“But the fairy realm is a wonderful place. Anyone would be happy here,” Lee pointed out.

  “Maybe at first, dearie ducks, but what about when they want to go home and visit family or friends, or want to go to work?” Dolly asked.

  “If you tell them no enough times, they will get upset, and true mate or not, the mating could collapse,” Thane said while glaring at Kai.

  Just then, there was a knock at the door.

  “Come in,” Rune called out when it didn’t look like Erin was going to invite whoever was waiting in.

  The door opened and Florian walked in, all smiles and bouncy. He noticed Rune and Lacey there. “King Rune, Consort Lacey, welcome back.” He then saw Molly, Dolly, and another man there. “Hello, Twirleys,” he said, smiling at the two ladies.

  “Twirleys?” Grey asked

  “Yes, that’s us. We have bus passes which we can’t use until a certain time, so when we get on the bus, we ask if we are too early, hence Twirleys,” Molly explained.

  “What are you doing here, Florian? Is Merlyn in trouble?” Erin asked him.

  “I came to tell you that Merlyn and I have mated now,” Florian said happily.

  “Congratulations. Has Merlyn decided to live here?” Erin asked.

  “No, Merlyn loves his job and friends and doesn’t want to move here but will come for a visit and if he needs to escape from his family. I was wondering if there was some spell I could say or some mark I could give Merlyn so that if he’s in danger and I’m not around, it will bring him directly here.”

  “That could be possible. I would say a tracker or mark of some kind which will stay with him in his wolf form. A piece of jewellery might be lost when he shifts,” Erin said.

  “Your mate is a shifter?” Lacey asked, sounding shocked.

  “Yes, a wolf shifter. A white wolf,” Florian explained.

  “What’s a shifter?” Molly asked.

  “Someone who looks human but can change into an animal,” Kai told her.

  “No way,” Thane said. “That’s a real thing?”

  “Yes,” Kai said shortly. “Did you think humans were the only species out there?”

  “Well, considering I was kidnapped by fairies, I would say no. I just didn’t know shifters were real.”

  “Team Jacob,” Molly and Dolly said at the same time.

  Thane laughed, but the fairies just looked confused.

  “Dearie ducks, pull up a chair and help us figure out how we can help save the fairy realm without kidnapping anyone else. If anyone can help, you can, seeing as you’ve met your mate and didn’t have to bring him here first,” Dolly said.

  Florian looked at Erin. “Yes, sit, Florian. We would value your input.”

  “Florian, tell us about your mate and how you met him,” Lacey asked.

  Florian smiled and flicked his hair back as he sat down. “We met when he came into The Fairy Brew the day it opened. He was our first customer. I felt my magic flare when I met him. He’s a white wolf like I said, and he’s having a few family issues. He has his life in Winchester, which he doesn’t want to lose.”

  “Sounds like a wonderful man. Did you claim him straight away?” Rune asked.

  “No, we met up the next day and just chatted to get to know each other. We only claimed each other yesterday,” Florian explained. “I told the big guy I wanted to split my time between the human realm and here. I know my Merlyn wouldn’t be happy living here full time. That’s another reason why I wanted some kind of spell or mark placed on him so he can come and go as he pleases.”

  “That’s a great idea, dearie ducks,” Dolly said. “Instead of keeping everyone here when they mate, give them some kind of mark. Then they have a choice where they want to be.”

  “But what about the humans we have here already?” Lee asked.

  “Send them back home, then once a week, hold an evening drop-in session where single fairies and single humans can come in and meet over a buffet and see what happens,” Molly said. “You also need to have an upper and lower age limit. Say, no one under the age of eighteen, and no one over the age of sixty.”

  “You need to send everyone home back to their families,” Thane said, “without wiping their memory.”

  “But how do we know they will keep our secret?” Grey asked.

  “How about if we wipe their memory and put a new memory in there?” Kai asked.

  “What kind of memory?” Thane asked, suspiciously.

  “Or,” Molly put in, “since there is no way you can sneak them back as they’ve been reported missing, can you wipe their memory and, say, put them somewhere where Thane here can find them? They won’t remember being here, so can’t say anything, and they will all just be confused along with Thane baffled about how they all got there.”

  “That could work,” Thane said. “As long as my memory isn’t interfered with.”

  “We won’t take your memories, Thane,” Kai said gently.

  Thane pointedly ignored him.

  “And we want to keep ours,” Molly said. “Dolly and I want to be able to come here whenever we want to. It looks like you could do with a woman’s touch here and there. You can also run any ideas regarding humans past us, and we can tell you if you’ve missed anything.”

  “That could work,” Thane said again.

  “We can give you a mark, as well. That way you can come and go as you like, Thane,” Kai said. Even though Thane had punched him, he still held out hope that Thane would accept him.

  Rune and Lacey glanced at each other but didn’t say anything. Rune then caught Erin’s eye, who nodded but then shook his head. Rune nodded in understanding. He would find out what was going on but later.

  “So, can you give us these marks and then send us back? I’m going to have a hard-enough time figuring out what I’m going to tell my colleagues as to why I was late in to work today.”

  “I can do that,” Lacey said, standing up. “Ladies, Thane, please stand and hold out your arms.”

  They all stood, and Lacey touched each wrist, one at a time, muttering a spell that none of them could hear. When the spell was complete, a small fairy appeared on their wrists.

  “Oh, look, Dolly! Our first tattoos and at our age!” Molly cooed

  Thane groaned, “A fairy?”

  Lacey laughed. “I can change that. What would you like?”

  “How about a shield?” Thane suggested.

  Lacey smiled and touched his wrist. The fairy changed to a shield, the same design and colours that Kai had on his uniform, but Thane didn’t need to know about that just yet.

  “Yep, that will do,” Thane said. “Thanks.”

  “If you touch the mark, it will bring you directly to the fairy realm. Until you know your way around, it would be best if you thought about the palace, and you will appear in front of it,” Lacey explained.

  “Perfect, dearie ducks,” Dolly said. “Now, let’s head back to the dormitory, and we can get the others back to the human realm.”

  “If I think of a location, can you send them there, or do you need me to take you there first?” Thane asked.

  “No, I can take the location from your thoughts,” Erin said.

  “Okay, let’s go and do this,” Thane said.

  “Oh, before I forget, Florian, this is the spell,” Lacey said, walking to Florian and whispering it to him. “Did you get that?” he asked, pulling back.

  “I did, thank you,” Florian said, standing up and hugging him. Lacey laughed and hugged him back.

  “I want to meet your mate.” Lacey said.

  “I’ll bring him here to meet you. Are you both here for long?” Florian asked, thinking about when he could bring Merlyn.

  “Yes,” Rune answered for him. “At least a month.”

  “Perfect, I’ll bring him here as soon as he can get away,” Florian assured him.

  “And on that note, let’s go and see to the humans,” Erin said.

  All those that had been in the meeting stood outside the dormitory.

  “How are you going to do this, dearie ducks?” Dolly asked.

  “I’ll use a blanket spell so all the humans in there fall asleep. I’ll then wipe their memories,” Erin said.

  “You’ll need to make sure they’re all wearing the clothes they were in when they were taken,” Thane told him.

  Erin nodded and waved his hand. “It is done.”

  “Okay, I need you to send them all to this location,” Thane said, thinking about an empty warehouse on the outskirts of Winchester. “Is there a way to keep them asleep until I enter the location?”

  “Yes,” Erin said and waved his hand again. “Done. They are now in that location and will stay asleep until you find them. They will also have no memories of their time here.”

  “Thank you. I need for you to send me to my place so I can get dressed and head to work,” Thane said.

  “Wait,” Molly said. “How are you going to get the tip off of where they are?”

  “If you can think of your desk at your office, I can magic an envelope onto it with their location if you can tell me exactly where it is,” Rune said.

  “That’ll work. I need the letter to say they are at an empty warehouse in the Winnel Trading Estate. Have my name on the front of the envelope, DCI Thane Roberts, and put ‘Private and Confidential’ on the front. That way, no one but me will open it.”

  Rune nodded, “Done.”

  “Thanks, now I need to get back,” Thane said.

  Before anyone could send him home, Kai grabbed Thane and gave him a quick but hard kiss.

  “Something to remember me by, mate. I’ll see you soon.”

  Thane growled and pushed Kai away. “We’ll see about that,” he said, wiping his mouth on his arm. “Send me back now.”

  Erin nodded, waved his hand, and Thane vanished.

  Kai looked pensive. He wasn’t sure Thane would ever forgive him for the kidnapping, and maybe, just maybe, he shouldn’t have just kissed him.

  Rune put his hand on his youngest son’s shoulder. “It will all work out, son. Trust me.”

  “From your lips to the Goddess’s ears,” Kai replied sadly.

  “Now, dearie ducks, how about you show Molly and me around your lovely realm.”

  CHAPTER 25

  Thane appeared back in his bedroom and heaved a sigh. It’s good to be home. He walked to his bedside table and grabbed his phone. Perfect, he thought, rolling his eyes. He had lots of text and phone messages. He dialled into his voicemail and listened. There were several from his aunt and uncle saying they couldn’t get hold of Grace and asking him to check on her. There were also several from his Sergeant.

  He sent a message to his aunt and uncle first, telling them he would go over to Grace’s house and check on her, though knowing full well he wouldn’t find her there. Next, he sent a message to Scott saying he was looking into something and would be in as soon as possible. He put his phone down and headed to the bathroom to shower and dress for work.

  He looked down and noticed the tattoo on his wrist. He wasn’t really sure how he felt about the branding, even about Kai. He shook his head. He didn’t have time to think about any of that now.

  Thirty minutes later, he was pulling up in front of his cousin’s house. He had a spare key and let himself in. He stayed there for a few moments, then left and, getting back into his car, drove to the station.

  “Sir,” Scott said as Thane walked in. “Everything all right?”

  “No, my cousin is missing. Same M.O. as all the other missing persons,” Thane replied, walking to his desk and sitting down. “Have you found anything else out?”

  “No, and we've had more missing-person calls this morning. When you didn’t come in, for a moment, I thought you’d also been taken,” Scott said.

  “Taken by fairies to their realm to mate a fairy and live happily ever after?” Thane asked with a smile.

  Scott laughed. “Something like that.”

  Thane laughed and looked down at his desk. Just as he expected, there was a white envelope sitting there with his name on it. Thane picked it up and looked at the back. It was blank. “Scott, where did this come from?”

  Scott looked at the envelope in his hand. “No idea, sir. I didn’t see anyone put it there.”

  Thane opened it to find it was just as expected. He pretended to be shocked. “What the hell?”

  “What, sir?” Scott asked.

  “This is a note saying where to find all the missing persons,” he said, turning it round to show his Sargent.

  “Where are they and who sent it?”

  “It says an empty warehouse at the Winnal Trading Estate, and as to who sent it, no idea. Let’s send it to Forensics and see what they can find out. In the meantime, I’ll get a group together and we can go and check it out.”

  “It might be worth getting the Armed Response Unit there, as well,” Scott suggested. “Especially if this is gang related.”

  Thane nodded. “Good idea.”

  Two hour later, Thane and Scott, along with uniforms and the Armed Response Unit, pulled up in front of the empty warehouse.

  Everyone was gathered around outside.

  “Any sign of life?” Thane asked.

  “No, sir. Are we sure this is the right place?” one of the Armed Response Unit officers asked.

  “This was the address given,” Thane replied.

  “We’ll go in first and do a sweep. If it’s all clear, we’ll let you know,” the unit commander said.

  Thane nodded and waited as the Armed Response Unit went in and did their thing.

  A few minutes later, one of them popped his head out and waved to them to come over. Thane led the way. “Report.”

  “There seems to be a number of adults and a couple of children in here. We thought they were dead, but they each have a pillow and are asleep. They might have been drugged.”

  “Okay, lead the way.” By the time Thane and the others had reached the space where the missing persons were, they were all starting to wake. The children started crying, and the adults looked confused.

  Thane saw his cousin and rushed over. “Grace.”

  “Thane,” she said, jumping up and hugging him. “What am I doing here?” she asked him, looking round.

  “All of you went missing over the last few days. We got an anonymous tip saying you were all being held here, so we came to look. I’m so glad you are safe, honey. Do you know what happened?”

  Thane held his breath.

  Grace thought for a moment. “I can’t remember anything. I remember going to bed, but then nothing else until I woke up here with everyone.” She looked at Thane. “What happened to us, cuz?”

  “That’s what we are hoping to find out. Let me go and talk to the team. We need to get statements from everyone.”

  Grace nodded and let Thane go.

  Thane walked over to Scott, who was talking to a couple of uniforms.

  “How is your cousin?” Scott asked him.

  “Confused. She has no idea how she ended up here. She remembers going to bed, but then nothing until she woke up here,” Thane explained.

  “That’s what a couple of the others have said. We’re going to question everyone and take their statements. Then we’ll get them checked out at the hospital.” Scott told him.

  “Sounds good,” Thane said, looking around and counting the people there. He was sure there was someone missing but didn’t say anything as, technically, he hadn’t had a report that the person was missing. He couldn’t find Perry, the young teenager from a group home. He’d have to contact the fairies to see if they knew what had happened to him.

  Thane found himself unconsciously rubbing his fingers over the shield on his wrist. As soon as he realised what he was doing, he stopped. He really didn’t want anyone to notice that he had it.

  A coach was brought in to ferry the missing to the nearest hospital. Uniform had contacted family members and told them to head for the hospital to meet their relatives, especially the Barnes’ so they could be reunited with their children.

  CHAPTER 26

  Merlyn was having a good day. Whenever he had a moment, he thought about Florian and their claiming. He tried not to blush when he thought back to the night before. Florian had been amazing in his passion, and when Florian had claimed him, his wings appeared. They weren’t small wings but large ones, about a metre each side, and with all the colours of the rainbow. They really did match his hair, and the fairy dust that fell around them was truly magical.

  Merlyn was glad they had double claimed. He loved seeing his mark on Florian’s shoulder.

  “He’s blushing,” Felix said with a smile. “Bet he is thinking about Florian again.”

  “Bet he’s thinking about the claiming,” Penny added.

  Merlyn laughed. “You’re both right.”

  “Ah, young love,” Peter said.

  Merlyn gave a start... love? Surely it was too soon for love. He thought for a moment... Nope, it isn’t too soon. He did love Florian.

  “Now Merl has just figured out he loves his mate,” Lionel said

  “Maybe,” Merlyn said. “I’m not going to say anything until I talk to Florian.”

  “Quite right,” Kendel said from the doorway.

  “Hey, Kendel,” Felix said, smiling at him.

  Kendel looked at Felix and smiled back. “Felix”.

  “Did you need something?” Peter asked. “Or did you pop in to say you were headed out to buy muffins?”

  Kendel burst out laughing. “No, I came in to check on Merlyn.”

  “Oh,” Peter said, his face falling.

  Kendel turned to look at Merlyn. “How are you doing?”

  Merlyn smiled. “Good thanks. I’ve not heard anything from my family today.”

  Kendel nodded, then turned back to look at Peter. “Come on, let’s go and buy muffins.”

  “Yeah,” Peter said, jumping up.

  Everyone laughed as they watched Peter and Kendel leave.

 

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