“It’s not only yours that we need.” He shifted until he was facing her. “We need them all.”
“All?” Her brow rose.
He nodded. “We need representation from every single supernatural race to add their magic to our own. The combination will be so powerful that we will be able to accomplish our goals.”
“And what is that goal?” Sally wasn’t sure if she really wanted to know.
“This rotating ball of water and land will become ours. The humans will be nothing more than chattel. They are weak. In the food chain, the weak serve their purpose and then die. We will give them the choice. They can fall in line and accept their place in the new world, or they can perish.”
Sally watched his face as he spoke and saw something dangerous slip over it like a mask. It was almost as if he were possessed by something else, something so incredibly evil that he would literally do anything, absolutely anything, to accomplish his goal. He was a powerful supernatural being who had nothing to lose. Not really. He cared for no one other than himself. And this new world was worth everything to him. That made him very, very dangerous. She wondered if those working with him, such as Ludcarab, understood what kind of person they were dealing with. But then again, the elf king was probably just as evil.
“Don’t look so frightened,” Alston said, the mask suddenly gone. “You’re a supernatural being of sorts. You and yours will be allowed to have a place in the new world. You will be subject to the leaders of the Order, of course.”
“Of course,” Sally said dryly. “How many supernatural races do you already have represented?” She glanced at the three fae. She remembered seeing warlocks and pixies on the battlefield. So with the vampire, fae, and wolves, that was at least five of the races. Sally now knew there were sprites. There were also trolls and the draheim, which were basically dragons.
“What am I missing, Costin?”she asked through their bond.
“There are realms that are mostly water,”he said, sounding a little hesitant. She wasn’t surprised. For some reason, the males of their race felt like they were somehow protecting the females by keeping them in the dark about the supernaturals.“You, Jen, and Jacque have an uncanny ability to get yourselves into trouble,”he pointed out.“We don’t need you marching off looking for these other supernaturals. Your curiosity would get the best of you eventually.”
She couldn’t argue so she didn’t.“Water realm? Are we talking mer-people?”
“And selkies and sirens.”
“Sirens?”she knew her voice through their bond sounded high because she hadn’t been expecting that.“Like the kind that lure men to the seas and drown them?”
“Are there any other kind?”
“Have you ever met a siren?”
“I wouldn’t be alive if I had,”he said.“It takes a very strong wolf, an alpha, to resist the pull of a siren.”
“Has Vasile ever met one?”She really should be paying attention to Alston, who was still droning on in the background as she conversed through the bond with her mate. She could feel Costin’s agitation abating as they talked through their bond. The connection offered him comfort.
“That is something you would have to ask him. I am not nearly as old as he and some of the other males in our pack.”
“We are very close to having all of the races represented,” Alston said, his words bringing Sally out of her head and back into the room. “We only lack a few.”
“Why don’t you just take what you want?” Sally asked.
“Magic has rules,” he said, a frown marring his face. “Even the powerful have to follow those rules, though we do manage to get around some of them.”
“How do these rules apply to this situation?”Good grief. Getting information out of him is like trying to get taffy off your fingers.
He sighed and leaned back in his chair, crossing his leg over his thigh. “This spell requires all the participants to be willing. They cannot be forced to give up that which belongs to them. Your magic is a part of you. It is intertwined with your soul, which is why it is possible for you to have a soul bond with aCanis lupus. The spell is not a simple concoction. It requires knowledge of the power that each race wields and an understanding of how their magic actually works. I have been studying the supernatural races for hundreds of years. I am extremely knowledgeable about all of them. Not even my associates know what I do.”
He sounded smug as he said this, his chin rising a bit. Sally wondered if there was some type of division in their leadership. It would be a good thing if there was. Organizations with too many leaders who can’t make decisions and work together. They often collapsed in on themselves and made themselves easier to be defeated.
“I have to willingly let you use my magic to perform a spell that will enslave the human race and give supernaturals complete control of the world. Am I getting this right?” Sally tried not to fidget in her chair. She didn’t want to look nervous or scared, though she was flipping out inside because what other choice did she have? Alston would use Titus against her. She wouldn’t let Titus suffer, not even to save the world.
“You do what you have to do to stay well and come back to me,”Costin’s wolf rumbled in her mind.
She gave him a mental nod but continued to watch Alston.
“That is correct. The part I am still working on is whether I can store your magic. Or do I have to actually have you here for the spell?”
Okay, that did not sound good. Sally shifted and glanced back at the chair in the middle of the room. “Even if you somehow store it,” which again, did not sound cool at all, “don’t I still have to give it willingly?”
He cocked his head to the side as if really pondering her question. “That’s one of the questions that I’m hoping to have answered once I have your magic. Once it is no longer inside of you, does the will of the person really matter any longer?”
