First Eclipse

Tim stood beside Bronx and watched as the leaders spoke quietly for a moment. His gaze flicked to the table where the Geminis were sitting. Fauna looked exhausted but sat there, back straight, her attention on the leaders. Bronx elbowed him and then jerked his head so Tim would look in the other direction.

Crissy was bouncing her ball against a flat area of the wall. That was a sure sign that something was going to happen. Any time she did that, teams were formed and they were sent somewhere.

Tim glanced in the justice's direction. He may be standing there in the group of hushed words, but he was fully aware of what his mate was doing.

With an abrupt nod, Victor stepped away from the others and moved to the front of the area. "It has been decided-" He nodded his head in Capri's direction."-by all in charge of all factions and realms that anyone that holds a power or ability-" He looked over at Daxx."—or is part of a royal family, from any realm." He paused and surveyed those in attendance. "Will go nowhere alone." His expression dared someone to interrupt him. There were a few hushed words, but no one spoke outright. "We have learned that those with abilities that have mated are no longer top priority to apprehend, but this does not mean there is no risk at all."

Troy moved over to stand beside him. "Any risk is too much." He glanced over at Michael, who then came forward.

Tim looked over at the table where Fauna and her friends sat. Their expressions were not close to agreeing, but one glance at Capri told him that she would keep them in line. He was still going to lose his mind with worry. He already knew that. There was no way he could ensure the huntress was safe-being as she was her own worst enemy and make certain that Fauna was as well.

"It's been decided that those with an ability will be accompanied by a guard or one trained in combat." The Alterealm law looked over at the large man, Bohdi. "We still have to search for this anchor we believe is key to cutting off the spells and power that is feeding their mages and-" he glanced at Capri. "-magic holders."

Fauna turned and looked directly at him. He cocked his head to the side, trying to figure out if she was just acknowledging he was one trained in combat or if she was saying that he'd be her partner. "Focus," Bronx whispered.

Tim lifted his chin and looked straight ahead again.

"What if no one is available to accompany one of us?" Karma asked.

Michael glanced at Carpi before answering. "Then you wait."

"What if two of us go together instead?" Sparx motioned to Karma. "We'd be a handful for anyone."

Michael looked over his shoulder at Troy when Victor walked away and went over to his mate.

Troy stepped forward.

"While I won't argue that you would not be a handful-" He motioned to Capri. "Capri assures us that you will follow the suggestion for your own safety."

Both Karma and Sparx turned to look at their leader and then nodded. Tim wondered if she'd used that link Fauna had to communicate with them.

"It's just " Ava looked over at Firo for a second. "There's a lot of ground to cover and other things in play that need taking care of. How are we going to do it all?" Elgar of Veiltide stood up. "My prince has sent me in his place and wishes you to know that we shall have a list of readily available volunteers to help with the search." Troy inclined his head. "I will get in touch with him and discuss a schedule."

The sorcerer sat back down.

"Aridon will also send as many that are needed to help." Princess Oriana said loudly, without standing up.

Michael motioned to Bohdi. "Bohdi's team is going to coordinate with each realm and set up the schedules. We're all aware there are many other things we need to do."

Bethany stood up. "Have we figured out any more about the birds of stone?"

Tim glanced over to see Victor speaking quietly with his mate. He straightened up and walked back over to stand beside his brothers.

"I'm afraid we don't have more details."

The woman, Pam, stood up. "Do we think this bird of stone has something to do with the anchor that we're looking for?"

"We can't be certain, but it's something to bear in mind while searching." Victor nodded.

"How many birds of stone or statues can there be?" Autumn asked.

"In North America? Eleven hundred." Em told everyone. "Of course that's just notable ones and doesn't include things like law and garden figurines." She looked at Capri and shrugged. "Because I'm pretty sure they're not using something that was made recently."

"I didn't see the whole bird." Crissy blurted out and hurried over to the table where most of the princesses sat. "The back-" She looked down at the floor for a moment. "-wings, I think."

"So, no guess as to what kind of bird we're looking for?"

Crissy shook her head. "No. No, guess." She frowned. "Could be fae wings, but I'd have to study some to know for sure." She looked over at Firo and then shook her head and looked at Ava. "Might be angel wings too." "So basically, it could be anything at this point," Daxx stated in a flat tone.

Crissy looked at her for a moment and then nodded. "I don't have all the pieces." She looked down again, and then her head popped up, and she turned, looking at everyone in the room. "So many shades of red." She looked at Bethany. "No." Shaking her head, she moved around the room. After she paused beside Jeri, Tim understood it was women with red hair. "The man in the camp had red hair, but not the red I see." She turned around and looked over at her Mate. "But he's still not good, and I think water is meant for him." The justice nodded.

Tim glanced at Bronx, who watched his princess with great interest. How did he ever know what she was talking about?

"The animals." Crissy rushed over to Fauna and nodded. "They rush away but come back." She touched Fauna's hair. "So soft." She smiled. 'It's yours. The red." Crissy nodded. "The bright light is good, but only if it's white." She nodded, turned around again, and looked at her mate. "It's Fauna. She's the red with the animals and the white light." She sucked in a breath and spun back around to Fauna. "Not the green. The green is bad." She wandered away, digging in her backpack at the same time.

Tim looked back to see fauna sitting there, her forehead puckered and not even hiding the fact that she had no idea what the seer had just told her. He glanced at Bronx, who was hyper-focused on his princess at that moment. "Ah, anyone care to translate that?" Em held up her hand. "I don't speak-" She motioned to Crissy. "-whatever language that was."

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Daxx looked over at Crissy and then turned back to Em. "We'll get back to you on that."

Em nodded and then leaned over the table and said something quietly. Sym shook her head.

Tim watched Fauna follow the seer around with just her eyes for a moment, and then she turned and looked at him. She tilted her head as if to ask if he understood any of that. He elbowed Bronx. "Do you have any idea?" "Working on it," Bronx said.

He looked back to Fauna and then motioned with his head to Bronx.

She looked relieved, and he hoped his friend was able to come up with answers because his brain stopped computing as soon as she singled Fauna out. After that, all Tim wanted to do was shout that she was not getting any more involved than she already had been. Which he knew was a fantasy, and if the huntress and other royal Alterealm women had taught him anything, it was that they didn't follow orders-not one of them.

"Bohdi has set up a map with grids for most of this state. We're focusing mainly here because all other major finds have been relatively close to this area." Michael walked over to a large map that hung on boards attached to the stone wall. He pointed to a spot on the map, and Tim knew it was the city where they'd found so many followers of Marcus, Arwan, and Hubert. It wasn't a coincidence that all of the royal's mates had ended up in that city or that they had cameras all over that area, not to mention the fathers from Solrelm had all found their mates in that city. He looked back at Fauna and then at the other women who sat there. It was definitely not a coincidence that Capri had set up her home for the other Geminis there or that she was the twin of the one they now believed was responsible for many spells and magic.

He blew out a breath and looked back at the map. "Around the city." He said quietly.

"What about it?" Bronx asked.

"This damn stone bird or anchor is going to be somewhere around the city."

"You think so?"

Tim nodded. "Gut says so. Everything else significant has been linked to the city."

"That's true." Bronx nodded. "Okay. I'll tell the others to grab search grids around the city and leave the further areas to other teams."

"Yeah." Tim nodded and then watched Daxx get up and go over to look at the map. "That's my cue." He walked over to her with long strides.

She glanced at him when he stood beside her. "Change of plans, blocker." She smiled at him. "With Alona officially out of the search, Sith is going to be my shadow." She turned and looked in the direction of the table Fauna sat at. "I'm assigning you to keep an eye on Fauna."

He wasn't going to complain but he still felt guilt that he wouldn't be with her. "Has the captain made other adjustments?'

Daxx shrugged. "No idea. But I told him that you stay close to Fauna." She pointed to the captain, who was speaking with his mate. "You guys still have to find Tawny a friend too."

Tim rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "I thought we'd look in Alterealm mountains next time."

Daxx snorted. "Shouldn't find any evil twins there."

Just a heads up: FindNovel.net is the only place to read the complete version of this book for free. Don't miss out on the next chapter-visit us now and continue your journey! "What's this about twins?" Chase came over.

Daxx smiled at him. "We were saying there shouldn't be any evil twins in the Alterealm mountains."

Chase grinned. "Not since Troy made me investigate a skunk lair when we were kids there hasn't been."

Tim put his hand over his mouth.

Daxx turned and gave her mate a shocked look. "Did an alien swap him and no one noticed?"

Chase laughed. "I've often wondered the same thing."

Daxx tapped her hand on Tim's arm. "Go tell your mate the plan."

"How is that going?" Chase looked him up and down. "I don't see a tattoo."

Daxx glared at him. "When were they supposed to fit that in, Chase?"

"True." Chase nodded and then looked at the map. "Take Tim off rotation for a few days. They can go to the mountains and get Kara's cat, her friend." He smiled at Tim. "That will take care of the when." With his hands behind his back, the king walked away.

Tim looked at Daxx.

She shrugged. "Not a totally bad plan." She nodded. "Go make arrangements for the mountains."

"But-" He motioned to the map.

She looked at it. "This is going to take weeks because we still have to find the other bad guys on our list and locations from the cameras-" She sighed. "And whatever other garbage gets dropped on us." She pointed to the Gemini table. "Trust me. Take a few hours with her before everything gets in the way." She narrowed her eyes at him. "You did tell her, right?"

"We were interrupted to get to the camp, and then the deer and bear..."

Daxx groaned. "Right." She slapped his bicep. "Go make the plans, and just know you're still my blocker when she's sitting safe at home or whatever."

Tim nodded. That made him feel better. Since that first time the time they had both almost died, he felt like he had a true purpose when he was with Daxx. Of course, that purpose could only be to take the brunt of the king's anger when she didn't listen, but it was still a purpose.