Minho hadn’t been to sleep in twenty-seven hours. He couldn’t sleep. He wouldn’t. Twenty-seven hours–wide awake. How did he know it had been twenty-seven hours? The power of observation. There were no real windows in the secret room located behind a wall deep in the Dongbang Library. There was a small inlet, maybe a vent, that allowed air in and out, that allowed just enough sunlight in for Minho to be able to count the hours. No beam of light shining through the window but the sky was blue and bright? Possibly high noon. Light pouring into the room, angled towards the baseboards? Early afternoon. Directly into the room? Almost dusk. He counted the hours that way.

It was the only thing that kept him sane, kept him from concentrating on the noises and dying screams on the outside. It was the only distraction from the sound of steel against steel, the cackle of fire burning, shouts across the courtyard, commands in the air. It was the only distraction that kept him from concentrating on the beating of his heart.

He could feel Jinki–when he was excited, when he was mad, when he was scared. He’d memorized the pattern of his heart, the way it would pound when he was fighting, high off adrenaline, dizzy in battle lust. He’d memorized the steady thrum when he had taken command, was strategizing, or thinking. Jinki was a brilliant strategist and expert tactician and it always felt like the calm before a storm when he was planning. There were even times when he felt Jinki reaching out for him, searching to be soothed and reassured. Minho would funnel whatever positive energy he could into that call, layer their bond with it, hoping that he could feel the only peace Minho could offer him.

Four hours ago, Minho stopped feeling Jinki’s heartbeat in his chest. All he felt was a worried anxious thump in his chest.

His eyes fluttered close and he stared at the spot on the wall, a few feet from dead center. Another two hours had passed. He would concentrate on that.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Warm. Comforting. Unnecessary. He could tell it was Dannie’s by the grip or the feeling…something. “Minho, love,” she pleaded softly. “You need to sleep.” He politely shrugged her hand off and continued to stare at the wall. He heard her resigned sigh and the sound of her footsteps as she moved back to Iseul’s side by the flameless fireplace.

She’s right, you know.

Shut up, Caleo.

Fine, make yourself sick with worry. Won’t change anything.

What do you know?

I know he’s not dead.

You don’t know .

I know everything.

I can’t feel his heart.  I can’t.

You can’t feel your either since you’ve been sitting in the same spot for more than a day.

Shut. Up.

Fine.

The sun dropped lower and lower. He exhaled slowly and loudly in an attempt to calm himself down. “I am so powerless. I’ve never felt more powerless in my life,” Minho breathed. “Why don’t I have more power? Why can’t I save him?”

“You are saving him,” Iseul replied firmly but with care.

Minho tore his gaze from the wall to stare at her dourly. “How do you figure that?”

She smiled softly. “Because it is our duty, this is our duty, as mates. Right now, Jinki knows you are safe, so he can concentrate on keeping us all safe. Sometimes, the absence of motion, our stillness, is more powerful than any movement. Tell me this…have you not been helping him this entire time? When he calls to you? What do you do?”

Minho hesitated for a moment. “I answer.”

“You answer. He needs that more than he needs anything else in this world. You have to trust in that.”

Minho looked at Iseul, then at Dannie, maybe for additional word of sagely wisdom. The red headed shifter laughed. “Don’t look at me for any advice. I haven’t had a mate since you were a–“ Dannie’s mouth slapped shut and her eyes went wide.

Minho narrowed his eyes at her, confused by the statement. Iseul must have seen the confusion and stepped in between the two of them, her hands out, palms up, like Minho was an unstable bull deciding if he should charge at them or not. Her actions were even more confusing.  “What she meant was…” Iseul started.

“What I meant was…it’s just been a long time since I’ve been mated. I don’t…remember, so…” Her words trailed off and she growled. “What am I doing, Issie?” She paused and turned to her friend.  “Why am I doing this? The opportunity is right here! Right in front of my face and I can’t even open my stupid mouth!”

Iseul’s comfort left Minho’s side for a moment. She glared at her friend, a look of censure on her face. “Dannie, not now, dear,” she stressed. “He’s having an existential crisis and I don’t think this is the time. He doesn’t need–“

‘We are both having a crisis!”

“Yes! But you’re creating yours!” Dannie snapped.

Minho’s frustration with his own issues switched off in light of Dannie’s behavior. Her pupils were dilated, her breath short, she was twitchy and her forehead shined with sweat. “Are you okay?” Minho asked, unsure.

She rushed towards him, her eyes wild. The beam of sun that shone into the room filtered through her red hair and for a moment she looked alive with fire. She grabbed his face between her hands, caressing his cheeks as if she were soothing away tears that didn’t exist. “No. I’m not. I’m such a terrible person and of all the people you need with you, in your hour of need, it’s not me. I have no idea why he threw me in here! I only ruin things! I ruin everything!”

Minho glanced at Iseul out the corner of his eyes. She shrugged rather pathetically. “Cabin Fever?” she guessed weakly. “Only if Cabin Fever affects idiots,” she murmured under breath.

Minho didn’t mind. If somehow Dannie lost her wits, getting her back together would be a much better distraction than staring at a sunbeam on a wall. “Well, Dannie,” he said in the calmest voice he could manage, hoping to soothe her. “We aren’t able to leave right now and I would suggest fresh air but that’s unavailable as well so can you just tell me what’s got you so upset? I can’t help if I don’t–”

“Minjung wasn’t planned,” she whispered. Her voice took on a quality as if she were haunted by something, as if guilt was sitting on her chest, taunting her weighing her down. “She wasn’t. She was conceived because your father couldn’t keep his damn hands to himself during the final negotiations between my mother’s ridiculous family and your father’s very very kind family. There was so much tension because I was a mage and with my father’s mage ban and your grandfather’s unwillingness to lift it…he thought we needed tension relief.” She winced. “That was probably too much information. The point I’m trying to make is–“

“Please hurry up and state it,” Minho said distraught and anxious, his eyes wide and his whole aura screaming.

Is she implying what I think she’s implying?

Good ing question, Caleo!

“Okay,” Dannie said nervously as her hands dropped to her side. “I can do that. Um…” she looked over to Iseul who just shook her head at her and crossed her arms.

“You jumped right into the fire by yourself.”

Dannie glowered at her before she continued. “What I’m saying is Minjung wasn’t planned but you were. You were so very much planned. I picked your name out before you were conceived–I just knew you were going to be a boy. Yunkyum said he wanted another girl, something about “Twin Sunflowers” because Minjung was so tall and beautiful and mighty for a nine year old. You were conceived in a field of them, he had them planted a few months beforehand. They stretched for miles and miles outside of the village. It was so beautiful and amazing of your father.  Like I said you were planned."

Minho blinked. Caleo was silent.

Minho’s stillness didn’t last long. He glared at Dannie, his brow pinched in disbelief.  “Look, lady,” he started, his fist clenching at his sides. “I know my mother’s scent. I may not remember much about her face but I remember her scent.”

Dannie’s mouth open and closed like a fish without air, speechless. Minho looked back at her smugly, not sure why the woman would say something so ridiculous in the first place! He was about to rip into her again but Iseul stepped in. “I was on the run for years while your mate’s adopted father tried to track me down. While temporary, I had to alter my looks and my scent. You, yourself, are very well versed in altering your scent. Your mother…had to alter her scent. It’s not that far-fetched, love.”

“No,” Minho pointed out feverently. “You can’t change the scent of a dead woman. She died. They told me she died. She-is-dead! It wouldn’t make sense if she were alive! If I had a mother…a mother that was alive, then why is she here only now?” His gaze moved from Iseul to Dannie. “If she has been alive all of this time, why…”

“Because, I had to,” she said reaching for him. “Because I wanted to pro–“

Minho pushed back away from her, his hands shaking, a feeling surging through him that felt blue like sorrow but also red like anger. “If you are going to say to protect me, then don’t. Because you didn’t,” he spat. “You didn’t protect me. Dad protected me, Minjung protected me, Julien protected me, Siwon and Ryewook and Donghae and Jinki,” he stated, voice cracking, “they protected me and most of them died because of it. You…you did not, so don’t you dare.”

Minho stood from his chair, turned away from her, marched up to the door and began banging on it. “Let me out of this room,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. When he didn’t receive an answer, he banged on it harder. “Please…let me out.”

“Minho…” Dannie uttered brokenly.

“Don’t!” he said whipping around. “Don’t say my name. You don’t have the right.” He resumed his banging on the door, louder, harder. “Someone let me out of this ing room!”

“Please believe me, Minho…please!”

Minho, you have to calm down.

I don’t know how many variations I have to use but I will continue to tell you to shut up until you do.

Your attitude is not my problem. You kept me shut up for damn near a century, so excuse me if I don’t exact my right to tell you when you are overacting.

Overreacting? Me. Overreacting? Some woman I’ve known for months just told me she was my mother. My mother! She’s been here for months and the entire time she was my mother! My mother who should be dead. My mother who was off on the other side of Prae doing Gods’ knows what while her family was being picked off one by one. There is no such thing as an overreaction.

There is when you don’t–know–why. And another thing–you are a goddamn hypocrite. Didn’t you once fear Jinki would die because of your lies? Well, unfortunately for Danye, someone did. A lot of people did. You are not different. You just got lucky.

Minho remembered Jinki telling him the war he went through internally when he found out about Minho’s secret. He never ever thought he would be in the same predicament and while he considered Jinki a beautiful soul, he did consider his reasoning much more sound.

His pounding stopped. He stopped. His forced him mind not to think, his heart not to hurt. Slowly, he turned around and blinked the tears from his eyes. When he was sure he had his composure together, he walked to the opposite side of the table and pulled out a seat, then walked to his seat and took it.

“I’m listening,” he said quietly, as he indicated to the seat in front of him.

Dannie, who was also on the verge of tears, slowly made her way to the seat. Iseul stayed in her spot by the wall, her arms crossed and her face washed in worry.

“I could tell you a long drawn out sorrow filled story but…” She, instead, sat and withdrew a small piece of chalk from her pocket. Minho stared at it with a raised brow. “I keep it with me, so I can draw up writ spells.”

Minho glanced at her. “I forget…you’re a mage.”

“An Alpha mage. Your father wouldn’t have married me if I was anything else. And he thought I was cute,” she said with a small laugh.

“The ruling line must be clean. The ruling line must be pure. The ruling line must be untarnished,“ Minho intoned.

“Yes. Your interpretation of that probably makes you think it only applies to Alphas but we both know the Blue Crescents despised mages.”

“So you left to save yourself?” Minho asked, his voice still devoid of any tone that would betray his emotions.

“No,” she shook her head and started drawing out a set of complicated geometric patterns on the table’s surface. “A writ spell is sort of like…a memory locked in time. It can only be unlocked by other mages. If Iseul or Taeyeon or Taemin were to come over here right now, they could interpret what I’m writing. Instead…” she looked up at him. “I want you to.”

Minho frowned. “You just said only mages could–“

He stopped cold.

Holy , Caleo whispered.

She nodded as if she could hear the puzzle falling to place in his head. “Place your hand just above the center circle. Don’t touch the chalk for the chalk is time itself. We mustn’t mess with time.”

“I can’t…I don’t know how to…”

“Being a mage is something you are, not something to be learned. Advanced spells, yes, but the very essence of it, what you inherited?  It’s something you feel. For you, since I bound your powers as a child, you haven’t felt it, so unlike Taemin or Taeyeon who grew up with them, you are not able to recognize or name the feeling. However, since you’ve spent so much time around them, your powers have slowly and naturally flourished to break the binding. You may not know how, but I will teach you…show you to recognize that feeling.” She nodded towards the chalk seal. “Go ahead. Place your hand above the drawing.”

Biting his lip, Minho did as he was told, slowly moving his hand until it was hovering over her drawing.

“Close your eyes.” He did. “I’m going to amplify it, when I do, catch it. You’ll know what I’m talking about when I do it.”

Minho nodded. There was silence and absolute still in the room. He couldn’t hear the screams outside, the shouts, the crackling of fire–nothing. In the sweet caress of quiet calm, he felt something warm, pleasantly warm and full bodied, brush across his palm. As Dannie had instructed, he began to close his palm around the feeling. Instinctively, he turned his palm up, letting the feeling balance there.

“Open your eyes, Minho.”

When he did, he was no longer in the room hidden in The Dongbang Library, but his home in Wheph.

It looked different, as if he could tell a different touch had help mold the look of the house. Fresh flowers were everywhere, in pots and vases and the house smelled fragrant of them. In the living room, where his father usually sat in a big green overstuffed chair, was a smaller one, yellow with bright blue dots all around it.

In the kitchen, there was a pot with steam rising under the lid. It was dark outside and just beyond the window; Minho could see the stars in the sky. He inhaled the scents of a home he missed.

“Minjung!”

Minho turned towards the sound and saw a smaller version of his beloved sister running into the living room, a bundle of something in her arms. She ran to their father’s green chair and took a seat, clutching the bundle to her chest.

Moments later, his father and Dannie came from the back, flustered as if they’d been chasing her. When Dannie saw Minjung in the chair, rocking back and forth, she stopped in her tracks, her hands coming down to her side.

“Minjung…please understand.”

Minjung squeezed her eyes shut and clutched the bundle closer. “He’s my baby brother! P–please don’t hurt him,” she pleaded pitifully.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Dannie said softly. She approached Minjung slowly as if she’d was well aware Minjung would sprint off at any minute. “I’m not going to hurt him. I would never hurt him, baby girl. He’s my son. I’m–I’m doing this to protect him.”

Minjung shook her head hard. “And when you’re done, you’re going to leave! I don’t want any of this!”

Dannie squatted low in front of Minjung and placed a hand on her dress covered knee. “I don’t want to this either, my sunflower. I don’t want to bind his powers or leave…but…but I have to. If I don’t, you all be in danger.”

“Why?” she whined. “Why doesn’t Uncle Sunku love you? Why is Uncle Toggo so mean? Minho’s just a baby!”

“I don’t know, sweetheart. I wish I knew, I’ve tried for so long to understand it but…” She paused to tap Minjung on the nose. “I’ll be back. This isn’t forever. Just until Minho is older. By then you’ll both be strong, beautiful Alphas and Momma can come back.”

Minjung whimpered. A tiny arm emerged from the bundle at Minjung’s chest and grabbed Dannie’s pinky. Dannie smiled. “See how strong he is?”

His father approached and stood at his mate’s side. “It won’t be long, Minjung. I don’t want her to leave either but…Minho…he can’t be around another mage while bounded. They’ll find out and they’ll come after him. We don’t want that, do we?”

Minjung shook her head pitifully. “No,” she said, brokenly. Slowly she stood, looking down at the bundle one last time before she carefully placed him in Dannie’s arms. “I want us all to be safe…and happy.”

Dannie smiled at Minjung. “Just so you’re not worried, you can help me create the seal. How about that? Be at his side, so he’s not scared? You know how much he loves his big sister. You’re so strong and brave…”

Minjung nodded and wiped under her eyes.

“That’s my big girl!”

Minho heard a noise behind him and he turned towards it, wondering what it could be. He, of course, felt territorial and protective over his young family, and his hand went to his hip for a weapon. He exhaled. It was nothing but another scene.

He was no longer in his house but on the main west path just beyond the buildings that led out of town. Dannie stood there, Yunkyum’s arms wrapped around her as she sobbed.

“What are you crying for, Dannie?” Yunkyum said as he rubbed her hair. “You told Minjung that it would be no time at all! I believe that. I believe that one day, you’ll be back in my arms. So don’t cry, my heart.” Despite his words, Minho saw that his father was also on the verge of tears.

“It’s just so stupid. My family is just so stupid. I shouldn’t have to leave my children and my mate because they are bigots.”

“What have I always told you? They are not your family. We are your family and we love you. You were wonderfully made and beautifully gifted, Dannie. Please remember that.”

Danye pulled back, her eyes red and her face wet. “Tell me a joke.”

Minho frowned. He thought it was an awfully weird time to ask for a thing.

“Hm,” Yunkyum said and he made of show of him thinking. “Two muffins were sitting in an oven. One turned to the other and said "Hey, it's pretty hot in here, isn't it?" The other turned and shouted "Oh my god a talking muffin!"

Danye looked at him for a solid silent moment before she burst into laughter. Yunkyum smiled down at her before he joined in. “Like that?”

“That’s the exact joke you told me when you met me. You don’t remember?”

Yunkyum kissed her on the lips. “I remember. You laughed so hard and loud and you didn’t care who heard you.  I just knew that I was going to spend my life loving you. You and your big dumb laugh.”

“You and your big dumb face,” Danye answered, softly. “I’ll write. As often as I can. I know you won’t be able to write back but…I’ll write. I’ll infuse the letters with my love, so you never forget that I’m coming back. Don’t turn into the town flirt.”

“I only have eyes for you. When you leave, I’ll be blind.”

“”You better or it’ll be me blinding you!”

Again, he heard a noise. His scenery melted from a late night sorrow filled goodbye, to the inside of a dressing room. The walls were pretty bare except for a few sparse celebratory looking ribbons. Dannie was sprawled out over a bed, a letter clutched in her hands. A tall woman with the same coloring as Danye, sat by her side rubbing her back.

Minho walked closer towards them hesitantly. He felt like he was intruding on something important, meaningful…something utterly heartbreaking and sad.

“They informed me when I went to place flowers at Nysa’s grave. The entire town is in mourning. Yunkyum and Minjung’s funeral was a week or so ago. You should have seen the flowers. Beautiful. Abundant. They honored them immensely. They’ve raised Minho to Alpha and Wheph has rallied around him to protect him from Arasuvai’s sons.”

Danye answered with a sob, her hand curling around the letter as she wailed into her pillow.

“I’m so sorry this is happening to you, my sunflower. I’m so sorry that my family is such a poison and that you were the one to pay for it, my darling daughter.”

Minho felt the tears falling down his face, the memories of his father and sister’s death still so fresh in his mind. Through his tears he looked at the woman at Dannie’s side. My grandmother?

Danye raised her head, her eyes bloodshot and her face broken with grief. “I have to go back, Mother, I have to–I have to make them pay!”

“You will not,” the matronly woman said sternly. She had the same red hair as Dannie and Minjung, and she held her head high like she was royalty. From the stories Minjung had told him when they were kids, “Granny Akoko was so classy, yet so fierce!”

“What?” Danye looked up at her mother, confused. “But–but why?”

“I will not have you put yourself in death’s path. Toggo and Sunku are bloodthirsty and insane. No. You will stay here. Besides that fact, you would do nothing but harm to Minho. Remember the reason you came here in the first place. You unbind him now and the Blue Crescents will stop at nothing to kill the both of you.”

Danye began to sob again. “Mother, no. No! I can’t leave my baby. I can’t just abandon–“

“You can. And you will. You will see your child again, but now is not the time. Just as you protect your child, I will protect mine.” Minho’s grandmother stood. “Sleep. I’ll bring you up some food.”

Minho blinked and he was back in Prae, sitting across from his mother. His face was still wet.

Dannie slowly retracted her hand from the spot hovering under his and placed them in her lap.

“You really are my Mother,” Minho said, his voice light with awe and understanding.

Dannie nodded and looked down. “Yes, I am.”

Minho swallowed harshly. “I see…”

“I never wanted to leave you. I didn’t. You are a mage, Minho. You are gifted with such a beautiful heritage, from your mother, to your grandmother, to the founders of the Old Way. You are majestic royalty as far as Toleran is concerned. And if I thought for one moment that I could have been by your side, if I’d thought you needed me, I would have returned. But…you grew up to be so powerful and so important, I just…I thought I was unnecessary in your life. That you’d gone so long without the poisons that come with just simply being near me that…you’d be better off.”

Minho stared at her, really stared at her. He’d noticed the red hair and the tanned skin. It was a Toleran trait but Minho had never connected the dots. Never connected why when she was around she felt familiar. Never connected the fact that she was entirely too motherly, too doting, too kind for a stranger. He never connected it.

But he did feel connected to her.

Suddenly the sound of cheers greeted them through echoes from the fireplace flue. Minho’s head snapped towards it, his brows to his hairline. “Those sounded like our fighters.” He stood from his seat. “I’m sure of it.”

“I think you’re right,” Dannie murmured. Their guesses were confirmed as three long bellows from the horns were heard across The Fortress. Minho inhaled sharply. “Those are the victory horns.” Without hesitation, he ran to the door. Patiently he waited and waited. Minho shoved his hand into his pocket and felt the outline of the key. The key! His key, the one Jinki gave him as a present. He could do it. He could open the door, he could find his mate, make sure he was okay, hold him… but Minho wanted to heed his Alpha’s command for once. He wanted to let Jinki know he had faith in him. But by god, it was hard for him to obey.

A half-hour passed, then an hour. He heard voices on the other side of the door, muffled and disjointed but none that came close enough to open the door. At the eve of the second hour, the door flew open. By this point, Minho was down on his knees, praying to every god he could name, for there to be good news. Minho looked up, eager to see his Alpha’s face.

His disappointment was palpable.

“Minho!”

It was Yifan. He rushed into the room and picked Minho from where he was kneeling on the ground. “Minho, are you alright? Is everything okay?” He glanced down at Minho’s abdomen. “Are you hurt?”

Minho shook himself out of his disappointment, stood tall and assumed his role as AlphaBeta with an ease that surprised him. “I’m perfectly fine. What happened?”

“I’ll bring you up to speed,” Yifan said as he began to direct Minho, Dannie and Iseul out of the room. “We’ve managed to take back The Fortress but that of course is just a small battle in this very large war. A group commissioned by Jonghyun will be meeting in the Great Hall tonight to discuss what to do next. Here, I’ll tell you the rest on the way to the Healer’s Alcove. I’ve been instructed to take you directly there.”

Minho paused. “The Healer’s Alcove? No, that’s unnecessary. No harm came to any of us. I’m a little famished, I’m sure we all are, but I’d rather go see Jinki first. Where is he?”

Yifan turned to face him, a look on his face that Minho couldn’t quite place, guarded and unsure. One thing Yifan wasn’t was unsure.  

Instinctively, Minho’s hand came to his heart. “Yifan. Where is he?”

Yifan inhaled deeply and put a hand on Minho’s shoulder. His heart thudded in his chest and Minho pressed his hand against the steady, lonely beating. “That’s why I’m taking you to the Healer’s Alcove…Jinki–“

Minho didn’t wait for him to finish. He took off down the secret hallway, twisting and turning through the arches and corners, of the Orb of Heavenly Light Corridor. He kept running, kept running, out the large heavy front door, down the rows and rows of steps and across the courtyard. He ignored the bodies littered across the ground. He ignored the blood staining the walls, the ragged breaths of those who were in the final throes of death.

He shouldered his way past the main door of the Healer’s Alcove, startling the guards. He looked both ways, his instincts leading him left. The Healer Alcove was the most perplexing building in all of Prae. It was made that way to protect the patients since they didn’t get heavy guard resources as the other buildings.

Minho didn’t need directions. He went where he felt.

Rounding corner after corner, Minho finally came to a long hallways, fancier and larger than the others. At the end of the hall stood his brother-in-law, Taemin, his hand massaging his neck as he paced up and down the tall.

“Taemin!” he said as he gunned for him.

“Minho. You’re here alrea–“

“Jinki! Where is Jinki?” he yelled.

Wordlessly, Taemin pushed a door back and Minho ran in.

The room was large, the largest room he’d ever seen in the Alcove. There were no windows, no other doors, just four walls and a large bed pushed against the back wall. Laying in that bed was his mate.

He felt his stomach churn.

“He’s pretty much out of it,” Taemin said as he entered the room behind Minho and closed the door behind him. “Most of his wounds are cared for, except for one, across his leg, which we are actively treating with the help of Yejin and Fatima.”

Minho turned to him. “They are not healers…”

“Fatima is. As High Priestess it is her job to know how to heal. Yejin is helping because they’ve both treated and suffered the same wound. Jinki’s, however, is a little more severe because of Jungmo.”

Minho’s eyes jittered from left to right as he processed Taemin’s words. “Poison. Jungmo is good with poisons.” He deflated. “Jesu,” he whispered.

“So Fatima and Yejin are treating the Vampyre venom, and we are treating the poison.”

“But…he’s okay, right? He’s going to be okay?”

Taemin smiled, it was small but it was a smile. He didn’t answer Minho’s question. He felt the mage’s hand on the small of his back, urging him further into the room. “You can go to him.”

Minho moved to Jinki’s bedside and looked down at him. He looked peaceful. Someone had washed and braided his hair. He reached down to touch it and it was still damp to the touch. They didn’t do a good enough job. There was still some matted blood right below his hairline. Minho tried not to blame himself. He tried not to feel like he was helpless and he had sent this man, his mate, his heart, his partner, out there by himself to fight a fight that he caused.

“He talked about you often. In the calm of the fighting, he would mention you, wonder if you were doing okay. He said the room could get stuffy and with you with child, he worried you would overheat. In a lull of fighting, he actually…he actually went to you, claiming he just had to check on you.” Taemin paused and looked at him carefully. “I know you’re feeling guilty, I can see it all over your face but I need you to know something.”

Minho tore his gaze from Jinki’s form. “What?”

“When my brother entered The Dongbang Library to check on your wellbeing, he was followed. The Vampyres were targeting you, so Jinki was right to hide you away but it was as if someone had told them exactly where you would hide–my guess is Gikwang. A few were lying in wait for someone, anyone, to open a path to you. Jinki happened to be that person. When he opened the wall to get to you, they…sensed you. It was four of them…maybe five, who rushed Jinki to get past him and down the hall. He wouldn’t let them. He fought. He fought very hard. They don’t believe he is turning but there was enough of it for his body to shut down. They found him like this–unconscious.”

Minho’s lids lowered over his eyes slowly and he reached down and grabbed one of Jinki’s hands. “You’re saying he was hurt trying to protect me?”

Taemin didn’t answer but the silence was all he needed. “He’s going to be okay, Minho,” Taemin tried.

He wished people would stop telling him that. No one knew. No one. “Is that why I can’t feel his heartbeat in my chest?”

Taemin shook his head. “I don’t know. It may be that the poison is interfering with your bond? I’m not sure, I’ve never heard of that being an effect of any poison….” Taemin scuffed his feet on the floor before finally turning to the door. “I’ll get someone to bring in your things from your suite. I’m sure you’d like to be by him.”

“Actually that’s a good idea,” Minho said, trying to shake off his guilt and readopt the surety of his position.  “Is there any chance that the room across the hall is empty?”

Taemin frowned. “I’m not sure, but I can check.”

“Do that for me. If not, have it cleared. The Healer’s Alcove just became command. I’m not leaving him here by himself for one moment. Also, have someone fetch Jonghyun for me.”

Taemin started to follow the command but stopped. “That’s…that’s going to be an issue. Jonghyun is…occupied at the moment.”

Minho raised a brow. “We are at war. The Alpha Prime is down. He is now second in command. He can’t possibly be so occupied to not realize that.”

“Well,” Taemin held the note and fidgeted with his hands. His mouth moved like he was having a hard time talking.

Minho frowned. “He’s…he’s okay, isn’t he?”

Taemin held his hands up. “No! He’s absolutely fine.” He scratched the back of his head. “Um…Kibum’s pregnant.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

“Two weeks. They found out when they brought him in. He was out there helping Jungsoo with the overflow of wounded shifters on the field.”

 Minho pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed loudly. “Kibum would get pregnant in the middle of a war. He would. Why am I not surprised?”

“Jonghyun did have something to do with it, too,” Taemin said, laughter bubbling at his lips. For a moment, well maybe more than a moment because Taemin deserved it, Minho just watched the younger shifter try to hold back his laughter. It was good to see Taemin smile. Out of the Lee siblings, he’s had to watch two of them hurt.

Minho returned the smile. “You’re right. Well, Yifan can step in for him. Where is he?”

Just as the words left his mouth, Yifan appeared at the door out of breath. “There you are!” A moment after Yifan appeared, Dannie and Iseul came running up behind him.

“How did you find him so fast?” Iseul gasped and grunted. “The guards wouldn’t tell us!”

Minho winced. He’d completely forgotten he’d run off on them. “I followed my feelings. I just knew.”

Iseul tilted her head to the side. “You can feel your mate’s location?”

Minho opened his mouth to answer but Jinki’s mother line of sight shifted and connected with her son in the bed and she rushed into the room. Taemin joined her at her side and quietly whispered Jinki’s condition to her. She knelt down beside him and pushed his bangs off his forehead before kissing his forehead.

Minho was touched at the display of affection between mother and son. It reminded him that he had unresolved issues with his own mother. But he had priorities. The first was Jinki’s wellbeing and security, then…this war.

“Dan–“ He stopped himself. She’d proven herself. He could honor her with her title.  “...Mother,” he corrected when she looked up at him. “Please stay with Iseul. She’ll need a friend and I don’t want Jinki to be alone. Not for one moment.” She held his gaze for a moment before nodding.  “Taemin, Yifan, come with me please.”

Once they were in the hallway, Minho begun to doll out the instructions circulating in his head. “Taemin, I am appointing you and Taeyeon in charge of the Healer’s Alcove. Up the security on this wing, bring in twice the number of Palace Guards. Since I have lost confidence in who is an enemy and who is an ally, I want anyone who is not recognized immediately moved to the east wing. Alert me of anyone not able to move due to injuries too severe for transport.” Taemin nodded and took off towards Kim Gae Shi’s office, the head healer.

“Yifan. You, Jonghyun and Nichkhun are now Regimental Commanders of Prae. Where is Nic?”

“He is speaking with Kyung about how to get the gate rebuilt.”

“Excellent. Alert me when he’s done. The meeting tonight will not happen tonight. It will happen as soon as possible. We don’t have a second to lose.”

----

It only took an hour to clear out the room across from Jinki’s and set it up for meeting. The room was as large as Jinki’s but seemed more spacious without all the furniture and items it took to rehabilitate a shifter back to health. There were chairs lined against the wall and a table set in the center of the room. It was a poor man’s Beam Room but it would do.

The usual were in place, most a little worse for wear. They’d manage to tear Jonghyun from Kibum’s room, but his mate, overly sensitive and clingy now that he was pregnant, followed behind him into the meeting instead of staying behind to rest. He was more reserved than Minho’s ever seen him….ever. The glow of pregnancy was there and although the timing was terrible, he was incredibly happy for his friend. Tiffany and Victoria were fine, except for the nasty bruise marring Victoria’s right eye. Word from the courtyard was that Nichkhun had mowed through three Vampyres to get to the one who’d hurt her. “I think I cracked its skull wide open.” He was still wearing his blood stained shirt as if he didn’t have a moment to change beforehand.

Tao was busy trying to get a scout into Old Se’hai to plead with his father, but despite his busyness, he was still able to show up. All of the Bonepact's Firsts were in attendance; those mated sticking closer to their mates than their Captains. Kyung and his two stuck by the door.

The door opened and Yifan sauntered in last. “Sorry for my tardiness.  There was an issue with Yejin and the prisoners of war at the cells.

“Is everything alright?” Yixing asked.

“For now.” Yifan found a seat next to his mate.  “She was having an issue with bleeding one out. They need as much Vampyre blood to make an antidote for their venom. Taemin still had Gae shi, her healers and Jungsoo researching what poison Jungmo used.”

“I wish that man would fight honorably! Every time we turn around he’s using his pathetic poisons!” Tiffany ranted.

The mentioning of Jinki’s treatment made his heart beat unnecessarily hard. He shook his head hard and ignored the feeling of dread. He inhaled to gather back his concentration to the subject at hand. “Now that we are all here, give me any and all reports.”

Tao spoke up first. “My suspicious were confirmed. Iutus is behind this. It is a three party army commissioned by my father–a large Vampyre battalion, the Blue Crescent mercenary group, now equipped with a small number of dark mages and lastly, an army of hired swords. He is using the excuse of a broken treaty between Old Se’hai and Mott Argan, namely the secondary treaty you signed for us, as a reason to declare war. It’s a scapegoat. Especially considering the funds were being dispersed for this long before our respective matings.”

“The group that attacked us, according to Yejin, is only a small fraction of their force,” Jonghyun informed.  “They sent an infantry battalion to Wheph. Both were surprise attacks. Wheph…folded easily. Your cousin stated he wanted to spare lives. ”

Minho nodded and Kibum’s face reflected what Minho knew. Sungmin was a pacifist and would turn the village over rather than fight.

“They attacked Wheph and Mott Argan first. I can't tell of what has happened to the soldiers we placed in each settlement. There has been no word,” Yifan said, following up. “Mott Argan scouts have located their main base to be south of the Prae-proper territory and east of Dinfire. It is how they were able to attack all three, Prae, Mott Argan and Wheph around the same time; southern territories seemed to be there target.”

Minho sighed. “What territory have they claimed?”

“Only Wheph and Mott Argan,” Yifan continued. “Although my father’s message said that their hold is weak. Anything to the far east they have not claimed–Toleran and Lark’s Nest have been untouched.”

“We are awaiting word on Morocco Song from Jeongmyeong. I'm under the assumption that when she learns about the attacks she'll send our troops there. She is pretty sure about Morocco Song's fortitute” Nichkhun offered. “Morocco Song is naturally built to be hard to penetrate.”

“Quicksand whirlpools,” Victoria said simply. “They are everywhere across the forest floor. We know that, but I wonder if Edison does? Maybe it’s a good thing they attack.”

“I doubt that we will hear anything ominous. They are sending their High Ambassador who should be soon,” Nichkhun finished.

“Well, I pray their ambassador arrives quicker than soon. Someone please, please get a message to Ambassador Liu as well? We can set Lark’s Nest as refuge for any that are able to escape the warzone. Any word from Ves?”

“Neutral,” Tiffany supplied. “As word spread of the High Eunuch’s involvement, they’ve stated they want no part. Possibly out of embarrassment. ”

Minho sniffed at their wishes. “There is no such thing as neutrality in a war. If they wanted it, they should have signed the damn treaty. “He looked at Kibum. “Demand an answer from them when you’ve gathered your energy. Use my seal.” He turned to everyone else once his High Steward nodded in confirmation. “For now, we need to set up a line of defense between the lands they’ve claimed and Durkhai and Dinfire. They cannot, cannot take those villages.  We need to set up some sort of meeting or a line of communication with Hwasa and Xiah as well.”

“I actually spoke with Hwasa, already,” Jonghyun said. “She is sending her Black Flame to us while we finalize a contingency plan. They should be here in the next day or so. I’ll place them under Yixing’s command as he is their former commander and trust him. I believe we should send them directly to Durkhai.”

Minho glanced up through the open door in thought. Across the hall was his mate’s room and he could see clearly into the room. So far Jinki had not woken up. Minho wanted to protect Jinki, he wanted to protect his home village and he wanted to protect Prae. “That sounds like a decent plan. Someone send a letter to Xiah about the possibility but let’s hold off on making an official plan until our reinforcements arrive.  Get some rest. This is a marathon, not a sprint. We’ll reconvene tomorrow.”