Rod’s emotions swirled in crazy patterns. After the emotional goodbye in the cave, their reunion was an unexpected joy.
“We’re fine,” I said when Rod struggled to find a voice. “Better than fine. We’re whole.”
Bart finally smiled and swooped in to hug his brother. A second later, he pulled me into the embrace and Cael joined us. No words passed, but the joy and relief were a salve to some wounds. For every loss, there was happiness. I had the feeling I’d be seeing a lot of Rod’s brothers.
“When you created the Ward, something happened,” Cael said. “It was there, tethered to our souls, and then it was gone.”
“Yes.” Bart stared at Rod with an expression that bordered on disapproval. “We’re not anchoring the Ward.”
Rod’s hand tightened around mine. His hesitation wasn’t about hiding anything, but stemmed from his uncertainty of their reactions.
“That needs to wait until everyone is together,” I said. “There’s a lot to discuss.”
“Let me call the others,” Rod said. “They should know before everyone else.”
Rod sent a message to all the guardians, old and new. They stopped whatever they were doing and converged on our position.
“Is this about what you did to us when you created the Ward?” Leo arched his brows. “Without asking first?”
“What did we say about being less confrontational?” Gund asked his mate. “And yes, brothers count.”
Laughter surrounded our group. Everyone was in high spirits. Against all expectations, all ten of us survived. Those good vibes would only get better after Rod explained what he’d done.
“Katarina Hollen didn’t design the Great Ward to be linked to the four guardian pairs,” Rod said. “The plan had been for her and Adelais to be the anchor, and you eight were their backups. Unfortunately, they died in the casting, so the duty fell to the Guardians to maintain the spell.”
“Who told you?” Darius asked. “It’s not in the spell book.”
Rod’s doubt crept into his thoughts. He’d planned to tell them before he changed the spell, but once Blackstone destroyed the old Ward, there wasn’t time.“You did the right thing, love,”I told him.“You can tell them the truth.”
“Cinaed.”
Everyone turned to stare at me. I understood their confusion. How could a phoenix teach Rod a component of the spell that only a few mages could cast? Only Percy and Gio didn’t look surprised.
“Before Blackstone corrupted my grandfather, he and I were very close,” I said. “He used to tell me I reminded him of Adelais. Once, when something reminded him of her, he took me to visit the home she and Katarina had shared. Built on a small island in the middle of a wide loch, it was isolated.”
“It was where Mother summoned us to tell us about her plans,” Eldwin said. “Darius, Percy, and Anso helped her conceal and protect their home. Anso always asked the most questions.”
“Grandmother told me to ask as many questions as I had while she was still around.” He smiled, but it quickly faded. “She knew it was likely she wouldn’t survive.”
After visiting their house, they must’ve known Katarina and Adelais wouldn’t come back. “The house was exactly how it had been when they left to save the world,” I said. “Including notes she and Katarina made about the Great Ward. I didn’t understand the concepts, but I read them.”
“Cinaed has an almost photographic memory,” Rod said. “When we figured out we might need to cast the same spell, he opened his thoughts to me.”
“And you, of course, knew what they meant,” Jan said. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
I’d asked the same thing, but after seeing Bart’s reaction in the cave, I understood. “Because you would’ve tried to stop him,” I said. “All of you would’ve offered to shoulder the burden yourselves.”
“We also didn’t know if we’d get the chance,” Rod said. “We almost didn’t. I didn’t want to give you false hope.”
“So let me get this straight,” Leo said. “You two are the anchors, and we’re free?”
“Yes,” Rod said. “You get to remain royal consort to the king.”
“Ha, ha. So funny.” The others laughed, and Leo’s attempt to snarl gave way to him smiling.
“Oh, no.” Thal covered his eyes with his right hand. “Just what we don’t need, another smartass Hollen brother.”
I realized even his brothers didn’t know the playful, happy side hidden under the sadness. “You think he’s bad? Wait until you meet my family.”
