Chapter Twenty-Six

A n idea suddenly occurs to me; I know the castle well enough now that I may be able to put some extra oompf into my magic and skip the walking through the Void entirely, just opening a door straight into the kitchen at the castle.

I’m not really sure that it's even possible; I haven’t ever heard of it being done before, but my magic has never really done what it's supposed to do, and the gut feeling I have tells me that it may just work. I take a deep breath and call more of my magic than I usually would; I keep my mind focused on the exact place that I want to go to and imagine just taking a step forward and being there. Zev moves with me as I take a step forward, and I feel the reassuring weight of Poca pressed against my side, he must know that I'm trying something different, and that it won't actually require him to go into the Void.

“Well that’s different,” Zev mutters as we step straight into the kitchen, and the guys all turn to look at us questioningly.

My smile is huge, “It worked.”

“What worked?” Reaper asks curiously.

“You got through the border?” Loki asks, and I guess it would be safe to assume that’s what I was talking about.

“I have no idea about that, but I think she was referring to the fact that we didn’t use the Void to get here,” Zev frowns as he tries to explain, “we were standing at the barrier, she pulled a crazy amount of magic and then we took a step forward and we ended up here.”

The whole room stares at me in shock. Well shit, I guess that it's rarer than I thought it was.

“Wow. Are you okay?” Grey asks me, “To do what Zev is describing takes a huge amount of power. I’m actually surprised that you’re still standing and coherent right now.”

Before I can reply, a huge yawn overtakes me, “I’m fine. I’m just stupidly tired, but then again I was before I brought us back here. I’m going to keep this short so I can go to bed. I can walk through the barrier, but I have to use the Void to get back, so we were right that breaking the objects weakened the barrier.”

“Okay, Darlin’,” Kill replies before anyone else can say anything, and he walks over to me, kisses me on the forehead and then turns me around to face the door, “go to bed before you start getting stabby.”

“Uh huh,” I reply sleepily and don’t even bother to say goodnight to anyone else as I trip walk down the hall and to my room, Poca propping me up so I don’t actually fall over.

Holy shit, I got stupidly tired really quickly, I think the amount of magic that I just used to bring us back really did take something out of me. I dazedly go through my bedtime routine, not really bothering to do much apart from go to the bathroom and then strip out of my clothes, until I’m only in my underwear and then crawl under the covers of the bed, which welcomes me like an old friend. I’m vaguely aware of Meri jumping off my shoulder and growing in size before he curls up next to Poca. The warmth of them both quickly lulls me into a deep and magic-replenishing sleep.

**********

The next morning I finish getting ready for breakfast feeling a hell of a lot more refreshed than I did last night; I guess pulling the spell apart and then trying an entirely new kind of magic was just too much for me, and I need to remember to take it easier in the future. I don’t want to risk getting that tired and not having a safe place to sleep. That would be incredibly dangerous.

A knock at the door interrupts my thoughts, and I call out, “Come in; I’m nearly ready.”

“Hey, Darlin’, I wanted to check how you were feeling? You went from tired to practically asleep on your feet.”

As he talks, he walks closer to me until he’s standing directly in front of me, his fingers tipping up my chin to look at him so he can study my expression while I reply so he knows if I’m being honest or not.

“I’m feeling much better now; I think I just overdid it,” I reply.

His fingers move up my cheek, brushing against my cheekbone as they move to tuck the hair behind my ear and then linger to stroke Meri, who was resting on that same shoulder and nudged his hand for pets.

Once Meri is satisfied, Kill pulls me into his arms, and I sink into the familiar embrace. For a long time, his touch was the only kind touch that I ever received. Now I get soft and caring touches from multiple people as well as give it, something that I never thought I’d be comfortable with anyone other than Kill.

I pull back slightly, and he looks down at me, his eyes curious, before I wimp out, I say, “Thank you for always being there for me, you kept me going, and I don’t think I ever could have survived what I did without you.”

His eyes fill with emotion as the softest smile I have ever seen graces his handsome features, he doesn’t reply, but his lips meet mine in a soft and emotion-filled kiss. As is usual, when we kiss, it doesn’t stay soft for very long; and he picks me up, his mouth never leaving mine as he turns us and slams me against the wall; I groan in pleasure. My nails dig into his shoulders as his tail strokes up the outside of my thigh and sends tiny zings of magic into it, making me arch my back in an effort to get closer to him. I desperately want fewer clothes between us, and even though there have been plenty of times before where there have been considerably less clothes between us, I get that same feeling that I got when I was kissing Mayhem and Rival, that we need to pause this, just for the moment and not take it any further. I’m surprised that my gut is reacting this way with Killian; I could almost understand it with Mayhem and Rival, it was new, and we don’t want to rush it, and there’s the fact that I like the others as well that I need to take into consideration, but Killian has been there for me for years.

“I can feel your hesitation,” Kill mutters with a soft smile; as he pulls back, he asks, “Gut feeling?”

I nod, “How did you know?”

“Well, although it appears I’m not getting as many visions now, I am still getting a few,” he replies with a secretive smile.

“Ah, that explains it. I don’t know why I have this gut feeling, but it's probably because I haven’t exactly come to terms with how I’m feeling about you all, let alone seen how you feel.” I try to explain.

“Farren, relax. I get it, and so do they, take as much time as you need. We’ve got other things to be focused on right now anyway.” Kill reassures me and then adds with a cheeky smirk, “Having said that, I am crashing in here tonight, I need Farren cuddles.”

“Deal,” I reply, kissing him once more and relishing in the way that his hands clench on my ass. When I pull back, I add, “Alright, put me down. I’m hungry.”

Kill rolls his eyes and grins as he puts me down. Once I’ve straightened out my clothes, I look around the room for Meri and Poca to see if they want to come with us; I’m surprised to see them both waiting by the door and Meri, the size of a large housecat again. I’m guessing that he must want to stretch his wings.

“I think they might be hungry as well,” Kill suggests with a chuckle as they both bark and chirp in agreement.

Kill holds my hand the whole way to the kitchen to grab some food and meet up with the others. When we walk in, I’m greeted with an array of good mornings and kisses on my forehead and cheeks, apart from Loki, who kisses me straight on the lips. I don’t know why I’m surprised; he tends to say fuck it and just kiss me, and interestingly enough the others don’t seem to mind at all.

“Here you go. I figured you’d want this,” Mayhem grins as he places a giant mug of coffee down in front of me.

“Thank you,” I smile as I take a sip and then ask, “Oh, does this have caramel in it?”

He smiles, “Yeah, I thought you could do with the extra pick me up after last night.”

After I thank him, the conversation starts up around the table while we all stuff our faces and fill each other in on the happenings of last night. It sounds like Remiki is a real piece of fucking work, and I kind of wish we’d fucked some more stuff up while we were there just to make his life a bit more complicated.

“Wait, you guys ran into people while you were outside of the room where the object was?” Storm asks, a lot more serious than he was a minute ago. When we nod, he asks, “Isn’t there a chance that one of the Princes may have either seen you through their eyes or gotten word that you were there?”

I sit up straight, I have no idea why that didn’t cross my mind before now, and I look at the others worriedly.

“We should be okay, we ended them fairly quickly, and I didn’t sense any dark magic coming from any of them that would suggest that they were being used to see their surroundings,” Mayhem announces, putting me at ease slightly.

“We only have one faction left now anyway, and then after that, we can get back to finding the other parts of the key before the Princes do.” Rival points out.

Since Grey has already had some pretty interesting things to say about the last faction we all turn to look at him to see if he has any input at this point, only to find him frowning and not paying attention to what is being said at all, which is odd for him.

“Grey,” Reaper mutters, and once Grey looks at him, he asks, “Are you okay?”

Grey frowns slightly and then straightens out his jacket and looks around at us all as if he’s contemplating whether or not he can say anything. Finally, he asks, “Do you ever feel like your skin is too tight?”

We share a confused look, but it’s Storm who answers him, “Only when I have had my glamour on for too long. When I have to hide my wings and my horns for an extended period of time, then I feel like that.”

“Yeah, I’m the same,” Kill replies, “although, for me, it feels like an itch that I can't scratch.”

Mayhem shrugs, “I don’t have to use as much glamour as those two do, I only really need to change my colouring, and unlike them, we don’t have to travel to the earth realm as often as they do because they’re royalty, but I can’t fucking stand it, any longer than a couple of hours and I feel like I’m going to burst out of my skin, I fucking hate it.”

Grey grimaces as if he can sympathise with them all before he mutters, “Try having it on for years.”

“What the fuck?” Loki exclaims.

“You’ve had your glamour on for fucking years?” Reaper asks, sounding horrified by the idea.

Rival looks perplexed as the wheels in his head start turning, “That would mean that you are in full glamour right now?”

Grey doesn’t confirm or deny it; he simply stares at Rival, urging him to get to the conclusion on his own before Rival reaches that conclusion though Zev does.

“And judging from your silence, I’m guessing that it has something to do with the silencing spell that was put on you?” Zev asks.

Grey again just stares, and I’m going to take that as a yes since it’s the same reaction that he gave Rival, and if it weren’t true then he could have easily said no. His silence is actually deafening.

“I have never heard of a silencing spell that strong before,” Rival mutters, sounding intrigued.

“I wonder if Xerxes knows something?” I ask.

“He might, but it could be like the map of the second stronghold, and he won’t actually get the information until it's the right time.” Storm replies thoughtfully, while Grey just sits there looking miserable.

I hate it, and I wish there was something that we could do about it.

Zev’s eyes flash white, and he smiles, “I didn’t see anything, but I got the general sense that it won't be forever. You’ll be able to be your true self eventually.”

“Thanks, man, I know that. I just don’t know when it's going to end. Most of the time I can ignore it but then there are times like today when it just gets too much.".” Grey says.

“I'm sorry, man, that sucks,” Loki says, sympathy saturating his tone, “I don’t do earth realm visits. I can’t cope with being glamoured.”

“Thanks guys, anyway, what were you guys discussing before I derailed everyone?” Grey asks, clearly wanting to change the subject.

“The last faction,” I tell him with a smile.

If possible, Grey’s expression darkens even further, as he replies, “The leader of the last faction is called Khaos and he by far lives up to his name, he’s ruthless and incredibly intelligent. I’m unsure whether it would be a good idea to try to sneak in and use the same approach as we have done for the last two factions. By now, he no doubt knows about what has happened at the other two factions and will be expecting it.”

Storm sighs as he rubs a hand over the back of his neck, “More complications, fantastic. You clearly know at least some information about him. I don’t suppose that you have an in with him too?”

Grey pauses as his eyes tense, and it almost looks like he’s trying to tell us something, but he seems to give up and says instead, “No, unfortunately, Khaos keeps to himself, and I don’t really have much more information on him, just that we need to be incredibly careful.”

Killian nods, “Got it.”

The guys carry on talking, and I really try to pay attention, but I’m struggling; there’s something wrong, I feel weird, but I can’t quite put my finger on why. Of course, I may still be recovering from overextending my magic yesterday, but this feels different. I don’t feel tired; I feel dizzy, and my head feels like I’ve had a few too many glasses of fae wine. I jolt as pain suddenly pierces my side, and then confused I lift my hand up to my nose, frowning harder when it comes away covered in blood.

What the fuck is happening to me?

Another spear of pain travels down my arm, and using far more effort than I really should need to, I lift it to find a slice down it, I have no fucking idea how it got there. I’m sitting at the fucking table; for fuck sake, my mind becomes even more groggy; I feel unconsciousness rapidly approaching, and I really hope I don’t hit anything important when I go.

Killian

L oki is sitting next to me, so when his head suddenly whips around, I quickly follow his look just in time to see a bleeding Farren take a sideways dive off of her chair. The only thing saving her from smacking her face on the floor is the quick thinking of both Meri and Poca.

“What the fuck is going on?” Storm shouts, clearly panicking.

Loki and I rush around the table just as Rival and Mayhem gently lower Farren to the floor so that Poca and Meri can move back.

Reaper’s face creases with concern, “She’s bleeding.”

“A lot, I can smell it,” Loki replies.

“How?” Grey questions as he appears to search the room, looking for whatever could have attacked her.

“I’ve got no fucking idea,” Zev replies, clearly upset that he didn’t see this coming.

Storm is clearly freaking out and not currently able to take charge, and although I fucking hate this, because of the nature of my work and Farren’s, we are both used to seeing each other injured and because of this, I have a slightly more level head.

“Alright, Loki, see if you can heal what you can. Everyone else back up a bit and give him room to do his thing. Storm,” I snap to gain his attention, and when he looks at me I add, “you need to comfort Meri and Poca, they need to understand that we’re trying to help so that they don’t try to hurt us.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” He replies and starts to talk with them without taking his eyes off Farren.

Once I know that he’s not going to lose his shit, I turn back to Loki, only to find his hands glowing brightly over Farren but she's still bleeding. In fact, we all watch in horror as another slice opens up across her cheek, and she starts to look scarily pale.

Loki shakes his head, his hands trembling,, “I don’t know what’s wrong. My magic can’t fix it.”

“Fuck,” Mayhem curses, grabbing fistfuls of hair as he stares at her with a helplessness that we all feel.

I’m at a loss at what to do next, but I do know that we can’t just leave her bleeding on the kitchen floor. Fortunately, I’m not the only one who thinks this, and Grey speaks up.

“Let’s get her to her room and make sure she’s comfortable, and then we can figure out what to do next,” Grey suggests.