Chapter 23: Aislin

Chapter 23: Aislin

The night came and went without any sign of David. As the sun rose, we all breathed a collective sigh of relief that we had survived. It would be another month yet before the next full moon, which would give us at least a week before we expected Dalesbloom and the Inkscales to strike again. He wouldn’t want to wait too long, though. David was smart enough to know that the Mythguard would be on him soon.

I went with Everett to spot check the perimeter. As we drove, he tilted his head to me but kept his eyes on the road. “Sebastian will be coming by later to give us an update on the extermination order.”

My insides coiled at the mention of him. He had come and gone from the house over the past three days, but I’d been so busy with Everett and helping out his packmates that I barely saw him. “What does he think of… us?”

“Why does that matter?”

“Because I tried to take a bite out of him, remember?”

Everett furrowed his eyebrows. The sun hitting his dirty blond hair made it look like a halo surrounded him, my fated mate enveloped in heavenly glow. I was momentarily distracted until he spoke again. “If he doesn’t like it, he can just deal with it. In fact, maybe I’ll tell him to apologize to you.”

I laughed. “Him? Apologize to me? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?”

“No, he was careless about our fated bond and encouraged me to take advantage of it to get to Muriel. I understand now that it’s wrong of me to plan to take Muriel from Grandbay. He needs to understand that too.”

“Well, I think you’ll be hard pressed to get an apology from him.”

“For the sake of Eastpeak’s affiliation with the Mythguard, he’d be wise to make amends.”

I hummed and thought about it, recalling the conversation with Sebastian that set me ablaze. “He is pretty manipulative, isn’t he?”

“That’s the Mythguard for you.” Everett turned the wheel as we hit a curve in the road. “Why, what exactly did he say to you?”

“He was just trying to get information about Muriel by using my interest in the Mythguard. Telling me how I was your top recommendation for secondary representative.”

Everett said nothing, which worried me. Of course, I didn’t believe Sebastian when he said that, but I hadn’t anticipated how much it might sting for Everett to confirm as much. “I hate to admit it, but I never said that,” he spoke finally.

My heart sank with disappointment. “I know,” I said, hiding it. “You would’ve told me if you did, right?”

“Yes.”

So Sebastian had outright lied to me about the chance I had of actually becoming a Mythguard correspondent. Prior to getting to know Everett, he hadn’t even considered me for the role. I was quite aware that he thought I was an ignorant moron, but… did he still think I was unqualified for it? It wasn’t like I was desperate to serve the Mythguard anymore, but if it came down to it, did he think I wasn’t suited for the role, still?

“I just didn’t know you well enough,” Everett continued, sensing my dismay. “I may change my mind about it now.”

He must have known what I was thinking about. I gave him a small smile, reassured. “Thanks.”

“It is concerning that Sebastian said that, though. I don’t like how he has tried manipulating both of us.”

“No, that was kinda shitty of him.”

“I’ll speak to him about it.”

“Can I talk to him too?”

Everett glanced at me. “About what?”

“About all this.”

“Alright, just… don’t let your temper get the better of you.”

I wanted to bristle at him, but laughed it off. “If things start getting heated, you just come cool me down, okay?”

My fated mate smirked slightly from the corner of his mouth. “Alright.”

There were nine stops to make on our perimeter check. At each intersection of the road with Eastpeak’s borders, we stepped outside and breathed in deeply, assessing the scents that came in on the breeze. The dragons were a constant presence, but less so along the southern and western borders. They were patrolling vigorously between Dalesbloom and Eastpeak. At the western borders, we caught Gavin and Billie’s scents as well. They must have recently come by on their own patrol. Otherwise, there seemed to be no evidence that David and his followers had passed into Eastpeak’s territory, which was a good sign.

By the time we got back to Everett’s place, Sebastian was already there. I recognized his car, with the mirror I had dislodged and the paint I raked with my teeth. Inside, he was standing alongside two more members of the Mythguard who had been helping us out earlier: a man named Brad, and a woman named Carla.

“Do you have the extermination order?” asked Everett, joining them in the living room. I followed his steps and stood beside him, meeting Sebastian’s eyes with a challenging stare.

The lanky man met my eyes first, visibly resisting his grimace. He had a briefcase in one hand that he set down on the coffee table, opening it to reveal a pile of paperwork. “Here,” he said, handing Everett the papers. “You’ll see that seven individuals have been approved for extermination attempts, including David, Colt, and Garett Roydon from Dalesbloom; Lothair, Sibyelle, and two other dragons from the Inkscales.”

“Why Garett?” asked Everett, pouring over the papers.

“Our investigations have determined that he is directly responsible for Taylor’s death. Given the information in the audio recordings you sent us, the scents detected around Taylor, and his estimated time of death—we determined that he was slain at Garett’s home. David was already aware of the bug you planted in Hexen Manor by the time Garett and his companion had that conversation. They intended to lure somebody to them, presumably you, but when Taylor showed up they killed him anyway.”

I watched Everett, sensitive to the process of emotions unfolding on his face. Flashes of guilt and grief reminded me that he was still coming to terms with what happened to his Beta, but now there were glimmers of rare anger I thought were reserved for David. “So there aren’t any objectors to David’s plans? I thought they had at least a quarter of Dalesbloom’s numbers who disagreed with him.”

“There may very well be, but it’s clear that David used them to give us false hope of finding an inside aide,” said Sebastian.

“If he knows about them, chances are they won’t survive very long.” Everett shook his head, then wrinkled his nose and bared his teeth in frustration. “Fuck.”

“Sibyelle, that’s Lothair’s mate, right?” I chimed in, remembering what I had overheard from Billie and Gavin about the dragons. “Isn’t she pregnant?”

“Yes. She’s about eight months pregnant, in fact,” said Sebastian.

“The Mythguard have a policy against exterminating pregnant shifters,” Everett pointed out.

“Normally, yes, but they’ve made an exception for this one. Their assessment has determined that Sibyelle will continue to be a threat after delivering her child, and her child poses a strong risk of becoming hostile if raised by the Inkscales,” explained Sebastian.

“Isn’t there a way you can save the baby?” I asked.

Sebastian shook his head. “Not this time.”

That was brutal. I didn’t envy Lothair and Sibyelle for their situation, but I also didn’t have any sympathy for them. They were both evil, heartless people for the deaths they caused—killing Gavin’s parents and Everett’s packmates. I didn’t think an unborn baby deserved to die, but if the only alternative was either leaving Sibyelle alive or ripping the baby out of her… maybe it was best to just slay Sibyelle and let the baby die with her.

What a horrible fate.

“So you can begin preparing for the extermination then?” asked Everett.

“We will, yes.”

“What does that entail?”

Sebastian moved the papers around, revealing an aerial photograph of the town of Dalesbloom taken by satellite. An identical photo beside it was detailed with lines and circles illustrating a plan. “The Mythguard will send a reconnaissance team of three into Dalesbloom territory to confirm where they are stationed and to gauge their security. They will locate all of the individuals in the extermination order, and once they have confirmed sights on them, they will call in snipers to set up and systematically take them out. The goal is to eliminate them while keeping as much distance as possible. Alongside the lethal snipers, we will also have snipers with tranquilizers to deal with any remaining shifters in the immediate area. The most volatile individuals will be taken into custody and reconditioned, some may be relocated, and the others will be gathered together and debriefed by the Mythguard. A strict curfew will be placed on the surviving members of Dalesbloom until a new hierarchy is established with the aid of the Mythguard. The Inkscales will be completely dispersed to prevent the group from reforming.”

“Wow. So this is going to be a long process even after the exterminations are done,” I said.

“It always is,” said Sebastian.

“What can we do to help?” asked Everett.

“You won’t do anything but stay here and keep your packmates safe. Now that David has proven his homicidal intent, the Mythguard is taking offensive measures and any other shifters that get involved in the process may be subjected to reconditioning, relocation, or worse.”

I could see how it would pose such a risk to us. If an Eastpeak or Grandbay wolf ended up killing another shifter, it could potentially classify them as hostile too. Gavin was lucky no such classification was made of him after killing Catrina—but I’d heard that event was a special case, and as an Alpha, he was granted certain exceptions in order to protect his pack, allowing him to act in defense of high-level threats. Catrina was obviously out to kill, given that she’d murdered Joseph before then.

Everett examined the photos, then looked up at Sebastian. “When will you begin?”

“Tonight.”

“Are you going?”

“No, I’ll be stationed just outside of Dalesbloom to oversee the situation.”

“Alright. And after this…” Everett stood straighter, looking Sebastian directly in the eye. “You will leave Muriel alone, right?”

Sebastian hesitated. “I can’t guarantee that we will leave her in Grandbay. The Mythguard may yet decide that she is safer being relocated to a confidential residence.”

Everett and I both growled. “It’s not up to you where Muriel decides to live,” I said.

“No, but it places her at a higher risk to be living among wolf shifters,” said Sebastian.

“You think she’s at risk of being poached for the Lycan ritual even after David is taken care of?” challenged Everett.

“The problem is we don’t know who else might get the idea to do that. You may trust Gavin and whoever else resides in Grandbay, you may even trust your own packmates, your own mate, but that doesn’t matter to the Mythguard. What we see are potentials and possibilities, and any shifter with a unicorn in their midst poses the threat of harming them.”

Everett shook his head, sharing my disgust. “I’ll be filing an appeal to the Mythguard if they decide to extract Muriel. She’s probably safer in Grandbay than she is anywhere else in the entire world.”

“You’re welcome to try,” said Sebastian. He began to collect his papers and return them to the briefcase.

I could feel Everett’s anger simmering within myself. We both held our tongues as Sebastian gathered his paperwork, then stepped away with Brad and Carla, heading to the door. As he stepped outside, Everett hovered behind him, his hand on the door. “And Sebastian,” he said, “I suggest you not lie to either me or Aislin about her future as a possible recruit again. We may be revisiting this later.”

Sebastian looked between us, unbothered by the accusations. “As I said, Mr. March, you’re welcome to try,” he repeated with a shrug. Then offering a polite smile, the man stepped away, heading back to his vehicle with his cohorts in tow. He was strangely calm for somebody intending to euthanize a bunch of shifters later tonight.

Once the door closed, Everett exhaled sharply through his nose and whirled around, heading up the stairs and withdrawing his phone. “Now what?” I asked, following him.

“I’m calling Gavin to let him know of the Mythguard’s plans. It may be in their best interest to take Muriel out of town and hide her.”

“Until when?”

“I don’t know.”

“He won’t like that. He doesn’t want to leave Grandbay.”

“Well, he may have no choice if he doesn’t want to lose Muriel.”

Everett pushed into his office and I stood by the door, running my hand through my hair. Hearing him call up Gavin and repeat what Sebastian told us just emphasized the gravity of the situation. If everything went according to plan, then David would die tonight. But so would Colt. And though I begrudged him for refusing to hear me out and setting the dragons on me, part of me mourned that I may never see the boy I used to know. Then again, maybe I’d already lost that chance. Catrina’s death and the pressure David put on him changed him. Ultimately, this had to be done. Grandbay and Eastpeak couldn’t be safe until the Hexens were dead.

I just hoped that those remaining in Dalesbloom wouldn’t hate us for this. It seemed there was no chance of us ever rekindling our alliances again. The damage between our packs was permanent and irreversible… and I feared it would ignite a lifelong feud that we may never escape.