She looked to the third, older and hopefully wiser warrior. He just grinned wickedly. “We would rather face the political fallout from beating down prissy, witch council members than your brother if he finds out we did nothing after seeing you so distressed.”
She turned back to Aeson. “Are you really gonna hit them?”
He patted her on the head. “Don’t you worry about that. Now, what would you like to do?”
Zoe felt her heart begin to race. Making choices was hard. “Ummm, uhh, meet the queen? It’s why I’m here. Right?”
Ramsey nodded. “Sounds good.”
She exhaled in relief. Then she frowned. “How do you greet a queen?” She began to rub her belly. Her stomach was in knots imagining all the ways she could mess up.”
“Whoa!” Aeson exclaimed, moving them back a few steps. “That’s the brightest I’ve seen them in a while.”
Zoe looked around to identify what the men were looking at. To their left, about eight feet away, a city lamp shone brightly.
“It is?”
Ramsey nodded, smiling. “Looks like you’re exactly what we need.”
Zoe wanted to be happy, except for the fact that she hadn’t meant to do anything to the lamp. She could only be grateful nothing was on fire.
“After your visit with the queen, you have to swing by my pub. I’ll serve you the best fish and beer you’ve ever had,” Dav offered.
She smiled up at him. “Thank you. I can’t wait to have my first beer.”
Dav blinked, then broke out in a broad smile. “Then I’ll have to make sure it’s extra cold for you.” He turned to the other two warriors. “You both know what’s been going on. Straight to the palace and stay by her side,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir,” both men responded before, once again, Ramsey offered her his elbow. “My lady.”
She accepted his elbow, and they resumed their way toward the large looming palace above them.
*****
Aeson stepped away from the fae woman, who nodded and motioned for them to follow. Moments later, they were standing in front of a very imposing door.
The woman knocked, then opened the door. “Your Majesty, the Fire Temple Head from Storm Keep is here at your request.” She stepped to one side, and with Ramsey on her left and Aeson on her right, they escorted her into what looked like an elegant set of living quarters.
They walked her up to an impressive table where a large group of people were sitting. Without looking at them, she focused on the only one who could possibly be the queen of the fae. Dropping into a curtsey, she greeted her. “Your Majesty.”
“What in the hell are you doing here, Zoe?” a familiar, grouchy voice demanded.
She looked up and smiled. “Kendrick! Why are you here? Caroline was certain you’d be in Lycaonia with Keelan. Is he okay?” Forgetting decorum, she raced around the table. “I’ve missed you so much. You’ve been gone such a long time.” She looked down and saw a pretty woman looking at her, her brows furrowed. “Is this your mate? She’s lovely.” She smiled at the woman. “I’m sorry you got stuck with such a sourpuss, but he’s really nice on the inside.”
“Zoe!”
Turning to her right, she saw two redheads barreling toward her. Seconds later, she was swept up in a group hug. Nigel and Neil were her secret best friends. They were the only ones she knew that had red hair like her. Except theirs was straight whereas hers was a massive mess of corkscrew curls.
“No! No. You head right back to Storm Keep,” Kendrick demanded, extricating her from the twins.
“But..”
“No buts. We summoned the Fire Temple Head…”
“I am the Fire Temple Head,” she refuted.
He stopped mid-sentence. “What?”
She pointed at herself. “I am the Fire Temple Head.”
“What! Where’s Mikel?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know, he disappeared a few years ago to do some sort of mission, and when I came of age, they locked me away in the temple.”
“Locked?” Aeson growled.
“I mean, assigned me to the temple,” she corrected, not wanting to incite more trouble.
“There, there, Aeson, we were already planning on going to Storm Keep to take care of those bastards,” Ramsey said soothingly.
“Locked?” Nigel and Neil said in unison, with clenched jaws.
She looked down at their shoes. “They said it was for my own good, given my affliction.”
“Affliction?” a melodious voice asked.
She turned to see that the queen had stood and was now at her side. “Yes, Your Majesty, I, um, I have the tendency to set things on fire when I lose control of myself.”
“Kickass,” a small female said, looking impressed.
“Meryn, we have to take care of her,” Neil pleaded.
“She’s one of our bestest friends. She can’t go back to Storm Keep if they are locking her up!” Nigel protested.
The one that had proclaimed her to be ‘kickass’ nodded. “Of course. Besides, with that red hair, I’m surprised she isn’t a cousin or something.”
Zoe beamed at her. “Actually, my red hair comes from the Appleblossom family. We’re said to be descended from the first cousin of the last Stormhart king,” she announced proudly. “Appleblossoms always produce strong witches.”
Meryn looked to Kendrick. “Isn’t that interesting, Kendrick? Those descended from the Stormharts are always strong witches. Who woulda thunk it?”
“Quiet, Menace,” Kendrick growled.
Neil looked over to Aeson. “When are you leaving?”
Aeson nodded approvingly. “As soon as I can get some leave approved by Ari,” he looked around. “Where is he anyway? I thought the Tau Unit practically lived in the palace now.”
“They’ll be here shortly. After that portal closed, Ari and Brie stayed behind to show some of the Old Guard how to use the goggles, and Gage and Priest are disposing of the feral,” replied one of the largest men Zoe had ever seen. He wasn’t just tall. He was also widely built. When the man stood and headed in her direction, she took a step back and collided with Neil, who smiled and leaned down. “That’s the Unit Commander, Aiden McKenzie. He’s Meryn’s mate and kinda our adopted brother now,” he whispered.
Seeing that his height made her nervous, he dropped down, so he was kneeling down on one knee. “Zoe, isn’t it? The beautiful baby girl with emerald-colored eyes and a riot of red curls.” He smiled gently up at her.
She frowned. “Have we met?”
He shook his head. “No, but I have heard all about you from your brother.”
She felt her eyes widen. Aiden McKenzie, the Unit Commander, was also the unit leader of Alpha, her brother’s old unit. “You’re Mikel’s Aiden, his unit leader,” she whispered, covering her mouth with both hands.
He reached up and took her hands. “It’s wonderful to finally meet you. I don’t know if your brother ever told you this, but he had such a hard time picking your athair.”
She nodded. She had heard that her whole life. Her brother had met so many amazing men in his travels he couldn’t choose just one. “He couldn’t pick one, so I ended up with none.”