Trinity turned and faced me. Only twenty feet separated us now, but she might as well have been on another planet, because I couldn’t get to her. The distance was small, yet impossible to breach.
Our eyes met. Held.
“Holy fuck, Trinity.”
“You wanted answers,” she called. She held up her hands, shrugged. “Now you know.”
Destiny and Faith went around the vehicle and to the entrance.
There was only one possibility.
The guards were talking now, whether to commanders off-site or to each other, I had no idea. Nothing like this had happened in twenty-seven years and now it was my mate who’d crossed the barrier and lived. Who stood steps away from the citadel sanctum. From confirming once and for all who and what she was.
Royal.
The daughter of Queen Celene.
Destiny stood before the tall doors—there was no lock—and they swung open automatically, as if recognizing the one who requested entry and welcoming her. Destiny walked forward, disappearing into the dark interior of the sanctum. We all stood, staring. Waiting, knowing what might come next, what would prove them truly worthy. The blood on the sacred stone. The final judgment.
The second spire lit and everyone around me gasped. My heart skipped a beat. The added illumination was almost blinding.
Faith, who must have been holding off for the ultimate proof of Destiny’s identity, followed. Just like her sister’s had, Faith’s face and head remained covered until she slipped inside.
After a minute, another light soared into the sky. Another spire came to life.
Another sign that would cause chaos and celebration. Perhaps ignite the spark of unrest among the noble families into a full-fledged war.
All this time, Trinity stood still, looking at me. Waiting. For what? My reaction? Forgiveness? Why hadn’t she trusted me with the truth?
“This mother you spoke of,” I called, the facts crystallizing in my mind now. No wonder Prime Nial wanted these females protected. “The one who told you there was something for you to retrieve at the citadel?”
She lifted her chin, took on a regal bearing that was genetically hers. “Queen Celene.” She bowed to the guards, who looked as shocked, and numb as I was feeling. This simply was not possible. “My name is Trinity Herakles, daughter of Queen Celene and King Mykel, Princess of Alera.”
I watched as my mate, a princess, walked into the citadel. I knew in a few moments my mate would place her blood on the sacred stone, that the citadel would judge Trinity worthy. When another spire shone bright into the night sky, her light all but blinded me, just as she had from the moment I met her.
I was nothing, just a simple Coalition fighter, a guard. I was not worthy of such a female, and yet, my body had awakened for a princess. The eldest daughter of Queen Celene.
My mate was heir to the throne of Alera. She would rule the planet.
If she survived.
And her comment in the EMV? About her mother being kidnapped?
Fuck. She’d been talking about Queen Celene. Her mother. Kidnapped by whom? When? Who would dare? And where would they keep her?
As if a spell had broken with her disappearance, the guards descended, stunned me once again. They weren’t as considerate as Destiny had been, using a much stronger setting. Pain sizzled through every nerve and fiber of my being, but it was nothing to the pain of losing my mate.
I would find her. I would protect her.
Princess or not, she was mine. And maybe a hard-hearted ex-Coalition fighter was just the kind of monster she needed to keep her safe. Whether she wanted me to or not.
The world went dark. The four illuminated spires—one for the queen and one for each of her daughters—would alert the entire planet to their existence.
No more hiding. No more secrets.
Those lights, the beacons of hope, were the last things I saw as I lost consciousness and fell to the street.
* * *