Myanin watched her until she couldn’t see the fae any longer. The djinn’s skin was already beginning to crawl at the thought of being stuck within the confines of the building, but she did need rest and something to eat besides cotton candy. “Food, then rest,” she muttered and headed to the Order mess hall.
As she walked, she found herself sending a prayer to the Great Luna that she and Tenia would somehow pull off their subterfuge. They had to. Tenia’s son’s life depended on it, as did the lives of many others. She thought back to the number of vampires Cain had already sired and the fact that he’d said there were many more on the way. Three months still remained in the mourning period before the Order could engage their enemy. How many vampires could be made in that time? She didn’t have to mentally calculate the exact number to know it was too damn many.
Forcing one step in front of the other, Myanin found that she had to remind herself to keep a bored look on her face. Her lips kept wanting to spread into a smile. Despite everything she was facing, she was free. Freer than she’d ever been. First, she’d been bound by her feelings for Thadrick. She hadn’t realized it all those years, but her feelings for a man that was not hers had been a noose around her neck. She’d tightened the noose by her actions and then pretty much hung herself when she’d killed Lyra. But now? Now she was free because she’d cleansed herself of her wrongdoing. Would she still, most likely, die because of her choices? Yes. But she had made things right with her Creator, and she was making things right with her allies. She would be able to close her eyes in this life and open them in the next with a clear conscience, knowing she’d pleased the Great Luna and kept others safe.
Tenia’s mind was focused on getting to her son as she hurried down the long, dark corridor. The pathway started above ground but then headed down a set of stairs, tunneled beneath the surface, and connected two of the compound buildings together. It didn’t matter what she was doing or where she was, her mind was always on Torion. The fact that Alston had managed to get his evil hands on her son made Tenia sick. What kind of mother lets something like this happen to her child? Her breathing increased as her feet moved even quicker. Her heart beat to a rhythm, and the sound of it was her son's name. The closer she got to him the harder the organ beat. It would continue that way until she was finally face-to-face with him again, and then for those brief moments, her heart seemed to keep a normal, staccato rhythm.
She’d been stupid and trusted Alston because he’d been a high fae, a leader of their people. He’d come to her with a story of needing her unique ability for the high fae council, even throwing out Perizada’s name, because Tenia had always looked up to Peri. He’d told her she’d be a hero, that she’d make her son proud. Hell, he’d even mentioned the Order. But he’d left out the part where she’d be working for them, not against them. He’d made a fool out of her, and now she was paying for it.
She passed others as she marched along, but she spoke to no one. She rarely engaged with the other Order members. They had nothing in common. The only ones who even knew she had a child here were the two fae who guarded her child. Alston wasn’t a complete moron. He knew that even among the riffraff of the Order, there would be some who would not like knowing a child of one of the Order “members” was being used as a bargaining tool. Messing with the enemy’s children had been pushing it for some, but even then, no one believed Ludcarab or Alston would actually harm the children. As far as anyone knew, Tenia was here of her own free will. Alston wanted it to continue to appear that way. As she got closer to her son, the invisible tether that kept him tied to her heart grew taut as her need to hold him increased. She just needed to see his little face, see that he was completely unharmed.
The room where Alston kept her son wasn’t a cell, but he wasn’t allowed to leave, and it was constantly guarded. She knew the two guards stationed outside Torion’s room, and she was relatively convinced neither of them would hurt the boy, though she wasn’t sure if they would actually prevent him from being harmed at Alston’s hands. She didn’t know if they understood that he was capable of hurting a child, which Tenia believed he fully was. The thought caused her to increase her speed as her heart pounded harder Torion, Torion, Torion, it beat over and over. She couldn’t flash to his room because there were certain parts of the compound that Ludcarab and Alston had warded. The areas were basically no-flashing zones, as some fae had laughingly said about them.
When she saw Torion’s door, she nearly started to run. She was almost there. Her breathing increased as she hurried forward. Her eyes shifted to glance at the guards, but her vision was momentarily blocked by another passing body. When they moved past her, Tenia stumbled as her eyes landed on one lone figure. The two fae that normally stood guard were gone.
Instead, a single male leaned against the wall with his arms folded. He was big and definitely not fae. He’d better not be a damn bloodsucker. Tenia forced her legs to move forward again. She trembled the closer she got to him, and sweat trickled down the back of her neck. Tenia’s steps slowed, which
