Chapter 3

"What?" Tyler exclaimed. He had his hands were balled into fists at his sides. The other man simply looked at him but didn't say a word.

"You're an idiot," Rowan stated as he shook his head.

Klark didn't look at him as he picked up the discarded crossword puzzle once again. "It's the only way."

"Yeah, for you to get killed." Tyler literally shouted in his head. "Your family would kill me if that happened."

"My family knows what to do. I have faith in them."

Tyler shook his head. "This is ludicrous! You're trying to martyr yourself."

"It's better if I die than my sister."

Rowan agreed. "He's right. If we lose the Queen, we're all lost. No one has ever united us as she has."

The youngest person in the room groaned in frustration. He shoved a hand through his hair. "Fine. Do what you want. I'll be there in case you fall."

Emily looked between the two men she could see. For a few moments nothing was said but she had a feeling there was another means of communication going on between them. It had to be the only explanation. If they could control fire and ice, they could very well talk without speaking verbally.

As she was determining all this, she felt something cold slide down her arm. She jerked in shock.

"Stay still. I don't want to hurt you," the man behind her stated calmly. A few seconds later the bonds fell away from her wrists. "You're free but you can't leave. We still need to talk."

"I don't know how to help you," she said as she rubbed her wrists. Once again silence filled the room as they clammed up. "Stop it! I can't hear your thoughts!"

Tyler snorted. "We know."

She stared at him. He stared right back, completely unfazed by her. As she looked at him, something about his eyes intrigued her. They were bright green but at they moment looked as if they were silver.

She turned to the man behind her. He didn't try to hide it. Instead he looked at her levelly. His eyes were a honey colored but at the moment they held a silvery mixture to them.

"The reason our eyes are showing signs of silver is because we just used our powers and are in a heated discussion. It always happens during those instances. Usually we're very good at hiding those occurrences," Klark said as he stood and hobbled to the kitchen.

Emily moved with him, impressed by the silver flames that rose from the waistband of his workout pants and burned their way up his back to his neck where they disappeared in his hairline. "What does it mean?"

"It means you're in trouble if you piss Tyler off anymore than you already have."

"Which one's Tyler?"

"Silver and green." Klark watched as she turned around and looked at him. Tyler responded in what would be considered Austin fashion by glaring daggers and turning away. "He's pissed at me more than he is you so I wouldn't worry too much. The other guy's Rowan. He won't harm you. It's against his honor code."

"What's your name?"

He shuttered as the question washed over him. "It's Klark."

"You need to sit down so I can check your leg, Klark," Rowan said as he moved towards the couch.

He made a face. "It means I have to strip down to my boxers in front of a woman. I don't even do that in front of my sister."

"Quit bitching and sit down. The faster I look, the faster you can put your clothes back on."

Tyler made a noise and shoved off the back of the couch. "I'm going to call Jess."

Emily watched him walk away then turned her gaze back to the two men she was left with. Rowan helped Klark remove his pants and sit comfortably on the couch. He gently probed the nasty looking wound on the other man's thigh with soft hands, retracing his steps every time Klark winced or hissed.

"Do you want to explain who you are?" she asked. She sat on the far arm of the couch and draped her arms over her knees. She watched them with awe and concern.

"In simple terms we're enhanced humans," Rowan said. "Klark can form and control fire from charging the particles in the air. Tyler can summon gale force winds and create ice out of the water droplets in the air. I'm obviously a Healer."

"You said you have a queen?"

Klark nodded but kept his eyes closed. There was no way he was going to tell Rowan he was seeing fire bursts in his vision. "We actually have two but the one we were talking about is the one that concerns us."

"There are two queens?"

"There are two Courts: Gold and Silver. My brother is the King of the Golden Court and his wife is the Queen. My sister is the Queen of the Silver court. We belong to the Silver Faction."

"So you're royalty?"

"Yes and no."

Emily frowned. "It can't be both."

"Actually, it can," Tyler said. He returned to the room and sank down on the arm of the easy chair. "Jess says for you to quit being an ass and work together on this."

"Did you tell him my response to that?" Klark asked.

"I did and he says you're getting it when you return."

Rowan laughed but managed to keep his hands still. "Ignore the bickering. Tyler gets defensive when he gets scared.'

"Why are you scared?" she asked.

Tyler frowned. "My best friend and Queen is going to the US government because she is about to tell them we exist. They can do one of two things. First they can call her crazy and lock her up in a mental institution, or second they can tell her to prove it. When she does, they bind her and send her in for tests. Either way, she gets imprisoned and we lose our Queen. Excuse me for being concerned what her dumbass of a brother wants to do."

She looked at Tyler. He refused to meet her gaze. She tried to catch his eye but he always turned away. Looking back at Klark she saw him shaking his head. He was trying to tell her not to bother with Tyler. He was annoyed with the situation, not with her. It still didn't help her mood any or help her figure this thing out.

Rowan suddenly moved away from Klark, holding out a hand to help the man up so he could get dressed. "You're healing just fine. I don't think you should move until tomorrow though."

"That means tonight we'll explain everything else to Emily. But first we eat," Tyler said. He got up from his chair and walked through the living room to the kitchen.

"I'll help," Emily offered.

Klark grabbed her arm, wincing as the heat from her skin absorbed into his. "Don't worry about it. Tyler's aggravated, but he can cook rather well. Food is his love language. It speaks louder than what his mouth does."

Emily watched the black haired man walked around the kitchen. She understood why he was so upset but he didn't have to act like a jerk.

Turning she looked at Klark. Standing at six foot two, he towered over her five foot three stature. His light hair fell sleekly to his ears. He was muscular and it showed.

The grip he had on her arm showed he was simply holding back his power. She caught his eyes briefly and noticed he always had silver dispersed throughout his eyes, making them look as if they were caramel with hints of wrapping throughout.

Rowan shook his head and looked towards the kitchen. "Did you talk to Keldin, Ty?"

Tyler clanked a pan on the eye of the stove. "No, he was about to talk to Skander's dad. None of us know how that's going to go."

Klark dropped Emily's arm and limped to the chair. "We can only hope it goes well."

* * *

Senator Peter Giles sat in his office and tried to work. Unfortunately, his mind would not allow him to do so.

His son had called and left a vague message about why he was coming to visit. That terrified him. Skander could possibly be in trouble. His youngest son had already had terrible things done to him and he hoped nothing else had happened. Peter would hate to take drastic measures against Keldin if something had happened to his son.

There was a knock at his door. His secretary opened the door and Skander walked in solemnly. It was unlike his normal happy gait when visiting. Keldin walked behind him, eyes darting from side to side. He didn't smile or acknowledge his presence. Instead he stepped to the side and looked towards the door.

Two more people walked in, one male and one female. The male was dressed professionally in a suit and tie. It made him look regal. The female was dressed casually in jeans and a nice shirt. The low cut of the neckline showed a silver moon emblazoned at the base of her neck.

Once they sat down across from him, Skander turned to him as Keldin took up sentry behind the duo.

"Dad, you know what Keldin is, correct?" he asked carefully.

Peter nodded, his eyes never leaving the two sitting in the chairs before his desk. "Yes. You've explained and showed me what he's capable of."

The young man nodded. "These two people are very important to Keldin for two reasons. One, they are his friends and two, they rule his people. This is Mikey Jenks-Lowen and Aiden Jenks-Miller. They are the King of the Golden Court and Queen of the Silver Court respectively. They have come to you for help."

The senator looked between the two, looking at the similarities between them. Obviously they were related. They had the same last name and he guessed both names were hyphenated. Their eyes were the same color except the young woman's had something akin to silver swimming in hers. He stared at her long enough to make her smile slightly at him. Startled he jerked back.

"Are you two by any chance twins?" he asked. It was a safe enough question and it would give him time to recollect himself.

Mikey nodded. "Indeed, Senator, we are. I don't mean to be rude but we are here on important business. The longer we tarry on it, the more danger our people are in."

"My apologies. What is it you are here for?"

Aiden took it up. "We have reason to believe that someone in Congress has issued a hit on our people. Our best guess is the person in charge is afraid of us or is one of us."

Peter was shocked. "There are people like you in Congress?"

The Queen smiled patiently. "There are over five million of us worldwide and two million in the US alone. It's safe to say that a few of us have been in Congress and a few have been part of the presidential cabinet, vice president and a couple have been president."

"Dad, this would go by so much faster if you would quit being shocked about everything. It gets better over time but you have to hear them out first," Skander said gently. He was leaning against his dad's desk in hopes of comforting him.

When Peter nodded, Aiden pulled a piece of paper out of a manila folder and handed it to him. He looked at it, his mouth dropping in shock at what he read. He tried to keep from clenching his fists in the paper as anger seeped through him.

"Where did you get all this?" he asked.

"We have alliances in high places. We can get just about any piece of information if we ask for it," Mikey replied.

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his face, finally staring out of his split fingers. Then he leaned forward. "You're giving me information about a very good man."

Aiden lifted her gaze to Skander. "Dear, please show him."

The look on Peter's face was heart wrenching. He swiveled around in his chair and looked up at his son as he pulled off his t-shirt. A long jagged scar ran across his chest. Peter's mouth dropped open as he stood up and tentatively ran a finger down it.

Finally he pulled his son into his arms and turned an angry stare to Keldin.

"You promised he'd be safe," he spat.

Keldin frowned. "Ask your son whose fault it was."

"That doesn't matter."

"Skander jumped in front of a knife to protect me," Aiden stated rather harshly. "We had some guests in my home. Speaker of the House Eric Blakemore ordered those guests to be killed. Now I don't know how you treat guests in your house, but in mine, they have the utmost respect. There was no way I was going to let them be killed. You can blame Keldin all you want but the fact is Speaker Blakemore signed that hit and I plan to see him brought to justice for it. You can stand with us or you can stand down. It's your choice but he's going down one way or the other."

Mikey laid a hand on his sister's. When she was calmed, he looked up again. "Senator, my sister is very protective of her people, but I am as equally protective. If we do not come to an agreement today, we will be taking action against the Speaker of the House. The word is we are monsters. My sister, Keldin, our family, and myself, we are not monsters. We protect the public from monsters, such as the ones who attacked Skander four months ago."

Peter looked between his son and the people he was now affiliated with. Skander looked to be happy and healthy. These people were good for him.

He let go of his son and sank back down in his chair. He pressed his fingers together and balanced his elbows on the desk. "I'll do what I can. It might not be much but I can try to figure out what's going on behind the scenes."

The twins nodded at the same time, cementing the knowledge in Peter's head. As one they stood, turning towards the door.

"One moment please." They stopped and looked at him. "What's your driving force behind targeting the Speaker of the House?"

They looked at each other. Then Mikey answered. "He attacked our brother and is trying to get him killed as we speak."

"You may have to bring your people to the light."

Aiden nodded. "We're prepared to do that. We always get out man, Senator. We thought it would be best to go through the right channels first before we took drastic measures." Once again they turned and headed out the door, effectively silencing him.

As Skander went to follow them, he turned around and looked at his dad. "These people have been good to me. In reality they are very dangerous, but the ones at Court can handle their powers. Speaker Blakemore can easily have them turned into monsters. Dad, please help them."

Peter watched his son walk out the door. Keldin wrapped his arm around him then turned his head back and nodded at him. He was once again promising Skander's safety. Peter nodded in return. He was going to help his son be happy because that's what his mother would have wanted.

He sat down and immediately began investigating what the Speaker of the House had been doing in his free time. This didn't only concern his country, but it concerned his son. The latter was always of the utmost importance.