Chapter 8

Firo hurried down the hall behind his princess. He didn’t know what to expect, but if the Alterealm men were this concerned, he needed to be prepared for anything. Lowering his hand, he held it out from his body and willed his sword to appear. It was silver and almost reached the floor.

“Calm down, Mitz. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

He walked into the room to see the petite redheaded woman being held by the Captain of the guard house, he believed the man to be.

He looked around. It appeared to be some sort of activity room. Desks and various other mismatched items were spread out around the room. He glanced at the door to see a sign taped on it. It said girl’s cave.

“Ira. Go retrieve Clairee and Romulus.” Prince Victor said in a harsh tone.

Firo stepped out of the door and went further into the room. The Queens and Princesses of this realm were sprawled around the room. Some on the floor, some on furniture. They were all sleeping.

“Duchess, my beloved, wake up.” King Chase was on his knees beside the lounge, touching his queen’s face.

“Firo.”

He turned and looked at Aireese.

“Scan the outer walls and see if you can detect anything.” She frowned. “I’m not sensing any spell in the room.”

“Spell?” King Troy stood up with his queen in his arms and then sat down, holding her in his lap. “Magic doesn’t work on Daxx.”

Firo found that hard to believe, but the king would know. He needed to ask about it at a later date.

“Babe. Babe. Come on, open those eyes for me.” Arius was on the floor beside his mate, talking softly to her.

Firo glanced once more at Aireese to see she looked confused. His princess never looked unsure. He kept the sword in his hand and then walked over to the wall and held his hand out from it. With slow steps, he moved along it, pausing every few steps to see if there were any magical vibrations in it. “I’m not sensing anything, Princess.”

“Nor am I.”

“If it’s not magic, what…” King Chase jumped to his feet and pointed.

Firo turned to see one of the large guards standing in the doorway.

“Go get the doctor now.” Chase bellowed and then dropped back down to his knees. He touched his mate’s swollen belly and then leaned close to it. “You fight, little one, help your mother.”

A memory of Avalie as a tiny newborn flashed in his head, and Firo had to look away before his face revealed any of it.

“It can’t be poison, Chase,” Quinton said loudly. “Rea’s body would have rejected it by now.”

Firo flicked his wrist so his sword would vanish and then walked to the center of the room. “What were they doing when this happened?”

“A meeting.” Rafael sat on the floor with his mate cradled in his arms. “Kara said it was about the houses or something.” He shook his head.

“The bond isn’t doing anything,” Leone said, his voice heavy with anguish. “Why isn’t it?”

Firo glanced over at Aireese to see she had her eyes closed and was standing perfectly still. If there were anything to sense in the room that didn’t belong, she would find it. He looked around. There were a few mugs on the table that sat between the furniture. With it was the box that Nova had brought for the women. Pastries or something, he wasn’t sure what she had brought for them. Going around the large men scattered on the floor, he walked over to the table, leaned down, and flipped the box open. There were three of those donut things that humans loved sitting in the box. He looked around the room. Human’s bought these by the dozen. “My Princess.” He straightened and looked at her. “The pastries.” He motioned to the box.

Aireese gave him a startled look and then hurried over. “If there were a magical catalyst in them, a spell would be able to be done without detection.”

“What does that mean?” Prince Emil stood up with his mate in his arms and moved over closer. “What kind of spell could make all nine of them unconscious?”

“Projection.”

Everyone looked at the door to see a brown-haired woman standing in it.

“Or similar to that. A dream walking state.” She nodded.

“You can undo that, Clairee?” Rafael asked.

“I would have to figure out what was used…”

“I’ve had success in yanking others out of astral projection before…”

Quinton glared at the man in the robe standing beside Clairee. “You try it, and I’ll be yanking your spine out through your nose.”

“Everyone settle down.” Aireese picked up the box and held her hand over it. She glanced at Firo. “I’ll need you to capture it once I force it out.”

He nodded and moved over closer to her and held his hands up. This was the part of his job that he loved. Her magic was beyond any others, and she used methods that many wouldn’t. It was never dull around her. He nodded. “I am ready.”

He watched her lips move and knew that she was giving it all the strength she had. Usually, she could do things with a mere thought. He wiggled his fingers and thought of the vessel and then paused his thoughts when he felt it just at the tips. Revealing it too soon would not capture whatever she released.

Firo heard the gasps as the dust started to lift from the edibles in the box. He nodded his head slowly and opened his hands wider so the vessel edges would be there just beyond the width of the box.

“A little more,” Aireese whispered, letting him know that it was a few seconds longer before she had drawn all of it free.

As she lowered the box, he brought each hand toward the other. Now for the top and bottom. He pivoted his hands in the air from side to up and down and then squeezed his fingers into his palms.

“Got it.”

He looked to see his princess holding a glass jar in her hands. Inside it, the dust continued to move around.

“This was the catalyst.” Aireese held the jar toward Clairee. “I’ll come with you while you analyze it.”

Clairee smiled. “That was spectacular.”

“My King?”

Firo turned to see one of the guards in the doorway.

“Is there anything we can do?”

Troy nodded. “You go get Bastian and Nova and get to the bakery. Shut it down until we can get someone there to figure out how this happened.”

“Immediately.” The guard nodded and then spun on his heel.

Clairee paused at the door and looked at the jar Aireese carried with magic. “What if we purge their stomachs? Do you think that would weaken the spell?”

Aireese looked at the pregnant queen. “That could be risky with the babe inside her.” She glanced at Firo. “Do an entrapment while we go look at this. Whatever spell is weaved into what they ingested can’t be let to dissipate.”

“What do you mean?” The mage in the robe asked.

Aireese gave him an amused look. “You can’t trace the weaver if it’s gone.”

The mage nodded. “Yes. I will aid your man.”

Aireese laughed. “Firo needs no aid to do that, but you could go to this bakery and check for magic.”

The mage nodded and then looked at Prince Victor.

“Go.” He said loudly.

“We won’t be long.” Aireese bowed her head to Troy and then left the room with the witch at her side.

Firo walked to the wall and lifted both hands.

“Is it okay for us to be in here?”

He glanced at Prince Leone. “Yes. This will trap the spell, nothing more.”

“Daxx just moved.” Troy sounded panicked.

Firo watched her for a second and then swore in his head. The Huntress was working her way out of it. He needed to hurry.

“Paise is gagging like she’s going to throw up.” Arius sounded nothing like the warrior Firo knew him to be.

The princesses were not going to be locked in the spell much longer. He had to resort to thinking the words in his head like he was a fledgling reading them from a book so he could move around the room fast enough to set the trap. If he knew anything about the victims of the spell weaver, they were going to make them very, very sorry that they had done this to them.