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Chapter 28
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2024-10-29 19:42:56The Sidhe palace was an imposing structure of trees blended into stone with glittering quartz crystal on the spires that reached into the late afternoon sky. It stole my breath, as I stared up. How many people lived within its walls?
My ass and legs hurt. I was so ready to get out of the vehicle and stretch my legs. It had been a while since our last pit stop, and my bladder was crying desperately.The atmosphere in the car was tense. I could see it in the line of Xander's shoulders and the way Rhys' jaw twitched as he ground his teeth. Even Heather was sullen, and she was just about the sunniest person I'd ever met.I missed having Eclipse in my mind. Xander told me that around the full moon I would be able to talk to her again, as the wolf would be in control. I couldn't wait to hear her snarky observations.I understood the reason for the mood shift. Aside from the fae dress maker, I didn't have much dealing with their kRelated chapters
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"You did what?!" Rhys thundered as he loomed over his sister. "That's enough!" I snatched Rhys' arm, turning him to me. "She's okay as long as we keep an eye on her." "Right, because the fae will just forget a deal he's made." "The deal was for my virginity! He was paid!" Heather threw herself on the bed, groaning. "I was stupid. And I thought he would be at the Unseelie Court. He splits his time between the Seelie and Unseelie.""How do you know this?" Rhys whirled to his sister."I thought it best to learn more about the fae prick who said he would steal my heart." She crossed her arms defensively. "If I had known, I wouldn't have come.""Not only do we need to keep an eye on Maddie because she tends to be a little outspoken and the fae are master wordsmiths. Now, I have to make sure my kid sister doesn't get her heart stolen either physically or metaphorically. Where did our parents go wrong?!"
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I stared down at Heather, my heart pounding in my throat. I couldn't move. I didn't know what to do. I was frozen, my limbs refusing to work as chaos erupted around me. Rhys was yelling for a healer, Ella had her hand over her mouth, features painted with horror. Prince Aeryck was screaming for his guards. And Xander was on the floor, cradling Heather to his chest. "She's breathing." Relief flooded me. Not a literal stolen heart then. "Her pulse is thready though." Several guards burst through the door, followed closely by a small brown man with gigantic eyes. He hustled to Heather."What happened? We all felt the burst of magic." "Mabon stole her heart." Prince Aeryck's voice was deadly. "I need a messenger. Queen Maeve has declared war on the Seelie Kingdom." "Unseelie witch!" Rhys joined Xander on the floor, his hand grasping Heather's tightly. "Who isn't he Queen of Air and Da
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The air in the car was tense, as Rhys stewed in the back seat. We were headed to Daemon territory next. It had been nearly impossible to tear Rhys from Heather, but we couldn't do anything for her at the moment. There was a larger game afoot, and I knew it would work out. It didn't make it any harder for an older brother to leave his baby sister in a magically-induced sleep with the hope that Mabon would be found. "We will fix this." Xander gripped the wheel tight. "We will consult Lilith in Daemon territory. She will be able to give us some insight.""The daemons do not give information freely." Rhys snarled, and I turned to look at him. His honey eyes were hollow, dark circles ringing them. My heart broke a little more. "Lilith owes me a favor." Xander merged onto the highway. "One I plan on calling in." The trip to Daemon territory was only a few hours, since we were crossing the thinnest part of the Fae te
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"Why are you like this?!" Rhys grabbed my shoulders and shook me the moment the four to our room shut. Xander looked equally pissy. "Why can't you back down from a challenge? Why can't you accept that there are some fights you just won't win?" I shrugged him off. "I've yet to lose." Yeah, I was being a brat, but still. "It's my choice. If Lilith can tell me anything about my parents, then it's a fight worth having." "Lilith isn't normal. She will pit you against her strongest fighter. And laugh when you're littering the arena floor in pieces." "I'm so glad you have so much faith in my capabilities." These men knew nothing of how I was raised. My father taught me how to fight. Everyday. For years. I had always been better at hand-to-hand combat, but I could work a sword with the best of them. It wasn't their fault that they underestimated me. I didn't exactly show off the skills I'd spent my life working on. I preferred to b
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I kept my eyes wide, innocent. Sometimes it was harder for a person to hit someone that looked like an easy mark. Sometimes. This was not one of those times. As soon as the bell tolled, Etna sprang forward. Heat seared along my skin and I forced myself to stay relaxed. I didn't want to give her the satisfaction of wincing. She swung wide, claws glittering on the tips of the fingers of her open hand. I dropped below her hand, anticipating the knee that flung toward my face. I managed to slap both hands on her knee and push backward using her own momentum to slide away. Her skin was hot against my palms. Enough that I hissed and drew my hands up. They were red, but not burnt. So painful, but not enough to actually burn me, as long as I didn't touch her for longer than absolutely necessary. Which meant no grappling. Quick hits and back out. I could do that. My body dropped low, automatically movin
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"What else can you tell me?" I curled up in an armchair in front of the roaring fireplace in Lilith's decadent office. I wanted to cry. I wanted to rage and curse and break things. My parents had lied to me. My entire existence. I was out here living a dark fairytale, and was left to find out everything on my own. Lilith must think I'm the stupidest child to walk the earth. "That it's not your fault." Lilith threw me a smile. "Secrecy is the most important task of blending in with society.""My parents are essentially sleeper agents for the Supes. I believe that goes beyond secrecy into falsehood." "It's not like they could have announced themselves. They knew you were going to end up being a Bride. Tierney is the daughter of Liliana, the last true Luna. Roderick is a mutt of a few different supernatural DNA.""But why did I not know my mother was a wolf?!" My sigh was a heavy thing. "How could she hi
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Vampyr territory was a wild expanse of forests and mountains. I had expected something different, a little more urban. So the gigantic redwoods and the clumps of wildflowers threw me. There was no civilization past the border. "Are we sure we are in the right place?" Xander huffed a laugh, keeping his eyes on the winding road in front of us. "Yes, Maddie, we just haven't made it into the city yet."The city. The one controlled by the Dragul colony. The one where I would meet Tatiana Rossi, the Dragul Queen my parents were apparently working for. My belly clenched as my mates' scent assaulted me. Being in close confines with them made it hard to resist them. I shifted in my seat. The feeling had been growing the last day. Something was off. Their scents were more overpowering than they had been the whole trip. I was a wanton witch. At least, my bottom half was. My brain was too full of betrayal and secrets to c
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The car was dead silent as we all reflected on our forest tryst. It was one thing to act in the moment of passion, but another to be urged on by a primal need. I didn't regret it. My hand fell to my belly. Was a Were's gestation period the same as a human's? Would I know sooner than six weeks? This wasn't something they covered in my classes as a Bride. The Accords were kind of shifty on the information. Of course I was sitting in the car with two fonts of knowledge. Time to pick their brains. "Does a female typically get pregnant their first time in heat?" The words hung in the air around me. Xander shifted uncomfortably and I could hear Rhys sigh behind me. "It's not–""I mean we–" They both tried to talk at the same time. I suppressed a smile. "Maddie, we weren't trying to–" Xander started. "Take advantage of a situation." Rhys finis
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"What?!" I gripped my coffee cup tighter in my fingers. Etna swatted the back of my head. "Quit moving or I'll never get this mass of hair done in time." "Mabon escaped. No one has been able to find Heather. Robin and that Beta of his took off after him before the trail went cold." Lilith leaned back in her chair. My mother sat next to her, her eyes shining suspiciously. "I can't believe my baby is getting married." I blushed. I couldn't believe it either. For nearly four years, I had been a Moon Bride. So much had happened. I got my parents back from an evil Vampyr queen. I lost my new best friend to a stolen heart. I became a werewolf, found not one but two mates, had a daughter, and killed an evil fae queen. Apparently my parents had been at the Battle of Godmother's Justice as the Unseelie were calling it. They had been using my father's little scraps of magic to transport the legions of imps from Daemon territory directly into the Unseelie Palace. Apparently Maeve had atta
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I floated on a sea of blackness. If this was death, sign me up! It was the most relaxed I'd been in, well, years I suppose. The world around me shifted. It was a subtle shift. I slowly became more aware of my surroundings. Silver topped sand dunes glowed in the distance. I was sitting on a rug in the middle of a desert. The moon hung low in the sky, big and bright and shining. I wasn't sure how I had gotten here, but I wasn't panicked. A sense of peace and rightness washed over me. "Welcome back to Zolon, Madison Timms." I glanced up lazily. The woman in front of me was silver layered on even more silver. Her silvery white hair hung in waves, mingling with her silver gossamer dress. Her skin was so pale that it was a translucent porcelain, and her eyes a silvery gray rimmed in darkness. She was beauty and grace personified. I'm sure if the lethargy that weighted my limbs was gone, I might've jumped to my feet to show my respect. But I couldn't really pull myself together enough t
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The howl was loud enough to echo off the high ceilings. It came directly from the wolf pacing angrily in the back of my mind. Had I lost track of time? Was it so close to the full moon? 'We should rip them apart, human. They have our pup!' Eclipse growled angrily in the dark corner of my mind she typically went to. After she had faded away, only the three days of the full moon allowed her to talk to me. This needed to be dealt with immediately. I couldn't wolf out as a prisoner! I might hurt someone that didn't deserve it.I jerked back to myself, trying to ignore the slavering wolf in my head. Eclipse was ready to spill blood. The howl seemed to echo on, which should have been impossible, when I realized that it wasn't my howl. The echo from that had faded. I blinked, glancing at Robin sharply. He shook his head and spread his hands. I turned, my jaw dropping as I glimpsed Linnea. My daughter was stiff in the arms of her guard, back bowed, mouth opened wide as her howl split what
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Ella finished her tidying and bustled out. It was a power move. A flex, really. Letting me see that my friend, while tired and underfed, was alive. Would we get a chance to see Heather?My hair was in my face, the dark strands sticking to my wet cheeks. I lifted my hand, my fingertips pressing into the flesh under my eyes. I was crying. I didn't even realize it. I must be hormonal. Thankfully, when a wolf was mated, the heat was only in the vicinity of her mates. Not saying I didn't feel the press of it, but it wasn't overwhelming. I needed to get my hair out of my face. Having it cling to me itched at me, it was overwhelming. Thankfully, I had slid my special chopsticks into my sleeve rather than leave them in my case. I tugged them out, swirling my hair on top of my head and jabbing the sticks in savagely. "What are those?" I smirked at Robin. He wouldn't have been aware, but I had Little John assist me with a side project at his pack house. "My game plan." "What do you mean
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Robin whistled under his breath as he unfolded himself from his tiny sports car. Little John looked like he was crawling out of a clown car as he slid from the passenger side. It was enough to make me giggle. "If I had known we would be rubbing elbows with real royalty, I would've dressed up.""I guess the Prince part of Aeryck's name escaped you." I crossed my arms and leaned back into Rhys' heat. I expected our morning after repairing our mate bond to be awkward. But it wasn't. My guys had woken me with gentle kisses and lovemaking. Promises of autonomy and professions of love. I was so here for it. A day and a half later, we were now standing outside Aeryck's palace. "It didn't escape me, Godmother, I just didn't care to remember." Boy, Heather was going to have to take this prick to task. Too self-assured. He needed to be knocked down a peg. "Thank the Goddess you've arrived." I glanced as Aeryck shuffled down the stairs, nonplussed. Usually, Royals greeted their guests in t
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My body burned as two sets of eyes drank me in. They had given me their oaths. They swore to allow me my own choices. To let me live my life as I chose. My thighs clenched as heat flooded through me. I wanted–no, needed—them. Both of them.My shoulder twinged as I reached up for Xander. The pain cleared my head enough to make me aware of the pressing need that flooded my body. Heat. I was in heat. Dammit. I sure as hell wasn't about to stop this. I wasn't sure I could even if I truly wanted to. But I had been so long without the touch of my mates. I needed to heal our bond. To undo the rejection. Xander groaned, leaning into me. His lips whispered across mine, leaving a trail of fire. The kisses turned insistent, and Rhys let out a soft sigh at my feet. I reached out a hand to him, and he clasped my fingers. I needed them both. "I can smell you." Rhys ground out, before heat washed across my lower belly. I peered around Xander to see Rhys' face buried against my pelvis, breathing
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"So, if I'm a true mate to someone this Mabon has enchanted, then why would he send someone after you, and not me? Kill me, and there's no more threat to his enchantment." Robin leaned back in his chair, turning his mismatched eyes on us. We were called in for an audience with the Sure Wood Alpha when I had been patched up. My shoulder throbbed in time with my heartbeat, and I was exhausted. I had lost a good amount of blood, and silver wounds took time to heal up properly. "Because I made an enemy of him three years ago, when I alerted the Seelie King to the betrayal happening right under his nose, and to his then fiancee." I shrugged, wincing as the wound tugged. That was going to be different. I hadn't healed human slow in so long I forgot what it was like. "And you are one of these Fae Godmothers?" Robin gave me a sardonic smile. I understood the sarcastic confusion. Having the Accords thrust on you, finding out the law that governed our world was living, wild magic…that could
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There are very few things in my world that are deadly to Supes, aside from other Supes. Mostly they just keep on living their best lives while the human population dies of a great many things. But for Weres, it was silver. Apparently the DNA structure included a very real, very deadly allergy to silver. Which is why the knife currently protruding out of my shoulder was a touch worrisome. 'Don't pull it out, Maddie.' I heard my father's voice as I slumped against the doorframe. It was from one of the many lessons we had in the yard of the farm. Honestly, I was so naive. How had I not known they were soldiers? Pulling out a blade or any object that has embedded itself in the body would apparently damage you even more. Not like I was going to get a chance to really find out. Pretty sure the silver intolerance would take me out first. Blood seeped down my shoulder and dripped from my fingertips onto the clean floor. Whoever mopped was going to be a tad upset. My mind skipped around an
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I heard the growls before I smelled them. Shitballs. We didn't need an incident right this second. My eyes were locked on Little John's, and he seemed just as loath to look away. The growls grew louder, and then I heard my mates burst through the clearing at my back. Well, half-rejected mates. Jeez, this was too complicated. A head rested on my shoulder, and I sighed. "Friends of yours, lass?" "Unfortunately." I shook off the furry head, turning to glare at Xander and Rhys. They were in their wolf form, shaggy and magnificent. Which kept complicating things because my heart ached for them, so I could be complete. But they really pissed me off sometimes. But we needed to find Heather and break the curse on her, so Robin was our best bet. Which meant playing nice with the Sure Wood pack. My belly fluttered. John was a tall drink of water, that was for sure. I was doomed if we hung out here any longer. "We are here to see your Alpha. On official Godmother business." "Ooh, fancy
