Chapter 4

Aiden sighed as she sank onto the throne in the Council room. She had had to call an emergency meeting of the Council and Court. Even if the news was simply an allegation, it was something they couldn't take for granted. Her family would be up in arms about it anyway she looked at it. They had to make sure she was safe before they could do anything.

She watched as her family walked through the door in an eerily quiet matter. Her brothers were the worst. She was used to them acting like buffoons or being crazy. Today they were too calm about this entire thing.

She lifted the blinders she had put on the hardest part of her power. Seeing in color was hard on her, but now she had to do it so she could see what her family was feeling. She had to take in account everyone's power. Their powers influenced their base colors.

When she was a kid not many understood why she had so many headaches. She didn't even know it herself until her Marks started coming in. With training, she understood she could conceal the colors if she had enough energy.

Lifting the blinders she closed her eyes to ease the pain that accompanied the colors as they flooded her eyes. Taking a moment to let the pain subside enough so she could look, she took a deep breath. Her eyes opened and she focused on one person at a time.

Cole was angry. His power was over fire and that made him even more hotheaded. His base color was obviously red but with anger and loyalty seeping into color schemes, he was turning into a walking talking inferno. Klark was the same as his older brother, with fire as his base color as well.

Her gaze shifted to Keldin. With earth as his power, he had a green base. He was angry but not as angry as the others. Orange filtered into his color scheme but it was blue that was most prominent. He was the only one who it affected most. When Eric had died, she had been the one to stay with him until he fully recovered. Other than his brother, he was closest to Aiden. If she died, he would undoubtedly lose his mind.

Austin was next. Lightning arced all around him. He couldn't control it and he really couldn't control his coloring. His coloring was really simply. Orange, red, and white blended together to form an interesting color.

Wyatt and Andy's colors almost merged into one. Wyatt's base color looked like an opal because to him that's what bonds looked like. Andy's was blue due to his power over water. They kept their anger in check, letting their loyalty slip through.

As she looked around the room at everyone else, the main color was loyalty. She liked orange but not in the amount used in this room. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and willed the blinders to go back into place.

"Let's call this meeting to order," she said.

Austin was the first one to respond. "We need to move your family," he said.

Clint met her gaze then looked back at the people gathered. "That's not possible. Our family isn't stable enough to move. Next suggestion?"

"How can you be so nonchalant? This is about your life and your family's lives," Cole argued.

"I know but I'm not healthy enough to move and my children are too young. I will not move them. That is the end of this discussion. Change it." This was not a request. There was too much conviction in her voice for them to ignore.

Kathryn lifted her hand for silence as people were getting ready to talk again. No one said a word.

"She's right. None of them can leave New Orleans. We have to figure out what to do," she said. "I'll put this up for discussion and vote as of now."

Aiden waited as a rumble went through the people in the room. Things had just become dire. Their entire plan had been to move her family to one of their safe houses. Now that that was out of the picture, they had to come up with a new plan.

She looked to her twin. Mikey stood in the back of the room watching and listening to the entire thing. He met her eyes and she could see the same tiredness she felt. She wasn't certain if it was from giving blood or traveling or a combination of both. There was no way he was going to be leaving anytime soon.

He shook his head. She realized he was listening in on everyone's thoughts and trying to piece together different snippets of everyone's thoughts.

After a few moments of trying to figure him out, Aiden had to stop because the colors were threatening to break loose. There was a dull throbbing in her left temple. She bit back the pain and tuned in to the meeting once again.

"What if we beef up security?" Austin asked.

Tyler shook his head. "The bioscanner would go absolutely nuts. I've barely managed to fix it from the last time you fried the circuits."

"How would it hinder us?" Cole asked.

"I'd have to get samples of DNA from everyone. It would take two weeks to get everything situated. By that time it could be too late."

"Bring my people in," Mikey said. Everyone turned to look at him. "It's easy. It's efficient. And no one will argue."

One of the Councilmen turned towards him. He was one of two humans they had allowed on the Council because they trusted him. He wouldn't understand some of this but they let him say his peace. "With all due respect, how can we trust your men?"

Everyone held their breath as Mikey narrowed his eyes. In this family those were fighting words.

Mikey didn't move but he wasn't happy either. "Would bringing in more Elves ease your tortured heart?"

The Councilman blanched a little. "No, sir, but I…"

"Enough, brother," Cole called quietly. Mikey looked at him but didn't say anything. "Jackson, he's not trying to be mean. He's just concerned."

"As are we all, but…"

Austin shook his head. "You don't understand because you don't have a twin. The bond between twins is unlike anything you've ever seen. It's even stronger than the bond between mates."

As if on cue when Austin leaned back and to his left, Keldin leaned towards him. They cast each other an amused glance then looked towards the Councilman. They were tempting him to argue.

Aiden laughed suddenly, drawing everyone's attention. She covered her mouth until she settled down. Finally she waved her hand.

"Sorry," she said. "I just had a sudden thought about electrified plants."

A few seconds later everyone was laughing. She knew it wasn't that funny, but the fact that it was random made it humorous. It made her family laugh and they needed that to get through this.

When the laughter subsided, the tension in the room had eased a great deal. Work could be done.

"Call Alex, Mikey. See how many he can spare," Clint said.

"I still have some reservations, Your Majesty," Jackson said.

"My cousin won't allow harm to come to Aiden," Mikey replied. "That I can assure you." He turned on his heel and left the council chamber.

Aiden and Clint looked at each other. They nodded in silent agreement. She looked to her mother. Kathryn understood immediately and stood.

"All in favor of bringing in the Golden Army say aye," she said. Ayes went up all around the room. The High Councilwoman turned to the King and Queen. "It has been voted. We will allow the Golden Army to come here for protection."

Jess watched his family as they were dismissed from the meeting. None of them were happy but they didn't get a say. Well, they did but were overruled. Unfortunately this wasn't a system of checks and balances. They couldn't veto Aiden and Clint.

Something in his gut told him that if they moved his family, everything would backfire. He wasn't sure how he knew but he always followed his gut. There was no way he was going to stop now.

His mind was whirling as he walked into the backyard. How was he going to weed out the culprit? He needed a plan. He needed someone on the inside.

He bumped into someone on his way to Leothain. His breath caught as his heart skipped a beat and his stomach flipped. He looked up from the ground and straight into Kasta's odd silver-blue eyes. He tried not to grimace at the silvery hue surrounding her. No wonder his family's thoughts were guarded.

The Elf was his mate.

Kasta stared at him as if he had lost his mind. In a way he had. It was a running joke in his family that the men were nuts when it came to their mates. It was both good and bad. He hadn't seen the crazy that came over his brothers when Aiden found Clint. It could have been because she was a woman. He wasn't sure but she was in more control than they were.

Jess rubbed his face as a plan came to him. He looked over Kasta's shoulder.

"King Leothain, I'm kidnapping your daughter for a while," he said.

Leothain looked up from watching his men work. He was confused for a brief second then a smile replaced the first emotion. He waved his hand.

"Do as you need. Just make she's returned to me in one piece," he replied.

Jess waved and turned. He didn't even bother saying anything to the woman. He knew she'd follow him anyway. And she did. He could feel her confusion beating at him. She couldn't read his mind so she had no clue what he was thinking.

She just followed him blindly back into the palace and down a side hall. He opened the last door on the left and walked in. The three he knew he could trust inexplicably stared at him.

"About time you showed up, bastard."