Storm POVI stand looking at Quinn, waiting for him to shift back and speak to me. I hold out the clothes that I brought for him."Please, Quinn," I beg, watching as he shifts back. He silently takes the clothes and gets dressed. He doesn't speak. He simply turns and begins to walk towards the palace."Quinn, I get I hurt you, but I couldn't say anything," I explain."You could!" He shouts before turning to look at me. "You had days to tell me.""I apologise; I didn't want to tell you until you were calm and had control of your magic," I explain, and he laughs."My magic is in control. My magic isn't the problem! It's my emotions, and you keeping it a secret who I really am doesn't help," he shouts, and I nod. "I would never do that to you," he whispers before walking back inside. I follow at a distance."Quinn, please, can we speak?" I ask, and he looks at me."Now you will speak?" he asks, and I stand confused. "Not last night, or yesterday, or when you found out. You will speak now
Quinn POVI leave the room and walk back to mine to finish packing. As I'm finishing up, the knock has me turning to stand. Aurelia stands by the door, looking at me.It's strange. I can't tell the difference between Elijah and Asher, except for the hair length. Yet, with Aurelia and Storm, I instantly know.Despite them being identical, I instantly know if it's Storm or not."Can I speak with you?" Aurelia asks as she steps into the room. Sighing, I nod. I watch as she takes a seat in the room, and I sit down, waiting for her to speak."I know it won't feel good to know she kept your life a secret, Quinn. Can I ask you something?" she says, and I look at her, waiting for her to ask me. "What if you were her?"Sitting, I look at her in confusion."What if you were Storm? She had come here, unable to control her magic, and then things got worse because the feelings of the mate bond caused more issues. All you wanted to do was protect her and give her time to get used to living in the p
Storm POVI wake up with my body hurting. Whatever I'm laid on is hard and cold. It feels like concrete. I fight to remember what happened; I was sure someone grabbed me, and something stabbed through my skin.Yet, now I'm wondering if I just passed out. Breathing in deeply, I try to sit up but find myself unable to. Opening my eyes, I glance around. I'm not on the floor; I'm on some sort of concrete altar.Pulling my hands, I find them strapped down, a needle in both of my arms. Panic floods through me as I see the blood slowly leaving my body. Screaming, I fight to break out of it and stop quickly. Closing my eyes I try and focus on Raven, if I can shift I can escape."Wolfsbane, the one thing that will always mute your wolf," the words make my head turn as I look at the woman."Who are you?" I don't recognise her at all."No one important. I'm here to help a greater cause, that's all." Her words are softly spoken, and I turn my head, trying to see around me. I stop when I see anoth
Quinn POVI'm anxious and annoyed with having to wait."It should be safe now," Grant says, but I don't reply. I hang up and leave the room. I see the guards and soldiers still in the main room with the kings.Slipping past it, I went to the room that Grant had said. As I step in, I close the door and rush to the bookcase. I begin to feel along the woof for something, but there's nothing. There's no button anywhere.Panic builds that Grant lied, I don't get why he would be it feels like he did now. I stop when I feel a slightly raised bit pushing against it, I hear a clicking sound, and the bookcase comes away from the wall.I peer towards the doorway before stepping into the tunnel and closing the door. He said to stay to the right, only turn right. I begin to rush through it, and with each right turn, I become anxious. I feel like I'm going in circles until I see a door partly open.Rushing towards it, I swing it open and come into a dark brick room. My body stops when I see a coat
Storm POVI wake up hearing screaming, loud screaming. My eyes snap open, and I turn my head to see Quinn being dragged through."Quinn!" I shout and look at him; his eyes meet mine, and I stare at the marks across his body. "Why did you hurt him!" I ask, seeing Bailey and Grant."Punishment for not following orders," Grant shouts, and I watch them strap him down. My hope of escaping is quickly destroyed. I watch as they walk around the room and do things.None of us speaks. We just watch. They have all their blood and are honestly hoping that mine works. It's foolish, at least that is my hope.If it works, then what? I hate the thought of that. Quinn has kept his eyes on me the entire time, and it's comforting. I watch Bailey and Grant leave. Two guards sit in the corner of the room, watching TV."Are you okay?" Quinn whispers, and I nod."Weak, but okay," I say, and he nods. "How did they get you, Quinn?" I ask."I left to find you. No one would tell me how to get out, so I called G
Quinn POVI don't want to let go of Storm, but we have no choice right now. I leave her to release the guy. Rushing through, I begin unstrapping the woman from the concrete altar."I should put water on her," Storm rushes through."No! It will make her heavier if she shifts, not to mention harder to carry." The guy lifts her, and I rush to break into the next cell. The woman raises her head slightly."We need to pull them out of her wings," Storm explains. She's right, I reach for one, but she stops me."Shift back. The last thing we need is someone seeing a Fae and speaking. No one has seen them here since before I was born. Shift back, and I'll release her." Storm pushes me away.She's right. Us rushing past people won't raise questions, but me as a Fae? Yeah, she's right. I shift back and get dressed, watching as she struggles to pull the spikes out of the wings.Sighing, I rush and help her. The woman instantly falls to the floor."Carry her, Quinn. Let's get out of here before Ba
Xenia POVQuinn ran, which means we now have Quinn and Storm to find. I know he just wanted to be with Storm and find her, but he made things worse.We can't ignore him and not search for him. Not with the Queen of Fae here. It won't go down well if we say we're not searching for him. All I can do is hope that Quinn is with Storm. If not, I hope that Storm is just having time out, but even I know that isn't true.Storm's timeout doesn't last hours. She is usually back within an hour, and I know this isn't normal.I can't relax—not until I hear something. Storm leaving is nothing new, but it's been hours, and she isn't back, and no one has seen her. Darius and Kellan have sent soldiers out to search abandoned buildings.It means we've got maybe six guards here right now, which I'm fine with. They need them all to find Storm and Quinn. Maybe we should have let Quinn leave. Following him may have led us to where Storm was."Maybe I could help?" Aurelia looks at me."No, the last thing we
DariusI was worried for Xenia and Storm. Xenia's magic has been changing a lot, but she refused to let me take Storm inside. I watched the light build around her.When I reached out to touch her, I thought I could calm her, but my hand burned to the point where I had to stop. Kellan looked at me like he wanted me to stop her, but I couldn't.If I can't touch her, I can't stop whatever she is attempting to do. Xenia screams louder, and I watch as Storm gasps loudly. Everyone is watching, which isn't ideal.Xenia's face pales, and Kellan is quick to grab her as she passes out. Storm's eyes open, and she glances at us in confusion. She was dead. Everyone saw her. I glance around and see people with their phones out."Right, get Xenia in, Kellan," I shout, needing to get us off the streets. "Yori, get Bailey from the middle of the road, lock her up. Someone grab that woman. Let's get in," I explain and move to get Storm. Only Quinn is there before me. He lifts her and carries her back in
Asher POVI look down at Katla. She's only a few days old. After speaking with Zyra, she decided that the space in the mountains would be a retreat—a place for us to escape to, somewhere Katla could get used to what it is like to live in the Dragon Kingdom.We have spent a few days there, but not many. Apparently, she wants to be in the palace close to the others. Part of me feels like that's because they were her support while I was hiding away.It's shown her what having a family around can do. We're close, minus Aurelia. She seems to be thriving with the Bears and keeping her distance. Other than returning that day when I was going crazy and needed help, she rarely came back. We've adjusted and got used to that, however.She wants her life away from here; she wants her own life, not one that is connected to us. She should have that if she wants it."Hey."Turning, I see Elijah walk to me.He laughs slightly and takes Katla from my arms. "You look exhausted; fun night?"It's only 4
Asher POVI walk out of the room and go to where I know they will be. As I step into the office, they turn to face me.Darius shakes his head. "You should be with Zyra.""I was, but considering this is brought on by the Dragons, I should be helping." I walk further in and look at the papers."Nothing to help with," my dad shrugs. "His son is clean, Seraphine can tell. Things were explained to him. He had no idea about the arranged marriage and, to be honest, was shocked, as he apparently had a mate."So the son won't be an issue. Is that what he's saying?"Look, both Eliphas and Durnalin are in the cells, away from each other. The son has gone. Apparently, he has a whole life with his mate. His dad told him the dragons had requested their presence at events." Darius explains.It makes no sense, though. "Why? Why would the dragons want the warlocks there?" How didn't his son question it?"Apparently, because Eliphas and his son are the strongest warlocks, they invited them to make a un
Asher POVI wait and watch."Prince Asher, soon to be King, tell me something." He walks to the bars and leans against them. "Where do Warlocks belong?"My head tilts; they belong wherever they want to. I don't understand his question."See, there is no answer as we don't belong anywhere. There is the werewolf kingdom, fae, dragons and everything else. Witches and warlocks are forced to live in one of those kingdoms, with no real power."So this was all about getting power? My body is pushed back, and my eyes widen as I see King Drakon reach through the bars—his hand clamps around Eliphas' neck.I guess he's fixed, and his curse is gone. My dad and Darius drag him away, and I watch Eliphas drop to the floor, clutching his neck. The blood runs down from where King Drakon's nails dug in."We need answers; killing him won't get them." My dad turns and faces Eliphas."Apparently, this was all for power." Which still makes no sense."It wasn't just for power. We wanted our own kingdom, our
Asher POVI'm anxious. It's been two days since the curse was lifted, and I'm glad to be back to normal. All that is at risk, though. Tonight, I have to be close to whoever is pretending to be King Drakon. That then risks it happening again, and if it does, will it start slow again or begin where it was removed?I've noticed Elijah, Storm, and Aurelia are quiet. Whatever was done has worn them out, which I didn't want."Are you ready?" Zyra hugs me, and I nod. I'm not. We need answers and to figure out who it is."Be careful, okay?" I don't like that I'm not going to be there."It's you who needs to be careful. You will be in a confined space with him. If anything goes wrong." She looks at me worriedly.Wrapping my arms around her, I smile. "I'll be fine; once he's in the cell, he can't do anything." I kissed her and gave her a final hug before walking away.Getting to the cells, I sit in one and wait. I'm hoping the plan works. If we can get him in the cell, then his magic and power
Asher POVI can see Zyra is struggling, and I don’t blame her either. She just found out her brother is missing.“Look, when Seraphine checked trying to find out the issue with him, she saw King Drakon, but it wasn’t him. Whoever it was is who we believe Cursed Asher.” My mum grasps her hands and smiles. “We’ve got people tracking down where your brother really is. There’s a reason for this, and it’s you, Zyra. Seraphine could sense the curses were put on Asher and Elijah to try and push you to return home.”Zyra looks around the room and seems increasingly worried. “What about Ryker? Is he okay? Does he know?” She waits, and I don’t know the answer to that.“I’m sorry, we don’t know. You need to stay here, Zyra. We have a plan, and we’re hoping Seraphine can uncover more when the person comes here.”She nods and sits, looking lost.“We are expecting Seraphine to return late tonight or early tomorrow. If they can’t fix the issue, then we will keep working to.” My mum smiles and hugs h
Asher POVAfter about an hour of sitting in the cell with Zyra, I ordered her to leave. I wanted to spend time with her, but she shouldn't have been sitting in the cells with me.So, I've been alone for hours, waiting to find out their plan. They hadn't thought this through. I need to leave the cell to go to the room. As soon as I step out of this cell, it will come back. Then what?I'm willing to agree to anything right now if it gets me out of this cell and back with Zyra. The footsteps have me standing, and I watch my dad and Darius walk towards me."What's your plan? How am I to do this?" They haven't thought it through."You need to shift." Darius looks at me.I laugh at him. Is that some kind of joke? "You want me to shift, so that what? I can kill people easier?"My dad sighs and steps forward. "Please do as you're told. You won't understand why we're saying you can shift, but shift. Into your wolf, not dragon."Of course, I won't understand; they haven't explained it to me. If
Elijah POVI sit in the office; Seraphine has left. She's meeting her family halfway in the hopes they have something that can help. Merfolk are powerful creatures with extraordinary abilities.Curses and such are something they specialise in."We're going to request that King Drakon attend a celebration for Zyra's pregnancy. It means we can get what we need and figure out who it is and what their aim is." My dad looks at me, and he makes it sound so simple. This isn't simple."He's going to ask why Asher isn't present, then what?" We can't lie and hide him. "It will look suspicious.""Not if Zyra invites him, she won't know, remember. She can invite him, and whoever is portraying King Drakon won't suspect anything. We're going to be honest and explain something is wrong with Asher, and he's not well."So we're not hiding the issue."He could be in the cell for weeks, so we've had things moved down there for him. The plan is later to test how he is with someone in the cell with him. T
Asher POVI watch as Elijah glares at everyone and backs up more."Elijah, we need to know." My mum steps towards him."I saw him once, just once! You all need to focus on Asher, not me! He's the one that is cursed, not me!" He shouts and steps back. He backs into my dad, and he grabs Elijah as Seraphine steps forward and grips his head.His screams echo around the cells, and it's all over just as quickly as it starts. His body falls to the floor, and he cradles his head."Well?" Darius looks at Seraphine."You're going to need a warlock, or I'll need to contact my family and see if they have something to clear the curses." Her words make me look towards Elijah. So, he is also cursed."Asher's curse is to make him push everyone out and make him think he has a mad wolf so that Zyra leaves. Elijah's was to hate Asher, likely to intensify it." Seraphine smiles slightly. "There's no mate, Elijah. The curse is what's stopping us from having a baby. There's no third mate." Her words have hi
Asher POVNo one speaks, likely because they know what I said is the truth. I need to die; there is nothing they can do to change that."Explain the process, what happened, how it started, when it happens." Darius pulls a chair over and sits outside the cell.I laugh. "Why do I need to talk? Why do I need to explain? You're proving you believe me by keeping me locked in here and being too afraid to come near your own son."Nothing I say can change that."Asher, I'm not opening the cell because I don't trust you to try and run. So explain it to me, tell me how it's progressed, and let's be sure that is what is happening." He waits, and I watch my mum, Elijah, and dad sit with him."It began with whispers. The words were barely audible, but I heard whispers in my ear. They got louder and began to sound like words. Whispers were one thing, but then I began to see people dead and my wolf above them." It was a warning to me to hide, to push them away, and not let them close to me."When do