Betrayed (Elesian Dragon Mates Book 2)

by Sammie Joyce

  Mace stood in the corner of the room with her while Asher and Jagger updated Maria. Rose didn’t really listen. She couldn’t hear much over the sound of her heart breaking.

  She only paid attention when she heard her name. “Rose? Do you have anything to add?”

  “Rose isn’t here.” Mace turned his back to Maria, so that Rose was facing the wall.

  “What?”

  “We’re staying close to her from now on, to protect her,” Asher explained. “She didn’t want to come to this meeting—Gavin just left and she’s understandably upset. She had to come to be close to us, but for all intents and purposes, Rose isn’t here at present. I’m sure she’ll come to see you tomorrow morning.”

  Rose was grateful that Maria didn’t push further. She zoned out for the rest of the meeting, only really coming back to reality when Mace laid her carefully down in bed. That just made her cry harder, because she remembered last night, when she’d slept up against Gavin.

  Would she ever sleep with him again?

  “Yes.” Jagger must have read her thoughts. Rose knew that she must be projecting like crazy right now. It happened to all of them when they were upset or afraid. She didn’t know how Gavin had the strength to block her off when he had to be in almost as much pain as she was.

  Maybe he didn’t love her as much as she thought he did.

  “Yes, he does,” Jagger answered her thoughts confidently; Rose just wished she had the same confidence. “Listen, I know my brother. He’s angry and hurt, but he’ll be back sooner or later. When we were younger, it wasn’t uncommon for him to run off when he was convinced the world was being unfair to him. It hasn’t happened in years, but we haven’t had a situation like this before.”

  “He may come back, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be welcomed back,” Asher growled.

  “Asher, how can you say that? He’s your brother.”

  “And he wants to put you in danger. That’s not something that can be forgiven.”

  Rose knew that Asher was just fired up because he was worried about her safety. When a few days passed without anything happening, he’d become more reasonable.

  At least, she hoped he would.

  “If he comes back, don’t send him away. We at last need to talk about this.” Rose still held out some hope that he’d return quickly. Maybe he’d cool off for an hour or so, then come back and apologize.

  “I’ll think about it. But don’t expect me to forgive this lightly. Our father tolerated his youthful outbursts, but Gavin isn’t a child anymore.” Asher didn’t look like he was in a very forgiving mood.

  “You won’t act without me.” Rose tried to sound firm, but it was difficult when her nose was all stuffed up; she sounded ridiculous. “We’re co-leaders, and no one is being ejected from the clan unless we both agree on it. You did mean it when you named me as co-leader, didn’t you? Or was that just for show?”

  Asher sighed. “I meant it. I won’t send him away at once, I can promise you that much. But I won’t tolerate him endangering you.”

  Rose knew that was the best she was going to get right now. “How long does he usually take to come back, Jagger?”

  “Anything from a few days to a few weeks.”

  Her heart sank. How was she going to survive a few days without Gavin, let alone a few weeks? It had been months since she’d gone even a full day without seeing all of her dragons.

  “This time might be different,” Mace said quietly. “I’ve never seen him so angry.”

  “Shut up, Mace, don’t you think Rose has enough things to worry about?”

  “No, Asher, don’t shut him down. I want the truth. It’s not going to do me any good thinking he’ll turn up before he actually will. If he doesn’t come back by himself, then we’ll just have to go get him. We’ll give him a few days to cool off, and then if he’s not back, we go to him. Any idea where he’ll be?”

  “We can try some of the old haunts he used to go to when he was younger.” Jagger sounded doubtful about his own proposition. “Still, I don’t think he’ll go there. He knows how much you love him, and he knows you won’t let him go. If he doesn’t want to be found, then we’re probably not going to find him.”

  “Then we’ll do a spell to locate him. I’m not going to let him stay hurting and alone. Surely he knows that.”

  Jagger shook his head. “Nice idea, but dragons have been flying under witch radar for longer than you can imagine. No witch spell is going to locate Gavin unless he allows it.”

  Rose’s heart sank. It looked like there was nothing to do but hope Gavin came back.

  She should have done more to stop him from leaving. He’d confided in her how hard it was to share her. She should have made more of an effort to make him feel loved and wanted. Now, he was gone, and she didn’t know if she’d ever see him again.

  Chapter Five

  “Rose. Come on, it’s breakfast time.”

  “I’m not hungry.”

  Mace tried again. “They’re making muffins today—your favorite.”

  Rose hid her face in the pillow, hoping he would leave her alone.

  “You can at least come and keep me company. Staring at these ugly faces will just ruin my appetite.” Jagger gestured to Asher and Mace, who didn’t even scowl at him, on board with any attempt to raise Rose’s spirits.

  She couldn’t seem to find the energy to care. Gavin had been gone for five days. For five days, she’d felt like a piece of her soul had been ripped off. Everything just seemed so meaningless without him.

  When she didn’t respond to Mace or Jagger, Asher stepped in. “You haven’t eaten in two days, Rose. Starving yourself isn’t going to bring Gavin back. I know you’re hurting, but I’m not going to let you stop taking care of yourself. You’re coming to breakfast. That is final.”

  When Rose didn’t respond, Asher lifted her up off the bed. “Asher… put me down. I’m tired. I don’t want to eat. I told you, I’m not hungry.”

  “Nevertheless, you will eat. Whether you do it in your pajamas or clothes is up to you.”

  Rose couldn’t summon the energy to get dressed. When she made no move to get changed, Asher put her over his shoulder like a sack of grain and started carrying her to the dining room.

  Everyone stared as he stuffed her into a chair and put a plate in front of her. Rose knew she must look a mess—she hadn’t showered or brushed her hair in days. She’d been crying almost non-stop, and her eyes must have been red and puffy. Still, she couldn’t quite summon enough energy to be embarrassed about it.

  Annabelle and Dane quickly came over.

  “Hey, Rose. How are you doing?”

  Rose shrugged, sparing the energy to glare at Asher as he put a muffin in front of her and leveled her with a stern gaze.

  Mace started cutting up the muffin and feeding it to her piece by piece. Rose tried to protest, but Asher was having none of it.

  She did feel a bit better after eating, not that she was going to admit that to him. “Fine, I’ve eaten. Now can I go back to bed?”

  “No. You’re going to class.”

  Rose stared at him in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, I’m serious. Lying in bed is just making you even more miserable. You need to do something.”

  “I don’t want to go to class.”

  Instead of arguing with her, Asher picked her up again and put her over shoulder. “Lead the way, Annabelle.”

  Annabelle looked like she was torn between worry and laughter. She grabbed her muffin and headed to the room they used as a classroom. So this was what tough love felt like. Rose couldn’t say she was a fan. Jagger was grinning at her predicament as they walked, but Mace gave her a sympathetic grimace.

  Elaine was waiting for them. She didn’t comment on Rose’s disheveled appearance. Asher dumped her into her seat, then he retreated to the back of the room with Jagger and Mace, giving Rose as much space as possible to participate in class normally while still protecting her.
r />   Rose didn’t really pay attention to the lesson, at least until Elaine called on her.

  “So what does that mean for casting shield spells with dragons, Rose?”

  “Um…” Rose glanced at Annabelle for help. Annabelle moved her arms so that Rose could see her notes, but she had been so zoned out for most of the lecture that she couldn’t make sense of the notes in a brief glance.

  “I don’t know.” That more than anything rankled her. Rose had never had to answer “I don’t know” to a question in class, and she didn’t like it. Resolving to pay more attention, she pulled Annabelle’s notes toward her and started reading.

  To her great surprise, concentrating on the lesson did indeed make her feel a little better. Rose still wanted to sink into a hole in the ground and never return—at least until Gavin did—but the sensation wasn’t as stifling as it had been before.

  Trying to delay the moment when she’d have to tell Asher he was right, she asked Annabelle if she wanted to go for a walk. Her dragons trailed behind her.

  Dane went off to get lunch, and Annabelle spent a solid ten minutes gushing about him. The glow of new love was all about her. It made Rose’s broken heart throb painfully.

  Annabelle finally caught sight of Rose’s face, cutting herself off in mid-sentence. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be going on about Dane when you—I mean… how are you doing?”

  Rose shrugged. “I’m alive, I guess, which is the best that can be said for now.”

  “Any… any word from Gavin?”

  “Nothing.” Rose bit her lip. She wouldn’t start crying again, not now. Crying wasn’t going to bring Gavin back—if it was, he would have returned about a hundred times before now.

  “Well, you still have three other hot guys to choose from.” Annabelle gestured back to Asher, Mace, and Jagger.

  Rose knew that she was simply trying to lighten the mood with a joke, but it didn’t do anything to cheer her up. “It’s not like that. They’re like my limbs. Being without one of them feels like a piece of me is missing. I don’t know where he is, or if he’s safe. I… I don’t know what to do, Annabelle. What do I do?”

  “There’s nothing you can do. You can only wait for him to come back.”

  “What if he’s hurt, or afraid, or feels like I don’t love him?”

  “If he really needs help, he can call for you. I know you said he’s closed the mental connection, but he can re-open it in an instant, right?”

  “Yes, but you don’t know Gavin. He may not call for help, even if it means his death. He probably thinks that we don’t want him here—that’s the only reason he would have stayed away for this long.”

  “You can only wait for him. Whether you’re waiting miserably or waiting productively won’t make a difference to whether or not he comes back.”

  Rose could feel Asher smirking at her back. “I don’t think Asher is going to give me much of a choice in that one.”

  “Please. The guy worships the ground you walk on. If you really didn’t want to be here, you wouldn’t be.”

  “Yeah, have you ever tried winning against Dane in a tussle? Believe me, if he wanted you to be somewhere, he would have no problem getting you there.”

  “If you say so.” Annabelle clearly didn’t agree, but she wasn’t going to argue the case.

  “Rose.”

  She turned back to Asher. “Yes?” Rose tried to keep her voice at least civil. She was annoyed with him for dragging her out of bed, but she knew he only had her best interests at heart. She didn’t want to snap at him in her grief and then just have another thing to feel bad about.

  “It’s lunch time. You shouldn’t skip any more meals.”

  “I’m not really hungry right—”

  “Would you prefer to walk, or be carried?”

  Rose growled at him. Jagger burst out laughing. “You’re picking up bad habits from us. I still say your growl is more impressive than Mace’s.”

  “Walk or carry, Rose?”

  “Walk,” she muttered, turning resentfully down the hall that led to the dining room. As much as she loved him, right now, all she wanted was to get away from Asher.

  Don’t blame him. Jagger spoke privately into her mind, where Asher and Mace couldn’t hear them. He’s being the bad guy so that Mace and I don’t have to, so that you’ll still have us to confide in when you’re too angry to talk to him. It’s what the clan leader does. I wish I had his strength.

  Great, now she was feeling guilty over her anger at Asher. Rose didn’t reply to Jagger, worried she’d slip up and snap out angry words she didn’t mean. Her dragons were doing their best to take care of her. She should be grateful that she still had the three of them, but she couldn’t see past her heartbreak over Gavin.

  It’ll get easier once you get back into a normal routine, Jagger encouraged. You’ll see.

  So far, none of her dragons had been willing to discuss Gavin. Rose knew that they were battling with their own emotions over his departure. It was selfish of her to expect them to be calm and stable when it wasn’t just her who had lost a mate. They had lost a brother.

  No. Gavin may be gone, but he wasn’t lost. She had to believe that.

  The rest of the day dragged on. Rose was so exhausted by the end of it that she asked Mace to carry her back to their room. She drifted off in his arms, only rousing when he tucked her in. Asher crouched down so that his face was level with hers.

  “Rose? Do you want me to sleep somewhere else tonight? I’d understand if you do.”

  His words almost broke her heart all over again. Asher was risking her anger, knowing very well that it could permanently damage things between them, just to take care of her. He cared more for her wellbeing than his own heart, than keeping her love.

  Rose moved over and pulled the covers up, inviting him in. “Get over here. Stop being dramatic.”

  The relief on Asher’s face just made her feel like a horrible person for giving him such a hard time.

  You’re not a horrible person. You’re the most wonderful person I’ve ever met.

  Just making me feel even more guilty here.

  Asher kissed her forehead before pulling the blanket over the two of them. Jagger came on her other side, with Mace next to him.

  Rose thought that she would fall asleep at once, but her doubts kept her awake. “Is there something else I should have done?” she asked quietly. Jagger had turned out the lights, and it was slightly easy to voice her fears in the dark, when all she could see was the faint glint of her dragons’ eyes. “Did I not treat Gavin as well as the rest of you? Should I have done more to make sure he knew just how much I love him?”

  All three of them replied at once, talking over each other.

  “Okay, okay, one at a time!”

  Asher went first. “You did everything, my love. This isn’t your failing. It’s on Gavin, not you.”

  “Asher is right. Gavin is my twin—I know him better than anyone, and even I didn’t see how much he was struggling. If he’d said something sooner, maybe this all could have been avoided, but he didn’t, and that was his choice.”

  “Gavin should have trusted you with his heart. He should have known that if he told you he needed more than you were giving him, you wouldn’t turn him away. You’d do anything for him—for all of us. He should have known. We all do. It’s not you, Rose.”

  Rose nodded. She’d suspected what they were going to say before she asked the question, but it felt good to hear the assurances aloud.

  “You know, you’re all bending over backward to support me, but I know you have to be hurting too. I want to help you just as much as you want to help me. If any of you want to talk, you know you don’t have to hide your feelings from me. And if there’s anything I can do… please, ask. I can’t take losing another one of you like I lost Gavin.”

  “It’s natural for us to try to protect our mate,” Asher explained. “But you’re right, it’s not helpful. I can see you’re exhausted, though. We can
discuss our feelings more tomorrow. For now, sleep.”

  Her mind finally set at ease, Rose drifted off into a deep and restful sleep.

  Chapter Six

  Rose woke to someone shaking her arm.

  “Rose, it’s time for breakfast.”

  Asher. Wonderful. “Five more minutes,” she mumbled.

  “You’re going to be late for class. You wouldn’t want Elaine starting to think you’re a slacker, now, would you?”

  Jagger’s taunt worked. Rose hauled herself out of bed, tossing a pillow at him. “I’ll show you who’s a slacker.”

  A mild pillow fight ensued, one which Rose was sure she only won because her dragons let her. She went to breakfast feeling more cheerful than she had felt since Gavin left.

  By the time breakfast was done, her mood had tanked again. Rose didn’t understand the ups and downs of heartbreak, but they were exhausting. She saw Jagger and Asher exchanging a dark look.

  “What?”

  Jagger hesitated. “It’s really selfish, what Gavin is doing. I would have thought he’d be back by now. It’s not just us anymore—he has you to think about.”

  “If he does return, I’m not sure I’ll be welcoming him back.” The fury in Asher’s voice had Rose backing up a step.

  “What?”

  “Anyone who thinks it’s acceptable to leave their mate in this much pain is not someone who is welcome in my clan.”

  “Our clan, Asher! Our clan. Don’t you dare even think of turning Gavin away. He’s messed up, that much we all know, but how is kicking him out for good going to help anything? That’ll just make the pain we’re all feeling now permanent. Do you really want this to be permanent?”

  Rose opened up her mind to him, showing him very clearly what she was feeling every day Gavin was gone.

  Asher cringed. “I guess not.”

  “Then let’s just hope he does come back, at which point we’ll welcome him with open arms.”

  The others nodded. “Let’s get you to class,” Mace said eventually.

  Some of the cloying despair lifted as Rose focused on the different types of shields. She at least did a better job at concentrating than she’d done yesterday. After lunch, she dragged Jagger back to the basement. Of course, Asher and Mace followed.