Her reply is sweet, “Yes, I’m sure. Water if you don’t mind.”
My mother smiles and places a gentle hand on her belly. It’s then that I notice a difference in her aura, how I didn’t notice it before is beyond me, and I ask, “So, when can I expect another addition to our ever-expanding family?”
“Lillie Joanna,” she scolds, “it has been just the three of you for a while now and your father and I miss having little ones around the Keep. All three of you are grown and are wanting to stretch your wings. We’ve had more than enough time on our hands -”
“Mother. Stop.” I hold up my hands before she can continue. My father laughs and pulls my mother in close to his side, wrapping an arm around her possessively and grinning like the Cheshire cat as Tarron brings her a glass of water, and I continue, “So back to the subject at hand. What do you know of these followers?”
“Not much really, we’ve heard tales of the New Raven Order. Some of which have made it to the Drakon guardians. Dray has been trying to determine how they are crossing from this realm into Faerie. The Drakon heavily guard the areas of the veil between our worlds that is the thinnest as well as the dolmen portals, but we think they have either found a hidden portal that no one knows about or they have found another way to come and go between the realms. Until now we did not think that they posed a threat, but we fear that they are becoming stronger and have more than enough followers to attempt to raise the fallen phantom queen from The Underworld.”
Everyone stops to mull over this information. The Drakon are dragon shifters and were once the guardians of the realms. Their special talent is that they can realm hop without the need for a portal. Kind of like tracing, but very unique to the Drakon while in flight. That was a long time ago, but then, when the veil between the realms was damaged by the actions of the Morrígna the dragon shifters once again took up their once necessary position of guardians of the realms. Now they guard the veil between worlds to ensure that the comings and goings between the realms are limited to those with business in the realms and those that have express permission. Otherwise, Faerie would be inundated with mortals trying to flee their struggling planet. Dray swore his allegiance to my parents long before I was even born and has been instrumental in organizing his kind for the now crucial task. Daxell shifts, gaining my attention.
“I need to bring word of this to Luc. Tarron, I think its time that I go back to Hell for a visit.” Dax says seriously, “I know that I’m supposed to be here for a while longer, but under the circumstances, I think I need to head back.” He runs his hand through his hair before sitting back and looking at me, his face a mask, but his eyes tell a different story. They hold regret.
“I think that we need a little more information to give to Luc, not that he probably isn’t already aware of something going on. Let’s see what we can dig up. In the meantime, let’s all convene back here in one week at the same time. That will give me a little bit of time to get back to Raven’s Claw Keep and talk with my counsel. It may be time for me to head back to Faerie for a while and leave the running of this establishment to some of my horde.”
“That should give me plenty of time to search the web, to see what I can find out here, on my end,” I announce.
“What do you want me to do?” Dax asks. “I want to help.”
Smiling, I say, “You can help me. We’ll go to your place and you can pack a bag and come back with me.”
“Now wait just a minute,” my father interjects, a scowl on his face. “Why does he have to stay at the house? You can just trace him home at night.”
“I could, but if he wants to crash, then he won’t have to worry about clothes, but I’ll leave it up to demon boy.”
“Jeez, LJ, stop with the demon boy comments. Why don’t I just meet you back here tomorrow? My bike is in the underground parking garage. I need to get it back to my place. I don’t want anything to happen to it.”
“I’ll agree, on one condition. You take me for a ride tonight. I can trace back home from your place.”
“Lillie, I don’t -”
“Da, my life, remember. I’ll be safe. You made sure that I know how to handle myself. Relax. Go take care of Mama. I’ve got this.”
My father mumbles under his breath, “I seriously doubt that you do.”
8
She’s All That
(Daxell)
I‘m quickly learning that LJ is good at getting her way, even though I know that she has not been spoiled or use to overindulgence. As endearing as that quality is in her, I’m nipping this right now. “I’ll make that deal only if we both go back to our individual places tonight and get a good night’s rest. We meet back here tomorrow night at eight in the evening. I have some things I need to do tomorrow. If you show, I’ll take you out on my bike. If you don’t, no harm, no foul.”
“And just why would I not show?” She demands, tapping her pointy-toed black suede boot in aggravation.
“Oh, I don’t
