Ileus, who was scouting through the jungles that surrounded Ixoviya, had rushed to the castle after Daryn called him via the mental link. He walked inside with healers who promptly went to Brantley. "My liege, you need to rest. A lot of blood is lost." Brantley was looking pale and was now shaking. The healers took him to the chair and made him sit.

Ileus gave a half-smile and said, "Allow me to delve in his mind Daryn. It should be fun."

​​

"Be my guest." Daryn replied, understanding Lazarus's line of question.

They all stared at Levi. Soon his face scrunched in pain. "Noooo!" he shrieked. Excruciating pain cruised through his mind. "Get out! Get out!" he yelled. He felt as if his skull was being squeezed and was slowly going to get crushed. "Please don't!"

"Where is Elize?" asked Ileus, as he still probed his mind. Others were stunned at his question.

"I— I don't know! Ahhhh!" He shouted as he fell on his back and writhed in pain. The pressure on his brain increased and he started sweating. He thrashed his head on the sides to numb the pain, but it didn't help. "She— she said—"

Daryn gaped at Levi with stunned eyes.

"What did she say?" asked Ileus, as he continued to stare at him with his golden yellow eyes that now flickered a dull onyx.

Levi continued to thump his head on the ground so harshly as if he wanted to break his skull and get Ileus out of it. He got up disregarding the tiny burns that his skin was getting, and shouted. "Leave me and I will let you know!"

"There's no leaving you," said Ileus as he clenched his jaw in anger. He looked damn pissed off.

The pain intensified. Levi gave in. "She said York— Yorkshire!"

They were all so stunned by his confession that they didn't notice the sound of heavy footfalls behind them.

"Caleb, don't!" Brantley shouted. But it was too late.

Caleb swung around his brother, came in front of Levi. Digging his claws in his neck he ripped off his head. His head rolled off his neck and fell on the floor with a thud. The body fell down. With his lips curled in a feral snarl, Caleb stood over him and watched the blood pour out of his torso like a fountain. There was no mercy in his eyes. How dare he put his mate in unknown danger?

He was looking wild when he turned his gaze to Daryn. "I have to go back to Yorkshire and get her!"

Daryn walked to his brother and embraced him. "Yes Caleb," he whispered. "We will all go back. If you want I will come with you."

"No, I will go there alone," replied Caleb in a disembodied voice, still standing frozen in his place. "I have to— I have to make her understand a lot of things…" his voice trailed off as he choked.

It was a ghastly sight, but none that the men in the room hadn't seen before.

Ileus walked up to them and said, "This man was here to avenge his father. He got instructions from Mozrath to kill Caleb. But he came up with a better strategy. Looking at Elize's predicament, he extended her comfort by opening a portal for her to leave. That way, when she was gone, he knew that her mate would become vulnerable and he would kill him easily. He would expose Elize to the enemies and also kill Caleb at the same time."

Ileus stared at the bathroom door. "At first she was in doubt, but when she saw the lucrative option, she decided to go. His portal was enough to open but he couldn't transport her to the location he desired, so he asked her to speak aloud where she wanted to go and then step into the portal. Elize walked in Yorkshire. Once she was gone, he didn't get the opportunity to leave because Dawn walked into the chamber to look for Elize, so he hid in the passage and waited. Unfortunately Brantley sat there all the time guarding Caleb. He wasn't able to get out of the passage because of the spells. The walls slowly closed on him, forcing the rat to come out. When he had no other option but to come out, he walked out of the passage. He could have easily walked out, if Brantley was sleeping." Ileus took a deep breath. "The rest, we all know!"

Ileus patted Caleb's back. "However, now many of our enemies know that she is in Yorkshire, because he has given them her location."

"Fuck!" Daryn grunted and looked at Caleb with worry in his eyes.

"You need to track her down before your enemy finds her," Ileus said. "And you have to do that as soon as possible. I have already mentioned about Vikra's followers going towards Zor'gan. We have to be ready!"

Caleb went to sit on the bed and pinched the center of his forehead with his thumb and index finger. "Leave it me," he replied. "I will get her back in time. Give me a week or two maximum."

"Dawn will deliver babies in two weeks' time!" said Brantley as if accusing him already for missing the birth of his mate. "You must come by that time."

Daryn chuckled. Ileus laughed and Lazarus joined him.

Caleb smiled… for the first time in twenty-four hours. "I will join you all before that – with or without Elize."

The door opened and guards rushed in. They started to wrap the body of the fallen in linen. Once it was wrapped completely, they carried him out. With a flick of their hands, the servants who had accompanied them, cleared the floor of any blood. The senior-most guard stood there and said, "We are sorry my king, but we will definitely probe into this incident of lack of security. Levi had been a close confidante of Sedora. After Jhun was eliminated yesterday, we were to suspend him from his job, but we didn't see him, so we thought that he was in mourning. We even sent the letter of suspension to his family. It seems that he had somehow fooled all of us and disguised as a royal servant."

Caleb clenched his jaw. "Suspend all the servants who are employed for us with immediate effect. When I come back, we will recruit new ones." There was a lot that he had to fix. He was there just one day as a king and people were already hatching plans.

---

It had been two days since they had returned to Bainsburgh. Ileus and Lazarus had gone back to their kingdoms, while Caleb had gone to Yorkshire after returning to Bainsburgh with them. Dawn had told him about Arawn and the enchanted Fulshire forests. "You are going to be safe there, in case you are chased by enemies."

"Thanks Dawn!" said Caleb, as he packed his clothes. He was gone in the next two hours.

Dawn was sitting on the chaise chair of the cabin beside River Lifye with her hand resting on her tummy. She was talking to Quetz about their venture in Ixoviya and thanked him for suggesting Lazarus's idea. It was twilight and the sands on riverbanks looked a mix of yellow and orange as the water turned a deeper hue of azure. It was beautiful and she hoped that Caleb found Elize soon. Her gaze went to Cole who was hell bent on catching fish with Neal. Their boat was bobbing on the waves and its solitary lantern reflected in the water. A smile wormed on her lips.