*Maddox*
“Mates.”
The word hangs in the air between Seth and me, both of us trying to process what this means for Austin, assuming he’s escaped. Zabrina was obviously his fated mate. He came here to try to save her, even though she was acting as if she had absolutely no intention whatsoever to be with him. She was here, trying to become my Luna queen, yet he was willing to risk his life, and actually sacrifice the lives of some of his pack members, to try to free her ass.
And from the sound of things, there’s a chance it just might have worked…. How can her body be gone if she’s not alive? But how can she be alive when I ripped her intestines out?
None of it is making any sense to me.
“She has to be dead,” Seth says. “If you did as you say you did, and I believe that you did, then there’s no way she could be alive.”
“I would say you’re probably right, but seeing as though Isla’s brother Ben died a few hours ago, but he’s alive now.” I can’t imagine there’s anyone else in this palace who has the healing powers Isla allegedly has. In fact, it’s hard for me to accept that even Isla is capable of bringing people back to life. But it does seem like it’s too much of a coincidence that Isla cried over two people who were dead and then suddenly they were not dead anymore.
“What do you think we should do next?” Seth asks me, drawing me out of my thoughts.
“We need to get to Southern pack and see if Alpha Henry has any idea where his son might be. We will need to find Austin and make sure that whatever his force's intentions are, they aren’t able to attack again. I’d like to think that now that the execution is over, there would be no reason for any of them to attack us again, but who knows?”
I continue to walk until I am outside, but then, I see a warrior running over to me. He’s dressed in his uniform and covered with dirt, and from the look of things, he’s been running for a while. I don’t remember seeing him inside of the courtyard during the fight. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s one of the guards that is usually stationed near the gates. “What’s going on?” I ask him.
“Sir!” he says, out of breath. I have to wonder why he didn’t shift to run over to talk to me. “We’ve just gotten word from the village. Apparently, someone has strung up a body in the town’s square, and the citizens are pummeling it with rocks!”
My eyes widen as I look at Seth. “A body?” I ask. He nods.
“Male or female?” Seth asks.
He shrugs. “I’m not sure. They say it’s hard to tell at this point, the body is so badly beaten.”
Confusion washes over me as I think about the possibilities. It has to be Zabrina, doesn’t it? But she was wearing a skirt when she was strung up, which means it should be obvious she’s a woman whether she’s dressed or not. I did tear her guts out, but the rest of her body should be intact.
But then… if it’s her body in the village, I have no idea how it got there, so who knows what someone might’ve done to her to get her there.
“Do you know why they are throwing rocks at the body?” I ask him.
“No, only that they are shouting, ‘Goddess save the king!’ as they do it,” the warrior tells me.
“Shit,” I mutter. So… it seems that this crowd is in support of me, even if they have no idea who the person is that they are pelting with rocks.
Turning my attention to Seth, I say, “We should go.”
He nods, and the two of us run off to the garage, knowing we need to get to the village and find out what is happening there, but also why it is happening. How did this body get there? If it’s not Zabrina, or if it’s not one of the rogues that attacked the castle, then who the fuck is it, and what do we need to do to find out who killed the person?
In the garage, we get in the closest SUV, and Seth starts the car. We tear off, watching out for citizens who are still milling around outside where they fled to escape the turmoil at the execution.
“It has to be Zabrina,” Seth says as he steers around a family walking back to the village. “Who else could it be?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “I think it’s probably her, too, but that doesn’t clear up all of the mystery. We have to figure out how the hell she got out of the castle grounds and into the village.”
“That’s true,” he says. “And why.”
The why part might be as simple as someone wanting to take their frustration out on someone, but it could be something more.
Another thought occurs to me. “If Zabrina’s body is being pummeled in the square at the village, we may draw in the attention of the rebels who started the uprising in the first place.”
“So you think Austin might be there?” Seth asks me.
I nod. “I think that’s a good possibility.”
It doesn’t take long before we arrive at the village. We roll up on quite a large crowd of people who are acting unruly. As I step out of my vehicle, I see a few of my guards trying to control the crowd, but there aren’t enough of them, and it seems like everyone wants to get a rock thrown at the body.
The corpse is strung up on a flagpole, about eight feet off of the ground, and I can see why others might not know who it is. Though naked, there are rips and tears in the torso, innards hanging, twisted limbs, and a bag still covering the upper half of the head.
I know exactly who it is, though. The bag is a good tip-off, but then, so is the narrow waist.
It’s Zabrina, all right.
And she is most definitely dead.
But how she got here, I have no idea. Someone in this crowd has to know something. I doubt that a person would go to all of the trouble to steal her body from the courtyard and drag her down here but then leave before they got to see the aftermath of their decisions. They have to be here somewhere, and if that’s the case, I want to talk to them.
But the crowd is out of control, and the few guards are not going to be able to stop the madness. Using the mind-link, I call back to the castle to let them know they need to transport at least a hundred warriors to the village right away.
Then, I start surveying the crowd.
Who here looks like they know how this all got started and will speak to me about it without causing too much trouble?
I look through the myriad of faces, trying to determine who my best bet is. My eyes fall on an older gentleman standing toward the back of the crowd, his arms folded across his muscular chest. His gray hair lets me know he’s mature enough to know he needs to answer my questions, and his clothing tells me he’s probably a respectable member of the citizenry and not someone who is going to balk at seeing me.
“Excuse me,” I say, walking over to him.
His eyes widen slightly as he realizes who I am.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” He tips his head to me, and I make a waving motion with my hands, not thinking that his formality is necessary.
“Do you happen to know how that body got here?” I ask him, point blank.
He says, “By the time I came out of my store, it was already strung up, but I believe that man over there in the black shirt had something to do with it. His name is Preston, and he is a bit… off-balanced, but also a big proponent of yours.”
I turn and look at the man who is dancing around, picking up rocks and throwing them at Zabrina’s body with ardor. He has a big grin on his face, and his eyes are wild as he does his best to rile up the crowd.
He does look like he’s a little off. I have no idea how he would’ve managed to get that body out of the courtyard without any of my warriors noticing, though.
“Thank you, sir,” I say to the man, and he nods.
“Of course, Your Majesty. I’m just glad you finally killed the bitch who wanted to poison all of us.”
I realize then that the villagers know that Zabrina had intended to poison the water. It’s no wonder they are continuing to stone her long after she’s dead.
“It’s that guy over there,” Seth says to me as I walk back over to him. It seems most people in the crowd haven’t noticed me yet, so I can walk freely. Seth is pointing at Preston as well.
“Yeah, that’s what I’ve heard. Let’s wait until the backup soldiers from the castle get here, and then we can move in and get him under our control.”
Seth nods, so we wait, and I wonder which way the crowd is going to break when the soldiers get here. I want to position myself to be able to stop Preston from getting away. Something tells me, even if he does break away from us, there are enough people in the village who will know where to find him.
Still, it would be easier to just catch him to begin with….
I hear the approaching vehicles and watch faces as some of the citizens realize they are about to have company. The ones in the back who are mostly just watching take off for their homes, but Preston is too busy dancing around to notice until it’s too late. When he sees the warriors pouring out of the black transport vehicles, he turns to run and hits his head on my chest. I grab hold of him. “Where you going, Preston?”
He opens his mouth to respond, but I’m not listening to him. Over his shoulder, I see a flicker of movement down the alley that catches my attention. As quickly as I can, I hand Preston off to the closest soldier, and then, I shift and take off running as Austin shifts and darts between the trees. I shift, too, hoping my wolf is faster than his.
I’m not going to let him get away this time.