“Ah, but I always have a backup plan, your majesty. Which is why I procured another worthy gift, just in case.”
“If you speak of your succubus, I already have one. They are not particularly powerful. I find their insatiable nature predictable.”
“Indeed. I would never bore you by offering a creature so one-dimensional. Which is why I brought you this.” Stricken reached into one of the interior pockets of his suit and pulled out a chain. He held it up so the amber ball on the end of it could catch the light.
“A lich’s phylactery?” The queen seemed intrigued. “Is it full?”
“Yes. It contains the soul of a mad wizard named Buford Phipps, guilty of many heinous crimes and sins against nature over hundreds of years. I discovered the secret location of his phylactery, and then arranged for his physical form to be destroyed. Take it and do with it as you will. It is my gift to you.”
This son of a bitch was full of surprises. Sonya looked like she wanted to punch him. Stricken had used her as bait to get MHI to take out Phipps for him. If Boone hadn’t gotten the word from one of his contacts, Stricken probably would’ve had Lana give us an anonymous tip anyway. No matter what happened, Stricken was always ready to capitalize on it.
The queen made a gesture, and a little froglike humanoid bounced over to Stricken to take the phylactery. Stricken handed the cursed item over to the creature, who bit it like a coin to see if it was real. The monster croaked, which must have meant it was legit and chock full of evil soul juice, because the queen gave us a radiant smile.
“It is no Drekavac, but truly a wonderous gift nonetheless.”
The frog thing took the phylactery and scurried out of sight. That was probably the end of the Shackleford family tradition of each generation getting to kick the ass of that particular lich.
“And with that, your terms have been met,” Stricken said. His tone suddenly shifted from unctuous suck-up to his regular self. “All that mandatory courtly fluff out of the way, can we get down to business now? Both of our worlds are suffering while Asag and the Old Ones duke it out in your kingdom. We require your permission to enter your realm so that we can destroy their armies. This is a win-win for both our species.”
“You will have to battle your way through great evil in your own world to reach the heart of the disturbance. The enemy will try to stop you every step of the way. How do you intend to accomplish such a feat?”
“There is an ancient saying among my people, knowing is half the battle. I have that knowledge. The other half is extreme violence, which is what I’ve got these people for.” Stricken gave her a charming smile and she seemed to approve of his answer. “Now that Franks and Pitt are committed, surely a bunch of warriors from MHI and the MCB are already on their way to help too. Whatever Secret Guard who are still alive out there, and whoever else we can scrounge up at short notice will assist us along the Earthly path. Once we break through the enemy lines, the select few you have granted access to your lands will engage your enemy directly. I’m asking on behalf of these champions—we’ll probably add a couple of werewolves with that title too—along with the scions of great family lines, like the greatest family of monster hunters in human history, to be granted free passage into and through your realm.”
That was an accurate thing to say about the Shacklefords, but I’d only married into that family. Stricken probably assumed Julie would show up, which was a safe bet with me being in danger. He didn’t need to add that family line thing to get her a pass though, because she bore the Guardian’s mark, which made her Chosen too. So either Stricken didn’t know about that, or maybe he thought her brother Nathan might come too.
The queen weighed his words carefully. All Fey, even the warlike ones, were known for being tricky with their words. “A family title earned through blood and effort rather than inheritance . . . Very well. Those terms are acceptable. And then?”
“That select group will then destroy the forces of your two enemies using the Newtonian weapon which I’ve procured. Asag and the Old Ones will be driven from your kingdom.”
“Asag fled to our lands after mankind destroyed his fortress in the north. The Old Ones saw their opportunity and attacked him there. My kingdom has been their battlefield ever since.” The queen leaned forward; the shift was subtle, just a change in attitude more than appearance, but suddenly the grove took on an aura of menace. This was also a goddess of war, and she liked the idea of slaughtering her enemies in one fell swoop. “You have the Ward?”
“Show her, princess.”
Sonya hesitantly stepped forward, then pulled down the neck of her shirt to reveal the stone still embedded in her chest. If the crowd had gotten a little interested when I’d been introduced, they got downright chattery when they saw the Ward Stone. I didn’t think it could blow up Fey like it did undead, but the device still seemed to freak them out. Or maybe it had a setting for that too? Isaac Newton had been full of surprises.
“Princess?” I whispered to Stricken.
“You called her that earlier. I thought you knew,” he whispered back, not taking his eyes off the queen.
“I was being insulting.”
“I was being accurate.” Then Stricken raised his voice again. “As you can see, the heir of the Kodama line has risked her health to keep the Ward safe from harm.”
“My spies tell me that this was an unforeseen development.”
“I wasn’t expecting Sonya to rob me, but I
