I had no idea what that meant, but I offered a small smile. As he brushed past me to go back to where his familiar and my dominants were waiting, he paused, before moving closer and leaning into my hair. He inhaled deeply, and unsure of protocol, I simply watched him, wondering of course what the hell he was doing.
Our eyes met. “An interesting development,” he said, a strange expression on his face. “You’re going to be one surprise after another, Queen Arianna.” Without another word he turned and strode off.
Interesting? What did that mean? I smelled my hair to make sure I had remembered to shower today before hurrying after him, needing to ask him what he meant, but he was already gone.
I turned on Violet. “What does ‘interesting development’ mean?”
She shrugged. “No idea. He was cryptic the entire time. I’m starting to think that’s just the way the fae are. But, girl … he was hot.”
She fanned her face and I couldn’t help but chuckle. “Good to see that none of this dire situation has you concerned. Your focus is exactly where it shouldn’t be … on the fact that he’s hot.”
Violet shrugged. “I kind of like that whole pointy ear thing.”
Yeah, I got that. I really did.
The enormity of his message, and my promises, hit me hard then. “Oh, Vi, what am I going to do?”
A wicked look crossed her face. “You’re going to go talk to your mecca expert and fix this whole thing, right?” She trilled this in a singsong voice. Damn me and my bold statements.
Why? Why had I said that? One thing was for sure, I did need to find Kade. Now more than ever he needed to know what was going on, because I was pretty sure I’d just promised something I couldn’t deliver.
Chapter Six
Kisses aren’t for forgetting…
The next morning I sent Finn to Kade’s with a message. I had barely slept knowing that I’d stupidly promised to try and save an entire world with powers I didn’t even know how to use. Normally when I sent Finn, he returned with the king, but this time he was alone, with a note in his collar.
Come to me, was all it said. Well … okay, then. I guess I couldn’t expect him to come at my beck and call every time I wanted.
He was very busy. Some drama with his people, Finn offered.
Sometimes I forgot that Kade had his own people to rule and care for.
After informing my inner guard and Calista that I would be traveling to Staten Island, and listening to them complain and say no, I eventually brushed them all aside and went with Violet, Finn, and Monica as my protectors.
When I was finally out of the royal house, away from a multitude of over-protective wolves, I breathed a sigh of relief. I was getting a little sick of reminding everyone that the bear king was an ally now, and that Violet and I were more powerful than him. If he didn’t bring one of his magic born along, of course. Semantics really. The bottom line was that I was not afraid of Kade. No matter what, he would never hurt me. I knew it in my gut, the place which had served me well for most of my life as heir, and so far as queen.
I chose not to tell the council I was going, against Calista’s wishes. What else was new? It felt like my advisor and I were agreeing on less and less lately. She’d been quiet around me ever since I returned from the party at the brownstone. I still hadn’t had time to interrogate her about her past with Baladar, but I was dying to know every detail. He’d called her the love of his life … that was deep. Did she feel the same way?
As I stepped onto the Manhattan vortex disc, about to merge with the mecca energy to travel, I heard a faint whisper. It was that familiar voice again.
Arianna … protect the…
The voice cut off as I stepped off the disc in a jump. My arms wrapped around my body as I fought the chills encasing me. Breathing rapidly and ragged, I turned to the girls: “Did you hear that?” I couldn’t stop my head from swiveling around as I tried to see more of the room; chills continued to creep up my arms.
Violet and Monica shook their heads. Both looked confused as they stared from me to the vortex disc and back again. I swallowed hard, trying to fight the urge to run. I’d traveled the mecca a thousand times before. Why was this happening now? What had the Red Queen done to the mecca?
The voice was familiar, but I couldn’t narrow it down to who it exactly was. All the vibrations of energy were warping the tone.
I heard nothing either, Ari. Finn sounded concerned, brushing his huge head against my side. At his touch, some of the creepiness eased and I was able to breathe deeply again.
There’s this voice in the mecca. It’s trying to tell me something. Both times they’ve used my name.
I felt his concern and worry for me. Weirdness is definitely afoot. Feels like this has something to do with the imbalance the prince mentioned. Still, there’s nothing you can do now but try and figure out how to send the energy back.
He was right, there was nothing I could do. Maybe the voice was trying to help me, or maybe it was an enemy that wanted to lure me to do their bidding. For now I would reserve judgment until I had more evidence.
“Are you okay, Your Highness?” Monica broke protocol to brush a hand across my arm, clearly sensing I needed the comfort.
Giving her a nod and forcing a smile across my face, I stepped back onto the disc. No one said anything more as I reached for the energy and we all traveled to Staten Island with ease. This time there was no weirdness. No voices. Almost like I had imagined the entire thing.