Ashton's brows furrowed in confusion, and he took my hand in his and helped me up before we headed downstairs to find out what was going on.
***
Ashton and I rushed downstairs to see what all the commotion was about, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head when they landed on our unexpected visitors.
There were three of them, waiting for us at the bottom of the landing. Cyrena stood to the side with a poorly disguised frown.
My presence quickly caught their attention and they immediately froze.
"What are you guys doing here?" Ashton asked, with a frown as he stared at Raúl, Kristof, and Jun.
They remained petrified-disbelief etched on every inch of their faces-which I'd come to realize was the most common reaction to seeing someone who formerly appeared human standing in front of them as an Origin. Hopefully, I didn't scare them too much.
Jun was the first to recover his senses, and a smile slowly stretched across his face as he observed me. His eyes sparkled with a newfound interest.
"Beau said you had important business to deal with," he explained, making himself comfortable on the arm of a nearby sofa. "When we found out Kevin headed to the Spade Kingdom alone, we decided to come as back up. Didn't expect to find you two here."
"Elizabeth?" Raúl and Kristof choked out simultaneously.
"Surprise!" I grinned, carefully descending the stairs to stand before them. "Guess who's a superhuman now."
"These people belong to you?" Cyrena warily scanned the unfamiliar faces in front of her.
"Unfortunately." Ashton sighed. "They aren't supposed to be here, though."
"Beau let you three out of his sight for a few days and you pull a stunt like this," Kevin growled. "Do you think Malekh will welcome us with open arms if he finds out that Crysauralia's entire junior cabinet is assembling in his country?"
"Wait, so if you guys are all here," I started slowly, "then is Beau at the palace?"
Silence.
"Nobody is at the palace?!" Kevin and Ashton shouted at them in unison.
"Prinarch Cole is in charge of things at the palace," Jun spoke up. "The emperor is apparently "too sick to lead right now", so his father is making plans to come out of retirement and be the interim ruler in his place."
I could feel the anger radiating off Ashton at those words. "What about my mother? She's the empress of the Crysauralian Empire. What gives the prinarch authority to overstep his bounds like this?!"
So Jackson's reports had been correct. Prinarch Cole had moved swiftly to execute his plan to take control of the kingdom. Had he been secretly plotting this all long?
"The grandfather is stealing the empire from his own son," Raúl muttered before turning to Ashton. "Why is your family so twisted?"
"Believe me, I'm still trying to find the answer to that question," Ashton grunted, sitting on the sofa adjacent to the other guys.
Cyrena excused herself from the brewing conversation to go upstairs. She had been uncomfortable with Ashton and Kevin being here, but five Origens were enough to put her on edge. I'd have to check on her later.
As the guys explained the situation happening at the main palace, my mind drifted to Empress Arabella and Brooke. Would they be alright with the prinarch in charge of things? If he was taking Emperor Caden out of the picture, wouldn't he try to hurt them in his son's absence?
And my parents were still in the Noble Realm. Empress Arabella wouldn't allow her husband to harm them, but with the emperor out of the picture, they were in danger... Suddenly, the room seemed devoid of all oxygen molecules.
Unlike the rest of the royal family, the prinarch knew my secret, and after what had happened at the Origen Association, he now had a better idea of my father's identity.
My mind considered that he would attempt to probe my adoptive parents for information about Luca. Of course, they knew nothing about him, but after the prinarch realized that, then he'd have no more use for them. And he discarded anything and anyone who wasn't useful to him.
Ashton sprang to his feet less than a second after I jumped to mine. I didn't know what to do, but I did know that I couldn't stay here and leave them in the clutches of his grandfather!
"I need to get my parents out of Crysauralia immediately," I explained as my feet frantically paced back and forth along an invisible line on the ground.
"Don't worry, your parents are safe." Kristof hurried to reassure me. "Beau is doing everything he can to get them out of the Noble Realm. He has a house in a nearby country that they can use. They'll be off the prinarch's radar, for now at least. The prinarch wanted to use them as bargaining chips to get you back, but Beau acted quickly. He'll meet up with us here after he moves his family and your parents to safety."
"Kris is right," Jun murmured. "The prinarch's priority is to get you back. After he finds out that Ashton left the kingdom, he might retaliate against the Spade Kingdom. We need to come up with a plan."
I nodded, feeling immensely grateful for Beau's quick thinking. However, my relief was short-lived, and as soon as I'd sat down, I sprang up again. "What about-?"
"Micah and Esmeralda are safe, too." Jun answered the question I didn't get to finish asking. He offered me an assuaging look. "I made sure of it."
"Of course, Jun wouldn't forget to take care of his boyfriend," Raúl piped up from his spot beside Kristof.
"How many times do I have to tell you that we're just friends?" Jun frowned at the carpet. "At least... I think we are. I'm still working on that."
I bit back a smile at Jun's unnecessary uncertainty. Of course, Micah wanted that, too. It had taken him a few years, but I was glad that he'd matured enough that he was willing to risk so much for an Omega's safety.
Raúl and Jun tossed a few words back and forth, and a pang of guilt hit me as I only just noticed the pain in Raúl's eyes that lingered behind his banter and teasing. Harlow was missing. Was she on another mission?
Where was his soulmate?
I didn't realize I'd asked that out loud until everyone turned to me. Kristof awkwardly cleared his throat and Raúl ran a hand through his hair before meeting my eyes.
Oh no.
All the playfulness drained from Raúl as he sighed. "She refused to come with us." His voice was tinged with pain and hurt.
They were newly mated, and the separation because of her missions had been hard enough as it was. What would become of their relationship now?
"She swore allegiance to the king's organization, and she's a squad leader," Raúl mumbled.
"But you're soulmates..."
"She made her choice." His gaze drifted to the ground and his breath was splintered.
Kristof placed a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder and my gaze drifted to Jun. He was also a squad leader...
"I deserted the organization," he explained with an air of casualness, as if he was discussing the weather. "I won't serve under the prinarch."
"But the prinarch doesn't control Sep-"
Jun quirked a quizzical brow in my direction as I managed to bite back my words. I'd almost mentioned the name of the king's organization-Sepia. Apart from Jun, no-one else here knew that information. It was top secret info that Jackson had confided in me.
A knowing look crept into his eyes as he realized that I somehow knew more about Sepia than I was letting on. Nothing could get past this kid.
"You're right that the prinarch doesn't control the organization," Jun answered my comment from earlier, "but that's because he has an organization of his own. While the emperor's organization protects the kingdom, the prinarch's squad serves only to protect him and the Eastern palace. They're... different from us."
My mind flashed back to the night when I'd been captured by the prinarch. The girl who was with him had had a tattoo that was similar to Sepia's. She must have been a part of Prinarch Cole's personal force.
Now that Jun mentioned it, the prinarch had kept referring to 'K'. That must be the code name for his organization.
It was surprising that the emperor allowed his retired father to hold that much power. He probably never expected his own father to betray him. I didn't feel sorry for him, though. He had been willing to do the same to CaVaughn.
"I suppose that's 'K'?" I tentatively asked Jun.
His body immediately went taut and his eyes narrowed. "You know K?"
"The prinarch mentioned it a few times... I'm assuming it has something to do with his organization."
Jun was silent for a while before he sighed and leaned back against the couch. "K isn't the organization. K is a person."
Could K be the girl from that night?
"I've never met K, though," he muttered, his eyes growing darker. "And I don't want to."
The tension in his voice hinted at some bad history between them, but he seemed hesitant to discuss more about it, so I decided to leave it at that.
"Anyway, if it's a choice between the organization and you guys, then it's not much of a choice. I won't leave you all behind."
"Don't try to sound so cool," Kevin laughed, wrestling him into a chokehold like he used to do when Jun was younger.
Despite the now lighthearted mood, there was another question that hung in the air. None of them brought it up, but I could tell their curiosity was at its peak.
"I suppose I should explain to you how this happened." I motioned to myself.
They all went silent as I launched into the details of everything that had happened since the day Garrett brought me to the Spade Kingdom until now. They listened in stunned silence while I recounted my reunion with Malekh and my meeting with my biological father.
Their expressions morphed into anger at Prinarch's Cole betrayal as I detailed the time I'd spent being tortured as a prisoner at the OA. They were shocked to know that Princess Hailey had been conspiring with the prinarch for the past three years, but now she was out of the picture.
The story finally wrapped up with Rosaline's attempted assassination and Demetri and Garrett helping me and Cyrena to escape from the Spade Kingdom.
I'd been kidnapped, met my biological father, learnt that I was heiress to the most powerful Origin family, shifted and almost got assassinated three times. The past two weeks had obviously been eventful, but actually saying everything out loud made me realize how quickly my life had taken a crazy turn.
Ashton held me close to him, as if just talking about what happened would make me disappear again. I'd already forgiven Garrett, but he still had some explaining to do to Ashton.
After that, they filled me in on everything I'd missed since being whisked away to the Spade Kingdom. Being with them again completed me. I didn't realize how much I'd missed hearing their voices and seeing their faces until now. These guys were like family to me.
Ashton ran circles with his thumb across the back of my hand and the sparks danced delightfully across my skin. I'd have to put on my sealing ring again soon, but just for these few moments, I wanted to enjoy being me.
I remembered how much I'd feared everyone realizing who I'd become. Those fears seemed so insignificant now. Sure, my change had come as a colossal shock to them, but they all accepted me and that made me so happy.
Another Origin perk was getting to know all of their scents. Jun, who was sitting right beside me, had the most unexpected scent.
"You smell like sunshine," I told him in awe.
I did not expect my comment to be met with guffaws. A roar of laughter rippled through the room. Jun bit back a smile and Kristof disguised his laugh as a cough, but the other three were unapologetically doubled over in laughter.
"Sunshine! She said you smell like sunshine!" Raúl collapsed onto the couch, still howling with laughter.
"What does sunshine even smell like?" Kevin asked, out of breath from laughing his head off.
"He reminds me of sunshine." My cheeks reddened. Was that weird?
"Elizabeth," Ashton managed to say between laughs-yes, even he was making fun of me. "Have you been describing scents so literally this whole time?"
Luca had the scent of patchouli.
Cyrena's scent was a mix of grape soda and hazelnut.
I shook my head, half to erase the imaginary evidence of doing what he suspected, and half to convince Ashton. But I was a terrible liar, and he knew that. The corner of his lip tilted up in a taunting smirk.
"You were describing scents like that."
"I have not."
"Sure, I totally believe you."
"Shut up."
"You said I smelled like cotton candy," I reminded him, and the room erupted in another fit of laughter.
"My queen, I said your scent was similar to cotton candy," Ashton corrected me. "Scents are completely unique but we subconsciously try to link them to something we've experienced before. To me, cotton candy is the closest description, but your scent isn't cotton candy. It's much better than that."
He nuzzled my neck for emphasis and Raúl jokingly told us to go get a room. Of course, Kevin whacked him over the head while Kristof laughed at the scene in front of him.
I crossed my arms with a huff, and Ashton kissed my cheek to console me. "You don't have to stop doing that." He smiled. "It's cute."
"This scent isn't mine." Jun stretched lazily. "I only borrowed it for a bit."
"You borrowed it?" My brows furrowed and confusion settled in my eyes. "How does that work?"
He pointed at the crest of his sweater and my jaw dropped in surprise when I saw the letter embroidered on it. Last Christmas, I'd gifted Micah and Jun matching sweaters to commemorate their new friendship. Micah's had an M on his, while Jun's had a J.
The sweater that Jun was wearing right now had an M stitched onto it. It was weird how I'd never noticed it before now.
"Stealth is important for the kind of work that my squad did. We're not allowed to smell like anything. I take pills that erase my scent and shower with scentless soap. Technically, I don't have a scent right now, so I borrowed Micah's."
Raúl cocked his head to the side, a teasing gleam in his eyes and a smirk on his lips. Kristof's eyes widened as he glanced between Raúl and Jun. I guess Raúl said something through their mind-link group chat.
"I'm going to put you to sleep for a few hours." Jun decided, advancing towards him.
Raúl grinned back tauntingly, completely careless about his well-being. Kevin yanked Jun back before he could shut his friend up.
"We need a plan," Ashton murmured, smoothing my hair and ignoring Raúl and Jun bickering in the background. "Crysauralia is in trouble right now. Prinarch Cole wants to incite the Spade Kingdom... and your father will be looking for you."
"I have an idea," I spoke up and everyone's attention drifted to me.
"Luca is the most powerful Origin around. I plan to go back to the Spade Kingdom to reason with him. No matter what, we have to stop a war from happening. Luca won't back down so easily, but if we get some allies and show him that the Origens want a permanently peaceful resolution, he might change his mind."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Then we also prepare for the worst-case scenario. I'm sure none of us wants a war, but if we're unable to convince Luca and it does come to that, then we need a plan to stop him. We need to find Luca's complement-someone whose unique ability allows them to manipulate darkness."
***
Hey, Lovelies! Thanks for reading!
The guys are here in the Spade Kingdom! Elizabeth is finally reunited with some of her friends. What will their next move be?
For every unique ability, there is another unique ability that is its opposite. Those unique abilities are complements of each other. It's like Yin and Yang. For example, if someone had a unique ability to control light, there would be another unique ability that could control darkness.
Do you think Liz's plan will work?
What will happen next?
Leave a comment and a vote ☆ if you'd like, and I'll see you in the next chapter ❤