Hidden In Shadows, A Fae and Vampire Romance: Shadow Court Chronicles, Book 1

Chapter 8.2: Secrets Revealed

He nodded and wandered off to make the phone call. She wondered, briefly, about Vincent below her feet. She pushed it all that aside as she made her way over to the doors of the library. She hadn't crafted an illusion since her binding had been removed and wondered how it was going to affect her ability. She pushed her doubt aside. Doubting her ability would make it harder for her to craft.

Taking a deep breath, she reached out to the gnome's mind and discovered he was still out cold. The defenses in his mind were little more than speed bumps for her, and she passed by them easily. She began to slowly build the illusion from the bottom up in his mind and projected it outward, so it was overlaid with reality. She worked in one detail after another until the illusion was seamless.

She then created a glamor for herself. She felt dirty as it shimmered into existence of her body. The glamor, Maguis' physical form, felt oily and unpleasant as it rippled against her skin. She hated wearing such a form, but it was the only way to get information out of the gnome. Gnomes were notoriously difficult to question. They were impervious against both physical and mental torture. The only way to get any truthful information out of them was through trickery.

She pulled the gnome abruptly into consciousness and slammed the door open for effect. She stomped into the torture room and approached the bound gnome. He was shaking with so much fear, it was causing the chair to rattle as she approached. He was a little thing, no bigger than a 5 year old, with a smashed up face, thinning hair, and a huge hooked nose. His terrified beady black eyes tracked her movement.

"I'm sorry, my King!" The words were screamed out as soon as she got near him. "Please, please don't kill me," he begged. "I didn't mean to fail. Please let me try again, just don't hurt my family."

She had never thought that the Seelie Court was one for torture or mindless bloodshed. She was starting to see how she had been wrong about her preconceived notions. She wasn't sure if they had always been this crazy or if they were just slowly slipping into the madness of their new king.

She was making an educated guess to say they were making a slip to the madness. A peon of the Unseelie Court would know that if a family member was being held as ransom, they were already dead. The Unseelie had been playing the game for so long that everyone knew the rules and when things were futile. The kidnapping had gone on for so long, it no was longer used as a threat because as soon as the family member was taken, the family had an immediate wake for them.

"Silence." She placed as much menace as possible in her voice. The gnome would hold little information but what it did know, she needed. She couldn't afford to treat it gently. "You will give me your report, and I will decide whether they will continue breathing or not."

Its head dropped to its chest in shame. "The Redcap, my king. The Redcap that she keeps is a ferocious beast. It decimated us in a matter of minutes. We couldn't even get past him to search the house for the Queen."

"Are you telling me that out of all of you, none of you could kill one single Redcap? You're Seelie Fae. It should have been easy to kill him. You've failed me; I am disappointed. How are you going to atone for your mistakes?"

"I'm so sorry, my King. Forgive me. Let me go back with Sebille's group tonight and I'll try again."

Two attacks in the same day. Maguis was getting desperate, which was surprising to her. He had patiently planned a successful coup and had Sebille at his side as an aide. The man should be more patient in taking her out. He had the human populous looking for her, and she could only hide for so long. Things were not making sense. She needed information, and also to find out how the hell he had found her.

She had gotten as much information as was possible from the gnome. He was so low on the radar of power, it was nothing but a peon of a peon. She dropped the glamor and illusions and watched his mind snap. She had not been gentle when she had let everything fall. His eyes focused on her body, and he began to screech like a banshee as soon as he realized what had been revealed. She reached out and snapped his neck to give him a deserving peaceful death. His death was more merciful than what he would have gotten had he gone back to Maguis with failure.

"Kieran!"

"Here, Princess," he announced behind her.

"Prepare for battle," She looked outside the window and tracked the position of the sun. They would have a maximum of three hours before the sun set, and the Unseelie would be reaching the beginnings of their power. "We will be having guests. Soon."

~~~

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