Chapter 42

Remi moved through the room, agitation churning inside her. In twenty minutes, they’d be leaving, and as she studied each being there, she realized she was the only one not prepared.

Brome’s instruction had basically amounted to telling her when she wanted it—her ability would be there. She just had to want it bad enough…in summary—absolutely no help at all, in any way.

The energy inside Serenity was charged with so much tension her skin felt like it was charged—or was that her own power? She had no idea.

By the kitchen were those staying at Serenity. Keeping the home fires burning, as Boden had put it, she hoped those were hypothetical fires, but with the Lewis boys, you could never be sure.

Remi was thankful Cait would have so many to watch out for her, and the building that was her home. The Lewis brothers had the most serious looks she’d ever seen on any of their four faces. Betany, Soren, and Caitlyn just looked worried as they talked quietly. In a way, she was glad Cait’s clan didn’t come into their power, whatever it turned out to be until they were in their twenties. Otherwise, she’d be freaking out with Cait wanting to go too.

Elise stood in the corner with her brother, Cedric. He was a very pretty man, with all fair hair and a tanned complexion, all nymph males were fair and appealing. Nice on the eyes or not, the expression on his face said he didn’t have a sweet disposition. Cedric had never been one to come inside Serenity, much to the female patrons’ disappointment.

Remi suddenly felt Darien’s disapproval. Looking over to where he stood, she met his eyes. His expression said he wasn’t happy her thoughts were on another male, but then a feeling of warmth and love flowed through her, telling her she was forgiven for looking. Letting her eyes move over him for a moment, she quickly looked away. Hadn’t they just spent most of the afternoon wrapped around each other in bed? Studying him like something she wanted to taste wasn’t where her head needed to be right now.

Kyran and Dell stood by the entrance. Both looked almost bored, then again, they were used to impending violence in their jobs. Kyran said something to Dell, who turned and looked at her for a moment before he glanced at Darien. When he looked back at her again, she didn’t need to be a mind reader to know he wasn’t happy she was mated to the were. If anything, he looked disgusted by it. With an abrupt nod to Kyran, he went outside. Kyran grinned at her then shrugged and went over to talk to Iris.

Iris, her deep red hair replacing the bright pink it had been earlier in the day, was standing with four fey, Betany’s clan members if she had the introductions right. Even though the other four were also fey, they didn’t have the warm vibes Betany always seemed to have. Compared to Iris, however, who was radiating vengeance, they could have been choir girls.

Was it strange that so many women were going? Another difference between the two worlds Remi was part of, the paras had no problem letting women fight—or if they did, they were smart enough to keep it to themselves.

Ranae and Deane had four family members with them, and there was no mistaking they were related in some way. They all had similar features, only different shades of hair. Even the two males looked the same. A family with strong twin genes, Remi mused as she let her eyes move to the four council members standing away from everyone else in the room.

They didn’t talk to each other, just observed. Elaine still looked positively radiant; Leontes seemed to have a glow on. Hopefully, her blood supply was holding up with this many vampires in the house; at least she hoped they’d been drinking bottled blood. Tomorrow—if she had a tomorrow, she’d have to order more.

Alaric leaned against the wall, his eyes not leaving Iris. He either hated her like no other or was seriously crushing on her because even Iris wasn’t that interesting.

Hope, well, Remi wasn’t sure if Hope was even completely present. Her eyes were glazed and other than her lips moving every few seconds, there was no indication she was aware of anything happening around her. Remi would never get witches. Her best friend may be one, but that gave her no insight into how they worked.

Remi looked to where Nadine stood with her two coven mates Darien and Garrett. She barely recognized Naddy, for a moment she thought it was because her long pale hair was down, and then realized it was the way her eyes looked. They were basically glowing, she didn’t know what a group of witches did to get ramped up, but her friend had done it in spades. The two from her coven with her were just plain scary. She was glad they were on the same side.

Garrett, Uncle Garrett looked jovial for someone going into a metaphysical war, then again Remi was pretty sure once he changed it wouldn’t be meta with the big man, but all physical—and violent.

Darien, she glanced at briefly, to find his eyes on her. It was typical really, for him to observe her while she watched everyone else. When he winked at her, warmth spread through her and she looked away. Right now, he was a distraction from the silent mental meltdown she was busy tackling.

Attis and Pascal sat at a booth with the two younger vampires. To see them, you would think it was a normal night from their relaxed demeanor. She remembered their ages, or estimated ages, and figured they’d probably seen more wars, revolts, and battles, tonight wouldn’t even register on their mayhem scale.

Finn’s body language said he was laid back and cool, but he had a wild look in his eyes. The same one he’d had when he first came to be at Serenity. She hoped tonight wasn’t going to set him back to his old ways. He turned and looked right at her, and the look faded slightly. She didn’t know how, but for some reason, she seemed to be his anchor. His mouth quirked in a small smile, which she returned with a nervous one of her own before exhaling slowly.

Emery, her Em, was sitting there watching everyone in the room. Every few seconds, he’d nod or shrug to whatever the older vampires were saying, but she knew he was observing and sizing everyone up, just as she was. Their eyes met and she could see he was resolved and going for her and no other reason. No one, in his mind, could threaten her and get away with it. Remi didn’t know what had occurred when he’d drank from her that night years before, but she felt deep in her soul that it would never fade. She tried to relax her posture a bit while he studied her, hoping to give him a sense that she was just dandy with the events to come, but when he tilted his head and smirked, she knew she’d failed.

Finally dragging her eyes away from him, with a silent wish for him to be okay through tonight, she looked at Vienna and Brome. They were standing close together and seemed to be oblivious to the others around them. It was odd, though pleasing, to see Vie talking with a male, it was something Remi couldn’t ever remember happening. If it were any of her other staff cozying up to a council member, especially an all-powerful mage, she’d be concerned but Vie, she knew, could more than take care of herself. If anything, Brome should be worried.

Kyran came over toward her, his usual easy walk was stiffer, less smooth, the only indication he was hyped up in any way. Stopping on the other side of the bar, he tucked his hands in his pockets. “You were given the run down?”

Remi nodded, “Yeah,” she exhaled and rolled her shoulders, “we meet at the tunnel exit near Margo’s house.” She was glad most of the thirty here had decided driving was better than going through the creepy tunnel. “Leontes and Elaine are going to the front and hopefully drive them all out the back.” Remi glanced over at the two vampires, yeah seeing them on your doorstep would cause you to flee. “The rest of us will be waiting in the trees by the field behind her place.”

Kyran nodded. “And the rest, they say, will be history.”

“We hope.”

He shrugged. “I’m not under the impression it’s going to be easy, but the rest of the para team are going to be nearby.”

“So that’s the department you’re part of?”

He nodded again. “Yep.”

She had to wonder more about his history. “Been on the para-force for long?”

He flashed her a smile. “Did five years in the big bad city.” He shuddered, “that wasn’t a fun time.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, she tried not to visibly shake. “I can imagine.”

“No, you can’t.” Kyran turned when Garrett moved up beside him.

Garrett grinned like it was a party. “We’re leaving.” He looked at Remi, his eyes softening, “I’m shifting and going through the tunnel with the vamps. Darien’s going to ride over with you and the cops.”

Remi nodded and dropped her arms. “Okay.” She moved quickly to the end of the bar and went around it, avoiding making eye contact with Cait and those at the end. She needed to get her head in the game, considering she had no idea of the rules or how to play, she couldn’t be having any anxious feelings for those staying behind. They’d be fine. They had to be.

It felt as if Remi was standing in the middle of a scene in a horror movie. The treed area was down in a small hollow, with trees of various types around the edges, complete with a big open space in the middle. The moon was a bright quarter with a few clouds hanging from it, the fog on the ground seemed to be an extension of the clouds. Yep, if she was a character in a movie and walked into a place like this, she would high-tail it in the other direction.

Hidden through the barely visible trees surrounding this little grove were her friends. To her right she could make out only Vie and Brome. The only reason she could; he was doing what looked like a slow-motion tai-chi, waving his arms around aiming them all around the space they stood.

“He’s casting a cloaking spell,” Darien said softly from beside her.

Nodding, Remi pretended this was a normal event in her life.

Vie stood with Brome, her lips moving but she kept her arms down at her side, her eyes focused on the opening facing Margo’s property.

Taking a deep breath, Remi exhaled it slowly and looked to the left. Nadine, her coven mates, and Hope were there. The fog circled their ankles making it look like they were floating on air. None of them were watching the opening, all had their heads tilted back looking at the sky, arms open. She could hear a chant but couldn’t make out what was being said.

“Not sure what they’re up to,” Darien whispered, “pretty sure we don’t want to know.” He made a low growling sound, “All this power is playing havoc with my wolf.”

A deep growl came from behind them, Remi turned to see a huge—scary, up to her waist, huge werewolf prowling on all fours behind them. It stopped and looked right at her and how she wasn’t sure, but she recognized it to be Garrett.

“I’m going to have to change shortly—”

Looking up at Darien, she searched his face, his eyes were already yellow, but there was something hesitant in his expression. “I’ve seen you change before, Dare.”

He shrugged, “Don’t be afraid of me…”

Remi grinned, “It’s a little late for that isn’t it?” She rubbed a hand over his chest. “Do what you have to do, just…” she stretched up and kissed his mouth softly, “don’t get hurt.”

Darien smirked and shook his head.

The two young vampires standing on her other side chuckled. Glaring at them, she turned back to Darien. “Go, do what you have to, we’re fine.”

A movement above her made her look up. Attis and Pascal went over their heads and landed gracefully a few feet away. “Elaine and Leontes are almost on their doorstep.” Was it shocking they looked like two excited children?

Darien kissed her hard on the mouth and then walked over behind a tree. She’d thank him for that later. Knowing he changed, seeing him as a werewolf was okay; watching it happen, well yeah, she’d have to work on that.

Pascal came over and stood where Darien had been. “Take some deep breaths and start finding that ability.” He placed a hand on her shoulder and made sure she was looking at his blood-red eyes, “Attis and I are going to play right and left wing,” he nodded to Finn and Emery, “They’re your defensemen.”

Remi blinked, realizing he’d just put the game plan into hockey lingo. “I guess that makes me goalie?”

He grinned, “when you’re ready to come out of the net, we’ll cover you.”

She blew out a breath, “Okay.” As far as playing hockey went, Remi was pretty sure she should be on the other side of the plexiglass, behind the goal, or on the bench.

Attis glided on her right side, he nodded abruptly to her and then looked over at the two fledglings, “Think of all those times someone pissed you off and you wanted to take a bite…” Finn’s eyes went red, his face lost the handsome smooth lines and his fangs came out. Stepping out of the way, he motioned for Finn to take his place beside her. “No one gets remotely close to our Keeper.” Finn nodded and turned to watch the opening.

“You’re up,” Pascal said stepping out of the way and motioning for Emery to stand on her left.

Emery looked at her, took a deep breath, and in a blink of an eye became that feral vampire that had bitten her.

It was a momentary pause for Remi, remembering that the boys she worked with every day, that she thought she was protecting were lethal beings.

“Go,” Emery said in a deep almost unrecognizable voice to the elder vampires.

As soon as they glided forward the two werewolves moved up to stand in front of her, she felt like some fairytale queen. Darien paused long enough to look over his shoulder, his yellow eyes connecting with her briefly and then he turned his long snout to watch the opening in the trees.

Movement near the opening had her turn her attention, the others were there now, and it wasn’t surprising at all to see who was going to be at the front line of this battle. Iris was there with the other fey, Alaric included. He stood right beside her and both, for reasons she’d never understand, looked like they’d done this before. An aura, a bright powerful one emanated from Alaric, and then blended with the darker, more foreboding one Iris was giving off. Remi decided they were each other’s exact opposite and that suddenly explained their resentment. They’d probably make an amazing couple if they could get past that polar opposites thing.

Ranae and Deane, along with their relatives practically blended with the tree line. The only thing Remi noticed was their usual beautiful appearance was now somewhat scarier. She didn’t understand precisely what elves did, but she had a feeling she was about to find out.

She sensed more than saw that all movement stopped, and all eyes were on the opening. Someone near her said “Showtime”, but she didn’t look to see who.

Iris and Alaric faded to nothing, and before Remi could think beyond that, three people she didn’t recognize came running through the opening. Her ability to see what they were flared, and she said “human,” more to herself than anyone. They veered to the left and out of the trees Kyran and Dell appeared, tackling them before dragging them out of the way. Later, when her heart wasn’t lodged in her throat, she’d ask how they knew as quickly as she did what they were.

A man came through next, only he didn’t look like he was real, more like a mirage. He had to be the mage.

“Gris!” Brome bellowed and moved toward the center of the clearing. His hands were moving in strange patterns, an energy coming from him that made Remi’s breathing falter. Before he reached the center, the other mage seemed to solidify; now he looked real. He had a vicious smile on his face.

“We meet again, cousin,” he hissed.