“No,” Rafe said on a groan. “But that means she’s in more danger than she ever was.”
“Yes. It does,” Theo said grimly.
His own heartbeat started racing at that. “Will Morningstar sense that she’s mated?”
The look on Theo’s face said it all. His jaw was like the fucking marble Mikkel was standing on.
Swiping a hand over his jaw, Mikkel asked, “Okay, so, theories don’t matter. We don’t need to understand his logic, we just need to know where Morningstar lives, because if he does have her, then that’s where Thalia is.”
“No one knows.”
Rafe frowned. “No one thought to go and look?”
“Of course,” Theo snarled. “But it was useless. We never found his lair. And after a while, we stopped trying.”
“Why?”
“We preferred to focus on shoring our defenses up rather than on him.”
“Why would you think that? You don’t wait for the enemy to come to you,” Mikkel argued, the logic going against every single ounce of strategy he had in his soul.
“There is strife here for two reasons, and one of those is mostly obsolete now. One, a war between the factions with a desire to topple the Queen. And two, an attempt by the Dark Fae to breach our gate. The former never happens because Isaura is a popular Queen, and the latter happens infrequently. We usually decimate Morningstar’s troops in any battle, and he can’t afford to lose his numbers. Both the Fae and the Dark Fae are too few in number to fight needlessly.
“So, while the Fae do like to fight, they do so on Earth. Not here,” Theo explained calmly, his hands sweeping out in a placating motion that didn’t cut it. Not for Mikkel, at any rate.
That was a cop out answer and then some.
“That’s BS. You should always know where your enemy is. Whether you fight ‘infrequently’ or not.” He even used air quotes.
“Well, I apologize, Mikkel,” he snapped. “But we don’t know. We’ve never been able to get past Morningstar’s wiles. As I told you, he’s the first of the firstborn. That gives him talents that not even my mother can compete with.”
Shit. Isaura was a freaky bitch, and Morningstar was more powerful than her? Jesus. They needed to get Thalia away from the bastard’s clutches. ASAP.
Mikkel rubbed his brow. “Remind me again why we aren’t telling your mother?”
Theo winced. “It makes me look weak…”
Rafe growled, “Nothing matters more than Thalia’s security!”
“I know,” Theo growled back. “But there’s more at stake than you can imagine. I’m not just the firstborn son of the Queen, I’m the head of an important faction here. With Magda… it could lead to anarchy. I wanted to keep this under control, but there’s no controlling this.”
“Okay, so we’ll draft your mother into this ASAP, but before that, the priority is still figuring out where Morningstar’s holed up.” Mikkel eyed him coolly, disappointed in the man by his stupid reasoning. Thalia was fucking everything. Even in the face of anarchy, she was their all. “Look, let’s think about this. He can’t live on Earth, can he? There’s no way he could make someone a promise that a human they love could live forever if that was the case. Could he be in Heden? Well, not Heden,” he reasoned, shaking his head at his own skewed logic. “But on this realm? You said there were mountains and shit beyond Heden; that’s what tempted Morningstar in the first place. Could he be there?”
Theo blinked. “I-I don’t know. I’ve never thought about it.”
Mikkel cocked a brow. “Think about it.”
Rafe gritted out, “Now.”
16
Thalia
With each step Morningstar took towards her, Thalia wanted to stiffen. Only the fact he’d take that as a sign of weakness stopped her.
She knew power plays. Lykens worked that way, and it had been her way of life for so long, that evading those life lessons was impossible.
Hence her inability to avoid people’s eyes.
In her world, such an action was a sign of weakness.
Here?
It made fucking sense.
It was definitely a habit she was going to have to break. Not just while she was here with this fuck up, but back when she was with her mates again.
Because she refused to believe there was a time when she wouldn’t be with them.
As Morningstar neared her, his head tilted to the side with each foot that passed.
Why?
She got the sense she confused him.
Which, in her opinion, was only a good thing.
Far better for her to confuse him than amuse him.
“You’re still not frightened,” he declared.
She heard his surprise, but she just shrugged in response.
“Why aren’t you?”
“I don’t know,” she told him, honestly. She’d been a little freaked at suddenly being at the center of his attention once Magda had been sucked out of that weird vortex thing, but after she’d had a chance to calm down, Thalia realized that freaking out wouldn’t do her any good.
She needed to stay in control.
And, though she hated to admit it, ever since the She-Wolf had become disiungere, that was easier than it had ever been.
“Where did you send her?” she asked, jerking her chin at the back wall.
“Why do you care?” he countered.
“I don’t. Not really. I’m just curious.”
“Curiosity killed the…” He smirked at her. “She-Wolf.” His nostrils curled. “Although, your She-Wolf doesn’t seem to be at home for visitors, does she?”
She gritted her teeth and repeated, “Where is she?”
“Your beast? I’m sure we could come to some arrang—”
“No! Not interested. I meant Magda. Where did you send her?”
“Earth.” He raised his hand and peered at his nails. “I already told you that. I don’t appreciate having to repeat myself.”
She rolled her eyes at his arrogance. “Why, though? Why Earth?”
“Because she has a job to do now. Especially if she wishes to see her little lover.”
Thalia frowned at that. What kind of job? “You didn’t lie to her?”
“About life eternal for the love of her life?” His tone swept up at the end, turning into a high falsetto as he mocked words she knew Magda had uttered.
She hadn’t known the other female well, barely at all if she were being honest, but Thalia knew Magda was as cold as ice. For her to have said anything as romantic as that? Shit had to be serious.
“Yes,” she replied quietly, wondering what the hell was going on.
“I keep my promises.” His grin reminded her of a shark’s. Toothy and the first indication she was about to be bitten. “She’s here. And here she’ll be while Magda fulfils her contract with me.”
“Here?” Trouble was, where the fuck was here? Plus, what was he talking about? Contract?
Were contracts with the Devil real things?
“Indeed.”
“Not on Earth,” she clarified.
“Did you think she’d be in hell?” He snorted. “How very pedestrian.” He made a sweeping bow. “Welcome to Purgatory. Although, it has many names. Not all of them as plebeian as that.”
She blinked at him. “What do you call it?”
“I call it nothing.” He bared his teeth. “This is not my home; therefore it is not deserving of a name.”
“Yeah?” She frowned at him in confusion. “Where do you live then?”
“For the moment, here. But I will be returning to my rightful place very shortly.” His smile turned sensuous, and it was enough to make her body tense with the desire to move away from him. She fought it, managed to hold her position through sheer grit and determination, and was grateful when she did as he murmured, “With you at my side.”
For a second, she gaped at him, then she had to fight back a smile. “I’ve got three mates, Morningstar. I don’t need a fourth one.”
That had the Devil narrowing his eyes at her. “Mates?”
“Yes,” she replied caustically. “Three of them.”
While his jaw worked before he spoke, he manage to sound cordial rather than angry when he murmured, “You’re mistaken.” His eyes betrayed his outrage, however. Those gleaming embers began to burn like wildfire, and she felt branded by just the sight of them, never mind any harsh words being spoken.
“I’m not mistaken. I’ve claimed the three of them.” She didn’t care that Mikkel was only half-bound to her, and while Theo was technically in the same boat, Theo had told her that a Lyken’s mate bond was far less encompassing than a Fae’s. Meaning, where mate bonds were concerned, and in the game of rock, paper, scissors, his claim was scissors to her paper.
“Sire, this would make sense.”
The voice came from behind them, from one of the serious sextet who, Thalia assumed, were important people to him.
“Why would it?” Morningstar asked, his tone silky. He didn’t turn around, didn’t turn his attention from her to look at them, instead, he kept his focus on Thalia, and boy, what a focus.
Caelus wept, she’d never been stared at like this before. Not even by Kane who had a habit of staring at people in a way that was more invasive than a medical procedure. Morningstar’s eyes burned her with their heat, and the desire to take another step back made her sweat as she forced herself to remain still.
“Because the prophecy says it takes three to tame her. You know we never could reason that out,” one of his men said.
Morningstar didn’t seem to hear them though. His gaze was trained on her, and he wasn’t budging.
“Without the stench of that traitorous bitch here, I can scent you now. You’re with child,” he snarled, his tone accusative. His nostrils flared, his umbrage evident as he straightened and sneered at her. “What use are you to me with your belly full of another man’s seed?”
Thalia pursed her lips even as nausea swirled in said belly at his words—pregnant?
No. Just, no!
How the fuck could he know she was pregnant when she didn’t? When her healer of a mate hadn’t known either? She shrugged off the anxiety that swarmed her because showing him a weakness wasn’t something she’d allow.
“That ‘other man’ is my mate. What I get up to in the privacy of my own damn bedroom, with a man, or men, who are fated to me, is my own damn business!”
She’d liked to think the stillness that overcame him at that moment was because she was beyond kickass. But it wasn’t. “What did you just say?” he asked, stalking forward, not stopping until they were close. Close enough for his breath, which scented of cinnamon, to brush her lips. She wanted to jerk back another step, but again, she fought the urge. Her natural instincts told her that backing off would never be a smart thing to do where this male was concerned. Not even if he was taking up so much more of her personal space than even her mates did!
“You heard me,” she spat back, firming her lips with a silent refusal to say anything more.
He put the words in her mouth though. “You said fated. Not bonded. Fated.” He pulled back, then, she let out a gasp as his hands shot out and cupped her stomach.
She couldn’t be pregnant.
She just couldn’t be.
He was messing with her. Tricking her. Wasn’t that what the Devil did?
But, as they stood there, his hands on her belly and his eyes closing as he sought whatever the fuck he was looking for, she felt her heart rate triple with terror.
Was she with child?
She certainly did enough of the act that would make her that way, but…
But.
Fuck. Was that why she hadn’t had her heat?
Two heats to be precise.
Which meant, what?
The baby or babies were Rafe’s?
The questions tumbled through her head like an endless reel of Trivial Pursuit cards. They pummeled at her temples, making the ache that came from whatever Magda had done to her double in strength.
“What kind of madness is this?” Morningstar hissed. “Three fathers?” he spat, then released a hiss. His head jerked to the side as he whispered the crazed words to himself, not to her, “But it’s a girl.” Then, he pulled back to stare her square in the eye. “Mine.”
Thalia’s eyes flared wide.
His?
Talk about fuck no!
“Excuse me?” she bit off, slapping his hands away from her stomach.
“The child is mine.”
“She fucking isn’t,” Thalia snarled, finally taking a step back as her rage and terror coalesced into one big lump of ‘I don’t give a fuck about natural instincts.’ She just needed to get the hell away from him.
Morningstar let her go, but his eyes turned to slits as he looked at her. “Your mates certainly are interesting.”
“You just wait until they figure out where the fuck we are. Then you’ll see exactly how interesting they are!”
Sweet Gods, the only way in and out couldn’t be that damn vortex, was it?
She fucking hoped not, otherwise how in the hell was she going to escape?
The need to get out of there, to get away from this nutcase, was imperative, but she knew, like a cat played with a mouse, he had her skewered on his claws.
At her statement, his grin turned wicked. “In all these years, they’ve yet to figure it out.” He tapped his chin. “It’s good to know that the first of the firstborn can still outwit the Mother’s children.” He smirked.
She snapped, “My men will figure it out.”
“They can certainly try. I’d like to meet the father of my bride-to-be.”
Thalia’s mouth worked. She hadn’t known she was pregnant. Why would she? She was mated to a healer, for fuck’s sake. He’d have scented if she was with child. He’d have known, before even she would, and yet Rafe hadn’t said anything.
Had he kept it from her?
In a misguided attempt to protect her?
She bit her lip. It sounded like something he’d do, but… No. She couldn’t believe that of him.
With a lump in her throat, Thalia whispered, “You’re wrong.”
“About what?” Morningstar asked, tilting his head to the side, his curiosity evident.
“I’m not pregnant.”
“You are.” His grin felt slimy with intent. “The cocktail of your mates has certainly shaken things up.” The grin turned toothy. “I shall look forward to sampling the child when she comes of age.”
Unbidden, and without a second’s thought, Thalia’s hand swept out and with all her might, she sliced it through the air. When it connected with his cheek, she was satisfied to note the force whipped his head back.
Though the chamber had always been silent, a charge seemed to burst into the atmosphere, one that made it hard to breathe.
Before her lungs could choke on the nothingness that was filling them, it abated.
“You’ve fire. But then, with your child made of the fire too, that makes sense.” Morningstar’s eyes were flat as he dipped his head and, with their mouths close to brushing, whispered, “Do not think to test me again, She-Wolf.”
“I’ll do whatever I have to to keep my child from your hands.” A daughter? A daughter! Seriously?
Gods, she was too young to have a kid. Never mind a girl. Fuck. She knew how big a problem they were. Being one herself in a line that begat only male triplets, she knew another daughter would seriously mess with the program.
Before she could get bogged down with her fears, Morningstar tilted his chin, his eyes sparkling with a need that terrified her. “Lossiah, return her to her realm.”
“But, sire, that makes no sense.”
Morningstar shook his head. “The child is half-Fae. You are as aware as I am that she must give birth in the pools.” His left eye twitched, and Thalia could tell that that pissed him off.
So he was seriously letting her go?
Wanting to s
hake her head at how fucking stupid that was too, she gnawed at her lip as Lossiah demanded, “We can try to care for her. There are plenty of…”
“They were healers before they fell and now you know as well as I that their powers are gone. They can do nothing for her, and this child is our future. I will not risk her, not risk the prophecy out of fear. We managed to get the mother in our hands now, why shouldn’t we get the child too?” Morningstar’s voice dropped. “Straight from your own quarters, too,” he whispered. “Magda told me before you stirred. Nowhere’s safe, She-Wolf. You should remember that when you tell your tales to your mates.”
Thalia’s mouth worked, and though she knew she’d regret it, she gathered spit in her mouth and launched it at him.
The embers in his eyes flared to a brightness she hadn’t seen thus far, but he took a step away from her. It was shaky, and his hands were close to vibrating with his own apparent need to retaliate, but he spun on his heel and hissed, “Get her out of my sight!”
A male and a female shuffled from their seats. One coming from either side of the throne as they converged on her. She backed up, not liking the look in their eye, but there was nowhere to go. Nowhere save for the back wall where Magda had been tossed and had been flung to…
Earth?
Had he lied when he’d told her that?
Even as she backed up though, the couple approached, and she found herself gathered in their arms before she could do more than scream.
In the blink of an eye, they leaped into the wall, and as was the case with Magda, a vortex appeared.
She screamed. Torn apart by the wind that burned so hot she felt like it would melt her skin, the last thing she saw was Morningstar’s eyes, before, with the blackness of unconsciousness, she saw only those molten striations that would grace her nightmares until the day she died.
17
Thalia
When she awoke next, she awoke with a gasp.
Fuck, she was getting sick of blacking out, but even as she grumbled at that, she knew why she’d passed out twice in one day.
Triad (The TriAlpha Chronicles Book 3) Page 27
