The Lost Tribe Complete Collection (11 page)

Lena and Ellia could barely keep up with Margaret. She had shifted when they got to the small stream and took off into the trees. She had given no warning so Lena assumed she had picked up Sophia’s scent or the scent of fire. She just wished the fox would slow down.

“Wait!” Ellia called.

“Don’t fall behind!” Lena didn’t take her eyes off the fox. The feeling of magic got stronger the deeper into the forest they got. They had to be getting close. Lena could taste it.

The fox stopped next to a tree and waited. Lena came to her side and waited for a panting Ellia to catch up. Margaret shifted up to human again.

“Is this it? Where is everyone?”

“Through there.” Lena motioned at the shimmering trees in front of them. “That’s a portal to somewhere.”

“I’ll go and check,” Ellia said, out of breath. “If it’s safe, I’ll come back for you.”

“It could close before you could come back,” Lena said. “I’ll go.”

“We’ll all go,” Margaret said. “Do you think this is a way back to Earth?”

“Possibly.” Lena didn’t know how she felt about this. She could be back home in the next few seconds. Yet she’d worked hard to make Manna a home for the Northlands Fae who still followed her. She didn’t think they would be accepted on Earth anymore. But deep down in her heart, she longed to be wrong. It would be so much easier to just go home and pick back up where they had left off.

If it was still the seventeenth century, anyway. If Sophia could open a portal all on her own, why couldn’t she choose the time too? Lena’s hoped it was true. Maybe they could go back to before Sophia had ever decided to become queen of the world. No one would be the wiser. It wouldn’t be changing too much.

She and Troy had shared one night of passion. That didn’t mean she owed the handsome dragon anything. She liked him, but there would be other men. There had to be, she thought desperately. There was only one way to find out.

She stepped through the portal as Ellia yelled from behind her to wait.

It was much different than the first time they had been flung onto Manna. This was an easy transport. Lena’s feet touched the ground and she blinked a few times. The sun was blinding against white snow. She shielded her eyes. Her feet sank into cold snow and she could see her breath in the air. Wherever she was, it was much colder than Manna or England when she had left.

“What the hell? You didn’t even wait.” Ellia looked around. “Where are we?”

“Somewhere cold.”

Margaret fell into the snow at Lena’s side. She brushed snow off herself and shivered once.

“You’re going to need clothes.”

Lena squinted in the snow and looked around.

Sophia appeared in front of her suddenly. She was holding heavy clothes in her hand. “Put these on before you freeze.”

Margaret accepted the dress enthusiastically. “Have you brought us back to Earth?”

Sophia beamed. “I sure did. No thanks to you, of course. You all really would be lost without me.”

“They aren’t going to let you do this, Sophia,” Lena warned. “You’re going to make this much worse for all of us.”

Sophia waggled her finger back and forth. “Uh-uh. They don’t even know we’re here yet. And I think our dragon friend will make some of them think twice about crossing me.”

“Dragon?”

“The queen, of course. I brought her along for the fun.”

Ellia groaned. “Why would you do that, Sophia?”

“She owes me one. She did try to burn down my village. Hera was more than happy to agree to come and help me. More than my own sister offered.”

“Where are we?” Lena asked impatiently. Her fingers were starting to go numb. Sophia was wearing a giant fur coat and didn’t even seem to notice the cold.

“We’re close to the Americas. I have a contact nearby who will be helping us launch our assault.”

“Did you kill Gavin?” Lena asked.

Sophia looked sad. “I had no choice. Gavin offered to sacrifice himself for the greater good. He was a brave soldier.”

“How kind of him,” Ellia said.

“Would you like to get out of the cold?” Sophia asked.

“Yes!” Margaret said. “Could you send me home? I’d like to see my mother, if you don’t mind. She’s probably worried sick.”

“She’s probably dead by now,” Sophia said. She waved her arm and suddenly they were inside what looked like a cave.

“She what?” Margaret’s eyes were shining with tears. “What did you do to my mother?”

“I didn’t do anything. Shifters are as weak in body as humans. Time has likely taken a toll on her by now.”

“Why do you say that?” Lena could feel a headache starting behind her eyes again. Sophia was so aggravating.

“Well, it is the twenty-first century and her mother was old when I took her. There’s no way she’s lasted another hundred years.”

Ellia’s mouth dropped open and she grabbed Lena’s arm. “It can’t be. There’s no way. Lena?”

Lena rubbed her temples. The Sophia problem had just gotten a little more serious.

“They won’t be able to touch us,” Hera gloated. “A fae queen and a dragon queen? This world isn’t even ready for the two of us.”

“They got rid of us once before. What’s to stop them from doing it again?” Lena said. She had a pounding headache and wanted to lie down somewhere cool. This was her stubborn sister’s fault. She didn’t want to think the worse of Sophia, but it was getting harder and harder.

“You think the humans are going to take this sitting down? They probably have flying cars and live in space homes by now,” Ellia said. “If the Council doesn’t take care of you, the humans will.”

Sophia bent over laughing. “I don’t want to disappoint you, but it’s nothing like that now! The humans aren’t much better than they were four hundred years ago. All they’re going to be able to do is sit back and wait for their orders.”

“Could you at least send me back to the twenties?” Margaret begged. “I won’t be of any use to you. Just send me back, please. Please!”

Hera sneered at the young shifter. “You have the chance to rule the world and you want to go home to your stupid old life? I honestly can’t believe you’re related to Sophia.”

Lena looked between the two women. They looked so much alike, it really wasn’t a stretch that they would work together. It did surprise her that Sophia would be so quick to forgive after Hera had tried to burn down her village.

“Let her be,” Sophia said. “I can’t send her back, and she’ll join us in time. You can rule over the shifters who aren’t dead, littlest sister.”

“So you rule the fae, and Margaret rules the shifters. What about the witches and the vampires?” Ellia asked.

“We already have someone for the witches and I’m securing someone for vampires later today,” Sophia said. “Oh, and I won’t rule over the fae. That will be Lena’s job. I’m going to be head of the new Council.”

Her eyes shone as she talked. Lena had Sophia wearing that fervent look before and it never ended well.

“What’s wrong, Lena?” Sophia came over and put her hand on Lena’s face. “Have another of your headaches?”

The pressure eased under Sophia’s palm. Lena closed her eyes and leaned into her sister’s hand. Sophia was always better at healing magic.

Margaret was sniffling in the corner. “You really could have asked me before bringing me here. I didn’t want any of this.”

“Well, it’s too late to take it back.” Sophia turned her head to look at the crying woman. “You are where you’re supposed to be. No more sniffles, please. The noise is grating.”

Two blue-haired figures entered the cave-house. They were dressed in big furry coats and boots.

“The vampire wants help avenging his brother’s death,” Renn said.

“Then he’ll help us with whatever you ask.” Reno finished the thought.

“Good!” Sophia said. “That idiot vampire brought it on himself, but this will be a good show for us. I want to crush that woman and all her soldiers. Once we have Sven on the throne, we’ll push to make him king of the whole continent.”

“I hope it will be warmer than this place.” Hera rubbed her arms. “This place is very dreary.”

“We can go now,” Sophia said. She leaned down and kissed Lena’s forehead. “You three stay here and wait for us. I don’t think I can trust you in battle yet. We’ll be back for you soon.”

“You can’t just leave us here!” Ellia jumped up. “We’ll freeze.”

“Oh, don’t be such a worrier.” Sophia waved her hand and the temperature of the room shot up twenty degrees. “This place is insulated too. If you go further into the tunnels, you’ll find rooms you can sleep in.”

“Sophia, please reconsider,” Lena said. “I don’t want to have to hurt you, but I won’t be able to stand by idly this time. I won’t let you get us all punished again. They may just wipe us out this time.”

Hera crossed her arms and a forked tongue snaked out of her mouth. “I’d like to see them try.”

“Come now, my dear.” Sophia took Hera’s arm. “We need to get started.”

Sophia and Hera left arm in arm.

“We’re going to have to kill her,” Margaret said, sniffing. “She won’t stop. I know she’s our sister and all, but we’re going to have to kill her this time.”

Lena sighed. “I know. I just hope there’ll be another way. She really isn’t so bad.”

“You only see the good in her, Lena,” Ellia said gently. “She’s done terrible things.”

“She inspired others to do terrible things,” Lena corrected. “She never actually did anything herself.”

“She did something horrible to me,” Margaret said. “She’s taken my entire life from me. I have no idea what this world will look like now or where I’m going to go.”

Lena looked at the door. “We’ll have to follow them. I’m sure she’s sent out the rest of the tribe on missions already.”

“I don’t think she’d have to ask them to do awful things.” Ellia held up her hand and lit up the cave wall. There was a map drawn there and there were words scrawled around the edges. Names, mostly, but some were grievances listed out. It appeared that the Northlands Fae didn’t appreciate being hunted and sent to another planet.

“Well, it looks like we’ve got our work cut out for us,” Lena said.

“You think the Council can handle all this?” Margaret asked. “They took care of it last time. I bet they’ll take care of it all again.”

“No,” Lena said. “I want to be sure the entire tribe isn’t punished, or you. They could rope all of us into this. We’re going to have to take care of this before the Council notices.”

***

Troy fell into soft snow. He retched a few times and then stood up. Whatever that was, he was not looking forward to doing it again to get home. He squinted in the sun and spun around. He didn’t want to call out for Lena in case she was being held against her will.

He didn’t recognize the terrain at all. He was sure it had to be her home world. Where else could her sister want to go? Lena had never mentioned snow when talking about her home. It was all green grass and mazes and stone sculptures. It sounded very much like a castle. The only thing he could see was mountains and snow. This couldn’t be Sophia’s home.

He sniffed the air. He could just faintly smell Lena. There were tracks in the snow around him but they could have been left by anyone. He followed them to a few steps away where they abruptly ended. They might have teleported somewhere else, but there was no portal open nearby. He sniffed and sniffed the air but he couldn’t get any trace of Lena or Ellia.

There was a thud in the snow behind him. Troy spun and he was equal parts overjoyed and immensely angry. His twin brother Tavis was untangling himself from Sir Allen, Lena’s guard.

“Hello, Troy,” Allen said once he’d stood up and brushed himself off. He raised his hand and moved the snow from his path. “Have you found Lena yet?”

“What are you two doing here?” Troy demanded.

“I was going to stay just like you asked, I swear.” Tavis held up both of his hands. “But Allen came crashing through the trees and wanted to know where you had gone.”

“It’s true. I basically forced the boy to come with me. He had no choice.”

Allen was lying, but Troy decided to pretend that the fae could force Tavis to do anything. He was glad to have the help.

“I haven’t found Lena,” Troy admitted. “I can’t even catch her scent. She must have come through the portal, but I don’t know where she went after that.”

“We’ll find her,” Allen said. “I have all my powers here. Let me close this portal first.”

Allen turned around and waved his hands in front of the shimmering air until it was clear. The portal to Manna was closed now. The only way for Troy and Tavis to get home was with the help of Allen or another fae. Troy needed to find Lena and quick. He trusted Allen but he would feel better when he saw that Lena still wanted to be his wife.

Allen turned and handed clothes to Tavis and Troy. “I think you’ll need these.”

Troy put on the coat and pants quickly. Fae powers came in handy.

Allen crouched down in the snow. He muttered a few words and the snow moved. In its place was a map with spots raised all over it.

“What is that?” Tavis asked.

“This is my tribe.” Allen frowned. “They aren’t all here, but I would guess that these two spots here are Ellia and Lena.”

Troy looked at the map. “Where are we?”

Allen smiled and pointed to one spot near Lena and Ellia’s position. “Very close. I don’t think they went far.”

The three men set out in the snow together. Allen cleared a path for them. Troy wanted to just fly over to where Lena was but Allen said no.

“If anyone sees you, we will be in a great mess of trouble,” Allen warned. “Only shift if it’s a life and death situation. There are no dragons here. You must remember that always.”

Tavis nodded. “Understood. We’d better find Lena fast. I don’t want to be in a place where I can’t shift.”

“This place looks very much like Manna,” Troy said.

“What were you expecting?” Allen asked.

Troy shrugged. “I thought it would be much different. I wouldn’t even know I wasn’t on Manna.”

“Maybe you’ll be able to meet a human. You’ll notice the difference once you see one of them.”

Tavis shivered. “It is very cold here. Are we close, Allen?”

“It should be somewhere around here.” Allen motioned one of his giant hands to the mountain face. “Look around for an opening or something that doesn’t look right. Sophia has hidden the entrance to wherever they are.”

“Of course she would.” Tavis rubbed his hands together. “Can’t your magic make it a little warmer?”

“Not if you don’t want to cause an avalanche,” Allen said. “Now keep your eyes peeled.”

Troy tried to focus his attention away from his numb limbs. His clothes were warm but he wasn’t used to the cold yet. He didn’t think he’d ever be warm until they left the snow behind. Tavis’s teeth were chattering. Troy looked at the face of the mountain. It was massive. He sniffed the air but couldn’t pick up any scent at all.

“Can’t your magic narrow this down?” Tavis asked.

“No. Keep looking.”

Troy ran his hands along the mountain face. “Are we getting any closer? Pull up your little snow map again.”

Allen leaned down and conjured the map again. “Now it’s saying we’ve passed it!”

Troy studied the map and backtracked twenty paces. The mountain looked no different but he could just catch a scent. It was weak, but Lena was close.

“Lena!” Troy yelled as loudly as he could. “Lena!”

The mountain didn’t move. Troy pushed against the rocks. “Lena!”

“It’s no use,” Allen said. “Let me try some magic.”

“If that doesn’t work, I’m going to fire up this whole rock face,” Tavis said. “One way or the other, we’ll get into the secret room.”

Allen said a few words but nothing happened. He tried another and then two more but still nothing. He threw his hands up. “She’s really hidden this one.”

Tavis shrugged off his coat. “Here goes nothing.”

“Wait!” Troy yelled. The rocks started to slide and a door appeared in front of them. He opened the door.

“What took you so long?” Ellia asked.

Troy’s eyes went straight to Lena. “I didn’t even know you were gone.”