As Caia finished the last sentence on her report for Marion, she sighed and eased back in the chair at her desk. The light outside was fading and with it bringing memories she couldn’t dispel. It had been months now since she had killed her Uncle Ethan after his kidnapping and torture of Jaeden, and since Sebastian had been murdered in the crossfire.
Months since the pack had seen any semblance of normality.
She turned and, like many nights, let her gaze drift outside her window and into the darkening woods. Jaeden had been gone for months and only Caia, and perhaps Lucien, knew why. The torture she had undergone at the hands of Ethan was unthinkable, and Caia hadn’t been able to tell her family how bad it must have been for her to leave the pack. Jaeden’s father, Dimitri, was distraught and constantly demanding Lucien do something about it, but one look at Caia’s face and she had known he knew it was best to leave Jaeden to come to terms with her tragedy by herself.
She was strong enough to make it through the cage so she was strong enough to be alone.
But it wasn’t forever. Caia was giving her another month, and if she wasn’t back by then, she’d fulfill Dimitri’s wishes and bring her back to the pack herself.
Caia sighed again, her eyes drifting down and across her bed, and with it heated memories flooded her. Dear goddess, she scoffed at herself. She was lucky she hadn’t fallen pregnant! Since lykans couldn’t carry disease, nor become pregnant unless mated, using protection during sex was usually only utilized by mated couples who weren’t ready for children. Since Lucien and she had no idea ha**ng s*x together would cement their ‘betrothal’ they hadn’t used any protection.
Yeesh.
She was sooo lucky she hadn’t gotten pregnant.
The close call, however, didn’t stop her from yearning... remembering. Not once was she able to look at her bed without a reminder of the night she had given herself to him; the night when for once they were in total agreement about something, safe together, passionate, happy. The moment hadn’t lasted long, and ever since there had been a constant tension between them despite their ‘united front’.
She missed him.
“Caia.”
The familiar voice sent a wave a longing through her and she turned to gaze up into his silver eyes. “Yeah?”
Lucien threw her a sympathetic look, acknowledging how tired she was. “Marion’s here.”
She smiled wearily back at him and stood to her feet, gathering her papers in her hand. They walked in silence down the stairs and into the living room, where Marion sat having tea, and Saffron, her faerie, stood studying her cuticles in utter boredom.
“Ah, Caia.” Marion smiled warmly in greeting.
For the past few months Marion’s weekly visits had been the pack’s only constant. Pack runs had dwindled - there had been two rather crappily put-together ventures and even then the mood of the event had been melancholy. School was out for the summer for Mal and the others, and Caia, lucky to have made her finals, couldn’t enjoy graduation since Jaeden had missed it and she had only Alexa to share it with. Plus any plan Caia had had for the future was gone: no community college, no apprenticeships, and no job. Her job was here, training with Marion, writing up reports on the activities of the Midnight Coven. As the weeks had gone on, as her reports proved more and more helpful, the more Marion had hinted at Marita’s growing curiosity. The day was coming when Marita would ask to meet her, for her to come to the Center, maybe even take a physical part in the war. The Center was the main training ground for Daylight soldiers, and because a magik’s power didn’t reach its full potential until their eighteenth birthday, you had to be eighteen to join the Center. The same for any other supernatural being – it was kind of like joining the army, you had to be a legal adult to make that choice. From what Marion had told her it not only involved physical training and strategizing, but provided classes on how to utilize your magik and element. The majority of magiks taught their children all they needed to know, but the most powerful magiks tended to be those who were taught at the Center. It sounded like an interesting place, and Caia would go if only to get it over with, so she could just as quickly return to the pack.
“Marion.” She smiled back at her, and sat across from her on the sofa. “Saffron.”
The faerie smirked at her. That was more of a response than anyone else got out of her. She was beginning to think the shapeshifter liked her.
“So.” The magik smiled brightly, but Caia detected the strain in that expression. “What news from the Dark Coven?”
Caia obediently handed over her written report. “You asked me to look specifically for any mention of the New York Króls. I found out that Nikolai has asked the attack be abandoned. Too risky in light of the instability of the Midnights.”
Nikolai Petrovsky was the new Regent of the Midnight Coven and had been appointed by their Council since Ethan had gone ‘missing’. The fact that Gaia would not imbue Nikolai with trace magik when the Council put him forward as the new Head led the Midnights to believe that Ethan was still alive somewhere. For now the Council had voted in Nikolai’s rule as Regent. Of course they were blithely unaware of Caia’s existence. Caia sighed deeply, and looked between Marion and Lucien, unsure of their reaction to her next piece of news. “In fact... Nikolai has asked that all attacks against us be abandoned until there is definitive news of Ethan’s whereabouts.”
Lucien quirked an eyebrow as he glanced at Marion, like Caia, interested more in her reaction than anything else. Marion for her part had stiffened in surprise. Even Saffron had looked up from her nails in interest. After a few minutes of silence Marion cleared her throat.
“Well... that’s unexpected.”
Well yeah.
“But what does it mean?” Caia asked impatiently.
The witch shrugged. “You should know better than anyone what it means.”
“Well I don’t. Nikolai is strong, and his emotions are not as easy to read through the trace as it is with the others.”
She nodded. “The Petrovskys are an influential family, have been for many generations now.”
Caia knew this. She’d felt the respect he garnered from other Midnights and the reasons why. His decision to stop attacks against the Daylight Coven confused Caia, not only because she couldn’t feel the reason from him - only what he told the others - but because lately her connection to the Midnights was raising some questions. She was feeling emotions from some of them that suggested the war as it stood was not exactly what she thought it was… or had been led to think it was.
She snapped out of her own musings to find Marion frowning at her. “Caia, it doesn’t mean anything significant. Nikolai is obviously just rallying the troops until he feels the Coven is secure enough to return to their tried and tested style of warfare.” She curled her lip distastefully. “Neanderthals that they are.”