The Tiger Prince's Witch
Chapter 31 - Bad Energy

The next morning before breakfast, everyone was meeting in the king and queen's office. They had a sizeable conference-like area off the main office that could seat the two young couples and all the parents.

"Thank you all for meeting with us this morning before we eat. Kamryn and I spoke, and we have a favor to ask of you. Could you meet with each of our staff inside the palace and tell us who you think may be hiding something? We also agreed it's best to keep the news of the pregnancies quiet." Randal looked between Anna's and Liz's parents.

"Yes, we can do that, and we agree keeping the pregnancies quiet is imperative. We'll split everyone up so we can get through them quickly. I think we should keep any new people from coming in as well." Stanley said, taking the lead. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"I'll tell the staff that you will be staying here for a while and are interested in understanding what they do. That way, they won't be suspicious. I have a list of everyone, so you can let me know if anyone refuses to speak with you." Randal pulled out the list and gave one to each of them.

"Thank you. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help." Caprice said as she glanced over the list. She recognized a few of the names from Anna talking about her first time at the palace.

They all left the office and headed toward the dining hall. Breakfast wasn't a big affair like dinner was, but there were still quite a few people there. Stanley didn't like having all those people in there, but he soon realized they were the staff. The tigers were different than any other royals he'd met. Not many would eat with those who worked for them.

Anna looked around as she ate. The last time she was in that room was when Elsie was there and made the commotion to try to get Kamryn to mate with her. That made her think about Melita. "Do you think we can talk to Melita?" She asked Kamryn quietly.

"Why do you want to talk to her?" He asked in confusion. He had no desire to see Melita with what she did to Anna.

"I want to see if we can get her to talk. I have some magic that I may be able to use to help loosen her tongue." She smiled at him, and he chuckled.

"Well, today is her eighteenth birthday. How about we go wish her happy birthday?" He said, whispering in her ear. Anna giggled, feeling his warm breath tickling her.

"Yes, I think a birthday surprise is in order." They went back to their meal with their minds made up.

Jazlyn was playing with her food, not really hungry. She felt restless, and there was a knot in her stomach that something was going to go wrong. Micah could feel her worry and took her hand.

"What's wrong?" Rocky had just confirmed they were having a cub the night before. Jaz hadn't had any pregnancy symptoms yet, but she believed him. He was worried that she was upset about the cub.

"Honestly, I don't know. I have this feeling in my gut that something is wrong. I can't put my finger on it, but it started this morning. I'm scared, but I don't know what I'm scared of." She said, leaning against him as he put his arm around her shoulders. Having Micah's warmth and Rocky purring helped but didn't make the feeling go away.

"Try to do what I know you're good at. Focus on the feeling and try to pinpoint it. See if you can tell if it's a person or another energy." Jaz had shown him how she picked up on the slightest energy that wasn't right when they were still at the

coven.

She nodded and tried to concentrate. Jaz let everything else slip away, and her mind focused only on the energy causing the disturbance in her. When she pinpointed it, she opened her eyes and leaned toward Micah.

"It's a person, and they're in here with us now. Their energy is dark, and they mean us harm." She mindlinked him, knowing that Tiger's hearing was above average and she didn't want the person hearing them.

*"Mom, dad Jaz is picking up dark energy from someone in the dining hall. Can we keep everyone here so they can meet with Stanley, Caprice, Maura, and Bryson?"* He looked toward his parents, who glanced around the dining hall. Besides their family, everyone else was staff that had been with them for years. If one of them betrayed them, it would be a true surprise.

*"Of course, son,"* Randal said while standing up. He mindlinked the guards and told them to shut the doors, not letting anyone out until he said so. Micah and Jaz quickly whispered to the others what was going on.

"Hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us for breakfast this morning. We have some guests that will be with us for a while, and I wanted to give them a chance to meet each of you. Please stay with us while they come around to introduce themselves." Randal made it sound like a request, but everyone noticed the guards at the doors.

Stanley, Caprice, Maura, and Bryson stood up and began heading to the other tables. The others stayed where they were and watched as they made their rounds. Anna turned to Kamryn.

"I feel what Jaz felt. Someone in here doesn't want us here. Do you notice anyone looking off from their usual demeanor?" She asked him quietly.

Kamryn looked around, trying to appear nonchalant. He studied each person that was interacting with others and those that were keeping to themselves. So far, he didn't see anyone acting abnormally.

Stanley and Caprice were talking to Jeana, and they could tell she liked Anna. She hadn't had a chance to meet Jaz yet, but nothing was coming from her that was insincere. Elene was sitting with her, and she joined in on the conversation. They also felt she was being honest when they spoke with her.

Both couples made their way through the tables and the people, and so far, no one was showing any animosity. When they got to the last one, it was more of the same. Most people hadn't had a chance to meet Anna or Jaz, and they picked up nothing concerning. They returned to the table feeling defeated.

"We didn't get anything bad off anyone. Do you still feel it, Jaz?" Maura asked her daughter.

"Yes. It's almost making me feel sick." She answered, holding onto Micah.

"I feel it too. Someone is upset with us and doesn't want us here. You're sure you talked to everyone?" Anna asked, glancing around the room. She then thought of something. "You spoke to everyone at the tables, but did you talk with the guards."

Everyone looked at the four men standing at the two entrances. There were eight guards in total in the room. Randal and Lynn looked at each other in shock.

"Our guards are our most dependable staff. Please talk with them. We want to know immediately if one of them is not trustworthy." Randal said with concern.

The two couples went over to the guards and spoke with them. For the most part, they picked up nothing but good energy. However, when Stanley and Caprice reached the last guard, they almost had to step back. He was smiling, but the hate was coming off him in waves.

"Hello, my name is Caprice, and this is my mate, Stanley. We're Anna's parents. We'll be staying here for a while, and we just wanted to introduce ourselves." They both smiled at the guard.

"It's nice to meet you. My name is Lucas. I've never had any interactions with the next queen." The way he said next queen gave them both concern. They saw him glance in their daughter's direction and felt the resentment aimed at her. "Have a nice day Lucas," Stanley said, pulling his wife away from the guard. They needed to let Randal know before Lucas did something to Anna. When they got to the table, everyone looked at them expectantly.

"It's Lucas. The hate we felt from him directed at Anna was overwhelming." Caprice said. Lynn looked at Randal.

"We should have known. He was the one Melita was always trying to hang around with. I never thought about it because our guards know we don't allow fraternizing. I'll mindlink the others to hold him." They all looked toward the area Lucas was standing and gasped. He was gone.