“Sir, what’s wrong.” The nymphs and dryads in the woods were coming out to greet him.

  “Keep them from finding me, please,” Tae begged them knowing they would use the trees and water to help him get away. He had built loyalties with the creatures that inhabited the woods. He just needed time to find his mind again, then he would find who killed her.

  Running until he couldn’t anymore, he collapsed on the ground, and the dryads of the trees bent their branches to protect him until he could get himself up and run again.

  Chapter One – Two Waterfalls

  Seraphina held back a groan and an eye roll as she watched the young bears of Cedar Falls and Blue Falls as they practiced spinning each other around in circles in the Great Hall of the Slamarian clan. She was careful not to lean too far over the railing already covered with a satin ribbon doused with glitter. A giggle traveled through the air up to her as one of the boys stepped on one of the girl’s feet. It was hilarious. Suddenly every one of them was dying of laughter, and Seraphina was in hell. This was not where she wanted to be, but a mission was a mission.

  For a while, she thought the death of the former alpha would mean war between his clan and the Alornians, their nearby rivals. The people had loved Harold, the previous alpha. It was a great loss to even the fae, her people, when he was killed. Somehow the clans had reached a kind of peace when the true killer had been revealed, and they were celebrating with a grand ball. Well, they called it a grand ball. All it really consisted of were both sets of were bears getting drunk and spinning each other on the dance floor. She’d seen such a ball before. From the look of it, all the attendees were going to be younger, giggling cubs.

  The first thing Seraphina noticed about the ball was the name. The theme being the two clans coming together. The Slamarians lived in Cedar Falls, and the Alornians lived in Blue Falls so whoever oversaw such things cleverly named the ball Two Waterfalls. Being a water fae Seraphina could appreciate it, but still found it lame. She also had a challenging time understanding why they were taking a full weekend to prepare. It seemed like decorations and food could be made ready the day of the ball. There were no real formal invites. Announcements of the event usually consisted of the leader of the clans gathering its people in the square and sharing the news of the event in one speech.

  More of the satin ribbon hung from the banisters and molding all over the hall, and large bouquets of purple and yellow flowers graced each table setup so far. There was no way she would get out of the room without glitter covering her whole body. The lights were hung from chandelier to wall with blue bulbs to mimic water. There were large pictures of the waterfalls on each wall. The theme carried throughout the room, and if it weren't for the table and other natural fixtures, it would probably be too much.

  Her job at the moment was to observe and report. The primary goal was to figure out the entrances and exits as well as security. What the fae had planned for the ball would take stealth. Unfortunately, her impulsive King, Rytas chose two days before the ball to lay out his plan. This meant she didn’t have a lot of time to execute her own.

  The paranormal war Rytas had in his mind to insight didn’t affect her personally. She would just as soon have everyone remain peaceful, but she would also fight if that’s what her king wanted. Plus, her mother wanted her to stay on the king’s good side so he’d take care of them. Somehow her mom had it in her head that he paid Seraphina a higher salary than he did. She barely made the payments for the bills and her mother’s credit card debt every month.

  It was completely selfish, but her mother had never been one to put others before what she wanted. Seraphina had practiced all her life and was a good shot, a fast learner, and smarter than most of the other water fae. She mastered persuasive magic and had figured out how to use it to better their community. Most of the time Rytas, wanted her to gain land for them or resources. Of course, this mission wasn’t bettering anything, it just made it worse. Disrupting the peace of a world was never a good plan. But he had his reasons and reluctantly she played along.

  Seraphina to get into the house and steal a very valuable crystal bear during the ball. The goal was to set it up so the Alornians looked like the thieves. This was how Rytas planned to force the war despite the peace agreement. Since he’d given her next to no time to plan, she was flying by the seat of her pants. She’d tried to wear a very human ensemble so she wouldn’t stick out. Humans often worked for the Were’s and there were so many people milling about no one would notice her at least for a little while. A pink flowery dress, black flip flops, and the white cardigan were so not her style, but it fit with what she wanted to portray.

  She moved about noting locations and seeing where the best ways to get into the house from the tent were. The Fae moved along with the usual hustle of humans and found the chore to be a bit tedious. Finally, frustrated with trying not to look suspicious, she waved a hand in front of a servant. The woman had just dropped off a series of trays and headed back towards the rear of the place when Seraphina encountered her.

  “Tell me where the entrances to the house are.” Making sure to keep the woman’s eyes focused on her, she gently touched her shoulder using her persuasive magic. She didn’t want to use force, she wanted it to be a simple process.

  It could get quite cruel if someone didn’t do what she asked rightfrom the beginning, but the young maid seemed susceptible to it immediately. She led Seraphina around the tent lifting the side and pointing to side doors and the kitchen where she could easily slip into the house. As she broke the connection with the maid, someone else got her attention.

  “Who are you?” A deep voice startled her, and she jumped back from the maid to find where the voice was coming from. She had to keep looking up and up until her eyes landed on a huge man. His handsome face looked down at her. Piercing eyes of green cut through her. At the moment, he looked wary of her with a hard expression. She found him even more appealing because of it. She was of course up to no good but hoped her persuasive magic would work on a werebear. She’d only used it on humans before.

  “Well hello there, I’m Seraphina. I’m checking out the venue for the Slamarian alpha.” It was the first thing that came to her mind. Immediately after this, she searched for a good reason to be checking out the venue.

  “Why?”

  “Why do you need to know?” Seraphina asked, poking his huge arm with her index finger.

  “I need to know because I’m head of Alornian security, name’s Donovan, and I wasn’t made aware there would be Slamarians patrolling as well.”

  Damn it, Seraphina would tell the head of security she was with security. It was just her luck. Her ability to think quickly on her feet had been derailed a bit by the handsome overpowering man. If she played it right, she could make this work.

  She turned on the magic, the only card she had to play. It wouldn’t work on him like it did with humans, but it would make her a lot more believable.

  “The alpha wanted extra protection. Something about a witch spreading rumors of ruining the ball. They are not leaving anything to chance, so I'm doing as I was told.”

  “Penelope? She just got out of prison for the last time. See I'd heard the same rumors, that's why we're beefing up security for this event.” He moved fast, and she had to take quick steps to keep up with him as he made his way around the ball room.

  Wow, Seraphina couldn’t believe that worked. She’d made it up, completely. She knew witches could be nasty but hadn’t heard about them in a while.

  “So, I bet you’re really strong, huh?” She wanted to change the subject since she had no clue who Penelope was. She pushed her hair out of her face and batted her lashes. It wasn’t something she would normally do, but she wanted to seem as harmless as possible to the giant were bear.

  “I need to check this out with the alpha.” Donovan started to walk away to find Stefan, the Slamorian alpha. A quick glance around told her the Alorian Alpha, Walter, wasn’t there yet. During the initial planning period of getting a war started her leader had made sure she was familiar with the were’s in power and what their histories were. His motivation hadn’t been made clear to her, he justsaid to trust him. In her culture, you didn’t question the leader.

  When Stefan’s predecessor had been killed, Rytas thought he had it made. It seemed he wouldn’t have to start anything and the were’s would go to war without any outside influence. But he was wrong. The current regime held fast to the treaty and made every attempt to avoid another blood bathed war like before.

  Seraphina reached up and put a hand on his arm but took it away when he glared at her. “Look, sir, I’m just checking the perimeter, same as you. I’m not doing anything wrong, and I’m not bothering anyone by being here.” She smiled up at him hopeful that sounded convincing.

  She saw the change when he finally really noticed her. His demeanor shifted, and he looked over her face with a kind of absent-minded smirk. She felt a strange whirl in the bottom of her stomach and took a step back from him. He took her breath away with his dark features and broad shoulders. He shook himself and put the stern look back on his face.

  “My job is to make sure this joint event runs smoothly. I don’t know why I feel like telling you this but I’m in charge in case a witch who has given us some trouble in the past shows up and tries something.” Donovan looked around as if making sure no one heard him. The Fae wondered what he was going to say, if anything.

  The magic had worked on him if he was sharing information. She smiled to herself, I must be getting stronger to influence a huge bear like this. The fae’s magic was like an instrument they had to learn to play over time. It was something that came with practice although some of the fae possessed a stronger gift than others. She was getting stronger every day, and she loved it.

  “Well, I’m going to continue to do my job then.” Turning she walked away hoping he didn’t ask any more questions.

  Seraphina felt a strange melancholy walking away from him. She felt like she knew him, his energy was that of a kind soul, and she was used to being around those with cold hearts and selfish plans. She had a job to do though, so she made her way towards the closest entrance the maid showed to her.

  Surprisingly for a place where a huge ball was going to be held, there weren’t that many people in the house. She could hear people walking around in the kitchen, and an occasional servant would run by with flowers or another large spool of glitter ribbon. None of them seemed to notice her. She knew where Stefan’s office was thanks to an inside source Rytas didn’t feel she needed to know about. He had been able to get close to the alpha and told Rytas everything in exchange for some kind of payment. What it could be, Seraphina didn’t know.

  She found the room quickly and slipped inside. The alpha’s office was clean and organized. She noticed everything lined up perfectly across his desk. The books on the shelves were alphabetized, and everything had its place. And there on the bottom shelf alone sat the crystal bear.

  There was a clear box around it with a black key code pad. This was part one of the mission. Seraphina needed to figure out the code. If there was an alarm, she didn’t see it, but as she approached she worried she might set something off. If she did then everything would be ruined. Slowly she moved towards the bear, its crystals made colorful patterns on the wall from the lamp that illuminated them from the desk.

  There wasn’t a lock on the box, just the keypad, but she couldn’t see how it opened to get the bear out. She leaned closer as she crouched down trying to listen for footprints.

  “So, you’ll be at the ball then,” that familiar dark voice rumbled from behind. Donovan surprised her walking up behind her as she reached for the box to look for the opening. It was hard to believe someone so large could move so stealthily. Then again there were other footsteps right outside the room as servants prepared for the event.

  “Yes,” thinking on her feet again she’d not planned on it, but it went along with the current situation. There was something about Donovan that caused her to crave being near him. If it meant spending more time together, she would gladly return.

  “Great.” He smiled. “I’ll save you a dance.” He gently strolled away without uttering a single other word.

  He didn’t find it strange she was in the alpha’s office because he thought she was security. If he noticed her examining the bear, he didn’t mention it. There was no way for her to examine the box anymore with him standing in the hallway. He didn’t move when she walked towards the door, and it made her nervous.

  “On second thought, why don’t you meet me at the waterfall tomorrow. We’ll go over the plan for security, and I’ll fill you in on the witch.”

  Her heart leaped. It wasn’t a date really, but Donovan wanted to see her again, and that was enough for her. Before she thought it through she agreed. He beamed and walked away. She decided the best thing to do was to go back home and report before she raised any more suspicion.

  Seraphina’s leave went unnoticed. The crew of party preppers continued to flutter about the premises. With more lights, ribbon, and glitter the place began to look quite magical. Plates and platters of various sizes were put out. She could imagine them filled to the brim with all sorts of finger foods on Sunday and remembered she hadn't eaten lunch. The event itself would prove to be a massive undertaking with two clans at its center.

  The fae almost felt a pang of guilt because her task would bring an end to the peaceful gathering. As she left thoughts of not going through with the plan fluttered about in the back of her mind. But she knew that was not an option. The show had to go on.

  Chapter Two – Back to the Stream

  The water fae lived beneath Blue Falls and kept their houses next to a stream. They’d always lived a simple life building their own homes out of the plants and materials from the woods. Seraphina made her way beneath the waterfall and wished she could go and change her clothes. She had to face the King first since his home was on the way to hers and his nosy guards would see her.

  Sure enough, Dae and Sima were standing at the entrance to the King’s dwelling giggling to one another. Seraphina was all too familiar with their ribbings.

  “Teacher’s pet is back,” Sima said. Her smile neither kind nor happy. The two fae were taller than Seraphina and more muscular.

  “Shove it, Sima, I need to see Rytas.”

  “I’ll bet you do,” Dae hissed. They didn’t seem keen to let her in but moved aside anyway. Their large spears uncrossed to let her through. Seraphina knew the guards, and many other fae in the community thought she was sleeping with Rytas. Nothing would have made her mother happier, but she was sure Rytas loved himself too much to love another. He was a handsome fae, but she’d never seen him with a date.

  Rytas sat on his throne which resembled a beaver’s dam over the stream. It consisted of sticks crisscrossed over each other and a pattern of smooth rocks from the bottom of the waterfall. All of these things went up to a point on which a chair was fashioned from two boulders and more of the smooth rocks. He wore a crown so large she wondered how he held his head up straight.

  “Phina, darling, welcome back,” he stood and held his arms out to her. “Are you prepared to take the bear on Sunday?”

  “No, I was caught. There was someone there.” Seraphina felt like she should give him as little information as possible.

  “Someone there? And how were you caught?”

  She thought for a minute. It wasn’t a good idea to tell Rytas she met a man and he distracted her. That was exactly what happened, but he would be irate if he knew she wasn’t focused.

  “The security guard for Walter’s clan. He’s extra intuitive and in position where the bear is housed.”

  “How does this make me look Phina?” Rytas was always so familiar with her and liked this shortened version of her name. His voice held a warning.

  “I’m sorry Rytas, they were prepared for someone to take it. They must have told him to watch the bear.”

  Rytas fired back. “You know why this is important, don’t you? You understand that we’ve been restricted to this waterfall like cattle. The stream our only road. You realize they go wherever they want and we’re punished for one or two mistakes. I must have this moment. This war is our salvation.”

  “Yes,” she replied softly. She knew Rytas was referring to the two fae who completely destroyed towns and tricked people with their magic for a whole weekend. It was like a magic joy ride with two youngsters who certainly knew better behind the wheel. After that, the alphas and other paranormal creatures had told the fae they could stay within a particular area or leave the forest. Rytas didn’t like being told what to do. He was studying Seraphina now with a thoughtful look.

  “How could they have been ready? You were supposed to go in when no one was around. That’s why I sent you in during the setup.” Rytas stood and started to pace back and forth.

  “First of all, setup is not a quiet time. The place was crawling with people. Secondly, I told you he was really tuned into me.” As soon as she said the words she wished she could take them back.

  “He was. You were manipulating him, weren’t you?” Rytas walked over to her and stood a little too close for comfort. She couldn't tell if he was turned on or made jealous by the idea. Either way, coming from him, the moment felt strange.

  “He found you attractive without persuasion?”

  She was unsure how to answer him. It was possible Donovan did find her attractive without persuasion. She’d not tried to manipulate him when he said he’d save her a dance. She needed to be very careful how she chose her words.

  “I’m not sure my King. I can get the job done if I go back to the ball. I’m meeting with him tomorrow to discuss security detail. I feel pretty certain I can get information about the bear from him.