by Amber Lynn
My dang little finger heats up and I feel a tingle on the palm holding his mark. “What did you just do?”
“I wanted to make sure you knew I was serious. Your eyes said you didn't believe it was possible.”
What I don't believe is that people in this room probably knew what would happen and they didn't make a move to stop it. They just let the demon make some crazy pact with me. Maybe since I didn't say anything or really do anything in response it won't be true. I know the world isn't going to come to an end with him offering even more protection than he has in the past, I just don't want it.
“Let's just leave that interesting event to talk about later and get out of here. The flight over to Scotland won't take that long and we have a lot of research to do on the way,” Sebastian says and works to get everyone out of the room.
No one wants to leave all the pretty weapons, but we find the will to depart.
Chapter 17
We be roughing it
The ride to the airport and the flight itself takes what feels like only minutes. Everyone seems busy either trying to figure out a way to remove the ring from Solomon's hand or calculating just how many Collective agents they are planning on maiming.
The plane touching down doesn't snap them to attention like I would have desired. “How close are we to the Highland game site?” I ask hoping someone is paying attention.
“We have to stay far enough away not to cause a disturbance on their radar. I am not one hundred percent for sure where their side is staying, so we found a place about twenty miles out. I don't think Stevens would drive more than a mile or two. I won't claim to be an expert on the method behind his madness, but that is the general feeling I have about him,” Sebastian says. “Did you come up with anything good, Hilda?” He finally puts down his tablet. I thought his digitizing of all his tomes would be a good thing, but when a question comes up it is impossible to get him away from the books sometimes.
“My network is coming up blank. Everyone has heard of the ring, but no one knows who it came from. I am thinking we might need to bring in the big guns on this one. You will all forget you heard this, but Addie is probably more knowledgeable about this type of thing. If she cannot think of a solution, I say we just have Nyx turn him. Will doesn't have any of the normal vampire disadvantages, so Solly can't complain.”
“I just thought of an issue with my original thought on making him a vampire. The rule is that we cannot kill him. Do you think the angels would classify the change as killing him? Doesn't he have to 'die' for it to be successful?” Solomon is sitting in the cabin with us and I am sure he enjoys us talking about him like he isn't in the room. I know I always get a kick out of it when people do that to me.
“Good point. I don't know how the angels would take that little twist. Let's get everyone situated and we can give Queen Adeline a call. I am curious to hear what she has been up to,” Alex says. He is curious to see if she has analyzed my blood and discovered that I have giant squid DNA. All right, maybe not giant squid, but it is my blood he wants to know about.
“Do you actually have places for everyone with us to crash?” Phee asks as we depart the plane.
I don't know where exactly we are in Scotland, but I don't think it is a major city. The trees lining our landing strip, which appears to have been made ten minutes ago, is a big indicator for me that a five-star hotel isn't just around the corner. Good lighting is lacking because of the missing sun in the sky, but most of us can see there isn't a lot in the vicinity other than trees. Oh and grass. If we were cows we would have it made.
“I think we packed a good seventy-five tents. That should be more than enough with people bunking together,” Sebastian says and then grabs Sophia's car seat away from me. “Are you ready for an adventure, little princess?”
I wonder if anyone warned Smitty about the accommodations. I know he is not big on roughing it and tent living is about as back to nature as one can get. “Where are you expecting our daughter to sleep? I believe you promised we could stop by a grocery store if we needed to pick anything up.” He couldn't have lied to me, so I am sure he has a plan.
“Civilization isn't that far away, but we didn't want an influx of paranorms showing up all at once. I am positive some of the locals will be heading up to the games and I don't think they would have any problem spreading the word to the people we are trying to keep that a secret from.”
“Just how far away is this civilization?” Phee asks. “What if just me and Sam go rent a room somewhere? I don't think I can live without hot running water.”
“You need to stick around to plan with us. I am thinking we need some folks to go do recon work and a lot of the key players will be out of that action, but a handful of us aren't as well-known,” Hilda says.
“I hate to break this to you, but if we are really within twenty miles of the head honcho, and Candy Cane is with him, we just lit up like a nuclear bomb on her radar,” Ben informs us. “There is no way this many paranorms doesn't show up for even a minor demon. I am not sure how many you were expecting on their side of things, but there are a good three hundred paranorms in that twenty mile radius, not including the ones from the plane.”
“So much for using surprise as a weapon,” Dad says looking out into the forest around us. “I like this spot, Sebastian. It is a good place for things to end. It reminds me of camping trips my dad would take us on whenever he got a few free moments. They didn't happen often, which made each of them special.”
“I think the hope is to draw them to us. Stevens is too big of a coward to come alone, so we are banking on the succubus to drive him here,” Alex says.
“We have the perfect bait, even if I hesitate to use her. Candace won't be able to resist going up against Nyx. Hilda is right about us sending people ahead to see what we are facing, but she is wrong in thinking Nyx won't be involved. Your daughter has to be seen, and it would be better if none of us were with her at the time,” Sebastian adds.
Whoa. I cannot believe he really just said that. I get to actually put myself in danger? Somewhere in the world a cat just snuggled up to a dog. I know sometimes they do that on their own, but I am thinking a wild tiger and a wolf. I doubt that is a common occurrence.
“Don't get too excited. I was referring to the menfolk staying behind. You have to take Hilda and Phee with you and since there is likely to be shopping booths, I think you are going to get the short end of the stick,” Sebastian says. Depending on the timing, the humans could be asleep and that shopping threat is nonexistent.
“Just when did you come up with this plan? It wasn’t talked about at the round table. Just like that, I am bait and we are fighting here in this clearing. Hilda, you need to remove their link. I am tired of learning things after they have sat around talking without me being able to add input.”
“It was a long plane ride, Babe. The weather conversation got boring quickly. Let’s worry about setting up our tent. We brought a portable crib for Sophia and there is a stream not far away for washing.”
I sure hope they had a long conversation on what they were going to do about bathrooms. We have a lot of people here and a baby that may or may not be potty trained. I guess the plane has facilities and they aren’t bad up front. Did they consider food? We consist of mostly meat eaters and Clyde isn’t able to go thirty minutes without grinding his teeth on something.
“Not a huge deal. I didn’t bother packing weapons. I packed a six-foot-long cooler full of meats for me. As long as we don’t take more than three days, I should be sitting pretty.”
That is one worry off my mind. I think I have seen him hungry only once and he was willing to gnaw on any ankles that got close to him.
The troops are unloading massive amounts of cargo from the plane. I must have slept an extra day in order for them to load all this stuff. Either that or my ready for anything mates must have a plane loaded with tents and all the finest camping accessories at all times.
“Thanks, Callahan,
” Sebastian says taking a large bag from a guard. He is lucky that I love the baby he is carrying or I would take advantage of him having his hands full. “Do you have any preference on where in the clearing we sleep?”
“Do you think one little tent is going to be enough for the four of us? I know the grownups won’t take up much room because I can use one of you guys as a mattress, but a portable crib is going to take up some space.” I have slept under the stars before, but never inside of a tent.
“Most of the tents are nine-by-nine dome tents; however, ours is a four room cabin away from home. I think a spot over there by those trees will be good for our group. The guards can get a little loud during the day and with us going into battle soon, they need to work off their extra anxiety.”
I guess my opinion doesn’t really matter. It was nice of him to at least ask. I let him lead the way to his approved spot. Dad, Walt, and Jonas follow close behind without tents in their hands. Ben and Solly are not far behind, but Ben can probably make a tent appear out of nowhere, so I don’t find that strange.
Dad catches me looking and smiles. “We are wolves. The canopy of trees overhead is the only thing we need. A chunk of grass to lie on is always nice, but we can deal with hard dirt.”
He must not have heard Phee earlier trying to get a lift into town to find a hotel. I don’t think all wolves are created equally, but I am happy to hear my family has some sturdy stock in the roots.
“How long do you think it will take to get everything setup? We need to discuss how you guys see things playing out and how us girls are going to travel twenty miles away with only a jumbo jet as a mode of transportation.”
“First things first. The tent is a quick set, so it will take about ten minutes. Before you make any plans to run off, you need to call Adeline and see if she has any suggestions for obtaining the ring. You can brush it off all you want, but I still think you need to complete the trial. If you don’t, later in life you will kick yourself for not finishing something that most people don’t have a chance to even dream of trying,” Sebastian says as he unloads the tent. Sophia is sitting nearby him watching everything.
“He is right, Princess. You don’t back down from challenges. I know it isn’t a fight like you probably hoped the angel trials would be, but it is a challenge and you love those.” Jonas’ words do hit that competitive part of my brain.
“Did the angels really think you would run into physical problems trying to get the ring?” Ben asks. He has picked up some rocks and is juggling them to amuse Sophia. It is yet another wrong image that my mind has trouble accepting.
“They thought there was enough danger involved that I would need special weapons to get a hold of it. Since you guys are so buddy-buddy, would you be the reason angels haven't been able to find the trinket? The way they talked there had to have been some giant monster guarding it like gold.”
And really, how silly were they to arm me with an angel sword and in the same breath tell me I couldn't kill anyone during my task. The ring doesn't even sound like it does anything all that special.
“You have seen my true form; would you call me a giant monster? Were the angels hoping to use the ring to imprison my kind? I would love to see the looks on their faces when they realize it won't help them. They are just going to try to come up with another way to win people over to their side. I hear cookies are great motivators.”
If, and that is a big if, I do become a member of the angel ranks, they better not think I am going to be out on the street promoting goodness. I don't think people would take kindly to me showing up at their door with my Hellhound and asking if they have thought about being good today.
“Enough silly stuff for now,” Alex says. “Make the call to Adeline, so we can get on with things.”
Fine. I take out my phone and dial the number someone was kind enough to store for me. I still hope she won't be able to help. I seem to be hoping a lot of stuff lately. It must be my new favorite action word. Let's pretend it has nothing to do with having angel blood.
Chapter 18
A visit from the Queen
The phone rings five times and I am about to hang up when a high pitched squeal echoes through my brain. I shake my head to clear it and pull the phone away from my ear. I haven’t heard a dog whistle before, but I think one just went off in my brain.
“Adeline, if you speak to me in that tone of voice, I am just going to hang up. I am putting the phone back to my ear now and you have half a second to find a lower octave. I can’t believe you answer the phone that way.”
“Nyx, is that you? I didn't have your number programmed in. I wouldn’t have used my special voice if I knew it was you. I am glad you called. We have so much to discuss.”
I haven't got the phone back to my ear yet, but I am glad to hear the voice I heard when we met in person. She is talking as fast as Phee does when she is excited, which of course worries me.
“It hasn't been that long since we saw each other. You couldn't have gathered too much stuff to talk about. I am told I need your advice on a matter, whether I really want it or not.” I don't know why someone else didn't make this call. Her and Hilda seemed to rekindle some kind of weird girl romance thing. Do they have a word for that? I have heard of bromance, but is there a female equivalent? Gromance sounds weird. Hmm. I am going to have to search the Internet for that answer later.
“Wow. None of the people around you could come up with a solution for something. Are you about to make me use all my mental capacities?” she queries. I have only been successful in getting her more wound up.
“I don't know about mental, but magical ones might be taxed.” Sebastian has successfully pitched the tent, it is as large as he claimed, and he has moved on to putting together the crib someone brought him. Alex ran off, after making sure I dialed the phone, to gather firewood or something. Everyone else is either putting their tents up or entertaining Sophia. She has her own personal circus. I don’t see any clowns around, which is good because I predict I would become violent around one.
“I assure you my magical capabilities are all back online and ready to be used. What can I do for you?”
“We have an enchanted, cursed, charmed, whatever you want to call it, ring on a guy's finger that is giving him immortality and we want to remove it without killing the guy. Suggestions?” I see no reason for going into the backstory that has gotten us to this point. I don’t know how up-to-date she is on human history and stating names won’t make a difference in this case.
“And Hilda has no easy fix for this? Hasn't she conquered that pesky little task of immortality? That is a rhetorical question, so don't bother answering. What else does the ring do? I am guessing the wearer isn't the one that enchanted it, but I know immortality is rarely gifted to a person by itself.”
I haven't known the lady long, but I can envision her looking through her knowledge base like she was flipping through a book. It is a really big book from what I have heard from others.
“It lets him play with ghosts. We are unclear if that is really all it does, but he is a few thousand years old and so far that is all he has done with it,” I explain.
“That is pretty boring. Ghosts aren't usually a lively bunch. We don't deal with them much in Faerie, but I have heard of them. You are sure removing the ring will result in death?”
“He says he aged the times he removed the ring before. I don't think he has done it in a few years though. He doesn't look much older than me, so I would say it has been well over a thousand years since the last time he tried it. He doesn't like the idea of trying to take it off to see what happens.”
I hear her humming to herself and I am not sure how to interpret it. Maybe she has moved on from being a book to turning into a computer.
“A couple of questions before we proceed. First, just to verify, he is human, right?”
“Correct. He was a King back in his day and supposedly well-known. I have heard of him, but I don't have a full biography to han
d out.”
“Great. What does he look like? Let's go on a scale from one to ten, ten being the highest.”
I understand the species question because I would think the amount of power she packed into a spell might be different on a human, but why in the world would how he looked matter?
I look over at the man in question. He is still wearing his hat, but the glasses are off so I can see his eyes. They are an eerie shade of gray that makes me think of a wolf for some reason. He has dark olive skin and very strong facial features. His cheekbones are pronounced, his nose is straight, and he has a hint of stubble growing around his chin.
“I don't know. I guess a high seven or eight. I am not really a good judge on that type of thing. I can ask someone with me that would give you a better answer.”
“Not necessary, can I talk to Hilda or Sebastian real quick?” She is turning out to be my least favorite person to have a phone conversation with. Answering the phone in an annoying voice, asking weird questions, and then wanting to talk to someone else equals three strikes against her. I think in baseball that means she would be out.
“Sebby, are you at a place where you can talk to Her Royal Highness? I don't think I offer good enough conversation.”
I walk over and shove the phone at him. I didn't get a sense of whether or not she thought she could help in the situation. I do have the feeling that if I said Solomon was a dog, as in ugly, she would have said killing him would be best.
I leave the phone with Sebastian and wander over to Sophia who is watching Clyde practice his fire breathing techniques on leaves Ben is throwing into the air. She seems to be enjoying it so I take a seat on the ground next to her.
“Well, she says she is on her way,” Sebastian says handing my phone back to me.
