I do make it, to the window, at least. Despite the fact that the glass panel is all the way up, I hit what feels like a wall of pure electricity and the same magic that sealed the door sends me spiraling to the ground with a yelp.
When I’m sure I’m going to hit the rocks in the garden below, someone catches me. Christopher’s scent fills my nostrils and I look up to find him staring down at me in concern. “Danica?” He sinks to the ground with me, checking my fur over for injuries.
I shift, paying no mind to modesty. Not when lives are at stake. “Christopher!” I cry, throwing my arms around him. He freezes, but slowly begins to return the embrace. “The castle is sealed! Jenna says it’s magic.”
“I know,” he says, looking down at me in a blend of confusion and relief. “I thought you were trapped inside.”
“I got out when I followed Mace onto the balcony.”
“Mace?” he frowns. Now he’s giving me a look like he thinks I hit my head.
“I know what it sounds like, but he was here,” I insist. “I should’ve known it was just a distraction.”
“What did he say?” he asks urgently.
I hesitate, trying to decide whether it’s wise to admit the bizarre confession Mace made right before he disappeared. I’ll sound even crazier, but something in me just still can’t bring myself to lie to Christopher. “He said he was the one who killed my parents,” I murmur. Repeating his words stirs fresh pain and confusion within me. “Maybe he was just trying to get into my head, I don’t know. If he was, it worked, but the way he was talking made me think he isn’t working alone.”
“Mages,” he says, frowning. “Figures Mace would be the one to get himself wrapped up in that kind of thing.”
“Whoever they are, we have to get to Albien. I’m sure that’s who they’re after.”
Christopher nods, helping me to my feet. He puts his coat around my shoulders and starts examining the building.
“The windows are sealed, too,” I say.
“I know, I saw what happened before you fell.” He grows distant, and I can tell he’s weighing every option. Christopher was always the smart one. If anyone can figure a way out of—or into—this mess, it’s him.
“Give me your locket,” he says suddenly.
I clutch the golden pendant around my neck. “What? Why?”
“Just hurry.”
I slip the necklace over my head and drop it into his hand, watching curiously as he kneels down. He draws a short knife from his boot and begins to carve a large symbol into the freshly upturned earth of the garden. I’ve never seen the symbol before, but it’s intricate, almost like a crest. Once he’s done, Christopher places the locket in the center and wipes his blade off on his pants. He holds out his hand expectantly. “I need your blood.”
“Blood?” I cry. “Why?”
“Do you want to get in there or not?”
I reluctantly hold out my hand, wincing as he cuts into my palm. It’s only a small cut, but as soon as the blood drips onto the locket, the symbol Christopher carved into the dirt springs to life. It becomes a glowing neon green band of light, lifting into the air above. The locket hangs suspended from the light before the whole thing shoots out to strike the side of the castle.
The blue magic from before is visible once more, and the green symbol begins to change in shade until it matches. The intricate matrices of magic wrapped all around the castle are visible now, and I stare in awe as the electric blue lines shatter all at once, shooting out in all directions.
Christopher dives to cover me as the energy rushes past us, and a blue bolt that hits his back carves a gash in his coat with a spray of blood.
“Christopher!”
“I’m fine,” he says, grimacing as he pulls away. “It’s not deep. Come on.”
He takes my hand and leads me through the door that leads into the servants’ quarters. To my amazement, it opens to allow us inside without a hitch.
“How did you do that?” I demand without stopping as we run down the hall.
Christopher glances down at me, but he doesn’t answer. He’s always had an interest in magic, but he knew better than to voice it to anyone other than me. He shouldn’t even be able to wield that kind of power, and yet I saw it happen with my own eyes.
“Christopher, answer me!”
“It’s a spell,” he mutters. “I wasn’t sure it would work.”
“A spell?” I echo. Since when does he cast spells?
“A mirror spell. If you have two halves of a whole—the locket, in your case—you can sometimes use them to break any magical interference separating them.”
“Where did you learn to do something like that?”
“We study magic as part of our training.” I can tell he’s not giving me the full truth, but we’ve come to the end of the hallway. “Up there,” he murmurs, rushing toward the stairs that lead into Albien’s chambers.
I push my questions aside and try to focus on finding my brother. When we finally reach the throne room, which is certainly where any guards who remained within the castle would have rushed him to, it’s empty save for the cloak he was wearing that night on the ground. I run to gather the heavy fabric and something hard falls to the ground.
With a shaking hand, I reach down to pick up the matching locket he wears and hold it up for Christopher to see. His eyes meet mine, full of somber understanding.
“Albien is gone,” I whisper.
Chapter Eight
Jenna is the first to find us in the throne room, followed immediately by James. He rushes to my side and I freeze as he looks down at my wounded hand.
“You’re hurt,” he snarls. His eyes are blood red and his lip is still curled back, but any fear I have that he might attack disappears when I realize how frightened he is. Frightened for me.
“It’s nothing serious,” I assure him, wrapping my hand in the cloth Jenna offers me. “More importantly, Mace was here and he took Albien.”
“Mace?” James asks, as disbelieving as Christopher was at first. “Are you sure?”
“I know him,” I mutter. “He wasn’t working alone.”
“No, apparently he has a whole host of mages with him.”
“Where did you see him?” Jenna demands. She’s stiff and full of nervous energy. I can tell she’s as worried about Albien’s safety as I am, and the fear in her gaze is genuine. Protecting him is more than just a job to her. It’s a calling.
“In the ballroom. He asked me to dance,” I answer, knowing she’ll need as much information as possible. As I recount the details of my experience with Mace, up to meeting Christopher outside the castle walls, the other alpha grows nervous.
“How did the seal around the castle break?” Jenna asks.
Before I can answer, Christopher’s eyes meet mine, pleading. He shakes his head slightly and I rethink the answer on the tip of my tongue. He’s the one who broke the spell, but he did it with magic. The fact that he doesn’t want to take credit for it is just proof that the whole “I learned it in training” story is bullshit.
I decide to keep his confidence, even if it does mean lying to James and Jenna, for the moment. It’s not the first secret we’ve kept for each other, and old habits die hard. “I don’t know. Albien was gone when we got here, maybe it just wore off.”
Neither James nor Jenna seem content with that explanation, but they move on. “I’ll send out a search party. We’ll find him,” Jenna says with force that makes me suspect she’s trying to convince herself as much as me. As soon as she’s gone, I turn to James.
“Where is Rowan?” I ask.
“He’s leading the other knights,” James answers. “When the bombs went off, we split up looking for the culprit. There was some trouble near the border, but it turned out to be a false alarm.”
“Or a distraction,” Christopher mutters.
James gives him a harder look. “How did you two get in here first?”
“We were already looking for a way in
,” Christopher says without hesitation. Seeing what a smooth liar he is on a moment’s notice makes me wonder just how many times I’ve been on the receiving end.
James looks at me, like he’s trying to figure out if I’ll call Christopher’s bluff. I know this could blow up, and we need to stay focused on Albien right now, above anything else. “James, could you make sure Rowan is alright? Please?”
He hesitates for a moment, before he finally mutters, “Sure,” and walks off.
As soon as I’m alone with Christopher, I cry, “What the hell was that?”
“What was what?” he asks innocently.
“It’s one thing to lie to Jenna for you. If you expect me to cover even with James, I need a reason,” I insist. “How do you know how to do magic?”
“I just know, okay?”
“Not okay! That’s not an answer, Christopher.”
He sighs. “Fine. It’s just something I’ve always been able to do. I learned under the radar.”
“Where?”
“In books.”
“Banned books?” I ask. “You risked your life for this shit?”
“I thought it would be useful to know, alright? Looks like I was right.”
“If Jenna finds out —”
“She won’t,” he says flatly. “Not unless you tell her.”
I grit my teeth. “Of course I’m not going to tell her, but this is dangerous and you know it.” It’s not enough that I have to worry about where Mace has taken my brother. Now I have to worry that my best friend is going to get himself burned at the stake.
“Don’t worry about me. Just focus on finding Albien,” he mutters, looking around the room.
“What are you doing?” I ask as he kneels down next to the cloak, searching the floor for something.
“Looking for a trail.”
“A trail of what?”
“Magic. Sometimes it leaves a residue,” he says, swiping his fingers across the floor. He rubs them together and frowns. I’m not sure if that means he found something or didn’t.
“Well?”
“Nothing,” he says, shaking his head. “Whoever did this was good at covering their tracks.”
“What are you, some kind of mage detective now?”
He gives me a look, rising. “Come on, let’s get you out of here in case they come back.”
“If they come back, I want to be here,” I say as Christopher takes my arm to lead me out of the room. As soon as we reach the hall, I see Rowan being carried in on a stretcher and run to him.
“Rowan!”
“Hey,” he says with a sheepish smile. His left arm is in a sling, and there’s a huge bruise forming on his forehead.
“What happened?” I cry, looking him over. If he’s tolerating them carting him around, he’s really injured.
“I’m fine, just got thrown in one of the blasts.”
I stare at him in disbelief. “That’s a big deal!”
“Nah, just a broken bone and a minor concussion. It’ll heal in no time.”
I touch his cheek without thinking, wincing at the size of the bruise. It looks tender. Rowan touches my hand, his gaze softening. “I heard about your brother. I’m sorry, Dan. We’ll find him.”
“I know we will.”
“You really saw Mace?” he asks, frowning.
All I can do is nod. “He wouldn’t tell me what he wants. But if he’s working with mages now…”
“They could be anywhere,” Rowan murmurs. “Should’ve burned every last one of them.”
I gulp. He’s certainly not the only one in the kingdom who feels that way. I might’ve agreed, until I realized Christopher was one of them.
Chapter Nine
Every knight in the King’s service searches the castle grounds from top to bottom ten times over. James is out now, leading an expedition through vampire territory in hopes of turning up a trail. Not a trace of my brother—or his captors—is found. No one else reported even seeing a man who matches Mace’s description, and I can tell from the way Rowan and James look at me that they’re wondering if I really saw what I know I did.
“Goodness knows the poor little omega has been through so much,” I overheard one of the maids saying this morning. Somehow, I thought people would be less condescending when I became a Princess.
I know what they all think, and the necessarily vague cover story about my reappearance isn’t helping. It’s infuriating that everyone thinks I was just sitting around waiting to be rescued all this time, but with Albien’s disappearance, the kingdom is shakier than ever. If Harquest’s hand is forced, he’s in a good position to take control I can’t afford to let him have.
If nothing else, I owe it to Albien to make sure his throne is secure until we find him. And I will find him if I have to hunt Mace to the ends of the earth.
Being forbidden to leave the castle, despite the fact that it’s the very place Albien went missing, I had to send an envoy to check up on Aspen and the pack. That’s easier said than done when the outlands are separated from us by all of vampire territory, but James pulled a few strings.
Now that I know he’s safe, I can focus on finding my brother. The only thing keeping me from panicking completely is the fact that I can feel him. Maybe I always could. It’s a subtle feeling I never noticed until he was gone, but it’s the faintest, strangest sense that somewhere, however far away he is, he’s still alive. Still part of me.
I won’t let Mace, or anyone else, take him away from me. At night, I close my eyes and try to focus on that link, even though I know it’s a pipe dream that he feels it, too. Nonetheless, I try to project the message that we’re coming for him. That he’s not alone.
I jump as someone knocks on my door. I close the book I “borrowed” from Albien’s study and stow it under the bed. It’s one thing for the King to have a tome full of information on mages, but I know I’ll look suspicious if I’m caught reading it. Right now, I feel helpless knowing Albien could be literally anywhere, thanks to those magical assholes, and if forbidden knowledge gives me an edge, I’m willing to risk it.
When I open the door, I’m surprised to see Jenna on the other side. Even more surprised to see her bloodshot eyes. She’s usually so put together. Has she been crying? Maybe she stayed up all night.
The entire castle seems to have been in a fog ever since Albien’s disappearance. He might be an unconventional king, but he’s clearly well-loved among his subjects. What disturbs me the most are the pitying looks I get from the servants. As if they’ve already started to grieve and think me a fool for not giving up after a week.
“Your Majesty,” Jenna says, bowing gallantly before me. “A visitor awaits you in the parlor.”
“A visitor?” I frown. This is hardly the time for social calls.
“Lord Raoul, Princess.” Her tone is grave, making me think the subject of his visit is more than just to offer his condolences.
I nod, following her downstairs. Sure enough, Raoul is waiting on the sofa. He stands and bows to me, as graceful as ever. His light hair spills over his shoulder, despite being bound behind his neck. He’s undeniably handsome, but there’s something in his eyes that makes me wary of him. It’s the same glint of darkness that always put me on edge with Mace, even before his betrayal.
Well… I’m not sure his betrayal of Ryland counts anymore. I’m not even sure they aren’t working together, but there’s more troubled water under that bridge.
“Lord Raoul,” I say, trying to sound as polite as I can, given the circumstances. “How may I help you?”
“Forgive the intrusion, Your Majesty,” he says, kissing my hand. “I’m sure this is a difficult time for you.”
“It is,” I admit, taking a seat in the chair across from him. Jenna bows and takes her leave. “But I have confidence that the Royal Knights will return my brother.”
“Of course,” Raoul says in the most patronizing tone possible. “I have no doubt of it.”
I wait expectantly. Normally
, I’d worry about embarrassing myself or making some kind of faux pas around one of the Pentarch, but he’s taking up time I could be using to at least try to learn more about the mages who took my brother.
“I came to speak with you about your role, now that King Albien is… displaced from his throne,” he says once he realizes I’m not going to ask him to explain himself.
“My role?” I frown.
“Yes. Fortunately, you were already coronated when this tragic event occurred,” he says, going a bit over the top in his attempt to seem broken up about it. I can tell from the look in his eyes that he sees this as nothing more than an opportunity. For what, I still don’t know. “Otherwise, there would have been a leadership vacuum and I’m afraid that your rightful place as Queen might have been usurped by the Duke.”
“I’m not Queen yet,” I remind him. “And I don’t plan on being one. Like I said, we will find my brother.”
“Of course,” he says in an apologetic tone. “I only meant that there are those who will see this as an opportunity.”
“An opportunity?” I ask, pretending like I have no idea what he’s talking about. I know how alphas work, and the dumber you play, the bigger fools they make out of themselves.
“Your reign is still quite tentative, and your only courtiers are outsiders, after all.”
“Sir Rowan and Sir Christopher are Royal Knights,” I say coldly. “They are quite capable of leading at my side, should the need arise.”
“I meant nothing of it, Your Majesty,” he says, flashing me an appeasing smile. “But there are traditionalists in the kingdom who might feel… uncomfortable with such inexperienced men leading our dynasty, as noble as they may be.”
“Forgive me, Lord Raoul. Are you speaking as a member of the Pentarch right now, or is this a personal matter?”
My question clearly flusters him. “Both, I suppose. I’d simply hate to see this dynasty’s stability compromised by those who would take advantage of this situation.”
Court of Alphas: A WhyChoose Shifter Romance Page 4
