Chapter 43
Chapter Forty-Three
Colbie
“C olbie? You’re alive! They told me you were dead.” My mom looks as surprised to see me as I am to see her. I look around, trying to make sense of what I’m seeing. This room is completely different from the ones the kids were kept in. It’s luxurious and spacious in a way that doesn’t surprise me, knowing my mother. It has all the amenities of a fancy hotel room, but it’s a prison nonetheless.
“Oh my god, Mom, are you okay? Are you injured? Come on, let’s get you out of here.” I run in, holding out my hand for her to take, but her surprise turns to fury, and her face twists as she snarls.
“You stupid girl, you always ruin everything.”
I flinch like she physically slapped me. Gryffin lunges, snarling, but Hunter is quick to grab him by the scruff and haul him back. Mom screams and kicks out, thankfully missing.
“What do you mean? What’s going on?” I’m so fucking confused, but before she can reply, a howl and a growl from Liam and Brodie has us exiting to find we have company.
Vallen Tideman is standing at the end of the corridor with a number of guards, all with their guns pointed at us.
“Ah, Colbie, so nice of you to join us. I guess we won’t be needing your mother after all.”
“No!” she shouts, hurrying out of her room to join us. “You promised that you would change me if I helped you. You promised I could be queen if I used my blood to open your stupid book. You said the power and her mates would transfer to me when she died because we have the same blood. I will rule over all shifters, with you as my prime king.”
As her words register, my heart feels like it cracks in half. My mother basically condoned my death as long as she got what she wanted. I thought she hurt me in the past, but every past infraction pales in comparison to this ultimate betrayal.
A tear slides down my cheek as she clings to Vallen’s arm, but I see the calculation in her eyes. She’s saying what she thinks he wants to hear, when I know she has no intention of making him her king. He’s a handsome man, but if she thinks she can have my mates, then she’d dispose of him in a hot second.
“Yes, but why would we use you when we have the original here now?” He waves a hand in my direction, and she snarls and lunges for one of the guards, pulling a knife from a sheath on his thigh before she spins and runs at me, screaming.
“I hate you! You ruined everything, just like you did when you were born.” Fuck, I thought I couldn’t hurt any more, but I was wrong. I can’t stop the sob that escapes my mouth as I put my hands up to defend myself. I’m so broken that even my creatures are cowering in despair.
I grab her wrist with both hands, stopping her from jabbing the dagger into my heart. I think even my guys were shocked into inaction, because none of them moved to stop her, but that only lasts a split second before they lunge toward us. Nox grabs me, tugging me away, as Hunter grips her wrist, squeezing hard. I hear the bone break as she cries out in pain, dropping the knife. Before she can be restrained further, Gryffin lunges at her, tearing her throat out. She lets out a garbled scream before she topples over, clutching her ruined throat. She looks at me with pleading eyes as Titus, Gem, and Micah reappear.
“Holy fuck,” Gem mutters, seeing the blood staining the white fur around Gryffin’s mouth before he makes a move to heal my mother, but I know it’s too late.
I turn away so I don’t have to watch the woman who gave birth to me die. I harden my heart and refuse to feel grief. She never deserved any of my love. I just resent the fact that I’m going to have to make Grampy and Granny sad when I tell them of her passing, but I make the decision to keep her actions to myself. They don’t need to hear what a horrible person she turned out to be.
“God, he’s never going to forgive himself,” the phoenix mutters, tearing his gaze away from my mother to look at the snarling, pacing tiger that almost looks like he wants another go.
“Don’t hold it against him, it was instinct,” he pleads, and I shake my head.
“There is nothing to forgive,” I assure him.
“Well, shit.” Vallen watches with detached interest as my mother takes her last breath. “I guess we really can’t let you escape now. Get her,” he orders his men, who move past him in a wave of force. My guys are ready, and despite the guards having weapons, not many of them get any shots off, and the ones who do come up against a protective barrier that Titus must have woven around us.
“Remember, leave a few alive,” I shout, reminding Titus as he goes on a killing spree, looking as excited as a kid in a candy shop to spill the blood of his enemies. He gives me an absent wave, which I hope is acknowledgement, as Nox and I are pushed against one of the walls and nobody is able to get past any of the others. I consider shifting into hydra form, but there really isn’t any need. The guards don’t seem like they are well trained, and my guys easily overpower them within a few moments, killing most of them while leaving a couple knocked unconscious for us to take with us to interrogate when we leave.
The fight is over within minutes, and the ground is slippery with blood, but I don’t look in the direction of my mother’s remains.
“Do you want to take her home to bury her?” Nox whispers in my ear as the others tie up the three unconscious guards.
“No, leave her. She deserves to rot,” Liam says, shifting and dragging me into his arms. “I’m so sorry, but she is not worth your tears.” He dries the tears I didn’t realize I was shedding.
I lean into him, absorbing the warmth of his naked skin and support.
“Where did Vallen go? He had a book in his hands. I bet it’s the one we need,” Hunter growls, and Titus looks around before disappearing, probably in search of the councilor.
“Shall we go look for them?” Gem asks Micah who shrugs, shaking his head.
“Nah, the man is a paid assassin, so he should be fine. Let’s wait here. I’m sure it won’t be long.”
The guys gather around me, Gryffin and Brodie staying in their animal forms to guard our backs while the rest try to give me words of comfort and reassurance, but I’m numb. I have no emotions to give at the moment, just complete apathy toward what just happened.
It doesn’t take long before Titus reappears, scowling with disgust. “He got away. I searched the whole facility, and it’s abandoned. Even the cells are empty. They must have a very powerful fae or witch working with them to transport that many beings in such a short span of time.”
My heart sinks at the thought of all of those twisted ferals. Without the spell to fix them, they will be permanently stuck in that form. Even if they could use the spell, without me or apparently my mother, they won’t even be able to open the book.
“We found them once, we will find them again. My mother will help us,” Nox assures me, but I have my doubts.
“Titus, why don’t you transport Colbie, Nox, Gryffin, and Brodie home, and then come back for the rest of us? We will watch over the prisoners until you return,” Hunter suggests, and the assassin approaches us.
“Gem, burn Malina’s body so they don’t come back and try to use her blood on the book,” Micah says, but I don’t hear Gem’s response as Titus puts his hands on me, and we reappear in my bedroom in the palace.
“Why don’t you help Colbie clean up? I won’t be long,” Titus murmurs to Nox, who scoops me up and moves to the bathroom, the wolf and tiger trailing behind us. My eyelids drift closed. I kind of want to just block everything out for a minute and see if I can finally catch a breath. I don’t even see Titus leave again.
The next thing I notice is the sound of water running as Nox steps into the shower with me, both of us still fully clothed. Brodie is naked and starts to pull my ruined clothes off my body.
Despite not actually being in the fight, there was no shortage of blood splatter, and Nox and I are both filthy. Once I’m completely naked, my bloodstained clothes turning the water in the bottom of the shower red, Nox passes me to my wolf as he strips his own uniform off.
“I’m going to go tell everyone what happened, then I’ll bring some food back,” Gryffin says, but I don’t lift my head from Brodie’s chest.
Nox mutters some response that I miss because all I can hear is a loud keening sound. It takes me a moment to realize it’s coming from me. Brodie holds me tighter against his chest and whispers words of condolences and reassurance, but it does nothing to stem my grief—not grief because the woman who gave birth to me is dead, but grief over the fact that the one person in the world who was supposed to love me unconditionally didn’t care about me at all. My whole life has been a lie. First, there was the truth about my father, and now this.
My body shudders as I sob loudly, while Brodie and Nox work to get me clean. They wash my body and hair with gentle hands as I allow my grief to flow down the drain with everything else that has been staining me. When they finish, and we step out, I pull myself together and tuck the past into a box, burying it deep within my soul. I will not allow my mother to affect my future like she did the previous twenty-six years of my life.
I find myself dried and bundled into warm sweats before I’m carried once more, this time by Brodie, out into our living area. He places me down on the sofa in front of a roaring fire before leaving, taking Nox with him to find some clothes.
Gryffin, who has returned in the time it took for me to cleanse my body and soul, shoves a mug of hot chocolate into my hand then places a steaming plate of something that smells delicious on the coffee table in front of me, and that wakes my stomach up with a roar.
“Eat, cookie, you’ll feel better if you do, and then you can sleep.”
I give him a wane smile of thanks before taking a sip of the sweet beverage. It’s the perfect temperature and taste, and I smile at the little marshmallow hydra floating on top.
“Where did this come from?” I ask him, looking up to see the rest of my guys enter through the door. They must have transported the prisoners to the cells beneath the palace first.
“Your grandpa made some for you as a coronation gift,” my tiger explains before placing a kiss on the top of my head.
“We’re going to get cleaned up in our own rooms. We will be back shortly,” he tells me, and everyone but Titus leaves.
“I’m going to help General Bryson interrogate the prisoners,” he says, his eyes filled with worry. “Are you going to be okay? I’ll come back as soon as I can.”
“I’ll be fine. It’s important for us to get all the intel we can from them.” I put the good of my kingdom before my own selfish wants, because if it were up to me, I would grab hold of him and beg him not to leave me.
Brodie and Nox, who are now dressed in their own sweats, return as Titus takes his leave.
“Gryffin asked everyone to give you space tonight, and we will debrief in the morning,” Brodie explains, holding his own cup of hot chocolate with a little wolf floating on top. Joe made me a wolf!” He grins, not hiding his joy when he sees where my gaze is.
I look at Nox’s mug and find another hydra floating in his.
“Joe promised he’d have a pegasus marshmallow the next time he sees me,” Nox tells me enthusiastically, and a small ray of light cracks through the grief and sadness that seemed to have encased my heart and soul.
“He said the same thing to Micah and Titus too, though he was a little worried about how he was going to create marshmallow fairy wings. I suggested he create mini bloody daggers instead. He liked that idea,” Brodie shares cheerfully, poking at his wolf and chortling when it bobs back to the surface, and that crack widens, letting a little more light in.
Everything is not right in my world, but I have a feeling it will be again soon.