Chapter 31
MALIK
I push off the wall, looking around, panic building, but my beast is quick to react, scenting and listening. She’s not here. I growl to the empty room. “What the fuck just happened?”
I pull my pants up and tuck away my cock, fear and irritation warring for dominance. Can we not catch a fucking break! I leap over the still-unconscious hunters and burst through the door back into the throne room, scanning the crowd for my mate.
I called her mate. I admitted the Fates were right.
But Amri didn’t have the chance to respond.
I scan the room again, needing to know she’s safe, needing to have her back in my arms, needing to know her answer.
But I need to find her first. Spying Bodi, I jog to him.
He looks me up and down, and I’m sure he can smell Amri on me, but I don’t have the patience to answer the questions I see in his eyes as I ask, “Have you seen Amri?”
His brows furrow. “She’s not with you?”
I raise my arms with a tsk . “Does it look like she’s with me?” As Bodi looks around the room, I explain, “She was, but then she just kinda … disappeared.”
Bodi focuses back on me. “Disappeared?”
“Do you need a nap or a slap on the face? Yes! She disappeared right out of my arms!”
Alexandros comes up, obviously having overheard. “That’s probably not good.”
Panic tightens my muscles, and the sound of Bodi cracking his knuckles doesn’t help as I say, “You think?” Standing at my full height, I look around, this time searching for someone else. “Have you seen Mara?”
It’s a testament to how freaked out I am, because I didn’t notice the deer shifter standing only a few paces away as she turns to me and says, “Malik?”
I stride towards her, Bodi and Alexandros hot on my heels. “Mara, have you see?—”
She jerks, and I freeze as her eyes go wide, “Oh shit.” And then, just like Amri, she disappears.
“What the …” I turn to the voice, realizing Mara had been speaking with the giant bear shifter, his moon and stars tattoo revealing him to be an enforcer. But before I can ask him what’s going on, he presses a hand to his chest, makes eye contact with me, and says, “Uh oh.”
Poof. Gone.
A cute owl shifter runs over, grabbing my shoulder. Her eyes are comically wide, but the fear in them has my beast ready to release a roar. She stammers, “T-the Counc-cil is?—”
Poof.
Oh, shit.
Ramesh’s presence pushes into my mind, and I make eye contact with him from across the room as he says, “My mate says to tell you to stand with your enforcer and everything will be alright. ”
There’s too much in that sentence for me to unravel, and I don’t have time to ask for more information as magic wraps around me, squeezing and pulling. I jump into Bodi and Rian’s minds. “Something isn ? —”
Pop!
I crack my jaw, trying to clear my ears as I land in the Council chambers.
Nausea roils through me at the violent nature of the summoning, but I manage to keep the contents of my stomach from coming up.
I’ve been to this circular, arena-style room once before, but that was a closed session with just myself and the Zodiac representatives.
My brothers don’t even know about that meeting.
It all came to naught anyway, my petition to have the Council intervene to force Leonora to remove the bonds denied.
But now, the chamber is slowly filling with the shifters from Leonora’s throne room.
I glance around, and now that they are being dumped into their respective pie-wedge, color-coded sections, I realize just how many shifters from other clans showed up for us today.
And shifters continue to pop into the room.
Some retch at the sudden summoning, and a few stumble, but after a few seconds, they all get their feet under them and look around with wide eyes as they realize where they are.
Ramesh appears on the highest level, looking none the worse for wear, and leans his shoulder against the wall, arms crossed.
And then Rian appears a few rows up from where I’m standing.
He looks around and makes eye contact with me, panic crawling into his green gaze.
I quickly slip into his mind. “She won’t be here. Which is probably a good thing. The Council will keep this a shifters-only hearing. Kat’s coven will keep her safe until you can return to her. ”
He nods, his pulse slowing as he looks around again. “We’re in trouble, aren’t we?”
I force a smile to lift my lips, trying to sound nonchalant. “Probably. We have been causing a bit of trouble lately.”
Rian chuckles, but his fingers worry at the hem of his shirt.
I make eye contact with Mara where she stands behind her bronze chair in the Virgo section. Standing . Because her chair is occupied. Virgil, the god of the Virgos sits tall in the chair, his expression blank. And then I notice every chair is occupied by a deity … all but one.
Sweat slicks down my spine, and the hairs on the back of my neck raise as I peel my attention down to the floor level at the center of the room.
Amri.
And just a few paces away from my mate … Leonora.
Amri’s brilliant ice-blue eyes are on me, and for a moment, the room fades as I let her intense stare wash over me.
She’s fully dressed once more in her customary black pants and boots with her black shirt still slightly rumpled from our earlier activities.
Her eyes travel down my body and back up, and when she meets my gaze again, her shoulders sag just slightly as if relieved to see that I’m not hurt.
Pop!
I snap my head to the right as Bodi appears.
To his credit, he doesn’t stumble or retch at the sudden summoning, but he does look a little green.
I place a hand on his shoulder, leaning in to whisper to him, but before I can say anything, Bodi grabs my wrist, shaking his head before nodding to where Aries has shoved out of his chair, his flickering flames blazing white.
Justice waves a hand at Aries, his voice calm. “Aries, sit. We’ll get started in a few minutes. ”
Leonora opens her mouth, but Fisk, the deity of the Pisces clan, shakes their head. “You’ll get your say in a moment, Leonora.”
Surprisingly, she snaps her lips shut. Leonora hasn’t even glanced at Amri, and her non-reaction is making me itchy.
“Oof!” Alexandros appears at Bodi’s side, and though he’s a little pale, he immediately looks around, tension in his shoulders.
Rian hurries down the stairs to our level, and the four of us look at where Amri and Leonora stand in the center of the room as Rian asks, “Why is she down there and we’re up here? ”
Askari appears, not missing a beat as he strides up the few stairs to us from where he arrived. “Because I don’t think this is about you.”
My gaze rips back down to the floor to my mate where she stands alone with Leonora.
Shifters move out of my way as I storm down the stairs.
Whispers float around the room as I descend.
Each step I take, more eyes turn to me until the entire room watches as I approach the ground level.
I move to step around Leeu, our Council representative, where he stands behind Leonora’s empty chair, but a gold shimmer appears in front of me, preventing me from taking the last step.
I look around at all the deities, but none acknowledge me, and I stiffen.
I clench and unclench my hand as Bodi comes up behind me, placing a hand on my bare back, his warmth and support calming me … slightly.
Leeu flinches as I spin to face him, unable to keep the bark from my voice. “What’s going on?”
He doesn’t meet my gaze, staring at where his finger picks at the ornate carving of Leonora’s empty orange chair. “I’m not at liberty to say.”
I’m a heartbeat away from grabbing Leeu by the throat and throttling him, but Amri’s voice slides into my mind. “Malik.”
I whip my head around, meeting and holding my mate’s gaze. With the tiniest of movements, she shakes her head. It’s instinct that has me stepping forward again, only to hit the invisible wall that shimmers gold when I touch it.
From my side, Bodi reaches out, pressing his hand to the barrier. “Wanna take it down?”
I scent Alexandros standing close behind Bodi, and Rian comes to my other side with Askari. I love them so much. But then a sharp tsk draws my attention back to the floor.
Over her shoulder, Leonora glares at Amri, sweeping a disdainful look from her head to her boots.
She tsks again with a sneer, wrinkling her nose.
Something wicked flares in Amri’s eyes, and I want to bark at her in warning, but I’m also curious as to what my feisty mate is going to do.
Painting a sickly-sweet smile on her face, Amri shoots a glance at me then pins her gaze back on Leonora as she says, “What’s the matter? Don’t you like my new perfume?”
My beast huffs with laughter. “Oh, shit. She didn’t just say that!”
Bodi and Alexandros try to muffle their chuckles. Rian’s eyes dart between my mate and me, his fingers pulling at the hem of his shirt. And Askari … my wonderful beta, grins, shaking his head as he says, “Oh shit.”
The look on Leonora’s face … My body trembles as I fight to keep from laughing out loud. I know full well every shifter in this room can smell me on my mate, and her on me. I’m proud of the fact, and it seems Amri has no problem calling everyone’s attention to it.
My beast preens. “She’s glorious.” I fully agree with him.
A low growl vibrates from the floor level.
Leonora launches herself at Amri, claws drawn, face pulled back in rage.
I jerk against the barrier, desperate to protect …
or at the very least, to help, but my mate doesn’t even flinch.
A yard before Leonora reaches Amri, she freezes in mid-air, claws still extended, ready to tear skin from bone.