Page 75 of Captured By the Monsters
AXTON
I still had reservations about Sera’s plan—so much could go wrong—but this was important to her. My greatest fear was something would happen to her. Something irrevocable. But I was also afraid that she would never forgive us if we didn’t support her in this.
We were damned if we did and damned if we didn’t.
Sylan thought we should go to the council and tell them about Sera first. But I also knew she was right—if we did that, they wouldn’t let her leave. They wouldn’t let her do what essentially boiled down to an act of war, because going to The Above was a declaration of that. It would nullify our treaty with no guarantee of making a new one.
All I could do was have faith in our mate and hope that Sera would be able to talk to the human leader and make him understand. But I had lived in the shadows for a long time, an incorporeal being betrayed by my own kind, and I knew what Sera felt.
I understood the struggle, the repression, and most of all, the thirst for justice. She reminded Rowen, Sylan, and me that when you became a ruler, it wasn’t just about you anymore—it was about the good of everyone.
Even though Sera was our mate, she wasn’t Rumilus. She was human, and she wanted to make life better for her kind—no different than us wanting to make life better for our people in Paratiisi. Knowing this, I didn’t begrudge her wanting to go back, but it still didn’t mean I had to like it.
I knew Rowen and Sylan didn’t like the idea of going to The Above either, but Sera clearly had a plan, and this was important to her.
I gazed at our mate with awe in my heart for how brave she was. When she was done braiding her hair, she secured it with a piece of thread Sylan had gotten her.
“I’m ready,” she announced, turning to us with her hands on her hips.
She looked fearless and lovely, dressed once more in her gossamer gown. I noted that the silvery color accented her features, making her seem serene and regal—she really was a Queen.
“Do you want me to carry you?” Rowen teased, knowing how much she’d enjoyed being carried by Sylan the first time.
Sera rolled her eyes in her typical faux-independent way before hedging, “I wouldn’t mind if it means we get there faster.”
Silently, Sylan swept in and scooped her up before Rowen could. “This is my job.”
Rowen scowled. “You know you have to share her, right?”
As they had their playful banter, I looked around one last time, memorizing this room. It was where we had marked Sera. It was the home we had built for our mate, and I would always cherish it, but we had a new home now. With Sera being Queen, we would be expected to reside at the castle.
Perhaps we could sneak away occasionally to build more memories here.
“Lead the way!” Sera exclaimed before laughing at whatever Rowen had just said in return. The sound of her laugh would always fill my heart with joy and hope.
When we exited our home, I heard Sera’s gasp from in front of me. She looked around her wildly, making me remember that she had fallen asleep on the way back from the castle.
Before, the land was nothing but shadows and darkness, but once the crystal deemed her Queen, the earth had become infused with her essence.
When we left the castle to take her home, the land was starting to be restored, and now, after she had rested and been with her mates, feeding the crystal’s energy, the plants and trees were beginning to flourish once more. My mate’s mouth hung open in fascination and wonder.
“It’s…so beautiful. It’s…paradise,” she breathed.
Rowen smirked. “That is what Paratiisi means, remember?”
“It was hard to envision this place ever being anything like this. It’s even more beautiful than The Above…” she trailed off as her head kept swiveling around to take it all in.
Her innocent joy and shock as we continued towards the shuttle entrance was one I’d always remember. It was the first time she saw how beautiful her new home was, and it was all thanks to her.
The closer we got to the shuttle, the more anxious I became. We passed the cave where we first took Sera after she had passed out and where the crystal piece announced she was our mate. There, just beyond the horizon a bit, was the opening that connected Paratiisi to The Above.
Although I didn’t know for a fact when another shuttle would come, we were certain it wouldn’t take long with how often we were being shipped women now. Our current stand-in leaders were the only ones in communication somehow with The Above to increase the demand, so we had no details on when they would come.
Now that I thought about it…how were they communicating with them?
