The pale Fae man nodded. “They shall come with me.”
Teya, Rowenna, and Dianna were already packed. None of the three looked at me, seemingly occupied with their own thoughts. I could only imagine; they were chosen to be the liaisons. And with Kate, Dianna’s sister, barely holding on to life due to her Wildlight, I knew the last thing Dianna wanted was to be whisked to the Underearth, so far away from her.
This was out of my hands, though. Which made me both angry and resigned.
I walked toward Teya and grabbed her shoulders. She raised her eyes to me, rueful yet resilient. “You’re strong,” I told her in a quiet murmur only she could hear. “You can handle this. I know you can.”
Teya nodded silently and gave me a small sad smile. “When my family returns, tell them I’m sorry I didn’t get to say goodbye, and that I love them.”
My chest tightened when I thought of Teya’s family. Her parents, two of the oldest werewolves I ever knew—who gave birth to Teya in their fifties, against all odds, considering their age—were extremely overprotective of Teya, their only daughter. They were now traveling through Europe after retirement, and the notion of telling them what had transpired while they were away made me feel an overwhelming amount of guilt.
“I will,” I told Teya now nonetheless, and she gave me a quick hug, which I returned.
Then I turned to Rowenna and Dianna. “You’re lucky,” I told the two of them, as they avoided my gaze. “You get to start fresh without any consequences to your actions. Thank Zairos and the Syndarch for your good fortune.”
The two young women had the decency to look somewhat ashamed.
Relaxing, I nonetheless gave each of them a pat on the shoulder, startling them into snapping their gazes toward me. “Do a good job there,” I told them. “Despite everything, you’re capable enough for that.”
They nodded, seemingly stunned, and tensed when Zairos finally spoke. “I’m taking them now, then.”
I looked at the Fae man and shot him a serious look. “Not a hair on their head,” I reminded him, the threat in my voice undeniable.
But the Fae man, like every damned Fae, simply blinked back and nodded, as expressionless as a bulk of stone.
When Zairos, Teya, Rowenna, and Dianna were gone, I walked into the meeting room next to this one, where Callista, Oz, and Ren were sitting.
Callista looked like she’d been crying. Teya had been her best friend, after all. Ren and Oz seemed grim as well. “They’re gone,” I told them now, not feeling much better. “Any word from Blaise?”
Oz nodded and turned to look at me. His attitude from the past few days disappeared after our visit to the Syndicate, which was a relief. It seemed as if he finally realized what I’d tried to tell him about Mack, and why I had to do what I did. “He’s on his way with the prisoners,” Oz now said, spitting the wordprisoners.
Of course, he wasn’t referring to the Fae liaisons Blaise picked, but rather to the fact that our pack members had become prisoners of the Syndicate too.
“All right,” I said, sitting down. “Let’s wait for them, then.”
But it was hours before Blaise entered the room, due to the difference in the flow of time in the Underearth. “Alpha,” he greeted me formally, nodding, before he turned around. “Come in.”
Other than the Mathenio, which the Syndarch shockingly “gifted” us, I didn’t know what to expect. First, I didn’t knowwhohad the Mathenio, since the Syndarch mentioned something about it not being a Fae, exactly, or something along those lines, but also, I wasn’t sure who the other two should be.
But other than Drew, Blaise was the only one I trusted out of the entire pack. He’d been with me since Paris. He’d stuck by my side. He hadn’t joined a new pack after the demise of ours, despite the many packs all over Europe that were eager to offer him a position, considering his reputation.
Instead, he came with me all the way to Los Angeles, to a new pack, in a new country, across the ocean.
And he had never failed me before. Which was why I trusted him to choose well.
Yet his choices made no sense. At least not at first glance.
Much like Zairos’s didn’t. Because this group included three young women who didn’t seem very highly ranked, or powerful, like I somewhat expected.
Blaise, though, kept a blank face as he motioned toward the first woman. “This is Ivoria,” he said, introducing the first Fae woman, who seemed just as apathetic as the rest of them. “She is part of the Syndicate’s messenger team.”
The words clicked, and I realized what Blaise wasn’t saying. Becausemessenger teamwas a covert term for information traders.
Meaning this woman could be a really good asset.
Blaise then walked toward the other two women, and I noticed something I hadn’t before. One of those two women was unconscious. The other woman was keeping her standing, even though she was obviously passed out.
I watched as Blaise gently pried the unconscious woman from the one holding her, even though the other woman at first refused to let go. But Blaise murmured something to the woman that made her freeze and retract her hands, letting him carry the unconscious woman in his arms.
