Uh, what? “Uh, the little one-”

“Of course,” Lyla cut off her protest. “She’s all yours.” As am I, her eyes conveyed.

Caia heaved a sigh. She’d never understand her sex. With a nod of acknowledgment to Lyla, Caia ushered Saffron and Reuben back out of the gymnasium.

“What do you want to talk to me about?”

But Saffron was still stuck on Reuben’s behavior with the lykan. “Do you have to be so disgustingly juvenile with the women here?” She huffed as they got into an elevator.

He grinned wickedly at her. “Jealous, Saffron?”

“Guys-”

“Jealous! Puhlease, our day in the sun has been over for a long time, Kirios. I just don’t want to have to listen to you have verbal sex with everything that has breasts. I am stuck here beside you for now while we see this through, so please refrain from the mundane and try to engage in some intellectual conversation with these people, rather than trying to decide which one’s pants you want to get into as if you were choosing between chocolate or vanilla ice cream!”

Caia hid the face she made, jealous much was right. Apparently even seven hundred years of his presence hadn’t put Saffron off. If Caia had to guess, the faerie was perhaps just a wee bit in love with her vampyre friend. Saffron’s diatribe had apparently struck Reuben dumb. Under the growing silence Caia looked up to see him staring at Saffron with an inscrutable expression on his face. As for the faerie, she was staring straight ahead, her beautiful face pinched with tension as if she knew she had revealed more than she had meant to. Caia instantly felt bad. She knew what it was like to care about someone and not know if they felt that way about you. And Reuben was insanely flirtatious with everyone. Come on, he had even flirted with Caia.

The elevator doors suddenly binged open and she realized they were one her floor.

“Guys, you wanted to talk to me about something, remember.”

Saffron sniffed, “Of course. Let’s go to your suite.”

And so she walked behind them to her bedroom suite, not speaking or intruding upon their private business, even though she was impatient to know what they wanted to talk about. Just as they neared her door Reuben leaned over to Saffron and she heard him hiss, “We’ll talk about this later.”

Saffron shrugged and then spun around, holding her hand out to Caia. “Key.”

Caia rolled her eyes at her. “I am quite capable of opening my own door, thank you.” She nudged her aside and swiped the key card down and the door popped open. It was the same room she had stayed in before Marita had gone bat shit crazy. Her eyes automatically took in the magnificent panoramic view of Paris. She sighed, wishing life was as uncomplicatedly beautiful as the city.

When the door swung shut behind them, Caia spun on them. “OK, what’s going on? Why the secrecy?”

Reuben exhaled and shared an anxious look with Saffron. “Maybe you should sit.”

Wow, there were just never enough of these heart-pounding, nauseating, ‘what now?!’ moments in her life.

“Okkaaay.” She slowly lowered herself onto a sofa.

With that, the vampyre took a step back, gesturing Saffron forward. The faerie gave a militant nod and then took a step towards her. “Caia, we have something that we haven’t told you. We kept it back from you – for a good reason – with the intention of telling you once you had killed the Septum. That’s all changed now, of course. You see…” she trailed off, a strange look entering her eyes. “…Marita has always had a weakness. The biggest threat to her if you like. And that is Marion. Marion knew Marita better than anyone; could anticipate her moves better than anyone; knew the family’s past haunts, private hideouts. We had every intention of telling you this when the trace was gone but well…”

Caia’s pulse was racing and she clasped a hand over the throb in her wrist. That didn’t do much for the visible throb in her neck. “Tell me what?”

The faerie’s answer was to vanish.

Reuben hadn’t even moved. He just stood there like he was expecting it. Caia clenched her jaw. “What’s going on?”

He didn’t say a word, just stared at her, waiting. Then Caia felt the tell-tale buzz of energy and Saffron was standing back in the room, smiling. A second later, another slight figure appeared beside her.

Caia’s jaw dropped as she took in the familiar mass of fire red hair and fey features.

“Marion?” she gasped and got to her feet on trembling legs, her eyes wide, tears instantly filling her eyes. Was it really her? Was she really here… alive?

The witch’s own familiar violet eyes watered up, and then she was rushing at Caia, her strong arms encircling her in a tight hug. Caia held on for dear life, breathing in the familiar scent of her friend and mentor, clutching her as if she were afraid she would disappear any minute.

“It’s really me, sweetheart, it’s really me.” Marion stroked her hair, murmuring reassurances. The overwhelming relief took over and Caia’s body began to shake with hard sobs. Marion merely held on tighter.

“How are you alive?” she asked some time later.

Marion smiled smugly, a familiar expression that served to lighten the weight on Caia’s chest. “I was never really dead.”

Drawing Caia back down onto the sofa, the four of them sat with one another as Caia was told the tale of their deception.

“You see,” Saffron began, “I had already contacted Reuben telling him Marion was very ill from having travelled with too many of the children. That’s when he came up with his plan to deceive Marita. He masked Marion’s trace making Marita think her sister was dead. If she thinks Marion is out of the picture she won’t hesitate to go to the places that Marion knew about.”

Clever, Caia thought. Pity, that along with it, they had caused her, Magnus and Vanne untold heartbreak.

Marion must have seen the anger in her eyes because she patted Caia’s hand. “I know it was ruthless and deceitful, but we couldn’t risk the chance of anyone finding out I’m alive. This is the best weapon we have against her.”

Caia gazed at her in admiration, taking solace in Marion’s seemingly unending strength and determination. “I am sorry about Marita, Marion.”

She frowned and looked away. “I am sorry that I was a fool not to have seen it sooner.”

“Apologies aside,” Reuben muttered eyeing the witch carefully, “Marion claims to know where Marita is.”

A mixture of excitement and apprehension rushed through Caia at the thought, and she gripped Marion’s hands harder than she meant to. “Really? Where?”

“In a small village in Scotland. She has a safe house there, a derelict inn. Only myself, Marita, and my mother knew of it. Not even Vanne knows of its existence.”

Caia’s heart was going overtime. “So we’re going there, we’re going after Marita?”

Reuben nodded grimly. “That’s the plan.”

“But what about Vanne and the Council? I have to tell them I’m going after Marita. The oath.” She held her hand up palm outwards so they could see the annulet.

Marion frowned at it. “I can’t believe they made you take a blood oath.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I mind.” She scowled. “It was unnecessary. Bloody idiots running this place like…” her voice trailed off as Reuben began speaking again.

“Caia, I must remind you that no one can know about Marion’s existence. Marita will be checking the trace for anything and everything, and we can’t tell them about this safe house because she’ll find out we know and leave.”

Of course, dumbass, Caia silently berated herself. She took a minute, tracing the texture of the carpet with her foot. “OK. How about I just tell them I have a lead that I can’t discuss because I don’t want Marita to uncover it in the trace, and that I’ll only be taking you and Saffron with me as back up, to ensure that Marita doesn’t find out.”

“I don’t see how they can argue with that,” Marion agreed.

Finally, Reuben nodded. “It’s our only chance. I think-”

Caia felt an unexpected prickle of energy, as did Rueben who stopped talking. Caia’s eyes widened as Vil appeared behind the vampyre. Reuben was out of his chair in milliseconds, just a blur, and when he stilled it was with Vil clutched by the throat, Vil’s pale eyes wide with fear and shock.

“Reuben!” Caia hissed, shooting to her feet and launching herself at him, tugging poor Vil out of his stone hard arms. “Let. Him. Go.”

He growled at her, but finally let up, and Vil stumbled towards Caia, happily letting her place herself between him and the vampyre.

“It’s just Vil,” she snapped. Reuben grunted, shouldering past her to take his seat again. Vil hastily jumped out of his path. “What’s going on?” She demanded. But Vil was staring at Marion like he had seen a ghost… which technically he had.

It took a good few minutes to calm him down and explain it all to him, and all the while Reuben grumbled that he had to add another layer to Vil’s trace to mask his knowledge of Marion’s existence.

“You can’t tell anyone about me,” Marion insisted sternly.

Vil nodded deferentially. “I promise, Marion.”

“You better,” Reuben warned quietly, lethally. “Or I will take care of the problem.”

“Reuben,” Caia warned.

He ignored her and continued to unsettle Vil with his glare.

“Vil, what are you doing here?”

The magik tried unsuccessfully to ignore the evil looks Reuben was shooting him. “I… uh… I’m here because Lucien is looking for you.”

She gripped his arm, her features a mask of anxiety. “Why, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing. I mean, well something. I mean, Lucien knows all about-” His eyes flicked with reluctance to the vampyre “-Reuben’s blackmail. He wants you to come home to the pack.”