21. A Plea

When T had stumbled home, shouts of alarm following him, I hadn’t been overly concerned. Yes, he looked drained beyond anything I’d seen in him, but he had said something about healing. That was enough of an explanation for me. I’d seen healers and witches do a lot of magic and the aftereffects. I knew the score.

So, instead of freaking out, I got him comfortable in our bed and called my brother, hoping Blake knew what the hell was going on.

I’d been late getting home. Calming Dalton had been no small task. He had been so deeply embarrassed I wondered if he’d quit and hide from me. I knew he hadn’t been thinking about my relationship with T. He’d just been caught up in his dream of having a baby, and I was his friend, safe. Dalton knew I’d reject him gently if that’s how things went. If not, he would have someone he trusted for the next adventure.

Breaking his heart was the worst, but when I left him, we had new common ground and I’d repeated my promise to help him get what he wanted.

“One day, hopefully not too far away, we’ll be sitting outside on the grass together, our babies playing side by side.” I left him with that hopeful image and a small smile on his lips.

Then I’d gotten a call about a potential incursion along the perimeter of the factory. Perhaps the aviary shifters had thought the noise from the machinery would cover their attempts to get inside, or we hadn’t thought to cover that area from aerial attacks, but they were wrong and some of them had paid with their lives for their arrogance.

There had been no one left alive by the time I’d gotten there in my wolf form. My alter was still furious he’d been denied a fight.

Keyed up with nowhere for the energy to go, I’d focused on making dinner for T, worried he was so much later than either of us thought he would be. I’d ended up eating alone before T stumbled into our home, enforcers holding him up.

It was far too late to bother my brother by calling to ask about the situation, but I was too worried about T to think about my niblings.

“Yeah?” Blake said warily as he answered.

“Do you know why T is passed out after healing?” I asked as I tried to clean up the mess I’d made in the kitchen.

“Has no one told you what happened?”

Was that anger in his voice?

“Would I be calling you at midnight if they had?” My exasperation got the best of me. “Sorry.”

“Nah. Fair point.”

“So what the fuck happened? He could barely walk. I got a sentence out of him and nothing since.”

“You’re never going to believe what he and Hiroshi did—“

“This was the healing on Roan that did this?” I interrupted.

“Axel, they gave Roan back full use of his arm!” I could almost feel the wonder through the phone.

Heading back into the bedroom, I stared at the sleeping form of my lover. “That’s… a miracle.”

“More than that. They healed Roan so much the magic went and healed Hiroshi right up. Sent him into heat.”

I nearly dropped the phone. “What?”

“Yeah. Teárlach came rushing in to tell us, to make sure Tate, Asher and Xavier knew not to expect them home. Then he went to ívarr and Aldrin with it. This is huge!”

“Massive! I didn’t know healing like that could make a heat happen.”

“Makes sense when you think about it. An omega, male or female, is recovering after birth, getting everything going back to where it was and stuff.”

Snorting a laugh, I cut him off. “Yeah, I get it. The healing put Hiroshi to his pre-pregnancy state.”

“ívarr thinks it’s likely it went further than that. Hiroshi had been through some trauma, remember? All the potions he took.”

“Right, from the shit with Jared.”

“And he’d been run down from the stress of looking for his fated and all the work he’d done when they had betas sick over in the Northarbor Pride.”

“He really thinks the magic undid all that damage?”

“Well, he won’t know until—“

“He does a million tests. Right. So where does this leave T? It’s like he’s not even here, Blake. I’m worried.”

“Listen, he’s done a lot of magic. If there’s no sign of him waking by the afternoon, then we’ll get Aldrin to look at him. ívarr will likely be there in the morning wanting to continue his questioning.”

“Continue? What do you mean?”

“ívarr kept T at the clinic for hours after he found out. Aw, fuck, you were at the factory, weren’t you?”

“Yeah, we got nothing from that. The magic is holding. All the patrols are working, though we are likely down tonight with Tate at home.”

“Tate went in. Xavier’s got them in hand. Larken and Micah are there if he needs them.”

“Cool. Well, I’m going to get some rest and hope T is up and about in the morning.”

“Okay, keep me posted, alright?”

“I will.”

“Axel?”

“Yeah?”

“He’ll be fine. He’s got you to come back for.”

Knocking woke me. The sun was streaming through the open window. T never closed it or the curtains because he loved the breeze and light to fill the room and I always had him to curl up under the covers with, so I never got cold.

While the nights in Sweetwater could be chilly, we were heading for a scorching day. My t-shirt and boxers clung to my sweaty skin. T looked unchanged. He wasn’t even reacting to the temperature. His skin was cool to the touch. Honestly, it terrified me. He felt like he had one foot in the grave. Was I going to lose him?

Whoever it was knocked again, clearly impatient with me.

“Coming!” I yelled as I headed for the door. I opened it to ívarr and Teagan. Behind them and closing in fast, was the familiar form of my twin’s alter. He practically bowled the elves over in his haste to get into the house.

Chase shifted and stood, uncaring of his nudity, in the middle of the living room. “Dude, I just got told! Why didn’t you call me?” He came to my side and wrapped his arms around me.

“There was nothing to do last night but see if some sleep would do the trick,” I explained into his hair. Just having my twin beside me made me feel better.

“Okay, but I’m here now. Gonna get some clothes and make you some coffee.” He squeezed my shoulder and headed for the bedroom. I heard his exhaled, “fuck,” as he caught sight of T. “Don’t you break his heart, elf, or I’m coming to hell to find you.”

The words almost made me chuckle.

“May we see him?” ívarr asked.

“Sure,” I said, leading the way to my bedroom. “Maybe you can do something. I’m worried something is really wrong.”

Chase left my room, fully dressed in some of my clothes, to go to the kitchen. The look he gave me told me he knew all the worries I was hiding but didn’t express.

Those worries grew sharper, digging their shards into my heart as the elves shared a concerned glance over Teárlach’s sleeping form.

Shit.

“We’ll try pushing some of our magic into him,” Teagan said with false cheer, “and get Aldrin here to do some healing. His energy levels feel really low.”

“Is that why he feels like he isn’t here? Is he dying?”

Another looked between them. “No,” ívarr finally said, “though I cannot be sure when he will come out of his. His mind appears to be on another plane.”

“He’s not here? He can’t hear us?” I’d hoped, probably in vain, that I could call him home.

“Not at present. No.”

Teárlach had resisted all efforts of healing. Aldrin, the elves, even the witches, had all tried, yet nothing had happened.

“I cannot say what is keeping him in this state. His energy is still low, though not dire, like before.”

Frankly, I was sick of ívarr being in my home. I liked him well enough, but I still felt like he was blaming me for this. This was a slip back to how we used to be, before ívarr warmed up to me and my place in T’s life. We needed to clear the air, especially if T meant what he said about making me his consort, eventually. I just didn’t have the energy to deal with it.

All I wanted to do was curl up in my bed with my elf.

“I wish we had a Seer here,” Teagan remarked. “Janet is a sweet old bear. I just don’t know how accurate her visions are.”

“Never been wrong once.” Chase had a fierce look in his eyes.

“You misunderstand,” she said with an apologetic look. “She is not accustomed to us. Our goddess has different plans for her people than The Luna has for her shifters.

“Janet said Teárlach is where he needs to be,” Chase said with a stubborn set to his jaw.

Leave it,I chided my brother. The elves mean well. Maybe they’re right and we need an elf Seer.

“Who gets visions in Abrocaelum?” I asked aloud.

Teagan and ívarr did that silent speaking thing they did. It was Teagan who answered. “The queen, mainly. She is our living connection to the goddess. Teárlach was given a vision prior to us coming to Sweetwater, though he had never had one before. Some believed it to be a sign his time to rule is approaching.”

“So we need to ask the queen?” Please no, I pleaded with the universe.

“Yes,” ívarr answered. “It would be best for you to ask.”

Clearly I had used up all my luck.

“I can’t leave T. I won’t,” I said stubbornly.

“Obviously.” Chase grinned. “Why don’t I go? An elf can escort me. Once I get an audience with the queen, we can do a video call.” My brother always had my back. With his plan, he eased some of my fears.

“Oh!” Teagan stood, looking hopeful. “I’ll go. We can leave right away.”

“You’d do that?” I asked, taken aback.

“Teárlach is my cousin and a dear friend. I want to see him well.”

My brother and Teagan became animated as they made their plans to visit Abrocaelum. I heard talk of heading to his rooms to get his phone first since he’d left all his things at home. I tuned them out to concentrate on T. Still no change.

“The queen will not make things easy,” ívarr warned as he continued to watch T for changes.

“I know she won’t approve of us, but I need to do something. It feels like he’s slipping away from me.”

“Just be prepared to fight for him as he would for you.”

Chase and Teagan made great time getting to the castle. My brother shifted and ran alongside Teagan’s horse for the journey to the queen. It was an easier pace for him to keep up with than if she had run the entire way there.

“We’re just waiting for parliament to end before we can speak to her.” Chase’s concerned face filled the screen. “Ax, I’m not sure how helpful they’re going to be.”

“He’s their prince. They want him alive.”

My twin looked uncomfortable. “Not if it means helping you. Just be wary, okay?”

The call ended, and another hour passed before Chase video called again.

A face so similar to Teárlach’s was in the place where Chase should be. “Hello Axel, beloved of my son. I am Alyalsha, Queen to the elves of Abrocaelum.”

“Hello Your Majesty. Thank you for speaking with me.”

“We are on our way to Sweetwater to help my son with one condition.” It was only then I noticed she was in a carriage.

“Why? T is fine.”

“Look again, shifter. Can you see the change in him?”

I’d barely taken my eyes off him, but I looked again and my stomach dropped as I understood what she meant.

“Something has gone wrong,” his mother continued. “His energy should have recovered without more intervention. I have been told to come and share my energy with him. It is the only way. Unfortunately, my assistance comes with a condition.”

“A condition?”

“Believe me when I say I am unhappy with the constraints of this bargain. Aid should be offered freely, however, as I am the only elf who can speak to the goddess, and my heir is the reason for this visit, I am sure you can appreciate my parliament’s caution.”

“I guess. It depends on the condition.”

“They—“

“Just them, or you too? I apologize for interrupting. I just need to know.”

“In this matter, we agree.”

“Okay.” I sighed, feeling trapped. T was slipping further from me. “What do you want?”

“We would like you to end your relationship with my son.”

“But—“

“Understand this. No matter what he has told you, the court will not accept a shifter as consort.”

I’d always known this, ever since T confessed his identity, I knew we wouldn’t have a happy ending. I just hoped for more time.

“Your time together is limited. Once my son has the answers we seek, he has agreed to come home.”

It hit like a punch in the gut.

“However, I am not completely unfeeling. I know he loves you, so I sought a bargain with parliament. They have agreed to a year.”

“A year?” I’d take any time with him that I could.

“Yes. Once Teárlach has had his year with you, he is to return to Abrocaelum and will produce an heir.”

I looked at my love. His color was worsening. Nothing we seemed to do made any difference. ívarr was working on him with the numerous potions we had been given. There really was no choice.

“Are you sure you can help him?” I wanted to ensure none of this was in vain. I’d only agree if it would work.

“Yes. I am the only one who can.”

“Then I agree to your terms. One year for your help getting him back.”

“I will be there shortly. The portal is up ahead.”

ívarr looked at me with almost dismay. “You did not need to agree to those terms. You know Teárlach will be angry when he finds out.”

“He has to wake up to be angry with me. I’ll deal with it then. I’d rather live without him knowing he’s happy somewhere than let him die.”

“We do not know it is so dire.”

“Look at him!” I pointed to the sleeping form on the bed. “He’s fading. Nothing we’ve done has helped. I feel him pulling away from me.” I grasped the front of my shirt. “Argh! I… I just feel so helpless.”

The elf stared at me. “What is done, is done. I suggest you put on some clothes. The queen does not need to see your undergarments.”

I scoffed at him, but did dress. Just in time, as Chase came racing inside. “Fuck! She’s scary! We’ll find a way around this deal, okay? I’m not letting her take T from you.”

Teárlach’s mother swept into the room behind Teagan and ahead of two guards. “Take me to my son,” she ordered, wasting no time.

She perched on the edge of the bed and placed a pale fingered hand on his graying forehead. Her eyes, the same startling shade of turquoise as Teárlach’s, closed. She let out a hum and just sort of sagged.

A guard, clearly prepared, held her steady, sitting behind her on the bed. She was so pliant in his arms; it spoke of a connection there. The guard wore richer clothing than the other. Maybe he was important to her.

We waited. I barely breathed as I watched them. Chase’s eyes flickered over the bed and over to me.

What’s going on?

Shh! She’s trying to speak to their goddess.

Slowly, the color drained from the queen as it seemed to seep into Teárlach. She didn’t quite meet the shade he had been, though it was close.

Queen Alyalsha, leaned more heavily on her guard as her eyes opened. “He will be well. Unfortunately, I must return to Abrocaelum to recuperate from the exchange of energy. My goddess demands it.”

“I… thank you.”

“It comes at an unfortunate price. Enjoy your time together, as short as it is. Please, tell him I fought for longer.”

At that moment, I saw her true self. She was just a mother trying to do a difficult job in extraordinary circumstances.

“I will.”

“Do you want me to stay?” Chase asked as the elves all left. ívarr and Teagan escorted their queen back to the portal with her guard.

“Could I just be alone for a bit? Just half an hour or something. I just need to process.”

I’d need him when this was over. It could be sooner than a year when T found out what I’d agreed to in order to save his life.

I just hoped he would forgive me.