Royal Academy: Hellfire's Fury

Chapter 2

Stefan's POV

I tuck the blanket in close around Anna and the kids and quietly made my way out the bedroom and down the stairs into the kitchen. The smell of freshly brewed coffee hits my nose as I bend the corner and walk through the corridor. Killian looks up from his cup and nods to the second cup sitting across from him on the table.

"Lycan's can read minds now?" I joke as I sat down and took an appreciative sip.

"I wish. That would make things so much easier when Alexis is threatening to chop my balls off and grill them on a pike."

I nearly spit out my coffee as we both chuckle. The microwave dings and Killian gets up to take out a plate with two grilled cheese sandwiches. Handing me one on a separate plate, he sits back down across from me and eyes me warily.

"What?" I ask while taking a bite of my sandwich.

"Come on bro, we've been meeting each other in this same spot every morning this week. I know I'm here because I have to sort out the roster for the scouts on the borderlines, but you don't need to be up this early. Luca and Eliza don't leave until next month."

I sigh as I meet Killian's knowing gaze. "Alright, maybe I like your coffee."

"Bullshit, my coffee tastes like dirt."

"Yeah, it really does, man," I laugh as I pushed the cup away.

"So what's going on?"

"Promise me you won't say anything to my sister. I need Anna to do that on her own. And I know she will, when the time comes."

Killian's brows drew together as he nodded his understanding.

"Anna's been having dreams. About her mother's death. But she says there's something else about them that bothers her. We keep telling ourselves it's because her mother's death anniversary is approaching. But the other night, she dreamed about the kids. And it freaked me out a bit."

"Have you talked to your brother about this?" Killian asks, his tone worried.

"I can't put this on Luca's plate. He and Eliza have to go to Gigi because of the issue with the Royal Court. And I honestly didn't mean to tell you about it because we're not one hundred percent sure it's something to worry about." I rub my eyes with the heels of my palms as the beginning of a migraine threatens to push forward.

Killian grabs my cup and plate and walks over to place them in the sink along with his. He turns to face me while leaning his hip against the counter. "What exactly about the dreams and the kids freaked you out?"

"Anna says it only happened once, but she said she saw them surrounded by flames and a dark shadow looming over them. But they weren't scared or anything. They were....happy?"

"Happy?" Killian's brows raise in shock as I push away from the table and began to pace in front of the corridor.

"I asked her the same thing. We don't know if the kids got any of her Hellhound powers yet, because they're still too young to know whether they inherited wolf genes or both for that matter."

"This is a situation that is new for all of us. Annalise is the only known female Hellhound of our generation. My uncle, King Marcos said there haven't been any records of any other lineages other than hers for centuries. And with her not knowing or remembering anything about her mother's background, all we can do is wait." Killian walks over to place a calming hand on my shoulder as I stop my pacing and take a deep breath.

"Thanks for listening, man. I know my sister isn't an easy one, but if you ever need me to help you hide out sometime, I got you."

Killian lets out a hearty laugh before accepting my outstretched hand to shake it. "Do you honestly think you can outsmart your sister?"

"Hell no. But I can probably buy you some time."

"Time is what we have run out of," Killian smirks.

"Huh?" I'm about to ask what he means when the front door opens and closes down the hall.

Killian turns to the open corridor and stands there waiting with a smile on his face as my sister walks into the kitchen, an eyebrow perked up in curiosity as she sees us both standing there.

"You two having a secret manly pow-wow?" Alexis's gaze darts between us as the sound of feet rushing down the stairs from above fills the air.

Alexis turns around as two pairs of little arms encircle her legs and screams of 'Aunt Lexi!' fill the kitchen. Alexis beams at the twins as she leans down to scoop them both up into her arms. My jaw goes slack at the ease she did it all. I turn my head to look at Killian who was beaming at my sister and the kids. I shake my head and smile as Killian walks over to take Dante from Alexis and throws him up in the air. Dante giggles in glee as Danielle snickers from all the kisses Alexis is planting all over her face.

Anna walks into the kitchen and stands beside me, one of her arms encircling my waist as I lean down to brush a soft kiss on her head.

"I thought you guys would have slept in a little more?" I ask her as she tilts her head up to brush a quick kiss on my cheek.

"It's like they smelled Alexis coming through the door," Killian jokes as my sister shoots him a narrowed look.

"Aunt Lexi smells like sunflowers!" Danielle giggles as she buried her face in the crook of Alexis's neck and tightens her grip with her arms around her neck.

"And gunpowder!" Dante chimes in as he reaches over to poke his sister while blowing a kiss to his aunt, who was now looking at him while sniffing her clothing.

"How does he know I just came from the shooting range? I showered before I got here," Alexis asks in shock as everyone laughs at the twins antics.

"Sunflowers and gunpowder. I gotta use that line sometime," Killian jokes as he leans close to brush a kiss on Alexis's cheek.

"Hey! No kissing Aunt Lexi!" Dante uses his arms to pull Killian away from my sister and then proceeds to swipe at Alexis's cheek, who sticks her tongue out at Killian.

"You tell him, sweetheart. I only accept kisses from handsome little guys like you." Alexis leans towards Dante, who puckers up his own little lips for a kiss.

Danielle wiggles out of Alexis's arms and rushes over to tug at Killian's jeans-clad leg. Killian passes Dante over to Alexis and bends down so that he was face to face with Danielle. She cups her hands around her mouth and leans close to his ear and whispers something into his ear.

Everyone looks on as Killian swoops Danielle up into his arms and places a warm kiss on my daughter's chubby cheek.

"This little lady here has promised to give me all the kisses I want. And I gotta say, I can't refuse that." Killian hugs Danielle close as my daughter blushes sweetly.

I cleared my throat and eyed my brother-in-law seriously. "She promised me that last week. I feel neglected Dani," I pout my lips and feign sadness as my daughter's face morphed into one that was horrified beyond measure. She rushed over to me and wrapped her arms around my knees and squeezed tight.

"Don't be sad daddy. I have plenty kisses to share!"

"Then I want my share too!" a voice chimes in from the corridor as Luca walks into the kitchen with Eliza coming in just behind him.

"Uncle Luca!" the twins shouted in unison as they both barreled at my brother, and he scooped them both up into his arms.

Eliza walked over and embraced Anna before coming to me and giving me a hug. " What are you two feeding those kids? They just turned 6 but they look 10." Eliza smiled as she watched Luca who was now on the floor, trying to restrain both kids from taking the chocolate bars that were in his jacket pockets.

"They really are growing up too fast." Anna answers as a single tear falls from her eye.

"Hey, why the tears?" Alexis asks as she walks over to us and Killian moves to help Luca.

"It's nothing. It's just that they're growing up so fast, and I don't know what's going on with me," Anna swipes at her cheek as Eliza and Alexis shoot me concerned looks.

"Why don't you head into the study and Anna can fill you ladies in? I'll stand watch on those two in case they need backup."

Anna follows Eliza and Alexis out of the kitchen when the sound of the front doorbell sounds.

"I'll get it," Anna says from the corridor.

When a few seconds passed without a sound, I walked out into the corridor to see who it was. I see Anna standing to an open front door and a man standing before her.

"Anna?" I call out to her, and she turns to me, a lost expression on her face.

The man at the door smiles and nods to me as I walk over.

"I may have shocked her a bit. I apologize. My name is Dimitri Silver. I'm a friend of Annalise's mother, Cora."

I walked over and draped an arm around Anna's shoulders. "How can we help you?"

"I'm sorry, but I believe that someone very bad is going to target your children."

Anna's body stilled beside me as my blood ran cold. This was not how we expected our day to go at all.....