The Warlock Queen Page 18

  “I don’t think you have a choice at this point,” Lilly said. “It’s pretty much fish or cut bait for you. And for me as well.”

  Myanin frowned. “I do not know this saying.”

  Lilly smiled. “I’m from Texas. We have many sayings outsiders don’t understand. What I mean is, you’ve made your choice—we all have—and now we have to follow through. If we don’t, the price we will pay is too great.”

  “The price will be my life no matter what,” Myanin said. “But I would rather die making amends than fighting alongside the evil that is Alston, Ludcarab, and the newly crowned vampire king, Cain.”

  Lilly didn’t know what to say to that. She didn’t want Myanin to die. She liked her, even if she’d flashed into her chambers and attacked her, even if she had an unhealthy obsession with cotton candy, and even though she was a tad eccentric. Lilly liked her and truly believed Myanin was broken over what she’d done, but the djinn had purposely killed one of her own leaders. The consequences for that would be dire, and rightfully so.

  “We need to come up with a lie to tell Ludcarab and Alston,” Myanin said. “Will two days be long enough to calm Perizada down?”

  Lilly huffed out a laugh. “I don’t have a clue, but if we’re doing this, then we have to get started. You will need to meet Gerick, and I have no idea how he is going to handle you offering your help with our warriors. Two days will have to be enough time.”

  Myanin and Tenia bowed their heads to Lilly, and then Myanin laid a hand on Tenia’s arm and they flashed from the room. Lilly stared at the empty spot where they’d stood, trying to keep from flipping her own lid. She’d just made a blood oath with a djinn who’d murdered one of her own leaders, and she’d just promised in said blood oath to make sure her choices were to protect said djinn or Lilly’s life would be forfeit. The Great Luna had blessed that oath. And now she had to inform Perizada, who wasn’t exactly stable before the battle at the Keep, let alone now.

  “This is going to be a cluster,” Lilly muttered. She turned toward the bathroom, thinking it was probably time to take a shower, when her eyes were caught by something sitting in the middle of her vanity. The queen walked over and stared down at five stones, their reflection in the mirror making them appear as if there were ten. She reached out a hand and felt power pulsing off them before she even touched them.

  She’d heard of the fae stones, but as far as she knew, it had been a while since they’d showed up anywhere. And yet, here they were sitting in her room. “Yep,” she muttered, “definitely going to be a cluster.”

  Chapter 11

  “I’ve learned that the best things in life are often the things you never see coming. One second you’re just walking along, minding your own business, and then bam, it hits you.” ~Tenia

  * * *

  “I thought those other buildings were empty,” Myanin said as she and Tenia stared at the Order’s compound. They were hiding about a hundred yards away, watching as men and women marched in single file lines into said buildings.

  “They were,” Tenia said. She flashed them into the main building. Myanin’s eyes widened. The last time they’d been there, a mere two days ago, the room had been used as a place for training and sparring. Now, it was filled with human beings, standing in perfect rows, unmoving, staring straight ahead. And at the front of the group stood Ludcarab, Alston, and Cain. All three looked like preening peacocks.

  “Flash us to the other buildings, before they see us” Myanin said as she grabbed Tenia’s wrist. Tenia didn’t question the djinn. They flashed from one building to the next until they’d been in four of the large warehouses that had been completely empty only a few days ago. Now, each one was full with rows of freshly turned vampires.

  “Did Cain just line them up and pass out bites like candy to children?” Tenia whispered so softly that Myanin had to strain, even with supernatural senses, to hear the fae.

  “Where did they get them?” Myanin asked through gritted teeth. “That’s what I want to know. This is a hell of a lot more than we brought in.”

  “Unfortunately, there’s only one way to find out,” Tenia said and then flashed them again. When they reappeared, they were standing right next to the elf king, high fae, and vampire king.

  Myanin forced herself to keep a blank, bored expression on her face. She could not show weakness, or at least what they would perceive as weakness. She no longer had the constant hum of Lyra’s magic running in her veins. It had made her irritable, but since it had been gone, Myanin felt lighter. She was going to have to make sure that she appeared unchanged. If she wanted to be of any help to Lilly and her allies, then she was going to have to be able to actually gather information, and that wouldn’t happen if the three Order leaders stopped trusting her. She felt her blood heat, but interestingly enough, it didn’t feel like a threat but more like a reassurance. A reminder that someone was on her side. Queen Lilly had taken her own blood oath to act in Myanin’s best interest. It gave her a moment's pause at the true realization that the female sprite had essentially bet her life on Myanin. Lilly, queen of the warlocks, had sworn to protect Myanin. Had she not already braced herself for the emotions, she might have stumbled, but instead, Myanin let her smile—one born of joy—turn into a smirk as she became who she needed to be in order to pull off the farce.

  “Looks like you boys have been busy,” Myanin said, making sure she sounded slightly impressed. A little ego stroking never hurt.

  Alston smiled, and he looked eerily like a wolf who’d just found a field full of wounded bunnies. In other words, easy pickings.

  “Turns out you two had a brilliant idea.” Alston indicated the motionless humans that stood in orderly lines. All of them stared straight ahead, the same blank look on each of their faces. “Getting humans from the prisons proved to be quite easy and abundant. As you can see.”

  Myanin had to force her heartbeat to stay steady so that Cain and his vamp senses wouldn’t pick up on any of the emotions flooding her system. She glanced at Tenia and was impressed by the blank expression on the woman’s face. “I thought you were concerned about the attention it might bring,” Myanin pointed out.

  “Tenia may be the only being who can change a person’s free will completely,” Ludcarab said, taking his eyes off his new soldiers and turning his gaze on Myanin. “But she’s not the only one who can make others do her bidding.”

  “You used blood magic for this?” Tenia asked. Her question, Myanin noticed, was directed at Alston.

  “I did what was necessary to rebuild our numbers. It was quite simple. A few ideas planted into the heads of certain key humans convinced them a deadly virus was running amok in the prisons, killing the prisoners in droves.”

  “And what happens when they start asking about the missing bodies of all these dead prisoners?” Myanin asked, again keeping any inflection out of her voice. She just wanted information.

  “They believe the bodies have been incinerated for safety purposes. They don't want the virus to get out into the general population, obviously,” Alston said.

  Myanin could think of a million things that could go wrong with his plan.

  “Besides,” Ludcarab added, “we’ve taken them all from lesser developed countries where they don’t take quite as much care with keeping tabs on inmates.”

  “What do you mean?” Myanin asked.

  Alston chuckled. “Believe it or not, there are places in the human realm where they treat their criminals little better than livestock. And since the prisons were overpopulated anyway, only the most vile are kept incarcerated. We did them a favor, really.”

  The words “most vile” made Myanin’s stomach turn. She remembered some of the things she’d read in the inmate files she and Tenia had reviewed when they were scouting the prisons. Vile hadn’t even begun to describe what some of those people had been. “So, you just took your fae and flashed as many as you could while implanting the false thoughts?” Myanin made sure she sounded impressed and no
t disgusted, as she actually was.

  “Precisely,” Ludcarab confirmed.

  “Then I vamped them up,” Cain said, speaking for the first time as his red eyes turned on her. “That was actually the most tedious of the entire process. Believe it or not, a vampire can get tired of biting people. Especially if he can’t drain them dry.” He sounded like a child who’d had his candy taken away from him.

  Myanin knew exactly what it took to make a vampire and how long, thanks to her many conversations with Thadrick. He seemed to like to explain things to her, as if getting some of the information out was lifting a burden off his shoulders. A vampire had to truly desire to turn the person they were biting; only then could they excrete the toxin that would place the virus in the human’s blood. The change took minutes. Cain must have literally lined them up and bit each human one by one.

  “That’s impressive,” she said as she smirked at Cain. “This must be a record for the most humans turned at one time.”

  Cain grinned, showing off sharp canines. “Fifteen hundred so far, but we’ve got more coming. The old man needed a break.” He motioned to Alston.

  “Blood magic takes blood,” Alston growled, obviously taking offense at the “old man” reference. Despite his age, Alston didn’t look a day over the human age of thirty. “Enough about this,” Alston huffed. “What information do you have for us?”

  Myanin and Tenia had decided that less was more when it came to giving false information. Giving too many made-up details could make it tricky to remember things. “Things are quiet on the wolf front,” Myanin said. “They’re training, much like our warriors here.” Lumping herself in with them made her sick, but again, she had to make them believe she was with them.

  “That’s it?” Ludcarab asked, sounding suspicious.

  “The Great Luna, if you remember,” Myanin said dryly, “decreed a period of mourning. What did you expect them to be doing? If anyone is going to do what the goddess ordains, it will be those who worship her. In case you forgot, we killed three of their beloved leaders. Unless they’re inside that mansion scheming, which they might be,” she added, “they are doing exactly as she said and not engaging the enemy in any way.”

  “How close were you able to get to the Romania pack?” Alston asked.

  “Not close,” Myanin said, which was true. They’d actually made a visit to Romania, but there was a very strong ward covering a large amount of space around the Romania pack territory. Myanin had been thankful for that boundary. “Their mansion is warded. They have powerful allies, Alston. It might take us some time to find a weakness. And I can’t just go in and remove a powerful ward without them knowing.” She didn’t add that she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to remove the ward, even with the elder’s power running through her. She’d felt djinn magic in the ward. To her surprise, it had felt good to feel the magic of her own people. It had made her sad because she didn’t know that she’d ever feel it again, at least not without it being to attack her. She forced herself away from the morose thoughts and brought her full attention back to the present.

  “The Romanians are closely allied with many packs,” Alston said. “The others may not have the same protection.” Alston listed off the names of some cities where he wanted them to go. “As you can see”—he motioned to the newly made vampires—“we’ve got recruitment under control. Your main priority now is intel. Tenia, you know of many places supernaturals gather. There’s going to be talk. Bring us something useful.” The threat was obvious in his voice. If she didn’t bring back some important information, her usefulness might be at an end. “You may see your young and get some rest tonight. I’m sure you are both tired from your travels.” He watched them closely. Myanin knew he was waiting to see if they’d object to the order. When they simply stared back, he finally waved them off.

  Myanin turned and followed the fae out. She wanted to leave immediately, but she couldn’t take away Tenia’s time with her son.

  The djinn was nervous about their surveillance missions. She knew they couldn’t keep coming back with no useful information. If they wanted to continue to be trusted by the Orders leaders, they were going to have to be convincing. People like Ludcarab, Alston, and Cain only kept those around that had worth to them, which meant you had to have something to offer their cause.

  Outside the building, Myanin stopped Tenia. The sun was getting low in the sky. “Let’s plan to meet here tomorrow at this same time.”

  Tenia pulled a phone from her back pocket and glanced at it. “It’s six now.”

  Myanin pulled her own phone out and saw that her time was set as the same as Tenia’s. “They sync automatically?”

  Tenia’s lips turned up. “Yes. Humans aren’t as dim as you think.”

  Myanin couldn’t help the small smile on her own face. “I knew that. They made cotton candy.” She paused and then her smile spread. “Give some to Torion. It will make him appreciate the humans, and he won’t believe the lies Alston is feeding him.”

  Tenia’s brow rose. “You’re going to share your cotton candy?”

  “With a child? Of course,” Myanin scoffed. “But don’t go getting crazy ideas that you can help yourself, too.”

  “I wouldn’t dare.” Tenia started off in the direction of one of the buildings, probably where her son was being kept. “See you tomorrow,” she called over her shoulder as she trotted off.

  Myanin watched her until she couldn’t see the fae any longer. The djinn’s skin was already beginning to crawl at the thought of being stuck within the confines of the building, but she did need rest and something to eat besides cotton candy. “Food, then rest,” she muttered and headed to the Order mess hall.

  As she walked, she found herself sending a prayer to the Great Luna that she and Tenia would somehow pull off their subterfuge. They had to. Tenia’s son’s life depended on it, as did the lives of many others. She thought back to the number of vampires Cain had already sired and the fact that he’d said there were many more on the way. Three months still remained in the mourning period before the Order could engage their enemy. How many vampires could be made in that time? She didn’t have to mentally calculate the exact number to know it was too damn many.

  Forcing one step in front of the other, Myanin found that she had to remind herself to keep a bored look on her face. Her lips kept wanting to spread into a smile. Despite everything she was facing, she was free. Freer than she’d ever been. First, she’d been bound by her feelings for Thadrick. She hadn’t realized it all those years, but her feelings for a man that was not hers had been a noose around her neck. She’d tightened the noose by her actions and then pretty much hung herself when she’d killed Lyra. But now? Now she was free because she’d cleansed herself of her wrongdoing. Would she still, most likely, die because of her choices? Yes. But she had made things right with her Creator, and she was making things right with her allies. She would be able to close her eyes in this life and open them in the next with a clear conscience, knowing she’d pleased the Great Luna and kept others safe.

  Tenia’s mind was focused on getting to her son as she hurried down the long, dark corridor. The pathway started above ground but then headed down a set of stairs, tunneled beneath the surface, and connected two of the compound buildings together. It didn’t matter what she was doing or where she was, her mind was always on Torion. The fact that Alston had managed to get his evil hands on her son made Tenia sick. What kind of mother lets something like this happen to her child? Her breathing increased as her feet moved even quicker. Her heart beat to a rhythm, and the sound of it was her son's name. The closer she got to him the harder the organ beat. It would continue that way until she was finally face-to-face with him again, and then for those brief moments, her heart seemed to keep a normal, staccato rhythm.

  She’d been stupid and trusted Alston because he’d been a high fae, a leader of their people. He’d come to her with a story of needing her unique ability for the high fae council, even t
hrowing out Perizada’s name, because Tenia had always looked up to Peri. He’d told her she’d be a hero, that she’d make her son proud. Hell, he’d even mentioned the Order. But he’d left out the part where she’d be working for them, not against them. He’d made a fool out of her, and now she was paying for it.

  She passed others as she marched along, but she spoke to no one. She rarely engaged with the other Order members. They had nothing in common. The only ones who even knew she had a child here were the two fae who guarded her child. Alston wasn’t a complete moron. He knew that even among the riffraff of the Order, there would be some who would not like knowing a child of one of the Order “members” was being used as a bargaining tool. Messing with the enemy’s children had been pushing it for some, but even then, no one believed Ludcarab or Alston would actually harm the children. As far as anyone knew, Tenia was here of her own free will. Alston wanted it to continue to appear that way. As she got closer to her son, the invisible tether that kept him tied to her heart grew taut as her need to hold him increased. She just needed to see his little face, see that he was completely unharmed.

  The room where Alston kept her son wasn’t a cell, but he wasn’t allowed to leave, and it was constantly guarded. She knew the two guards stationed outside Torion’s room, and she was relatively convinced neither of them would hurt the boy, though she wasn’t sure if they would actually prevent him from being harmed at Alston’s hands. She didn’t know if they understood that he was capable of hurting a child, which Tenia believed he fully was. The thought caused her to increase her speed as her heart pounded harder Torion, Torion, Torion, it beat over and over. She couldn’t flash to his room because there were certain parts of the compound that Ludcarab and Alston had warded. The areas were basically no-flashing zones, as some fae had laughingly said about them.