Midnight Truth (Shifter Island #4) - Leia Stone Page 0,43

Snade finished his statement, his gaze jerked to me, and fire crackled along his skin.

Part of me wanted to shrink down in my seat, and another part wanted to challenge them all. They were talking about my mate!

“What did you have in mind?” Kian asked as the heirs around me snickered.

Snade turned in his chair and faced me, the full brunt of his anger wrought on his face, his eyes like flames. “Let’s tell the king to step in line and do his duty, or not only will we burn all of the acayanthic bushes they have, cutting off their main source of income. We’ll halt all stipends and close the portals to our island so he can’t see his mate.”

My breath hitched in my throat, but before I could protest, my grandfather burst into a standing position and then swayed with seeming dizziness.

“Hold on a minute!” His voice warbled, and then he fell back in his seat, but despite his fall, he pressed forward. “He’s a new king. Let’s make sure he’s educated before we declare war against the shifters.”

Heath cleared his throat. “Maybe we just ask the king nicely to honor the contract his uncle signed. Give him the benefit of the doubt that he doesn’t know his full duties yet.”

That Heath guy was quickly becoming my second favorite high mage.

Kian shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “Very well. We’ll try asking first.”

Then he narrowed his eyes, and his icy gaze found mine. The message was clear: shape up or ship out.

‘Uhh … babe?’ I sent Rage a mind message. ‘We’ve gotta talk about … stuff.’

His reply was instant. ‘Okay. But can it wait until our date night tomorrow? I’m dealing with stupid Mageville drama.’

I winced because that stupid Mageville drama was exactly what we needed to talk about.

‘Sure.’

The meeting was dismissed, and Gramps and I waited until everyone else had left before I helped him to his feet once more. I didn’t think he wanted everyone to see him so weak, or maybe he didn’t want me to haul off and punch someone, namely Kian … and Snade.

“Thanks for sticking up for Rage,” I told him as we shuffled out the door.

He nodded, wincing as Reyna stepped in and took my place. I sidled up to his other side, and he pulled to a stop, his breath labored. “The shifters have always been the right hand of the high mages. Rage needs to toe that line—at least, for a little while. If he changes too much at first, I fear they would … take him out.”

Gramps offered me a sad smile, and even though I knew he wasn’t a threat, my wolf rose toward the surface. I sucked in a deep breath and pushed her down.

“Or they might only cut you off from him as punishment,” he added. “They could destroy the portals.”

I frowned, knowing that they could do it, but would they? “How would they go back and forth if they seal the portals?”

Gramps looked down at me. “They would be fine. Each of the high mages on the council can open portals to the mortal realms for themselves. But do either you or Rage know how to open a portal?”

I shook my head because … obviously not.

“Then it’s time you saw your mother for a lesson. She was the best portal creator this school has ever seen. She even repaired the one that leads to Montana when mages destroyed it.”

Whoa. My mom. A badass portal princess.

If the high mages could destroy the portals and keep me from seeing Rage, then I needed to learn how to make portals ASAP. Reaching up, I placed a kiss on my grandfather’s cheek. “Thanks, Gramps.”

I turned to race off to the castle and the spirit pools when my grandfather’s voice pulled me back.

“You can’t see your mother without first finding your soul stone. When and if spirit chooses you, your soul stone will help anchor the power fully into you for the first time. Without it, it may still just filter out divided among the other high mages.” Gramps swayed on his feet. “And I fear we don’t have much time left.”

I froze. “Say what now?” I mean Zia had said that I should probably work with Than on finding soul stones, but I hadn’t realized finding my soul stone would need to happen so soon. “Should I work with the ancestors on that first?”

Gramps gave a big yawn and patted his shield’s arm. “No time for that. Reyna