"We should read the Dear Gentle Reader column." Daphne suggested, smiling at everyone.
"Perhaps we should concentrate on our projects instead. We have so many baby blankets to finish," Adelaide countered.
"I think we should have Rosalind read it out loud for us. It will entertain those of us who aren't sewing," Meryn suggested.
Beth and Adelaide stared at Meryn in horror. Amelia sat back and waited. Now was the moment of truth; how much was Meryn like her? If her actions were any indication, shit was about to get real ugly, real fast.
Rosalind tittered and accepted the paper from Adelaide. "Oh, my, let's see what has been going on in the paranormal world this week." Her eyes skimmed the column, and every ounce of color drained from her face. She swayed slightly in her chair. "Maybe Lady McKenzie is right; we should just concentrate on our blankets." She was folding up the paper to tuck it in her chair beside her when Daphne laughed obnoxiously.
"Come on, dear, don't leave us in suspense. I'm dying to hear what has been reported this week." Daphne cooed in a sweet voice.
"I-I..." Rosalind stuttered.
"Go ahead, Rosalind, don't keep us waiting," Meryn prompted.
"Well... the main article is very scandalous! Dear Gentle Reader reports that a certain Lady DB was seen in a human plastic surgeon's office to undergo a procedure known as a vaginoplasty. The article goes on to explain that this is a type of surgery to tighten up lady parts that have been overused." Gasps filled the air, but Rosalind wasn't finished. "The article wraps up by saying that Lady DB may be under investigation for"--she swallowed hard--"suspicion of performing indecent acts with farm animals." Her voice seemed to echo throughout the room.
Amelia turned, Beth's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head. This was getting interesting.
"This is preposterous!" Daphne screeched, reaching for the paper. She ripped it out of Rosalind's hands and proceeded to shred it into tiny pieces, letting scraps of paper fly everywhere. Around the room, whispers and muffled laughter filled the air.
Daphne looked as though she had swelled in size as her wolf seemed to take over, and her eyes locked on Meryn. Growling, she stalked in their direction. In seconds, Adelaide and Ryuu were standing in front of them to head off Daphne's advance.
"Get out of my way! I know that little bitch is behind this!" Daphne hissed.
Meryn blinked, an innocent look on her face. "I have no idea what you're talking about. But since you're getting so upset, are you confirming you're 'DB'?" she asked innocently.
Daphne shrieked her rage and launched herself toward Meryn. Adelaide raised her hand and simply pushed her back with a shove to the chest. "Stay away from my daughter," she warned with a low growl.
Daphne sneered. "What are you going to do? You can't lay a finger on me or you risk your mate's Elder seat. The degenerate next to you posing as a squire can't touch me or risk being deported from Lycaonia." When she smiled, she revealed a set of fully extended canines.
Amelia felt the room begin to close in. The roaring that she'd heard during breakfast returned. Ice began to form around her heart and started to spread through her body. She stood as a rage so cold it burned expanded across her soul. She shouldered her way between Adelaide and Ryuu. When she smiled at Daphne, she was pleased when the older woman flinched.
Daphne made the mistake of looking in Meryn's direction. That was all it took to trigger Amelia's fury. Moving faster than she ever had in her life, her arm shot out and she gripped Daphne around the throat. Pulling strength from the earth, she easily lifted the woman off the ground keeping her at arm's length.
In the recesses of her mind, she heard Beth usher the other women out of the room. She didn't care who was there. All she wanted to do was destroy the woman in front of her. How dare she threaten her family! The darkness around her heart whispered to her, telling her that if she didn't kill Daphne, the woman would hurt her baby sister-cousin.
"Let me go!" Daphne gasped.
"Why should I? You're going to hurt my family," Amelia said in a monotone voice.
"What family? I don't even know you!" Daphne's lips had started to turn blue.
Amelia smiled. She thought that the color looked pretty.
A warm hand on her arm broke her train of thought. She turned her head slowly to look at Ryuu.
"Itoko-sama, think of how sad Meryn would be if you were exiled from Lycaonia." His voice was calm and even.
"She wants to hurt her," Amelia protested.
Ryuu shook his head. "I would never allow that to happen. You can let go." He squeezed his hand, and warmth ran from her wrist to her shoulder. She turned back to face Daphne.
"Gods! Her eyes are black! Help! Someone help me! She's feral!" Daphne babbled.
Slowly, Amelia lowered Daphne to the ground and released her. Daphne fell backward sobbing and clutching at her throat. "The council will hear of this!" she croaked and ran from the room.
Amelia collapsed back into her seat, appalled at what she had almost done. Ryuu's warmth began to slowly thaw the cold parts of her soul. Reality was catching up to her. She had nearly killed someone. She covered her face with both hands, unable to look at anyone.
"That kicked ass on every single level!" Meryn said excitedly.
"Meryn! Can't you see Amelia is upset?" Beth chastised.
Amelia looked out from behind her hands to see Meryn's confused expression. "Why is she upset?"
"Why?" Amelia's voice cracked. "I was going to kill her, really kill her," she whispered. The truth was almost too much to bear.
"Too bad you didn't. That bitch is going to stir up trouble later; I just know it. Better to kill her now," Meryn said as she rummaged through the cookie basket.
"Normally, I don't condone violence, but in this instance, my quirky daughter is right. That woman is better off dead," Adelaide looked weary.
Marius appeared at the door, his mouth twitching. "All the ladies have left. I think you will find it interesting that most of them offered to stand with Amelia if this goes to the Tribunal. They all confided in me that Daphne was out of line threatening a pregnant human who was in no way responsible for what was printed in The Observer."
Adelaide sat down abruptly on a sofa. "Thank the Gods for that."
Amelia scooted closer to Meryn and rested her head on her shoulder. Without looking, Meryn reached up and patted her on the head, her focus still on the cookie basket. Maybe what she did wasn't crazy after all. No one seemed particularly upset that she had almost killed someone.
Beth stood in front of Meryn, her arms crossed over her chest. "You little demon! How did you get that article in The Observer!?" Beth exclaimed before bursting out into laughter.
Meryn chuckled. "What do you mean?"
"Now Beth, you know there's no way that she could..." Adelaide stopped mid-sentence. She gasped and covered her mouth with both hands. "You wanted to attend the sewing circle this week."
Amelia yawned, emotionally spent. "And you kept checking your phone. I thought you were checking for text messages, but you were checking the time. You knew the paper would be delivered this afternoon."
Ryuu and Marius stared. Ryuu, in an uncharacteristic show of emotion, broke down laughing. He leaned against Marius whose grey mustache was twitching as he tried to hide his smile.
"Out with it, Menace!" Beth took the cookie basket from Meryn who glared up at her.
"Fine! Remember how I said I found something of interest in the history books? It was a reference to the Dear Gentle Reader column. After that, I subscribed to the paper and started reading all the columns. Once the nasty ones about us started, I went to the library in Lycaonia with Noah and looked at all the back issues of The Observer, and I noticed a trend that started about five years ago. A lot of the major articles were pulled from sources found on Facebook and online message boards run by paranormals. I had pulled all that content trying to find correlations with the missing persons so nearly all the articles looked familiar.
Daphne may have flooded the city with gossip, but all I had to do was carefully place one or two reference documents online and the rest is history." Meryn grabbed the cookie basket back from Beth who stared down at her in shock.
"Even if you had placed something on a message board, they would have checked sources before printing that in the paper," Beth said.
Meryn nodded. "It wasn't that hard to create a business website for a plastic surgeon. I even hacked the Plastic Surgeons of America and added his name. For all intents and purposes, he is as real as you or I online. Hacking into the local police department was easy since I had already done it last year. It took two seconds to create a police report filed by a concerned local farmer."
Amelia sat up straight and hugged Meryn close. "You little genius!"
Meryn frowned, looking up at Beth. "She's doing it again."
Beth shrugged and grabbed a cookie. "She's family, she's allowed."
Meryn sighed. "True."
Amelia released her baby sister-cousin and sat back. Losing control had been terrifying. She couldn't help noticing that she had only started having these episodes after making love to Darian. It was as if some of his darkness had seeped into her. Never before had she felt such rage. If this was what her mate had faced alone, it was a miracle he hadn't turned yet.
Ryuu walked over and bowed low in front of Meryn. "Well played, denka, well played, indeed."
Adelaide tapped her chin. "But does this help us or hurt us?"
Amelia watched in amazement as Meryn huddled in on herself and began sniffling, wiping at her eyes like a child. "But Elder Vi'Ailean, I didn't do anything. She lurched at me and I was so s-s-scared! I'm only human; I was afraid for my baby!" Meryn broke down into tears. Seconds later, she sniffed once dramatically, dried her eyes and resumed eating her cookies. Amelia held up a hand silently. Meryn gave her a crumby high five and grinned.
"If anything, this should silence the faction that was feeding into the tripe about the Alpha Unit losing its effectiveness. Those who play the game will see this for the power play that it was. Excellent work, Meryn," Beth praised.
"Vaginoplasty," Meryn snorted.
That was all it took to send Amelia into uncontrollable laughter. Beth crumpled into a ball of giggles taking the seat on the other side of Meryn.
"Oh girls, you're good for my heart," Adelaide said.
Meryn stood and stretched, rubbing her lower back. "We better get back home. I kinda want to be there when Aiden hears what happened."
"So that he knows that you're okay?" Adelaide asked.
Meryn shook her head. "No, so I can watch him freak out."
"Oh dear." Adelaide shook her head and hugged Meryn tight.
Amelia and Beth were still grinning.
Meryn turned to Ryuu. "I'm hungry."
He sighed. "Of course, you are. You've only been eating nonstop all morning."
"I want a Colton sandwich, it seems to be the only thing that satisfies Meryn two-point-oh." Meryn said, a dreamy look on her face.
Amelia turned to Beth. "Colton sandwich?"
Beth shuddered. "A crazy sandwich Colton and Aiden created as a child. It has peanut butter, mayonnaise, pickles, cheese, and beef jerky."
Amelia licked her lips. "That actually sounds kinda good."
Ryuu looked from Meryn to Amelia. "I think I need hazard pay."
"Man up, squire, you have sammiches to make." Meryn grinned evilly at Ryuu.
"Of course, denka."
"Ladies, your coats." Marius appeared in the doorway with their coats.
"The phone call to Byron should be interesting," Adelaide chuckled.
"Tell Dad I said hi." Meryn had one arm in the sleeve of her coat but kept turning in a circle trying to find the opening for the other sleeve. Ryuu stopped her spinning and held the coat open for her.
"You girls stay safe," Adelaide said as she walked them to the door.
"We will," They replied in unison and grinned at each other.
"Definitely need hazard pay," Ryuu murmured under his breath as they headed to the car.
Amelia kept smiling, but inside, she was worried. Just as she started to feel the darkness in her heart begin to lighten, she feared that whatever light Darian had carried would be turning back to darkness.
CHAPTER NINE
"Hold on, Darian, I'll help you with that," Oron called from across the training grounds. Darian looked up and nodded. He had been expecting his brother to say something sooner, but they had both decided to keep the fact that they were brothers low key to keep their queen safe.
Oron fell into step beside him as they lifted their weight equipment to carry back into the storage shed. Aiden wanted the course clear before Penny came out to play. Once inside the shed, Oron turned to him.
"Brother, your light..." he started.
"I know."
"Why don't you claim your mate? Merging your souls could keep you from turning." Oron sat down on one of the crates.
"It's too late, Brother," Darian said in a somber tone.
Oron punched the side of a stacked crate easily breaking the boards. "Don't say that. Let me go to Mother..."
"No." Darian shook his head.
"You're both so damn stubborn," Oron cursed under his breath.
"I promised Amelia that I would hold on as long as I could, but the light I received from her is already fading, and the darkness is returning." Darian sighed. He wanted so badly to be able to give Amelia a child, but in his heart he knew he wouldn't make it until the next winter solstice.
"When I..."
"Don't!" Oron stood and turned away from him.
"Brother, please..." Darian said quietly.
When Oron turned to face him, his jaw was clenched.
"When I turn, promise me that you will take Amelia to Éire Danu. She'll be safe there." Darian smiled at him. "Please."
With tears in his eyes, Oron nodded. "I swear on my honor she will be safe."
"Thank you, it helps knowing that she will be taken care of." Darian stood. "Come on, let's not keep the commander waiting."
Oron hesitated. "Are you sure nothing can be done?"
"The darkness is too great. Even if I were allowed to go back home, the portals would never accept me."
"We could try."
"When the time comes, don't hesitate to kill me. It will no longer be me. Already the darkness is leeching away everything that makes me who I am. Don't let it take my honor." Darian laid a hand on his brother's shoulder.
"Hold on," Oron begged.
"I will, as long as I can." He let his hand drop and walked toward the door. "Come on, old man, I still have enough life left in me to kick your ass." He turned and watched his brother swallow hard and force a smile.
"Old man? Just because I used to change your diapers..." Oron smiled.
Darian winced. "Don't let the guys hear you say that."
Oron's smile disappeared. "It should be me, I'm older. I shouldn't have to watch my little brother fade."
Darian looked out at the training grounds where the men laughed and tussled with each other. "Fate doesn't make mistakes. If this is my destiny, then it must be for a reason."
Oron fell into step beside him. "Doesn't mean I have to like it," he grumbled.
Darian shook his head. "I don't think she cares if you do."
They walked together in silence back to the training grounds. He was glad that he had had the chance to speak with his brother. Knowing Oron would look after Amelia took a great weight off his shoulders.
"All right men, gather 'round!" Aiden yelled. Beside him, Penny looked even smaller as she waved at the warriors circling them.
Aiden was about to speak when a buzzing sound caused them to look toward Keelan. He frowned and pulled a phone out of his pocket. "It's Meryn," he said, unlocking the screen.
Aiden waved at him. "Tell her I'll see her later." He turned back to the men. "We have a special helper today. Penny has agreed to help train you men by playing h
ide and seek."
Darian turned his attention from his commander back to Keelan. The young witch was blushing furiously and looking up at Aiden with a mixture of nervous fear and panic.
"Sir, maybe you should answer this," Keelan said holding up the phone.
Aiden shook his head. "Later."
Keelan looked down with a painful expression at the phone, which buzzed again. He quickly typed something and then buried the phone at the bottom of Aiden's gym bag.
Sascha groaned and stood from where he had been propped up against the climbing wall.
"Good morning, sunshine!" Aiden called cheerfully. "Perfect timing. We're about to train with Penny, so get your mangy ass up," Aiden ordered.
"Damn, Menace," Sascha grumbled, lurching forward on unsteady feet.
Around him, the men chuckled.
"Okay ladies, here are the rules. Don't hide in the house and no hiding in the armory; it's off limits to our girl here. Other than that, have fun." Aiden blew a whistle, and Sascha cringed. The men scattered while Penny hid her eyes.
Oron bumped fists with him and took off. Darian couldn't muster up the energy to be excited. He strolled toward the trees next to the obstacle course and got comfortable at the base of one of the maples.
It wasn't long before he heard rustling in front of him. He couldn't see Penny, but he could see Felix. In fact, he and Oron were the only two that could. The little minx was using the sprite to scout for her.
Felix was bundled head to toe in clothes and Penny had used a fabric wrapped hair tie to keep a small hand warmer held firmly against the sprite's waist. Felix looked like he was having the time of his life.
"That's cheating," he said quietly.
Seconds later, Penny shimmered into view, a guilty look on her face. He winked at her, and she brightened. "Don't worry about me, I won't tell. I'll wait until the game is almost concluded and head back to the course. I'll tell Aiden you found me. I just want to stay here a bit longer."
Penny grinned and gave him a thumbs up. Darian noticed that though she had started speaking more, she still reverted to hand signals for most interactions.
Penny turned and was about to keep searching when he stopped her. "Penny," he called quietly. She looked back at him. "Yes?" her voice was clear and sweet.