17. Emrie

Two nights later, Roarke, my Clan, and I waited to greet the visiting royalty in front of the lodge. I nervously ran a sweaty hand down my grey sweater dress. It had a mock turtleneck, and the style of the dress hugged my body down to my knees. I had no idea what I'd been thinking, because when I got nervous, I got sweaty, even without the added warmth from my dress—royalty really made me nervous.

"You'll be fine," Roarke murmured, entangling his fingers with mine again.

Me and my bear grumbled. We completely disagreed.

Mate confused, my bear said.

I sighed. He just has more faith in us than we do in ourselves.

My bear said mournfully, mate veryconfused.

I almost laughed. She sounded so completely bewildered.

Roarke turned to me, and his azure-opal eyes lit up from within. He looked into mine, and his dragon seemed to have a conversation with my bear because she grumbled. We have crazy mate who has crazy dragon, she said, and I laughed aloud.

Everyone looked at me and smiled, but Roarke was the only one who leaned closer and whispered in my ear. "What are you and your bear laughing about? I thought my dragon did a good job comforting her."

I cleared my throat and avoided his eyes. "She said you and your dragon are crazy."

He chuckled quietly.

A motorcade of cars pulled up: three limos, two black and one white, and a dozen other luxury vehicles in all black pulled up behind them. Guards got out of the cars and stood around the perimeter, facing outward, their sharp gazes taking note of every movement in the surrounding area. Next, three royals got out of the limos: Garyyk, the Troll King, Draven, the Vampire King, and Virion, the High Elven Prince.

We'd needed a Triad of three royals from three different species to rip Drakis out of office because he was so high up. Their vote was step one in our plan to destroy Drakis. The next step depended on Drakis' reaction. I knew Roarke and my Clan were counting on Drakis not going down without a fight. That way, they could eliminate him, and it would all be tied up legally. Even the paranormal world had its laws. We had to, especially the paranormals. We were just too powerful.

I drew in a shaky breath, and Roarke squeezed my hand.

Go time.

We all adjourned to the conference room on the second level. Sullivan served at the wet bar and brought in a few trays of various fancy finger foods. Mateo, Mathan, and Alistair sat with Alpha Riggs at the end of the table, and then there was me and Roarke, with. King Draven sitting across from me, and the Troll King and Virion sitting next to him.

Two things struck me. One, I had never actually seen a troll before. They tended to insulate themselves from other paranormals. I'd known better than to listen to the human stories about trolls, but I'd never imagined how utterly wrong people were about them.

King Garyyk was handsome, intelligent, and articulate. He even gave off this kind of cool-guy vibe that was hard to define. His skin was pale, and his eyes were a sharp grey with a starburst of light within them. Any time his gaze focused on you, the starburst of light expanded, making his eyes seem like they were glowing. Trolls lived underground in dens—mountainous palaces—and were sensitive to light. Their eyes allowed them to see, even in complete darkness. They had earth and rock magic, which was well suited for their preferred environment.

And Virion, who'd been hanging around our town for a month or two and staying at a bed and breakfast downtown, was the High Elven Prince. He had copper hair, green and gold eyes, and an unsettling presence, though I couldn't figure out why.

My bear spoke up. Two souls.

I sat back and studied him. That must be it. It couldn't be seen, of course, at least not by a bear shifter, but I'd heard that most High Elves had two souls. He was wearing various pieces of armor, not the least of which were his beautiful, elven-scroll bracers, and he carried twin curved swords on his back. With my shifter hearing I could hear them murmuring to themselves, and one of them was singing very softly.

After Roarke and I and Alpha Riggs explained the situation, and King Draven laid out the evidence his people had gathered, we were excused as the Triad deliberated.

When we were called back in, King Garyyk spoke. "We've viewed the memory crystals of the secret keepers and the evidence that King Draven and his team have gathered in the last few days. We, as a royal Triad have determined that Premier Drakis is guilty. He's charged with multiple accounts of assault, thirty-five counts of murder, and not the least of which, a gross misuse and abuse of his sacred office. He is to be remanded to Deep Dark Prison for the duration of his life. If he resists arrest, he's to be put down." The starburst in King Drakyys' eyes flared at his words, and the rest of the Council nodded in solemn agreement.

It was rare in our world, this abuse and utter depravity of someone in a high office, because paranormals didn't tolerate it. If they were guilty, they went to prison or were killed. We didn't mess around, again, because paranormals were so powerful. The world would be ripped apart at the seams if paranormal kings, queens, princes, and lawmakers allowed gross infractions of justice.

The Council broke up, and King Garyyk pulled me aside for a moment. "I am sorry this has happened to you and your family, Emrie. We trolls are protectors, much like our cousins the gargoyles. It's painful to see such a disregard for life in an elder dragon."

Roarke wrapped his arms around me from behind, and I leaned into his strength. "It's possible his long life has unbalanced him," Roarke said, and King Garyyk nodded.

"This happens, even to some of my kind who are equally long-lived." He put his hands in the pockets of his probably three-thousand-dollar dress slacks and looked off into the distance, then he turned back to Roarke and I. "I will send some of my warriors to attend his arrest. I am uneasy. I don't think he'll go quietly."

"I can almost guarantee he won't," Roarke said, and I nodded in agreement.

"Please take care," I said in a small voice. "He's very dangerous. To reduce potential bystanders getting hurt, the task force is confronting him at his home, yes?"

King Garyyk nodded. "That's the plan. We can't afford humans or innocent civilians getting ensnared in this. Fortunately, his house sits on a lot of property, so other than those that work on his property and in his home, civilians shouldn't be a problem." He put a hand on my shoulder. "Try not to worry. We know what we're up against. Take care, both of you. I'll be in touch." Then he got in his limo, the rest of the Trio got in theirs, and the motorcade drove away.

I turned into the circle of Roarke's arms and cuddled into him for comfort. I had the most horrible feeling. And I knew Roarke was feeling it, too, as were the rest of my Clan. We all stood on the front lawn in silence for a few minutes before we trickled back into the lodge.

Whatever tomorrow would bring, I was glad I had my Clan and my mate.