“Yep,” Jewel said, popping the ‘p.’ “That would be the circumstance I wish we weren’t meeting under.”
Dalton gave Jewel’s hand a tug and motioned to the others. “Let’s sit and discuss a plan.”
Kara sat beside Nick on the long couch, opposite Jewel and Dalton. Tassi and Aphid each took a seat in overstuffed chairs. Kara leaned into Nick’s hand, which was still wrapped possessively around the back of her neck. She didn’t simply love his touch; she craved it.
“Not really the time to be having those thoughts, yeah?” She heard his voice in her mind.
Kara bit her lip to keep from smiling. He was one to talk. Nick had been using the bond to comfort her from the moment she’d fallen apart in Jewel’s arms, blubbering like a baby and hugging Jewel like her life depended on it. That might seem like a sweet sentiment, but his idea of comfort and the rest of the world’s were not the same thing. Kara had finally managed to pull herself together, and she hoped that everyone in the room thought her flaming cheeks were from her tears and not the blush of embarrassment caused by her mate’s thoughts.
“I don’t like it when you cry. And I especially don’t like it when you cry and I’m not the one holding you.”
Kara mentally snorted. “And your idea to remedy that situation was to mentally seduce me?”
“It worked,” he muttered and gave her neck a gentle squeeze.
Dalton’s voice drew Kara’s attention away from her mental conversation with Nick. “Will you two be able to create some sort of barrier between us and our enemy?”
“Possibly. What do you have in mind?” Tassi, the fae female, leaned forward and rested her elbows on her knees. She was dressed in what could only be called battle gear. Her clothes fit close to her body and looked like they would move with her as naturally as the skin on her muscles. Knife handles could be seen poking out from various parts of her person, all within easy reach. Kara had no doubt the fae could use them as efficiently and effectively as she could write her own name. The fae wore protective armor on her forearms, shins, shoulders, and chest. Nothing medieval. It looked more like Kevlar. Kara guessed it was probably more effective than any protective technology possessed by the humans, likely endowed with some sort of fae magic to make it impenetrable.
“If he’s got wolves, they will smell us,” Dalton replied. “Vampires can, too. So, we need something to shield us. My mate and I have talked about Cain’s healer.”
A shudder went through Kara at Dalton’s words. “Please don’t call her that,” she snapped. “I don’t know anything about this healer, but I know she is no one’s possession. I won’t have Cain’s name attached to her in that way.”
Dalton looked at Kara for a long moment and then nodded. “Well said.” He looked back at Jewel. “My mate and I have an idea concerning the healer that is … currently located within the vampire compound. We believe that Jewel and Kara’s witch powers could potentially be of some use in that regard.”
“Witch powers?” Aphid’s back straightened, and his black eyes narrowed as he glanced back and forth between the two females.
“So you haven’t heard the joke about the five gypsy healers who walk into the forest and come out as wheelers?” Kara couldn’t keep the smirk from her face. She had been through hell and back and then done it again. Even so, she refused to let her ordeals change her. And a big part of Kara was her sense of humor. Would she still have moments when she fell apart? Of course. Who the hell wouldn’t? But inside, she was still the same snarky woman she’d been before surviving her living nightmares.
“Um, what’s a wheeler?” Tassi’s voice was slow and unsure. Kara imagined the capable fae warrior rarely felt anything less than full confidence, but now she appeared slightly anxious.
“A gypsy healer with witch powers, of course,” Jewel said. “Witch plus gypsy healer equals wheeler. Simple math, really.”
Kara’s head tilted slightly as she frowned. “You seriously haven’t heard about the five of us? Volcan? Peri’s deranged sister? None of this is ringing a bell?”
Tassi’s head jerked to the side, looking a little wolfish in her movements as her eyes bounced back and forth from Kara to Jewel. A few moments went by, then she spoke slowly, as if choosing each word carefully. “Rumors from all realms, including the human world, continually circulate. For ages upon ages, impossible stories have reached our ears. Rarely do they have any validity.”
Kara looked thoughtful. “So you simply ignored them?”
“You realize that some myths are founded in truth, don’t you?” Jewel added.
“Perhaps.” Aphid shifted in his seat. He, too, looked between Kara and Jewel. “But that doesn’t mean we fae should hunt down the sources of these rumors to determine which are true and which are entirely fabricated, especially when they are supposedly happening in other realms. We are not…” His eyes raised to the ceiling, and he appeared to be searching for the right word. “Supernatural dicks, as you humans say.”
Kara was lucky she wasn’t drinking coffee, or she would have spit it all over the fae. She coughed. “Um, what are you talking about? No human says that.”
“He means a private investigator,” Jewel said quickly. “Private investigators and police detectives were often called dicks, mostly in the late 1800s, though the practice still continues to this day, but primarily only in fictional characterizations, such as in noir crime novels. The origin of the term is unclear. Some believe it comes from the ancient Romani word ‘dik,’ which means ‘to watch’ or ‘to see,’ though some argue the term is based upon a legendary fictional detective from Scotland called Dick Donovan, who was the protagonist of many crime novels in the late 1800s.”
Kara couldn’t help but feel a wave of joy wash over her, and she knew a goofy grin was probably on her face. Kara could survive many evils, no matter how terrible. The world could fall down around her, and she would survive. But a world in which Jewel doesn’t spout random facts at the most inopportune times simply wasn’t a world Kara wanted to live in.
Aphid cleared his throat. “Yes, that. We are not the private … investigators of the supernatural world. And further, some rumors are too far-fetched to believe. Gypsy healers that possess witch magic are not…” He frowned and seemed to think. Kara wanted to tell him to stop because it appeared the process was painful. “The witches were eradicated. And there hasn’t been a healer for many years. I believe the last one, a female called Rachel, went missing with her mate.”
Kara rolled her eyes. “Um … no. Everything you just said was incorrect.”
Jewel took a deep breath and then let it out. “I don’t mean for this to sound rude, but when exactly was the last time you two left the fae realm?”
The two fae leaned back at the same time. Tassi’s eyes dropped to her lap while Aphid brushed off invisible lent from his sleeve. “Our assignment for the past millennium has been in the fae realm.” Tassi stilled her fidgeting and looked at Jewel. “Today is the first time we’ve been in the human realm since being given that assignment.”
Jewel’s eyes went wide. “You haven't been outside the fae realm in a thousand years?”
