“Shit, what kinda knife was that?” Latarian was surprised to see the man was already beginning to sway on his feet. She had underestimated the effect such a small amount of the stone would have on a magical being. It delighted her in its efficiency; her grandfather’s dark sorcery would require him to be nearly drained of all magic before it could be applied. At this rate, she would not have much time at all to wait before she was once again powerful. But first, they needed to get back to Idris’s home and away from Dra’Kaedan and the rest of the D’Vaires. This thought in mind, she quickened her steps as they headed to the back of the store and was ever grateful the familiar was so overwhelmed by the dust in his skin that he was not protesting their abduction.
* * *
Gedeon stood next to his mate and waited. When that didn’t work, he waited some more. Sadly, Gavrael was quickly learning to deal with Gedeon’s often impatient nature and could tune him out through their mental link if he tried hard enough. If there was anything Gavrael was truly adept at, and there were many things, it was to try very hard to accomplish a goal he set for himself.
Gavrael’s current purpose was to pick out a book before their little trip came to a close. Since there was no place in the shopping center that seemed to sell the vibrating sponges or lubes Gavrael had mentioned earlier, he was not going to leave until he found some decent erotica. Gedeon was thoroughly grateful that his mate seemed so intent on ensuring their sex life was not only mind-blowing but full of creativity.
However, reading was not his favorite pastime, and standing around in a quiet bookstore was nearly akin to torture. Of course, true torture was being sent back to the compound without the man who was doing such a good job of ignoring him at the moment. Gedeon decided that before he went mindless with annoyance, he needed to take a walk and see if he could find anything to occupy his time until Gavrael decided he had found the right books.
Several other D’Vaires had made the decision to come out today, and surely one of them was as bored as Gedeon. That would give him someone to talk to and would make the time go quicker until they could leave. It was pretty bad that not even Gavrael’s denim-clad ass could distract him. As Gedeon wandered the bookstore, he noted there were very few patrons in the establishment besides his own family.
The emptiness was not too surprising; it was the middle of the day on a weekday and this, like the entire shopping center, was open to only individuals that belonged to the Council of Sorcery and Shifters. This part of Arizona was not too populated, so it was a wonder they stayed in business. But members of the Council could not shop in human establishments, so the Council government often funded far-flung shops to ensure their people could get the goods they needed.
Passing by Dra’Kaedan and Noirin with their noses buried in books in the culinary section, Gedeon shook his head. Those two could talk about food all day long if they did not get distracted by other things. Not surprisingly, Brogan was close by and had a sharp eye on his mate. As a duke, Brogan was responsible for keeping their family safe, and truth be told, he was also probably keeping an eye on Dra’Kaedan to make sure the man behaved himself.
As Gedeon made it toward the back of the bookstore, he found himself very much alone. It was almost eerie how quiet it was in this section of the shop. Turning the corner, Gedeon saw a short woman with long red hair and what appeared to be a teenage boy with black hair. There was a short blond man with his eyes closed and swaying as the duo tried to keep him propped up. With a start, Gedeon realized the blond was Renny.
Immediately Gedeon understood that whatever this duo had done to Dra’Kaedan’s familiar, it was not with his consent. Springing into action, the sentinel reached for his daggers, and with a grunt of frustration realized they were back at home laying on his dresser. Although disgusted with himself, Gedeon knew he was more than a blade-wielding assassin. He took one step forward, and the redhead must have sensed him closing in because she looked up at him and gestured to her companion.
Narrowing her eyes at Gedeon, he felt the air stir with magic. Unbelievably it was both warlock and wizard. Recognizing the symbols that glowed slightly on the ground beneath their feet, Gedeon realized they were casting a teleportation circle. In seconds, they would be gone with Renny and while he could track the familiar down, Gedeon had no idea how long that would take. He could not risk Renny being hurt, or worse, in the meantime.
Relying on instincts that had been imprinted on his brain over the last two and a half decades, Gedeon hurled his body forward into the circle. If this pair thought they were going to abscond with any one of his family members, they were going to have to get through him first. The woman gasped loudly when she realized it would be impossible to stop the spell and leave Gedeon behind.
For his part, the teenager let out a little squeal and seemed to try and maneuver himself behind the woman. Milliseconds later, the spell was complete, and Gedeon closed his eyes as the magic swelled around him. When the air settled, he opened his eyes to find the four of them standing in a small dingy room. He felt a tug from somewhere deep inside of him, and with a sense of detachment recognized there was something very, very wrong.
Impossibly, his magic was draining. As a sentinel, he was created with a spell, much like a familiar, but unlike a familiar, any loss of power would not kill him. After all, he had technically already died. Renny was not so fortunate. Quickly summing up the situation, Gedeon realized he needed to get Renny out of there as soon as possible.
As the Grand Warlock’s familiar, Renny’s magical core was a deep well, but even he was vulnerable if they did not discover how it was being drained and remove it. Knowing that he needed help and fast, he yelled his mate’s name through their mind link. However, Gavrael must’ve still had his face buried in a book because he failed to respond. Very well; it was time to deal with these two idiots and get out of here, Gedeon thought with determination.
“Who are you and what do you want with him?” Gedeon barked out the question. If these two did not realize who it was they had kidnapped, he was not about to let them in on Renny’s identity.
“What business is it of yours? You appear to be a creature of magic, though I know not what kind. Surely you have the ability to teleport. Leave us,” the woman ordered. Gedeon noticed she spoke strangely, as if she was not of this time. She was also sadly mistaken if she thought she could get rid of him that easily. The boy stood next to her, bug-eyed, and Gedeon recognized he was no threat.
“Hand over the blond, and I will have us out of here in no time.” What he neglected to inform her was the only way Renny could leave was if he woke. Sentinels had the ability to port themselves around, but only warlocks and druids could cast circles. Gedeon was still reeling from the notion that she was a warlock. Then the light bulb went off in his brain.
There was only one other warlock known in the world besides Dra’Kaedan and his twin, Dre’Kariston. She had to be Latarian, and she was capable of anything and everything nefarious.
“I do not answer to you. If you refuse to leave, then you will be forced to stay here with this familiar. I hope you enjoy the draining of your magic. It would be terribly sad to find your body here. It would be best for you to leave,” she said.
“Hand him over, Latarian.”
“Then you have heard of me. Good. When you return, tell the Grand Warlock I have a new familiar. His.” After hissing her words out, Gedeon felt the air once again stir and realized the foolish woman was trying to cast a circle to teleport him out. If it were that easy to be rid of a sentinel, they would make poor assassins.
Giving the haughty woman a smile, Gedeon countered her spell. Latarian’s eyes widened in disbelief and then narrowed in determination and she tried again. This time she raised her hand out to the boy and Gedeon realized that the teenager was her magical force. That made sense; Gedeon knew from the stories of her that she was a novice warlock and not capable of casting much with her own power.
Before she could cast whatever spel
l she was attempting, Gedeon stepped into the shadows and disappeared from view.
The boy, who was indeed a wizard, shouted, “What the hell?” Despite the very annoying pull on his magic, Gedeon summoned up a dark shell and encased the teenager in an invisible barrier that would very temporarily stop anything he wished to cast.
Reappearing behind the pair, Gedeon snatched Renny from their arms with a move so fast it would have been impossible for their eyes to see.
“What the hell are you?” the kid asked, his voice wavering.
“Who cares what he is? We must remove ourselves from this room before our own magic is drained too far,” Latarian snapped. She grabbed the youth’s arm and dragged him to the doorway. “If you will not leave, then I hope you will enjoy your time here before your death. Whatever you may be, you obviously lack the ability to cast circles of transport. Otherwise, you would not still be standing here.”
Since there was no use arguing the point, Gedeon decided there was no need to lie about his lack of transporting skills. “But the Grand Warlock’s familiar can, and as soon as he wakes up we will be out of here.”
“Luck is sadly not on your side; by the time he wakes up he will be too weak to cast any spells at all,” she promised as she yanked the wizard out of the room and slammed the door.
* * *
“GAVRAEL.”
“Geddy, stop yelling. I have found my books. Let’s go home,” Gavrael replied to his flustered mate. He knew him to be impatient, but this was ridiculous. These books were to benefit both of them; surely he could give Gavrael the time to pick out ones that were worthwhile.
“That’s impossible.”
“I know you believe it took forever, but as impossible as it may seem I am finished.”
“That’s not what I meant. I can’t go home.”
“You wish to go to another shop?”
“NO. If you hadn’t decided to ignore me for the last half hour you would know I am…well, I don’t know where the hell I am, but Latarian and some wizard were kidnapping Renny, so I jumped into the teleportation circle. Now we are stuck in a filthy little room with these weird-ass stones laying everywhere.” Gedeon’s annoyed voice rang through his head, and Gavrael was brought to a complete standstill. He had been on his way to the front of the store to pay for his new prizes when Gedeon had yelled in his head. Latarian had kidnapped Renny and his mate.
Gavrael recognized her name and knew they were in trouble. “Geddy, why don’t you both teleport home?”
“Seriously Gav, if it were that easy wouldn’t we already be there? First, Renny is unconscious, and nothing I do seems to wake him. I can get myself home but I can’t leave him here.”
“Where is Latarian now?”
“I have no idea. I don’t know what the hell this room is made of, but I can’t get the damn door to open, and something in here is draining our magic. You need to get us out of here.”
“Of course. I will alert everyone and track you down myself.”
“For the record, the next time I ask you to leave without our daggers slap some sense into me. Had I been wearing them, I could have slit both their throats and rescued Renny. Now we are stuck here with these morons, and who knows what they are capable of or what their plans are.” Gedeon’s tone was ripe with disgust. Gavrael did not have time to comfort his mate; he needed to find him. Then he would lavish him with all the reassurance he needed. It hardly mattered now that they had left the house without their weapons. They needed to act, not worry about decisions made earlier in the day.
Gavrael dropped his books onto the nearest shelf and strode swiftly toward the entrance where his family was gathered. “Geddy, I will let you know our plan when we have it. I will find you shortly. I promise.”
“I know you will. I doubt there is a sentinel alive as good as you.” Trusting his mate would be okay until he could get a plan together, Gavrael quickly laid out the story to the group of D’Vaires at the front of the bookstore.
“Latarian has Renny and Gedeon? What the fuck? We should have killed her when we had the chance,” Brogan shouted.
Ignoring his mate, Dra’Kaedan turned to Gavrael and asked, “Do you know where they were taken from? Can you sense anything?”
After a quick conference with his mate to find out he had been taken from the quietest corner in the place, Gavrael headed there and found little magical residue lingering.
“The spell was cast with no excess of magic. I sense very little.”
“Not to worry. We’ll call Reverent Knight Drystan. With you and the help of the fallen knights, we will get them back, and this time Latarian will not escape justice,” Dra’Kaedan vowed.
Without wasting another precious second, Dra’Kaedan cast a circle of his own, and soon they were standing in the D’Vaire living room. Aleksander was pulled from his office and brought up to speed. Trystan had already called his father, and the Reverent Knight popped into their home before the two had hung up their phones. With him were two men dressed in the same black uniform Drystan wore, though instead of the thick silver-embroidered RK, these two men had two black letters, VK, that were traced in silver. Gavrael was unfamiliar with the two, but they were quickly introduced.
The men in question were Venerable Knight Vann Ruarc and Venerable Knight Roman Calixtus, and they ranked just below Reverent Knight Drystan. No doubt with the help of these powerful fallen knights, they would be able to locate Gedeon and Renny. Venerable Knight Vann had a swath of wheat-colored hair and lively blue eyes while Venerable Knight Roman had hair that was close to black while still falling in the brown category, and his eyes were of a similar color to Vann’s but were far more serious.
“Dra’Kaedan, I must apologize for our failure to apprehend Latarian. We had no leads; there was no trace or any clue to where she had gone, but we never stopped trying, and rest assured we will do all we can to assist you,” Drystan said, his voice firm.
“Gavrael, it is nice to meet another sentinel, though I wish it were under better circumstances,” Roman said.
While it was intriguing to meet men of a race so similar to his own, Gavrael wished to waste no time gossiping. “Little magic was left by the young wizard and Latarian; I must begin searching for Gedeon and Renny.”
“Of course, we’ve wasted enough time,” Drystan said, and Gavrael offered him a quick nod to acknowledge his words before he cast a spell that landed him in the bedroom he shared with Gedeon. Allowing his magic free reign, he was redressed and wearing his weapons before another full second had passed. A good assassin could waste no time, and sentinels were nearly perfect killing machines. Another fast spell and he was once again in the living room with the others.
“Shit, sentinels move fast,” Vann remarked with something akin to awe.
“I will begin tracking my mate now,” Gavrael said. It was the last thing he planned to say until Gedeon was safely home, but then Fate was conspiring against him this day.
“Wait. Gavrael, I can amplify your magic. I can’t get a read at all on Renny. Gedeon is our only link,” Dra’Kaedan spoke so fast the words nearly stumbled over each other.
“Something is draining them.”
“How do you know that?” Vann asked, sounding bewildered.
“They can communicate telepathically,” Aleksander informed the fallen knights.
“No shit,” Vann said with his blond eyebrows nearly touching his hairline.
The air filled with so much raw magical power, it nearly fogged Gavrael’s precisely honed senses. No doubt Dra’Kaedan was deeply concerned about his familiar and was more than willing to use all the abilities in his vast arsenal.
“If you’ll allow me to touch your arm as you track, I can teleport the entire group to wherever you lead us,” Dra’Kaedan said, his eyes glittered with gold over his normal navy blue. Gavrael had seen Dra’Kaedan cast plenty of spells in their home, but never had he truly seen the Grand Warlock at work.
Once again, Gavrael gave a quick nod of h
is head, and he felt the small hand of the blond warlock rest upon his cloak-covered arm. Not surprisingly, the first place the trail led him was right back to the bookstore. He landed soundlessly on the roof of the building cloaked in shadow. Gavrael was immediately joined by the warlock twins, the three fallen knights, and both sentinels’ necromancers. There were also dragons amongst their group. King Aleksander stood between his powerful dukes, Brogan and Aleksander’s cousin, Dravyn.
Gavrael’s respect for Dra’Kaedan grew when he realized it was not only Gavrael’s location he was connecting his magic to, but the entire group was also as invisible as he was. It was an innate ability for fallen knights, and the warlocks could cast just about any spell, but it took a powerful sorcerer to conceal three dragon shifters. Regrettably, Gavrael could not sense anything much farther from this spot.
Turning to Drystan and his two Venerable Knights, he asked, “Do you sense anything?”
“I can’t even feel the trace that led you to this spot,” Drystan confided, and Gavrael was surprised at the admission. He didn’t realize that sentinels’ power outreached that of the fallen knights. From his knitted brow, the leader of the Order of the Fallen Knights was none too happy with their mutual discovery. “Can you ask your mate if he can give us any further clues about his location?”
“Geddy, we have traced you back to the bookstore. I can sense nothing past this point. Is there anything you feel that is distinctive to your location? Perhaps I can trace that.”
“Nothing is unique here except for these freaky-ass rocks. I have an idea, though. Have Dra’Kaedan summon his familiar then I’ll use my magic to return. Unless it is too drained. If it is, then you can follow the trace of Renny returning. I don’t know why I didn’t think of that right from the start.” Gedeon’s voice was ripe with frustration as it meandered across his senses.
Sentinel's Dagger (D'Vaire, Book 2) Page 21
