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When she found the document, she levitated to Stone’s shoulder height and passed her laptop to him.

He scanned the list and there it was. Charborne had one of the highest recurrence rates in Tannisford and ranked tenth in all Nine Realms. He handed her laptop back. “That settles it. We need to get out there. Harris, take several squads. As soon as you have confirmation of even one wraith-pair, let me know.”

Harris nodded, then headed toward the door. Stone could hear him talking quietly into his shoulder com and issuing orders.

So much had changed throughout the Nine Realms over the past few years. All the mastyrs had upgraded to more efficient methods of communication. Not every realm-person could communicate through telepathy and even those that could were often limited by distance.

As for the gold mine, he remembered a small operation that started up about two-hundred-and-fifty-years ago.

Delia said, “Sorry that it had to be Charborne.”

He avoided meeting Delia’s gaze. “It’s okay. All that matters is that we get this sorted, the sooner the better, and bring Elias home.”

“So, do you know where the mine is?” She settled her laptop back on her desk.

Stone frowned at the screen. “Pull up a topographical map of the area and I can show you exactly what we’re looking at. The good news here is that I think the mine is at the edge of a densely wooded area. If there was an attack in the vicinity, Elias was in the right location to secure a hiding place.”

Delia did her magic and a few seconds later, Stone had the laptop once more in hand. He scrolled again, then put his finger on the spot. There was even a pick-axe graphic, typical of maps showing mine locations. “The mine is about five hundred yards north of Charbeetle Creek. I’ll let Harris know.”

“Thank you.” Delia buried her face in her hands. He could see by the movements of her shoulders she’d lost it. But he’d been with her a long time. She was a woman with grit and would come around soon enough. In the meantime, he settled his hand on her shoulder and kept it there.

There was nothing to do now except wait.

His thoughts, as usual, turned to Aralynn. If a heavy Invictus attack was going on out at Charborne, he suspected it wouldn’t be long before Aralynn contacted him. Though she was predominantly wolf-shifter, her powerful fae abilities had more than once clued him in on a dangerous situation in Tannisford, things that his Guard patrols or village-mounted cameras weren’t catching. But why her fae visions hadn’t picked up on this situation before, he didn’t know.

Unless, of course, Margetta herself had her hands in it. She had enough power to render the camera feeds useless and to disguise the area from outsiders. The more he thought about it, his own vampire instincts began to curl and writhe inside him.

The Ancient Fae had to be involved.

But where was Aralynn?

~ ~ ~

Rosamunde paced her private living room situated at the less formal west end of the castle. She could feel the sacred elf-lord power rumbling at a distance, which meant something was afoot in Tannisford and Stone would need her soon. She’d learned from experience to let the visions come when they wanted, not to force them.

But she was in deep trouble with Stone because if he ever learned the truth about her, that she was both Rosamunde and Aralynn, he’d never forgive her. The man had a hard head and a stubborn streak a mile wide.

A moan left her throat and she actually wrung her hands. Somewhere in the middle of partnering with Stone, the worst had happened: She was pretty sure she’d fallen in love with the intractable mastyr of Tannisford.

Goddess help her!

She had more secrets locked away as well, each of which could set an impenetrable block wall between herself and Stone. Because of it, she’d become a ridiculous tangle of nerves.

She’d tried to tell Stone the truth more than once, especially when he’d almost kissed her the night before while she’d been in her Aralynn form. But the words had gotten stuck in her throat as though they’d grown claws and held on for good.

She was in so much trouble especially because Stone didn’t respect her as Rosamunde. He thought her lazy, uncaring and cowardly.

“Did you summon me?”

The woman’s voice startled her. She whirled around and there was Vojalie, the tall elegant fae who had served as her counselor for centuries.

She threw her hands wide. “Yes. Vojalie, I can’t do this anymore.”

“Can’t do what?”

“Keep being Aralynn when I’m with Stone when he doesn’t know that I’m Rosamunde as well. I want to quit.”

“But I thought you were enjoying your missions with Stone. You begged for years to be allowed to participate in the war in a substantial way and now you are.” There was an amused light in Vojalie’s eye.

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