Page 8
CHAPTER 7
X avier dragged himself out of bed, not wanting to leave his lover’s heat but unwilling to have Melcori or the Chimera hunting him down if he missed a meeting. He would’ve given anything to remain in bed with his mate, but duty called.
When he could set his schedule, he was banning early meetings. They interfered with a good-morning snuggle.
He gently kissed Kat’s brow before getting ready for his day.
His thoughts remained on his sleeping mate as he drove to Chimera’s office. Being mated by Fate wasn’t a guarantee of a perfect relationship, even if it gave them a good start. Sometimes, personalities clashed, and problems had to be solved the hard way, through time and talking instead of in the bedroom.
He paused outside the office building, whose address matched the one on his phone. His feet dragged as if independently colluding with his mind in protest. Unfortunately, as in many things, not going wasn’t an option.
Taking a bracing breath, Xavier grasped the outer door handle with a sweaty hand and pulled it open. Until his last day on earth, he would deny that his shaky knees almost gave out when he spotted a sphynx in the middle of the lobby. Its massive lion body lay where most people placed an information desk, blocking his path to the bank of elevators.
Could she even leave the building? Was this humane?
“Can I help you?” A deep voice emerged from the female head. She must be from the north. She lacked the wings of her southern cousins.
“Do I have to answer a riddle to get past you?”
Wow. Who knew sphynxes could give such a dry look?
“I hate riddles,” she snarled. “They are such a stereotype.”
Xavier didn’t miss how she flexed her sword-length lion claws, far larger than his mate’s.
“Good to know,” he swallowed. “I-I, um, have an appointment with the Chimera.” He was absurdly proud that he only stuttered once.
“Ah, the blood mage.” She moved one massive paw to the side. “Take the left elevator to the fifth floor.”
Xavier gave a half-bow. “Thank you.”
“May the wind guard your back.”
“Have a good afternoon. " He nodded, unsure if that was the proper response. He might have to study up on sphynxes if he visited often. He didn’t want to get on her bad side.
Her deep chuckle did little to boost his ego. Xavier slipped through the closing elevator doors before he could make a greater fool of himself. He pressed the fifth-floor button and clasped his hands to avoid fidgeting as the elevator ascended. He didn’t know what kind of cameras the Chimera might have in the elevator, and he didn’t want to reveal his nerves.
The trip was distressingly quick. When the doors opened, he stepped from the elevator onto a plush, neutral brown carpet and followed the hallway to the only door. He couldn’t complain about having any trouble finding the right place.
Damn.
He took another deep breath and opened the door to find a pretty, human-looking receptionist behind an oversized desk. As he approached, she flashed him a customer service smile.
“Good afternoon, sir. Do you have an appointment?”
“Yes, I’m Xavier Castling.”
She typed a few keys before offering another empty grin. Maybe she was part robot. “Please have a seat. I’ll let my boss know that you’re here.”
“Thank you.” Xavier sat in a comfortable, straight-backed chair, awaiting his fate. He leaned his head back and let out a soft groan. Hopefully, he was just overdramatic, and everything would work out fine. However, he would cut his losses if things went south too quickly. He had already compromised his principles for the dryads, and there was only so much more he was willing to sacrifice, Blood Mage Mastery or not. He had a mate to take care of these days. If his reputation took too big of a hit, he wouldn’t be able to find a job, and he refused to jeopardize their future because of Melcori’s debt.
The receptionist returned, leaving the door to the inner office open behind her. “He’s ready for you, “ she said, motioning him forward.
But was Xavier ready for him?
He had no choice in the matter. His master had already sold his services for a limited time. Rising, Xavier ignored the painful spasm in his back. His bruises had bloomed overnight, and his lower back muscles had tightened. That damn rock had left a four-inch bruise in the middle of his spine.
Xavier stopped halfway into the room. The man sitting behind the desk was different from what he was expecting and familiar. Too familiar. But who was he? He was too young to be his father and older than the two years separating them to be his brother. Still, he called out his brother’s name.
“Jared?”
The thin, black-haired man behind the desk gave Xavier a wide, dimpled grin. “Xavi! It’s been too long?”
Xavier frowned. “What’s going on? Are you the Chimera?” How could this have happened? His brother had been a pure wizard when Xavier left home, and no creature blood was in his family. Unless it was another magical line his parents had hidden.
Jared waved to a chair. “Have a seat.”
He shuffled over to a cushioned chair and waited for Jared to speak first. Clasping his hands together, he fought the urge to bite his fingernails. He had kicked the habit at eleven when Melcori applied a bitter lotion to them. Still, the urge struck him occasionally, much like a smoker with a nicotine craving.
Jared fidgeted with the pen on his desk, not meeting Xavier’s eyes for several minutes. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Xavier frowned.
“For not contacting you. I didn’t understand what had happened for the longest time. All I knew was that our parents left the house with you and returned without you. When I asked what happened, Father threatened to disown me. Then, Mother tried to use memory charms. They didn’t hold. Unfortunately, they worked on everyone else. No one would help me find you when I asked them what they thought happened to my brother. Mother told everyone you were my imaginary friend, and they were getting me counseling for my delusions. No one would believe a ten-year-old over their parents.
Xavier frowned. “Then I don’t see how it was your fault you didn’t contact me.”
Jared fiddled with a silver pen, avoiding direct eye contact with Xavier. “I had a detective track you down two years ago, but I was too ashamed to call you after all this time. I should’ve tried. Besides, I figured you probably wanted nothing to do with the family that cast you aside since you never contacted me…" He let the sentence hang.
Xavier rushed to fill in the pause. “Father told me never to contact anyone in the family.” He shifted in his seat. “When no one bothered to reach out, I wrote you all off. Father isn’t the only one who hates Blood Mages. We’re not a popular branch.”
“Shame since you’re instrumental in so many branches of magic.”
Xavier shrugged. The fact that Blood Mages were both hated and needed wasn’t news to him, and it didn’t change anyone’s attitude toward his magic.
“What happened to you? How did you become the Chimera?” How had his sweet older brother, who used to smuggle him cookies from the kitchen, become a feared mob boss? People changed as they got older, but not this much.
“So many things happened.” Jared propped his forearms on his desk. “With his usual charm, Father insulted the wrong family, and I was taken hostage. They sold me to some wizards who pumped me full of experimental chemicals and triggered a latent magical heritage.”
“Which one?” Considering Blood Magic had been latent, he was worried about what had awakened in his brother. It couldn’t be the same, or Xavier would’ve heard. As Oliver pointed out, the Blood Magic community was small.
“Time Magic.” Jared grinned.
“That’s not so bad… is it?” Xavier didn’t know much about Time Magic, but he didn’t remember it having a bad reputation. “Did your parents disapprove?” He refused to call them his parents.
“Not over the time magic, but they hated me turning into multiple animals, sometimes all at once. Despite being Father’s fault that I was captured, I was no longer considered a proper wizard. According to him, killing my captors was the wrong way to end their torture, and it put Father in a bad position with his business partners. Not that it mattered to him that a few of those partners had helped kidnap me. He then did what I suspect he did with you. Put some money in my account and found me a Master. Unfortunately for me, my Master wasn’t only a gambler.” Jared shuddered.
“What did he do?”
A cold breeze swirled through the room despite the closed windows.
“It isn’t what he did, but what he intended to do. He was a pedophile. My beasts didn’t take kindly to his plans.”
“What happened?”
Jared paled. “I ate him.”
“What?”
“My snake swallowed him whole. Once he was dead, I threw him back up. It was disgusting and traumatizing. Not as traumatizing as what he planned to do to me, but bad enough.” Jared shifted in his seat and fiddled with his pen, not making eye contact.
“Then what happened?” Xavier was beginning to think his disownment had been the best thing that ever happened to him.
Jared slumped in his seat. “No one believed me. He’d had a spotless reputation, and none of his previous victims were willing to come forward. I was blackballed from the Time Magic Fellowship. They couldn’t bind my magic since my chimera protected me, but they ensured no one would ever train me. As you can see, I found a way to learn independently with varied results.”
“Is that why you look so much older?”
“Yeah, by my reckoning, instead of two years older, I’m at least six years older than you.”
“There was no other damage? Did you see a doctor? Aging rapidly could’ve caused issues.” He didn’t know what kinds of issues, but it couldn’t be healthy to put his body under the strain.
Jared shrugged. “Nothing that my doctors or I have been able to detect.”
“What do you want from me?” Although catching up with his brother was good, Jared’s fidgeting revealed he was still nervous about something.
“Can’t we just be two brothers catching up?”
“We could if you weren’t looking so nervous.”
“You were always a perceptive one.” Jared shook his finger chidingly. “Yes, there is another thing I’m curious about.”
“What?”
“I know Melcori captured those dryads.”
Xavier threw up his hands. “Does everyone know about that?” It was the worst-kept secret on the planet.
Jared’s smile returned. “He wasn’t exactly subtle.”
“And?”
“I heard they have a male dryad.”
“They do.” He refused to tell Jared about the Green Man lore. He didn’t know this version of his brother. Trust had to be earned, and suspicion had kept him alive in a castle full of murderous mages. He had no plans to change his ways.
“I also heard he was staying with the Moon Pack.”
Damn, if Jared knew where Rance was, how many others did? “That is the rumor.”
“I want you to spy on the Moon Pack and find out what they plan to do with him.”
“As far as I can tell, they plan to keep him safe. I told them to contact me if he wanted to return to his mother. Melcori wants to use him as a bargaining chip to get the dryad leader to behave.”
“What if he doesn’t want to return?” Jared narrowed his eyes at Xavier.
Xavier paused in his explanation; he didn’t want to give too much away. “We’ll deal with that when the time comes. It’s safer for him to stay away for now. The one who helped burn down the Grove doesn’t want him in the new one. She won’t need to make it permanent if he doesn't return.”
“Do you think she’ll try?”
“Maybe? Melcori said she purposely left him in the fire. I’m getting bad vibes about letting him return to the other dryads, but I know he wants to see his mom.”
“You can’t let him be harmed. He’s needed to start the new Grove. If he isn’t there, the jewels won’t transfer.”
Damn .
“You know, don’t you?”
“That he’s a Green Man? Yes. I take it you are also aware?”
“Learned yesterday. I don’t think Melcori knows, or he would’ve insisted I drag him back immediately. How did you find out?”
Jared shrugged. “I used to date a Wiccan. Her mother used to tell her bedtime stories about Green Men and how they took care of the forest.”
“Huh, do you think I could get her to talk to Rance?”
“I doubt it. We broke up, then she broke my nose.” He pointed to a small bump on the bridge. “She had a mean right hook.”
He probably shouldn’t have laughed, but Jared’s smirk showed he didn’t mind.
“Melcori told me you could ask for three tasks. Do you know what you want?” He held up his hand before his brother could speak. “Remember, I’m not a genie. They aren’t wishes.”
Jared’s eyes sparkled. “The first is watching the dryad. I’ll let you know the other two later.”
“I’ll be graduating out of my apprenticeship soon. This offer won’t last forever,” he warned him.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
He had to draw the line somewhere. Melcori would make him live up to his contract, but Xavier wouldn’t let them jerk him around forever.
Jared continued as if interpreting Xavier’s scowl. “For now, it’s enough to protect the Green Man. I need him to make the new Grove so the gems in the old Grove can be retrievable. I need that money.”
“What for?” Rumors claimed the Chimera was rolling in funds.
“I’m buying up shares of Father’s company. I won’t let him get away with what he did to us. He needs to pay. What better way to destroy him than to take away everything he’s proud of?”
“What about Alice? If you ruin him, what will happen to her?” He had a bad feeling when Jared didn’t mention their sister in his previous story.
Jared stood and walked to the window. “You don’t know?”
“I told you I haven’t had any contact with the family since they dropped me off with Melcori, and I tried to avoid mention of them in the news.”
“I learned after I escaped that the people who captured me also took Alice. She didn’t survive the experiments. Father blames me for that, too. He isn’t big on taking responsibility for his actions. Out of the three of us. Our parents no longer have any children.”
“Do you think they’ll have more?” Wizards lived a long time. Nothing was stopping them from trying again.
“Mother divorced Father last year. Did she contact you?”
“No.”
“Yeah, she didn’t contact me either. She would’ve accepted Alice no matter what she had turned into. She loved her the most. That Father was indifferent over Alice’s death was the final straw. At least that’s what I heard secondhand.”
“You don’t hold her responsible for disowning you, too?” For Xavier, they were equally responsible for his abandonment.
“No. Mother was always the obedient wife. I think rebellion was trained out of her at birth. I’m more shocked she asked for a divorce.”
“Huh.” Xavier bit his thumbnail as he considered all his options. “Rance is safe for now. He’ll help with the new Grove. He doesn’t want his mother to be homeless, but I won’t move against the Moon Pack if he decides not to help.”
“Is it because of your mate?”
Xavier froze. “You stay away from my mate.” For the first time, Xavier wished he had an inner animal to threaten his brother with. His Blood Magic was more healing and protective than battle-worthy, and he didn’t want to go to jail for stabbing his brother, no matter how much he deserved it.
“You don’t trust me?” Jared pouted.
“No.” He didn’t back down. Jared might be his flesh and blood, but so were his parents, and that didn’t stop them from being utter shits. “I don’t know you anymore. It’s been almost fifteen years since we last spoke. Although I’d like to say you’d never betray me…”
“Fair enough.“ Jared retook his seat. “What do you suggest? Your Master won’t be thrilled about your lack of action, and he owes me quite a bit of money.”
“If you aren’t demanding the gems right now, he won’t bring it up. Did you tell him you were my brother?”
“No. I barely brought you up at all. He only offered you up after I threatened to take the castle.”
Xavier rolled his eyes. “He’s an idiot.”
“I thought he was supposed to be a brilliant blood mage,” Jared mocked.
“Oh, he is. That doesn’t mean he can’t also be an idiot. Addiction plays no favorites. The bright and the dumb can all fall under her sway. I’ll talk to Rance again and check his timeline. I don’t want to return him to the dryads only for them to kill him. We need a short enough space between the old Grove sparking and preparing the new one that there isn’t time for an assassination attempt.”
“Why would they do that?”
“Do what?”
“Try to kill him. I thought dryads were happy, frolicky nature spirits.”
Xavier pointed a finger at him. “And that’s why you don’t stereotype. It can get you killed. Octavia wants to be the new leader, and since he’s still underage, the new Grove might consider him the Grove’s child. I don’t think she’ll believe it if we tell her he’s a Green Man. From what Melcori told me, she’s obsessed about being the new Grove priestess.”
“You’ll have to convince her before we let her anywhere near Rance.” Jared twirled his pen. “Does Melcori know about Green Men?”
Xavier reviewed the conversation he’d had with Melcori. “I don’t think so. If he did, he’d be more insistent that Rance return to the castle.”
“That’s true. Maybe if you talk to him, he can help break the news to the other dryads.”
“Melcori isn’t the break-the-news-gently kind of guy.” Xavier laughed at the thought. “He’s more the shatter-preconceptions-with-a-sledgehammer type. Dryads aren’t exactly male-friendly. It will hurt their pride when it’s revealed that they won’t have a new Grove without him, especially those who’ve been outspoken about banishing him. They may or may not lash out.”
“Even if it prevents them from a new Grove?”
“They might not believe me until it’s too late. Prejudice is hard to overcome, especially with the time we have to convince them.”
Jared tapped his fingers together. “We’ll think of something. Until then, stay close to the kid. Someone might think it’s easier just to take him out.”
“And you think I can protect him?”
“I’ve known some Blood Mages. You might cry innocent, but I’ve seen blood protections that can cut a person in half. Are you telling me the great Melcori didn’t teach you any of that?”
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Xavier sniffed. “I’m all kinds of innocent. I’ll talk to Melcori and tell him the history of the Green Man. He’ll want to help once I tell him Rance is the only way to form that Grove. That’s assuming a fifteen-year-old Green Man has enough magic to create a Grove. It seems like a lot to put on a kid.”
“It is a lot, but unless you know another male dryad?”
“I didn’t even know there were male dryads. I’ll ask Rance if he’s ever heard of another. We didn’t get the chance to talk much.” Xavier had other things on his mind, like his sexy mate.
“The Moon Pack has enough fighters. They should be able to protect him for now. One way or another, I will have those gems.” The gleam in Jared’s eyes did nothing to settle Xavier’s nerves.
He left his brother’s office more unsettled than when he faced the sphynx to get in.