“Birdie,” she murmurs. Snapping my lips closed, I give her a grin. “I’d like you to meet your nephew, Elias.”
Sybilla turns the baby around completely and my heart melts. At the same time, pain slices through me again, and I’m completely breathless. Aleida rushes up behind me and wraps her arms around me, keeping me from sinking to the floor.
“Oh no,” Sybilla whispers. “Where is your match?”
Lifting my eyes to hers, I wince. “I ran away.”
“Oh, dear.”
COLT
The members of the Assembly are bound in my office. The invaders all dead or abandoning their posts, they started running away when the signs of defeat were too strong to ignore. Smirking, I turn toward Jeremiah who is covered in blood and looking as weary as I feel.
“You look about as good as I feel,” I grunt, jerking my chin toward Jeremiah.
He chuckles, shaking his head, then returns his gaze back to the battlegrounds where we’re watching the dead being burned. The smell assaults the senses, but it is one of the many costs of war and duty.
“The Assembly knew,” I murmur.
“They did?”
I nod my head. “Birdie heard them plotting and scheming by accident.”
“Are you sure she isn’t part of it?” he asks.
I would think the same thing, in fact, I have thought such things, but deep in my heart, I know that she isn’t. She is different, she isn’t like the women here and I know that it’s because she is not from here. She has abilities and powers, but nothing has been malicious. Not really, not even when she could have been.
“I am.” I nod.
He doesn’t say anything for a long moment. “Me too, sir. She is good, to the core. I have known many people and seen a lot, but she is good and she was a wise choice for a wife, prophecy or not.”
“I’m beginning to think the same thing, Jeremiah.”
He chuckles, but neither of us looks at one another. “Let’s deal with these traitors, then have Arion bring her home to us, to a safe place.”
Without another word, I turn around and Jeremiah follows me. Making my way inside, I turn toward my office where the three Assembly members are bound and gagged.
Markus, Thatcher, and Samuel are staring directly at them, their arms crossed over their chests, their gazes menacing. They don’t even flinch when I walk into the room.
The Assembly members visibly shake in their seats though and my lips turn up into a grin at the sight of their fear, I can practically smell it.
Chapter Thirty-Three
BIRDIE
I hold the squirming baby in my arms. He wants down. He is going to be a wild one, I can see it in his eyes. He’s already confident, challenging, and ready to explore the world. He’s probably going to be a knight like the rest of the hot guys I see around here, like the men who met Arion and me at the entrance.
“He wants to roam,” I mutter as I tickle him.
She sighs. “He has discovered crawling and he even pulled himself up to standing the other day. I don’t know what is normal for his age, considering I can’t Google anything, I’m kind of just going with the flow here,” she admits.
“Is all this really real?” I ask on a whisper.
The witches are standing in the corner of the room, their eyes focused on me as they huddle together and whisper amongst themselves. I ignore them and turn to Sybilla.
“Do you have magic?” I ask her.
Sybilla’s eyes widen and she presses her lips together before she nods. “I do too. I can tap into people’s heads, transport myself, and mess with the weather, but I can’t control it.”
“I can’t do all that, oh my gosh, that’s awesome. Liv can control the weather and the water. One of many reasons they call her the Sea Queen.”
“She’s okay? You’ve seen her?”
Sybilla nods. “She is, happily married and pregnant. Have you seen Dru?” she asks.
Inhaling a deep breath, I tell her about Dru calling me, and then about being able to hear Dru talk about trying to find us and still being back in Florida.
“You couldn’t reach out to her? Tell her we’re okay?”
I shake my head. “I don’t have control over it. Not like that. Florence, the witch in my area tried to teach me how to control it, she even tried to absorb my magic so that she could try to help, but I grow stronger every day and I don’t know what to do about it.”
Sybilla reaches across the small distance that separates us. Her hand wraps around my wrist and she squeezes gently.
“Absorbing your magic is not okay, it is not something you share. It’s yours and yours alone. Don’t try to fight it, Birdie. Embrace it, then maybe you can try to control it. I think that Aleida and Godiva may be able to help, but your pain will only worsen the longer you stay here without your man. It could seriously hurt you.”
Licking my lips, I let out a sigh and lean back in my seat. Sybilla takes little Elias from my arms and bounces him for a moment, then stands and walks him over to Aleida. She talks in a hushed tone for a moment, then I can feel Aleida’s gaze on me.
Without a moment’s hesitation, she rushes toward me. “You transported yourself?” she demands.
“Only once. I don’t know how. I transported Colt and me to a lions’ den, his lions.”
“Lions?” Sybilla gasps.
Nodding, I press my lips together before I speak. “He can telepathically communicate with lions.”
“Elias can with horses and Arion of course, but Aaric can with the dragons.”
“Dragons?” I breathe.
Sybilla nods her head. “Freaking dragons. It’s seriously so cool. I saw the dragon once, he’s beautiful. I wonder what kind of animal the other guy can talk to?”
“Who the hell knows, this thing is so crazy, all of it.”
Sybilla nods. “It is, but you know what?” I
