Chapter 88: For Want of a Body

Jiro POV

In the king's study, Odo put the period in the final sentence of the speech they were all crafting. With satisfaction, he smiled, looking invigorated. "I don't think any of our speeches have been this exciting."

Giselberthe wiped the pearly beads of sweat from her brow. "It may be the most important one we'll ever give, my darling."

Leaning back in one of the luxurious leather chairs that he could just sink into, Jiro felt a deep satisfaction. "It's a good one, Odo."

Garnet snorted. "The master of understatement. It's a brilliant speech."

Ravyn agreed wisely. "We can let it rest for a bit and–"

"STOP," Jiro howled.

"Exactly," the others chorused.

"No. You don't understand. We have to stop. We have to stop HIM."

The darkness slammed into him. He wasn't as gifted psychically as Garnet, but he could sense evil after all these years battling Hades. 

Eyes narrowing, Ravyn asked, "Is it him?" 

Jude and Garnet both grimaced, their eyes shifting to their wolf colors. "YES." 

Jiro leapt up. "Hurry. We have to help."

Jude shook his head. "You and Garnet are connected to him–you shouldn't be anywhere near him. He still wants to use both of you."

Already on her feet, Garnet snarled, "Cast shield spells around us. The others need us in the Healing Wing. There's not a minute to lose."

Ravyn looked at the king and queen. "It's best if you two stay here. This could get messy."

Giselberthe smelled determined. "If you can be near him, then round up Lord and Lady Blackthorn. They're as powerful as Head Mage Pascalline."

"Brilliant," Jiro said with a tiny smile. "I'd like to meet these long-lost family members, anyway."

Making their way to the Healing Wing, they found the Blackthorns in the corridor. Immediately, Jiro and Garnet sensed the Alpha and Luna energy in the handsome couple, and smelled the Alpha bloodline in Lord Talon Blackthorn, as well as in the baby nestled in his mate. 

"We want to help you deal with this Hades monster we seem to be related to," Lord Blackthorn growled. "We released a trapped spirit in our castle. A family ghost who'd been cursed and had become trapped."

Jiro raised a scarlet eyebrow. "Impressive."

"It's not everyone who has the ability and compassion to do something like that. By the way. I'm Garnet. I understand we're family," Garnet said in her direct way. "I sense the Sinsworth spirit in you–though you look so much like Dane that it's not funny."

Talon Blackthorn burst out laughing, and gazed lovingly at his mate, Lady Kelara. "As direct as you, sweet one. I like her already. Good to know you, Garnet–and this must be your mate. I'm honored. I serve my Alpha and my Luna in all things."

With a respectful nod, Jiro said, "I'm not your Alpha here–this is your world."

Garnet grinned slightly despite the potential peril awaiting them in the Healing Wing. "And I'm not your Luna here, either, Lord Blackthorn … we're just passing through."

Emotion flickered in Talon's blue eyes. "I hope you pass through very slowly … and it's Talon and Kelara to you."

Talon's hunger to know his shifter family touched Jiro's heart. He patted the man's shoulder gently. Garnet touched Kelara's arm in a sisterly way. "Wait until my brother hears about you," she said with emotion. "And the rest of the family."

"And all the Crestas and Faolans and extended family, including in Brighmere," Jude added. "This could do more for the image of humankind in the minds and hearts of our people than all the treaties and speeches in the world."

"Now who's idealistic?" Ravyn said affectionately. 

Jude responded, ever practical, "Keep up this good feeling. We'll need it as we walk into a Moon-Goddess-knows-what nightmare scenario."

A sobering reality. But Jiro refused to surrender to doubt and despair. They'd found an unexpected family, helped Ravyn and Daxius close the sad chapter in their past together, and rescued everyone from Abandonnado Island without losing the human king in the process. They even had the king fighting to recognize the shifters!

Surely, they could stop whatever Hades and the Dark Goddess had in store for them.

* * * * *

Ravyn POV

Maybe she was being a tad optimistic, but while she ran to the Healing Wing, Ravyn could feel the positive energy building. In particular, Jude seemed more accepting of this new human connection than she'd thought possible. Maybe it was all his merchant knowledge, or the way he'd fought beside Odo and the other humans, or his visit to Wildefell. So many facets to this man that she adored with every fiber of her being.

The solid entrance to the Healing Wing loomed ahead, and Ravyn barely noticed getting magically scanned when she passed through the doors into the space smelling of medicine, sickness, hope, and despair. 

The palace healers all fanned out protectively when Ravyn approached the private room. "Can we help you?" one of them asked.

"Yes, by getting out of the way," Ravyn responded directly. No time for pleasantries. 

Bristling, the palace healers all objected. "Now see here–"

Kelara huffed. "We're royal mages! If you won't listen to Ravyn Rolfe, listen to my husband and me. Let us through. Every second counts."

Head Mage Pascalline agreed. "Yes, hurry!"

It helped to have some royal mages on their side. The healers parted, and the group led by Ravyn and Jude went directly into the private and secure room where Anneliese and Lilia were guarding Marieke. Meanwhile, Patch and Dane guarded Hades/Melisande.

An awake and aware Hades/Melisande.

Hades pointed Melisande's pale finger at Talon Blackthorn. "You. You're my descendant. I can't have her." He nodded at Garnet. "He's not blood, but he's a Sinsworth. Still, I can't have him." A look of wary respect at Jiro. "Garnet's brother … well, I blew my chance with him. Same with his mate. But you … you're the spitting image of Talon Sinsworth from a century ago …"

"And you can't have him, either," Garnet snarled.

His eyes glittering like deep lapis lazuli, Talon glared at Hades. "I always wanted to get to know my shifter family, but in your case, I'll make an exception."

"Mongrel," Hades said in Melisande's voice. "Still, blood is blood. At least you're not wolfless." His eyes slid toward Kelara. "You have a pup in that witch's belly."

Coolly, Kelara glared at him. "Lay one hand on me OR the pup in my belly–"

Hades waved Melisande's pale hand dismissively. "You have more spirit than he does, but your mate has more of my blood."

Ravyn approached Hades to divert him from his shiny new toys. "What did your prophecy in the tower mean, Hades? I get the reference to the twenty-four Alphas being controlled. But orcs losing their minds? Shifters putting leashes on humans? And what is the crystal heart of the world underneath the tree of fire? Why does it need to be filled to stop the darkness–the Dark Goddess–from conquering the world?"

Hades looked around him in bewilderment, his head swiveling like an owl's. "I … did I say that?"

"YES," most of the people in the room said.

"Cyran heard you, too," Garnet added. "He heard that you wanted to be free … and he agreed to help you."

Jude's eyes narrowed. 

Ravyn hadn't discussed anything with him, but she saw a hard look on his face. Dane's, too. She expected Dane's reaction, but Jude's looked even fiercer and more unyielding. Jiro looked cool and calculating.

"HELP HIM?" Jude burst out. "Why?"

Patch huffed. "Exactly what people whose brains aren't overgrown with fur want to know. He's not Cyran, after all."

"It certainly wouldn't be for his sake," Dane said in a tone that could freeze lava. 

Flexing his muscles to try and move despite the magical shielding Anneliese and Lilia created, Hades reminded them all, "I'm still here. And you shouldn't save me." 

"But we need you," Jiro asserted, and the others agreed. "You need us."

Ravyn loomed over Hades. "I may not be blood, and I may be a woman … but I think you respect me."

His forehead wrinkled, and he just gave a lupine huff. 

"I feel your torment," Ravyn went on. "You feel like you can never move forward. Never be free. Never find release."

He didn't know love or its power, sadly, she thought.

"I want to be," Hades confessed.

"We can help you," Ravyn promised.

Jude snarled, his eyes glowing golden and his fangs growing. "I can't let you do this!"

Ravyn's mouth dropped open. "Jude, back off."

His voice was full of emotion. "NO! I won't let you do this … not for that monster!"