A Final Paige (Hidden Kingdom Trilogy Book 3)

by L. Rose

  “Let’s go,” Alex said, and then he disappeared with Asher and Thorn. Cedrick glided quickly to my side and swept Ezra up in one arm on the way to me. As soon as his arm wound around my waist, everything disappeared around me. My head spun for a second, and then my feet jarred when I landed on new flooring, we arrived shortly after Alex, Thorn, and Asher.

  “Therolidi, step away from her,” Cedrick demanded in a low, cold, and hard tone.

  I lifted my gaze and growled. My wolf was already prowling close to the surface. Especially when I saw Paige unconscious on a metal table and a man standing over her with a knife to her neck.

  “Where is Thera?” Therolidi asked in a mild tone and with a smirk I wanted to wipe off his face. He glanced to Ezra and me as we both growled. “Calm, beasts. I’ve already told the mage not to use any magic, and the vampire, if he so much as moves a hair, I’ll cut her head off.”

  I sensed Alex, Asher, and Thorn close, but I didn’t dare look toward them and take my eyes off the threat.

  “Move the fuck away from her, and we’ll think about letting you live,” I snarled.

  The motherfucker laughed. “I have a knife to her throat. None of you can tell me what to do.”

  “Why do you want her?”

  He scoffed. “I don’t. The council does, and I want her out of the way.”

  I felt Cedrick tense behind me. “You knew she was my bride.”

  “The whole kingdom knows, you foolish boy. Everyone feels the pull you have for each other.”

  “So you wanted her gone for your daughter to step back in?” Thorn guessed.

  “My daughter would have eventually won his heart, but she wouldn’t with this thing in the picture.” He sneered down at Paige like she was dog shit under his foot.

  My body stiffened when I felt a wave of something come off Cedrick. Christ, it warmed me. I rolled my head and then lunged when Therolidi punched Paige in the face.

  “Do not move,” he roared. Everyone froze. I knew the others had moved too. I could see more of them from the corner of my eyes. Asher’s gaze caught mine, then moved behind me to Cedrick. I dropped my gaze to his fingers. He shifted them slightly.

  Be ready, they told me.

  “What does the council want her for?”

  Therolidi laughed. “What does the council always want? Money, but more importantly, power. They believe they can get that from her.”

  Fucking stupid mongrels.

  They’d never learn. As soon as we got Paige out of this and walked into their comfortable world, or what they thought was comfortable, they would soon learn they weren’t safe behind their compound doors.

  “Now, where’s my daughter?”

  “Dead,” Cedrick announced, then yelled. “Now!”

  Paige’s body suddenly rolled. If it hadn’t been for Asher flashing forward to grab her, she would have crashed to the ground. I dove over the table with Ezra at my side, but Therolidi, by Alex’s magic, was lifted into the air and slammed into the roof with such force bones broke. The ground shook. Thorn shoved the table toward Asher. He placed Paige back on it and held onto her and the table as the floor, fucking concrete floor, split open. Ezra tackled me and we rolled out of the way.

  Therolidi’s scream of horror had both of us glancing up to see his arms being torn by an invisible force from his body.

  “No one touches our mate,” Alex clipped, his usual sweet, soft voice gone. The powerful mage stood in his place as his lips moved once more and blood poured from Therolidi’s thighs while the bottom of his legs dropped to the ground.

  “What a damn sight,” Ezra whispered, and I could hear the awe in his voice. Shit, pride came out of me in waves. Our Alex was not to be reckoned with. Only now wasn’t the time to get a fucking hard-on over it. I snorted when I caught Ezra adjust himself.

  “Alex, bury him and let him suffocate,” Cedrick demanded. His hands and legs were spread wide, and I realized he’d been the one to open the floor in the room. Alex nodded. He lowered a whimpering, crying elf into the ground, and as he begged for his life, Cedrick closed the hole over him. He sealed it and set the room back to as it had been, as if nothing had happened in the first place.

  “We could have questioned him some more,” Thorn announced in the quiet room.

  “And have him hurt her more?” Cedrick asked.

  “No, I just meant after we’d captured him.”

  “I wasn’t in the mood to have a conversation,” Alex said, clenching his jaw.

  I strode over to him and brought him into my arms. “She’s safe now,” I told him. He sighed, relaxed a little, and leaned into me. She’s safe now, I reminded myself and my wolf. Though we weren’t happy just yet, not until she was awake and yelling at us or giving us the finger for something. Still, I had the need to reassure Alex. I didn’t like to see him so serious when his nature was never like that.

  Ezra approached and pressed into Alex’s back, nipping at his neck. “That was totally badass.”

  Alex let out a surprised laugh. “Don’t,” he said a second later.

  “Well, it was.”

  Alex lifted his head and turned enough to kiss Ezra’s cheek. “Thank you, both of you. I’m better now.”

  “Good,” I grunted. I still rubbed my hand up and down his back as I looked to the others. “Now, why the fuck hasn’t she woken yet and how did her body roll off the damn table?”

  “I believe Therolidi has locked her in her mind to be able to transport her.”

  “Locked her in her mind?” Thorn questioned. “But she has strong mental shields. She blocks us all the time when she doesn’t want us knowing what she’s feeling.”

  “Our powers over the mind are stronger, especially when that someone is asleep and doesn’t realize their mind is being messed with.”

  “Fuck,” I barked. “Fix her,” I ordered, and then added, “It still doesn’t explain how she moved.”

  “Cedrick made a mind link with her,” Kiered announced.

  “And that’s supposed to explain it how?” I asked.

  “I reached in and spoke with her. If you wait one moment, I will do it again.” He closed his eyes. I didn’t like when his brows pinched or his lips thinned. He opened his eyes. “She’s been locked on a loop on the night she woke from the grave she dug her way out of. She doesn’t know any of you or even me.”

  “What the fuck?” I yelled, then curled Alex into me more when I felt him tense. Ezra moved closer into Alex’s side as well.

  “Can you help her?” Asher asked.

  “I should be able to, but it may cause her pain.”

  I winced at the thought of Paige in any pain.

  “If I know Paige correctly, she’ll want help to remember everything,” I said.

  Cedrick nodded.

  “But what do you mean you’ve made a mind link with Paige?” Ezra asked.

  “Our minds will always be able to reach one another’s, and we’re able to speak telepathically,” he said. “She’s calling for me. I must go. I don’t want her to worry more than she is.”

  “You’re keeping out something.” I glared.

  Cedrick sighed. “It is one step closer to having our bond formed. I shouldn’t have made it since we are unable to be with one another, but I had to.”

  “That’s how she rolled out of the way,” Alex said.

  Cedrick nodded.

  Well, crap. I couldn’t dislike the guy for protecting her.

  “Kiered, pull over that table,” Cedrick ordered. His brother did, and Cedrick climbed on top of it. He lay back. “I will do everything in my power to bring her back with little to no pain.”

  Thorn rested a hand on his arm. “Thank you.” Asher nodded, as did Alex, while Ezra gave him a wink.

  I sucked it up, since I was grateful for his help and now the wolf and I knew he’d protected her. I rubbed at the back of my neck and said, “Yeah, thanks. You’d make a good mate for her.” And he would, even if I hated admitting it. But the extra protectio
n for her would be good. Plus, he was okay-looking, I supposed.

  “Thank you. All of you,” he said with a smile and then closed his eyes.

  “Wait,” Paige called out. She forcefully twisted in my arms so hard I had to place her on her feet. Only I didn’t release her altogether; my hands went to her waist. She pointed to another room. “What’s in there?” she asked Cedrick.

  He glanced to his brother and then back again. “Another room.”

  Paige shook her head. She took a step closer and rested her hand to the door. “It… I don’t know, doesn’t feel right, but I feel a need to go in here.”

  Cedrick’s eyes glowed brightly. The ground moved a little, and then he was right next to Paige, touching the door. “Yes, I feel it now that you’ve pointed it out. I wouldn’t have if you didn’t say anything.”

  I didn’t have a fucking clue what they were talking about because I couldn’t sense shit. All I knew was that I wanted to get out of this freaky hallway from the medical wing of doom.

  Kiered joined in. “Someone blocked this room from anyone being able to hear or feel anything from within it.”

  Cedrick snarled, “More of Therolidi’s tricks.”

  “You elf lot sure do love mind games and illusions.”

  Cedrick straightened and waved his hand in front of him. The door and walls wavered revealing, oh fucking wow, another door. Only this one was more rotten than the rest down in this dingy, stinky-as-hell place.

  Kiered reached for the handle, but then his body shook violently.

  “Brother,” Cedrick cried.

  Paige grabbed Cedrick’s arm when Alex yelled, “Don’t touch him.” Alex stepped forward. His eyes glowed, his lips moved, and Kiered suddenly stilled and his hand dropped away. Alex floated him down to the floor. Cedrick dropped to his brother’s side.

  “Merde, that hurt,” Kiered muttered.

  “You’re all right?”

  “Yes, brother. I should have been more careful, but it wouldn’t release me. It’s lucky you have a strong mage in your bonded group.”

  “It is,” Cedrick said. He turned and took Alex’s hand, causing Alex to blush tomato red, and lay his forehead against it before kissing his skin. “Thank you.”

  “Ah, yeah, um, no problem,” Alex mumbled.

  An unease filled me. He hadn’t claimed Alex and was touching him.

  I wanted to rip his hand off and my wolf agreed. But a part of me, for once, held back since I knew he was meant to be in our group, but mainly because he’d helped Paige when we couldn’t. Logically, we knew we needed him. It still didn’t stop me from reaching out, taking Alex’s wrist, and pulling his hand from Cedrick’s grasp.

  Kiered chuckled. “The possessive wolf comes out.”

  Cedrick smiled and helped his brother up from the floor.

  Paige giggled. She stepped close and patted my chest. “He’s just a playful puppy really.”

  I growled low and nipped at her. She moved back, laughing.

  “Yeah, playful.” Ezra snorted.

  “Can we get back to the damn door issue?” I asked. Alex twisted his wrist in my hand and slid it up to hold my hand instead.

  “It’s unlocked now,” Alex said.

  “Thank you once more.” Cedrick nodded. I didn’t know if he realized himself, but his eyes slid over Alex in appreciation. I stopped from taking his eyeballs and let him look since he wasn’t touching. Besides, Alex was easy on the eyes. Fuck it, all of them were.

  Goddamn good-looking mates.

  I had to reason with the wolf that we wouldn’t kill everyone who looked at them like they wanted to fuck them, despite us hating it.

  Cedrick, proving he was an okay guy again, trusted Alex’s words and reached for the handle. He twisted and pushed, and it opened wide.

  A pained noise ripped from within him and Kiered.

  “Mother,” Cedrick whispered.

  Holy fuck.

  The woman, chained to a chair with tubes running all up her arms that were hooked up to some type of machine, didn’t lift her head. I wasn’t even sure she was alive. Her body looked sunken in. No fat remained on any inch of her. Fuck, she looked like a skeleton.

  Cedrick and Kiered raced into the room, one on each side of their mother. They reached out, pulled their hands back, and then reached out again. Kiered rested a hand to her bony shoulder while Cedrick slowly lifted their mother’s head. She showed no response.

  Paige moved in. I wanted to grab her and drag her back out because I didn’t like the fucking feel of the room. As soon as the door had opened, my skin crawled.

  “Paige,” I called.

  Of course the infuriating woman ignored me. Hadn’t she been through enough? If this was another fucking trick, I would kill people.

  I stepped in after her and felt Alex behind me. I glanced over my shoulder to see Asher, Ezra, and Thorn had also followed. We looked around the room for any type of trap or threat. When I couldn’t see or sense anything, I focused back on Paige.

  She had her fingers against the woman’s neck. “She’s alive, but her pulse is very weak.”

  “Fuck, Cedrick. Fuck,” Kiered whispered.

  “Are you sure this isn’t a trick?” Asher asked.

  Cedrick nodded.

  “You’ve never mentioned her before,” Thorn said. “Are you sure this is her?”

  Tears pooled in his eyes and his brother’s. Cedrick clenched his jaw. “Yes, it’s her. God, it’s her.”

  Asher and Thorn shared a look. I knew that look. It was one that said we weren’t sure to trust this. However, the brothers were adamant that it was their mother. Kiered kept whispering into her ear that they were there and she was safe.

  “Do you know what this is?” I asked.

  Cedrick shook his head. “Kiered, go and get Yeno, Grandith, and Juri. They’ll be able to help her.”

  Kiered nodded once and disappeared from the room instantly.

  “Who are they?” Paige asked.

  “They never confirmed it, but they were her intended.”

  “But your father….”

  Cedrick shook his head, gazing sadly down at his mother. “Mother’s parents, the former king and queen, believed it best, like my father had, to set up an arranged marriage for business purposes. Yeno, Grandith, and Juri were mother’s guards.”

  Paige went around the chair and curled her arm around Cedrick’s waist. She looked up at him, and he stared down. When Cedrick nodded, I knew they’d been having a conversation within their minds.

  Why did a sudden pang of sadness for the guy hit me?

  Hell, my wolf even whimpered a little.

  Maybe it was because Cedrick had been through a fucking lot.

  It brought up memories of my own fucked-up life before I worked with the elite force. I’d been with a drunk dad who’d changed my mother into a werewolf without her consent, and then she lived through her days stuck in half form. Not that it stopped my motherfucking father from screwing her to conceive me. She ended her life when I was five, leaving me stuck with him until I killed him.

  A hand to my back had my body jolting. Growling, I spun to Paige, who stood there with a pinch to her brows. Worried for me. Christ, I didn’t lock down my emotions enough.

  “I’m fine,” I clipped, crossing my arms over my chest.

  “Okay,” she whispered. She got to her tippy-toes, and even then, I had to bend a little so she could place a peck on my lips. “I don’t believe you, but I’ll get it out of you later.”

  I scoffed. She rolled her eyes and went back to Cedrick. Shit, even his eyes looked darker in concern for me. Made me feel like a dick for getting lost in my head while he was dealing with finding his mom like this. I nodded once at him, letting him know I was fine. Thankfully he turned back to his mother where Alex stood on the other side using his magic to put her in a trance while he gently removed all the shit she was hooked up with. The needles and bounds.

  When the last strap was free, along with yet an
other needle, the woman let out a gasp. She started to droop forward, but Cedrick caught her and supported her back against the chair.

  “Mother? Mother, it’s Cedrick.”

  She moaned and shook her head.

  “Mother?”

  Four forms appeared behind the chair. One was Kiered, so the others must have been the men Cedrick wanted there. As soon as they appeared, they cried out and surrounded the woman, all of them speaking at once, saying different things.

  All of them were also crying.

  “Paige,” I called. She looked over at me, her own eyes filled with tears. “Maybe we should step out?” I knew if I was them, I would want my privacy.

  She nodded. Turning, I started for the door and knew the others would follow. I itched for answers, but they would wait. What I longed for most was to have my pack surrounding me.

  In the hall, and once the door was closed, I ordered, “Here, please.” Paige was the first in my arms. She pressed in, and I heard her letting go, crying. Alex and Ezra were on each side of her, wrapping us up at my front while Asher and Thorn curled around my back.

  This was what I needed. To feel them all, to know they were safe.

  I was sure I wasn’t the only one needing it.

  The door to the new room Cedrick supplied burst open, and a very pissed off Xi entered. “Did no one think to wake me from my slumber?”

  Oh shit.

  “He must have been drugged earlier than us for him to sleep through the fight,” Asher mused. The room filled with more tension.

  “Whoever did it saw him as more of a threat than us,” Ezra said, sounding annoyed. “That pisses me off. I’m damned threatening.”

  Since he was close from where I paced, I patted his arm. “Yes, you are.”

  He glared at me, so I leaned in and kissed him quickly. As I pulled back, my hellhound was back to smiling.

  “What is this fight? And who drugged me?” Xi demanded, pulling swords from his back. I was sure I hadn’t seen the hilts there before. Were they magical?

  Ezra rolled his eyes. “Relax, Grandpa, the fight is done, and the drugs have worn off. Hmm, maybe I need some of those drugs when he gets on my nerves.”