“Another contract?” Lachlan asked.
Kian tilted his head. “Intimate?”
Desire flooded the bond, and I had no doubt she was remembering our mating. I’d fantasized over it a million times by now.
“Yes. When we, um, mated,” Wren squeaked.
“The way fae mark our mates is by sealing a contract with them.” I picked up her hand and placed a soft kiss on the navy blue fairy wings that served as my mark on her.
“Oh!” Kian turned pink again, just like Wren, and I chuckled.
“Thorn’s the only fae I’d ever form a contract with,” she said as she wrapped her arms around my neck and pushed her lips against mine.
SIX
Rowan
TheSupernaturalCouncilbasedin Fate Hollow had tried to form an alliance between all the supernaturals for years now, but there had been resistance from most territories. They were all for sending their younger generations to the academy to provide them with well-trained soldiers, but when it came to sending them out for war and working beside other territories, they balked.
Pride was an ugly thing when one couldn’t put it aside for the greater good.
With the war against humans on the horizon, we needed to align ourselves. There would be no way of winning if we fought ourselves. The humans declared war on all of us, so no supernatural being was able to ignore the threat.
“The biggest issue is that the dragons of Blezen have been attempting to form alliances with the other territories, and they’ve gained allies,” Sabine spat, and she crossed her legs as she sat in the seat in front of my desk. “Those dragon bastardsss are up to something bigger.”
Sabine’s dull-green snake eyes flicked to the side as she hissed. The basilisk was predatory, and she loathed all dragons and drakes—I was no exception. Why the council had sent her to speak with me was beyond my understanding, and she was vocal about being displeased with her task when she arrived for this meeting.
The crystal sphere in my palm swirled with smoke and flames as I poured my nervous magical energy into it. Having a supernatural of such power around me made my magic spike. Basilisks may have ranked under my species, but this particular one was on par with the strongest of dragons and drakes. Not only that, but Sabine was known for being ruthless.
“It’s a cult in Blezen,” I growled. “They want to rule over all of Kalista.”
“Bloody tyrantsss,” she hissed. She only hissed when she was really pissed off. “I’m not surprised. They’re evil creatures. The problem is that half of the supernaturals are actually consssidering siding with them.”
Smoke plumes poured from my nostrils as I expelled a heavy breath. “They’re siding with them because of strength.”
“Yesss. We just need to prove that we’re just as strong as a united front.” She rubbed her hand over her short, green hair.
Why did this all have to start now? Right after I finally met my mate? Couldn’t the Fates have given us time to enjoy our life instead of catapulting us into chaos?
“Barrington,” she snapped, and I jerked my head up toward her. “You’re never distracted. May I assume it is the fact that you’ve mated?” A low rumble vibrated my chest, and she waved her hand back and forth. “I’m mated as well. I have two very obsessive mates, so I understand. All the more reason to make sure we don’t get stuck under the dragons’ thumb after the war is over.”
The tension eased slightly, and I nodded. “Exactly.”
“Has the scientist you’ve employed gotten to the root of the human experiments?”
I grunted, pouring more excess energy into the sphere. “Norman has found that they’ve combined the human body with technology—bionics is the word he used. He believes the brain and other parts of the body to be artificially created. Because of the state it was in before being reanimated, some of the body parts don’t function as they should. The zombie looks like a melted corpse. Magic of necromancy is really something.”
“Something indeed. I will relay this information.” Her sharp gaze narrowed. “The council has put you in charge of sending parties to the villages and enlissssting help. Do what you must to sway the supernaturals away from the dragons.”
“Which territories?” I bit my tongue. The council relied heavily on my resources at the academy when they had their own agents to send out for tasks of this nature.
“All of them.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“The council is aware of how capable you are, and it’s not just because of your spot on the hierarchy.” She sniffed. It was the nicest thing she’d said to me in all the years of working beside her. “They know you’ll figure out a way to get to each village in Briesia and Cursina.”
The Demon Capital, Apex Capital, and the Bizarre are governed as a whole, but with Briesia and Cursina being split up with many different villages, it’d be a pain to send parties to each one. I’d have to call on previous graduates who lived there. I’d rope Tabitha into helping contact them.
