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CHAPTER 8

NOVA

“I think that’s everything,” I said as I looked at Gray, Vegas, and Maize, all of whom were offering me surprised expressions. Probably due to the word vomit that had just left me in an attempt to explain what had occurred since the last time I’d seen them at Thanksgiving.

Of course, Gray had known some of what was going on when we left for the Old Realm of the Ethereal Sea…well, except for the very important part about saving the world alongside a siren, Lorcan, whose species was supposedly extinct.

“I have no idea how you’re managing it,” Vegas said. “Not only is that a shit ton of travel, but you have to be exhausted with all of that magic you’re carrying around.”

“Oh, I’m fine.” I waved off the concern. Honestly, the longer I was back inside of my body, the more I felt settled with the power inside of me.

I was really happy to see that Vegas was doing well, because the last time I’d met with her, I’d just found out she was pregnant. Considering I’d been gone for ‘months,’ it was now much more obvious. She’d mentioned that her first pregnancy had been difficult and progressed too fast, but she’d said that this one seemed relatively normal, so I was happy for her. Her silver hair was piled on top of her head, and a lavender glow surrounded her—but not only lavender. There were streaks of other colors in there.

I had a feeling it was representative of her men because both Gray and Maize had something similar. At first, I’d thought maybe it was their magic that was creating these glowing auras, but after Hecate and now the three of them? I was realizing that it was my amplified magic that allowed me to see the glow of power and life surrounding each of them.

I wondered, as my magic settled more and more, if it would start to apply to everyone around me. If so, shit was about to get very colorful. I also wondered briefly if it had to do with Venus’ line of magic.

“I believe that. You seem like you handle shit well,” Gray admitted, sighing and placing her crown on the table before running her hands through her hair. “So, we’re going to war, and we don’t know where or when exactly, but soon.”

“Very soon,” I agreed. “I have to go to the God realm and then back to the Earth realm beforehand—hopefully before any of this shit starts—but I’ll make sure we call you when we know any new information.”

I had no idea how we would stay in touch, but that totally sounded like something River would be amazing at figuring out.

“Well, you can count the royal guard—our Supernatural Enforcement unit—to be on the front lines with you,” Gray promised. “And of course I’ll be there. I’m not missing that—things have been far too relaxed this past year.”

“Right, relaxed.” Vegas scoffed.

Gray continued with a smile. “I’ll also be sure to warn the light fae of what’s to come. My brother is married to their future king.”

“You can count on the Red Masques and dark fae too,” Vegas said. “I would love to say I’ll be on the front lines because I’m sure I could manage it, but Kodiak—hell, most of my men—don’t like me more than ten feet away from them, let alone on a battlefield.”

“You could be at the main camp, helping with logistics,” Gray offered before looking toward Maize, who had been silent this entire time. She seemed trapped in thought, her mercury-colored eyes darting across the table. “Maize, you and your mates probably want to?—”

“Rest,” Maize said. Her gaze moved to hold mine, clearly feeling a need to explain herself. “We recently underwent…a lot. With that being said, if you’re okay with it, Gray, I’d like to offer and pledge that my mates and I will defend the Horde during wartime. I know that with you gone, the realm would lose some of its natural defenses, so let us take that place. And Vegas, if you need anyone to watch Zariyah—if one of your husbands isn’t staying behind—we are absolutely able to do that as well. I have my little brothers to watch over as it is.”

“That’s so sweet, we may take you up on that,” Vegas agreed, offering her a friendly smile. I could tell the three of them had grown close, and I found myself wishing I had a home base and girlfriends that I could see all the time. After this war, I needed to find that—maybe even here, inside the Horde.

“The idea for protecting the Horde works perfectly,” Gray said, turning to me to explain. “Maize and her mates recently dealt with Oberon.”

“Shit,” I murmured. “We need to include him in the possible allies for Titania and the others.”

“No you don’t,” Maize said softly, her eyes flashing with a darkness I’d never seen in her expression before. “You really don’t need to worry about him.”

Ah. Okay, I got what she was saying, and I wasn’t going to question it. I had no idea what had happened, but if she believed Oberon was no longer a threat, I would take it at face value. Maize was literally poisonous to the touch; I wasn’t in the business of questioning her.

“I understand.” I nodded, my gaze darting outside. The mid-afternoon sun was warming the Horde’s still icy grounds. “I feel like a lot has happened since we left the Garden of the Beginning. I’m not even sure how much time has passed.”

“When did you go there?” Gray asked.

“Early February. Can’t remember the exact date.”

Her lips pressed together. “It’s the start of March now.”

“Damn it.” I blew out a breath. “Another holiday missed—freakin’ Valentine’s Day.”

Vegas reached across to squeeze my hand. “You have every single holiday after this is over,” she reminded me in an attempt to soothe my frustration.

“Still don’t like it,” I sighed before shaking the thought from my head. “Oh well, nothing to be done, I suppose…but the shortening of the timeline does make me realize we can’t stay here long. A day or two at most.”

“I’m honestly surprised they’ve let us talk alone for this long,” Maize pointed out. All four of our gazes went to the door. All of our men were on the other side, and I had been seriously glad to get the room to ourselves. It was nothing against any of them, but I would’ve found it really hard to focus with that many magical signatures bouncing around. I felt hypersensitive to the magic of those around me now, probably because of the change in my power.

“I give them two minutes, tops.” Vegas laughed. “Especially if they realize we’re done with our more serious discussion.”

“Well, we aren’t fully done.” I leaned forward, crossing my arms on the table. “I need to give each of you some magic. That was actually my main point in coming here. I’m supposed to disperse the magic to those around me.”

“I shouldn’t,” Vegas said, apology in her tone. “I’m sorry if that messes with your plans at all, but my power…well, myself in general is pretty much all magic. I’m literally the physical embodiment of magic as a sorceress. So when you released magic from the Earth, I felt it and it fueled me even more than usual. I don’t think it would be smart for me to take more.”

I nodded in understanding. It was also sort of unspoken that it probably wouldn’t be smart to mess with her magic while pregnant. It would probably be fine—magic was naturally protective of its owner—but I didn’t ever want to put any of my friends in harm’s way.

“I would be honored to take some,” Gray said.

“If you want me to, I would love to take some for the protection of the Horde,” Maize agreed.

“Perfect.” I stood up and rounded the table, motioning to Maize, who was closest to me. “I’ve never done this before, so we’re going to hope for the best here.”

“I’m pretty durable,” Maize mused and met my hands, clearly no longer afraid of hurting me.

Once we were connected, I closed my eyes and imagined the magic soaring under my veins, like green fibers that moved in a molten swirl. Almost instantly, it responded to my attention.

I’d expected to have to do a lot more than I actually did, but it was as if Maize was pulling it toward her with her own magic. My eyes opened, and I watched the process in awe.

Roots, literal fucking roots, broke out from the pulse point in my wrist and crawled up Maize’s wrists. When they dug into her skin, I winced in sympathetic pain. Glowing green magic flowed into her veins as if she were taking it in through an IV. Not only for herself, though; I could feel through our temporary bond that she was giving it to her mates as well. And considering how much I had to fucking spare, I didn’t mind in the least.

As quick as the process started, it was done.

The vines dissolved and I stepped back, a whoosh of breath leaving me, feeling a bit dazed at the snap-back effect.

“That was crazy,” Vegas whispered, her eyes round in shock.

“Crazy enough that I had to ward the doors to stop the others from coming in,” Gray agreed. Sure enough, the door was now blocked by a shimmering silver ward.

“They probably smelled my blood or Maize’s,” I conceded. The process of roots bursting from my skin and piercing hers hadn’t been pristine.

“I’ll tell them we’re okay,” Maize said, slipping out of the wards easily as the door closed behind her. Gray appeared in front of me, placing her hands in mine with complete trust.

This time, I didn’t need to close my eyes because the roots broke from my skin, eager to meet Gray. Much like Maize, I could taste Gray’s magic and tell through our bond that she was not only feeding her mates…but also the realm. It was such an incredibly unique experience, and her magic was so intense that it had my brows shooting up in surprise. Her own eyes were closed, and when a silver light surrounded her, a pair of massive wings broke from her back.

“Holy shit,” I whispered as a transformation overcame her, turning her hair more silver, her ears elongated and her wings stretched out. It was so incredibly cool. The roots dissolved and the door burst open as Gray dropped the wards. She offered me a bright smile before giving my hands a squeeze.

“Thank you for protecting the Horde,” Gray said. “That’s what you’ve done here today, Nova. So thank you.”

“When I received my power, I knew that I wanted to share it with the three of you,” I admitted. I looked at the rest of the room to find everyone staring in surprise, probably at Gray’s form…or maybe because my arms were covered in blood.

“All good, gorgeous?” Fox asked, ready to bolt to my side the second I said it was okay.

“Super good,” I promised, walking over to reassure them as Gray and Vegas did the same with their mates. “These creepy roots broke out of my arms and fed the power into Gray and Maize. Vegas decided against it because of her magic type, but I have to say, it feels really nice to take a bit of the weight off.”

“We felt the shift as well,” Cassian said. It wasn’t a ton, barely a drop in the bucket, but it made a difference for sure. Unfortunately, it didn’t help with feeling overwhelmed by the insane amount of power stuffed into this singular room. My head spun, and I didn’t even realize my men were trying to get my attention until River clasped my jaw.

“You okay, butterfly?”

“Too much power. I’m oversensitive to too much magic in cramped places right now.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Everett said. I turned to say goodbye to Gray and Vegas, Maize and her mates already gone.

“We’re going to grab some stuff from the house, but we’ll probably leave within a day or two. I’ll try not to break the wards this time.”

“I still think that was pretty cool.” Gray flashed a smile. “Stay safe. We’ll be ready and on call when you need us.”

“Us too!” Vegas said brightly before patting one of her men’s chests. “I’ll make sure to find a nice cozy place somewhere I can’t even stub my toe, Maker forbid.”

I couldn’t help the laugh that left me as we exited the meeting room. The minute we stepped into the open air, a bridge connecting the room to the rest of the castle, I felt much better. Well, until one of Maize’s mates appeared out of nowhere and nearly scared the hell out of me. Clearly I was having a bit of an off day.

“Valerio,” Cassian said in greeting.

“It was good to see both of you, especially after you disappeared off the face of the earth for a few weeks,” he mused, his eyes sharp on Cassian and Fox’s expressions. There seemed to be an older brother dynamic between him and Cassian and Fox, but I wasn’t sure they felt that way or if he just did.

“Gorgeous, I’m not sure if we’ve actually introduced you, but Valerio’s our cousin.” Fox explained.

Oh.

“His mother is our mother’s sister,” Cassian said.

“How is Aunt Caressa?” Fox asked.

“She’s okay. I recently transferred her out of the castle’s medical wing and back home because her condition has stabilized,” Valerio said. “I actually stayed back to talk to you about something regarding the family.”

The boys grew more serious. The other seven were nearby, trying to give privacy but clearly listening at a distance. I tightened my hands on both Fox and Cassian, because call me crazy but ‘family’ probably meant either their mother or their grandmother.

“What’s going on?” Cassian asked.

“Dosia passed away in her sleep four nights ago.”

There was a stillness in the air, but I could feel heavy and thick emotions surging through our bond—relief, so much damn relief—as well as confusion. I took it from their reactions that Dosia was their grandmother, not their mother.

“Dead? She’s dead?” Cassian’s voice was void of emotion, but I didn’t think Valerio bought it.

“I was going to send word, but I wasn’t sure you would want to attend the services, so I figured I would wait until we saw you next,” he admitted, looking a little conflicted on the situation. “Your mother has been transferred to the care of the same medical team as my mom. She’s living on our property.”

“Was she hurt?” Fox demanded.

“Yes.” Valerio’s face filled with anger. “She was malnourished and seemed to have not left bed in a very, very long time.”

“Shit,” I murmured, feeling the guilt saturate our bond.

“She’s safe now,” Valerio said, his words striking me as odd. “We can talk about it more later, and you should talk to her…but I have a feeling that your grandmother played a part in her state. She may have always played a part in her state.”

Cassian’s grip on my hand tightened, almost painfully, as he nodded. “When did you say the service was?”

“Tonight at seven in West Welding Park.”

“We…we may come,” Fox said quietly after hesitating.

“Your mother will be there, as will my mom,” Valerio said, trying to encourage them. “I know Dosia doesn’t deserve the respect of you attending, but it may provide closure.” I didn’t disagree with him in the least, but at the end of the day it was completely their decision.

“Why don’t we get back to the house and then decide?” I said to the two of them. I didn’t want them deciding right now only because they felt pressured to.

“Understandable,” Valerio said, sighing. “If you don’t go, at least stop by to see your mom. I think you may want to hear what she has to say, now that she’s more lucid.”

And then he was gone in a flash of black and purple magic.

The bridge we were on was quiet as I stepped out from between the twins to face both of them, seeing the pain in their eyes. “We don’t have to go. We don’t even need to go see your mom. We can do whatever you want.”

“The way he talked about her…” Cassian frowned, looking at his brother. “Is it possible that Dosia had been doing something to her the entire time?”

“Valerio said she’s lucid now . Thinking back on it, she did always seem fucking out of it,” Fox said, a determined expression filling his face. “We should go.”

“Do you two want to go alone? I understand if you don’t want?—”

“We want you there,” Cassian said definitively.

“Alright. Let’s relax at the house a bit, check on our pixie gardens, and then we can go.”