Grayson’s head whipped in his direction in shock. “What did you say?” he said.
“It’s only my assumption,” Lucas mumbled lamely.
I stood from my throne and stepped down from the platform, lifting my shirt and exposing my stitched-up abdomen. “Is this what you mean by Charles not meaning to hurt me?”
“Your Majesty!” Grayson breathed, aghast at my disfigured form. “Why haven’t you shifted?”
Everyone looked at me wide eyed, though Lucas looked furious.
“I like scars,” I smirked as I lowered my shirt and adjusted it.
“Charles did that to you?” Stefan asked.
I nodded. “Among other things. So I don’t buy this whole idea that he didn’t mean to hurt me. And using me to find the demon isn’t the answer. I’m not bait.”
I mean, technically I was, but not for them to use. At least not without my consent.
“He couldn’t have gotten far,” Grayson said, his voice laced with steely determination. “We’ll find him.”
“I hope so …”
After my impromptu Summit meeting, I dismissed them and prepared to meet Raven and Fenrir for our trip to the Underworld. The guys would meet us at Loch Lomond by horseback, but since I couldn’t ride, Raven offered to fly me there.
Dressed in a pair of black cargo pants and a black form fitted t-shirt, I felt like I was going on a spy mission. Bash dressed similarly to me, so we were comfortable and ready to fight at a moment’s notice.
We waited at the rear of the castle by the edge of Caledonian Forest. It wasn’t long before I saw the rest of our party emerge from the forest.
“You look ready for battle.” Raven grinned. “Ready to take flight, baby mama?”
I chuckled. “Yeah.”
“Be careful,” Bash growled at her.
Fenrir waved him off. “Easy there, big man, she’ll be fine. Won’t you, little wolf?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be fine.”
Raven came over to me and scooped me up in her arms. Within seconds, her golden-brown wings burst from her back, startling me. “Ready?” she smirked. When I nodded, she flapped her wings a couple times, pushed off the ground with a powerful lunge, and we took flight. Within a minute we were wheeling across the sky. I glanced down and saw Bash and Fenrir far below.
“Don’t look down,” Raven said. “You might get dizzy.”
I quickly looked away. “So, Loch Lomond is the only entrance we can use to get to the Underworld?”
She nodded. “From the entrance to the fae realm, I can use their Yggdrasil tree to travel to other realms, including the Underworld.”
I raised a brow. “Yggdrasil tree?”
She laughed. “It’s like a bridge to all the different realms. The Norns protect the tree, but they’re currently being reborn right now so it’s unprotected.”
“They’re being reborn? Why?”
Raven snorted. “Man, you ask a lot of questions. Read the book.”
“You guys are so damn mysterious,” I grumbled.
She grinned. “We can’t all be famous like Mackenzie Grey.”
“I’m not that famous …”
“You have your own file,” she deadpanned. “You want to rephrase that?”
I sighed. “Yeah, okay, fine. But it wasn’t intentional!”
“Hey, I’m not knocking it!” she laughed. “It’s just when we first met, you didn’t seem like the type who would want to be well known. You seemed, well … a little miserable.”
I dropped my head back and looked at the clouds as they whizzed by. “Yeah … that was a rough time in my life. I haven’t had it easy.”
“So I’ve heard,” she muttered. “It doesn’t seem like it’s getting easier, either. What are you going to do about the baby?”
I lifted my head and faced her. “What do you mean?”
She sighed. “I’m going to stop beating around the bush. We both know Abaddon wants the baby. What are you going to do about that?”
I sucked in a breath. I’d assumed she knew, but until now we hadn’t spoken about it. Now it was out in the open and it couldn’t be taken back.
“I’m going to protect my baby at any cost,” I vowed.
“Is that why you got Bobby working on a secret project?” Raven asked. “Does it have to do with the baby and Abaddon?”
I furrowed my brows, contemplating whether to tell her or not, deciding in the end she would figure it out anyway. “Yeah, it does.”
She nodded. “You don’t have to tell me what the secret project is; I was just curious. I hope Bobby can figure it out.”
“I hope so too,” I whispered.
I still hadn’t heard anything from Bobby Wu about removing the fae magic from my blood, if it was even possible. I knew it would take time, but right now time wasn’t on our side.
“You should really try trusting Fenrir a little more,” Raven suggested. “I know it’s hard to consider after everything that’s happened between you. I wouldn’t be able to either, if I were you, but as someone who knows him better than anyone else, I know what he’s like. And I know that if he knew the circumstances, he would help you, no matter what.”
“You’re going to tell him, aren’t you?” I said.
She shook her head. “I won’t. Not yet, at least. But eventually, if you don’t, I’ll have to tell him. He can’t be kept in the dark forever.”
I couldn’t argue with her. She was doing me a solid by keeping it a secret, but she never promised to do so. And she was right. There would come a time when Fenrir had to be told. When was the question.
“Don’t look so glum,” Raven chuckled. “I’m not signing your death sentence.”
I snorted. “That you know of. Fenrir has been wanting to kill me for the longest time. What’s going to stop him once he finds out about the baby and Abaddon?”
Raven turned serious. “Fen doesn’t hurt children. It’s his one rule.”
I didn’t know how accurate her statement was, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t offer a small bit of reassurance. At least he wasn’t a complete monster.
“Fine. I’ll tell him. Just not while we’re in the Underworld. Once we
