I caught the slight smirk of baldie. Clearly he was enjoying the show.
“My mate didn’t return as you promised,” I said.
“I made no promises,” she said. “I told you the queen wanted a meeting with him.”
“A meeting implies a visit and a return,” I said.
“Open the gates,” Madison snapped. “This shifter needs to see the queen. I’m sure she can teach her some manners.”
The guards were grinning wildly as if they were in on a joke I wasn’t part of. It didn’t matter what they thought. I was getting what I wanted. A way inside the palace.
“I was sent to tell you that your mate decided to stay and work out an alliance with our queen,” Madison said. “Your residence was destroyed. I’m rather surprised to find you alive.”
Her tone was cold and callous. It sent a shiver down my spine. If not for that brief flicker of emotion in her face when she first saw me, I might think she’d truly changed sides.
“Sorry to disappoint you. But you should know better than anyone that I’m not easy to kill,” I said.
“You’re like a rabbit’s foot. You’ve got luck. But the rabbit who gave the foot didn’t get any of that luck. Yours won’t last forever.” She pushed me toward the now open gate. “You made a mistake coming here.”
“I will have my mate back,” I said.
“Possibly. Maybe the queen will allow you to join him,” she said.
I marched forward with Madison’s hand still on my back. Behind us, the iron doors creaked then slammed as they were closed.
“For real, what the fuck are you doing here?” Madison hissed.
“Change of plans,” I said.
“The explosion?” she whispered.
“No casualties,” I said.
A group of shifters waited for us at the main entry to the palace. All their eyes were locked on us.
“I wonder if that stone works on hybrids,” Madison asked loud enough for them to hear. “That’s probably your destiny, my friend.”
“Don’t call me friend,” I said through gritted teeth.
The shifters parted and let us through without question. Madison was sure selling this better than I anticipated.
We walked into a huge foyer. Marble floors, gilded walls, statues on precarious looking tables. It was like walking into a long forgotten time. Everything was pure luxury and screamed that it was expensive. I was afraid to touch anything.
Footsteps sounded and my heart fell into my stomach as Matteo entered the space. How many more shifters from the High Moon Pack were here? How many had the queen already claimed?
“The queen wants to see her new guest,” Matteo said.
This was it. Exactly what I wanted. I asked for this. I wanted to come in here and cause a distraction. All I could hope for was that the queen wouldn’t kill me before the mages had a chance to do their thing.