My Savior(31)

"What is going on with the ferals?" She couldn't keep the tremor from her voice. Growing up, she had had nightmares about the vacant-eyed monsters her brothers fought.

His reaction to her fear was immediate and without thought. He reached to his side, pulled her hand away from his shirt, and clasped it in his. "You fear them?"

She nodded. "More than most, I think. All I had growing up were my brothers, and all three of them are unit warriors. If there was anything that could take them away from me, it was ferals. I hated and feared them as a child."

Darian looked over at Aiden who nodded. "She needs to know, now more than ever, especially since she's your mate. She could end up a target like Beth or Rheia."

"Target?" she squeaked.

Darian took a deep breath. "Last year, we noticed that ferals started behaving strangely. They were attacking in groups with visible leaders, taking orders, and had higher brain functions than normal. Some wore necklaces that we now know allows them to somehow retain the abilities they should have lost when they turned feral; it gives them abilities they should never have, like becoming invisible. When Meryn arrived, she started compiling information and saw patterns that we had missed. She discovered that shifter couples were suddenly going missing, especially couples expecting babies. When she widened the search, we saw that the disappearances weren't limited to just the counties around Lycaonia but were occurring all around the country.

"Thanks to Rheia, we were recently able to figure out that the necklace not only gave them new abilities but also halted the decay of their bodies. They no longer smelled like a feral and could for pass as a normal paranormal."

Amelia felt herself begin to shake. "How come our people don't know this? They have a right to know."

Darian squeezed her hand. "Because they would panic, and because there's nowhere safe they can go."

"Darian," Aiden chastised.

Darian shook his head. "It's true, and you know it. The women have been attacked here twice, Rheia at the clinic twice. With those necklaces, they can come and go undetected. I'll say what we've all been thinking for months: We are strictly on the defensive, and not doing a good job at that either. We have to wait for them to strike because we cannot take the fight to them." Darian dropped her hand and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

Amelia looked around, incredulous. "Why haven't you created a detection spell?"

Keelan shook his head. "Elder Airgead has tried and says that it is impossible. What would the spell detect? Blood from a blood spell? We all have blood in us."

"Not even Elder Airgead could find a way?" she asked, feeling shaken.

"No. The witches in the units here in Lycaonia have been casting everything we know at those damn necklaces to get them to reveal their secrets to us so we can figure out how they are made, a clue, anything!" Keelan banged a fist on the table.

Amelia turned to Darian. "How can you fight them? How can we possibly win?"

"I'll tell you how," Meryn declared, jumping to her feet. "We find out where these murdering bastards are and then we launch a nuke straight up their--"

"Dinner is ready." Ryuu interrupted from the kitchen doorway. He looked over at Meryn who had a fist raised in the air. "Denka, you know it is not good for the baby for you to get so excited before a meal."

"Uh, Meryn, you keep talking about explosives. They're just figures of speech, right baby?" Aiden asked.

Ignoring him, Meryn pouted and sat down, crossing her arms over her chest. "You ruined my moment, Ryuu."

"How will I ever live with myself? Mashed potatoes?" he asked blandly, holding a spoon over his cart.

Meryn brightened. "Yes, please and lots of them. Oh! Can you also mix the peas in with mine?"

"Baby?" Aiden prodded.

"Give up, Commander, lost cause," Colton advised.

Aiden reached for his wine glass.

"Of course." Ryuu dished out a large portion of potatoes and mixed in a spoonful of peas. Without asking, he added two large slices of meatloaf.

"Might as well add a third." Meryn said, watching his every move.

Ryuu's eyes widened. "Your food consumption cannot be normal." He turned to Rheia. "Please check her for a tapeworm."

"Hey! I do have a parasite, but it's a half human, half bear shifter and future Time Lord, thank you very much. So please Ryuu, Meryn two-point-oh would like another slice of meatloaf and some tuna."

Ryuu's eyes widened. "Tuna and meat loaf?"

Amelia's fear over the terrifying feral development evaporated as she watched Meryn bicker with her squire. Meryn was completely unfazed by the alarming changes in the ferals because, having only been here for a few short months, that was all she had ever known.