Aiden grimaced. "Yes. I want to leave the rest here to maintain perimeter sweeps. But, I'm calling in the Vanguard of Monroe to assist." Ari pointed to the door, and the Tau Unit began to file out. He looked back at Aiden.
"Your first call should be to Cameron Rathais. He's been the sheriff of Monroe for the past ten years. I know he's in the process of aging himself out, but he should be able to get us access to all public records and reports."
Aiden looked at his mate. "Meryn, if we got you the names of the missing fae, could you plot their last known location on a map, like you did for the missing shifters around Lycaonia?" he asked.
Meryn nodded absently, looking spooked. "Of course I can. I just need the records that were updated for Beth's ce
nsus. I can do the whole country in one go."
Aiden walked over and kissed her gently before straightening. "You do your magic tap-tap. I'll be relying on you to tell us men where to go."
Meryn smiled sadly. "I almost hate doing my magic tap-tap anymore. I always find out something horrible."
Across the room, the queen took a deep breath. "The more we know the better," she said with a shaky voice. "Our people, all of our people. Shifters, vampires, fae, and witches, we've all become too lax. Complacency has allowed an unknown enemy to grow unchecked." Her expression hardened, and she stood on steady feet. "But all of that stops now." Around them, the walls began to crack. Snaps, pops, and the groaning of wood echoed around them in the walls, ceilings, and floors, as the trees themselves seemed to undulate to the waves of the queen's anger. "I want my children. I want my children found. And if something has taken them from me, then I personally want to judge and punish the ones responsible."
Meryn smiled wickedly. "Kick ass," she whispered.
Anne turned to Molvan. "I don't know a lot about public works, but I can help assemble the records that Meryn needs. Just point the way."
Kendrick turned to the Ashleigh brothers. "We also have work to do." Thane stood, cracking his knuckles, and Law and Justice exchanged vicious grins.
Ari turned to Gage, Priest, and Kincaid. "You heard our queen, gentlemen. Move out."
*****
As they were getting ready, the queen's announcement went out to the citizens of Éire Danu. In walking to the portal, he could see the effect her words had on the people. Along the street, vendors and families alike looked relieved.
He shook his head. It seemed impossible to imagine an enemy so great going unnoticed for so long. He thought back to what his mother said that very morning, how Meryn questioned everything and, in doing so, uncovered so much.
It didn't take them long to head through the portal to wait with the other warriors outside of Monroe. He stood with the rest of his unit, next to the volunteer Vanguard, by the portal from Éire Danu waiting on Aiden's team to join them.
Liam walked over to them. "Do you all need a fifth?" he asked, pointing to where Ilar Ri'Mierlan stood watching them. When their eyes met, Ilar gave a short nod.
Ari shook his head. "We're good. We've been operating as four for so long, adding someone in would probably hinder us more than help us."
"Must be tough to share your unit leader with palace duties," Liam sympathized.
Ari shrugged. "We've known nothing else, so it's hard to say."
Liam blinked. "That's right. Aren't you all the youngest unit amongst the four pillar cities?"
Ari tried to hide his grimace. He must not have done a good job, because Liam clapped him on the shoulder. "I don't mean anything by it."
"We know that the Éire Danu units are sometimes called 'Advanced Training' units." He sighed. "And up until recently, I could see why. With the city being in its own pocket, parallel plane, our greatest concern was fighting boredom, not ferals."
Gage stepped up beside him. "Who is having the last laugh now?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
Ari had to chuckle. Both he and Gage knew for a fact that their placement with Tau was due to their families' requests, mostly to keep them safe. "Our parents must be getting anxious now that we're actually doing missions like regular units."
Gage rubbed the side of his nose. "Priest and I have a running bet as to how long it will take Jedrek to have sudden need to send you to another country to check on 'Lionhart' business."
Ari groaned. "Don't jinx me."
Liam pointed a finger to Gage. "You mean similar to the letter the queen will receive later today asking for your reassignment?"
Gage paled. "How do you know if the queen has not even received the letter yet?"
Liam smiled slyly. "I have friends everywhere, including House Géroux."