Making what the Eye had shown me an even more bitter wound which I was still figuratively bleeding from.
“No, it showed me nothing more,” I told him after a brief pause. Naturally, his gaze lingered a little longer telling me he wasn’t so sure he believed me. And well, considering all I had kept from him since turning up here, then it wasn’t as if I could blame him. Not when I had been cagey from the start.
But then he wasn’t the only one I had been keeping things from, as Amelia was still yet to discover who ‘my Šeš’ really was. And putting it mildly, I didn’t exactly look forward to that conversation, or explaining why I purposely missed out mentioning that I had a brother. Truth was, I hadn’t exactly ever planned for Amelia to see this side of my world, despite our joking about such and in that, well…It included my brother.
After this we walked from my office to find everyone had occupied their own space, with the three brothers making use of the small living area. As for Carn’reau and his second, Alvaro, they were doing as they should after I had made such an announcement about my Chosen One. Meaning they were standing guard close to the bed and looking ready for trouble from the McBain clan. Nero was sat on the edge of my bed dabbing a damp cloth over Amelia’s forehead and doing as I had asked of her by looking after my girl.
I said nothing before walking straight over to her, mounting the steps and taking a seat on the opposite side to Nero with Amelia lay peacefully between us. I then held out my hand silently indicating what I wanted, making Nero do a strange double take before handing me the cloth.
“She has a slight fever?” I noted after first placing the back of my fingers to her forehead and then replacing it with the cold cloth.
“It’s…uh…getting a little better,” Nero told me in a strained voice that told me she was naturally still wary of me. This was understandable seeing as the last time she was this close to me I’d had her life in my hands, threatening to take it.
I nodded slightly without taking my eyes from Amelia, watching the drips from the cloth disappear into her hairline. She was so beautiful, even in this unconscious state. Which was why I unashamedly leant down and lay a gentle kiss on her forehead after moving the cloth, feeling the heated droplets left on her skin.
I handed the cloth back to Nero, one that admittedly had been fisted in my gloved hand as I held back my frustration at her still being in this state. Then, as I ran a single fingertip down the side of Amelia’s face, I told Nero,
“Keep her comfortable.”
“Erm…yes…of course, My Lord,” Nero said after first shaking herself from her shock at obviously seeing this gentle side to a King she expected was as heartless as she had heard. But then, one glance at Vern watching us with a wary eye and I knew that such was the power of loving our Chosen Ones…
It had the power to bring Kings to their knees.
I walked back down the steps noting the bowed heads of my general and his second. My brother had also resumed his earlier place and was once more leaning his weight back against one of the lit shards, doing so with his arms crossed over his chest. He still looked pissed that I had kept knowledge of finding my Chosen One from him, but right now I couldn’t give a fuck. I would deal with that guilt should it arise once this shit was over with. Besides, if Lucifer didn’t soon come around knocking then I would know his loyalty was as he said it was.
Speaking of loyalty.
“What I am about to tell you all doesn’t leave this room, is that understood?” I stated in a commanding tone that rarely was ignored…well, unless Pip was in the room that was. I looked to each of them and only continued when I was assured I had received an acknowledgement to my warning, one that had to be nudged from Trice by his brother Gryph. An asshole who since arriving, permanently looked pissed off. Like I gave a shit, as long as the fucker did as he was told!
“The witch that hexed Amelia is trying to gain power of the Tree of Souls, meaning that every soul connected to me is in danger,” I said and the only one who didn’t look surprised was my brother, who I had just informed of such things.
“Fck…that’s…wull that’s a wee bit shite,” Vern said making Gryph scoff,
“Aye, that’s putting it mildly, Lad.”
“What dae ye intend tae dae aboot it is whit a'm waantin tae know,” Trice said, making me grit my teeth and Carn’reau put his hand at the hilt of his sword at the same time taking a step forward. I held up my own up to stop him, making Trice look around me and wink at him in a goading way. I forced myself to ignore the idiot with a death wish and tell him,
“I had intended to deal with the situation without my fucking Chosen One being put in danger but for those that don’t yet know, Amelia is as headstrong as she is brave.”
“Meaning?” my brother asked,
“Meaning that she believed she was the only one with the power to stop this force from taking the lives of my people and therefore jumped into the fray before I could stop her,” I replied when turning back to face him.
“And is she?” Dariush’s question quickly had me narrowing my eyes as it ignited unwelcome images of what the Fates had deemed our future.
“No!” I snapped through gritted teeth, granting him a scathing look that told him not to question me further on it. His look in return said everything his lips didn’t have to…he knew I was hiding more.
“And whit o' yer shitty treatment o' her, that was…?” Naturally this question came from Trice.
“It was for her protection,” I informed him again with a grit of my teeth now wondering if they would survive much longer, or if the shifter would for that matter!
“Aye 'n' a bang up jab o' that.” I opened my mouth ready to tear him a new one when Gryph got in there first by smacking him on the back of the head with his meaty fist and snapping,
“Yer keep pushing him tae throw your ass oot this tower wi' this shite 'n' ah might just let him, brother, fur yer nae helping th' lass.” Trice pushed Gryph back with a palm to the side of his head but didn’t say anything more. I just hoped his brother’s words sunk in before his death, one I was about two more snide remarks away from delivering.
“If my enemies were to get wind of my Chosen One being in this realm then I would find a bigger problem to deal with than just that of my people being eradicated and I think on my list of fucked up shit to do, going to war with the other realms isn’t one of them,” I told them all, aiming most of it at the shit stain on the sofa.
“Hence why you had big bad here pull out of the Shadow Lands,” Nero surmised making Carn’reau grant her a deadly and knowing grin at the reference made.
“I need every resource available right now,” I added, making her nod in agreement before suggesting,
“I might be able to help in that department, if you could get me the supplies.” I raised a brow in question making her go on to say,
“Basically, it’s called a cloud spell, shit name I know but it may be a better way to contain any information of Amelia from travelling too far…basically it contains gossip,” she added with a bob of her head and both hands gesturing outwards.
“This spell, how does it work exactly?” Carn’reau asked, folding his armoured arms across his plated chest as he regarded the witch. Vern, however, looked to be ready to punch the Fae, just for speaking with her. Great, what a fucking band of merry men this turned out to be, I thought with a mental roll of my eyes.
“It acts as a deterrent as soon as any keywords are spoken, like the word ‘mortal’ and any reference to the King being made in the same sentence. Things like that the spell would pick up on.”
“And when it does?” Carn’reau pushed for more,
“It acts like a memory cloud, almost like waking up with a bad hangover and not remembering parts of the night. It clings to those who speak about it and creates a fog over the parts of information they just spoke about. It has the same effect on those that hear it…hence the shit name,” she said, gesturing again with her hands which I could quic
kly tell was one of her habits.
“What would need to be done?” I asked this time.
“Well, it would need to be administered in every populated area, towns and stuff, with maybe a heavier dose placed along the roads and crossover points between realms, like the known portals so for those the spell misses at least it won’t leave your lands,” Nero said making my eyes widen in surprise as I had to say, I was impressed. It was clear this blue haired beauty of Vern’s had skills I had underestimated. I looked to Carn’reau and said,
“General?” He looked thoughtful a moment before saying,
“It can be done and swiftly, depending on how quickly the witch can cast.” She coughed a muttered,
“Charming…” before she continued to say,
“That is depending on how soon this…witch…can get enough supplies, as with a large enough batch made, it would just be ‘smash a bottle and say a few words’ type of gig, which a Gorgon monkey could do…no offence, Captain,” she added with a cheeky wink to Carn’reau, and a salute using her middle finger from her forehead to flick at him. This made the Fae smirk back at her, clearly up for the challenge.
“Alright, so we git th' fckin’ picture!” Vern snapped, clearly getting annoyed at the sight of Nero’s attention being on another male, despite how innocent it seemed.
“Carn’reau, I am putting you in charge of working with Nero and getting what she needs to make it happen,” I said ignoring Vern’s outburst, both before and after he stood up and declared,
“I kin git the lass whatever she needs.”
“No, you three have only one job,” I stated making him growl in frustration but yield to my order all the same. This was helped when Gryph grabbed his shirt from behind and yanked him back to sitting down telling him,
“Sit yer ass doon lad 'n' ney git yer kilt in a twist, fur th' Fae is only gaun shopping fur th' lass.”
“And this jab would be?” Trice asked ignoring his brothers,
“The Hex, you mentioned you might know someone who could remove it?”
“Aye, bit it wull nay be easy,” Trice responded, after first looking towards Amelia’s sleeping form making me force myself to suppress the urge to break something on his face. Instead, I stood in his line of sight and replied in a dry tone,
“That doesn’t exactly surprise me, Shifter!” I snapped at his pointless comment as it was fucking obvious that it wouldn’t be. I looked behind me at my girl and said,
“Nothing important ever is.”
After this we established a plan of sorts, with the McBain brothers on their own mission to find someone they believed powerful enough to remove the Hex. Although, annoyingly, they remained cagey on the details, making me question why or more like...Who? However, before I could express as much my brother swayed the conversation in a different direction.
“And as for the witch, do we have any idea who she could be, other than someone you obviously pissed off?” Nero and Vern both scoffed at the same time,
“Shocking.”
“Aye, shocking.” I shot them both a scathing look and the moment my fangs grew Nero quickly started dabbing Amelia’s forehead, muttering,
“Wow, Vampires are touchy…who knew.” Vern laughed at her reaction and therefore received the same treatment only prompting a wink from him in return, making me growl.
“No, her identity is still unknown,” I replied, ignoring the urge to re-enact the time I had his throat in my hands and was beating the living shit out of his posh ass down in my dungeon. My brother looked thoughtful a moment longer making me turn to face Carn’reau and say,
“I want you to use whatever underground contacts you have to seek who she could be, even if it takes you beyond our realm, dig as deep as you can…understand?” It was at this moment that I felt my brother move towards me and his hand gripped my shoulder before telling me,
“Leave that to me.” I raised a brow back at him before he assured me,
“Trust me, if anyone can find someone with a grudge against you…”
“It’s me.”
Chapter Eight
Where the Blood Leads
A few days later and Amelia still hadn’t woken, and I was getting more worried by the minute. I had asked my brother to send word to the McBain brothers to return if they didn’t find whoever it was they were looking for. I was growing restless in the knowledge that the days were ticking by and I couldn’t risk Amelia waking with the Hex trying to claim her again. For as much of an asshole Trice was, right now he was the only one who could save her from being taken from me. Which if it meant letting the bastard touch her again to achieve such, then I would grit my teeth and bear it. But for that suffering to happen, I would first need him here.
I also needed to speak with my brother on other matters, like what was taking so long in discovering the witch’s true identity like he boldly claimed he would. I didn’t know if it was just my imagination or anxiety for Amelia’s life, but it felt like he was both hiding something and stalling. For the last few days since our plan was agreed he had been avoiding me, and on the few occasions, like now, that I had left Amelia’s side, he had been nowhere to be found. I had asked him to keep me informed of his progress but still I had heard nothing.
Needless to say, that because of the fucking obvious, I walked around in a constant state of being pissed off. Doing so with outbursts of demonic fury at the simplest of things. In fact, the only time I wasn’t acting this way was when I was alone with my sleeping beauty, after first dismissing Nero for the night. I would lie next to her and just, well…talk.
I told her about all the times I had watched her from afar. The moments observing her playing the piano, admitting that at the time, I had never heard anything so sweet. Of course, that was until the first time she ever told me she loved me and in the most unlikely of places. Or should I say, it was the first time I’d heard such coming from her lips, and not something said directly to me. No, instead this was something said when defending my honour in some fucking gas station.
But that was my girl. She could be the cutest, sweetest, and funniest girl alive, along with the clumsiest but then when it came to fighting for what she believed in or for those she cared for, well, then her courage knew no bounds! She was utterly fearless and ready to risk her fucking soul to save everyone else’s. But then when I thought of the two beings that made her and brought her into the world, was it really surprising?
It was little wonder why the Fates had deemed me to be so connected to Keira for if I had never played my part then my own fate would never have happened. Gods, but I fucking hated the Fates just as much as all I had to thank them for! The bitter pill being forced down my throat was getting fucking bigger, knowing what the Eye had shown me!
On one hand I wanted to ignore it as though it had never happened, but then I also knew as Dom had once known, trying to prevent the future only ended up aiding it. After all, there must have been a reason the Eye had shown me that slither of the dark future ahead.
I dragged a frustrated hand through my hair as I left my tower in search of Dariush hoping to find him in his office. A room that a few days ago looked as though it hadn’t been ripped apart by three shifters without a fucking clue!
My throne room was empty other than the usual line of personal guards that I had no fucking need for but kept around to keep up appearances. Gods, but the sooner I could get back topside the fucking better, I was done with all this royal shit!
I passed my throne and down the corridor towards his office feeling his presence in there. But then, the moment I opened the door I was rewarded with the sight of his vessel slipping through a recently made portal.
“What the fuck?!” I snapped the second the tear in our realm disappeared leaving behind no trace of his abrupt exit. I hammered a fist down on the desk, doing so just as Carn’reau entered behind me.
“I see you had the same response as I did the last time I wished to speak with your second, my Lord.” I growled and ord
ered,
“No one is here Carn’reau, so you can cut the ‘my lord’ bullshit.” This surprised him as I deflated into my brother’s chair and scrubbed a hand down my face in frustration. I heard the Fae close the door knowing we were going to be frank with one another. Fuck, but I missed Adam, in both his efficiency and in his honesty.
“My…” he paused when he saw my scathing look of warning, when finally, I gave him a break and said,
“Luc is fine.” Then I thought back to Amelia and always wondered why she never called me Luc?
He bowed his head telling me he understood, making me wonder if now I would see that fucking cold hard rod being pulled from his backside and the true Fae come out.
Not fucking likely.
“I am afraid your second in command has been disappearing quite a lot of late,” he told me, making me look towards the tear in our realm that had been there moments before. I gripped the armrests of the antique chair with enough force I felt it strain in my hands.
“When?” I snapped.
“From what I can gather, it has been times he was needed to be useful in his exchange of information,” he replied, making me grit my teeth and wish I had an explanation for it, or the patience, but right now, I didn’t.
“Tell me of the spell’s casting.”
“It is being finished as we speak, for Alvaro is with our armies, administering the last of what Nero made.” I raised a brow at the admiration I heard in his tone for the handy little witch.
“Nero?” I questioned seeing as he had quickly forgone the title of ‘witch’, now becoming more personal.
“I find her to be intriguing,” he admitted with a shrug of his shoulders, making me scoff,
“That she is but heed my warning Carn’reau, be sure that is all you find in her or you will find one pissed off Wyvern trying to torch the tail of your Zilant.” Carn’reau actually cracked a grin and I honestly couldn’t say when I had ever seen it before. But then again, it was not as if we had conversed in this manner before. It also wasn’t exactly what one would call a warm sight. No, more primeval and the face of a man that would enjoy ripping your throat out with his teeth. Which meant that I also didn’t think the charming, light-hearted, redheaded rogue had much of a competition on his hands.
Roots Of Rage: A Vampire King Paranormal Romance (Transfusion Saga Book 9) Page 6