Alice’s eyes widened. She looked from Willis to the room and then to the vampire king. “You want to turn dormant werewolves into vampire/werewolf hybrids?”
Cain glanced at Willis. “I thought you said she was really smart.”
“Why do I feel like I just stepped onto the set of a movie?” Alice rubbed her temples and wondered if she’d drank a little too much the night before and this was all some really weird, yet extremely realistic, dream.
“Oh, now that’s an idea!” Willis’s voice once again took on a childlike quality. “Maybe we should have a vampire/werewolf movie marathon and see if there’s anything in them that could help us out.”
Cain shook his head. “That’s a terrible idea.”
Alice continued to rub her temples. “Gonna have to agree with the bloodsucker king.” Then she took a deep breath and looked up at the other scientist. “Okay, tell me what you know so far.”
Chapter 13
“The beauty of humanity is that their life is but a breath. They are born, they live, and they die. In most cases, this entire process takes less than a hundred years. Every breath is a gift, and every new day is an opportunity to do something great, no matter how big or small. And yet they continually take their lives for granted. They don’t give a single thought to the fact that the goodbye they give their loved one as they run out the door might be their last. They don’t consider that the person that cut them off in traffic might have just found out their child is dying of cancer. They dwell on the bad things that happened in their day instead of focusing on the good things. And yet, I cannot entirely blame them. When the humans do inevitably suffer loss, it is incredibly painfulbecausetheir lives are so fleeting. They have such a short amount of time for joy and happiness. My hope for them is that they will learn to grab onto those moments with both hands and refuse to let them go no matter what sorrow comes their way.” ~Thadrick
“Stop!” Thadrick held his hand up to the group of females with him. They stood on the edge of a clearing. In the center, the veil to the fae realm shimmered. Thadrick’s mind was chaotic. He tried to focus his thoughts and power to detect any magical being in the vicinity, specifically the vampire king or his minions. The effects of Myanin’s actions had yet to work themselves out, and he wondered how long he would have to live with the consequences. He tried not to be bitter, but in moments like this, he found himself biting his tongue not to curse his old friend for her selfishness.
“Is something wrong?” Jezebel came up beside him.
“I cannot sense any magic. Cyn”—he glanced at the fae warrior—“have you got anything?”
She scanned the forest slowly, and then her head froze. “There’s another fae here.”
“Someone guarding the veil?”
“Shouldn’t be. We’ve never used guards. We don’t need them.”
“The all-powerful fae,” Jen said dryly. “Appointed as supernatural mediators. You’d think you could keep the rest of these insane supernaturals under control.”
Cyn looked at Jacque. “Can you give her an alpha order forbidding her fromevergetting impregnated again?”
Crina laughed and then covered it with a cough when Jen shot her a glare.
“Unfortunately, even alpha commands have their limits,” Jacque replied. “If her stories are true, the way she and Decebel go at it, we are lucky it’s only happened twice.”
Thadrick reached deep for the patience that used to come easily to him. Since Myanin’s stunt, he found he had little tolerance for the ridiculousness of the female pack members. “Some of us choose to keep tales of our exploits to ourselves.”
Jen’s eyes went wide, and she grinned. “Ooh, and as old as you are, Thaddy-boy, I bet you have some serious stories. Tell me, can djinn really turn into desert tornadoes? Have you ever done it in whirlwind form? Does the sand get stuck in your—”
“Enough!” he roared. “Focus on why we’re here.”
He gestured in front of them to where a fae had just materialized several yards away.
“Finally. I get to stab someone.” Jen started forward, but Jacque reached out a hand and grabbed the blonde by the wrist.
“No, you may not.” The alpha she-wolf growled. “You will let Thadrick deal with this because he’s a freaking ancient djinn with a massive amount of power, and you are a young, pregnant she-wolf with anger issues clouding your already questionable judgment.”
“Damn,” Zara muttered. “Alpha just got real.”
“Do not move from this spot,” Thadrick ordered. “Cyn, be prepared to take them all back to the sprite realm at my command.”
The female fae nodded. “Understood.”
Thad took a deep breath and then walked into the clearing. Alston turned to face him. He smiled, and his eyes danced with a wildness that made Thad question the high fae’s sanity.
“You and Cain thought you could pull the wool over my eyes, but I have spies everywhere.” A darkness coalesced around Alston’s body. It looked similar to the way Peri glowed with a white light, but Alston’s glimmer was more like a shadow that surrounded his form instead of the purity of light. “Fools, I—”
Thadrick didn’t bother to tell Alston that Cain had set them up. He hadn’t anticipated coming face-to-face with the high fae instead of the vampire king. For now, he would let Alston believe he did indeed have an accord with Cain. Perhaps his anger at being double-crossed by his supposed ally would make him sloppy in the battle that was about to ensue. Because Thadrick knew there would be a battle. There was no way the djinn could let this chance pass him by. Here and now, Thad would end the evil that stood before him. This was a golden opportunity to ensure Fane’s combined supernatural forces had one less enemy to deal with. He just hoped Jezebel would keep the others from interfering so that no one would get hurt.
