by Maya Nicole
Or how sharp my claws or teeth could get.
I held those secrets close to my chest. If people only knew what squirrel shifters were capable of, they'd kill us all. Not to mention being a giant squirrel required tapping into the darkness that lay buried deep inside of me.
After a few deep breaths. I calmed down enough to come to my senses. Staring at Amari across the hall made me realize I couldn't leave. Those suckers did know how to protect her. What if she went out into a storm again and they were unaware of how to take care of her? What if they used her?
I glared at the panther and took off down the hall to another guest bedroom. It was the same room I had woken up in after being flung down the hall by the panther. The same panther Sammy had let fuck her.
Damn woman and her hormones. Why couldn't she just use her hand like all the other times she was horny?
I shook my head as I stormed into the room and shut the door behind me.
I threw my bag, and it smacked against the wall, falling with a clunk on the ground. I ripped my clothes off and fell onto the bed face first. My life was such a fucking mess.
"I'm pregnant."
My head snapped towards my mate, and a sudden fear welled in my stomach. She took my hand and brought it to her lips. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing was coming out.
Pregnancies were risky for squirrel shifters. There was a fifty percent chance of the woman surviving. I was convinced it was a curse on our kind.
"Please tell me you're happy about this… I want this. I've always wanted to be a mother." She let out a sigh and dropped my hand.
"Becca. I can't lose you."
She smiled gently and then put her hands on her belly. "It will be fine."
"And if it's not?" There were tears in my eyes. I was both happy and sad at the same time. "What then? Where does that leave me?"
She sighed and then reached for my hand, pulling me toward her and off my chair. I knelt on the floor in front of her and brought my hands to her belly. I couldn't feel anything yet. Her stomach only felt like it was bloated from eating too many nuts.
"Then you move on. You pick up the pieces, put them back together, and you move on."
I shook my head and searched her eyes. A single tear ran down my cheek. Just the thought of losing her was breaking my heart already. "I won't be able to go on without you."
"Don't be so dramatic." She cupped my cheek and smiled lightly. "Everything's going to be fine. Life will go on and you'll find love again. But why are we talking like this? It's not going to happen."
But it did happen. I lost her and my child. I lost a part of me right along with them.
The hair on my arms prickled as I regained consciousness. Someone was in the room with me.
I inhaled deeply and could only smell the freshness of the sheets. I shut my eyes again and heard movement to the side of the bed.
I sprung towards the intruder and shoved them into the wall. The man under my grasp had shocked, wide eyes, and he looked like he was about to shit himself.
I sniffed again and all I could smell were the clean sheets. I narrowed my eyes. "Why are you in my room?"
"I," he stuttered and took a shaky breath. "F-f-forgive me."
His eyes were locked on the ground and he trembled under my hands. What had he expected would happen with him coming in a room unannounced?
I let him go and backed up several steps. "Who are you?"
"M-my n-n-name is... My name is K-Kage." He looked like he was about to burst into tears. He had smooshed himself so far into the wall it was like he hoped it would swallow him whole.
"I'm not going to hurt you, Kage." He tensed even more, so I softened my voice. "Why are you in my room?"
He held up a rag, and I snatched it out of his fingers, examining it. Was he going to stuff it in my mouth to stifle my shouts and then smother me with a pillow? I wouldn't put it past the panther to hire a hit on me.
The rag had dirt smudges on it and I handed it back to him. "It might be better to clean when I'm not in the room."
He nodded and then rushed out the door. I popped my head out into the hall to see which way he had run off, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Amari's eyes met mine from down the hall. "Brownie."
I raised my eyebrows. A fucking brownie? He had impeccable timing if he’d chosen to come back now. Or maybe he had always been there.
I wanted to skip breakfast. My stomach was not having it though, so I composed myself enough to make my way into the dining room. Three sets of eyes landed on me as I took a seat at the far end of the table, away from them.
It was petty, but what did they expect? They could have their little ménage à trois for all I cared. I wished Lilith would have just stayed in power, then we wouldn't have been experiencing this shit show.
"What are we going to do about the brownie?" Val was drinking blood, and I frowned. It was only a matter of time before he convinced Sammy to let him take a bite out of her.
Then she might as well be owned by him.
"Brownies are harmless from what my mom told me when I was a girl. She said that many stopped leaving them presents and didn't trust them with their secrets. Then a bunch were killed."
"I think we should be concerned about why this one has suddenly appeared. He could be a spy." Val had a reasonable point.
"He's not a spy." I bit into my toast. "His name is Kage, and he is incredibly nervous. He has a stutter."
All of their eyes were on me again and I suddenly felt like the walls were closing in on me. I lowered my bread to my plate and grabbed my glass of water.
"He spoke to you and gave you his name?" I caught Val shifting in his seat like he was suddenly uncomfortable.
"Yes. Why?" I gulped down some water and set down my glass, sloshing water out. Val was speaking like I had done something wrong.
"He spoke to me too. He didn't stutter though." I looked at Sammy in surprise and then felt my anger coming back.
That little fucker had been in our room while she was in there. Just how many times had he been lurking and watching us?
Val stood abruptly and strode out of the room. We all exchanged looks. A few minutes of awkward silence later, he was back with a book.
He smacked the book down on the table between us and started flipping through the pages. I rolled my eyes at his dramatics and continued eating my breakfast. As annoyed as I was, a man’s got to eat.
He picked up the book again and began pacing the length of the table with it tucked into the crook of his arm. His finger swept over the page and then he started jabbing the page with his finger.
"Get on with it already." I bit my tongue to stop myself from tacking bloodsucker onto the end of my command.
"He bound himself to you." He turned towards me and then set the book next to me, pointing. "If a brownie tells you his name, that means he is yours and you are his to serve."
I leaned over and looked to where he was pointing. "You're fucking kidding me. Who wrote this bullshit? Let me guess, bloodsuckers?"
"I sense some hostility from you, Nicolas." His finger moved to another paragraph. "A brownie that binds himself to a master is controllable only by him. However, a brownie may accept some commands from the master's mate or mates."
He looked down the table at Sammy, and I could see his jaw tick at the words on the page. I grabbed the book and brought it closer, reading through the few paragraphs of information.
Shit, the fucker would die if I released him after he had chosen me. "Damn it." I slammed the book shut and threw it in the middle of the table.
I was ignoring the mate information.
"Kage, come here."
I wasn't expecting it to actually work, but in less than a minute, there he was, standing next to me. He had appeared out of nowhere.
His eyes were wide again, and he clutched his hands in front of him. Probably to stop them from trembling.
"What the fuck have you done? I can't be your master or w
hatever the fuck I am to you." I was being an asshole, but this was the last thing we needed.
"I c-can only bind myself to a m-man." I gave him a look that told him to continue. He quickly glanced down at Sammy and then back at me before he looked at the floor. "Sh-she is n-not a man."
I shut my eyes for a moment and took a steadying breath. "So you bound yourself to me so you could serve her?"
I opened my eyes to see him nodding. I was about to ask why, when Sammy came to stand by us. Kage visibly tensed and Sammy looked like she desperately wanted to put her hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
That was probably the last thing the poor guy needed.
"Why?" She met my eyes before turning her focus on the brownie.
He was practically vibrating from the proximity of us. I oddly wanted to pull him into a hug and comfort him.
He huffed out a breath of air and then gripped the back of the chair he was next to. His knuckles turned white. "She is light."
I wished he would have stuttered, but instead, he had spoken firmly and confidently.
"That she is," I said nonchalantly. "Should we be getting to the meeting room before the other council members arrive?" I decided to change the subject before Val could catch on.
"We should probably get there before them," Sammy said, moving towards the door leading out of the dining room.
"Kage, why don't you go clean the rooms we're staying in. I'll come find you later."
Kage disappeared from sight, and I ran my hands over my face. Crap, now I was in charge of a freaking brownie. I didn't need any more complications in my life. Things were complicated enough as it was.
We made our way to the council chambers and Sammy and Val sat down at the large table. Hopefully, the meeting would be quick and we could get the vacants taken care of.
Half an hour later, everyone was seated around the table. The asshole vampire, Damon, cleared his throat. "What is the status on the missing council member?"
Sammy folded her hands on the table and spoke clearly. "The village was completely deserted. It's like they were there one minute and gone the next. We followed their scent and we came across a hoard of vacants. They were very fast; abnormally so."
Several of the council members turned to the person next to them and started whispering.
"They nearly got us, but then we got to the lake and they didn't follow us in. I've never seen anything like it. Something was wrong with them. They weren't their normal slow selves."
"We need to send Miles and Tony back to the area to take care of them. An attack from the air is the best answer. If we attacked them from the ground, they would overwhelm us." Val tapped his fingers on the table as if the meeting was a bore to him.
If anyone should have been bored, it should have been me.
"And we're supposed to believe this outlandish story?" Damon let out a laugh. "If you were unable to find the people that lived in the village and the council member, they either went to Earth or they don't want to be found. Making up some story about vacants is ridiculous."
The bear shifter, Seth, made a grunting noise. "I agree. There have been no reports of any suspicious activity in those woods. At least outside of what's normal."
I had to give it to Sammy, she kept her calm. I could tell she wasn't happy though, from how she stiffened. "At least take Miles and Tony and see for yourselves."
Many at the table let out laughs. "And fall into a trap? No, thank you."
Damon stood from his seat and looked to each of the council members besides Val. He definitely didn't look at Sammy. "According to our bylaws, if a council member can't be found within seven days of a communication attempt, we can vote without them. I have a matter I think we should vote on."
Val shifted in his seat and looked from me back to Sammy. He seemed to know what was coming.
"I propose that we hold Samara Luna accountable for her family's desertion of the crown."
I took a step forward, but Val shook his head at me. He had a deep frown on his face. Whatever he had expected they vote on, this wasn’t it.
They went around the table to voice their vote. Six to five. The missing council member would have most likely made it a split vote, giving Sammy the power.
"Very well. Take her to the dungeon."
We quickly surrounded Sammy as guards surrounded us. I wasn't going to let them take her without a fight.
Three against ten guards, plus half the council members weren't very favorable odds.
They must have been prepared for this outcome because they had cuffs ready. Amari didn't see it coming and was cuffed before he could shift. I was able to shift and took off out the door before anyone could catch me.
I ran for the stairs, hearing the sounds of claws on the marble behind me. One of them had shifted and was chasing me. Whatever it was, it was big. I scurried up the stairs, not daring to look back. I went to the first open door.
The library. I quickly climbed to the top of a bookshelf and hid on the top of some books.
I could hear the animal sniffing around the room. He was near the bookshelf but had no way of getting to me. I peeked over the edge of the book and saw a motherfucking lion.
He shifted back and reached for me on the shelf. I couldn't exactly shift, perched between the books and the shelf.
Just as he was about to grab the books I was on, he was whacked over the back of the head with a metal statue figurine. His eyes rolled in the back of his head and he fell sideways and onto the floor. Blood started to pool under his head.
Kage stared up at me. "Are y-y-you okay?"
I jumped off the bookshelf and onto his shoulder. He tensed and grabbed me by the scruff of the neck before setting me on the ground. I sniffed in the direction of the hall, making sure no one else was coming, and shifted back.
"They're taking them to the dungeons. They're probably going to kill her."
His eyes widened. "What w-will we do?"
I thought for a moment. There was a secret passageway into the dungeons. Not many knew about it, mostly the children that lived there and some of the guards. It was mostly forgotten.
"There's a secret passage, but we need to go out to the forest to get to it. They're probably going to be watching the entrance to the dungeons."
I poked my head out of the library door and then darted to the bedroom. I threw a few important things in Sammy's bag and was about to dart down to my room when Kage appeared holding my bag with my nut collection.
"These are i-i-important to you." He still wouldn't meet my eyes but pulled the straps over his shoulders.
I was grateful for his forethought because I could hear boots on the stairs down the hall. I handed him Sammy's bag and opened the window.
"Meet me in the village next to the castle. There's a sign that gives directions just past the inn and the bar."
He worked his mouth like he was trying to say something to me, but the sounds of the guards were getting closer. I shifted and jumped out the window.
Chapter 9
Kage
I looked out of the window after Nico and bit down hard on my inner cheek. The coppery taste of my blood filled my mouth and distracted me for the briefest of moments before I went invisible.
The guards burst into the room right after I vanished. I walked through the wall and made my way through the castle, my hands shaking and my breath heavy.
He wanted me to go to the Royal Village. I felt like I was going to vomit. I needed to do this. I had to.
Had I known I would be forced to leave the safe walls of the castle so soon, I wouldn't have tied myself to him. He had seemed like a safe bet, the mate of the princess.
Now, I wasn't so sure.
For so long, I had hated this power, being able to go invisible. Centuries ago, when the king decided he didn't like that we could go invisible, brownies had been killed off or escaped within an inch of their lives. I hadn’t been born yet.
Many other demons didn't like us either, even if w
e took care of their homes and did the work they otherwise abhorred. We loved cleaning and taking care of the homes we chose to live in.
We got our life energy from cleaning. We didn’t need food or water, just a good night of cleaning while our home’s residents slept, and we were set for several days.
There was always something to clean, so in their eyes, we had an infinite source of power. We were a threat.
So my people went into hiding. Most of them, anyway. Some stayed behind and were killed.
I stood near the door of the castle, trying to decide if I could do it. I really needed to get over the fear I had. Not everyone was bad. Nico wasn't bad. Sammy wasn't bad. The jury was still out on Amari and Val, though.
I didn't trust them. Their families were not supporters of my kind.
But neither was Sammy’s.
You can do it. You've got this. You're invisible. You'll be fine.
I kept repeating these words to myself as I stepped through the doors of the castle and out into the front courtyard. I breathed in, and then slowly exhaled. I did it again and then started forward.
This wasn't so bad. I was totally going to rock being outside the castle.
A group of demons burst through the gate and ran to the castle doors. When the doors of the castle opened, there was shouting. I didn't know what was going on, but I needed to get away from the noise fast.
I quickened my pace and went out of the gates and into the Royal Village. It was bustling with activity, and I forced myself to move on. I just needed to walk straight through town to get to the sign that Nico had referred to.
I stayed close to the buildings, but every once in a while someone would get too close to me and I would freeze, unable to move.
Clench. Unclench. Clench. Unclench.
My palms hurt from digging my nails into them. My shirt was drenched with sweat, and not because the bags I was carrying were heavy.
I hated it. I hated being scared.
As far back as I could remember, I always had a fear of being seen. My father had been the same, often coming back in the middle of the night frantic. He was worried they were going to find us and kill us, just like they did my mom and brothers.