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“Yes.” he fingered the piece of jewelry and Rowan caught a fleeting look of tenderness before he snapped his attention back to Rowan.

“She never came back from her meeting with you, neither has the Elder’s Grimoire.

I tried locating her through tracking spells, but when those failed, I turned to looking for the book. That’s how I ended up here.”

“Surely that’s not an accusation I hear in your voice.” The kitsune surged to stand between Rowan and the witch, his golden eyes glowing.

The kitsune’s potential should have made him take the role of alpha for the cobbled pack, standing back until action was required. But intruding before danger escalated was an action for a second in command.

Alessandro was aware of Rowan’s potential better than perhaps even herself, but she was not a shifter.

To be considered an alpha by the beast of this kitsune, one of the most powerful shifters Alessandro had come across in a century, made the Dragon King question what he’d missed in his assessment of her.

Tension squared Dae’s shoulders and, though he was several inches shorter than the massive kitsune, he raised his chin up in defiance.

Rowan peeked from around the suddenly enraged shifter. “Tone the hostility down a notch, Dae. When Kin’s beast takes over, buildings crumble. My dad isn’t a fan of eyesores on his land.”

Dae clenched his jaw but bowed his head.

“No. I don’t think that Ms. Dahl had anything to do with Master Cherry’s disappearance.

Seeing her in action in Greece all but confirmed the reputation she’s earned with the Coven.

She can’t help but play the part of the hero, even to her own detriment.

Harming the rightful Elder isn’t part of her M.O.

” He looked around at the still frozen people. “Barros is proving reckless.”

“Elder Antoni, Dae. Do not take his name so lightly.” The twin spoke for the first time since his brother popped into existence.

Dae rolled his eyes. “His name is Hye. I tried to give him nulling jewelry to counteract the effects of the illusion, but it didn’t work.”

“Nothing will, not unless this Antoni Barros lifts his spell, is nulled himself, or dies.” Aqua’s words were unexpected. Alessandro was sure the woman would’ve preferred to remain silent their entire visit.

“If that’s the case, tell us where the bastard is and I’ll have this all taken care of in a matter of hours.” Blaise cracked his knuckles.

There was bloodlust in his Fire General’s eye. Stone and Aqua had a similar glimmer in their own and Alessandro himself was itching to avenge the pride of his Thunder by ripping the man apart.

“They discovered me after that interview in Greece. I was supposed to paint the wolves to be rabid and out of control, to not let them know it had been Ms. Dahl behind getting them under control. But after the reaction to Draconis’ incident, I knew I couldn’t be a part of that.

The Coven is supposed to bring the world together, not tear it apart like Barros wants. ”

Alessandro’s eyes wandered to Rowan, who seemed to have softened even further towards the man. He tried to stamp down his infuriating irritation.

“I’ve spent the last day dodging witches. I haven’t been able to figure out what’s going on behind the scenes.“

Dae glanced at his brother. “But he might know something that could lead us to Barros.”

Hye snarled and said, “I will not turn my back on my oath. Unlike you, I have maintained my honor. I will serve the Coven until my dying breath.”

Alessandro considered his options. He could rip apart Hye’s mind and find the information he needed, but if there was already one set of hands on the witch’s brain, he would leave permanent scars. Death would be kinder and dragons didn’t kill without just cause.

With that being the case, he had only one other choice. He could send his dragons to find Antoni Barros now that he had a name. It might take longer than getting the answer out of Hye, but it would be less messy in the long run.

“Ro, is everyone okay, still frozen?”

Alessandro’s gaze slid to Rowan’s bandaged hands. She had used her magic wrong again and was paying the consequences. Yet, here she was pondering the length of the damage to assess if it was possible to cast the proper reversal of deep ice.

As its creator, he knew it was a challenging spell, even at full power.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Louisa crossed her arms. Her ruby eyes narrowed at Rowan. “Kin and I will take care of it. You need to recoup.”

“You guys used as much magic as I did.”

“Yeah, but we didn’t take Abanoub’s blows straight to the head like you did. In fact, why don’t I take you to the infirmary first and begin with thawing Miasma or Lexine out? You could have a concussion!”

“I’m fine.” Rowan hissed, fighting the brunette’s wandering hands away from her face.

“No.” Kin’s voice was soft.

Something unspoken passed between the kitsune and the elf, and Alessandro watched as the fight drained from Rowan’s body.

It was yet another shifter characteristic, an alpha being talked down by a member of their pack.

There was no hostility in Kin’s resistance, just a statement of fact Rowan couldn’t refuse.

It was how Aqua should have approached Alessandro about his silver eyes, but out of all his generals she was the most anxious.

“Fine.” She hissed. “But I’m calling Master Jah.”

“He’s with Halley.” Louisa sing-songed. “Last time you interrupted their romantic time, I believe her words went something like, ‘if you value your spine you’ll make sure to only reach out in life or death situations, and I will be the judge of where it falls’.”

Rowan paled at whatever memory occurred and Alessandro wondered if they were talking about Japhet and who the fuck Halley was if they were. Hadn’t he basically confessed to being in love with Rowan?

“We can help.” Blaise grinned, “I’m actually the uncontested champion of un-deep icing shit.”

“Only because you won’t count the last time I won.” Stone rolled his shoulders. “If I win twice in a row, that means you’ll have to swallow your pride.”

Louisa perked up. “Do you have to be a dragon to compete?”

Blaise raised an eyebrow as his gaze roved all over the vampiress. “No, but babe, you’re competing against dragons here. Vamps don’t understand heat the way we do.”

The woman began long-legged strides towards the nearest frozen elf and undid the deep ice in a matter of seconds.

“We better referee.” Alessandro led Aqua away.

Chapter 20

“I’ll go make sure our idiot doesn’t go overboard.” Kin said softly. “Rowan, if the Coven is behind this, they’ll send a backup if they don’t get their witch back. You should get ready.”

Rowan nodded her understanding and with Dae beside her, they watched as the spellcasters moved from body to body after making sure whoever they thawed had no residual effects of being encased.

She would admit to feeling disappointed at not being able to throw her hat into the ring, but Kin had been right. She had to recover from her fight with the Sphinx Alpha and her succubus hunger was darkening the edges of her vision.

“Why did Cherry give you the grimoire?”

Rowan turned her full attention to Dae. The facade of a put-together witch slid off so completely she could hardly recognize him.

“She said it was a condition of my freedom.” Rowan answered carefully, noting any change in his face as she spoke, “I tried to refuse, but she wouldn’t hear of it.”

“How did she appear when you last saw her?”

His strained tone and his glassy eyes tickled Rowan’s inner succubus. Longing and worry, the kind reserved for lovers.

“Sad.”

The words seemed to siphon more energy from the witch. “Tell me.” He whispered to his brother, “Do you know where Cherry is?”

Hye’s nostrils flared, “The False Elder is gone. Help me, Dae, help me and tell Elder Antoni you are on our side. We have always been of one mind. How can you be on the wrong side of this?”

Curses streamed from Dae’s mouth as he stalked a few feet away to recollect himself.

Zeva spoke for the first time since they’d arrived back home, “Rowan, if they do come, the Coven has the media on their side. They’re the most influential mystics to exist. They could paint us to be the bad guys here.”

“Yep.” Rowan let out a breath of uneasy breath. “Come on, I think they’ll come from the south.”

XOXOXOXOXO

When Alessandro and the competing group made it to the throne room, the Bloody Elf was shaking the ice out of his hair.

His nose flared at the sight of the intruders. “Explain.” The voice was low, full of threat if given the wrong answer.

Louisa stepped out from behind Blaise and the king released some of the tension.

“The Coven just threw a deep ice spell over the kingdom. Rowan is waiting at the south border for them to phase in and trigger intruder number six protocols.”

“Nine.” Kin corrected as he extended his forearm for King Kyron to grip and both men tapped each other’s shoulders in greeting.

“Nine.” Louisa corrected herself as she wrapped her arms around King Kyron, melting the rest of his tension. “I’m glad to see you’re okay.”

King Kyron returned the embrace and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. “You’ve been gone for far too long.”

“I know. Ma decided she liked your idea and is implementing our own family dinner nights.”

King Kyron chuckled. “Perhaps one day we can simply invite her.”

Louisa laughed, “I wouldn’t put people I actually like through that. If you’re thawed out, the jewelry may have worked for everyone else.”

“Indeed, they did, little Lou.” in the doorway was a stunning black haired elf. Eyes a shade of periwinkle that glowed when they landed on Alessandro.