Whoever is out to get me, I have to find out. I may be helpless to stop it, but I have to try, even as the tether to the book snaps and expels me into Riley’s gripping hold. Winded, I pant, “We go to Cornwall Forest. We go now.”
Chapter 8
Riley
Locked to the ground of the PDU library, I hug Tricia against my chest. She flutters her eyes open, and I give her time to sever the connection as well as retract my panic at her lingering speculations. Is Riley holding me back? Does Riley plot to claim my ever-growing dark powers? Is he the one I have to protect myself from—myself and my child?
I burrow into her mind and draw her close to me as she is the air that keeps me alive. “I’d never hurt you. I love you. I love our child. I’d never harm you or our baby. But this darkness called you once before. Your grandmother wasn’t born evil. She was as innocent as our child will be. I don’t want that darkness to take you away from me as it has her. You have to fight against it. I won’t allow it to take you over.”
I move my head back and forth, watching my uneasy guards as they form an arc around us. They’re as concerned for Tricia’s wellbeing as I am. Some may love her as a friend and leader. Others because she’s my mate and they respect my charge. But no one can deny that she’s the key to our very existence. I raise a hand, motioning to them to give us space. “It’s okay. It’s the book, this curse. It’s not me. I’m okay.”
Only Tricia is anything but all right. She’s panicked as she crawls up against me, rooting into the space that only she fits.
“How much did you see, hear?”
“Pieces.” I can’t hide my scowl. “What I heard I didn’t like. I don’t trust magic. No one can know what kind of plots await us, considering dark magic is involved in us finding a so-called cure to this curse.”
She uncoils from my arms and regains her footing, smoothing back long auburn strands that drape about her shoulders. By the time she checks out the men, she appears settled. “I agree. The book fills with riddles and vagueness. But, the portal and few answers I learned were unexpected. From what I gathered, the book speaks using portals and situations, not words or pictures. I believe it dropped me back in time. It can either help us if we’re prepared or steal our minds at the most inappropriate times.”
I gaze over at Easton, his long tan hair tied back in a tail. He’s the only one wearing a long jacket, a color that matches his jade-colored eyes, and he’s Tricia’s father’s most trusted guard, who’s listening intently.
“Yes, I agree, Riley.” Tricia gives me a nod. “Easton, I need your jacket. I’m not taking another chance and touching the bindings directly. I can’t be sure who planted it here in the library, but they did so without being noticed. They could be working against us in some way.”
“Or helping us,” Easton adds.
I motion to the book. “We’ll take it with us, but I don’t want anyone to touch it.”
Tricia takes a wobbly step, but catches herself by holding onto my sleeve. “I believe the book can suck anyone of its choosing, which could happen at an inopportune time. I don’t want to lose anyone to a hexed book when I may not be able to reverse the consequences.”
With a stronghold, I grip her against me to keep her steady even if she fights me a tad. “I think you need to rest before we do anything.”
“No. We need to go. Now. Before the new moon cycle ends.” She peers up at me, a serious warning turning her green eyes vivid yellow.
I caution her with a glance, and then ease up my protectiveness over her. “We can’t just charge blindfolded when we don’t have a clue what we’ll be up against. It could be dangerous.”
Easton hands her his jacket, revealing his runner’s physique.
Tricia begins to swaddle the book, placing the silver cover facedown. She folds in the sleeves, then hem, collar, finally tucking in the sides to form a tight package. “It’s Faery. You and your guards are vampires. No doubt about it being a dangerous place. It’s not like the fae or pixies will welcome vampires with open arms. All pixies have been taught through experience and their ancestors paint vampires as monsters. But I’m going to prove to the Piskey queen that her beliefs are wrong.”
Piskey queen? “The book told you to find this alternate queen? Do we even know she exists? If we find her, are you sure you can convince her my men’s motivations are true when you question mine.”
“Riley.” She looks up at me with an apologetic gaze.
But I’m not buying it. Tricia is already headstrong. What’s to keep her from charging in and fighting on her own behalf? I’ve seen her in action, and she can be deadly. “I heard the woman in the market. Vampires aren’t allowed on Piskey lands. We may breach Cornwall Forest, but we don’t have a clue where her property perimeter lies. I don’t like this. I don’t want you alone in your condition when this could be a trap. What if you go into labor while we’re there?”
She waves her free hand, using the other to clutch the book to her chest. “The only thing trapping us is time and arguing. We have to enter the Cornwell Forest before the new moon ends. If I’m correct, that’s two nights from now. We have to go today.”
I ease the book from her, handing it off to Peter. “Or what? The book could have been bespelled. It could be fake, like a looping recording.”
She shakes her head, nodding to each of her men to follow her as she heads for the exit. “I’m not taking any chances with our baby, with my life. I know what it’s like to be raised without a mother. I won’t have my baby thinking that I didn’t fight for her. Thinking that her father didn’t do all he could to save his mate. The cure exists with the pixies, the queen Piskey is our only hope. Once we get past Elgrim.”
“Elgrim. Who the hell is he?”
“I thought you were eavesdropping?” She pushes open the door, and we spill out into the main part of the PDU, other officers and Other Kind bustling about the quad.
I shouldn’t fight Tricia, believing she’s right, but I search the hard stares of my men, finding approval that we press ahead. “I’ll need all of you with me. We don’t know what we’ll be up against. The fae men can be killed. Vampires are immortal. Should we fall under attack, I’ll need men I can trust to survive.”
Peter leads the fae men. “We fight for our queen and we die for her. That’s our charge as her court.”
Pride fills me from their murmurs of approval.
“When do we leave?” Gavin bares his fangs, taking up a battle-ready pose. “I’m ready for a good fight.”
We all hold up at the inner courtyard, the crepe myrtle bursting with red blooms. “Gather food, medical, weapons, bedding, tents, and anything else you can carry. If this is a preemptive strike to stop an all-out war, we need to be ready to spill blood.”
“How long shall we plan?” Nathan bores his gaze into mine.
I check Tricia, who gives me a slight shrug. I won’t allow her to push herself to death, which means I need my men to be strong. “A week. Feed well. We leave in an hour.”