nodded, her lips clamped tight enough he could see little lines of strain at the corners. It didn’t take a detective to read the signs she’d been told not to tell too much. Interesting. Zaira came from Imortia. Addix and his people came from Imortia. All of them were Weres. Addix and his people had sought her out to help them go against this Fairuza person from Imortia … “Fairuza is a threat to Weres? She could hurt all of us?”
Something shifted in Merta’s eyes, erasing the twinkle of amusement they’d held. She nodded. “She pretty much makes the fights you’ve been having with hunters look like childhood games of tag.”
“Well then, that’s all I need to know.” He picked up the pace.
They continued on in silence, walking through the realm where Zaira lived. He’d expected more, something more opulent. Other than the modest two story home jutting out of a snow-capped mountain he’d seen when they first entered, the realm was pretty sparse. Nothing but endless dark sky above them, and beneath them nothing but cloud. The billowy clouds were thin enough he could see straight through to the realm below, but somehow their feet always landed solidly. Now he understood how Zaira managed to always watch over them, even when they couldn’t see her.
“Is Imortia like this?”
Merta shook her head. “Despite the darkness residing there, Imortia is the second most beautiful realm you will ever see.”
“What is the first?”
“The one we’re going to enter soon. Consider yourself honored. Very few have seen it. It will be my first time as well.”
They stopped walking and Addix shifted. The large black unicorn’s gold horn began to glow as the air in front of them rippled. Bright sparkles of color popped around them as a world beyond the ripple started to emerge. The clouds beneath them vibrated and Mercury watched in fascination as the ripple became a swirl and then an archway to another realm.
“It’s more beautiful than I pictured,” Merta said in awe as Zaira gasped.
“Twilight Springs?” She shook her head back and forth as Addix returned to his human form, a deep frown marring his face. “This realm is pure, sacred. We can’t tread on this land.”
“Yes, we can,” Addix answered, “and we need to hurry. Something’s wrong.”
He stepped through the arch, growling.
NINE
Zaira stepped into the realm she’d heard stories of since birth. She expected to be zapped with electricity and flung right back out, but no magic assaulted her as she and her small group walked across the lush bluegrass. The only sound she picked up was the rush of the large twin waterfalls looming to their right. The crystal blue water sparkled, a result of the moonlight shining down, reflecting off it and the beautiful stones encasing the falls; quartz, sapphire and diamond.
A million stars helped add additional light in the inky purple sky. Around them, everything sparkled, even the roses in gorgeous shades of lavender, blue and burgundy seemed to glow. She turned to see Mercury standing with his mouth gaping, and Merta’s eyes wet with unshed tears, amazed by the beauty of the realm.
Addix reacted entirely different. He scanned the beautiful realm as if searching for an enemy hiding in their midst.
“What is it?” Zaira whispered, feeling as if just speaking in this realm would mar it.
“Something’s wrong,” Addix said, repeating the same words he’d growled while walking through the archway. “She’s been here. She’s … she’s done it again.”
“Done what?” Cold crept into Zaira’s core, her legs wobbled.
Instead of answering, Addix surged forward, using the large shining gems rising out of the river bed to walk across the water. Zaira, Mercury and Merta followed quickly on his heels, sensing his urgency.
As they walked deeper into the realm, there was no time to take in the beauty, the sparkle, the absolute magic of all the gems and flowers, or the rainbows cascading across the sky despite the lack of sun.
The air grew thicker, colder, and darker as they pressed forward, and the
n they stumbled across it, the horror Addix had sensed at the entrance.
Zaira heard Merta gasp and Addix roar in rage as she fell to her knees. She didn’t hear Mercury, but couldn’t bring herself to turn from the ugliness before her to see his reaction. She didn’t want to see it, she prayed the image would someday fade from her memory, but she couldn’t look away.
She wrapped her arms around herself and rocked as tears rained down her face. She didn’t make a sound as her mind struggled to contemplate what she was seeing. How? How could such evil exist?
Addix fell to his knees before her, his energy spent on the roar still echoing through the realm. If the monster who’d done this remained in the realm, she heard it, but Zaira knew Addix didn’t care as he crawled forward, his hand reaching out to the first body, hesitantly. He pulled it back.
Zaira understood. She would not be able to touch the unicorn’s body either. Just seeing a thing of such pure beauty torn apart made her sick with anguish, to have what was left of its blood on her hands would be unbearable.
Brother. Friends.
She and Addix raised their heads to see a large stallion before them. It was so white, it shone. Its golden horn reflected more light than the gemstones marking the ground. Behind her, Zaira heard Merta gasp. She knew only she and Addix could hear the unicorn. Addix shared a kinship with it, and Zaira had always been able to communicate with animals. Just the sight of such a beautiful creature would make anyone gasp though.
“Brother?” Addix croaked out the word. “How can you even look at me?”
You did not do this. You know who did.
“How? Why?” Addix voiced the questions screaming through Zaira’s head as she struggled to come to terms with the multiple slain bodies strewn across the bluegrass, crimson stains ruining the realm’s ground. “Who else did she force these spirits on?”
No one. The first spirit she took was to punish you. These were taken for power. She fed from them.
Zaira gagged, the filth of what Fairuza had done to these beautiful animals too much to bear. She fought down bile before opening her mouth to speak, voice soft. She didn’t feel worthy of breathing in the realm, let alone speaking, but there were questions in need of answers. “To slay a unicorn is to curse one’s self to eternal damnation. There are at least ten bodies here. You’re saying this gave her power?”
Moonlit Majesty Page 5
