He nodded subtly.‘For their people to be welcomed back to the island.’
That seemed to be a running theme with every non-wolf shifter we met.‘Why did your uncle kick the other shifters out?’
My father never talked to me about the booting of the other shifters, possibly because it happened after Crescent was exiled.
‘The island exudes magic. Those who live there get empowered with more strength and stamina. The women who live there also bear more children. Because only the wolves are there, our race is the most powerful.’
Holy mage. So the king was basically stealing magic from the other shifter clans? Wow. That was interesting and super douchebaggy of him.
I looked at my mate.‘So, our plan?’
Rage stood tall, jutting his chin out as we walked down a narrow path on a rocky cliff face, and in that moment, I saw the king he’d make one day. A strong, level-headed, sometimes arrogant, butgoodking.
‘I’m going to make a deal in exchange for our lives.’
He didn’t need to say any more. Whatever deal he struck would suck for him—bad; he’d have to promise them something they wanted. All the while, the clock was ticking on Honor’s life.
Mother Mage help us.
The two males and the female, Melody, who’d sung the royal guards into a stupor on the island, walked us in silence into an open field. It was pitch black out, and we stumbled in the dark for a good ten minutes until we came upon a bunch of torches that lit a path leading to some type of campground. The path was also dotted with something else: heavily armed men stood guard every ten feet.
The selkie in the black army fatigues stepped up behind Rage and gripped the zip-ties that bound his hands, directing him where to walk like an animal on a leash. Next, Melody grabbed my hands and steered me down the path as well, jerking my shoulders when I veered to avoid a rock.
“I know how to walk,” I growled.
She just hissed at me.
‘Say the word, and I’ll blast all these fools to bits,’I told Rage.
I could handle the few guards around us and probably the ones dotting the landscape. Then, we could struggle out of our binds and make a run for it in wolf form.
‘Try to call your elements. I can’t feel fire. I think the powder cuts us off from it.’
That was a horrifying thought, that something could keep me from my magic. I took a deep breath in and felt for the power that lingered always below the surface and frowned.
‘I can’t feel it.’
Rage nodded, ‘They’ve got us right where they want us.’
Oh frick.
My stomach turned into knots.‘How are you so calm?’
He gave me a side glance, those piercing green eyes staring straight into my soul.
‘Protecting you keeps me focused. I’ll do anything I need to make sure you’re not harmed, Nai.’
I may have swooned a little. There was no time to dwell on it as we reached a tall, wooden fence with razor wire at the top, stretching as far as I could see in either direction. Every twenty feet or so, a selkie warrior stood guard, likely on some sort of raised platform. They didn’t mess around with security.
“I’m here to see King Ozark. He’s expecting me,” the dude in black army fatigues told the guard at the gate.
How could the king be expecting him?
Rage must have read my mind.‘Selkies can share a hive mind when needed. It’s what makes them such good fighters.’
My eyes bugged. Hive mind selkies? He’d basically described my worst nightmare.
The gates creaked open, and with a nod, we were ushered inside. The second we stepped into the village, my jaw dropped. It reminded me of the movieAladdin. Carpets and tapestries hung as dividers to partition stalls that held fresh fruits and vegetables; the women were stacking them into high pyramids, probably getting ready for the day of selling. A few children ran, laughing and screaming, through the alleyways, and little prairie dogs chased after them, like pets.
