“You are not going through that portal. Everyone is still deciding how to proceed now that Jol is brainwashed and your parents are captured,” Mason said sternly.
“Maybe I can talk to them, convince them?—”
“No!” all three snapped simultaneously.
The portal closed and I felt a deep sense of despair fill me. Once again, I was unable to help those I loved. What good were the powers I did have if I could never use them to save others, if they weren’t useful in saving others?
Kayden’s arms wrapped around me, squishing me against his chest. “Lily, we are going to rescue your parents and we are going to save our world.”
“We’re going to save Jol and the demons as well,” Mason added.
“I don’t see how that’s possible,” I whispered, and rubbed my face against Kayden’s shirt. “I hope it does come true, though.”
“Come on, let’s go to your house so we can help you pack,” Kayden said and steered me back towards the vehicle.
Chapter
Eighteen
The house was empty, which concerned me, but Kayden and Mason hurried me to my room to start packing.
“I am not prepared for this at all,” I grumbled as I looked around my room.
Trey set a roll of bubble wrap and a stack of newspapers down on the bed. “Mason, come help me carry the boxes up.”
Kayden grabbed one of the photos on my desk and wrapped it in a sheet of newspaper and then bubble wrap.
“Was this the plan for today?” I asked. “Pack up my stuff?”
“Yep,” he replied and grabbed another picture frame. “The sooner we can fully claim you as ours, the better.”
I rolled my eyes even though he wasn’t looking at me and opened a drawer to start pulling out my clothes.
Trey and Mason brought several boxes and set them around the room.
Mason helped me fold and box my clothes while Trey and Kayden wrapped my breakable items in bubble wrap before putting those into boxes.
Since I hadn’t been home that long since returning from college, I didn’t have that many things, but somehow still managed to fill eight boxes.
While they packed the SUV, I went to the barn and stared at my pond and rock. I knew I could use them anytime I visited, but it was such a sudden, huge change. Yes, I had known I would move in with my mates, whoever they were, when I did get mated. I just hadn’t realized it would happen so soon. And while my parents weren’t home. Or safe.
I needed to figure out how I could end the curse that was placed on the Grand Advisor without knowing what the curse was. It was obviously something bad, since he was willing to sacrifice a child to make a deal to end it. Or was that just a ruse? Just another lie added on top of the many others?
Kayden slid his arms around my waist and rested his chin atop my head. “Talk to me.”
As we walked back to the house and into the living room, I said, “There is just too much that I don’t know. What if everything the Grand Advisor said, even what I now remember, was a lie? What if Jol always views me as an enemy? What if the demons defeat us and take over this world? What if my parents are already dead?”
“We all would have felt it if our king or queen died,” he replied calmly and stroked his hands soothingly up and down my arms. “Your dads would know if they died. The mate bond between them is strong, even worlds apart.”
“I keep getting the feeling that there is something I’m missing. Some major thing that I should remember or know that could save us all. Could end this war.” It was like having a word on the tip of your tongue, but not being able to say it.
“Don’t push yourself. Leona used her magic to help you, so if it had been there, it would have shown then. For now, let’s goback to our house and get you moved in. The sooner you are fully ours, the better.”
“Kayden, we’re mated, I can’t be more yours than I am now,” I said with a chuckle.
“I want you moved in, your scent permeating that place, so that if anyone enters the house, they know you are ours. I want to know I will wake up each morning with you there. With you living with me.” He cupped my cheeks and whispered, “We have been apart, separated, far too much in our short lifetime. I don’t want a single day more to occur.”
The front door opened and Tony walked in. When he saw us, he smiled and ran forward to wrap his arms around us both. “I’m so happy for you, Sis!”