Page 21 of Truth

“If that’s true, then the prophecy? The one I heard once as a child. . .”

I cut her off, “Is true. Greta,” Michelle flinched at just mentioning the witch's name, “wants Liberty dead.”

“Liberty,” she turned to her friend, “You’re a vampire?”

“Not fully.” I answered for Liberty. “At first we thought she was some sort of vampire hybrid. And she is. She can drink blood, but it appears to only be from us. She has fangs, and some of the normal ability. But I think she’s more.”

“What do you mean?” Liberty asked this time.

“You have magic and you can control it, Liberty. You are a vampire. You have a wolf mate. And now ice? Liberty, don’t you see it? You aren’t just a single player in this game, you are the main piece. No other paranormal I’ve ever heard of had aspects like these. This is why the prophecy was made, this is why you’re supposed to reunite and rescue these people.”

“I don’t understand.” She mumbled.

“You have the backing of the vampire people. You heard Ramsey, if we needed anything, let him know. By having a king as a mate, you have the backing of the shifters. Magic. You have more of that than I do, and I’ve practiced for years. I’m willing to bet you get that from Lenin. And I’m willing to guess that being half of a fairy pair means they would support you too.”

She bit her lip as she processed my words, “So you’re saying– “

“You’re a paranormal hybrid, Liberty. You have a piece of all your mates in you and I think the fates did that for a reason.”

“What reason is that?” Her voice was soft when she spoke.

“So that you could be stronger than her. Greta is taking all the races, she has been for years, we just hadn’t had anyone strong enough to prevent it and no way to pinpoint her.”

Sterling held a hand up, “Wait. So, the fairy is her mate?”

Michelle shook her head, “Absolutely not. No offense, but I like the D too much, Liberty.”

“Still. As her best acquaintance, she is still close to Liberty by proximity.” I clarified.

Liberty turned, her back to everyone as she headed for the Library. Everyone following. “I need time to process this.”

Her announcement didn’t shock me. Hell, I’ve lived the paranormal life for decades and even I needed time to process it. “Fair enough.”

She flopped down on the overstuffed leather couch and Michelle flopped down next to her, both girls sprawled out so that no other person could sit. I sat down on the arm of the couch next to Liberty, and everyone else found their own spot to sprawl. The room was silent. The only sound was the ticking of the clock on the wall and the occasional inhale of the surrounding beings.

Finally, Michelle perked up and turned to Liberty. “I get to be a godmother.” She followed this up with a squeal.

Fuck. We hadn’t gotten there yet. All of us were shaking our heads, trying to catch Michelle’s eyes and urge her to stop. We knew it, we knew how this worked. We weren’t thrilled about it, but we knew. We just thought we had some time before discussing it with her. We talked about it without her, sure, but decided to wait on actually giving her this information.

Liberty’s head tilted, “What do you mean?”

“You have yourself a wolf shifter, right? I mean, officially?” Michelle asked and Liberty pulled her shirt down, revealing the mark seared onto her skin. Michelle scrambled forward, her eyes wide as she took in the seal. She reached forward, touching the skin, causing Justice to growl. Her hands pulled back, “This is a royal seal.”

Liberty sighed, “For the King.”

“But he is dead. He’s been dead for . . . “

Michelle was cut off by Justice, “I’m very much alive and I would appreciate it if you did not touch my family’s seal on my mate’s skin again.”

Her head turned slowly before she stared at Justice, both not blinking as they eyed each other up and down. Justice was a tough opponent, but not as tough as Michelle. When Justice blinked, a slow smile curled Michelle’s lips, before an ear-piercing squeal filled the room.

“I’m going to be a godmother.”

Liberty crossed her arms, “Explain yourself.”

Shit, this was definitely one for the wolf. Not a single vampire in this room was about to offer up mating information, and even Lenin seemed suddenly preoccupied with a piece of fuzz on his pant leg. When no one in the room spoke up, Liberty’s friend sighed.

“Well, the fates only do an actual mating if um. . .“ Michelle twirled her fingers together, her voice lowering to a mumble, “If they plan for an offspring.”