Shaking her head at me, her lips formed a smirk, but she didn’t say anything.
When we reached the barrier, I paused. "It's much stronger."
The power of myself and my brothers was still infused in it, along with Louis’, but there was another facet now. Justice reached out and ran a hand across the shimmering surface.
“Rubies," she said. “Their energy is in the shield.”
In a rush, she dove through it, leaving me cursing at her inability to not take massive risks. Following right behind her, she had thankfully not moved toward the rubies yet.
“There’s a new barrier,” Justice said, and I noticed it immediately. “Or the original one has been extended.”
The red shield extended over the far side of the ruby-covered humans.
"They're keeping this from being discovered," I noted, “by using the power of the gems.”
Justice shook her head. "It's ingenious, really. The gems are a limitless source of power, and will strengthen the securities here tenfold."
“Explains the ruby feel in the shield, but how the hell did they deal with the loss of the president and half his special forces?"
I mean, the American people were going to notice that. Surely.
"Well, that's a long and interesting story," a familiar voice said from behind us.
Justice spun and let out a happy cry, running to give Louis a hug. "I'm so glad you're okay," she said, voice husky.
He hugged her back, holding her tight. "I'm glad to know you're okay," he replied, equally as emotional. "We spent many days thinking you were both dead, and it's been…"
Justice swallowed roughly, turning back to me. "I'm so sorry. It's my fault—"
I cut her off. "It's not her fault. She was unconscious until a few hours ago, literally on the edge of death for days. We returned as soon as we could."
Justice's cheeks grew pinker, and I knew she was thinking about the fact that we wasted a little time on love making. Time well spent as far as I was concerned.
Love you, mate.Her voice was amused.
I would never get sick of hearing that.
You are my world.There was no truer statement I could give her. She owned my heart, soul, and sanity.
42
Justice Winter
Jacob was the sweetest fey who ever lived. And as much as I was craving hours, day, weeks, and months doing nothing but loving him, there were obligations to complete first.
"Tell us everything that happened since we left," I said to Louis. "We're desperate to know what we missed."
Jacob crossed his arms like he didn't really care, but I knew deep inside that he'd been worried about his family. I'd been his focus, but he loved them more than he'd ever admit.
"During our panic and mourning over the possible loss of you two,” Louis started, “we dealt with the fallout.” His tone was heavy, magic lingering on each syllable. “First was infiltrating the White House, finding the evidence."
He started to walk, leading us back into Stratford; Jacob and I fell in beside him. "We already had some of the Guilds in strategic positions, high within the president's team, and they were able to get enough information to help with our investigation.”
“Caine went rogue, didn’t he?” Jacob asked.
Louis nodded. “Yep, he took off with the special forces, not running the plan by anyone, and only those high up even knew what they were dealing with. It meant that basically everyone that knew what was happening ended up covered in ruby.”
"So what then?" Jacob pressed.
