Chapter 6

Aiden stared at her cousins unhappily. Grant bowed slightly then did the best thing he could do. He left.

It still left eight people standing in her office. Her cousin Alex was being very presumptuous. Alex was always welcome in her home. This time he had crossed a line. He had brought seven others with him. None of them were women and that made her nervous.

Out of the eight the only one who had any children was Alex. His daughter was almost three and they had another one on the way. This time it was a boy. Abrey, Alex's wife, had let their daughter choose the baby's name. She had picked the name Derek. The new baby would be named Derek Ellis Lowen. Austin made fun of his initials, DEL, but in reality he had no ground for it. His were ASS.

Aiden knew one of the guys, Terren, from school. She was only twenty-one, twenty-two in a month. That placed him at twenty-three, almost twenty-four. He had graduated two years before she had. He had been on the football team with Mikey. When his Marks had come in, he had had no one to tell. She'd had no idea he was a member of the Golden Kingdom until the names had been submitted to Tyler.

She stared at him through half-lidded eye. She let the blinders go free so she could have a good look at him. Gold filled her eyes due to his classification but his base color was silver. Terren was a ferrokinetic. It meant he could control metals.

There was a familiar pressure on her hand. Turning her head, she looked at her husband. Clint was always a steady presence at her side. He never wavered. Taking a deep breath, the blinders came over her eyes and she looked at everyone with clear vision.

"Jess," she said angrily. He looked at her guiltily as he walked through the door. "What are you planning?"

He shared a glance with Austin, his number one co-conspirator. She had known he was up to something when he left the Council Room, but she didn't know what. As the rest of his accomplices walked through the door, her eyes narrowed.

"Jesse," she snapped.

"We're just trying to help," he replied carefully. She didn't look convinced. "You're weak. You still haven't recovered from childbirth and we don't know why. You needed a blood transfusion just this morning. Can you blame me?"

Aiden didn't answer and that scared him. She usually had a response to his jabs or responses. He wanted her to argue so he could prove a point.

He realized a few moments to late that she was staring at Kasta. Her anger wasn't at him dealing behind her back. They had done that before. She was angry because he brought an outsider and a guest in on this. But that really wasn't it. Even without her ability to see auras or signatures, she could see Kasta clearly, as she could everyone else.

He didn't feel guilty. He knew the Elves would do anything to secure an alliance with them. They were on board to help in any way they could. Kasta was fulfilling that purpose. He wasn't going to apologize.

Unfortunately, Aiden didn't rise to the bait. She simply turned her attention to her twin. Nobody would have known he was standing there if she hadn't blatantly told them with her actions.

"Do you trust all of them?" she asked.

Mikey nodded. "Alex and I handpicked every one of them. Extensive background checks have been done. They've been cleared. Tyler has their DNA for the bioscanner. Each has a specific skill set."

"I see you've added two Healers to the group," Clint said as he held the manila folder on top of eight others. He may not have been gifted with extra sensory power but he was very intuitive.

Alex nodded. "We felt two Healers were a requirement. We want to help find what is causing your Queen to remain ill."

The Silver King's eyebrows went up, his blue eye skeptical. "Do you think it's an inside job?"

"We cannot be certain. We know the Elves came in to help with the birth of your children. We are all grateful for that, but we cannot be certain one of them didn't poison the Queen."

Austin shifted, a clear sign he was getting ready to speak. "Laren has been a big help. He was the one the King sent to help with Kielan and Stormy's births. He's too pure. So is his brother. I don't think the King and the rest of his family did anything."

"We did not," Kasta replied.

Everyone looked at Aiden. She didn't move or speak for a long moment. Nothing on her face showed what she was thinking. Finally she looked at Alex. He met her gaze levelly and something passed between them.

"You are certain?" he asked.

"I'm positive. She was not lying. Her family isn't responsible," Aiden replied.

Alex took it all in. "We'll interview everyone in the palace. No one will be left alone."

"Just don't hurt my staff." He nodded. "How are you going to divide your men?"

"Micah and Zander will talk with your Healer, find out what he knows. Andrew and Carson will be with your guard while Cappy and Mac guard your children. Terren and I will be your guard."

"Like hell you will!" Austin spat out. "I don't trust the Metallurge with the life of my puppy."

Terren turned a humorless grin to him. "At least it's better than being an Electrode."

Austin stepped forward. "At least I can shock your ass. Haven't you heard? Electricity and metals don't mix."

"I'm not the one who allowed my brother's lover to be killed."

Keldin, Tyler, and Jesse had to hold the electrokinetic back as he tried to go over them. Electricity crackled in the room. Some of it curled around Austin's clenched hands. But the electricity that knocked Terren on his ass wasn't from Austin.

Everyone looked at the Queen of the Silver Court. Aiden sat behind her desk looking at them impassively. No one had seen her pull all the electricity from Austin and slam it into Terren's chest. Her eyes glowed silver as she stared at the visiting men.

Terren felt his chest then looked up at her. "You shocked me."

"And I'll do it again," she replied.

His chest swelled as he squared his shoulders. He took one step forward, trying his best to be intimidating. "You can't treat someone like that. Especially someone who came to help you."

"Actually she can," Clint said. He pushed off from where he was leaning against the desk and straightened his shirt. Rounding the desk he said, "When you agreed to come help us find the one who placed the bounty on my wife's head, you came under Silver jurisdiction. You can be punished as if you were one of us."

He stopped in front of the other man and extended his hand. When Terren took it, Clint yanked him onto his feet. Though the guard was two inches taller, the Silver King was the one in control.

"If you so much as make one false move against my family, and trust, Austin is my family. If you decide to pick a fight with anyone on these grounds, it will be me you answer to. I may not be supernaturally enhanced but I promise you there are other ways to kick your ass. Do I make myself clear?"

Terren nodded emphatically. Clint released him.

Austin snickered. "He told you."

"Austin Sinclair," Aiden scolded. She didn't look at him and that was scary enough.

He winced, suddenly remembering she was using his power. "Too soon?" Without looking at him, she nodded. He slumped and his friends released him.

"Alex, place Terren with the guard. I don't want him around the Court or Council," Mikey said.

Terren blanched. "But, Sire, I..."

"I know exactly what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it. Before you came, I warned you to keep your trap shut. You can't do that so you're going to the Silver Guard. No arguments." When Mikey made up his mind, there was no changing it.

Alex turned. "Micah, you're with me. Carson, you're good with pathogens. You'll go with Zander. Andrew, you'll be with Terren." The others nodded without argument.

Clint looked at Tyler. "Show the men to the guard, Master Guardian."

Tyler inclined his head and walked out, Terren and Andrew trailing him.

Micah quite literally bounced up to Austin. At eighteen he was one of the youngest members of the Golden Guard. Austin and his team had rescued him from the old vampire lord of New York. The young man was a Healer and a very talented one at that.

He smiled happily. "Hey, Austin!"

Austin's shoulders slumped as he looked at him. "Hey, kid. How are you doing?"

"I'm good. Alex's been a good mentor."

"Do you know who took over Jacq's position?"

The Thunder Bearer faltered. He knew who had taken over the Atlantean's position. He had been the one to choose him. He wasn't certain how he was going to tell him that the new guy was just like the old one. He was egotistical and an ass but he knew better than to piss them off.

Aiden stopped beside him and nearly shoved him over. She shouldn't be able to knock him over in the condition she was in. But he was preoccupied with his racing thoughts that he wasn't paying any attention to her.

He looked at her and smiled. She knew it didn't reach his eyes.

Mikey clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry about who has taken over after Jacq was killed. You have a good job and comfortable place to live. Not to mention you have the makings of the best Golden Healer in twenty years," he said.

With everyone in agreement, Micah smiled. "All right."

Aiden let out a little laugh. Taking her husband's hand, she said, "Let's go show you to the ones you will be working closely with."

Mikey slipped his arm around Micah's shoulders as they followed the Queen to her private quarters. Jess and the others hung back. He could feel Kasta's questions whirring around her head. He had to explain it all to her but first they needed to start inspecting everyone.

When he looked at the twins, they both nodded. There was no way they could miss what he was asking of them. It was on his face. They turned and disappeared. Jess turned to Kasta.

"Tell me what is going on," she demanded.

"We think the culprit is human. Austin and Keldin have gone to check all the files. We only have a few normal humans working with us. We're going to background check them all. Tyler will keep an eye out on who comes and goes from the grounds. Wyatt's researching the illness and now with two more Healers, we can take a chunk out of all of this," he explained.

"What about my family?"

"We're about to start discussions with them. I will be the one to hash out the contract. At the same time we're going to double check everyone. It's just a precaution in case someone has decided to lose their mind," he said when she went to argue.

He took a step forward. Now he was so close no one would be able to hear him even if they strained to do so. "Kasta, I need your help. You know your family better than I do. You can tell if one of them is lying. I need that knowledge to save my family."

When his arguments made sense, there was no denying him. She nodded.

"What do I need to do?"

She was taken aback by Jess's smile. It shouldn't have made her heart beat faster than it had been, but right now it looked at ease. Actually, it looked almost joyous.

What had she just gotten herself into?