Chapter 59

Kelly Things were finally starting to go right. I sat in the back of the plane, resting my head on Emmetts shoulder with my eyes closed while he snored the flight away. I cant believe we really did it. We got all the ingredients for the Elixir. We all walked out, mostly unharmed. I no longer had any secrets between the three men I was fawning over, and they all still accepted me for who I was. Once we got back, I knew I would have to make a decision about who I wanted to pursue further.

First, there was Jonas. We grew up together and he was there for me during my first and second rejection. He always knew how to make me laugh, but was perhaps a little too goofy at times. But I might not be made queen, so that might not be an actual problem. On the flip side, I was always smiling around him. He always brightens my mood. We loved studying together and just had a good time together. He got along well with my family, and was easy to be with.

Then there was Thorin. I met him shortly after Keres arrived. He always knew what was bubbling beneath the surface and gladly chose to stay and help. He has taught me everything I know about survival and combat, and can still put me on my a*s when he wants to, which is surprisingly a major turn-on. But he is severely cut off from people, and said he didn’t want any pups. If I were to be queen, those things might be a problem. But again, we don’t know if I will be or not. Thorin was always there to catch me when I fell, he was always strong when I wasn’t. His words were few, but they were always meaningful.

Finally, there is Emmett. He came into my life two years after I started training, hoping to better help my Keres situation. He did everything he could to help me, even with my father breathing down his neck every step of the way. He was always hopeful, and that was something I needed quite often with Keres around. He expressed wanting to travel, which while not impossible, it would be extremely hard to do if I were queen. He also wanted to open his own clinic, which wouldn’t be feasible if I was queen, at least not right away anyway. I needed my king to be by my side. But Emmett was refined, well mannered, and very sensual. He would be fit to be in a position of power.

My decision would not be easy. All three men had their own strengths and weaknesses. All three loved me for what I was. Not to mention drop dead gorgeous in their own ways. All excellent lovers. How lucky was I? To not only have one man like that, but three. I suppose I kind of deserve it though, after everything that I have been through. Maybe this is the moon goddess’s way of throwing me a bone… Of course, whoever I don’t pick, I don’t know if they would want to stay in my life afterwards, which I couldn’t blame them for not wanting to stick around and watch me grow with someone else. So maybe it was another punishment after all.

– – – – – – – – –

“We land soon,” Thorin said.

“Thank goddess.” I sighed in relief. I was so over plane rides.

We had stopped once already. This was the last leg of our journey. I was so grateful to be going back home, ready to face whatever was about to be thrown my way.

“Hey Emmett, how long do you think it will take you to make the Elixir?” I asked.

“I would like to do a bit more research first, but I don’t think it will be too hard. It’s easy to turn the crystal into a powder, the moon flower and herbs will take a bit more time, but with today’s technology, it shouldn’t be too difficult.” He shrugged.

“Days, weeks, months?” I asked.

“A week, maybe two. I just want to make sure I make it properly.”

“Fair enough.” I nodded.

“I bet your sisters will be excited about seeing you,” Jonas said. He had been quiet most of the flight back. Heck, everyone was, for that matter.

“I’m sure.” I chuckled. “Its been what? A month?” I asked, trying to think back to when we left.

“Slightly over actually,” Thorin said.

“I cant thank you guys enough for going on this mission with me. I literally could not have done it without you. It means so much to me that you jumped right on board my crazy train.” I half laughed.

“We would do anything for you,” Emmett said.

“You know that,” Thorin added.

“If I didn’t before, I certainly do now.” I smiled.

“Hey Kelly…there is something I wanted to tell you…” Jonas began.

“What is it?” I asked, looking out into the distance. It looked cloudy outside. Odd for this time of year.

“Its about the Banshees…”

“Oh goddess!” I gasped in horror, realizing that the clouds were not actually rain clouds, but smoke clouds.

“What the…?” Emmett frowned.

“It’s coming from the palace!” Thorin growled.

My stomach dropped at his words, and even more so when the palace came into my view and I could see smoke coming from a number of the windows. The plane dipped a moment later as Thorin began to land at the small airport runway.

“What are we going to do?” Jonas asked.

“There is an underground tunnel that leads inside the palace.” I said, already unbuckling as the wheels hit the ground.

“We don’t know what we are running into-” Emmett began.

“I don’t care! My family is in there!” I growled.

“We travel with caution,” Thorin said pointedly. “We don’t know that they are in there.”

I nodded, tears already pricking at my eyes. Goddess, I prayed that they were alright.

“No, but the moon flower probably is.” Emmett said, tearing out of his seatbelt.

“Where is this tunnel?” Jonas asked as we scrambled out of the plane.

“Follow me.” I said, wiping the dew from my eyes. Now was not the time for tears.

The guys ran by my side, my urgency to get home increasing with each passing minute. When I thought I was close enough to link, I reached out to everyone I could.

“Mom? Dad? Kelsey? Kylie?” I frantically asked.

“Kelly?!” Kelsey answered first.

“I’m almost home. What the hell is going on?”

“Chupacabras. They are everywhere.” She said, her voice broken sounding. “We lit a few rooms on fire hoping the smoke would draw them out of the palace. Everyone else is hiding in the alpha wing of the palace.”

“Okay, it’s gonna be okay.” I said, taking a steadying breath. “I’m coming in through a tunnel that leads to an old study we hardly ever used. I wont be long.”

“Be careful, they are everywhere.”

“There are people in the palace still. They are hiding in the alpha wing from a bunch of Chupacabras. Kelsey says they are everywhere.”

“They are known for sucking all the b***d out of their victims. Don’t let them bite you.” Jonas warned.

“How did they get inside?” Emmett asked.

“I don’t know, but I have a bad feeling about all of this,” I said as I lept over a dead body. It was scaly and looked like a medium sized dog. This must be what the Chupacabras look like.

“Let’s get inside, then we worry.” Thorin said.

“I don’t know, maybe we should worry now.” Emmett said as he came to a quick stop at a dead body. He checked for a pulse, but shook his head when he found none.

I looked around, feeling like it might have been safer in any of the places we had just come from. “Let’s hurry,” I said. We made it to the back of the palace in record time, shimmying through the gate and creeping into the tunnels. It was just as unsafe looking as I had remembered, only this time it felt harder to breathe with the smoke getting heavier and heavier the closer to the palace we got. “We clear the room first.” I said just outside the door that led to the study I had escaped from just a short time ago.

The guys nodded and I flung open the door, relieved when it was neither on fire, nor taken over by Chupacabras. There was a lot of smoke coming in through the bottom of the door, telling me we couldn’t stay there long. Which also meant the hostages couldn’t either. I had no idea how long they had been in there for, but the longer they were there, the more damage the smoke would cause their lungs and the less oxygen there would be, which could ultimately lead to their death. I felt the door handle first, it was cold, so I opened it just a crack. I was very underprepared for what I saw. There were at least fifty of the beasts roaming down this hall alone. If this was just a hallway, what did the rest of the palace look like?

“Keres?”

“Yeah b***h?”

“Can I ask a favor?”