Chapter 37

Bastian closed the door and then looked to see all eyes on him. His parents, his brother, his guard, and Ulric were all glaring at him.

With his hands on his hips, Trendan looked him up and down. “Not a good time to pull one of your disappearing acts.”

Bastian’s sent him a hard look. “I was with Nova, trying to explain all of this and reading these.” He pulled out the journals. “There’s a stack of them from the last few centuries.”

Trendan frowned. “The keepers?”

Bastian nodded. “They knew a lot we needed to know.” He looked at Nova’s and then tucked it back in his pocket. That one was not being shared.

“Is she safe?” his mother asked, concern on her face.

Bastian nodded. “She was sleeping when I left, but she’s safe.” He wanted to grin, but didn’t. “They won’t find her where she is.” He knew that now. It had taken him hours of searching records to even figure out a possibility of where she hid and even then, he wouldn’t have figured it out if he hadn’t dropped his link on her floor.

“Who is Nova and keepers of what?” his father demanded.

All eyes in the room were locked on him. Bastian blew out a breath, his gaze connecting with his brothers for a moment. Trendan’s expression said, ‘good luck’. He turned to his father. “The keepers of one specific soul—that remembers all of its rebirths.”

His father quirked one eyebrow at him like he’d lost his mind.

“Nova is the current keeper of that soul and...” He chanced a glance at his mother, who nodded. “...my other.” He looked back at his father. The skeptical look was gone and now his expression was either shock or joy, he couldn’t be sure.

“Where is she?”

This was where it was going to get dicey, Bastian thought.

“The human realm.” Bastian hugged the journal in his crossed arms waiting for what he knew was coming.

“You left her in the human realm with all of this insanity going on?”

“I had to.” Bastian looked at his mother again before adding. “She’s human.” He was sure everyone in the room stopped breathing and waited for his father’s reaction. He held his look, watching as he was processing what he’d just said.

“You should go retrieve her at once.” His father blew out a breath. “If you’ve shared your soul with her, she should survive being in our realm.” He paused. “I’m told it’s the easiest to acclimate to, aside from the humans.”

“Sorry,” Ulric held out his phone and looked at Trendan. “I’ve got the wand’s location.”

Trendan looked from his guard to his father, then back. “Take Tor and go get it.”

Ulric nodded and started for the door.

“Tor,” Bastian said, “take your gun.” Tor nodded his head once and then followed Ulric out. Bastian didn’t know who had it, but Tor needed to get back in one piece and help him wade through the knee-deep shit they were standing in.

“We don’t take lives that way,” his mother said quietly.

Bastian sent her an apologetic look.

“We have to take a few, my love, to come out of this unscathed,” his father told her, surprising both Trendan and him—if he read the expression on his brother’s face right.

Bastian looked back to his father when he spoke, “Well, go get your other, son, bring her where she can be secure.”

Bastian opened his mouth but didn’t get a chance to speak before his mother did.

“He can’t, Os.” She waited for her kind to look at her. “She’s human.” She enunciated it slowly. “Red flags will go up if a human other is brought here.”

He watched his father’s shoulders slump as he realized the implication of that.

“And the lawless are after her, so bringing her here is bad for several reasons,” Trendan supplied for him.

Bastian blew out a breath, that took care of the bulk of what he needed to explain to his father. “That soul, I kept chasing all these years, the one you thought I was just new and confused over?” He held out the journal. “Its keepers were running from me the whole time, not understanding I was their other half any more than I did.” He stepped closer, still holding out the journal. “They all kept journals very well hidden away for the next.” His father finally took it from him. “I don’t know exactly that all of them could see the dark souls, or the ones close to rebirth, but Nova can and each one of them witnessed men being taken by those with dark souls.” He pointed to the journal. “That one, the women before Nova, she describes in detail what the one man looked like and the woman that he left behind, and those that took him.”

“Do any of them seem familiar?” Trendan went over and looked over his father’s shoulder as he opened the journal to the page marked with a piece of paper.

“One of them had a scar.” His father looked up at him. “And sounded a lot like that guard you used to have. The one that finally retired.”

“Fatik?” His mother was on her feet now.

Bastian nodded. “I think so.”

A look of horror was on his mother’s face now. “Our own guard, Osbert”

“How are they hiding their true intent from us?” His father looked at him, which shocked Bastian, he generally turned to Trendan for important details.

“We don’t know yet.” His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out so fast, he almost dropped it on the floor. It wasn’t Nova. He opened the message from the little seer, we found her was all it said. “Our Alterealm friends have found Glen’s woman.” He hit reply, the child? He sent back.

Both are alive and well, Crissy responded.

“The child and mother are alive,” he relayed to those watching him.

“You need to get her.” His mother was the first to speak.

His father handed the journal to Trendan. “They can’t come here.”

“They have to be reunited.” His mother went over to his father and touched his arm. None of them in the room missed her other hand was placed over her stomach.

“It’s not safe to bring her or the child here.” His father leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

“What about Alterealm?” Bastian gave Trendan and surprised look. “We’ll move Glen there, get him a stabilizer—and then get the mother and child.”

“Send Liri there as well.”

Bastian turned back to her.“Liri?”

“Yes.” She nodded her head, a look of resolve on her face. “I don’t know why, but I feel she needs to be protected. If whoever is responsible for all of this is as close to us as one of our guards, then your only female cousin could be used…”

“As a negotiating tool.” their father finished.

Trendan rubbed his hand over his jaw. “We need a believable explanation—”

“By the King’s orders should suffice,” their father said a little louder than necessary.

His mother moved quickly and was in front of Bastian. She placed a hand against his cheek. “You need to take Nova there too until all of this is resolved.” Her eyes teared. “I feel like the human others are the ones to bring us, daughters, again.”

Bastian’s heart felt like it stuttered in his chest. He hadn’t even considered that. Not necessarily with Nova, he definitely hadn’t pictured anything like that—yet—but the birthing crisis could actually be resolved now. Taking a deep breath, he blew it out. “When she wakes, I’ll go to her.”

His mother nodded and searched his face for a moment.

Trendan held the journal out to their father. “Until then, you both stay in your locked quarters, while we try to round up some of these lawless ones slithering around the human’s city.”

“Be careful,” his mother whispered.

Bastian dragged his mind away from replaying how Nova looked sleeping. “I’ll get in touch with Troy and get some porters and stabilizers for their upcoming guests.”

“You should probably send some of those princesses to the mother and child,” Trendan said as he pulled out his phone.

Bastian nodded. “First I’m going to get my elixir and drink a pot of coffee.”

“They got the wand back, and a new guest for Alterealm’s warden.”

Bastian smirked. “We’re going to need a whole section in their cells soon.”

Trendan nodded slowly. “I’ll speak to Victor and make some arrangements until we can hold them here.”

“Was the wand—”

“Empty,” Trendan answered. The breaths of relief could be heard in the room from all of them.

“Mother,” their dad spoke softly, “we need to get back to our quarters.”

“I’m posting Ulric there with you,” Trendan said as he headed to the door. Stopping, he looked at Bastian.

“Give me a half-hour to refuel and then we’ll go start to clean up.”

Trendan nodded and then left.

Bastian looked from one parent to the other. “I’ll walk with you to your quarters. We’ll just tell everyone the queen is feeling under the weather.”

“I’ll call Liri to come to see us once we’re there and explain what’s happening.”

Bastian glanced at his mother as they started for the door. “She’s going to be thrilled to go back.”

“Is it all right if I keep this for now?” His father held up the journal. “I’d like to read it.”

Bastian nodded and touched his jacket to feel Nova’s. “I’ll ask if you can see some of the others.”

“Just get her somewhere safe, Bastian. That’s the most important thing now.”

He looked at his father over his mother's head to see his expression reflected his own thoughts. “Nova may well be the most important thing for the entire realm.” He just had to get her to understand that.