Summon (30 page)

The Alpha,
Alec
,
I thought, completed the Change crouched and panting. Sweat covered his sleekly
muscled body in a light sheen. “Follow me,” he ordered, tone gruff. He grabbed
the petulant fairy by the hand and yanked her after him. “Maeve, my own, how
many times must we discuss why attacking creatures twice our size is
bad
?”

“Do not growl at me. I spent my entire life dealing
with Lochlann and Breandan’s overprotection.” As she dragged off her cloak, her
chin lifted. “I am a Battle Maiden, and have the power to accept the High Priestesshood
should I choose.” She thrust the clothing at him.

“I’m aware,” Alec muttered tying the moss-coloured
fabric around his hips. “You must learn to pick your battles.”

She squealed in outrage and struggled against him
when he took hold of her again. “What is that supposed to mean?”

I trailed after the pair, incredulous.
Not an ambassador, but a Claimed mate.
Disgruntled, I blocked their argument from my mind.
I wasn’t accepted because I was half human yet the Tribe risk the birth
of a fairy-shifter hybrid from this union.

Why the double standard of blood proud dogmatists
momentarily flabbergasted me, I’d never know.

I couldn’t be less interested in the collection of
shabby huts the shifters called home. What had my lids lowering in interest was
the Horde of goblins sharing a meal with the shifters around the Pride Heart.

Unlike the Wyld Heart, a sacrosanct place of concentrated
magical essence, the Pride Heart was a bonfire that never died.
Even I know the lore behind its creation.
It had been a gift from the fairy High Priestess Sorcha to the neighbouring
Pride before the Rupture, and before relations between the species of demonkind
were complicated by, well,
me
.

A shifter female thrust her face into mine. Her
brown eyes fairly sparked anger. “You’re the white witch’s father?”

I made a moue of distaste and eased back. She smelt
…
musty
. “Ana is my daughter.”

“She has my sister.”

Ana acquired a Familiar? How antediluvian. “I care
because?”

“My father lost his life protecting that gods
forsaken Wyld because of
your
mommy
issues.” She itched her head, and I wondered if she had fleas. “The least you
can do is make your offspring give my twin back.”

“
Nimah
,”
Alec barked, ending his fussing with Maeve. “Amelia chose to stay with Ana.
Back off.”

“Whatever you command, oh, mighty Alpha.” Nimah
stormed off cursing.

Alec shrugged.

I lifted a brow. “I’ve heard Alphas are far less
forgiving of such flagrant disrespect.”

“Her father was my predecessor. She grieves. She’ll
calm when her sister returns. Besides, I see no point getting ruffled over
cross words spoken in the heat of the moment.” Alec glared. “Which is why I
choose to forget your threat towards Maeve rather than order the Pride to
attack.”

I nodded, placating, uninterested in his concern
for his female and his attempt to regain the upper hand in the confrontation
when he knew I possessed the power to flatten him and his Pride until nothing
remained but scorched earth. “Goblins?”

Alec spared a glance at the rabble. “A delegation
on their way to the Wyld.”

“Curious,” I murmured. “Why?”

“They meant to attend the Meet where we discussed
how to get rid of you,” Maeve said.

I smirked, wondering if the goblins were from the
Horde Gwendolyn’s Nest raided. “This Meet went well?”

She stared. “I dislike you.”

“I’m devastated. Can’t you tell?” I dismissed her
and turned to Alec. “You’ll help?”

“You haven’t explained what’s going on.”

I summarized, downplaying my involvement in keeping
Rae safe to spare the curious prodding into my change of heart.

A change I
struggle to comprehend myself.

Alec still went there. “You don’t hate her
anymore.”

“My emotions are not up for discussion.” The iced
undertones underscored the statement. “Are you coming to find Conall or not?”

He focused on the middle distance. Nodded
determinedly. “We go with you.”

Maeve gawked.

“Rae left the safety of the Wyld to travel to the
vampire city she fears for him.” Alec bobbed his head in my direction.
“Whatever she’s started, I mean to help finish.”

“But he–”

“I know what he’s done. He’s asking for my help to
save Rae. The animal in me senses lies, and he’s not. That’s enough for me.”

“Why do you want to go after her so much?” Maeve
asked, guarded. “She has Breandan to defend her. He
will
go after her, Alec. He probably left after we did.”

I wanted to argue Rae’s supposed life mate had been
absent, and from what I gathered
he
was the reason she tottered at the brink of destruction, but I held my tongue.

It’s not
as if I never coaxed Rae to the brink then shoved.

“Eve, my own, she’s my friend.” He lifted her chin
with his finger. “Rae isn’t proud. She doesn’t have the air of superiority that
makes it difficult for others to care for the fae. She’s real, and I love
that.” Alec looked thoughtful. “I love her like my own flesh and blood. I’d make
her Pride in a heartbeat if her own didn’t want her anymore.” He thumbed her
jaw. “Understand?”

Maeve frowned. “I care too, but she’s dangerous.”

“She needs people to accept her for who she is. So
few are willing to do so.” Alec released her. “I’m going. I want you to come
with me, but I’ll understand if you don’t.”

She grabbed his hand and laced their fingers. “Of
course I’m coming. Someone must keep my brothers ripping you apart when you
turn up with
him
.”

Alec’s nostrils flared. His head swerved to the
enormous goblin approaching us. “Lorken. This is–”

“I know whom he is.” Lorken eyed me then focused on
the Alpha. “Humans camp not far from here. Roaming free after what they did to
Runt, to
all
demonkind. The
kidnappings. Sick experimentation.
Torture.
The murders. Yet you gave us grief when we came.”

“I let Samuel and his
peaceful
Clerics camp on Pride territory as a favour to Breandan.
I’m trying to rebuild our lost relationship with the fae. Humans are important
to Rae. Whatever she loves Breandan loves, and he has the ear of Lochlann, lord
of all fairykind.”

Lorken snorted. “Good luck. Humans are animals.” He
glanced at Maeve. “The fae are worse. I have seen a tribal tithe. It’s blood,
sex and sacrifice. Fairies are cunning. They conceal their beastly nature
better than humans do.”

“
My
people are animals?” Maeve hissed. “This coming from a weak-blooded descendant
of countless women raped by your berserk forefathers?”

A rumbling growl that sounded as if the earth shook
eased from Lorken’s lips. Glaring at the fairy, his entire body engorged.

Alec spun to Maeve and fit a finger across the seam
of her mouth. “You challenge demons
thrice
your size now?”

The Alpha’s words bounced around my mind. I shifted
restlessly, irritated I felt the need to
ask
for clarification rather than
demand
it. “Rae doesn’t hate humans?”

“She was raised among them,” Alec replied over his
shoulder, attention mainly focused on controlling his mate. “I don’t think Rae
has it in her to hate anybody. It’s why she’s so strong yet remains
vulnerable.”

A tightness loosed in my chest. Rae must have felt
an outsider as a child too.
Our
similarities are greater than I imagined.

Maeve bit Alec’s finger, and he jerked his hand
away, cursing.

“Runt wrote of Rae,” said Lorken. “I want to meet
her. To thank her for freeing my cousin and sending him home.”

Alec treble-blinked. He slid us wily grins. “I have
an idea.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Breandan

I
resolved to go after her. It took days for me to gather the courage, and whilst
Ana refused to help me using her Sight, convinced my leaving meant the end for
us all, I couldn’t stomach the separation any longer.

Terror was more than a feeling it was my relentless
companion.

Our otherworldly bond changed greatly, but I felt
Rae’s power wavering. It could only mean something terrible happened. I needed
to go to her.

“Breandan!” Kian sprinted past calling up to me.
“We’re under attack.”

Cursing, I jumped from the platform encircling my
dwelling and rushed after him.

Weaving with care through the Knights that gathered
at the Wyld boundary, I emerged at the front of the group beside Kian behind my
Elder.

“I cannot believe they would dare,” Lochlann
murmured.

Braced at my brother’s right side, Conall made a
sad noise. “Me either. I will not enjoy this.”

The woods were silent, but soon I heard their
fretful whispers, and the plodding of hoofs. I scented them on the wind, cold
sweat, fresh hay, old leather and warm animal.

“I smell shifter,” Baako muttered.

Daphne stood tall at Lochlann’s left. “And goblin.”

A mounted battalion of Clerics swathed in crimson
cloaks rode though the mist in the dark.

Above the evergreen peaks, the moon hung low and
bright at their backs.

Hooded-cowls were pulled low over their shadowed
faces. The horses they rode were uniform in their magnificence, glossy coats
reflecting the lunar light. Well-turned hooves lifted and planted delicately,
hinting at speed. Clean fetlocks met strong cannon bone, bulky knees and trim
forearms. Muscled hindquarters flexed and demonstrated the strength hidden
beneath understated equine manners.

The sleek lines of the horses were disturbed by the
presence of leather saddles occupied by their masters.

Four rows strong, the offensive phalanx came to a
united halt at the stream.

A white-clocked Cleric with gold embroidery on his
breast separated from the formation. His large mount was imposing, his pristine
robes arresting, but it wasn’t him sending ripples of unease through the lesser
force of fairy Knights gathered behind me.

A shifter prowled alongside the white-clad figure.
The werepanther’s emerald eyes took in the fairies with calm recognition then
settled on me.

I cocked my head, wondering if he’d Change and
explain himself.

If you
march against us, Alec, what have you done with my sister?

“
Damn
,”
Daphne
whispered.

“
Traitors
,”
Kian spat.

“No.” Amelia pushed forward past Wasp and Baako
from where she stood with Ana. “Something isn’t right. Alec would never move
against Lochlann. He’s loyal to Rae. She’s his friend, and we don’t befriend
outside the Pride easily.”

“Loyal to
Rae
,”
Kian griped. “Not to our High Lord.”

Amelia went toe-to-toe with him. As an alpha female,
her eyes slanted feline. “Nimah wouldn’t let this happen. If it were beyond her
control, she would’ve come to warn us. To warn
me
.”

“That beastly female detests my kind.” He
exaggerated a searching gesture then balked. “I am dumbfounded. She does not prowl
the front line ranting spleen.”

Amelia’s arms sprouted fur and her nails sharpened
to claws. “Shut your mouth.”

“Make me,
animal
.”

Baako growled.

“
Kian
.”
Daphne eyed the quivering shifters a bad word away from Changing. “Ease up.”

“Melia.” Ana offered her hand and jiggled her
fingers “It’s okay.”

The shifter stared into the witch’s pearly eyes and
relaxed. Exhaling, she took Ana’s hand and let herself be pulled away from the
hissing fairy Knight.

Though pale, Ana flashed dimples. “Just watch.”

Next to the Pride Alpha stood a bald, long eared
creature bearing a faint resemblance to a demon half-breed I’d met before,
Runt, a survivor of torture by the Sect. He’d left to communicate Lochlann’s
desire for the goblins to attend a Meet. They didn’t arrive as expected nor did
they send word of refusal to convene.

After seeing the crazed vampire Queen revelling in
the bloody aftermath of a decimated goblin Horde, I’d assumed the worst. I was
certain this goblin, and the handful lurking at the rear were survivors of the
Horde that passed through vampire territory.

The Cleric pulled off his hood and let loose a riot
of blonde curls. Face impassive, Samuel remained astride his stallion.

Turning to me, Lochlann pointed at the advancing
ranks. Face hard as granite, his eyes burned. “These are the people your life
mate defended so fiercely.” His arm lowered. “Did you not send your Knight to
avoid this?”