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  Rhios, like Gardelle, did not look anywhere near his age. No bird shifter did. The males aged incredibly slowly. So much so that men who were hundreds of years old did not look more than twenty-five to thirty human years. Such was the case with Rhios.

  He held a hand up, halting Gardelle’s charge. “All is well.”

  Gardelle sheathed his sword.

  Nulsa paled more. “All is not well for the men in there. I think the women will geld them before this is done.”

  “What’s wrong?” asked Gardelle, as additional shouting sounded from down the corridor. “It sounds as if the women are under attack.”

  “They are the ones doing the attacking,” said Nulsa, swallowing hard. “They are quite small but very capable. Some are even heavy with children, and yet when they are angered they are spry and nimble. I have seen warriors with less skill.”

  Gardelle rubbed his temple. “I’m almost afraid to ask what set them all off this time.”

  Rhios grinned. “One of the wives found out about the prisoner being questioned, and the means by which he was being questioned.”

  Nulsa nodded. “And she got the other wives, they ganged up on their mates, and now I’m not sure who is being tortured. It might be the king for all I know. I tried to go and assist, but Rhios informed me that while it is our duty to protect the king, we do not protect him from his wife’s fury. That he is on his own then.”

  “Well, yes. That is true,” added Gardelle, hiding his laugh. The queen was human but, since she had mated to the king, she now had his longevity and aged at the same slow pace. Already she had given the king a set of triplet boys, with more babes on the way. The king and queen were well on their way to having eight boys, just as the king’s father had.

  It was good to see births happening within the kingdom once more. They had gone far too long with nearly no births to speak of. While the hawks’ birth rates were still merely a drop in the bucket, they were something, and something was better than nothing.

  Rhios chuckled. “Nulsa has spent a fair amount of time in the buttery, having at serving wenches who toss their skirts up for many, but he’s never had his heart on the line. Should he one day find that organ involved, he too will understand what is at play, right, Gardelle?”

  Gardelle pressed a smile to his face, knowing it pulled at the scar there, but he didn’t care. He’d never been in love. He’d bedded many women in his long life and had known pleasures of the flesh, but love had escaped him. Not all were blessed in such a way.

  He had been given the gift of raising his niece from the tender age of three and a half. He’d raised her as if she were his own daughter and loved her with all his heart. There were days that he still struggled with the knowledge she was a grown woman now, mated to Lazar and with children of her own on the way. To him, she would forever be a child.

  His thoughts drifted quickly to Lisa once more, and for the quickest of moments, Gardelle pictured her heavy with his child. He tensed as his heart began to race. It was so easy to picture the voluptuous beauty’s belly swollen with his children, as the males of his kind determined if multiples would be had, not the females. A deep-set longing for what he was imagining came over him.

  Stop thinking of your niece’s best friend in such a manner, he scolded himself, feeling like a dirty old man. Besides, she’s not your mate. It could never be.

  A loud male yelp echoed through the corridor, ripping Gardelle from his fantasy of Lisa being something more to him.

  “Was that the king?” asked Gardelle.

  “Not our concern,” replied Rhios with a wink. “And, yes, I believe that was the king.”

  Nulsa shuddered. “They are terrifying females when provoked.”

  Rhios laughed and cuffed the younger bird shifter on the back of the ear. “One day, Nulsa, you will understand a woman’s true wrath is far worse than even this. For when she denies you access to her bed, you find quickly that you’d much rather she just stab you and get it over with.”

  Gardelle chuckled. “Have you found someone special again?”

  Rhios’s laughter faded. “No.”

  Nulsa watched the men and he rubbed his ear. “How did you manage to have children if you weren’t with your true mate?”

  “It’s incredibly rare, but tales tell of it happening in the past,” said Gardelle.

  Rhios sighed and nodded. “Yes. But it did not just happen by chance. I believe she sought out help.”

  Gardelle’s interests were piqued. “How so?”

  Rhios cleared his throat. “Nulsa, go and check on the king. Be sure his wife and his sisters-in-law do not have him chained and gagged…again.”

  Nulsa paused. “Wouldn’t one of his sisters-in-law be your daughter?”

  Rhios nodded.

  “Then should you not go? They will be less inclined to turn their foul tempers upon you.”

  Gardelle and Rhios guffawed.

  Rhios shook his head. “You have much to learn, young one. Go. You barely look to be out of your teens. The women will be kinder to you. For they forget our true ages and will see a boy before them. Not a man—or should I say target.”

  Nulsa, who was over a hundred, looked very childlike at that moment. He gulped and then walked slowly down the hall as if heading towards his own funeral. When he was far enough away, Rhios stepped closer.

  “As more information regarding the vultures and their increased birth rate techniques comes to light, I find things lining up with my past,” said Rhios. “The woman I fell for, I believe she sought out assistance from the same humans who helped the vultures with their plight.”

  Gardelle tensed. “No. Truly?”

  Sighing, Rhios gave Gardelle a pensive look. “Yes. I know not how to tell the king. What if I am right? The woman I loved worked hand in hand with the enemy. She tricked me. She used me to…”

  “Did she love you?”

  “Yes.”

  “And did you love her?” asked Gardelle.

  Rhios nodded. “As much as I could despite the fact she was not my mate.”

  “And this love bore a son and a daughter? Something many of us would give all to have?” Gardelle continued to watch his old friend carefully.

  Rhios lowered his head. “It did. And I would not change my children for all the world. They are my heart. As are my grandchildren. Though it would be nice if Shelton got off his arse, found his mate, and gave me more grandchildren to spoil. I am old. He needs to hurry before I am too old to enjoy them.”

  Gardelle snorted. “You have hundreds upon hundreds of years before you reach that point. You look no more than thirty human years.”

  “Yes, while that may be so, Shelton is in no hurry to tie himself to any one woman. It may very well be hundreds upon hundreds of years before he does,” stated Rhios with a serious expression on his face.

  “Mayhap you will happen upon your mate in the meantime and she will bless you with even more children,” offered Gardelle.

  A hopeful look came over Rhios. “One can dream.”

  “Yes. One can.” Gardelle instantly thought of Lisa once more.

  “Ouch, woman!” shouted Lazar as he appeared in the hallway, rubbing his backside. “I thought we talked about you spanking me in public, little mouse? That is bedroom play and not to take place in front of my peers.” He put his hands up to signal surrender. “Or you can spank me here and now. Whatever you wish. I do not like the way you are glaring at me. The babies in you make your temperament unpredictable.”

  “I’ll give you unpredictable!” shouted a familiar female voice from the other room. “If you don’t find me some ice cream this second, I’m going to do far worse than spank you!”

  Gardelle’s eyes widened. “I do not want to hear about my niece spanking her mate.”

  Rhios failed to hide his laughter. “I would not have guessed that quiet little Sabrina was into inflicting pain in the bedroom.”

  Gardelle shot his old friend a hard look. “Let us ask Shelby abou
t her alone time with Aeson. Did they not meet in a club devoted to deviant sex acts?”

  Color drained from Rhios’s face. “Forget I said anything.”

  Lazar spotted Gardelle and hurried down the hall, rubbing his backside on the way. “Can you please talk some sense into your niece?”

  “What did you do this time?” asked Gardelle with a grin.

  “She might have happened upon me with Kabril as we politely asked the vulture for information,” said Lazar, failing to look innocent.

  “Ah. Politely. Did this polite encounter involve drawing and quartering?” asked Gardelle, only slightly joking. Kabril was known to be creative in his torturing of the enemy. At least he had been before he’d mated. His wife, Rayna, had softened him greatly—as a mate should.

  “Possibly.” Lazar winked.

  “And now Sabrina is unhappy with you and craving ice cream?” questioned Gardelle, finding more amusement with the situation than he should.

  “Yes. And not any ice cream that can be re-created here with ease. The kind that requires me to travel to the human realm and find creative ways to keep it frozen on the way back. Do not get me wrong, I love her with all my heart, and am beyond happy we are to be blessed with young ones, but there are days she scares the living hell out of me.”

  Gardelle and Rhios chuckled.

  “Were you able to find out what the vulture was going on about?” asked Gardelle.

  “No. The women came upon us before we got much from him.” He glanced back in the direction he’d come. “They believe they have a better way to get information from the man. Lark is with them. She was fine with torturing the prisoner. Keonae is a lucky man.”

  Rhios wiped a smile from his face. “Until he angers her. Then he will wish she did not have a violent side. Or do you forget how your sweet Sabrina is when angered? Was it not her I heard tale of taking a crossbow and eliminating falcon threats to you and her uncle not that long ago?”

  Lazar’s eyes widened. “Blessed Epopisdeus, Lark will murder Keonae.”

  Gardelle snorted. “And then some.”

  Just then, Sabrina appeared at the end of the hall, her hand on her swollen stomach, her dark brown eyes wide.

  Gardelle tensed. “Brina?”

  Lazar spun. “My love? The babes?”

  She shook her head and cupped her mouth, looking as if she was going to be sick.

  Lark rushed out quickly and grabbed Sabrina’s arm lightly, helping to steady her as she stared down the corridor at the men. “The guy started talking. He’s singing like a songbird now. Pun intended. Problem is what he’s saying.”

  Sabrina looked from her mate to Gardelle. “Uncle.”

  Gardelle and Lazar hurried down the corridor with Rhios close at their heels.

  Lazar swept Sabrina into his arms. “Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head, still looking as if she was about to be sick.

  Lark stood tall, her long blonde hair falling over her shoulders. “Lazar, the guy is mumbling something about Latravis.”

  “He’s working with my brother?” asked Lazar, stiffening. “I feared he was not as gone as we’d heard rumors of.”

  Lark shook her head. “No. The vulture guy wasn’t working with Latravis. From what he’s in there spilling to Shelby—who, I’d like to add, has the man’s balls in a vise grip—the vultures have been positioning themselves to make a move for Latravis and the throne. But in doing so, they gained a new target. And this target launched a new plan of attack.”

  Rhios sucked in a large breath. “My daughter has a man by the…”

  Lark glanced at him. “The minute she heard Sabrina’s name fall from the guy’s lips, she launched herself at him. Aeson is having a tough time getting her to release the guy’s junk.”

  “Junk?” asked Rhios.

  Gardelle looked to the man. “His cock.”

  “Ah. Wait. Shelby!” he yelled, hurrying towards the room the vulture was being held in. “You are not to touch a man in his…you know!”

  Lazar snarled. “He spoke my wife’s name? I will tear out his tongue.”

  Sabrina grabbed Lazar’s forearms. “Stop. Yes, he said my name, but it gets worse.”

  Lark stared between the men. “He had a photograph in his back pocket. It’s a picture of Sabrina and her friend.“

  Gardelle tensed. “The vulture party who attacked the portal were after Sabrina and they have a picture of her?”

  Sabrina teared up. “No.”

  “I’m confused,” confessed Gardelle. “I am told the prisoner has a picture of you and spoke your name. Did he and his men not want you? If they wish to make a play for Latravis, it makes sense they would try to gain access to you. Latravis has a soft spot for you and if anyone could draw him out, it would be you. Or putting you in danger.”

  Lazar snarled again.

  Sabrina pressed herself against him. “Stop it. They know I’m mated to Lazar now. They know that coming at me is the same as coming at the hawks because of how close Lazar and the king are. It’s not me they’re hunting.”

  Gardelle calmed slightly. “Good.”

  Lazar shrugged. “If they wish to hunt my brother and kill him, I am fine with that.”

  “Lazar,” scolded Sabrina. “I told you he’s not as far gone as you think. Their goal was Latravis. That changed.”

  Gardelle focused. “What are you saying, exactly?”

  “It’s Lisa. She’s in the picture with me. They’re after her. They’re like super fixated on her.”

  Gardelle lurched back, his entire body convulsing at the idea of Lisa being their target. For a moment, all he heard was the beating of his own heart. It took him several long seconds before he realized Lazar had hold of him and was shaking him.

  “Gain control of yourself!” shouted Lazar, his face close to Gardelle’s.

  Rhios was suddenly there as well, helping to hold Gardelle.

  Sabrina was in full-blown tears.

  Lark just looked stunned. “I didn’t know Sabrina’s friend was your mate.”

  “W-what?” asked Gardelle, lost as to why everyone was staring at him like they were and why he was being held by two men. “What are you talking about? Let go of me!”

  Rhios drew Gardelle’s attention to him. “Old friend, you just finished shouting that if the man dared to harm your mate, you would tear his head from his body and put it on a pike to warn others to stay clear of your woman.”

  “I did no such thing,” said Gardelle, his thoughts going back to Lisa. He looked to Lark. “He spoke of the other woman in the photo—of Lisa?”

  She nodded. “In depth. From the sounds of it, they have someone planted near her, in her life. A spy. The vulture said something that doesn’t make any sense. It’s about Lisa’s parents. He eluded that by harming Lisa, it will draw out both Lisa’s father and mother—two birds, one stone.”

  Sabrina cried harder. “Her mother is active with charities and her dad is a lawyer. Why in the world would the vultures want to draw them out? They must have Lisa and her parents confused with someone else.”

  “Do you think that will stop them if they get their hands on her? It won’t matter if they’re wrong,” said Lark, her voice hard. “They are monsters.”

  Sabrina wiped her cheeks but stayed close to Lazar.

  “Lark! Sabrina!” shouted Paige, Sachin’s mate, from just outside of the room where the prisoner was being held. “Keonae is gathering a team of men to go to the human realm. The bird-dickhead that is close to Sabrina’s friend isn’t any old vulture-dickhead. He’s apparently a captain with a reputation for being ruthless. The sicko has it in his head he can breed Lisa. Seems to think she’s mate material to a bird shifter.”

  Sabrina burst into tears once more.

  Lazar grabbed her and held her to him, his gaze moving to Gardelle. “Is Lisa your mate or not? If so, much of this makes sense.”

  Gardelle began to shake his head but stopped, his mind racing with thoughts of Lisa. With how
hard it had been to deny the pull to her from the moment she’d turned eighteen. With how he’d not bedded another woman since she’d come into his life. And with how he still tried to find excuses to see her.

  His heart beat madly, and he would have fallen had Rhios not had a firm hold on him.

  Lark grunted. “From the looks of him, he’s just now figuring out for himself that she is, indeed, his mate.”

  Paige glanced the other way. “Oh crap. Shelby is doing her oracle thing again. At least she finally let go of the guy’s nuts.”

  Gardelle thrust Rhios back and ran down the hall. He skirted around Paige carefully and rushed into the room to find Shelby being held by Aeson. She looked up at Gardelle and clutched her mate’s hand. “Your chosen one is in grave danger. On this night, truths are revealed, enemies become allies, new alliances are formed, and lives forever change. All is not as it had seemed.”

  She swayed and then blinked.

  Aeson kissed her temple. “Do you require a drink of water?”

  She nodded. “Thank you.”

  Kabril stepped forth. “Gardelle, this friend to Sabrina. She is your mate?”

  Gardelle’s stomach clenched. “I-I don’t know. Mayhap. Probably.”

  Kabril offered a sympathetic look. “Does the idea of harm befalling her send you into a blind rage?”

  “Yes,” said Lazar and Rhios.

  Gardelle took two deep breaths, soaking in everything he’d learned. As reality settled over him, he gasped. “I left my mate in the human realm, unprotected, and now my enemy has her within their sights?”

  “We will assist you, old friend,” said Kabril. “Keonae readies an attack party. Go now and join them.”

  Gardelle spun and ran from the room. There was no way in hell he was going to wait for Keonae to get everyone ready to go. Lisa needed his help now.

  Chapter Eight

  Human Realm…

  Lisa stepped out of her sports car in the parking lot of the club. The area wasn’t as well-lit as she’d have liked. The problem was, most of the club’s clientele preferred it that way. Not long back, before she took over running it, a horrible crash had occurred in the parking lot. A truck driver had fallen asleep at the wheel and missed the curve. He’d slammed into a van full of people. From what she’d heard, all but the driver survived, which was a miracle.