Page 53 of The Curse of Monsters
Lyr, Soren, Nic, and Dean all shared another look, and Lyr let out a long breath. “Well, not exactly.”
“What do you mean?” Kade growled.
It was Dean who spoke up then, his green eyes focused on my males. “The king was never slain; he was entombed.”
“Entombed?” Locke asked coldly.
Lyr clapped her hands together. “All you need to know is that King Adrien is somewhere safe and guarded, unable to do any harm. If we offer both King Adrien and Warrick up to King Chalir and the fae, do you think they’d be willing to form a truce? Especially if you all apologize profusely for whatever the hell happened back there.”
Darian rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “We don’t know if Prince Azaren survived the assassination attempt, but perhaps…”
“Capturin’ Warrick is gonna be a little hard to do with Warrick’s outliers guardin’ the city. If the fae attack now, they’ll be met with resistance, and once that blood is spilled on both sides, there might not be any way to come back from it. No matter the gifts we wield,” Asher pointed out.
“Then we should join forces and move as quickly as possible,” Lyr said with a smile. There was something about that smile and the way she focused her attention on me that made me pause.
“Wait, you don’t just mean join forces, do you? You want us to join your house?” I asked in surprise.
She grinned. “If you mean staying here for a while, then yes. Warrick knows where you usually stay, and this place is about as safe as you can get while Warrick’s outliers roam the city. But it’s not really what I meant. Like I said, those who wish to become human again have rallied together. We’ve formed our own big…house of sorts, if you want to use the terms the council came up with all those years ago. Join us so we have a chance at surviving the war and Warrick’s outliers. We’re weak while we’re divided, and Raine, your dragon is the most powerful monster we’ve seen in Katakin. Not to mention your magic would be a great asset. With you all on our side, we might stand a chance at defeating Warrick and his outliers before the fae make it here.”
At first, none of us spoke. A part of me felt like it wasn’t my fight. Now that I knew my sister wasn’t in Katakin, I wanted to keep searching. But…this wasn’t about my sister anymore. I thought of the four males around me, and my heart swelled as that intense desire to hoard them away and guard them from harm rushed through me.Mymales. My mates. The need to mark them as mine had my teeth elongating and sharpening, but I cleared my throat, pushing back the change. Cara wasn’t in this world, but my monsters were, and the secrets of the curse were branded in my mind. And it wasn’t just about the monsters. I thought of Prince Azaren and the fae. The fae hadn’t been kind to us when they’d found out what we were, but they didn’t deserve to be slaughtered by Warrick and his outliers.
You must be part fae, and your mixed blood made you immune to the curse. But as the blood drained from you…Warrick’s words sounded in my head. Fae. I was part fae, and now part monster. Warrick mustn’t have shared the news yet, as it was clear Lyr had no knowledge of it, and I could barely admit it to myself, but if it was true then it meant the fae were my kind too.
Lifting my chin, I peered over at Locke and the others. None of them looked too happy with the situation, but we couldn’t hide from this. I went to voice my agreement when Nic cocked his head. “Intruders,” he growled before he disappeared from sight.
Lyr and her mates jumped to their feet, and the rest of us did the same.
“I thought you said this place was secure,” Locke said with a dark expression.
“It is,” Lyr responded, her voice hard.
Nic appeared in the same spot where he’d been standing, and Lyr whipped her head toward him.
“Alpha Losak is here with a small portion of his shifters. Warrick learned of our alliance, and his outliers attacked Losak’s house. There aren’t many of them left.” Nic delivered the news, his voice a gravelly whisper.
“Check if they were followed, and if not, then let them in,” Lyr told Nic. “If Warrick has discovered the names of those allied to us, someone must have spoken. None of the others are safe.”
Dean’s face turned ashen. “Then we’d best prepare for more company.”
Locke’s eyes glossed over, becoming gray and sightless, and his body became deathly still. When his eyes cleared again a moment later, his jaw tightened.
“What is it?” Kade growled.
“That was Garan,” Locke explained, and I knew he meant the gargoyle who could send mental messages to him. Locke’s face was hard, and claws peeked from his fingers. “Outliers are attacking the watchtowers and killing the gargoyles.”