Page 15

Chapter

Eight

Argus

I was already miserable, but I hadn’t counted on the depth of pain that hit me when the doorway Emmerich created snapped closed, separating me from my omega by miles.

The intensity with which our new bond was stretched hurt so much that I growled and doubled over for a moment before I could gather the fortitude to strengthen myself.

“I can open another one if you want to go after him,” Emmerich offered, though he was already in motion, leaving Baxia’s house.

I sucked in a breath and straightened, shaking my head. “Not yet,” I said, forcing the words out. “I need to give Obi a moment. He needs to breathe somewhere away from me.”

Emmerich nodded, but he didn’t look convinced. We joined our other brothers and headed through the house to the small terrace just outside its front door.

“Freslik will do what he’s said he’ll do,” Rufus said once we all stood outside, looking up at the house. “He’ll send his army to burn this place to the ground, and likely the estates of whichever other of the merchants or noblemen he recognized.”

“Lucky for Baxia and the others, dragons are as good at preventing fires as they are breathing them,” Gildur said with a devilish grin.

“A blanket for protection?” Diamant asked, glancing at the rest of us.

“On three,” Emmerich said. “One, two, three!”

The six of us raised our hands and joined our magic, and within seconds, Baxia’s entire house was covered with a spell that would make igniting any part of the house impossible.

Freslik could douse the entire place from cellars to rafters with paraffin or oil and throw torches on it, but any fire that came near the place would merely sputter and die.

We did the same for the entire neighborhood, assuming that whomever Freslik sent to do the wicked deed wouldn’t stop after one attempt.

“There will likely be legends about fire being unable to touch this part of the city for generations to come,” Azurus chuckled as we gathered together again in the garden beside Baxia’s house.

I was certain my brother was right, but I felt too horrible to laugh along with him. I could barely breathe, and my every thought was about my mate and all the ways I’d failed him.

“I fear that Freslik has just pushed the coming war forward,” Emmerich said as the six of us clustered together to discuss the situation. “We all know what we have to do.”

“I’ll get started with protection spells,” Gildur said with a nod.

“And I’ll lure the men who are most likely to support Freslik away to the eastern borders,” Rufus said.

Azurus crossed his arms and stared at the rest of us, “Aren’t we all supposed to stay out of the affairs of the cruel world as much as possible, per Mother’s orders?” he asked.

Diamant grinned and slapped him on the shoulder. “Things have changed while you’ve been away, tending to your mate,” he said.

“Mother does not want us to use magic to steer the conflict in Osric’s favor,” Emmerich said. “To do so would violate the laws of this world. But we are permitted to join the fight without our magic.”

“And to use magic to protect those who cannot protect themselves from everything that is about to happen,” Gildur added.

I frowned and glanced from Gildur to Diamant to Emmerich.

Perhaps there was some truth to Obi’s accusations against me for not helping more substantially when I could.

Dragons had so much power, and I had been aware from the start of the evils Freslik sought to inflict on anyone he didn’t like.

If I had done more, done it sooner, we would not be in this situation and my mate would not be angry with me and suffering without me so far away.

As soon as those thoughts struck me, I shook my head and pushed them away.

I had been right in saying that there were things I had done in the last few years, ways I had stopped Freslik from doing so many things that were far worse than what he’d done so far, than my beloved omega knew about.

But it was difficult to use the things that had not happened as an argument against the things that had.

I pressed my fingertips to my temple as those thoughts brought a wave of searing pain with them.

“Argus,” Emmerich said, moving to stand by my side and squeezing my shoulder. “You need to go to your omega. You’ve just bonded. He is only half-bred. The two of you cannot be separated like this.”

“My duty is to you and to the cause,” I said, even though my whole body throbbed with separation pain.

“You’ll be of no use to us until you settle things with Prince Obi,” Emmerich said. “You have more to sort out between you than merely the pain of separation shortly after bonding.”

I glanced sullenly up at my brother. “He’s young, impulsive, and frustrated,” I said. “He believes having a fated mate means he is trapped in a life that he did not choose.”

Emmerich smiled sympathetically and said, “Then go find him and show him that’s not the case at all.”

My brother was right, but I wasn’t happy with his smug way of speaking the truth. Then again, those emotions could have been residual feelings from my young omega.

Either way, I didn’t need to be told twice that my omega needed me near him. I stepped to the side, then created a doorway that would take me directly to the meadow where Lord Osric and his army were camped.

“Mother isn’t going to like all these doorways,” I muttered to myself as I stepped through.

As soon as I was within reasonable proximity of my omega, our bond opened up and flooded me with emotion. The rush was so strong and the emotions so conflicted that I had to brace myself and just breathe for a moment before I could move on.

It was the sound of Osric’s voice carrying over the growing crowd of his men that pulled me out of my moment of overwhelm.

“We went to meet with the most prominent members of the king’s city today in an attempt to gain their support and their cooperation.

The meeting was tricky, but I believe it was ultimately fruitful.

I believe we will have the support of a significant number of people in the very heart of Freslik’s realm. ”

I was relieved to see that Osric was taking action immediately, but I couldn’t stop to listen to his speech. I needed to find my omega and attempt to reason with him and convince him to come back to the magical world with me so that we could make peace between us and finish the breeding process.

It was easy to find Obi through our bond, but my heart sank as I felt how angry and lost he still was. He sat with his brothers, listening to Osric, at first, but got up and moved to the side of the camp when Osric’s men broke into groups to discuss their campaign.

I used a quick concealment spell to prevent my omega from noticing me too suddenly and becoming even more upset and followed the omega princes to their secluded spot.

I could see just how much my sweet mate was suffering, which doubled my resolve to put an end to it.

I could also feel Obi’s resentment still boiling beneath the surface.

Walking up to my mate and dropping to my knees to beg forgiveness was out of the question.

I had a feeling approaching Obi reasonably was only going to set him off as well.

With a burst of mischief, I realized the only way to face the rift between us head-on was to take Obi by surprise.

Any chance he had to pick a fight with me was just going to increase the strain.

So I did the only thing I could think to do. Still under the power of concealment, I walked right up behind him and closed my arms around him as Rumi told his tale of meeting Emmerich.

Obi screamed as soon as I had him, but he didn’t fight back as I hauled him off his seat and into my arms.

“Obi!” Prince Misha gasped and stood, eyes wide with alarm.

The other omega princes were surprisingly nonchalant about my kidnapping efforts.

“He needs to go with his mate,” Tovey said. “Rufus does things like this all the time.”

The last thing I saw before creating a doorway directly into the bedroom in my lair was Prince Tovey rolling his eyes and Prince Leo chuckling. At least my mate’s brothers wouldn’t hold my unconventional way of getting my mate alone against me.

I felt a strong mix of emotions pouring through our bond when I closed the magical door and set Obi on his feet in my bedroom, our bedroom. His shock floated above everything else, but I also felt everything from indignation to, thankfully, relief.

“What do you think you’re doing?” my fiery mate demanded when I let go of him.

He spun to face me, but I used his momentum to pull him flush against me for a kiss instead of allowing him to rail at me.

As soon as my mouth covered his, Obi’s lips parted. The gesture was probably so that he could give me a thorough tongue-lashing, but I used his movement to slide my tongue into his mouth and kiss him with all the passion that was locked up and frustrated inside me.

Obi vocalized his displeasure at the gesture, grabbing the front of my tunic tightly. As the kiss continued, his angry sounds melted into pleading and his grip pulled the two of us closer together.

“This isn’t fair,” he panted as we broke for breath. “I’m furious at you. You betrayed me. I don’t want to want you like this.”

He yanked me down so that he could kiss me hard on his terms before I could address his accusations. I wasn’t certain I cared whether I made logical arguments against the things he was holding against me or not. I just wanted to get him naked and on his back in our bed.

“You’re my half-bred mate,” I murmured against his lips when we broke for air again. “We’re meant to be together like this.”

“It isn’t fair,” Obi growled before kissing me again, then tearing at the buttons of my shirt.