Loving Madness

46. Spirit Walkers

Mr. Brightside- The Killers

We began to keep guards up around the clock. No one came in or out of the castle without Siobhan's or my direct order. It was rigid and tense all the time in the castle. The five of us shared our mind link all the time to make sure nothing was missed. It also helped with the baseline anxiety staying to a minimum. Whatever was down there had scared the shit out of all of us and seemed to suck the energy slowly out of everything in the castle.

Mason stayed mad and kept his thoughts to himself. He was infuriating and wouldn't speak to me. Kurt began to get pissed off at him as well, simply for causing me distress. We were all in a cold war of sorts, us against him. Sebastian seemed eager to throw hands with Mason, which could have been hot, but not in this situation. Siobhan had automatically made Xavier her second in command and he was amazing at it. He jumped at the chance to do anything and reminded all of us of a loyal golden retriever. There was never a moment he was exhausted, just happy to serve. I wondered idly if he was a sub, liking that image of him and Mason growled at me. Tensions had reached an all-time high by that point, so I snapped when he growled at me.

"What the fuck is your problem Mason?" I finally scream across the war planning table. He looks at me in shock and begins to get up. Kurt is as shocked as Mason, and Sebastian is sitting there with a smirk on his face. He knew the dark part of me would not allow me to stay silent for long. "Absolutely not! You will stay here and address whatever your problem is now. I've given you your space and made sure you know how much I love you, but you continue to ignore me and then you growl at me? For wondering if Xavier was a sub?" He continues to walk away and I scream after him, "If you walk out that door, I swear to god you will be nothing more than a Guard to me. I will reject you as my mate."

I am angry and hurt and probably don't mean it, but it just slips out. He turns around quickly, staring at me with hurt on his face and I immediately regret the words. He stalks towards me angrily and then passes me into the room that I had begun thinking of as our room and I know he wants me to follow him. I follow him quickly, everyone in the room still frozen in shock. He tells me discreetly to close off my mind link for a moment and I do.

The door closes behind me and I am being shoved against the wall by my throat. I feel anger and arousal flowing off of him and I know he is having trouble regulating himself.

"There was a member of your Guard who knew about a traitor and didn't tell you. On top of all that, you're letting him stay there? I could have killed him right then and there and you let him stay on your Guard?" He wraps his free arm around my waist and crushes me against him. His lips crash into mine in a crazed way and I melt against him. I know I shouldn't be worried about this right now, but I can't help myself. He invades all my senses and makes both of us forget everything. "I trust you, but I don't trust your self-preservation levels. You're so worried about everyone else, including us, that you don't think to take care of yourself."

He lets go of my throat and wraps my legs around his waist. I lose myself in him and continue to fall as he ravishes my throat and upper chest.

"I don't think you realize how deadly serious I am when I say more than my own life to you three. Besides, I know you're mad. I'm not giving him another chance, I want him close. I'm not defenseless. Siobhan knows and he won't ever get off probation. He will get bitter and that's when he will slip up." I gasp in between breaths. The devious plot I had revealed to him only turns him on more, but I push against his chest. "As much as I hate myself for saying this, we can't right now, Sir. The Spirit Walkers will be here any moment. I already look like I've been beaten. Besides, the longer we wait, the crazier it will get later." I draw my finger down his chest seductively and finish my statement quietly in his ear. "We could play a game, Sir. We see who can tease the other the most, discreetly, and if someone gets caught, they lose."

He raises his eyebrows at me and I see the wheels turning. "Be prepared to lose baby girl." He sets me down gently and kisses me softly.

"I'm counting on it." He grabs my hand and leads me from the room. I quickly straighten myself up and everyone in the room has no reaction. This was normal, this was comfortable. I had found my people and I couldn't be luckier. I swell with pride and let it slide through the mind link to them. Blushes pulse around the room and the mood brightens a bit.

I had learned a lot about the Spirit Walker since Xavier's first drop of the word. They were rare in our world, the prevailing theory on that aspect was that not many spirits could handle the intensity of the power so there weren't many people who could carry it. They could leave their physical body and float around without being seen or heard. Their presence that most could sense was part of their physical body. They were undetectable to any one of our species. The second biggest hurdle we faced is how untrusting they were. They could be killed while in spirit form, with no way to defend themselves. They don't trust people with their bodies and I completely understand that.

A group of women burst through the throne room's doors and immediately bow upon entrance. There are five in total and for some reason, all look related. Siobhan informs me that they located a family of the Spirit Walkers and they were the only ones who agreed to hear us out.

"Hello, all! Thank you so much for coming please," I gesture to the table and have someone bring out some tea. "have a seat."

They all sit, stone-faced, staring smoothly at me. I think they are ignoring me until I realize they aren't speaking out loud.

'Your Majesty,' The oldest of the group says politely in my head. 'it's an honor to be here.' She is beautiful and has an air of authority that intimidates even me.

'Please, Call me Mayslee.' I give her a pleasant smile.

'Let's get to business, shut down your mind link to everyone else please.' I look around at everyone, their expressions ranging from indifferent to irritated to suspicious. Mason simply nods at me and I trust him. He would kill me for doing something that could put me in harm's way. If he is okay with it, they can be trusted. I shut the mind link completely to everyone except the four women in front of me.

She is serious and a nasty feeling settles in my stomach. I feel nervous about what she has to say and I know it will be something I don't want to hear.

'I need you to control your face Mayslee. Do not react in any way to the information I'm about to give you.' I keep my expression neutral and she continues. 'The woman you work with, Siobhan, her mate, how much do you know of him?' I think about it for a moment and realize all I know is that he is a teacher and his name. 'Have you ever noticed how he just seems so boring and unimportant? How every time you look at him, he seems to just slip away without your mind even acknowledging him?' I struggle to keep my composure and close my eyes so no one can see the jumble of emotions that cross them. 'You see, we don't come without doing investigating of our own. I know what's down there. I also know who is feeding it, taking care of it.'

I am hit with a memory, one that will haunt me for the rest of my life. Cody is dragging an old man down the stairs of the castle. The same stairs we fled the other day. I can only see his back, but it's definitely him. We round the corner to the cavern where Serena was killed and I watch in horror as he throws the old man at something in the corner. I say something because I don't know what it is. It could have been a man, but it was so far deformed, I'd say it's been a while since it was a man. It has skin in some places, others it is just falling off. The odor coming from this thing is unreal and makes my eyes water. It is deceptively fast and strong and the old man is literally dissolved into the glob of the things middle. Pus falls from areas that I didn't know pus could fall from. Its eyes were black and when I reach its hair I want to puke. There's only a small tuft of it, but big enough to see that it is an exact match for Siobhan's. I realize with horror that this thing, once upon a time, was Siobhan's father.