Unfortunately, our touching moment didn’t last long. Arrangements had been made when we were hella pissed at each other, so it was too late to make changes. Quatre, Trowa, Wufei and I were immediately whisked away in a limo driven by Rashid, to be taken to San Antonio’s International Airport where Wufei’s private plane awaited us. I had no idea where I was going, but I didn’t care at the moment.

Wufei and I occupied our row of seats, and the others occupied the seats facing us. Trowa and Quatre weren’t looking at us, but sat with their foreheads touching and held hands. Whatever quarrel they had (if they had one) was over and done with. I couldn’t tell if they were mumbling sweet nothings or other lovey-dovey crap, but perhaps they didn’t need too. Their affection was obvious. Sometimes it took my breath away how much they loved each other.

Wufei and I however, still had things to work out. We sat close, but not close enough to touch. My back was slightly turned towards him while his was slightly turned towards me. We didn’t look at each other or anyone else; I kept my gaze out of my window and Wufei kept his gaze out of his. Even though we had forgiven each other and made peace in front of the Pack, we still weren’t in our Happy Place. Now, I loved my Packmaster and I was sorry as hell for everything that has happened, but he needed to own up to his part too. I wasn’t going to take the blame for all of this. Until then, I hoped that the distance would give us some clarity.

If not… let’s cross that bridge if we get to it.

The ride was long but smooth, and soon enough we were pulling onto the tarmac where we parked perpendicular to the plane. Trowa savored that last moment before he slipped out of the limo, assisted Quatre out and to his feet, and then closed the door behind them. I followed them by sound as I heard them remove our ‘luggage’ from the trunk (and I used the term very loosely; mine was a large duffel with duct tape for handles. Quatre had a hitchhiker backpack nearly as long as he was tall), then their steps fade as they left to load them onto the plane. Wufei and I remained as we were and stared at the emptied seat as if it could impart some knowledge that we lacked. It wasn’t working.

“I want daily updates from the both of you,” he said. “If either of you do not check in after forty eight hours, I will assume that one or both of you have been murdered. I will go on to track you two down, slaughtering anyone that has had contact with either of you until I have found your corpses or have confirmation of your existences. Is this understood?”

“Yes, Packmaster,” I said quietly, knowing he meant every word. I heard a story about that once from Sally, actually. She didn’t remember the exact details (something about a thief that stole some goats from the Pack a few centuries ago), but she remembered that a small village had been completely decimated by Wufei’s father. He annihilated them all in order to ensure that he got the guilty one.

I wasn’t sure where this was coming from. Did Wufei think that I would use this as an opportunity to get away from him? That if I didn’t return he would kill everyone that had the misfortune of meeting me until I came back to him? I didn’t understand why, but there were times when Wufei’s thinking regarding me was irrational. Even if I was interested in leaving him (which I wasn’t), I certainly wouldn’t leave my family behind. I also wouldn’t try and do a runner while someone from his Pack was my escort, and they certainly wouldn’t help me escape him anyway. Ninety nine percent of my money came from Wufei, with the remaining one percent that I actually earned I used to support my Shiner Bock habit. I’ve had it so good since I became his mate, and I knew it.

Maybe that was my problem. I’ve been acting like the Princess and the Pea, and now suddenly I’ve decided I wanted to develop a hard hide.

I felt eyes on me. Looking at Wufei out of the corners of my eyes, I watched as his dark gaze raked all over my face. After a moment he sighed and lifted a hand to brush my bangs out of my eyes. He curled my hair behind my ear, and then carefully trailed the backs of his fingers down that side of my neck before lightly gripping my chin. He turned my face towards him and stared at me as if he needed to memorize every detail. “I do not know what to do,” he admitted quietly.

I didn’t say anything but I knew what he meant. We both knew that as far as our relationship went, we were in trouble.

“I am still mad at you.” I rolled my eyes. As if I wasn’t pissed at him. I didn’t have the energy to be a smartass, so I kept my mouth shut. I was sure though, that my expression said it all.

His grip became firmer on my face. “But if anyone tries to harm you, I will kill them and their entire family, as well as destroy anything that they held dear.” He said this with wonder, as if he couldn’t understand how he could feel such opposite feelings simultaneously. Hell, maybe he genuinely couldn’t.

Finally, he sighed and dropped his hand from my face. “You must go now. It is time.”

Right then Rashid opened the door. Without a word I slipped out of the limo and hurried up the stairs to the plane as fast as I could without running. Trowa had waited at the top of the stairs for me to enter. When I did he bowed to me and then exited. The pilot bowed to me as well before he pulled the stairs up and locked us in. (He was a werewolf too). I took a seat by the window that was diagonal from Quatre's. The shape-shifter already had a Bon Appetit magazine open and was idly flicking through the pages. Snorting, I turned back to the window and watched as Trowa slipped into the limo before the limo backed up and drove away.

Well, that was… what? Expected? Unexpected? Anti-climatic? Disappointing?

I wrapped my arms tightly around myself and pressed my feet into the floor as hard as I could, nearly pushing myself through the seat. I had no idea how I should’ve felt, and that lack of knowing only served to make me agitated. I couldn’t think clearly enough to figure out how I felt, which only served to make me more agitated and so on and so forth.

I continued to stare outside as we received permission to queue up and then take-off. My head continued to be a complete mess as we headed towards our mystery destination.

*** “I am sorry,” Quatre murmured about seven hours later.

Since he was distracting me from the one billionth time I had read this page, I wasn’t too annoyed. “Sorry?” I placed the book face-down to keep my page. “Sorry for what?”

“I failed you,” the shape-shifter admitted as he rubbed at his tired eyes. “Nothing went according to plan. I thought he would be angry about me not being where I said I would be, or that I wasn’t following his orders as he laid them out.” He threw his hand up in absolute bewilderment. I agreed with him. Wufei was Anal with a capital ‘A’ about stuff like that. If he told you to take thirty two steps and you took thirty two and a quarter, there was going to be a problem. For you. “But all he could focus on was who you were seeing. I couldn’t get him to understand that you were not—” He cut himself off as his voice rose in remembered frustration. Running a hand through his hair, he calmed himself down. “Third got too close to you.”

I snorted. “Third getting too close saved my ass, and my family’s ass.”

“I know,” Quatre said with a frown. “That is the only reason why I am not punishing him.”

“Oh,” I said, surprised. In fact, I was sure my eyebrows were on top of my head from my surprise. That was… unexpected. And dark. Very, very dark. Third’s punishment would have left him remorseful, indeed. What the hell was up with you, Quatre? What all were you not telling me? “Is that why Wufei… hit you?” He grimaced, turning away to look out of his window. I sighed. I guessed his lack of an answer was an answer. “So he thought you were lying to him, and popped you one to get you to tell the truth?” I leaned back against the window. “I thought we were a Pack, not the mob.”

“Even in the mob the godfather exerts their strength so that all know who the alpha is,” he said, tilting his head towards me. “You should know, having experienced that yourself.”

I started to get mad, but when I took my feelings out of the scenario I realized that Quatre was right. Wufei exerted his alpha strength in a manner that would mean something to me. If Wufei pinned me down with his hands, that would’ve been irrelevant. Hell, my uncle has done that to me when I have managed to really, really piss him off, and he was human. No, Wufei would’ve had to get at me at the supernatural level. That meant hurting me with my ability. Wufei got to Quatre exerting his werewolf strength. I dipped my head, once, in acquiesce.

Quatre moved on. “What made it all the more worse was when you were in the antechamber with him. We couldn’t hear what was said, but your pain was so potent… Duo, you felt so betrayed, you made my chest hurt.” He looked at me intensely. “You have never emoted like that before.”

My eyebrows were back on top of my head again. “Really? I had no idea. Huh.” I thought back to that moment. I guess I probably did feel betrayed. I remembered feeling hurt—god, was I hurt—and stunned. Despite all that, I couldn’t remember dropping my shields though. No, no, I couldn’t’ve. I didn’t have to put them back up. So, did I emote through my shields? “Maybe,” I said to myself. I was super, ultra dubious though. Why would Quatre lie about this? He wouldn’t, plain and simple. “God damnit,” I swore under my breath. This was exactly what I needed; another problem I had no help to deal with, that I would place on the back burner for it to bite me in the ass in the near future. Awesome.

Oh well. Wasn’t shit I could do about it now. What I could do now though… “Hey, Quatre?” Quatre, who seemed to be staring off into space himself, answered with a distracted, ‘hm?’ “Have you ever heard of someone named Meiran?” I said, grimacing in remembrance. I thought that was the name Wufei said…

Quatre’s eyes were too wide as they shot over to me. “That name is forbidden.” His voice held complete bewilderment but his expression was filled with exasperation. I didn’t blame him. I was always stumbling across shit I wasn’t supposed to. “Where in the hell did you hear that name?”

I shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant as I flipped through my book. I was failing, epically, but at least I was trying. “Wufei accidentally called me that,” I mumbled.

Quatre closed his eyes and released a very slow breath. I had the feeling he wanted to choke someone. He opened his eyes and looked at me dead on. “So the one who made the rule to forbid her name being spoken was the one to break it. Outstanding.”

Yep. Definitely wanted to choke someone. And ‘her?’ Meiran was a woman?

“Well…” I made a ‘go on’ gesture.

“Forbidden,” he repeated, then sighed. “I am sorry that you were hurt when he called you by her name, but rest assured you have nothing to fear from her. She has been dead for centuries.”

Oh. “Oh.”

“We should get ready to sleep.” Not one for being shy, and me being weened off of it, Quatre and I changed into our PJ’s in the cabin. I plopped back down into my chair as he moved about, turning down the lights until they were sufficiently dimmed. “Get some rest, Duo,” the shape-shifter said, dropping back into his own chair. “Tomorrow, we are going to hit the ground running.” He grabbed some throw blankets off of a nearby chair and bundled up for the night.

I grabbed a throw blanket from the chair next to me and wrapped myself in it, but I wasn’t tired. Staring back outside the window, I watched the lights on the wings blink in the darkness as my thoughts rambled about. What was I going to do? What was I going to do?

“Wufei,” I whispered to myself, swallowing down the lump in my throat as our past interactions crossed my mind. The intimacy, the tenderness, the humor… my god, there were days he and I did nothing except laugh our asses off. I remembered one evening some time ago, where there was a light spattering of rain. Wufei and I grabbed an umbrella and went walking. That was it. We just walked down the road in the rain protected by the umbrella, holding hands. I didn’t recall us saying a word either. We didn’t need to talk.

I let the foot of the chair up, and pushed the head of my chair down to recline as much as possible. I curled on my side, pulling the blanket as tight around me as possible and did my best not to cry. For once, I was successful.

Only thing I was successful at doing today.

***

Several stops to refuel and almost twenty eight hours later we landed in Tirana, Albania. Albania. A country I didn’t even know existed until I read that that was where Professor Quirrell stumbled across Lord Voldemort. Being an American on this side of the world made me nervous enough. Being an American while dealing with the supernatural on this side of the world had me ready to slit my throat and be done with it.

Thankfully, Quatre had packed some appropriate attire for me. He and I both wore loose fitting khaki shirts and pants, his in olive and mine in that ugly ass khaki color. On our feet were sturdy Timberlands that had honestly seen better days but were built to last until the end of time. Lastly, we had on our gold aviators so that we could be conspicuously incognito. I felt like a celebrity whose idea of dressing down was wearing Michael Kors with a hair and makeup team on standby in case of sun and wind.

Speaking of sun and wind…

I was chilly. It was sunny as all hell, but probably around the fifty degree mark and I was unhappy about it. Coming from a state where I wore cut-offs and a t-shirt to go jogging before Thanksgiving dinner, I didn’t handle climate changes as well as the rest of humanity. Despite Quatre stuffing me into a hooded parka (also in ugly ass khaki), I continually bitched about the temperature as we wove around people inside and outside of the airport. His only response after listening to me whine for twenty minutes was for me to, ‘stop my bitching,’ because apparently I was ‘giving him a headache.’ I shut up after that not because he asked me to, but because all I could focus on after that was the debate going on in my head, asking, ‘Did shape-shifters get headaches?’ Pathetically, this question kept me occupied for a solid five minutes.

I didn’t pay too much attention as I followed Quatre out of the airport and into a cab he hailed. I’ve also never enjoyed a cab ride so much before. It was a clean, early 1990s gray Mercedes-Benz that smelled of jasmine, and anyone rocking Simply Red’s ‘Sunrise’ would never hear any complaints from me. I bobbed my head to the beat as I stared out of the window, watching the people and the goings-on around them. It was wonderful as well as fascinating… until we got to an area that was very ‘well-worn,’ for lack of a better vernacular. So of course that was our stop.

Keeping in mind that I was with a kick-ass shape-shifter enabled me to follow after Quatre with confidence, as we were obviously entering an area that had been blown apart by wind and time often in its existence. I tried to keep my mind halfway open to stay alert for any immediate threats, but the air was so charged with centuries of supernatural energy that it was making me feel euphoric. With the song playing on repeat in my head, I was almost high.

Quatre glanced over his shoulder several times, concerned, as I skipped behind him humming, and he stood completely dumbfounded when I cartwheeled over a crack in the street for no apparent reason. (Which also had my sunglasses fall off and break a lens out.) He tried to give me a tongue lashing for it, but I couldn’t completely focus. It was almost as if things were moving in slow motion around me. Quatre’s voice and other sounds were muffled. Even with my shields up my mind felt unlimited and full. I felt powerful. The only way I could explain it was to say that I was intoxicated with power. Lame, yes, but true nonetheless.

“Quatre,” I slurred. “I can feel it allll… I can see them.”

Quatre didn’t even bother looking around him. “See who?”

“Those of the present and the past,” I said. It was as if I was seeing dead people. (I would’ve cringed at the infamous line if I had the mind to do so.) That was the closest comparison that I could come up with. I wasn’t see ghosts exactly, but I could see the essences of centuries of beings moving around us; how their energies still lived on in the buildings, in the air, in the ground under our feet. It was like the Poltergeist movie from the 1980’s, how Carol Ann’s family were able to see the spirits of the dead as whited-out beings as they crossed over.

“This is incredible,” I mumbled to myself as my eyes followed only what I could see. It wasn’t one way either. The energies reached out to me as well, smiling at me as I stared at awe at them, interacted with me as I did them. I brushed my fingers against a woman’s phantom cheek while a child’s fingers tangled in my hair. I heard Quatre gasp.

“Duo!” he said in a shocked whisper. His voice seemed to echo from a distance. “Your hair just moved!”

I closed my eyes as another ran their fingers down my arm. “Hm.”

“Duo, are your shields up?”

God, they were so beautiful. “Hm.”

“Duo, I need you here. You need to shut this down. It honestly feels like… like you are slipping away.” I could hear the bewilderment in his voice. “You need to ground yourself. Now.”

“Hm.”

“Shit,” I heard, and then a few seconds later I felt like I was coming back to Earth. Literally.

Blinking a few times I realized that Quatre was holding my hand in both of his. I took a few deep breaths before giving myself a little shake. “Wow,” I said after some time. “I have never… felt that before. Seen that before. Never in my life…” I looked at Quatre. “That was the most incredible thing I have ever done.” I was also able to see into Quatre’s mind clearer than I ever have before. I forced myself to pull back immediately. “Whoa!” I snatched my hand away but it was too late. The nosebleed wasn’t bad, but I was annoyed that I had one. It had been a while. I also had the beginnings of a headache. “Damnit.”

“Come here,” he said. Resigned to my fate, I stood still with a grimace as Quatre licked the blood from my face. I squirmed as he cleaned my hand as well, feeling like a lion cub being bathed by its parent. An apt description at the moment.

“Are you done yet?” I whined. “I’m as clean as I’m gonna get. And you might trigger me again.”

“Duo, stop whining.” He wasn’t pleased. In fact, he looked downright unhappy. He let me go of me though, and took a step back. “You scared the hell out of me,” he said. “I could sense that we were surrounded, but that was only because of you?” He frowned. “I could feel them interacting with you. Your hair moved, something else tugged at the sleeve of your parka…” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is not going to work,” he mumbled to himself, looking around. “You need something to ground you until we can figure this out.” The shape-shifter sighed. “Damnit. Chang is going to go ape-shit…”

I could feel them against me again. I started drifting. “You might wanna figure that out now.” I managed ’til the very last word before I started slurring again.

He pulled up the sleeve of his right shirt and placed my hand in the crook of his elbow. “How is that?”

I felt immediately alert. “That’s good.”

“Great.”

We started off again with much better results. Thankfully it wasn’t enough to cause me problems holding onto Quatre’s elbow (like another nosebleed), as I was also focusing outwards. However, it was enough to start a vein throbbing in my forehead, which I knew meant that I would have a spectacular headache in a little while. So I finally settled on having my hand on his back. That seemed to work fine, but I also felt that I had a foot dipped into the spiritual pool. I could ‘see’ that a building a street ahead of us had a shape-shifter in it. The milky red of his essence seemed to leak from him in waves. It saturated everything around him; the building, the ground beneath it, the sky above it, everything. Its long fingers extended towards us, away from us, and every other direction. I lost sight with my eyes. I only saw with my Clairvoyance. I stumbled.

“Duo?”

I gripped Quatre’s elbow again. Hard. Swallowing, I focused on the chill in the air. How it bit at me. “I’m fine.”

It didn’t take us long to reach what appeared to be an abandoned concrete building that was missing the front door. Quatre and I entered without hesitation. Stepping inside, we were in what I would guess would be the lobby. The lighting was somewhat dim because there wasn’t electrical lighting, only sunlight coming in from the doorway and from cutouts high up on the wall. They were about a foot from the ceiling. I was grateful for the dimness because that gave me the excuse to take off my sunglasses. (Quatre was so annoyed I broke them that he made me wear them! Who the hell walked around with one lens in their sunglasses? My dumb ass, that’s who!) In my haste to remove them I jabbed myself in the eye.

Yep. King of Cool, right here folks.

The walls were concrete and covered in dirt just like the building was, but the structure was obviously intact. I had no fear of it falling on our heads. There wasn’t any furniture, only an old counter that nearly stretched across from one wall to the other. The counter had obviously seen better days. Behind it was an employee who sat in the only chair, feet up on the counter with booted ankles crossed. He had some kind of light-colored cloth tied around his head, his dark brown hair peeking above his ears with two cuffed earrings on his left ear. His rounded tinted glasses reminded me of John Lennon’s. He wore a dark shirt that had been washed so many times that I wasn’t sure if it had once been black or if it was genuinely dark gray. He was smoking a cigarette and holding a magazine that used dots and letters arranged in a way that I couldn’t even begin to understand. He wasn’t reading the magazine however; he had been watching the door with an intensity that was almost painful. It was as if he was hoping for someone in particular to come through.

I assumed that we were that ‘someone’ he was waiting for. I didn’t get to finish taking him in before he threw his cigarette on the floor and hopped over the counter. His feet barely touched the ground before he lowered himself into the oddest pose I had ever seen; he sat back on his haunches with fisted hands placed on the ground on either side of him. It looked similar to a cat’s silhouette when it sat. He also didn’t bare his neck like the werewolves did; he kept his head straight forward without meeting anyone’s eyes. What really got my attention though was how he didn’t do that pose for my benefit, but for Quatre’s.

“Jyu Oh,” he said in an accent so heavy I wasn’t sure what language he spoke. It was apparent though that he was over the moon at Quatre’s presence. Although I didn’t expect him to know who I was on sight, I at least felt that he would realize that I wasn’t any normal human being. All other supernatural creatures I have interacted with realized that much. That wasn’t the case here. It wasn’t that he couldn’t tell, from what I felt. Only that it didn’t appear that I warranted any attention from him. I had been dismissed. “It is wonderful to see you after all this time. I was hoping you would arrive while I was on duty.”

Jyu Oh? Where have I heard that before…

Quatre turned to me. “Primus of La Grange Five, Untouchable of the Shenlong Werewolves, may I introduce Rada, Gatekeeper of Chimaera. Rada is a friend, as well as someone dear to me.” Rada brightened, but I felt as if something was left out. I didn’t know about anyone else, but I normally did not bow to my friends even if they were ‘dear’ to me. Even though Rada didn’t technically bow to Quatre… it felt as if that was what he was doing. “Rise, Rada,” Quatre said. He smoothly rose to his feet. “You are before Duo Maxwell, Primus of La Grange Five, Untouchable of the Shenlong Werewolves.”

He bowed at the waist. “Primus of La Grange Five, Untouchable of the Shenlong Werewolves… Welcome to Albania.”

This entire experience was so surreal. We were in a building that I would sooner expect the homeless to slum in, whose walls have probably never seen a drop of soap and water, and was above all else a piece of shit, and yet I was being greeted as if I was being received in the White House. So, I gave him the deepest nod that I could without bowing (and while holding onto Quatre’s elbow), meaning to show respect but not supplication. “Thank you for your welcome, Rada, Gatekeeper of Chimaera,” I intoned, straightening and keeping my face expression neutral. “I am pleased to be here.” From his position, Rada’s eyes rolled up to meet mine. There wasn’t a smile, nervousness or fear in his eyes. He felt slightly curious, but not curious enough to ask.

I immediately did not like Rada.

I wasn’t sure what it was. He seemed competent. Loyal. Intelligent. There was something about him though that rubbed me the wrong way. He adored Quatre (of course, who wouldn’t?) but there was something in his attitude that felt almost… savage. He didn’t mind saying hello to me. He meant his words. However, I also felt that he wouldn’t have minded plucking my eyes from my head either and using them as marshmallows in his hot chocolate. It was such an odd feeling, to actually feel someone’s duplicity like that.

“How have you been?” Quatre asked.

Rada straightened. “Well, as always. And you, Jyu Oh?”

“Tired, but as well as can be expected.” He smiled a bit brighter. “You are speaking English. I assume Third has already passed through and gave you your orders?”

“He has.” He turned to me and began his appraisal. I could feel his stare. My god, it was such a heavy thing. It has always surprised me how every creature that was able to interact with me did so in such unique ways. This… Rada, wasn’t entirely sold on me. His eyebrow rose at the same time I felt his surprise at what he could gleam about me, but I also felt that he found me wanting somehow. Huh. And since he was conveniently making eye contact again, I did a brief mental sweep and found him to be one hell of a shape-shifter. Not on the same planet as Third, let alone Quatre, but he was not someone to dismiss. I would disregard him like I’d disregard Otto.

“Excellent. Is everything ready or did I come too soon?”

“It is ready, however I can still change the transportation arrangements if you desire.” He frowned at Quatre. “You deserve better.”

“Thank you, but whatever you have available will do. I know how it is here.”

Rada gave a sharp nod. “As you wish.” A pause. “Maybe you should rest before you go.”

Quatre was shaking his head before he even finished his sentence. “No. I do not have time to lose. I do not know what Rai has told to whom.” He exhaled shakily. “This has to be contained.”

Rada’s head didn’t move, but his eyes were fast as he glanced at me and then back to Quatre. Quatre didn’t miss a beat. “The Shenlong do not know he is here. He comes as a friend and ally,” he explained. “He is powerful.”

“Yes,” Rada said in agreement. I knew he meant it. “I am glad you have such friends and allies, Jyo Oh. Please follow me.” Rada walked right past us and out the front door, where we followed him around the block under we came upon a bunch of cars. (All of them Mercedes; go figure). The one Rada stopped beside was a nice little sedan in a burgundy color. Releasing Quatre I walked around it, having no idea what it was. Rada answered for me. “Mercedes Benz CLS Class, circa 2005.”

“Looks like it’s in great shape,” I said, with a slight slur in my voice.

He gave me a flat smile. “I try.”

That was when I saw it.

It was on the ground in the shadow of the building, a large, rectangular-shaped outline that had its edges highlighted in green to my Eye. I walked towards with my hand held out, as if I could touch it just because I Saw it—

Quatre’s hand came into view and grabbed the wrist of the hand reaching out. Being snapped out of my Sight like that had me gasp, turning to him in shock. “Quatre?”

“You can see it?”

I could feel my eyebrows scrunch in confusion. “Of course I could,” I said quietly. Rada heard, as he was standing right behind Quatre, but I knew that the wind was treacherous and would carry my words if I was too loud. “It’s right there—” I turned my head and saw that there was no outline present. The ground was solid. There was no indication of the existence of a huge ass trap door. “Ah,” I said instead, feeling very Austin Powers-ish right then. So, super secret trap door. Got it.

“Your eyes have stopped glowing,” Rada observed. He remained behind Quatre, but I could feel his need to be between us. “Forgive me, but I can not fathom what you are beyond ‘not a werewolf’ and ‘not human.’ ” He smiled. It was a terrible smile, how I would imagine the devil in his horned form smiling as he gained another soul. “Can you enlighten me?”

“He can not,” Quatre jumped in, his tone of voice letting us both know that we were not to disagree with him. We did not. “That knowledge is to remain within the strictest of confidences. Even you knowing he is the Untouchable and Primus of Shenlong is too much.”

He bowed his head immediately. “My apologies, Jyo Oh.”

If I had less self control I would’ve rolled my eyes. Shouldn’t he be apologizing to me?

“The keys are in the car,” he went on, gesturing to the aforementioned car. Quatre turned and started tugging me towards the vehicle with the hand on my wrist. I didn’t fight it. This going back and forth with my Sight was definitely throwing me for a loop. It has been some time since I have lost control of my power like this.

Opening the door, Quatre gently guided me into the passenger seat and buckled me in. Digging my fingers into my knees I tried to concentrate on my shields to keep myself from being overwhelmed. Being inside the car helped. Once I was situated Quatre carefully closed the door, which my head was grateful for.

Rada was right behind him. I felt his approach. “If there is anything, anything at all…”

Quatre placed a hand on his shoulder. “There may be.”

He nodded. “I would fight for you. To the death if necessary.”

Quatre’s tone was sad. “I know.”

Rada nodded once in affirmation before turning towards me. I didn’t bother looking at him. I kept my eyes on my knees. He knew I was listening. “Thank you for accompanying him, Primus.” I gave a short nod. “Call upon me for any assistance you may need. There is nothing I will not provide.”

I felt and heard the threat in his voice. Rada loved Quatre, fiercely. Viciously. Turning towards him, he allowed our eyes to meet. After another mind sweep I still didn’t know why, but I found other information that helped fill in the picture. What became abundantly clear was that Rada was dangerous in a way other shape-shifters weren’t. Not even Quatre. He had my hackles up because he had the type of personality that honestly did not give a fuck. He didn’t care that I was Primus. He didn’t care that Wufei was my Packmaster, and was one of the strongest creatures on the planet. We could’ve all eaten shit and died as far as he was concerned, as long as it helped Quatre. I could see him shoving a stick of dynamite down someone’s throat, and holding it down their throat to ensure that they died even though it would mean his death too.

I wanted the hell away from him. “Of course,” was all I said.

With another nod from him he turned to make his way back to his office as Quatre slid into the driver’s seat. I stared at my knees again, trying to shake off the heebie jeebies Rada left.

“Duo? You alright?”

In my mind’s Eye, I was able to superimpose Rada’s hyena form over his human one. “Alright as I can be,” I said, my voice sounding wrecked for some reason. “I feel like crap though. All of this back and forth…” I gestured to my head. “Gave me a headache.”

“Sleep then,” he said, starting the car. “It will still be some time yet before we get there.”

“Okay,” I said, as I watched the trap door lift from the ground on hinges I had no idea were there. Quatre drove into the opening, which revealed a paved road, wide enough to allow a car coming and going. He turned the lights on as the door closed behind us, throwing us into complete darkness. I could tell Quatre turned the headlights on for my sake. The supernatural did not need light to see in the dark, did they? “You could turn the headlights off if you want to, Quat. No worries.” He immediately turned them off. The total darkness actually felt nice. Comforting. “So, what was that door about? You seemed shocked I could see it.”

“It was not that you could see it, but you seemed entranced by it.” I could feel him glance at me. “What is down here?”

“Nothing,” I told him. “That opening was made with magic, by a wizard or something. That was what I saw. The magic.” Once the words were out of my mouth, I knew that they were true. “An Earth Wizard.”

I heard Quatre shake his head. “Rada controls it.”

“Yes, he does, but a wizard made the opening.”

“Ah,” Quatre said, getting it. “I see.”

“Yeah.” Pause. “Who is he to you, Quatre?”

The shape-shifter sighed. “I must apologize for his behavior, Duo—”

“Don’t care, who is he?”

“I will not tell you that right now. That is to remain in the strictest of confidences.”

That answer took me aback. “You won’t tell me or can’t tell me.”

“Both.”

Oh my god… “Quatre, what the hell have I gotten myself into?”

“Possibly someone trying to take control of the Royal Family of the Shape-shifters of SandRock, in order to rule Chimaera? I am not entirely sure yet. Third and I are still working things out.”

What. The. Fuck! “What?!” I felt around on the ceiling until I found the lights. They were blinding to both Quatre and I, but I refused to have this fight in the dark. “Are you shitting me?” I threw my hands up, completely flabbergasted. Well, of course! Rai was the Prince of Chimaera, wasn’t he? “Are there any other family members?”

“Yes, there are. But the only ones in the position of power is the Prince and the King.”

“Well, who’s the Prince?”

“His name is Thor. He is… was Rai’s older twin brother.”

/ ‘THOR!’ /

His brother’s name was the last thing he said. He was calling out for his big brother to save him. Jesus Christ. “Oh my god.” I held a hand to my head in distress. I felt like I was gonna be sick. “Well, what about the king? What’s his name?”

“That is to remain in the strictest—”

“Don’t you give me that bullshit! You hear me?!” I pointed my finger at him. “I’ll accept it for Rada, because he is not the end game here. But the king? That’s different, and I can’t go in there ignorant of him.” I stopped pointing to run that hand over my face. I was exhausted. “I can’t help if I go in there blind, god damnit. Now, who is it?!”

He hesitated for a moment longer before he said, “It is me.”

I felt my stomach drop out. My hand fell from my face. “What did you say?” I croaked.

“It is me, Duo.” He glanced at me before turning his eyes back on the road. “I am the King.”

Oh. My. God.

(tbc)