Chapter 71
CHAPTER SEVENTY-ONE
“This is it. We’re finally getting somewhere,” Jester said as he looked back at the diving team.
“Wherever you got this tablet, go back to that area and bring more of those up. Quickly, and no breaks until we have them all. We don’t know how much time is left.
” He turned back around as Irene came toward him, reaching out to gently rub his back.
“What does this one say?” Irene asked as she looked over his shoulder.
“It just mentions the existence of the Slayer as a part of Endymion. But if this information is here, surely there’s more. We need something that will allow them to either slip past him or subdue him. There has to be something.” Jester sighed as he set the tablet down.
“Uncle Jeeessssttteeerrr.” A little boy with brown hair and amber eyes bounced up to him.
“Derrick, what are you doing in this area?” Jester asked with a grin.
“I brought him down with me. He was curious about what everyone was doing,” Irene said, smiling at the boy.
“What are you doing?” Derrick asked, looking at the weird scribbles on the paper.
“Trying to make sure nothing happens to your future father-in-law,” Jester said with a smile.
Derrick looked at him quietly for a moment. “What if she doesn’t like me?”
Jester chuckled. “Who wouldn’t like a good-looking kid like you?”
“What if I don’t like her?” Derrick lifted his amber gaze to his uncle, searching for his wisdom.
Jester smiled and put his hand on his shoulder. “You’ll be able to appreciate each other and the sacrifice you both are making. This is something you will both have in common. No matter what, you two can treasure each other.”
“Daddy says our children will complete the unity. Uncle Jester, how do I make a baby?”
Jester choked and averted his eyes from his nephew.
He glanced at Irene, who was covering her mouth to hide her smile.
“That isn’t something you need to worry about now.
When the time comes, I’m certain you’ll know exactly how to make one.
” Jester wiped his forehead and shook his head. That was not an uncle question.
“Come on, Derrick, let’s leave your uncle to concentrate.” Irene winked at Jester as she led the small child away.
Jester watched the young prince as he disappeared up the stairs with his mate.
He didn’t quite understand the sacrifice and the importance of what he would be doing.
But he wondered how he would react when he did.
They were asking him to give up on having a fated mate.
Derrick was too young to grasp this concept, but that wouldn’t always be the case.
He would have to choose between his duty and his heart.
“You know, Selene … this would be an excellent time for you to intervene and twirl your fingers to intertwine their fates. This family has sacrificed and continues to sacrifice so much for you. This would be a nice way to return the favor.” Jester looked up at the ceiling as he spoke out loud.
He wasn’t sure if the goddess was listening, but he hoped she was paying attention to this situation and would help bind their future together if Freja had a daughter.
“Here’s another batch that was just brought up.” A man sat the wet tablets down next to Jester.
Jester sighed and grabbed one of the tablets. Please let us find something.
Hunter held Freja’s hand as they walked down the stairs together in the morning.
Yesterday had been an emotionally draining day for their close group.
Chasen and Jin were still upstairs resting, and Sam and Renee were the only ones at the table.
Hunter and Freja just sat down when the door to the pack house opened.
“We found some information,” Ciana said as she hurried inside.
“Great. Please say it’s good news,” Hunter said as he motioned for her to take a seat at the table.
“Slayer is like a dark fairy. Endymion is the originator of the fairies. He is the Lord of the Earth. What he cast out of himself was the equivalent of a malicious, dark fairy. But think of him like a strong fairy. If there was an evil fairy king, that would be the Slayer. We need to contact Reiya, but we’re thinking you and Reiya, as the fairy princess and prince, should be able to hold him at bay with your fairy powers.
” Ciana shrugged. They didn’t know for sure, but this was their best guess.
“I’ll send a messenger fairy out to get word to Reiya and see if she can come here so we can discuss everything. In either case, it looks like this is still going to be a gamble.” Hunter sighed and rubbed his forehead.
“Jester is still reading some of the remaining tablets. No one has ever fought against the Slayer before because Endymion kept him in check, but it seems highly likely.” Ciana reached out and grabbed an apple off the table. “Jin still sleeping?”
“Yeah, we had an interesting day yesterday. I’ll let Freja tell you about it. I’m going to go and get that message sent out.” Hunter stood, bending over and kissing Freja on the forehead before straightening up. “I’ll be right back, love.”
By mid-afternoon, the dragons were descending upon Black Ice Pack territory. Reiya hopped off the back of a blue dragon while Brody and Chelsie hopped off a red dragon. There were also two other dragons there that were shifting into their human selves.
Hunter walked over to the group with Freja at his side.
“Hunter, I’d like you to meet my mate, Lila.” Xander wrapped his arm around her waist, bringing her close. “And this is her brother Dex, the King of the North.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Hunter said with a small nod. He then turned to look at Reiya. “Ciana brought back some news from the vampires. Have you guys been able to uncover anything?”
“Grandpa Sage said that he’s the dark to our light. But a single candle can pierce the darkness. He thinks we need to outshine him in a sense. But he’s still studying,” Reiya said.
“Where’s Chase at?” Brody said as he looked around.
“He’s in the house with Jin. We had … well, we had a bit of an incident yesterday.
Jin got taken by demons and ended up with the demon Harley, who is the son of an original demon.
It turns out they’re having a baby girl and she’s Harley’s mate.
It’s a lot to process.” Hunter sighed, shaking his head.
“Oh, geez. Chelsie and I will go on in and see them, if that’s alright.”
“Send Ciana out, will you? So she can explain what they found in the vampire kingdom.”
Brody nodded at Hunter, and he and Chelsie walked away.
“Is Jin okay?” Reiya asked with a frown.
“Jin ate all of Harley’s imported chocolate, so she’s good.” Freja giggled. “Actually, besides being tired, I think she handled this better than all of us.”
“Do they want us to take care of the demon?” Levi asked as he met with the silver eyes in front of him.
Hunter smiled in appreciation. “No, Harley was actually pretty nice about everything. He just asked to be a part of their daughter’s life and for her to be allowed to make up her own mind about him.
He said he will abide by her wishes. He has also offered to stay with Jin during the demon war to make sure she stays safe. ”
Freja turned back to see Ciana walking out toward them. She looked up when she was only a few feet away and stopped abruptly, her eyes locking onto something. Freja turned her head to look back at the other dragon, who was also staring at her.
At first, a sweet aroma hit his nose. Dex was trying to pay attention to what Hunter was saying, but he couldn’t concentrate.
And then he saw her. Her black, silky hair flowed behind her and over her caramel skin.
The moment he saw her sweet, brown eyes, he heard the word.
Mate. This girl was his second-chance mate.
It was almost unheard of for dragons, and yet here she was.
He kept his eyes locked onto hers as he studied her every movement.
The last time he met his mate, she’d rejected him.
There was that small fear that this girl would do the same.
Xander looked over at Levi. “Looks like we may need you to bless another mating ceremony.” He smirked as he looked at the two dragons, waiting for one of them to make a move.
Ciana took a few small steps forward, her eyes never leaving Dex’s.
Her mind was screaming at her that this was her mate, but she was a bit afraid.
She didn’t know who this person was. She looked over at Freja nervously but was immediately comforted when she saw her reassuring smile.
The man started walking toward her until he stood right in front of her.
“My name is Dex. I’m the King of the North.”
“Ciana,” she whispered as she held his gaze. She watched a small smile spread over his lips. He reached his hand out. She looked at his open hand and slowly slid hers into it, feeling the warm tingles ripple over her skin the moment they touched.
“This is our luck dragon, Dex. And it looks like she’s really your lucky dragon.” Xander chuckled and squeezed Lila into his side.
Dex smiled and continued to lose himself in her deep, pooling brown eyes. “Ciana, will you accept me?” He watched her slowly nod her head and his lips curved into a wide smile. “I’ve finally found my queen.” He lifted her hand to his lips and gently pressed them against her skin.
“Well, umm, how about we move inside so they can have a moment?” Reiya said, winking at her brother.
“Yeah, I can relay to you what I was told when we’re inside.” Hunter chuckled, and the group slowly moved away, leaving the two dragons standing there. They were still lost in each other’s gaze and probably never even noticed them leaving.
Hunter and Freja walked over to the couch, and the others gathered in the living room around them.
“They think the Slayer is kind of like a dark fairy of sorts. And maybe, as the princess and prince of the fairies, we can keep him at bay,” Hunter said, settling into the couch and pulling Freja to his side.
“That would make sense, especially considering what Gramps found,” Xander said, nodding his head.
“Of course, we still have the main event before we even get to the finale.” Hunter chuckled with a shrug. “But maybe with this little bit of information, we can be better prepared.”
Reiya looked back over her shoulder, toward the door, with a smile on her face. “I’m happy for Dex. He’s sweet, and he really deserves someone kind.”
“Not too sweet though, right?” Lee said as he squeezed Reiya’s side, causing her to giggle.
“Ciana has a fun personality and lots of energy. She reminds me of you a bit, Reiya, so hopefully he can keep up.” Hunter snickered.
“What is this about Ciana?” Jin asked as she walked downstairs with Chelsie. Brody and Chasen were having an arm wrestling match upstairs, so the girls left them to it.
“Ciana has found her mate. He’s the Dragon King of the North. He’s a great guy,” Reiya said, and Jin’s face lit up.
“That’s wonderful!” Jin clapped her hands in excitement.
“He’s her brother. Jin, this is Lila, Xander’s mate,” Reiya said, motioning to the girl at Xander's side.
“I promise my brother is a great guy. Your friend is in great hands with him.” Lila smiled as she thought about her brother. She’d felt guilty being so happy with Xander since her brother had been rejected. Now they could both be happy.
“We have so much to celebrate after this war.” Freja smiled, looking at everyone.
“Our family just keeps on growing.” Reiya giggled.
“And it’s going to continue to grow.” Hunter looked at Freja and nodded. “It would be growing right now if it wasn’t for this war coming up.” Freja blushed, and he leaned over and kissed the side of her head.
Jin jumped as her phone rang. She lifted it up to her ear and answered.
“Hello?”
Hunter and Freja watched her closely. That was the phone that Harley had given her.
“Wow … how much time? Yeah, umm … yes. I need to speak to Chasen. Well, actually, he’s right here. Do you want to talk to him? Okay, one second.” Jin held the phone out to Hunter.
Hunter could see the worried look in her eyes as he took the phone.
“Hunter speaking.”
“I want permission to come to the Black Ice Pack immediately.” Harley’s voice was serious on the other end.
“Of course, that shouldn’t be a problem. What’s going on?” Hunter asked, sensing his urgency.
“They’re on the move. The demons should be fully assembled within just a few days. If you haven’t gathered all of your allies, you’d best do it now. Have them all assemble in front of Elysia. That’s where they march.”
Hunter inhaled deeply. “Thank you for the heads up.”
“Don’t thank me. I’m doing this for my mate.”
Hunter smiled. He knew better than that. No matter what Harley said, this wasn’t just for his mate. If it was just about his mate, he would have kept Jin until she gave birth and then claimed her child.
“We’ll be seeing you soon, then.”
Hunter hung up the phone, his eyes finding Freja before landing on Reiya.
“Time’s up.”