Page 30 of Renegade Kings
“While we’re adding to our to-do list, if we’re running into a fight in this realm, we need to know how to fight on your terms as well,” Ryder pointed out. “Hand-to-hand and knife defence is something we’ve covered in our training before, but we need to work more with swords. Not to mention magic.”
“Which would mean we have no hope of keeping this hidden,” Dean added. “We might have to accept that it’s going to come out and consider who we want to limit this information to, instead of trying to keep it concealed.”
It was a good point, and I was so happy we were all doing this together. We were already working well together and the other guys had a type of combat knowledge which could benefit us here. Not to mention that it was experience Alyssa and I didn’t have. Everyone brought something to the group. Maybe there actually was some hope for us to be had.
“Okay, so immediate priorities are information and a place we can safely shift tomorrow night. Then we can look at who we’re going to trust in this place,” Maddox reasoned.
It felt too easy to be real. Nothing about this place had been straightforward so far. There was no way we could pull this off so easily.
“I need to find out what’s happening with the court as well. There’s something off about the magic here,” Alyssa said, and I knew this was going to be it. This was what would go horribly wrong. “I want to head outside and get a sense of the wild magic. It’s creating something with the Spring magic that’s emanating from the court and we need to figure it out before it turns into something that we can’t control.”
“Well… that sounds fucked-up,” Ryder muttered before he sighed and headed into the study to join Dean.
The two of them were already sifting through the papers on the desk by the time Maddox said something. “I’m going to help them out. You two probably have some stuff you want to talk about, anyway.”
He darted forward to kiss Alyssa on the cheek, and then, with a grin on his face, backed into the study to join the others.
Alyssa's gaze darted to mine, and I could see the apprehension on her face. She still wasn’t sure about the whole multiple mates thing.
“You need to bond with them as soon as you can,” I told her, hoping it would put her fears to rest. “The sooner the bonds are solidified, the tighter our pack will be when the time comes to fight.”
She sighed and walked over to the sitting room, gently sitting down on the sofa as she tugged on my hand to join her.
“I’m sorry you got dragged into this, Tank. I’ll find a way to get you out of it, though. Dying here won’t be your fate.”
It was the first time I’d realised that I was just as much a part of this prophecy as she was. Apparently, I was king here now and that meant my blood needed to spill as well. My worry for her had been so overwhelming that I hadn’t even considered myself. Strangely, I actually found some comfort in it. Because if we couldn’t stop what was going to happen, and if Alyssa was fated to die here, then dying at her side was the only way I wanted to go.
“Don’t worry about me. First, we figure out this whole prophecy thing and then we figure out what to do next. Anyway, what makes you think I’d let you wander off into death without me? I’m insulted that you think I’m that bad of a mate.”
I lounged back on the sofa, pulling her into my lap and wrapping my arms around her. Alyssa sighed in contentment, and the fragile bond that was forming between us vibrated with happiness.
“How do you feel about the whole king thing?” she asked, avoiding dealing with what we were just talking about. I’d let it slide for now.
“Weird. Like, I’m not sure I’m really king material. But if standing at your side and supporting you means I take that role, then I’m doing it. I’m guessing it comes with some stuff I don’t really understand yet, though?”
“Generally, fae royalty have a closer connection with the court’s magic. It makes them stronger so they can defend their people if they need to.” She fell quiet, and I knew her mind had gone to the night when her parents and the entire court had been killed. “We won’t know what extent that will affect you until we figure out your magic, though. It will be something Spring based, that’s all I know for now.”
I thought about the things I’d seen Alyssa do, and I wasn’t exactly upset that I’d have the chance to use that kind of power myself. I could already feel the changes taking place inside me, and it didn’t even feel all that foreign to me. More like a part of me had been unlocked that I didn’t have access to. Even my bear was acting like this was all part of the course, and he was always the first to fly off the handle about the smallest things.
“Maddox has summer magic,” Alyssa added, drawing my attention back to her. “I think there’s something in that. There are four of you, four courts. Two of you already have a claim to one of the court’s magic. It seems too coincidental to not mean something. Especially with what Fizzle has already told us.”
When she fell quiet again, I knew she hadn’t quite finished her thought. I could feel the building tension in her body as she tried, and failed, to relax against my chest. Whatever it was, she needed to get it out, and I was happy to just sit here and hold her while she worked up to it.
It didn’t take her long.
“What if I brought you all here to die?” she whispered.
My fingers pinched her chin as I tipped her head back so she could see my eyes. I needed her to see how serious I was as I told her this. I didn’t want there to be a single doubt in her mind.
“You warned us all of what could happen before you even agreed to do this. You tried to stop them from coming. Whatever happens next isn’t your fault. We knew we’d have a fight on our hands, and after seeing what we have of this world, I doubt any of us could have just walked away, even if we had saved Damon already. These people need someone to fight for them. They need to see that someone cares enough to risk everything on their behalf. Back at the inn, they were all so broken down they didn’t even look up when that woman needed their help. It’s time the people had something to hope for again, something to fight for, and I think we can give them that.”
“Even if it means losing some of us along the way. We might not all make it through this,” she warned.
“We know the risks, Alyssa. But that doesn’t mean we have to accept them as definite. I have just as much hope as the rest of them, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you and the people you love safe. We all will. Your pack will be stronger than anything this world has ever seen, and together, we’re going to save them all.”
I’d never felt so sure of anything in my life. It came from a part of me that I’d never felt before and I could almost convince myself that the magic was trying to tell me something, that Nymeria was trying to tell me something.
Alyssa needed to finish making those bonds.