Page 452 of Bitten By the Fae
“We never found out why he’d done that, either,” I added, thinking back to the day I’d cast that object history enchantment. “You were talking to me…” I frowned. “Except, no, it wasn’t your voice.” It was deeper. Different. “Was it Tadmir talking to me? He said he was coming for me. That I knew him. That I would become him. Why would he say that?”
“To move fate along,” Shade replied. “He was probably pretending to be Zakkai in order to prepare you.” He shook his head. “It’s hard to say exactly what he intended, but I know it wasn’t nefarious.”
Zakkai nodded. “I agree. He’s been working through time for too long to be trying to hurt you or any of us.”
“Hold on.” Kols held up his hand, his expression one of stark confusion. “Tadmir. As in, Malefic CouncilmanTadmir?He’s your uncle?”
“Half uncle,” Zakkai explained. “He’s a Paradox Fae Quandary Blood masquerading as a Malefic Blood.”
Kols just gaped at him.
Zeph, too.
“And he’s been on our side the whole time,” Shade finished for him. “He helped create a diversion after your, uh, excommunication.”
I cleared my throat. “He also left the rock, so I’m wondering if the stonepecker is from him. Like a message, maybe? Or a warning? Did he send me the stonepecker and rock before as a warning?”
No, that didn’t seem right either.
I’d never met Tadmir, so I had no way of knowing if it’d been his voice in my head or not.
My nose scrunched.
Then I shook my head.
“There’s really only one way to find out,” I continued. “We’ll just take the stonepecker and, uh, run some spells to find out who sent it.” I grimaced with the words, not liking the idea of playing with a dead animal. But I didn’t see another option, and the looks coming from my mates said they didn’t either.
“You’re the commander of the creatures now,” Kols said. “That makes you closest to them.”
“And you can use my magic to see if there are any messages left within its death,” Shade added.
I nodded. “Great. Okay. I just need to get it from Zimney.”
Take the dead stonepecker out of the beast’s mouth. Right. Easy. Everyday task. Yep.
I shivered as I stepped toward him, the metallic scent all wrong. It made my nose scrunch, unlike the pouches I’d drunk from a bit ago. Probably because this blood came from a corpse.
“Aflora?” Zeph said. “Do you want…?” Zimney growled as he took a step toward the wolf. “Or maybe not.”
“He won’t give it to me, either,” Zakkai muttered. “And he’smyfamiliar.”
“It’s fine,” I said, stealing a deep breath and kneeling before the beast. I held out my hand. “I’ll do”—Zimney dropped the stonepecker into my palm—“it.”
Energy hummed through the air, causing the hairs along my arms to dance.
My forehead crinkled, the sensation leaving me queasy.
“Uh, guys?” I asked. “Do you all feel that, or…?” I started to turn as I spoke, only to realize the room no longer existed around me.
My mates were gone.
Zimney had disappeared, too.
Just the stonepecker remained.
Aflora!Zakkai’s voice echoed through my mind, his presence oddly distant.
Kai?
