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CHAPTER

THIRTY-EIGHT

We follow our mate like we have been since before we even knew what it meant. She wastes no time leaving Vigil behind, climbing into the middle seat of the truck, so we pile in next to her. Her thoughts are loud, something we will need to teach her to quieten, so Kitt speaks out loud until she can get the hang of it. The mate bond is different this time. Somehow, we have completely connected her to our hive mind. Now we will never be apart. “Where to?”

Her eyes linger on the castle, so I reach out to take her hand. “Little beastie?”

“He said there was a place on the outskirts of Vigil where those girls were housed. There is only one place I can think of. It’s an old port my mother closed up a long time ago. Nobody goes there since we don’t leave. If there are any girls there, then we need to help them and stop the trading and defilement.”

“Which way, beautiful?” Kitt asks, gripping the wheel.

“Past the lake, then turn right down a hidden path. I’ll direct you.” She’s still clutching Emrys’s hand like she’s worried he’s going to disappear again. In fact, that’s her exact thought, loud and clearly screamed. I see his lips twitch as he reads them before she leans her head into me.

He’s so muscular and big. I can’t even reach his shoulder⁠—

I shuffle down in my seat so her head can rest on my shoulder, and she narrows her eyes on me. “I don’t like this new mind sharing thing.”

It’s definitely new. Previously, we only caught snippets of her thoughts, and that’s only when we really tried. Now, her mind is completely interlocked with ours.

“You’ll learn to block us as much as you can,” I promise, kissing her head. “But for now, it’s cute. You’re like a cactus, all spikey and hard outside and soft inside. I like it.”

“Don’t get smart. I will still kill you,” she mutters but cuddles back into my shoulder.

“Sure you will,” I say as I look out the window.

We’re quiet out loud, but her thoughts tumble through our heads, clunky and without organisation. We do our best to block it until she can learn as we pass the lake, and she points to a turn we missed coming in before. The road is more like a path, and it’s bumpy as hell. I brace one hand on the roof and the other around her to keep her stable, and after what feels like hours of driving, the trees open to reveal frozen water in front of us. On the left, there is a light blue, one-storey building with the word “port” in chipped paint on the side. After we kill the engine out of sight, I look at Ferol with a question. She must hear it in my head, which means she’s getting better, but she answers out loud.

“When my mother first came, the land didn’t used to be frozen. This connected to the ocean, but she made it this way, so the port was abandoned. I came here once on a dare, but it was super creepy. It has a basement that’s below sea level, and I always freaked it was going to flood. I guess it’s frozen over now, but if they are keeping people hostage, I’m assuming that’s the place.”

“Alright then, let’s get to it.” Torrin clambers from the truck and starts towards the port, leaving us blinking after him.

“I guess we just . . . go?” she asks in confusion.

Kitt sighs, and we hurry after Torrin, who’s already at the old door to the dilapidated building, kicking it open. With his strength, it comes off its hinges and flies inside like a weapon.

“Dude.” Raiden sighs.

“What? I knocked,” he replies.

Ferol slides past him, sneaking inside to be first, but then she flies backwards seconds later, sailing through the door. I gape as she flips mid-air, landing on her feet. Snarling, she dusts off her hands and glares into the building. Flames burst to life on her skin, the ice around her melting instantly as I look inside the dark interior, trying to see what or who attacked her.

“Those fuckers, I’m going to burn their cocks off,” she hisses before stomping towards the door, but we beat her to it, surging inside to defend out mate’s honour.

“Nobody kills her but us,” Kitt roars as he meets the first attacker lingering in the dark.

They must have heard us coming because they are prepared. There are at least thirty mages in here, their black magic swirling in the air.

“It’s been too long since I had a good fight,” Torrin says, transforming in an instant and dropping his hooves before charging. I blink, watching as the others do the same. Kitt knocks down half the entryway with his size as magic hits him and throws him outside. Raiden dives at them with his sword, grinning as Emrys shoots both of his guns, moving back to a defendable position. Ferol stomps past me and throws fire at a mage, their scream filling the air as they are set alight. I’m debating who to attack when I see him.

Not all of them are mages, I think as I look at the ogre staring my way, swinging a club. I have no idea how I missed him before, but his giant mouth opens as he yells and swings that huge weapon down. Ducking under his wild swipes, I weave and dance backwards to avoid him as Raiden throws his sword into the air behind him and leaps up. Changing mid jump, Raiden lands on four paws in the giant version of his fox, which is as big as the ogre, then catches the ice sword in his mouth and leaps at him. Lightning flashes across his skin and down the sword as he stabs it into the ogre’s back and hits him with lightning, using the metal as a conduit. The giant monster screams and rocks to his knees, then to his face.

Raiden grins atop the fallen corpse, leaving his sword behind as he zips out of the door after some of the others, lightning trailing behind him as I hear screams from the escaping mages.

Turning, I leave him to his fun as I face down four mages gathered together, their magic focused entirely on Ferol.

My little beastie! My mate!

I feel the transformation come over me, drawn by my possessive anger, my eyes blinded by time. I see the past, present, and future all folded into one, and I simply select what I need. I don’t often play with it, but the first time I ever accidentally tried it, I got myself captured by the collector and swore to never touch it again. When it comes to my mate, however, I would risk changing every past and future to keep her safe.