Page 123 of Pain

“So … we don’t have a chopper to get us out of here. What do we do?” I asked. “It’s a bit of a walk to get to the road. I don’t want to make Ryden hike a step.”

“I’ll be fine,” the old bear said with a grumble, trying to stand, but failing. Zandren came up and offered his dad his shoulder for support.

“Wait, where’s Drak?” I asked, realizing the fourth member of our band wasn’t there. I ran out to the mouth of the cave to find my mate standing at the tree line, his back to me.

Knowing that everyone in the cave would be fine and make their own way out, I picked up my pace and met Drak. “We’ll get them,” I said, linking my fingers through his and feeling the tension strung through him like a cable holding up a too heavy bridge. I gently nudged my way into his mind, only to be met with similar feelings. Betrayal, fury, sadness, and even hopelessness. Maybehe wasn’t such a robot after all.

Turning to face me, his eyes welling up with fat tears that shattered my soul, he swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

I reached for his other hand so we were facing each other. “Sorry for what?”

“For all of it,” he said, a tear slipping down his cheek. “If I told you about the Mate’s Ache sooner, about the ambush, about all of it, maybe this wouldn’t have happened. I never should have trusted Howar, or Raver. They’ve betrayed us all and now that they know we’re onto them, they have no reason to hide behind a false smile and pretend to be on your side.”

“Ourside,” I corrected, overwhelmed with joy that he was expressing his emotions, even if they were sadness and remorse. “We’re in this together.”

“What do we do now?” he asked, shocking the hell out of me that he was without a plan. He always seemed to know what to do next.

“We find Gemma and Melissima, make sure they’re safe. Then, we go vampire and demon hunting, and we don’t stop until their heads are mounted on our castle walls.”

Maxar and Zandren had Ryden, and after a few very lethal blasts of fire into the cave from the mage-in-waiting fire-mage, they shut the door and ambled down to the tree line to join us.

Groy and Leno revealed themselves from deep in the woods, the terror on their faces seeing their former king missing a leg evident. They joined in and helped Zandren and Maxar carry a grumbling and stubborn Ryden.

“I can do it myself,” Ryden said, growing increasingly grumpy the further into the woods we walked.

“Put him down,” I instructed, making my way to the grumpy bear who perched on a fallen log. I rested my hand on his thigh. “Papa Bear …”

He perked up at his new name and lifted his gaze to mine.

“We’re just trying to help. We’re not that much further, I promise.”

His bushy brows pinched for a moment, then relaxed, and he rolled his eyes. “Fine. But just know … the lot of you, this is the one and only time I’ll ever allow any of you to carry me. Got it? I’d rather drag myself across the forest floor than be carried.”

We all exchanged smirks over his head, but he didn’t gripe again until we reached the SUV Zandren parked in hiding.

They loaded Ryden up into the hatch of the Honda, then we all piled in. It was a tight squeeze—too tight—so Zandren, Groy, and Leno said they’d meet us at the truck.

“How are you doing back there, Papa Bear?” I asked, choosing to sit in the back seat so I could check on Ryden.

“Like a bear that just lost his leg to a giant rock,” Ryden grumbled.

Maxar snorted from where he sat in the driver’s seat.

We reached the truck in no time, and Zandren, Groy, and Leno weren’t too far behind, choosing to stay in human form and just run to catch up to us.

I met Anysa in front of the grill. She’d already ordered two new helicopters, one for us to take Ryden in, and one for herself and her mages. They were a couple of hours out though. We all agreed that we needed to get Ryden into hiding as soon as possible.

The Mage Queen was a hell of a lot taller than me, in addition to being elegant, beautiful, and incredibly powerful. To be honest, she intimidated the crap out of me, even if I did put a sword to her throat and demand her fealty.

I definitely wasn’t expecting her to drop into a low curtsy. “Your Majesty,” she said, rising up again. “I apologize for any concern I may have caused you with regards to my allegiance. It is with the throne. With you. King Donovar was not only a good friend, but a good, kind king as well. I mourn his passing greatly and with a heavy heart. However, I look forward to ruling this realm at your side. You have my complete support, and all my resources are at your disposal.”

I smiled up at the gorgeous earth-mage and exhaled. “You don’t know how good it feels to have someone else on my side. I really didn’t want to have to behead you.”

Her smile was bright-white and just made her even more breathtaking.

I curtsied back to her, and we both released big sighs as we shrugged off some of the formality. I stood up straight again. “That definitely didn’t go as I had hoped or planned,” I said glumly. “We didn’t anticipate the explosions.”

“Your Majesty,” piped up one of the other mages. She was a pretty little redhead with a big splashof freckles across her face. She reminded me of Gemma, except Gemma didn’t have a soft Irish lilt.

---