CONNOR'S POV
Leading all of the guys into my secret room I quickly close the door behind them. " I never sent any of you guys a message. I really need you to stay out of sight until I can figure all of this out." grabbing a glass cylinder filled with whisky I pour us all a shot and wait for each of them to take it before explaining the situation. " Someone leaked information about Sophia and all of us being her mate. They shot her during the ceremony before we could complete the ritual." Jacob's face starts shifting and I raise my hands in the air before pouring him another shot. " It gets worse, we don't know what was used to make the bullet so she's in bad condition right now. And I also seen a note that was dropped during all the commotion with security, it says " Death to the queen and her mates. "
The entire room goes silent before Xavier throws a glass against the nearby bookcase. " She can't stay here with you if she's in danger. You brought her here and you can't keep your fucking servants in line! This is all of your fault we should've stayed and oversaw the ceremony, we could've protected her better than your shit soldiers." The entire room stays quiet and I'm standing in front of them not knowing what to say because I know Xavier is right. I should've hidden them out of sight in the kingdom to prevent this. " If she dies, I swear to god I will kill you." Xavier takes a step forward looking as if he's prepared to keep the promise he made moments ago. " Since you clearly have no idea how to run a kingdom and you're shit at interrogations, tell us where the son of a bitch is that started it all and I'll get everything out of him. I'll make him talk to save Sophia, and then she leaves with us until she recovers from the pain and suffering that you caused you piece of shit for a mate."
In the heat of the moment, I punch him directly in the face. " I don't know when all of the sudden you decided to gain some balls but don't ever talk to me like that again. The ceremony requires her to prove herself to the kingdom by winning a fight on her own if challenged. Since the day you left MY kingdom, I've been training her to fight and win, if I knew any of this would've happened, I would've pushed the ceremony back and waited for things to calm down or sent her to one of you guys to look after her. You can call me a shitty king all day but don't ever say I wouldn't die for Sophia." Pushing past Xavier, I make my way to the door. " You think that this isn't a trap. whoever is trying to kill her knows that all of you came here but by all means go run around the kingdom with a target on your backs and let your futures die here because of your pride. " Unlocking the door I crack it open waiting for any of them to walk out. As Xavier starts to make his way across the room Jacob grabs a hold of his arm pulling him back. " As mad as you are right now you need to think this through, you want answers as much as we do but I won't let you make a decision that can put Sophia in harm's way. She's fighting for her life, and we need to do the same, we need to fight for her but smart, we need to make a plan so no one sees all of us here and doesn't try to attack. You are a king, and you need to start acting like it, all of us are leaders and have fought more than once on the battlefield, so strategize a plan for war because that's what this is."
Closing the door I head behind the desk and pull out the blueprints of the castle. " The areas highlighted in blue are hidden areas of the castle that I used to stay out of sight, only me and my best friend know about them." Pointing at the location we are on the map I trace out a route leading to the dungeon. " Xavier, is there any spell you can use to find out what the doctor did to the bullet to stop her from healing." He cautiously nods his head yes. " I can do it, but I need some supplies and I have to be alone with him. The spell I have to do can affect any supernatural being located in the room and it isn't pleasant." Scanning the map, I find the route to take to the kichen, and another route leading to a hidden war room with weapons in case of an attack. " Jacob, tucker I'll take you guys to the hidden war room and then Xavier to the kitchen to get what he needs to do the spell." Looking at the clock on the wall we should have an hour before anyone comes to the kitchen and I'll send the guards away from the dungeon to do additional patrol.
" One more thing guys, since someone sent the message to all of you, we can't use our phones to communicate." Reaching into the desk drawer I pull out earpieces handing one to each of the guys. " There's a jammer set up in this room to block any communication, so the earpieces won't work until we start going through the tunnels. Any questions?" With no response we all nod our heads in agreement and head out to put the plan in motion. Dropping off Jacob and Tucker first Xavier and I walk through the passages in complete silence. " We're here" I say before pushing on the brick wall exposing the empty kitchen. " We don't have a lot of time the staff comes back in a half hour." Setting a kitchen timer I place it on the counter next to Xavier. " Do what you have to do i'll get the guards away from the cells and come back for you."