Keiran let himself be scooped up into Jace’s arms again, tucking his face against the alpha’s shoulder. He also closed his eyes and wished that he could close his ears, wanting to know no more of what was happening around them. He could hear the fighting, hear the screams of pain, and feel the heavy thumping vibrations of bodies being tossed around.
“I have to put you down for a second.”
He found his feet and looked around. Though he hadn’t noticed them descending any further, they stood at the mouth to some sort of tunnel. Jace strained against a heavy door, pushing it flush against the frame and activating several locks before staggering backward.
“Is this the safe room?”
“Almost,” Jace promised. “We have a few more doors to go through.”
Four, to be exact. Keiran said nothing for the first two but, on the third, he couldn’t help himself. “How do ordinary doors keep people from getting into the safe room?”
Jace actually laughed, though the sound seemed somewhat crazed. “These aren’t ordinary doors. They can only be opened from this side. And they are made of solid titanium. The frame to which they are attached goes up five feet into the roof of the tunnel, and five feet down through the floor. Five doors like this, of which each one would take a massive amount of attacks or digging to remove. It buys us time to win the fight, just in case anyone stands a chance of reaching us.”
Keiran followed Jace down the tunnel to the next door, holding his hands under his stomach while he walked. That helped with some of the strain, he had discovered. “But then, how are we supposed to know when it’s safe to come out?”
“As it turns out, this safe room is directly beneath Father’s chambers on the fifth floor. Almost as if it was intended to be built that way.”
Keiran smiled for his alpha, though he felt too nauseated to really enjoy the joke.
“There is an interesting device in Father’s room that resembles an ornate hat stand. It is attached to an incredibly long wire that is threaded through a tube in the earth, which ends at the ceiling of the safe room. There are bells attached to the end of the wire. If anyone moves the hat stand, the bells will move. They are to be rung five times, once every five minutes once it is safe to leave.”
“That’s a really convoluted solution. And really clever. How many people know the code?”
“Sixteen, which is a rather small portion of the castle staff.”
Somehow, the extra information added onto the end of that statement didn’t make Keiran feel better. However, he really had no choice. This was what had to be done.
They reached a sixth and final door, beyond which lay the safe room. Jace shut that door behind them, and the resounding thump had a finality to it that Keiran didn’t like. He imagined the two of them—the three of them—never hearing the correct chime of bells. Of the system being damaged. Of somehow just never leaving this safe room far beneath the ground. They had saved the resistance some trouble and gone willingly to a grave.
Stop it.
“Let’s get some light down here, shall we? I think you might relax once you’re able to see.”
Jace flipped the switch, and Keiran blinked as his eyes adjusted. And then he was only blinking in astonishment at the room. He had been expecting something extremely medieval, like a dungeon. What he got instead was a tastefully furbished little room with tapestries and paintings of panoramic views covering most of the metal walls. There was a tiny combination kitchen and dining room, two beds surrounded by shelves that contained books and board games, and a separate bathroom.
“Wow. We could have a vacation down here.”
Jace smiled a little, coming over to Keiran and wrapping his arms around the omega. Keiran gripped him hard in return, desperate for as much comfort as he could get. “I know that this isn’t ideal but we’ll be safe, and there’s a six-month supply of food down here.”
Keiran glanced around the room, trying to figure out where that much food might be hidden. “Where?”
In answer, Jace went over to the bed and lifted up the skirt. The beds were stacks of crates with mattresses placed on top. “Anywhere they could stick it, I think.”
“Do we have a limited supply of water too?” Keiran worried about that more than he did the food, knowing as he did the varied importance of each.
“No. We are connected to the water pipes that run through the castle. Same for the electricity, for hot water, the stove and the lights. We also have vents piping in fresh air. Hidden.”
Keiran went over to one of the makeshift beds and sat down on the edge of the mattress. The beds were small and it would be rough getting two people in the same bed, but he supposed it could be done if they tried really hard. “How long do you think we’ll be down here?” he whispered. “A month? The whole six months?”
Jace came over to him, his weight lifting the other end of the loose mattress so that Keiran slid down and slumped against him. Keiran took advantage of the situation and tucked in close to Jace’s body, craving heat and love. “No,” Jace soothed. “I don’t think we’ll be down here for even a week. If the bells don’t ring in three days even, I’ll be surprised. This was a hastily put-together attack. I thought that since the beginning, but I had it confirmed for me when I saw your friend Ty.”
Not my friend anymore.
“If this was an organized attack, they would have brought a smaller number of incredibly powerful creatures. The way things are going, they would also all be alphas. Having so many small creatures like Ty, and especially omegas, tells me that they were desperate to make a move and brought along anyone.” Jace hugged Keiran and rocked him gently from side to side. “It’s times like this that make me glad I actually learned as much as I did. I don’t want you to be scared of anything that you don’t need to be scared of.”
Keiran clutched at Jace and they took comfort from one another. As for how long they cuddled, he didn’t know because he had realized there were no clocks down here.
“We can’t even know how long we’ve been down here?”
“That was the only part of the safe room’s design that caused a huge debate,” Jace said. He shrugged. “Some behind the construction came to believe that having a clock down here would make the occupants go crazy from watching the time. And then there were the others who thought that not knowing how long they’d been down here would be what made for craziness.”
“And in the end, the no-clock people won?”
“I guess so, but I’ll be damned if I remember why. That part of the lesson didn’t stick with me.”
Keiran sighed and cuddled back up against Jace again. A new concern had come to him, that he might go into labor down here and not have medical help, but that was just the same concern Jace had already put to rest. He needed to believe the one who had all the experience with this kind of thing.
It was funny, now that he thought about it. They had both changed since they met. He was no longer so helpless, and Prince Moody wasn’t so moody anymore; they were only capable of making those changes once they found each other. He just hoped that they would live long enough to continue growing together.
They ate dinner together and then played a board game before curling up in bed to finish what they started earlier.
When they woke again, Jace prepared a breakfast of pancakes made with flour and powdered milk and applesauce instead of eggs. It was good enough, if slightly bland. After that, there was nothing to do but try to amuse themselves until the next meal. It was easy at first, as they went through a stack of board games. Everything started going south as Keiran became unduly upset over losing a game of checkers for the fourth time in a row.
“I’m just good at strategizing,” Jace said, in an attempt to smooth over the situation. Keiran growled at him, knowing that he really had no reason to be angry, and Jace put up his hands and went to get a book from the shelf. Then, Keiran pouted over having to put the game up by himself. It took far longer than it should have because he kept stopp
ing to shoot glares at Jace, and then he picked a book too. At least the shelves were stocked with a variety of novels so that he could choose something that was actually slightly interesting.
The problem was that the only chairs were uncomfortable dining room chairs and those made him ache these days. That left sitting on the bed while leaning against the wall, which meant that he would be next to Jace.
Keiran wandered over and climbed up onto the mattress, shooting Jace a scowl.
Jace turned to smile at him. “I think you’re the real Prince Moody.”
And Keiran hit him over the head with what was really a rather heavy book. Jace rubbed his head and then wrapped his arm around Keiran’s shoulders so they could cuddle up and read together.
Lunch passed, and then another dinner. They fell asleep with the lights on, both of them doing their own thing.
Breakfast the next day came without any signals from above, and Keiran was about at the end of his rope. This was only the third day they’d been down here, and he already felt like he’d gone mad.
“I thought you said you didn’t think we’d even be down here for three days,” he complained out loud. They were playing checkers again, not that he knew why. Jace seemed to have discovered a passion for it. Either that, or he just liked winning a lot.
“Technically, we haven’t been down here for three full days yet,” Jace pointed out.
Keiran swiped a handful of checkers off the board and prepared to toss them at the alpha, who laughed and held up the board in front of his face. Playing pieces scattered everywhere. Just then, the bells chimed.
A thought occurred to Keiran, a major oversight in the design of this place. “Jace?”
“Hmm?” Jace stared up at the ceiling, watching the little bells bounce and jingle. The merry sound seemed somehow sinister to Keiran, and he shivered.
“How are we supposed to count five chimes spread out in five-minute increments if we don’t have a clock to tell the time?”
Jace didn’t seem particularly concerned. “I guess we use our ingrained sense of time.”
To Keiran, the gap between bell chimes seemed as wide as an eternity. However, Jace gave a nod. “That seemed about right to me. If it happens again in about the same amount of time, I think we’re set.”
I guess that makes sense. If it was the invaders just screwing around with the hat stand, it probably wouldn’t be something measured out like this.
They sat through the rest of the chimes in silence, and then waited an even longer time afterwards to make sure another wasn’t coming. When it didn’t, Jace stood up and held out his hand to Keiran. “We’re safe. It’s time to go up and pick up the pieces. Are you ready?”
Keiran took a deep breath and took Jace’s big hand, letting himself be pulled to his feet. “As long as I’m with you, I’ll always be ready.”
Chapter 22
Confusion reigned in the castle, as it normally did after a large event of any kind. However, this was much worse than the drunken laughter and aimless wandering of servants after a ball or an important dinner. This was chaos, lined with death.
Jace pressed Keiran’s face to his shoulder as he walked with the omega in his arms. “Don’t look,” he urged.
“I don’t need to look. I can smell it.”
The dead lined the halls, members of both sides. Marvin passed by him at one point and whispered, “We lost one. Griffin didn’t make it.”
Jace’s chest ached. One of his own Guard, put down in the siege. “Appoint a replacement immediately,” he said, not bothering to hide the raw pain in his voice. Marvin bowed and went to carry out his bidding. Jace scanned the faces as he passed, but he didn’t see the wolf Griffin amongst their numbers – when he was capable of making out facial features at all. They had won, but the win came roughly and without finesse.
He could see no survivors in the hall, which he hoped meant that during the siege they had been immediately rushed to one of the rooms converted into safe points for the injured, since the hospital had been under lockdown. Servants ran here and there, carrying bandages and food and countless other things. Guards patrolled the halls, leaving bloody footprints as they searched for any remaining invaders. Everyone looked weary, shocked, and simultaneously furious.
And here came Don, arm in a sling and a web of thin scars destroying the beauty of his dark face. “Jace,” he said.
Jace tilted his head, gesturing for Don to follow him as he took Keiran to the hospital. The doctors and nurses would be terribly busy, shifting patients around to make room for casualties, but he hardly cared. They would drop everything when he commanded them to, and they would examine Keiran instead. He was the future of the kingdom, and the potential two kingdoms. He had to be certain that both the omega and his child were okay.
“Tell me what happened.”
Don related the events quickly. After the first initial burst of fighting that lasted for an entire day, the attack became a deadly game of hide-and-seek. And that was where the castle warriors had the advantage, since they knew the layout of the building. At that point, more of the enemy were captured than killed and they were being tended to in the castle prisons by members of the Auroris police force.
Jace nodded. It was exactly as he’d thought. A deadly attack carried out in desperation, with no prior planning behind it. “All of them will be charged. Gather our lawyers. I want every single person tried for terrorism.”
Don gave a smile without any joy. “I knew you would want that, and so it is already done.”
“Good,” he said, grimly.
Arriving at the hospital doors, he pushed inside to find a scene that was just as crazy as the rest of the castle, if not more. Ignoring all of it, he grabbed a nurse and demanded that she fetch a doctor. Fear bright in her eyes, she did so.
Jace turned to Don as Keiran was loaded into a wheelchair, frowning, but too overwhelmed to protest. “I need you to stay here with him. I have to check the prisons.”
Don nodded, not protesting at all. “I understand. Go.”
Pressing a kiss to Keiran’s knuckles, Jace said, “I love you.”
Keiran growled at him. “I love you too, you sentimental dumbo. Now go!”
Compared to the chaos of above, the prison beneath the castle was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. Police officers lined the single exit, patrolling up and down the long hallway. There were prison cells on either side of that hallway, not communal but individual cells for a single person each. However, the number of captured attackers was so great that some cells held two or even three.
Jace said nothing as he made his way down the hall. He didn’t speak, and no one spoke to him. Many of the prisoners didn’t even seem to notice they were being watched. Others looked up at him and then immediately dropped their eyes again, but not before he saw shame on their faces. Without a mob mentality urging them to lose their senses, they were just regular people who would never have a normal life again. The death penalty was illegal in Auroris, so these terrorists would all be sent to a maximum security prison... and they would never leave it.
Someone tapped his shoulder from behind, and he whirled around, fangs bared, already halfway through shifting. It was Don. The man’s presence when he should have been up in the hospital with Keiran didn’t do much to appease him, but he forced the changes back and pushed away from the wall. “This had better be good,” he growled.
“Jace,” Don gasped, and Jace suddenly realized how terrified his advisor looked. “You have to come back to the hospital!”
Jace grabbed at his shirt and shook him. “Fucking spit it out! Is it Keiran? What’s wrong with Keiran?”
“No,” Don choked out. “It’s not Keiran.”
“Then?”
“It’s your father.”
Jace shoved Don out of the way and lurched forward. He hit the ground as a wolf and ran, legs pumping and his body a machine in motion. He reached the hospital in record time and slammed his shoulder against the door, k
nocking it off its hinges and barging into the waiting room. He ignored the startled cries of nurses and patients, pushing past all of them and racing deep within the halls. He had no idea where they were keeping his father at this point in time, but he followed the faintest of scent trails and managed to wind up at the correct room anyway.
Sanjay stood just inside, hands folded and head bowed. “He’s going,” he said, and that was all. He left the room, leaving Jace alone with a man who already resembled a corpse.
Labored breathing filled the room. Every machine was silent. No attempt was being made to keep the Head Predator alive, as per his wishes. And with his sunken eyes already closed, he already looked dead.
Jace approached, setting his hands down on the mattress and leaning over the prone man. “Father,” he whispered. “Father, I’m here.”
“Jace?” The word took so much effort that the old king couldn’t even open his eyes. Instead, he reached out with fumbling fingers. Jace gripped his father’s hand tightly.
“I’m here, Father. I came as quickly as I could.”
“You always were a good boy,” the Head Predator murmured. He said nothing else, and within a few minutes his breathing grew fainter until there was no breath at all. His chest stilled, never to move again.
It wasn’t a beautiful moment. His father wasn’t capable of giving any important last words with a meaningful message; he hadn’t even been truly coherent. It was nothing at all, not even a goodbye. It was just an end.
“No,” Jace whispered to himself. He stood. His legs tingled. He could hardly feel them. “This is just the beginning.”
Moving like a man underwater, he left the dead and went to go find the one person he loved who was still alive.
Chapter 23
I never imagined I’d weigh like 200 pounds during my wedding.
Keiran looked down at his body and frowned, although truth be told he couldn’t find it in himself to be grouchy. Not even Jace could be Prince Moody on a day like today, although soon enough he would be King Moody. Today was the day, their combined wedding and Jace’s coronation. However, today was even more than that. As soon as the coronation ended, the polls for voting to split Dexus into two kingdoms would open up. All the guests invited to the wedding and coronation would vote at the booth set up in the castle, and then head to the reception. It was going to be a full day, and an incredibly tiring one for an omega who was four months pregnant. He would be popping out a shifter baby any day now and he could hardly wait to meet their child.
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