Rogue Heart

Masters Of The Game...

Chapter Twenty: Masters Of The Game...

HORACIO

I could never stand it here! Even the former Blood Horizon forests were loathsome and disgusting, covered in black lichen, algae, and moss all over the trees and ground, which made Reina and Persephone’s presence even more welcome, saving us from having to traipse through it too much...

I also missed Tink. It wasn’t the same without her here. Auntie’s army wasn’t the same. And judging by several downhearted expressions, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, although receiving news that she and Tati had finished off the plate of cookies Caelus brought did bring a smile to my face...

Speaking of my nephew, I continued to be in awe at his unquenchable thirst for knowledge, shadowing Spiros as he inspected a makeshift firepit, emphatically informing us, “Well, someone has been here within the last twelve hours. Kindling is fresh and, from the looks of it, rabbit was for dinner.”

“Based on the prints and large rocks set around, I’d say there are at least—eight or nine of them?” Caelus curiously questioned as Beast, who was standing by a huge oak tree with me, chimed out in his low rumbling baritone—

“Three more here.”

Pointing at several prints that led back down to the fire, he added, “Food brought to them.”

Crouching down to inspect the shoddy attempt to conceal their presence—the outline of their prints still visible through the brushed dirt with a dirty leaf-covered branch lying not far from the spot—I knowingly assessed, “Mmmmm—no doubt our leaders, Beast.”

“They headed east,” Badru stated, standing with Gavin, Lorelei, Remi, and Zayden towards the far-left end.

Standing up, Spiros thoughtfully surmised, “They’re bound to be desperate at this point. Dangerous or not, I would lay odds they’re headed towards Blood River Canyon.”

Coming up to stand with me and Beast, Reina breathed out in unease, “I already don’t like the sound of that.”

“With good reason,” I warningly sighed, “Nothing but prickly poison bushes and thorn-ridden brush in that place. A favorite field of torturous play for generations of Roman’s family.”

Reminding me of Tati as she cutely scrunched her nose up, Reina sighed in distain, “Seems I will be thanking our littlest sister again for the gift of wings upon our return home.”

“Loa just confirmed as much to Tati and me, Sister,” Persephone pointedly stated, “She has also informed us of where she feels they may enter the deadly canyon from—the safest path requiring them to take a longer route around the outer perimeter of the east side.”

A wry smile crossing her face, she knowingly added, “And according to our tiny fairy, not only is that exactly what these disgusting rogues are doing, but there is no time to waste as they are about to reach the entrance now.”

We had no sooner shifted than Reina and Persephone brought us forth to the very spot where the group of twelve rogues were barreling into. Their wolves’ fierce, confident strides coming to a screeching halt before immediately going on the defensive, echoes of deadly growls spilling out all around as we all furiously dove into battle-mode.

As the first swipes were made against our enemies—theirs blocked by my sisters in love’s glittering shields—the rogue pack’s so-called three leaders shamelessly made the decision to use their men as a shield for their own perpetrated escape back through the entrance—only to be cut off by Spiros, Zayden, and Caelus who had wisely chosen to form a blockade around it...

Making a ferocious charge towards the largest of the three, Zayden’s snarling and hungry dark grey wolf heftily pummeled into the enormous brown opponent’s side with Spiros providing backup—a mighty paw thrown at the discombobulated wolf’s head, sending him tumbling to the ground. Zayden then impressively pounced on top to hold the rogue down hard to the ground beneath his wide claw-readied paw as Spiros’ formidable dark wolf whirled around for another assist...

Caelus had made a breathtaking high leap over his partners directly towards the other two less girthy brown wolves, using his immense size and massive width to his advantage. Extending his front paws completely out to his sides, my nephew positioned himself perfectly center between the two before decisively slamming the two auburn wolves’ heads together, instantly sending their faces into the dirt. The hair on his burly black wolf standing on end, Caelus barely allowed his feet to hit the ground before jumping up to powerfully flip back around, charging back towards them, his teeth menacingly dripping with saliva and eyes full of hunger for the fight.

Umar and I were quickly working our way through the out-matched wolves who were foolish enough to make a charge towards us, sending them into the prickly thorn bushes hard enough to injure, but not kill our prey, both of us intending to lend Caelus a hand as well. However, as it turns out, neither of us were needed...

“Ready when you are boys,” Reina pleasantly sang out from above, her sparkly wings harshly flittering as Caelus landed a powerful hit to the chest of the wolf on his right just as Zayden did the same to his opponent, the wind knocked out of them before the two were sent up into the air, only to be captured by Reina and Persephone’s silver and blush streams. The third wolf met the same fate mere seconds later—times two—after Caelus and Spiros used their ferocious forward momentum to send the helpless wolf high into the air with two sets of well thrown paws beneath his underbelly...

Reina caught him in her sparkling silver magic. She and Persephone’s matching short, spiky hair glistening beneath the sunlight as they flashed the trio wicked grins before shifting them back into their human forms with my beloved Mother Hen authoritatively barking out, “I’m a sorceress of little patience, gentlemen. Tell your men to stand down or my sister and I will quickly end this—and you—ourselves.”

“Stand down now,” the elder man croaked out from under her soft pink lasso as my eldest soon-to-be sister in love tightened her hold. His wide-eyed men immediately followed the orders, as mine and Umar’s wolves peered over at our three newest members, our muzzles beaming wide with fanged pride...

***************

NICHOLAS

Much to my delight and relief, Spiros’ instincts were, once again, dead on, allowing Auntie’s army to make quick work of our mission. Lorenzo, Alastor, Mahan, Soren, Mattias, and I were now standing in Roman’s deadly Blood River Canyon with Raven to find our Betas surrounding the leaders, while the rest of Auntie’s warriors were encircled around their men.

Aunt Persephone had the head of their group held within her powerful light pink aura—Varad—who appeared to be in his late fifties. His worn, haggard appearance unable to hide the hard rogue life he had obviously led, and his hatred for ‘the establishment’, as he spitefully called us, running deep, proving to be an impenetrable wall to obtain any information.

Turning my attention to his two filthy sidekicks—his sons, as it turned out—Kade and Kamil, they reacted in kind, both telling us that their answers were the same as their father’s, ‘the establishment’ could go to hell...

Their biting attitudes made me reluctant to make any offer, the same sentiments relayed by Lorenzo, Soren, and Mahan as we privately voted to have the aunts move forward with a little magical encouragement to obtain the information we sought just as Spiros linked—

I’ve managed to get one of their men to talk, Nicholas. They found out about Oralia’s girls from another rogue pack that was travelling through boasting about their ‘services’. Paid them to take their offer to a drop off somewhere in Moon Stone territory Oralia utilizes. But unfortunately, they weren’t given the exact location.

After linking the disappointing news to our group, I asked the aunts to proceed with our plans for the trio, linking Zayden to join us as the long list of crimes was forcibly divulged...

“You witch bitches!” Varad viciously spat, finding himself in shackles after Aunt Persephone released him from her control. Lunging towards the aunts and Zayden, who were standing beside one another, he savagely threatened, “Mark my words, I’m going to rip your hearts out for this! Do you hear me? You and this little son of a b***h will regret ever crossing paths with me and my boys!”

My jaw tensing, I forced calmness in my stern rebuttal, “With all the charges against you, including three new ones, I’m afraid the rest of your life will be spent in one of our prisons, Varad. Making those deadly threats nothing more than wasted breath.”

His eyes cold and lethal, Varad confidently fired back, “Trust me, Alpha Nicholas. Until I take my last breath? My words are anything but wasted. And while deadly—they are anything but threats. Your little minions will die for their foolish loyalty to you! And, with any luck, if the rumors are true—all of their precious Leaders will join them. Death is coming for you—and I have every intention of being there when you take your final breath!”

“Aunt Persephone?” I stoically encouraged, my aunt already coating him in her blush aura.

Heavy in thought, she drawled out, “Nothing we didn’t already know, Nicholas. Oralia and Romulus are still the enemies we seek.”

***************

ROMULUS

At least the irritating vision of The Council’s capture of the rogue pack didn’t come to me until after my pleasurable ravaging of young Rasha’s body. The hesitant new ingenue of Oralia’s so appealing that I decided to take her to my quarters immediately upon her arrival...

Frustratingly slamming my fist hard onto the bed as I watched Varad’s capture, the quivering shapely auburn-haired girl nervously stammered out, “D-Did I not p-please you, M—Master?”

My anger overflowing, I swiftly turned to grab hard hold of her silky-soft arms, lifting her naked body high in the air with ease before slamming it back down on top of me, authoritatively seething, “Good girl, remembering to call me Master. Now, do as you were taught earlier—”

Swatting her bare backside with all my might, I warned, “And remember what happens if it’s not done to my liking.”

Recoiling from the fierce hit, she winced from the intense pain, making my shaft harder in response as she feebly replied, “Yes, Master.”

Ignoring the expected trembling as she erotically grinded and tongued her way down to my hefty torso to perfection just as instructed in my previous lesson, I let out a pleasured sigh as her mouth took me in whole. My continued displeasure about the vision returning, I reached down and yanked two fistfuls of her reddish-brown hair up into my grasp, causing Rasha’s teeth to reactively graze across my member in response to the shocking move, the rapturous feeling of it enabling some of my stress to dissipate...

“Starting to think I may need to request a lengthier stay for you, Pet,” I rasped out as she quickened her pace, my mind rampant with pleasurable thoughts, both sexually and deadly, “Your Master is finding your presence very inspiring.”

A thick drop of moisture fell upon my skin then, leading me to laugh out, “Don’t ruin things for yourself by falling into despair, Rasha, especially as my favoritism will bode very well for you. Now, dry up those tears, continue to be a good girl—and do as you know I wish.”

Fortunately for my new little pet, she fulfilled my request, and in turn, relaxed me enough to open my mind, plans forming at a rapid pace for the Fairy Queen—and as another vision came to mind, my island enemies, who were going to provide an unexpected early strike, enabling me to finally get my lethal revenge for the scar left on my chest from our last little get-together—

Mateo’s life would end very soon—and vengeance would be MINE!

*********************

TINK

Laid up in the middle of my—thankfully—king-size bed, surrounded by Auntie, Madeline, and my sisters, my Roly-Polies and I were all jumping for joy after hearing about Auntie’s army being victorious in their mission. Spiros’ spot-on intuition and his outstanding performance in the swiftly ended face-off with our enemies—along with Brains and Brawn and Crusher’s awesome kick-ass moves—leaving me ecstatic, but also a little deflated about missing all the action...

Auntie was just as proud of our group—and the aunts who went in her place—but there was no denying in her expression that she felt the same as I did, leading me to drop my head on her shoulder, despairingly sighing, “Masterful victory or not, Auntie—again, this really sucks.”

Dropping her head down on top of mine, she longingly sighed, “And again—agreed.”

“I know you two feel left out, but I, for one, am glad this was settled quickly,” Madeline breathed out in relief, “My only regret is the lack of additional information about Oralia’s whereabouts.”

“Mmmmm,” Auntie distractedly hummed out, “I believe I may be able to help in that regard momentarily, Madeline. I requested that Raven seek out the young man who spoke with Spiros before he was sent to the prison. She’s sharing a vision of his memories with the other group of rogue wolves now.”

All eyes were on our Auntie, who, after what felt like forever, flashed a mischievous grin that I knew and LOVED, before she all-knowingly murmured, “Looks like Auntie’s army will be making a stop in Moon Stone territory before returning home.”

All our faces lit up—initially—but before we got a chance to ecstatically push for more info, Auntie’s eyes suddenly narrowed, a flash of the deepest emerald green I’ve ever seen sparking within them as she exhaled out in an unusual lethal tone, “Romulus.”

Her eyes—they flickered emerald-green again—and looked really, REALLY weird. Hard and—cold. So much so, I turned to look at the other girls, who looked just as worried as I was before Madeline called out, “Auntie? What’s wrong? What do you see? Is Romulus going to strike?”

Something was definitely not right—Auntie’s demeanor, tone—everything in her cryptic reply as she wickedly smirked, sultrily replying, “Not yet—but he is definitely underestimating me—just as I hoped he would.”

*****************

HORACIO

After Raven sent the Council guards and our captured rogues to their designated prison, I was standing with Nicholas, who was lauding Caelus, Spiros, and Zayden for their outstanding performances before we headed out to Moon Stone, when a cold chill suddenly ran down my spine. My wolf responded with a low, deadly growl that instantly had me on high alert as Nicholas’ prideful tone changed to one of heavy concern—

“Horacio? Are you seeing Auntie’s vision? Is everything alright?”

“No. No vision, but hang on,” I harshly returned before immediately sending out a link to my Fairy Queen, Tati? Talk to me, love. Better yet, show me what’s going on in that brilliant mind of yours. Something’s wrong—I can feel it. It’s dull, which means you’re trying to hide something from me. Are you alright?

Her reply sounded off—and a little too familiar for my liking—reminding me of our lustful night not too long ago, Only our deep connection could penetrate my cloak. Fortunately, however, it’s nothing your Queen can’t handle. The nasty water rat has seen today’s events, but no worries, my Sexy Beast, I’ll—

Her words suddenly stopped, sending a panic through me as Sexy Beast re-echoed in my mind, leading me to furiously link out, Tati? F—Fairy Queen?

My harrowed expression undoubtedly gave me away after receiving nothing in return. I saw Jace slap his hand on top of his fairy tattoo before being slung on top of mine when nothing happened. His voice sounded just as fearful as I was, the urgency and agitation in Jace’s tone became more prominent towards the end as he unnervingly pressed, “Horacio? Constance said Mother wasn’t herself at all after this Romulus vision of hers and is asking me if she is alright, because she was supposed to be coming here! And of the greatest concern to me right now—I CAN’T FIND HER! TELL ME YOU KNOW WHERE IN THE HELL MY MOTHER IS!”

His eyes going wide, Alastor guffawed, “Auntie had a vision—about Romulus—AND NOW YOU CAN’T FIND HER?”

“She was acting really odd,” Beast nervously murmured, his highly worried gaze bearing down on me, “Tink’s panicking.”

“Madeline is too—and truthfully, so am I. She said Auntie left at least five minutes ago,” Nicholas harshly pressed, “After saying Romulus was underestimating her just like she hoped! So, please, Horacio. Say something—anything—tell us you know where she is!”

My head was spinning as I frantically blurted out before I could stop myself, “SHE LEFT FIVE MINUTES AGO?”

“Oh, my stars!” Reina frightfully gasped, “You have no idea what’s going on any more than the rest of us, do you?”

“WHAT?” Lorenzo furiously bellowed out, “Horacio, please tell me that’s not true!”

“Tell us all that’s not true, Horacio!” Persephone furiously demanded, “NOW!”

“I can’t reach Tati by link,” Mahan anxiously acknowledged.

“Neither can I,” Soren sighed out in dismay, “And I dare say—none of us can—not even Horacio.”

The moment I heard Romulus’ name, my mind was sending out a fierce flurry of links that had all gone unanswered, making Soren’s words frighteningly true. My alert was now panic as one frenzied thought after another ran through my mind—

Had Tati’s dark side taken over again? And if it had—if she saw a potential strike from Romulus—had the dark side of the Fairy Queen decided to take him out on her own? Ignoring the fact that it would put our girls in danger?

No—please—no! Please don’t tell me that Tati, Rhiannon, and Rani are all in danger and I have no idea where they are—

My fingers flying up to fiercely grasp around my fairy tattoo, already knowing it was a futile attempt, I took in a harrowed breath when nothing happened...

Or worse still—I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THE HELL I’M GOING TO FIND THEM!

********************

TATIANA

It happened again—my boundaries were broken—this time by a vision that came to fruition from my dark side thanks to Romulus’ black magic. I saw him. I heard Josie’s voice referring to him as a ‘water rat’ the moment his sleezy, pudgy face appeared in my mind. I saw the frightened girl literally shaking as she lay beside Romulus when the vision of our successful capture came to him. And then, all went blurry again as I fought to retain control—the scales completely shifted as I embarked on another battle through the darkness...

Horacio’s voice echoed out as I fought to rebuild my walls and I could hear it—the desperation and panic I heard before following my last falter. And I was replying—only it wasn’t me and every word was muffled—driving me to push back harder for control...

We’ll help, Mommy. It will be okay, a tiny little voice attempted to assure me, Ready? One, two, three!

And just like that, I could see again—through my own eyes—though the ferocious push left me feeling faint. Peering around, Madeline, Constance, Charlotte, and Tink were blurry, but there was no denying their fright-filled gazes as I was immediately asked if I was alright. But in my mind, a myriad of overwhelming thoughts left me unable to tell them the truth—that I was anything but fine...

While grateful that my dark side had managed to conceal the immense pain flowing through me from Horacio, there were two things that pushed to the forefront of my mind as I continued the battle to fully regain control. One, it was imperative that Raven and I cloak everyone heading to Moon Stone to protect them from Romulus and his visions. And two—I needed to get to my room to catch my breath and solidify my barriers again—and this time, I was prepared—already recreating a potion I had used in the past during Soloman’s illness and after his heartbreaking death, hoping the tweaks I made to make sure it was safe for the girls didn’t lessen the effects...

“No imminent attack by Romulus will be made, but I do need to get to Blood River Canyon now. Raven and I need to cloak everyone before they go to Moon Stone,” I rambled out before disappearing from the room, echoes of the girls’ shouts of my name still ringing in my ears as I reappeared in my room.

The quick maneuver caused an almost debilitating bout of dizziness, causing my knees to go completely weak as I clumsily stumbled over to my cabinet, haphazardly sifting through my bottles until I found the large green bottle I sought. My timing was perfect as my legs completely buckled beneath me, sending me hard onto the floor. Knowing Horacio was more than likely teetering on the edge, I attempted to link him, but failed miserably as the room began spinning wildly in response—full control over my dark side still tremendously waning...

Fumbling with the stopper, I finally managed to pop it off, closing my eyes as I took the three needed sips, wincing from the bitterness of it as I continued to push the darkness back into its designated space inside as my own voice harshly rang out in my head to warn in a knowing, alluring tone, After the close call with Frieda, you know as well as I do that the only way to defeat Romulus is to release the full weight of darkness that resides inside the Fairy Queen—the vast gifts of our black magic. When the time comes—to save all of us—to save Rhiannon and Rani—it will be the only way...

“Timing is everything,” I inaudibly murmured before steadfastly declaring in a breathless whisper, “And when that time comes—I will be ready.”

Forcing in a deep breath, I conjured up the needed vision, harshly blowing out afterwards, “But now is not the time.”

A calming warmth rolled through me as a relieving reply echoed out in my head, Agreed and fortunately, from the looks of it, there is plenty of time to prepare. For now, our main focus is keeping our girls safe and healthy in their mother’s womb...

My hand falling listlessly to lay atop my stomach, I looked down, tearfully breathing out, “So very true, but it is so much more than that—which is why I know exactly what I need to do.”