Chapter 108
Ivy
Isucked in a deep breath, taking in the smell of rain and fresh, mountain air as the palace cleared of bodies and prisoners.
Healers rushed in to nurse the wounded, and earth mages cleared rubble for any sign of hurt soldiers.
Despite the distinct scent of copper tinging each breath I pulled in, I still relished in the freshness filling my lungs.
The clearness of each one settling any nerves I had left.
“What will happen to that…thing?” Elara Blackwood asked, arms crossed as she stared at the skull I clutched to my chest. “Do you…destroy it?”
I shook my head, releasing a long breath. “It can’t be destroyed. If it were that easy, Pandora would have done it when she found it.”
“So, what then?” Vanya asked, hooking arms with Blythe, both still soaked from the torrential rain. “Does it disappear?”
Glancing down at the skull, I met its hollow eyes. “I’m its guardian now,” I said, shaking my head. “I’ll be the one to protect it. Make sure it doesn’t land in the wrong hands ever again.”
Elara nodded once, visibly shuddering. “That sounds like a brilliant idea,” she said, a small smile turning the corner of her lips. “If you need help with wards, call upon the matriarchs of the original bloodlines. We’ll put something together for you.”
“That would be a good idea,” Maeve said, relief pouring through the bond. “It would be nice to not worry about whether the children will get a hold of it.”
Oh, Goddess above, I hadn’t thought about the kids. The thought of Ginny accidentally taking it because of her weird obsession with Halloween—not weird, totally my fault really—made my stomach turn. And what about the twins?
Suddenly, I no longer wanted to be holding it.
“Oh, my Goddess!” Vanya squealed. “You’re pregnant!” She jumped up and down, excitement brightening her eyes. “Oh, I never said congrats. Or condolences. We never had that talk.”
I grimaced. “Not a choice I would have made for myself right now,” I replied honestly, glancing around my gathered mates. “But one I can accept now that Dante isn’t a threat—and I’m not going to rule.”
“It took Greer a couple of centuries before she chose to give birth,” Elara offered. “Trying to understand being Queen while raising several children in your case would be difficult.”
“I’m lucky I have such great support.” I leaned tiredly against Xerxes, who shifted and wrapped an arm around me.
“And I will be an awesome aunt,” Vanya offered. “Aunts! Times two!”
Blythe gave her a look, one that had Orion chuckling. “Good luck with that.”
Vanya glared at her mate and shook her head. “We’re the cool childless by choice aunts! Come on, when else are we going to spoil kids?”
Blythe sighed and rubbed her eyes tiredly, though she did congratulate me telepathically.
I’m so tired, I said to no one in particular. And I need to have this skull removed from my hands as soon as possible.
“I see my dad,” Adrian sighed, his relief potent. “And he’s walking with someone who…looks like him?”
I frowned, glanced at my mate, then followed his line of sight.
He wasn’t wrong. Sir Theon, as well as all of Greer’s mates, were heading towards us, looking like they’d aged a decade since the grand escape.
But walking alongside Theon was almost a direct copy of him, minus glasses and with darker hair.
“Who do you think that is?” I asked, keeping my voice low.
Rowan moved to my other side, suddenly tense. “You don’t think that’s…” His words hung in the air, the end of his question not needing to be said.
His dad. Looking exactly like Theon…
Does this make you and Adrian cousins? I asked silently, unable to tear my eyes off the group of males walking towards us.
The longer I stared, the more obvious it became. Rowan’s hazel eyes were from the approaching male. The only thing Rowan really shared at all with his mother was her vibrant red hair and power. Otherwise, Rowan and Adrian could look alike.
“Well, this was unexpected,” Damon murmured.
“I didn’t have any money on this,” Hawk whispered.
“Neither did I,” Maeve replied.
Hush, I said down the bond, silencing them all.
“Well.” Theon cleared his throat, stopping in front of Adrian. “There are some things you should know.”
Beside me, Rowan made a sound in the back of his throat. “You think?”
Theon’s eyes darted to Rowan before finding mine. “We have a case for that—if you want it.”
“It’ll dampen the magical pull of the skull,” Theon’s twin said, nodding to Sir Otto, who carried a small, square trunk. “I’ve imbued it with God Runes, but certainly accept help from the witches to ensure only you have access to it from now on.”
“Thanks,” I murmured, pulling out of Xerxes’s hold. As I took a step forward, my mates closed in around me. Maeve made a move for the trunk, taking it from Otto without a word as Hawk opened the lid.
Inside was empty, other than thin cushions at the bottom and on the walls. Despite seeming powerless, I could feel the runes etched into it, hidden beneath the material. As I pulled the skull from my chest, my arms prickled with the intensity of the power within.
Gently, I set the skull inside, watching as Hawk quickly flipped the lid on it. Almost like it’d held us in a force field of tension, as soon as the lock clicked into place, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Maeve took over protecting the trunk with a single nod to me before moving back into the circle surrounding me.
“So…” I glanced up at Rowan, then at the male gazing at him hopefully. “There’s something else that needs to be explained.” Now that my hands were free, I took hold of Rowan’s trembling fingers and pushed love and understanding down the bond.
Rowan gave my hand a squeeze, though he didn’t look at me. He did, however, accept the strength I could offer him.
Theon sighed, glanced at the male beside him, and said, “Do you want to explain it, or should I?”
The male in question shook his head. “No, he’s my son. He should hear it from me. Would you…like to take a walk with me?”
“Not yet,” Rowan said, his voice tight. “And I’m not in the position to leave my mate. Not after everything that just happened. And none of them would leave her, either.”
If you want to talk to him, don’t hold back, I said through the bond, looking up at Rowan. I’ll be okay.
You’ll all hear about it regardless, he replied, finally meeting my stare. So, doesn’t matter if it’s now or later to me.
The male—Rowan’s dad—cleared his throat. “My name is Everette,” he said, eyes still trained on Rowan. “And I am your father.”
“I gathered as much,” Rowan replied flippantly. “My mother said I should give you a chance after telling me she’s dead. So, I will, for her sake. But don’t expect a relationship without work.”
I wasn’t sure if I should be proud of my mate for setting boundaries—ones I knew were painful for him to erect, especially because he’d wondered about his father for so long—or if I should be reminding him to be kind, at least.
But his father seemed to understand the coldness coming from Rowan, because he nodded once. “Your mother warned me years ago it would go like this.” He smiled slightly, though it looked painful for him. “It’s a good thing we have time.”
Rowan stiffened, bowing his head. “Yeah, we do.”
“We will be helping with the clean-up efforts and sorting prisoners,” Lazarus declared. “You should get that thing far, far away.”
“We have just the place to hide it,” I replied, thankful for his distraction. And now I was a little more grateful for the dungeon beneath our home—aka, the perfect place to hide the skull so no one would ever find it.
There are plenty of hiding places for it that you have yet to discover, Orion said, reading my thoughts clearly. Damned broken blocks. And once we have the wards from the witches, we can board it up forever.
That sounded like a splendid idea. No way for power hungry creatures to find it—or my Halloween obsessed sister.
“You know how to find me,” Everette said before turning away with the rest of Greer’s mates. There was a mystery there.
“How the fuck did you not know your dad had a brother?” Rowan hissed, turning on Adrian who stood beside him.
My charm mage just shook his head. “He never said anything to me. But now it makes sense.”
“What does?” Rowan frowned as he pulled me into him.
“Sylvia’s ability to be nice to you even though you were a jackass at the academy. It’s like she sensed we were related somehow.”
That was enough to break the tension building within our group. Rowan laughed—really laughed, like it was the funniest thing in the world—and despite the limp, Adrian stepped up beside him and clapped him on the shoulder.
Limp. “Shit,” I said, grabbing Adrian’s other hand. “You were hurt?”
The smile pulling his lips faltered briefly, but his eyes softened. “It’s not so bad now,” he replied honestly based on the bond. “And anyway, the worst of it is gone because of Orion.”
“Really?” I asked, looking over my shoulder at my Fae mate, who shrugged. “Well, let me heal it.”
“No.” Adrian squeezed my hand and shook his head. “It’s not serious enough to worry about now, and your strength…”
“I’m tired, but ultimately I feel…fine.” I expected to feel the familiar thrum of magic exertion, with my magic swelling within me and demanding time with each of my mates.
But for the first time ever, it was totally settled. The same magic I desperately missed, but like it had…matured. No longer the horny beast it used to be.
“Who the hell let Cyrus out?” Elias growled, moving to stand in front of me.
“Elara likely thought he would be needed for the battle,” Maeve murmured, eerily calm. “Though he’s being followed.”
Even Thor had a reaction to seeing Cyrus, though it wasn’t one I expected. I knew my bear shifter mate would likely recognise the approaching male from the cages, but the thoughts racing through his head had nothing to do with fear.
Warden, he said, stilling behind me. Not dangerous.
Are you sure? I asked, looking back at my mate. His eyes were locked on Cyrus, who hadn’t reacted at all to seeing Thor—his eyes only on Elias.
“What do you want?” Elias asked, crossing his arms.
Cyrus stopped in front of us, uncertainty playing in his eyes. “You remember what I told you about your parents?”
Elias tensed, a wave of ice rushing through him. He didn’t even hide his fear from me. It shot through the bond so quickly, it had me sucking in a sharp breath.
“Are they…” Elias stopped, and I could tell he was staring at the unshifted wolves. The pair we’d met when we first entered the palace. I couldn’t remember if I’d seen them during my time in the cages, and based on Thor’s reaction, he didn’t recognise either of them.
Cyrus bowed his head. “They are,” he said, sounding almost…
defeated. “Don’t know if they’ll shift or not.
Some of them did, when they submitted to you as Alpha.
Your father was a decently strong Alpha himself, which is why he probably didn’t.
And your mother, she might be too tuned into him to consider doing it, either. ”
Elias remained silent for a moment, arms still folded over his chest. “Will they ever shift back?”
“Maybe,” Cyrus murmured, “but I’ll work with them. Make them remember why they should.”
“Don’t push them.” Elias just shook his head, both disappointed and saddened. “They might be better off the way they are.”
Cyrus nodded without a word and motioned for the wolves to follow him, likely to wherever it was they were keeping the shifters still trapped in their animal forms.
“Well, these family reunions have been depressing,” Damon murmured, hand brushing my shoulder from where he stood behind me, drawing my attention to him.
His eyes were locked on the Elysian demons transporting creatures back to the Underworld.
“Yeah,” Rowan said before I could respond. “They have been.”
“And unwelcome,” Elias growled, finally turning his back on everything else and facing me. His hands went to my cheeks, then to my stomach. “The only family I care about reuniting with is waiting for us on an island.”
Tears burned my eyes, heat swelling in my chest. “The kids.” Over a month of not seeing them, and now all I wanted to do was take them back to the manor and fall asleep with them again.
I didn’t even care that I would wake up to sticky kisses from Maisie doused in maple syrup, or have Ginny sprawled out with her feet somehow in my face while she slept—totally unaware of anything around her.
Hell, I would give anything for Eloise to roll her eyes at me again because of a silly joke.
The corner of Elias’s lips tipped in a smile. “Why don’t we finally bring them and Thea home?”
“Please,” I whispered, looking around. “Let’s go home.”
“Home,” they all seemed to murmur in unison. It sounded like a mighty fine plan to me.