AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We?” Taneisha said, her eyes flashing with anger. “What are you two doing here?” she spat out.
I stepped forward and met her gaze evenly. “We’re here for Sera,” I said calmly. “We believe you know where she is.” I didn’t say that I also believed Taneisha had abducted Sera. It might have been true, but we needed the squirrelly fae to help us.
Taneisha scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “You think I have your mate? Why would I do that?”
Ray stepped in then, his voice gentle but firm. “Taneisha, that’s not what Caden said,” Ray said quietly, his tone admonishing. “We need to find Sera before anything else happens to her. Can you help us?”
Taneisha sighed heavily and uncrossed her arms, her expression softening slightly. “You can come in,” she said after a moment of thought.
She gestured for us to come inside her now all too familiar demesne and motioned for Ray to follow as well. The tall oak spread overhead, the brook babbled along the far side of the glen, and the mossy couch all were unchanged from the last time we’d been here.
“So you admit you know where Sera is?” Franc pressed.
She shrugged, her gaze flitting between the three of us. “I might. I might not.”
“We need to know,” I said. “The Lowes have taken Marcos, Liam, and Emrys hostage. No doubt they’ll come for Franc and I soon. If we’re not able to produce Sera or point them in the right direction, we might have to recommend they seek you out next.”
Taneisha listened intently and then nodded slowly. “I suppose I might know Sera’s location. If I help you, what will you give me in return?” she asked with a sly smile.
Franc glanced at me before answering. At least we were on the right track. “What do you want?” he asked cautiously.
Taneisha shrugged nonchalantly and crossed her arms over her chest as she thought it over for a moment. My chest tightened as I wondered how long the fae would draw things out. Did she even know whether Sera was safe? But by now I knew better than to irritate the fae, so I held in my anxiety and my tongue.
Ray cleared his throat. “The last time we talked, Tany, I thought you’d said you were going to rethink your ways. I’m surprised you have since caused trouble for Sera.”
“Ray!” Taneisha exclaimed, closing the distance between them. “How can you think that? Sera is my friend, and I would never place her in harm’s way.”
“Yet you concede you know where she is,” Franc said. “Please, she could be in danger. You have to help us.”
Taneisha gripped Ray’s arm, shaking her head. “Sera’s fine, I know it. She’s in a very safe place.”
“Sera’s not fine. She called for us to come to her,” I said.
Incongruously, Taneisha smiled like that was the best news ever, which it certainly wasn’t. “I knew it! See, she’s doing so well with her magic!”
I shared a look with Franc, who looked as lost as I felt.
Ray ran his fingers down Taneisha’s bare arm. “Why don’t you slow down and explain, dear?”
Taneisha sighed, her gaze flicking between the three of us, but mostly lingering on Ray’s big, brown eyes. “I had a feeling that Sera was special, so I sent her on a quest for herself.”
“We all know Sera is special,” Franc replied. “But why another quest?”
The corner of Taneisha’s lips curved up. “She’s even more special than you suspect, demi-god. I knew if I could bring her to this realm, she would discover her true potential.”
“So you kidnapped her?” Franc asked incredulously. “And took her to faery?”
“I didn’t kidnap her!” Taneisha exclaimed, though she had the grace to look just a little guilty. “I merely opened the way and then set her on the path without consulting anyone else first. Sera needed to discover all that she’s capable of with her magic. If what you say is true, that she was able to contact you, then I was right! She has already achieved so much in such a short amount of time!”
“Right? Sera’s been getting a better handle on her magic with her mates help. Sure, she might get even better in faery, but at what cost?” I asked quietly. “Sera has been through hell with your quests and we’ve been worried sick about her safety. You have no idea how relieved I am to hear you know where she is, but I assure you we have reason to fear for Sera.”
Taneisha furrowed her brows, and for once I thought I’d actually gotten her attention. “What do you mean, fear for her?”
It was Franc who answered. “Back at the Heart of the Desert temple Emrys and I stepped through a mirror into a future where Sera had died because we weren’t there to protect her.”
The blood ran out Taneisha’s rosy cheeks. “She’ll be safe in faery. She has to be.”
“What if you’re wrong?” Franc asked.
