Page 17

Chapter Seventeen

Titus

S ifting out of Lucas’s office, I decide to follow the irate councilor and see if I can catch him scheming. I spend a lot of time hiding in the shadows of the shifter castle. I arrived earlier in the day once news of the new queen’s arrival reached Chaos Kingdom. King Loki dispatched me at once with an order to gather information. Concealed in the shadows—an ability gifted to me by my fae father—I listened in on the luncheon conversation. Learning that the queen was gifted a bond group instead of having to choose from a group of individuals was enlightening to say the least. The information about her knowing who the missing member of Watch Group One was interesting, and something I tucked into the back of my mind to address later. With the appearance of her mer mate, the final member of her bond group was revealed to me, but they still have no clue who the missing member is.

I rub the spot on my sternum where my new marking throbs beneath my skin. It takes a lot to shock me, but when that mark appeared on my chest after the wave of magic, even the clumsiest of assailants could have caught me unaware. I never expected to be gifted a mate, and I’m not really sure what to do with the revelation now. I’m one of five assassins and spies who work directly with the Chaos king.

Loki handpicked me and my brothers from the academy all Chaos children attend. A lot of half-breeds will inherit the traits of only one parent, but about thirty percent of us end up with dual powers, and learning to get a handle on them requires discipline and training. My brothers and I were five of the strongest, and Loki decided we were meant for more. He assigned four of us to each kingdom and kept one to be his internal spy master.

I’ve been Aramis’s liaison for five years. Loki has a special interest in each of the kingdoms—a task set for him by the four kingdoms’ goddesses. They knew a time of upheaval was coming and set wheels in motion to combat the unrest many years ago. Although they are supposed to give their creations free will, it hasn’t stopped them from meddling and manipulating to get the outcomes they desire, and Loki was the key to achieving their outcomes. I just hope he can be forgiven for his actions when the time comes.

I follow the agitated wolf, but when he stops to speak to the young prince, I leave, wanting to spy on the queen and her mates. I don’t know what kind of shifter she is, and I would like to give that information to my king when I return to the Chaos Kingdom to report.

I sift from the palace to the forest close by the waterfall where they were taking the queen to shift. I stay down wind so their sensitive shifter noses can’t scent me and lean against a tree, listening to their conversation. Four of Colbie’s mates are sitting under a tree not far from me, talking about heading into the human zone to find the other shifter mate. I sneak a little closer and learn that he lives in the same village as the new queen’s grandparents in a secluded cottage. A quick phone call to the king will tell me which village that is, and from there, it will be a piece of cake to find him. That’s where I’m going to head next. I want to scope out this other mate. From what they are saying, it sounds like he’s probably not going to be too happy he is the queen’s mate, even though it sounds like they have a prior relationship. I feel a little guilty not revealing myself as her final mate. The ache inside me keeps nudging me to do just that, but I owe the king my report and an explanation. I’m pretty sure he didn’t expect to lose one of his prized assassins permanently to another kingdom, but I won’t split my loyalty between her and him. I’m not sure how he’s going to take it. Hopefully he won’t decide to get rid of me, because then there will be no chance for her to become queen.

King Loki’s grandfather was a ruthless asshole who was as judgmental and biased as the former kings and queens who originally outlawed mixed races. He refused to be open to the idea of trading with the other kingdoms. Ten years ago, when Loki took the crown from him, life in the Chaos Kingdom got better. Loki negotiated trade treaties with all four kingdoms and opened our borders, allowing for other kingdoms to travel to ours to enjoy all the pleasures it has to offer, and our kingdom finally started to flourish. We’re still a dirty little secret as far as the humans knowing about us, but we like it that way. There is no place for the humans in our kingdom. If a human were to overindulge and end up on the wrong side of a supernatural, it would end in war.

Movement in the pond draws my eyes, and I find a polar bear swimming toward the bank, followed by a white tiger. That’s the white-haired pierced asshole of the group and the prince. I’ve always kept an eye on Watch Team One since all of them live in the palace. They don’t know about me, but I know everything there is to know about them, and I can admit they are perfect mates for the queen. They are a powerful bond group with their mixture of animals. Even the new addition of the merman is a benefit. He is a fierce fighter and well respected in General Bryson’s army, despite his usually sneered at designation.

Another white tiger follows them out, and I watch as it moves closer. “Finally,” the wolf shifter calls, sounding exasperated. I wonder how long they’ve been in the cave and what they were doing back there. The queen’s a tiger? Huh, I hadn’t expected that she would be the same as the previous king, though there is no denying that a tiger is a strong predator and a good animal for a royal to have.

The dragon says something, but a gust of wind blows the words away from me. I consider trying to creep closer to hear better, but I don’t want them to catch sight of me. The bear and tiger shift and climb out, and I get my answer as to what they were doing behind the waterfall. Liam’s neck has a shiny new scar on it from a mating bite. It looks like he was mauled, and so does one of his butt cheeks, which I see when he pulls on the shorts one of the others tosses at him. My gaze drifts to the prince, but he doesn’t have any mating marks on him yet. That’s interesting.

There’s a sudden flash of purple magic, and I blink, stunned speechless, when Colbie emerges from the wave of magic as a huge, eight-headed fucking beast that towers above her mates, her blue body still in the water. Holy shit. My heart races as I take in the sight before me. The queen is a multi-shifter, and one of her forms is the legendary, hard to kill hydra. I bet Lucas would laugh his head off if he could see me now. He kept that one close to his chest. I wonder if he was going to tell me or let me find out when it became common knowledge to the kingdom.

She swims around the pool, and I’m amazed at her elegance in the water, which is nothing short of spectacular. Finally, she lumbers out of the pond, and it turns into a beautiful fucking disaster. She stumbles and falls, crashing down into a tree not far from where I’m hiding, sending branches flying. I stifle a yelp and duck deeper in the trees as her mates hurry to help her, the dragon suggesting she attempt to change size. I don’t wait around to find out if she can or not. I don’t want anyone to find me spying on them. I will meet them when they visit the Chaos Kingdom as requested. I’m sure Lucas will see to it that the king’s demand is passed onto them. By then, I will be ready to take my place by her side.

I sift to the neutral zone. I want to check out the cafe the queen used to run before she was marked. It’s late in the afternoon, and there aren’t a lot of customers in it when I enter. I overheard her mates talking about her grandparents being here to run it, and they are worried that her mother, who is a real piece of work, will cause trouble for them and the queen, so I’ll do my thing and pretend to be a nosy shifter to gather more information. I allow an illusion to wash over me, hiding my black assassin leathers and cape, showing an image of a casual tourist in a pair of jeans and a cozy sweater. There is plenty of snow close to the rift, but it isn’t quite cold enough here yet, although it won’t be long.

I pull open the door to the bakery and head in. A couple sits in one of the booths, and a small family sits at another table, but the rest of the bakery is quiet. There’s an older human gentleman behind the counter drying a couple of mugs, and he looks up as I walk in and smiles.

“Are you here to dine in or take away?” he asks pleasantly.

“I could eat,” I tell him, and he nods to the seating area. “Grab a table, and I’ll bring you a menu. You’re just in time, we’re about to close up the kitchen.”

I follow his instructions, and before long, he is standing at the table with a menu in hand. “Can I get you something to drink?” he asks, placing the menu on the table.

“How about a coffee with a couple of those cute marshmallows floating in it?” I ask, having heard all about the cute gimmick the queen has going on in here.

“Sure thing. Any particular critter?” the man asks.

“Surprise me,” I tell him, and he gives me a wink and heads back to the counter. I hear the coffee machine grind beans and the hiss of the steam as he heats the milk. I look over the menu and decide on a grilled cheese sandwich and soup. The family gets up to leave, and the gentleman calls something . A few moments later, an older human woman bustles out to clear the table. She stops when she sees me and smiles.

“Hello there, sorry about the wait. We let the other staff go home early today. Are you ready to order?”

“What’s the soup of the day?” I ask her.

“Tomato and basil, and I have to say it’s delicious, even if it’s my own recipe.” She chuckles, and I place my order. “Won’t be too long,” she promises and hurries to clear the plates off the table the family left behind before returning to the kitchen.

The couple gets up and leaves as the gentleman returns to the table. “I don’t think I’ve seen you in here before,” I comment casually to the man. “Are you new to the neutral zone?”

He places my coffee in front of me, and my eyes widen a little when I see a cute dragon floating in it.

He nods, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “Yes, we are. This is our granddaughter’s place, but she was marked as the new shifter queen,” he tells me with pride. “We offered to help her out until she can make permanent arrangements.”

I round my eyes, feigning shock. “Wow, the shifter queen! That has to be…” I pause as I think about what it must be like for a human to be marked. “Terrifying,” I finish, and he nods.

“Yeah, I think our girl had a small meltdown and tried to run away, but she came to her senses, and the shifters couldn’t get a better human to be their queen. She will be amazing.” I can hear the love this man has for his granddaughter in his voice, and I decide to probe a little more.

“So you aren’t from around here?” I ask, taking a sip of my coffee, smiling as the dragon slides around inside. It really is adorable.

“No, we’re from the human zone, a village called Ocean Reef, but this was a way to help out our girl and reduce her stress, so to speak. It’s one less worry for her to have.”

“That’s kind of you. What about other family members? They must also be proud of your granddaughter.” I’m not very subtle, but thankfully this man doesn’t notice.

“Oh no, it’s just Jenny and me. Colbie doesn’t have anyone else except for her mother, and she can be a little difficult,” he says with a grimace.

“Joseph Karridge, stop boring this young man with our family drama,” Jenny, his wife, scolds as she appears with my soup and grilled cheese. She slides it onto the table and shoos her husband away, pointing to the empty booth that needs to be cleared.

“Now there’s no rush, but I’m going to put up the closed sign, otherwise Joe and I will never get out of here. Let us know if you want anything else while we finish tidying for the day, okay?” Jenny puts a stop to my questioning, but I learned enough to know where to look for this other mate of Colbie’s, so I nod politely and eat my food.

They leave me to enjoy the delicious meal. I groan with delight at the flavors and hope that my mate has inherited her grandmother’s talent for cooking, because I truly suck at it—not that a queen will be doing her own cooking regularly, but I hope she knows how to make this soup, because I could happily live off this and grilled cheese.

Once finished, I pay my bill, thank them, and take my leave. I’m bound to meet them again, and they will probably recognize me because I didn’t glamour my features, but I will deal with that when the time comes. I decide to poke around Malina Karridge’s business, but when I get there, the shop is closed, so I leave it for now. I can investigate her later. Joseph made it sound like Colbie and her mother aren’t close. King Loki said as much, but I didn’t push for details at the time because it didn’t matter. It does now, and I want to know everything he does.

I sift to the seaside village of Ocean Reef, and it doesn’t take me long to find out about the loner who lives in the forest near the lighthouse. I decide to wait until dark and kill some time wandering the boardwalk of the cute seaside village. The whole time, my mind obsesses over the woman who is my mate and the men I have been linked to for the rest of my life. I have a good bond with the four other men handpicked by Loki to be his spies, and my relationship with the king is solid. He is my parents’ friend. In fact, he introduced them to each other, and he’s like a favorite uncle who is always getting you into trouble. I’ve killed for the man, but I’ve never been good at the friend thing with others. I’m abrasive, and because of what I do, I am secretive and insular. I have no idea what it’s going to be like to be a part of a bond group. Am I going to be able to open up to these people, and will they accept me for who I am, or am I destined to live on the outside, always looking in?

My thoughts take on a toxic loop of doubt that is very unfamiliar and throws me off-balance. I’m unsettled and restless when the sun finally goes down, and I make my way through the forest surrounding Nox’s cabin on foot, but when I get there, I instantly know he isn’t in residence. I sift inside the building. He doesn’t have any wards up that would prevent me from doing so, but then he probably didn’t think he had to worry about a half fae shifter getting into his place. I can tell that it’s alarmed against human intruders, but my fae magic allows me to be imperceptible to them.

I poke around his things, trying to get a handle on Queen Colbie’s missing mate. There is a cat tree sitting in one corner of the room, but no sign of a cat, and despite the lingering scent of cinnamon and sugar, which I’m pretty sure belongs to this male, the place shows signs of him being gone. It has the slightly musty scent of a room that hasn’t seen fresh air for a few days. There are dishes on the drying rack near the sink, but they are bone dry, as is the sink. The bed is made in the bedroom, but there is a lingering scent of cupcakes and frosting that makes my cock twitch. Damn it, what is that smell? If I had to guess, I would say it’s the queen. I haven’t been close enough to scent her yet, and the water was masking it earlier. I would say this shifter and the queen know each other intimately. So why did he run?

I’m even more curious now, and after shuffling through some correspondence he left on his desk in the office, I learn this male is from Zalfari. He’s an equine, another one of those disregarded shifter races, much like the fairies that sent my mother running from any possible match in this kingdom and straight into the arms of my fae father. Her life was difficult, and that was without her having to worry about human wing hunters and collectors who make being a fairy shifter dangerous. They still exist in hidden, underground markets, but I’ve made it my mission to search them out in my free time and explain why hunting fairy shifters and the fae is a bad idea.

Knowing there is nothing else for me to learn here, I decide to return to the Chaos Kingdom and tell Loki everything I have uncovered. I also have to inform him of my new bond mark. That’s certainly going to be an interesting conversation.