If I still had my soul, I was certain it would be twisting with excitement within me. But with it gone, I felt only an empty hopefulness at the idea of being reunited with my wife.
That feeling was dampened only by the fact that after this, I had a feeling her bonded mates would ensure my presence would no longer be necessary, and that was something I couldn’t have.
I would not allow another soul to tear her away from me.
The four bond mates appeared with grim expressions, dressed in their gear, each carrying packs with items they planned to take to our new hideout—the Luna Prince’s island. They didn’t have much, though they hadn’t spent much time accumulating anything of value while here.
Eventually, I would need to send for supplies, considering we had no idea how much the Fae Prince had stored away. That would make me an asset. Only I could summon the shadows.
The divination mage had his research—limited as it was.
The charm mage had a bag of assorted belongings that smelled like all of them.
The vampire was handling a medical bag full of items that might be needed for our Queen and those she escaped with.
And the wolf…
Well, he’d been awfully quiet since learning the news about our Queen’s current predicament. But he had the map and memories that would lead us to her, and that was all that mattered.
“We’ll be leaving what’s left of our agents here,” the vampire said, stopping in front of me.
“The team you so carefully curated are awaiting your orders,” I replied. “There are four additional Elysian demons coming with us. For the survivors.”
We had no idea just how many additional creatures would be with our Queen when she escaped, but there would be enough demons to shadow jump them directly to my throne room, which was being set up to house not only the late Queen’s mates, but the children supposedly with them, too.
A dozen Lust demons, as well as several from House Gluttony, were taking over preparations with help from the Windermere matriarch.
“Can you spare any others?” the charm mage asked. “There might be more creatures?—”
“The ones I have picked are the strongest of our house,” I interjected, looking back at them. Unfortunately, they were all that was left of Elysian, but I didn’t say that aloud. “They can—and will, if necessary—make as many jumps as needed. Each can carry three full grown adults, and twice as many children. They can handle it.”
The charm mage pressed his lips together, but he didn’t respond. Instead, the vampire moved to the assembled team. There were an additional six soldiers, three Wrath demons, and three witches, all armed and ready for battle. There were plenty of magical affinities amongst us, so we were protected on as many fronts as possible.
And yet we couldn’t be entirely prepared for what we were going to find.
The rest of our recovery team joined us, all turning to the vampire as they gathered.
“This mission’s primary objective is recovering our Queen,” she stated, voice carrying a strength I couldn’t helpbut admire. The lost vampire was gone, and back was the female who could command an army.
“This recovery mission isn’t about killing as many of Dante’s army as we can,” she added, looking between our team—but especially me. Oh, well, I had every intention of at least claiming a couple of souls while we were gone. “It’s bringing home those he’s held captive. We know that all nine of Queen Greer’s mates should be with Ivy, as well as three unknowns, two of our Queen’s mates, and an uncertain number of children.”
“Why children?” one of the Wrath demons asked, jaw clenching.
“As far as we know, my mother’s mates went to find them when they escaped. Our Queen wanted them saved, and so they’ll be part of the recovery,” the charm mage answered, eyes darting to the wolf standing beside him. “We don’t know much about what Dante does with these children, but we can assume they’re all shifters who are intentionally being forced to shift at a young age and put into his army.”
The wrath demon who asked the question at least looked disgusted, as did the others. My cousins of Elysian looked saddened, but our proximity to the fields gave us a different understanding of what that meant.
“There is a chance others being held captive may try to escape, and if that is the case, we need to take them, too,” the vampire added, looking hard at the Wrath demons. “If you find shifters who don’t seem entirely lucid, do not harm them. Render them unconscious and bring them back. Blythe Windermere will then work with a group of additional mind witches and mages to stop Dante from initiating the kill switch in their minds. We also want soldiers alive. Some may be high ranking enough that they have information about his plans.”
What a lovely thought. Find his supposedHigh Council.The likelihood of coming across them was slim, but a demon could hope.
“And if we come across the false king?” a witch asked, head cocked. “What then?”
“Do not let him get close enough to you for an attack on your mind,” the divination mage replied. “Those rune stones should help protect you, but he is powerful, and he has a whole fucking army under his thumb. He’s been mentally manipulating a lot of creatures, and we don’t know how many are currently under his control. So, for him, it’ll be a shoot first ask questions later situation.”
“But do not seek him out.” The vampire made that more pointed towards me. Although I very much wanted to steal his soul, I wouldn’t—yet. I liked the charm mage’s idea of sending him to the darkest part of the prison world and letting him rot there with no power. Let him suffer alone. Death would be far too easy.
“He isn’t our objective today. Our Queen is. And getting her away safely,” the charm mage said quietly. “She is going to be hurt and powerless. So please, be careful.”
