Queen Ruckler mumbled after a moment, “Truth.”
“Wait,” King Collins muttered quickly. “She’s big on choice. And I know she isn’t going to like this. Is there nothing else that can be done, so you don’t have to…awaken her?”
Thank you, my-goddamn-mother-fucking-King.
“No, there’s nothing else that can be done.” And just like that my heart sunk pitilessly. “Any spirit Elemental that overly exerts themselves, pulls the stunts she did, without proper exercise goes into a,” he hummed quietly in thought, “I can’t say exactly what happens, but imagine a Com coma. But, never ending. That is where she is. I’ve never known a spirit to free themselves from it before, and she would have known this had she stayed at the Temple longer, but she left too damn early.”
“Elder Merrick?” King Collins asked instantly.
His voice was choked, even though he was frozen still under me. “Truth.”
My mind blanked…then screamed at myself in fury.
“I can scent her emotions,” King Zeller rambled hurriedly, and my brain stalled listening to him. “She has to be able to hear us, if she’s as furious as what she is right now.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. Rare Com coma patients have been known to wake and say they heard those around them.” I felt the brush of his fingers glide down the side of my face. “I’m sorry, kitten, but this is the only way. I really had wished you’d awake on your own.”
Instantly, fear and misery transfused my being, swirling with the anger at my own lack of knowledge, but I still couldn’t fucking move or speak.
“What is she feeling now?” King Collins asked instantly.
“What anyone would in her situation.” King Zeller’s voice was quiet. “Fear. Despair. Anger.”
The One sighed heavily. “I’m not so bad, kitten. I had hoped you’d learn I’m nothing like Jacob Angel before this occurred. And on your own. He poisoned your mind with preconceived notions about me on purpose.” Another stroke of his fingers, his tone quiet. “We’ll work through this.”
“King Collins, she’s strong,” Elder Merrick rumbled instantly, and I felt his hand land on my forehead, holding me firmly against his chest. “Damn strong and powerful. Given time, her Core might heal, if that’s the issue. Just…just give her the time to see if she can pull through this, instead of taking away her choice.”
“I have witnessed others, a few anyway, who are just as strong as her, or even more so, still in this state from their lack of control, even though they knew the rules.” Slow words. “She will not wake from this.”
Quiet words from King Collins. “Elder Merrick?”
He gurgled, and I felt his chest heaving under my chest. Choked. His wolf growled softly. More choking, then he growled, “Truth.” He inhaled hard, stating angrily, “It still doesn’t mean she can’t make it through.”
King Collins sounded tired. “Elder Merrick, I know you feel guilty and responsible for this, but it sounds as if it was only lack of knowledge. It was no one’s fault.”
“The One should have told her.” Elder Merrick spoke gruffly, his wolf snarling. “He’s had ample amount of time, and yet, he spoke nothing of it. Who’s to say, he wasn’t waiting for this to happen so he could,” his wolf huffed, “awaken her?”
The One’s tone was bordering on angered. “That was not my plan. I did not wish this for her, and I never expected her to have to overexert herself without going into damn battle as she did because as you have said, she is damn powerful. I would have much rather her find all this out on her own. Let her come into her own without my help. Now, she is going to think I forced it on her when I have no other choice.” He paused, tone turning to a lazy growl. “And yes, you know that’s the truth, so sniff the fuck away.”
Elder Merrick’s wolf growled quietly, the sound reverberating against the back of my head, but he didn’t contradict the One’s words, so I prayed they were the truth.
“And now?” King Collins asked. “What is she feeling now?”
One quiet word from King Zeller. “Despair.”
Yes, all I felt was despair of the unknown. The man I hated with a vengeance, the one who seemed to complete me and somehow…held me captive…behind me. And the man before me I was somehow bound to, who irritated me at times with his stubbornness, but did seem to be a caring individual…was going to hold a piece of me…all from my reckless choices in life.
“I’m sorry, kitten.” I felt the gentlest of kisses land on the corner of my mouth, soft rolls of hair tickling my cheeks. Elder Merrick freezing completely under me, his muscles so tight they started to tremble, his grip on my forehead unbreakable. The hair brushed, moving slowly, another soft kiss on the other edge of my lips, and then he whispered, “It was always meant to be, so please don’t blame me.” He lips hovered over mine, their heat penetrating. “King Collins, I will ask your permission once.”
In the still of the room, King Collins asked, “And if I say no?”
Simple words, no fanfare, his warm breath brushing over my mouth, not moving from whatever he was preparing to do. “I will do what needs to be done to save her.”
My mind churned, in despair and confusion as I felt one man’s breathing begin to accelerate over my lips, while another man’s heart skyrocket, beating frantically against the back of my head, time ticking incrementally slower than all three actions, my mind, the breaths, and the heart.
Elder Jacobs slowly prompted in the quiet, “King Collins…”
A loud shaky inhale from my King. “Caro, I’m making the hard choice for you.” A pause. “Do it. Save her.”
Wait, my mind screamed, just as the One’s lips landed on mine gently. Reverently. The softest caress of his plump lips against my unmoving mouth, before his thumb pressed my chin down, and I heard him inhale before his hair stroked over my face and his opened mouth captured mine, his heated breath rushing through my mouth, the tingle of the stars, but potent, so much stronger than my own as my chest lifted, my lungs filling with his given air and power, even as he laid a hand over my Core, tingling and magical, zapping my flesh in a warm caress before his power plunged deep within me, a straight shot at my Core, a magical feeling of rightness. Then, he pulled, his magic grabbing hold of mine in an iron fist, and started a slow pull toward his own. Mine bowed, a low groan flying into his mouth over mine just as my power touched his, injecting, weaving instantly, and I heard him whisper in my mind, my very being, “Awaken, the Chosen.”