Chapter 9

Charlie stood there in front of the crew of normal leopards.  All of Ally’s guards surrounded them, all but Andrew, which she assumed were with the children.  He was the only one of Ally’s guards that were allowed to be around her children when the Queen herself was not there.

“I just want to talk to them,” Barron said with a smile.  It was the same cold smile he had sent Charlie when she first arrived, the same way that made her want to run.

The girl, who had held her hair earlier, took a step towards Barron, either out of complete stupidity or courage.  “We didn’t do anything wrong.  So, talk away.”

Barron took a deep breath, as if he were smelling them all.  “Without the buffer, I want to talk without the buffer.”

“I’m part of this,” Charlie said, her head tilting up in defiance, “and I will not leave.”

Just as the words left her mouth, Ally followed by Seb entered the room.  The Queen’s eyes shone green as she glanced at her guards, who immediately bowed their heads and took a step away from the group of leopards.  When she turned her eyes on them, Charlie almost wished she had Barron back in front of her.  Ally looked ready to kill.

“Camryn,” Ally said, with a semblance of a smile.  Her elongated teeth made the action seem more frightening than warm.

The girl who had spoken up minutes before ran at Ally.  The guards all took a step closer, but when the Camryn wrapped her arms around Ally and began crying, they all froze.  Ally’s eyes dimmed, her teeth went back to normal, and she hugged the girl.  “Camryn, shh, everything is going to be fine.”

“I thought you were dead,” the girl whispered.  “They told me you were dead.”

“Ally,” Barron called out, “who’s the girl?”

Camryn pulled back from Ally and glared in Barron’s direction.  “I am not a girl; I’m fourteen.”

“Fourteen is still a girl, sweetie,” Ally mumbled while stepping between Barron and Camryn.  The action wasn’t unnoticed.  Ally was telling them all that this girl was under her protection, the girl was off limits.  “Now, Camryn, tell me where Marcus is.”

Camryn opened her mouth before slamming it shut.  She shook her head at Ally.

The Queen let out a sigh and turned towards Barron.  “When I was with them, my old family, Camryn used to sneak me food.  No one suspected a little girl to hold back enough to save food for another.”

Charlie watched Barron’s eyes soften.  “She helped you?”

“Yeah,” Ally replied, “she helped me, and so did the majority of the ones here.  Whether it was accidently dropping a shirt near where I slept, or giving me a blanket, they helped.”

Barron inclined his head towards the people standing there.  “I’ll say something not a lot of people get to hear.  I’m sorry, but don’t let the apology fool you.  Anyone else who did anything to Ally will die your parents, your sisters, and your brothers.  I don’t care who they are to you; they’ll die.”

Some of the people in the crowd nodded, the others stayed frozen.  Charlie knew that they all understood though.  Their lives had been one-dimensional before they came here; they had been happily oblivious, just as Charlie had been.  Now, though, they knew that they were in the middle of a war.

Ally turned back towards the crew Charlie stood with.  “Where is Marcus?”  They were all silent, making Ally sigh.  “Just tell me where he is before I have to force it out of you.  My children only like to stay away from me for a little while; I’m not waiting for long.”

“Ally-Cat,” Zeke soothed as he walked into the room.

She rolled her eyes and looked towards Zeke.  “What, Zeke?”

Charlie smiled as she saw the thoughts fly through Zeke’s eyes.  He was trying to find a way to talk Ally down without the woman knowing it.

“You can’t go after Marcus.”

Ally took a step towards Zeke.  “Yes, I can.”

“No, you can’t,” Zeke argued.  “What if something happens to you, huh?  Let me tell you.  If something happens to you, Sebastian dies too.  Then, your children will be orphans.  You want that?”

Something flashed in Ally’s eyes.  “You’re going too far, Zeke.”

“You want your children to be raised like you were?”

“Zeke,” she growled, taking a step towards him.

“You want them to be thrown at the bottom of the food chain, forced to fend for themselves, hide when certain people came by, just encase they weren’t there to help?”

Charlie stood there, waiting for Ally to snap at him, to run towards Zeke and cause him some type of harm, but Ally stood there and looked at him.  “I don’t want that for them, but Marcus can’t stay there.  He’s going to kill himself with the way he’s going.”

“Give me a week, Ally, a week.  After that, if I haven’t figured everything out, I’ll let you do what you want.”

“Five days, Zeke,” Ally said while walking towards him and the door.  She stopped next to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.  “Never do that again, Zeke.  I love you, but never do that again.” He nodded at her.  Her hand moved, and she walked out the door.  “Five days and I go in with all my people.  This time, I don’t care who gets away alive except for Marcus.”

Ally left the room, Sebastian and the guards behind her.  Charlie stood there and stared and Zeke as they left the room.  “Looks like we have a lot to do,” she told him.

He searched her face for a minute before narrowing his eyes.  “We?”

“Yep,” Charlie replied.  “I’m going to help, whether you like it or not.”

Chuckling, he shook his head at her.  “Come on then.  She said five days, and she meant it.”

Charlie nodded, but stood in the same spot.  Zeke probably didn’t know it, but their biggest leads were standing right next to her.  This crew of leopards knew more than what they were saying, and Charlie was going to find out what it was they were keeping to themselves.