When it hit her it was like a punch to the gut, well that and the fact that she was indeed just punched in the gut by the female warlock who refused to stay down. “Lilly,” she muttered, and then revised that statement, “the females.” She flung her hand to the woman’s chest and pushed, sending a jolt into her. The woman collapsed, but she was still breathing. She turned in a circle and saw that Dain and Nissa of the council had joined in the fight. And what a fight it was. Since they were trying not to kill the attackers, they were knocking the warlocks out with jolts of powers, effectively interrupting their nervous system. But warlocks were magical and still pretty powerful, so they weren’t staying down long. Her eyes found Cypher and she stood still, briefly, in awe of his power, grace, and control. He stood back just a ways, watching the battle, waiting for a moment when he would need to step in. His face was blank, void of emotion, and it sent a chill down her spine to see a man who was usually so passionate look so complacent.
She didn’t know how long they had been fighting when she heard the howls, but she did know it was about bloody time that the fur balls had shown up. She felt the air whip around her as a flash of black flew in front of her and a huge wolf landed on a male warlock battling with Adam. The huge wolf swiped his paw across the man’s head and knocked him out cold.
The wolf turned his massive head back to Peri and bared large, sharp teeth. Amber eyes burned into her as a growl rumbled out of him.
“Decebel, get over yourself and go growl at the prey you can actually take on.”
With one final snarl for good measure he turned and jumped back into the fight.
“I swear, Great Luna, if you give me a wolf for a mate I will neuter him and shave him like a poodle,” she muttered as she hurried back into the fight. She ran over to Adam who was battling four warlocks at once. She pressed her back to his. “I’ve got you covered,” she yelled over the battle sounds.
“Did you know there were this many warlocks still living?” Adam shouted to her.
Peri grabbed the arm of the warlock who had just attempted to gut her with a sword. She bent his wrist and he dropped it with a yelp of pain. He fell to his knees and Peri once again sent her power into him to knock him out. “Yes and No,” she answered.
“What does that mean?”
“It means that sometimes I don’t know everything.”
He laughed. “Can I get that in writing?”
“Would you shut up and focus on injuring these psychos so that you don’t get yourself run through?” Peri turned, just as she heard a deep growl, and had to duck to keep from being knocked down by Vasile in his wolf form. She glanced over her shoulder to see why he had lunged over her only to see him in battle with Cypher. Apparently, the King had decided that it was time he added his two cents to the fight.
Now that the wolves were present, the battle was more evenly matched, though the warlocks still continued to get up after being knocked out. Peri wasn’t sure how long they could keep fighting at this intensity before some of them began to get hurt. Out of the corner of her eye she saw something drop from above the battle. She looked up quickly only taking her eyes off her opponent for a second and saw that Thalion had brought his elves and they were dropping from the trees. It was a sight that Jen would have appreciated and surely would have deemed it worthy of some weird military lingo.
“Welcome to the party, Prince,” she told Thalion as he immediately began fighting.
“I see no one has died,” he told her.
“No,” she agreed, but under her breath she murmured, “not yet.”
Chapter 14
“When I close my eyes I see your face, only your face. Fire rains around us, lightning strikes, and the blood of those we love threatens to be spilled at every turn and yet all I can see is you. You are the touch I crave, the scent I want to drown in, and the air that gives me life. There is nothing that can captivate me as you do. No matter the beauty, the violence, or the intrigue, you are the only thing that holds my every thought, my utter devotion, and because of that, you will also hold my life in the palm of your hands.” ~Decebel
Sally felt his anger, but before she could feel anything else, Costin closed the bond between them. She stumbled and reached out for the wall at the sudden absence of his presence. She looked up around the bookstore to see if any of the other women had felt anything similar. She noticed Crina leaning against the counter with her head down. Jacque had stopped in mid-step and was squeezing her eyes closed. So she wasn’t the only one.
“Sally,” Jen’s voice came from behind her, “you okay?”
Sally shook her head. “Costin closed the bond.” She motioned to the other females.
Jen let out a low growl. “I would know things were going on if my freaking mate would keep our bond open even a little. Do you feel like they are in danger? Did you get any glimpse before he closed it?”
Sally shook her head. “No, it was quick and that’s why it hurt so much.”
“Let’s get everyone home. From the looks of it, none of you are going to be in any shape to be doing inventory or helping annoying customers. Lilly?” Jen yelled.Lilly’s head popped out from around the corner of a book shelf. “Yes,” she looked at Jen with brows raised expectantly.
Jen pointed at Sally and then at Jacque. “Something’s going down with the males. We need to get the chicks back to your house.”
Lilly’s eyes filled with concern as she took in the group of women and noticed that all but Cynthia looked to be in pain. She nodded to Jen, “Okay, I can get the manager to take over.”
Twenty minutes later everyone was once again gathered in Lilly’s living room. Alina was pacing like a caged tiger. Though she continued to reach out to Vasile, she was unable to get through.
“He has never kept me out this long,” she growled as she ran her fingers through her hair for what seemed like the hundredth time.
“I just don’t understand how none of us can get through to them. That just doesn’t seem likely,” Sally pointed out.
“She’s right,” Jen agreed. “There is no way all of our men would just leave us hanging in the dark. One of them should have checked in by now, and not to mention our pesky little neighborhood fairy. Where is she?”
“Peri has been going back and checking in with Vasile,” Alina explained. “Not just for the males’ peace of mind, but ours as well.”
“Okay, so she’s gone to check on the men who have suddenly dropped off the planet and Peri hasn’t returned. I’m going for Houston we have a problem for $200 Alex,” Jen said dryly.
“Elle,” Alina said suddenly. She turned and looked at the fae, her eyes wide with hope. “Can you go check on them?”
“Crap, that’s right.” Jacque smacked her forehead. “Elle, you can flash too.”
Elle nodded but her face was set in a grim frown.
Jen rolled her eyes with a groan. “Okay just from the look on your face I’m betting that Perizada has done something to make sure your happy little fairy butt didn’t go hopping off after her. Am I right?”
Elle nodded again. “Peri is much more powerful than I am. She informed me I was not to leave you all, and like pack magic, there is a magic that can bind my magic to her words. I’m as stuck as you all are.”
Alina sat down in a huff with a string of Romanian flying from her lips. Each of them looked at each other helplessly, hoping that an idea or solution would simply pop into one of their minds. An hour later they still sat staring aimlessly off into the room. The tension was growing by the minute and by the time there was a knock at the door, they all nearly came out of their seats as the sound reverberated through the stillness.
Lilly started towards the door but Alina intercepted her and gave a small shake of her head, making it clear that she wanted to open the door. Alina stepped up to the door and tilted her head up to take in a deep breath of air. She frowned and sniffed again. There was nothing. No smell of any kind. She listened and heard a heartbeat but other than that, there was only the noise of the breeze through the trees. Just as she reached for the door it flew open and Alina stumbled back. A pair of arms held her steady as she righted herself. Elle let her go and then stepped up beside the Alpha and her eyes widened.
“What are you doing here?” Elle asked.
“Is that the kind of reception you give to your own kind?” Lorelle asked as she stepped into the house. She sidestepped Alina and Elle and her eyes widened at the room full of females. A wicked smile spread across her lips and her eyes flashed with humor. “This is simply too good to be true.” Lorelle turned and looked at Alina. “Why on earth would you bring all of these females to one location without the protection of any males?”
“Uh, excuse me but we don’t need protection.” Jen stood up and walked towards the fae. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion. “Who the hell are you and why did you just walk your fairy butt up in my friend’s house?”
“Please tell me you’re just fat, because I can’t imagine why the wolves would let you procreate.” Lorelle was looking at Jen like she was slime on her shoe that she was trying to figure out how to wipe off.
Jen let out a low threatening laugh as she stood up from her spot on the couch. “Oh honey, I’m more than a step up from your gene pool. Considering your sister issues, and probably mommy and daddy issues, any child of yours would be the poster child for the fae’s new psychiatric facility. So throw me a freaking bone and keep your procreation remarks to yourself. Unless of course you would like a facelift, which I would be more than happy to assist you with.” Jen gave her a toothy grin as she took a step towards her.