Page 151 of Bruised MC Bear

Liam placed the bowl near her beak and waited as she drank.

Coco lifted up her head. “I don’t even have time to change to a human form, not that you have any clothes to give me anyway, but let’s get started. First of all, Kiera can tap into the magic of all of the spells that were cast by the Chosen witches from all of the prior years since Minassus began the shifter transformations. Our theory is that touching Liam earlier made her stronger, because he was turned a different year than you were, Xander. Is this true?”

Xander nodded. “Yes. Liam was turned two years after I was.”

“We believe that if I can make physical contact with one shifter from each of those years, it will increase Kiera’s strength. There should be seven more we can tap into. Can you get them here? Right now? She needs their magic for two crucial reasons. No, three reasons, actually. Crap. No, four.”

“Liam, take care of identifying the seven shifters and bringing them to me,” Xander ordered.

Liam nodded. “Yes. I’m on it.”

“Wait!” Coco shouted. “You should hear everything before you leave to get them.”

“Go on.”

“A winter storm is upon us. And with it, the ravages are coming. They are already on their way, possibly in the hundreds, all coming from the west.”

“Hold on a second,” Xander said with alarm. “The ravagers are on their way to the Sector?”

Coco nodded fearfully. “Yes!”

“How did Kiera know?”

“She just knows. She sensed it somehow, and they could all arrive at the outer walls within less than twenty-four hours. Whatever time you have left, you need to focus on reinforcing all of your defenses in the West. Kiera does not know whether she can help fight them off or not. We haven’t had time to practice, and we still have no idea if her powers will improve after I touch the seven shifters that Liam will gather up.”

“And why can’t we take them to her, as we had just planned?”

“Because there is no time!” Coco shrieked. “We found the information that helped us to understand Kiera’s growing powers, but in the process we realized that the Regent knows more that he has been letting on. On top of all of that, he returned to the fortress a short time ago, and Kiera sensed that he knew everything. We don’t know how that’s possible, but the point is we have to adjust and accelerate our plan. We don’t have four days anymore. Plus with the storm coming early, we have to begin tonight.”

“Reena has already left camp with some of them.”

“Then you need to get the trainees and send them away from here now. The Regent may already have guards on their way here to gather them up and perform the transformation ceremony… Tonight.”

Things were happening too quickly. If Xander could, he would demand to speak with Kiera before taking action, but deep down, he was sure they did not have the luxury of time. “He can’t do that,” Xander told her in a sharp tone.

“Try telling that to him.”

“But if the storm is coming, we need those men.”

“It’s never easy. Uh, Xander?”

“Yes?”

“I’m not done.”

“There’s more?”

“Sadly, yes,” Coco answered. “That trip Manassas took was a decoy. Xander, Keira believes that he has already held your mother prisoner and is bringing her to the fortress as we speak.”

Fury and fear rose up in Xander’s throat at the news. “No. He couldn’t have.”

“He took your mother.”

“That maniacal bastard! Why didn’t you tell me that first?”

“Like I said from the start. All of it is important, and there was no way to tell you in the order that would matter most to you. We still believe that the most important thing you can do is get the seven shifters here to me, so that Keira can do her best to help in any way that she can, while your men prepare to defend the sector against the ravagers… And I can only suggest that you hide those trainees scheduled for the transformation ceremony, or deploy them far from the fortress. As soon as they are a safe distance away, take some shifters with you to the fortress to see the Regent and negotiate your mother's release… As well as Keira’s. I did mention he has her now, right?”

For a few moments, Xander stood there, half paralyzed from indecision. His first instinct was to get to the fortress and rescue his mother and Keira. Someone also needed to stop the guards that were possibly already on their way here, hoping to gather up the men Minassus wanted to turn tonight. But just as Coco suggested, defending the sector from the ravages was the top priority, and if Keira could do that somehow with her magic, Xander needed to help her make that happen.