Whatever William taught them would be put to the test tonight.
I made it back to my office just in time for my next appointment, who was already waiting for me. She stood as I entered the room. Ranulf stood beside her and I glanced between them, trying to remember who I was supposed to be meeting. In the hecticness of the day, I hadn’t even looked at my schedule.
“Yer Majesty,” Ranulf announced, coming to my rescue, “this is Rowan MacDonald, granddaughter of Jacob MacDonald.”
The luna before me was petite with curly auburn hair braided away from her face with wisps of hair falling out on the sides. She had a spray of freckles over her nose and cheeks and the most brilliant, dark green eyes. Rowan was all skin and bones; she looked almost fragile. No wonder she couldn’t pass the physical test of the guards. She needed more meat on her bones.
“It’s a pleasure to meet ye, Yer Majesty.” She bowed and placed a fisted hand over her heart.
So this is Jacob’s granddaughter. Hmm. “The pleasure is all mine.” I grinned and motioned for her to take a seat. “Tell me Rowan, how old are you?”
“Twenty-four,” she answered. “I’ll be twenty-five next month.”
She was young, but who was I to judge? I was soon to be 27 and I was already Queen. What I wanted to know was what she could possibly offer the council. I didn’t want to bring her on board just to stick it to Jacob, tempting as it was. Being childish and petty had a time and a place. Everyone I’d chosen for the Queen’s Council had a specific purpose or skill … What was Rowan’s purpose?
I looked at her file. “Ranulf mentioned that you’ve attempted to join the King’s Guard multiple times unsuccessfully. Why do you want to join so badly when you have a degree in political science?” I asked out of curiosity.
She swallowed and scooted forward on her chair. “My uncle—William’s father—was part of the King’s Guard and died a hero, protecting the King. He used to tell us all kinds of stories about the missions he would go on and I remember being amazed, knowing that what he did was so important. He believed in his purpose.” Rowan looked down at her fragile hands. “I know I’m nae that strong, but I’m going to keep trying because now that we have a Queen of the Lycan, we have to protect ye now more than ever.” She looked up at me with such admiration that I was momentarily taken aback. “Yer the first queen, but ye won’t be the last. This is history in the making. I want to be a part of it.”
I nodded and raised a questioning brow. “What about your grandfather?”
She growled, “My grandda is living in the past. I don listen to him, and I don care what he says. It’s time for my generation to start making decisions for our future. They had their time, now it’s ours.”
My elbow was propped on my chair’s armrest and I leaned on my hand as I listened, moved by the fight and determination in her slight frame. She was right. It was our time. The old timers had their chance and now it was time for them to step aside and let us have ours. With me on the throne, I could make some serious changes with the help of other likeminded people.
I gave her a genuine smile as I realized how similar we were. “I can’t offer you a position in the Queen’s Guard, Rowan,” I began. “You don’t meet the physical qualifications, and that’s one of the most important standards for our guards to achieve.” Her face fell and she slumped in the chair, defeated. “But I can offer you something else, if you’re interested.”
She peered up at me sadly, her dreams dashed. “What’s that?”
“How would you like to join the Queen’s Council?” I raised a brow and waited for her response.
Her mouth parted slightly. “The—the Queen’s Council? You mean the Council my grandda was in?” I nodded. “Can—can I do that?”
I laughed. “Yes, you can. If I want you to join my Council, I can make it happen. Don’t worry about your grandfather. I’ll take care of him.”
Rowan’s mouth opened and closed several times as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t quite find the words. It was quite funny to see. I knew her childhood dream was to join the Queen’s Guard, but this wasn’t a bad alternative.
“And there’s no chance I can join the Guard?”
I twisted my mouth to the side. “I won’t say there’s no chance. I mean, if one day you can pass the physical test, I won’t stop you if that’s what you really want. But until then, it’s just not in the cards.”
She nodded, then met my eyes with clear-minded determination. “Okay, I’ll do it!” she beamed. “I’ll join the Council!”
I grinned. “Perfect.” I held out a hand for her to shake. “Welcome to the team, Rowan.”
The day flew by in a flurry of appointments and meetings and before I knew it, evening fell and the moment I’d been dreading was here. Our dinner with Fenrir.
I remained in my office until my guard announced that all invited parties had arrived. Dressed in a pair of navy capri slacks, a pale green blouse, and my favorite oxford loafers, I slipped my hands in my pockets and strolled uneasily through the castle, accompanied by my guards on our way to the dining hall.
I met William at the top of the grand staircase. He was dressed in his Guard uniform with the gold triquetra pinned on the lapel. “All of yer guards are in position in the dining hall. I’ll escort ye in myself with the temporary guards.”
I nodded. “Thank you, William.”
When the doors opened, everyone stood at my presence. I noticed Fenrir was the last to stand, and he did so reluctantly. He came with Raven and Bobby Wu, just as expected. Alexander, Bash, Ranulf, and Ophelia were in attendance as well, with my guards surrounding the room and guarding each exit.
I walked to the head of the table and took a seat, William standing guard behind me. Once I was seated, everyone else sat and light chatter commenced. I reached for my cloth napkin and placed it on my lap as a server poured grape juice in my goblet. It always made me chuckle when I thought about the fact that I was the only one not being poured wine. I glanced around the table to see Raven place her hand on top of the rim to stop them from pouring wine into her glass.
“Water, please,” she murmured. I frowned slightly but brushed it off. Considering she was smashed when we met, I wondered why she was making a special effort to stay sober tonight. It wasn’t like she was the designated driver. If she remained sober, that put a serious kink in our plan to get them all tipsy.
“I see ye’ve cleared out of Loch Lomond,” Ranulf started the conversation.
Fenrir smirked. “We were no longer welcomed.”
I watched their interaction like a ping pong match. Fenrir and his people were on one side of the table, my people were on the other side, and I was in the middle. Fun times.
“Where are ye staying now?” Ranulf queried politely.
Fenrir raised a sardonic brow. “Why? Planning to attack again?”
Ranulf growled, but I cleared my throat to cut them off. “I’m surprised you came,” I said as my plate arrived first. The succulent smell of perfectly cooked steak wafted to my nostrils and my mouth watered.
“Why, little wolf? You think I’m afraid?”
I snorted. “Not at all.” I began cutting my steak, pleased to see the red center. “You just don’t play well with others.”
He grinned. “Neither do you.”
I smiled slyly. “Then I guess we should work well together.” I took a bite of my steak and chewed, wagging my eyebrows at him. “You said it’s a demon terrorizing my lands. How long have you known?”
Fenrir sighed, but Bobby was the one who answered. “Over a year now. Its name is Abaddon, but don’t be fooled. He looks just like you and me.”
“And ye said it escaped the Underworld?” Alexander asked as he took a measured sip of his wine.
Bobby nodded. “‘Abaddon’ means destruction, and he leaves it wherever he goes. He had been imprisoned in the Underworld for a millennia until a certain … incident … broke him free.”
“What incident?” Bash ask
ed, his blue eyes burning brightly.
“That’s none of your business,” Fenrir scoffed.
“I think it’s definitely our business,” I growled. “What incident?”
“Just tell them,” Raven sighed. “There’s no point hiding it.”
Fenrir clenched his jaw before loosening it with great effort. “My sister was imprisoned in the Underworld and I … set her free. In doing so, she freed Abaddon. Accidentally I might add.”
I choked on a laugh. “So this is your fault?”
Fenrir growled, “Watch it, little wolf.”
“I’m just saying. If this is your bad, why are my people suffering because of it?” I inquired. “Where’s your sister? Shouldn’t she be handling this situation?”
There was a ponderous silence before Raven finally admitted, “I killed her.”
I pressed my lips together and wisely remained quiet. Man, and there I thought I had family drama. I wasn’t even going to try and piece that story together. Not my monkey, not my circus.
“Well … uh …”
Crickets.
Each person around the table studiously avoided each other’s gaze. I was getting absolutely no kind of help in this awkward situation. Damn them.
“Long story.” Raven rolled her eyes and went back to eating.
“Anyway,” Fenrir broke the tension, “back to you. What could Abaddon possibly want with you, little wolf?”
Ugh, back to this? Hell if I know!
“I’ve been pondering this all night,” Bobby said. “The real question should be, how does he know about Mackenzie?”
“She’s sort of well-known among the supernatural.” Bash shrugged as if the answer should be obvious.
Bobby shook his head. “But not to a demon. They’re different from us. They’re not interested in humans, which is why they stay away from them; they consider them bland and distasteful. Quite literally.” He shivered. “It’s why they hunt supernaturals. But even so, how would he have heard of her, and what would have attracted him to her?”
“Her recent accession to the throne?” Alexander suggested. It made sense. The demon only made himself known once I was slated to become Queen.
Fenrir shook his head. “Demons don’t care about titles.”
“It’s something she has in her possession,” Ophelia spoke up for the first time tonight. We all turned in her direction.
“If ye know what it is, now is the time to speak, ye ol’ hag,” Ranulf grumbled.
Ophelia smiled demurely, undeterred by the old guard’s snide remark. “All will be revealed in due time.”
Ranulf slammed his palms on the table, making the silverware bounce. “But if ye know—!”
“Stop!” I cut him off. “She doesn’t know,” I said, staring at Ophelia’s milky white eyes. “She hasn’t seen it yet.” She nodded in confirmation. “Whatever it is, I’m most likely not in possession of it yet.” I couldn’t be. I had nothing of value to my name right now, unless you counted what was passed down to me from the crown. But if so, then why didn’t the demon come after Alexander since he was in possession of everything before me? None of this made any sense.
“If that’s the case, then why hasn’t he come for Mackenzie directly? Why go after the Highlanders?” Bash asked.
“He does nae know it’s her,” Ophelia answered. “He is only wandering aimlessly, attacking creatures that enter his path.”
“How do we kill it?” I asked, pushing my plate of food to the side. All this talk of demons and whatnot was making me nauseas. Impending death was a real appetite killer.
“You can’t kill it,” Fenrir explained. “The only option we have is sending it back to the Underworld. That’s where Bobby comes in. It’s why I need him.”
My nostrils flared in anger. I wanted to shout and yell with every fiber of my being, but I somehow managed to hold it all together. This could’ve been avoided if they would have just told me what was going on!
I wiped my mouth with the cloth napkin and tossed it on the table, irritated. “Fine; then we send the thing back to hell. When do we start hunting?”
Fenrir laughed. “It’s not that simple. Do you think I’d still be here if all I had to do was go on a hunt? Abaddon is cunning, and the bastard wears a human face while in this realm. We don’t even know what he looks like.”
“Then we have to find out where his next attack will be and catch him in the act.” I turned to Ophelia. “Can your oracles sign up for this task?”
Ophelia nodded. “This would be a good opportunity for ye to practice as well.”
“Fine, I’ll work with you,” I said begrudgingly.
We moved on to lighter topics and the remainder of dinner passed in a more relaxed manner. I walked Fenrir out of the castle with William and Liam following closely behind.
“So I guess we’ll be working together after all, little wolf.” Fenrir put his hands in his pant pockets as we leisurely strolled through the castle.
“We should have been working together from the start, but you always have to do things ass backwards, don’t you?” I smirked.
He grunted, “I still vote that we kill you. Getting rid of you seems like the logical solution.”
William and Liam growled behind me and I smiled quietly to myself.
“Easy, boys.” Fenrir waved them off. “I won’t touch your precious Queen. You have other enemies closer to home that you need to worry about.”
I stopped walking and turned to Fenrir. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He turned and grinned, pleased that his comment made its mark. “What? Did you think I was the only one after the crown?”
My face darkened as I glared at him. “What do you know about that?”
Fenrir chuckled. “What don’t I know, should be your question, little wolf.” He booped me on my nose and I flinched away. “What are they called again …? The American and European Summits? They’re like your governments, right? Boy, are they working hard to get rid of you! I almost stepped aside to let them, but honestly, little wolf, my money’s on you.” Fenrir shrugged and continued walking out of the castle.
My jaw clenched as I thought about what the Summits could have planned for me in the meeting I’d have with them. I wanted to ask Fenrir what he knew, but that was a double-edged sword. I didn’t want to owe him anything. It was better if I found out on my own. What I needed was an inside man.
I hurried to catch up to Fenrir, who was waiting for me by the front door. We walked across the drawbridge in silence.
“We’ll stay in touch, little wolf.” Fenrir turned and winked at me just as Bobby opened a portal. The three of them disappeared in the blink of an eye, leaving us there watching the empty space they had just occupied.
“Get some guards to escort Ophelia back to the temple,” I ordered before turning around and heading back inside the castle.
16
Throughout the next week, the castle was on high alert. The guards trained with renewed vigor and everyone seemed to move with a single-minded purpose. The day after our dinner with Fenrir, a host of Valkyries arrived at the front gate to work alongside my guards to patrol Caledonian Forest looking for Abaddon, the missing Highlanders, and our missing guards, which we now believed were either taken or killed by Abaddon.
As if this wasn’t enough to keep my attention fully gripped, I still had to prepare for my mating ceremony and my upcoming Summit meeting.
I struggled to make it through each day without alerting the others to my increasing bouts of exhaustion, sucking down cup after cup of strongly brewed coffee to give me a temporary boost. I finally reached a point where even I had to admit I needed to rest, so I told the others I was taking a one-hour break before my meeting with Helena.
Leaving William in the common room, I entered my bedroom and flopped face-first onto my bed, kicking off my shoes. Looking for my silk sleep mask, I fumbled on my nightstand and pulled out the drawer without looking, patting the inside trying to find it,
when I touched something made of leather.
My head popped up as I leaned over my bed and peered inside the drawer, surprised to see Adaline’s journal that Lucian had given me at my coronation. I’d placed it in this drawer and never even opened it up.
I bit my lip and wondered whether I should take a peek now, or take that much needed nap before my full schedule today.
Curiosity killed the cat, but I’m a wolf.
I pulled out the journal and unwrapped it. Inside, the pages were yellowed from age. The writing that flowed over each page was in a beautiful, lilting cursive. I carefully turned the pages until I found one that was addressed to me.
My dearest Mackenzie,
If you’re reading this, that means I am most likely no longer with you. My visions of our future have been unclear lately, but I’m doing everything possible to keep you safe. I’ve made many mistakes, but having you isn’t one of them. You are my greatest accomplishment and my greatest joy. If one day we are to ever part, just know that I loved you with every fiber in my being. No one will ever love you as much as I do. The love of a mother is powerful and unlike anything else.
You may wonder about your father, and I’m sorry I took you away from him. He’s a good man, but he has responsibilities that do not include us. It is safer for us to be away. Just know you have his eyes. That is your most important attribute. If the day ever comes and you’re questioned, know you have his eyes.
Although my visions are unclear, I see a bright future for you. Of that, I am certain. It is for that reason that I am not worried. You will have the life you deserve. The life I want for you. A life of freedom. And if I’m not by your side, enjoy it for the both of us.
I love you, Mackenzie.
Love always,
Mom
I bit my lip to keep from crying aloud and let the tears roll down my face. I’d never felt close to Adaline, I never even knew her, but this letter … this journal … these were her thoughts. Her feelings—towards me.
Queen of the Lycan Page 22
