Queen of Death

Chapter 8

Happy New Year!
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Solana

"Should we expect another medieval greeting when we arrive this time? I just want to make sure I'm dressed appropriately," Dean asks only half seriously. They've all seen how unpredictable my family's greetings can be — anywhere from a smile and hug to outright war, and everything in between.

"They should already know we're coming," Tate says nonchalantly, closing his laptop and tucking it away in his backpack. "I sent them an encrypted and coded message through the Underdark so nothing could track us to this location."

"Gods, now I know we're definitely going to die." Dean teases his brother and I can't resist the grin that lifts the corners of my mouth. Tate doesn't dignify his brother's comments with a response, but I catch his eyes mid roll and my grin widens.

"Xander is usually up with my parents by 5am so there's still some hope that he's had time to find this message, de-encrypt it, and decode it. But then again there is a reason why women rule our colony." I'm partially joking but it is fun to wind up the guys. Like now as Dean and I scramble out of our chairs and are standing off against one another separated by the dinner table.

"Claws away, Princess," Ace smiles against my forehead and gives me a chaste kiss. "We could always port into the tunnel and call them from there."

"Why are we dismissing the gauntlet option so soon? I for one would love to see you all roll the dice and show up in the palace unannounced." Hunter's impish grin is infectious as he pulls me into his arms.

"Because if they barge in and find you then we'll have a whole new host of problems on our hands." Ace looks pointedly at Hunter.

"I'd hate to kill the mood," Tate says casually to our group, "but they got the message. Xander wants to know what time we'll be arriving."

"You're sure? What was the message you sent?" Tate bristles at Eli's questioning. Obviously perturbed by his lack of blind confidence.

"I told them that the summer Solstice would be on the 5th. As in, the five of us including Sol and minus Hunter will be arriving. They want to know what time sunrise will be, meaning what time are we arriving? Satisfied?" Tate all but snarls at Eli.

Not that we needed it, but we have clearance to port into the Grove. More specifically the Palace. Now it's just a matter of where we should land. I trust that my family and the staff have poured through the rooms on my floor and made sure that they were safe and pristine. But the fact remains that someone has already slipped past their ranks and into my bedroom. Someone none of us thought of as a threat, which means they must have been extremely close to our inner circle.

That's the thought that gives me pause.

We need a place to port into initially that is safe to leave Hunter in, and then we need to port out of there and into my mother's office.

"Drop me off in the guest room on your floor. No one is expecting me to be there, so I can make sure the room remains secure," Hunter gestures for the guys to group up and as soon as Eli finally saunters over to us, Ace ports us away from our tiny piece of paradise and back home to the Grove.

***

"I'll never not prefer the mountains," Dean says wistfully as he looks around over the Grove from the balcony of their guest bedroom.