Page 55 of Renegade Kings

“You mean he’s like us, right?” Dean glanced over his shoulder at me, and I could tell there was something he was considering that I hadn’t connected the dots with yet. “That would mean we had this magic before we met Alyssa. That we’re all the same.”

Fizzle shrugged. This was the thing with Nymeria. You never really could assume anything. “It could just be the effects of stepping through the portal,” I told him gently. Not sure what he was getting excited about, but not wanting to be the one to take it away from him.

The more I thought about it, though, the more it made sense. The only way to activate the portal was to flood it with an insane amount of magical power. That much magic occupying one space, moving a human body between realms, it would make sense that it would leave some kind of trace behind.

And that reminded me that we still didn’t know who had opened the portal for Damon to get here. Who was General Holden possibly working with back in the human realm? If he found out about this, it was going to land us with a whole host of other problems.

But they were problems we didn’t have the luxury of dealing with for now.

One psychopath at a time.

Dean’s shoulders sagged in defeat, and the overwhelming urge to comfort him surged through me. I threaded my fingers with his, holding onto his hand, and stepped into his side. The heat radiating from his body made me press myself closer, and after a moment, I felt his subtle shift as he leant against me too.

“If Damon is important to Arik, he won’t be easy to reach. We need to train. I need to train. It’s been too long since I properly used my magic, and since we’ve been here, it’s changed so much that I don’t think I really know what I can even do anymore. We need to prepare ourselves and then we can start preparing plans,” I decided.

The sudden grin on Fizzle’s face gave me the chills. Not because he agreed with me, but because I knew he was the only one here who could really help me train. And I knew I was about to enter a whole world of pain while he did it.

Perhaps it would give me some insight into what was causing the changes and how I could control the growing power inside. And this wasn’t the only magic I had to worry about. There was still whatever was happening out amongst the trees and the newly merged magic I’d inadvertently created here. It would be just our luck for it to turn this situation even worse than it already was. We needed to get ahead of it and make sure the people here were safe, if that was the case.

Damn, if something actually went right for a change, I might just pass out from the shock of it.

Chapter 21

Alyssa

Judging by the soft snoring, at least some of my mates were still asleep as I headed to the bathroom door. Dean’s head lifted from the pillow as I crossed the carpet. I knew he’d be the one to catch me, if it was going to be any of them. His stalker-like tendencies hadn’t let up since my meeting with Fizzle, and I had a terrible feeling I was about to make them even worse.

As I stepped into the bathroom, I gently pushed the door almost closed, peering out through the remaining gap to see what he was about to do. He waited, staring at the door, which should have looked closed to him in the dark. Not wanting to risk anything if he was still awake, I quickly darted to the sink and turned on the tap before returning to the door. It didn’t take long for Dean to finally lay his head back on the pillow.

Holding my breath, I gently closed the door the rest of the way and prayed it didn’t make a sound. I pressed my ear against the surface for good measure, trying to hear if anyone was getting out of bed ready to follow me.

When I heard nothing, I softly let out a sigh and turned back to the bathroom.

My heart pounded so hard in my chest, I worried they’d realise through the bond that something was wrong.

Without lingering on why I knew this was wrong, I darted across the bathroom and pulled my clothes out of the stack of towels where I’d hidden them. I’d already opened the bathroom window before going to bed, so at least I didn’t have to worry about it making a noise and waking anyone.

It occurred to me I could have just told the guys what I was intending to do. It wasn’t like I needed their permission or anything, but given my tendency to run off and try to solve our problems on my own, I knew there was no way they’d let me do this. What with it essentially being me running off into the night to solve our problems alone.

Damn, I really was a terrible person when it came to relying on other people.

But even realising that, it wouldn’t stop me from doing what needed to be done.

I couldn’t keep everyone safe if I didn’t know what was happening out amongst the trees, and I knew without a doubt that whatever it was, it posed no danger to me. This was my land, my court, and most of all, my wild magic. I had nothing to worry about.

Probably.

The same couldn’t be said for the others, though. And while I didn’t have the same level of control over my magic, as Fizzle had pointed out on numerous occasions when we’d started training this afternoon, I had no way of keeping them safe out here.

I couldn’t risk it. Rhidian had lost so many when the trees turned against them.

I’d never risk them.

But whatever was building out there was growing in intensity, and I needed to address it before it became a problem. The people here had suffered enough already.

By the time I’d pulled on my clothes and slipped out the bathroom, I’d just about talked myself into believing that I was doing the right thing. I pushed that last niggling doubt at the back of my mind down into the pits of denial. I couldn’t afford to delay any longer if I wanted to get some distance between me and the palace before the others realised I was gone.

Yes, I knew that wouldn’t be something I’d worry about if I wasn’t actually doing anything wrong, and still… denial. It was the only way to make it through life, people.