Midnight Truth (Shifter Island #4) - Leia Stone Page 0,42

could see her back through a large glass window between the room and the library. Each of the other three walls was unadorned with various artworks, with the exception of one or two rows of stadium-like benches.

My attention jumped to my grandfather in time to see the shock register on his face. He sat propped up in his chair with the aid of several pillows, holding on to his cane. His eyes widened and nostrils flared, and my gaze skipped over the other high mages. Orion and Heath looked surprised as well, but Snade merely nodded.

Interesting.

I’d slid into the first bench, only after realizing I’d sat down next to Kian’s son, Julian, and two other heirs: a brunette female whose voice I recognized from the library, and a young guy with blond hair. I was guessing this was Jane and Xavier. There was a final male heir I didn’t know, and that made five of us. We watched silently as our elders argued about the matter at hand.

“Well, it was bound to happen eventually,” Orion stated. “But it’s not really our problem.”

Grandpa tapped at a piece of paper in front of him. “If they’re picking off the mages in Dark Row, that’s very much our problem,” he croaked. “Look at the report, Ori.”

Kian laughed, the sound harsh and cruel. “The mages in Dark Row are the alpha king’s problem, Geoff. Old age is addling you.”

I stiffened, but Gramps cleared his throat as his gaze flicked to me. “We do pay them handsomely to honor our security contract.”

Wait … what the what?!

“Pay them handsomely?” Kian snarled, his brow furrowing. “We own the castle, the land, all of it. That island is rightfully ours. Not only that, fifty percent of the crown’s operating budget comes from us.”

What did he just say? I waited for my grandfather to deny it, but he didn’t. Instead, Grandpa shook his head, his expression tight. “The mage wine—”

“Exactly!” Snade piped up, cutting my grandfather off. “Giving the shifters the seeds to grow the acayanthic blossoms for mage wine all those years ago was a mistake. I knew it!”

Orion nodded. “We’re not even a hundred mages here, nothing compared to the thousands of shifters. We provided them with a way to garner sufficient money for their needs, and in return, they need to manage these minor problems. Not only that, aside from the mage wine fields, we give the crown a stipend—specifically for this type of occasion.”

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa! The mage wine business was what kept everyone making money … and Rage got a stipend as alpha king from the high mages?

Did he know that?

I swallowed hard, listening closer to the details that would affect my mate—and his kingdom.

The door opened to the meeting hall, and a woman strode in, looking flustered. She held a crumpled piece of paper in her fist and handed it to Kian. Leaning forward, she swallowed hard and whispered in his ear, “They’ve formed a coalition, and the king is having them train.”

The only reason I could hear was my shifter hearing, but I was only 72.4% sure who the “they” was she referenced. I was clinging to the 27.6% chance I was wrong.

After the door was closed behind her, Kian faced me and gave me an icy glare. “It seems the lower level mages in Mageville have created a union, an idea the new alpha king gave them.”

My skin prickled, but my cheeks went pink. Shit, Rage, what are you doing?

“What’s that?” My grandfather pointed to the paper in Kian’s hand.

Kian waved it before them. “A list of demands. It seems the lower mages now think they deserve to live here, on High Mage Island.”

The room collectively burst into laughter.

“That’s preposterous,” Snade hissed. “This is a school. We have limited space. Limited resources.”

“Everything is limited,” my grandfather mumbled and snapped his fingers. Kian handed over the piece of paper, and my heart thundered as I waited for Grandpa’s verdict.

Gramps looked up and frowned. “It seems they now know about the power of the island, and they want equal access to it.”

Kian roared—an honest to all things holy roar—and water exploded from his hands. The spray pounded against the window, making me jump, and I scanned the room to see several wide-eyed expressions, which meant this wasn’t totally normal behavior. My mouth dried as I waited to hear the verdict.

“That good-for-nothing king has screwed up everything,” Kian growled.

“Maybe we need to teach him a lesson, help keep him in line.” As soon as