Undying Hate~ Book Three

“We’re coming with you.”

“Shush! Shut up. Sorry, but shut up!” Sylvie grabbed Shan and Brodi by the wrists, dragging them further into the forest. She wasn’t sure about Elias or Rowan’s hearing range, but she wasn’t about to have the conversation right by the front garden.

“My queen- we-”

“Yes, yes. I get it. You want to come. Fine. Just be quiet.” Sweat plastered to her face as she finished the last kilometre of her run, and she swept it behind her ears. Once her breathing evened, she squinted at the Vampires, huddled under the shade of a tree. “How do you even know I’m going back?”

Brodi swallowed, but Shan just straightened and stared at her head on. “I heard you with your Fae bonded.”

“You were eavesdropping.”

“We were nearby. So be it. You’re lucky no one else was,” Shan thrust her chin towards the shifter’s cabins, littered in the forest. “It’s not exactly private. This place.”

Sylvie started stretching as Brodi shuffled from foot to foot. “We heard something else.”

Arm across her body in a deep stretch, Sylvie groaned as she let it drop to her side. “And what might that be?”

“You said the name Magnus.”

“I did.”

“He’s alive?”

“Yes.”

Shan’s eyes widened while Brodi’s jaw clenched. So there was a history between them all. She just hoped it was a good one. Elias hadn’t spoken of him since they returned, but their relationship seemed interesting. Sylvie tried to avoid the implications of her husband being mentored— raised— by her father.

Sperm donor, really.

He probably didn’t even know she existed. At least, that was the vibe she got from Fate’s vision. Her mother gave her up to save her from his world, but where was he the whole time? Maybe he was taken by Hayes’ guards, but it was just as possible he went back on his own accord. It was better to be sceptical. It hurt less.

“He’s my father.”

Shan hissed and grabbed Brodi’s shoulder sharply, her nails digging into his skin. “No.”

Backing up, Sylvie raised a brow at her. Maybe not so good a history after all.

“It’s not your fault,” Brodi crooned in Shan’s ear as her eyes turned glassy.

“What happened between you two? You obviously know him.”

“He was Our mentor. Our leader. We are everything we are because of him. And we left him to rot under Hayes’s feet.” Shan spun and buried her fist deep into the bark of the tree that shaded her, forcing a gasp and frown from Sylvie.

“Hey. What did that tree ever do to you?”

“Forgive me.” Shan wiped the blood from her knuckles onto her pants and grimaced. “I just can’t believe he’s alive.”

Sylvie gnawed on her lip before sighing and sitting crosslegged, gesturing for Shan and Brodi to do the same. With odd looks, they did, and she wet her dry lips.

“Can you tell me about him? What was he like?” Maybe knowing more would make it easier. Then, she’d know what to expect when they reunited.

“He was- is from a long line of Generals, second to the King. His father and the King’s father were blooded. Like what we could do one day with you. And so forth from the beginning of the monarchy. Magnus was blooded to Hayes and Elias’ father, and his child was to be bonded to Elias when he took the crown.”

Sylvie’s heart raced.

“Until now, we thought he never had a child, so the line of Generals and Kings bonded by blood oaths ended with them. But we were wrong.”

Brodi looked pointedly at Sylvie as her throat dried up. She couldn’t even begin to form words. Technically, and only technically, she was meant to be Elias’ General. But also his Queen?

“Fuck this is so confusing.”

Shan snorted a laugh. “Very.”

“Because he didn’t have a kindred of his own or children, he took us all in. Mila and I were war orphans, but he didn’t treat us any less despite our bloodlines. Magnus saved us.”

His voice grew thick as he fought off emotion. “We owe everything to him.”

Sylvie swallowed tears of her own as whirling confliction ate at her. Why was he the perfect ‘father’ for everyone else but abandoned her? Of course, it wasn’t that simple, it couldn’t be, but the betrayal burned still.

“He used to sneak me extra food in the children’s quarters when Hayes was bullying me,” Shan said softly. “He used to steal my rations and said if I told anyone, he would slit my throat as I slept. I never said a word, but Magnus knew. He knew.”

She’d heard enough. Too much, actually. Her chest ached, and she stood, brushing undergrowth off her backside.

“Thank you, but I need to go now. I’ll talk to you both later.” With that, she sprinted home, angrily swiping away any burning tears that fell and sniffling down her sadness.

“Where are ye headit I such a rush, lassie?” Amira appeared in front of her so quickly she tripped and rolled ungracefully at her feet.

“Amira!”

“Ye have tae move a bit slower around here lassie. I am an old woman now.” She smiled and offered a warm hand to pull her up. Sylvie stood, shaking off the embarrassment of being uncoordinated, and smiled back.

“You don’t look a day over forty-five, Amira.”

“Oh now ye flatter me, lassie.” She waved Sylvie towards her cabin, and she followed after her. When they were both inside, Amira closed the door and took her hand, leading her to a chair and getting her to sit.

“Now, whit is this about?”

“Nothing-”

“Dinnae tell fibs now lassie. A can sense yer distress,” she said, handing her a steaming mug.

Sylvie groaned but took the drink and blew lightly from the rim. “I have to go back to Argyncia and bring back my father. I have no idea what I’m supposed to do after that, but that’s what the Fates want,” she took a sip, trying to hide the tremble in her voice, “So that’s what the Fates get, right?”

“Perhaps.”

“What if he doesn’t want anything to do with me? Or what if he’s like all the rest of the Vampires? A zombie.”

“Demon touched?”

“Probably.”

“Here.” She pulled a tiny black vial from a shelf under her plants and held it out to her. “It’s for demon taint. But be careful, thare’s only enough for a single person. Choose wisely.”

Sylvie took it and nodded. There was only one person it was for if Magnus wasn’t already a freaky demon zombie, and that was Mila.

“Thank you, Amira.”

“Be careful, m’eudail.”

“I will.

“Why are you acting so weird?”

“I’m not.”

Rosie snorted as they ran through slow-paced grapples and wrestling. “Claude is right; you’re acting weird.”

Sylvie growled and sped up her tackling, pinning Rosie until she tapped out. “Am not.”

“Are too.” She blew in her face and chuckled as they rolled over and sat up.

Claudine stood to the side, sharpening a stick. “If you’re gonna lie, the least you could do is make it convincing.”

Sylvie scowled as she sat against a tree and crossed her arms. She wasn’t that bad of a liar. Then, as if Claudine were reading her mind, she added, “It’s your heart. It slows when you’re lying, and your breathing goes shallow.”

“Slow? It doesn’t feel slow.”

Claudine shrugged. “I can hear it.”

Fingering her mate marks, Sylvie slumped forward and propped her elbows on her knees.

“What’s up?” Rosie asked, mirroring her pose.

“Can we go to the lake? You two can shift, and I’ll run.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea? Your mates will kill me if you get hurt,” Claudine said with a raised brow.

“There’s plenty of wards, and I can care for myself. I’m my own person, Claudine. They don’t control me.”

“No. They certainly don’t.”

Rosie chuckled and pulled Sylvie to her feet. “Let’s go before it gets too late.”

With a grin, Sylvie squeezed her hand and dropped it as they shifted into a fox and a lioness. She took their clothes in her arms and r behind them as they sprinted through the brush.

In no time, they made it to the lake and Sylvie dove straight in, letting the tepid waters cool her flushed skin and relieve the tension in her joints. Rosie and Claudine shifted and followed behind her.

“You should’ve at least taken off your tights and shirt. Now you’re gonna chafe,” Claudine quipped.

“You don’t need to see every inch of me.”

“I already have.”

“Perv.”

“Exhibitionist.”

Rosie’s brows arched as they bickered, and Sylvie splashed at Claudine. “What the hell did I miss?”

Sylvie jammed a finger towards Claudine. “Don’t you dare.”

“Oh, nothing. Just a bit of sexy time in the forest.”

“Oh yeah. Who hasn’t?” Rosie said with a slight flush to her cheeks. “Don’t look at me like that. Shifters have exceptional hearing.”

“Oh god.”

Sylvie submerged her face to hide her embarrassment, and when she lifted just the top of her head above the water, she nearly snorted, meeting their sparkling eyes full of mirth. Then, after splashing and cursing them, she leaned her head back and let the sun warm her face.

“I’m going back to Argyncia to rescue my father, but I’m not telling Rowan or Elias.”

When she didn’t hear either woman reply, she straightened and peered at them. Rosie nibbled the inside of her lip thoughtfully while Claudine just pulled a face. “Why?”

“Portal sickness and I would rather keep both of them in the dark than just Elias. Feels less mean.”

Rosie smiled and hid her lips under the waterline as Claudine pressed her fingertips to her temples. “Kay then.”

“Ugh,” Sylvie just flicked a few drops at her and bounced off the pebbly lake bottom a few times. “Can we talk about something else?”

“Like what?”

“I dunno.” Sylvie spun slowly in circles and dragged her fingers through the water. The cool liquid made her feel lighter. Even the guilt of lying ebbed a little. “Actually, do either of you know what happened to the shifter realm?”

Claudine blinked and turned to look at Rosie, who almost buzzed with anticipation. “I do- well, Amira told me, so it could be a little biased, but she’s pretty objective-”

“Alright, I get it. Will you tell me?”

“Sure, but it’s a campfire story.” She eyed the old firepit behind them, and Sylvie smiled.

“Fine. I’ll get the kindling.”

After hunting around the brush and darting through the old pack house, Sylvie, Claudine, and Rosie sat around the growing fire with some canned peaches and hot bowls of porridge.

“Okay, are you ready?”

Sylvie swallowed her piping mouthful and nodded. “Yes, and don’t miss anything out.”

With a nod, Rosie began, “I just wanna preface this by saying because our clans only shared history through storytelling, the timelines are a bit shifty. But anyway, a few hundred years ago, Shifters only resided in the Beihllua realm. It was huge, almost as big as the earth realm, and all the shifter breeds stayed within their own clan lands.

“The Tigers roamed the Ketn jungles, Bears were Iolk Forest dwellers, Wolves stuck to the snowy tundra, and lions lived in the open planes. Foxes, like me, went wherever they wanted since we were more nomadic than the others, only meeting to find our mates.

“We lived a long time divided like this until, during one of our Beta meetings, the second in command of the bear clan recognised the tiger beta as her mate. As far as they knew, it had never happened before, and when she took him to meet her family, they killed him. The hate across clans and species was strong back then, and the first death triggered many more after it.”

Rosie’s voice turned solemn. “There were wars across all of Beihllua. The land was bathed in the blood of mates desecrating the mate bonds the Fates had created. They didn’t realise what had happened until it was too late, and the surviving shifters were starving.”

“What happened?′

“The blood poisoned the Earth, making the land a barren waste. Rowan’s grandfather was the one who called on the Fae realm’s help to open a portal to Earth, and it was the Queen that opened it for us. All the clans had to put aside their hatred to get through, and many decided to stay and live under Rowan’s family’s ‘alphaship’. Some left and made smaller clans across the Earth. Amira was originally in a Scottish clan before returning to us as an adult. And that’s the story she told us.”

“I heard the whole realm died, but wouldn’t it still be there?”

“Technically, yes, but I imagine it would be inhabited by demons by now, considering how much violence happened there. Whatever happens, promise me you’ll never try to go there.”

Sylvie nodded slowly.

“Promise?”

“But what if it’s not barren, and there are some leftover shifters there or something?”

“Sylvie!”

“Fine. I promise I won’t go there.”

“Thank you. Now we should probably get back before the mind link gets any noisier. Rowan has been calling for the last twenty minutes.”

“Oh shit.”

She had been so engaged in the story the tugging on her mate’s marks didn’t even stir her attention.

“Shit’s right,” Claudine grumbled. “Let’s get back.”