“Right.” Their alpha said quickly, cutting off Kara before she could respond to her mate. “This is a recon mission only. You go in, you gather information, and you get out. Call Dalton and set a time and place to meet. Once that’s done, text Fane. He will send a fae to assist you in the travel.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Kara clapped her hands. She pushed every ounce of worry down into the deepest pit of her stomach and told herself to focus on the mission. She couldn’t worry about what or who she might find at the vampire compound. If she focused on the possibility of Lizzy not only still being alive but also a dormant in the clutches of the vampire king, then she’d make herself sick … or at least sicker than she already was.
As she and Nick left the office, he was already pulling out his phone, no doubt to get in contact with Dalton. At least she could look forward to seeing Jewel again, even if the circumstances weren’t ideal. Kara found she was actually ready to step out of the bubble she’d put herself in. Apparently finding out that the friend you cared about most in the world might be coming back from the dead had that effect on her.
Chapter
Four
“I wish you were here to give me advice. I wish I didn’t have to face such massive trials without your guidance. I just keep trying to think of what you would do if you were in my shoes. I wish I had some assurance I was getting it right. The truth is, I feel like I’m just shooting arrows into the dark, hoping they hit their mark.” ~Fane
Fane crossed his arms and sighed, staring down at a large map spread out on the table. He’d moved everyone to a conference room, as his office didn’t have space to accommodate all his lieutenants, for lack of a better term, especially with the maps they had to keep track of their enemies’ movements. Fane had been watching the human news, searching for any information concerning strange or random disappearances. There wasn’t much. Either no one was getting kidnapped, or the disappearances were still being covered up. And Fane knew dormants were still being taken.
Whoever was pulling the strings amongst the human news media had also covered up their destruction of a giant mountain in Wyoming. Various experts had flooded news outlets, ruling the implosion a natural disaster caused by the shifting of tectonic plates. No scientist worth his or her salt would believe it, yet no one was refuting the story. And the people were swallowing down the lies like their favorite desserts.
“I heard there was a head brought in for me to admire.” Jen stepped into the war room.
“Why is there always a head involved at the end of our battles?” Adam held up his hands. “Not that I’m complaining. I personally think beheadings are good for morale.”
“And that’s why you’re my male BFF.” Jen high-fived the fae as she walked by. Their hands had barely touched when Decebel knocked Adam’s away.
“You don’t have any male BFFs,” her mate grumbled. He steered her toward a chair and pulled it out for her, motioning with his eyes for her to sit.
Decebel was always protective, but Fane noticed he’d been more so lately. His beta growled at anyone who got too close to Jen, and the look on his face told everyone he would take a bite out of them if they even said the wrong thing. Fane decided he would let it go for now … until Decebel actually did bite someone. Then Fane would have to intervene. He just hoped it wasn’t anytime soon. Fane knew there was only one thing that would put his beta’s beast to rights—a fight. And as much as the alpha enjoyed a good scrap, sparring with Decebel was no easy task, even for one with his power. He shook his head and pushed the thought out of his mind. He would cross that bridge when he came to it.
Fane’s gaze shifted to Cyn, who stood hovering over a map of her own. Her mate, Thalion—formerly the elf prince, but now the elf king—stood next to her with his hip resting against the table.
The fae warrior lifted her head and looked at Jen. “I did bring you a present, Jen. And not just any head for our beta’s mate, but the high fae, Alston’s, head. Regrettably, after some deliberation, I made the decision to gift it to someone else.”
“Dammit, that jackass’s head would’ve been perfect for my collection. I’ve just had Decebel build a display case in our bedroom so I can show off my trophies.” Jen plopped down in a chair across from Cyn. “Pray tell, who could possibly have deserved that gift more than me?”
“The vampire who manipulated us,” Cyn answered through gritted teeth.
“Cain.” Decebel growled.
Cyn nodded. “Though in doing so, I think he inadvertently did us a favor.” She looked at Fane. “I should have asked your permission. But in the heat of the moment, I made the decision, and I do not regret it. Now he has two heads to remind him we will not be toyed with, manipulated, or otherwise antagonized. If I have to cut the head off of every enemy we have, then so be it. My blade will be bathed with blood.”
“New-girl crush,” Jen sang.
“It’s good to see you smiling.” Crina’s eyes lit upon Jen. “Even if it is because you love the idea of a blade swimming in vampire blood.”
“If nothing else, I am consistent.” Jen gave Crina a wink.
Fane noticed there was still an underlying sadness in Jen’s dull, blue eyes that usually held a spark of fire. But he could tell she wasn’t broken. Jen had been knocked down, but she was standing back up. Perhaps, he imagined, in private, she still fell apart at times. But Jen wasn’t allowing her miscarriage to control her. Fane’s respect for his beta’s mate grew even more. Though he would not have judged her if she’d needed more time to fall apart. He would never tell someone how long they should or shouldn’t grieve, but he had to admit Jen’s resilience impressed him.
“Forgive me, Jen,” Cyn addressed the she-wolf. “I only wanted what was best for you, and I didn’t think seeing his face so soon, even plastered in a look of anguish on his severed head, would be prudent.”
Jen stared at the fae for several moments before she nodded. “I appreciate you looking out for me. I don’t think it would have bothered me very much. Though I probably wouldn’t have placed it in the display case. I’d have hung it in the training room and used it to practice my knife-throwing. That would have been messy, and it would have begun to smell. So I’m sure you did us all a favor.”
“Thank the Great Luna,” Jacque muttered.
“Heard that, Red.” Jen didn’t even look at her best friend.
“Wasn’t trying to hide it, Thelma,” Jacque responded as she leaned closer to Fane.
He soaked in his mate’s warmth and forced himself to focus on the subjects they needed to discuss. He was exhausted. His wolf wanted to run, to hunt, and sink its teeth into some sort of prey. Rabbit, deer, vampire. It didn’t really matter. His beast just wanted to kill something. “Patience,” he told his wolf. “We will go for a hunt this evening.” His wolf didn’t respond but gave Fane the mental image of him sitting down on his haunches, looking very unimpressed with Fane’s promise.
Jacque stared at her best friend, holding the connection to the blue eyes she knew as well as her own. Though Jen’s face remained blank, Jacque saw emotion flit through the orbs. The sight was enough to tell Jacque that her friend wasn’t ready to be put back into action. Jacque knew she could have used the alpha bond to look into Jen’s mind, but she wouldn’t cross that boundary. She simply had to trust Jen to tell her the truth.
