Aleron drew a sword of his own and went on the offensive. He managed to push one of the guards further back while Dasan and Coal cornered the second.
“Now,” Logan commanded.
Logan ran for the door and jerked it open. After clearing the hall, he gestured for the rest of them to go through. Jack covered the rear as they made it through the door. Logan slammed it shut behind them.
“They aren’t trying to kill us,” Aleron grunted through their comms, “but they sure as hell aren’t taking it easy.”
Logan turned and ran down the hallway. They followed close behind him. Ben’s heart raced as he listened for more updates from the three pack members they’d left behind.
Up ahead, Logan raised his hand. Jack pushed Ben against the wall but kept his attention on the alpha. “Taj and Iris, you’re up. Clear this hall down to the corner. Let me know if you see any other guards.”
Koios tensed beside him and then grabbed Ben’s arm.
Jack stayed in front of him as the other two moved into position. After a whispered conversation with Logan, Taj held out his arm to Iris. They rounded the corner and disappeared from view. Several breathless seconds later, Taj spoke.
“Hallway clear. We shouldn’t be able to get this far into the castle.”
“No, we shouldn’t,” Logan agreed as he led them forward to meet Taj and Iris at the end of the next hallway. “But the guards at the door probably kept some visitors at bay. We need to keep moving, though.”
Ben couldn’t agree more.
“The throne room is this way,” Taj said.
Iris shivered and moved between Koios and Ben. “This place is giving me the heebie-jeebies. Also, why the throne room? Shouldn’t they be in a dungeon or something?”
“That’s not the fae way,” Taj said. “If the manticore has any hope of maintaining control of the Unseelie realm, he’ll have to make a public display of power.”
Ben shuddered as he imagined what that meant for Cosmo and Silenus. He adjusted the straps on his backpack and prayed to the goddess they would make it to his friend on time.
They were halfway down the hallway when Phoebe froze. “Wait.”
They all stopped and Ben once again found himself body blocked by his baby brother.
“What is it?” Logan asked.
“I don’t…Koios…do you feel that?”
Ben turned to Koios. His mate’s eyes swirled with silver and gold.
Koios moved around Jack to a small inset in the walls. An intricate vase with bright flowers filled the opening, but Koios reached behind it and pulled out a silver and gold orb.
“What the hell?—”
The orb hovered above Koios’s palm, then began moving forward. “Follow it,” Koios said.
“What?” Jack turned to Logan as Koios turned back the way they’d come.
“Metal magic,” Phoebe said.
Ben stared at the glowing orb as they followed it down the hall. It stopped in front of another inset portion of the wall, hovering above the empty opening. Koios glanced at Ben as his wings spread, shocking both of them.
Phoebe ran behind Koios and put her arms under him as his wings stretched to their full width for the first time. “His magic is strengthening. He is a creature of fae. Being here must be feeding his diminished powers.”
Ben held Koios’s cheeks in his hands. “Talk to me.”
“Can’t. Hurts.”
Ben couldn’t begin to imagine what the movement would do to the weak muscles they’d barely had a chance to start exercising. Magic worked in mysterious ways, though. Koios shouldn’t be able to hold up his wings, but he was.
