by Bryce Evans
“I’m sorry Bast, this is—”
“The one who won’t kiss your ass.” MJ answered simply, cutting Ryder off.
The room became deathly quiet, and then Carina started giggling. Bast looked back at her and smiled. “Do you have something to say, Carina?” His tone was much sweeter with her. She was destined to be his mate when she reached the appropriate age. Since Sage had saved her from Claudia and Jamal, she had been staying with Bast and his people in Valceria. She was in no danger of being kidnapped there. Even her family had to be moved and was living with the Alphas of the panthers, Kayden and Zoey. No one wanted another member of Carina’s family kidnapped, where they could be used to get to Carina.
“MJ is my friend,” Carina said, and with that being said, Bast nodded and the king’s tone changed.
“Welcome to the Order, MJ.” This time Bast’s tone was friendly.
“Why, thank you, old wise one,” MJ said, sarcasm in her voice. Again Carina giggled, which made the whole room laugh. She had to give it to the girl. She was very brash, and she really didn’t care if you liked her or not, and that included the elven king. Sage wanted to laugh because she could tell that even the elven king simply didn’t impress MJ. Judd Walsh, Alpha of the jaguars in Alpha City, just sat silently beside his mate, Maggie, who had a smile on her face. Sage wanted to know more about them since they were mated. Judd was a shifter, but he was also half vampire, and his mate Maggie was now part shifter as well. As far as she knew, they were the only ones, but what did she know? She was so far behind the eight ball in this war.
Brody explained in a hushed whisper to Sage that MJ was part of his pride. The deal she made with him was that she would work on the archives, but she would only work for him and him alone. That meant Bast’s authority and power meant nothing to her, and she really didn’t care that he was a king and in charge of the Order. She felt like the odd man out. She didn’t know anyone and everyone looked so comfortable with each other. Even MJ was in Alpha Walsh’s jaguar pack. London and Ryder were mated, and London’s best friend was Zoey, who was also mated to Alpha Kayden Lynn of the panther pack. If she did nothing else tonight, she needed to get to know everyone better.
“You think the one that Carina is talking about is the sister?” Judd asked MJ.
“Sounds about right. The information I have is sketchy at best, but many sources confirmed that Jamal had a sister, and once her father was killed she left along with half of the dragon population,” MJ stated.
“Until we find her or she finds us, let’s move on,” Bast said. “The second time she had a vision, Carina said, ‘Only a bow can do it and in the right spot with flowers in the meadow.’ I think she is talking about the Bow of Artemis, but what it has to do with flowers in the meadow I have no clue. So those are the two visions she has had. If you can think of anything, let us all know. The flower in the meadow is very confusing. What do you guys have?”
Judd turned and looked at MJ. “Go ahead MJ.”
“Before Carina was taken, she had a vision in front of me. She said, ‘Take the mark and place it on the book. Track it.’ So I gave her something to carry with her, and she said she would know when to use it…and she did.”
They all stared down at Carina, who was smiling. “Where did you put the tracker?” Bast asked.
“It’s on the Book of Thoth. Wherever the Book of Thoth goes, then the mark will go, too.” Carina answered.
As the small face of an angel looked up at them, Sage finally felt they had a chance. Carina had given them that chance, along with MJ. It had cost her tremendous pain from the tail of the dragon, but Maggie had taken all the pain away. That’s what she took out of her pocket. The girl was in so much pain, how she pulled that off was a blessing. She truly was special.
“You mean to tell me that you know where Claudia is hiding out?” Ryder’s eyebrows rose as recognition dawned on his face.
“Yes, if she keeps the book near her at all times.” MJ added as she flipped a coin over her fingers.
“She does and she will,” Sage blurted out. She couldn’t control the excitement she was feeling. This was a big deal for the Order. It would finally put them on the playing field with Claudia and maybe ruin some of her plans.
“Then yes, we know where she is. Now you need to figure out what to do next,” MJ answered casually. “Because going in with guns blazing just doesn’t seem the right answer at the moment. We need to keep an eye on her and learn as much about her plans as we can.”
“At least now we have a chance,” Nolan said in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear. They could all feel it. The excitement in the room was giddy as everyone realized that they now had an opportunity. It was more than they’d thought ten minutes ago.
Sage couldn’t stop herself as she raised her hand. Clearing her throat, she asked, “If I may speak?”
“Of course, Sage. You are family here and you have just as much voice as any of us,” London said, nodding at her to go ahead.
“I’m not as well versed on what to do when it comes to battle, but we need to all be on the same page about who everyone is and what has been said before I got here. I hate it when I’m the only one in the group who doesn’t know what is going on. I hope you don’t think I’m rude for saying that?” Sage took in a deep breath when she finished.
“Okay, so after the meeting, make sure you sit Brody down and get him to start from day one…and that is when Ryder and London met. Then, go with Kayden and Zoey, then on to another Alpha, until you reach your story.” MJ stated flatly, almost as if she was already bored with the conversation.
“Oh…okay.” She dropped her head and stared down at the table. She didn’t want to say anything else, afraid to look more like a fool than she already did. Brody picked up her hand under the table and gave it a squeeze. She could tell he wanted to say something to MJ, but before he could open his mouth, she shook her head at him. No one said anything as the room fell silent again. Sage promised herself that from then on, she wouldn’t ask any more questions. When she glanced up, London was giving MJ the death stare and she sure as hell didn’t want to get anything started.
* * *
“You said there was other news you had…about the traitors,” Bast commented, drawing everyone’s attention back.
This time he was the one in the spotlight. Brody stood up and walked over to the TV and turned it on, and then used the remote control. Displayed on the screen was the crowd of shifters who were watching when Sage’s mother was nailed to the sign. “Lex found some interesting expressions from some unlikely people in the crowd. One is Regina Martin, who as you all know was fired from the theater three years ago.” The Alphas all groaned when Regina’s picture popped up. “I agree one hundred percent, but look at her expression before she notices the camera is pointed at her.” There she was, smiling like she had just won the lottery. They could all hear Sage crying in the background.
“That bitch is dead,” Nolan growled.
“We need her first, Nolan. I know you are mad, as we all are, but we have to see if we can use these people and get the information we need,” Brody said. “Now look at the Carlson twins.” And just like Regina, the Carlson Twins, June and Beatrice Carlson, also had smirks on their faces. Unfortunately, those two shifters were part of his community, and Brody didn’t have a clue why they were doing this. They had always been good kids. “These two just don’t make sense to me. They have a great clothes shop downtown and they do very well for themselves. I can’t give you a reason why they would want to hurt us. They have always been helpful to everyone.”
“Look at them again.” Me-Len pointed at the screen.
If she hadn’t pointed at the screen, he would have missed it. Brody slowed the picture down and noticed the two girls looked like they were drugged. Then, as if they were zapped by a Taser, June and Beatrice snapped to attention and stared off into space. “They are under a witch’s spell. They’ve been bewitched by Claudia.”
�
�I’ve never seen anything like that,” London said. “They look almost drugged out now.”
“That means they haven’t been under the spell too long, and maybe if we can get to them I can reverse it…and unfortunately put them under another spell. One that can help us.” Me-Len sighed when she glanced up at him. “I know they are your people, Brody, but if we can get the information Claudia is giving them and find out what she’s asking them to do for her, maybe we can plant some information and pull on those puppet strings. This time lady luck will be in our favor.”
Brody glanced down at the floor. Using them, if they were traitors, was one thing, but they weren’t doing this of their own free will. What if something happened to them?
“Brody?” Ryder said, jarring him from his thoughts.
Brody looked up at everyone at the table and noticed the concern on their faces. “What if it backfires on us and they are done away with? If I could have done something and got them to safety?”
“If we break the spell and take them somewhere safe, away from Claudia, then she will know that we are on to her and we will have to start over.” Me-Len expressed as sadness clouded her features.
“We all know how you feel, Brody. We all have or are going to lose people in this war, but if we don’t do this then it won’t be just two people. It will be hundreds and maybe thousands of people by the time this is over, and there are no guarantees that we are going to win.” Nolan’s voice was bleak as he spoke.
Brody blew out a deep breath. His voice hardened. “Okay, but if we see something going down, then we take them out and get them to safety.”
“I think we all agree with you there, buddy,” Nolan added.
“Alright, I need a way to set this up where the twins won’t get suspicious and draw Claudia’s attention.” Brody looked down at the floor for a moment. “Me-Len, I can ask the twins to meet Lex at the lodge. They won’t think anything about it. We do this regularly to find out if some of the members need help with a job or anything. It will make them think that they have a member who could use some help. You can be there as well, and as soon as they come through the door you need to zap them or do whatever you witches do.”
He didn’t expect Sage to snort. He hoped he hadn’t offended her, or Me-Len for that matter. To be honest, he had no clue what kind of witch Sage was. He really needed to talk to Me-Len. He wanted to find out more information regarding his mate so he would know what she liked to read and what else she liked to do. Brody wanted to court her so she would know that he really cared about her, and that he honestly found her interesting. He wanted to pound in the ground the man, whoever he was, that did that number on her. If Sage gave him his name, he would hunt the idiot down. But he didn’t want to bring it up to her. It would upset her, and right now everything seemed to be falling into place. Not as fast as he liked, but she was actually letting him touch her and that was a win in his book.
“Brody, was there anyone else in the crowd who looked suspicious?” Nolan asked.
“No, not on this tape, but I don’t know if Maggie got any bad feelings from anyone in the crowd.”
Judd glanced over at his mate and smiled, waiting for her to speak. Brody knew this was hard for his friend, since Judd was a take-charge kind of guy. But he did it, allowing his mate to stand up and take control. He could see the change in Judd was not just physical but mental as well. He was more stable and confident, which meant Maggie did that for him. She was his stabilizer. They seemed to be a perfect match.
“At first, I picked up the twins and only got confusion from them, but now it makes perfect sense why I was reading them that way. With Regina, she is simply angry with all of the Alphas and wants to punish you, and this is her way of doing it. She wants redemption for losing her job. I moved closer to the others and didn’t feel anything except sadness from the rest of them. Not everyone was there, so we will need to figure out who is missing—which I’m sure is a lot of people—and continue doing this in restaurants, stores, maybe even have a meeting like before to give updates. I can move around the room that way.” Maggie explained.
He could hear MJ twisting around in her seat as Maggie spoke. What he didn’t expect was MJ’s outburst as she interrupted, “Look, I’m an organizer, guys. Always have been. We should split up in teams, and each team will have a mission, because that’s what needs to happen here. No more wondering what Claudia is going to do next. We can find out now. So who’s going to organize this?”
She looked very agitated that nothing had been planned by this point in the meeting. “MJ, can I see you outside for a minute?” Judd stood up and waited for MJ to follow him out. He could tell that everyone was getting a little flustered with MJ, and he knew Judd well enough to know that he was going to take care of it. It would be better coming from him. He loved MJ, but how she’d snapped at his mate earlier didn’t sit well with him. He was going to say something, but Sage was embarrassed enough, and he didn’t want to put the focus on her again.
“Alright, since Alpha Judd is out of the room getting attitudes adjusted, let’s do that. Let’s figure out a plan.” Bast said simply. It didn’t bother anyone when Bast said it, but MJ had a way of rubbing people the wrong way with her wanting it her way, and fast.
Nolan stood up. “First, I think we need to split up in groups to cover more ground quickly, like MJ said. Since MJ, London, and Zoey have worked on the bees, flowers, and whatever they have made, then they need to stay in that group together. We need to set up some antennas so all the bees can get a good signal, but that’s not going to be so easy if she has guards watching the grounds. What do you guys think?” He paused and looked over at her. “Sage?”
He watched as his mate sat up higher in her seat. Clearing her throat, Sage nodded. “She does have a lot of guards watching the grounds. I’m pretty sure she has others hiding in the trees surrounding the property. We were only allowed in certain areas, so I didn’t get to see much of the outside. Remember these are witches and wizards, not shifters. I believe if you shift and get in your stealth mode, then they won’t know if it’s a shifter or an animal. You have a huge advantage by using your animal.”
“I know for a fact that Knox and Ransom would love to help us out. Those guys specialize in going into countries undiscovered. What do you guys think?” Kayden asked.
The members were all nodding as Judd and MJ walked back in the room. MJ didn’t say anything, but instead sat down at the table and leaned back in her chair. Sage avoided looking in her direction, not wanting to fuel her fire if she gotten in trouble with her Alpha.
“Judd and MJ, we are going to solicit some help from Knox and Ransom. Both can help us get the antennas up and help us watch Claudia without her knowing. MJ, we would like for you to talk with them and show them what they will need to get the antennas up for your bees to work properly. And since you are already working with London and Zoey, stay in that group as well. We think you could do a lot of damage to Claudia’s plans with what you girls have invented, and anything else you can come up with. Second, I think Ryder, Me-Len, and Brody need to get the twins and reprogram them. Then Sage, Judd, Maggie, and I need to get with Bo and Cat to see how they are coming along on their plans for moving, and help them. The closer they are to Alpha City, the better. Maggie, maybe you can contact Mick and see what happened at the Council meeting.” Bast paused for a moment and looked around the room.
“We have a lot to do, people, in a short amount of time. I guess I don’t need to remind anyone that tomorrow is the full moon. Get the information out to your people and tell them to go underground. Once we know who we can trust, then we can get them to the mines.” Bast explained. He placed his hands on the table and leaned over, staring at each of them. Everyone could feel it as the fresh energy flowed through the room. They had an opportunity now. A window had just opened for them. “I think we need a welcoming party for Jamal, as well. Maybe a little water and some good old-fashioned firepower would help. MJ and Sage, I don’t know if
you’ve found anything that would hurt Jamal, but maybe you two can do some research and come up with something. Does anyone have any questions?” Bast asked, looking directly at MJ, who pulled out her nail file and started filing her nails. Sage wanted to laugh but she didn’t dare. There was no telling what she would do or say next.
Chapter Eight
Once the meeting was over, Sage took a couple deep breaths and walked over to MJ. “Do I need to meet you at Judd’s home to do some of the research?”
“Nah, I can come to Brody’s house. I can bring my laptop and it has everything I need on it. Plus, Judd said that Brody has a lot of older books. There could be something in there that will help us.” MJ smiled as if nothing had happened. She closed her laptop and put it back in her book bag.
“I need to go over some computer programs with London and Zoey, but I can meet tomorrow morning if that’s good with you?” MJ asked.
“Sure, tomorrow morning will be great. I will go ahead and start looking in the library.”
“Okay, see ya tomorrow.” MJ said, turning around and leaving without another word. Sage wanted to laugh again…had to give it to the woman. MJ really didn’t mean anything by it, it was just her way. Some people took her as rude, but Sage was slowly realizing that MJ was always contemplating her next step. Like Brody explained, MJ was calculating and dangerous. She wouldn’t be surprised if the woman already had plans in motion and the Order was just too slow for her. When they met tomorrow, Sage was going to ask if she had plans already written down on her computer. She couldn’t wait to see what she had come up with, and what groups she had placed each member in. Sage liked that about MJ, now that she knew she wasn’t trying to be a bitch.
“What’s funny?” Brody asked, standing beside her.
“MJ. It finally hit me that she’s not being rude to everyone.” Brody cocked his head to the side and Sage explained, “Like you said earlier, MJ is calculating and she is always two to three steps ahead of everyone else. She doesn’t like to waste time, and we were wasting her time. I think she has already come up with some plans, and we’re all just too slow for that brain of hers.”
