The Summoner's Path (D'Vaire, Book 10)

by Jessamyn Kingley

  I’ve decided to take Cadlyr’s rocks and leave D’Vaire. As everyone is so quick to remind anyone who will listen, Latarian’s out there somewhere waiting for her opportunity to strike back at you and your brother. I know once she realizes I’m no longer protected by your bubble, she’ll seek me out. Together I know we’ll come up with a plan to end you and Dra’Kaedan. You’ve betrayed your people. You two are the reason they’re all dead, and it’s time you pay for what you’ve done. I hope you enjoy what time you have left with that dragon of yours. I look forward to the look in his eyes when he sees your blood drain from your body.

  Dre’Kariston had to suck in a deep breath to handle all the vitriol in the letter Derwin left him. He honestly didn’t know if Derwin was completely delusional or had embarked on some sort of suicide mission. It was obvious he hadn’t thought anything through. Latarian was still alive somewhere, but they had no tangible way of knowing if she was monitoring D’Vaire or if revenge was even in her mind. There was always the possibility—remote to be sure—that she was simply content to have this new lease on life. In any event, there was no guarantee she’d find Derwin before the stones drained him. And even someone who was as clueless as Latarian might find it difficult to believe that the Grand Summoner’s familiar was truly on a revenge mission against his own kind. Derwin and Latarian hadn’t been friendly during their short acquaintance when she’d called D’Vaire home.

  “Dre’Kariston, your hand’s shaking. What’s the letter say? Where is he?” Somerly asked as he rubbed Dre’Kariston’s back.

  “Read it. Once you’re done, Aleksander and Dra’Kaedan need to see it.”

  “Not good news, then?” Somerly inquired as he took the page from Dre’Kariston’s grasp and scrutinized it with troubled blue eyes.

  “No, I don’t even know what to say or think. I don’t think I ever realized how much he hated me. We need to find him before Latarian does.”

  “We’ll find him, Dre’Kariston. We will.”

  Desperate for the closeness they’d once shared, Dre’Kariston ran a hand through Somerly’s shaggy hair. “I hope you’re right.”

  Chapter 37

  After spending over twenty straight hours trying to hunt down a familiar who’d covered his tracks well, Dre’Kariston was beyond anything as simple as exhausted. He’d spent over a week before Derwin’s disappearance barely sleeping because of the dragon who’d remained steadfastly at his side the entire long day. The search itself, as well as the emotions Derwin stirred up, had drained whatever energy was still in the tank. Back at home, Dre’Kariston was trying to absorb his surroundings.

  Gavrael had just informed them that Derwin’s essence was weakening with each hour. He’d started his journey from D’Vaire by teleporting to a multitude of places no doubt to confuse the trail. The sentinels were no longer capable of detecting where’d gone; his magic was now too masked to provide them any clues. Dre’Kariston wasn’t surprised—there wasn’t much of a path to follow right from the start. Derwin’s plan might be foolish at best, but he’d picked a perfect way to disguise himself. Of course, he and Dre’Kariston spent centuries honing spells to wrap their power tightly under a veil, so his experience was coming in handy.

  There wasn’t a great deal of hope in Dre’Kariston’s mind that they’d find Derwin. Either his crazy dream would come true and he’d hook up with Latarian, or the stones would render him unconscious before siphoning him away. In fact, Dre’Kariston wondered if he’d already been knocked out. He was a strong sorcerer, but he hadn’t let go of the rocks in nearly a full day. Dre’Kariston didn’t know how to feel about Derwin. He was his familiar, and he’d been taught that relationship was one you treated with respect and care. They were more than an extension of your soul; they should be a close friend and part of your family. He imagined that was how they’d earned the name “familiar” in the first place.

  But he’d never gotten along with Derwin. Though he’d tried over the centuries to make up for the way he’d summoned him, for Derwin it was a bone of contention he couldn’t get past. It made it impossible to build a friendship with such a large wedge between them, and every decision Dre’Kariston made somehow compounded the hatred that lurked inside of Derwin. He guessed he’d always figured he and Derwin would find a way to start fresh and begin developing the sort of bond he wanted to have with him.

  After reading Derwin’s letter, he knew he’d been kidding himself. There was no way to create a link between two people when one was firmly rooted in his desire to keep his distance. In Dre’Kariston’s beleaguered and tired brain, it was impossible to miss the parallels in his life. If he remained distant and aloof from Somerly, the result would be the same. They wouldn’t find a connection if he didn’t open himself up to it. All day long, Somerly had tried to boost his spirits and hadn’t left his side. It was obvious the dragon was committed to making up for his mistakes.

  “You’re not eating. You’ll need your strength,” Somerly said to him. They were sitting in the kitchen, chowing down on about a million pizzas they’d picked up before the entire clan returned to the D’Vaire mansion.

  “Sorry, lost in thought.”

  “It seems desperate, but it’s not hopeless. Now eat,” his mate ordered.

  Dre’Kariston dutifully picked up the slice on his plate and did as he was told.

  “I want to know who the hell decided we had to eat pizza,” Daemon Lord Baxter Daray complained. His entire household had dropped everything and volunteered to help search for Derwin when Gavrael called to speak with Alaric.

  “I don’t know, but it is delish,” Chander said.

  “You don’t know, my ass. This is your fault,” Baxter retorted.

  “If he is not talking about his dick, he has to make a reference to his ass,” Skeleton Lord Ducarius Daray complained.

  “It’s an expression. I’m not actually discussing my ass,” Baxter told him. “But since we’re now on the topic, I’ve got a great one. It’s as nice as Ben’s.”

  “I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to think your mate’s ass is superior to your own,” Alaric stated.

  “I decided we can be equals in this one thing since he doesn’t compare to me in sentinel skills,” Baxter remarked.

  “Bax, shut up and eat before I kill you,” his mate commented with a roll of his eyes.

  Dre’Kariston let the chatter flow around him and kept his focus on his meal. He was going to fill his belly, then find his bed. There was nothing more he could do for Derwin, and the feeling of helplessness was one he wished to escape as soon as possible.

  “Somerly, I just got a text from the Prism Wizard. He wants to discuss the results of the tests they’ve done on the hair and blood samples you gave them,” Aleksander announced. “What would you like me to tell him? He’d like to meet with you.”

  “I’m rather curious as to what he’ll say. I’ll meet with him whenever he has the time.”

  Aleksander returned his attention to his phone as Dre’Kariston bit down into the delicious crunch of the pizza crust. Then he glanced back up, and his tired face was full of curiosity. “He says at your earliest convenience. When’s a good time for me to tell him?”

  “It must be something if he’s willing to drop everything,” Somerly said. He turned to Dre’Kariston. “Will you be there with me to listen? I’d like to know as soon as possible.”

  “You want to do it now?” Dre’Kariston asked. When Somerly nodded, he swiped the napkin across his mouth. “Okay, sure.”

  Somerly leaned forward and kissed him. “Thanks.”

  “I’ll be wanting to be there too. You’re my brother,” Worth declared.

  “Whatever the results are, everyone’s welcome to listen,” Somerly said. Seconds later, the leader of the Spectra Wizardry shimmered into the living room. Dre’Kariston was still getting used to seeing him with his deep violet eyes and youthful appearance. Vadimas took two steps toward him, then stopped short and those vibrant orbs widened.

&
nbsp; “Something wrong, Vadimas?” Alaric asked.

  “Did someone dabble in cloning since my last visit?”

  Aleksander let out a chuckle. “Ah, you haven’t met our newest dragons. The one sitting next to Dre’Kariston is who you’re here to see—Grand Summoner-mate Somerly D’Vairedraconis. Next to him is his best friend, Lex D’Vairedraconis, and the clone is Worthington D’Vairedraconis.”

  “Somerly and I are Aleksander’s long-lost brothers. You can call me Worth.”

  “We haven’t figured out the resemblance thing. Noir, Dray, and I got the dark hair and facial features from our mothers’ side of the family. Our moms were sisters, but they both died centuries before Worth was born,” Aleksander explained.

  “Well, some blood tests can’t hurt,” Vadimas responded. “I will send someone over to take samples from all four of you. It might help. In the meantime, my staff has worked nonstop since we got Somerly’s blood and hair samples.”

  “You found something strange, then?” Somerly asked.

  “It was difficult to find anything in the blood. There were traces of something, but it was so diluted by your own cells we couldn’t make heads or tails of it. However, it was enough to know something was amiss. So then we tackled the hair. What we found was this,” Vadimas explained as he handed Somerly a sheet of paper. Dre’Kariston glanced at it to find it was a chart he didn’t understand.

  “What does this mean?” Somerly asked as Worth stood and came around the table to snatch it from his brother’s hand.

  “You see where the line is in the middle? That’s the baseline. That’s the composition of Somerly’s hair. Now see all the spikes? Those are there because you ingested something that was foreign, and it was stored in the follicles.”

  “There are spikes everywhere,” Lex commented after Worth handed him the page.

  “Yes, you were given a drug on a regular basis,” Vadimas told Somerly. Dre’Kariston may have been exhausted, but he could feel rage just fine and it was surging through him. Someone had habitually forced a foreign substance into his mate.

  “How could I have been taking a drug and not known it?”

  “Things can easily be put into your food or drinks,” Chander commented. “Did you prepare your own meals?”

  Somerly shook his head. “I wasn’t allowed in the kitchen.”

  “I knew that fucker had done something to you,” Worth spat out.

  “What fucker is that?” Vadimas inquired politely.

  “Our father,” Aleksander supplied. “Can you tell us more about the drug and its intent?”

  “It’s a new one and definitely comes from alchemy, which means it was manufactured by a wizard or wizards,” Vadimas said. “This one appears to have been designed to affect size, but it has a strange makeup to it. Either the sorcerer wasn’t advanced, or he was sloppy. The Spectra Wizardry doesn’t create chemicals like this one, so I did some experimenting. It took me a few hours to unravel it, but it’s clear that its intent wasn’t realized. The base structure was designed to limit the mass of a beast when shifted, but the wizard didn’t close the spell properly. Either he didn’t understand that the beast and man are separate entities, or he didn’t do his homework. When you don’t close a shifter spell, so it only affects one side, it’s the ‘human’ side of the shifter that will take the downfall, as the beast always protects itself. That’s at the cellular level, not something done on purpose. So, I believe this potion was to make your dragon smaller, but it misfired, so to speak, and instead you’re the one who is not as large as nature intended you to be.”

  “Aleksander and Worth are big fucking dragons. He didn’t want his youngest son to be like either of them,” Brogan said.

  “So, I stopped growing over eighty years ago. Why would I still be getting this potion?” Somerly asked. His voice was hollow, and Dre’Kariston guessed he was struggling once again with his perception of his only parent.

  Vadimas shrugged. “I can’t say. If I had to speculate, I’d say that perhaps he hoped it would eventually work on your dragon side—in which case, he would be wrong. A beast’s size can’t be altered after the first shift.”

  “Thanks, Vadimas. I know this is very shocking for Somerly, but you’ve at least given us some answers. Though we certainly don’t care if Somerly’s not an average-sized dragon shifter, it’s good for him to know why he’s different,” Aleksander said.

  “Yes, thanks. I didn’t even know I was being given this drug.”

  “Are there any side effects from his prolonged exposure we’re going to have to worry about in the future?” Dre’Kariston asked.

  “I don’t believe so. As we learned from the blood sample, it doesn’t linger long in the body. It’ll be all flushed out in a few days. I can follow up with another test in a few days if you’d like,” Vadimas offered.

  “I’d like that, if it’s not too much trouble. I want to know it’s out of me.”

  “Of course, no problem at all. Del or Idris can arrange it at your convenience,” the Prism Wizard replied.

  “If you’re hungry, help yourself to some pizza,” Aleksander invited.

  “I don’t mind if I do,” Vadimas said. “I’m certainly not going to turn down the invitation to spend more time with T’Eirick and Saura. And now I have your brothers to get to know. Del, Idris. You two didn’t tell me what your big emergency was.”

  “Derwin stole two Cwylld stones and has disappeared,” Dre’Kariston told him. “He wants Latarian to find him, so they can concoct a plan to take down the remaining warlocks. We’ve searched everywhere and can’t find him.”

  “You might’ve called. I’m more than willing to help search. Seems like a rather birdbrained idea to want to locate Latarian for any reason other than forcing her to face her crimes. Any leads at all?”

  “No, I can’t feel his soul connection. We don’t know how much time he has.”

  Vadimas’s eyes might be a new color, but they were still full of the same mix of intelligence and power Dre’Kariston noted at their first meeting. “If they’re touching his skin, very little at all—but you already know that. You also understand that Derwin’s smart enough to know exactly how those stones affect a familiar. He’s made his choice, Dre’Kariston. If his plan fails and he pays with his life, it’s no one’s fault but his own. Don’t make the mistake of punishing yourself for his deeds.”

  “Chand, you should’ve destroyed all the stones, not just some of them,” Cadlyr said.

  “I see it’s a good thing I showed up. Cadlyr, Dra’Kaedan decided it’d be good to save some in case we ever needed them. They’ve already come in handy. Isn’t that damnable Carvallius resting with one on his chest at the moment? The only way that man isn’t trouble is if he’s comatose. The Cwylld stones are valuable, and I daresay in the future we’ll find even more uses for them. Perhaps next time it’ll be to save a life instead of rendering someone senseless.”

  “Vadimas, you’re quite the voice of reason,” T’Eirick declared.

  “Yes, he is. And while I have everyone together, I want to thank you for everything you did to help find Derwin today,” Dre’Kariston added as he wondered why life decided to bombard people. It wasn’t enough to deal with Somerly back in his life—he also had to worry about a missing familiar and his mate’s crumbling vision of his only parent as a caring person with his best interests at heart. Fate help me, I need a break.

  Chapter 38

  Somerly trailed after Dre’Kariston as he wandered down the hallway toward where the majority of the D’Vaire bedrooms were housed. The entire family resembled a bunch of zombies as they ambled closer to resting their weary heads. He didn’t know what would become of Derwin and found it difficult to care one way or another. His only focus was on the warlock in front of him. If he stayed dedicated to Dre’Kariston, it’d be impossible to think about his father forcing a shrinking potion down his throat for a century—or so he hoped. The trouble was, it wasn’t working out that way.

&nbs
p; His brain was a mess. It was clear why Boian had tried to control the size of his dragon; his brothers were enormous. The facts couldn’t be denied, and Somerly had learned that the man who raised him was a mirage. Lex had tried to make him understand for decades that he had no one’s best interests at heart but his own. Somerly hadn’t wanted to believe it, but he was done dealing in fantasy. In front of him Dre’Kariston got to his door and without a word, slipped through it. Somerly followed him in; he wasn’t going to be denied the presence of his mate in such tumultuous circumstances.

  He could deal with his father later, but Dre’Kariston needed him. The warlock was beating himself up over Derwin’s disappearance, and Somerly didn’t like to see the weight of his emotions draining him of his normal confident stride.

  “Are you going to tuck me in tonight?” Dre’Kariston asked once they were enclosed in his private space.