by Sarah Beth
“Please, Wesley O’Bryne. Follow me.”
Turning back to the servant, Wesley followed him further onto the platform. It was bigger than the rooms below, where they dined and talked by the fire. It must have been supported by at least two very large branches of the tree. Off to one side, closest to the trunk, were tables full of plants both in pots and on large pieces of bark. Looking around there was another fire pit, benches on two sides, and in the center of the platform was a large stone basin with two familiar figures beside it.
When he approached, Abby’s head lifted, and a smile grew on her soft features. She was wearing a similar dress to the one the day before, but this one was a soft lilac color. Wesley thought it brought out the color in her hair. Stepping away from the basin, she met him the last few steps away and laid a hand on his chest. Warmth bloomed under her palm, seeping through the light tunic he wore and into his skin. It left his fingers and toes tingling, and then the gentle breeze of her consciousness touched his and he couldn’t help but match her smile.
She was looking up at him with such feeling in her eyes, he wasn’t prepared for the way it caused his heart to ache. “Did you sleep in? I hope I didn’t wake you when I left.”
Shaking his head, causing a few of his curls to fall into his eyes, he laid his hand over hers. “No, you didn’t wake me. I slept well, but I wish you had slept good too.”
Her bright smile turned lopsided, and for a moment he could see how tired she was in her eyes. But then she shrugged and stepped back, gesturing to Elazar behind her. “I can sleep when all of this is over. Come here, I want to show you something.”
She pulled his hand, giving him no other option but to follow. Elazar nodded his head in greeting as they approached, but then the Faye turned, heading for his servant standing by the stairs. Once Wesley’s hands fell to the rim of the basin, he was shocked to find it full of water. He didn’t ask how something so heavy could sit suspended hundreds of feet in the air. He probably wouldn’t have liked the answer, anyway. Watching him, Abby still had a small smile on her lips. Laying his hand on hers, the cool stone in front of him, he chuckled. “What did you want to show me?”
Her eyes shone brightly for a moment, gleaming in the scattered sunlight, before she turned her attention to the water. He watched as she ran her hand over the surface. Under her breath, so quietly even his wolf ears barely caught it, she said a word in the language of the Faye. As the water shimmered in front of his eyes, rippling and shifting, he could feel excitement bleed through their bond. Before he could ask what she said, the water glazed over and an image appeared on the surface.
A man with chocolate brown hair materialized, blue button-up shirt rolled up at the sleeves. The figure was standing over a desk, a map on the surface. There were a few other figures standing around the table, but they weren’t as clear as the first. Wesley knew before the man lifted his head that it was Alex.
Wesley looked at Abby sharply, before looking back at the image, unable to keep his gaze away. The figures and Alex were speaking, their mouths moving, but no sound was coming through the water. Abby’s hand shifted underneath his, intertwining their fingers. He looked up at her again, and her lips pulled tight in sympathy.
“It’s just an image, it’s not a window or anything like that. I already tried scrying for Warren and Claire, they’re okay too.”
Unable to find his voice, Wesley looked away from her face and back to his father. Although the other figures in the image weren’t in focus, he assumed that he was seeing the office of Ira Abrams, the head Alpha of New York.
“Elazar taught me this morning. It’s the perfect way to find out where someone is...to see if they’re alright or not.”
Looking back up, he focused on the bright hue of Abby’s eyes. Squeezing her hand in his, he leaned over to place a kiss to her temple. Sending his gratitude and thanks through their bond, he hoped it conveyed what it meant to him better than his words could in that moment. Her lips pulled up into a smile again, and she nodded briefly.
“It isn’t fool-proof, by any means.”
Wesley turned to see Elazar walking towards them, his hands clasped behind his back. When he reached the basin, he rested his hands on the rim. “Another magic-user could hide the one you seek using a counter spell. It also helps when you are familiar with the person you want to see. But it is a useful trick to know, nonetheless.” Elazar looked over at Abby, raising one of his brows as he said, “And it’s safer to do than other less savory kinds of magic.”
Wesley looked at Abby. A slight blush covered her cheeks, and she shrugged one shoulder meekly. She looked sheepish, like she had done something she knew she shouldn’t have. Assuming that Elazar was talking about the magic she had done while she was held prisoner, Wesley didn’t really understand. She had mentioned briefly, while he helped her study for an exam one night, that she had used an ancient and probably forbidden kind of magic. But that was all Wesley knew about it.
Beside him, Abby sighed. “How long is it going to take for you to forget I ever told you about that?”
Elazar smiled, but his face didn’t look friendly. Wesley got the sudden feeling that he was the hunted for once, not the hunter. Cool steel eyes regarded his Mate, before the Faye chuckled. “Long enough, child. Long enough.”
Abby sighed again, but she had a smile on her face. He could feel her guilt and her admiration for the Faye before them. Wesley made a mental note to ask her later why that magic she had used had been so bad. They had talked so little about the events that almost took her from him. Frankly, he didn’t care about whatever magic she had used — it had brought her back to him. That was all that mattered to Wesley.
Elazar waved a hand over the basin, causing the image of Alex to shimmer into nothing but water again. Seeing Alex, even though he couldn’t speak to him, had made Wesley feel better that they weren’t there. His father was okay, he was safe, that was all that mattered. Clearing his throat, Elazar stepped away from the basin. Abby followed him a moment later and with her hand still in his, pulled Wesley along.
“I think that is enough for this morning, but I suggest we reconvene this afternoon.” Elazar walked towards the stairs with Wesley and Abby a step behind him. His hands were clasped behind his back again, his long blue cloak flowing behind him. “I have given you a few things to work on, I expect you to be able to do them when we meet again.” He paused at the top of the stairs, looking back at Abby.
As they stopped, Wesley saw Abby stand up straighter, her shoulders pulled back. She gave a curt nod, “I’ll work on them, and I’ll come back after lunch.”
Elazar nodded, his eyes leaving her face for a moment and glancing at Wesley. After a moment, he added, “Wesley, accompany Abby back here this afternoon. What I want to show her pertains to you as well.”
He was a little shocked to be asked to return with her. The last time Elazar had wanted to train Abby, Wesley had all but been forbidden to stay. Clearing his throat, Wesley nodded. “I’ll do that.”
The Faye inclined his head before gesturing to the stairs that would lead them back down to ground level. “Then the next few hours are your own. I will see you both soon.” He bowed his head before leaving them, heading back towards the basin and his workshop.
Wesley squeezed Abby’s hand, smiling down at her. “Well, Lady Abby, what should we do now?”
She chuckled, the sound filtering through his senses at the same time as her happiness filled his veins. Pulling him down the stairs behind her, she said over her shoulder, “I have an idea. There’s a place I want to visit.”
Chapter Seventeen
Alex
Wind whipped at Alex’s fur as he ran across the rooftops of New York. The vampire he was chasing was still in his sights and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going to catch it.
The edge of the building was quickly approaching, but he didn’t slow, his muscles bunching as he planted his feet and leapt across the alley far below. Ahead of him, the vampire w
as a blur of speed, sending bits of snow and ice flying out from under his feet. The recent snow fall damped the sounds of the city around Alex, making it even easier to keep track of the monster. Even if the creature had managed to put a roof between them.
Pushing his muscles even harder, his lip curled back in a silent snarl. He jumped to the next roof and across it. He was so close. He would not lose his target. Passing a water tank on one of the roofs, he took a sharp right. He’d cut the vampire off on the next roof, giving the creature only one way out. If he was in his human form, he’d be smiling a vicious sort of grin. After finding those murdered children, this was exactly what he needed. What his wolf needed. It was only a shame that he couldn’t bite the vampire's head off. If he did that, he’d have to start all over again. Although, that didn’t sound so bad.
Taking the turn he did resulted in loosing sight of his target for a few beats of his paws on the roof, but it had to be done. When he came out from around the angled roof top of a museum, the vampire should be running straight for him. As his body cleared the obstruction, he growled low in his belly as the target skidded to a stop a few feet away. He had him. All he had to do was take a few careful steps to the left, really blocking the vampire’s path. The target angled his body towards his only opening — a drop into an alley below. Perfect. Slowly, Alex took a single step forward.
The vampire bolted for the alley before Alex’s paw even hit the cement.
With a grin on his face — well, as much of a grin as a wolf could make — he trotted over the edge of the roof. Below him, just as planned, was Ira and a few other wolves. They had the vampire in their clutches. Now, they’d finally be able to get some answers.
~~~
Screams echoed down the hallway. Not for the first time in the last few hours was Alex thankful he sent Tori to one of the pack’s apartments to sleep. Not that he liked the unsatisfactory process of pulling information out of unwilling participants, either. But they had no other option. There had been a time in his long life where he would have reveled in the blood. Now though, for reasons he wasn’t sure why, it didn’t hold the same fascination it had back then. He was perfectly happy to wait in the hallway while Briggs and Ira got whatever information they could out of the vampire.
Another scream reached his ears, making his stomach churn. Gods, why had he ever liked this sort of nonsense? Such an unappealing part of war, and yet it had existed since the beginning. Lost in his own thoughts, Alex didn’t notice when the sounds finally died down and the door to his right opened. Only when the stench of vampire blood over took his senses did he turn his head. Ira and Briggs came stalking out of the room, letting the door fall closed behind them.
“We got an address. Some safe house that they’ve been using.”
Pushing himself off the wall, Alex followed the two wolves towards the elevator. “Well, looks like our night isn’t over yet.” The sun would rise in another hour, the perfect time to go hunting vampires on their own turf. The sun might not have been able to turn them to dust like the stories said, but it made them weaker. Far weaker than a werewolf.
The small abandoned building before them used to house some tech business. A few broken computer monitors and other things littered the side of the building. The windows and doors were boarded up, thick pieces of wood to keep the sun’s light out. Spray paint decorated every inch of the exterior, a kaleidoscope of colors that looked brighter in the orange light of the rising sun. Alex knew nothing about gang symbols, but he was sure a few of them decorated the facade.
Ira stood by his left shoulder, the man’s face focused and determined. They would not shift for this one — they were already at an advantage. Ira glanced at the sun as it broke out over the rooftops of the city. With a single nod of his head, everyone burst into motion.
Wood splintered around him as the wolf pack broke through the boarded up windows. Glass shattered somewhere to his right. Yells and screams filled the small space, making his ears ring. The scent of blood filled his nose just as quickly as the wood had broken under his weight. It was all over quickly; far quicker than any battle Alex had ever been a part of before. But that was what happened when you caught a group of nocturnal creatures as they got ready for a day of rest.
“Alex.”
Turning his head to the sound of Ira’s voice, Alex picked his way through bodies and puddles of blood towards the far corner. Once he stood shoulder to shoulder with his friend, he tried to make sense of what he was seeing before them.
It was a witch’s lair, one that could have come straight out of some movie. A piece of plywood acted as a table, covering the surface were different herbs, crystals, and liquids in tiny jars. Symbols decorated the wood, written in black spray paint. One of them looked awfully familiar. Kneeling down to get a closer look, being very cautious not to touch anything, a scent hit his nose that caused the blood in his veins to freeze. He knew that smell, knew it so well because it permeated the very air inside his own home.
“A Faye was here. Helping the vampires.”
Chapter Eighteen
Abby
Standing before the stone ivy-covered building gave Abby a severe case of the goosebumps. It wasn’t that the arched doorway — or round spire in the back corner — were creepy, but she was fairly certain that she had seen her father’s home before. “I — I’ve seen it. The building. In my dreams.” She could feel Wesley standing still beside her, his hand still holding hers firmly.
His voice was soft when he spoke. “You’ve dreamed of it?”
She nodded her head, ignoring the way the circlet on her brow shifted to one side a bit. She had forgotten; it had been years since she had the dream. “I was just a kid, maybe seven or eight? But I think I had seen it before then too. I would have this dream of a running through a meadow full of daisies and then a house would come into view — this house.”
It looked just like it had in her dreams, and so much better than anything she could draw as a little girl. Flat stones lined the winding path to the front door. Some stones that made up the walls were bigger than her, and others were the size of her fist. The roof was covered in moss, little purple flowers popping up here and there. Ivy grew over most of the windows, but Abby could just make out some stained glass in a few of the arched spaces. Other windows were bare of any glass, like the windows in Lady Neirdre’s home. It was only one floor, except for the single round spire that sprouted from the farthest corner, standing tall with the trees.
Shaking her head, trying to rid the last images of a long-forgotten dream, Abby took a slow step forward and then another, comforted when Wesley walked solidly beside her. Upon reaching the large wood door, Abby realized that there was no doorknob of any kind. She guessed that her father had never been concerned with unwelcome visitors. Taking a steadying breath, she raised her free hand and placed it against the wood. Warmth and light blossomed under her hand, filling the tree design etched in the wood. And the door creaked open.
What stood out to her the most after she took the first few steps inside was how welcoming the interior felt. The stone outside felt almost fortress like, there to keep visitors out. But the inside felt nothing like that.
The floor, made of a greenish-blue flat stone, was calming. Tapestries hung from the ceiling, covering most of the stone walls, their soft colors warming the space. The front entryway opened up into a larger space, doors sat on either side of her but it was the hallway leading further into the house that called to her.
The windows that had glass, were multicolored and had intricate designs. One of them in particular made Abby pause in her perusal of the hallway — it was the seal of the Faye, a large oak tree with roots that went off the pane of glass. But unlike other renditions of the tree, this one also had a star etched into the glass, hanging above the tree. She didn’t know what it meant, but something inside her told her it was an important detail.
Glancing behind her, Abby saw Wesley peek into one of the open doorways. From what she
saw as she passed, it appeared to be a small sitting room. Wooden furniture, just like the pieces in their suite, sat around a low table, the cushions covered in light blue and lilac. When Wesley turned back towards her, she offered a small smile. His face was guarded but curious, feelings that she herself could empathize with. Walking through the hallway felt both utterly strange and familiar at the same time.
The hallway curved to the left, opening up into a grand living space. A round fireplace sat on the farthest wall, a slab of stone hanging above it as a mantle. Even without walking up to it, Abby could tell that the hole of the fireplace was as tall as she was. More couches made of wood sat around the room, as well as single chairs. A few bookshelves lined the interior walls, making Abby itch to read through the pages. But it was the door standing beside one shelf that caught her attention and held it.
She didn’t know why. There wasn’t anything special or different about it — it was just another wooden door. But her stomach was churning and her heartbeat picked up a few notches when she saw it. The whole house felt familiar, but that door in particular felt oddly like home.
Aware of Wesley standing just inside the living room, she took a deep breath and headed for the closed door. A delicate brass handle was etched into the door. It made a soft clicking sound when Abby opened it. By the time the door stopped its motion, hitting something behind it, she was frozen in place. It was a little girl’s room.
A small bed, perfect for a child of five or six, sat in the far corner. Carved of wood, the branches curved at the top to form a canopy. Pristine light blue lace hung over the bed. A miniature desk sat in the other corner, right beside a beautiful stain glass window, depicting the glade that Abby knew so well. There were other small pieces of furniture, and a dresser with little nicknacks sitting on top. A vision of a long-forgotten dream came to her and it was all suddenly very clear. Holding her breath, she looked up at the ceiling of the room, and just as in her dreams, an expanse of stars and space was painted on the ceiling.
