Fane glanced over his shoulder at his mate. “Sparkle?” he asked, his voice low to keep from interrupting the meeting.
Jacque’s lips pursed. “Oh, like that’s really so far-fetched. Need I remind you of the warlocks, pixies, trolls, fae, sprites, and who knows what other kind of freaky beings that exist?”
“You know you’re one of those freaky beings, right? Actually, you’re two of those freaky beings.”
“Not the point, fur butt. the point is, a sparkling vampire is not a stretch.” Jacque huffed.
“Perhaps not, but it’s also not a stretch to say he would be laughed off the top of the food chain. Predators don’t sparkle.” He grinned at her, showing plenty of not-quite-human teeth.
“Are we going to the Americas to declare war, or are we sitting her on our arses and twiddling our thumbs?” Jen’s voice interrupted their private conversation with a ridiculous and terrible accent.
“And when did you become Irish or Scottish or whatever -ish it is that you’re attempting to channel?” Sally asked.
“Are you sure she wasn’t channeling her inner pirate?” Jacque asked.
“Ahh,” Sally said slowly. “I didn’t consider that one. Definitely could have been the inner pirate.”
“I’m about to channel my inner wolf and bite both your arses.” Jen growled.
“It’s still a toss-up,” Jacque said, tapping her finger on her chin as she narrowed her eyes on her best friend.
Jen ignored her and looked back at Vasile. “What’s your call, Alpha?”
Vasile looked around the room, his eyes landing on each of them until he finally met Fane’s. They stared at one another, and Fane felt the burden that his father constantly had to bear. It was one he wished he could help carry, but that wasn’t how the hierarchy in the pack worked. Fane gave his father, his Alpha, a slight bow of his head, letting him know he would submit to whatever decision he made
“We aren’t going to sit idle like the leaders of the past.” Vasile motioned toward Wadim. “We will step up and face evil head on.”
“Damn right we will,” Jen piped up.
Fane bit back a laugh as Decebel placed his arm around Jen’s head and put his hand over her mouth.
Vasile continued, not surprised or bothered by Jen’s words. “I was going to tell you all this today, before our guests arrived with their news. In five days, we will meet in the sprite realm with the leaders of the other supernatural races. We will be devising a battle plan. After speaking with the queen of the sprites and Peri, we agree it’s going to take more than just the wolves and a few fae to bring the Order down. In the meantime, we will begin preparing for an evacuation of both the Serbia mansion and this mansion.”
“I’m sorry,” Jacque said. “Did you say evacuation?”
Jen pushed Decebel’s hand away. “And where, exactly, are we going to go?”
“There is a stronghold that the Romania Canis lupus built a long time ago,” Vasile said.
“Hold up,” Jen said. “Are you telling me that we have our very own Helms Deep?”
Chapter Sixteen
“Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines stronghold as a fortified place, a place of security or survival. Jen defines stronghold as Helm’s Deep, a place where hobbits, dwarves, and elves in movies go to fend off bad guys. I’m pretty sure her brain only works in military lingo and movie comparisons. We don’t have hobbits or dwarves but we do have a few elves.” ~Jacque
Jacque waitedfor her father-in-law’s response, but he just stared at her in confusion. Being centuries old, it was understandable he missed the reference.
Finally, Fane said, “It’s a fictional stronghold from a book, Da. Jen is asking if he have something like it.”
“Did you know about Helm’s Deep?”Jacque asked him through their bond.
“You just heard me explaining it to my father.”
“No, furball, I mean the one your dad is talking about?”
“Oh, well, what’s going to get me in the least amount of trouble?”Fane asked, and she heard the amusement in his voice.
“That answers my question,” Jacque said out loud.
