25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Come sunset, the alphas were still holed up in the Temple of Gaia with the high fae leaders. Mom assured me that an alliance between two groups took hours to hammer out, sometimes days. The terms between the Gemini wolves and Leo Fae had apparently taken months of negotiations before Hayden traveled to Arcane Falls to meet me and sign the accords.

“The only reason things went so smoothly between Zach and Ewan to unite our two packs was because you had already bonded with him and the Geminis needed a safe place to relocate very quickly,” Mom explained when I made the mistake of pointing out the expediency of that alliance. “Ewan didn’t require contingencies in case he decides you aren’t to his liking in the future.”

“So he bought me as-is? Bold move.”

My mother rolled her eyes. “Can you ever be serious?”

“I am. It is a bold move. Even I want to return me sometimes.”

Birch snorted, which made Mom’s indigence totally worth it.

“Lucky for you, your mate does not feel the same way, dear. Though you might want to let him win an argument every so often, get his way on a few matters. Alpha egos are very fragile. Best to let them think they’re in charge.” Mom patted Brooke’s leg. “You should remember that, too. Zach is more sensitive than most.”

“All men are sensitive,” Colleen said.

We all looked at Penn, even Birch and Charlie.

“I’m well aware of my place. Drake is good at the political bullshit. I’m good at killing things. Our roles suit our personalities much better than the other way around,” he said.

Mrs. Wynn and Kiernan were the next to show up at my door, and he had two enormous bags full of food for dinner. Apparently no one had faith I would remember to feed my mortal guests. She too assured me that there was no cause for concern, and that I simply needed to have some patience.

The older generation, the moms, had an odd familiarity between them. They shared glances when they thought no one was paying attention, and I even caught my mom and Mrs. Wynn whispering to each other during dinner. And Mom and Colleen laughed at something that must have been an inside joke. It was weird and made me feel uneasy.

Birch left after he ate without giving a reason, while Charlie stayed to take over babysitting duties. I had sort of figured every one else would also leave. How disappointed was I when that didn’t happen?

It wasn’t that I didn’t appreciate the company because I did. This was the most time I had spent with people who weren’t Ewan since rising, and I was exhausted. Not sleepy, more tired of talking. Done playing hostess. It was like working at Faenanigans without the tips.

Luckily, Mrs. Wynn, Mom, and Colleen had a prime target for mothering in Kiernan. The teenager clearly hadn’t been raised by someone with nagging tendencies and was wholly unprepared for the trifecta of maternal love and nurturing. I might have felt bad for the kid and tried to intervene, but better him than me.

As promised, Winter opened a portal at the specified time and location, and Reggie joined the party. She reported the same things that Winter had told me earlier, adding more detail and accuracy. The seer was Madam Malia who catered to chosen clients.

“No one knows why or how she picks who to guide. You don’t find Madam Malia, she finds you,” Reggie said.

“She found us.” Every eye in the room focused on Penn. “During my brother’s brief reign as Ophiuchus Alpha, he brought a caster named Malia to the Snake Mountains. She had it in his head that he was the eternal and his true mate was a member of our pack. I always thought she was telling him what he wanted to hear because he was paying her a lot, and he believed it because he wanted to.”

“Drake became the Ophiuchus Alpha by battle, yes?” Colleen asked.

“Yeah. She defeated Finn in a challenge.”

Colleen nodded. “The only way for her to become the one true alpha of the Ophiuchus pack. Something any seer with even a grain of ability should have predicted. She found you all to help Drake realize her destiny.”

“Mat must have asked her to,” I said.

Colleen shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe she has her own agenda. Mat is old, from a time when kings lived and died by the words of a royal seer. He likely has great reverence and great hatred for them after his experiences.”

“Malia is old, too,” Reggie said slowly. “Not mortal old either. Like, really old. Dad jokes she was around to see the dawn of time. Maybe she and Mat have known each other for a while?”

No one had an answer for that, so the mystery of Malia went largely unsolved.

The other news Reggie brought was about her sister, the infamous Petal AKA Demi, who had no memory of Mat or the rest of us. She’d never had a single dream, though neither had I until drinking Enzo’s blood. Same for Ewan with Angelica. Tish had said they started for her while pregnant and according to Penn, he and Drake only got them after the recent comets.

“Why are we all different?” I asked.

“We’ll have to ask Essie and Walter for their theories. It might be as simple as chance. You drank vampire blood before the comets. If that hadn’t been the case, the dreams may have started then for you as well,” Colleen said.

I didn’t share Tish’s trigger for her nightly journey down memory lane because Colleen still didn’t know that we’d been to see her and Lucca. We probably needed to come clean about that before the pair showed up, but I figured I should talk to Winter before outing her to her mother.

“What did your father say about the enchantments on the prison?” Mrs. Wynn asked Reggie.

“Only that they’re fortified once a year. The ritual takes three days. A group of fae show up, Dad leaves, and he returns seventy-two hours later. He used to take me on vacation during that time when I was a kid. If I’m not working, we still go,” she said.

“Do you know who the fae are?” Colleen asked.

Reggie shook her head. “There’s always a member of the Zodiac Fae Council with them, but the others are never the same.”

“Let me guess, it’s renewal season, isn’t it?” I met Reggie’s gaze.

“Yep. One week.”

“What happens if the magic isn’t fortified?” Brooke asked. “Does Demi get out?”

Reggie held hands palms up. “No idea. It’s never happened.”

On that ominous note, the conversation ended. Reggie was anxious to return to Traitor’s Hell, not wanting to leave her father alone with Mat and the others circling the prison. She also seemed worried about her sister. I couldn’t imagine how scary it must have been to be Demi, locked away for crimes that weren’t her fault by the people who bore the real blame, with no memory of the ancient vampire who claimed to be her true mate.

Once again, I thought all my other guests might realize they should leave too, and yet none of them did until Kiernan fell asleep against my mother’s shoulder. Slowly but surely, the gathering did finally break up, with only Penn and Charlie remaining when Ewan finally came home, smelling of blood and snow and regret.

“Drake is at the lodge,” he told Penn. “Charlie, if you could stay at my mother’s tonight.”

“You got it, boss.”

The two betas left. Ewan folded me in his arms and buried his face in my hair. “It’s done. Kiernan’s parents are dead.”

I stiffened, not prepared to hear those words.

“The meeting ended about an hour ago. I didn’t have a choice. They poisoned us. That’s treason. They were family, so I did it in private. I just wanted it over with before we assigned the accords, you know?”

He was all over the place and visibly upset with his actions, so I didn’t ask questions. Instead, I threaded my fingers through his and led him to the stairs.

“It’s late. Let’s go to bed.”

Ewan hesitated. “I need blood first.”

I started up the stairs, tugging him behind me. “You can drink from me.”

“Why are you being so nice and accommodating?” He raised a suspicious eyebrow.

I feigned outrage. “I’m always nice and accommodating.”

“No, you’re not.”

“Okay, you left me alone with my mother all day, and she seized the opportunity to lecture me on the qualities of a good mate. I’m proving a star pupil.”

He shook his head. “Did this lesson come with a potion of some kind?”

“If you’re suggesting my mother drugged me, fair. But no.” I walked him to bed and pushed him onto the mattress.

Ewan stared up at me as I climbed on top of him, straddling his hips. “You seem very Stepford-Zara right now.”

I pulled my shirt over my head. “I don’t know what that means, but sure.”

He laughed. “Want me to tell you about the meeting?”

“Later. When I’m done having my way with you.”

Ewan grinned. “You drive a hard bargain, Snyder.”

The alpha meeting had gone well in Ewan’s opinion. He had offered the Capricorns a marriage alliance with Kiernan, which made them happy. Drake agreed to marry one of her children to one of Zach and Brooke’s kids and one to a Capricorn. The Taurus and Ophiuchus packs worked out terms of a trade agreement that somehow involved both groups of fae. Ewan explained it all in great detail, but I found the arrangement confusing and stopped paying attention when things stopped making sense.

He and I stayed up all night talking about our respective days. While his had definitely advanced more real-world issues, mine had produced a lot more information. He was as reluctant as Colleen to admit that Mat had sent Malia to the Ophiuchus, agreeing that it was more likely she had gone on her own.

“Seers are strange,” he told me. “Even back in the day, the royal seer wasn’t appointed or anything. They just showed up at court and started manipulating things.”

“So why is Mat going to see her now?”

“She’s also probably a strong magic-user. Could have more to do with that.”

Because my mother told me to let him have some wins, and I didn’t have a good argument, I didn’t press the issue.

The following morning, the bad news brigade rolled in on a snow storm. Dead supernaturals had been left in plain sight of humans in all major world cities. The reports coming in from a vast array of spy networks, most associated with Walter, had conflicting data. Some claimed the deceased had been drained of their blood, others said it was their magic, while a few fae and shifters had horrific injuries inflicted with a blade or other weapon. Frustratingly, the only thing everyone agreed on was the lack of witnesses.

Supernatural social media was overrun with theories and someone’s brother’s cousin’s girlfriend’s older sister claiming to have seen something or to know one of the victims. There were also a lot of people sobbing incoherently while commenters told them how brave they were. I wasn’t sure what was so heroic about crying in public and didn’t understand any better when Brooke tried to explain it to me.

Human media outlets carried news of the body dumpings, though most mainstream outlets didn’t mention the supernatural elements and those that did called them “staged” murders. According to Winter, this wasn’t a massive surprise.

One good piece of news arrived when Walter returned. Webber’s transition was well underway, and there was no reason to believe he wouldn’t rise with a thirst for blood. Until Walter was certain Webber was a normal vampire, I wasn’t allowed to know where he was, let alone see him. We compromised eventually, with Walter agreeing to a video call once Webber was up and moving.

Ewan spent most of the day with the other faction heads at the Temple of Gaia finalizing the terms of the accords, which they would all sign the following day. I went to town with Birch as my shadow, making myself visible and approachable to keep the Taurus wolves calm. We stopped by the lodge and visited with Mom and Brooke and the Geminis. I even sat with Louis and tried to explain social media so he would better understand the mass hysteria sweeping through the mountains.

Early afternoon, reports of the flying blue bats hit mainstream supernatural media. A caster in Iowa or Idaho or something captured and posted video footage of a stray wolf fighting winged realm jumper. Spoiler alert, it didn’t end well for the shifter. This sent another ripple of panic through the Taurus Mountains. Rightfully, so.

Honestly, I was more surprised that this was the first winged creature caught on camera. This wasn’t an invasion or coordinated attack. The bat-like supes were merely slipping through the tears between realms, taking advantage of a free inter-realm vacation. They weren’t actively avoiding attention, so why had it taken so long to record one?

Next came the disturbing yet not shocking news that the Zodiac Councils had dispatched trackers to hunt down the unknown eternals and protectors. The packs still loyal to the Zodiac Order were capturing and killing strays just in case. Normally, I didn’t have a lot of sympathy for strays, snobby of me when both my mother and best friend had come to the Gemini pack as strays. To me, they were mostly an irritation. But it wasn’t right that they should die just because they didn’t have a pack to protect them.

With so many important shifters and fae visiting, there should have been a banquet or even a small formal gathering with fancy clothes, but Ewan thought something more inclusive and less stuffy was appropriate under the circumstances. So, instead, the Taurus wolves opened their homes in a sort of progressive potluck, and we invited everyone.

More so than seeing me smiling around town, having Ewan in their homes, reassuring them that the forthcoming alliances would keep us all safe, settled the Taurus wolves. Even some of those initially less certain about an immortal alpha had a different tune with this sudden shift in the supernatural tides. He made a point to talk to any wolf who wanted his attention, and most of them didn’t mind settling for me when he was too busy with someone else.

It was one of the most exhausting days of my life—maybe lives. I didn’t know the right words and my mother’s need to nurture was apparently not genetic, but no one cared. They were happy for me to listen as they recounted social media posts and gossip from their knitting circles. Separating fact from fiction for them was harder since I didn’t know myself. No one did, and I wondered if that was the point. The unknown was much scarier than anything I had ever faced.

Despite a rocky start, the Gemini and Taurus wolves put their differences aside for the night at least and comforted one another. Charlie’s family, including four of his many siblings, fawned all over my brother and Brooke. His twelve-year-old sister peppered my best friend with questions about her love story with Zach, which everyone listening found incredibly romantic.

“Our story’s romantic, too.” Ewan wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close, nipping at my ear as we stood in the corner of the kitchen and listened to Brooke talk about her secret dates with my brother.

“Is it, though?”

He feigned offense. “I think it is. We fell in love centuries ago and were then torn apart by an evil fae king.”

“Evil seems like a strong word. More like misguided.”

“That’s too generous a word. How about bad? King Orrin was a bad fae and bad ruler.”

I shook my head. “No. I mean, yes. He wasn’t a great ruler, I guess. I don’t know. Maybe he wasn’t wrong. Maybe we aren’t so much Gaia-marked as Gaia-cursed, you know? Look at everything that’s happening—”

“Look around you.” He squeezed me. “Our love is securing all of these alliances. You realize that, right? Fuck what the terms say, everyone agreed to sign the accords because they are betting on the strength of our bond. Except Drake. She’s signing for you, which she has made very clear. But, hey, if bringing a large contingent of the supernatural world together isn’t romantic, I don’t know what is.”

I made a face. “You definitely don’t know what romantic is.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Challenge accepted.”

We ended the social portion of the night at Mrs. Wynn’s house, with our families, including Kiernan. Having lost my father so recently, I wanted to express some sort of sympathy over the death of his parents, but there wasn’t a sorry-my-mate-executed-your-parents meme. From my point of view, as well as according to pack law, they were traitors who deserved what they got. Still, I felt bad for the kid.

In a different pack, his parents would have been heroes, and Ewan and I the traitors. In the eyes of the Zodiac Councils, we were the villains of the supernatural world. For others, we would be the saviors but at what cost, I couldn’t say.

“We’ll hold the service for Merrick tomorrow at sunset,” Ewan said, looking to my brother as if they had already discussed my father’s funeral.

“Before we all sign the accords, so there won’t be any question as to my authority.” Zach squeezed Brooke’s hand. “Our authority.”

“I know Walter and Colleen are handling most of the arrangements but do let me know if I can be of any help, Rosalind,” Mrs. Wynn offered.

Mom smiled. “Thank you. Not for the funeral, but maybe that other thing we discussed?”

The two women exchanged a conspiratorial smile that gave me chills. Our mothers colluding scared me more than those things that came in the up-down hours in Traitor’s Hell.

“I don’t this like.” I waved a hand between Mom and Mrs. Wynn. “We’re already bonded, and we aren’t having kids, so I don’t understand what you two are up to.”

My mother gave me her chastising glared. “It isn’t always about you, Zara.”