Page 169 of Kingdom of Aramis

I blink in surprise, the fork halfway to my mouth. “He’s not?”

“No, apparently he’s nothing more than a lackey. There were others involved, but the guards didn’t know their identities. They said there were five or six who would visit the facility regularly, but they wore masks and kept themselves covered with cloaks. They even had voice modulators so they would be harder to identify. One of the prisoners said he didn’t think they were all shifters, though, because he saw them do things no shifter, even a mythical, could do.” Titus sounds annoyed. “It makes sense, considering the wards surrounding the facility—no shifter could have set them—but we’re no closer to finding out who is involved than we were yesterday.”

“What about their plans? Were the prisoners able to tell you why they were trying to change all those humans?” Audrey Coldicott asks, leaning forward.

“Just that an army of warriors would be needed, and humans were easy cannon fodder. Once they are feral, they lose all inhibitions and are happy to kill indiscriminately,” Micah answers. “They had high hopes that they could use Malina to open the spell book to access the spell to fix the ferals, because she shared the same blood as Colbie.”

“But without the shifter queen magic, it isn’t possible to use the spell,” Mia argues.

“One of the prisoners said that the rumor floating around the complex was that maybe any one of the other kingdoms’ royals should be able to use the book, since they all have access to goddess magic.” Bryson looks disturbed at the idea, and once again, I stop eating.

“What do you know about the royals in the other kingdoms? Would any of them entertain this idea?” I ask Lucas, but it’s Titus who answers.

“As soon as I heard that, I reached out to my assassin brothers in the other kingdoms. The witch and fae royals are already in their transition phase, so the majority of their magic is in flux until their new queens can be crowned. As of yet, neither of them have been identified or presented themselves to the palaces. I informed my brothers to be wary of possible assassination attempts when the new queens become known.”

My heart skips a beat at the mention of my half-sisters. I haven’t even wrapped my head around that little nugget of information that my dad imparted on me. That was a future Colbie problem, but I guess future Colbie is now.

“And the vampire kingdom?” Evie asks, wrinkling her nose. “The king is an alright person, but his wives are fucking vicious. I don’t like them at all. He kind of lets them push him around. I think they are the true ruling faction in that kingdom.”

“But their sons are hot.” Gracelin fans her face, and Violet giggles, which lightens the atmosphere in the room.

Lucas scowls at his daughter, but she just shrugs. “What? They are. It’s a pity they are all so fangy and drink blood. I bet their breath smells rotten.” She mimes fangs with her front fingers in front of her lips, and Lucas shakes his head in exasperation.

“I don’t know, being bitten isn’t so bad,” I murmur absently, looking at Titus, and the room falls dead silent.

“I said that out loud, right?” I feel my cheeks heat with embarrassment as Nox chuckles and nods. “Crap! Ignore me and carry on.”

“I wasn’t able to get a hold of my brother in the vampire kingdom.” Titus is looking at me with a smirk. “But as far asI know, the transition phase hasn’t started there. They were supposed to have another year, I think.”

“But Aramis said her sister Eryx was going to change that. What about reaching out to the kingdom’s ambassador?” I suggest.

“Because we rushed your own crowning, there wasn’t time for the royals or their new representatives to arrive. We don’t know who they will be, and the previous vampire ambassador has gone radio silent,” Mia says, worry in her tone.

“And the prisoners couldn’t tell you why? They were shifters, right? What cause could be so profound that they would betray their nation for?” Emmett Coldicott asks.

“Money. They were guns for hire with no morals and were happy for an easy payday. They were too low on the totem pole to know why. They just followed orders and got paid.” Bryson sounds disgusted. “All three of them were rejected by the shifter army because none of them passed their mental evaluation. They were holding a grudge.”

A new set of concerns plagues me. The sisters I have only recently learned about are going to be in as much danger as I was until they can get their crowns. I only hope all of them are incorruptible. If this rogue faction can get their hands on one of them and turn them to their cause, then we will be in for a world of hurt.

The table falls silent as we all contemplate the possibilities. I wonder if we can send teams into each kingdom to help guard the new queens when they surface.

“We can’t interfere in other kingdoms’ politics.” It’s like Gryffin plucked the thought directly out of my head, and I give him a look of surprise.

“Did you read my mind?”

He chuckles. “No, I think I’m just starting to know you. I would want to do the same thing if my family was involved.”

I had given the guys permission to share Loki’s story with anyone they deemed relevant, so I’m guessing everyone at this table is considered such.

“For now, we are going to monitor the situation. Titus is in constant contact with his brothers, and your father has the rest of his assassin’s guild gathering information. There is nothing we can do until they surface once more, but I have a feeling when they do, it won’t be here in the shifter kingdom. They’ve blown their chance,” Bryson surmises.

“And my parents are going to continue their search, this time focusing on the Tideman family. General Bryson had soldiers grab some of their belongings from their abandoned rooms to make it easier for them to be tracked. If we can find them, hopefully we can get our hands on that book,” Nox tells me.

“What if he doesn’t have it? What if he gave it to whoever is in charge?” Liam asks, playing devil’s advocate, but Layla shakes her head.

“Vallen is a weasel. I bet he will hang on to the book and use it as leverage, because the minute he gives it up, he becomes dispensable.”

“That’s very true,” Evie agrees.