Chapter 9 Grey
GREY
Lunar Sector
I wish I could say it felt good to be home.
But it doesn’t feel good at all.
In fact, I’ve been here five minutes and I’m ready to head back to the Nomad Lands.
I palm my chest, hating the strange ache growing inside. I know Ashlyn is my fated mate. However, this sense of longing is highly inconvenient.
Cael casts me an amused look, his gaze bouncing between my hand and my face. “Missing our little seer?”
“Did you call me here for a meeting or a sparring match?” I counter. “Because I’m leaning toward the latter.”
His lips curl. “In the century I’ve known you, I don’t think it’s ever been this easy to goad you.”
“I haven’t slept well this week.” Not a lie. I’ve been hard every fucking night and consumed with the need to purr for Ashlyn while she dreams.
It’s intrinsic nature to just hold her and provide comfort. I’m not even sure she’s aware of any of it. But she has to know we’ve been sharing a bed. There’s nowhere else for me to sleep other than the floor or the loveseat in the living area.
Cael looks ready to reply when his monitor lights up with an incoming call.
The humor disappears from his features in a flash, the Alpha Prince on full display in less than a blink. I stand across from him, not planning to show my face or reveal my presence yet.
“You’re not Oros,” Cael says, his dark brow inching upward. “Onyx, I presume?”
Silence meets his question, and I suspect it’s due to a moment of surprise. “Most outsiders don’t know the difference between me and my brother.”
“I’m not most outsiders,” Cael replies, his voice holding an edge to it. “I’m also not a fan of bait and switch dynamics. So unless you have something important to say, I’ll be hanging up now.”
“We’re both here, Prince of Lunar Sector,” a cultured tone murmurs, the owner of which I assume is the brother—Prince Oros. Both men have accents, the English inflections seeming to be tainted with something else. Romanian, perhaps?
“I don’t enjoy games,” Cael informs them, causing me to nearly snort out loud.
Because that is a bald-faced lie.
I don’t comment, though, not wanting to distract Cael from his game.
“My apologies,” the cultured tone says, not sounding apologetic at all. “My brother and I share dominion in Gold Sector. I may be Prince, but he’s just as powerful as I am.”
“Sometimes more powerful,” the other one comments. “I’m also very protective.”
“A trait I can admire,” Cael inserts. “But I would rather get to the point in this discussion. You mentioned an Omega acquisition?”
“Are you not the one who desired this call?” Onyx counters, his voice holding an edge to it that helps me identify the speaker. His brother might be the prince, but it’s clear that Onyx is the harsher of the two. I’m betting that’s why Oros is the diplomat and Onyx is the second-in-command.
“I desire information on the organization hosting the infamous hunting parties throughout the world.” Cael’s sharp tone carries through his office, his wolf peeking out through his blue-green eyes. “I believe you’re familiar with it.”
“That is the rumor, yes,” Oros inserts smoothly. “Gold Sector has an intimidating reputation to protect, similar to the elusive V-Clan wolves.”
Cael frowns as he watches the screen, making me wonder what he’s seeing.
“Yes, please,” Oros says, his voice suddenly much softer than before..
Please what? I think.
“That’s fine, printesa mea,” Oros murmurs. A shuffling sound echoes from the speakers and Cael’s eyebrows shoot upward. “I want you to meet Prince Cael of Lunar Sector. His Second-in-Command is hiding somewhere else in the room and rudely not appeared yet.”
I roll my eyes.
“Grey, I believe,” Oros goes on. “Yes?”
Cael looks at me.
I look back.
Then I shake my head and move around to stand behind my best friend. “Yes” is all I say, but inside I’m shocked at what I see on the screen.
The Gold Sector Prince has an Omega in his lap.
And she’s not dressed in chains, though she’s certainly wearing a lot of gold. But she’s in some sort of black dress… and she’s smiling. “Hello,” she says, her voice soft and sweet.
“This is my Omega acquisition,” Oros murmurs. “Otherwise known as Taliana, my new queen. I thought you would be interested in seeing her since I believe she’s part V-Clan wolf. But I’m not actually sure as her genetics are mixed.”
“Which is the point of our call,” Onyx goes on. “If you want to learn more about the infamous organization you mentioned, you need to look into Obsidian Sector.”
“That’s where Taliana is from,” Oros adds. “Her father brought her here for sanctuary and—”
Onyx looks up sharply, as does Oros.
Then Onyx curses. “Excuse me” is all he says before disappearing in a cloud of silvery specs.
“Did Mari just…?” Taliana whispers, her voice carrying through the speakers.
“I think so.” Oros sounds amused. But then he clears his throat and looks at Cael. “Onyx is right about Obsidian Sector. We should talk more.”
“More than we are now?” Cael asks.
Oros smiles. “Let me rephrase—we should talk in person. You’re welcome any time, Prince Cael.” His gold eyes peer up at me through the screen. “You too, Grey.”
The screen goes black before either of us can reply and Cael releases a low growl. “Fucking dragons.”
“You don’t like games?” I ask, unable to help myself.
He turns slowly to glare up at me. “I don’t like games with dragons.”
“Seems to me that you and Oros might have a future together at a chess board,” I say conversationally. “Invite me to the match. I want to watch.”
“So you can cheer him on?” Cael guesses.
“Absolutely,” I reply.
Cael just shakes his head. “You’re a shit friend,” he accuses, his accent thickening.
“Pot meet kettle.”
He snorts. “Obsidian Sector?” he asks, abruptly changing the topic back to what the dragons said.
“The only thing I know about Obsidian Sector is that they enjoy hunting in the Nomad Lands of former day Europe.” I fold my arms. “But maybe we should go snooping.”
He nods. “I’ll talk to Dixon, see if he can help us map it out.”
His brother is good with technology and reconnaissance, so I agree with a dip of my chin. “In the interim, I’ll be with my seer.”
I don’t give Cael a chance to comment, just shadow right back to the cave and find Ashlyn in the kitchen.
She shrieks upon seeing me and drops the pan in her hand. “You’re back?” She frowns. “Or you just finished the runes?”
I chuckle. “I’m already back from the meeting.”
She blinks at me like she’s confused. “But you were gone maybe twenty minutes?”
“It was a quick call,” I tell her. “Have you ever dreamt of Obsidian Sector?”
She simply gapes at me. “What?”
“The dragons said we need to look into Obsidian Sector and its links to the shadow organization organizing the Omega slave-trade.”
“Oh.” Her nose scrunches. “No. I honestly don’t know anything about Obsidian Sector, but I’ll consider it and see if I can find any links during my next vision.”
She returns to cleaning up the kitchen, but I can tell by the tightening of her shoulders that something’s bothering her.
I’m not sure if it’s dragon related or my abrupt return.
Or something else entirely.
She’s definitely hiding things from me, though.
Secrets about the future. I understand her hesitation to share, but…
“When we mate, I’ll have access to your mind.
” The words leave my mouth before I can stop them.
However, they’re true. “So anything you see, I’ll also see. How does that impact the future?”
Ashlyn finishes scrubbing the dish—which appears to be the final one to clean—then washes her hands before facing me. “Honestly, I don’t know,” she says quietly. “A lot of this is unexpected and I’m struggling to understand why.”
“Because you didn’t see it?” I ask, ensuring I understand what she means.
“Yes, exactly that. I—”
The hairs along my arms dance mere seconds before an alarm blares through the cave.
Ashlyn’s face goes white. “You said it’s daylight,” she whispers.
“It is,” I reply, frowning at her.
Then the energy heightens, causing my wolf to growl.
“We need to go.” I grab Ashlyn and engage my shadowing gift, but nothing happens. No dematerializing of the room. No darkness. Just… standing still in the cave.
What in the hell…?
I release Ashlyn and my arm instantly starts disappear. I stop the shadowing transition, though it feels a little sluggish, almost like it’s my first time trying to teleport.
“What just happened?” Ashlyn asks, confusion and concern etched into her features.
“I can’t shadow you,” I tell her. “Why can’t I shadow you?”
“I don’t… I don’t know. You shadowed me in here…”
“I did.” And it felt fine. I also just shadowed in here myself. “Something weird is happening.”
I can sense it in my detonating wards outside, the zaps of electricity echoing through my veins.
“We’re going to have to do this on foot.”
Ashlyn gapes at me. “But there’s no door.”
“That’s not quite true,” I mutter. “We can tunnel.”
“Tunnel?”
I don’t respond to her echoed question. Instead, I head toward the bathroom, to the small escape hatch I built into this safe house long ago.
There was a time when I couldn’t shadow or do much of anything at all. A time that taught me how to rely on my physical strength alone.
While I despise that part of my life, it also framed who I am today and how I built my various dens.
“I always have a plan in place in case someone manages to collar me again,” I confide to Ashlyn.
The only other individual in the world who knows that is Cael.
“We’re going to have to crawl,” I warn her as I remove a vent cover. “And the space will be a bit tight.” I look down at her petite size. “More for me than for you.”
Her blue eyes are wide but all she does is nod. “Okay.”
I look over her T-shirt. She’s going to freeze outside.
“Can you shift into your wolf to crawl? Or will she be too big for the tunnel?” I move to the side so she can see the space for herself.
“I would prefer to be in human form,” she tells me.
“It’s going to be cold, Ash.”