Candra went around to each of them in turn. The earth shook underneath the Earthborn, it cracked underneath the Stoneborn, and the breeze picked up into a wind that swept through the entire circle of them as she touched Kit, who only grinned at the feeling of such strength and the way the wind whipped through them all.
Mitch and Beatrice touched her almost without outward reaction, but all the flowers around their thrones burst into full bloom before everyone’s eyes, as Mitch settled back into them with a deeply contented sigh. Reston and Marina were some of the purest among them, and so they took in the power she offered them almost quietly, though the swell of strength through them still made them both shiver, and they nodded their gratitude. Last of all was Nick, who took her power much more calmly than he had the first time he’d touched Candra outside her cell. Even so, it made the entire iron floor of the Court shiver beneath their feet, the metal singing with the overwhelming strength the setting sun poured down on her.
Nick held her hand for a moment longer than necessary, with a smile, letting some of the power flow back through him, though his throne, into Zara’s fingertips. “We thank you for your gift, Candra. It will be put to good use.”
The tiny taste of power that went into Zara rippled through them all as Candra grabbed onto Orlando again and took her place sitting next to him. Zara’s influence calmed everyone further and no one spoke out in argument after that, all of them under some peace found in the comforting feeling of being filled and satisfied. They felt the bond that held them together, and Zara was able to pull their focus back to Nick, who, of course, had started it all. He was the one who had to adjourn the meeting, and it seemed that since no one else had anything to say, that was all that was left to do.
“Tomorrow, we will start consolidating our forces to leave, as quietly and as quickly as possible. When this begins, we have to keep the dominoes falling or they’ll start falling back on us.” Nick said as he stood. “Until tomorrow, my lords.” This time, when he said it, there was no laughing, because they all felt like kings and queens with power.
They all left quietly for the first time and most of them, despite the situations between them, held tightly to their mates just to keep the power alive. Candra and Orlando were the last of the group to leave before Nick and Zara. Candra looked back once at Zara before she looked up at Nick as though she was going to say something, but then she just kept walking with Orlando. Zara stepped out to look up at Nick with a grin as soon as everyone was gone. “That was incredible.”
“It was a good beginning.” He said quietly, moving slowly as though his feet were reluctant to leave the Court. Better than I had hoped for, actually.
She took his hand and squeezed it firmly. With the two of them, you know we can’t lose.
Oh no, we can still lose. He wouldn’t go so far as to get that overconfident. It would be too easy with that kind of power behind him.
Zara shivered as she held onto his hand. The power…it feels amazing running through you.
I wasn’t sure if your former masters had ever given you a taste of Lightborn strength before.
Obviously they liked to keep it to themselves. She had, in fact, tasted it plenty of times through Coren, but by the time she got a taste, it was Oceanborn strength. She turned quickly and captured Nick’s lips in a passionate kiss. It’s probably a good idea to keep me away from that kind of power. Otherwise I won’t let you leave the bed.
He grinned at her thoughts. I think you keeping me in bed would just make that kind of power even worse.
It’s a delicious cycle. She ran her fingers across his chest. Can we sneak out back?
He started off with her, not sneaking at all, but openly walking with her back toward his house. I have missed you these last few days. And nights.
Zara kissed his jawline and held tightly to him. I’ve missed you too. I don’t like being away from you.
How was your morning? They hadn’t really gotten a chance to speak before the council meeting.
Busy. I was helping with the new arrivals again. That was where she spent most of her time, since the best thing for new people was to feel welcomed and to feel like they would have a place to belong. She was good at making people feel welcome. How did your meeting with Veronica go?
She could feel his mixed reactions on that score. Fairly well. They have a new pack member whose cousin is an Alpha of an American pack that’s been in Europe for a while. They’ll be coming to join us sometime soon. More than two hundred Fireborn. Fireborn and Oceanborn were among the rarer breeds of their kind, because of their power and the purity required to produce one. The only wolves more rare were Zara’s kind, and of course the Lightborn and Shadowborn, who were so rare they were generally believed not to exist. Two hundred Fireborn in one place under one Alpha was almost unheard of.
“Wow.” Zara said out loud. “Veronica must really like you to encourage such a pack to come here.”
“Yes, well, that was the other part of the meeting.” He said with a sigh, since there was no point lying to Zara, and he’d done nothing to betray her.
Zara raised an eyebrow, since she didn’t really know what he meant. “Was it?”
“You’ve seen how Balthazar is. She’s not the best-tended mate on the council. And a lot of these visitors to our home are curious about Ironborn, since they’ve never
