Page 28

Neith

“J ust think of the implications for our armies, my King,” he whines. “They could help defend Trieneliea and offer us a stronger line of defense, and that’s only the benefits in that one area. There are many more.”

“Enough!” the King shouts. “I will not ever allow you to create hybrids. Do you understand what that would do to the magic? It would cause an imbalance that could affect all of the realms. It could start a war and cause Trieneliea’s demise. Not to mention that it is ethically wrong. How do you plan on creating hybrids without using supernaturals? I will not have my people experimented on.”

My eyes widen. Holy fuck, we’re in Trieneliea, and from what we just witnessed, I would be willing to bet that this blue fucker is the one who is behind our hybrid problem, but how?

Ransom coughs loudly, making us all look at him accusingly for drawing tension to us, but when I glance back at the two in front of us, they are still arguing and haven’t heard a thing.

“We’re in a vision,” Ransom says, speaking normally. “It’s a really fucking intricate one and I have no idea how we are all sharing the same one, but we obviously need to see what’s going on here.”

“So they can’t see or hear us?” Van asks curiously.

“No,” Ransom replies.

“We better listen to what we can then,” he replies, not so subtly telling us to shut up and pay attention.

I don’t need to be told twice. This is really fucking interesting. All we need now is for the king to say the blue fuck's name so that we can look for him in the earth realm when we go back.

“I’m sure many supernaturals would volunteer for the opportunity if it were endorsed by the King,” the blue guy says, his grin is smarmy and honestly, I want to punch him just for that.

“I will not endorse this. You aren’t listening to me, creating hybrids will create a huge imbalance throughout all the realms, the consequences would be dire, world ending,” the King repeats trying to get the other guy to understand the severity of the situation.

The blue guy nods like he is agreeing but I feel like he’s not actually hearing what the king is saying.

“We have prisons that are full of supes that no one would miss,” the blue guy says.

Disgust fills me at how easily he’s willing to experiment on people. The only reason why he suggested the prison is because the king wouldn’t allow him to recruit people.

“Absolutely fucking not!” the King bellows, clearly losing his patience as his magic fills the room.

The blue guy drops to the floor, and I don’t think that it’s willingly considering the angle that he has landed and the pure rage that lights his eyes.

“Sorry sire,” he forces the words out.

“This is the end of it. If you bring it up again, or I find out that you have gone behind my back to pursue this, you will be sent to Detraing. I don’t care who you are related to,” the King threatens.

Before we can see what happens next, the magic builds again, but instead of being transported back to the cave like I hoped we would be, we are now all standing in the corner of the vast room, a raised platform with two thrones placed upon it next to us.

Thrones!

I’m going to assume that we must still be in Trieneliea, and one of these belongs to the King that we saw before, which means the other one must belong to the Queen.

As I look around at the rest of the room, I realize that we are still in some kind of stone building, a big fucking stone building, and if I had to guess, then I would say that we’re in a castle. Not only that, but we’re currently standing in a giant ballroom. The ceilings soar high above us, intricately painted and decorated with gold. There are several fireplaces down one side of the room, all lit and keeping the vast space warm. On the other side is a row of glass doors that look out into the darkness beyond. The whole room is lit with floating orbs that seem to move languidly around the room of their own accord and with no real direction.

The biggest thing to note though, is the people. This room is full of people, supernaturals to be exact, some dancing, some by the buffet, but most are talking. They’re all dressed smartly but all of them clearly have their own traditions and views of what formal wear is. There are clearly important supernaturals from several different kingdoms here, it’s easy to spot them with their different attire. This place looks incredible, and I suddenly wish that we were able to join in. I have always wanted to attend a ball like this. I’m not sure what we’re supposed to be looking at here, but it’s pretty evident that we are having this vision for a reason. Especially since there was the mention of the hybrids, with this in mind, I make sure that I pay extra attention to everyone in the room as I try to find a reason for us being witnesses to this right now.

As my eyes move around the room, I end up taking a double glance at someone I swear is Pete, my regular from Bobby’s, who is very much human, but when I look back, it turns out to just be someone who looks strikingly similar but definitely isn’t Pete and the more I study him, the more I notice the differences. It would have been really weird if it was Pete. I would have no idea how to explain that, especially since he is definitely human, so what the hell would he be doing in Trieneliea?

“Is that Sully?” River asks.

My gaze follows where River is pointing and sure enough, there is a younger looking Sully standing with his arm around a beautiful woman that must be his wife. You can see the love between them and a wave of sadness washes over me when I realize that it has been forty years since they have seen each other.

“That must be his wife,” I mutter.

“They look happy,” Reed adds.

Doc nods, “I couldn’t imagine leaving my wife for forty years. I know he didn’t have any choice. I don’t think I would cope as well as he seems to.”

“Me neither,” Raiden says. “I think I would probably threaten the world before I accepted that there was a chance that I wouldn’t see her again.”

My eyes collide with his as they begin to swirl with power like just the thought of potentially losing a wife that he hasn’t even met yet is causing him pain.

“I’d be right there with you,” River agrees.

“We all would,” Ransom adds, and they all nod in agreement.

I frown, why would they all threaten the world for Raiden’s wife? Unless I’ve misunderstood the conversation? I open my mouth to ask because I am now infinitely curious that they might have a pact or something and also because I have to admit that a pang of jealousy goes through me that not only does this woman get Raiden’s violent loyalty, which is hot as fuck, but also for some reason she gets the guys as well.

Before I can get anything out though, which is probably a good thing because it would definitely have exposed my jealousy, there’s a loud blaring sound, and our attention is drawn back to the room. Everyone freezes momentarily before I hear the familiar voice of the King, although I can’t see him.

“We’re under attack!” he announces loudly to the room, although he still manages to sound calm, and his words don’t induce panic. He glances to his left and then adds in the silence of the room, “Send the soldiers to protect the portals. The rest of you know what to do!”

The doors to the ballroom open, and I see his huge wings as he flies out of them ready to go to battle. I have to admit that I am really impressed with the kind of King he is. He’s not sitting up here in the castle waiting for his soldiers to take care of the issues. He’s out there with them. I like that. We watch as several people rush out of the doors after him, and I’m surprised when Sully follows, a huge smile on his face, like this fun.

Once again, the magic swirls around, but just before we get pulled somewhere else, hopefully, the cave, my eyes catch on Sully’s wife. She’s looking in our direction, and when she sees me looking at her, she winks and smiles. She can’t see us, surely; we’re in a vision. We’re not actually here. No one can see us. I frown, but I don’t have any time to try to do anything about it, like talk to her or check that there is no one else in this corner that she is smiling at because the magic whisks us away again.

This time we’re not in a room of any kind but we’re high in the air and floating above a war. The devastation is absolutely immense, and instinctively, I know that this is the war that ended with the gates closing. We’re seeing the timeline of events. My eyes fill with tears as I stare at the horror beneath us as we move over miles and miles of war, destruction, and death.

Suddenly we’re in the room that we first arrived in, but now it’s full, and I’m surprised that I recognize quite a few faces in here, although the King once again has his back to us, and so does the Queen. She looks fierce as hell though, dressed in leather pants, with flat knee-high boots, a loose button down, her silver hair braided out of the way and an array of weapons strapped to her, quite honestly, she seems like my kind of Queen.

“That’s, Draith,” Reed says.

I nod, “And Sully, Ahren, Murray, and Ernie. There are also several of the leaders from the Earth realm here that I recognize.”

“It would make sense that they remained in their positions of power when they crossed over,” Raiden points out.

“It’s just strange to see my poker buddies here in this capacity. Especially since they all still look so young, I know that supes age differently to humans, and I knew that they were all from Trieneliea, but they never spoke about it, and I had no idea that they were leaders here too, and important enough that they sat in meetings with the fucking King and Queen, it’s nuts,” I explain.

“I can imagine,” Evander says. “This is pretty mind blowing.”

We all stop talking as their conversation starts.

“We need to close down the portals,” Ernie says.

Draith nods, “He’s right, the fucking idiot wants the human realms, he seems to think that they would be easier to control and coerce.”

“He’s tried it on humans, it killed them immediately,” someone who I don’t recognize says.

“I think he just wants war now. He wants to rule, and the human realm is a part of that,” the Queen says.

“Which is why we need to shut the portals down so that he can’t get to the Earth realm,” Sully says.

“I can do it, but as you all know, shutting down the portals is huge magic, and if it is done, it will not be easily undone. There’s a chance that they won’t open again,” Sully’s wife explains.

Suddenly her eyes turn opalescent as wind whips around her and lifts her into the air, magic begins to glow.

“This can’t be good,” Murray says, worry in her eyes.

“She’s having a vision,” River explains, no doubt seeing the confusion on my face.

“I haven’t seen anyone have a vision like that,” I reply, not daring to take my eyes off the scene in front of us.

“She’s incredibly powerful,” Ransom adds, and I nod.

The woman returns to normal, and looks around at everyone in the room, her magic swells and several of their eyes widen in surprise.

“From this point forward, when asked no one must mention his name or that he started this war. You won’t be able to describe him or name him,” as she speaks, magic threads through her words, and then she claps loudly, binding the spell and allowing it to settle over everyone.

So Sully has more than one silencing spell on him then because he said that my parents took a potion and triggered everyone else’s for the silencing spell that means he can’t tell me anything.

Sully’s eyes widen, “Was that just on us in this room?”

His wife shakes her head, “No. I was leant the magic in order to make it widespread and to everyone that has the knowledge.”

“Why?” the Queen asks. She doesn’t sound mad, just curious. She obviously trusts her.

“I am unsure, but it was very clear that it needed to be done,” she explains. “We need to evacuate everyone that we can through the portals, now. There is no time to waste, he has upset the balance too much. Our only hope of the supernatural race continuing is if we all evacuate to the human realm and seal the portals shut.”

“What!” Draith exclaims. “Seal us out, not in?”

She nods, “It is necessary. We will get back in, but not for a while. Several things have to fall into place first before the portals will unseal.”

“This is the only way?” the King asks.

She nods, knowledge but also apprehension and maybe even sadness in her eyes. “Yes, it’s necessary.”

“Put the word out and prepare the soldiers. We’re going to need extra help at the portals. The Warrior teams need to be told immediately as well, has Kyrous come back from his scouting mission yet?” the King asks.

Draith shakes his head, sadness coming over him, “The team that went with him has returned, but he hasn’t. They report that there was a fight with some of the other side, one minute he was there the next he was gone, a bloody trail in his wake.”

The King growls, “We will send scouts to search for him. I refuse to believe that the leader of our Warrior teams, and one of the strongest supernaturals that I know, and one of our dear friends has just disappeared.”

“Agreed,” Draith says, determination filling his eyes. “I’m glad you said that I’ve already sent a team of my best dragons and their demons out to look for him.”

“Good,” the Queen says.

“It’s settled then; we are all in agreement. Spread the word.” He looks at Sully’s wife, “Wynonna, start gathering the things you need to seal them.”

“I will need each of you,” she says, and surprise fills the leaders faces, “you will each need to lend your power in order to seal them so that he can’t follow with his armies.”

One by one everyone in the room nods their agreement, it’s obvious that they all trust and respect her. Sully smiles at her proudly.

“Just let us know when and where,” one of the other ones that I recognize but don't know like I know Sully and the others says.

She nods, “Thank you. We’re going to need Eamon and Calia as well.”

“I think we can manage that, they’re currently helping the kelpies and selkies protect the waters, and leading their kingdom in the charge,” the King replies.

“The sirens are doing a fantastic job protecting the waters,” Ernie compliments.

“We have a plan,” the Queen starts, “let’s implement it. I’ve been away from the front line for too long.”

Everyone gets up and starts to leave the room, and we’re left in the empty room.

Just as I open my mouth to ask what we’re supposed to do next, the magic builds again, and we once again find ourselves hovering in the air.

“What am I looking at?” I ask the guys since I can’t quite work out what I’m seeing.

“That must be the main portal from Trieneliea to the human world,” Griff mutters, “it’s a lot bigger than the one we have on our side. I wonder if they built it specifically for this.”

“Would they have had time?” River asks.

Griff shrugs, “I have no idea.”

“There are so many people here,” Ransom adds and it’s like his words trigger something because as soon as he says them, we suddenly find ourselves standing with the same group that were in the meeting room. They all look considerably more tired, and battle worn, the King and Queen are missing but two other faces have my mouth dropping open in shock, I glance over at Van.

“Mom? Dad?” he mutters. “What the hell are Mom and Dad doing with them? I thought it was weird that the sirens they mentioned had the same names as my parents, but if they really are the ones that they were talking about then that would imply that they were the rulers of the sirens.”

“Yeah, it looks like it,” Reed says. “They didn’t ever mention it?”

Van shakes his head, “No, I had no idea. I think I’m going to have to pay them a visit sooner rather than later.”

“We can sort that when we get back, man.” Griff says.

We stop talking as they start to.