“You’ve fallen for me?” Cypher suddenly forgot about the book, his evil and everything around him, his attention was for Lilly alone.

“Like that’s news to you,” she answered.

“I hoped, but I did not know little one. What it means to me to hear you say it is beyond words for me.”

Lilly let him pull her into his broad chest and, for a few breaths, they took comfort in the love that was growing between them.

Half an hour later, they crossed back into the human realm. Thalion had called on his warriors again and so a Fae, human, and Warlock King stood, surrounded by the elves.

“So what do we do now?” Cyn asked.

“It is time for me to meet with the witch.” Cypher pulled his shoulders back and steeled himself for the coming confrontation. “But, before that, I need to call on my own warriors to meet us at the Veil; along with the wolves, and” he glanced at Cyn, “I’m assuming the Fae?”

Cyn shrugged. “It’s never wise to count on the Council, they are too selfish, and if they determine it is a risk that they don’t feel worth bearing, then they will not come.”

“Must be nice to think that you pee gold,” Lilly said, as she crossed her arms across her chest.

“Do I even want to know what that means?” Thalion asked.

“You’ll figure it out,” Lilly assured.

“We could move a lot quicker, Cypher, if you would let me flash,” Cyn told him.

Cypher didn’t look convinced.

“Why won’t he let you flash?” Thalion asked.

“Because she is not the only one I’m keeping from flashing to us,” Cypher explained.

Thalion nodded. “Right, you’ve been making sure others can’t locate you.”

“Exactly,” he agreed.

“That was all fine when we didn’t have the information we needed. We have it now,” Cyn pointed to Thalion who was the caretaker of the book until such a time that Cypher would need it.

“Let me flash to your people, I will tell them to meet us and then you guys can begin your journey to meet Mona.”

Cypher thought about it and finally realized the wisdom in her plan.

“Okay, take this,” Cypher removed a necklace he had tucked under his shirt. “Show it to Gerick, he is the leader of my warriors. He will know that I have sent you if you show him this talisman.”

Cyn took the necklace and put it over her head. “Okay, see you guys soon.”

“Cyn,” Thalion stepped towards her. “Be safe.”

Cyn nodded and gave him a small smile. “If I don’t see you again...”

“I’ll see you on the other side,” Thalion finished for her.

Then she was gone.

Cypher had Lilly climb onto his back, and then with Thalion and the warrior elves, they took off. They moved so quickly that they barely disturbed the forest around them.

“Where exactly are we going?” Thalion yelled to Cypher.

“I’m going to have her meet us thirty miles from the home of Vasile, Alpha to the Romanian wolves.”

“Then you plan to see the wolves?”

Cypher nodded. “I decided that it would be wiser to combine our forces and devise a plan. We all have acommon enemy here.”

They ran in silence the rest of the way. Finally, when Cypher could feel the magic of the wolves pulsing on the air, he stopped. He wasn’t sure that they were exactly thirty miles from the mansion but he figured if he was feeling the pack magic this strongly he didn’t need to get any closer. He didn’t put Lilly down right away, but instead looked around the forest. The air felt off, it was thick with magic.

“The packs have gathered,” he told Thalion.

“I can feel it too,” Thalion agreed.

“Feel what exactly?” Lilly asked, as she wiggled to make Cypher put her down.

“Magic, strong magic,” Cypher explained.

“What does it feel like?” She asked.

“Like something crawling across your skin.” Cypher, turned to Thalion, “I think it would be wise if she did not know you were here.”

Thalion agreed. “Let us take care of your mate while you meet with the witch.”

Cypher hated to let her out of his sight, but he also didn’t want her to grab Desdemona’s attention.

“Okay,” he relented.

He grabbed Lilly around the waist, pulled her to him, and kissed her fervently. He wrapped his hand in her hair and pulled her head back, demanding that she open her mouth. She complied eagerly as her arms slipped around his neck and she pulled him closer. Cypher slowed the kiss down and then kissed her nose, her cheeks, and forehead. He nipped her ear and kissed down her neck to her collar bone, and then finally back up to her lips. When he pulled back to look at her, he chuckled at the dazed expression on her face.

“Stay safe,” he commanded.

“Is there more where that came from?”

“Most definitely,” he told her.

“Then no worries, I don’t plan on dying until I see my daughter, and then indulge, a little more, in a certain Warlock King.”

He smirked. “Just a little?”

“Let’s not get technical on the depth of the indulging okay?”

She turned to follow Thalion and Cypher slapped her butt.

Lilly laughed, as the forest, with a slew of warriors at her back, swallowed her up.

Cypher waited until he could no longer hear the retreating Elves before he called out the witch’s name. “Desdemona,” Cypher called and he focused all his attention on his voice traveling on the wind, seeking out his target. He had no idea how far away she was, so he knew he might be in for a bit of a wait. He began to walk around the forest keeping to a small area. His mind wandered back to the revelation that Thalion had shared. He couldn’t believe that one of his own kind had been touched by evil so deeply. A king had been possessed and controlled. That King brought evil into their race and it had been passed down from King to King. How long had it taken for the memories to fade enough that the kings no longer remembered why they had the knowledge to open the veil to the underworld? At some point in history, they had simply accepted the knowledge without questioning. They had accepted evil into their midst and never wondered about its origin. He wondered then, if they had accepted it, would there be a way to reject it? Were they redeemable despite holding on to something of this magnitude for so long?