Inside our room, Rome was the sole figure lounging on the couch, quietly texting someone on his phone.
"You should rest. Jack and Glenn will be arriving soon with the plane," Kai suggested, slowly easing his arms out of his suit jacket before draping it over a cushioned chair.
"Where are Ivan and Ace?" I questioned, scanning the room for them.
With a doleful expression, Rome's heartsickness permeated the air as he informed me, "They got detained. Only Jack, Glenn, and I avoided detainment."
My heart ached after hearing the terrible news, particularly when I thought of Rose and Mia. I could only imagine how devastated they felt. Mates share a unique bond beyond any description, and the severance from such a bond is painfully heart-wrenching. Therefore, I understood their husbands' detainment must gravely pain Rose and Mia.
"At least we managed to recover everyone. They'll be back on their feet once they've had a chance to recuperate," Kai added, seeming optimistic.
However, his voice betrayed a flicker of stress that he failed to mask from me. Despite that, I found some relief from knowing that everyone's bodies had been recovered and would be reawaken.
With a glum expression, Rome randomly announced, standing up from the couch, "I'll be in the restroom."
Once he disappeared into our bedroom, I asked in a whisper, "Is Rome ok? He doesn't seem like himself."
It was unusual for Rome not to be in a whimsical mood. He always addressed me as Princess. Yet, he hasn't greeted me with that nickname even once since I entered. Sure, I wasn't fond of the nickname, but secretly, I never minded him calling me it, as it had become his signature way of addressing me.
"He dislikes war, and he's upset that our friends are recovering in a detained healing sleep back at home," Kai whispered back, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"I feel awful for him," I muttered, sensing that Rome had experienced and seen things in battle that I could hardly imagine, all in the fight for my survival.
"He'll be okay," Kai reassured me, gently tucking some of my hair behind my ear.
"Is my life worth so much destruction?" I found myself questioning aloud, openly confronting the doubts about my destiny and reasons for living.
Kai responded by enveloping me in the warmth of a passionate embrace.
"Your life holds more value than you realize. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. Our babies need you, I need you, and the Coven needs you as its queen," Kai whispered, burying his face in my hair as his breath tenderly heated against the bare skin on my neck.
"Headmaster Danny had shown me a vision of myself surrounded by dead bodies, and I fear I killed a little boy. Danny said I would turn evil, like the other three prophecies they had executed," I confessed softly as the haunting image replayed in my mind.
Kai gently reassured me, "The women of those prophecies were inherently evil. They worshiped idols and believed in sacrificing infants on mountains. But you, my love, are nothing like them. To transform them into vampiresses was doom because they sought to dominate everything. Next to their evilness, I almost seem like a saint, and believe me, I have taken countless innocent lives."
In a small voice, I admitted, feeling the crushing heaviness of my heartsickness, "I wasn't sure what to think after seeing Danny's vision."
Kai held me slightly tighter, pressing his forehead onto mine as his gaze was delicate and soothing. "Danny's visions only reveal the dire outcomes. He cannot predict the whole story that Headmaster Edgar can discern. Edgar's insights are far more potent than Danny's," he added softly, gazing passionately into the depths of my eyes.
In silence, we held each other until Rome returned from using the bathroom.
Roughly five minutes later, we found ourselves engrossed in our next debate. Kai paced back and forth, lost in deep contemplation, while Rome and I sat on the couch together, observing his anxious steps. With war now on an outbreak, locating the Headmaster of our Coven became a critical concern. This war between the Rebellion and the Allegiance is doomed to disperse like a rampant disease. Therefore, finding Vlad and his clan becomes imperative, as Vlad is the only Collin Alpha capable of defeating another Superior Headmaster.
To embark on this mission, Kai shared he had a hunch that his Grandparents, along with Vlad's clan, might be somewhere hidden in the deserts of the Middle East. Traveling from Europe wouldn't be considered a far journey to reach the Middle East. However, my well-being put Kai in this huge predicament on what to do with me.
Holding his chin with one arm crossed under his rib cage, Kai contemplated aloud, pacing back and forth, "I don't know what the best solution is. Right now, I don't have enough advisors or guardians to ensure you can travel safely back home, and I don't trust anyone here to leave you behind. All this leaves me in a huge debate on what to do."
"I'll go wherever you need me to be. Headmaster Edgar can watch over me while you are away," I resolved, hoping to alleviate his worry.
"You've already been through too much, and our babies are feeling enough stress as it is to just leave you here," Kai countered, halting his anxious pacing.
"Once Jack and Glenn arrive, we could just bring her with us," Rome suggested, offering a solution to Kai's dilemma.
"I thought that, but I'm still unsure." Turning to me, Kai sweetly asked, "Can you handle a trip to the Middle East?"
"I can manage the journey," I affirmed, but Kai seemed unconvinced as his gaze fell to my belly.
Over me, he sensed how our babies felt, and I'm sure his stress wasn't calming them. By their movements, I could tell that Kai's anxiety was affecting them deeply.
Again, Kai repeated his question, uncertainty glistening in his eyes as he wondered if I meant my previous answer, "Do you want to go home or come with me?"
"Of course, I want to be with you, but I understand if you think it's safer for me not to go," I answered truthfully, wishing to help him find some sort of solution that would ease his wary mind.
With a heavy sigh, Rome interjected, "You should just bring her along."
After a moment of deep contemplation, Kai finally voiced his heavy-hearted decision. "I was thinking you should just take her back home with Jack and Glenn. I'll journey to the Middle East alone."
"Are you crazy!" Rome loudly objected to his insane idea. "You can't do that by yourself! You're an Alpha! Without the protection of your advisors, the enemies could detain you if you're caught alone!"
"Her safety comes before mine," Kai interjected, increasing the tone in his
slightly irritated voice.
To help Rome break through Kai's thick-headed skull, I opposed, "Kai, Rome makes a fair point. You're too important to risk yourself like that."
Kai paused, exhaling heavily. Stillness encircled him as he thoroughly mulled over our points, wrestling with the astute observations Rome and I had laid out for him.
Firm in his tone, "Alright," Kai conceded after a moment. "I need to make a call to my dad. He has to know we're not coming back anytime soon."
With that resolved, Kai left the bedroom, leaving Rome and me here.