“The wind is shifting brother. Do you feel it? You, who thought you were protecting the one you hold most dear, have opened a door I didn’t dream you would put before me. I must give you all the praise for setting this up so nicely for me. So please remember to take a bow when you see the play I have in store for you.” ~Reyaz
Reyaz stood just on the edge of his brother’s forest. He knew Cypher was gone again, visiting the wolves. He chuckled to himself. Cypher thought that the wolves could defeat him. But Reyaz was not a simple witch with a desire for power. His cause was much more specific and much more personal. He wanted revenge, restitution, and recompense. At first, he had planned to be satisfied with taking Lilly, his brother’s new found mate. But now, he grinned. Now he had a whole harem at his disposal.
“I thought you would be more difficult to find.” The deep voice from behind him did not startle him. He had known he was coming, knew it, and welcomed it.
“The King of wolves graces me with his presence. Not the King I was expecting, but you will do nonetheless,” he told Vasile as he turned to face him.
“What is it that you want Reyaz?” Vasile asked bluntly.
“No pleasantries? Well, I must have really offended you.”
“I tend to get offended when someone kills me, so I apologize if I’m being a tad abrupt.”
Reyaz laughed. “I like you Alpha. You have pizazz.”
“My daughter-in-law would be proud,” he said blandly. “Again I ask; what is it that you want.”
“What all men who have lost love want―the one who took it to pay.” Reyaz took a step to the left and motioned in the direction of the warlock mountain and stronghold. “My brother has ruled for centuries. He has lived with my people following his every command while I have withered away with my sorrows.”
“And whose fault is that?” Vasile asked. “You have separated yourself from you kin, from your people. You have made the choice to put the pain from your loss above your good sense.”
Reyaz snarled, “IT WAS HIS FAULT!” He took several deep breaths before he spoke again, this time not as loudly, but with every bit the same intensity. “He is the King; he has absolute power and he should have stopped her from her foolish quest.”
“You know as well as anyone that you can’t control your female. They are every bit as stubborn as we are, especially when it comes to nurturing relationships and creating peace. The death of your mate lies in the hands of her attackers and no one else.”
“Oh really? Put yourself in my shoes. What if it was your mate that insisted on coming here today, instead of you? What if your Beta was the last to speak to her? And what if she came and I killed her? Who would you blame? Me? Of course. But who else? Shouldn’t he have made absolute certain that she didn’t put herself in harm’s way?"
Vasile’s eyes had begun to glow. “As her mate, ultimately it would be my fault. She is my responsibility. But she is also responsible for her actions. Your mate was an adult, and she made a choice to do something dangerous because she believed in the cause behind it.”
Reyaz shook his head. “I think I really could have liked you under different circumstances. But, alas, we have met on a battlefield instead of under times of peace. You may go now, Vasile, Alpha and King of the wolves. But our next meeting will not likely end in such civility.”
Vasile watched the warlock for several heartbeats before speaking again. “I too wish things were different, but I can’t let you hurt Lilly. She is pack and I protect what is mine.”
Reyaz watched in fascination. Vasile turned and, in the blink of an eye, where a man had stood, a wolf leapt off into the forest.
“Well, things just got more interesting,” he murmured and then turned back to the mountain. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the vial of blood, unscrewed the lid, and tossed the red fluid towards the stronghold. His arms reached out and he closed his eyes as he called on the words of the spell he had composed.
“Ancient magic, born of black,
Bring your power, bring your will.
Let chaos reign, bring war back,
No peace shall come, none be still.
Anger, pain will rule their hearts,
Sickness, disease will fill their beds,
Strike their souls like poison darts,
Cast strife and worry upon their heads.”
Reyaz felt a jolt of power rush through him and knew the magic had done its job. Now all he had to do was wait for a few days and let the spell settle in and begin to do its work.
He closed his eyes as he pictured the house that he had visited, Lilly’s house, and all the delectable she-wolves and a gypsy as well. He smiled slowly; his reward for his patience would be great, and Cypher and the wolves won’t even realize what has happened until it’s far too late.
Gerick stood in the armory of the mountain stronghold checking the number of weapons they had. It had been a very long time since any new weapons had been forged. Because of this, he had been in contact with Prince Thalion of the Elves, requesting help to create some new ones. Cypher was hoping to avoid an all-out battle with his brother, but he thought it better to be prepared than just to hope to not need them.
Cypher had been gone, off and on, to talk strategy with the wolves. And apparently, the fae were also involved. It seemed that desperate times continued to unite the supernatural races. Though he wished it were under different circumstances, it was good to see them all working together.
“Have you decided on what you would like my elves to make for you?” Thalion’s voice broke through his thoughts.
“Plenty of bows and arrows for a start; I imagine fighting from a distance will probably be a good thing to do with Reyaz.”
“But what will you be fighting? Will he have an army?” Thalion asked.
“Honestly, I have no idea.”
“Doesn’t that worry you?”
Gerick shook his head. “What worries me is that something about this whole thing feels wrong. Cypher is convinced that Reyaz is simply looking to hurt him or Lilly, but I think he has bigger plans than that.”
“The forest is full of his darkness.” Thalion looked at the rock wall surrounding them as if he could see through it into the forest he spoke of. “It is malevolent and a sickness is in the air.”
Gerick took a deep breath, but the air got caught in his lungs. He began to cough until he had to lean against a row of swords to keep from falling over. He felt light headed and the room swam before him.
“General, are you all right?” Thalion asked as he stepped towards him.
Gerick closed his eyes and tried to focus himself. He counted to ten and finally the feeling passed and he could breathe again.
“I’m fine, sorry,” he cleared his throat. “I don’t know what that was but I’m better now.”
Thalion watched him briefly before nodding. “I will get your bows made and some new swords as well. I will return in a week with them.”
Gerick nodded. “Thank you. Prince Thalion.”
Once the Elvin Prince was gone Gerick sat abruptly down on one of the benches that lined the walls. He didn’t know what was going on, but his heart was pounding painfully in his chest, and his head felt as though it might split open. He had been telling the truth when he said he could breathe again, but he didn’t add that now his whole body felt as though something was trying to explode out of him, like his skin was being stretched too thin against his frame.
He heard a commotion out in the hall and tried to listen to see what was going on. He didn’t have to listen long when the door that Thalion had recently exited burst open.
“Gerick you must come now.” Finbar, the mate of one of their healers, motioned for him to follow.
“What is going on?” he asked as he stood from the bench and stilled until he felt steady enough to move.
“Just hurry please,” Finbar said desperately.
He followed quickly and his skin began to crawl as he heard wailing. They entered the great hall of the mountain and Gerick’s mouth dropped open.
“What happened?” he asked as his stomach rolled at the smells of sickness that permeated the air.
Gerick watched in horror as male and female warlocks alike doubled over in pain, some grabbing their heads and others clutching around their stomachs. Sounds of retching began to fill the air and then the wails of anguish climbed up the walls of the hall into the high ceiling of the mountain. Gerick moved forward, running to the first person he could reach. It was Indigo, one of his fellow warriors, and his skin was soaked in sweat and flushed with fever. He placed his hand against Indigo’s face and felt that he was burning up. When the male turned his face up at Gerick, he watched as his eyes went from green to blazing red. Indigo took several deep breaths and then closed his eyes. Gerick took a step back and waited as he tried to tune out the cries around him. Finally, the warrior stood up straight, opened his eyes which continued to burn bright red, and let out a deep breath.
“Indigo,” Gerick said cautiously, “are you alright?”
“I am,” Indigo answered.
Gerick watched him for several seconds, but the noise around him ripped through his concern over what was happening with Indigo. He shook his head, attempting to push away the raging headache that had suddenly latched on like a vice grip and was attempting to drive him to his knees. He didn’t have time to be ill, not when his King was away and something was terribly wrong with their people.
“Fine,” he said in frustration, “help me with the others.” Gerick motioned toward the room that continued to fill up with more and more sick warlocks. Indigo nodded and then headed towards the closest sick person.
Gerick started to head to another warrior, but changed course when he saw Avrora, one of their healers come rushing in.
“Avrora,” Gerick nearly yelled, “what is this madness?”
Avrora looked around slowly and Gerick was reminded of why she was the head healer. She was legendary for her calm and collected demeanor in times of stress and it was very apparent now that she was exactly what was needed.
“It’s dark,” Avrora finally said coolly. “Dark magic at work, General.”
“What do we do?”
“I don’t know,” she looked over at him and, despite her control, he could still see the undiluted fear in her eyes.
Gerick felt another stab of pain in his stomach and then his vision swam as he fell to his knees. The words ‘dark magic’ floated through his head as he felt his mind being wrapped in a fog of confusion. He tried to push through the haze and think clearly, but he couldn’t grasp onto a single thought. He heard his name being called, but couldn’t respond. He felt completely out of control of his faculties, and just when he was sure he was going to lose his mind, suddenly everything was clear.
He pushed up from the ground as his eyes opened. He rotated his neck, working out the stiffness. When he heard his name being called, this time he responded.
“My King,” Gerick turned to see Cypher striding towards him. He fell to one knee as he bowed his head. “When did you return?”
“I’ve been back for about an hour. Are you feeling better?”
Gerick stood up and nodded. “I’m much better now, and all of our people will be well.”
Cypher nodded. “Good. We have a war to plan.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Gerick agreed.
“Did you speak with Thalion today?”
“Yes, sire, he is making the bows and swords.”
Cypher nodded as he looked around the great hall. He watched as one by one the warlocks who had been sick only moments ago now began to stand, shaking off the effects and opening their eyes revealing blood red irises. “Have him double the amount. Trolls can be hard to kill.”
“Cypher,” a female voice spoke up from across the hall.
Cypher looked over and his eyes narrowed. “Cyn, what are you doing here?”
The female Guardian fae walked slowly toward him. “Thalion mentioned that Gerick seemed to be ill today when he was here.” Cyn watched the King she had spent over a month traveling with and noticed that, like the others, his eyes were a brilliant red. Her skin crawled as she felt the sickness in the air try to latch onto her. But it quickly retreated from the goodness she held in her heart.
Cypher chuckled darkly. “It seems that we have all been a little ill today, but as you can see we are healing quite quickly.”
Cyn looked around and her lips tightened. Something was terribly wrong and she was beginning to realize that she was the only one who thought so. “Have you noticed anything different about your people, or about yourself, King?”
Cypher smiled, “Other than feeling stronger than I have felt in a long time? Then no, I do not notice anything different.”
“How is your mate?” she asked suddenly. His eyes flashed back to their usual yellow briefly but the red was back in a blink.
“She is not my concern right now.”
“Why not?” Cyn asked. She was fishing, but for what she didn’t know just yet. For the moment, she was content just to keep him talking.
“In times of war there is no room to be worrying over a female.” Cypher shifted his weight and she could tell the words almost seemed forced, as if he were actually fighting them from coming out.
“War?” she raised her voice just a tad, effectively grabbing a hold of the attention of the other warlocks in the room. “War with whom?”
Cypher’s eyes grew even brighter and a smile that made Cyn’s skin crawl flashed across his face. “The trolls. It is time they pay for their treachery.”
A roar of agreement came from the others in the room as fists pumped into the air and heads nodded in agreement. She needed to go, and she needed to go now.
“I am on my way to see Vasile and his wolves. Should I send him a message?”
“Tell him he’s either with us, or against us.”
Cyn moved with purpose as she crossed through the veil. Her mind was so distracted on what she had just seen and heard that she didn’t realize where she had taken herself until she heard his voice.
“Twice in one day, Guardian,” Thalion spoke up as he watched Cyn move through the forest toward him as if she were a part of it. “I feel honored. What brings you back into my realm so soon female?” the flirtatious tone in his voice was one that she usually welcomed, but he noticed that she did not respond in kind.
“As much as I enjoy your teasing Prince, I must ask that we forgo that part of our usual conversation.”
Thalion noticed once she was closer that her face was taught with worry, her body rigid with the need to act.
“What has happened?” he asked with urgency brought on by her obvious unease.
“You mentioned that Gerick had seemed off today when you saw him, so I thought perhaps I should check on the Warlock King and make sure all was well,” she explained. “It turns out that all is far from well.”
“Are they sick?”
“Something has twisted them. The last thing Cypher said to me was that he was going to war with the trolls.”
Thalion took a step towards her, setting down the bow he had been holding.
“War?” he asked.
She nodded. “But that wasn’t the only thing. Their eyes glowed red.”
“Cypher’s?”
“Not just his, all of them, every warlock, male and female had glowing red eyes,” Cyn shuddered inwardly at the picture in her mind. “Their eyes glowed red,” she continued, “and their faces were a mask of anger.”
“Did Cypher say anything else?” Thalion asked as he took a step towards her.
“I told him I was going to see Vasile and asked if there was a message he would like me to give to him. I just wanted to see what he would say.” Her eyes met his. “He told me to tell Vasile that the wolves were either with them or against them.”
“Cypher is willing to risk going to war with the wolves?” Thalion shook his head. “That is not the Cypher that we know Cyn.”
“I agree,” she told him.
“Have you told Vasile?”
She shook her head. “I thought I was on my way there, but then I ended up here.”
Thalion’s full lips spread into a smile. “Are you worried for my safety, Guardian? Were you coming to protect me?”
Cyn rolled her eyes. “I was coming to tell you not to make the weapons for them. Cypher plans to use them against the trolls.”
“You’re right. We definitely do not want the warlocks to have Elvin weapons if they are going to possibly wield them against the trolls,” his eyebrows drew together as he looked at her. He seemed to be studying her features as he took yet another step towards her. “I find myself rather frustrated at the moment,” he said.
Cyn tilted her head to the side. “Why?” she asked slowly.
“Because I’ve finally have you in my life again,” he paused.
“And that frustrates you?”
He chuckled. “No love, what frustrates me is that everyone seems hell bent on killing each other when all I want to do is spend time with the woman I love, which I can’t do because the woman I love has a kind and generous heart and refuses to leave these species to their own demise.”
She smiled warmly and blushed. “You think I’m generous?”
Thalion took another large step towards her and wrapped her in his arms. She gasped at the speed of his movements, but didn’t push him away.
“I just told you I love you, and all you heard was that I think you are generous?”
“I already knew you loved me,” she told him matter-of-fact like.
“Really?”
She nodded. “But I had no idea you thought I was kind and generous, and that changes everything,” she teased.
Thalion threw his head back and laughed. Cyn rarely played; she was usually very serious, but when she did play, when she did show him her softer side, Thalion found himself wanting to bask in the joy she brought him.
He took one last breath after composing himself and looked into her eyes. “We need to warn the wolves.”
“Yes,” she told him, but didn’t attempt to pull away from him. She met his stare with the same intensity he was giving her.
“But before I can do anything else, I have to kiss you.”
“Have to or want to?” she whispered.
“Both.”
Cyn nodded and licked her lips nervously. Thalion’s eyes followed the tip of her tongue as it traveled across her mouth and he groaned as he leaned forward and closed the distance between them. He kissed her deeply, with a centuries worth of passion. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer to him, finally giving into the emotions that threatened to consume her. She had wanted him for so long, but stayed away because he refused to be a part of any world but his own. She knew she could not be with someone who only thought his own people’s needs and safety were important. But all that had changed when she had come to him for help just a few months ago. He had stepped forward and told her that he would no longer keep his people separate from the rest of the supernatural or human world. He agreed that as one of the most powerful supernatural races it was his duty to help and to protect when need be. When he had decided that, she had decided that if he wanted her still, she would be his.
When they finally pulled back from each other, their breathing was rapid and their lips glistened with the passion of their kiss. She reached up and traced his lips with her fingertips and the warmth of his breath on her skin made her shiver.
“Is that a yes?” he finally spoke once his breathing was again even.
“Yes?” she asked.
“To the question I posed so long ago. Will you be mine and mine alone?”
Cyn smiled one of her rare smiles that showed just how beautiful she was, not only on the outside but on the inside as well. “It is,” she answered.
Thalion leaned down and kissed her again, but this time it was gentle.
“Finally,” he whispered against her lips.
“Can we go tell the wolves now?” she asked.
“Yes, but when this is all said and done, I will not forget what has happened here today Cyn.”
She pulled back and grinned mischievously. “If you do forget it, then I apparently did not do it right and perhaps will have to ask Lilly what I am doing wrong, since Cypher seems to like to come back for seconds so often.”
“There will be plenty of times for seconds, and thirds for that matter once the warlocks are dealt with.”
“And Reyaz,” she added.
“Okay,” he agreed, “and Reyaz.”
“Oh, and we get the females back from the United States. Oh, and Jen and Decebel’s baby is saved.”
Thalion grabbed her hand and started to pull her quickly behind him.
“Thalion?” she called out nearly laughing. “In a hurry?”
“Yes, at the rate you are throwing names out there for us to save I shall never get seconds.”
“Or thirds for that matter,” she added and then laughed when she heard him growl.
“I can get us there quicker, Prince,” she told him as she continued to laugh at his obvious frustration. She pulled him to a stop and then in a flash they were standing before the Romanian pack mansion.
She turned and looked at him. “Better?”
“I’ll keep you posted,” but softened his words with a wink as he ushered her towards the front door.