My Warrior (Bewitched and Bewildered #12) - Alanea Alder Page 0,89

died," Meryn snort laughed.

"Meryn," Aiden chided gently.

"What do you feel the Committee is after?" Kari asked.

Catherine tapped her lips. "Power, pure and simple. If they crumble the foundation that supports the unit warriors, they could then move in their own personal guards that report only to them. We'd return to the way of life we had before the Great War. People would have to walk the line or you'd face the ferals because the guards that are meant to keep you safe report to those pulling the strings. The creation of the unit warriors was the single greatest thing to come from such a horrible war. Whoever came up with the idea of mixed race units to achieve true neutrality was a genius."

"I'll let him know you think so," Kendrick said absently, as he swirled his wine.

Catherine turned to him. "What?"

Kendrick blinked. "What?" He looked like she startled him into paying attention.

"You know who designed the units?" Jedrek asked.

"Oh. That. Yes, it was the Dark Prince of Noctem Falls. By the end of the war, I heard his patience snapped, and he wanted to wash his hands of the entire thing. His suggestions carried weight, and the rest is history. With unit warriors guarding the pillar cities, they didn't need a single Dark Prince anymore," he explained.

"He did it to be lazy?" Meryn asked. "I aspire to be that lazy."

Kendrick shrugged. "I think he deserved a break at that point."

Rex looked at his parents. "In order to maintain peace in the city when Magnus was laid low, Gavriel Ambrosios claimed his heritage."

Jedrek nodded. "We heard that he was confirmed as a true Ambrosios."

Rex nodded slowly. "Yes, however, he isn't just a member of the line, he is the Gavriel Ambrosios from legend. He's the Dark Prince."

Both Jedrek and Catherine reached for Jedrek's glass at the same time. Jedrek allowed his mate to drink of the liquid first. She passed it to him. "The Dark Prince?" Catherine asked hoarsely.

Declan winced. "Yes, Mother."

Jedrek eyed his sons. "You both knew?"

"Yes, Father," they replied together.

"They were sworn to secrecy," Aiden said, then sighed. "We have too much going on to deal with that damn Committee now."

"The Dark Prince is a unit warrior?" Catherine asked.

Aiden brightened. "He's my second-in-command."

Between Catherine, Amelia, Anne, and Meryn, Brie had gotten pretty much caught up on what was going on. But in seeing Ari's parents' reactions, she wondered how much of that was common knowledge. "Can I just assume everything I've heard in the past few days are secrets?"

Kendrick nodded. "Probably a good idea," he said, leveling his gaze at her.

"No problem," she gave him a mock salute.

"There's more?" Jedrek demanded.

"Yes, much more. But in light of certain events, it's probably not wise to divulge such things to the council," Kendrick responded.

"So we need a way to sabotage or kill the Committee?" Meryn asked, opening up her laptop.

"Meryn, let's give Jedrek the ability to say he has no idea what's going on later, shall we?" Kendrick advised.

"Oh, yeah." Meryn closed her laptop and put it away.

Jedrek stared at the small woman in horror. "You can't do that." He looked from Aiden to Kendrick. "She can't do that."

"Do what?" Meryn asked brightly, her face full of innocence.

Leo refilled Jedrek's goblet.

Smiling slyly, Kari also put her tablet away. "We will figure something out, Father. Do not worry about it."

"They're vicious. I love it," a female voice said from the doorway. Brie turned and stared. Growing up, her mother had read countless bedtime stories to her all revolving around female warriors, but her personal favorite had been the Valkyries.

That's what the group of women standing behind Declan embodied, with their long, blonde braids hanging over varying degrees of undercuts and visible arm tattoos. "God," she whispered.

Her father laughed. "Baby girl, you should see your face. You remind me so much of your mother right now."

"Aunt Elysa, what are you all doing here?" Declan asked, as he and the men stood to greet the women.

"We knew Ari had mated, but we didn't know Declan and his mate were visiting." She rotated her finger, pointing to the room. "We heard silence when doing our rounds and got worried." They frowned at Catherine. "All our baby boys are home, and you didn't tell us?"

The tall, built, blonde women converged on the Lionhart sons. They were passed around until each son had received his own hug from each aunt.

Once the women had hugged their nephews, they looked around the table. "Which ones are our baby girls