I nod, brain devoid of anything else to say. Once we’re outside, the birds tweeting and the leaves rustling, I feel like I can think again.
“That was…” I begin to say.
Elle nods. “Yeah, that was intense.”
“Do all shifters train that…ferociously?”
She snorts. “No, at least not what I’ve seen. And based on their reactions, they don’t usually, either.”
We fall into silence, walking side-by-side down the cobblestone path. It’s officially cold now, fall having made its way into the beginning of winter. I rub my hands along my arms, wishing I had brought a jacket.
“Mae, there’s something I should update you on,” Elle says cautiously.
I nearly freeze at her tone. Something has happened. I glance at her as I try to control my panic, try to slow the increasing thrum of my heartbeat.
“There was a report of a small group of cambions by your aunt’s house.”
Holy shit.
“Is she okay?” I ask.
Elle nods quickly and says, “Yes, she’s fine. Since the report came, we’ve had a few people monitoring her house and Cally’s just in case.”
At the mention of Cally, I freeze. Willa, at least, was raised as a High Fae princess and knows how to fight. Cally, on the other hand… “Is she okay?”
Elle comes to a stop. “Yes, yes. Everyone’s fine, I promise,” she says reassuringly.
I force a deep breath into my lungs. “What happened to the cambions?”
“Our guards took them out before they could get to the house, but a few got away. Willa doesn’t even know they were there.”
The cambions were terrifying, but it was something I could handle because it happened to me. The thought of my loved ones being endangered…That’s not something I was prepared for when I stepped into this role.
“How many were there? How close were they to the house?” I ask, resuming the walk back to the castle.
Elle steps in line beside me. “It was a group of about eight. Our guards took out five. They were roaming the neighborhood.”
“Humans live there. Did they get to them?”
“No, everyone is safe. There weren’t any attacks.” She hesitates, then says, “But if we can’t get a handle on this, there’s potential for widespread panic.”
“Okay,” I say, trying my best to think like a High Queen. “What’s next? What are we doing about this?”
“Right now, we’re monitoring the cambions, trying to see if they’re returning to a specific place to answer to the witch that summoned them.”
I snap my gaze to hers. “Why not just kill them? Why risk anyone being harmed?”
She winces but says, “The information that we can gather about the witch that’s summoning them far outweighs the risks here. We’re not sure what we’re dealing with, Mae. This witch may be planning something greater, possibly planning to summon even worse creatures. We need to find out who’s behind this, especially if they were responsible for the death of the royal family.” Her tone is sober.
I nod in agreement. More people could die if we don’t find this witch.
“Okay, but if anyone is threatened by one of thesethings,they’re dead. We can’t allow them to run around harming people for the potential for gleaning information about their summoner,” I say, my tone icy.
She nods in agreement. “I’ll let Ivan and Luca know. I’m sure they’ll agree.”
“It doesn’t matter if they agree. Keeping people safe is what’s important to me,” I say, my tone hard and unyielding.
“Of course,” she responds with a single, curt nod.
