Chapter 23

Chapter

Twenty-Three

~ Princess Blake ~

M ason holds his scarred hand out to me. “Ready, my mate?”

The portal burns with green fire that flickers and crackles, and Queen Nerelia stands with a handful of guards, watching as my mates and I wait before the gateway. I place my hand in Mason’s. “Are you?”

The Perstalian prince peers at his sister, then his gaze travels around the room like he’s thinking about the land beyond these walls. But there’s no hesitation in his eyes. Only warmth and acceptance. He nods. “Show me your world, Blake.”

I smile, and my gaze flicks over to my four other mates.

Nate’s lips twist into a grin. “Let’s go see dear old Dad, shall we?”

“Please, please promise me you’ll call him that when you meet him,” Dante drawls with a wry smile.

I shake my head at both of them. “Let’s just get to the ruins of Perstalia in case he’s searching for us there,” I say. “Then we can go on to Seral. We’ll move on before Mason is affected by the air on the surface.”

Alaric marches forward. “I’m going first. In case there are more surprises,” he growls, and without waiting, he strides straight into the portal.

“He has a point,” Prince Callan says with a shrug, and the archangel follows after him.

“Ready?” I send to Shade.

She adjusts her perch on my shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.”

Taking a deep breath, I tug on Mason’s hand, pulling him with us into the portal, and Nate and Dante follow.

Magic crackles and swirls around us, twisting and winding, and then my feet are on solid ground again. It takes me a moment to reorient myself, but I let go of Mason’s hand and straighten as the scent of ash fills my nose.

“Whoa, what the fuck?” Shade squawks in my head.

I draw my blade in an instant, and Prince Callan and Alaric stand a few paces ahead, weapons already in their hands as they take up defensive stances.

“I didn’t expect it to look like this,” Mason murmurs, his expression grim as he studies the charred landscape.

Nate and Dante exit the portal behind us, and they’re quick to grab their own weapons. “Where did you take us, Mason?” Nate growls, his slitted gaze searching for threats though it remains silent around us.

Dropping into a squat, Mason digs his fingers into the ash beneath our boots, then he lifts his hand, rubbing the powder between his fingers. “To the surface,” he confirms. “Specifically, the center of the city as requested.”

Dante curses, and I gape at the smouldering rubble around me. Where there had been rows of ancient Perstalian houses made of crumbling stone and cobbled streets, now there’s simply…nothing. Nothing but blackened earth and piles of rubble on the ground. I walk forward, my brow creased as I stare at the wreckage.

“This can’t be good,” Nate mutters, then he cocks his head abruptly as if he’s listening to something in the distance. I’m about to ask him what he’s detected, when Prince Callan shoots into the air, his powerful wings sending a gust of wind over us and stirring the ash on the ground. The archangel returns a short while later, his boots slamming onto the ground as he lands with a demon soldier in his grasp.

Prince Callan releases the soldier, and Nate growls as my mates start to form up around me. I wiggle through their hastily made perimeter. “Relax, it’s Sebastian,” I say quickly in the hopes they’ll stop acting like a pack of territorial wolf shifters. “He’s one of Dad’s trusted soldiers.”

Relief floods Sebastian’s filthy face when he spots me. His hair is a mess, and his armor is covered in ash and blood, and I wonder just how long he’s been out here.

“Your highness,” the soldier barks, making a fist and placing his arm on his chest as he bows his head and drops a knee to the ground.

“Admit it, you missed this, didn’t you?” Shade teases when a satisfied smirk forms on my face.

“Missed what? Being respected and not cuffed and imprisoned in an underground land? Yeah, I guess you could say that,” I reply.

Her laughter fills my head.

“To your feet, Sebastian,” I tell the soldier. “Explain what happened here.”

My mates are all standing on either side of me now, and as the soldier stands, they size up the demon like they’re just waiting for him to make one wrong move so they can kill him. Well, they all do except Dante, who appears merely intrigued by the soldier’s presence.

Sebastian trains his gaze on me, and he knows better than to make me ask again.

“I’m here for you, princess,” he says, dipping his head again.

Dante and I share a look before I turn back to Sebastian. “Me?”

The soldier nods. “His highness, King Dalton, came looking for you days ago. He was quite upset when you failed to return home following the bonding challenge.”

“Right,” I say slowly. Dad was most likely disappointed that I hadn’t followed his plans and returned home as he intended. That I hadn’t completed the competition to his satisfaction.

“He made us search the ruins in the hopes we would locate you,” Sebastian goes on.

“Okay,” I say. “But that doesn’t explain, well,” I stretch my arms wide indicating to the charred rubble around us, “this.”

The soldier’s face hardens. “It was during our search that we discovered a small coven of witches who had been hiding in the ruins. It didn’t look like they’d been here long, but from what we could gather, they’d been abducting alphas in Perstalia with the help of a few individuals from the other realms. His highness gave orders for us to engage them.”

My brows rise in surprise. “And this all happened because of a few witches?”

“There were more in hiding than we had originally calculated, and they were quick to retaliate. We lost a few good soldiers, and a handful of the witches escaped,” Sebastian explains solemnly.

My jaw tightens. “And King Dalton?”

“He wasn’t harmed, but he feared you may have been taken by the witches. We managed to capture two witches, and we kept them alive for interrogation. They lasted some time, but when they still refused to confess to your capture, they were executed, and the king ordered me and a handful of others to remain here in case you returned. We later received word from a few alphas that they last saw you with multiple males, assumed to be your mates. His highness believed you may have been missing because you wanted, uh,” he clears his throat, “private time with your mates.”

Nate smirks, and Dante gives me a sensual smile. Just having them look at me like that makes my body heat, but I force my gaze away. Now is not the time.

“Okay,” I say to Sebastian. “Well, I guess you’d better gather the others, and let’s get home. May as well tell Dad the truth of what happened to us.”

An uneasy expression crosses Sebastian’s face, and his gaze darts to Prince Callan, and then back to me. My gut twists as I get the unmistakable feeling that something is wrong. “What is it?” I demand.

The soldier takes a steadying breath. “King Dalton isn’t in Seral.”

“What?” I step closer to the guard, and my hand shoots out. I grip the soldier by the front of his breastplate. “Where did he go?”

“The witches we interrogated,” Sebastian explains. “They didn’t divulge anything about your whereabouts, but they did confess to a plan involving Toralyn.”

“The angels?” My heart sinks.

Prince Callan is close to the soldier in less than a second, a severe expression on his face. “What of Toralyn?” he commands.

“S-something about a planned attack. King Dalton went personally with a regiment of soldiers to warn them. But that was days ago, and he hasn’t returned to Perstalia since.”

My head reels, and I release Sebastian, stepping back.

“We know there are witches already infiltrating Seral,” I say to my mates. “What if this was simply a ploy to lure the king away from the demon realm?”

“From what this soldier has told us, I doubt the witches planned their capture and interrogation,” Mason replies. “But there’s no way to know for sure.”

Prince Callan turns toward me, and his face is the picture of wrath. “I must return to Toralyn immediately.” It’s not a question; it’s a statement.

His gaze bores into me, and I’m sure he already knows what I’m going to say before the words pass my lips. “We’re going with you.”

TO BE CONTINUED IN: TORTURED ROYALS

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