Stumbling slightly,I propped myself up against the nearest wall, the world spinning around me and making my stomach turn. A dull thudding in the back of my head warned me that a violent star call was waiting for me right beyond this odd state of limbo I floated in. I knew the only reason I wasn’t experiencing it was because I was high. I’d never been so damn thankful for that.
Except…I didn’t know what I’d taken or when.
I didn’t even know why I was here or where ‘here’ was. The house we were in was absolutely packed, none of the hallways recognizable. People shoved into me and music shook the walls as I trailed forward, hoping to come across a quieter space. Somewhere I could just breathe and think.
A sudden wave slammed into me, making my vision spot and then turn into a kaleidoscope of colors. I whimpered as I felt my knees break, and I face-planted right onto the hard floor. Someone laughed nearby, and I laid there for what felt like hours, existing in a weird state of frozen transcendence.
It had probably only been minutes. No matter how strong the drug, there wasn’t anything that could capture me for longer than a half an hour. When I finally managed to move my head to the side, I tried to push myself to sit up. Once again, no one around me moved to help.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure they even knew I was here, which would have been surprising—if I didn’t know how drunk and high they were. Their desires were tainted and dark, far darker than they probably were consciously aware. That was more than often the case with humans.
“Lorcan?”
That was my brother’s voice.I eagerly looked for him, relieved when he crouched down in front of me. He didn’t look much better than myself, his eyes dazed and his lip split open.
“Shit.” He frowned, and even with his help, I stumbled to stand in my stilettos. “Are you okay? Your nose looks busted.”
Wonderful.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Let’s…let’s get out of here.” I didn’t even particularly like the girl throwing this party—someone I’d met at IME. It was a Tuesday night, though, and this was the only party we’d heard about…
When you’re desperate, you’re desperate.
We made our way down the stairs and towards the open front door, and the minute we stepped into the foggy evening air, I let out a long sigh of relief. It wasn’t enough to clear my head but enough that I could figure out which direction we needed to walk to get home.
The silence was heavy between the two of us. While we had partied almost every night the past month, tonight felt different. It felt sadder. More bleak. Tears welled in my eyes as Cormac squeezed my hand in silent understanding.
“Maybe we should get out of the country,” he suggested.
I untied my jacket around my waist and pulled it over my bare shoulders, trying to fight the chill. “Where would we go?”
“Europe? I don’t know,” he breathed out. “But being in California, so close to home…I just can’t do it.”
“But I can’t leave,” I murmured, more to myself than anything.
It was the truth. I may not be able to be with the Reid brothers, or even Desi and Adriel, but the idea of being even further separated from them caused my heart and body to seize up with unease. I wanted to be close to them.
You’d think that after a year away, I would have gotten over that. Especially since I knew they would want absolutely nothing to do with me. I didn’t blame them.
Ididn’t even want anything to do with me.
“You miss them,” Cormac stated, a dull tone to his voice.
“I do,” I said, resigned. “I shouldn’t, but I do.”
And I knew why—because my heart was broken.
My soul fractured.
Except…I didn’t know what I’d taken or when.
I didn’t even know why I was here or where ‘here’ was. The house we were in was absolutely packed, none of the hallways recognizable. People shoved into me and music shook the walls as I trailed forward, hoping to come across a quieter space. Somewhere I could just breathe and think.
A sudden wave slammed into me, making my vision spot and then turn into a kaleidoscope of colors. I whimpered as I felt my knees break, and I face-planted right onto the hard floor. Someone laughed nearby, and I laid there for what felt like hours, existing in a weird state of frozen transcendence.
It had probably only been minutes. No matter how strong the drug, there wasn’t anything that could capture me for longer than a half an hour. When I finally managed to move my head to the side, I tried to push myself to sit up. Once again, no one around me moved to help.
Honestly, I wasn’t sure they even knew I was here, which would have been surprising—if I didn’t know how drunk and high they were. Their desires were tainted and dark, far darker than they probably were consciously aware. That was more than often the case with humans.
“Lorcan?”
That was my brother’s voice.I eagerly looked for him, relieved when he crouched down in front of me. He didn’t look much better than myself, his eyes dazed and his lip split open.
“Shit.” He frowned, and even with his help, I stumbled to stand in my stilettos. “Are you okay? Your nose looks busted.”
Wonderful.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “Let’s…let’s get out of here.” I didn’t even particularly like the girl throwing this party—someone I’d met at IME. It was a Tuesday night, though, and this was the only party we’d heard about…
When you’re desperate, you’re desperate.
We made our way down the stairs and towards the open front door, and the minute we stepped into the foggy evening air, I let out a long sigh of relief. It wasn’t enough to clear my head but enough that I could figure out which direction we needed to walk to get home.
The silence was heavy between the two of us. While we had partied almost every night the past month, tonight felt different. It felt sadder. More bleak. Tears welled in my eyes as Cormac squeezed my hand in silent understanding.
“Maybe we should get out of the country,” he suggested.
I untied my jacket around my waist and pulled it over my bare shoulders, trying to fight the chill. “Where would we go?”
“Europe? I don’t know,” he breathed out. “But being in California, so close to home…I just can’t do it.”
“But I can’t leave,” I murmured, more to myself than anything.
It was the truth. I may not be able to be with the Reid brothers, or even Desi and Adriel, but the idea of being even further separated from them caused my heart and body to seize up with unease. I wanted to be close to them.
You’d think that after a year away, I would have gotten over that. Especially since I knew they would want absolutely nothing to do with me. I didn’t blame them.
Ididn’t even want anything to do with me.
“You miss them,” Cormac stated, a dull tone to his voice.
“I do,” I said, resigned. “I shouldn’t, but I do.”
And I knew why—because my heart was broken.
My soul fractured.
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I couldn’t getto my mate. I was frozen in place, watching in horror at the pure agony that blossomed across Lorcan’s face. Her body seized up, and a scream left her throat that had the entire ballroom looking at her.
That scream pushed me into action. I’d been close to Lorcan already, but in a second flat I was nearly to my mate—until a woman I’d never seen before stepped in.
More specter than woman, the shadowy creature turned solid in a moment and eclipsed Lorcan’s power. Something I would have been thankful for if smoke hadn’t poured from her mouth along with those damn words.
“A forbidden child, whose origins are of cosmic beginnings, will destroy the dark cosmic ones and protect the pulse of magic.”
I’d never seen a prophecy given before, but if this was what it was like, I’d be happy to never experience it again. Lorcan stared at the seer with massive eyes, the entire audience paralyzed in the woman’s twisted power.
Dangerous. This situation was turning more volatile and dangerous by the moment. The seer’s words had reverberated throughout the room, and it was only a matter of seconds before someone figured out the meaning of the first part of the prophecy.A forbidden child, whose origins are of cosmic beginnings…There were individuals here old enough to put together exactly what that meant.
Wind whipped through the room, the walls shaking with the ferocity of the prophetess’s power. Then suddenly everything went still and Lorcan dropped. At that moment, it didn’t matter that the seer was powerful and holding the room captive; the need to catch my mate overran everything else. Her body went limp in my arms, and the seer wavered on her feet before passing out as well, her form disappearing into smoke.
“Pretty girl,” I urged softly, cradling my mate against my chest. “Pretty girl, open your eyes.”
“What the hell was that?” The leader from the Kingdom of Fire broke the silence of the spectators.
“Nothing,” Hellsen, King of Nothingness, interrupted him. “Our seer has been having fits lately because her magic is changing. We brought her here in order to get her out of the kingdom in the first place.”
Was he covering for Lorcan? He refused to meet any of our gazes, completely focused on Surchardson—or whatever the fuck his name was.
Murmurs and whispers began to fill the space as the others moved around Lorcan protectively, her eyes flickering but not opening. We needed to get the hell out of here.
“The seer’s words—they weren’t careless.” Surchardson narrowed his eyes on Lorcan. “And they were directed towards her. What type of elf is she?”
“Are you questioning my flame?” Desmond demanded, causing the bastard to pale.
“We have a right to know what powers you are involving yourself with,” he argued.
“Hellsen already explained.” The Queen of Death, Red, approached our group and positioned herself between us and the King of Fire. “You seem to be overthinking this—greatly.”
“Is he, though?” Doylerion, from the Kingdom of Bones, looked confused as his gaze moved to Draven. “King Draven, we didn’t realize that you were aligned with King Desmond.”
He said it like Draven had been with us for years rather than the rather short time frame of reality. I mean, they had to know he’d been imprisoned, right?
“Well, considering I was recently released from Broken House, that makes sense,” Draven said dryly. “And I am no longer king. That power now belongs to Tomas, and has for a very long time.”
“More changes.” Surchardson shook his head, the atmosphere of the room growing more and more aggravated as people tried to listen in on our conversation. Desmond’s guards were doing their best to provide some level of security and privacy, but we needed to get out of here before the situation escalated, especially with Lorcan unconscious.
Dean finally spoke up. “She needs rest. I am not going to stand here while you question us—she’s fucking unconscious.”
“I’m not going to let this go,” Surchardson warned. “I expect an explanation.”
“You won’t get one—we don’t owe you shit,” Rhett bit out.
“Get out of here,” Hellsen suggested quietly as Suchardson opened his mouth to argue.
Lorcan’s head lolled to the side at that moment and I heard her briefly mumble my name, making my chest squeeze in concern. Adriel beelined to the doors and I followed, relieved that no one tried to stop me. I knew that there was confusion and now suspicion, but Rhett was right—we didn’t owe anyone an answer. The only reason we’d stayed as long as we had was so Desmond could talk and facilitate a plan moving forward. We had that plan now—it was time to get the fuck out of here.
A wall of guards appeared in front of us, and a ferocious sound left my throat after the one second it took me to realize they were from the Kingdom of Fire.
“Move. Now.” Zander appeared by my side, his magic saturating the air in a flick of unrestrained power that seemed more natural to him than the control he normally exerted. The guards immediately parted at his compulsion, all of us moving quickly to file into the elevator. The minute the door closed, Adriel and Desmond turned to face the rest of us.
“We need to leave. We can’t afford for them to study her enough to suspect the truth,” Adriel said.
“I’ll send word to my parents what happened,” Desmond said. “They don’t know exactly what she is, but they understand that she’s in danger and has been from the start.”
“I want her to be awake before we leave so she understands what’s going on,” Rhett said, and I nodded in agreement. After our conversation in Desmond’s kingdom, I was trying to be more mindful about things that could affect Lorcan. I had always tried to be from the start, but now more so than ever.
I knew she felt a little weird with us wanting to be so conscious of how things could affect her or trigger her, claiming it wasn’t a big deal, but I also saw how she felt when she woke up confused and scared, and I was determined to never see that fear in her eyes. I may have been good at picking her up when she fell, but if she never fell in the first place I could just hold her, and that sounded far fucking better.
That scream pushed me into action. I’d been close to Lorcan already, but in a second flat I was nearly to my mate—until a woman I’d never seen before stepped in.
More specter than woman, the shadowy creature turned solid in a moment and eclipsed Lorcan’s power. Something I would have been thankful for if smoke hadn’t poured from her mouth along with those damn words.
“A forbidden child, whose origins are of cosmic beginnings, will destroy the dark cosmic ones and protect the pulse of magic.”
I’d never seen a prophecy given before, but if this was what it was like, I’d be happy to never experience it again. Lorcan stared at the seer with massive eyes, the entire audience paralyzed in the woman’s twisted power.
Dangerous. This situation was turning more volatile and dangerous by the moment. The seer’s words had reverberated throughout the room, and it was only a matter of seconds before someone figured out the meaning of the first part of the prophecy.A forbidden child, whose origins are of cosmic beginnings…There were individuals here old enough to put together exactly what that meant.
Wind whipped through the room, the walls shaking with the ferocity of the prophetess’s power. Then suddenly everything went still and Lorcan dropped. At that moment, it didn’t matter that the seer was powerful and holding the room captive; the need to catch my mate overran everything else. Her body went limp in my arms, and the seer wavered on her feet before passing out as well, her form disappearing into smoke.
“Pretty girl,” I urged softly, cradling my mate against my chest. “Pretty girl, open your eyes.”
“What the hell was that?” The leader from the Kingdom of Fire broke the silence of the spectators.
“Nothing,” Hellsen, King of Nothingness, interrupted him. “Our seer has been having fits lately because her magic is changing. We brought her here in order to get her out of the kingdom in the first place.”
Was he covering for Lorcan? He refused to meet any of our gazes, completely focused on Surchardson—or whatever the fuck his name was.
Murmurs and whispers began to fill the space as the others moved around Lorcan protectively, her eyes flickering but not opening. We needed to get the hell out of here.
“The seer’s words—they weren’t careless.” Surchardson narrowed his eyes on Lorcan. “And they were directed towards her. What type of elf is she?”
“Are you questioning my flame?” Desmond demanded, causing the bastard to pale.
“We have a right to know what powers you are involving yourself with,” he argued.
“Hellsen already explained.” The Queen of Death, Red, approached our group and positioned herself between us and the King of Fire. “You seem to be overthinking this—greatly.”
“Is he, though?” Doylerion, from the Kingdom of Bones, looked confused as his gaze moved to Draven. “King Draven, we didn’t realize that you were aligned with King Desmond.”
He said it like Draven had been with us for years rather than the rather short time frame of reality. I mean, they had to know he’d been imprisoned, right?
“Well, considering I was recently released from Broken House, that makes sense,” Draven said dryly. “And I am no longer king. That power now belongs to Tomas, and has for a very long time.”
“More changes.” Surchardson shook his head, the atmosphere of the room growing more and more aggravated as people tried to listen in on our conversation. Desmond’s guards were doing their best to provide some level of security and privacy, but we needed to get out of here before the situation escalated, especially with Lorcan unconscious.
Dean finally spoke up. “She needs rest. I am not going to stand here while you question us—she’s fucking unconscious.”
“I’m not going to let this go,” Surchardson warned. “I expect an explanation.”
“You won’t get one—we don’t owe you shit,” Rhett bit out.
“Get out of here,” Hellsen suggested quietly as Suchardson opened his mouth to argue.
Lorcan’s head lolled to the side at that moment and I heard her briefly mumble my name, making my chest squeeze in concern. Adriel beelined to the doors and I followed, relieved that no one tried to stop me. I knew that there was confusion and now suspicion, but Rhett was right—we didn’t owe anyone an answer. The only reason we’d stayed as long as we had was so Desmond could talk and facilitate a plan moving forward. We had that plan now—it was time to get the fuck out of here.
A wall of guards appeared in front of us, and a ferocious sound left my throat after the one second it took me to realize they were from the Kingdom of Fire.
“Move. Now.” Zander appeared by my side, his magic saturating the air in a flick of unrestrained power that seemed more natural to him than the control he normally exerted. The guards immediately parted at his compulsion, all of us moving quickly to file into the elevator. The minute the door closed, Adriel and Desmond turned to face the rest of us.
“We need to leave. We can’t afford for them to study her enough to suspect the truth,” Adriel said.
“I’ll send word to my parents what happened,” Desmond said. “They don’t know exactly what she is, but they understand that she’s in danger and has been from the start.”
“I want her to be awake before we leave so she understands what’s going on,” Rhett said, and I nodded in agreement. After our conversation in Desmond’s kingdom, I was trying to be more mindful about things that could affect Lorcan. I had always tried to be from the start, but now more so than ever.
I knew she felt a little weird with us wanting to be so conscious of how things could affect her or trigger her, claiming it wasn’t a big deal, but I also saw how she felt when she woke up confused and scared, and I was determined to never see that fear in her eyes. I may have been good at picking her up when she fell, but if she never fell in the first place I could just hold her, and that sounded far fucking better.
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“She’ll probably wake up soon,” Zander said. “Her magic is exhausted and somewhat drained, but it’s mostly shock from the star call—it was a bad one. I felt her trying to accept it, even…but it didn’t help.”
“Damn dark ones,” I murmured as I brushed my lips against her forehead.
“We’ll need to go back into Desmond’s kingdom first,” Draven said, “and then I’m guessing our plan is to go to—”
“The Elven realm,” Dean spit out, already sounding furious about it.
“The Kingdom of Night will be safe for her,”Adriel stated confidently. “It should also have the information we need.”
“Which is what, exactly?” Desmond asked. “What are we looking for, Zander?”
“Before I got the assignment to find you, I was attempting to figure out exactly that—a solution to defeating the dark ones. I hadn’t found anything in the Elven realm, but I planned on returning to search some more. If that doesn’t pan out, there’s a larger library we can search.”
“Why not go there first?” I asked curiously.
“Time passes differently there,” Zander answered. “I would rather not go there if we can avoid it, especially because I know time is short.”
“Fuck, that’s a big difference,” I murmured and tried to think about how much time had passed while we were down here.
The elevator doors opened, and I immediately strode towards our room. I trusted that the others would figure out packing up, so when we entered the suite, I took Lorcan to the couch and laid her down gently before going to get a glass of water and a wet rag. There was blood by her nose and ears from the star call, so I gently wiped it up, and the moment triggered a memory that I had long forgotten.
“A fight?! Are you serious?” Lorcan grumbled as she dabbed a wet rag over the cut on my cheek.
I kept my gaze on the patio as I tried to consider how to respond. I hadn’t wanted to tell her about the fight, but she’d demanded an explanation for why I’d been sent home early from school.
“Yes I’m serious,” I growled. “It was less of a fight and more of a lesson learned. That idiot had it coming, Lorcan.”
Her eyes darkened at my tone. “Who was it?”
“Doesn’t matter,” I grunted, not wanting her to focus on the shitty people in our class.
“Who was it,” she insisted, and I found that I couldn’t deny her the information—or really anything she wanted. I don’t think she realized that, though.
“Zeke.”
“What a bastard,” Lorcan growled, her anger now directed more to him than me. Which was something I would one hundred percent take. I hadn’t thought about her getting mad at me when the fight was happening; all I had cared about was that Zeke stopped talking about her the way he was. No one was allowed to talk about Lorcan like that.
Ever.
“What was he saying?” Lorcan asked quietly, though she likely already knew.
“He was just implying some shit I know isn’t true. He’s pissed about you never showing for that date,” I explained. Dean was the one who had kept her from going, and I was impressed he had stopped at that. I probably would have found Zeke and—
I halted my thoughts before they went too dark.
“I really don’t like him,” Lorcan admitted, her brow furrowing like she didn’t fully understand why. But I sure as fuck did.
I intertwined my fingers with hers as she finished cleaning the cut. “I’ll make sure you don’t ever have to deal with him.”
I would do far more than that if she asked—all Lorcan had to do was say the word and I would get rid of him forever.
“We have everything ready to go. I don’t think anyone is against us leaving. Besides that one asshole, everyone seemed to either not care or is just curious,” Desmond said. “Even so, I’m going to have our guard lead our departure—”
A knock on the door had all of us turning to look as it opened to reveal Hellsen and Red, looking uncharacteristically tense. Yeah…I had a feeling King Surchardson had stronger feelings about us leaving than he let on.
“What?” Draven snapped, as they stepped inside and closed the door. A dark fog filled the corners of the room, and I moved towards Lorcan, my animal pacing under my skin. We were only a few bad moves away from me defensively shifting, the drive to protect my mate turning all consuming.
“You need to leave,” Red said, attempting to be casual. “Immediately.”
“Damn dark ones,” I murmured as I brushed my lips against her forehead.
“We’ll need to go back into Desmond’s kingdom first,” Draven said, “and then I’m guessing our plan is to go to—”
“The Elven realm,” Dean spit out, already sounding furious about it.
“The Kingdom of Night will be safe for her,”Adriel stated confidently. “It should also have the information we need.”
“Which is what, exactly?” Desmond asked. “What are we looking for, Zander?”
“Before I got the assignment to find you, I was attempting to figure out exactly that—a solution to defeating the dark ones. I hadn’t found anything in the Elven realm, but I planned on returning to search some more. If that doesn’t pan out, there’s a larger library we can search.”
“Why not go there first?” I asked curiously.
“Time passes differently there,” Zander answered. “I would rather not go there if we can avoid it, especially because I know time is short.”
“Fuck, that’s a big difference,” I murmured and tried to think about how much time had passed while we were down here.
The elevator doors opened, and I immediately strode towards our room. I trusted that the others would figure out packing up, so when we entered the suite, I took Lorcan to the couch and laid her down gently before going to get a glass of water and a wet rag. There was blood by her nose and ears from the star call, so I gently wiped it up, and the moment triggered a memory that I had long forgotten.
“A fight?! Are you serious?” Lorcan grumbled as she dabbed a wet rag over the cut on my cheek.
I kept my gaze on the patio as I tried to consider how to respond. I hadn’t wanted to tell her about the fight, but she’d demanded an explanation for why I’d been sent home early from school.
“Yes I’m serious,” I growled. “It was less of a fight and more of a lesson learned. That idiot had it coming, Lorcan.”
Her eyes darkened at my tone. “Who was it?”
“Doesn’t matter,” I grunted, not wanting her to focus on the shitty people in our class.
“Who was it,” she insisted, and I found that I couldn’t deny her the information—or really anything she wanted. I don’t think she realized that, though.
“Zeke.”
“What a bastard,” Lorcan growled, her anger now directed more to him than me. Which was something I would one hundred percent take. I hadn’t thought about her getting mad at me when the fight was happening; all I had cared about was that Zeke stopped talking about her the way he was. No one was allowed to talk about Lorcan like that.
Ever.
“What was he saying?” Lorcan asked quietly, though she likely already knew.
“He was just implying some shit I know isn’t true. He’s pissed about you never showing for that date,” I explained. Dean was the one who had kept her from going, and I was impressed he had stopped at that. I probably would have found Zeke and—
I halted my thoughts before they went too dark.
“I really don’t like him,” Lorcan admitted, her brow furrowing like she didn’t fully understand why. But I sure as fuck did.
I intertwined my fingers with hers as she finished cleaning the cut. “I’ll make sure you don’t ever have to deal with him.”
I would do far more than that if she asked—all Lorcan had to do was say the word and I would get rid of him forever.
“We have everything ready to go. I don’t think anyone is against us leaving. Besides that one asshole, everyone seemed to either not care or is just curious,” Desmond said. “Even so, I’m going to have our guard lead our departure—”
A knock on the door had all of us turning to look as it opened to reveal Hellsen and Red, looking uncharacteristically tense. Yeah…I had a feeling King Surchardson had stronger feelings about us leaving than he let on.
“What?” Draven snapped, as they stepped inside and closed the door. A dark fog filled the corners of the room, and I moved towards Lorcan, my animal pacing under my skin. We were only a few bad moves away from me defensively shifting, the drive to protect my mate turning all consuming.
“You need to leave,” Red said, attempting to be casual. “Immediately.”
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“My seer is never wrong, and that reputation will soon make itself known, no matter what I say,” Hellsen explained. “Surchardson suspects something, and while he’s younger than both of us, it won’t take long for him to piece together what she is.”
“What she is?” I tried to keep my tone relaxed, but it was a failed attempt.
Red’s eyes flickered over to Lorcan. “We know what she is.”
A shifting had me looking to see Lorcan frowning as she woke, seeming confused. Her power ran through the room protectively as I wrapped an arm around her, and she hyper-focused on the other two rulers in the room.
“You know what?” she demanded softly, her gaze a bit dazed. “What do you think I am?”
Hellsen smirked at her in a way that made me want to hurt him just for looking at Lorcan like that. “We know you’re a siren.”
Shit.
I laughed.I legitimately chuckled at the words that came out of Red’s mouth. I didn’t think, outside of my mates and brothers, I’d ever heard anyone say it so directly. It was both refreshing and panic-inducing.Sort of.My panic was currently on hold because as my magic seeped throughout the room, I was acutely aware that Hellsen and Red were openly letting me see their desires.
A show of trust and a willingness to work together? Or was it a measure to make me feel more confident in this situation? Either way it was working, because within their desires, despite being twisted with other things, one truth radiated strongly. They desired to help me. Help us.
But why? What…what was there to help with? In fact, why were we even here? What was going on?
Before I could ask any of those questions, Red appeared in front of me, making Cash let out a feral noise from the back of his throat. She tilted her head and leaned forward. “You can read that you can trust us, can’t you? That’s why you’re laughing.”
“Either that or she’s crazy,” Hellsen muttered.
“Shut it,” Adriel barked. I could feel the tension radiating off of my men, but I also couldn’t afford to be distracted by it until I handled the current issue—that two demonic rulers were aware of my identity…and I had no idea what they would do about it.
“What happened? Why are we back in the room?” I looked towards Desmond, who stood near Draven, both of them staring at Hellsen and Red with disdain. My gaze ran over Draven’s wings, my fingers twitching to touch the soft feathers but knowing it was absolutely not the right time.
“After your star—” Rhett immediately went quiet, clearly not wanting to say anything in front of them.
“It’s okay; they obviously know.” I sighed. “So after my star call? The prophetess, she said…”
“She gave you one of the most detailed prophecies I’ve heard yet,” Hellsen said, his eyes darkening. “It also made it clear what you are, especially to those who know what to look for—which possibly includes Surchardson. Although he is younger than most of us. Doylerion isn’t, though—he was around when your kind flourished in elven society.”
“Wonderful,” Dean spat. I had to fight the urge to walk over and comfort him—I could practically feel his lion pushing to break out.
“The Saqat kingdom won’t be a problem,” Draven said confidently.
“They will want answers, though, ones that I’m not sure you can give now,” Red said, her eyes going distant for a moment. Her uncharacteristically serious behavior, at least from my experiences with her so far, made me a bit uneasy. “Hellsen and I are both aware of the darkness surging towards our realms. We also see you have a part to play in it, which is why we’re willing to help you leave. But your window of opportunity is quickly closing.”
“We’re packed,” Zander said, my gaze running over his face and looking for hints of blood. Had the star call affected him as much as it did me? I couldn’t tell. His magic seemed as intense and bold as ever, our sirens interconnected and looping around one another in a dangerous, almost intoxicating pattern.
My gaze moved to Desmond, knowing he was the most acquainted with the realm in its current state and could probably guess how the other rulers would react. His vibrant gaze was filled with shadows as he studied my expression. “We need to get over the border and back into my kingdom, at least.”
“You need to leave the realm,” Hellsen countered, “if you don’t want problems following you into your kingdom. Doylerion may let it go, as may your old kingdom, Draven, but not Surchardson. He’s a bastard.”
The look on his face was not only serious but filled with an air of caution, making me believe that the man was probably far more of a threat than I even recognized.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” I agreed, feeling a sense of surety. I hadn’t wanted to come back into the Kingdom of Pain as it was, and despite beating Black, I was more than eager to go. No amount of curiosity about the realm could remove the bad memories, and no amount of celebration could distract me from the looming threat hanging over all of us—the dark ones.
Hellsen straightened up from where he had been leaning against the wall. “We can transport you immediately, unless you need anything else.”
“Wait.” I shifted my weight and moved from Cash’s supportive hold just slightly. “Why? Why are you helping us? I know you said you understand what’s happening, but wouldn’t that make you want more answers?”
Call me crazy, but Hellsen and Red didn’t seem like the most rational of people, so there had to be more to it than they were letting on.
“What she is?” I tried to keep my tone relaxed, but it was a failed attempt.
Red’s eyes flickered over to Lorcan. “We know what she is.”
A shifting had me looking to see Lorcan frowning as she woke, seeming confused. Her power ran through the room protectively as I wrapped an arm around her, and she hyper-focused on the other two rulers in the room.
“You know what?” she demanded softly, her gaze a bit dazed. “What do you think I am?”
Hellsen smirked at her in a way that made me want to hurt him just for looking at Lorcan like that. “We know you’re a siren.”
Shit.
I laughed.I legitimately chuckled at the words that came out of Red’s mouth. I didn’t think, outside of my mates and brothers, I’d ever heard anyone say it so directly. It was both refreshing and panic-inducing.Sort of.My panic was currently on hold because as my magic seeped throughout the room, I was acutely aware that Hellsen and Red were openly letting me see their desires.
A show of trust and a willingness to work together? Or was it a measure to make me feel more confident in this situation? Either way it was working, because within their desires, despite being twisted with other things, one truth radiated strongly. They desired to help me. Help us.
But why? What…what was there to help with? In fact, why were we even here? What was going on?
Before I could ask any of those questions, Red appeared in front of me, making Cash let out a feral noise from the back of his throat. She tilted her head and leaned forward. “You can read that you can trust us, can’t you? That’s why you’re laughing.”
“Either that or she’s crazy,” Hellsen muttered.
“Shut it,” Adriel barked. I could feel the tension radiating off of my men, but I also couldn’t afford to be distracted by it until I handled the current issue—that two demonic rulers were aware of my identity…and I had no idea what they would do about it.
“What happened? Why are we back in the room?” I looked towards Desmond, who stood near Draven, both of them staring at Hellsen and Red with disdain. My gaze ran over Draven’s wings, my fingers twitching to touch the soft feathers but knowing it was absolutely not the right time.
“After your star—” Rhett immediately went quiet, clearly not wanting to say anything in front of them.
“It’s okay; they obviously know.” I sighed. “So after my star call? The prophetess, she said…”
“She gave you one of the most detailed prophecies I’ve heard yet,” Hellsen said, his eyes darkening. “It also made it clear what you are, especially to those who know what to look for—which possibly includes Surchardson. Although he is younger than most of us. Doylerion isn’t, though—he was around when your kind flourished in elven society.”
“Wonderful,” Dean spat. I had to fight the urge to walk over and comfort him—I could practically feel his lion pushing to break out.
“The Saqat kingdom won’t be a problem,” Draven said confidently.
“They will want answers, though, ones that I’m not sure you can give now,” Red said, her eyes going distant for a moment. Her uncharacteristically serious behavior, at least from my experiences with her so far, made me a bit uneasy. “Hellsen and I are both aware of the darkness surging towards our realms. We also see you have a part to play in it, which is why we’re willing to help you leave. But your window of opportunity is quickly closing.”
“We’re packed,” Zander said, my gaze running over his face and looking for hints of blood. Had the star call affected him as much as it did me? I couldn’t tell. His magic seemed as intense and bold as ever, our sirens interconnected and looping around one another in a dangerous, almost intoxicating pattern.
My gaze moved to Desmond, knowing he was the most acquainted with the realm in its current state and could probably guess how the other rulers would react. His vibrant gaze was filled with shadows as he studied my expression. “We need to get over the border and back into my kingdom, at least.”
“You need to leave the realm,” Hellsen countered, “if you don’t want problems following you into your kingdom. Doylerion may let it go, as may your old kingdom, Draven, but not Surchardson. He’s a bastard.”
The look on his face was not only serious but filled with an air of caution, making me believe that the man was probably far more of a threat than I even recognized.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” I agreed, feeling a sense of surety. I hadn’t wanted to come back into the Kingdom of Pain as it was, and despite beating Black, I was more than eager to go. No amount of curiosity about the realm could remove the bad memories, and no amount of celebration could distract me from the looming threat hanging over all of us—the dark ones.
Hellsen straightened up from where he had been leaning against the wall. “We can transport you immediately, unless you need anything else.”
“Wait.” I shifted my weight and moved from Cash’s supportive hold just slightly. “Why? Why are you helping us? I know you said you understand what’s happening, but wouldn’t that make you want more answers?”
Call me crazy, but Hellsen and Red didn’t seem like the most rational of people, so there had to be more to it than they were letting on.
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