Page 11 of Their World (Her Royal Harem: Lily #2)

Chapter

Eleven

Kayden pulled me out of the meeting, out of the house, and to the barn.

“What’s up, Kay?” I asked, confused why he pulled me out without a word and so far away. There were still several things to finalize before we left.

Kayden spun, gripped the back of my neck, and kissed me, his tongue sweeping in and stroking mine.

My hands went around his back, clutching his shirt.

We had never kissed like this, so passionately, so full of need.

He pulled back and rested his forehead against mine. “I don’t want you to go,” he whispered. “I don’t want to be separated from you again.”

I rubbed his back as we stood together. “I’m sorry.” There was nothing else I could say. I wasn’t going to back down on going.

“It’s killing me to know you might be gone for a month or more again,” he choked. “I just got you back.”

“I can’t promise you how long I’ll be gone, but I can promise you that I will do everything in my power to return as soon as possible. I’ll stay with my parents and I?—”

“Why are you taking Mason?” he asked softly, his words laced with jealousy.

“Jol will kill you if he sees you again. Trey doesn’t have a smaller form, and I figured you would be happy as long as at least one of you three went with me.”

Taking his hand, I tugged him towards the door. “I need to get Trey and Mason so I can talk to you three.”

His eyes widened and he followed me silently.

After grabbing Mason and Trey from the room where everyone was still discussing the plans and alternate plans, we went up to my room. Shutting the door behind me, I realized my room was rather small with three, adult, alpha males inside.

Kayden sat on my bed, playing with the pillow he’d given me.

Mason sat in my desk chair, spinning slowly.

Trey stood by my closet, looking at the picture of us and Maya playing in the lake on clan grounds. Even though he was a dragon prince, he spent a lot of his life here with us.

“What I was going to tell you before I was teleported has changed,” I admitted softly.

All three turned to face me, scowling.

“What does that mean?” Trey asked.

“Originally, I was going to say that I wanted to court you three exclusively,” I explained.

Their eyes widened and Mason got to his feet.

“However, I don’t want that anymore.”

Kayden’s hand clenched my pillow and he asked, “Because of Jol?”

Being around Jol, seeing his world and the destruction was a reason, but not for the reason he meant.

The three of them practically vibrated with jealousy and barely contained rage. I needed to be blunt instead of beating around the bush so they didn’t take it wrong or misunderstand.

“What I want is for you three to become my mates,” I said. “If you’ll have me.”

“Yes,” Mason said immediately.

“Wait,” Trey said, causing Mason to growl. “Why the change?”

“Who cares?” Kayden said and stood. “My answer is yes.”

Turning to face Trey fully, I explained, “Seeing their world, the devastation, and hearing his story of losing the female he had wanted, it hurt. My soul hurt to realize how spoiled, how utterly out of touch I am. I have three handsome, strong, and wonderful men who were my best friends, who are always trying to protect me, even when I can’t see it. My fears, my self-consciousness, it is all so small, so insignificant, and all it has done is cause drama and issues. Although I tried to hide it, I tried to run from it, and dismiss it. I love you three. You’ve had my heart since we were teenagers, probably earlier, though I didn’t realize it then. I don’t know what the future will hold, I don’t know if my plan will work or if we will face a war unlike anything we’ve faced before. However, I do know that not admitting my feelings, not admitting that there is not and will never be another group or individual outside of you three for me, is only hurting you.”

Trey walked to me, cupped my cheek, and said, “I’m glad you can finally admit it.”

I opened my mouth, but he cut me off with a kiss that made my toes curl. How were they so good at kissing? Not that I was complaining.

“Are you three sure? I did just tell you that I’m part demon, remember?”

“We don’t care what your bloodlines are,” Trey said. “All we care about is that you are ours.”

“Lily!” Mom called.

“I know it’s bad timing,” I said, “but when I get back, we will get bloodstones and complete our mating bonds, okay? After the meeting, tonight, will you mark me?”

Trey smirked, “I’ve been waiting almost twenty years to hear you say those words.” He rubbed his thumb across my cheek, kissed it, and opened my door. “We better hurry. I don’t want to face an angry Caleb.”

“Yeah, you already made him break a chair today,” Kayden said as he pushed my lower back, forcing me out of the room.

Everyone looked at us with varying faces.

“What?” I asked Nana Jolie.

She shrugged and half-smiled. “Nothing.”

“Why’d you call me?” I asked. “Did you decide something?”

“Can you share the memory with me?” Mom asked.

My eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Right now?” Looking around, I realized Caleb and Grandpa Nico were missing. “Where’s Dad?” Maya and Tony were missing, too.

“Nico is training him on a new spell,” Nana Jolie said and immediately looked down at her hands in her lap.

Something was up. They were hiding something from me.

“We want to make sure you can do it and I can use what you show me to create the portal,” Mom explained. “If we can’t do it, then this entire discussion is wasted time.”

That did make sense, but …

“Okay,” I agreed, walked to Mom, and placed my pointer finger on each of her temples. Closing my eyes, I brought up the memory in my mind of the bedroom I had stayed in at Jol’s castle. I pictured everything as vividly as I could recall, including the smells.

She gasped and stepped back, eyes wide. “That’s amazing, Lily.”

“It’s just a memory share,” I said and shrugged nonchalantly. “In most circumstances, this won’t help anyone.”

Mom set her hand on my shoulder, frowned, and said, “Don’t discount your powers, Lily. If this does work, this will be a huge magical improvement.” Stepping back, she held out her finger, and opened a portal on the living room wall beside us. It opened and displayed the room, but the room was trashed, the bedding torn to shreds, and furniture destroyed.

My hands went to my mouth and tears filled my eyes. Had Jol done this because he thought I’d lied and abandoned him?

I approached the portal, but before I could step through, Mom closed it.

Mouth open to protest, I turned to say something, but Dad and Grandpa Nico stepped forward and whispered something beneath their breath. Black chains shot up out of the ground and wrapped around me.

“Dad!” I screamed in shock and struggled against the chains.

“I’m sorry, Lily, but I cannot let you go back. I cannot risk you,” Dad whispered.

“Don’t do this!” I shouted. “Don’t do this to me!” Looking at Mason, Trey, and Kayden, I begged, “Please! Please!”

They stared at us all with wide eyes.

Mason and Kayden took a step forward, but Trey grabbed each of their shoulders. “I’m sorry, Lily, but we cannot defy your king’s order.”

Mom grabbed a bag from beside the table and hefted it over her shoulder. “When you’re a parent, you’ll understand.”

“Mom, please. He doesn’t know you! He’s going to fight you! Let me go with you. He’ll listen to me. I know he will.”

“No, you think he will,” Dad said and shook his head. He rested his hand on my cheek and said, “I know it hurts, but we are doing this to protect you.”

Tears streamed down my face. “You’re doing this to appease your need to protect me, your alpha instincts. If you’d use your humanity, you’d let me go.”

“I almost lost you twice, I’m not going to let it happen a third time,” he said and followed Mom.

“Grandpa, please let me go. Please! Why won’t you listen to reason?” I screamed.

“We’ll let him know you’re being held by us against your will,” Mom said, tears in her eyes.

“What happens when they don’t come back?” I asked.

“Then I’ll go,” Grandpa Nico said. He tilted his head towards the open portal. “I’ve now seen the place so I can teleport.”

They could go without me now. I was once again useless.

“I’m not going to stop,” I said and bared my teeth at him. “I’m going to find my own way there. None of you can stop me.” I looked at each of my family members and the trio, meeting all of their eyes. “All you’ve done is ensure I never trust you again.”

Grandpa Nico sighed. “I figured you’d say something like that.” He pressed his fingers to my head and my eyelids grew heavy. “I’m sorry, my granddaughter, but we protect our family.”

“I’m not your family,” I bit out just before the sleep spell fully took hold.

My entire body ached as I woke. Sitting up, I pressed a hand to my head. What day was it? How long had I been asleep?

“Lily,” Mason whispered.

Turning, I realized that I was locked in one of the cells in our basement. Not only had they prevented me from going and knocked me out, they’d locked me in a magical prison.

Mason crouched outside of the cell door, his body curled in on itself.

“What do you want?” I hissed and turned back around to face the wall.

He whined. “We didn’t know,” he said urgently. “We were with you when they came up with the plan to keep you here. I swear, I swear on my shifter form that I didn’t know.”

I believed him, but I still didn’t turn around.

“I’m going to get you out,” he whispered.

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Four days.”

Sucking in a sharp breath, my chest hurt at the betrayal.

“My parents?”

“We haven’t heard from them.”

Fuck.

Getting back to my feet, I approached the cell door. “How are you going to get me out? I thought only my parents could open these cells.”

“I helped your dad one time and he gave me the ability to open them. It wasn’t revoked because we both forgot about it.”

“If you do this, he’s going to punish you.” While I wanted to be free, to help my parents, I needed him to be sure about helping me.

“A punishment from my king is better than you thinking that I could ever betray you like this.”

“Does Trey know you’re here?” I asked, scowling as I recalled him stopping Kayden and Mason.

“He knows I left, but since he’s not a hybrid, I thought it best to keep him in the dark as to my plans so the others couldn’t get it from him and he won’t be in trouble of helping you when he’s not a hybrid.”

“I need stuff to take to Jol,” I said.

“We don’t have time to go back to the house. Riddick, Branson, and Triston are there, growling and pacing. I grabbed the necklace, though.” He held up the towel-wrapped necklace. “Since we can’t make portals.”

While I still suspected that the Grand Advisor was listening to us, it was necessary to find a portal.

“Okay, let me out,” I said.

Mason reached forward, pressing his fingers against the lock, and whispered something beneath his breath. The cell unlocked and the door swung open.

Stepping out, I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. “Thank you.”

“Let’s go,” he said urgently and set the necklace in my hand.

I put it on and it sent a deep vibration throughout my body. There, at the edge of my mental barriers, I felt the siren magic intruding.

So, he was definitely a siren, then.

Mason slung a bag over his shoulder. “I have a few plants in here, and some snacks for us, but this was all I could bring.”

I nodded. “It’s fine.” Gripping the necklace, I whispered, “Please, please let a portal appear.” Admitting I knew it was him would give us away, so I needed to be sure to keep up the act.

Mason pushed open the external door of the basement at the top of the stairs that led into the barn. Poking his head out, he looked and said, “Clear.”

We hurried up into the barn, closing the door behind us, and a portal opened next to me.

I gripped Mason’s hand, and we stepped through the portal.

“Lily!” Branson roared from the basement.

“Well, that was good timing,” I whispered as I watched the portal close behind us.

Looking around, it took me a minute to get my bearings. We were in a village that looked like Talrinir’s village.

“I don’t know where we are,” I said with a scowl.

“Uh, look behind you,” Mason whispered.

I turned and my eyes widened at the female demons all brandishing weapons.

“Don’t move,” the one nearest us growled.