Jen dropped her hand and stepped aside so Fane could walk past. When she looked back at Jen, she saw her friend still staring at them, wiping at the tears streaming down her face. Jen was tough as nails, but she was also fragile, and sometimes it was easy to forget that she needed to know how much she was loved. Jacque held her blonde best friend’s stare until Fane turned a corner and she could no longer see her.

  Slate’s babbling grabbed her attention. His smile was contagious, and when she was focused on him and the hope and joy that he instilled in her, everything else faded away. “Missed you, little man,” she said and rubbed his nose with hers.

  Slate patted her cheek and said, “Dada.”

  Fane’s chest shook with his laughter.

  “He only says it because ‘d’s are easier than ‘m’s.”

  “Whatever you need to tell yourself, Luna.” He pressed a kiss first to her head and then to Slate's and continued to follow Andora, who must have waited on them while they’d been talking to Jen.

  When they reached their assigned room, Andora stood in the doorway but didn’t step inside. “I will have food brought up. They will knock and then leave it outside of the door. There are clothes in the closet, and, yes, they will fit. Please, Jacque,” she said, her bright eyes imploring, “take all the time you need. You’ve been through a lot.”

  Memories of the past few years flashed through Jacque's mind as she looked at the sprite queen. “It’s no more than I’ve endured before. And as my mate said, your hospitality will not be forgotten.”

  Andora bowed her head and then closed the door behind her.

  Fane set her down on her feet and took Slate from her arms. “You shower. I’ll get you clothes. Then I’ll feed you and Slate. You will let me hold you until my wolf is calm enough to leave you.”

  Jacque felt his worry through the bond and knew he was being bossy because he had felt helpless to take care of her. One of his strongest instincts was always to take care of his mate. She would give him this, even though she felt the need to make sure everyone else was taken care of as well.

  “That is the gift of a female alpha, beloved,” Fane said softly. “You love all of those under your care. You will give of yourself until there’s nothing left.”

  “And what is the gift of the male alpha?” Jacque asked.

  “When I return from the hunt with Nick and his mate, I will show you.”

  Jacque threw her head back and laughed, which in turn made Slate laugh.

  “It always comes back to that, doesn’t it?”

  She felt the brush of his hand down her back, even though he was across the room. “It always comes back to me loving you and showing you that love in every way that I can.”

  Jen pulled herself together and marched to the medical room where Jacque had been fighting for her life for the past two weeks. Jen took a breath and stepped inside and saw that everyone was still present. “Can we take this meeting back into the great hall?” All eyes turned to her. “I need a change of scenery, and staring at that bed where my best friend suffered is not going to inspire any brilliant idea about this freaking riddle.”

  “Agreed.” Sally stood up.

  Jen looked over at Nissa. The high fae had not only helped with Jacque, but she’d also magicked clean clothes on to the healers and sprites as they’d kept their vigil next to their alpha. “I apologize for treating you like a clothing store, but would you mind?” Jen motioned around the room. “The rest of us can take showers later. But clean clothes would be great.”

  “I’m happy to help,” Nissa said in her gentle way. She spoke in the language that Jen had heard Peri use many times in the past. A few seconds later, everyone in the room was dressed in clean clothes: simple jeans and T-shirts. Jen was fine with that. Saving the world didn’t need to be done in a dress, no matter how badass she would look.

  “And maybe make sure we smell decent,” Heather said. “I don’t know about supernaturals, but we humans can get some serious B.O.”

  “Two words, blind chick,” Jen said. “Wet dog.”

  “You do remember that you have a wolf form, too, right?” Costin took Sally’s hand and began to lead her toward the door. “So the wet dog smell applies to you as well.”

  “Not the point.” Jen stepped aside as everyone filed out.

  Jeff, of the Coldspring pack, was the last to exit. He paused next to her. “What is the point?”

  "Annoyance." Jen smiled, and she knew her face showed the smile that Decebel described as her wicked grin. “It annoys the crap out of the males of our pack to be compared to dogs. Annoying Canis lupus males is sort of a hobby for me.”

  To Jen’s surprise, Jeff shook his head with a sly smile as he started walking again. “It’s too bad that you’re taken. I bet there’s never a dull moment with you around.”

  Jen's eyes widened. She tried to slam the bond shut before her mate could pick the alpha’s words from her mind.

  “Please pass on my condolences to the Coldspring pack,” Decebel’s voice rumbled in her mind.

  "Dammit." She groaned out loud.

  “And let them know we will assist them in finding a new alpha if none of their males are dominant enough for the task.”

  Jen shook her head and followed after the group. “He wasn’t hitting on me, B. Put away your claws and fangs. He was just making an observation. A very astute observation, I might add.” Jen started down the hall and felt her mate’s irritation through bond. She also felt his longing for her and his need to see their daughter.

  “He can observe something else, like an unmated female.”

  “I’ll pass that along,” she assured him.

  “No you won’t. You will not talk to him. I love you.” His voice softened, and she felt his hand run across her cheek.

  “I love you back. Any progress?”

  His sigh came through as loud and clear as if he was standing right beside her. “Aside from keeping Nick from attempting to kill every supernatural he comes across while he shakes them down for any scrap of information they might have about his mate or the Order, we got nothing.”

  Killing something sounded pretty cathartic to Jen at the moment. “Considering Kara has been taken, we can assume some members of the Order survived the cold fire. I'd lay even money that Alston made it through and that he is behind our healer's disappearance.” Jen stepped into the great hall and saw everyone sitting around a large round table filled with food. Her stomach rumbled at the sight.

  “I think that is a pretty good assumption.”

  Jen could feel his frustration and wished there was something she could do to help. “We need to speak with Peri.”

  “Does Lucian know she showed up?” he asked.

  Jen frowned when she realized how little they had communicated over the past few days. She’d been so focused on Jacque and taking care of Thia that she’d done little more than make sure he was okay and tell him she loved him. “He does. He came in here, realized she'd already vanished without so much as a 'Hey, big boy, where've you been all my life?' and then took off with Disir, the high fae. Disir said he could follow Peri’s magical signature. We haven’t heard from either of them since.”

  “Fantastic,” her mate growled. “Just what we need. An unstable male, possibly on the verge of going feral, out chasing his equally unstable mate.”

  “Unstable is putting it mildly. Peri has proven that she has surpassed me in the insane department. She is off-the-charts unhinged.” Jen didn’t want to believe the high fae who’d become so dear to her had gone completely crazy, but it was difficult to argue with the evidence.

  “Perhaps we shouldn’t count her out just yet. If she came to you all and gave you some sort of warning or message, then maybe she is not as lost to us as we first thought.”

  Jen hoped that was true. She wanted to believe that everyone was redeemable, though she wasn’t always great at giving grace. Perhaps this was an opportunity for her to work on that flaw. Ugh. Working on flaws was not her strong suit. Beheading things, that was more her jam.

  “Please attempt to refrain from beheading anything or anyone while I am not around. Working on the grace thing seems much less dangerous.” Decebel's voice was stern, but she detected a bit of humor underneath.

  “I’ll do my best. I love you. Now, do what you do, and help Nick save his chick.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Oh, I like the sound of that.” Jen grinned. She took a seat at the table and reached for an empty plate.

  “Promise to keep your clothes on and don’t kill anyone, and I’ll say it to you under different circumstances.” She felt his lips on her forehead.

  "I'll try, but I can't make any promises."

  “Give Thia a kiss for me,” he replied.

  “Will do. Love you, B.”

  “And I you.”

  Jen focused her attention back on the group. She began adding food to her plate and looked at Wadim as she remembered something he'd said before Jacque’s ordeal started. “Wadim, prior to Peri popping in and blowing our circuits, you started to tell us about finding out … something. We got a tad sidetracked. Can you share with us what you know?”

  He nodded, swallowing a mouthful of water, and then wiped his mouth with a napkin. The historian grabbed a pad of paper sitting next to his plate. “Before all of that excitement, I had been able to get some research done. The sprites allowed me to dig into their archives. Considering many of the supernaturals are a bit touchy about letting others into their business, there’s much we don’t know about the past. It’s very interesting to see—”

  “Babe.” Zara placed her hand on his forearm and smiled at him. “While I love to see you get excited over your nerdy, history stuff, I think they just want you to get to the point.”

  Jen was really glad it was his mate that had stepped in because her own words wouldn’t have been quite so diplomatic.

  Wadim cleared his throat. “Right. So, what I found was that a long, long, like ridiculously long time ago, there was an incident recorded by the sprite historians when cold fire had been used by a high fae.”

  Nissa sucked in a breath, and all eyes shifted to her.

  “Okay, the whole atmosphere of the room just changed,” Heather said. She popped a grape in her mouth and then added. “Who’s the one attempting not to freak out but is obviously not doing a good job judging by that amazing gasp, not to mention the power that’s vibrating out of them like a generator?”

  Jen couldn’t help but marvel, not for the first time, at what an amazing attitude Heather had in regard to her blindness. She could have been bitter over her sightless life, but instead she took joy in the senses she did have. Not to mention she was funny as hell.

  “Nissa looks like she’s seen a ghost,” Anna offered. “And she’s glowing just a bit, like Peri sometimes does.”

  “You do realize that I've never seen Peri glow, right?” Heather asked.

  “You asked where the power was coming from, and I’m giving you an answer. Don’t get picky just because you’re unable to experience all the weird things in this—”

  “I will cut you.” Heather tossed a roll, unerringly, at Anna.

  “Wow, they’re just like you three.” Cindy glanced at Jen and Sally.

  “Good grief,” Myanin muttered. “Nissa, what’s your damage?”

  Jen nearly laughed at the djinn’s use of human slang. Apparently she'd been in their realm a little too long. But Nissa’s glowing skin, which was getting brighter, quickly stifled the laughter.

  The high fae swallowed and then looked around the table until her gaze landed on Jen. “The time of which your historian speaks… It was thousands of years ago. Perizada was a child. I was a child.”

  “Whoa,” Stella murmured. “It’s hard to think of Peri, or you, for that matter, as a child. I’ve always thought she just came out as an adult fae with a ridiculous amount of power.”

  “You look like you’re about to throw up,” Jen told Nissa. “And I've seen that look before. It's the same one Peri got when the memory of the witches returned. You've forgotten something. Actually, it isn't that you've forgotten, it's that you've—”

  “Hidden it away."

  "Hidden it away?" asked Heather.

  "They do that sometimes," said Jen. "Crap that is better left forgotten."

  "So, this is really, really bad?" asked Stella.

  "Whatever happened must be too painful to even consider. And if I know the fae, they not only considered it, but they allowed it to happen?” Lilly offered. The pain in the warlock queen’s eyes made Jen ache. Her appetite was suddenly gone. Jen set down the forkful of vegetables she’d been about to put in her mouth.

  “Exactly.” Nissa nodded. She looked at Wadim. “Did the archives tell you which fae performed the cold fire? Or why?”

  Wadim shook his head. “The record only stated there had been two survivors within the cold fire: two female fae children."

  "How?" Heather almost whispered.

  "The archive entry stated the children had survived because they’d been protected."

  No one spoke for several seconds. Everyone stared wide-eyed at Wadim.

  Jen’s wolf growled as she waited for him to continue. "What the hell are you waiting on, history-boy? Spit it out!"

  "The children were protected by the draheim.”

  “What?” The expectant look on Lilly's face was replaced with confusion. “I’ve seen the draheim. They did not seem like the type of supernaturals to protect anything but their own. They were quite … volatile.”

  Nissa folded her hands and set them on the table in front of her. “Every race has those who choose the wrong path. That does not mean the entirety of them follow in those footsteps.”

  “So, the draheim can withstand the cold fire…” Jen thought back to her attack on the Order compound, attempting to remember any details she might have noticed. Then her mind slipped even further back, and she remembered the very first battle at the compound. “There was a draheim at the compound,” she said quickly as she snapped her fingers. “Ludcarab,” she looked at Sally, “remember? He was riding that draheim.”

  “Holy pixie babies.” Sally’s eyes widened.

  “You think that draheim helped Peri?” Costin asked.

  Jen held out her hands. “The proof is in the pudding.”

  Costin frowned. “Is that some weird American saying? All I needed was a yes.”

  “Bloody hell. Yes. I think that if that draheim was still around when Peri went kaboom, and it chose to help her, then that would explain why she survived.”

  “Okay, that mystery is possibly solved.” Anna looked back at Nissa. “But I wonder who the two fae children were that were saved long ago.”

  “Perizada, naturally, and … Nissa.” A male voice spoke from the door of the great hall. It was Disir. Lucian was nowhere to be seen. “Perizada and Nissa were the fae children saved that day.”

  “Why do I feel like my entire world has just shifted on its axis?” Sally asked. “First the draheim can withstand cold fire, next we remember the Order had a draheim, and now Peri and Nissa are not simply high fae but miracle-baby high fae.”

  Jen, along with every head at the table, turned to look at Nissa. The high fae reached for her glass of water, her hand shaking as she picked it up and took a quick sip. The skin around her mouth drew tight. Nissa kept her eyes down, avoiding the probing stares of everyone. “The memory of that day,” she finally spoke, “is lost to me. It is only now that I realize it happened.”

  “You and Peri were saved, not for a single reason, but for hundreds if not thousands of reasons,” Disir continued. “You and Peri both have your flaws. But so do we all. That day, you were both protected by those who loved you and saved by those who knew that your life, and Peri’s life, would serve to protect many others. For whatever reason, Nissa’s path has led her here, where she has been able to help in so many ways. She is not in need of rescuing. But Peri needs to be saved again. This time, from herself.”

  “I’m assuming you’ve found her considering you’re back from your adventure with her mate?” Jen pushed up from the table so fast her chair fell back to the ground.

  “She’s in the draheim realm.” Disir’s eyes dropped, and he looked as if he saw something the rest of them could not. “I felt her magic end there, but that wasn't all. Mingled with her magic, there was despair—such hopelessness. I don’t…” He paused and swallowed, seemingly trying to hold himself together. “I didn’t tell Lucian. Only that I felt her magic there.”

  “Where is he?” Wadim asked.

  “He’s at the veil to the draheim realm. We tried to enter, but we couldn’t. Something has it blocked. I told him I would see if I could figure out a way in, but he refused to leave.”

  “Of course he did.” Jen's chest tightened, her heart beating hard in her throat.

  “So, we need to get into that realm.” Myanin spoke up. Gerick took her hand in his and ran his thumb across the top in a soothing gesture.

  “This sucks pixie balls.” Heather huffed.

  “Some of our females were trapped in the pixie realm,” Kale said. His hand rested under Heather’s hair on her neck, and she leaned into him. “We were eventually able to get through the veil. It was not an easy task, and it required the help of other supernaturals.”

  “Who helped?” Lilly asked.

  “Thadrick, the djinn,” Heather answered. "We were in the realm for four months.”

  “But once Thad took the job, he had them out in no time at all,” Elle added.

  “This isn’t the pixie realm we’re talking about,” Wadim said. “The draheim are a hell of a lot more powerful than pixies. And if Peri is working with them on keeping the veil closed, it will be even more difficult.”

  “Son of a troll's ass.” Myanin slammed her hand onto the table.

  “Don’t think that’s a thing,” Anna muttered, then held up her hands in a placating gesture when the djinn shot her a glare. “Just saying that being the son of anyone’s ass would be quite a feat.”