The Touch of Salvation

05: How Strong Are You?

ADALIND

The room is a pool of toxicity as the Regents discuss their negotiations with one another. The representatives of Graceland are also present. I haven't looked at Goliath. I can't bring myself to.

I do not command much attention, I simply exist here. I'm more so a political figurehead than anything else, but I have accepted this role.

No one was threatened by me. No one threatened me. I got the resources that I wanted when I needed and if they disagreed with me they were too arrogant to realize that I could play the political game better than them. I always got what my kingdom needed, and I received a modicum of respect.

I didn't need to be seen as omnipotent. I didn't need to be seen as fearsome.

"Adalind, perhaps you shall find more comfort in the library?"

Ah, yes. I am a Lady and as one, they try to remove me from vicious discussions. I nod, knowing well that Lucian and Daario would remain while my other bodyguards would travel with me to the library. Honestly, I don't desire to listen to these dull conversations. They could war among themselves and destroy their kingdoms, I wouldn't care. As I stand, I bow once in respect and leave, finding the library easily as I have been here often.

There are five men with me, all of which have been acutely trained in combat. They all trained me as well, but everyone knew that I could not be gravely injured or else it would end my life. I could not withstand wounds as they could. My weakness that not anyone outside of my brigade knew about.

I grab a book and seat myself on the couch.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

GOLIATH

My eyes follow after her on their own accord as she floats out of the room. She didn't seem like a woman to back down, at least not when she was within our lands, yet here she was, leaving the war discussion to the others.

Daario's eyes are on me when I remove my eyes from her. He knows. He knows I want her. I want her more than I want to breathe sometimes.

Today she decided to wear a pink gown today with a matching cape that trails behind her. She always wore revealing outfits. They weren't as revealing as the gown she wore within Ophir's palace, but nonetheless, men were awed by her.

It made me mad.

I shift in my seat - a futile attempt to force my dick to relax once more. I couldn't look at her without myself growing hard for her.

Lux's eyes fall on me as if she knows what I am thinking. I force my eyes away from her. The conversation drones on. Thirty minutes later, I freeze next to Demise as noise comes from outside the meeting hall. Demise looks at me, confused, just as I am. I stand, the hairs on my neck standing.

"We must leave." I say, realizing the nose is the sound of swords unsheathing. "Now," I growl, reaching for Grace's hand. She was my Queen and her mate was my closest friend. I would always protect her. Demise trusted her life with me.

"What is it?" Kallum asks. The fae do not have the heightened senses that lycanthropes do.

"Are you expecting others?"

"What?" His forehead wrinkles in confusion. "Of course no-"

He's interrupted by the red smoke billowing into the hall. A man stands. "Some of you have been stealing from my lands," he says.

Grace is standing behind Demise and me now. Her heart is racing as she looks at the male. I can tell by the sigil on his black leathers that he is from House Ares. Even worse, he is a moradarthian and is well aware that we have been smuggling children out of his lands. We would never admit that, though.

Alastair, the Regent of Hous Ares, stands, unphased. "Leave now and you won't face consequences later."

"You have allowed us to do as we please. We have agreed to this. You cannot break your contract. We want reparations," the man says, sighing deeply. "And the only way we see it fit is if you give us a person that is worth all the children you have taken," he says at no one in particular. "We want the strongest person here."

My eyes immediately go to Demise, but Lucian and Daario freeze.

"Adalind," Lucian whispers before taking off with Daario following. Bodies portal into the room, filling it with moradarthians who have their weapons drawn.

My heart falls into my stomach as I realize that Adalind is alone somewhere in the palace with a warrior race infiltrating. Two things cross my mind simultaneously, 1. I must get to Adalind and 2. I must get Grace and Demise out.

I don't consult them as I surround them in shadow and shadow-walk them to our lands.

I cut through the first two moradarthians easily. They were excellent fighters and they did give me a challenge, but I was the Beta of the Lycanthrope Kingdom. I was the commander of wolves. My mind is silent as I climb up the stairs. The downfall of my gift is that I can only transport through shadows if I have already been there. I have never been very far in this palace. I follow the sounds of men fighting.

When I come to the large door at the end of the hallway, I push it open, revealing my Adalind held against the wall, her leg slung around the shoulder of Daario who is holding her high. Bodies lay in the library, dead.

Before I can process my actions, my hand grips Daario's neck and throws him across the room. I hardly hear the crash of his body against the wall as Adalind falls from the wall and into my arms. Her hands fall onto my shoulders, her fingers gently caressing my neck.

Fuck.

She's breathing heavily, wild alert eyes locked onto mine. My hands hold onto her waist, keeping her feet off the ground. She's breathless, and then she gasps as if she's now just realizing the position we are in; her body against the wall, mine against hers. Her skin against mine.

"Are you alright?" I didn't try to keep my tone apathetic.

She nods, and then I place her onto her feet. I'm hard, I realize as I pull away from her. Taking note of any other noises in the palace, I walk to the door to return back to my home. I stop as I realize.

"You said Adalind." Turning to face the men, I say again. "You said Adalind. When he said he wanted the strongest person here, you said Adalind."

I take the silence as evidence of something grander occurring.

"She's a Regent," Lucian says. A shitty explanation.

Lux comes through the door, her breath slightly labored. Her eyes shift between everyone. She inhales and then freezes as if she knows exactly what is going on.

"So are eleven other men in his palace. For fucks sake, Demise was here," I grit. "What aren't you telling me?"

Adalind plays with her hands in front of her and then slowly walks toward me. She doesn't come closer than I am comfortable with. "I am their Queen," she says. "I was not with them. They're trained to always come after me."

I look at her with disbelief in her words. My eyes go to Daario and then Lucian. I know there is more to the story. I know they are hiding something. "Demise is the strongest person to ever exist. He is death itself." I pause as another crumb of information crosses my mind. "Before Ophir fell, Demise told me you broke his Alpha Command. How could you do that? No one can break that command. No one," I say, my eyes falling on the woman that made herself seem weaker than she might be. "How strong are you?"

She swallows, her eyes blinking her nerves away. She says, barely above a whisper, "very."