by Caris Roane
“I hate to say this, but only experience will give us the information we need. There’s just no other way. We don’t know where Margetta lives to try to spy on her.”
Hannah added her thoughts. “I get the sense that Margetta is just trying out what might be a new ability for her. If Jude and I make ourselves visible throughout the rest of the night, and the Guardsmen were spread out hunting for mist-sign, we could be anywhere at a moment’s notice.”
All eyes turned toward her, and she felt a warmth spread over her cheeks. For a moment, she wished she’d kept her mouth shut.
But Paul said, “That’s actually a very good idea. Better to have some control by hunting, rather than to wait for another slaughter.”
Jude met her gaze and she felt him press against her mind telepathically. Hannah, I don’t want you in the line of fire.
But Jude, I already am and Paul’s right. Better to have some control in the situation.
Jude nodded, then addressed his men. “As you can imagine, I’m concerned for Hannah’s safety.”
“Everyone here is,” one of the Guardsmen spoke up.
“Here, here,” went around the men.
She knew these men and which ones had wives and families and what each laid down every night to battle the enemy. “I feel the same way about all of you. I hope you know that.”
Another said, “We do, Hannah. That’s why you find a couple of us passed out in your bunkroom every night at dawn.”
Laughter erupted this time and she joined them.
But when her gaze landed once more on Jude, she saw a look in his eye, of deep appreciation, that pierced her heart. She felt two things at once: The huge divide that separated them because the focus of each of their lives was so different and her ever-present affection for him.
She had to look away, to remember that she’d made a promise never to allow what was important to her to be set aside for the needs of a man. Maybe Jude wasn’t Mark Jackson, her ex. And yes, Mark was a real dick for demanding that she sell the bar to basically prove she loved him. But the situation had the same difficult resonance – what she’d have to give up and what Jude wouldn’t.
So she calmed herself down, wanting desperately to keep her perspective as the hours and possibly days wore on.
Jude brought the subject back to the point. “Here’s the way this needs to go. I want every Guardsman on patrol. And Paul, bring in everyone on leave. You’re to give this basic information to each of the men, about the mist, about Hannah, but that we need to draw Margetta out. One of my fears is that she’ll use some of our people again to try out her mist-making ability and more innocent realm-folk will die. So, let’s keep a sharp eye out for the mist. Heavy patrolling everywhere.” Which covered a lot of miles. But Jude’s Vampire Guard was three-hundred strong so no one balked at the order.
“And Reese, I know the shifters aren’t fully ready, but let’s put them on the ground. I’m thinking about that scent, it was sweet but in a way that smelled decayed. Maybe a shifter will have a better chance at locating the next intrusion.”
“I think that’s a great idea. They’re chomping at the bit to see some action.”
“Then tonight would be a good place to start. Go ahead and contact Rayle. I’ll leave you in charge of that part of the operation. Just get them out there.” Rayle was the alpha and had command of his men.
Reese took off.
They also discussed whether or not to alert the general population to the mist problem. The central issue became clear, that to let all of Kellcasse know about the killing mist could cause wide-spread panic. And if that happened, Jude would end up with more problems than his limited Guardsman force could possibly manage.
And never mind about the bad press Jude would receive in the Kellcasse Chronicle. He’d be crucified in print. One way or the other, this was shaping up to be a PR nightmare if he and his Guard didn’t figure out how to deal with the killing mist.
Hannah made her own contributions, her observations of the mist, of Margetta, how the ancient fae seemed able to pull the mist with her, and that Hannah’s fire dispelled it.
In the end, it was agreed that each of the team leaders would alert their men about the mist and the necessity of avoiding it, but to report any sign to Longeness and his staff at the Kellcasse Communication Center. Longeness had the ability to reach the Guardsmen all at the same time when needed.
As the Guardsmen dispersed, leaving by the front door this time, Hannah hurried with them for the simple reason that she loved to see vampires in flight, especially the super-fit Guardsmen.
Jude stood close to her, one arm around her waist.
As the last one left, he turned to her and said quietly, “I don’t like you looking at other men, either.”
“I wasn’t eyeing them as ‘men’. I was watching your Guardsmen fly. It’s an impressive sight.”
He growled softly and nuzzled her neck, nipping her throat. She gasped, since the possessive gesture lit her up.
But she pushed away from him. “Don’t start that or we’ll never leave this place.”
Jude remained where he was but she could see that he was using every ounce of his energy to retain control.
“Fine,” he said at last. “Then let’s fly.”
Chapter Five
Jude realized that taking Hannah into the air had one solid advantage: Her body was pressed up against his and he could keep her there. She slung an arm around his neck for balance, adding to the closeness. And for one of the few times in his life, he cursed the leather Guardsman coat he wore because it prevented him from feeling the swell of her breasts against his side.
If all went well, he’d have her back at Castle Island in a few hours, safe and sound.
Then he’d have her in his bed.
What are you thinking about, Jude, because the air has this wonderful spicy, peppery scent.
He chuckled. Nothing much. You. My bed.
She sighed. How long until dawn?
Too long.
But as they cleared the hills to the east and continued on a slow path in that direction, he decided he’d better get with it. He touched the com at his shoulder and contacted his communication center. “How we doin’, Longeness?”
“I’ve been collecting data from the time that Paul gave me your orders. So far, my staff says ninety-five percent of your Vampire Guard is in the air. And with the exception of one, whose wife is in labor, the remainder will be airborne within the next half hour.”
“Excellent. Any reports of mist?”
“Nothing yet.”
“I want to hear about even the smallest hint of trouble. Are you monitoring the civic forces?” Each county had a policing force that worked within county lines and Longeness could listen for reports of mist from their centers as well. In an emergency, Jude could command all the county teams.
“Yes, Mastyr.”
“Good. Again, let me know if anything even slightly off-center shows up, no matter which part of the realm.”
“Understood.”
Jude signed off and flew Hannah in an easterly direction. She was very quiet, yet he felt her intensity. “Are you comfortable?”
“Yes, thank you. But please don’t worry about me. I don’t need small talk, not at a time like this.”
“You must have read my mind.”
“Well,” she said, “I have known you a long time, that even in social situations you’re not given to trivia and useless chatter.”
“I guess you do know me.” He was smiling as he passed over a village built up along both sides of a canal. He heard troll laughter, a baby crying in the distance, a dog barking.
As he flew above a nearby woodland, he dropped lower to the earth and saw three shifters racing at top speed, going almost as fast as he could fly through the trails below. Reese had done a good job getting them in the field.
He felt himself relax just a little. He had every part of his realm covered right now; vampires flying back-and-forth
, looking for Invictus or mist sign, shifters on the ground.
He flew Hannah over his land, talking to her quietly, naming the villages and towns, the creeks, canals, streams and lakes.
When he reached Kelltah Bridge, he hovered above it for a moment so that she could take it in.
“What a beautiful bridge.” She leaned forward to get a better view, holding his neck tightly.
“The bridge connects two distinct communities.”
“And I think this is one of your larger canals.”
“It is.” After a moment, he put them back in motion, passing over another mile or so of rolling hills and woodland. Again, he saw a squad of four shifters, in wolf form, racing along one of the ridgelines.
“They’re beautiful when they’re running. Elegant.”
He would never have described a rough shifter as elegant in either wolf or realm form, but seeing them through Hannah’s eyes he knew what she meant. “Shifters pride themselves even more than Guardsmen do on their athletic conditioning.”
Another village and waterway, arched with three bridges. Another woodland.
When Hannah stiffened, then gasped, he immediately drew them to a halt, hovering in the air. “What is it, Hannah? Do you see mist?”
“Oh, God, I’m so sorry. No, nothing like that.”
Jude looked around carefully, searching for mist despite her assurance otherwise. “Okay, so what caught your attention? Had to be something.”
“Jude, again, I apologize. It’s just that I suddenly realized that I can see really well and it’s nighttime.”
He worked to settle his heart down and to not yell at her because he could sense her remorse.
He put them in flight again. “That’s part of your power base, to see well at night.”
“I might not be happy about the blood rose thing and this fire-power I have, but I’m loving being able to see everything as though the woods are glowing.”
He turned north, wanting her to see one of their prettiest villages with a predominantly hard-working elven population. Many were expert stone-masons and it showed.
He told her what he was doing and wasn’t surprised that when the village came into view, she made many cooing sounds of appreciation. “It looks like a village in Britain. I swear every window has a window box jammed with flowers and trailing vines. And look at the flower baskets hanging from the lampposts.”
“I thought you’d like it.”
As he drew close to the center of the village, she asked, “What’s going on there? Look at all the lights strung everywhere. Is it a wedding? Oh, my God it is! A real elven wedding. Would it be rude to draw close enough to see their arms joined with a vine?”
Both the elven and fae communities made use of vines during the ceremonies, wrapped around both husband and wife’s forearms, to symbolize their bond.
He flew as near to the square as he dared, not wanting anyone to see them, then hung in the shadows for Hannah to get a good look. He wouldn’t disrupt the ceremony for anything.
Switching to telepathy, he pathed, Can you see their arms?
I can. It’s so beautiful and look, she’s very pregnant.
It’s a tradition among many of the elven, the fae as well, and a sign of prosperity, for the woman to be with child on the day of her nuptials.
Well, I think it’s lovely. Even magical.
But she stiffened once more in his arms. At first he didn’t know why until she said, Jude, I’m frightened. I can sense that Margetta is nearby. She’s very close.
You’re sure? He rose steadily into the air, higher and higher and got Longeness on the com. Just as he was about to talk to him, Jude saw a line of mist on the nearby canal that sent a chill through his heart. “Longeness, I have mist-sign. I need as many Guardsmen as possible surrounding the elven town of Chelana. Tell them to avoid the town center. There’s a wedding in progress.”
“Got it. I have four within a five minute arrival time and another … let’s see, seven, no eight at the ten minute mark.”
“Thanks, just send them to me.”
To Hannah, he said quietly, “Back-up’s on the way.”
“Okay.” Her arm tightened around his neck.
He felt her distress and slowed his flight, moving steadily in the direction of the mist. “Hannah, how did you know she was there?”
“It’s weird, but I felt her presence. I can still feel it.”
“Has to be your fire-gift.”
The next moment, mist appeared at the railing of the nearby canal. It began pouring over the pavers of the road and moving swiftly toward the square.
“Jude, what are we going to do?”
“I don’t know. If I approach the mist, I’ll pass out.”
The moment the mist reached ten feet from the nearest realm-folk, no matter the species, each simply slumped to the ground. The process looked like dominos falling.
Jude had never felt so helpless to intervene, and he really hated that feeling.
~ ~ ~
Hannah knew that she could make a difference, because she’d already confronted Margetta once. But she didn’t see the woman anywhere, and she was afraid to start working her fire-gift without at least knowing the woman’s location. “Rise higher in the air, Jude. I need to look down on the crowd. My God, how fast the mist takes them over. It’s like watching a flood and being unable to help anyone.”
The moment Jude had lifted them another fifty yards in the air so that she had a bird’s eye view of the square, she groaned. “I can see Margetta now. She’s right next to the bride.” The mist reached the lovely red-haired woman in white lace, and she dropped along with her attached groom onto the pavers at Margetta’s feet. The bride fell on her side, her free arm surrounding her swollen belly protectively.
The crowd had grown very quiet as more and more people fell unconscious. Those opposite the fallen, stared in mute confusion as the mist rolled toward them and a slight murmur of concern went up until the mist reached them.
By the time another minute had passed, the entire square had fallen silent, at least two-hundred vulnerable realm-folk awaiting slaughter.
Margetta lifted her gaze upward and called out, “Come to me, Hannah. We need to reach an understanding.”
Jude spoke into his com. “Longeness, let the incoming Guardsmen know that Margetta is in the Chelana town square. Make sure they remain at two-hundred-yards distant. Looks like we’ll be negotiating. But keep them flying. I’ll want the troops here in case the Invictus show up ready to do Margetta’s bidding. So far, no one else is here to support the ancient fae.”
“Understood, Mastyr.”
Something flashed in Margetta’s hand as she knelt beside the bride. “Fly me closer, Jude. Oh, God, Margetta is holding a dagger to the bride’s throat. Do you see it?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Why is Margetta doing this?”
“Testing the field. She wants to know how powerful you are as well as the limitation of her mist. The only good news is that it looks to me as though her mist also affects her own army of wraith-pairs, otherwise they’d be present right now, awaiting her orders.”
“Just get me as close as you can without being affected by the mist.”
“Come to me, Hannah, or the bride dies.” Margetta pulled the woman’s upper body onto her lap, exposing her pale throat. The bride’s crown of lavender flowers slid off her veil and onto her husband’s arm.
Margetta made a surface cut, so that a small rivulet of blood slid down the side of the woman’s neck.
Hannah gasped. “I have to go to her.”
“No, Hannah.”
She turned to look at Jude. Just keep your telepathic frequency open. We’ll talk the whole time. But I can’t let her die and neither can you. We’ll have to wing it, but I know we can figure something out. I also know that I can’t have this woman’s death on my conscience.
Jude’s nostrils flared and he pressed his lips tight together. I understand.
&nbs
p; He set her down outside the circle of mist that lay like a soft veil over the prone realm-folk.
That smell is horrible. She stepped off his boot. Just talk to me.
Jude backed up swiftly, positioning himself thirty feet away, out of range of the mist, but he stayed on the ground. The mist appears to have strict limitations, but I can still smell it even from this position.
Hannah didn’t glance in his direction, but stepped carefully over several people, working not to crush hands or limbs.
As she approached Margetta, she thought yet again that even though the woman personified evil, she was beautiful with even features, a straight nose, and violet eyes not unlike her own.
Margetta’s eyes, however, turned silver in that moment, which Hannah knew meant she was attempting to employ her enthrallment skills.
In response, the fire element of Hannah’s strange emerging power began to burn hot. Her skin grew flushed, and she lifted her chin. She released a sudden burst of that hot energy directly at Margetta’s mind. The ancient fae winced, but her eyes returned to normal.
“So, you’ve got some power.” She looked Hannah up and down. “Yet, I don’t understand what you are.”
Hannah’s gaze slid to the blood still trickling from the elven bride’s throat and to the shiny silver blade in Margetta’s hand.
Meeting Margetta’s gaze once more, she responded, “I have no idea, either. Nor does Vojalie, except that I’m meant to create balance in the Nine Realms.”
“Balance?” Margetta laughed. “Don’t be stupid. Now here is how this is going to go. You’ve got a very simple choice: Either come with me right now, or the bride and everyone in this lovely community square dies. What shall it be?” She rolled the blade at the woman’s neck, creating a second surface slice, but with a stronger flow this time.
Jude, did you hear Margetta?
I did. You’re not to leave with her. She has only one intention; she will kill you.
I know. The problem is, I know the bride. I didn’t recognize her because we were so far away, but a year ago she and her boyfriend came into the Gold Rush and announced their engagement. She started to tremble. Can you tell me something?
