Chapter 42 Lucien
FORTY-TWO
Lucien
It took us many long days to repair as much of the damage to the city of Wrenchet, and for Olivia to pour her still-recovering powers safely into their gardens.
The full moon came and went as we all worked like dogs, other than a brief trip to renew our safe house wards, and we fell into our borrowed beds exhausted each night.
Brielle, Leigh, and Fiona all helped man the infirmaries, healing as many goblins as possible while the rest of us worked at our various tasks.
It was still unnerving to see Shay use visible bolts of white light to lift things ten times her body size, but she got shit done quickly, and we all appreciated that.
But finally, finally, it was time to leave.
A massive crowd of goblins teemed before us, excited and sad to send us off. Reed made a pretty speech about how much we appreciated their hospitality, and I wouldn’t lie and say my mind didn’t wander.
I was already on to the next steps, and where the fuck to find the last piece. Presuming Shay and Dirge had returned successful, a fact no one had brought up while we were repairing Wrenchet.
When Batten sidled up next to me, I didn’t think anything of it. She had hovered around us like an accusing fly for our entire stay, as if at any moment we might turn on them, now that the crone had given us what we came for.
Little did she know, loyalty ran deep with this pack.
When I looked down, though, she was staring directly at me. “Everything okay?” I murmured, not wanting to detract from Reed’s talk to the feisty crowd.
She nodded, solemn, considering. “You lack a wise one, but perhaps honor is enough. And you have behaved with honor to our people.”
“Thank you?”
She snorted, rolling her eyes. “Many underestimate goblins. We are small, and we look different, and many of us are unserious, as you well know by now.”
It was my turn to snort. “Yeah.”
“But those beings overlook our greatest strength. Community. We are many, and we are spread over the world as easily as grass seeds on the wind.”
I nodded, unsure where she was going with this little visit.
“There are no living phoenixes currently in the world. The New York clan reported the only one remaining—she was hiding in plain sight as a socialite—disappeared last Christmas, presumed dead by the police.”
Fuck.
“Do not despair, silly wolf. Much like we do not store our valuables in our cities, the phoenixes of old would not have left their prized possessions just anywhere. Turn back the pages of time and go to the history. Where did they store their valuables then?” To my surprise, she patted me on the hand, as if she approved.
“You are a smart, silly wolf. You will find it.”
With that, she turned and walked away, leaving me to puzzle over everything she’d said.
By the time we’d made it back to our safe house, the mood had lifted. The goblin piece was nearby, as best as we could tell, hidden behind Niagara Falls. And I hadn’t stopped thinking about the clue that Batten had given me, about where phoenixes had hidden things back then.
The second the door shut behind us, though, all attention turned to Shay and Dirge.
“Well, we have a lot to catch up on.” Leigh, as usual, wasn’t afraid to get the party started. She had settled the still-recovering Gael onto the couch and immediately turned toward her friend. “Can you fill in some gaps for us?”
Shay and Dirge shared a loaded look, and then Dirge pulled a small, glowing pouch from a pocket, shaking out the smallest glowing shard we’d seen yet into his palm.
A cheer went up, the females hugging and the males slapping each other on the backs.
“Okay, so, that’s three. We know where the goblin’s piece is, and we can get that before we leave. All that leaves is the phoenix piece,” Reed summarized, right back to business.
“I think I know where it might be.”
My announcement was met by all heads turning my way, even Gael, who looked close to dozing off over there.
“You’ve been holding out on us?” Olivia said, poking me lightly in the ribs with her elbow as she grinned up at me.
“No, actually. Batten gave me a hint before we left. She said there are no living phoenixes, per the goblin network. Even if a new phoenix has been born, they’re probably not old enough yet to be of any help.”
“Failing to see the good news here,” Leigh grumbled under her breath, but our shifter hearing still picked it up.
“The hint was to not worry about who was alive right now, and think about where they would have hidden the piece back then. ‘Turn back the pages of time,’ specifically.”
The confusion on everyone’s faces led me to continue.
“Egypt, guys. The phoenixes’ ancestral home was Egypt. I believe that’s where their nesting grounds were originally.”
Everyone began talking at once. Eventually, Olivia clapped twice, surprising me as everyone’s fractured conversations ground to a halt.
She blushed when I looked down, blinking in surprise. “I was an assistant teacher at a preschool. Sometimes you need a little clap to get people to focus. So, if we have two pieces, do we split up? Gael isn’t ready to go hiking off to the falls or tramping through the desert in Egypt.”
Ever the healer, thinking of others’ needs first before her own. I slid my arm around her waist and pulled her in close to my side, dropping a kiss on the top of her head and stealing a whiff of her delicious scent.
My wolf rumbled happily in my chest, enjoying this new phase where our bond was coming as soon as the moon was right, and we were safe.
“As much as I hate to split the pack further, I agree. Gael and Leigh need time to rest and heal.” Kane scanned the group, calculating.
Elodie spoke up. “Head Priestess Marciana called me yesterday. The last few watchers the ODL left at the enclave finally gave up and left after the battle, since they had hard evidence you weren’t there.
They should be perfectly fine to go back, take some R there was no arguing that even if it was temporary at best—I found it concerning. If we didn’t know where the ODL were, we wouldn’t know where to watch for the next strike.
We need to get the fuck out of Canada. Tension radiated through me as the mounting risk of every minute we stayed here seemed to pile like boulders right onto my shoulders. Olivia wasn’t safe here. And as her mate, it was my job to keep her safe.
A whole new wave of inadequacy threatened to swamp me. I didn’t know shit about protecting a female. The only one who’d ever depended on me was gone.
Not a good track record.
Olivia frowned up at me in confusion as if she could tell something was bothering me, and I quickly forced a smile. I didn’t want her to worry about her safety or about our relationship. We’d had enough ups and downs. It was time to move forward.
“If one of the pieces is behind a waterfall, I could probably help with that,” Fiona offered, wiggling her fingers and making thunder rumble overhead.
“I can manipulate the water if needed, make it a little easier to get where we’re going safely.
Reed can protect me, and we can bring it back to the enclave after we get it. ”
“But you can’t go alone. We don’t want anyone to be alone, not with the ODL regrouping, and Goddess knows what the Hungarians are up to right now.” Brielle shuddered, looking up at Kane with tortured eyes.
“I’ll go with them,” Samuel said, sharing a respectful nod with Reed and Fiona. “I was going to head back to Alaska, but I don’t have anything back home more pressing than this.”
“If the three of you are willing to go, I can’t be too proud to accept the offer. But I think one of the maidens needs to go with you. Fiona needs protection, as do all the marked females.” Kane said solemnly.
“So, is everyone else going to Egypt?” I asked, scanning the much-larger group of remaining pack mates.
Kane was already shaking his head. Arguments ensued, my impatience growing by the second, but in the end, it was agreed that we’d split into three groups.
The first group would get the piece here in Canada. Galyna would go with them to protect Fiona from any more issues with the ODL and, I quote, “To avoid sand in her fucking boots.”
The second group consisted of me, Olivia, Shay, and Dirge, heading to Egypt. After some disagreement, it was agreed that Oli was safe enough with both her mate and a full-powered greater fae at her back.
Elodie would stay with Brielle, Kane, Leigh, and Gael. We’d all be meeting back at the enclave as soon as it was safe, but no later than the day before the full moon, for our bonding ceremony.
The group was just about to disperse for a night of solid rest before we split up when a thought occurred to me. “How are we going to get to Egypt? The pack jet should probably stay here, in case most of the pack needs to get to the enclave quickly.”
Shay snorted, throwing an arm around Oli’s shoulders as she smirked at me like I was missing something obvious.
It was Dirge who finally filled me in. “How do you feel about light travel?”
Shit.
We were gonna get flashed across the world by a fae. My groan had everyone laughing.