Maximus grinned at me, flashing the slightest hint of fang. "Oh, my sweet Mischa. Do not worry yourself. Pretty soon there'll be no world in which Kristoff will exist."
My wolf started to howl, and even baby girl kicked me. Looked like we were all in agreement. Kristoff was living on borrowed time.
Maximus Compass
Our time was up in China. We needed to get back to Stratford. As peaceful as it was here, in the sanctuary of Chan, the ancient healer, I was feeling an urgency to get Mischa and Jessa protected behind the securities of our home town. I knew Kristoff would come for them again, not to mention my brothers were having trouble with the bear shifters.
Braxton had contacted me this morning. They'd had a bit of a tussle outside the town hall. The bears were demanding a representative on the council, despite the fact these leaderships were pre-ordained long before the actual supe took power.
At this stage, the next five leaders who'd step up after us had not been chosen, normal considering we were only in the first month of our twenty-five years, so there was plenty of time to figure out who'd step up next. The way the bears were acting, they were blowing any chance they had of one of their kind getting the role. Leaders were decided by the collective of all the supernatural elders, and this behavior would be taken into account.
Our leadership selection had been a little different. Normally they'd never allow any as young as us to have such power, but being quads, and having our unique bond, allowed us strengths others could never achieve. Still, the bears seemed to think we had cheated our way into our spot, that it was not deserved. But even if that were true, they should know better than to just demand a leadership position. It didn't work that way. Supernaturals could be liberal in a lot of ways, but we respected our leaders. Otherwise they would squash you and not look back. It was time for us to bring the heavy on the bears, time to put them in their place, before anyone got hurt in the midst of their rebellion.
I'd left Mischa a few hours ago to sleep. She was still exhausted, recovering. Scars written across her body and soul. The bond between us had settled in strong and unwavering, except for the small part which prevented us from seeing into each other's mind. Maybe I needed to figure out how to unlock the part of me which was shifter. Or maybe there were still tendrils of the fake mate spell in my soul.
As my thoughts turned to Cardia, flickers of the red vampire haze shrouded my vision. So much made sense now. The unease I'd felt around her. My lack of interest in our relationship, even in the bedroom. The way she'd not responded to the dragon king's call. So many lies. A complete world of lies. It had almost cost me Mischa. What if I hadn't come back to Stratford in time? What if Kristoff had gotten his hands on her and I never knew about my child? I would not make that mistake again. The pain of the bond with Cardia was almost gone now. Whatever spell Kristoff used was wearing off. Her death had freed me.
As screwed up as it was, now every part of me was glad she was dead.
A familiar scent drifted toward me and I turned to find Jessa crossing out of her sister's room. She'd barely left her side while she recovered. Their twin connection was strong and fierce. When she reached me, she wrapped her arms around me in a hug. As I pulled her closer, I thought of all the times I'd wished she was my true mate. Now I couldn't be happier that she wasn't. I loved Jessa, she was my pack, my family, but Mischa held my heart.
Jessa pulled back a little, leaving one arm draped across me. "Braxton contacted me. He said we need to stop in at Sinchin prison before heading back to Stratford. Which will actually work out timing wise – Louis is off dealing with more of the supe smugglers, cracking a few skulls and shit, so he'll not be able to get us until tonight."
"What do we need from the prison?"
She shrugged. "No idea. Apparently he'll contact you soon, when he has more details."
Jessa bounced on the spot a little. "I really can't wait to see Sinchin. I've read the books and seen the pictures, but there's nothing like experiencing the ingenuity in person."
Her enthusiasm had me smiling, a real smile. That had been missing from my life for some time.
"It'll be good to meet the leaders there," I finally said, turning to stare out into the garden again. Chan had it set out in such a peaceful, feng shui design. It encouraged you to stand and stare at it. "We should have done a quick world tour when we were first initiated as council leaders, but everywhere was such a mess that it was postponed for a later date."
Wars don't end when the final battle is over. Rebuilding lives is sometimes harder than the fighting itself. And the supernatural prison world still needed some serious rebuilding.
"I can't quite believe you guys are leaders already. Feels like it got here so fast," Jessa said, her blue eyes huge as she shook her head.
I laughed. "How do you think we feel? I could have done without the few years skip ahead in time. Our community deserves great leaders, and so far we aren't there. We don't know enough, and despite our power we're lacking. We were barely schooled in leadership, management, or supe control. You know we prefer to use our fists to sort out drama, but now we have to be diplomatic and use our words."
Jessa laughed this time, her light chuckles floating into the morning air. "Brax is trying so hard to be diplomatic with the bears, when all he really wants to do is go dragon and rip their guts out."
"They need their guts ripped out," I growled. "Haven't we had enough trouble recently? Why step in now and demand a leadership spot? Why create discord in a community already trying to recover? That's not the sign of a leader."
Jessa nodded. "They're using the argument that you four are not trained, and that you've all been absent quite a lot in the short time you've been leaders. They say you're too young and not experienced enough."
It was always the same. Those who don't like the way things are done try and shout loud enough, hoping someone will hear them and respond. With any luck, it would all be blown over by the time we were back in Stratford.
Jessa had the same thought as she patted me on the arm. "It'll be fine, no one really wants to take you four on, and I know you'd never hand your power to someone else." With a wink she turned away. "I'll go and wake Mischa, tell her we're getting a once in a lifetime chance to see the famous Sinchin prison."
I was looking forward to it too. Sinchin had never lost a prisoner, never had a major incident, and maintained peace better than most around the world. Vanguard was in the top ten, but we could learn a lot here. I just needed to phone my brothers first and find out exactly what we were going there for. I didn't like surprises, not in this sort of instance. Forewarned was forearmed.
The twins were wide-eyed as we took the first steps into the prison community that bordered Shanjoin. It was a mountainous range, like many of our hidden prisons, isolated in the south of China, to the east of the Tibetan Plateau and heading toward the Sichuan Basin.
The locals were expecting us. Many had gathered around the small dome-style huts which comprised their buildings. This community looked quite primitive, no modern buildings or amenities, but magic was thick in the air, which was a pretty huge indication that they were concealing much here.
The air was thinner and I reminded myself to keep a close eye on the girls. With their pregnancies they would have to be careful of the elevation. The fact that supes adjusted to different climates easily was the only reason they were here today.
Hadie, a leader here, had met us at the front of the community. She was taking us to the Sinchin entrance, where we would be greeted by a council member, her vampire mate.
As we followed Hadie, I had to reach out and take Mischa's hand. There was far too little touching going on here. She flashed me a stunned expression before a true smile lit up her face.
"Are you okay?" I was staring but I didn't give a damn. It was the first time I'd seen her out of borrowed bedclothes in some time and she looked absolutely beautiful.
Her dark hair was clear off her face, braided in a single line to her shoulders, giving me an unobstructed view of her clear green eyes. At the moment they reminded me of the ocean on a bright, hot summer day. Her body was rounded with pregnancy, but that only made her appeal greater. That was my child she was carrying. My body virtually hummed with the need to get her naked and relearn every part of her. Our one time together was not even close to being enough. I needed days, months, years. I needed forever.
Her smile grew. "I'm great, thank you. This place is amazing, isn't it?"
She turned away as Jessa started gushing about Sinchin. Both girls were talking a million miles a minute, which gave me some extra time to continue my stalk stare.
The changes in Mischa fascinated me. The female we'd first met last year had been young, skittish, and lacking in confidence. Now she was all woman, exuding poise and security in who she was. Larkspur's daughters would have a hard time taking advantage of this version of Mischa.
Hadie joined in with the girls' chatting, and also introduced many of the townfolk who'd come out to meet us. I was forced to remove my eyes from Mischa and focus on Hadie. She had a heavy Chinese accent, but she spoke carefully so we wouldn't miss a thing. Very courteous and polite, exactly as I expected.