Zora's Dawn (Defender Book 1) (19 page)

Over
breakfast Axel outlined arrangements for their travel. “We will travel as we
did yesterday, except today Clare you will have a companion.” As they looked at
him expectantly he continued, “Jake is going to come with us, to liaise with
the Melbourne werewolf pack.”

Powers
nodded his head. “That’s good, Jake’s a good man and it’s always better to have
another wolf introduce us to a new pack.”

Sunny
smiled happily. “And he’s cute too, right Zora?” Ignoring the frown Marcus
directed at her she winked at Zora and turned to Shax. “He is, isn’t he Shax?”

Shax
looked up from feeding a sausage to Frenchie. “He’s ok, if you like wolves.”

Sunny
grinned, not at all put off by this dismissive answer. Zora looked from one to
the other, puzzled. Sunny was right though, Jake was a cute wolf, with his ice
blue eyes and tawny hair. Muscles in all the right places too. A soft growl
from Powers had her compressing her lips in exasperation. Really, was there no
privacy?

They
finished their breakfast and headed off to their rooms to pack and get ready.
Powers left the room before Zora who took some time to try to prepare mentally
for the day. She felt a deep sense of dread about this next phase in their
journey, which was understandable since they were going to the same city as the
werewolf. But she was almost sure there was something else. Something deep
inside her was screaming a warning, only she couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it
was. Did she have some sort of precognition? That could be useful, but not if
she couldn’t decipher it. Giving up, Zora picked up her bag and took a deep
breath before leaving the room.   

Jake was
already there when she joined the others. He gave her a hard stare but his nod
in her direction was friendly enough. No doubt he had reservations about her
usefulness and she didn’t blame him for that one bit. Axel arranged them much
like the previous day, and each group left in a swirl of mist. Zora was still
preoccupied and paid no attention this time to the colours in the mist. As
before Axel left their departure until the last.

When Zora
took the hand he held out for her he looked at her quizzically. “Something is
wrong little Zora?”

Zora shook
her head. “I don’t think so Axel. I have this feeling of dread, like a warning.
But I think it’s because we are going to the same city as the werewolf.”

“It may be
that little Zora, and it may be that you have a touch of precognition. Pay
attention to these feelings, but don’t let them blind you to what is happening
around you. Now, ready?”

Stifling a
sigh Zora nodded agreement. As they dissolved her thoughts were still directed
inwards, so that when they reformed she would have fallen ignominiously if Axel
had not caught her around the waist and hauled her up to her feet. Way to make
a great entrance Zora, she thought to herself. There was nobody else in this
garden, just the home guard waiting to escort them inside. She spared a brief
glance at the gorgeous exterior but was feeling such nausea that she was unable
to fully appreciate it. Axel practically carried her to the sumptuous lounge
room where everyone else was gathered. Once there Zora sank down gratefully
into the nearest chair to wait for the nausea to pass. The look Jake cast her
was censorious which she interpreted to mean he thought she was showing
unsuitable weakness.

Axel
produced a glass of water for her and Zora sipped it, enjoying the feeling as
the coolness slipped down her throat. Feeling better she looked around the
room. Everyone was there in varying stages of recovery. For the fairies and
Marcus of course there was no recovery time necessary, but the rest of them
were not looking so healthy, even Jake she saw now that she was looking
closely. She supposed that since he was a werewolf he had a bigger need to
present a show of strength. Yay him she thought tiredly, this mist travel might
be convenient but it had some nasty side effects.

“Truly
little Zora, it gets easier with practice.” Axel patted her paternally on the
head from his position in the chair next to her, then smiled in appreciation as
a pretty little fairy came in pushing a trolley loaded with refreshments. Zora
sat straighter in her chair and sniffed the enticing aromas floating in the air.
Food seemed like an excellent idea and she could see everyone leaning forward
eagerly. The little fairy stopped the trolley at Axel first, dipping a cute
curtsy to him as she did so. It was the first time Zora had seen such behaviour
towards Axel and it served to remind her that he was fairy royalty and a very
powerful creature.

Axel
smiled indulgently at the fairy before greeting her by name. “Emma my dear,
it’s always such a pleasure to see you. Please, there is no need to serve us
all individually. Just leave the trolley by the table there and we will serve
ourselves. I see the kitchen is producing wonderful food as ever, please pass
on my thanks to everyone.”

The little
fairy smiled, showing cute dimples as she did so. “I will pass on your kind
words Highness. Please call if you require anything else.” She bowed her head
and left the room in a gliding walk that had Zora mesmerised.

Talk was
general as they ate and drank and recovered from the travel. Zora sat back and
watched the interplay between them all. The fairy guard was friendly to
everyone but they stayed watchful and on guard. Marcus focused most of his
attention on Sunny, but she was so taken with Sabrina that she barely noticed.
At least that was how it seemed but as Zora watched she noticed the frequent
sideways glances Sunny was casting at Marcus when the latter wasn’t looking.
She narrowed her eyes at Sunny, who looked up at her just at that moment,
flicked her eyes at Marcus and winked. Ok then, so Sunny was playing Marcus.
Zora wondered if it was wise to play with a vampire, but Sunny seemed
unconcerned.

She
shifted her focus to Shax. The witch was feeding a biscuit to Frenchie – that
dog seemed like an eating machine. She liked Shax and her irreverent humour but
noticed that even though Shax seemed outgoing she also kept to herself a lot,
like today. As Shax looked at Jake with an unreadable expression Zora
remembered Sunny teasing her about him earlier in the day. Did that mean Shax
liked him or had a problem with him? She was pretty sure Jake had a problem
with her, he seemed friendly enough but she could feel the disapproval
emanating from him every time he looked at her. She didn’t know if it was
personal or just that he was concerned about her abilities when the time came.
She had her doubts there too so if that was his concern she could totally
understand it. Still it didn’t feel good to know someone in the group seemed to
feel she did not belong.

Powers and
Axel were seated on either side of her, and were having a conversation behind
her head which Zora had completely tuned out. Tuning back in now she realised
it was about cars and tuned out again. Men, whether they were fairy or shifter
or vampire, they still seemed to be all the same.

“Little
Zora, you are very quiet, you are feeling well?” Axel touched her arm as he
spoke, a touch that gentled and reassured without any of the heat she felt when
Powers touched her.

Turning
her head to him she smiled. “I’m fine Axel, just a little tired today.”

“Well the defenders
in town are not able to get here until this evening so you have the afternoon
free. Perhaps you, Sunny and Shax would like to go into the city and do some
shopping?”

Zora
frowned, it seemed a bit frivolous to go shopping with everything going on.

“No little
Zora, it’s not frivolous. It’s some necessary down time for you. Things may
become very difficult in the days to come. You need to rest, to clear you mind
of everything that has been going on. You have made some very big adjustments
these past few days. An afternoon off is exactly what you need right now.”

So saying
Axel leaned forward and told Sunny and Shax of his decision. Sunny pleated her
brow in a worried frown but Shax, apparently in sync with his thinking agreed
instantly and then turned to Sunny to explain further.

Axel addressed
the fairy guard. “Clare and Samantha, you are to go with the girls into the
city. The rest of you stay here and talk to the resident guard to see what they
know. Powers you stay here too. Clare and Samantha can take care of Zora very
well. You, Jake and I will go to see the Melbourne pack and I need your
intuition. Sunny and Zora need some time out, they have had to deal with a lot
in a short space of time. Shax, Clare and Samantha, you will keep
communications open with me at all times. If anything unusual happens I wish to
know immediately.”

Zora
wondered briefly exactly how fairies and witches kept communication lines open,
but Shax began hustling her and Sunny out of the room so she filed it in her
mind with all the other questions she had for another time.

Once out
of the room Sunny baulked. “We’re not going by mist travel are we?”

Shax
grinned at her. “Nope, we have a car at our disposal, I’ll drive us since I
know the way.”

Zora repressed
a shudder, she wasn’t sure being a passenger in a car with Shax was a better
way to travel. Trying to look on the bright side she reasoned that Shax hadn’t
killed herself yet so maybe she had some sort of witchy way to ensure their
safety on the roads. The little fairy Emma appeared at her side to show her to
her room, so she went to change, promising to be back at the front door in fifteen
minutes.

True to
her word, Zora was at the front door in less than fifteen minutes, and shortly
they were all on their way in a very nice bright red sedan. Not wanting an up
close vista of Shax’s driving style Zora elected to sit in the back, Sunny
sliding in beside her. Samantha took the front seat while Clare waved them both
further across so she could take the back seat on the opposite side to
Samantha. Seeing the sense in their seating choice Zora made no complaint and
sat resolutely staring out the side window during the drive. This was mostly so
that she didn’t have to watch Shax driving, although it didn’t stop her stomach
from lurching at each erratic lane change.

As they
drove Zora thought back through the events of the day. She had been so
preoccupied that she hadn’t really paid any attention to the travel to
Melbourne but now she realised that Shax hadn’t travelled with any of the
fairies. She had gone with Frenchie and Sabrina. She must have used her own
witchy style of travel and Zora had failed to notice. It was a small thing, but
she was sure she needed to be more alert in the days to come. As Axel had said,
she mustn’t let her preoccupations keep her from noticing what was happening
around her.

Once in the
city Shax parked the car in the back of a business that belonged to Axel and
they piled out. Zora and the others followed Shax who seemed to know exactly
where she was going. Although still uncertain about the wisdom of taking the
afternoon off she decided to just go with the flow and stop thinking. That
sense of danger was still there, but really what could happen during the day? Well
except to run into the werewolf in human form, but in a city as large as
Melbourne that was not very likely.

A couple
of hours later Zora conceded she was having a good time. Perhaps Axel was
right, and she had needed to step back from what was happening for a little
while. Even Samantha and Clare had relaxed, although she was sure not their
constant surveillance.  They had wandered the streets window shopping,
occasionally going into a store if one of them expressed an interest and were
currently sitting outside one of the quirky little coffee shops that were so
prevalent in the side streets and alleyways of Melbourne.

“Why did
you decide to go outside the family business Sunny? Did you have an issue or
just wanted to try something different?” Clare seemed genuinely interested,
leaning forward with an intent expression on her face.

Sunny took
a sip of her coffee before replying. “I didn’t ever have a problem with the
family business. I saw plenty of vampires since I used to work for my parents whenever
and wherever they needed an extra pair of hands. I’m used to vampires, they
really are pretty good folk on the whole, and I’ve never been squeamish about
our product. I just wanted to go out on my own, make my own way. I’ve always
loved to write and I’ve always been nosy, so I decided it would be pretty cool
to be a reporter. I haven’t been doing it for that long, but so far it’s been good
– present situation possibly excepted.”