“She’s not kidding.” Delilah waved a cookie at them. “I saw into the mind of one of their now-deceased partners. They’re vicious, they’re sadistic, and they have absolutely no conscience when it comes to trafficking in people. Or in killing those that cross them. The fact that we rescued the five of you? It’s going to go down in a bad way and the last place you want to be is on the receiving end of their anger and revenge.”
“Then what do we do? Our families must be worried sick—can’t we tell them we’re okay?” Daisy spoke up, her voice wavering.
“I’m afraid not. If they find you, they’ll try to find out who rescued you before they kill you. And then they’ll find out about us. We can’t risk that. Chances are they’re going to discover it was us anyway, but you don’t need to be in the middle of it.” I glanced over at Camille. “We need to figure out where to hide them.”
“We need to start our own underground railroad, given the number of peeps we seem to be running through lately.” Her gaze flickered and I knew she was thinking of the Keraastar Knights.
“We can’t keep them here.” Smoky leaned against a wall, crossing his arms. “If Lowestar figures out we’re the ones who rescued them, we can expect a raid sooner or later, and if they’re here, they’ll be in just as much danger as they would at home.”
Nerissa started to say something, then paused. We all looked at her and she shrugged. “I might know of a place, but I’m not at liberty to say just yet. I’ll have to talk to… someone… tomorrow. For tonight…”
“I think I know where we can keep them for tonight. You guys wait here. Vanzir, Smoky, you’re with me.” Camille jumped up and grabbed her keys.
“You’re going out? But you’re exhausted.” Trillian rested his hand on her arm.
She shook her head. “This won’t take long. We’ll be back soon. For now, get them down in Menolly’s lair. She’s not going to bed just yet. I just don’t want to chance anything—not with life as precarious as it is lately.”
And with that, she was out the door. I motioned to Nerissa. “Take them down below.” As she and Vanzir led the Fae away, Tanne gave Violet a long kiss before letting her go.
Meanwhile, I put in a call to Roman. “What’s up? You need to see me?”
“Yeah, there’s some heavy shit going down and we need to talk.”
I glanced at the clock. Three A.M. Realistically, I could get to his place in half an hour, but I wanted to wait until Camille got back safely. Sunrise was about three hours away. “I don’t know if I can make it tonight. Is it really important?”
“It’s important, but not dire. I know tomorrow night is your Samhain celebration—but afterward, perhaps you can come over?”
I thought about it. It seemed insane to make promises of more than a day now, with so much chaos surrounding us, but we had to keep on the move, keep acting like there was a tomorrow we could count on.
“Menolly?”
“I’m nodding,” I said. “I’ll be there tomorrow night—I don’t know what time, so I’ll call you before I leave.”
“Good enough. I lo…” He stopped, to my relief. And then quietly he said, “Be safe, my love.”
I stared at the phone, wanting to say, “I told you don’t fall in love with me. It’s dangerous, I’ll break your heart if you let yourself love me.” But in the end, all I said was, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” That was all I could say.
Chapter 15
When Camille returned, she had some good news. “Grandmother Coyote will look after them for the night. They can hide in her tree. Vanzir, Shade, can you run them out there? They’ll be safe until Nerissa finds out whatever it is she needs to know.”
“Great.” Delilah snorted. “As if they’re not shell-shocked enough, they get to hang out with one of the Hags of Fate.”
“Better that than if Lowestar finds out about us and launches a preemptive strike.” Camille shook her head. “We’re in a wartime situation on so many fronts—we do what we have to and accept help from wherever we can find it.”
She yawned. “I’m done in. I say we get some sleep. We have to be on top of things tomorrow. We need to find out what Lowestar gets up to. Now that we’ve disrupted his little operation, you know he’s going to be after us.”
As Vanzir and Shade took our guests out to an even darker space than they’d been in—albeit with less danger for them—my sisters headed up to bed and, hopefully, a deep, dreamless sleep.
I still had a couple hours before sleep claimed me, and all I wanted to do was cuddle with Nerissa. But she was exhausted, too, and I sent her back to bed after a long kiss and a quick feel of those beautiful breasts.
The house was silent within ten minutes, everyone tucked in for the night. I sat at the kitchen table, looking around the room. We’d worked so hard, and our family had grown. Now everything felt shaky and at odds. Not internally—we were a strong unit—but the dangers looming from the outside. I was tired. We were all tired, and we needed a break.
As I sat there, toying with the tablecloth, a noise startled me and I looked up to see Trillian. He was in his bathrobe, leaning against the door frame.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
He shook his head. “Am I interrupting? I can go in the living room if you like.”
“Not at all. Come. Sit.” Truth was, I welcomed the company. Too long alone with my thoughts wasn’t always a good thing.
Trillian put on the teakettle and rummaged in the fridge, looking for a snack. He found some leftover chicken and an apple, and then fixed his cup of tea. Sitting opposite me, he took a long sip of the hot drink.
I watched him eat. “Why can’t you sleep?”
“Thinking. A lot on my mind.”
I knew what was bothering him. “You’re thinking about Darynal, aren’t you?” At his nod, I decided to ask something that had been in the back of my mind for a while. “Trillian, do you have family back in Svartalfheim? Are you worried they might be in danger?”
He paused, lingering over the drumstick. After a moment, he set it down on the plate, wiped his fingers on his napkin, and propped his elbows on the table. “Yes, I do have family there, but I’m not concerned. They disowned me many years back—before I ever met Camille.”
“I didn’t know that.” I had never heard him talk about his family, but that didn’t always indicate a problem.
“I wasn’t… they didn’t like my attitude. Believe it or not, Darynal and I are considered too philanthropic by our families, if you want to put it that way. You think I’m arrogant—oh don’t bother denying it.” He waved away my protestations. “I know it’s true, you know it’s true. I don’t care either way. But the fact is, that for my family, I’m considered meek. I care too much about people outside the family, outside the caste I was born into. I mingle with ‘undesirables’ and had the gall to fall in love with…” Here he stopped, and picked up his tea again.
I stared at him. That cast a whole new light on matters. “You think they wouldn’t approve of Camille.”
“Think, nothing. They found out about us shortly after we met, and blew a gasket. My father gave me an ultimatum. Leave her, or leave the family. They had arranged a marriage for me to one of the higher-ups in the Court. And I wouldn’t play along. Now, Vodox—the King—he is the most progressive ruler we’ve had in centuries. But his rule is still criticized. And my family is old school. They are firmly ensconced in the caste system. Tradition means everything to them.”
That was the most I’d ever heard him talk about his background, and by the look on his face, I began to realize just how far away Trillian was from his upbringing, and the sacrifices he’d made to be with Camille.