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“No girls. I’m sorry, we haven’t found a trace of him yet. But his soul statue . . . well . . . I wouldn’t hold out hope if I were you. As for Trillian, he’s in the back room. They’re preparing for another scouting mission today. A few of our seers escaped and they are trying to locate the Knights.”
Another thought hit me. “Amber—she had a baby! Did . . . do you know . . .” How could I ask? How could I ask if they knew if Amber’s baby was dead. One of the Keraastar Knights, Amber had ended up with her brother Luke—Menolly’s ex-barkeep—in Otherworld, chained to the yoke of the spirit seals. And there, she’d had her baby. Nobody knew if her possession of the spirit seal had altered the baby while it was in her womb, but it was just something we assumed we would find out as the child grew.
Trenyth gave me a bleak look. “I don’t know. Delilah, there are so many missing here that we will never have a true picture as to how many of our people have died. The toll is massive. Whole villages were wiped out by the storm. And now the armies are descending, and the sorcerers will surely come behind them. The Moon Mother is sending her Dark Moon Sorceresses to fight by our side.”
Camille shifted in her seat. “Is Derisa going to be leading them?”
Derisa, the High Priestess of the Moon Mother, had held the position for who knows how long. But Camille was being trained to be the High Priestess of the Moon Mother’s sorceresses—the priestesses who followed the Dark Moon. Derisa would lead the witches who followed the Bright Moon. Derisa would stay in Otherworld, while Camille was to stay Earthside and lead the new acolytes here. Or at least, that was the current plan.
“No, she cannot. She is too valuable. But there are Dark Moon sorceresses of great power and one of them, Seith, will lead the helm. They will drive forward to Kelvashan in two days’ time. And the King of Nebulveori is sending warriors. Dahnsburg has an army on the march to our lands, and Svartalfheim is also dispatching a legion. If we can hold out for another week, we will have a formidable force.”
Camille stared at Trenyth for a moment. “Will this leave their lands open to attack?”
He paled. “No, we have thought of that and insisted they send only those they can spare. Why? Do you sense something?”
She closed her eyes, and then, with a sharp cry, leaned over, clutching her head. “I see the same vision I did when I reached Elqaneve. The storm—it did not dissipate. It still lives, and it waits. They have chained it—this is no storm, Trenyth. It’s a creature they’ve constructed. It takes the shape of a storm, but it’s like a golem of sorts. And they have it ready to use again.”
“How are you tuning into to this? And do you know where it will strike next?” Trenyth stood. “I will send word immediately if you can pinpoint it.”
She sucked in a deep breath and lowered herself deeper into trance. I could feel the magic settle around her shoulders as her head dropped forward. “There is a city to the northwest . . . they will go after Svartalfheim next. They seek to enslave the sorcerers of Vodox’s realm.”
Her eyes flew open and she leaned forward, clutching the sides of the table. “Hurry, Trenyth. They are on the march. I don’t know how I am tuning into this, but trust me. They will attack soon. Warn King Vodox. I don’t know how they can protect the city but he has to try.”
Trenyth paled, but he nodded. “What did you contact me for? Hurry, and then I will rush to send word to Svartalfheim.”
Camille shook her head. “No, go now. Do it now. What we wanted can wait. Just protect my husbands and our friend Roz. But go, warn Vodox. If he does not erect a force field, his city will go down in flames, as sure as Elqaneve was destroyed.”
And with that, she signed off, and the mirror fogged over again. I looked at her, horror filling my heart. “Telazhar . . . he can’t be stopped, can he? He’s laying waste to Y’Eírialiastar all by himself.”
She shook her head. “Not by himself. He carries power from Shadow Wing, and the armies of disgruntled sorcerers. But he can be stopped—I have to believe this. If not . . . then Otherworld is lost to a war far more deadly than the Scorching Wars, and Earthside will be next. Once he breaks through, he’ll be able to use his sorcerers to gate in the demons. They’ll rip apart the portals one way or another. And the worlds will be a feeding ground for the damned.”
Chapter 18
We were a solemn pair by the time Chase arrived. Nerissa was with him, carrying Astrid, while he held the diaper bag, a stroller, and a bag full of toys. The kid could barely see the world and he already was showering her with stuffed bears and dolls. I repressed a grin, not wanting to say anything to squash his enthusiasm. He looked like he’d lost a lot of sleep though, and I had the feeling that he wouldn’t stay in very good shape for long if he kept trying to do this all on his own, wet nurse and nanny or not.
The baby was fussy, and Nerissa immediately headed over to Iris’s with her. Chase dropped into a chair in the kitchen, his dark eyes flashing.
“I never expected it to be like this. I thought Sharah and I would move in together and . . .”
“And you’d be a happy little family.” I rubbed his shoulders. “That would be ideal, Chase, but the sooner you accept that it’s not going to happen that way, the easier it will be to adjust. Life sucks, sometimes.”
Camille handed him a cup of coffee and a Danish. “Everything is in a mess right now. We just have to weather through. Iris will be a huge help and she’ll look after Astrid like she will her own. You know that.”
He nodded, the dazed look lifting just a little. “I honestly don’t know what I’d do if she hadn’t made the offer. I feel like she just threw me a lifeline and I’m holding on for dear life. And Sharah’s only been gone since yesterday. Last night was horrible. Astrid wouldn’t stop crying and the nanny—who is one bitch of an elf—couldn’t quiet her down. By three this morning, I was ready to kick that elf’s ass to the curb.”
“Astrid wants her mother. But she has her daddy and that will make a huge difference. Sharah’s not having a field day either.” Camille told him about our conversation with Trenyth. “The world has gone to hell and we’re all just going to have to hold on as best as we can. I’m mostly worried about the Keraastar Knights. Smoky and the guys have to find them. If Telazhar finds the seals first, we’re all doomed.”
On that gloomy note, she offered to help Chase carry his bags over to Iris’s, leaving me to sort out what to do next. Now that the dreglins were squared away, it was time to get back to hunting for Violet. I opened my laptop. Might as well start with the Supernatural Matchups site, now that I had her password. By the time Camille returned, I was into Violet’s account and poking around.
“Why don’t I call Tanne Baum and see if he’ll talk to us?” She pulled out her phone. “You find anything yet?”
“Not yet. Go ahead. See if he’ll meet us this afternoon.” I shook my head. “I’m trying to figure out how to navigate her account. There are a gazillion different links and I want to make certain I don’t do anything to alert the site owners that I’m hacking in. Especially if they might be in on her disappearance.”
As I puzzled through the menu, the doorbell rang. Camille went to answer it. She returned within seconds and motioned for me to follow her. There, on the front porch, stood ten soldiers, dressed in the colors of black, indigo, and silver.
“Aeval sent us guards for the house.”
I scanned their faces. They weren’t as friendly as the elves, by the looks of them, but they also looked more feral and dangerous, which was probably a good thing considering what we were facing.
