When the door swung shut behind them, Caia spun on them. “OK, what’s going on? Why the secrecy?”
Reuben exhaled and shared an anxious look with Saffron. “Maybe you should sit.”
Wow, there were just never enough of these heart-pounding, nauseating, ‘what now?!’ moments in her life.
“Okkaaay.” She slowly lowered herself onto a sofa.
With that, the vampyre took a step back, gesturing Saffron forward. The faerie gave a militant nod and then took a step towards her. “Caia, we have something that we haven’t told you. We kept it back from you – for a good reason – with the intention of telling you once you had killed the Septum. That’s all changed now, of course. You see…” she trailed off, a strange look entering her eyes. “…Marita has always had a weakness. The biggest threat to her if you like. And that is Marion. Marion knew Marita better than anyone; could anticipate her moves better than anyone; knew the family’s past haunts, private hideouts. We had every intention of telling you this when the trace was gone but well…”
Caia’s pulse was racing and she clasped a hand over the throb in her wrist. That didn’t do much for the visible throb in her neck. “Tell me what?”
The faerie’s answer was to vanish.
Reuben hadn’t even moved. He just stood there like he was expecting it. Caia clenched her jaw. “What’s going on?”
He didn’t say a word, just stared at her, waiting. Then Caia felt the tell-tale buzz of energy and Saffron was standing back in the room, smiling. A second later, another slight figure appeared beside her.
Caia’s jaw dropped as she took in the familiar mass of fire red hair and fey features.
“Marion?” she gasped and got to her feet on trembling legs, her eyes wide, tears instantly filling her eyes. Was it really her? Was she really here… alive?
The witch’s own familiar violet eyes watered up, and then she was rushing at Caia, her strong arms encircling her in a tight hug. Caia held on for dear life, breathing in the familiar scent of her friend and mentor, clutching her as if she were afraid she would disappear any minute.
“It’s really me, sweetheart, it’s really me.” Marion stroked her hair, murmuring reassurances. The overwhelming relief took over and Caia’s body began to shake with hard sobs. Marion merely held on tighter.
“How are you alive?” she asked some time later.
Marion smiled smugly, a familiar expression that served to lighten the weight on Caia’s chest. “I was never really dead.”
Drawing Caia back down onto the sofa, the four of them sat with one another as Caia was told the tale of their deception.
“You see,” Saffron began, “I had already contacted Reuben telling him Marion was very ill from having travelled with too many of the children. That’s when he came up with his plan to deceive Marita. He masked Marion’s trace making Marita think her sister was dead. If she thinks Marion is out of the picture she won’t hesitate to go to the places that Marion knew about.”
Clever, Caia thought. Pity, that along with it, they had caused her, Magnus and Vanne untold heartbreak.
Marion must have seen the anger in her eyes because she patted Caia’s hand. “I know it was ruthless and deceitful, but we couldn’t risk the chance of anyone finding out I’m alive. This is the best weapon we have against her.”
Caia gazed at her in admiration, taking solace in Marion’s seemingly unending strength and determination. “I am sorry about Marita, Marion.”
She frowned and looked away. “I am sorry that I was a fool not to have seen it sooner.”
“Apologies aside,” Reuben muttered eyeing the witch carefully, “Marion claims to know where Marita is.”
A mixture of excitement and apprehension rushed through Caia at the thought, and she gripped Marion’s hands harder than she meant to. “Really? Where?”
“In a small village in Scotland. She has a safe house there, a derelict inn. Only myself, Marita, and my mother knew of it. Not even Vanne knows of its existence.”
Caia’s heart was going overtime. “So we’re going there, we’re going after Marita?”
Reuben nodded grimly. “That’s the plan.”
“But what about Vanne and the Council? I have to tell them I’m going after Marita. The oath.” She held her hand up palm outwards so they could see the annulet.
Marion frowned at it. “I can’t believe they made you take a blood oath.”
“I don’t mind.”
“I mind.” She scowled. “It was unnecessary. Bloody idiots running this place like…” her voice trailed off as Reuben began speaking again.
“Caia, I must remind you that no one can know about Marion’s existence. Marita will be checking the trace for anything and everything, and we can’t tell them about this safe house because she’ll find out we know and leave.”
Of course, dumbass, Caia silently berated herself. She took a minute, tracing the texture of the carpet with her foot. “OK. How about I just tell them I have a lead that I can’t discuss because I don’t want Marita to uncover it in the trace, and that I’ll only be taking you and Saffron with me as back up, to ensure that Marita doesn’t find out.”
“I don’t see how they can argue with that,” Marion agreed.
Finally, Reuben nodded. “It’s our only chance. I think-”
Caia felt an unexpected prickle of energy, as did Rueben who stopped talking. Caia’s eyes widened as Vil appeared behind the vampyre. Reuben was out of his chair in milliseconds, just a blur, and when he stilled it was with Vil clutched by the throat, Vil’s pale eyes wide with fear and shock.
“Reuben!” Caia hissed, shooting to her feet and launching herself at him, tugging poor Vil out of his stone hard arms. “Let. Him. Go.”
He growled at her, but finally let up, and Vil stumbled towards Caia, happily letting her place herself between him and the vampyre.
“It’s just Vil,” she snapped. Reuben grunted, shouldering past her to take his seat again. Vil hastily jumped out of his path. “What’s going on?” She demanded. But Vil was staring at Marion like he had seen a ghost… which technically he had.
It took a good few minutes to calm him down and explain it all to him, and all the while Reuben grumbled that he had to add another layer to Vil’s trace to mask his knowledge of Marion’s existence.
“You can’t tell anyone about me,” Marion insisted sternly.
Vil nodded deferentially. “I promise, Marion.”
“You better,” Reuben warned quietly, lethally. “Or I will take care of the problem.”
“Reuben,” Caia warned.
He ignored her and continued to unsettle Vil with his glare.
“Vil, what are you doing here?”
The magik tried unsuccessfully to ignore the evil looks Reuben was shooting him. “I… uh… I’m here because Lucien is looking for you.”
She gripped his arm, her features a mask of anxiety. “Why, what’s wrong?”
“Oh, nothing. I mean, well something. I mean, Lucien knows all about-” His eyes flicked with reluctance to the vampyre “-Reuben’s blackmail. He wants you to come home to the pack.”
So he was sorry now, Caia thought numbly, now that he was assured of her innocence. “I can’t,” she whispered, and then glanced up at Vil’s little sound of confusion. “I didn’t kill the Septum. I couldn’t,” she explained. “But I made a blood oath to the Council that if they give me Daylight trace once Marita’s dead, then I will ask the gods to take both the Midnight and Daylight trace back, freeing us all from it. I have to leave now to kill Marita.” She couldn’t keep the sad despair out of her voice.
Reuben groaned. “Hades, save me from emotional women. Fine,” he snapped. “It can wait a little while longer. Go tell the Council about your lead and then we’ll get back to the pack to assure them you’re OK. Saffron, take Marion back to your place for now. I’ll contact you when we need you. Vil.” He grinned swiftly at the magik, showing him his fangs. “You’re leaving now. Go back to the pack and tell your Alpha that Caia will be back shortly.”
Vil immediately disappeared. Caia threw Reuben a disparaging look. “I don’t know why people are so afraid of you.”
His answer was a smug cocking of his eyebrow.
Someone really needed to put that guy in his place. She shared a look with the witch and Caia knew Marion was thinking the same thing.
She felt a rush of pure happiness that the magik was back in her life.
23 – Fences
“I’ve never done a communication spell with another person holding onto me before,” Caia snapped at Reuben as they stood facing each other in her suite at the Center, both mirror images of each other with their impatient sneers and defiant arms akimbo. “Are you really sure it’s necessary.”
Reuben shook his head slowly, his expression that of someone who felt they were dealing with a person of little intelligence. “No, it isn’t necessary. However, I think it’s time you tried it, and you can since you’ve been to the hotel before.”
“If I kill you this will be all your fault.”
“Caia, you won’t kill me,” he reassured her. “We really must work on your confidence if you’re to have any hope of taking on Marita and winning.”
“As much as I enjoy your pep talks, can we maybe just get going?”
“Hey, I wasn’t the one stalling.”
Caia took a deep breath. Sometimes it felt like she was dealing with an obnoxious teenager. Bracing herself, she held a tentative hand out towards the vampyre and he gripped her tightly, her hand mostly disappearing in his large one. Butterflies erupted in her belly at the thought of seeing Lucien again after all these weeks and the bad terms they had left one another on. The Council hadn’t been too pleased with her decision to go after Marita with only Reuben and Saffron for help, but they soon realized the method in the madness considering how difficult it had been so far to track her, what with her utilizing the trace to escape all the time. Thus, they were letting her go, although she was a little unnerved by Benedict De Jong’s goodbye, the smug a**hole waving her off gravely as if sure it would be the last time he ever laid eyes on her. Goddess, she hoped he was wrong.
“Caia, let’s go.” Reuben squeezed her hand. At his insistence she closed her eyes and began tightening her energy around them both, visualizing the front entrance of the hotel.
An immediate lethargy crashed down over her body and she felt a tug on her hand suggesting Reuben was holding her up. Taking a deep breath Caia opened her eyes and forced her legs to straighten, demanding strength rush back into them. They stood in the empty foyer of the hotel, Reuben grinning at her arrogantly.
“If you say I told you so, I will kill you,” she snapped.
“Caia!”
She jerked around at the sound of her name, and only caught a brief glimpse of Magnus running through the door of the dining hall before she was crushed up into his arms like a little girl. She held on tight, breathing in the scent of her favorite lykan. “Uncle Magnus.” She grinned and pressed a kiss to his cheek, watching as he glowed under her affection.