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Messing with my mind, not my body? The woman said
pheromones, but perhaps that was just to mislead us.
Could be, just be careful. I don t trust these elves.
Alexia didn t either. She doubted there was any
kind of innocent mistake in what they had just
done.
I am sure that is a very effective method of
gaining control over a situation, Kairos offered
good naturedly. No permanent harm done. My
son here, of course, is a little sensitive about his
mate lusting after others. Kairos indicated Ian
who glared with glowing yellow eyes at the two
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guards.
My apologies. Allow me to introduce myself. I
am Lillian, co-leader of this colony. On behalf of
myself and my brother, Lucas, I welcome you.
You will be allowed to access the prisoners for as
long as you need tonight, and may come back at
nightfall tomorrow for their trial. We have made
the allowance of a nighttime trial to accommodate
our vampire prisoner. Lillian spoke as if she
expected praise for making this allowance.
We appreciate that, and we will definitely be
here for their trial tomorrow night, Kairos
assured her, acting quite the diplomat.
Alexia supposed she should be grateful that
one of them was capable of making nice.
These two were not here earlier today, Lillian
said, indicating Ian and Alexia. She walked
toward them with a curious eye. She assessed Ian
quickly, then dismissed him and eyed Alexia. She
stopped a few feet in front of Alexia and her eyes
widened. What is she? Lillian asked with clear
disgust in her voice.
Alexia was sore, embarrassed, frightened and
angry. She was not thinking clearly enough to give
this woman the respect that would have gained
favor for herself and her parents. She bristled at
the attack on her being and refused to take the
insult from this stranger with a haughty attitude.
I am a werepire, what the hell does it matter to
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you? she snapped, letting her anger show
through her glowing mismatched eyes.
Lillian gasped and took a step back. An
abomination. Exactly what we feared would
happen with the joining of two species.
Ian reacted faster than Alexia and threw
himself at Lillian. If it hadn t been for her ability to
teleport, Ian would have ripped her apart with his
bare hands. As it was, she disappeared and Ian fell
to the ground where she had been standing a
second before. He scrambled to his feet and
looked around, but she was nowhere to be found.
Alexia watched Ian with fascination. No one
had ever gotten so defensive of her feelings before.
It warmed her heart.
If you will follow me, I will take you to see the
prisoners, one of the guards offered, giving no
reaction to the intended attack on their leader.
It seemed to Alexia that the elves were about as
different from her as they could possibly be. Their
almost complete lack of emotion was in such vivid
contrast to the vamp and were s fiery tempers. It
was disconcerting to not really know what was
going on in their minds.
They were led through the gate and emerged in
another world. On the other side of the wall was a
pristine suburban neighborhood, complete with
matching pastel colored homes and perfectly
trimmed lawns. There didn t seem to be anyone
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about. This wouldn t seem odd considering the
time of night, except that elves, like most immortal
beings, didn t tend to conform to those human
rules of night and day. They slept, but like most
other members of the fantastical beings groups,
they didn t require much and preferred to spend
most of their nights doing the things that were
more difficult in the light of day with so many
humans about to see.
The oddest things were the animals. They were
everywhere and they were all different kinds. She
spotted a jaguar high in a tree, watching them
with black eyes, and a group of iguanas lounging
on a porch nearby. Dogs, cats and horses, even a
cow were milling about. She couldn t believe they
were all so content, none seemed to want to attack
even their natural enemies. She almost tripped
when she saw a bear cub under the loving gaze of
its mother, playing gently with a couple rabbits.
There was no way a human wouldn t think
they were on a bad trip if they walked in here. It
was like the beginning of a Disney movie, and it
gave her the serious creeps.
She looked closer and noticed that the animals
all wore tags, as if they were pets, and perhaps
they were as this was an animal elf colony after
all. They stopped to let a gaggle of geese cross,
followed by a frisky colt, then continued on their
way. Everyone in their group stared here and
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there with amazement. The guard, of course,
didn t even notice the menagerie they walked
through.
The guard led them to the center of the colony
where a large house stood imperiously on a small
hill. The house was white and blue with columns
and a southern style wraparound porch. It gave
the impression of importance and innocence all at
once. No doubt it held the horrible beasts who had
ordered her parents locked up.
Alexia grimaced at the irony. Wasn t her own
home, Paxton s as well, such a vivid contrast to
what was housed within. They all played to the
innocence of humans who could destroy them all
if only they knew their nightmares and fairy tales
actually existed behind those beautiful facades.
As their small group crossed in front of the
house, Lillian appeared on the front porch, soon
followed by a male who looked so similar to her it
could only be her twin, Lucas. A small brown
monkey, no taller than his head, sat on Lucas s
shoulder and lovingly stroked his hair. They
watched and, it seemed to Alexia, argued. But
they were too far away to tell for sure. Even with
her excellent hearing, they were speaking so low
to each other she could only hear the angry tone. It
looked as though Lucas was unhappy with
something his sister had done, probably letting
them in to see the prisoners and delaying their
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trial.
Alexia looked away from the stunning pair.
How could such beauty hide such cruelty?
A very utilitarian looking building was situated
past the large house at the bottom of the hill.
There were no windows and two guards were
posted at the door. These guards, unlike the ones
out front, didn t bother trying to hide their true
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