The Failsafe Prophecies (4 page)

Drago drew a very deep breath and
straightened his shoulders.

“Well then I guess we’re
just going to have to find a way to work together this time,
because Annaia, the royals may be yours to protect, but this
is
our
realm.”

She looked visibly slapped by his
words and took a step back.

“It doesn’t need to come to this.”
Wraithe finally felt the need to step in. “Annaia, sit down…
please.” He waited a moment until she started to move, then he
turned to Drago. “Do you mind?” He motioned at the room, asking
permission to speak.

Even though, technically, this was his
home turf and therefore he could do anything he bloody well
pleased, thousands of years of living had taught him that diplomacy
was always a good first choice.

Drago smiled and sat down between
Jaylen and Bayeen.

Wraithe turned to address the room and
noticed his brother wink at him in a show of love and
support.

“The nay-chi and the
serahn are both ancient races, created as protectors and guides.
The serahn brings peace and comfort with their beauty, prayer, and
ritual, while the nay-chi protects with their strength, courage,
and ways of the mystic. We each know the truths of things that most
around us never will. We know of underworld creatures like the
roahn-ami, the grouncers, even the demons. We know of the witches,
the vampire, and the dampier. We know of the dire warnings of the
Vraigor, of the prophecies… Even still, we can be as blind as the
humans when it comes to putting our differences aside and working
together. If we are to fulfill our purpose here, we
have
to learn to lean on
one another in these times, not fight one another.

“I think, for too long now, we’ve
grown complacent. Where there were once hard lines drawn between
acceptable and not, there is now only a sea of grey. Where we once
had strong allies and clear enemies, we now have loyalty and
betrayal available to the highest bidder.

“The nay-chi were once a proud race,
here to protect the human realm. Now… It feels as if we’re killing
time.

“Maybe it’s watching the humans
constantly trying to bring about their own annihilation, or knowing
the Marrow has gone dark. Maybe it’s the isolation, or the lack of
any strong tribal connections any longer, but something has to
change. Why not now?

“I’m disheartened the same as most.
I’ve experienced things in this realm I never expected to. But look
at Bala and Zhen.” He gestured to the two women, sitting side by
side, holding hands. “The only two female royals left in this
realm. They must be terrified, but they’re sitting here quietly
counting on us to pull our heads out of our asses, to work
together, and to bring those princesses home!” He ended on a roar,
checked himself and smiled.

The room erupted into approval and he
waited for it to quiet before continuing.

“We each know the prophecies. We each
have our legends. What we know for certain is that all our fates
are intertwined. It therefore serves none of us to isolate. Drago,
you’re best used on the Key, continuing to monitor the supernatural
activity. I think we should let Rigo and Hayden head up two teams
to follow any trail to find these women. Annaia, lead your people
in prayer and ritual, and Ivin…” He looked at his friend sitting
beside Zhen in the front, her wild purple and magenta hair hanging
loose over both shoulders. “Will you ask your sister witches what
they know about the roahn-ami and what may be happening here? They
would have the best readings on the darker energy, outside of
Drago.”

“Of course, Wraithe. You can always
count on me for anything.” She offered her devotion as he knew she
would.

“Thank you.”

He gave her a simple nod of
acknowledgement before moving on to the only known human in the
room.

“Kane, I’m guessing you’re wondering
why you’re here at this point?”

Kane stood and adjusted his cuff
links, looking slightly bored.

“Of course I’m not. You need my club.
You need my contacts. You need my discretion.” He shrugged. “You
know they are always at your disposal.”

With that he sat back down. The
conversation was finished.

Wraithe smiled appreciation, for the
ease of getting what he wanted, and for the friendship.

“We have to come together, people. The
princesses are counting on us, the Marrow is counting on us, Earth
is counting on us… I dare say all of creation is counting on us.
That may sound rather arrogant, but as Kane always says, it isn’t
arrogant if it’s true.”

He chuckled to himself, knowing that
statement would ruffle the serahn, and bemused that he had a place
to actually use that statement.

“Each of us sitting in
this room
know
the dark is rising.” He continued. “And we each know this
disappearance of the princesses is only the beginning. We must stop
this now before we lose everything. I have taken an oath to protect
this realm and the humans. I will honor that oath. I have
sacrificed too much to this call not to see it through.”

“Wraithe…” Briya, the only female
nay-chi present, spoke up. “I think we should check in with the
vampire and the dampier.”

She held up a hand to stop his protest
before it even started. “I know. I know. But I have alliances in
both camps. Even Drago has allies in the dampier. If anyone knows
dark, it would be the vampires.”

She didn’t need his permission, but
she was clearly showing him respect by asking.

“You know the vampires
cannot be trusted under
any
circumstance. While I will give you that they
most likely have some of the answers we seek, I cannot imagine any
one of them actually helping us. And what if they send you on a
wild chase just for fun? We don’t have the luxury of time here. The
roahn-ami most likely removed all the souls of those women…
assuming they didn’t kill the bodies already, a body without a soul
will only sustain itself a limited amount of time, and the entire
while it’s exceptionally vulnerable to other supernatural
forces.”

His concerns voiced, he waited to hear
how she would respond. He looked to the room to see if any of the
others had an opinion. Most looked uncomfortable, at
best.

Of all the races and sects
he’d come across over the millennia, the vampire were nothing if
not consistent, and they did
not
help the humans for any reason.

“Just let me try. I won’t waste much
time on it.”

He shrugged. “So be it.”

Anything else we need to coordinate
can be done so here in Elethiya, at my residence. We’ll stay in
constant contact. Drago, Annaia, Thornton and myself will see to it
that everyone stays in the loop.” He looked directly at Zhen and
Bala. “We’ll keep you both safe, and we’ll find the others. I
promise you both.”

He never promised lightly, but the way
he saw it, if he broke this promise, they were all pretty much
doomed anyway. The princesses being taken was simply a first wave.
The plain truth was none of them knew what might happen next, but
the dark was clearly upon them. There could be no loss here, not
even a small one, or all of humanity would pay the cost.

Chapter Three

Bala watched the flicker of firelight
dissolve into the black fur of her beloved wolf. He was her
companion, protector, and friend, and there wasn’t a day that went
by when she wasn’t blessed by the gift of him in her life. She
placed a kiss to the top of his head, and ran her hands across his
thick coat as he lay beside her on the floor, the motion always
soothing. Her heart was heavy with thoughts of the day, and fear
for what was happening.

“Balaja, my darling, come back to
bed.” Luxe stood in the doorway between their cozy living room and
luxurious bedroom.

Even now, all these years later, his
deep black hair and dark amber eyes captured her. The cleft in his
chin made him appear adorably wicked and he was undeniably
handsome. For just a split second she remembered the first time she
ever saw him. It was in the courtyard behind the back kitchen of
his castle in Bella Sol, one of the seven kingdoms of what was once
the Great Marrow before the dark overtook it.

Obsidian stood as she rose from the
floor and took guard beside her.

Luxe pet the wolf’s head and motioned
for him to go lay down which he immediately did.

Bala turned to face the fire in the
hopes Luxe would not see the fear in her eyes tonight.

“Darling.”

Luxe came up behind her and wrapped
his arms around her body, filling her with his warmth, his essence,
and for just a moment she relaxed.

Obsidian whined.

“I can’t sleep.” Her voice was tense
to match her mood.

He ran his hand over her hair, just
barely touching the side of her face, then kissed her temple as he
squeezed her tighter in his arms.

Their home was small, some would say
tiny, just a few scant rooms. Nothing near the palace he came from,
but it wasn’t so different from the home she grew up in. Stone
walls, wood floors, the difference was this home they made together
held warmth and love, something she’d never known before meeting
him.

“You know I won’t
let
anything
happen to you.”

She lost control of the first few
tears. They ran down her cheeks as she pulled away and turned to
face him.

“No. What I know is that
you’ll die
trying
to keep that promise. I don’t want to be
safe
in a world that doesn’t contain
you!” The tears flowed in a mad rush now.

Luxe stepped closer and pulled her
back into his arms. Obsidian lay down, but she felt his gaze
constantly on her. He, of course, trusted Luxe. But his duty was
always to her above everything.

“Nothing will happen to either of
us.”

He could promise no such thing and
they both knew it. Ever since the meeting this morning, she’d been
unable to get warm. Everything in her was alerted to the threat,
the danger to their world and to this one, but Luxe, god help her,
that’s what she cared about most.

She pulled back to look up into his
eyes.

“I cannot lose you, Luxe. You are my
heart, my soul, my great love. I would die without you.” She
growled softly at herself and paced a few steps away. “I know how
that sounds. I do, but I don’t care. My heart and
yours…”

He came to her, took her hand and
placed it on his chest atop where his heart beat
strongly.

“They are the same, my love. I do not
think you weak because you cannot bear to think of life without me.
If I did, what then would I think of myself?” He smiled softly down
at her.

For a small moment, she felt lighter.
His sexy smile, his kind eyes, his strength, they all gave her
butterflies, but it was his heart that she fell in love with and
that she fought to restore to him. Now in a strange land, they were
in danger of losing it all, and she couldn’t bear the
thought.

“The serahn and the nay-chi, they do
not work well together. They are too focused on their differences
and you know it. The roahn-ami will exploit that!”

He placed his palm against her
cheek.

“They are our friends,
brave warriors each. I trust them, Bala. We will figure this out.
We will fight for our realm and the realm we’ve come to know, and
we
will
be the
victors. We have the light on our side, how can we not
win?”

She drew a breath to hold back another
bout of tears.

“Don’t you see? We
can
lose. Unlike
Wraithe, Rodrigo and Thornton, we are
not
immortal. We may not be aging in
this realm, but it doesn’t mean we can’t die.” The fear shook her
so deep she could barely breathe for it.

She had to get control of herself. She
truly hadn’t wanted him to see just how scared she was, but here
they were, and she could no longer hide it from him.

“The light will never win
if those of us who fight for it give in to the fear of the dark.”
His tone no longer spoke of love and affection. It was the King of
Bella Sol she stood before now. A king once transformed by the
dark, he knew better than any of them why they had to fight. “You
know I cannot desert my people, my beliefs, my faith… not even for
you, my
dearest
love.”

He pulled her body to his and pressed
his lips to the top of her head.

“Therefore I will not
allow you to give up, either.” He smiled down at her once more.
“We
will
stand
with our allies here, and we will figure this out.”

She had no response for him, but
luckily she was saved from trying as a pounding started at their
door and startled both of them.

Obsidian stood, every ounce of him at
attention.