Blood of the Wolf: The Crown (Mackenzie Grey Book 11), Karina Espinosa [top 10 ebook reader txt] 📗

the chill trickling down my spine was from that or from the fear of what Abaddon was capable of. If he could control our minds in that manner, what else could he do?

The next morning, we cut through the hills back to the edge of Caledonian Forest where Loch Lomond was, and just as Fenrir claimed, everything was back to normal. The ground was flat, not a rock or crack out of place. The trees we thought had fallen were standing tall, their leaves blowing in the wind.

“This isn’t normal,” Bash said as we entered the forest on foot, leading our two horses by the reins.

“I wonder if Tripp headed back to the castle when he couldn’t find us?” William mused, taking the rear. Tripp was the name of his horse, the one who bolted in the midst of all of yesterday’s crazy events. All the horses were trained to go back to the castle whenever they were separated from their rider.

I groaned. “I really need some coffee.” I leaned my head against Shadow’s as we walked.

“Decaf,” Bash reprimanded.

“You’re a monster,” I grumbled.

Bash pinched my cheek. “You’re cute when you pout.”

I smacked him. “Oh, yeah? Well, you’re ugly!”

“No I’m not.” He grinned.

“Ugh!” I shouted into the forest, then tugged on Shadow’s reins to move him into a slightly faster walk so I could distance myself from my husband’s smirking face. “I hate you. Leave me alone.”

“So hormonal!” he laughed.

“Fuck you.”

When they both started to laugh, it only pissed me off further. I knew I shouldn’t have coffee, but I needed to find a way to sneak a sip or two. I’d ask Helena. Yeah, she’d definitely help me out.

When we arrived back at the castle, a battalion stood at attention, waiting for us. Ranulf was alerted of our arrival immediately. After leaving the horses at the stables, we walked across the back lawn, trailed by a dozen guards as we crossed the drawbridge into the castle. When we reached the foyer, we met Ranulf and Alexander, who were fuming and looked like they were about to burst an artery. I held up a hand to stop them from whatever speech they were preparing to unleash.

“We got bamboozled,” I started. “Abaddon was screwing with our minds and we got stuck in the highlands overnight. We’re safe though, so no need to have a panic attack over it.”

“No need to have a panic attack?” Alexander fumed, his voice echoing into the foyer. “Do ye know how worried I’ve been all night? I told ye I did nae want ye to go out, but ye don bloody listen!”

All desire to be the bigger person flew out the window. “I’m not a prisoner, Alexander! I understand that I have to be careful, but I also have a duty as Queen. That means I have to leave the castle when the situation warrants it!”

It was a cop-out of an excuse, but there was no way I could be confined to the castle for nine months. I’d go crazy. And anyway, I never would have had the opportunity to speak with Angus if I hadn’t gone to Loch Lomond. There were some things I just had to do myself.

“All the guards except for William are excused,” Ranulf dismissed the guards around us. With a bow, they all dispersed, leaving us alone in the foyer. “It’s better if we discuss this in the Queen’s Chambers.”

Without another word, we went upstairs to the Royal Wing, leaving William outside to stand guard at the door. As we took seats in the common room, I slumped on the sofa beside Bash, resting my head on his shoulder and closing my eyes. This was all so stressful. My life was one big drama after another.

“What did ye find out?” Ranulf asked, not bothering to let Alexander continue his rant.

Bash answered, “The fae didn’t make a deal with Abaddon; it was someone in the MacCoinnich family line. We need to figure out who it was, what they promised, and why.”

“What? That’s impossible!” Alexander exclaimed. “I would have known.”

I opened my eyes and lifted my head. “Would you? I mean, what if this was before your time?”

“Many first borns have been born throughout our family, so I don’t understand what deal could have been made that would apply specifically to you and your child,” Alexander mused. “My da would have told me, or my grandda.” He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, making that single curl flop over his forehead.

“Has anyone in your line ever been born with fae magic in their blood?” Bash asked. “This seems like a rather unique situation.”

“But how would my forefathers know to make that sort of deal?” Alexander asked. “I don understand.”

I straightened and held up a hand. “Wait a minute. Didn’t the fae Queen, Drusilla have a relationship with a MacCoinnich? She gave him something … like, blessed his family line, right?”

Alexander’s gray eyes widened in realization. “Your great-great-great grandda, Conall MacCoinnich! He was in a relationship with Drusilla and she blessed our lineage, but their relationship ended when Conall found his Anam Aonachd—his soulmate. He’s the last lycan to have been blessed with an Anam before ye and Sebastian. It’s very rare.”

“Did we ever find out exactly what that blessing meant?” I raised a brow, looking at the others.

Alexander shook his head. “Everyone just assumed it was a blessing that bestowed our power, the same one I transferred to ye on the day of yer coronation. But when ye developed yer oracle abilities, I realized it was more than that.”

“What if one of my grandfathers knew more and made a deal in exchange for something?” I asked. “We need to look through our family history.”

“Everything is detailed in the library by the archivist. None of the family logs are allowed to be checked out, so if it exists, it’s there,” Ranulf claimed.

“Good.” I nodded. “I have a meeting with the Summits this afternoon, but we should start