“Ready?” Cain asked.
She smiled at Brian and told Cain, “You bet.”
And just like that, they jumped to the next location. No sooner had they arrived, then they were gone again. Noreen stopped counting when she reached the thirty-third spot. She might be a Fae who could teleport, but even she was getting dizzy.
Finally, they stopped. She bent over, her hands on her knees as she drew in deep breaths while trying not to vomit. A breeze rushed around her, and the cool air felt good against her heated skin. Cain was near but no longer touching her. He didn’t say anything as she slowly regrouped from their journey.
Only when her legs no longer felt like jelly did she lift her head. She spotted the vast expanse of sea before her, reaching far into the horizon. The wind buffeted them, the gusts so great that she had to take a step back.
“The Shetland Islands,” Cain told her. “Remote, but immensely beautiful.”
“I was here long ago. It’s as desolate now as it was then.”
“It is.” He turned to her then. “How do you feel?”
“Like I once more have my feet beneath me.”
His lips curved into a small smile. “Aye. I wasna feeling so great myself, but it had to be done. We didna use your magic, and they can no’ follow us, but just in case they have a way to track you, I wanted to make it difficult for them.”
“You’ve done that, I believe.”
“We’ve crisscrossed the globe several times, and we’ve visited the same places multiple times.”
Noreen laughed. “That should confuse them for sure.”
“That’s the hope. Now, if you’re up for it, we have one more jump to make.”
“And where is that?”
“To a Fae doorway.”
Noreen frowned, her brows drawing together. “The Fae that are part of the Others will probably have them watched.”
“Hmm. That’s a good point. Can you make one yourself?”
“Absolutely. It’ll take significant magic that will be like a beacon pointing straight at us, though. They know what my magic looks like. Just as I know theirs.”
Cain looked out over the sea as the waves tossed about. “Then we have no choice. We have to get to a doorway.”
“And where exactly are we going?”
“The Fae Realm.”
The wind howled around her, so she wasn’t sure she’d heard right. “I’m sorry. Can you repeat that?”
Cain looked at her, their eyes locking. “The Fae Realm.”
“Have you lost your mind?” she asked as shock rippled through her.
“No’ at all,” he answered calmly.
She threw up her hands before letting them fall against her thighs. “We can’t go there. I know for a fact that Usaeil and Moreann used to meet there. Moreann is the—”
“Leader of the Others.”
Noreen’s mouth fell open. “H-how do you know that?”
“Usaeil wanted Con. So much so that when he wouldna willingly go to her, she kidnapped him.”
“Bloody hell. That’s where Usaeil disappeared to, then. We were searching for her.”
Cain nodded. “Aye. She also captured her nephew, but we’ve no’ found him yet.”
“You probably won’t,” Noreen said with a shrug.
“While Usaeil had Con, he convinced her that he was with her in all things. She told him about Moreann and their meetings on the Fae Realm.”
Noreen gave him a flat look. “Then why do you want to go there?”
“Because it’s the last place Moreann will think to look for you. Or at least that was my hope when I thought we could get through the doorway without being seen.”
It was a good plan. A very good one, she had to admit. “There are two doorways that lead to the Fae Realm. I’m sure there are more, but those are the only ones I know of. They aren’t used anymore, obviously, but one of them is pretty hidden. So much so that I doubt anyone remembers it.”
“Then that’s where we’re going. Take my hand and think of the location. Then touch my bracelet,” he bade her.
The moment her fingers interlocked with his, Noreen felt a rush of excitement. She shouldn’t like touching him so much, but there was no denying it. She glanced at his face, thankful that he was the Dragon King who’d found her. Then she touched the cuff.
CHAPTER SIX
“What the hell do you mean she’s gone?”
Brian couldn’t hide his cringe at Moreann’s indignant, piercing tone directed at him in the middle of the clearing. “I saw her with a Dragon King. Th-th-they were holding hands.”
Moreann’s nostrils flared, her eyes narrowing as her voice lowered to a dangerously calm tone. “Holding hands?”
“Yes,” Brian hastily replied, nodding his head as he did. He was a fekking Fae. Why was he so intimidated by a Druid? He hated that he couldn’t stand up to Moreann. So what if she was empress to her people? She was still only a Druid.
She wasn’t any better than him. In fact, if he had to guess, he had more power than she did. But he didn’t want to put it to a test.
Moreann drew in a deep breath and clasped her hands before her. She wore a burgundy shirt with gold thread on the hem of the billowy sleeves, scooped neck, and hem. She was in a pair of black pants Brian had seen many executive businesswomen wear.
The empress might have used magic to live for thousands of years, but she couldn’t stop the signs of aging completely. She looked like a woman in her fifties, who had taken great care of herself. She was on the thinner side, however her stomach was rounded, and her waist thicker. Despite what Brian saw as flaws her magic couldn’t fix, she was still a very beautiful woman. Her long, brunette locks—without a single gray hair—freely hung down her back and over one shoulder.
“They were holding hands,” she said, more to herself than to him.
Brian was thankful. He didn’t like it when Moreann’s attention was on him. However, he enjoyed being a part of the Others. He, along with everyone else in the group, wanted the Dragon Kings removed forever. He hadn’t been happy about waiting so many years to see it done, but he hadn’t been part of the original group. Maybe if he had, he would’ve voiced his thoughts.
But he knew that for the lie it was.
He glanced around, wishing he could leave. No doubt, whatever Moreann was concocting would put him in the line of fire with the Dragon Kings, and he didn’t want to face them on his own. He fully acknowledged the coward that he was. That’s why he was with the Others.
“No one said anything about her having a relationship with anyone,” Moreann stated into the silence.
Brian slid his gaze to her and found the Druid staring at him. She claimed to be a mie, a good Druid, but he had his doubts. Even if she were, that didn’t mean she wouldn’t make him scream in pain if he angered her.
“I didn’t hear anything about it,” he said.
Moreann cocked her head to the side. “How did you know she was in this village?”
“One of my old friends mentioned seeing a Fae near Dreagan. The Fae tend to stay away from this area because of the Kings. Well, except for Rhi.”