If Peri didn’t think other males should be involved, then whatever he was about to learn about his mate must concern intimate details that no mate should ever have to share with anyone else. He stumbled, but Fane and Drayden caught him. Both were strong enough to bear his weight, both willing to do whatever had been necessary to keep him from harming anyone in his feral state. “My alpha and Fane,” he said. Then he looked past Peri to the four healers huddled together on the other side of the room. Each of their mates stood at their backs, looking ready to kill anyone who moved too close. “And Kara’s sisters.” He motioned toward the girls.
Nick didn’t miss the flinch in Peri’s face at his request. But she waved them over despite whatever reservations she held. “Jewel, Stella, Heather, and Anna, please come with us.”
The four girls started forward, and their mates followed, but Peri shook her head. “Not you,” she told the males. “Trust me, please.”
“Not to be rude,” Ciro spoke up, “but your track record is not great right now, Perizada.”
“Your own mate isn’t going to allow you to walk into the room without being at your side. Why should we have to wait here without our mates?” Dalton asked, his voice dark as he stared daggers at her. They had a rough history, and apparently her recent behavior hadn’t done them any favors.
“I understand your protests,” Peri said. “But your mates will be safe. And this is about preserving Nick’s mate’s dignity. I promise you, if it was one of your females, you would not want a room full of males bearing witness to what he is going to have to see.”
Nick felt bile rise in his throat at the high fae’s words. What the hell was he about to see?
Dalton, Ciro, Kale, and Gustavo didn’t look happy, but after a tense couple of minutes, they each finally nodded and took a step back, watching as their females followed Drayden and Peri. Nick turned and walked after them with Fane at his back. As he walked down the hall toward Drayden’s study, he felt as if he was walking to his death, which was probably easier than what awaited him.
When they were all assembled in the room, he watched the female fae called Tenia lay out three pieces of paper on a table. She lined them up so that they touched one another side by side.
“Tenia’s son has a gift of prophecy through his drawings,” Peri explained. “He drew this earlier today. We don’t know the location, but this is the elf king in the drawing. I thought Thalion might know the place.”
At the mention of Ludcarab, Nick stepped closer to the table, as did Thalion and the rest of the group. His eyes locked on to the first piece of paper and watched it come to life. He heard gasps around him, and even sobs, but he couldn’t look away. Like passing a car wreck that has left mangled bodies littering the street, he couldn’t force himself to look away. His mind would not save him from the horror that held him captive. With each movement on the page, Nick felt himself getting sicker. He fell forward and had to brace himself with his hands on the table in order to keep from crashing to his knees.
“What is it?” Heather asked, her voice shaking despite not knowing what everyone had seen.
“Later,” Stella told her. “Trust me, please.”
Nick’s knees almost gave out again as his eyes moved to the next piece of paper. Drayden was at his side in a second. His hand wrapped around Nick’s neck, skin on skin, as he felt his alpha’s power giving him strength and comfort. Fane, the most powerful alpha he’d ever felt, rested a hand on Nick’s shoulder and bowed his head. Fane’s voice was soft, but Nick heard bits and pieces of what he said. And he realized Fane was praying. Fane, alpha of alphas, prayed to the Great Luna for Nick and for Kara.
“You said your son draws prophecy,” Anna said. “That means this is the future. It hasn’t happened, right?” Her voice shook, and Nick could smell the healer’s anguish.
Though he waited for Tenia’s answer, Nick still didn’t look away from the papers. His eyes moved to each of them as the story unfolded. As his eyes landed on the third sheet of paper, he saw his naked mate on top of the elf king and a dagger raised above her head. It gleamed, and for a split second, Nick saw markings on the blade. But then, it was arcing down. Wielded by Kara’s hand, she plunged it into Ludcarab’s chest. The elf king’s eyes barely widened before she yanked the dagger out, only to drive it back down, this time into his throat.
“We do not know,” said Tenia. “The picture could be drawn days before the actual occurrence, or mere minutes. We only know that Torion’s drawings have yet to be wrong.”
“I know this place,” the elf prince said.
Tenia quickly gathered the papers, stacked them, and then turned them over so they could no longer be seen. Then she laid her hand on top of them and, with a bolt of power, reduced them to ash. She glanced up at Nick and gave him a small nod. She’d made sure no one else would see the drawings. He gave her a nod of thanks in return. It was all he could manage, considering he barely held himself together.
“Where is it?” Nick’s wolf asked. His beast had taken over as they’d watched their mate be raped and then kill her captor.
“There is an old castle in the elf realm, long abandoned,” Thalion said. “I recognize the pictures and tapestries on the walls that Tenia’s son drew.”
“You’re sure?” Peri asked, her hands resting on the table as if she, too, had to hold herself up.
“Yes, unless someone has removed those decorations and taken them to a different location, and I cannot imagine why they would,” the elf prince answered.
“It’s the only lead we have.” Drayden turned to Nick. His alpha’s eyes glowed with his wolf as he looked at him. “Can you do this? Without killing your allies?”
Nick pictured the images he’d just seen and nodded. He just wanted her back. If he could spare her the agonizing experience he saw depicted in the drawings, then he and his wolf would do whatever it took to get to her, even control the feral rage inside of him. Or at least they would try.
“I haven’t been back to the elf realm in the past month,” Thalion said. He shifted on his feet and crossed his arms in front of his chest. “If my father is there, he will have probably tried to lock the entrance. And if he has been unable to do that, he will have warded the castle.”
Fane slipped his hand in his pocket and pulled out his phone. Nick watched as the alpha tapped the screen and then put the phone to his ear. “Thad, we need you and Jareth. Peri will gather the high fae. Wait for us outside the front doors.” He ended the call and turned to Peri.
“The high fae are aware of the situation.” Peri slipped her own phone back into some pocket in her robes. “As well as the sprite queen and Lilly. The healers”—she pointed at the four women—“have a ton of power as well.”
“Thalion,” Fane said, looking at the elf prince, “Can you let the fae know what veil is the closest to the castle?”
He nodded. “You need to be aware, if the veil isn’t locked, then he will have certainly done something to protect the castle. Wards, traps, any manner of magic he could use to keep foe away. My father is dangerous. How many are you willing to risk for this healer?”
