The queen blinked. "You've all been busy."
Brennus coughed into his fist, looking somewhat contrite. "All for you, my love."
Meryn looked at the queen. "So, back to the other major shit storm. Are the non-feral fae a reaper thing? Or do we have some new mystic mojo going on that we don't know about?"
The queen turned to Meryn. "As far as I know, there should not be a way for them to be whole. If they did not fade honorably, they should be feral."
"Great! Just what we need, new shit we don't know." Meryn sat back in her chair, looking disgruntled.
Ari didn't know which aspect horrified him more—that there was a way for these murderous fae to avoid turning feral after killing or that it had been going on thousands of years and no one knew. He looked over at Aiden. The unit commander was pinching the bridge of his nose. Ari had a feeling most of them would have headaches for the rest of the day.
Meryn sat forward, shaking her head. "Until we know more, there's nothing we can do about it." She looked over at her aunt. "I think you should make an announcement. Maybe something directly from you. That would go a long way in making everyone feel better." The queen rose and walked over to the table that held her summoning crystal. She tapped it lightly and then began to pace the room, her arms wrapped around her body. She turned to look at her consort. "How could any of this happen?"
Brennus stood quickly and strode over to his mate, taking her into his arms. "It happened because someone in the shadows is working very hard to orchestrate these nefarious deeds." He tucked the queen's head under his chin. "We are not the only ones affected, my love. Lycaonia and Noctem Falls have had similar attacks."
There was a knock at the door, and Kincaid went over to open it. Portia walked in and frowned when she saw her queen. "Your Majesty, is all well?"
The queen rubbed her forehead. "No, all is not well. Portia, I would like to arrange an announcement from me to the entire city."
Portia's eyes widened. "I think that would be best. Everyone desperately needs to hear your voice."
The queen gave her wan smile. "I know, and I'm sorry for taking so long to do my duty."
In an uncharacteristic show of emotion, Portia crossed the room and placed a hand on her queen's shoulder. "Everyone understands. Their love for you knows no bounds." She eyed the table of visitors. "And with your new friends and family, you should easily be able to handle these daunting tasks." She hesitated before adding. "I know you may feel like you face these things alone, but you haven't been alone in a very long time." She pointed to Darian, Oron, Cord, and Brennus. She reached into the satchel at her side and pulled out a parchment scroll. "I had a few of these made up last week, just in case. As long as they are written by your hand and then sealed with a drop of your blood, this spelled scroll will project the announcements in your voice to all of Éire Danu."
The queen looked slightly less harried at Portia's words. "You are right. I haven't been alone in a long time." She took the scroll, a look of determination on her face. "It's time to start tackling this problem." She looked around the room. When her eyes fell upon the Tau Unit, Ari straightened. He placed his fist over his heart, the men did the same, and they bowed as one. When he straightened, he smiled at his queen. "You have only to command us, my queen." He gave her a sly smile. "You won't even have to slip us any candy this time," he said, in a joking manner.
The queen's eyes widened before she gave a musical laugh. "Oh, Ari, I had nearly forgotten you used to do that." At the table, Rex began to chuckle.
Meryn looked from her aunt to Rex. "What? Forgotten what?"
The queen pointed to him. "The littlest Lionhart, the baby. He would sneak into the palace and offer to do small chores in exchange for candy. It'd been hundreds of years since Darian and Oron went to Lycaonia. And it was nice to have a little boy in the palace again. He always made me smile."
There was a knock at the door, and Kincaid, once again acting as page, opened it to allow Molvan to step inside.
His expression caused the smile on the queen's face to disappear. "What? What is it?" she asked.
Ari instinctively placed his hand on his sidearm.
Molvan looked devastated as he swallowed hard. "Your Majesty, we have the preliminary reports of the number of fae returning to Éire Danu." He hesitated before continuing. "So far, only half of those known to be living outside of the city have made contact with us."
The queen gasped, a hand going to her throat. "How many are missing?"
Molvan's hand clenched at his side. "Nearly five thousand," he replied.
Brennus and Portia supported the queen as her knees gave way and helped her to the closest sofa.
"What?" she whispered. She looked between her mate and Molvan. "Are we certain that many fae were living outside of the city?"
Molvan opened the portfolio he was holding. "There are an estimated thirty-thousand fae living in the country. Of those thirty-thousand, nearly one-third have made their homes amongst the humans in the past couple hundred years. Modern technology has proven to be a tempting draw to our people, more have chosen to live with humans because of it. Of the estimated eleven-thousand living in human cities, we've only had fifty-seven hundred reply."
At the table, Aiden stood. He turned to Kendrick and the Ashleigh brothers. "Can you work with the queen to find a way to track the missing fae?"
Kendrick nodded. "Of course. It shouldn't be too difficult, considering we're working with the Queen of the Fae. Her blood and magic would make it an easy task, since she is connected to all of her children."
Aiden turned to the Tau Unit. "Gear up, we're starting in Monroe. We'll be doing a full sweep of the city. Any missing fae from the register has to be accounted for."
Ari already had one hand on the walkie-talkie that Meryn had ordered for them. "Just the Tau Unit?" he asked.