Series: Charmaine Pauls
Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
“I doubt it.” His expression darkens. “But I won’t eliminate the possibility, not yet.”
“What a treacherous place Lona has become,” I say with loathing.
“No more treacherous than it’s always been,” he replies. “The only thing that changes are the enemies.”
We exit on the inner courtyard level where Kian as well as my uncles and aunts are gathered. They’re sitting on stone benches arranged in a circle in the middle of the lush garden. Blue bell flower creepers twist around the trunks of old yellow bark trees, their sweet, subtle perfume faint in the air.
My father stops a distance away from the others and nods at my shoulder. “How’s your mobility?”
“Fine.” I swing my arm to loosen the muscles. “It was only a flesh wound.”
“The Phaelix had a good shot at chopping off your head.” His eyes narrow with calculation. “That has never happened before.”
“He crept up on me.”
He watches me with a perceptive gaze. “You were distracted.”
By my mate. As always, the unsaid rings much louder than what’s been said.
I gnash my teeth. “I felt him the minute he moved. Him ending up in a puddle on the floor is proof of that.”
“You were lucky.”
I take a wide stance. “What are you saying, Father?”
“You’ve never been wounded before.”
“There’s always a first time.”
“Yes,” he drawls. “And every time teaches us a lesson. I think it’s safe to assume the presence of your mate diminished your vigilance in the attack.”
“On the contrary, it heightened it.”
“But it changed your priorities.”
I don’t reply because that may be true. Every one of my senses was tuned into the fight. I smelled that filthy Phaelix just as strongly as I felt him when he jumped through the air. But with Elsie there, I could only think about getting her to safety. The notion of anything happening to her made me volatile, triggering a protectiveness unrivaled by any other battle-hardened instinct.
As if to prove the point, a tremor shakes the floor at my recollection of that dangerous situation.
My father glances at the gathering of royals, who all have their eyes trained on us, and says in a lowered voice, “Don’t let word of it get out. There’s no point in broadcasting a weakness. Just be careful with your mate. Next time, lock her up in a safe place so she can’t distract you in a fight.”
I curl my fingers into a fist. “It’s not Elsie’s fault.”
“In a way, it is,” he declares with a truthful solemness I rarely see on his face. “If you’re not careful, she’ll be your downfall.”
“Don’t start with that too,” I bite out.
“I’m only telling the truth as a man who can speak with experience.”
I take a moment to digest that. My father has lived almost a century of moon cycles with his mate, enough to have learned the advantages as well as the pitfalls of that union. He’s had the benefit of time to master the art of successfully navigating said pitfalls. For Elsie and me, it’s only just starting. Because she was stolen from me and condemned to a cruel fate.
“Elsie almost died on Earth.” My words are measured. “The person who did that to her—to us—will pay.”
My father watches me with an unfaltering gaze. “The issue at hand is the immediate threat. Your mate is clouding your thinking. Our duty is to protect our people.”
My smile is cold. “Our duty is always first to our mates. That’s the rule of our kind. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t protect Mother with your life.”
The smile he offers in return is challenging. “I’ll protect both your mother and our people.”
“But you’ll protect her first. Isn’t that what you’re trying to tell me?”
He doesn’t answer, but he knows what I mean. He knows I believe the queen sent my mate to Earth. My own mother. Who else was powerful enough at that time to create a portal that could bridge the parallel worlds? Yes, that’s what he’s thinking too. I can see it in his eyes. He can’t hide it from me.
It’s also true that, since then, somebody has been very busy practicing the art of creating portals. How else would the humans have ended up here? Which brings me to a matter I wanted to discuss once I’d claimed and secured my mate. As it looks now, the claiming isn’t going to be easy or quick, seeing how hard-headed Elsie is.
Keeping my voice down, I say, “There was a barge with human slaves on it when I rescued Elsie from the Phaelix.”
My father grows still. “The rumors are true then.”
“I’m afraid so.”
He exhales, suddenly looking older than his age. “So someone is bringing humans in from Earth. That makes for a lot of puzzles to solve—the poison, the traitor amongst us, and now the irrefutable proof that someone other than your mother can create portals to Earth.”