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I swallowed back my fear. What if we were too late and the demons had already taken over?
“Let me know the second you hear anything,” Drae said.
Romulus bowed. “Yes, My Lord.” He gave Drae a weary look. “There’s one more thing.”
“What?”
“You were also right about the mind spinner.” Romulus visibly swallowed.
“Malvolia has reconciled with Flora, Derrick, and Marius. There is evidence our queen was tricked by Thorin.”
Drae loosed a long breath. “I’m relieved to hear Malvolia has finally seen the light. Thank you.”
I shared a look with my sister. That’s good, right? I asked through thought, relieved the sorceress queen was no longer hunting our parents.
Shiri’s features hardened. I have a difficult time believing our mother would forgive Malvolia so easily.
No, you’re right. I chewed my lip. But perhaps our mother has agreed to set aside her grudge.
Shiri rolled her eyes. Not our mother.
My shoulders fell. She was right, and I suspected the reconciliation was one-sided, not that I could fault my mother after everything Malvolia had done.
Drae waved Romulus and his soldiers away. “Double the watch. We just had a confrontation with demons, and they may retaliate.”
Romulus’s mouth dropped open before he hastily shut it. “Yes, My Lord.”
“And get a cage,” he said. “We have a demon-possessed wyvern coming. He’s injured, but we need something to restrain him.” He grimaced, shooting the children a look. “We will also have a possessed Fae. Get some chains for her,” he said in a hushed whisper.
Romulus paled. “Of course!” He spun around, barking orders.
“We have to retrieve the others,” Blaze said while motioning toward Aurora.
I straightened at that. “I’m coming.”
“No,” Ash said in a deep rumble while frowning down at me. “You need rest. I’ll go with her.”
I swallowed back a lump of fear as I looked into his big, luminous eyes, the only thing recognizable among his wolfish features. “I don’t want to part.”
Helian grabbed my shoulder. “It’s only for a moment, my love.”
Emotion threatened to cut off my words at the thought of Aurora and Ash leaving me. Splitting up our family had already proven to be a bad idea. I didn’t want to make the same mistake again, though he was right. My fatigue was starting to weigh down my arms. Even now, I had a difficult time keeping my eyes open as exhaustion threatened to pull me under its grasp. “Promise you’ll return to me.”
He grasped my chin with one clawed finger, flashing a fanged grin. “I swear I will walk through the flames of hell to find you.” Ash picked up Aurora and removed her necklace. “Let’s go.”
She waved to me. “Bye, Mommy. We’ll be right back.”
Before I could tell her I loved her, they were gone, and my world threatened to implode. I held my breath until they reappeared with Arabella, Triss, Isa, and Bea. Then they disappeared again, momentarily returning with Radnor and Nox. Only when Aurora came racing back to me did I release the breath I’d been holding.
Bea flew off with an agonized squawk, and I knew she wouldn’t fly far. I felt terrible for her, because she mourned the friends she’d lost. The fire mages immediately chained Arabella’s bloated wrists and ankles, though she didn’t put up a fight. At Drae’s instructions, they left her beneath a shady tree and bound Nox with thick chains around his neck and legs and a muzzle on his maw. Then they loaded him onto a cart and took him away. Blaze had said there was a cell in the castle dungeon large enough to fit a giant. I felt terrible for Enso trapped inside that body with a demon and prayed he didn’t feel any pain. As much as I wanted to heal him, I needed to heal Isa first. I was worried about my dragon, for she could barely lift her head. I clung to Helian for support while working on healing the tears in Isa’s wings. I couldn’t get to them all, though, as fatigued as I was.
The servants gave Ash a clean tunic and trousers, and he shifted back into his Fae form. They also brought food and drink out to the garden, and we dined beneath a canopy of stars while discussing our future options. The girls told us that Finn and Nikkos had seen them disappear, which meant they were probably frantically heading toward the human lands. We hadn’t ironed out the details, but we decided that Blaze would fly out in the morning to intercept them. I had many more questions for my girls. I wanted to know everything they saw, but I would save those questions for after we rested and recovered.
The food gave me the strength I needed to finish healing Isa. I also healed the cuts and bruises on my children, Ash, and Shiri’s mates, very aware of Arabella watching me while curled up beneath that tree, her ugly hands and feet bound in chains, her body covered in burns and welts. Healing her was last of my priorities, though I knew I’d need to try. I owed her for the lives of my children, a debt that I doubt I’d be able to repay. I wasn’t sure my magic would help her, though, until I had that book of spells.
Radnor brought his mate and child two fresh stags, and Isa thanked him by nuzzling his neck. Shiri and I shared a smile. We were relieved and overjoyed to see the dragon mates had made up, though I felt badly for the stags when their spirits wandered through the garden. We gave the dragons privacy to eat while the girls led us toward the castle. They skipped across the stone path with such glee, it was hard to believe they’d been a demon’s captives just an hour earlier.
I looked over my shoulder as a group of fire mages led Arabella away.
