Six Guardians of the Underworld

Chapter 26

It felt really good to be away from her. She used to sometimes give me good advice and help me understand how to use my powers, but lately all she did was make me upset and worried. She had gotten her magic messed up in things that she shouldn't have. It was why she was so ugly. She had messed in dark magic and she was paying the price; it was written all over her face. And she'd lied to me when she said I didn't know anything and that she wasn't to blame for the mess we were in. It was true, I didn't know everything, but I knew enough, and my gut was telling me that Maggie and her nasty sisters were not to be trusted. My nerves were jangling and my hands were shaking, but I was pretty damn proud of myself. "Yeah, I did tell her off, didn't I?"

Spike grabbed me in a hug, lifting me off my feet and swinging me around in a big circle. When he finally stopped and put me down, we stared at each other for a few seconds. I ran my hands up his chest and around to the back of his neck as I smiled up at him. "You're pretty hot, you know that?"

"You are too. Especially when you're telling off a Fate who could've blown us both to smithereens."

I shrugged with false modesty. "I can be pretty badass sometimes."

"I noticed." He gestured with his head toward the compound. "You want a ride back home?"

"I thought you'd never ask."

He turned around and crouched down so I could jump onto his back. I wrapped my legs around his middle, locked my arms around his neck, and kissed his ear. "I'm ready whenever you are."

"Hang on, baby, and get ready for the ride of your life." He took off running, and I screamed with delight as he raced through the forest like only a cube-eye can, headed back to the compound at top speed. For just a few moments, I felt free—free of the pressures and the stress of being responsible for the safety of the entire world. Free from that gloriously awful statement of Maggie's: that I was the reason why the Forsaken were coming and the reason why all the humans and fae were in danger. Free from the idea that I was going to bring Armageddon to our planet. As I raced through the forest wearing Spike's ring, I was just a kid…a girl in love with a guy, a simple teenager who hated world history class and didn't do so hot at math. It was fun to pretend I was that innocent person for just a little while, before the poo really hit the fan and forced me to face up to the fact that I wasn't really all that innocent after all…and that was a good thing.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

"WHAT DO YOU say we go do some research before we find out what everyone else is doing?" Spike suggested.

"Good call. But let's get our buds in on this with us," I said.

"You want to call them, or you want me to get them for you?"

I thought about it for a couple of seconds before I responded. "It's probably better if you get them. I'm not sure I could call them and not pull in the others at the same time. My ability to focus on one individual isn't quite there yet." I could totally picture myself accidentally calling all the werewolves to the computer room, which would make it impossible for us to get anything done with all those hairy bodies in the way. When I summoned them, they never showed up all chilled out; they always assumed I needed some a*s-kicking done, so they arrived in the process of changing from man to beast.

Spike deposited me outside the computer room door and kissed me quick on the lips. "Don't fall in love with anyone else while I'm gone," he said, preparing to race off down the hall.

I grabbed his arm and forced him to look at me. "Not gonna happen. Ever. You're stuck with me for life." I held up my hand and wiggled my fingers. "I have the ring to prove it."

He hugged me tight and then disappeared before I could say anything else, like I love you, or I feel like the luckiest girl in the world, or I'm sorry in advance for any heartache I might cause you. My track history with Spike wasn't the greatest, but so far he'd managed to forgive all my mistakes. Hopefully, he'd continue to do that. I wasn't naïve enough to think that just because we were engaged, I'd suddenly become the perfect fiancée. Probably the best I'd ever get to would be moderately good fiancée, and I hoped that would be enough, even though he deserved better.

I pushed open the door and entered the room, surprised to find Becky already there. "Hey, what're you doing in here, li'l water sprite?" I asked, feeling cheerful about my ring and my man and my plan to end all evil in the world.

She quickly shut off her computer screen and spun around in the seat to face me. "Uh, hi, Jayne. What're you doing here?"

I sat down to her right and faced her. "Research. Spike just left to go find you and the others so you could help us."

She faced the computer and nervously clicked the mouse, quickly exiting out of what she'd been looking at before the screen could become bright enough to actually read. "Sure, what do you want me to look up?"

"What were you just doing? Checking emails?" I was pretty sure I'd seen a sss account on the screen right before she'd shut it off, which was weird because most of us had abandoned all connections with the outside world. All I ever got in my inbox were p***s enlargement emails anyway, so it wasn't like I was missing anything. Especially now that Tony was gone. My cheer disappeared in a flash when I realized that I'd never get another email from him again, and he wouldn't be joining us to do research on the Forsakens' possible targets. What would the gray elves do without their best planner? And what would I do without my best friend?

"Checking emails? Me? Heh-heh. No. Yeah. Maybe." Becky's evasive answer pulled me out of my melancholy thoughts.

"Beck." I waited for her to look at me before I continued. "You don't have to hide anything from me. I won't say anything to anyone." If she wanted to keep tabs on her human life, that was her business. I didn't get why she'd want to, but whatever. It was her deal, not mine.

She went from nervous to cranky in the blink of an eye. "I'm not hiding anything from anyone. It's just…none of your business."

I lifted my brows and wheeled my chair back a bit. "Okay. Fine. Forget I said anything." I turned to the other computer and woke it up by jiggling the mouse.

She huffed out a breath next to me, but didn't say anything. I kept my mouth shut too. Becky would come around one way or another, and I had a feeling my best bet was to just wait for it.

I whistled as I pulled up the search engine and started typing:

Large gathering. Multiple cities. Coordinated attack. I thought about it for a few seconds and then made an adjustment to my search terms: Large gathering. Multiple cities. Coordinated program. I hit the enter key and then waited for the results to populate the screen.

"What are you doing?" Becky asked, her tone subdued.

I was tempted to tell her it was none of her business, but that would have been petty and mean. Becky was entitled to her secrets, and I sure didn't want to do this by myself. "Just trying to figure out where the Forsaken are going to strike. Spike and I just talked to Maggie. We have some good intel to work with now."

"But you're here and not with the Council?"

"I'll tell them what I've found once I find it. I'm not keeping it a secret." That wasn't meant as a burn on Becky, but she took it that way, apparently.

"Jayne, I'm not trying to be rude by not telling you what I'm doing in here."

"I know that." I didn't look at her. I didn't want her to feel the pressure of my eyes glaring at her. I wouldn't have been glaring, but she probably expected it of me, so she'd imagine it was happening even when it wasn't. "I'm fine with you having secrets."

She sighed heavily. "You said Spike was going looking for me?"

"Yeah. You and Scrum and Finn and Jared and Tim and the twins…you know…everyone who I give a hoot about."

"And I'm on that list, aren't I?" she asked. She sounded like she was about to cry.

I stopped what I was doing and looked at her. Her eyes were red-rimmed and her face looked puffy and sad. "What's going on? Was Finn mean to you?" I could feel my temper rising. All I needed was that redneck doofus pissing off this sensitive water sprite, right before the world was about to end. We did not have time for teenage romance drama.

She shook her head as tears fell from her eyes.