Chapter 24

I ran through the hall afraid I was already late for the meeting. I still didn’t know why I had been bumped to the front of the line when I’d gone to feed, but I was glad for it.

“You didn’t get enough running in this morning?”

I skidded to a stop, my heart in my stomach and spun around. Chase was leaning against the corner with a smirk on his face. “I didn’t want to be late…”

He waved his hand in the air, “none of us are ever on time.” He smiled and straightened from the wall, “I prefer to make a fashionably late entrance.”

I nodded, then cleared my throat. “I had to go feed…”

“I heard.” He started walking down the hall, “from now on you can call and someone will come to you,” he glanced at me, an amused expression on his face, “until my brother man’s up.”

He’d heard? I felt my cheeks heat and didn’t know why. “I’m okay with going there.” I walked beside him, despite feeling like I should be behind him. Some protocols weren’t easily overwritten.

He appraised me for a moment, “If you must, then, but we do have people approved to come here.” He shrugged it off. “I wanted to speak with you before the meeting.” His tone was more serious now.

“Of course.” What could he possibly want to talk me about?

“I work closely with the designers that fill our armory.” He kept walking, “I’d like you to help with some designs.”

“Me?” What did I know about designing weapons?

Chase nodded slowly, “Dynamo helps often as well, but as we all know she doesn’t really need a weapon in her hands.”

Dynamo? I frowned.

He smirked, “Autumn.” He stopped walking.

“Oh, right. No, she doesn’t require a weapon.” I couldn’t help standing straight, keeping my hands behind my back. All the royal brothers made me feel like I was only three feet tall.

He motioned to the blade strapped to my back. “That lighter design was made hoping I could persuade some of the ladies to use it…” he lifted his hand, then dropped it, “but as you have probably noticed they all prefer different weapons.”

I nodded, still not sure where this was going.

“I’m trying to incorporate a smaller concealed blade within the larger blade,” he paused for a moment, an odd look on his face, “for those times when the larger one isn’t feasible.” He looked at me directly, “I’d like you to help with that.” He started walking again. “I got the idea from Emil, and his butterfly blades that hide in his sleeves.”

I kept walking, while trying to picture Emil’s jacket. There were blades hidden in the sleeves? “I’ll do what I can.” I focused on the floor. “Maybe something small like a throwing knife could be hidden in the hilt somehow…”

He grinned at me, “like a false handle.” He nodded slowly, “we tried something like that, but it came lose too easily and the sword would land on the ground when least convenient.”

I stopped and pulled the blade out of its case and looked at it. Balancing it on one hand, I pointed to just below the handle where the blade and hilt met. “Placing it below where the main weapon is gripped would work.” I frowned, “I’m not sure how to design it to work though, getting it out quickly.”

Chase nodded slowly, “we’ll let the designers come up with that idea.”

I returned the blade to my back. “We will?”

He smiled at me, “yes, you will be the one that tests and evaluates them, being sure to tell them how badly they’ve failed if it doesn’t work.”

I straightened my shoulders back. “Yes, sir.”

Chase chuckled. “I think we can probably dispense with the sir and majesty parts.”

I almost said sir again to acknowledge what he said.

He leaned closer, “in case you’ve forgotten,” he whispered, “your family now.” With a grin he walked into the summit room.

I went in behind him, still not sure how I’d just been selected to help with weaponry. I wasn’t going to complain, too often the female guards were passed over for the larger males standing beside them. I noted all but a few of the royal family were already here. I rushed over to the seat I preferred and was just about to sit when my phone rang. Pulling it out of my pocket, I glanced to see it was my dad. I answered it and headed to the corner by the thrones. “Dad?”

“Well you sound fine.”

I cringed, realizing I should have let him know all was well. “Yes. Sorry I didn’t call.”

He chuckled. “I knew you would be okay, I just called…”

“Because you’re in the shop hiding from mom?”

“That could be it.” He sounded amused. “Listen, I was talking to some of the other retired guards and they were saying there’s a possibility of being called back.”

I turned and looked over at Captain—at Rafael, I thought quickly. “I could ask.”

Rafael gave me a curious look and set his cup down and came over.

“Hang on.” I lowered the phone as he reached me. “It’s my dad, he’s heard retired guards have the option to come back to help?” I covered the end of my phone with my other hand, “I think he’s going stir crazy in his retirement.”

Rafael smirked and held out his hand.

I gave him the phone.

“Mister Hinton.” Rafael nodded, “we could use a hand at the new detention site.” He nodded, “my nephew is getting it set up, but we’ve had to call back the guards that were helping there.” He smiled, “I’m sure he could use a guard’s expertise in setting things up.” He shook his head, “no, you don’t need to I’ll send someone to bring you over.” He smiled, “Thank you once again for your service.” He held the phone out to me.

I put it to my ear. “Welcome back.” I smirked.

“Your mother is going to hit the ceiling when I tell her.” He cleared his throat. “Tell me are things really as bad as I’ve heard?”

I sobered. “Yeah it’s bad, but we’re on it now, so hopefully it will be over soon.”

“I have faith in the royals.” There was a pause, “how did you go from a personal guard to being in the mix with the royals?”

I blew out a breath, trying to figure out how to tell him. I’d planned on it, but not this soon. Emil walking into the room cued my mouth to speak again. “I found my mate.” I whispered.

“What?” He was silent for a second. “That’s wonderful.”

I turned my back to everyone in the room. “Is it?” I hissed.

He chuckled, “I know I gripe from time to time, but yes it really is.” He cleared his throat, “have you…”

“No.” I answered before he could utter the words. I was forty, yes, but this was my father. “It’s—it’s complicated.”

“Is it a guard?” His voice elevated, “is that why you’ve been moved?”

I blew out a breath, not knowing how to tell him without saying it and having the entire room hear me. “No, it’s not a guard.” I was almost hiding behind the thrones now. “It’s one of the royals.”

The silent was deafening.

“A prince? Prince Emil is the only one…” He gasped, “you’re the mate of one of the royal brothers.” He said softly.

“Yes.”

He cleared his throat, “bring him when you come to get me.” He paused, “I have to go your mother is calling me.”

The line went quiet. I looked at the phone, then tucked it back into my pocket. I turned around to see Rafael was still standing close enough he probably heard every word.

He gave me a big smile and nodded his head once before walking back over to where he set his cup down. “Emil, after the meeting, I need you and a guard to go to Kinsley’s family home and get her father.”

Emil jolted like someone had smacked him. “For?” He gave Rafael a cautious look.

Rafael motioned to Arius with his cup. “I’ve reinstated him to help Ellis set up the security in the cells.” Arius looked pleased with the idea.

“His knowledge will be quite valuable.” Victor said as he sat down.

Rafael nodded, “You’ll be leaving a guard there as well.”

“Leaving a guard there?” I looked from Victor back to Rafael.

Michael took off his jacket and hung it on the back of a chair. “As a precaution?”

Rafael nodded, “we’ve done it with every other family relation.” He turned to Michael, “one of the second years from the perimeter posts.”

Michael sat down. “I’ll go through the list.”

“No female guards.” I blurted out. Everyone paused and looked at me. I glanced to Rafael then back to Michael. “My mother has,” I inhaled slowly, “issues with females being guards.”

Michael raised one eyebrow at me, then inclined his head. “A male guard it is.”

“Wait.” Paisley perched on the edge of the table, “she has issues with female guards, but her daughter is one?”

I blew out a breath then nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well then.” Paisley shook her head slowly and got up. “I thought most women would be proud to have their daughter treated as an equal.”

I slipped into the first chair near me and put my hands on the table. “My mother is, unique.”

Rafael chuckled quietly. He’d met her, he knew. He turned back to Emil, “if you go to the guard house, Ira will give you a temporary porter set to the right location.”

I gave him a quick look.

Rafael shrugged, “we have the coordinates to all of our guard’s homes.”

I glanced at Emil without turning my head. He did not look happy about being volunteered to do this. “I could…”

Rafael shook his head, “you go nowhere unaccompanied.” He motioned to the door, “you’ll have your own guard, Emil, and the guard staying there with you.”

I turned to glance at Autumn, she shrugged. “Okay.” I submitted, knowing that arguing wasn’t going to get me anywhere. “Which one?”

Rafael gave me a curious look.

“I have two that are so close on my heels it’s like we’re sharing the same pair of boots.”

Daxx laughed. “I thought my boots felt stretched.”

Troy gave her a blank look for a second. “Take whoever you think would be best.” He sat down.

Chase hugged Alona, then they sat down. “I’ve persuaded Kinsley to help with the weapons designs as well.”

Autumn grinned, “that’s perfect.” She sat down beside Michael, “I can tell them how to use them, but have been having trouble showing them.” She shrugged, “they’re not warriors.”

I nodded, “I’m happy to help.” I glanced at Emil’s arms resting on the table, wondering if he had the blades hidden there now.

“Okay.” Daxx lightly smacked her hands on the table. “Let’s talk about going to kick some ass.”

Troy gave her an affectionate look. “We’ll get there shortly.” He motioned around the table, “there are many things to cover.”

Huffing out a breath, Daxx sat back. “Okay.”

Michael grinned at her, then turned to look at Leone. “Romulus has discovered a few things about that tablet.”

“Sleep helped, I’m sure.” Leone said quietly.

“Most likely.” Michael put his hands on the table. “Several of the locations Arwan was controlling with the tablet,” he glanced to Troy, then Chase, “we have already shut down.”

“Really?” Chase sat forward, “which ones?”

Michael glanced at his phone, “the warehouse, park, asylum, the wasteland,” he looked up at him, “both of those, the wrecking yard…”

“How many are left not closed?” Quinton got up and went over to the coffee pot.

“Four.” Michael answered.

“So, he’ll have to be at one of those?” Bethany asked.

“Most likely.” Michael nodded.

“Do we know the last few locations?” Reagan asked as she accepted a cup from Quinton.

“Two we do, well after Kinsley landed beside one today, we now know three.” Michael told everyone.

“Then we have two locations to go hit today?” Daxx sounded excited.

Michael lifted his hand, “they’re being watched right now.”

Daxx leaned onto the front of her chair. “But we’re going there today?”

Troy grinned and shook his head. “As soon as we get the word it’s safe and there are no civilians, yes.”

Daxx bobbed her head. “Okay. I can work with that.” She grinned at Autumn who smiled back at her.

I looked at Rafael. “Was that phone or porter useful?”

He shrugged, “the phone had some contacts we’re looking into,” he leaned back in his chair, “their porters don’t work once they’ve been taken off.”

I frowned, “how does that work?”

He lifted his hand, “the science team believes its connected to their tattoos.”

I nodded, even though I didn’t know anything about that sort of thing.

“However, the fact that you got him to tell you that the porters don’t work accurately between realms, was the most useful information we’ve gotten in a while.”

I glanced around the table, “how’s that?”

Emil gave me a quick glance, “it explains why we could never figure out why we found some where we did, here, over there…” he nodded, “now we know why.”

“So,” I looked back to Rafael, “now you’re not wasting resources following nothing.”

“Something like that.”

“I’ve been thinking…” Kara played with the glass in front of her, “when I was hit by that portal…” Everyone looked at her, “the mage that did it was being controlled by Arwan.”

Victor nodded, “that’s correct.”

“Okay,” she sat up straighter, “so what if Arwan was trying to give the last mage in his circle,” she waved a hand in the air, “or whatever, a quick out to escape?”

“Yeah?” Paisley nodded.

“We’d beaten him pretty bad that day,” Kara continued, “Romulus crashing his ward at the tracks, us taking down his mages…”

“You think he was trying to take the mage to where he’s hiding in the snowy place, but made a mistake because of what we were doing?” Crissy was up on the chair on her knees. She looked so excited, “Yes.” She said loudly, then turned to her mate, “it makes sense, Vic.” She nodded, “it’s near there.” She smiled, “the snowy place I’m seeing.”

He looked at her for a moment, a soft expression in his eyes. Clearing his throat, he turned to glance at everyone else around the table. “It does stand to reason that even Arwan can make a mistake when under pressure.”

“So, one of the locations is near where Kara landed?” Rafael looked over at Quinton, “can you set up a team to do some exploring there?”

Quinton nodded.

“I think we should put trackers in their porters for this.” Michael added.

Troy turned to Chase for a moment, a silent exchange took place. “Yes.” Troy nodded and looked back to Michael. “All of them are to have trackers and coms, linked into a call to be monitored here.”

“Abe has been helping out in the communications room.” Emil said.

Leone nodded, “he’s fast on the keyboard. Knows all that techy stuff.”

“Set him up to monitor the teams at these locations.” Chase turned to Michael, “get them all trackers too, Abe can monitor those at the same time.”

“I’ll get him a few pairs of eyes to help out.” Arius was typing on his phone as he spoke.

“Kara,” Alona said softly, “I’m meeting Mitz shortly to go over the cold weather gear,” she blew out a breath, “your approval would be helpful.”

Kara nodded. “Not freezing again is my plan.”

Quinton paused and looked up from his phone. “We should send the snow team over with snowmobiles…”

“Cloak them as hunters or something also.” Bethany chimed in.

Quinton nodded and turned to Victor.

Victor inclined his head. “We can arrange that.”

Daxx jumped up. “I’m stoked.” She grinned. “We’re ending this.”

Troy chuckled, “you will get to kick ass today.” He held up his phone. “The team at the factory and the church have just sent their reports.” He glanced over to Emil, “Rena has things like that sent to all our mail.”

A few of the brothers picked up their phones and checked them.

“That’s awesome.” Leone said as he tapped the screen. “Why didn’t we think of this sooner?”

Paisley snorted. “Because you’re men and old.”

Arius gave her a hard look.

She shrugged, “it’s true, you’re stuck in the past with administration.” She smiled at her mate, “except your maze of cells, they’re top of the line.”

“Church?” Alona leaned forward and held out her phone.

Michael nodded, “an abandoned church. It’s been condemned for years.”

“A church, winter wonderland, a fertilizer factory, what’s the fourth location?” Bethany asked.

“We don’t know yet.” Leone told her.

“Okay, well let’s hope it’s not musty tunnels and flooding caverns.” She shrugged, “right?”

“We can only hope.” Michael stood up. “We should be able to go to the church in about an hour and a half.”

“Fertilizer factory will be closed for the day after that.” Quinton got up.

“Better pack snacks, boys.” Daxx grabbed her jacket off the chair, “there will be no stopping in between.” She nodded and headed for the door.

“She’s not wrong.” Troy got up. “figure that out.” He looked at Leone.

Leone got up, “what? You want us to carry backpacks with our lunch bags in them?”

Troy smirked, “maybe something a little different than that.” He walked out of the room.

Leone looked from him to Rafael, “how—we’ve never carried a lunch into battle before…”

Rafael shrugged, “guess you better call the caterers then.”

Leone’s jaw dropped, he glanced to Victor who shrugged. “Well…” He swore under his breath. “I’m going to find Mitz.” He jogged out of the room.

“You’re going to tell him, right?” Bethany turned and looked at Chase.

Chase grinned, “eventually.” He stood up.

“You guys are evil.” Alona smiled.

Chase laughed, “I didn’t see you telling him we were joking.”

Alona lifted her hands up, then shrugged, “who am I to interfere with brothers?”

I got up slowly, trying to figure out how they all knew what was going on.

“Family hotline.” Paisley tapped the side of her head.

Emil sat there shaking his head. “I honestly don’t know if finding my family was a good thing or bad some days.” He smiled and stood up.

“Have fun meeting your in-laws.” Chase said with a smirk and held his hand out to Alona.

The amused look on Emil’s face faded as he watched them walk from the room.

Rafael glanced to me, then blew out a breath. “Michael has already messaged Ira about the guard going to stay there.”

I avoided looking at Emil completely. “I’ll go get Gudrun to take with us.”

Rafael nodded slowly but was looking at his brother.

I left the room as fast as my feet could carry me. This was going to be bad. My mother and my mate, I wasn’t sure who would glare at me the most. My mother because I was taking Dad and leaving her a guard. Or my mate because he was my mate and was going to have to survive my mother’s opinions.

I blew out a breath and headed for the courtyard where Detrick and Gudrun were waiting. Life would have been simpler if I’d chosen a different profession. Like—being a ballerina or something. Not that I could dance, but it had to be simpler than what I was going through, right?