CHAPTER 7
~ Raine ~
Afterdressing,wefollowedNic to where the alphas and seconds of the houses, and a few other influential monsters had gathered in a large sitting room. Garan stood at the back, along with his second-in-command, Chaol. Kasey and her mate, Tristan, stood on the other side of the room.
I didn’t peer at the she-wolf who’d kidnapped me. From what Kade had told me, Kasey had turned on Zacal after hearing the truth about the attack that happened with the wolves all those years ago. While I could forgive that she’d handed me over to Warrick, I still couldn’t forgive the fact that she’d been one of the wolves who’d tortured Kade for years. I was pretty sure if I set eyes on her my dragon instincts would take over, and the last thing we needed right now was me attacking the wolf. Especially as she was currently the acting-alpha of the House of Worzel, seeing as Kade still hadn’t officially taken his place.
At some point, we were going to have to talk about what Kade planned to do, and I dreaded when that moment would come. Forcing myself to focus on our current situation, I followed my monsters toward the only unoccupied armchairs. Darian sat down before pulling me onto his lap. Kade took the chair beside us, and Asher and Locke stood at our backs.
At the opposite end of the room, Lyr stood in front of a roaring fire, the flickering blue flames casting her shadow across the carpeted floor. Her long white braid over her shoulder was weaved with tiny black roses, and her mates, Dean, Nic, and Soren stood at her sides.
“Now that you’re all here, I’ll get right to it,” she said, one hand planted on her hip. “You all know why you joined this rebellion. Katakin City has fallen to one of our own. Beneath our noses, Warrick created monsters that are unlike anything we’ve ever seen—unnatural creatures that only obey his command. If we allow him to control our city, we’re all going to end up dead.”
There were grumbles of agreement around the room, and Lyr sucked in a breath and continued, “But what you don’t know, is that the fae have declared war and intend to march upon us.”
At that, the room erupted into a cacophony of outcries and protests.
“How could you know that? The fae haven’t launched an attack with their full army since the years after the curse,” Losak shouted above the noise, that distinct hiss hanging on his every word, and the monsters quieted as they waited to hear the answer.
Lyr’s expression was hard. “The source doesn’t matter. The fact is, we’ve received word confirming the faewillattack, and we need to prepare ourselves.”
“If that’s true, then we’re all fucked,” Kenric commented, his booming voice filling the room and his large body shaking with laughter.
Quinn turned his pink gaze our way. “Let’s not be cryptic, shall we? This is because they went to the fae realm, isn’t it? Why else would the fae be declaring war only now? They did something, and now we’re the ones who must pay the price.” He narrowed his eyes at us. “Let me guess, the fae king didn’t want your traitorous alliance?”
My monsters all stiffened, and I glared back at the shifter.And to think we helped that asshole when he was suffering from the outliers’ poison. So much for gratitude.
“We didn’t leave to ally with the fae,” Darian drawled, sounding way too relaxed for the situation. “We went to try and prevent a war. We found a fae prince had been captured and tortured by Warrick in the mountain. We left to try and gain the prince’s good favor and return him before the fae themselves discovered what had happened.”
“They would have burned down our world looking for him,” Kade growled.
“And yet, now we receive word that war is on the horizon,” Quinn retorted. “So, you either failed spectacularly or this was your plan all along.”
Darian shrugged. “We knew our actions might not be enough to stop what was coming. Warrick tortured their prince. We can’t be surprised that they’d retaliate, especially given the history between our kind.”
Quinn still glared at us, and I had to stop myself from shooting fire across the room to make him quit looking at my males like that.I wonder if I could singe his perfect eyebrows without burning him to a crisp.Clearly, explaining why we went to the fae realm wasn’t stopping the shifters from hating us. At that thought, I held my breath, waiting for Darian to mention that the other reason we’d gone to Zalei was to find a way to break the curse over Katakin, but he didn’t.
Locke folded his arms across his chest and lifted his chin. “And let’s not forget Raine saved all of us when we faced the outliers nights ago in that ballroom. If it weren’t for her, you’d be dead now.”
“Oh, that’s right,” Cassar piped up beside Quinn, looking at the faces around the room. “It was the newblood who hadn’t turned who ended up savin’ us all with her magic. I know some of you are inclined to think she’s some kind of savior, but I’m willin’ to bet she’s a fae spy. You claim you went to the fae realm to try and stop this war, but only the fae can control the elements like that. For all we know, she went to the fae realm to report to her king. And now we’re also expected to believe she’s a dragon shifter?” He sneered, and a cruel glint shone in his eyes. “No, our first act should be to remove the rat from the rebellion.”
No one saw Locke move. One moment he was standing behind me, and the next he was across the room with his blade to Cassar’s bobbing throat. Darian’s grip tightened around me, and Asher and Kade shot to their feet, their bodies tense as their hands hovered over their weapons.Well, fuck.
Quinn snarled, and Losak hissed, his eyes changing to black slits and scales starting to sprout over his skin, but they didn’t try to attack Locke. Everyone in the room stilled, their focus on my vampire.
Locke pressed his blade harder against Cassar’s throat, and the boar shifter glowered at my vampire. “Raine is no spy. You threaten her again and I won’t give you the chance to utter another word,” Locke said, his icy voice so eerily calm that it had a chill racing down even my spine.
Cassar let out an animalistic grunt. “Do that and see what happens,” he goaded.
For a moment, I thought Locke might take out the shifter, but Losak hissed, “That’s enough. Cassar will keep his mouth shut.”
The boar shifter looked like he wanted to argue, but Locke gave him a hard look and Cassar kept his lips pressed together, following the order of his alpha. Locke stared Cassar down for another moment, his sword close to breaking the shifter’s skin, but then he lowered his blade and returned to my side.
Asher blew out a breath. “Well, that could have been messy.” From the way he said it, I honestly wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed.
Lyr gave Locke a pointed look as if she was telling him to behave before she began addressing the monsters again, “Raine is not a spy, and why the fae are attacking doesn’t matter. What matters is how we react to the situation. We believe if we offer King Adrien up as an offering to the fae king along with Warrick, we might stand a chance at creating a truce. Especially after we explain that Warrick was the one who captured and tortured the fae prince.”
Kenric barked out a laugh. “King Adrien is long dead.”
