Streamfield Shifters: Hide & Seek

Chapter Twenty-Five

We handed the crystals over to Mage Móinárne, who promised that more of her colleagues were on the way. Afterwards, we retired for the night in the farmhouse. The upstairs bedrooms were little more than large closets with thin blankets drawn across rudimentary doorways. It appeared that the elves had taken larger rooms and partitioned them off to give each member some semblance of privacy. Well, that was laughable, considering the conditions they subjected the humans to.

Leihalani, Rachael, Mage Móinárne and I all chose rooms that were right next to each other. Although, in this case, I would have preferred a dormitory-style sleeping arrangement. I lay stiffly on a thin pallet generously treated with a sanitizing spell and stared up at the ceiling, too creeped out to even draw the covers up to my chin. After everything that happened tonight, you would think that I would fall asleep immediately. That was not even remotely the case.

To think that some twisted individual had lain here the night before, ready and willing to do dark magic in order to drain the abilities out of witches and shapeshifters. I shuddered. I might as well be sleeping in Hitler's bed, for all the bad vibes I was receiving.

But some time between the dead of night and the ass-crack of dawn, I managed to catch a few minutes of sleep. More troops had arrived to the farmhouse while Rachael and I were out searching for kidnap victims and explosive crystals. I could see the massive tents from the window of the kitchen the next morning and noticed an increase in activity. The doomsday cult elves had a well-stocked pantry and I felt no guilt whatsoever eating from their stores. Kesio had not returned after storming out, nor did he join us for breakfast.

When I asked Leihalani about it, the Summer princess merely shrugged. "That's my brother—the petulant child." She sighed, absently sawing at a fried egg with her knife. "Oh, he is a charmer most of the time, as you've undoubtedly noticed, but once you start pointing out his flaws—especially around other people—he storms out."

"Will he be coming back?"

"He should. Our mother was quite adamant that he take control of the situation."

Their mother—the queen. Sometimes, it was hard to believe that these two were siblings. Leihalani had never been anything but straightforward and candid with us, whereas her brother possessed a mercurial temperament.

Oh, well. Chances were that I would never see any of these people ever again.

After breakfast, Leihalani, Rachael and I left Mage Móinárne to her task of unraveling the crystals and went to see how the humans were fairing. We found the errant crown prince seated with General Whitesword beneath a canvas canopy, hunched over a slim ledger. Two Tsolas stood nearby, their expressions neutral but eyes alert.

"Ladies." Kesio looked up and greeted us with a smile. I ignored the charm.

A young boy in white and green livery hustled up to the table and presented the prince and general with several sheets of paper. He turned and darted back the way he'd come.

Rachael and I hung back while Leihalani leaned over her brother's shoulder. "What are these?" she asked, picking up a sheet of paper.

"Testimonies, Your Royal Highness," the general explained, gently reaching for the sheet and putting it back on the table. Leihalani raised a feathery brow at the general's audacity.

"What do they say?" Rachael asked. She leaned forward, angling to get a good look at the documents.

General Whitesword deliberately laid a large hand on top of the pile of papers, obscuring the writing on them.

"Do you understand the word 'classified'?" the older man asked sardonically, raising an eyebrow.

Rachael frowned. "I can't read whatever those scribbles are, anyway," she replied testily. "I just want to know what happened to them."