Lienda finally let me go, even though she kept running a hand over my hair, seemingly trying to convince herself that I was actually home and okay.
“Where’s Mischa?” I asked, scanning the room.
Amongst the many Stratford inhabitants I could see the council leaders: Torag, from the Eastland trolls; Julianna Medow, the six foot, stunning redheaded vampire; and Galiani of the Greenlands, the fey representative. Kristoff was still missing, which was lucky for him, because he was a dead man walking when I finally dealt with Larky and had time to hunt down his slimy sorcerer ass.
The quads’ parents were there; the boys were with them. I couldn’t halt the pure joy I felt at seeing Jo and Jack Compass. They were like a second family to me.
No one answered me, so I asked again, with more force this time. “Where’s Mischa?”
Jonathon sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll show you. We’ve had to lock her and Nash away for the moment.”
Shit. I followed my father as he strolled along the row and past the front dais, where the council members ran the town meetings. He took me to the side of the huge room, stopping in front of a set of double doors. I’d never been in this room but had seen council members and elders emerge from there. Always figured it was some sort of “leaders’ lunchroom.” Inside, they sat around bitching about us, drinking coffee and eating cookies.
I really hoped there were some cookies inside. Chocolate chip – double chocolate would be even better. Fuck, I’d even eat oatmeal and raisin right now.
Jonathon pulled a large key from his pocket; it slid easily into the huge, magically-etched lock holding the entrance closed. The click was silent, as were the doors as they slid across. I was sort of holding my breath, having no idea what to expect on the other side.
Braxton moved toward me, the warmth at the base of my neck firing to life. I had to stop the stupid smile from spreading over my face. Just having him close made almost every situation better. Yep, I was a sap, but might as well own it. Plus, it was Braxton. There was not a single thing about him which was not worth a decent fangirl. Not one thing.
I don’t know why but I expected the room beyond to look like a dingy dungeon. When I stepped inside, I found it was light and airy and about twenty feet wide, a big room, outfitted with a round meeting table, a few couches, a kitchenette, and a wall filled with books – spell books by the look of their spines.
Two figures sat on the furthest couch, watching a television which was mounted to the wall.
“Nash…” Braxton brushed a hand along my back as he strode past me and across the room to the little boy, before hauling him up off the seat and into his arms for a hug.
I took a moment to note how much better the six-year-old supe was looking. Healthy, well fed, shiny brown hair and nice olive skin tones, instead of the sickly white he’d been when we found him. He was living with Jo and Jack now, but I knew the plan was to find his family as soon as all of this dragon marked stuff was over. Until then, the Compasses were sharing their overabundance of love with the young supe.
I was distracted then by a pair of green eyes and a face very much like my own.
“Jess?” Mischa’s voice was hesitant. She’d said my name like a question, as if she couldn’t believe I was here.
“Hey, sis,” I said. My smile was slight but natural. I wasn’t mad at her any longer. Okay, I for reals thought she was an idiot, but that didn’t mean she was a bad person.
She rose from the couch, and I had to say, she looked like shit, wearing sweatpants and a baggy shirt which hid most of her body – a body which looked extremely thin, the bags under her eyes so dark and pronounced they might as well be suitcases.
“Why are they locked in here?” I asked Jonathon, but Mischa was the one to answer.
“Because when the dragon king calls for the marked, we have no choice but to follow. He’s stopped projecting at the moment. He must be traveling. But when the call comes we have no power against him.”
Shit! I’d felt nothing from him in Faerie. Now that I was back in Stratford, I was genuinely curious as to whether it would affect me the same way as the others. My dragon was pretty great at resisting magical stuff. By forcing Josephina to choose a soul to be mated to, Larky had made me – his alleged mate – so much stronger than he probably imagined.
Mischa paused before me, and there was no way to miss that we were twins. She opened her mouth but slammed it shut just as quickly. I hated when she got all weird like this. I blamed the human influence from her years raised amongst them. Just spit it out, seriously, this waffling was more annoying than anything she could say.
“I’ve got to get back out into the hall, so I’ll leave you two alone for a bit,” Jonathon said, giving me a kiss on the cheek, and then Mischa. “Nash will be leaving with Jo and Jack just as soon as he’s finished visiting Braxton. The little one wouldn’t leave until his friend was back, but it’s too dangerous for him to be here.” His eyes flicked across to his other daughter. “Mischa also, but she refuses to leave.”
Mischa crossed her arms and got a stubborn look on her haggard face. “I won’t let him drive me from my home again. I spent too many years hiding in the human world because of that di … piece of crap. I stay here now. With my family.”
Hells yeah! I loved her fire. It was the supe in her; no amount of time in the human world could squash it completely. Although her fear of cursing was both funny as hell and weird to the nth degree.