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Today, she’d be called a ‘badass’, so the nickname really fit.
“Alexandra? Willow here.”
“Sweet merciful Goddess on high, how are you, my child?”
Willow laughed. “I’m eighty-three, hardly a child.”
“No, I guess you’re not. You’ve been on my mind lately, so tell me what’s going on.”
Willow laid it out for the older woman, including details about the colony that kept Alexandra very quiet. When she finally did make an utterance it was a very long expletive that involved a lot of terrible things she’d like to do to Axton.
When he
r tirade ended, she said, “Very well, tell me more about this colony.”
When Willow finished, Alexandra muttered, “Why the fuck have I been kept in the dark? I don’t think I’ve ever been so pissed in my life. I’m the head of the Fae Guild and sometime in the next century, I’ll be sitting on the Sidhe Council. I’d be madder still if Malik hadn’t also been treated like he was a worthless idiot.”
“The decision was never mine,” Willow explained. “The colony leadership had the final say and I always deferred to them.”
Alexandra didn’t speak for a moment, then, “Are you saying that you violated the leadership’s directive by telling me these things?”
“I felt I had to bring Malik in and now you if we stand a chance of saving these wraiths. Axton is after them, but he’s aligned with a fae of tremendous ability. I was hoping you could tell me if there’s anyone in Ashleaf Realm with the kind of power to create charms that could burn up the Protector shield I’ve sustained all these decades. Maybe one of the black market fae?”
“I’m really not sure. As you know, we have a lot of fae who work in secret, so it’s possible we’re looking at one of them. But tell me, is the reason you haven’t come to the meetings because you’ve been serving in this capacity all this time?”
“Of course it is. I’ve been sworn to secrecy. But in more recent years, I’ve found it increasingly difficult to hold the shield intact. I need your help, possibly even the assistance of the other four Fae Guild leaders.”
“Sweet Goddess.”
Alexandra fell silent again, and Willow let her be. She’d just unloaded a lot of information on the old fae’s shoulders.
After a moment, Alexandra said, “One of my fae called this evening after having had a terrible vision about an explosion of white light in the very center of Ashleaf. Does that have any significance in this situation that you know of?”
Willow closed her eyes as her heart started to pound. “Only last night, Vojalie told Malik of a similar vision.”
“Okay, that settles it. I’ll bring the fae leadership with me. Just tell me when and where?”
CHAPTER SIX
With the fae leadership scheduled to arrive in an hour, Malik flew Willow to the colony entrance where his Troll Brigade had held the ground throughout the daylight hours and where his Vampire Guard as well as Zane’s force stood ready for orders.
With almost three hundred vampires on the ground, Malik immediately dismissed the Troll Brigade to retire for the night.
He watched, smiling, as the more jovial trolls high-fived the stern Vampire Guardsmen, which caused more than one friendly exchange that involved a proper amount of ‘fuck you’s’.
Zane stood at least twenty feet away in front of his Guard of fifty. He was slightly taller than Malik, muscled and lean and had a dagger tattoo on the right side of his neck, the image dripping with several red drops of blood. He wore his long black hair combed straight back in his Guardsman clasp and a diamond stud winked from his left earlobe. His cold light blue eyes surveyed his surroundings constantly. His nose was slightly aquiline, giving him a hawkish appearance, which suited his temperament.
He fought hard and played hard, and had a working stable of two dozen doneuses that he also took to bed on a regular basis.
Zane was a complete hard-ass and had more Invictus incursions in his land than any of the Nine Realms. He took no prisoners and thought Malik should have routed The Society with flamethrowers a long time ago.
He was as different from Malik as two men could be. But despite their opposing views, Malik considered Zane one of his closest friends; he trusted him with his life.
Zane lifted his hand in greeting, but sniffed the air, then shifted his penetrating gaze to Willow. He seemed to lean forward as though a wind pushed him from behind, then he simply fell to his knees. His mind beat against Malik’s. Get her away from me. Now.
Willow gripped his arm. “You have to do something. I want to go to him. I can feel his blood-starvation like a burn on my skin.”
The sight of the powerful Zane of Swanicott Realm in the dirt because Willow was a blood rose sent a shard of panic through Malik’s skull.
