Ian followed Yolanda down into a sub-basement. They walked down a ramp from outside the packhouse to a vault door. It was a typical vault door. If a person ignored the glowing runes around the door. It was unnerving to see something he would expect in a horror movie.
“What are the marks for? Symbols?” Yolanda laughed as she opened the heavy door.
“Each rune is to prevent some being from possessing the weapon supply. Just wait until you see the documents, they must sign to use the weapons. Why do you think I’m upset at not working with this? It’s an enormous responsibility. There we go. Come on, I’ll introduce you to my domain.”
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Ian couldn’t believe how much fun it was distracting Yolanda among those weapons. It reminded him of a library and doing something naughty in the stacks. This was more interesting with the weapons. It took them a few hours to get everything pulled, registered, and she showed him how to package everything safely for pick up when they needed them. “Fine, this is all we can finish. Time to lock up and head back. They will have something by now. Who knows, they may have some news or another job to do. How often do you need to check in with your boss?” “I check in every three days. He g
Hilda returned to the kitchens to get the documents she needed the Luna to sign. The rest returned to the office once an older gentleman came down the stairs. Negating his silver hair, he looked much like his son. A quick introduction and welcome. Ian didn’t want to explain that he hadn’t decided whether he would be her mate, or he’d even stay. His train of thought got pushed aside as he saw a book passed to the mage from a disembodied hand coming from a blue glowing ball of light. “What the hell?” “Mini portal. He ordered a book from their library by the looks of it. Where do you think the more interesting tomes went when the Library of Alexandria burned? Do you th
Hal followed Aria to her home. He didn’t know what he expected to find. What he found was unexpected. Gravel roads, wolves peaking through wooded areas while humans walked by greeting Aria and her returning their greetings. Quick words reminding her of things while she poked at a tablet in her hands. She’d used the excuse that she needed to catch up on work. Her conversations with the wolf shifters were all business. Hal wasn’t sure what work she meant. Wasn’t she just their version of a bodyguard? What else did she do? What other job did she hold? But there she was, walking down a path, ignoring obstacles she might trip over. She fried his nerves watching her, blinded not two hours ago from the cave in. He itched to pull out his own laptop. He’d wait until he could sit.&nb
“So, if we’re hunting for an immortal creature, how do we kill it? Just a stupid human here. But if you can kill an immortal, that immortal isn’t immortal.” Hal looked up from where he and Aria huddled over laptops. The Fianna worked on translating various items within the book found in the cave. The symbols on the other items needed to be deciphered. He’d spent the better part of an hour explaining every creature they would encounter. How to kill them and when? What to use and how? Ian felt like he was preparing for war, and when he commented on that, he’d received looks that put his understanding of the situation in a whole new light. They were at war now. There wasn’t anything funny or cute about a brownie or elf. No one spared time to correct him, but
The call went out for help from the Dragon community. This faction of NARC was one of the harder factions to contact. They kept themselves so isolated. To protect their way of life. They leave messages in locations that are checked frequently. So, if NARC wasn’t sitting, or their Ambassador wasn’t present, communication was possible. They needed to wait for Edith, Gregory’s mother, and the Wolf Shifter Ambassador to NARC to get the message through as she could send the message through one of the faster routes. “My question now is. How do we find the disenfranchised shifters? While not leading the Fae to them?” Hal chimed up from his place in the corner with Aria. She smiled at him and moved a lock of his hair from his eyes.&
Yolanda sat with a desk between herself and Edith. As they all tried to keep up with her. The woman could multitask like a champ. She’d a steel trap for a brain for who needed what special treatment. They changed email lists, phone call schedules, and tailoring messages for each and everyone. There’re lists and charts of all the needed details. It all made Yolanda’s head spin. Yolanda knew this wasn’t something she’d any skill with. Tact wasn’t something she possessed. Nor did she have the patience to explain the same thing repeatedly as she watched Edith do on multiple calls. Edith would scribble notes as she spoke to them and then pass those notes to Yolanda, Ian, or her mate. She expected them to know how to record the notes.&n
Aricka returned to the Alpha apartments from the bathroom again with a tired sigh. “You okay, babe?” Gregory looked up from the tablet’s screen at his mate in concern. “I’ll survive. Thank heaven’s this pregnancy will be shorter than the Evan’s. I don’t think I can hide this part as much as I’d like.” “Why don’t you let Doctor Graves give you something for it?” “Last time nothing worked. So, I figured I’d just ride it out.” Aricka sat down on a chair and took her shoes off, then lay down. “What are we goi
Devine watched as Jeff and Jaxon work. They found many in need. They’d also found a way to record it all too. Those were Jeff’s words. It wasn’t just wolf shifters suffering here, and it wasn’t just in the local area. There were pockets of need everywhere. NARC then stepped in to help those the system failed. Clean up was still happening as I found issues. Jaxon took up searching the internet for breeches. Devine was sending out reports to NARC officials so they could send out teams of enforcers to sort out and fix the issues. Before they became irreparable breeches to the humans. Rogues were returning to where they once lived. The difference was many wished to return to pack life. This meant NARC enforcers either needed to negotiate their return to their old packs,
The group hobbled into the kitchen since the main sitting room and games room on that floor now contained meeting rooms that were in use. Their aim was to see if the back private sitting room was available. It was as if you ignored the food stored in the back of the room and glares at Hilda, warning them not to damage anything. But neither Yolanda nor Hal enjoyed the prospect of walking up the stairs to the second-floor apartments. No one expected them to walk to their cottages now in their state. The cold and snow made it a less than enjoyable walk, with their pace slowed by their injuries. Now is the time she cursed the fact that instant healing wasn’t real. “So, we’re all stuck on the injured list and out of the action. What do we do
Several days later, their little coterie assembled outside of the hospital in the Alpha’s office to be debriefed on their mission and their future. With them sat several other people. Mages, dragons and other species representatives involved in the mission sat in on the debriefing. “I’ve been able to piece together the facts from speaking to most of you, but I wanted to hear from the two I couldn’t speak with. Please correct me if I’m wrong. You were all successful in deploying the bombs to disrupt the movement of the Fae in and out of the Dream Realm. However, because of unforeseen incidents, that injured two of my people. Now they will heal in time. But that means they’ve are now added to the temporarily out of commission list along with the rest of their group. What exactly is the state of the
Aria sat in a chair and watched Hal breathe, willing him to awaken. Five days passed since his surgery. Dr. Graves believed Hal improved daily, but she wouldn’t be happy until Hal spoke to her directly. She had hoped Hal would awaken soon. Because every time he needed more medication, he’d fret and make noise. Each time it happened, Aria became more hopeful, only to have that hope dashed. Jax came in and took over often for her so she could get food, a shower, or even a little sleep. Gregory pulled the teams from that night for work, except for Ian. He managed the armoury to ensure the enforcers, combating and hunting the Fae, had access to weapons and supplies. The hospital room door opened and Jax’s head poked through. “Hey, shi
Ian’s phone trilled with a text message as he lay in the dark. He’d been strong-armed into bed by Gregory’s mother, Edith. If he hadn’t been so tired, he’d have thought it funny. Growing up and for most of his adult life, he’d never truly understood the meaning of a smother. But Edith showed Ian exactly that with Hilda as backup. The two women watched him eat, all the while reminding him that Yolanda needed him to look after himself. He needed to eat and sleep more. But when Ian tried, he couldn’t forget his mate and one of his best friends lying in the hospital not far away. Even Jaxon felt the effects of Edith’s smothering. She’d hauled his butt out of the armoury and force him to go to bed.
Yolanda’s eyes were extremely heavy when she finally pried them open and then she realized what a waste of time that was. The room was practically pitch dark. The silence was broken by beastly snoring that was all too familiar. Desire was in a chair in the far corner of the room, asleep. This wasn’t where she lay down to enter the Dream Realm. That’s when everything came rushing back to her and she realized she’d beat the odds. She’d survived the blast and returned to herself. But her ankle throbbed quite a bit, and she wondered if she’d broken it. It’s a hazard of the Dream Realm. It may be harder to get injured or die in the Dream Realm, but if you succeeded in either, then it occurred in this realm, too. Findi
Ian wasn’t sure how long he’d sat with Yolanda quietly in the dim hospital room. His mind ignored the strange noises from outside in the corridor. This sounded more like what he’d expect an animal hospital to sound like than a human one. But he needed to stop himself from that. This wasn’t a human hospital, and the patients weren’t human. The growls, roars, and inhuman screams proved that. But for him now, he felt such a mix of emotions from it. Ian now knew many as people, and his brain couldn’t reconcile their animal sides without feeling their pain. He now felt sure he’d gone into the right profession. He couldn’t see himself in any form of the medical profession or veterinary practice. He wouldn’t be able to do it. Now add in that he’d seen actual magic used to save some of these beings’ lives. It boggled his mind. From putting beings into a
Ian and Jaxon paced one of the medical centre’s private waiting rooms with Gregory and several others. Hal was in surgery to have an arrow removed from his back. They’d been told over an hour ago that it would take time, but he’d survive. However, Ian only moments ago found out that Yolanda’s team returned safely except Yolanda. Now Ian paced for a new reason. Yolanda should have awakened with her team. Dr. Graves now worked on her with a team to find out why she wasn’t awake. Everyone in the room could all but taste stress and tension in the air. The medical centre was an example of organized chaos. Between medical staff, druids, and mages. Merfolk acted as orderlies, cleaning staff, caregivers, and even administrative staf
Yolanda now carried the device into a sling in her jaws. Her patrol followed her. All were in their wolf form. They were all highly strung, waiting for word to move out and place the device, or found by the Fae and attacked. No one wanted the last option, so they went out of their way not to attract Fae’s attention. There they lay lying in wait in the dirt beneath several bushes.These Fae appeared very busy partying and playing their twisted games. Some flitted in and out of the Dream Realm. Time meant little within the Dream Realm. With its perpetual twilight. It’s sky bearing no moon and the world itself giving off an odd ethereal glow from no specific place. The foot of a goblin appeared out of nowhere before Yolanda took her by surprise. She held strong and didn’t grasp. The goblin in all its ugly glory failed to see her behind him. So, moments later, he moved off into the distance
Ian stood watching shapes flit from one shadow to another. He could hear music from live musicians playing. These Fae lived up to every nightmarish tale he’d ever read. Dancing, drinking, and not caring about the world around them. They destroyed as much as they created. Now, though, he’d caught glimpses of humans within their midst. Humans were so far gone into drink and drugs, they probably believed this was all a drug-induced hallucination. These humans must have come from the streets mostly, but there were a few that appeared to come from other sectors of life. “Sickening to watch, isn’t it? They’re completely lost to the glamour of the fae. The only way to get them out of it is to remove the Fae from this realm.”