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The meeting devolved into catching up socially and chatting while they had a reliable connection, so Ash and Dani retreated. Maerlin stayed behind to teach the witches a version of the communication spell they could all use.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Therian Palace, Friday, January 25, 2013, Morning
It took a few days to organize the meeting with Interpol, which had the international connections to ensure that all the agencies that wanted to participate could attend. After finishing with the witches, Ash met with the Horsemen and relayed Dani’s intel about the potential vampire attacks in Paris.
Jean-Pierre had assured her that his people would take care of it. He’d sent the other three Horsemen out on Tuesday, and Ash hadn’t heard any updates. She knew the vampires were bound by conventional travel methods, so she wasn’t concerned. Jean-Pierre knew where to find her if they needed help. Luca had given him an office in the palace while the vampire compound was under construction.
Ash joined Luca and the others for breakfast, and they discussed their plans for the day. The Therian king and the vampire queen were due to leave for the meeting with Interpol after their meal. Brian, Melinda, and Maerlin planned to spend the day at the construction site, and Dani said she was teaching Zia’s daughter Adrianna and some of the Therian children simple martial arts in a beginner class.
Ash took a moment to be grateful for the people in her life and the relationships she leaned on while she dealt with the supernatural shitshow that was now her life. They were her anchor. Family didn’t have to be a source of trauma. Sometimes, they were the only thing that saved her from going insane.
Using the skills Maerlin had taught her, Ash opened a portal to a luxurious apartment Luca had purchased in Lyon, France, and she and Luca stepped across the world. After emerging in the quiet apartment, Ash gathered her thoughts and centered herself before taking the next step in changing the world.
Therian Palace, Afternoon
Dani spent several hours teaching the palace children martial arts basics and introductory katas. They were eager students and behaved well. Teaching them had been a blast, and she promised to hold a class each week if they promised to continue showing the dedication and discipline she’d seen in the first session.
She left amid an emphatic multilingual chorus of, “Thank you, Miss Dani!” Eiko had gifted all the Mosiers with her translation spell so they could communicate with the Therians and locals. Smiling as she walked, Dani wandered through the halls. She had twenty minutes before she would meet Uuka and Chuki for lunch.
Dani stopped to examine a painting of Mikhail in dragon form, returning from the fateful battle that had left him short a wing and ended his kingship. When an unfamiliar guard ran up to her, looking frantic, Dani jumped into damage control mode.
“Lady Dani, thank the gods I found you. It’s the vampire queen. She needs you right now and told me not to stop for anything until I found you,” the guard said, his tone and expression reflecting his panic.
Not hesitating, Dani followed the guard at a full sprint. She skidded around a corner, trying to keep up. She never saw the fist that struck faster than human eyes could track, hitting her in the temple and knocking her out. The guard stuffed her into a large duffle bag he pulled from his coat and swiftly exited the palace the same way he’d entered.
Jules’ informants had been correct. There were so many new faces in the Therian palace that all they needed was a guard’s uniform. No one had questioned him. The traitor left the stolen uniform where he’d found it, on the hidden body of a dead guard.
The human was silent for most of the journey to the rebellion’s headquarters at Jules’ safe house. She was unconscious for so long that Mathis stopped to check that she was breathing.
He hoped he hadn’t cracked her skull. Jules would be furious if he arrived with a dead captive. Thankfully, the fragile human still took regular, if shallow, breaths. Mathis was concerned about the purple bruise spreading across her pale face, but as long as she was alive when they arrived, she should survive.
The new Therian palace was far easier to access by car, and he stashed Dani in the trunk twenty minutes after he’d taken her. An hour later, when Uuka was frantic about her absence, they were nearly down the mountain road.
Mathis drove for hours, not stopping for anything but fuel and paying at the pump to avoid leaving the car unattended. The safe house was a few hours from the palace as the dragon flew, but the trip was substantially longer by car. He’d expected the human to wake up as they traveled. He vaguely remembered that being knocked unconscious for several hours was detrimental to the brain, but she was breathing every time he checked on her, so he figured it wasn’t his problem.
Mathis pulled into the safe house as the sun set, parked the car, and jumped out. He lifted Dani from the trunk and carried her into the small house where Jules and Maksim waited with the other members of their small group.
Jules was thrilled when Mathis laid their captive on the sofa, but Maksim radiated fury because the human was so damaged.
“She’s barely alive, you fool!” Maksim shouted.
He knelt next to Dani’s unconscious body and touched the dark stain spreading across the right side of her face. He could feel the blood vessels hemorrhaging and knew that the human would die if they didn’t do something. His instincts told him he could help, and Maksim had learned to trust them. There was no advantage in a dead captive.
Holding a hand over her temple, Maksim unleashed his dark power and called the blood to him. He shaped one finger into a razor-sharp blade and made a small incision at the center of the bruise, which gave the excess blood a way to escape and relieved the pressure on Dani’s brain.
Her breathing relaxed, and she regained some color after Maksim’s ministrations, but she remained unconscious, the dark bruise still shadowing her face. Unconcerned with Dani’s fate as long as she was alive, Jules searched her pockets to find her cell phone. He went through the contact list but didn’t immediately see Luca’s information. Eventually, he located the number under “King Prof HP.”
Did the foolish mortal think he was a wizard? Jules didn’t understand Luca’s tolerance for humans. He would never have let someone beneath him refer to him with anything less than the utmost respect. Snorting since he found their king to be a joke, Jules typed a quick text.
I’ve got your mate’s human, King Lucaindrion. What are you and that bitch vampire going to do about it? You call yourself a king but can’t protect the least of your people. I took her from the heart of your home with no resistance. Pathetic.
“What are you doing?” Maksim asked when Jules grinned.
“Setting out the right bait for our prey,” the hyena answered smugly. “She’s a lowly human, so with everything else he has going on right now, the king won’t expend any resources to rescue her.”
If Dani had been conscious, she would have laughed and told them how badly they’d fucked up. It wasn’t Luca’s wrath they should worry about, but they would learn that soon enough.
