Winter's War Page 9

  “Have I ever told you that the Goddess shows me the past in my dreams sometimes?” I ask him.

  “No, you have not,”

  “In the past, all supernaturals lived together in the castle. In peace,” I say, knowing that this has worked for the supernaturals in the past, and it will work again. We just need to put our differences aside and work towards our future.

  “Can I ask you a favour?” he asks as we walk down the corridor, and he stops us at the top of the stairs. The stairs are lined with flowers, all white, and have been tied to the bannister. Someone has even tied fairy lights around the bannister in-between the flowers and the effect is amazingly beautiful.

  “You can ask, but I can’t guarantee I will be able to help,” I reply, knowing as a queen my word is not something I can just hand out to anyone. I’ve come a long way since I first met everyone, and since then, there is a lot of responsibility resting with me.

  “My son Josh, is a half and what he is . . . well I don’t want anyone ever knowing. Especially, not him,” Lucifer tells me, and I look up at him.

  “Why not?” I ask, because I don’t believe in anyone not knowing who they are, what they are. My own past and who I am was kept from me, and that nearly killed a lot of people.

  “Because it would destroy him,” he tells me, his dark eyes watching me, and I don’t know what to say to him.

  “Did you love his mother?” I finally ask.

  “No, my sister loved his father,” he tells me, and it starts to make some sense now. I know angels only mate to one person, so having a child with another would have to have happened after he was mated. I know this does happen because of what Dabriel told me of his father and his siblings.

  “So, he isn’t yours?” I ask gently.

  “No, but no one can ever know that. My mate, well she dislikes Josh but won’t ever tell the secret of where he came from. She was bound by my sister before my sister died in childbirth. Angel births are difficult to survive, and with who his father is . . .,” his sentence drifts off when some witches in cloaks walk past us, stopping to bow at me before going down the stairs.

  “What is it you wish from me?” I ask him gently when they are gone, understanding that this is big for him to tell me. I have the feeling he never told anyone other than his mate this.

  “If I die in this war, protect him as your own. Tell him that his parents are both alive but in a place no one can return from. That they could only be together that way.”

  “But, you said his mother died?”

  “She did,” he tells me, and I just don’t understand what he is saying. If she is dead, how is she with her partner?

  “That doesn’t make sense,” I say.

  “I can’t, I can’t tell you anymore . . .,” he says firmly, but the slight quiver in his tone suggests he wants to tell me more.

  “You’re blood bound,” I say, realising straight away why he can’t tell me. This must have been what it was like for Jaxson not to say anything about Freddy.

  “I will protect him, if I can,” I tell Lucifer, who takes a deep breath at my words.

  “And, I will protect you on the battlefield and your mates, My Queen,” he says and nods his head at me before starting to walk us down the stairs. When we get to the bottom, there is a mixture of people standing around, all in white or black with their heads bowed. Some in cloaks, and some are in wolf form. The very presence of all these supernaturals, standing together to crown the angel king and queen is amazing. We walk down the path way in the middle of them, which is sprinkled with white rose petals on the floor, as I look around the entrance hall. We eventually get outside, where I see my mates all standing together, one after the other next to an archway of white and black roses. My eyes run over all of them. Wyatt, Jaxson, and Atti have black shirts and black trousers on, with white roses pinned on the pockets. Dab has a white shirt and black trousers, with a black rose pinned on him. They all look extremely handsome as they stand there and all I can think of is how good they look without their clothes, too. After getting my hormones in check, we walk down the pathway and Lucifer lets go of my arm, handing it to Dabriel.

  Dabriel pulls me close to him, whispering as he brushes his lips against my ear, “You look so beautiful, Winter.”

  I blush, and he smiles as he pulls away from me to face the old angel standing under the arch. I walk forward with Dabriel, remembering this angel is called Gabriel and the last light angel on the council to survive the battle. I haven’t spoken to him much, just a little with Dabriel, but he comes across as firm. The angel has long, grey hair, which I’m sure was white when he was younger and large wings, much like Dabriel’s. His light-purple eyes watch me and he smiles as he starts to speak.

  “Thank you to everyone that came here today to witness the crowning of the King of the Angels, and his Queen. I never expected to crown a king like this, with not only angels, but witches, wolves, and vampires to watch. I feel this is how we will survive from now on, united together against a war that threatens us all. We need our royals to win this, for it’s what the prophecy told us, and the only way I feel we will win,” he says, and cheers follow his words through the crowd. Gabriel walks over and picks a crown out of a box that a male angel holds behind the arch before walking back over. Dabriel lets go of my hand to kneel down and lower his head.

  “I crown King Dabriel, King of the Angels.”

  The cheers that follow Dabriel being crowned are so loud I’m sure the world can hear them and seem to go on for a long time as Dabriel stands up, his purple eyes glowing. The crown is just as powerful as the others, with white, almost silver stones inside the silver swirls. I pull my gaze away when Dabriel links our hands and holds them up in the air.

  “Queen Winter!” Dabriel shouts, and then everyone shouts my name back, the sound filling the outside. The angel ceremony is far simpler than the vampire one, the crown seems to be important to them. I look over to see Jaxson and Atti with their crowns on and the absence of Wyatt’s crown is noticeable. I don’t feel you need a crown to rule, you can rule on your own.

  “We will win this,” Dabriel whispers as he lowers our hands and slides his other hand onto the back of my head, kissing me. I hope he will win this too, and that the price isn’t too high to do so.

  16

  Winter

  “I should come,” I hear Freddy say, a slight growl slipping in with the words. I walk around the corner, and see Freddy arguing with both Jaxson and Wyatt. I have to admire Freddy, he is standing up to both of them, holding his ground. There isn’t a lot of people who would do that at his age, but also, he is going to be a handful when he is older.

  “It’s not safe for you,” Wyatt responds firmly, his hands on his hips as he stares down his son.

  “It’s not safe for Winter, but she gets to go. You need me there; I’m a half, and they might actually talk to you if they know you look after me and don’t care,” Freddy points out, making a valid point. I don’t want to take him with us. It will be dangerous, but I know we could easily protect him with all of us there. Not to mention he can look after himself, too. We need to convince these people, we will need them to save everyone and stand a chance.

  “He has a point,” I say walking over, and they both look down at me. I hate being short sometimes, next to all these tall guys. Freddy is even growing and is now about my height.

  “Not happening, lass,” Jaxson says, shaking his head. Stubborn wolf.

  “I will protect him, so will you and Wyatt. Atti and two other witches are coming as well,” I point out. It only takes seconds for any of the three witches coming to bounce Freddy out of there.

  “I’m not using my nephew as bait,” Jaxson says, shaking his head at me.

  “I wouldn’t ever do that, Jaxson.” I snap back, and his face drops,

  “Sorry. I just can’t lose him, not after everything, and my wolf doesn’t like it,” Jaxson says. I walk over to him and rest my head on his shoulder. I get it, everything is
beyond stressful at the moment.

  “I’m suggesting that I’ve seen Freddy fight, and all of you are very powerful. There is no way we would let anything happen to him, but we need these halfs to talk to us. Freddy may be the best chance. No offense, but all of you guys are scary and intimidating. Bringing Freddy may just help us,” I tell him, and he looks at Freddy, who has a long sword strapped to his back and the same determination on his face that his dad and uncle always have. I don’t want to take him, but I don’t think we have much of a choice. The war is five days away, only five. Every time I go to sleep, I beg for a dream, or for my family to come to me, but it’s not working. I haven’t spoken to Elissa or my mum since the dream before I was taken. I need to talk to them because I know the prophecy is coming true, and the price is my life. I need to be certain it’s me that is paying this price. I feel more than ever, like I’m missing something.

  “Fine, but you stay by a witch and my side the whole time,” Wyatt says, with Jaxson nodding in agreement.

  “Awesome,” Freddy says with a big grin aimed at me, before running over to Atti and the two witches chatting by the door.

  “You ready for this?” Wyatt asks as he comes closer and holds my hand. I look over at him, seeing the vampire I love, but he looks beyond hot today with his sword on his back and the suit he has on.

  “To try and convince a load of people that have hidden from us, for years, to fight for me? Yeah sure. It’s just like convincing Alex that salad is a real food,” I say, making him and Jaxson laugh. I’ve never actually seen Alex eat a salad, she doesn’t need to, apparently. I know if I didn’t force myself to eat a salad at times, I would be huge.

  “I heard you’re going to be an auntie,” Wyatt says gently.

  “So are you, you know Drake sees you as a brother,” I remind him.

  “Maybe,” Wyatt says, but a flash of pain flies over his face. It’s gone quickly when he blanks his expression. I go to ask him what happened there when Atti distracts me.

  “Time to leave,” Atti says as he walks over and wraps his arms around my waist, kissing my cheek. I laugh as I feel him use his power and move us. When we reappear, it’s at an old building in the middle of a forest I’ve never been to. Atti lets me go slightly when Jaxson and Wyatt appear with one witch and Freddy with another. The witches have their hoods up, so I don’t know who they are.

  “Why here?” I ask again as I look around. Atti said the halfs never came to meet them when Josh called them. They placed a message asking to meet and an address in their minds. It really bothered Atti because he couldn’t see where they were. I think he is just curious about how powerful these halfs are.

  “It was part of their agreement. We couldn’t exactly say no, as it would be a sign that we don’t trust them,” Atti tells me, and I agree. He has a point, but I still don’t like where they have chosen to meet us. I jump when a ward appears around us and the house. It’s white and large enough to spread up to the trees, but I can’t see who is making it. My mates move closer to me, just before the door to the house is opened.

  “You are right not to trust strangers, witch King,” a voice says, and I watch as three people come out from inside the house. One is an angel, with dyed-blonde hair and large, black wings. She has on a mini, black top and worn jeans, showing off her stomach. She is extremely beautiful, but the slightly cruel smirk on her lips suggests I shouldn’t trust her. The other two are sisters, I would guess, with brown hair and matching, blue eyes. Atti told us that someone called Mila and Soobeen would be meeting us, they told them the names in the brief conversation they had. I couldn’t tell the twins apart, not as I look between them. They both have worn tops on, and leggings underneath. The main thing I can see is how thin they are. It’s not a natural thinness either, their cheeks are too hollow, and I have a feeling they aren’t well.

  “I’m guessing one of you is Soobeen and the other Mila?” Jaxson asks, stepping closer to Freddy when all three of them ignore us to stare at him. Freddy holds his head high, meeting each one of their gazes and doesn’t show any fear. It’s really good to see him so strong with everything that is planned for us.

  “The rumours are true, sister, they really do have a half in the royal family,” one of the sisters says, and the other one nods. It’s extremely difficult to tell them apart at this point.

  “I’m Soobeen, and this is my sister Mila. This is Chesca,” Soobeen introduces her, and her eyes lock with mine for a moment before she looks back at Freddy. I glance at the angel called Chesca, who gives me a small smirk as she tilts her head to the side and then looks at my mates. When she winks at Jaxson, my power automatically comes out, and I step forward without realising I’ve done so.

  “Please ignore Chesca, she is half succubus demon, and flirting is in her blood. She won’t touch your mates, Queen Winter,” Mila tells me firmly, a worried look crossing her face. It doesn’t surprise me that the angel is a demon of some sorts.

  “Winter, it’s okay,” Atti whispers and puts an arm around my waist as I try to calm my powers and myself down. All I can think about is ripping the angel’s wings out for flirting with my mate.

  “Behave,” Soobeen tells Chesca who sighs but looks away from us all to look at her nails.

  “I will speak to the Queen and the half boy, alone,” Soobeen says, and Jaxson’s growl is all that needs to be said on the matter.

  “Give us a minute,” I say loudly, and Soobeen nods at me, understanding that I need to talk to them about this. We all walk back off into the woods a little, close to the ward.

  Jaxson says, “There is no fucking way I’m letting you and Freddy go in there alone.”

  “We don’t have much choice. I don’t want to, but I’m not weak, and I saw the fear in their eyes when my powers came out. I don’t think we are a threat to them. Look at how they are dressed, how thin they all are. I think they need our help as much as we need theirs.”

  “I will protect her, too,” Freddy says and comes to stand next to my side.

  “They have fifteen minutes, and then I’m coming to get you.” Atti pulls me closer to him, kissing my cheek. “Until then, I can speak in your mind,” Atti whispers the end part just for me.

  “I don’t like it,” Jaxson says.

  “Neither do I, but I trust Winter and Freddy. I’ve seen them both fight and know they can do this,” Wyatt says, and I see Freddy give him a strange look. It almost looked respectful.

  “At the end of the day, if they kill me, the demon king wins, and they will never be safe because you would all kill them. The demon king doesn’t want me dead, so even if they are working for him, they won’t kill me. I will shout in my mind for you if I sense the demon king, but I don’t think he is stupid enough to fight you all out in the open like this,” I say, knowing it’s true.

  “I would love to fight the bastard,” Atti says.

  “That’s the point, he won’t fight you alone. He is a coward that hides behind his army. If he wanted to fight you, he could have done so easily in the castle, but he didn’t, he came for me when I was alone,” I say, and Jaxson pulls me into a hug when I step away from Atti.

  “Fifteen minutes,” he says and kisses me gently. Wyatt and Atti nod at me as I hold Freddy’s hand and walk over to the sisters and Chesca. The closer I get to them, the more I feel like I can trust them for some reason. I don’t get why it is, and it’s not something I can explain to my mates. There’s just something.

  “You have fifteen minutes,” I tell them, and Mila nods at me in response. They all look between each other for a second, but I see it.

  “Sure,” she says and walks into the old ruined house. The house looks like it could be blown away any minute, and the inside isn’t any better. There is nothing inside, other than a burnt-out fireplace and a massive, red rug that’s covered in dirt and burnt in places. It stinks of smoke in here, making me wonder if there was a fire recently. I watch as Soobeen pushes the old rug across the floor, and Mila opens a hidden door
in the floor. The loud creaking of the door is the only sound, and it’s eerily quiet.

  “This place looks like the Shrieking Shack,” Freddy whispers.

  “It does,” I whisper back, wondering why the place looked familiar to me.

  “This isn’t a book about witches, little boy,” Chesca snaps before walking down the steps in the trap door.

  “I know,” Freddy says but smirks at me. I try not to laugh at his attitude.

  “Come,” Mila says and walks down the steps, with Soobeen holding the door open. I walk in first, making Freddy walk behind me, and take the steps down to the dark room below. The steps are lit up by small fires in sconces on the walls, and the steps are pure stone. There isn’t anything to hold on to as I take each deep step, and it takes everything in me not to trip up. I could just imagine tripping over and crashing into Chesca in front of me. I doubt she would take it well.

  “Everything okay?” Atti asks in my mind, almost making me jump and fall down the steps like I was thinking about.

  “Dammit,” I mutter out loud.

  “Be careful, Queen Winter. The steps are difficult down here until you know how to walk down,” I hear Chesca say, and the sarcasm in her voice is overwhelming.

  “So far, so good,” I think, but know he can’t hear me, and I feel a little stupid until I remember he actually asked me a question, so it’s natural to answer.

  “I can hear you when you project your thoughts like that, it’s a witch mating thing,” Atti says, with almost a laugh.

  “Then we are walking down a creepy, underground staircase, and I’m trying not to pull the annoying angel’s hair out,” I tell him, and I can hear his laughter in my head for a little while as I concentrate on walking down. I feel Freddy place his hand on my back a few times, the steps are just as large for him to walk down, and it’s comforting to know he is okay despite me not really being able to see him.