Feral Mage 3: Chapter 26

Bryce left Mark’s office, his knuckles white as he gripped the contract. The door slammed shut behind him, but he doubted anyone noticed with how packed the tavern was. Vex, Janna, and Thea were now inside and standing by Nicole’s table. Nicole gave him a sad smile, her feline tail flicking behind her.

“What happened?” Vex growled.

Bryce handed the contract to Vex when he arrived at the table.

“Where’s Callie?” he asked.

Janna and Thea were reading the contract over Vex’s shoulder, but the kitsune still answered him.

“She took Charlotte to the wine cellar since the guild doesn’t have holding cells,” Janna said. “So, we’re on guard duty?”

Bryce’s lip quirked up into a sneer as he glared at the contract.

“I knew you wouldn’t like it,” Nicole stated.

He scoffed.

“Did you?”

Nicole shook her head and looked around the tavern.

“Can I drag you away from your girls?” she asked. “We’d like to talk to you privately.”

Bryce nodded, figuring it was about the contract. Nicole, Olivia, and Bellamy all stood from the table. Bryce turned to his girls.

“I’ll be back soon,” he said to them as they continued looking over the contract.

Thea had an odd look on her face as she read it.

Vex smirked at Nicole.

“The snow elf already wore him out. So, no tail brushing!” she teased in beastkin.

Nicole’s face reddened, and she glared at Vex, earning a laugh from the wolfkin.

She looked at her sister as they walked away and shook her head.

“Even the damn elf!” Nicole hissed in beastkin.

Olivia gave her sister a gentle smile.

“She is straightforward about what she wants,” Olivia replied in beastkin. “At least they’re not fighting anymore.”

Nicole snorted before continuing in beastkin.

“I would prefer the fighting, that lucky tailless bitch,” her tail flicking with agitation as her ears went flat against her witch’s hat. “I should have made my move years ago…”

Bryce listened intently to the conversation as he followed the sisters and Bellamy, his mind running wild as all his past interactions with Nicole were thrown into a new light. He had always assumed her playful flirting was just a personality trait. Nothing more.

Olivia looked back at him curiously, and Bryce did his best to keep his expression neutral.

“As you can see, Sis is upset about the contract as well,” Olivia said to him.

Nicole’s tail lashed the air again.

“Upset that I’m stuck with my fingers,” she hissed in beastkin.

Olivia turned from him to give her sister a disgusted look.

He followed Nicole, Olivia, and Bellamy as they led him through the tavern to a flight of stairs in the back of the guild. After climbing several floors, they emerged onto the rooftop of the guild hall.

Bryce could see much of Witchbrook from here, even the harbor and the University in the distance. The sound of birds caught his attention, and he noticed a coop for messenger pigeons.

Nicole stretched as she walked toward the edge of the roof facing the harbor.

“I wasn’t happy either when Mark told me about the job,” she said while taking a seat on the parapet of the roof. “Olivia threw a fit as well. I half expected her to try and fight the old Berserker.”

Bellamy walked over to the pigeons, watching them inside their pen. While Olivia stood, resting against her tower shield.

“So, this talk is about the contract?” Bryce asked as he moved to join Nicole on the parapet.

Nicole hummed.

“Yes. About the wording on the contract and confirming something I’ve had some suspicions about,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

He stared out at the Winter River in the distance.

“I’m not in the mood for games today, Nicole,” Bryce warned.

“And I don’t feel like playing any, Bryce. This is important. I need to know what I’m about to get myself and my sister into with this contract,” she looked at him, her pupils slits under her witch hat. “Who is Alice really? I know Bellamy knows, but she refuses to tell us.”

Bryce looked over to see that Bellamy had now picked up some of the grain used to feed the pigeons and was passing it through the small bars of the coop to them. He sighed and looked at Nicole.

“It’s important for the job, right? I need to know what I’m getting myself into,” she reasoned. “The contract states Alice and Princess Volson are to be guarded, but later it mentions Princesses. Plural.”

“She’s the bastard daughter of the last Ice Queen,” Bryce answered softly.

Nicole’s pupils widened as her ears twitched.

“Fuck,” she said and looked out to the sea, then her next words were in beastkin. “I’m competing with two princesses. Damn it!”

Bryce looked away, scratching his chin at her words. He saw Olivia watching him curiously again as she leaned against her tower shield.

“She doesn’t want the crown. Hell, she didn’t even know she was until we went to the Red Pine Kingdom,” Bryce said. “She just wants to live a simple life.”

Nicole scoffed.

“We don’t get to make our life choices, Bryce. The Divine makes them for us,” she said softly, a slight bitterness in her tone. “Still, two princesses explain why the old Berserker is so worried about their safety. Given the defenses the guild offers, it also explains why he doesn’t want them to leave earlier. It’s probably one of the safest places for them unless the city is truly fucked and Witchbrook is a hard city to fuck.”

Nicole pointed at the harbor.

“The city was built at the cross-section between the Northern Human Kingdoms and the Elvish Kingdoms. They made it to be defensible and to withstand a prolonged siege,” she answered.

“We got some information about the attack. Our source said it’s going to be conscripted prisoners from the Saltland Kingdom, along with Northern Alliance soldiers,” Bryce said.

Nicole gritted her teeth, her fangs on full display.

“The Kingdom of Saltland is involved. So three Northern Kingdoms and an Elvish Kingdom. Forget about Witchbrook, the whole Kingdom of Brooke is probably damned if this escalates into a full war.”

She shook her head and frowned at him.

“Two days before they arrive, two days to get ready,” she warned.

He nodded, then glanced toward Bellamy. She met his gaze, but there was a slight hesitation in it. They may have made peace about their previous relationship, and he knew she didn’t hate him anymore, but the old wound was still healing.

“I got a new Aspect,” he said to her. “One with wings. I could use some help learning how to fly.”

Bellamy’s posture shifted as she looked at him curiously.

“What did you get? Griffin? Cockatrice? Forest Hapry?” she asked. “They’re rare, but they’re not unheard of around here.”

“Took out a Quill Wyvern,” Bryce answered. “Got the beast’s wings and quills as my Aspect.”

Bellamy’s eyes widened, and she nodded, impressed.

“Very odd for one of those to be this far from the wild, and I’m assuming by itself since you’re still alive.”

Bryce chuckled at his old mentor’s faith in his fighting skill.

“The Wyvern had an infestation of Carrion Fairies. Pretty sure the beast was trying to work its way north, hoping the cold would kill the little bastards.”

The talk about the wyvern reminded him that he needed to see Isabelle, and his hand moved to the creature’s fang in his pocket.

Not a lot of time.

“I can work with you tomorrow,” Bellamy offered. “Though we need to go outside the city to do it.”

Bryce agreed. He was sure the city wouldn’t react very well to a person with wings trying to fly through it, especially with how tense everything was.

“Sounds good,” Bryce said before looking back at Nicole. “Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?”

She shook her head.

“Not yet,” she said, looking to her sister. “We’ll let you get back to your girls.”

Bryce scratched his neck, thinking of all he had to do in such a short time.

“Actually, can you tell Vex, Callie, and Janna to join me up here?”

Nicole’s feline ears flicked, but she nodded in agreement as she made her way back toward the door. Olivia lifted her tower shield and followed her sister. Bellamy lingered, slowly making her way from the pigeon coop over to him, standing beside him.

They both watched the city in silence for several seconds.

“Thank you for taking care of Thea,” she said softly.

“She’s becoming too dependent on me,” Bryce replied. “I really don’t know how to help her. She’s terrified of her Aspect.”

Bellamy gave him a curious look.

“She came back from being a Chimera. Something I didn’t even think was possible. You both have come back from that, and from what I’ve heard, you somehow keep coming back,” she said, then gave him a stern glare. “Don’t take risky gambles, Bryce.”

“I know,” Bryce said with a sigh.

Everything has a price, and he knew Ciarra would take hers one day from him for this power. He felt a deep dread in his gut, wondering what that price would be.

The soft cooing of the birds took over the roof once more as Bellamy took a seat beside him on the parapet.

“I’m also sorry I’ve been so distant from you,” Bellamy said. “I don’t want you to think I’ve gone back to—”

He cut off her apology.

“I get it, Bellamy. The rift between us was there for years. It’ll take some time to heal,” he said before looking into her eyes. “You need space, I’ll give you space. You decide you want to talk, I’ll make time. I’m not walking away from you like I did all those years ago.”

She smiled at him before looking out over the city.

“So, who left the bite mark on you this time?” she asked.

Bryce reached up and touched the side of his neck, rubbing the spot.

“Callie,” he answered.

Bellamy raised an eyebrow at him.

“Fight or other?” she asked.

He laughed at how the question wasn’t entirely a joke.

“Other. She’s joined the pack.”

He was glad to see the smile had remained on her face at his answer, one that was genuine.

“I bet Vex was happy. Callie will make a strong warrior for the pack,” Bellamy said.

Bryce smirked.

“She is. Partly for that and partly because it gives her something to annoy Callie about.”

Bellamy stood from the parapet.

“Your girls should be up here soon. So I’ll meet you at the guild’s tavern tomorrow morning at sunup for training?” she asked.

“See you at sunup,” Bryce agreed.

She gave a parting wave as she left him to his thoughts. It was time he revealed to the girls the secret he had been keeping for months —the one that literally haunted him.