Page 99 of Rebel's Fairytale

“Come in,” he called out and wiped his face and hands on a napkin.

The door opened and Keys walked in, carrying his laptop. He shut the door behind him before taking a seat across the desk from Axle.

“I found what we need to get the assholes to back off.”

A grin grew on Axle’s face as he rounded his desk and took the chair next to Keys as Keys set his laptop on the desk and started it up.

An hour later, Axle sat back in the chair and let out a whistle. “Shit. I’ve said before. I’ll say it again. Glad you’re on our side.”

Keys chuckled. “I’ll put together apresentationfor each of them. When are you wanting to do the visits?”

Axle sighed. “Church in the morning. We’ll decide then.”

After a nod, Keys shut down his laptop and headed out. Axle closed up his office and headed out to his bike. He wanted to be home and in bed with his woman.

Raghnall, God of Wisdom

Raghnall, God of Sapientiam, also known as the God of Wisdom, was rereading his favorite book again. He had no idea how many times he had read it, but it always inspired him and reinforced the mission he and his brother Colvyr held dear — The Gods should protect the humans where they could, without taking away will or using unnecessary force.

He flipped the page, but the knowledge that his champion, Ordys, was in his realm divided his attention. Three minutes later, there was a knock on the door to his library.

Honestly, it was one of many libraries he had in his slice of the Locus Deorum — Place of Gods. He had one on every floor of his three-story home, and the basement was full of bookshelves jammed with his collection.

Not getting up from his favorite reading chair, he opened the door with a flick of his finger. “Ordys, you may enter.”

“Thank you.” Ordys came to stand in front of him and cleared his throat. “I did as you asked. After finding out the goal of this group, I came up with a plan I think you will approve of.”

“Thank you, Ordys.” Normally, he wouldn’t have needed Ordys to do any research, but it wasn’t as easy as it used to be to see into the human world.

His parents had reinforced the shield between the human world and Locus Deorum. Aella, the God of Chaos, had been using their champions and some magic to try to break through the cell they had been put in. If Aella managed that, the human world would be in danger. Aella wasn’t known for great discretion or control. Their impulsiveness had started wars, caused illness, ruined truces, inspired greed, and many other things that changed the course of history.

His parents didn’t like Aella being locked up, but they appeased Colvyr and Raghnall, knowing they had the best interest of the humans in mind.

“And what did you find out?”

“The Black Forest Academy is what you think it is — a training academy to create soldiers to hunt down shifters and eradicate them. I have no doubt that when they find out about the others, they will be added to the list of those they will hunt down.”

“And the plan?”

Ordys looked at him, his stare as clear and sure as it always was. He was Raghnall’s favorite because he always did his best to succeed in his missions, but he understood that sometimes the plan needed to change in the middle of the action to make that happen. He also didn’t put humans in danger, unnecessarily.

“I would like to take a few champions and infiltrate the academy to find out what they know and what they are planning. Once I know as much as I can, I should be able to warn the shifters they know of and help set up safe houses and safeguards.”

Raghnall nodded. “Your base… where will it be?”

“Warden’s Pass.”

“Yes. I like this.” Raghnall smiled. “And I’ll just pretend it has nothing to do with that beautiful woman that has been in your thoughts so frequently when you visit.”

Ordys smiled back. “Kitty. Yes, she has some to do with it, but it’s not serious. Mainly, it’s because Warden’s Pass is a known shifter location. It will be easier to protect if I’m already there.”

“Have you picked the crew you are taking with you?”

“Yes. I think Vega, Ember, and McKenna will be enough. Any more than that, it increases the risk we’ll be discovered.”

“I expect updates as often as you can manage.”

Ordys gave a nod and headed out of Raghnall’s home.

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