“Would you freaking grow up?” Sally snarled at her best friend, and everyone was taken aback by the uncharacteristic meanness in Sally’s voice.

Jen’s eyes narrowed as she glared at the healer. “Need I remind you that I am your Alpha? I could wipe the floor with your gypsy ass, not to mention I am pregnant and very temperamental. Do not push me Sally.”

“ENOUGH!” Peri’s voice shook the ground around them and their heads all snapped to look at the regal high Fae. Light shone around her. She met the eyes of each woman letting them see the power that rolled through her.

“If you want to crush each other before the battle even begins, then by all means have at it. Don’t come crying to me when Desdemona turns your feral mates loose on this world only to have you join them by their sides, as you rip innocent lives apart.”

The night was silent, as the females considered Peri’s words.

“Just to be clear, would a bitch slap be considered crushing?” Sally smiled, innocently.

Jen rolled her eyes. “I liked you better when you were more likely to sing Lean On Me than Another One Bites the Dust.”

Alina stood up and folded her arms across her chest as she watched Peri’s Fae form receded.

“What are we doing Peri? How long are we going to wander around the forest?”

“I’m not wandering aimlessly, if that’s what you’re worried about. There is a method to my madness.”

“Just as long as you are aware that you are bat crap mad,” Jen muttered.

Peri ignored the jab and continued. “At this point there is only one who can help us and he is going to prove to be difficult to find.”

“Who?” Alina asked.

“King Cypher.” Peri’s voice rang with a tone of dread at the name of the King.

“What exactly is he King of?” Sally asked.

“The Warlocks,” Alina answered, before Peri could.

“Seriously?” Jen snorted. “Warlocks?”

“You all might want to sit down for what I have to tell you.” Peri resumed her place against the tree, and waited for them all to take a seat. Sally and Jen sat down on a fallen limb, while Alina, Crina, Cynthia, and Elle all sat at various spots with their backs leaning against trees. Jacque lay, covered in warm blankets, and aside from her quiet breaths, she was as motionless as death, a few feet away.

“Yes Jen, Warlocks are real and Cypher is their King. He has been their King for a very, very long time. Like all of the supernaturals in the human realm, their magic is waning. He grows weaker by the year and his race is dwindling in numbers. He had yet to find a mate, until recently, and like any of us we are weaker without our mate.”

“So, he’s found one?” Sally asked.

Peri nodded, the look on her face was apprehensive.

“Why do I get the feeling we aren’t going to like who this mate is?” Jen muttered.

“Cypher isnot a bad person, but he is in a difficult place. He needs to protect the future of his race and so he made a deal with Desdemona. Cypher is the only being who knows how to open the Veil to the underworld. In exchange for him opening the Veil, Mona promised him a mate. She delivered Lilly Pierce to the King.”

“WHAT!”

“BLOODY HELL!”

A chorus of disbelief rippled through the circle of woman, as they took in the information Peri had just shared.

“Is she okay?” Crina asked.

“She is fine,” Alina was the one who answered. Their heads all whipped around to look at the Alpha.

“You knew?” Sally gasped. “You knew and didn’t tell us?”

“Vasile advised me not to and you know when an Alpha advises, what he is really saying is don’t or else.”

“Vasile wouldn’t have done anything to you,” Elle stood up.

“No, but I set an example for other wolves. And, Vasile had his reasons for keeping the information to himself. Lilly is safe. Cypher has not hurt her.”

“And, who’s to say that he won’t?” Cynthia asked.

“Cypher won’t hurt her because he loves her and has chosen her as his mate.” Peri looked at Jen, and then at Sally. “I have one of the guardian Fae with him and she has reported to me that he has no intention of helping Mona. Lilly has talked some sense in to him.”

“You trust him?” Jen asked the Fae.

“I have known Cypher for a long time. He is a good man and only wants what is best for his people. He made a poor choice, but the Fates have given him a second chance with Lilly.”

“Yes, and we should all trust the Fates,” Jen growled.

“I need you all to know that he isn’t holding Lilly against her will. She wants to be with him.”

“He isn’t green with horns or anything is he?” Sally’s face scrunched up as she asked.

Peri laughed, “No, he is actually quite handsome.”

Jen cocked her head to the side and frowned at Peri. “Wait, why is he going to be hard to find if you have one of your fairies with him?”

“Because he is very powerful, and even though he is weakening, he has the ability to shield himself. Although, my Fae is with him I have no way of knowing where they are, no way of flashing to them, nor can Cyn, the guardian, flash to me. It’s really quite inconvenient.” Peri added in a tone that said she felt very put out by the King.

The women fell silent as the day wore on and darkness of night began to fall. Alina and Crina hunted and brought back small game for them to eat, and then they each, one by one, lay down for the night. They had set up a schedule for someone to sit with Jacque and rotated throughout the night. Jen was first. Just when Jen was about to take up her vigil next to her friend, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder. It was Cynthia.