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“There’s no doubt in my mind. And I’ll work as fast as I can.”
Olivia frowned. “What about Margetta? If she’s at the camp, won’t she know what’s going on and try to interfere?” She glanced from Zane to Regan.
Regan, who had been leaning over the makeshift map, rose, frowning. “It is the most significant part of the equation. I won’t be able to do anything if she’s present.”
Zane smiled. “Then we’ll need to find a way to keep her occu
pied.”
He tapped on Regan’s telepathic frequency, not to keep the exchange hidden from Olivia, but to establish a connection with Regan. She must have understood his intention because she allowed him entrance. He said, We’ll communicate like this throughout the mission. Agreed?
Of course.
Though a pure fae, Regan wasn’t a deeply sensitive woman like Emily. Regan was very old and had a backbone of iron. She’d played an important role in the development of Swanicott over the centuries, especially her part in building up the Fae Guild. But he’d always thought there was more to the woman than met the eye and considerably more than just her spell-casting fae nature. Who she was or who she might become given the opportunity, remained to be seen.
With communication established and a general plan in place, he left the room to get on his cell and conference-call Chase and Sawyer. They needed to hatch a scheme to lure Margetta away from the camp while Regan worked on the spell.
“Margetta will want Olivia out of the picture, right?” Chase asked.
Zane dug in his heels immediately. “I don’t like where this is headed.”
“Hear me out. From what you told me about events at the Elf Lords Hideaway, Margetta has a means of tracking Olivia. Why not let her give chase? Show her a few of Olivia’s footprints, or whatever it is Margetta can detect when Olivia is cloaked, then steadily lead her away from the camp.”
Zane sighed. The problem with the plan was that it would work. But he hated the idea of letting Margetta get anywhere near Olivia again.
“There’s something else we could try as well,” Sawyer said. “I have several pure-wraith friends who would be happy to work against Margetta. I know they’d leave the Wraith Colony for a chance to do some damage to the Ancient Fae’s army. For every hot-blooded youth who takes off for the mainland in hopes of adventure, a wraith family grieves. You may not believe this, but no one wants Margetta out of commission more than the wraiths in your island colony.”
Zane had to think the idea over. He and his Vampire Guard had battled the Invictus heavily in his realm and he couldn’t easily set aside his distrust for wraiths generally. Even with what he’d learned in Ashleaf Realm, that all the species of the Nine Realms came from wraith stock, he still had a hard time forgiving the species. If Margetta hadn’t been able to subvert a great number of the wraith population, there would be no Invictus army to battle.
But right now, he had an opportunity to do some serious damage to Margetta’s entire operation. “Just give me a sec.”
He thought about the camp and how long it had no doubt been there, causing so much terror and unhappiness in his realm. He didn’t want to use Olivia in this way because he’d be putting her in danger.
On the other hand, he knew Olivia would be game.
What rose within him, however, was a renewed commitment to do whatever it took to burn the camp to the fucking ground.
He asked Olivia what she thought and he was right. Her green eyes glinted with excitement. “Let’s do it.”
He lifted his phone back up to his ear. “Sawyer, your plan is dead on. Contact the colony and have them send their most-trusted wraiths to Helms Watch since it’s the farthest distance from Margetta’s camp. Then Olivia and I will start leading the Ancient Fae in your direction.” He then took a moment to share Luther’s involvement.
Chase murmured a very soft, “Holy fucking shit.”
“What?” Zane asked. “Why did you say that?”
“Because these are extraordinary times.”
His ability to sift through Olivia’s memories at will, made him respond, “Yes, they really are.”
He gave himself a mental shake, then added, “All right. Chase, I want you putting the entire Vampire Guard on alert. I’ll want two-thirds of our force for the attack on the camp. Have the Guard congregating in the forest on the west side of the Arundel Mountains at 11:30. You’ll have twenty minutes of quick flight to the Dead Zone. And remember, everyone in the camp can see what’s happening outside the spell boundaries, so you’ll need to stage your troops at least two miles from the camp boundary. And I’ll be providing specific coordinates. Are we set?”
Both men responded in the affirmative.
Zane loved his men. “Sawyer, go get me some wraiths.”
When he hung up, he contacted Ryder, the leader of the Troll Brigade, filling him in on the details and routing him to coordinate with Luther. The Troll Brigade would require different travel arrangements, trolls not being flyers, but they did love their cars. Ryder would have his men in place, positioned within a few miles west of the camp and ready to move in at Luther’s command.
When Zane finally signed off, he presented this portion of the plan to Olivia and Regan. He hadn’t expected an argument from Olivia, but when her green eyes lit up, he had to laugh.
