Page 22 of Their Crowned Mate
"Well, you're not going back there alone," Marcus muttered.
"Try at all," Cole countered.
I groaned. Sometimes it felt like I was listening to a broken record between the three of them.
Now four, since apparently Aurelius was keeping good on his promise to help me. That meant more than I wanted to admit, especially since technically, he didn't really need me now. He and the others were in charge of the pack, and my father would have an uphill battle challenging them even if I wasn't there.
"Staying here isn't an option, for all the reasons I've already lined out," I said.
"She's right," Alexander chimed in, much to my shock. And that of the others, judging from the looks on their faces. "I told you I've been watching your father," he said, looking at me. "I have reason to believe he's collaborating with the emperor of the fae."
I stared at him in shock for a few moments, convinced I had heard him wrong. "What?" I choked. "My father? How is that even possible?"
"I don't know," Alexander admitted with a heavy sigh. "But while I was watching him in the pack, I found something in his quarters. A mirror. I couldn't get it, because I had to come find you, but it had fae energy signatures all over it."
I took a moment to process what he was saying, still stunned. To think this world that had been hidden to me for my entire life had infiltrated the one I lived in for so long...
"Why?" Aurelius demanded, frowning. "What would he want with the emperor?"
"It's more what the emperor would want with him," said Alexander. "And I don't know the answer to that either, but I'm sure it's nothing good. He's lost power, and if the emperor is maintaining contact with someone on this side, it means he's planning to come through. Lavinia is right. We need to strike before he has the chance."
I definitely wasn't expecting Alexander to be the one coming over to my side, but I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth.
"So what's the plan?" I asked, looking around at everyone.
They all began speaking at once, each with a different opinion on how to proceed. Marcus wanted to launch an attack on the emperor's palace, while Cole preferred a more subtle approach of sabotaging his plans and collapsing his power from the inside out. Aurelius was advocating for a combination of both ideas—-hit the emperor hard enough that he would be forced to retreat, but also gather intelligence and weaken him internally as well.
I sighed and listened to their heated arguments, trying to sort through all the details and pick out what sounded most reasonable. We had one chance to get this right, so I wanted us to be strategic about it—no matter which approach we decided on in the end.
Alexander stepped forward then, silencing Cole and Marcus with a pointed look before turning back toward me. "You said you saw Joram. Do you think you could lead us all back to him, through one of the portals?"
I hesitated. That was a tall order for someone who'd only just learned extradimensional portals even existed, but I nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Or at least... I think I know someone who can."
CHAPTER13
LAVINIA
As I stood at the entrance of the portal Alexander had arranged for his and Aurelius's armies to meet at, I stared into the shimmering blue surface and tried to focus on my breathing to quell my anxiety. So much was riding on this. "Here goes nothing."
"Not really inspiring confidence, considering this was your plan," said Cole.
I snorted. "Well, technically, we're not relying onmysense of direction."
"Your wolf," he grumbled. "The same creature that likes to show up randomly. Or not show up at all."
"Yeah, that's her," I said with a sigh. "She's been a little more reliable lately, though."
He didn't look convinced, and honestly, neither was I.
"All right, let's begin," Alexander said, coming up to stand beside me.
I looked over his shoulder at the leagues of leather-clad vampires and shifters standing shoulder to shoulder, even though none of them looked too keen on working together in such close quarters. If they thought our little interspecies rivalries were something, though, they were in a rude awakening in the world of the fae.
"Are you ready?" Alexander asked, looking down at me.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I told him.
"You know, you don't have to do this," Aurelius warned, coming up to stand beside Marcus.
