Chapter 14

Jess was two seconds behind the trio as they crashed through the door to the nursery. He registered the look of shock on Alysse's face as she turned around. She clutched Kielan tightly to her as if someone were coming to take the child.

He wanted to rip the infant from her hands, but if she was on edge like he thought she was, he would do more harm than good. He didn't want to hurt his family. His brother-in-law would understand, but his sister would kill him. Worst of all, he wouldn't forgive himself.

Aiden, on the other hand, stood. She looked between her husband and the woman in the room. She knew something was up, but they were keeping their minds closed to her. She didn't like that but didn't say anything. If they wanted to keep their counsel for now she'd let them. Any time this happened, she knew something was about to happen.

Clint took a menacing step forward. The Golden members of the guard fell in behind him. "Hand over my son."

Alysse physically shook as she stared at the King. "What are you talking about? Your Majesty, what is going on?"

"Give my son to his mother."

Clint's steps were slow and calculating. He'd watched too many crime dramas to know if he pressured the woman she could harm the child. He wanted to make sure his family was safe before he did anything. His entire body was humming with pent up energy.

Everyone held their breath when Alysse handed the infant to his mother. He fussed just a bit, but when he found the soothing warmth, he yawned one big time and went back to sleep.

When Aiden got her hands on Kielan, she looked at the men gathered in the room. "What is this about?"

Wyatt stepped up. He kept an eye on the woman two feet from her. "You've been poisoned."

She didn't look surprised. "I kind of figured that. But why are you coming after Alysse?"

"She's the one who's been poisoning you. We don't understand why but she's the culprit," Cole replied.

Aiden took a minute to set herself up then turned to the other woman. She licked her lips as she tilted her head to one side. "Is this true?"

Alysse looked at her and shook her head. "No, ma'am. I haven't done anything like that."

The Queen's nose wrinkled. Everyone tensed for action. Aiden turned and place Kielan in the crib with his twin then put her body between the babies and nanny. She slipped her hands into the pockets of her sweatpants and stood there calmly. It was a deceptive posture that often led men and women to their dooms.

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not."

When Aiden moved, Andy and Wyatt moved in to fill the gap. Aiden walked forward non-threateningly. When she was within arms' length, she gripped Alysse's head and hung on for a few minutes. Alysse tried to fight out of the Queen's grip, but the woman was angry and wasn't going to let go.

Aiden gripped the side of her head and rifled through the woman's head without remorse. She had lied about poisoning her. She had lied about trying to kill her. She had been with her children since the day they were born. If her target had just been her, she could have forgiven her. But no. Aiden had a suspicion she was after her children as well as her.

With every section of memory she sifted through, Aiden found new information she had never seen before. Alysse wanted revenge on something. The person who had sent her knew it and used her to complete their goal. Alysse was an innocent who had been compelled to come after the Court. Actually, no. She wasn't an innocent. She knew exactly who Aiden was.

The thought scared the Queen more than anything so she delved even deeper. The truth made her gasp and let go of the other woman's head. That gave Alysse enough time to shove her away and back herself to the window. She looked feral when Aiden looked up.

Clint ran to his wife, pulling her against him as she stood up. "What happened? What did you find?"

Aiden stared at Alysse in utter shock. Alysse met her gaze levelly, lifting her lip in a snarl. "She's Tallyn's mate."

Tyler stepped forward, a stupid look on his face. "Aiden, you were there the night Tallyn died. You killed him. He doesn't have a mate."

She looked at him sadly. "Do you remember the months he spent away from us?" Tyler nodded. "He was with her. He met her while camping. She's from a small town in Washington. His instinct took over and he bound her to him. She was with him when he lost all control." She trailed off after that.

"She felt it when he was killed," Cole finished.

Tyler nodded. "She would have had to. She was his mate, and mate bonds travel deeply."

"Especially when you have children."

The dark haired man blanched. "My brother has children?" Aiden nodded, not even bothering trying to hide the tears. "How many?"

"Twins; Tristan and Truett."

Tyler turned to the other woman. "Why? Why attack the people who can help your sons when they grow up? Do you know that it's suicide? You had to have known that you wouldn't have gotten away with it. Tallyn must have told you how deep our ties go."

His voice was broken. His soul was starting to unravel again as the information of his late brother struck him all the way to his bones. He was scared and angry and hurt. But most importantly, he was grieving his lost brother all over.

Alysse threw her hair over her shoulder. "I know how deep the bonds go. I also know that if I killed the Queen, this entire thing would fall apart. People would overrun you. You would suffer the way I did when I lost him."

Every face around the room, save Kasta, had the same look. They stared at her incredulously. She obviously had hidden herself and her children away from the world. She had no idea what they had gone through.

"Do you think you're the only one who nearly died when Tallyn died? He was my brother, my twin. I had a deeper connection to him than you would have ever gained. There was nothing we didn't do together. And until the day he lost his ability to think straight, I was in his head. I knew everything about him," Tyler said hotly.

"Then why didn't you do anything to help him?" Alysse yelled.

Tyler's face was hot as he stepped in the line of sight. His green eyes were vibrant, the silver ring around them molten. His grief was potent, shaking the room and the hearts of those present.

"I did! He didn't want my help! He only wanted revenge. He wanted to make Dylan's father hurt for leaving Aiden. He had always loved her but she didn't return his feelings. Even after he bonded you to him, he couldn't let her go! So he decided to do the only thing to get her attention. He killed Eric Martin, Keldin's lover, to draw her out. She was pregnant and could have lost her son when she went to him. Our laws are set in stone for a reason. We have little room for error. Aiden had to do what the law requires."

"So she killed him?"

"It's in our laws," Aiden said. "If one should hurt or kill an innocent, the punishment shall be the same. Tallyn killed a human, or an innocent, and punishment had to be dealt. I had no choice."

Alysse looked her incredulously. She didn't believe anything they were saying. "Would you have had a choice had you known he had a mate and children waiting back home?"

Aiden knew there was no way she was going to be able to reach the woman, but she had to try. "If he hadn't lost his ability to compensate for his powers, I might have given him a second chance. But murder and attempted murder are nonnegotiable. I had to do what the law called for."

"So you didn't care at all that he had someone waiting on him?"

"If you were so concerned, you would have sought us out," Clint said. He drew the attention of the woman as Kasta shifted towards her other side. "Tyler's correct when he said his brother lost his mind. I remember hearing about it but it didn't mean you couldn't have done something to help your children. They'll need help controlling their powers when they get older."

"I can handle it, but I will fulfill my obligation before I go back to them."

Clint shifted Aiden behind him as Alysse pulled a gun. She never got a chance to fire it before Kasta got to her in three strides. Alysse tried to put up a fight but she tripped over the rug and cracked her head against the wall. The Elf stood over her as the entire family came up slowly. Wyatt leaned down and felt for a pulse.

"She's dead," he whispered.

A small cry escaped Tyler. Jess was there to catch him when his knees gave out. Aiden wiped at her face then looked to Cole.

"Remove the body. We've got one more loose end to tie up," she said.

Her brother frowned at her. "What is it? We just found out who was trying to kill you. Elijah's gone after his witch. What else is there?"

"One of the Elves put her up to this. From what I gleaned, he's still here."

Kasta stood and turned around. "It's a he?" Aiden nodded. Their eyes held for a long moment, but the Elf-maid already figured it out. She just needed to hear the name. "Who is it?"

"Someone named Malrick."

Jess started for the door. "He's mine."

"Take Austin with you. He may be sick but he can whip lightning around like nobody's business," Clint said.

His brother-in-law was correct. The best person to pair with Jess was always Austin. His lightning powers combined with his wind power made them an indestructible force. And they all knew Austin would pitch a fit if he weren't in this fight. He'd already missed out on one.

Jess opened the door to Austin's rooms. Emery stood there with his leader. Bryony sat in one of the chairs in the open sitting room. She looked up when he and Kasta came in. She already knew and didn't object.

"Take care of him, please," she said.

"I will," Jess replied. "You ready, Aussie?"

"I'm going with you. Lightning, water and wind can be a serious destructive force," Emery said.

Jess nodded. Austin stood and wobbled for a few seconds before righting himself. Kasta fell in behind the three men without a word. There was no point in arguing. The men were angry and out for vengeance. There was no stopping them.

They walked out the door and blinked into the sunlight. The Elves had gathered in the center of the backyard. They were discussing something quietly but it didn't matter. They were about to be interrupted.

Kasta came around Austin and took the lead. She was going to be the one to bring charges against her kinsman. This was her new family because no matter what anyone said she belonged there. No one was going to take that away from her.

The thing to stand out the most to her was they didn't stop her. Austin put his hand to her shoulder. She thought it was to steady himself, but she felt a little bit of thunder course through her body. It was his way to give her support. He knew how hard this was going to be and he wanted her to know he was standing there behind her.

"Father," she called. He turned around and smiled at her. It fell when she didn't smile in return. "We have some information for you."

"Of course. Speak, child," Leothain replied. His hands came to rest in front of him.

Kasta looked at Jess. He nodded but didn't look at her. "Father, we have the human and magical culprits. The human woman is dead. Before she died, we found out who she was working with."

The Elven king smiled. "Thank goodness. Tell us, child, who the criminal is so he can be punished."

"It was Malrick."

Every Elf turned towards the one called out. He looked at them and shook his head. When Leothain turned to him, he began to beg.

"Please, my Lord. Don't do this. The woman lies," he said.

"The woman is my daughter. She does not lie. Why did you attack the woman?" the king asked.

"The other woman wanted to know how to kill someone using a plant that no one would know. I just gave her the information."

"No, you didn't," Austin said. He was already crackling with energy as he took a step forward. It was amazing how his fatigue faded when his family was in trouble. "You tried to kill Aiden because you didn't want a woman to upstage you. You wanted to be the one who made all the calls as ambassador to the Elven kingdom. That's not the way this place works and you found that out the hard way."

"So instead of asking for help, you decided to kill the Queen by making it look like a scorned woman was the culprit. Only you forgot one thing," Jess said.

"What's that?" Malrick asked. He had given up his begging after finding out it was going to work.

"This family knows how to investigate things thoroughly. You knew you wouldn't get away with it but you were hoping you'd be within your own boundaries when we came after you. Your laws mandate a trial within the Elven realm. You just never thought the King's daughter would be the mate of one of ours," Emery said.

"You inadvertently caused the death of an innocent. Our laws state that we have to punish you for that," Austin explained.

"Our laws are the same," Leothain said. He looked at the Elf that would have become his son-in-law. A look of pity on his face bled over the disappointment her felt. "Give yourself up, Malrick, and your punishment will not be too severe."

Malrick did quite the opposite. He attacked Leothain. Jess nodded at Austin. The auburn haired man sent a force of lightning into the wind tunnel Jess summoned. Emery held his hands out and the water from the river rushed towards them. They combined everything and sent it towards Malrick.

The Elf shoved the king to the ground and tried to run for it, but Jess was faster. He made his wind tunnel even larger. It swallowed the Elf up whole and spit him out, dead.

Kasta ran to her father and helped him to his feet. Leothain smiled down at her then pulled her into his arms. She melted into his embrace, just happy that he was alive.

"How is the Queen?" he asked. He ran his hands through his daughter's hair.

"She will get better as soon as the algae are removed from the house and Rowan gets to healing her. She's madder than a hornet right now," Jess replied.

"I wish to see her and apologize for my kinsman's actions. I hope there is no ill will towards us."

"There shouldn't be but it wouldn't hurt."

With all in agreement, they decided it was best to wait until everyone had had time to let this all pass.