Chapter 21

[x] indicates inner dialogue

Gabriel's eyes trailed Nyline as she vaulted over the retaining wall without looking back. He couldn't have asked for a better mate, well almost mate. She hadn't chosen him yet, but he sure as hell hoped that she did. Or at least was able to be happy with her uncle. On that topic he felt really torn. He knew that she wouldn't be allowed to keep both, which is something he didn't understand and would have to ask Jonathan about it later. His eyes moved to Damien right as his scout, Jake, hooked his arm around his waist and vanished with his movement skill as well.

Right as he turned, he paused, his eyes going back to where Nyline had been. Emotions were flooding their bond and he could tell that she felt like her heart was being ripped out. Concerned he focused on her, allowing his eyes to look through hers. In her hands was a scout's blade, the leather covering very old but well taken care of. His heart dropped as he heard the echoes of her mind as she started to ask all the questions that were for Jonathan and not him. He pulled his mind from hers and looked up at the large general class daemon that was currently following Nyline with its eyes, tracking the source of the aether.

Two fingers pressed against his neck and he heard the tail end of one of Dashiner and Adrenell's bets, which he could only roll his eyes at them. Now wasn't the time for bets, but if they weren't betting on something than he would think something was wrong.

["Dashiner, Shanell, take the one out on the roof."] He paused as their movement filled his ears. ["Bets? On my mate?"] His voice sounded amused as he looked sideways at Adrenell who was looking sheepish.

["Oh, just the usual."] Dashiner laughed. ["You want in boss?"]

["No, I think this is one set of bets I'd rather not put states on."] His voice trailed off as he watched the General daemon get sliced into three pieces. He crossed his arms over his chest, his heart falling slightly. He couldn't place bets on if she would stay in Vaccoon or go with Damien right now. That was just… he sighed turning his attention to his other scouts. Aether pooled at his feet and shot off across Nyline's. Her aether was like a map that he could easily use to see the surrounding area without issue.

Dashiner landed next to him in his daemon form and Gabriel only glanced at the Okami darkling, which had shadows that looked like shaggy fur. He knew that his underbelly would be a light brown color. Shanell on the other hand was a Kitsune darkling, they were hard to see but she had dark purple tiger stripes that ran across her entire body.

["Adrenell northwest quadrant, Dashiner southwest, Shanell you're going directly south and trying to clear the path in front of Nyline. We're going north east."] He let out a breath, ["Don't let them get close to her."] His voice had a sharp bite to the words as all of his scouts shifted. Adrenell was Okami, she was extremely fluffy, with orange leopard spots on her shoulders and hip joints.

["Think she can fight?"] Dashiner spoke to Adrenell.

["Well, she was raised by a scout."]

["So that's a yes?"] Gabriel rolled his eyes as they finished their bet and agreed on a back massage as the reward. His mind went back to when they were chasing her. He wasn't entirely sure, but he had been pretty sure that she had used influence on his scouts back then with the whole butterfly comment. So, in the event that she couldn't fight, he was sure that she could at least use that. Or just run. There were options for her, and he had faith in her abilities, even if his scouts weren't sure at this point.

Delta shifted and he saw her kitsune daemon with a single brown streak that went from the bridge of her nose all the way to the very tip of her tail.

Gabriel's eyes took one last look around the large garden right as a cloud passed over the moon, showing the life that his mate had created.

["It's beautiful isn't it?"] His eyes connected with Delta's yellow ones as she spoke with her tail against his neck. He smiled softly at her.

"Yeah, she is…" His words were spoken aloud as he took one large breath in before he turned, used his movement skill and shot over the castle wall. He could shift, but it was rather unneeded. Out of all of his scouts, he had always been the strongest but that was just how the royal family worked, they were just a higher daemon rank.

His mind went back to Nyline, she was running as fast as she could her eyes trained on John the entire way. They were about halfway to the airship and moving fast. Which was good. There were more daemon's showing up as the seconds ticked by and this needed to be quick so that they didn't lose anyone on their end

Turning back around he saw the first daemon appear and he sliced the lupine shape straight though the stomach throwing the body to the side. He didn't have to glance down to know that his hands were now large black paws with blue streaks, the claws sticking out as he flexed. Delta threw another one against a tree and he heard a sharp crack before it fell to the ground, motionless. Delta's tail pressed against his neck as they paused in their movements.

["Report."] His mind was only half on the conversation as he used the aether to search for where the mass was coming from. No matter how hard he focused, he couldn't tell where the origin point was.

["The northwest is clear, not many coming from this direction,"] Adrenell reported.

["I forgot something at the castle, but I cleared the entire southwest area before heading back."] Dashiner spoke softly.

["That's fine, get it and get back to your station."] His mind distracted he couldn't even think of what Dashier would have gone back to get at this point. ["Take care of as many daemons as you can on your way in."]

["Rodger boss."] Gabriel refocused his energy as he took a breath in, more daemons were appearing from all different directions. He felt his ears prick as he realized that they were all coming from the castle. The ones that were up north with him, were coming from the forest that was between Thaul and Vaccoon. He sighed. ["They're coming from the castle."] He spoke in a rush as his claws ripped through two more lesser daemons. ["What are the possibilities that they were in status for the last sixteen years?"]

["It's possible,"] Shanell spoke softly, ["Though we have been all over this castle and never came across them."]

["Except for the dungeons,"] Adrenell spoke suddenly. ["We only went down there a couple times, but we never searched each cell. There might have been a hidden door somewhere?"]

["Is Thaul really a kingdom that would keep daemons in the basement?]" Shanell asked sounding annoyed.

["Who knows really… Well, probably Jonathan, but the truth is, that it's happening, so it's a possibility."] Sigma chimed in.

["It's possible,"] Delta's inner voice was slightly distracted while she scanned the area. ["Daemon��s are versatile and able to adapt in almost any situation. So, if the daemons were to have put themselves into a deep slumber that lasted years, then it is also possible the Lady Nyline's aether work them up when it surged."]

["So, Jonathan, would have known that the daemons were there."] Shanell voice was distracted as she spoke. Gabriel watched, feeling just as distracted as Delta took out two more lesser daemons before returning her tail to his neck.

["It would seem so,"] Delta agreed.

["Report."] Gabriel spoke quickly realizing that Dashiner hadn't been part of this conversation. ["Dashiner location."] Gabriel counted his heart beats as he waited for him to respond.

["Still in the castle. Leaving is proving difficult. There are too many to fight."] Gabriel let out a long breath.

["Get yourself out of there alive."] His voice was hard as stone as he spoke.

["Will do Boss."] He let out a long breath, his mind thinking of how he was going to make sure that Dashiner would get out of there alive. Which scout he would send in to get him… or maybe he would just end up going himself. Biting on his lip, he checked in with Nyline to see that they were about three fourths of the way to the ship now.

Several more lesser daemons appeared and with a swish of her tail delta sent them flying. Gabriel quickly followed them up as he ripped the throat out of one and then sliced the other straight though its heart.

["These are all lesser daemons."] He breathed as more showed up and he jumped on them.

["Same."] His scouts echoed his thoughts.

["So, where's the higher ranked one?"] No matter the rank, daemons always followed ranks of higher daemons. So even if these were simply tucked away in the dungeon there had to be another, higher ranking, daemon somewhere that they were listening to.

Behind him Delta took out yet another one, before she tails swiped a few more into trees. Following up with her claws when one didn't die instantly on impact. Her tail returning to his neck without pause.

["I'm starting to get over run."] Shanell spoke softly. ["No matter how many I take out more just show up."]

["Same here,"] Adrenell agreed.

["Path is still clear with us."] Sigma reassured.

["Start moving towards the airship, we should have headed off enough that Nyline shouldn't have a problem."]

["Roger."] Their voices echoed in his mind before everything slowed down. In the aether map inside of his mind a very large, very angry daemon had appeared without warning. It was directly south of their location and Gabriel felt his throat tighten. It had gotten past him, without him even being able to sense it. Panic rose in his chest and in reaction, his aether shot down further into the earth. With that he could tell that the daemon was traveling fast underground somehow. Which meant it wasn't a lesser daemon, they didn't have those skills.

["Sigma! Target has appeared directly north of your location and traveling fast underground. Divert your path east. Everyone else get to Sigma's location. Rank of the daemon is unknown."] Then he was running, his breath coming in and out smoothly as he forced his body to run as quickly as it could. In one swift motion, he used his movement and shot several feet forward.

"Delta!" he shouted not bothering to stop. "General rank." He knew that she would relay the information to the others as she used her movement and shot in front of him. ["Nyline-"] He shouted through the connection but that was all he got out before their frail connection snapped. He staggered slightly, his mind suddenly feeling the loss of the other mind that had been connected to his. His aether flexed compensating for the missing tether.

A scream erupted from in front of him and without being connected to her, he instantly knew that it was Nyline. Without a second thought, he shifted his body becoming the large black fox with the blue streaks over his fur. It didn't take him long before he overtook Delta, running directly to the location that Nyline was now standing. He slowed just slightly as he took in the scene before him.

"John! Get back here now." Nyline was shouting as Sigma held her back from trying to toss herself over a cliff. Without hesitation he ran at her, putting his large from between her and the cliff right as Sigma lost her grip, letting Nyline run directly into his side. With a quick glance around he saw that the daemon was gone, which confused him even more. "Jonathan!" She shouted again trying to get around his shadow form.

"Nyline," He spoke as he shifted back into his human form and held onto her shoulders.

"Let me go!" Her eyes were on fire as they connected with his and he felt her anger but didn't let her go, as her eyes returned to the cliff.

"Tell me what's going on!" He squeezed her shoulders making her refocus her eyes onto him.

"He left!" She shouted, tears welling up in her eyes as she pulsed with aether. "Get back here! I know for a fact that that blow wouldn't have even phased you! I know your down there and can hear me! Does our time together mean nothing?" Her voice ripped with the strength of her shouts causing it to become horse.

"Sigma." His eyes went to his scout who was looking at Nyline like she wanted to help but wasn't sure what to do.

"The daemon, hit in and threw him off the cliff." She said her worried eyes turning to him.

"Nyline, listen, even if he is still alive you cannot stay here. We have to go." She turned her eyes back to him and the anger had turned into a mixture of fear and pleading. She stopped struggling in his arms and looked up at him.

"Leave me." Her eyes were set in determination as she squared her shoulders. "I'm not letting him off this easy and none of you should be put into danger because of me." Delta's smooth tail pressed against his neck.

["…unable to get to your location, there are too many."] Shanell's voice said and Gabriel's grip on the side of Nyline's shoulders tightened just slightly.

["I can't get out of the castle at any junction."] Dashiner breathed. ["All of the exits are swarming with them. Even when I can see out an upper window, everything is crawling with them."]

["Dashiner you better get your butt working and find a way out of the castle."] Gabriel breathed. ["Or I will go in and get you out myself."]

["I'm working on it; I'm working on it."] Dashiner tried to insert some of his cocky attitude into his voice but Gabriel knew that he could only handle so much. He was only one scout. Gabriel turned his mind back to Nyline, he squeezed her shoulders just once more, her face tightened.

"There are too many," He whispered then without pausing he pulled her close and pressed their foreheads together, one of his hands going to her lower back. "You can't hide or run from all of them, and we wouldn't just leave you. Me and my scouts will go where you go." She took a breath in, before she stepped back from his grasp, side stepped him, and walked to the cliff. He was about to grab her when she just looked down at the trees below.

"I know your down there and I know you're okay. A low-ranking daemon would never be able to kill you with a single blow. I also know that you are only doing this now because you know I won't put anyone else in danger just to chase you down. Perfect time to just slip away…" Her voice was a whisper as she gripped the dagger tighter to her chest. "I won't forgive you for just leaving…" She turned and without even looking at him and used her movement. Gabriel watched her before he looked back at the cliff. He had no idea if Jonathan was alive, or even if he would have survived the attack like Nyline had said. However, deep, deep down he hoped that he had and that he would come back to Nyline. He only gave a nod to Delta and Sigma before they both turned and used their movement as well.

Gabriel stopped next to the ship and looked around; Sigma jumped onto the ship following Nyline. Delta's tail pressed against his neck right as Adrenell came running around a corner in her human form. She was splashed in blood that was drying.

["Shanell?"]

["Here"] Shanell spoke and he turned to see her sitting in the middle of the deck, also splattered in blood and looking slightly out of breath. Doing a quick head count his eyes went back towards the castle.

["Dashiner! Location!"] His voice was hard as he tried to cover the fear that was crawling up his throat.

["I am stuck…."] Dashiner sighed. ["I got out of the castle, but I can't get any further. The Daemons are so thick that I can't even see the snow. Head back without me and I'll follow on foot once everything dies down."]

["Like hell we are!"] Gabriel growled.

["Location!"]

["East courtyard, tallest tree twenty feet from the castle."] Gabriel turned without another word. "Damien!" Damien's head shot up from where he was talking to his scouts. He started towards him. "We've got a scout to pick up. Head back towards the castle." Damien's face tightened for just a tick.

"You're protecting the crew."

"Done."

"Take off captain and circle northwest around the castle, we have a scout to pick up!" The captain looked at him with something of horror before he let out a breath. "Prince Gabriel and his scouts have agreed to protect us." The captain's mouth formed a thin line before he turned and shouted.

"You heard the prince! Get this boat off the ground!" Gabriel turned and started giving orders of his own as his scouts pulled themselves up and put themselves into positions.

"Gabriel!" Damien sounded shocked. "Where's Jonathan?" Gabriel's face turned to stone.

"Gone." Damien mimicked a fish on land before he shook himself.

"What? How?"

"I have to find out first." Gabriel's eyes found Sigma who was standing a few feet from Nyline, her face as if someone had just murdered her puppy. This shocked Gabriel. Sigma didn't show many emotions in most situations. So, to see such sadness coating her face made his heart fall and pause in his steps as he went to talk to her.

"She thinks it's her fault." Shanell spoke softly from directly behind him. "She won't listen to me when I tell her otherwise." Gabriel glanced at her from over his shoulder as he nodded once then walked to her. It only took one hand on Sigma's shoulder to make her turned and look at him. He felt shocked to see tears brimming in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," She said instantly, her eyes going wide. "I miscalculated and…"

"Sigma, you got Nyline to the ship. Which is what I told you to do." Her eyes grew wide.

"But I did not get her here whole." She wrapped herself tightly in her arms as she hugged herself. One glance to Nyline told him what she meant. Nyline was currently sitting as far away from everyone as she could, her head on her knees as she curled into a tight ball. "Jonathan's gone…" Sigma's hands wrapped themselves together and Gabriel reached over and placed a single hand on hers.

"What happened?" She swallowed.

"…It just left." She whispered as if she didn't really understand what she was saying herself. Gabriel's mind flickered back to when they had been trying to catch her. She had made them look at a butterfly, and all of them had been completely bewitched. Was his assumption of her being able to use influence right? Without missing a beat Sigma reached up and placed her hand on the back of his neck. The memory playing for his eyes as they looked at each other.

They were running in a line, Nyline in front of him, then John in front of her. The command to converge onto his location, echoed in his mind right as the ground was upheaved as something seemed to be moving under it. Then as if on que, dirt was flung upwards as a large blue cyclops sprang from the earth. He turned, raising the large blood caked club, that was as large as its forearm, and swung it towards Nyline. His movement skill was just seconds behind John's as he collided with Nyline, pushing her into him and throwing them both back. It was quick as John was lifted off the ground by the club and tossed bodily off the cliff. Crashing noises accompanied his fall before everything went silent.

"JOHN!" Nyline screamed so loud and so piercing that it made his soul ache hearing it up close. She ran to the cliff and he was able to grab onto her middle as she tried to throw herself after Jonathan.

"Lady Nyline, we must leave now!" Sigma's words fell from his lips as Nyline's entire body shook.

"We have to go get him." She whimpered her hands gripping hee scalp. "We can't… He can't… No, he's not allowed to leave. We have to."

"Lady Nyline." Sigma's words were hard. "Our lives are in danger here. Jonathan would not want you to throw your life away." As if possessed, Nyline calmed completely her face going slack as she looked at the cyclops. Every single hair on his body stood on end as she continued to stare blankly at the daemon. Her aether seeped from her body and filled the air so thick that he could taste it.

"You." Her voice was deadly calm as she took a single step towards the large blue beast and the ground shook with her movement. "Go away." The aether turned at her command and shot towards the cyclops as it stopped mid step, looking down at Nyline with a mixture of confusion and annoyance. "I don't care where you go or what you do there but get the fuck away from here." The cyclops took one step back as if it were still debating on what it should do. "Now." She took another earth-shaking step towards it. He could tell that the aether that was in and around the castle and ground were returning to her. It seeped into her body like a mist.

"Jonathan!" She turned quickly as she continued to go towards the cliff. "Get back here now! JOHN!" he tried to hold onto her, but she was putting up more of a fight than was expected. He pulled his mind from the memory right as he appeared in his daemon form.

Gabriel blinked twice at Sigma as his mind returned to his own and he broke the contact. She removed her hand from the back of his neck and took a step back, her eyes downcast. Gabriel's mind was spinning at this.

"It just left…." He muttered as he looked down at the ground his mind working on the idea that his mate, was in fact, able to use influence. He paused, remembering when Dashiner had returned from the human world. Had she used the influence on him then? If not, how had she gotten so close to him without him lashing out at her. As if on que Jake spoke from a few feet behind him.

"Lady Nyline can use influence." He paused and turned, "I apologize, I did not mean to interrupt your conversation."

"That is quite alright, please elaborate."

"I have seen Nyline use influence twice now. I am unsure as to exactly how much practice she has with it however she is able to use it rather easily. Though, a human using influence on a daemon is completely unheard of." It was unheard of however, John had said there were many things that she did not understand, what if this was one of those things? Pondering he turned to find Damien but paused when he saw that his face was completely covered in horror.

"What's wrong?" Gabriel crossed quickly to see what he was looking at and could only whistle. "That's a lot…" Below the daemons were indeed so thick that the snow beneath was completely covered. Delta's smooth hand pressed against his neck.

["Dashiner, location."]

["Look down and to your left."] Dashiner responded and Gabriel moved his head to the side as he looked down and saw Dashiner's daemon form sitting in the tree like a large dog looking up at them.

["Shift back and get ready to jump. This is going to have to be fast."]

["Rodger."] Gabriel watched as he shifted back into his human form. Something under his arm catching his eye. He had said that he was going back to the castle for something, but he hadn't had a second to wonder what he went back for.

"Adrenell, get ready to grab your mate. Delta hold her feet. Shanell, Sigma defend the ship." None of them spoke as they all moved into position. Adrenell sat on the railing, and Delta grabbed her feet as she pushed her body backwards. Sigma and Shanell went to either side of the ship, their blades drawn.

The exchange happened quickly as the airship dropped low enough for Adrenell to lock arms with Dashiner and lift him out of the tree. The daemons, however, started swarming. The large black tide that were the lesser daemons started to shift as they started jumping up onto the ship. Sigma and Shanell took them out as quickly as possible.

"We got him! Head east!" Gabriel shouted as he ran over to Delta and started helping to pull both of the scouts up. He only saw out of the corner of his eye that Rebecca and Nathan were helping fight off the daemons. Jake was by Damien, as they fought one that was by the captain.

"They know she's on the ship!��� Ryan yelled over all the noise, and Gabriel couldn't help but agree.

"Rebecca, Angelica! Use your shadow skill on Nyline." Without hesitation they both ran towards her. With their bodies so close Nyline looked up, her eyes unfocused and dazed.

"What?"

"The daemons know you're here. We're going to use our shadow skill on you." Rebecca spoke quickly as Nyline's eyes became more alert.

"Oh." Was all she said before she slammed her fist into her chest and vanished completely. Gabriel stared at the spot that she had been. It was just like earlier when she had run away from them. She was gone, her aether, her presence, her scent. Everything. One glance at Damien was all he needed to know that he was the only one who saw the faint outline of the girl who was now curling back into her ball.

"Nathan, Ryan, get them back up now! Captain we need to get higher so that they can't jump up! Rebecca, Angelica at attention, get the lesser daemon's off this ship!" Everyone moved without hesitation and Gabriel had to give it to Damien. He wasn't completely useless in a high stressed environment.

With the four of them they were able to pull Dashiner and Adrenell back onto the ship, where everyone slumped. The last of the daemons being finished off by the scouts. Once the last body was kicked by Rebecca off the side everyone collapsed, their breathing hard.

"Well, that was exciting." Dashiner muttered his eyes going up to the sky right as Adrenell punched him in the arm.

"Don't you ever do something so stupid again!" Adrenell shouted as she punched him two more times. Tears ran down her face as Dashiner pulled her into his arms.

"I'm fine, see? Not even a scratch." Adrenell shook her head as she held onto him. Dashiner looked up at Gabriel and gave him a sad smile. "I think I've freaked Adrenell out one to many times in the past couple of days boss." His yellow eyes turned up to Gabriel who could only agree. He had gone completely dark in the human world, almost got his throat slit by Jonathan, and then got stuck at a castle overrun with daemons.

"Yeah you owe her a cookie," Shanell spoke as her and Sigma walked up to their other side.

"Maybe two, large ones with the big chocolate chips that she likes so much." Sigma smiled softly.

"I think we all deserve cookies when we get back," Delta muttered as she looked across the bow at where Nyline was slowly reappearing and was sitting in her ball once more. Gabriel followed her gaze and was surprised to see Jake walking up to her.

"How did you do that?" His voice sounded exasperated. Gabriel felt his scouts stiffen at the tone that Jake was using. Agitation filled the air around him, but he held up a single hand. He knew that his scouts were going to be protective over his mate simply because she was his mate. However, that wasn't the only case, he thought that they were actually starting to like her a small bit.

"Yeah what the hell?" Rebecca walked up next to him and Nyline looked up at them before she stiffened.

"Do what?"

"You're shadow skill." Nathan spoke up but didn't walk any closer to her. "I've never seen anyone, not even a senior scout, who has that high of a level." Nyline took stock of her surroundings and Gabriel knew that she was gaging everyone's responses to her. She stood stiffly as she continued to look around the deck at the scouts, princes, and the crew. She was gripping the dagger in her hands so tightly that her knuckles were turning a stark white color.

"I'm not a dainty princess that is in constant need of protecting…" She closed her eyes and turned them down towards the ground. "If you want to label me, then label me a scout. I spent a lot of time, honing all of my skills throughout my childhood. My skill is that high because I worked to make it that high…" She paused and her eyes slowly before they connected with Damien's. "Sorry to disappoint…." Her last words were a whisper as she turned and went to the furthest point that she could get away from everyone without jumping off the ship, where she sat once more and curled into that small ball.

Gabriel hated that small ball, he hated seeing her curled in it, and most of all he hated that somehow, she thought that simply because she knew scout skills that she also couldn't be a princess. Wait until she met his mother. Mom would rock her socks right off. She could go out on a mission with her scouts, then return and be in the throne room to receive gusts directly afterwards. Be wearing her finest and looking as though she had been taking a walk in the garden.

Nyline could be that, if that's what she wanted to be. Gabriel didn't mind who she was one bit, but it bothered him how she reacted to whatever Damien and his scouts were thinking. He kept his eyes on her, wanting to go to her but knowing that he shouldn't. Not right now. She needed time. Time to process what the hell was going on and time just to take a breath. So, with that he turned his mind onto hers and listened to the ramblings that were currently washing through her mind and looked around at his scouts.

"Why do they all hate her so much?" Adrenell spoke softly as she looked up from Dashiner's chest and into Gabriel's ice blues.

"Well she's not the nicest to Damien from what we've seen." Sigma said sitting down next to Adrenell.

"Yeah but that's no reason for them to call her out on her abilities." Dashiner scoffed. "Like hell, could you even fathom how much time and effort it would take to get to a shadow skill of that level? I'm just happy that I can vanish, let alone mask everything." He shook his head letting out a breath.

"The shadow skill was never really your thing anyways," Delta smirked down at him but then she sobered. "I think that it's less of then calling her out and more that she isn't used to being around people who even know what scout skills are." Gabriel raised his brow at her.

"Well yeah," Shanell started sitting on her butt, "All she's ever known has been Jonathan and I bet he's sure as hell hard to impress. This might just be a standard for her."

"But still," Adrenell turned so that she was sitting with her back to Dashiner's front his arms wrapped around her waist. "I would be intimidated if two people just walked up and basically shouted how different I was…"

"Then she can hear their thoughts," Gabriel muttered sitting down as well. "So, it doesn't help that not only are they judging her on the outside but on the inside as well."

"It's hard not to judge her," Rebecca spoke softly as she walked over and looked down at them. She crossed her arms and popped one hip out. "Man, since we arrived all she does is crazy shit, constantly, then acts like its normal. It's hard to digest." She shook her head. All of Gabriel's scouts exchanged looks.

"Why?" Shanell asked finally. Rebecca shook her hair her red hair bouncing with the movement.

"I mean, no one is like that in our kingdom." She said shortly as if it was obvious. The scouts exchanged another look before they nodded. Gabriel knew what conclusion they had come to without even speaking. Humans were much different than darkling's, that was the only explanation. Darkling's occasionally had odd skills that reappeared after years of dormancy, or even higher energy levels. No one really knew what they would end up when children were born.

"But, knowing who her parents were, that has to give you some information on who she would be." Rebecca stared blankly at Dashiner as he spoke.

"Actually, that's the funny thing." Ryan walked over and sat down next to his mate. "We don't know a lick about the Thaul royalty. Dunhill has almost no records on them, which is somewhat normal being different kingdoms and all, but Damien's parents were supposed to be on good terms with Nyline's. Even Damien's parents don't know much about them."

"Hold up, hold up, hold up." Dashiner sat up further, his eyes going wide. "You guys have spent your entire lives searching for a girl, that you know nothing about just because of an agreement between their parents?" Ryan and Rebecca looked at him for a few seconds.

"We didn't know that." Everyone turned to see Angelica sitting down a little behind Sigma, no one had even noticed that she had appeared.

"Let's just say it's been a shitty couple of days for more than just Nyline," Rebecca blew out a breath. Gabriel's scouts cringed.

"But why?" Adrenell asked looking between them. If Gabriel knew his scouts, and he knew his scouts. Dashiner and Adrenell were betting up a storm right now. Flash bets is what they called it. Calling bets before asking questions and determining the winner based off the answers. Shanell and Sigma were looking at them out of the corner of their eyes. Knowing what game, they were playing and wondering if they should join in or just watch.

"Because, Damien needs a mate to rule and we'd do anything to make him happy." His scouts nodded.

"So, where all did you look?" Gabriel stood as the conversation turned into more of a Q&A.

"Ah, we'll we've been all over the world." Nathan spoke as he sat down next to Angelica.

"Did you ever end up going to Thaul?"

"No." Rebecca said sounding concerned.

"Why not?" There was a long pause.

"Why didn't we check in Thaul?" Ryan turned to Nathan.

"Well even if we had gone there, she wasn't going to be there." Nathan responded calmly.

"True, but Thaul has records on their own kingdom." Shanell but in looking at the two of them as they turned their blank expressions onto each other.

"Well…" Angelica started softly.

"There enjoying themselves," Damien said as Gabriel joined him at the table. Jake was still standing to his right watching the interaction with slight interest.

"I'm sure they don't get a lot of time to hang out with scouts of their own age." Damien made a humming noise.

"Jake, you can go join them if you want?" Jake jumped slightly and looked down at Damien. He looked torn. Go sit with the scouts or stay. "Go on, nothing is going to happen while we're on the ship." His face downcast he turned without another word and headed towards the now circle of scouts on the deck.

"Jake's your favorite scout?" Gabriel mused.

"Delta is yours?" Gabriel grinned.

"Somewhat, Delta's mate is back in Vaccoon. What about Jake?" Damien's mouth formed a thin line.

"He doesn't have one." Gabriel's brow rose at that. "I don't know the fine details, but something happened when he was a baby and his other half just never surfaced. He was born a half without a mate."

"That's a rare condition," Gabriel spoke softly trying to think if there had been any cases in Vaccoon that were like that. Maybe one? "How was he able to be on your scout team then?"

"It was something that his parents bargained with mine. Jake is an amazing scout though. He makes up for not having another half by working twice as hard." His face fell slightly. "He really is amazing." Gabriel examined Damien's face before he let out a long breath.

"Sounds like it."