Warrior (Twisted Sister #2) (20 page)

The council room falls silent as Philli and I walk in. He guides me down to the end of the table with a soft hand to the small of my back.

“I really like these,” he whispers flicking my wings.

“So do I,” I tell him, fluffing them into his face. I was so amazed when they came flying out, I never want to try and put them back in. My favorite purple T-shirt hangs to my back in shreds, but that’s okay. Philli promised he would take me back to my house later, so I can collect my things.

“Right, take a seat you two, and let’s get this party started,” McKinley scans the room before his eyes fall to his left where Alison sits curled up in Owen’s lap.

“Don’t start this without me,” Rafe pants running into the room. He looks over at me and blows me a kiss, making Philli growl.

“Sir, you know I love you, and I belong to you. Stop being so… well, I have no idea.” I chuckle.

“You’re in a good mood, Rafe. Is Lucy all right? McKinley asks all business.

“Thanks to the Goodunro, she’s perfect.” Rafe points his finger across the table at me.

My eyes widen and I stare at him in confusion. “The what?”

“Philli you fuck, haven’t you explained anything?” Rafe chuckles.

“I will have you know, I’ve been rather busy with everything else. She’s been here less than twenty-four hours. And besides, we only just found out she was one a few minutes ago,” Philli huffs in his defense.

“Madison, is a Goodunro?” McKinley sits forward in his chair and studies me.

“Okay guys, I’ve learned how to throw a pretty cool fireball. So unless you want your balls extra crispy, you will start talking right this minute,” I huff.

“Oh, extra crispy sounds yummy.” Alison chuckles in delight.

McKinley groans and slaps his forehead, pointing to Philli. “Speak Philli, we need these girls outta the meeting room.”

Philli laughs at the dismay on McKinley’s face and turns to face me.

“Okay ma petite, a Goodunro is… well…” he tilts his head searching for the right words, “…it’s a Seer, a Healer, a Spell Caster, a Mind Reader… all these great things rolled into one very small, but very delicious package.”

“Okay is that all…” I chuckle, waving my hands in the air, “…here I was thinking it was some sort of goddess thing or something.”

The men at the table start laughing at my flippant behavior.

“You take all this so well, ma petite,” Philli comments taking my hand in his.

“No, I just don’t show my panic, or how much this all scares me,” I tell him softly.

“That is what makes a great Goodunro, Madison,” Owen speaks up. “You’re picked because you’re strong, determined in the public eye, and weak and submissive in private with your mate. To be picked is very rare.”

I nod my head unable to answer him. This is all too much for me to take in. But I still have one more thing I need to do before I can crawl into a ball, and deal with everything that’s happened. Philli notices my change in emotions and squeezes my hand tightly in support.

“We can talk about all that later, but I need to tell you all what I saw when I read the whore bag Dragon.”

“She’s talking about, Sophie,” Philli laughs.

“What about her?” Jay asks.

“I killed her.” Gasps fly around the table, but I raise my hand to silence them. “Please let me finish. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to tell anyone. She attacked me while I was healing Romie. I might have asked for it, but anyway, we got into a fight and Violetta came to my rescue.”

“Violetta is her Phoenix,” Philli adds.

“Thank you for that, Sir. Anyway, as I was saying, we got into a fight. Vi was screaming at me to read her mind. So I did. It was easy like a knife through butter. There wasn’t much of a fight to stop me reading her,” I tell them feeling proud. From what Philli has told me, it’s hard to read a Dragon. “What I saw, well…” I swallow, bracing myself to say the words out loud, “…I saw my ex-boyfriend in her mind. He was telling her some words to whisper in Lucy’s ear. Vi told me it was a spell, she said he was a Buzzock, whatever that is…” I shake my head and pause needing a moment to catch my breath. I do the only thing that I can think of, I stand and turn my back to the council members.

“Sir?” I ask Philli, gesturing to my shirt.

I lift my shirt over my head and turn to face the council members showing them my scars. I stare at the table avoiding the sympathy in their eyes.

“Almost eighteen years ago, I was on my way home from working a long shift at the hospital. Lucas had promised he’d meet me at home. When I got to my house, not a single light was on. So I made my way inside thinking that he was just caught up, and would be home soon. When I walked into the living room, I heard something behind me. Before…” I hold my breath lost in the memory.

“Go ahead, my love, I have you.” Philli wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me back onto his lap. His hand runs down the back of my hair in a soothing motion.

I snuggle deep into his chest and continue, “Before I had a chance to turn around, I felt the first swipe of the knife across my back. In the attack, I was stabbed over and over, in the back and stomach. Lucas was standing behind me laughing and telling me that’s what I got for breaking his rules. I was weak and couldn’t move. He threw gas down my right side and lit me on fire. When I looked into Sophie’s mind, I saw her there handing him the knife and the gas. I was pregnant when that happened. I always thought I’d lost her in the accident. But what I saw in Sophie’s mind was different. I saw her cut open my stomach and take her out and then I watched her walk out of the house, with
my
baby.”

“How… how could you not know, sis? Are you sure?” Alison hiccups, swiping at her eyes.

“When I woke up in the hospital, the doctor on duty told me I had lost her, and that they had to cut me open to remove her. But in Sophie’s head, the doctor on duty was working with them.” I bury my head in Philli’s chest and cry my eyes out.

“Well, that settles it,” Jordi says jumping up from his seat. All eyes fall on him as he strides to the head of the table. “Sophie was the traitor all along, and I know what this ass, Lucas looks like. We find him, take him out, and find Madison and Philli’s daughter.”

Every man at the table stands and bangs their clenched fists on their chests three times.

“We plan for war,” Philli screams on the top of his lungs.

My heart swells in my chest, as I hear every man, beast, and creature on the Island howl, growl and scream in agreement.

I feel Philli stand up with me in his arms, I don’t dare look up. I can’t look around the room at anyone. I don’t want to see them feel sorry for me.

Philli says his goodbyes and strides with me out of the great hall.

“Come on, ma petite, let’s get you home and feed.”

The consistent purring that echoes around my head is driving me insane. For months, I had to listen to Dragon bitch and moan, like some love sick fool about wanting a mate. Now… now, I have to deal with the purring. Madison moans and rolls over on the bed. The sheet pulls high up on her leg, exposing her delicious pale thigh to me. I bite the inside of my mouth to stop myself from moaning aloud. This woman really will be the death of me. I had her every which way last night, but that small piece of bare flesh calls out like a siren beckoning me to the depths of the sea. I crave more. Madison makes me want things that I don’t have a right to want. As if sensing my eyes burning into her flesh, she opens her eyes sleepily.

“Philli?” Her voice is rough and husky from sleep.

“Go back to sleep, ma petite.”

My hand brushes over the top of her tangled mass of hair, to move it off her face. My heart stills at her beauty. I don’t know what I did to deserve her, but whatever it was I need to keep it up.

“I love you, Maddie,” I purr watching her eyes droop back down.

As I wait for Madison to go back to sleep, I hope and pray that she can forgive me for what I need to do next. My heart feels heavy as I gently move her to the side and creep out of bed without waking her. I glance over my shoulder one last time before walking out of my cave. This might be the last time I see her.

“Don’t think of that, Philli. Now, we take our revenge. Now, we go to war,” Dragon growls.