Page 24 of Fated Exile

"It was, and I am." For reasons he doesn't even know about. "But I want to check in on Kerry, and talk to you and... everyone else before the Summit tonight. There are things I have to share."

Roarke's green eyes flick from me to deLance as he says, "Of course. I'll come in soon. I was just making it clear to John that you won't be able to help his pack unless he first helps us. If at all possible, I want to wake the Eldersbeforetonight, so we can get their advice prior to another attack. I realize that we thought we could do this on our own, but that was before we found all those witches dead. It's selfish of John not to help."

"As I was telling you," deLance counters, "it's not just a matter of spilling a few drops of blood. Waking a pack's elders requires a great deal of magical energy—all of which will be drawn from my pack. We don't have the strength right now to borrow, not if I'm not going to get warriors from taking over your pack. I can talk to the other alphas—"

"All of whom have said they won't help either, and none of whom live close enough to make it in time."

"So I suppose we're both fucked." DeLance crosses his arms stubbornly. "I won't doom my pack on thechancethat it helps yours."

Roarke narrows his eyes. "And we won't be able to help your pack if we're slaughtered tonight at the Summit by a pack of hungry vampires being led by some escaped threat we're not prepared to face. I need to speak to the elders if at all possible,beforethe council votes for a new alpha. The Summit will open up our pack to vulnerability—if we wait until after we appoint an alpha, it may be too late. We need to wake the elders before then."

"That won't be necessary." I clear my throat pointedly, finally getting both men's attention. It feels a little like being stared at by two underfed, oversized guard dogs, even though I know Roarke's anger isn't aimed at me. So I'm quick to tell him, "Vivia came to me last night. I was able to wake her, and we spoke for a while. I know how to lift the curse."

"Oh." He blinks, expression turning sheepish as his green eyes clear. "Why didn't you say so sooner?"

"Because it happened at two in the morning. Also, she gave me some advice that I needed to think about."

"Whatever it is, we can figure it out, and fix things as soon as possible."

"About that." I can feel deLance's eyes on me, and this isn't a conversation I want to have in front of an audience. "We're going to need to talk about it as a group."

A group that is either about to become permanently tied together in a nearly-irreversible way, or splintered by individuals wants, needs, and oh yeah—the dark, tainted presence shadowing the mind of one of my (apparently) fated mates.

* * *

We gather at the big dining room table to have a discussion, once Lance, Kieran, and Finn are able to drive over to the house. I leave Bastian out of it for now—we'll have to discuss what to do about him in a bit. First, I want to fill up on food, which I do courtesy of Cat's always-amazing cooking. Then she gives us some alone time to discuss things, though I can tell by the glint in her eyes that she'll want to learneverythinglater.

I'm nervous to tell them about the mating requirements. It was one thing to discuss sharing in the abstract. Having it thrust on us by fate itself is another. So I decide to talk about the hybrid first, so they understand the threat we're up against. While I gave the guys a bit of a rundown on Delphine last night after visiting Kerry, I'm able to be more thorough now that I have so much information from Vivia. It hurts to tell them about my mother's death—to know that she trulyisgone—but there's something freeing about it too.

Especially when I describe Kerry's recollection of her sister's last words, sent via a messenger spell into the mountains. "She wanted my father to keep me safe from Delphine. I don't think he entirely understood what she said or what she wanted. Still, I have to believe that when he chose to put the chip in my neck and exile me, some part of him was doing it out of misguided love. Maybe he was afraidforme, and not just scared that I would turn out to be evil."

"He made mistakes. We all did, me more than most." Kieran reaches across the table to take my hand and gently squeezes it, his fingers warm and reassuring. "Your father regretted what he did. I saw that in the way he faded away once you were gone. When we discovered how much he knew about the curse, we all thought he sent you away to protect you. Maybe we weren't wrong about that."

"It's in the past," I murmur, meeting each of their eyes. "What we have to talk about now is the future. Delphine is out—and she's very dangerous. From what Kerry and Vivia told me, she isn't in her right mind. Her thirst for power, the exile she suffered, and being imprisoned for so long has twisted her. The presence I felt in my mind when I was out on the battlefield was far from sane."

"So we take care of her," Lance says, speaking plainly and calmly. He places his hands on the table in front of him, his light breakfast gone, and looks around the table with a steely expression in his eyes. "Our pack has suffered and withered for long enough. Whatever it takes, we have to kill this wolf-witch hybrid. Once and for all."

I don't disagree.

I just wish I wasn't the one who has to do it.

Roarke jumps in. "So what did Vivia tell you about lifting the curse? Surely she had something to say. There's no way we can take care of Delphine as long as we're this weakened."

Withdrawing my hand from Kieran's, I reach down into my lap and start playing with my cloth napkin. "About that... it's a little complicated."

Finn quips, "Please tell me it's tantric-sex related. That's something I can handle doing." He suddenly sobers and adds, "Oh god, we're not going to have to like, sacrifice baby bunnies to lift the curse, are we? Anything but animal sacrifice."

Roarke shoots him a look. "You're a werewolf, Finn. You'veeatenbaby bunnies. I've seen it myself."

"Yeah, but I've neversacrificedthem to the dark gods." Finn glances over at me and raises a brow. He must read something in my face, because he murmurs, "I'm close, aren't I?"

"Kind of." At their confused looks, I clarify, "Not the baby bunny thing. But the other thing."

Heat suffuses my cheeks, which is ridiculous. I'm a grown woman. I should be able to tell them this.

Still, it takes everything in me to squeak out, "In order to lift the curse, I have to, essentially, dethrone Delphine's position in the pack. The only way to do that is to become a powerful, mated hybrid... by mating with all five of my fated mates."

"Holy shit." Kieran raises his brows. "Like, at once?"

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