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Everly “What’s Drew doing?” Dave asked as he sat down next to me, Amber’s hand gripped tightly in his. I looked up at him, and then over to where my mate sat, his back up against a tree, a plate of food forgotten on the ground next to him, a giant book propped up against his knees. We were all in the clearing we had been in last night, although now it was filled with tables of varying sizes and shapes, each low to the ground and surrounded by cushions in every color imaginable. Each table was covered in various breakfast foods, all cooked to perfection, and all somehow maintaining the perfect temperature. I did not know how long the food had been out, but every time I grabbed more, it was always at the precise temperature that it should be. “He’s trying to learn every single spell from his family’s grimoire,” I explained, rolling my eyes. “Doesn’t he know them already?” Amber asked. I shook my head as I loaded up my plate with more scrambled eggs and biscuits and gravy and some
Lukas We had spent the week trying to stay one step ahead of Tobias and the Royal Pack. We had been successful with some packs, and with others, not as successful at reaching them before the royals. Wild Hunt, Gray Chase, Cold Waters, Silver Crescent, and High Plains had all suffered major damages to their buildings and lands, but their members had mostly suffered just minor injuries. Between Everly, and the true werewolf healers we’d saved from other packs, we’d been able to keep the numbers of all the packs up, with no deaths, and only a few with mild lasting injuries. It would have been better if there were no injuries at all, but this was war, and the fact that we had suffered no casualties so far — beyond my parents, at least — was a win in my book. In our book. We had learned from the members of the attacked packs that the High Witch King had taken part in the attacks as well. Veronica had given me as much insight as possible about him and his motivations and abilities and pre
Juniper As the cheers and voices died down and Lukas and I broke apart from our passionate kiss, music began to play, and all the chairs magically disappeared. Left behind was space for everyone to mingle and dance. The cheers restarted, this time in anticipation of the party beginning. High top tables laden with food popped up around the edges of the gathering, and Lukas moved to join the fray, but I tugged his hand, nodding towards the beginning of the forest, to where the tree cover was thicker and more dense. He quirked a brow at me, but followed with no argument. The two of us slipped away while everyone else was busy mingling and eating. When we reached the tree line, I dropped his hand and ran ahead, lifting my skirts so I wouldn’t trip over them. I heard him stumble a little, and I giggled to myself as he cursed under his breath, trying to catch up to me. “Where are we going, petite fée?” he chuckled, his hands grabbing my hips and twisting me slightly so my wings weren’t
Drew The night finally arrived. The night of our big battle. The night we would face Tobias, the night my best friends would reclaim the kingdom as the rightful rulers. We had everything set. Everything in place. Everyone in place. Each of us with our part to play, each of us only knowing as much as we needed to know in order to make sure the entire plan couldn’t leak out. We approached the palace grounds, Lukas in the lead with Dave beside him, Juniper with her hands bound in iron shackles, mine bound in silver etched with magic blocking runes. We both wore our same clothing from the night of the ceremony, although Alessia distressed them a bit. We looked as though we had been on the run with nowhere to hide, with nothing but the clothes on our backs. “I am here to see King Tobias,” Lukas declared, as we stopped at the gate of the pal
GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF INJURY IN THIS CHAPTER Drew Lukas and Bianca stepped forward, one of them on either side of the pedestal. Dave stood behind Lukas, on the side closest to me, and Bianca on the other, on the side closest to Mordecai, her grandfather. Our grandfather. I shuddered slightly at that thought, and Felicity cackled quietly beside me. Even though she did not know what caused it, she was taking a significant amount of pleasure from my discomfort. Tobias opened his mouth to speak, then closed it and laughed, glancing at Mordecai. “This is a clever loophole to the curse, wouldn’t you agree?” he asked. “Yes, I was just thinking that,” Mordecai mused. “Breaking their bond by marking another instead of a formal rejection. Painful, to be s
Finn Get in, get Adam, get out, see my family. That was what I kept repeating to myself as we traveled through the secret tunnels, following Damien as he navigated them from memory. He had spent his childhood exploring them with Eric, the two of them using them to play pranks on the palace staff and their parents, and then hide from their unsuspecting victims. I could imagine Drew and Lukas doing the same, if they had grown up here, and I could picture our kids keeping the tradition — sneaking through the passages, trying to hide from their responsibilities or training — but we had to defeat Tobias first, in order for that to happen. We were as quiet as possible, using nothing but our own abilities to see in the dimly lit tunnels. Veronica held onto Damien’s hand, and Lyssa had Lukas’s, since their night vision wasn’t as strong as ours, and I was bringing up the rear, ready to roast any enemies who tried to follow us. Not that there was anyone around to follow us. The palace was s
Drew “WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!” Tobias roared from the far side of the courtyard, near Mordecai, Felicity standing just off his shoulder. The entire battle paused, everyone too surprised by the sudden appearance of another Lukas to continue the battle. I was glad that everyone else was clearly seeing the same thing I was, because it meant that I wasn’t hallucinating from the pain, and meant that maybe Everly’s healing had helped more than I thought it had. I was still a little weak from the blood loss, still a bit lightheaded, and Everly was holding onto my waist, helping me keep my balance, the two of us still hidden from view at the edge of the fray. I was so grateful she had figured out how to extend that ability to people around her. It had come in handy both the night of Lukas’s ceremony when she’d helped get Myles and Leo over to us so we could leave for Seeravi, and during battle, when I’d been so gravely injured. Lukas smirked at Lukas, and then the fighting continued, both
Lukas “This is between you and me, Tobias,” I said. “No one else has to die.” Tobias raised his brow at me, his face the picture of surprise. I kept my composure as I uttered my next words. “I, Lukas Daniel Aidamir, challenge you, Tobias Arnold Bancroft, for the throne of the kingdom of Volkor.” Tobias gave me a calculating look, and then lowered his gun, handing it off to Felicity. “A challenge?” he questioned, and I nodded. It was my backup plan, but between letting my mate die or fighting a bogus challenge for something that was rightfully mine, I would always choose the challenge. I could defeat him. I had to defeat him. Our lives depended on it. I glanced to the side, and Juniper gave me a weak smile, her green eyes completely devoid of their usual gold. I was not sure if it was from the iron cuffs or from her fear for our futures, but I wanted this to all be over so I could see it return. I had to finish this, and I had to finish it quickly. “What are your terms?” Tobias a