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If our jaws hadn’t already been hanging open, they would have now. Howar just did one of the rudest things you can possibly do to a monarch of higher station than you—interrupt them. In the past, that was a grievance some kings and queens beheaded over. While I didn’t think Omaera was the type, the level of disrespect was not lost on any of us—even the new queen.

“Please do not interrupt me, Your Majesty,” Omaera said calmly. “I’m not assuming or insinuating anything. I have not been part of this realm long enough to make any assumptions. My mates, however, are guiding me in the ways of your world quite well. So please, look within your court and kingdom for any sign of … unrest. And remember, when they attacked us at the portal, they attackedyour cousin.So I presume you are going to take this personally?”

Howar probably needed a second to collect his own jaw off the floor. Or at least it seemed that way, because he took a moment to reply.

“King Howar, are you still there?” Omaera asked her voice almost saccharine.

“Yes. Yes, I am, Your Majesty. My apologies. And yes, I take it personally that Drak was among those attacked at the portal. I’m tremendously pleased that he is okay, and I will certainly look into things on my end.”

“Excellent. I look forward to seeing you in two days’ time. Good evening, Your Majesty.” Then she leaned forward and disconnected the call.

“I’m so fucking hard right now,” Maxar said, pointing to the bulge in his black sweatpants. “You were born to be Queen. That shit … we didn’t teach you that shit. That’s all you. That’s all …” He shook his head in disbelief, “fuck. Baby, that was so hot.”

Color filled Omaera’s face, and she smiled until her cheeks rounded. “I mean, I may have binge watchedThe Crownlast month. I know the way a queen is expected to talk.”

Maxar and Zandren shook their heads, grinning.

“No way, that was all you, Little One,” Zandren said, grabbing two slices of pizza, putting four potstickers between them, and eating it all like a massive sandwich. “That was sexy. You owned that motherfucking vampire like the queen you are.”

Omaera glanced at me. “Tell me about the Palace of Venixe.”

I slept terribly.

It didn’t help that Zandren spent a significant portion of the evening and early morning inside Omaera in the adjacent room, which ramped up my Mate’s Ache, but I was also just running through the upcoming meeting with the rulers through my head on a loop.

I attacked it from every angle I could. Ran through every scenario like a war general should.

We would be outnumbered no matter what.

Howar would come with manpower, and if he informed Lerris of the plan, Lerris wouldn’t come alone either. Queen Anysa would bring her mages-in-waiting with her as well. And Zandren said that his father would probably bring a few lieutenants with him, since the old bear rarely traveled alone anymore. The only ruler who knew the true and real plan was King Ryden. He knew to go directly to Colorado.

In the morning, we met for breakfast and the front desk clerk helped us with a rental car. We were on the road at checkout time and headed east in the Honda SUV rental for the fifteen-hour drive. Maxar drove first, then traded off with Zandren. I rarely drove and articulated as much when they asked me if I wanted a turn. I said I would, but that it’d been a while. Like several decades since I’d been behind the wheel. Normally, I had a driver.

When we did all speak, it was strategy and planning.

Zandren suggested stopping in Wyoming for the night. He said he knew some black bear-shifters we could stay with, but Omaera wanted to push on. She wanted to get to the cave and get the lay of the land as soon as possible.

We arrived in Denver in the wee hours of the morning and checked into ahotel just long enough to shower and get a few hours of sleep.

Maxar claimed the room with Omaera this time, and Zandren said he’d sleep outside. Apparently, the bear would rather snuggle up with a dumpster behind the hotel than share a room with me.

Zandren returned the next morning with breakfast and coffee for everyone, then we piled into the SUV and headed toward the mountains. I’d been to the cave before, as had the bear. This would be new to both Maxar and Omaera, and we really did need the two days we had to properly devise our plan.

It was a couple of hours’ drive through the windy mountain roads before we reached the spot where we’d have to park the vehicle and continue on foot. Howar never walked anywhere he didn’t have to, so he would probably have a helicopter drop him off closer to the cave.

As soon as we entered the trees, Zandren stripped down to nothing, dropped to all fours, and shifted, shaking out his big head and sending fur flying up into the sunny sky. He immediately nudged Omaera with his snout and she giggled, leaning forward to press a kiss to his nose. “Hey, Pooh Bear. Long time no see.” He licked the back of her hand, then led the way deeper into the woods.

We already had a bed-and-breakfast booked a couple of miles away, where we’d stay until the meeting tomorrow. For now, we planned to spend as much time out here preparing as we could. When we entered the warehouse to rescue Gemma, we were completely unaware of what waited for us. We weren’t going to make the same mistake again.

Zandren stopped his lumber at the base of a black slate wall.

“This is it?” Omaera asked, glancing around the sudden clearing. The line of trees sat several yards back.

Zandren grunted, then started to dig at the ground with his enormous claws.

“Is Timmy in the well, Lassie?” Maxar joked.

Zandren spun around and snarled at the mage.