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BARON

The Veil

Pyre’s blood is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. It makes a mockery of what I felt while using the Transmutation Stone to try and recover my memories. The magic allows me to feel the Veil, not just walk through it. Everything seems to slow down and allow me to tune into its frequencies. And the knowing glances Pyre sends me tell me he’s more than aware of his blood’s effects on me.

“Come on,” he says. “Let’s get you back to the Spire, now that the Veil is…” he stops talking and lifts his hand to say I shouldn’t speak either. It appears as though he’s listening to something but I hear nothing.

“The mirror,” Pyre says, finally. “I can sense the catoptromancy mirror, but it’s covered in Cambion’s magical signature. I think he’s trying to reach out to us. Can you sense him?”

I shake my head as Pyre creates a portal and we walk through it, arriving in the Ashlands of the Veil. The signal from the mirror is much stronger here and I can finally feel it. I help Pyre in his search for the foreign energy that pulls us towards it. It fades in and out, like whoever is using the mirror can’t sustain a connection for more than a few seconds.

A loud roar breaks through the silence, sending the harpies scattering. The ground quakes as the dragon lands only a few feet away. His large emerald eyes glare menacingly at me and I feel the urge to flee.

“Careful, Baron, Wynroth is a guardian of this realm as much as we are,” explains Pyre. “He’s an elemental dragon, which means he can wield virtually any natural power he comes in contact with. The two of you need to be properly introduced.”

I hesitate to follow my mentor as he walks closer to the great beast. He grasps my hand and forces it flat against the dragon's muzzle. My hand shakes, and I hear a voice in my mind.

Reach out to him, Baron... let him connect with you. Show him you’re a guardian.

The large black body of the dragon stretches nearly from one end of the Ashlands to the other. Those enormous fleshy wings and glistening scales do nothing to bring down my sudden burst of fear.

“Pyre, I watched your friend here,” I start, looking at the dragon. “Barbecue some of Theren’s soldiers and then electrocute some more,” I remind him. “I think I’ll sit this one out and just watch you from a safe distance.”

“Don’t be a coward, Baron. Connect with Wynroth .”

I close my eyes just to shut Pyre up and open myself to feel the power of the Veil. It doesn’t take long for the giant serpent’s voice to blare through my mind.

I am Wynroth!

I jerk back and stare at Pyre as I try to comprehend what just happened. The proud smile on my friend’s face is unsettling as much as it is pleasing.

“What the hell was that?” I ask. “Why was his voice in my head?”

“That form of magic is very old and very rare. It was only used by powerful spellcasters and rangers who tended to the mystical beasts throughout the realms. You learned it much faster than I did,” he explains. “Being able to communicate telepathically with a creature of the Veil without years and years of practice is almost unheard of.”

“It has to be your blood boosting my abilities,” I start with a shrug. Then I face the dragon again.

I am Baron and Pyre is training me to one day become the Guardian of the Veil, I think the words to the dragon.

It nods slowly as Pyre whispers something and the creature takes to the sky once more, looking much more appealing from a distance.

“Maybe one day he’ll let you ride him.”

“Not fucking likely,” I say. “You were using his eyes to see that night, so I know you watched him all but decimate the Veil Forest.”

“It’s in his nature to kill anything from the physical world that poses a threat to the Veil, so his choice to burn the forest was his way of eradicating multiple threats at once. Count yourself lucky I had enough control over him to keep him from killing all of us,” Pyre snorts. “The demons, harpies, spirits… they have nothing on Wynroth. He’s powerful and he’s been in the Veil much longer than I have. Wynroth predates even the Sentinels.”

I shrug and try to imagine anything older than those who guard the wellspring of magic at the heart of the Veil. It seems pretty impossible, seeing as how they were practically little more than dust, insects, and bone.

Either way, I follow Pyre through the Ashlands and up that damn mountain. We make it to the Echoing Spire in time to see that no one, aside from Flumph and Noni, has returned from their quests. The sprite and the little house brownie look worried.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Noni been thinksin’ that we oughtta get dickhead and Aima outta the Unseelie palace or else Pretty ain’t gonna have nobody to back her up when she come back,” Flumph grumbles.

Noni shakes her head. “No, that what Mr. Flumph say. Noni hear Theren talking to Mr. Cambion about escaping soon, and she think Master and Mr. Vampire should help them.”

Pyre and I share a look. There’s no way either of us is willing to help save Cambion or Theren, unless it’s absolutely necessary to our overall mission.

Noni tells us what she and Flumph have seen, and we come to the conclusion that giving Cambion and Theren the opportunity to explain themselves is as far as we’re willing to go once they’re rescued, unless they can otherwise prove their trustworthiness.

***

THEREN

Oronrel

“ No more putting yourself in danger when I’m not there to protect you,” I groan. “I can’t... I can’t handle the thought of something happening to you. I need you, Eilish. Whatever’s between us is too much for me to handle. Don’t provoke him. Promise me.”

She lifts up onto her tiptoes and kisses my cheek. “I promise I won’t do so unless it’s necessary.”

I grip her hips and pull her body flush against mine, and she smiles beguilingly. Never before have I seen anyone more beautiful. Even the legendary beauties within the halls of Oronrel pale in comparison.

“It’s not necessary. At least, not anymore. I’ll protect you, Eilish. I’ll protect you with everything I have.”

My hands stroke her hips and I lean forward to devour her mouth with a reckless abandon that causes her to moan into my kiss. I love her taste. Her elegant fingers toy with the strands of hair at the nape of my neck as I lift her up. She wraps her legs around my waist as I force my tongue deeper, delving into the heat of her mouth as I feel the liquid pool between her thighs.

A gentle snow drifts around us, fluttering to the ground and blanketing the vast landscape in white. Steam coils from her lush mouth as she sucks air into her lungs before returning my kiss.

When I lay her on the ice, she hisses slightly, arching her back and pressing into my equally cold body through the fabric of my tunic. I whisper a small spell under my breath and will her clothing away so I may feast on her naked glory.

My hands caress the soft curves of her body as my teeth nip at the delicate skin of her bottom lip. A moan pierces the air, and she presses her thighs together as if trying to feel friction. I move away from her mouth to sink my teeth into the base of her throat, then lick the sting away. She groans into me, grinding her core against the rigid length of my cock as it weeps at the tip, yearning to be buried within her body.

Prying her thighs open, I slot myself between her legs. She throws her head back and licks her lips as I thrust my erection in the crook of her thigh. The smug, seductive smile that appears on her beautiful face is far more than I deserve, for such purity only belongs to those who don’t dwell in darkness. But my thoughts are thrown askew when she rakes her nails down the length of my back.

“More,” she moans breathlessly. “Please, Theren.”

“I’ll give you what you need, Eilish. You’re so beautiful...”

“Please,” she begs shamelessly, rolling her hips until the weight of my cock slips against her folds, causing her legs to tremble. The snow and ice are forgotten and she tangles her hands in my hair, yanking my mouth back down to hers. My fingers pet her mound, eliciting a growl from her lips. It’s not long before my fingers are slick with her creamy essence.

I need her now, but her pleasure must come before mine. I begin slow, teasing thrusts of my tongue into her mouth as the pressure of my hand rides against her femininity. Light dances all around us as we chase that delicious pressure. My breathy chuckle against her chest sends her heart racing, and I taste her pulse with my tongue. I lightly bite her nipple before I follow it with a flick of my tongue.

“Please, please...” she gasps over and over.

My lips pepper kisses along the length of her torso, branding her skin with my touch as I explore every inch of her with my mouth. The heat rolling off her body is something new. We always play like this, but never before has she begun to glow with each stroke of my tongue. Growling like a beast, I settle between her thighs, placing my thumbs on each side of her velvet-soft lips. I spread her open and I can’t pull my eyes away from her bright pink flesh. Heat tinges her cheeks and she turns her head to look away.

“Watch me, Eilish. See how I pleasure you.”

She forces herself to look down and I smile up at her. My eyes flicker down to watch a single bead of her essence drip from her sweet center and I flatten my tongue, licking up her slit just once. She flies off the ground and her legs slam shut, but I’m relentless. My thumbs stroke her folds as I close my mouth over her sensitive clit and suck. She screams and fists her hands in my hair, riding the waves of tingles that have no doubt overcome her body. I blow on her clit and slip a finger inside her liquid heat.

She squeals when I plant a wet, hot kiss on her succulent flesh that causes her legs to tremble. Her eyes roll back as she watches me. I lean forward to taste her deeper, fingers thrusting and curling the way she loves. Incoherent babbles fill the air as she tries to scramble away, but I’m too strong.

“Theren... I c-can’t. Please.”

My tongue flattens once more and I drink in every twitch of her femininity.

“I need... oh...” She tenses as my tongue glides against the bundle of nerves. “More... more please. I need you inside me…”

“I could stay here all day, Eilish. I’m not through with you. Nowhere near it.”

I dive back in, slurping up the nectar that flows from her core. She squeezes down onto my finger and tries to close her legs as another climax causes her to shudder. Opening her legs wider, I add another finger and curl them up toward her pubic bone.

She screams, thrashing as she looks down at my glowing eyes and bites into the flesh of her wrist to cut off the next moan.

I ease back and move off her clit with my tongue, even as I continue to stroke it with my thumb. “Don’t fight me, Eilish. One more. That’s all I need, and then I’ll take you. I promise.”

I awaken to the emptiness of my bedchamber and my hips thrusting against the sheets. When my tongue darts out to wet my lips, I swear I can almost taste her.