Alpha Nocturne’s Contracted Mate by A E Randell
Chapter 158 Not a Social Call
Ann and Adam made their way back to their quarters under the escort of the Royal guards and once inside, Ann gratefully closed the door behind her.
It was glaringly obvious that they wouldn’t be able to return to the palace anytime soon, so Adam set about making arrangements to have some of their personal effects sent over whilst Ann got herself changed out of the ceremonial attire and into something a little more comfortable.
She wasn’t sure that leggings and an oversized T-shirt were what const*ituted acceptable attire fora reigning Alpha Queen, but she was past caring at this point. She just wanted to be comfortable and free of distractions so that she could think clearly.
She settled herself on the edge of the bed and sent a quick message to Mimi, requesting a few items of clothing that she knew she was lacking for official functions, diplomatic liaisons, and possibly for the meetings within the Enclave too.
If at all possible she would much rather reserve the impractical gowns for official balls and banquets, and wanted to take a practical approach to her clothing. If she could get away with trouser suits, or something similar then she intended to do so.
Although the issue of the symbolic, yet functional weaponry she was expected to carry still bothered her.
‘Why bother with weapons at all when we have our teeth? I can do far more damage than a sword or set of daggers can, with far less exertion too.’ Maeve sulked.
‘I know, but you have to remember that threats are not always obvious until the last minute. What happens if we inadvertently ingest some sort of concoction that renders our ability to shift useless? It’s already happened to us before Maeve. I’d rather have the means to defend ourselves if it does ever happen again.’ Ann explained patiently.
‘Look, I’m not saying I disagree, but all of those times you weren’t even able to move anyway, so what good will the weapons do us then, other than giving the prospective attackers further options as a way to dispose of us?’ Maeve countered in irritation.
Ann sighed as she scrolled through her phone book to find Lexi’s number.
‘I’m working on that Maeve. Dark Magic wasn’t really something that we had to worry about before, was it? Well, not fora longtime at least. The jewelry that Adam gave us is supposed to protect against dark magic. Unfortunately, I wasn’t wearing it on any of the times that we’ve been affected by their spell work.”
‘And you know for sure that it works to repel dark magic?’
‘Only by his family’s reputation…’
‘Seems a bit risky as a way of finding out for sure.’ Maeve grumbled as Ann rolled her eyes.
‘Look, we can argue about this another time, there are far more pressing matters to attend to than whether or not physical weaponry is useful in a very specific kind of situation.’ Ann snapped, ‘I need to call Lexi.’
Maeve grumbled loudly as Ann selected her name from the list of contacts and hit the call button. It didn’t take long for her to answer.
“Well, well, well! The day of your crowning and already you’re hitting your bestie up.” Lexi greeted gleefully. “Nice to see you haven’t forgotten us commoners. What can I do for your royal a*s*s?”
“Unfortunately Lexi, this isn’t just a social call. I have some news that I think you’re probably going to take as well as I did.”
A deafening silence answered her from Lexi’s end before a heavy exhalation could be heard.
“Okay. Shoot. I’m calm. Prepping myself for yet more rage-inducing news.” She quipped as Ann felt the corners of her mouth turn up slightly because of Lexi’s sardonic att*itude.
“Okay. Well, there’s no easy way to say this, so I’m going to do it quickly and get it over with. The convoy that was transporting Narcissa and Ada to the containment facility in the Northern Tips was decimated. There’s no trace of either of them or of the prisoners that were bound for the same destination.”
Ann waited for the explosion in her ear that should have followed but instead the sound of a metallic clatter and a muffled commotion could be heard.
“Lexi? Are you okay?” Ann asked carefully, frowning as the muffled sounds of crashing and furious ranting could be heard.
Very quickly Ann realized that she had most likely launched her phone across the room in her temper and was probably now raging about the news whilst she tried to locate where the phone had landed.
The sound of something being passed across the phone’s microphone was heard before the slightly out-of-breath voice of Lexi re-emerged.
“What the f**k do you mean there’s no sign of them? How the hell did the snakes manage to escape?!” She hissed furiously.
Ann sighed.
“Other than every single one of the elite guards being decimated, we don’t know yet. Obviously there will be an investigation, but we only received the news less than an hour ago. Not that I need to tell you this, but please keep it to yourself for now until we know what we’re dealing with.”
“Should I ask Papa if he knows of anything? Although honestly, if he had heard anything I’m sure that he would have already been in touch by now.” Lexi mused out loud.
Ann chewed her cheek as she thought.
“Actually Lexi, I might need you to come to the Enclave if you don’t mind.” She said finally.
“What? Why? Ugh, you know I hate those stuffy old bastards and their rules…” Lexi groaned. “Yeah, I’m fully aware of that. However, I think you might be interested in seeing what the Garrison guard brought back with him.” Ann answered her grimly.
“What do you mean brought back with him?” Lexi asked her tone now full of curiosity.
Ann knew her like the back of her hand, and if there was the slightest hint there might be something that no one else knew about, Lexi wanted to be the first one there. It was the sole reason why she had worked for the gossip and tabloid publications as a reporter and photographer for all those years.
Now, her unfettered and privileged access had climbed higher than she could ever have imagined.
“Apparently the attackers… well… the guards had never seen this sort of creature before and they couldn’t identify them. They brought some of the corpses here for identification in the hopes that one of the Elders here would know.” Ann explained as Lexi gasped quietly. “I’m thinking that, if they’re from a realm similar to your father’s that you might be able to identify them quicker than we can.”
Lexi laughed loudly and it took a moment or two for her to compose herself before she spoke again.
“Well, it looks like Daemonology 101 is going to start far quicker than we thought.” She said, without any hint of irony or sarcasm in her voice. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”