Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
AURYN
I wasn’t allowed to travel by Seelie tunnel yet, so it took me a while to get back to Eden.
Sure, I could have traveled much faster than I had, but I was being extra cautious.
Paranoid, really. Mother was back to present day.
Rae had seen and spoken to her. He’d told me so himself.
She’d given him the missing page of the tome.
She’d completed her quest, not that I ever doubted her.
Every part of me wanted to rush to my son’s side and escort him, and the page, back to Eden.
That page was going to tell us how to permanently rid our world of Unseelies.
Several soulmates were desperate for it, including me and mine.
But Sweyn had no idea my son existed. Akecheta and I had somehow kept him a secret from the darker sides of this realm.
However I was very much on Sweyn and Lilith’s radar after my decade of standing at Father’s side as Saber, so I couldn’t risk Rae now when it mattered the most. I went a little overboard and took the long way back to Eden so that if I was being watched they wouldn’t find him.
I was exhausted. Mentally, emotionally, and in my soul, I was just spent.
Eight hundred years of scheming would do that to a person.
I crossed the border into Eden and let out a deep breath, then pulled my phone out to track my son’s location.
He had to take the safest route to stay out of sight, so it would be a few hours before he likely arrived.
But I was going to ask Akecheta and Bentley if he could arrive sooner.
My heart and soul were heavy. We were so close.
It was late, probably after midnight by this point, so Eden was calm and quiet.
This was unnerving. The Unseelies had practically unlimited soldiers compared to us, so there was no reason to believe they were taking the night off.
My nerves frayed with every step I took toward Headquarters.
By the time I walked through the front door, my heart was pounding in my chest.
The entire Coven, or what was left of them, were still sprawled throughout the room just as I’d left them. They seemed a little more alert though. While none of them were standing or speaking, they were all staring at one person.
Savannah.
She stood behind the couch in front of the stairs that led down to the infirmary with both hands on her hips and one perfectly sculpted black eyebrow arched. “Well, hello? Ain’t nobody heard me?”
I smiled before I could stop myself.
Tennessee let out a deep sigh and leaned back in his seat at the dinner table. His dark hair was caked in black demon blood. “We heard you, Savannah—”
“Then why ain’t nobody movin’?” She gestured wildly around the room. “I meant what I said, folks. So get y’asses movin’ or it’s about to be the UFC in here, ‘cause you gonna F’n see.”
Thiago snort-laughed and then buried his face in his arms that were propped on the table a few seats down from Tenn. “Goddess almighty,” he whispered with his thick, pretty accent.
Royce grinned and leaned one elbow on his boyfriend’s shoulder, then used his other hand to sign, “She’s fun.”
“I love to see what comes out of her mouth,” Warner said between chuckles. “Very entertaining—”
Savannah sneezed and a high-pitched, delicate sound slipped from her mouth.
Everyone jumped and looked to her with wide eyes.
She held both pointer fingers up in the air. “I’m a lot tougher than my sneeze sounds.”
Devon crossed her ankles on top of the coffee table. “I am so glad I survived.”
I grinned and strolled into the room. “What’s going on here?”
Everyone turned to me and their faces fell. Their gazes flicked back and forth between me and Savannah in a way that made my heart drop into the pit of my stomach. My mouth watered.
Savannah grimaced as she turned to face me fully. “I’m trying to tell them they need to call Riah . . . It’s time for Akecheta to return to Issale.”
My breath left me in a rush. I reached out and grabbed hold of the wall. “What makes you say so?”
She shrugged. “These mountains told me. They said for him to git.”
With a frown, I glanced around at the group, then back to her. “The mountains told you?”
“Yes, ma’am, and that ain’t exactly new news for Appalachia.”
“Riah said he would let us know—”
“I’m letting you know.” She threw her hands up. “These mountains are lettin’ you know—No, don’t you make that face at me, miss ma’am. No. N’uh’uhn. Were you born in Appalachia?”
I opened my mouth, then shut it. No one was allowed to know where I was born. “No, I wasn’t—”
“Well, I was. These are my mountains, and my mountains told me he needs to go to Issale now—”
“I’ve heard if you hear weird noises in the night, simply make weirder noises to assert dominance.”
“Ma’am, not in Appalachia you don’t.” Her blue eyes were wide. She pointed one ring-clad finger toward Thiago. “Don’t nobody go in the woods with this guy. He gon’ get ya merked.”
“I told you it was worth stalling a few minutes.” We all jumped and turned toward the back door to find Malachi and Riah standing by the kitchen island, Malachi wearing a shit-eating grin as he strolled over to Savannah and rubbed the top of her head like she was a puppy.
“I wanted to see how she’d react to the mountains—”
“SEE!” Savannah yelled, then threw her hands up and sighed.
“Riah . . .” I cleared my throat and moved to get in his line of view. “Is it true? Is it time to move him already?”
The smirk vanished from his face. His golden eyes were heavy. “Yes, he needs the magic of Issale now.”
“But it’s so soon,” Lennox whispered. “It’s been like a couple days.”
“I know, but I promise it is time—” his words cut off sharply at the exact time he and Malachi scowled and looked over their right shoulders. After a few seconds, his face smoothed and he met my stare. “We must go. Father requires our presence. Get your soulmate to Issale within the hour.”
Warner held his hand up. “And by Father, you mean—”
“Lucifer,” both brothers said in unison.
“Just checking.” Warner nodded.
“Koth will be here momentarily to escort you and Akecheta to Issale.” Malachi snapped his fingers in front of Savannah’s face. “Go with them, Darkling.”
Savannah gasped and jumped back. “What? Me? Why me? What’d I do?”
Malachi cocked his head to the side. “Is there anyone you just listen to without a fight?”
Savannah pushed her shoulders back. “Lucifer?”
White light flashed in front of her face so quickly I thought I’d imagined it, but the floating piece of paper was proof I hadn’t. With a shaking hand, Savannah snatched the paper and read it. Her face fell. She licked her lips and nodded.
Devon nodded her head. “What’s the note say?”
Savannah swallowed roughly. “It says . . . it says . . . did I stutter? And is signed by . . . by King Lucy of Hell.”
Malachi took one more look at me, then nodded and vanished into a cloud of smoke.
It was time to move Akecheta.
Who was I to question Riah? Or Lucifer for that matter? My chest tightened. Lucifer specifically requested for Savannah to go with us to Issale. There wasn’t a single reason for it that didn’t make me want to vomit.
“They’re here,” Emersyn said softly from where she sat in front of the hearth, which was evidently her favorite spot since she never left it anymore. “I can feel Koth’s fire.”
I hadn’t noticed I’d zoned out until golden, warm mist wrapped around me and the pressure in my chest vanished.
I took a deep breath and looked up to find Hunter Bishop standing beside me.
He smiled and wrapped one arm around my shoulders in a fatherly gesture that made me wish my own was standing there.
“I promise you none of us are taking his safety or condition lightly,” Hunter said softly. “We would all gladly escort him—”
“No!” I snapped, then slammed my mouth shut. I tried to give him a smile. “I mean, please no. You all need your rest now more than ever. The dragons can protect us.”
“Remember your strength too.” He winked and then pointed to the front door. “They’re ready for you.”
“What?” I flinched, but when he just motioned for the door, I turned and sprinted out to the front lawn and found five of the dragons huddled together.
Koth’s big purple eyes shot to me instantly. He bowed his head, then looked to his left. I followed his gaze and gasped. Akecheta was already propped up behind Koth’s largest spike, right up between his wings. My breath left me in a rush.
“Akecheta.” His name left my lips in a whisper.
He was too pale. The magic had forced him into his true form, which meant his skin should have carried the dark tones of the Native American tribe he was born from. Instead, he was sickly pale, almost a blue-green sheen to the light color. My stomach rolled.
Silas snorted, flicking his snout in the air to get the others' attention. Yaluk shot into the sky, the brown spikes on the tip of his tail the last thing I saw before he disappeared into a thick gray cloud. I scowled.
“Wanted to give y’all some coverage to get started,” Tegan said softly from suddenly right beside me. “Yaluk is checking to see if the coast is clear.”
I cleared my throat and nodded. “I am sorry to leave you shorthanded—”
“No.” She held her hand up and shook her head. “His life and safety are more important.”
There was something in the shadows of her eyes that sent a shiver down my spine. “What is it, Tegan?”
She glanced around, then licked her lips. “It’s too quiet.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” I said with a sigh.
“I don’t like that Lucifer demanded Savannah accompany you.”
I closed my eyes and hung my head. “Nor do I.” More than you know.
“I’ve strapped him onto Koth’s back. I want him to fly as fast as inhumanly possible.” She rubbed her hands together and I noticed she wore about five crystal rings on each finger. That somehow made me more nervous. “Keep your head on a swivel.”