Kalina ~ Book Four

She paced in the dark, a flickering torch dying in her hand. The muted illumination cut through the void.

“Hello?”

Wings flapped past her ear, and she shuddered as the torch winked. Soon, it would go out. She will be lost then.

“Shine a light,” a disembodied voice urged from the emptiness.

She frowned and spun in a slow arch, cleaving the darkness in two. “Hello?”

Not one sound reached her ears beyond her ragged breath. The torch fizzed and spat and sizzled. It was all over now. The darkness had her. It cupped her back. Stroked her hair.

It wanted her.

She turned again just in time to see the glow of silver orbs before her torch gave up. The darkness consumed her.

She was not alone.

Sylvie sat up in bed, hand clasped around her throat, still sensing the phantom hand that touched her there.

“Fucking dreams,” she whispered and dragged herself from her bed to start another day.

Claudine joined her for breakfast with her mates and shared what had happened for the last few weeks, from Bea to the children’s first shift and her plans to give Fraser the Aminae dimidium meae. Every added tale brought Claudine’s eyebrows into her hairline.

“Are you shitting me? I missed all that?”

She shovelled the last scoop of toast and eggs into her mouth and leaned back in her chair.

“And that Wraith. You were fucking possessed, dude, and you didn't even know?”

“I wasn’t possessed,” Sylvie groaned, rubbing her eyes to rid the dreams that flared up in her memory again. “It was more like a leech.”

“Whatever,” Claudine replied. “It’s fucking nuts.”

“Agreed,” Rowan added before standing and taking all the dishes to the kitchen. Kian went with him, clearly still hurt about the wraith situation, and Elias leaned forward on steepled fingers from the table's head.

“And you, Claudine. How is your new pack treating you?”

She stilled for a second before shrugging. “Good. I’m happy enough. When everyone starts training, I’ll be better, but having my mate is all that matters for now.”

Elias nodded, and Sylvie found herself nodding, too. Her mates had been more than enough for ten years, but now, with unsettling events disturbing her perfect little life, she didn't know what to do.

“I’ve not found any hidden agendas if that’s what you’re alluding to,” Claudine added, keeping her gaze locked on Sylvie. Sylvie couldn't detect any lies in her friend's words, but there was a distance to them, and until she knew why, she wouldn’t completely trust her.

Hurt flashed across Claudine's face, and she stood. “I’ll go gather my things and say goodbye to Rosie. Are you still okay with taking me home?”

Home.

Fraser's pack was Claudine's home now.

The word stung more than Sylvie would have liked, but she kept her face smooth and smiled. “Of course, Claude. I need to grab something, and we’ll drop you off.”

As Claudine departed, Sylvie met each of her mates' eyes, a question in them.

Before she could decipher any of their returned stares, a memory struck her as if the Fates deemed it a good time to ruin her morning further, and she sucked in a breath as if she could smell the Northern Alpha all over again.

The lingering scent of Fraser in her home after their return from his pack weeks ago filled her mind, and she clenched her jaw.

She had hidden it from them with a dizzying amount of air freshener, knowing it would be the end of their alliance if her mates had known, even if his guilt wasn't proven.

And now she promised no secrets.

No secrets, but... she couldn't tell them just yet. She needed time to think up a plan. One that would either find Fraser’s innocence or confirm his guilt.

“I’m gonna offer him the cup,” she said at last, noting each of their expressions. Curious, calculating and already proving they sensed her withheld knowledge.

She stood and headed for the door, keeping her pace even despite the urge to run. If they knew about the scent, they’d never let her within ten miles of Fraser, let alone in his private quarters, to snoop. And she needed to spy. She just needed an in.

Claudine would have to do.

“I’ll be back.”

Amira was tending to a small plant in the back of her cabin when Sylvie knocked on the open door.

“Come in. Ye ken where it is.”

Despite Amira not glancing at her, Sylvie nodded and padded to the hidden compartment under the floors. With her nails, she gingerly lifted the square block and pushed it aside, curling her hand around the cup and lifting it to the light. Shiny with traces of copper.

The pungent tang of iron clung to the cup, and she stood, keeping it far from her nose.

“Are ye sure about this, M’eudail?”

“I think so. Strength in numbers, right? After what happened with Rowan and those cops, we need Fraser to trust us somehow.” And allow her to rifle through his office.

Rowan had shared with her the curt farewell Fraser had given him after killing the humans. It sounded more like a dismissal.

“And this is the way you wish to choose?”

“It’s the only thing I can think of. It’s a peace offering. We don’t need it anymore anyway. All of our turned have chosen mates.”

Amira nodded but still didn't face her, so she set the cup down on the counter and padded behind her, resting her chin on the older woman's shoulder. A light shake travelled up through her jaw, so Sylvie wrapped her arms around Amira’s waist.

“Are you okay, Seanmhair?”

“Aye, lassie. I’m fine. You protect yerself, ye hear me?”

“I always do.”

She humphed but didn't shift, her hands only steadily stirring a blue concoction in her mortar. “I won’t always be there, ye ken. Ye need to stay level-headed. Be the teacher and healer I ken ye are, but the fighter as well. A warrior. An Alpha. The Queen-”

“Amira,” Sylvie scolded, turning the older woman in her grip to get them eye to eye. “Why are you saying this?”

“Ye need to ken.”

“I do. But-”

“No buts, M’eudail. No buts. Promise me you’ll never shy away from bringin' darkness to light.”

A cold chill shot down her spine, and she shivered despite the warmth from the woman at her front. Shine a light. Her dreams returned to her with a vengeance before she brushed them away with a shake of her head.

“I- I promise. As long as you teach me about the magic in the poultices when I get back from Frasers.”

Amira offered a lingering look, the expression not visible long enough for Sylvie to decipher it when Amira nodded. “Aye. I will.”

“I love you, Amira.”

Amira pulled out of her grip and then turned away. Sylvie could have sworn the healer's eyes were glistening.

“I love ye too, Sylvie. I love ye too.”

Gingerly, a smile spread across Sylvie's face, and she scooped the cup up before returning to her mates, leaving Amira tending to her plants. She didn't look back despite the strange sensation in her chest. She pressed it down.

It was nothing. Her dreams were just dreams, and her plan would work. Fraser would be innocent, and she would have an Ally in him, whatever evil came to hurt her—Vampire or demon alike.

Kian waved her over from the front of the house and kissed her forehead as she stood before him. "We're portalling."

"Are you sure you're okay to do this?" She asked softly, squeezing his hand. Kian nodded with a strained smile and held his other hand to Claudine.

After a few ancient words, the word tilted, and they landed just outside the gates, where the four armed guards nearly jumped from their skins, seeing Sylvie, her three mates and Claudine materialise in thin air.

“We need a ride, Hudson,” Claudine growled, hoisting her suitcase over the uneven ground. The guard, Hudson, called for a car on his walkie-talkie, and ten minutes later, an old Toyota turned up with Caroline behind the wheel.

Sylvie strode over with a smile, the cup nestled carefully in a satchel over her shoulder and climbed in.

“Hi, Caroline.”

Caroline’s wide eyes peeked at her through the rearview as the rest of her mates squeezed in, Kian sliding under her in the centre seat and pulling her against his chest. Claudine sniffed from the front seat but didn't say a word.

“Hi,” Caroline murmured before easing her foot on the gas.

“How are you?”

Caroline shifted awkwardly, but her mouth wobbled in a small smile. “I’m good, K-Kalina. You?”

“I’m okay.”

They settled into a strange silence after that, and once they finally pulled up outside the pack house, Caroline killed the engine and darted off like a frightened mouse.

Sylvie squinted after her but scrambled out, hoping no one else saw her sitting atop the Fae prince. Especially Fraser. More than anyone, he needed to believe she was who she said she was and not the powerful mate of three princes.

Kings.

They were to her, at least.

She pulled out her phone and texted her mates a brief plan. She hadn't had much time to concoct it, but it would have to do.

It said, 'Pretend I’m with Claudine and keep Fraser busy'.

Elias stiffened as the text came through, Kian clicked his tongue against his teeth, and Rowan rumbled a low growl.

“What the hell is your problem?” Claudine grumbled, her posture closed off.

No one replied, and just before she was set to ask another question, her mate and Fraser padded down the front steps. Claudine seemed to defrost on the spot, melting into her mate's arms as he reached her and accepting a long… long kiss.

Fraser kept his eyes on the males and off of Sylvie.

“Thank you for dropping off Claudine. Is there anything else I can help you with?”

Rowan stepped forward, holding a hand out to Sylvie. She placed her satchel in his hand and looked imploringly at him.

Rowan ignored her look and said, “I have something for you. Is there anywhere we can speak? Privately.”

Fraser's eyes narrowed as Sylvie swayed from foot to foot.

“Follow me to my office. I presume your entourage is included in this private conversation?”

“Elias and Kian, yes. Kalina would like to spend time with Claudine if you allow it.”

Fraser finally let his eyes rest on her, and she warmed. Will stared at her, too, but his expression was far less welcoming. Blank.

She let her gaze drift to his hairline, the colour off somehow, a fair shade shining from his scalp only a few millimetres from the inky black pigment. Regrowth.

“I will. Claudine, head inside with your friend.”

Her friend. He wouldn't even say her name. Maybe she had already burned that bridge between them. It wouldn't be the first. With a swallow, she darted after Claudine as they disappeared inside, leaving her mates to chat with Fraser.

“I was hoping to get some alone time,” Claudine grumbled as Will kissed her goodbye and disappeared into a nearby room, his stooped posture revealing his distaste at their interruption, too.

“Sorry. I could go hang out in the bathroom or something. Give you two a chance to get reacquainted.”

Claudine didn’t scoff at the suggestion, and when the voices of her mate and Fraser sounded down a nearby hall, she stilled.

“They’ll be in his office,” Claudine said. “Don’t worry. They'll come and get you when they’re done.”

Sylvie thought about sharing her plan to snoop but thought better of it. Fraser was her Alpha now, after all. Her loyalties had to lie with him if she accepted his mind link.

“Okay, cool. Where should we go then?” Hardly any shifters had passed them in the halls, and Sylvie couldn't sense many in the building. It was almost too quiet.

As if reading her mind, Claudine answered. “Anywhere. Everyone's out.”

When Sylvie raised her brow, Claudine tsked and answered again, her exasperation clear.

“Remember I said they all have jobs. Retail shit. It is the middle of the work week, you know.”

“Alright, simmer down. Grump. I didn't mean to cock block. Seriously. Do you have a library or something? I’ll hang out there until the meeting is done, and you can get busy.”

Claudine sighed, a smile playing on her lips. She led her to a room on the second floor with books on dusty shelves.

“Stay put.”

“Will do,” Sylvie replied, walking straight to a shelf and fingering the dusty book spines. No one had been in here for a long while. She rubbed the dust between two fingers. What a waste.

Claudine shut the door behind her, and she tuned into her sensitive hearing.

A knock.

A feminine voice.

A male answered, and dual footsteps led further away until she could hear nothing.

Her mate bonds tugged, and she rubbed them, closing her eyes.

They were two floors above, at least, and almost directly above her. It had to be Fraser's office. She texted Elias, only this time, feeling his presence further away from Rowan than Kian. He was probably guarding the door.

‘Office?’

‘Yes.’

‘Get him out of there.’

Sylvie didn’t wait for a reply before pocketing her phone and leaning against the library door.

Her phone buzzed twice against her hip in the pocket of her olive dress, but she ignored it, sucking in a breath when she sensed them all moving from the room. She waited until they were on the floor below her before pulling the door open and slipping out, heading towards the stairs.

Their voices carried through the old halls, and she darted to the room they had just left.

The scent was undeniable. And exactly what she had found inside her home.

She fiddled with the lock briefly before giving up and breaking the old knob off the door. “Shit.”

The door swung open, and she bit her lip. There's no way he wouldn't notice that later. Maybe she could compel him. She gently returned the knob and shoved it in the gap she had made.

Her heart thudded as she took in the room, quaint. Tidy. Closer to a bedroom than an office, the bed tucked away behind a privacy screen and a massive desk in the middle, looking like it had been there during the war.

She hummed, satisfied.

Time to snoop.