“No,” Locke said, his expression hard. “Warrick will want to keep the Taratun council appeased for now. If only to enjoy their support.”
“Right, so he’s goin’ to the mountain,” Asher said. “That doesn’t answer the question of how we grab him without triggering his monster beasts.”
“We’d also need to neutralize him,” I added.
Asher nodded. “Yeah, and that.”
“Warrick won’t be expecting an attack during the meeting, and it’s possible he’ll have fewer outliers with him in the confined tunnels,” Lyr theorized. “As for neutralizing him, well that I haven’t figured out yet.”
“How did you entomb King Adrien?” Kade asked.
“That was through trial and error,” Dean replied. “Some monsters have different weaknesses, and we discovered that a tomb made of stone, the very material he now consists of, was the only thing that would be able to contain him.”
“Then we sealed the lid with magic,” Lyr chirped, using an enchanted object weborrowedfrom the royal vault.
We gaped at the pair of them, in surprise.
“So again, how are we goin’ to—” Asher began.
“Warrick’s lab,” Locke answered thoughtfully.
We all fell silent and waited for him to continue.
“We can visit Warrick’s lab first,” Locke went on. “When I would capture the outliers for Warrick, he’d provide me with a gray powder that he’d created in the lab. When inhaled, it makes the creatures unconscious. There may be more powder back at the lab, and we can use it on Warrick and any outliers he has acting as his security.”
“So I’m guessin’ that means you’ve just volunteered us for the job,” Asher commented with a grin, looking pleased with the development.
“Yes, we’ll bring Warrick in,” Locke confirmed, his gaze darkening like he wished to do much more than simply capture his father.
CHAPTER 16
~ Cara ~
Four years ago
Xanderranhisfingerslazily along my bare arm and kissed my shoulder. I smiled, all too ready to enjoy his company again, but as he pressed close the scratch of leather against my skin had me tilting my head back to look at him.No.“It can’t be time already,” I whispered.
He was fully clothed, his fighting leathers fitted tightly to his form, and his weapons belt already secured around his waist. I must have still been sleeping when he’d risen and dressed, and I peered at the watery light streaming through the window of our shared home. Xander had called his houseoursfor the past year, but whenever he was gone, I still went back to staying with Ode, preferring to be in the company of the pixie rather than in the empty glass structure.
Leaning down, Xander pressed a quick kiss to my lips. “You know I need to go. We’ve been through this.”
He was right, but that didn’t make it any easier. “I don’t understand why I can’t come with you. At least if someone gets hurt, I can help them right away.”
“You are too precious to be out there with us,” he murmured as he kissed beneath my ear, and despite the way my core clenched at the anticipation for more, I was still annoyed.
“I want to help,” I protested.
He responded by clamping his teeth onto my earlobe drawing a gasp out of me.
“And you will. When we return,” he replied, and I closed my eyes, focusing on his touch.
As the years passed and I’d remained trapped in Zalei, I’d come to accept my place with the Forgotten Fae. With my healing power, I now helped the seriously wounded when the Forgotten Fae soldiers returned from their battles with the king’s soldiers. It felt good to be useful.
But I was now twenty-two, and it was only four years until Raine would have to participate in the Night of the Offering and stand in the line up before the monsters. Xander still hadn’t found a way to send me home, and while I’d been able to tell myself that Raine was safe for the time being, lately I’d started wondering more about my powers and what it meant for my sister. When my magic had presented, Xander had explained that I must be part fae. It was the only explanation for what I could do, but I had no idea how it could be true. And if it was, did that mean my sister had powers, too? If the monsters who visited my island were the same ones who slaughtered the fae all those years ago, what would they do to Raine if they found out she had fae blood in her? I thought about bringing Raine and my father to live in Zalei amongst the fae. Perhaps this was where we belonged? Raine had always talked about wanting adventure.
Xander had assured me that there were tomes in the royal library that detailed all about portals and other worlds. That one day he’d get his hands on the books so he could help me find my way back to my island. But the battles with the king were becoming more vicious, and more of the Forgotten Fae were returning grievously wounded. I needed to keep Xander safe, and not just to save myself from a broken heart. If Xander died, he’d never be able to fulfill his promise to me.
Xander claimed my lips as his hand lifted to squeeze my breast, and I moaned into his mouth. “Please Xan,” I pleaded when our lips parted. “Let me come with you.”
