by Stone, Leia
She frowned and tilted her head, her eyebrows pulling down exactly like Nai’s did when she was inspecting something. Crazy how much she looked like Nai.
“What’s wrong?” Sariah asked, dropping her voice and leaning forward.
My voice shook a little. “Nai’s gone. I’m not sure if she was kidnapped or—”
“Kidnapped!” Her eyes went wide.
I nodded. “She was with her grandfather, and then they left to High Mage Island—in the middle of my coronation. She wouldn’t take off and not tell me anything—”
“Oooh.” Sariah drew back as understanding dawned on her face. She offered me a small smile filled with pity. “I see.”
‘What the hell does that mean?’ Justice asked through our bond, his voice barely human as he growled.
I didn’t bother answering because I didn’t know. Instead, I clenched the steering wheel and leaned out the window, trying to keep my smile in place when all I wanted to do was bellow in frustration.
“You see what?” I ground my teeth and tried again. “What exactly do you see? Do you know where she is? Because if you know, I need you to open a portal to my mate. Right now.”
She winced, drawing back from me. “I’m sorry, but … I can’t. I’m not powerful enough to open the High Mage Island portals, only this one leading to the human world. I’m half-human.” She gestured to the portal in front of us as if that would make any sense to me. What did being half-human have to do with anything? But maybe it mattered in the world of magic.
Fur rippled down my arms as I cursed and punched the steering wheel. From the corner of my eye, I noticed she took another step backward.
‘Rein it in, Rage,’ Justice snapped. ‘You’re scaring her.’
“I’m sorry.” I forced a deep breath. Justice was right. I needed Sariah right now, and she’d been nothing but nice. I didn’t want to scare her. Even if she couldn’t open a portal to Nai, the mage in front of me could still help. “Do you know why Nai would go with your father to High Mage Island?”
She grimaced. “I do … but I can’t tell you.”
Grinding my teeth together, I looked at Justice, and it took every ounce of self-control I had not to shift.
“Can’t or won’t?” I asked, my voice sharp enough to cut glass.
“Can’t,” she insisted, relaxing enough to offer me a small smile. “Just as you’re spelled not to talk about Alpha Academy, I’m spelled about what happens at High Mage Academy. I’m truly sorry.”
Wait. She said High Mage Academy, not High Mage Island. Why would Sariah say that? Was it a clue? I tried to read her gaze, but it was just patient and kind. “Is Nai … entering High Mage Academy?”
Sariah shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Narrowing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath. “You—”
“I’ve told you all I can,” she said, her expression twisting with regret. “I’m sorry.”
My heart turned to stone and then sank into my stomach. “Can you…?” I cleared my throat. “Do you know if she’s safe?”
I stared at her, watching her reaction, trying to convey how much I needed this answer.
The rest of the tension fled her body, and her smile returned. “If she’s with my father, she’s the safest she can be in the High Mage Realm. He loves her very much, and he’d never let anything happen to her.” Her smile faltered, and then she added, “Not if he can help it … while he’s still alive.”
Okay…
I processed what she said, zeroing in on her last comments because both were wholly not reassuring. New questions raced through my mind. Was Sariah implying Grampa Geoff was … dying? And if so, was that enough reason for Nai to leave in the middle of my freaking coronation? Did they go for some healing serum? And what did that have to do with High Mage Academy? I had more questions than answers—
‘Rage!’ Noble’s voice cut through my racing thoughts. ‘Get back here pronto, dude. We’ve got a problem.’
Dammit!
Why did crap always happen in threes? Hadn’t we already had enough?
My attention jumped back to Sariah. “If I give you a note, can you get it to Nai? Please?”
She nodded. “Of course. I’ll take it to her as soon as I’m able.”
‘Rage!’ Noble yelled again as I leaned over Justice to rummage through the glovebox.
‘I’ll be there as soon as I can,’ I shot back, my frustration mounting as I pulled out gum wrappers and empty mint tins.
Justice pushed me back with one hand and held a pen out to me with the other.
‘This is important,’ Noble snapped, his tone sharp with fear. ‘A bunch of lower mages are here—’
Lower mages weren’t my problem.
‘This is more important!’ I growled, grinding my teeth together when I considered my abysmal options for a note to my mate: crumpled gum wrapper or Nai’s aunt’s hand.
“If you want me to just pass along a message…” Sariah said, resting her fingers on my arm. “I’ll remember it word for word, I promise.”
I nodded and nudged the car back into drive.
“Will you please tell her…” I thought of all the things I wanted to say, but really, all my thoughts boiled down to two sentences. “Tell her I love her, and … please, please, come home to me.”
“I’ll make sure she gets the message,” Sariah said.
As soon as I’d murmured my appreciation, I glanced at Justice and jerked my head back toward the island. “Noble’s in a panic,” I muttered to Justice. “Something with a group of lower mages.”
After bidding Sariah goodbye, I spun the car around and raced back through the deepening night to the boat docks at top speed.
* * *
A cacophony of revelry still thundered from the coronation party in the auditorium, but Justice and I avoided the melee and headed straight to the conference room where Noble told me he’d be. We walked down the stone hallway, approaching the heavy oak door. Two guards stood outside in the passageway, each with a mace and broadsword, their presence a foreboding omen for what lay within.
I’d been present for a few meetings over the last couple of years with Declan, but never in charge. It was time for me to step up to the plate. When Justice slowed his pace as if he weren’t going to attend, I placed a hand on his shoulder, ‘Come inside. I may need your help.’
I surveyed the two guards. Both were at least two decades my senior, old enough to be my father. Noises came from behind the thick wood and stone barriers, voices raised in consternation, but the words were muffled and indistinct.
“What’s going on?” I asked, as much to feel the guards out as the situation. On our way back to the castle, I’d reached out to Noble, but he’d been so occupied, dealing with whatever was happening behind these doors, our conversation had been clipped short.
The man on the right, Tad, shook his head. “Your brother, Noble—”
“Prince Noble,” Justice growled, correcting the slight.
The guard’s lip twitched and then curled in a sneer. “Yes, Prince Noble is inside with a bunch of mages from Dark Row.”
I frowned. From Dark Row? What the heck were they doing on Alpha Island? Why would mages be here asking for help? Unless…
After a nod to Tad, he opened the door, and I strode in, Justice on my heels.
Nearly a dozen lower-level mages, identified by the mage marks on their foreheads, stood around the table, their robes stained with soot and ash. The stench of sweat, blood, and char hung in the air so thick I could taste it at the back of my tongue. The crowd bickered, tones sharp and heated.
“We clearly can’t trust the high mages anymore. They don’t care about us!” a young, brunette, female mage snapped at a bald mage near her.
We can agree on that, I thought as I zeroed in on the speaker and paused, waiting to hear more.
The bald man glared at the young woman as he shouted, “So you’ve said, Beryl, but we don’t have enough power without them—”
&n
bsp; “The High Mage Council promised us protection!” another male mage bellowed.
“It isn’t safe there anymore!” a female screamed.
And the first one, the brunette female mage, raised her voice and screeched over them all. “The high mages are all selfish liars!”
‘Good luck, bro,’ Justice said in my mind as he went to stand in a corner of the room.
“Mages!” I bellowed, kicking the door shut behind me. It closed with a loud boom, and the room quieted.
Striding into the group, I wound my way through the lower mages until I faced the woman who’d called the high mages liars. I offered her a tight smile and asked, “What can I do for you?”
The young woman was close to our age, within a few years. Her dark hair had been pulled back into a braid that was coming loose, and dark wisps framed her pale skin. She raised her chin and narrowed her blue eyes at me.
“Where are your guards?” she snapped.
I frowned, taken aback by her question and her attitude. I thought the enemy was the high mages, not me. “Here. At the castle, where they should be.” I scanned the crowd and found Noble, sighing with relief as he stepped to my side. I faced the young mage once more. “Why do you ask?”
“I told you the new king would be a selfish prick,” a woman muttered from my left.
I flinched, trying to control my anger. Nai’s sudden disappearance was wearing on my patience.
I kept my attention on the young woman, noting how her jaw hardened, and she balled her hands.
“Your wolves burned down our market, killed and injured dozens of mages, and then you withdraw your guards? If you leave us unprotected, it will be our blood on your hands.”
Uh … okay. I hadn’t thought about that when I’d pulled the guards from Dark Row, but why would we put guards in Mageville anyway? That wasn’t our land to police. And Dark Row burning down had been an accident … sort of.
I met Justice’s gaze from across the room, and his cheeks reddened.
‘Sorry, bro.’
‘It’s fine,’ I told him.
“Don’t your people have magic? Can’t you all just use magic to protect yourselves?” Justice asked from his corner.
I nodded; he was saying exactly what I thought.
“Do you think any advanced mages live in Dark Row, boy? How stupid are you? Our magic isn’t strong enough for those kinds of things.” She glared at him. “Besides, we need to use what little magic we have to repair what your kind did—by burning Dark Row to the ground.”
A twinge of guilt wiggled in my chest, and my gaze flicked to Justice, whose embarrassment deepened. I wasn’t going to let him take the fall for it though. Really, it was Declan’s fault.
“The fire was an accident, and if you’d show me some respect, you’ll see I’m not a selfish prick.” I glared at the woman who’d called me such. “I’ll send a dozen guards to help, but only for one week. Mage problems aren’t my problems. You have the High Mage Council you can petition for help. You know, your own kind.”
The dark-haired woman nodded, but the frown pulling at her lips was disconcerting. “Some help they are in their fancy hidden realm. They won’t return our communications.”
My first day as king, and nothing was going to plan.
Chapter Four
“You need to get some sleep.” Noble’s voice shook me from my reverie. I sat in a sleek leather chair behind an ornate mahogany desk, staring at the golden yellow wall in my uncle’s office—my office now. I skimmed over the four wooden chairs sitting against the back wall to the open door where my brother stood. This place held a lot of bad memories for me. Every time we got into trouble, we were brought here. Usually for a stern word or a beating.
“Honor’s with her. That’s good,” I said, ignoring his comment. I glanced at the clock hanging over the chairs and wondered if Nai’s aunt had delivered my message yet.
Noble cleared his throat and, when I looked at him, frowned. “Honor won’t let anything happen to her. You’ve done all you can. Getting some rest will help you to be ready to take on whatever tomorrow brings.”
How could I explain that going to bed without her felt like defeat?
“No,” I growled and then immediately regretted it. My brother was only trying to help. Justice was now at Dark Row, trying to find any mages powerful enough to break the portal protection spells that kept shifters out of the High Mage Realm, and Noble was here, by my side as usual.
I stood and scooted around the desk, choosing to lean against it rather than take my uncle’s fancy seat. I also ignored the overstuffed chairs in front of the fireplace. Everything about this place felt like wearing someone else’s suit.
“How is it that we can’t go into their world, but they’re able to come and go here as they please?” There was more than just a hierarchy of power, and I was starting to see the imbalance more clearly now that I was king.
Noble nodded and crossed the room. “The high mages have always had their secrecy and protection.”
He said only what we all knew to be true, but I scoffed at their privilege. “While I’m lending my men to guard the nefarious Dark Row?”
Noble shrugged. “That’s the Dark Row our brother burned to the ground.”
“Technicality,” I said, keeping my tone light, and Noble smiled.
“I trust Nai,” Noble said. “I also trust her grandfather. He went to the Realm of the Dead to save you and her. He brought Honor back to life. He wouldn’t turn on us now.”
He was right, but what did that mean? I ground my teeth in frustration and then asked, “What are you saying? You think we should just wait for her to come back? Don’t do anything more?”
Noble sighed, dropping his chin, and his black hair fell forward, the dark color highlighting the bags under his eyes. Shit. He was probably waiting until I went to sleep before he did. Guilt wormed in my gut because the last few days had been hell for Noble too.
“You can’t do anything more, Rage.” Noble met my gaze and shook his head. “And if you don’t take care of yourself, you’re going to start making bad decisions.”
I snorted, but there was no sense in arguing.
“We trust Nai, and we trust her grandfather, so then maybe they had a good reason for leaving like they did. Maybe she’s safe, and you’ll hear from her tomorrow.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Maybe—”
“I’m not saying, ‘Give up.’ I’m saying, ‘Trust her, and take care of yourself.’”
He was right. I did trust Nai. I trusted her feelings for me and her feelings about us. She was my fated mate; she wouldn’t leave me without good reason. The old man was looking beyond ill lately—like death warmed over. Maybe she went to help heal him? Something only she could do like make the healing elixir? Maybe the old man’s blood was getting too old to make it himself, and that’s why he needed Nai! If he’d started having a heart attack or something, then Nai would’ve rushed out in a panic, without telling me. I perked up at the thought.
“Okay. Let’s get some sleep, and then, tomorrow morning, if she hasn’t shown, I’ll send a letter to the High Mage Council.”
Noble winced. “Let’s talk about next steps in the morning.”
I growled.
Noble rushed on. “She could be there in secret. The High Mage Council doesn’t like her as it is.”
I wanted to growl again, but this time, my frustration was with the mages, not my brother, so I swallowed it. “Fine.”
Noble walked over and placed a hand on each of my shoulders. “For what it’s worth, I believe Nai will be back, and … you’ll make a fine king.”
Emotion clogged my throat, and for some reason, I thought of our father and how proud he’d be to see me leading with my brothers’ support.
I forced a swallow. “Thank you for being here for me.”
He smiled and squeezed my shoulders before turning to leave.
When he reached the door, I called out. “Noble?”
Tur
ning to glance over his shoulder, he raised his eyebrows at me, and I gestured to all the stuff in the office. “I want this redecorated, and I’m putting you in charge. Make it nice—and get rid of everything that was Declan’s.”
A slow grin worked up his mouth and he nodded. “Yes, My King.”
After he left the room, my gaze fell to the space in front of the fireplace. A memory surfaced from our childhood—one I always tried to push away—but I let it come this time. My brothers and I were eight years old, and we’d convinced our nanny at the time, a large bear shifter named Nanny Bess, to take us to the market in Mageville to buy our mother a birthday present—a memory glass so she could see memories of our father because we’d all caught her crying about him at one time or another.
I closed my eyes and let the scene play out in my mind’s eye.
Nanny Bess ushered us onto a ferry, and we scampered around her, all giddy with excitement. The ride across to the mage lands was filled with laughter, all four of us boys spending the hour-long ferry ride racing up and down the deck and playing hide and seek. As we pulled into the dock, we ran to Nanny Bess and clung to her thick purple skirt. An indentured servant, who probably should’ve hated us, Nanny Bess treated us with warmth and kindness.
After we disembarked, I stared at the mages as unease twisted my insides. They intimidated me with their strange mage marks and scowling eyes.
But Nanny Bess was bigger and stronger, and she moved with quiet confidence. Soon enough, I forgot all about the smaller-built mages and their scary magic; my attention became riveted on the food. Nanny Bess bought us each a sticky sweet roll, which we ate on our way to the stall where magical artifacts were sold.
In my uncle’s office, I shook my head, remembering my own infatuation with the stunning dark mage who’d sold us the memory glass.
Surlama.
As we waited for the ferry back home, a group of bear shifters approached us, and the big male embraced Nanny Bess. One of them, a young girl a few years older than us, broke away from the others and confronted me and my brothers.
