“I hope Justice has managed to keep himself busy.” Lucie looked around, wondering where he was.
“I’m sure he’s just fine.” Derrick winked down at Lucie. “He’s your guardian, sweetheart. You’re not his.” She had a bad habit of trying to look after and take care of everyone. But she was the precious one, his most precious and perfect little mate.
CHAPTER 68
Derrick and Lucie were finishing their breakfast when Justice strolled in the room with Abe.
“Luce Luce! Derrick! Perfect. Just the people we needed to see. We weren’t sure if you were ever going to emerge.” Justice chuckled, putting a few pancakes on his plate. “The thing is, Abe and I have been talking, and we both think you need to recall the soldiers. Maybe leave the elite team there secretly, but call everyone else back.”
“If the witch has gone into hiding, we need to make her think it’s okay to come out of her rabbit hole,” Abe added. This was something he and Justice had been going over extensively. The witch wasn’t going to make her appearance if she thought she was being watched.
Derrick nodded his head slowly as he met Lucie’s eyes. A smile spread over his lips. “Yes, Lucie. This means we can bring Jasper home. I’ll have to leave Ryan, though.” He lookedat Justice and Abe. “But … you’ve both made an interesting observation. We can search for her for years and not find her at this rate. And the elite soldiers are very good at not being seen.”
“I like this idea. Besides, we still need to think about how we want to handle the witch. I mean, we can’t just lock her up forever, right? Isn’t that risky? And we can’t kill her because then Erebus will get her soul.” Lucie frowned and looked up at Abe. “Is there a way to break that contract?”
“A soul contract? It would have to be by Erebus himself.” Abe frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. “But … well, it’s cruel, but in this witch’s case, she deserves it. We can drain her of her magic. She would be just like a regular human.”
Lucie turned and looked at Justice while hearing Derrick’s thoughts. Both men thought this was a good idea.
“Okay, let’s say we do this … can she just have it reversed somehow?” Lucie wasn’t sure if this would just be creating a more vindictive enemy in the future.
“No, the effects can’t be reversed. It’s another type of blood potion. It would make magic unable to exist in her body permanently. This wouldn’t stop her from trying to reach out to demons again. But since she knows her soul will be devoured without her magic, she probably wouldn’t try anything. Or … I take that back. She is so desperate for revenge, she would probably do anything …” Abe furrowed his brows as he thought carefully. “We could always curse her to a place. Make it so she can never leave her island. Of course, that’s a bit dark for a fairy princess, but it isn’t for me.” He chuckled with a shrug.
“Abe, can you relay these orders to Ryan and Jasper? Tell Jasper to escort the soldiers back and inform Ryan of our plan for him to stay with the elite soldiers. At any sign of the witch, they may capture her if they have an opening,” Derrick said. Abe bowed slightly and vanished. “We will think more about the witch. But I think draining her of her magic wouldn’t be a badthing. Of course, we should probably discuss this stuff with your family.”
“We can send them a messenger fairy,” Lucie said with a smile, and Derrick’s eyes lit up.
“I can see them now too, right? I haven’t seen one of the invisible fairies yet.”
Lucie giggled. “Well, guardians keep the low-level fairies away with their aura. The brownies and such are considered pests. They can be, but they are adorable.” Lucie heard Justice growl in annoyance. “Oh Justice, push that aura down a little.”
“I don’t want brownies going through my stuff. It’s worse than mice. What if they poop in there or something?”
Lucie shook her head, smiling. “Quit acting like a child. At least bring it down enough so the messenger fairies don’t have a hard time. What if someone tries to send me a message? So just enough for them, but not enough for the sprites and brownies?—”
“Deal!” Justice beamed happily. He had never been a fan of the little pests. The only ones he could tolerate were the fae dragons because he thought they were neat looking.
“Okay, let’s go take a walk around and greet the people,” Derrick said, extending his hand out to Lucie.
She nodded and smiled up at him. They needed to reassure the vampires that everything was fine and that their princess was back safely.
It only tooka few days for Jasper to return with the army. Lucie’s family wanted to take a more wait-and-see approach with the witch.Wait-and-see. Lucie had rolled her eyes when she heard that one. They wanted to talk to the witch beforedeciding her fate, though they’d all agreed her magic would be stripped regardless. After that, nobody seemed to have a plan.Cool. Great. Love a solid strategy.
She was adjusting to life in the vampire kingdom, which today meant a stroll through the little vampire town with a cloak pulled low over her head to block her scent. The whole getup made her feel ridiculous, like she was playing dress-up in some gothic novel, but it worked. She could wander the streets and watch the villagers go about their evenings without a single head turning her way. Myra stayed out of sight, flitting between rooftops the way only Myra could. Justice walked a few steps behind in a matching cloak, and Abe kept close to Lucie’s side. Derrick and Jasper also weren’t far, just on the other end of the town, tending to the vampire soldiers. Close enough that she could feel the low hum of the mate bond tugging at her chest like a thread she couldn’t quite set down.
Today she’d decided to meet with Stella, Sabrina’s cousin.This should be fun.Sabrina would be joining them at the castle soon as one of the elite soldiers, and Lucie figured it was better to smooth things over now rather than navigate awkward castle-corridor run-ins for the next century. She didn’t hold any ill will toward Stella for what she’d done, which honestly surprised her a little.
She noticed Stella sitting alone on a bench on the outside of the town. She looked horrible. Lucie turned and motioned for Justice and Abe to stay back. She didn’t want them startling the young lady, making her think she was in trouble.
“Stella?” Lucie watched as the girl jerked her head up and immediately lowered herself in respect to Lucie. “That’s not necessary. I was thinking maybe we could talk, and be friends?”
“Y-you … wish to be my friend?” Stella whispered.
Lucie smiled at her kindly. “Yes.”
“Don’t you hate me?”
“No, I don’t hate you. I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t just be honest, and that you needed to create a fake relationship, but I’m not upset with you about it. The only way I would be truly angry is if you were really after what is mine.” Lucie smiled sheepishly with a half shrug. “Where are all your friends?”
