Page 18 of Renegade Kings

The confusing thing, though, was the setup of the dais it sat upon. Alyssa hadn’t really talked about her life before she’d fled for the human realm, but I was fairly certain she would have mentioned it if she'd had more than two parents.

Because sitting on that dais, on either side of the gleaming throne, there were four other thrones, each carved from white wood, waiting to be filled.

“What is this?” Fizzle asked, taking to the air as he glided further into the throne room on his wings. “What have you done?”

Rhidian grinned, moving off to the side of the room as he leant against one of the many columns that lined the edges of the room. “I made a few adjustments for our current company.”

“The queen has only one king.” Fizzle sounded pissed and amused at the same time. Unfortunately for him, all it did was piss Alyssa off.

“Are you quite done?” Her voice was low and veiled with the threat of violence. Something about her had changed, and it had Rhidian on edge every time she spoke. Beneath it all, though, I knew she was still the same woman I’d fallen in love with. She just had a bit more bite to her now, like the rest of us.

Rhidian looked at Fizzle before turning back to the rest of us, who’d now come to a stop at the centre of the room. I wanted to push Alyssa gently towards the throne. She’d look glorious sitting upon that seat. She was made for it. But I knew she needed to do this in her own time, and this room held far more than a shiny seat for her. It was filled with the memories she spent a lifetime running from.

“Is my life a joke to you? Is there something about this entire situation that you find amusing?” Her voice cracked at the end, and I couldn’t tell if it was from anger or sorrow. “You’ve both kept things from me, and this is your only chance to put it all out there. I won’t be treated like a child, managed and manipulated into whatever goal it is that you have for me.”

Dean grumbled a low growl and then cleared his throat as if he was trying to cover it up. He’d always been a touchy fucker, but this wolf side of him was just making it more known. And frankly, it was funny as hell. But then he sagged back into my side, and I wrapped an arm around him to keep him with me. He was losing whatever energy he had left. It was impressive that he’d made it this far, really. But I could smell the blood on him, fresh and filled with magic. He needed to rest, which meant we needed to get through this quickly, because there was no way he’d agree to leave Alyssa’s side.

It was also the perfect opportunity to get us alone and in one place so we could talk about the issue that was burning at the centre of my mind.

Was I being an ass for thinking the rest of this didn’t matter as much?

Alyssa was always meant to be more than she was. This was her birthright. We’d faced a lot since we’d come to this place and some of us were still suffering from the injuries they’d sustained. All of us were still reeling from the betrayal of a brother we’d come here to save. We hadn’t even had time to talk about Damon yet.

Just looking at our group, you could see that we were hanging together by a thread. We needed time to regroup. To seek comfort in each other’s arms. Space to figure out our next move and deal with the massive amount that had suddenly landed on our plate.

Rhidian and Fizzle, thankfully, were smart enough not to answer the question Alyssa had asked. There was no right way to do so without pissing her off further.

“What exactly do you want from us?” Tank asked, slowly positioning himself between Alyssa and the two we couldn’t really trust until they’d proved otherwise.

I watched in fascination as thick brown fur rolled across the surface of his skin, disappearing beneath his neck line. Tank was close to shifting, and it should have terrified Rhidian and Fizzle. If it did, they were covering it well.

I felt a nudge from my wolf, not understanding what he was trying to communicate. The tickle at the end of my nose had me inhaling, and I caught the scent of something in the air that I’d never registered before. Breathing again, I filled my lungs and a thought that wasn’t my own registered in my mind. Stress. And it was coming off Rhidian in waves despite his calm exterior.

Squinting my eyes, I focused solely on him. Cataloguing the signs on his body that proved how he really felt. I could see the subtle tremor in his legs as he held himself taut with tension. The sound of his teeth grinding reached my ears and the crack of his knuckles as he fisted his hands beneath his crossed arms.

He was scared.

But the question was, about what?

I didn’t get the impression that Rhidian cared all that much if Tank suddenly shifted into his bear. If the stories were right, this guy could throw fireballs or something. He probably thought his odds against a bear were fairly good. Not to mention that Fizzle was clearly on his side and he’d had no problems restraining us all before.

No, it was something else he feared. Something to do with why we were all here.

“We need you.” Fizzle suddenly sighed, his wings twitching in agitation as he paced, his claws clacking on the stone tiles as he did. “Despite my better judgement, we need you here and we need your support.”

He said nothing else, and I resisted the urge to find something to throw at him. This was the Fizzle I knew. Shady with the details. Only answering exactly the question that was given to him and not offering any of the information you actually needed.

“I’m not playing this game, Fizzle,” Alyssa warned him.

He glared in her direction before rolling his eyes and continuing with his pacing.

“I’m building an army,” Rhidian cut in. “We’re planning to strike back at Arik. Take back the Autumn Court. Then when the people see what we can do and join with us, we’ll take Summer next before turning the full extent of Nymeria on Arik at the Winter Palace.”

Even I wanted to ask him if he was joking. It was so ridiculously impossible that I couldn’t believe he was the one suggesting it. He seemed so straight forward back when we’d first met him. Clearly, he could only help the people of Nymeria within his reach, but he’d at least seemed to appreciate that he had his limits.

But this?

Had he been collecting the beaten and the downtrodden just to mould them into some kind of army? A rag-tag group of the abused against The Endless and whatever else Arik had shoved up his arse? He’d wiped out this entire court in what sounded like a few hours. Since then, he’d been collecting an army from whoever he found that had enough magic for him to deem useable. It would take legions to stand against Arik and even then, I had my doubts.