Page 23 of Royal Fate

He sneered. “The castle is under attack again,” he spat. “The Order of Souls is back—not that it should surprise you.”

He looked like he wanted to add more—so much more—but held back, remembering his place in the hierarchy.

He was gone again, and Isa slammed the door, ushering me back as the air depleted from my lungs.

Of course Agnan had come for the castle again. I’d led him right here. What else was I expecting?

Zen had to truly hate me now.

Chapter8

Zen

This time, they came in covertly, a spell of stealth and shock. Unlike the time they had come in during the ball, all flash and awe, this attack was more methodical, more controlled.

It was the screams that alerted me in my home office before Endora materialized before me in her usual cloud of smoke.

“The Order is back. There are droves of them,” she informed me flatly. “I’m going to put a shroud of protection on the royal floor. I suggest you stay up there with your sister.”

I jumped up from my desk, prepared to battle, when I remembered I couldn’t shift.

“That prick!” I hissed, stalking toward the door. “Go enlist the shroud quickly. Mirielle is up there, too.”

Endora gaped at me, her black eyes glittering, but I didn’t wait for her lecture as I threw open the office doors and moved into the thick of the attack.

The corridor reeked of black magic, the instant assault to my senses overwhelming at first, but I didn’t allow it to run me down. I didn’t have my shifting prowess, but I still knew how to fight.

To my left, a blur came at me, and I blocked the body, my arm raising as I grabbed for the nearest weapon I could find.

“ALPHA!”

One guard threw something my way, and without looking, I caught it with my right, jutting the sword forward as the fae landed on me. With a horrific shriek, the form crumpled away, the rest of my guards rushing forward on the offense.

Agnan was mad. He hadn’t thought this through and was attacking out of sheer rage, not proper planning. Although they had come in slyly, he had come in swinging.

I didn’t stop to consider his motives as I moved, my eyes trained through the haze of distracting black smoke to look for him specifically, but I didn’t see him, only his army of female faeries, all under-prepared and throwing whatever magic they could muster our way.

He was looking for Mirielle,I realized, the understanding almost freezing me in place, but there was no time to consider Agnan’s whereabouts, not when the Order of Souls continued to flock the castle.

How did they get in? Did Mirielle somehow let them through?

I couldn’t see how that was possible when I had arranged for a female guard to stay with her constantly. I received hourly reports that she was still in my mother’s old suite. No one had lost sight of her for a minute.

“Alpha, you must get to the royal floor,” Calliver told me, pulling me into one of the empty rooms as the Order continued to storm the main floor. “Let us do our jobs.”

“I am just as capable as the rest of you,” I growled, infuriated by the implication. “I still have my magic.”

“No one is questioning your abilities, Alpha,” the head of the Royal Guards insisted. “But if something were to happen to you, your sister would be in charge.”

His words made my blood run cold and snapped some sense into me. But I didn’t like the idea of not being on the front lines. Still, Cyndella taking hold of the kingdom was motivation enough for me to stand back for the moment.

And I wanted to keep an eye on Mirielle—not that I would ever mention that aloud.

“There isn’t much more to take care of. There are less than half a dozen souls left here now,” Calliver insisted. “We’ve already handled most of the threat. Please, Alpha. Let me get you to safety.”

“I’m trusting you, Calliver,” I told him flatly. “You’ll send for me if you need me.”

“Of course, and I won’t let you down, Alpha.”

---