Chapter 25 #2
Then, Koa makes his third mistake.
He shifts back into his leopard form and lunges at Asmo, claws shredding his chest in one fluid motion. Asmo hisses in pain as crimson blood pours from the jagged wounds.
I jump to my feet, ready to race toward him, but Elle yanks me back down to the floor.
Asmo shifts back to his serpent form and lunges for Koa. Koa darts out of the way, just barely missing Asmo’s fangs. Asmo circles back, racing toward Koa. It’s not even a fight. Asmo’s fangs make contact with Koa’s back leg as he tries to jump out of Asmo’s path.
Koa shifts back to his hybrid form, face contorted in pain as he grabs his leg.
Asmo shifts back to his hybrid form.
Barrett runs over, tossing both of them a pair of shorts before shooting a pointed glance at Elle and me.
August and Marik watch Asmo, their expressions unreadable.
Asmo shifts on his feet once, blood running down his back and chest, before turning toward his belongings against the wall of the training center.
He throws his clothes on and tosses the bag to Koa, face now white with pain.
“Antidote is in the bag,” Asmo mutters before exiting the training center.
Marik looks at us with an apologetic expression on his face. “Sorry,” he mumbles before following in Asmo’s wake.
“Fucking psycho,” Koa mumbles on the ground.
“You didn’t need to jump on his back, man,” August mumbles in Koa’s direction as he searches through the bag. He extracts a small jar and unscrews it, then slathers the antidote over Koa’s leg.
Koa’s face contorts in pain at the contact.
“You deserve it, man,” I hear August mutter.
“So,” Elle says nonchalantly like we didn’t witness the weirdest pissing match I’ve ever seen. “I take it not all of your training sessions go like that.”
August shakes his head. “Something like that, but definitely not that intense. They don’t usually get that contentious.”
Elle stands and offers a hand to me. I accept it, and she pulls me to my feet. Internally, I thank her because I’m not sure my legs can work after watching that.
“Please do your best not to kill each other, lest Her Highness wants to choose one of you as High King,” she says, leading me toward the exit. “Mae, ready to get back to the castle?”
I nod, brain devoid of anything else to say. Once we’re outside, the birds tweeting and the leaves rustling, I feel like I can think again.
“That was…” I begin to say.
Elle nods. “Yeah, that was intense.”
“Do all shifters train that…ferociously?”
She snorts. “No, at least not what I’ve seen. And based on their reactions, they don’t usually, either.”
We fall into silence, walking side-by-side down the cobblestone path. It’s officially cold now, fall having made its way into the beginning of winter. I rub my hands along my arms, wishing I had brought a jacket.
“Mae, there’s something I should update you on,” Elle says cautiously.
I nearly freeze at her tone. Something has happened. I glance at her as I try to control my panic, try to slow the increasing thrum of my heartbeat.
“There was a report of a small group of cambions by your aunt’s house.”
Holy shit.
“Is she okay?” I ask.
Elle nods quickly and says, “Yes, she’s fine. Since the report came, we’ve had a few people monitoring her house and Cally’s just in case.”
At the mention of Cally, I freeze. Willa, at least, was raised as a High Fae princess and knows how to fight. Cally, on the other hand… “Is she okay?”
Elle comes to a stop. “Yes, yes. Everyone’s fine, I promise,” she says reassuringly.
I force a deep breath into my lungs. “What happened to the cambions?”
“Our guards took them out before they could get to the house, but a few got away. Willa doesn’t even know they were there.”
The cambions were terrifying, but it was something I could handle because it happened to me. The thought of my loved ones being endangered…That’s not something I was prepared for when I stepped into this role.
“How many were there? How close were they to the house?” I ask, resuming the walk back to the castle.
Elle steps in line beside me. “It was a group of about eight. Our guards took out five. They were roaming the neighborhood.”
“Humans live there. Did they get to them?”
“No, everyone is safe. There weren’t any attacks.” She hesitates, then says, “But if we can’t get a handle on this, there’s potential for widespread panic.”
“Okay,” I say, trying my best to think like a High Queen. “What’s next? What are we doing about this?”
“Right now, we’re monitoring the cambions, trying to see if they’re returning to a specific place to answer to the witch that summoned them.”
I snap my gaze to hers. “Why not just kill them? Why risk anyone being harmed?”
She winces but says, “The information that we can gather about the witch that’s summoning them far outweighs the risks here.
We’re not sure what we’re dealing with, Mae.
This witch may be planning something greater, possibly planning to summon even worse creatures.
We need to find out who’s behind this, especially if they were responsible for the death of the royal family. ” Her tone is sober.
I nod in agreement. More people could die if we don’t find this witch.
“Okay, but if anyone is threatened by one of these things, they’re dead. We can’t allow them to run around harming people for the potential for gleaning information about their summoner,” I say, my tone icy.
She nods in agreement. “I’ll let Ivan and Luca know. I’m sure they’ll agree.”
“It doesn’t matter if they agree. Keeping people safe is what’s important to me,” I say, my tone hard and unyielding.
“Of course,” she responds with a single, curt nod.
We enter the castle and walk down the hallway toward the library in silence. She breaks the silence by asking, “Do you want to talk about what happened with Asmo last night?”
I sigh outwardly. “No. Yes.”
She laughs and says, “I have no idea what that means, Mae.”
Now I groan. “It was a disaster. I lost my cool. He gets under my skin.”
She smirks and says, “Like, in a good way? Like in a way that challenges you?”
“I don’t know…” I say, taking a second to think about that.
He doesn’t challenge me unless you count challenging the limit of my patience.
What is it about him that makes me tick?
He just gets under my skin. He says things that poke.
He deliberately tries to piss me off. But I guess, in a way, he’s teaching me to have a backbone, especially with people in power, which I didn’t have before and I need now. “Maybe,” I finally settle on.
“Is it worth continuing to get to know him? Or have you completely ruled him out?” she asks me.
“I kind of told him he could go home last night,” I say with a grimace.
She groans loudly. “You didn’t, Mae. Not again,” she says, exasperated.
“Hey! I didn’t the first time. The first time, I told them anybody could leave if they didn’t want to be here,” I argue. I shrug and say, “Guess we’ll see if he shows up at dinner tonight.”
“I guess. Seriously, listen to me when I say this. He and Marik are the most powerful princes in the kingdom. Even if you don’t choose them, they are good allies to have,” she says, her tone serious.
“It’s not even like that. It’s not like we’re becoming enemies, Elle. It’s more like…It’s more like we’re frenemies.” I cringe at the word.
“What are we? Eight years old? Come on,” she says.
I wince. She’s right. I don’t know why I can’t just control myself around him when he pokes at me.
“What happened on the date last night?” she asks me for a third time.
“It was a thoughtful date. I could tell he put a lot of effort into it. It was beautiful, but when I asked him why he would even go through the effort, given our…explosive chemistry, and not in a good way, all he said was that he found me intriguing. I basically insinuated that he wasn’t taking this seriously. ”
She stares at me. No, she glares at me. “I think you should give him another chance. It sounds like he’s trying, and I think you’re being sensitive.”
“Sheesh, Elle, don’t hold back.”
“You need to hear it. If anybody had chosen a husband for you, they would have chosen Asmo. I think maybe you need to take this seriously.”
I look at her. She seems frustrated. Normally, this would piss me off, but she’s right.
She’s one of my advisors. As much as I may hate to hear it, I need to be used to hearing the hard stuff.
So instead of sending back a retort or trying to defend myself, I say, “You’re right. Thank you for being honest with me.”
She nods once, stunned at my response. She’s right. I’m not doing this right.
“What about the others?” she asks me as we enter the library and head to our usual seats by the open wall.
“Barrett’s out,” I say simply, shocking her a little.
I think about the other princes, then say, “Koa and August are amazing. I think Marik might be my number one, though. August was fun, but it just feels very surface-level right now. Koa is also great, but Marik seems like he’s taking this seriously, whereas August and Koa aren’t.
I don’t know, I can’t explain it. So, I guess Marik is in the lead right now, but I still don’t fully know him. ”
She nods, considering the options. “Okay, so you need more time then.”
Now it’s my turn to look shocked. “Well yeah, it’s been a week. Of course, I need more time.”
She puts her hands up in surrender. “Sorry, sorry. I know. I think we were all kind of hoping you’d be able to decide sooner. The quicker we have a High King on the throne, the more secure the kingdom and our court are.”
“I thought I had three months,” I say.
She hesitates but says, “Yes, you do. Technically. The law says you have to be married within three months of your coronation. We were hoping it would be…much sooner.”
I collapse in my usual chair. “Come on, Elle,” I groan. “I’m choosing a life partner. And a partner for ruling an entire kingdom. You can’t seriously expect me to decide within a week.”
“I know, I know. I’m speaking as one of your advisors here. As your friend, take your time. Make the decision that’s right for you,” she says, placing a hand on my arm softly. I needed that. “Just sleep with each one and figure it out already,” she says with a laugh.
I playfully slap her arm.
“Wait, why not Barrett? What happened?” she asks.
“He’s great,” I say. “We had a great time yesterday. He’s just not the right match for me.”
“Well, okay then,” she says, not forcing the conversation, which I appreciate. His secret is not mine to share. “So, what are you going to do now?”
I think about that. If I’m going to decide who my future husband is, I need to spend some more time with the princes.