Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
Colbie
“Y our Majesty, may I present Colbie Karridge, the Queen of Aramis, and six of her mates.” Titus names and points to each in turn, but the king can’t tear his gaze away from me. “I present King Loki Asmina.”
He seems to jolt out of his fascination with me when Titus mentions his name. “Please, come in and sit down. I’m delighted to meet all of you.” He waves a hand at the sofas, and my mates, though confused, take a seat, but I remain standing as the king approaches me, holding out both hands.
“Colbie, I have waited for this day for years.” He takes both of my hands in his. “I have so much to explain.”
“Who are you?” I ask bluntly, feeling my stomach roll as I ponder the implications.
“Colbie, I’m your father,” Loki tells me gently, but I shake my head, yanking my hands from his.
“No, you can’t be. My father was a human who left my mother for another woman,” I splutter, stunned beyond belief at his claim as my guys all make exclamations of surprise.
“Impossible.” Liam shakes his head. “Colbie’s mother is most definitely human, and supes can’t procreate with humans unless they have been changed.”
“Why don’t we let the king explain?” Titus interrupts. This is obviously not the first time he’s hearing this information, because he doesn’t sound surprised in the least.
“Thank you, Titus,” the king says fondly before frowning at his assassin. “Why are you still covering yourself? You don’t need to hide yourself from these people here.”
Titus rolls his eyes and strips off the hooded cowl and cloak, tossing it over the back of a chair. He shakes his shoulders slightly, and large green and silver wings appear against his back, and I stare in surprise. He’s beautiful, with long pale green hair, sharp, elegant features, and plump lips, but he also radiates a cool, lethal aura.
“You’re fae?” I ask, and he gives a casual shrug.
“Part of me is,” he says before heading over to a drink cart and pouring a glass of wine before taking a seat.
“So polite,” King Loki mutters with annoyance. “Would anyone else like a drink?” he asks, and I turn my attention back to him, focusing once more on what he just announced.
“No, you can’t just drop a comment like that and not elaborate,” I hiss at him, and he sighs before nodding and gesturing to a sofa.
“Why don’t you take a seat? I will explain everything,” he encourages, but I cross my arms and stubbornly shake my head.
“I’ll stand,” I snap, my body vibrating with emotion. Who does this man think he is, telling me lies like that?
Again, he sighs like I’m a troublesome toddler having a tantrum, and I grit my teeth so I don’t say anything to the Chaos Kingdom king that I can’t come back from.
He opens his mouth to start talking, but there is a flash of light, and a woman appears in the center of the room—a very familiar, albeit slightly annoying woman.
“Aramis!” I exclaim as the gorgeous blonde woman gives me a wink and a wave before looking around the room and frowning.
“Hmm, I see you are still missing a mate or two,” she says absently.
Loki doesn’t even blink, like he’s used to deities dropping in for visits, and neither does Titus, but my guys all gape at the goddess with wide-mouthed awe.
“Close your mouths, boys, that’s how you swallow flies,” she says with a giggle before taking a seat and patting the space next to her. “Come on, Colbie, give Loki a chance to explain.”
“Why are you here?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I thought maybe I could help with this conversation.”
“Oh thank God,” Loki mutters before he collapses on one of the sofas.
“It’s goddess, actually, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell the whole thing.” She arches an eyebrow at him, and he nods his acceptance.
“Almost thirty years ago, my sisters and I came to Loki and gave him a task,” she starts.
“Some freaking task. More like a fucking journey from hell,” he mutters, and she glares at him, and he mimes zipping his lips. I smother the grin that wants to cross my lips. He is sassy, even if he is a liar.
“We knew a change was needed, and because we decreed that we wouldn’t interfere, we had to circumnavigate the rules.”
“Circumnavigate? I would say you blasted them to smithereens.” I guess the man can’t take a hint, but she just ignores him.
“We had to put a plan of action into place, and we had been watching Loki for years. We knew we needed him to implement the change. Unlike his grandfather, he had no prejudice against any species, including humans. He was open-minded and basically a good person.”
“Grandfather was an asshole, he held a grudge against the shifters who rejected him in the first place for falling in love with my grandmother a vampire. Which is why they appealed to both of their goddesses to help them create the Chaos Kingdom,” Loki explains joining the narrative.
“Your grandfather was the first king of the Chaos Kingdom?” Gem asks and Loki nods his head.
“Yes and unlike the rest of the kingdoms he wanted this monarchy to be for life and hereditary. He and my grandmother had my father who is half shifter half vampire. He married my mother who was a half fae witch. They were estranged from my grandfather but agreed for him to name me as his heir because my father did not want the position. They live in the city and I still have dinner with them weekly.”
“And you and Eryx approved this?” Gryffin asks the goddess who inclines her head.
“All four of us did. We saw the mistakes we made and wanted to give star-crossed lovers a place where they could be happy and accepted. All of us had people who found love and mates in other races. It was an unexpected evolution we did not see coming, which really shows a lack of foresight and that even deities are fallible.” She stops talking, and her eyes grow distant for a moment before she lets out a heavy sigh.
“We did so many things wrong, and hindsight is twenty-twenty. There was no putting the cat back in the bag, so to speak, so we made a deal with the former king. In exchange for creating the Chaos Kingdom, he would owe us a future favor for either him or one of his descendants to fulfill.”
“And I was the lucky soul who was tasked with repaying the favor,” Loki says dryly, but her focus is fully on telling us her tale.
“What was the favor?” Brodie asks, unable to hide his curiosity.
“Thirty years ago, the first time since the great war between humans and supernaturals, rumblings of discontent reached us,” the goddess starts.
“Surely it wasn’t the first hint of that?” Liam scoffs, and she shakes her head.
“No, you’re right, there has always been an uneasy truce between the two factions, but the humans knew if they were to start something again, they would be easily outgunned by the supernaturals. Then it came to our attention that the humans were messing with magic. Somehow, they had convinced a few individual supernaturals to assist their cause. It didn’t really go anywhere, but we realized it was only a matter of time before someone would attempt this again, so we put a plan in place. We selected four human women to bear the final humans that would be leaders for the four supernatural races. As I have explained to Colbie, it will be her family line that will rule the shifters, and all humans in Aramis will be given the opportunity to be changed if they wish to. Taking the human factor out of the equation should bring balance to the kingdoms.”
“And this is going to happen in the other kingdoms as well?” Hunter asks, catching on.
“Yes, in fact, it is already in motion. The fae and witch royals are all due to retire within the coming months. The vampire royals are not supposed to retire for another year, but they are going to find that timeline is accelerated. They are my sisters’ concerns, however, and you are mine.”
“But what does he have to do with all of this and his claim that he is Colbie’s father?” Micah jabs a finger in Loki’s direction, his anger almost as obvious as mine. He doesn’t like that Loki dropped that announcement on me any more than I do.
“That was the favor we called in. We decided that it would be better for supernatural relations if they had a common link. We are hoping to avoid future wars between our creations,” the goddess explains, looking at the king.
“But that tells us nothing,” Hunter argues, but Gryffin is staring at the man with calculating eyes, like he figured something out. “You claim you are Colbie’s father. Does that mean you are the father of all four children?”
My mouth drops open as Loki nods his head. “Yes. The task I was given was to impregnate the four chosen human women.” He looks at me with pained eyes. “Then let them raise their children without any interference from me. I was bound to this by the agreement my father made with them.”
Tears well in my eyes at the revelation, and I shake my head, speechless and devastated, unable to process this fantastical information.
“But how? Supernaturals can’t procreate with humans,” Gem argues, and the goddess shrugs.
“Actually, crossbreeds can, but the children are always born human. It takes magic to trigger the change in them. Again, another little quirk of evolution. There are probably more humans out there with supernatural genes who will never know because they aren’t subjected to the magic that activates them.”
Everyone stares at the goddess with various displays of shock and surprise, but then something occurs to me—something triggered by what Loki said.
“I have sisters?” I look between him and the goddess, and both of them smile warily like they are scared of how I’m going to react.
“Yes, the future queens of Shayla, Eryx, and Tanith are all your half-sisters,” the goddess says. I don’t know how I feel about this. On one hand, I’m giddy with excitement since I always wanted brothers or sisters, and that longing was even stronger after Gryffin and the two girls visited. On the other hand, will they want anything to do with me? After everything that has happened, are we going to be able to get over our father’s betrayal so we can become a semi-functional family? Or will we remain distant allies at best? So many scenarios play over and over in my head as I come to terms with the news.
“So Loki is a quarter of each race, which is how you were able to create children with all four women, but how did each of them turn out as the supernatural race they need to be? Colbie is definitely all shifter with no other traits.” Hunter raises a questioning eyebrow at the goddess, who shrugs unapologetically.
“Remember, they only have the potential to be supernaturals, so when they are exposed to the right magic, it triggers the change. Had Colbie been subjected to Eryx’s magic instead of mine, she would have been a vampire. Loki is the only one in the Chaos Kingdom who has all four bloodlines running through him.”
“That doesn’t seem like a coincidence,” Gem points out dryly, and the goddess blushes.
“We did what needed to be done.”
I focus my attention on the man who sired me. “My mother told me you were a cheating bastard who left when he found out she was pregnant.”
He scoffs and rolls his eyes. “Your mother always had a propensity to tell lies. I’m sure that narrative fit her perfectly. In fact, she was only ever a brief fling, one I knew she would get pregnant from, but the goddess told me you would have to be raised alone to become the person you were meant to be. I entranced her and her parents to believe I was around longer than I was, but that the relationship went south, and we split up. In truth, I never saw her again after the week we spent together. I did it so she wouldn’t come looking for me. Anything she told you about me is a lie and made up to fit her own needs. As much as I wanted to be in your lives, the goddess forbade it. If I had my way, you would have been raised here in the kingdom with me, spoiling you all rotten.” He sounds desperate, like he needs me to believe what he’s saying, and I kind of do. That may be my own desperate need for a loving parent grasping at straws, but in this moment, I don’t care.
I glare at the goddess, furious that she took away my chance to be raised by a more stable and caring environment, but she just stares back at me. “We did what needed to be done. You are the person you need to be because of your upbringing and have unbiased views of supernaturals. Had you been raised in your father’s care, you could have picked up prejudices.”
“What a load of crap,” Liam spits out, and I feel a rush of love at his support, even though she is probably right. “Being raised in Chaos Kingdom would have been the best place for all of them. It would have made them neutral.”
She vehemently shakes her head. “Not if Loki’s grandfather had gotten his hooks into them. Remember, Loki only succeeded the man just over ten years ago. The girls would have been fully under his influence.”
“What happened to him?” Brodie asks, unable to stop his curiosity.
“I killed him,” my father said flatly. “He was throwing around words of war, no longer content to be hidden from the humans or ignored by the other supernaturals. He was stirring up trouble for the kingdom, and I wasn’t about to see all of our people die for his delusions.”
“You know a lot of supernaturals, especially the wealthy and influential, are not going to be thrilled that all four kingdoms have rulers so closely linked to the Chaos king. They are going to think he will be able to manipulate them,” Micah points out thoughtfully.
Loki shrugs, but the goddess shakes her head. “He will not be the ruler who will see Chaos Kingdom into the future, though I don’t doubt he will continue to guide the one who will.”
Loki narrows his eyes and growls at the goddess. “What did you do?”
She winces. “There is a fifth child who has been raised by a woman in the Chaos Kingdom. You will step down, and she will take your place.”
He stiffens and jumps to his feet. “What do you mean? I have not had a relationship with another woman in years. Not since…” He trails off, and the goddess nods, her eyes glistening with unshed tears.
“Not since you thought you found your mate, but she turned out to be someone else’s. I know. I’m sorry we did that to you, but we masked the mate bond for all of you so our plans could move forward. We needed you to do what we required without the burden of guilt. Both Camila and Wyatt are your mates. She was already pregnant when they met. They have been raising the child together.”
Loki looks furious. “Why? I did everything you asked for. I gave up my chance to be a father five times over for all of your machinations. When is it going to stop?” I hear the anguish in his tone, and I can’t help but feel a sense of kinship for this man. These goddesses have been manipulating all of us for too long, and he got the worst of it.
“I’m so sorry, Loki, but now you get your reward for having served us so well,” she says as she stands, affectionately cupping his cheek, and my eyes widen.
“Did you and him…” I trail off, wondering if my father has a relationship with the goddess, but they both blanch.
“Hell no!” he exclaims vehemently. “They are like annoying, interfering older sisters.”
“We each have our own mates. They just choose not to get involved in our kingdoms,” she tells us, and I heave out a sigh of relief. I’m not sure why, but the thought of them together felt wrong.
“We will unmask the bond as soon as the other queens are all in place,” she assures Loki. “I’m sorry you have to wait a little longer, but use this time to build relationships with your other daughters. All of them will venture to the Chaos Kingdom for this news. You will send out your other assassins and have them bring them here,” she explains.
Titus, who has been quiet this whole time, frowns thoughtfully at the king and goddess. He opens his mouth like he’s about to ask a question, but his phone pings, alerting him to a message. He looks at it before slipping it into his pocket then stands up. “Ah, it seems the final player has arrived. I will escort him in,” he says, and without waiting for a response, he puts his hooded cowl back on and disappears in the blink of an eye. My mouth drops open.
“What was that?” I point at the now empty space.
“Titus’s fae genes give him the ability to sift,” Loki says absently, lost in his own thoughts. It looks like our family is having bombshells dropped on all of us today.
“Sift?” I ask, not familiar with the term.
“It’s like teleporting. They move through ley lines, which run through each of the kingdoms, allowing them to travel long distances in a blink,” Gem explains.
“Who is here?” Hunter asks, smoke drifting from his nose as he looks between the goddess and the king. I can feel his agitation and worry that we are going to be ambushed with something else.
“If I had to hazard a guess, it would be Colbie’s final mate,” the goddess replies absently. She’s still watching Loki carefully, like she’s expecting him to explode at any moment.
“Nox?” Gryffin asks, looking toward the door. “But he isn’t Colbie’s final mate. One is still missing.”
“No, there isn’t,” the goddess retorts, her eyebrows rising with surprise. “They are all gathered here now. Once she seals the bond with the last two, she can return to Aramis and finally claim the crown and face anyone who may challenge her.” Aramis’s words send my mind reeling. If what she is saying is true, then that means the assassin is my final mate.