The Reluctant King (The Star-Crossed Series) (33 page)

             
You’re fine.
I breathed.

              I slowed my running pace to a prowl when the magic I chased sped up and disappeared completely somewhere in the obscurity of the mountains. He must have gotten in some kind of vehicle, because suddenly he was just gone.

              Just like that.

              A deep roar rumbled in my chest and I immediately shifted back to my human form. I needed to yell curse words and kick things and assert my male dominance and frustration. I couldn’t do that while I was walking on all fours.

              As easily as I transformed into the jungle cat, I transformed right back to standing and became myself again. I panted heavily, sucking in breath that had been taken for me in the seconds it took to shift. I ran my hair through my wild hair, pulling it out of my face and manhandling it into a knot on my neck.

              “Damn it,” I growled out, still channeling the puma. I was frustrated and tired of feeling like I was losing.

             
Finish there and then call me, we’ll figure this out.
Eden instructed. I felt her pull her knees to a chest and rock back and forth on one of Sylvia’s couches like a little girl.

             
I will. Don’t worry about this, E. It’s probably bad for the baby. I got this, I’ll call you later.
I ordered, and part of me instinctively tensed up realizing how much Eden needed to be protected right now with the baby growing inside of her. At the same time that same part relaxed just saying the word “baby.” How cool was this baby going to be? It was like the future of this Kingdom.

             
Alright.
She sighed. I love you,
Avalon.

              Love you too, sis
. I replied back.

              Communication was cut off abruptly when I heard Amelia scream in the distance. Her powerful shriek reached me even from my vantage point. Panic turned my blood to ice and I swore that if anything happened to her I would find Terletov before the night was over and make him pay.

Chapter Thirty

I turned and raced back down the hill, taking a staircase that I stumbled down three steps at a time. The battle was mostly finished by the time I reached the entrance where most of my teammates were cleaning up. I started counting heads before I even realized what I was doing. It looked like we had some injuries, but for the most part I found everyone we came with alive.

              Except Amelia.

              And Sebastian and Jericho, but I was less worried about them. They could take care of themselves.

              “Where is she,” I demanded when Xavier lifted his head at my approach. He was bent over Roxie who was kneeling over a traitor Immortal laying on the ground.

              “She’s over there,” Xavier nodded his head to a square stone building. “Avalon, she’s fine. She’s with Jericho.”

              “You’re sure?” I grunted, pinning him with my fiercest glare.

              “I’m positive,” he swore, holding up his hand in a gesture that asked me to stop and talk to him.

              I slowed down to take some vitals of the situation. I was still concerned, but with the calm tone of Xavier’s voice I could also relax and not bombard her with my concern.

              “Did you get any prisoners?” I asked, noticing the man Roxie checked out was dead.

              “No,” Xavier ground out and then let loose a string of curse words. “We were in the middle of winning when they just started shooting each other. It was like they would wait until their magic was gone, then one of the other bastards would pull out a gun and shoot them. It was a blood bath, and I didn’t even get to join in the fun.”

              “Shut up, Xavier,” Roxie snapped, standing up to face me. “This isn’t fun. Look at all these dead bodies…. this is anything but fun. Avalon do you have any idea what is going on? Why are they kidnapping humans now?”

              “Humans?” I barked, my throat immediately feeling dry and scratchy.

              Roxie’s expression fell when she realized I didn’t know this new piece of information. “Go talk to Jericho. He’ll fill you in.”

              I paused for a few moments, gathering my courage. I really hoped I wasn’t on the way to another pile of dead bodies. Those images were forever burned into my head. They were memories I would never be able to forget or forgive myself for.

              “I think it’s a contingency plan,” I sounded distant and foreign even to my own ears as I tried to wrap my head around the horrific situation we were facing. “To answer your question, Rox, I think it’s what they do when they realize they are losing. And I think they do it to protect their cause, or whatever secrets they are hiding.”

              “Who would do that? Whatever they are doing cannot be worth all of this,” Roxie swept her arm toward the destruction of the battle.

              “I agree,” I muttered and then changed my mind. “Although there was a time when any of us would have done the same. How many did we lose against Lucan?”

              Xavier and Roxie nodded somberly.              

              “And after what we found Siberia, we might want to rethink the whole suicide thing. I don’t think I want to be taken prisoner just to end up like those Immortals we found.” Xavier announced with sickening truth.

              “We’ll talk about that later,” I acknowledged, hoping there would be a logical way to convince my people not to take such drastic measures. But as I thought about Siberia, or the two Immortals that had come to the Citadel, there wasn’t much in the way of convincing me otherwise.

              I followed the direction Xavier pointed and braced myself for whatever I was about to see. Upon rounding the corner to the back of the ancient building I saw Amelia first, wrapped in her brothers arms. She was shaking, her face buried in his chest.

              She was crying, her body trembling from the racking sobs that shook her chest.

              “What’s going on?” I asked in my strongest voice, wanting an immediate read on the situation and an explanation for Amelia’s emotions.

              Really, I just wanted to pull her into my arms and assure her everything would be alright, but at this point those words would feel like a lie. And I couldn’t lie to her.

              Jericho turned at the sound of my voice, his face a mask of unfiltered anger. He gestured to the wall where bodies were slumped together in a pile of tortured misery. But they were alive.

              Whatever I feared, everyone back here was alive.

              I took a deep breath.

              Maybe my first deep breath of the night.

              I walked closer, using my magic to see through the heavy night and assessed the bodies lined up as if waiting for execution. They were mangled, beaten and abused. They looked up at me with distrustful eyes and bloodied faces. Their hair was matted and dirty, their clothes torn and frayed. They looked beaten and tormented. They were a sickeningly staggering sight.

              “Human?” I gasped out, realizing that in the mixture of ten or so hostages there were at least five humans. If the realization and horror of the moment hadn’t sent me reeling I would have been able to make an accurate count. But I couldn’t even see straight, let alone do something as simple as count to ten. My vision was red, only red; a mixture of pure anger, fear and choking vengeance.

              Amelia turned away from her brother and fled to me. I opened my arms just as she crashed into my chest. I pulled her close to me, letting her sob against my chest and taking her closeness as comfort. I kissed the top of her head that was covered in dust from the fight and whispered something soothing; although I wasn’t even sure I believed the mumbled words.

              “Jericho?” I asked in a gruff voice.

              “From what we’ve gathered, these are the victims of more
experiments
,” Jericho explained, his own voice was rough with emotion, tripping over the detestable word. “We think the…. the humans are being experimented on to see if there is a way to somehow inject magic into them…. Terletov is trying to make them Immortal.”

              “What?” I bit out. I looked down at the shells of human beings intermixed with the tortured Immortals and gathered that whatever experiments they were trying were
not
going well. “Sebastian, get these people into the vans, now. But don’t leave them alone, I’ll send you help. Jericho with me.”

              I turned away from the victims. They deserved my attention and sympathy but I had to get things moving. I had their safety to worry about now, plus the safety of my own men.

              “First,” I kept Amelia tucked in beside me but walked with Jericho back toward the entrance where Gabriel and Silas were huddled together talking with the older Titans. “Why did we win? Was it planned, or were we better fighters?”

              Jericho let out a rush of breath before he answered, “We were better, more skilled and practiced. They were weirdly strong, but they didn’t have any real experience. All of us have experience.” Jericho nodded around and I relaxed infinitesimally. It wasn’t enough that I could feel good about what was still before us, but at least they hadn’t thrown this fight in some bizarre master plan I didn’t understand.

              I nodded in understanding before turning to my men. “Xander, Xavier, Titus and Roxie, go help Sebastian load those people into the vans. And someone find them water. Break into the gift shop if you need to.” Turning back to Jericho I lowered my voice and asked, “How many humans?”

              “Five,” Jericho bit out, drawing the attention of Gabriel, Silas and the four older Titans. “Three of them are Gabriel’s nuns. One of those is badly injured, but she is alive. Then there are two other humans, American tourists. We’re not sure yet how they came upon Terletov, but they are pretty severely damaged. It’s two sisters who are still mostly in shock.”

              I exhaled another breath of relief. It wasn’t good, but it helped that three of the humans were connected with Gabriel. I didn’t know how to explain all of this to humans without some serious consequences, but having a smaller number made things appear easier.

              I looked at the men standing around me and knew there were decisions that had to be made. We would have to split up from here.

              “This is what I want to happen, Jericho I want you and Sebastian to escort the Immortals and the humans back to Romania. Get them on a plane and get them to the Witch. He will heal them, even the humans. Jericho, I want them on a plane and out of here tonight, do you understand?” Jericho nodded and so I moved on. “Silas do you have any vehicles nearby?”

              “Yes,” he agreed; his gray eyes were bloodshot and he looked disturbingly ancient in the darkness. “I have a garage that holds several vehicles not far from here.”

              “Alright, then I want you to take Christi and his men and go find your colony. Check in with them, make sure they’re alright and then decide on a play to keep them safe. If you have to take them back to the Citadel do that. I don’t want them exposed and unaware of what’s going on anymore. In fact, I insist you get them back to the Citadel. After you’ve taken care of them I want you to start visiting every Shape-Shifter colony that we know about. I know some of them have started to assimilate back into society, but a lot of them chose to stay where they were. Make sure they all know the risks that they are facing and get them to safety. Gabriel you are going to come with me and my men. We’re heading to Omaha where Kiran and Eden are. I’m going to hold a conference with all of the Regents. It’s time we spread the word about Terletov and the threat he poses. The people need to know how dangerous he is. I cannot keep this a secret any longer. Does anyone happen to have a plane here? Most of us can travel commercial but I need the humans and Immortal prisoners to fly under the radar.”

              “There is an airstrip here that Lucan used.” Christi offered. “I’m not sure what’s in the hangar, but it’s worth checking out.

              “Alright, give Xavier and Jericho the location. Jericho you and Sebastian need to leave immediately. Go now and take whatever you need to out of the hangar. Call when you get there and let me know if there is a jet for us. Otherwise the six of us will fly commercial. Hey, take Roxie with you. She can be the soothing female we all know she was born to be.”

              Several men around me snorted and I almost cracked a smile myself. I thought about the human women though, and knew they would need a face they could trust. And even if Roxie was tough as nails, she at least had a pretty face, a trustworthy face.

              “Ok, Jericho and Sebastian will leave right away and the rest of us will stay to clean up this mess.” I paused and looked down at the girl wrapped in my arms, fragile, traumatized and afraid. “Amelia, go say goodbye to your brother,” I whispered in her ear. She still clung to me, although she wasn’t crying anymore. “I want you to stay with me.”

              She didn’t argue, but she did leave my side to find Sebastian. I watched her walk away and tried to figure out how I was going to keep her safe but also by my side at the same time. A few weeks ago I couldn’t imagine hiding behind a throne and crown while I let other people fight my battles, but with Amelia in my life now I couldn’t convince myself that this was worth it if I put her in danger.

              And at the same time I could not let her out of my sight. The sound of her screaming tonight had stopped my heart from beating, stopped my lungs from breathing…. and I had decided in that moment I could never trust her with someone else again. Not even her brother. She was too precious to me and her life was too fragile. She was mine to protect, mine to fight for.

              I just needed to ensure that she had the strongest magic she could. I needed to make sure she was as protected as Immortally possible.