Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter
Forty-Two
Colbie
When we finally leave the colosseum, I’m exhausted and relieved but relatively pleased with how everything went.
The majority of shifters were delighted when I lifted the ban on interspecies matings, announcing that all interspecies relationships and hybrid children were welcome in the kingdom.
I don’t expect to have an influx of people moving here, since I’m fairly certain the ones who live in Chaos Kingdom are happy where they are, but it makes visiting family and friends a distinct and safe possibility.
My new council was met with enthusiasm, as was the news of the three vacant spots that will be filled with mer, fairy, and equine representatives respectively.
The goddess then made the proclamation that all humans would be offered the chance to transition to shifters.
This was met with a fair amount of skepticism and suspicion, but no one was brave enough to call the goddess out on it.
I’m sure they will adjust eventually. Sable and the queens will be taking the names of volunteers who are happy to bite any humans who would like to be a specific shifter type, but screening will be carried out.
A human who is a psychopath is not suddenly going to change when they become a shifter and have the possibility to be even more dangerous.
According to Sable, who is a doctor as well as the chief archivist, shifters with psychopathic tendencies tend to go feral and need to be put down.
There are a lot of adjustments coming to Aramis, but that is a future Colbie problem.
It is midday by the time the ceremony wraps up and we go back to the palace for a meal with my mates and their families. I’m exhausted and feeling a little shaky as my grandparents surround me for a group hug when I arrive at the dining room.
“We are so fudging proud of you,” Grampy says, squeezing me tightly. Tears well in my eyes as my granny cups one of my cheeks.
“You were magnificent. I only wish your mother had been there to see how amazing you are,” she tells me.
“I’m sure she would have tried something underhanded to steal the spotlight,” Grampy grumbles as we take a seat at the table.
I’m introduced to Brodie’s mother and father, who give me a slight nod of their heads but are not particularly warm. Brodie’s brother is more enthusiastic and gives me a hug and a kiss, congratulating me on my spectacular display of dominance.
As he pulls away, there’s a slight tug in my chest, and I get the urge to put my hand over his sternum.
Allowing it to happen, I press my hand down, feeling a lump beneath his shirt, kind of like a pendant hanging from a chain.
My hand warms, and I feel magic flow out of me and into him.
He flinches and tries to pull away, but the magic holds him in place.
He grimaces, and when the magic finally releases him, he reaches in and pulls out what I touched.
A pendant, very much like the one Nox used to wear, hangs from a chain, but it is split in half.
I instantly recognize it for what it is—a bond blocker.
“What did you do?” Brodie’s father growls, jumping to his feet.
“I… I don’t know,” I mutter, looking to the goddess for help. She smirks at Brodie’s father, but I see the wicked glint in her eyes.
“She righted a wrong. Messing with my will is a surefire way to get on my bad side,” she tells the wolf, who pales and sits back down.
We look at the goddess, hoping she will share what she knows with the rest of us.
“Lift your shirt please,” she asks Briden, and when he does, he stares in surprise at the mark above his heart.
“I have a bond mark,” he says with astonishment.
“Yes. Your parents gave you that pendant when you were younger in the hope they could stop the mark from appearing,” she explains, and Brodie growls.
“You gave him that just after I got my mark,” he snarls at his parents.
“We already lost one son, we weren’t losing another,” his mother snaps, and I whine as Brodie is filled with sorrow. Jesus, what assholes.
“That’s the same as my brother’s mark.” Hunter waves Talon forward. Talon is beaming, and he pulls Briden into a hug and ushers him away from the table so they can talk. Brodie stalks over to his parents and grabs each of them by the arm before forcefully removing them from the room.
“Well, I guess we won’t be celebrating Christmas with them,” I murmur to Nox as he puts an arm around my shoulders to comfort me.
Micah’s father is slightly warmer, and I get a positive response regarding the council position. He promises he will send his nominations as soon as he returns home.
Gretchin and Holly disappeared as soon as they congratulated us. I doubt we will see them anytime soon, but I am happy for them. I don’t really need a bodyguard attached to my hip at the moment with eight attentive, clingy mates to see to my every need.
We eat our meal, and the conversation around the table is lighthearted and joyful, but it kind of feels like it’s the calm before the storm. Nox keeps looking at his phone, and I know he received a message from his parents.
I sigh, aware this celebration has come to an end. I will not wait a moment longer to go after the children. The power flows through my veins, and short of my death, no one can take the crown from me, and considering I regenerate, my death is not likely to happen anytime soon.
“Tell me,” I encourage him. I know he’s been keeping quiet for the whole meal out of the need for me to enjoy myself, but I’ll be a lot happier once those children are reunited with their parents. They must be frantic with worry.
“My parents have a location. They said they are in an underground compound deep in one of the mountains of the rift. They said that not only can they feel the children, but there are hundreds of feral shifters there as well. They can’t get any closer, though, because there are wards and guards set up around the perimeter. ”
My heart sinks. Hundreds of ferals, and I don’t have the book with the spell to fix any of them.
“And the Tidemans? Any sign of them?” Lucas asks.
He shakes his head. “They don’t know. They say people come and go, but they are all wearing hoods and capes, so they haven’t been able to identify any of them.”
“I’ll assemble the teams.” Bryson jumps to his feet.
“No.” I wave him back into his seat. “I can’t do anything about any of the ferals at this stage.”
“And it will be too dangerous to bring all of them back to our prisons to wait for the cure,” Micah adds, agreeing with me. “This will be a straight extraction. Titus can sift us into the mountain, we’ll grab the kids, and sift back out.”
“I’ll go back and sneak around once the kids are safe,” Titus promises. “It will be easier if it’s just me. I can move around without anyone knowing, and I can nullify any fae wards I come across.”
“What if they have witch wards?” Mia asks, and I frown.
“I don’t want you going without backup and end up stuck there,” I argue.
“Fine, I’ll ask my assassin brother who is part witch to come with me,” he compromises, and I’m satisfied with his response.
“The kids will probably be traumatized. They have been stuck in their animal form for a long time. Command them back into human form, but be prepared for them to become unconscious. It will be a shock to their system. Transport them back to the med bay here at the palace, and I will be on standby,” Sable instructs Titus.
“What about the people responsible? You’re not going to let them get away with this, are you?” Gracelin asks angrily, hugging Archie. I don’t blame her, she almost lost her son to those monsters. I would want revenge too.
“Not at all. We will poke around while we search the compound for the kids. If we come across anyone who seems to be in their right mind, and it’s safe, then we will apprehend them, but for now, our focus needs to be the children,” Hunter tells Gracelin, who seems to accept this.
“You should stay here,” Liam suggests to me, and I glare at him. I’m still boiling mad about him being naked in front of everyone. I’m aware it’s hypocritical, since I was just as naked, but this comment just makes me feel even angrier at him.
“I will not. I am coming too,” I tell him stubbornly. I expect him to argue, but to my surprise, he accepts it without complaint.
“We need to change. Will you excuse us?” Gryffin pushes back from the table, and the rest of my mates follow suit.
“Be careful.” My granny squeezes my hand. “Come to the bakery once you rescue those poor babies, and when you get a free moment, let us know how it goes.”
I promise them I will, and the nine of us leave to get ready for the mission.
We arrive in a clearing that Titus got from a picture Nox’s parents sent us.
It’s bitterly cold, and snow swirls around as we get blasted by frigid wind.
Nox’s parents step around a rock they sheltered behind and point out the carefully hidden entrance to the facility.
They wish us luck before the three men put their hands on Lena, and then they disappear from sight.
“Unicorns can teleport?” I gasp, and Nox nods.
“Yes, that’s why they make such good trackers. Once they have a location, they can usually head straight to it. It took Mom a little while to get a lock on the area because of the wards, though, which is why it took so long.”
“I can sift us in once I deal with the wards.” Titus puts his hands up like he’s scanning the area.
“Will whoever set them feel you break them?” Brodie asks.
“It depends if the wards are cast by an actual person or if they are set into rocks surrounding the area. If they have been cast, then yes. If they are just using ward stones, then no,” Titus says absently, and the rest of my guys gather around me to keep me warm while we wait.
It takes Titus about ten minutes to work out the wards. He explained that if he were full fae, it would have been quicker, but his ward powers aren’t as strong because he’s a hybrid. They finally fall, and he winces.