Cypher stood just outside the front entrance to the warlock compound. He’d been surprised to receive the phone call from the Romanian pack Alpha. Vasile hadn’t given any details regarding the reason for the call other than to say it was urgent.
He heard her footsteps before he saw her. His mate, Lilly, stepped from the cover of the forest and walked toward him. She’d begun to develop some interesting powers, though she’d said she’d always had them but that they’d never been as consistent or as strong. Lilly had a level of intuition that was quickly evolving into a near prophetess-like ability. Though she didn’t necessarily see the future, she felt the emotions that would result if something came to pass. She also seemed to know intuitively when something was bothering him.
“Enjoying a stroll through the forest, again?” he asked her as he held out his hand to her. She took it without hesitation and let him pull her into the shelter of his arms. Cypher let out a contented sigh. The world could be crashing down around him, but if Lilly was in his arms, all was right in the universe. She grounded him. She brought him so much peace when he’d lived a lifetime of strife and loneliness.
“I think better when I walk outside. When things begin to bombard me, the walls inside the mountain become stifling.”
She’d told him something similar before but it still bothered him for her to go out walking on her own.
“Quit worrying about me and tell me what’s going on with you. Something is very wrong. What is it?”
Cypher huffed. “This little ability can be very annoying at times,” he told her, only half joking.
“You’ll get over it.” Lilly pinched his back where she had her arms wrapped around him. “Now talk.”
She wouldn’t leave it alone until he told her, so he decided to avoid the nagging and give in. “Vasile called and asked for me to allow Perizada to bring me to his headquarters. He didn’t give me details. He just said it was urgent.”
Lilly stepped back and looked up at him. “Jacque?”
He rubbed her back soothingly. “He would have requested you if it were your daughter. Vasile is not the type to keep information from a parent. I don’t know what it is, but whatever it is, it’s bad.”
Before Lilly could respond, Peri’s voice reached them.
“Kiss your mate goodbye, king. I don’t have time for twenty questions. Lilly, if Vasile decides you need to know, then I’ll be back for you. Otherwise please try not to be like your daughter and her cohorts.”
“What?” Lilly asked with a frown.
Peri didn’t look like she appreciated having to explain herself. “Don’t try to save the damn day by butting in where you weren’t invited.”
Cypher ignored the fae as he took Lilly’s face in his hands and coaxed her head back around to face him. “I’ll be back soon.” He kissed her gently, wishing he could linger. He released her and stepped toward Peri.
“Don’t go making any oaths of silence or some crap,” Lilly spoke up. “I expect you to tell me what is going on.”
Cypher didn’t make her any promises. Instead, he met her eyes and held her gaze. “I love you,” he told her. He never parted from her without telling her that he loved her, because in the world they lived in, there was no guarantee that he would return.
“I love you too,” she said just as Peri grabbed his arm and flashed him from the forest.
Lilly took out her phone and dialed her daughter’s number. Her hand shook as she held the phone to her ear and waited for her Jacque to answer.
“Hello?”
She let out a ragged breath at the sound of her voice. “You’re okay? The baby is okay?”
“Mom?” Jacque asked sounding alarmed. “I’m fine. Are you?”
“I’m fine. Vasile called and asked Cypher to come for a meeting. Cypher assured me it wasn’t because of you, but, you know me, I needed to be sure.”
“No, I’m good. Well, as good as can be expected while being the size of a small house.”
Lilly laughed. “It will be over soon and then lack of sleep will have you wanting to put the little bugger back inside.” Lilly heard some noise in the background as Jacque asked her to hold on.
“I’ve got to go, Mom. Jen’s here and she’s bored and expecting me to entertain her.”
“Okay, I love you and give Jen my love and Sally as well.”
“Will do. Love you too.”
They disconnected the call and Lilly stood in the quiet forest alone with her worries. Despite knowing that Jacque was alright, she couldn’t shake the intense fear that was causing her stomach to roll with queasiness. Whatever it was, she knew it was going to change the world they knew. Not that she wasn't used to change by now. Lilly's applecart had been upset multiple times over the years. First, when she fell in love with a wolf, then when she realized her daughter wasn't gong to be exempt from her father’s genetics, and then more recently when she gave her heart to a warlock king. A smile tilted her lips as she thought about the night of their bonding ceremony. Lilly had thought it would have been in the presence of all of the warlock people. But to her surprise, Cypher had allowed only the handful of people Lilly wanted, which included Perizada. Lilly shouldn't have been surprised when Cypher said they would need the fae anyway to perform the ceremony."There has never been a human mate, Lilly," Cypher told her as they stood in his room. "I don't even know if my magic will bind you to me."
"But you think the fae’s can?" she asked him.
Cypher chuckled. "Honestly, I don’t think there is much that woman can't do, not once she puts her mind to it."
Lilly smiled. "I would have to agree."
He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face to look up at him. "Tonight I will make you mine—my mate, my queen, and my lover."
Lilly shivered at the possessive gleam in his eyes. And all she could do was nod.
With her daughter, Jen, Jacque, Alina, and their respective mates gathered around them, Lilly and Cypher stood before Perizada. The high fae allowed a bit of her power issue forth, basking the happy couple in a soft white light. She held an ancient crumbling book open in one hand and a small ceremonial knife—which looked equally as ancient—in the other.
"Never has there been a human united with a warlock," Peri began. "Cypher has sought the wisdom of the high fae and it is by my magic, along with Cypher's and his own blood that we will bind these two." Peri took the blade and sliced it across Cypher’s palm, then again across Lilly's palm. The bite of the blade burned up her arm, but the pain was gone the minute Peri pressed Lilly’s hand against Cypher’s. Then she took a thin gold cord and wrapped it around their hands, binding them together. It reminded Lilly of a handfasting tradition that she'd often read about in the period books she loved so much.
With their hands clasped, their blood mingling, and the chord binding them, Peri began to speak in a beautiful, elegant language. Her voice filled the stone walls of the gathering room in the warlock mountain. Power pulsed and magic licked across their skin as, slowly Lilly, began to feel not only her own essence but Cypher's as well. By the time Peri had finished speaking, Lilly felt as though something inside of her had been unlocked. She looked up into Cypher’s eyes and saw her future with him.
Lilly blinked several times as she cleared her mind of the memory. She still stood in the forest, where her mate and Peri had left her. She shivered as a cool breeze rushed over her. Yes, life was changing again. The supernatural world was about to be turned upon its head, and Lilly didn’t know if it was going to be a good change or one that was going to get them all killed.
Decebel, Fane, and Costin each stood at the door of Vasile’s office when Peri appeared with Cypher.
“Why didn’t you just flash us into his office?” the Serbia Alpha asked.
“Because they needed some time alone,” Peri answered in her usual snappy tone.
Decebel reached his hand out and clasped Cypher’s forearm in the warrior greeting. “It’s good to see you, Cypher.” The warlock king nodded and then greeted Fane and Costin.
“Come in, please.” Vasile’s voice traveled clearly through the closed door but Decebel noticed that it sounded worn and tired. He pushed open the door and stepped inside. The stench of anger, fear, and death permeated the air. Judging by the coughing coming from the other males, he wasn’t the only one affected by it.
“What is that smell?” Fane asked his father.
“That would be the smell of three little human girls who lost their lives this night,” Vasile answered, quickly sobering the room.
After several beats of silence, Decebel folded his arms across his broad chest. “What’s going on?”
Vasile nodded to Peri. “Please.” He motioned for the fae to step forward. To Decebel’s surprise, she looked hesitant, completely uncharacteristic for the fae.
“I wouldn’t ask this of you if the news I’m about to share wasn’t so gruesome,” Peri said as she addressed them. “But, it is. Please block your mates from this conversation and don’t reveal the information you are about to learn. Once you have heard everything, then you all can decide how much you want to reveal to them.”