Page 84 of Visions of You

"Right," Jaron said. "But still… I'm glad to see it." In his mind, everyone should be as happy as he was with Keegan—as happy as he was going to be with Keegan once they put this whole kidnapping case behind them. Quickly, he shifted gears. "Anyway, I have some info about the kidnappings."

Ceska's eyes sharpened with interest. "What did you find out? Anything about Apollo?"

"Not exactly," Jaron said, "But Keegan believes they're targeting fated mates to unleash some sort of cosmic energy in a ritual designed to alter fate itself."

That news silenced both Ceska and Ianair for a moment.

Ianair frowned deeply as he processed the information. "You think he's right?"

"I do," Jaron confirmed.

"But why would they do that?"

"I don't know," Jaron admitted, hiding the fact that he'd love to change his own fate too, if the necessary means weren't so grisly.

"I guess it doesn't matter why," Ceska said. "What matters is stopping them. Our mages have narrowed down the part of town where the victims are being held. So far we've struggled to get the exact location, but if they're going to be performing a ritual… we can probably trace the spike in magic that would cause."

Ianair nodded. "I'll let everyone know what to look out for."

"It would be better to stop the ritual before it begins," Jaron said.

"Of course," Ceska licked her lips. "The city guards are currently searching the area we pointed out. Hopefully they can find the scumbag before they can do anything."

"That would be for the best," Jaron agreed, but somehow he knew that things wouldn't end that easily.

"It would be good to know when exactly this ritual is going to take place," Ianair pointed out. "Can your seer predict that?"

"I'll ask," Jaron promised. "I'm going to see him now."

"Good," Ianair studied him for a moment longer.

"Are we sure this vampire can be trusted?" Ceska threw in. Obviously, she was still not a fan of Keegan's. All because he'd messed up that one prediction—and possibly because he'd pulled Jaron out of work the day Apollo was kidnapped. Jaron couldn't forget about that. "There are a lot of lives on the line here," she said as if she had to justify her caution.

"I know," Jaron said. "But I trust him. I'd know if he was lying to me."

"How so?" Ceska asked.

Jaron smiled. "Because we're bound to each other now."

Ianair's eyes widened. "You claimed him?"

Something about the way his friend worded that didn't sit well with Jaron. Yes, the dragon inside him had also thought about 'claiming,' but in the end, that wasn't what had happened. "Our bonding was a mutual thing. I could never have claimed him if he hadn't claimed me as well."

Ianair continued to look at him in wonder, reminding Jaron what a rare thing it was that he had found with Keegan. Jaron's siblings might have been blessed with the gift of fire, but Jaron had been blessed in his own way.

"You and the vampire," Ceska asked, "you're a thing now? Like Mordyn and Apollo?"

"Yes," Jaron agreed. "Like that. Keegan is definitely on our side. He wants to help Mordyn as well."

Ceska nodded slowly, somewhat mollified. "Mordyn came to talk to me during the night. I don't know where he is now, but…"She shuddered. "I know he'll rip the kidnapper to pieces when he finds them."

That only made sense. Jaron would react the same way if anyone tried to harm his mate.

Fortunately, Keegan was safe.

For now.

Jaron's fists clenched, thinking about all that Keegan hald told him about his vision of his own death.