“Quit winking at my mate, history boy,” Decebel grumbled.
The history boy in question groaned. “Bloody hell, here we go with the ridiculous possessiveness. It gets worse when his woman is pregnant. He’s going to be insufferable for the next six months or so.”
“You’ll survive.” Fane strode out into the middle of the group gathered on the lawn of the sprite compound.
“I need all the fae who are transporting to step forward.” Fane’s voice rose, so that everyone stopped talking and turned to face him.
A host of fae stepped toward Fane, including Peri, Elle, Cyn, Adam, Disir, Dain, and, to Jen’s surprise, Nissa.
The alpha looked at Nissa and gave her a nod. “All is well?”
Nissa’s features were tight, but she returned the nod. “For now.”
Jen didn’t believe the fae for a second. Nissa never looked anything but calm, but Jen could see the storm brewing in the high fae’s eyes.
Fane stared at her for several seconds, as if he, too, could sense that something wasn’t right with the female, but then he turned back to the group. “Cyn, can you take my mate and her group to meet with Cain?”
“Of course,” Cyn said. Thalion glanced down at his mate, and Jen saw something intimate and full of meaning pass between them. It was a look that she had seen on Decebel’s face many times when they’d parted ways, and she would no doubt see it today as well.
“The others will flash the rest of us to Alston’s mountain,” Fane said, drawing Jen’s attention back.
She felt Decebel’s hand rest on her back and then ball her shirt in his fist as if he dreaded being separated from her.“I’ll be fine, B,”she assured him.“You just make sure your fine ass doesn’t get injured.”
“What about the rest of me?”he teased.“You don’t care if other body parts are damaged?”
She turned to look up at him and raised a brow.“You know damn well that if you come back with so much as a scratch on you that I will be very put out.”
“Does that mean you will destroy more of my clothes?”
“Ugh.” She groaned out loud. “You’re never going to let me live that down.”
“Nope.” He tilted her chin up and kissed her deeply, his taste invading her mouth as every nerve in her body lit up like live wires. He didn’t play fair. “Stay safe,” he murmured against her lips and smacked her butt hard.
“You remember that I like to retaliate, right?”
“I’m counting on it, baby.” Dec marched off toward Adam, where the fae stood surrounded by several other wolves, their hands resting on his shoulders and arms.
Jen laughed and walked over to Cyn, feeling much more at ease than she had been less than an hour ago. Now, if only she could keepthisfeeling at the forefront and keep the negative ones from taking over her sanity.
* * *
Adam landedthem in the forest directly in front of Alston’s mountain. Fane crouched and began scanning the area. The other fae appeared within a few seconds, and the attackers spread out in an arc in front of the mouth of the stronghold, which didn’t seem to be sealed or guarded. Fane found this curious, as Alston was likely expecting an attack, and the fae knew that Fane had captured three of his people. But Alston couldn’t know whether his lost warriors would spill any of the compound’s secrets. So the high fae must be confident in his forces.
Fane kept his voice at a normal speaking tone. Every one of his people had supernatural hearing and there was no need for loud commands. “Remember, clean kills. No survivors.” With that, he signaled Thalion and the elves to send up arrows toward the mountain. Rushing forward was futile; they would only be ambushed by Alston’s hidden army. As Fane expected they would, the enemy returned fire. Fane cataloged the width of the attack and motioned with his hands for his people to spread out even wider. The enemy fae gave away their positions by gathering power. He saw balls of light fill their hands as they readied themselves to attack. Fane didn’t see or hear anyone give a signal to attack, but suddenly, a loud roar filled the night. The enemy supernaturals from the mountain rushed at their attackers from all directions. Some spilled from the entrance of the stronghold while others rushed out of caves and crags within the mountain itself. They came barreling down the face of the mountain toward Fane and his allies. Still more appeared in the surrounding forest.
Fane turned when he heard rustling behind him. “Back to back,” he yelled. He began stepping backward, glancing over his shoulder to make sure the others had obeyed. All of his pack—fae, elves, wolves, and djinn—now had their backs turned, forming a circle facing outward.
He heard arrows whipping through the sky. “We got you covered,” Adam hollered. Fane saw an arrow fall to the ground at his feet. His fae were ensuring the flying objects wouldn’t strike true.Good job.Then Fane’s first opponent reached him. The wolf within the alpha snarled, and Fane’s fingers phased to claws while his canines lengthened. Fane’s body grew larger, though he did not allow his wolf to complete the phase. His attacker wasn’t a wolf or fae. It was a troll. The creature reached him and swung a huge club at Fane’s head. But the monster was entirely too slow. Fane ducked and whipped his arm up, slashing across the troll’s face. It flayed open in a gory mess. The alpha didn’t stop until the troll lay still at his feet. As soon as that enemy quit twitching, another took his place.
How long Fane fought, he couldn’t say. But one by one, he took down fae, elf, and troll. Few could even scratch him, much less land any significant blow. He saw no wolves fighting on Alston’s side and wondered about their absence. But he didn’t have time to stop and consider the implications. He kept fighting, and soon bodies were piled on the ground around him. A fae fell before him, and Fane waited for the next attack to come. But as he snarled and prepared himself, he realized there was no one left. The forest had gone quiet, and he was mostly alone. Fane heard the sounds of battle coming from closer to the stronghold entrance.
He turned and saw that some of his pack had pursued the retreating supernaturals. He took off at a run, jumping over fallen foes and trusting the fae to keep any sharp objects from hitting his person. When he reached the mouth of the cave, he called to his warriors. “Stop!” All of his pack halted and formed up beside him.
“Peri,” Fane said.
She threw out several balls of light, and the other fae did as well, lighting up the interior of the cave within. He saw tunnels leading in all directions.
“Well, that won’t make this difficult or dangerous at all,” Adam said dryly.
