Sebastian raked his hands through his hair and Lucien noted how they trembled. “I caught her in the hallway. She was so scared, Lucien... and she was changing.”
Lucien flinched at the thought. She must have been terrified. Growling, he brushed past Seb and pulled the car door open with enough force to unhinge it. He ignored Sebastian’s squeak of protest and pulled the blanket out of the car. Caia was revealed, lying towards him in her lykan form, her snout nestled between her forepaws, her large green eyes staring up at him, blazing with fear.
“Caia,” he whispered, reaching for her. At the sound of his voice, she stood up and leapt out of the car, running past him and up into the house.
Sebastian shrugged nervously at his questioning look, and then followed Caia inside. Lucien took a huge gulp of air, feeling his own hands tremble a little. Guilt pounded along with each of his steps as he followed the two inside, trying to focus enough to form an explanation for her. Inside he found Sebastian in the sitting room, his neck craned back as he stared at the ceiling. Lucien frowned, and then understood as he heard the noise of Caia’s movements from above. She was obviously trying to change.
He waited tensely in the sitting room, his heart thudding louder and faster, his jaw clenched in self-directed anger, his brain refusing to formulate the explanation he knew Caia deserved.
“Do you think this is it?” Sebastian asked in hushed tones.
Lucien threw him a look that clearly said ‘you think?’
He growled again and threw himself into his armchair. “We need to ask her what triggered it.”
“Should we call anyone else?”
Lucien nodded. “Call Magnus. My mother will be with him. And Dimitri.”
Sebastian nodded back distractedly before wandering into the kitchen to use the phone. Lucien shook. If it was happening he had left Caia scared and unprepared. Magnus was right. They should have told her as soon as she had arrived. How would she ever trust him now?
His gaze shot back to the ceiling at the sound of a thud and he was out of his chair within seconds, storming up the stairs to her bedroom. At the sight of her crumpled on the floor he drew in his breath and rushed to her. He pressed his fingers against her neck and sighed in relief at the healthy pulse he felt there. She had changed back, and had obviously been in the middle of getting dressed when she had passed out, no doubt from the shock. She had thrown on a long t-shirt and had been pulling on her jeans, so Lucien, trying to be as much of a gentleman as possible, pulled the jeans back off of her, and quickly picked her up with the intention of sliding her under her covers and into bed. But as he did so, she unconsciously snuggled her head into his chest, making mewling sounds that sent his heart hammering. He held her like that for a while, knowing that this was probably the last time she would accept his touch for a time. His eyes drifted over her peaceful face as he pulled her tighter into his chest. When had she become so vital to him? He sighed deeply, and was finally able to let her go, laying her in the bed and pulling the duvet over her. He pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. She had no idea what was to come. The guilt he felt for having not told her sooner was burning in the back of his throat. He’d done what he thought was best for the pack at the time. Dimitri had been his voice of reason, telling him that no one knows what the deep darkness can do to a person. But now he felt sure of Caia. Sure that she was good, that she wasn’t a danger.
“Is she OK?”
Lucien turned to find Sebastian standing gazing at her, worry tormenting his young face. An image of a drunken Sebastian leaning in towards Caia on Saturday flitted across his mind and he realized he wasn’t the only one who was worried that they wouldn’t be forgiven for their deceit when she woke up and learned the truth. He didn’t want to think about that. On the one hand he could empathize, but on the other he didn’t want this stupid kid anywhere near her in that respect. He was beginning to understand the possessiveness of the mated guys in his pack. “I need you to call Ryder,” he ordered gruffly, turning to look back at Caia, his hand involuntarily brushing her hair back from her face. “He’s on a job for Marion.”
He looked back at Seb, whose eyes were round as he watched Lucien’s behavior with her. His face crumpled as if he understood. “Are you-?”
“Call Ryder,” Lucien demanded, making it clear his private business was exactly that. “And tell him to bring Marion back with him. Tell him... tell him it’s time.”
Magnus, Dimitri, and his mother had all returned home. Ryder was already on his way back with Marion. Apparently they had news of their own. Lucien wasn’t sure he could take any other news at the moment. He had sighed and told Sebastian not to tell his parents anything yet but to go home and get some sleep. He would call him when it was time. His mother was trying to ease his guilt, assuring him they had all done what they thought was best.
But none of them knew what had been happening to Caia lately. None of them knew the extent of her fear.
Lucien could feel Magnus’ disapproval rolling off him in waves. He deserved the Elder’s anger; he relished it in fact.
As for Caia, she made no move towards waking. They checked on her regularly, until Dimitri assured them it was just exhaustion that was keeping her in bed.
Finally Lucien had sent them all to bed, while he himself hadn’t been able to sleep, at all. And that was why he found himself alone in his kitchen at 5am, dressed and drinking coffee, his stomach rolling at the deed that was to be done as soon as Caia woke up.
At 6am he heard the sound of a car approaching, heavy feet on the porch steps, and the front door swinging open. Lucien trudged out to investigate.
There before him was Ryder, his face tight with anxiety, and next to him Marion. She was a small woman with flaming red hair that reached her buttocks. She had the largest pair of violet eyes Lucien had ever seen, and pixie features that gave away her heritage as a magik.
“That was fast,” he said in appreciation.
“It sounded urgent.” Ryder grimaced.
“It’s time.”
“Apparently so,” Marion’s voice was like a wind chime, a tinkling, musical sound so in contrast to a husky lykan’s. Lucien watched in bemusement as she looked around the home, wandering from room to room, and eventually falling into an armchair in the main sitting room. “I can feel her.”
Lucien was unsurprised by her comment, having expected that kind of power from her and from the little he knew of magiks. He turned back to Ryder. “Why were you already on your way back? Seb said you had some news.”
“That would be because of Saffron,” Marion replied instead.
“Saffron?” His face was scrunched in confusion. When no answer was forthcoming he turned to Ryder with a growl curling his lip. He wasn’t in the mood for a mystery. Sleep deprivation and his worry for Caia didn’t exactly bring out his sunny side.
Ryder sighed. “Saffron. She’s Marion’s faerie.”
“And?”
“She was the one who came for me to tell me about the rogue. Well, she waited until we got back to Marion to tell us she had felt energy in our town.” Ryder’s eyes snapped to Marion in irritation. Lucien could feel an argument brewing between them and managed to refrain from yelling at them to explain to him what was going on. Instead he said it slowly and quietly, with a growl coiled around the last few words, “Would someone please explain to me, in full detail, what the hell is going on?”
Marion’s eyes flashed. “There’s no need to be rude, Lucien.”
He growled again.
“Oh, alright.” She sighed. “Saffron, my faerie,” she now spoke slowly as if to a moron, “She came to get Ryder for me because we’d encountered another pesky rogue lykan, and when she came back with him – after some ill-treatment from your lykan there by the way -” she gestured to his friend with a look of reproof, “she told me that she had sensed the energy of another faerie in town.”
“Another faerie?” The blood drained from Lucien’s face. “As in an enemy faerie?”
Her face was grave now. “Well, the Daylight Coven would know if we had a faerie in town with you.”
“You’re sure this Saffron is right about this?”
“Of course I’m right!” A voice squeaked from behind him. He whirled around but could see no one. He looked at Ryder in confusion, but his friend merely rolled his eyes and shrugged.
“Where are you?” Lucien snarled.
“I’m right here,” the voice answered just as testily. His lykan ears strained, swearing the voice was coming from the window, but he couldn’t see anything.
“Marion,” he growled, warningly.
She sighed again. “Saffron, stop playing games. I’m afraid our young friend is in no mood for it.”
“The window!” The voice cried.
Lucien took tentative steps towards the large window in the sitting room, his eyes straining to see anything.
“Here!”
That time he caught a flicker on the pane and his eyes narrowed on the small face smirking at him. He should have known. The faeries’ face was in fact a spot of sun dapple filtering onto the window through the branches of the surrounding woods. “Goddess,” he muttered, amazed by their abilities and how treacherous they could really be as spies. Turning back to Marion he glared. “Make her appear.”
“They do like to show off, don’t they?” Marion chuckled and then turned to the window. “You heard him, Saffron.”
He heard a weary sigh, and in the matter of a few blinks a tall, willowy blonde stood before him, her hands on her hips, her ice-blue eyes glaring between him and Ryder. “Your kind needs to learn patience.”
Lucien let a warning rumble sound from the back of his throat. “Patience? I think I’ve shown quite a lot of patience considering I’ve just been told there is an enemy in my town and no one will get to the point and tell me exactly what is going on.”
Saffron shrugged gracefully and walked over to stand beside Marion’s chair. “Faeries have an energy like all of us beings-”
“Trace.” Lucien nodded. Everybody knew about trace, it was a part of their energy, their existence.
“Yes. Trace. Only a very, very old faerie can mask their trace. I’m talking half a millennia old, and there are only a few of those old spies kicking around, not to mention that every single one of them works for Daylight.”
Lucien nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “So this Midnight faerie... it can’t mask its trace, so you sense it here?”
“Exactly.”
“Yeah,” Ryder growled, slapping at Lucien’s shoulder to get his attention. “The dumb tree sensed it, and didn’t say anything until we were at the Coven with Marion!”
“Am I the tree in that sentence?” Saffron hissed, her eyes narrowing on Ryder dangerously.
“Children, please.” Marion sighed, rubbing her temples at their exchange.
“Yes. Children,” Lucien agreed, smirking at Ryder and turning back to Saffron. “So, can you follow this trace?”