“Everybody, we are going to head out in about five minutes. Make sure you have anything you think you will need. We won’t be coming back until we have both Renny and Gedeon,” Aleksander announced.
* * *
After the D’Vaire king was finished speaking, Dra’Kaedan grabbed his mate’s arm and pulled him into the hallway where they could steal a few moments of privacy. They were in a hurry, but he had to let his mate know what was on his mind. “Brogan, this is my fault,” Dra’Kaedan said in a troubled whisper.
“How in the world is this your fault?” Brogan asked as he pulled his eyebrows together.
“When I returned and my power was restored, I chose not to pursue her. I cared more about living my own life than chasing her down. I thought she was just a selfish, mean-spirited woman who would be pissed because her power source was gone.”
Brogan pulled Dra’Kaedan close before speaking. “She didn’t use the power when she had it. There’s no way you could’ve known she would do something like steal Renny.”
“I tried to leave the past behind, but it never lets us go. You have to vanquish your enemies or they haunt you. They rise up and try to take you down again. Strip away the things you care about. The people you love. I didn’t think she was really evil. I thought it was her grandfather. That Carvallius had done the truly despicable part by casting the spells that tied me to her. I thought in a sick way she saved my life. If I hadn’t been stuck in a cabin with her I might have died with my parents,” Dra’Kaedan said as his throat thickened with tears.
“No, your life would have been spared just as your brother’s was. The truth is, you would have been in a different cabin with Dre’Kariston at your side. The two of you would have probably come up with a crazy plan that might have saved your people. That scenario is a lot more likely, and both Carvallius and Latarian robbed you of that.”
“And I just let her go, Brogan.”
“Don’t confuse the fact that you are the most powerful sorcerer alive with the idea you are infallible because there is no such thing. The Order of the Fallen Knights couldn’t find her, and they solve crimes for a living,” Brogan said in a stern tone as he pulled Dra’Kaedan away from his body, so he could see into his troubled eyes.
“Brogan, this time I can’t let her get away. She will keep coming back to try and steal what she can from me. Whatever I need to do to stop her, that is what I’m prepared to do.”
Brogan quirked a brow at his small mate. “Oh, and just what do you think I’m going to do? Stop you? She took our Renny. Not to mention that Gedeon is stuck in that room with the creepy stones. Those stones by the way that you will be staying the hell away from.”
“Yeah, because I’m so anxious to be near something that is going to drain my magic. No thank you,” Dra’Kaedan replied as he frowned up at his mate. Brogan let out a chuckle.
“Let’s go, baby. We got a warlock to take down and two D’Vaires to get home.”
* * *
Gedeon looked over at Renny and felt his concern grow. The little familiar certainly did not look like he had any plans for waking up, and Gedeon was starting to grow impatient. He had no idea how much time had passed since they left the bookstore. A watch wasn’t part of the sentinel uniform, not that he was wearing that today, and Gavrael was the one who was obsessed with schedules, so Gedeon didn’t have to worry about time management. It was difficult for someone who was trained for their whole existence to protect and manage their way through dangerous situations to just sit on a worn mattress and wait for someone to rescue him. He didn’t know what was being used to so effectively barricade the door, but he guessed the wood had been imbued with the strange rocks because every time Gedeon touched it, he felt a bone-deep coldness.
It was a very paralyzing feeling, and Gedeon wanted to get out of the room. He wanted to know where he was being held and how it was laid out. If nothing else, he could send that information to his mate via their mind link, but it was foolish to leave Renny alone when he could not defend himself. The telepathic channel Gavrael shared with him was mostly silent as his mate was working hard to orchestrate a rescue plan, and Gedeon did not want to be a distraction.
With no idea about the routines of this place, Gedeon could not fathom a guess as to when one of their captors would return. Gedeon didn’t know if it was only Latarian and the wizard in on this plan to harm Renny; or what exactly their plans were for him. Gedeon doubted Latarian would bother to kidnap someone if she didn’t have something more nefarious in mind once she had them in her control. Especially if that kidnapped person was also unconscious. Back home, Gavrael and the D’Vaires seemed to believe elves were involved. Surrounded by so many of these idiotic stones, Gedeon couldn’t use any of his senses to determine the number of people in the building or their races. With so many questions and so few answers, Gedeon was quickly beginning to feel like a failure. Thankfully, he had a mate he trusted implicitly to save him from whatever mess he had managed to drop himself in.
Thinking of Gavrael made Gedeon let out a sigh. He was going to spend hours promising he would never make either one of them leave home without their daggers again. They should always be prepared for anything. Just as that thought entered his brain, Gedeon heard a slight creak. Someone was opening the heavy door that led to the small space where he and Renny were.
Gedeon silently got to his feet and noticed offhandedly it took him longer than normal to do so. He didn’t have time to dwell on it; if this was an opportunity to make better of the situation he couldn’t afford to waste it. The door was opened mere inches when a long, thin object was thrown into the room. It landed only two or three feet from where it had been thrown and came to rest near the pile of rocks in the center of the room.
The heavy door was then pulled shut so Gedeon returned his attention to the object and realized it was a knife. Gedeon had no idea what the intent was behind that strange action but he leaned down and snatched it up. The icy feeling told him it was full of the stone substance. Gedeon sat back down on the smelly bed and decided to keep the blade close at hand. He couldn’t pocket it due to its magic-leaching qualities, but he did lay it down on a wooden table close to where the sentinel was perched on the mattress. Hopefully, Gavrael would be here before he had to make use of it.
Chapter 21
“You are coming from below. Good. The man is dead. Did you sense if the familiar’s magic is low? He needs to be near death before we can begin.” Latarian rubbed her hands together in glee as she spoke. The sentinel had been a diversion she could not afford.
“Well, not exactly dead, but I did take the knife down there,” Idris said as he cocked his head to the side as if he were deep in thought.
“What do you mean he lives still? You promised to end him,” she said as she grabbed his arm and closed her hand around it like a vise.
“Ow. I didn’t actually promise I would do that. You said I had to.”
“Any order I give to you becomes a promise you make to me,” Latarian snapped.
“Well I got scared. I went downstairs and I started thinking about how he’s bigger than me. If he saw me with a knife, he might grab it from me. Then he might stab me dead.”
“Were it not for the power you grant me, I would wish he had.”
“That’s mean, Latarian. I tried. I did. I opened the door and I threw the knife in there. I didn’t hear any yelling or anything so maybe I hit him,” Idris said as he tried unsuccessfully to loosen his tender arm from her harsh grasp.
Latarian shook him before speaking. “Thanks to your idiocy, he is the one now armed with a knife.”
“I guess I didn’t think about it like that. I’m sorry. I really am. Maybe I could try and go get it? We could cast a spell to knock him out. Like we did with that familiar.”
“Have you no ability to use your magic? He has been resurrected, not born or summoned. I do not have such spells to render him unconscious,” she screamed into his face.
“You know I do
n’t know how to use my magic. I didn’t know that.” After Idris spoke, Latarian lifted her chin slightly and released the death grip she had on him. She had been more than patient enough with the stupid boy. As she already had Dra’Kaedan’s familiar downstairs, her use for Idris was rapidly dwindling. It was time he learned she was not going to deal with any more of his foolishness. Soon he would give her the magic to cast her grandfather’s spells, and then he would be out of her life. In the meantime, he would no more be a thorn in her side.
“Idris, I have need of your magic,” Latarian said and braced herself for the onslaught of burning pain. Once he had finished giving her a reasonable amount of it, she signaled him to stop. Then she drew upon her memory of the spells her grandfather had once used on her when she misbehaved. Latarian gathered up a bright translucent globe of fiery orange and hurled it straight at Idris’s solar plexus. The young wizard screamed out in pain and doubled over with his arms coming around to cover his midsection. Seconds later Idris retched out the contents of his stomach onto the wooden floor.
“Do not make the mistake of disappointing me again,” she said as he sank to the floor on his bottom and looked up at her, his blue eyes wet with tears.
“I’m sorry,” Idris whispered. Latarian did not bother to reply or to waste any more time on the teenager. She brushed past where he still sat on the floor and headed upstairs to rest. Soon she would need all her energy to regain her power.
* * *
“Do you sense anything yet?” Dra’Kaedan asked Gavrael seconds after the warlock had completed the spell that brought the two of them and the rest of their companions to the very edge of the European continent in Wales where the Cwylld had once flourished. Three dragons, one necromancer, two warlocks, and two sentinels made up their hunting party.
“It is a distant feeling, but I believe Latarian and the wizard are within my ability to track,” Gavrael replied.
“Track your mate, Gavrael. That will lead us to everyone we want to find,” the warlock said with an almost smile. Gavrael gave him a nod and focused solely on Gedeon. He felt Dra’Kaedan touch his arm and magic course through him. Dre’Kariston’s touch was next and then Chander’s hand was flat against the back of his cloak. Once all that light and dark power was flying through his veins, Gavrael felt the essence of his mate.
“He is here. There is a stone building. He is in it.” Gavrael rushed through his words as the image popped into his brain.
“Concentrate on the building. I’ll port us to it,” Dre’Kariston said, and the air around them shimmered. Now the house was not only in Gavrael’s mind but also in his field of view. The sorcerers on either side of him had his respect; they were indeed cunning and powerful. The building the two had transported them to was a crumbling stack of rocks sitting in a field of green grass. To the side of the structure was a garden that was run over with weeds on one side and barren on the other. Whoever lived here, taking care of their home properly was not high on their priority list.
“How many are there?” Aleksander asked. Their voices and bodies were cloaked to any preying eyes.
“There are three besides Gedeon and Renny. Latarian, the wizard, and an elf. The elf is not well. Starving. The wizard is injured. He has taken a blow to the middle. Renny is unconscious, but I cannot tell if he is injured; something is masking his essence. Gedeon is unharmed, though he has little magic remaining,” Gavrael stated as the information flowed from his brain to his mouth.
“Geddy, we are here. Just outside.”
“I knew you’d find us.”
“I appreciate your faith in me. I am sorry it took so long.”
“Yeah, it’s been what, an hour or so?”
“We are entering the house.”
“I’ll see you soon.”
Aleksander led them to the back of the house and spoke, “I believe we should go in without concealing our identities. I doubt they are any match for us, and I can’t shift if I need to under such heavy magic.”
“You shift and the whole house is going to explode,” Brogan said, and Aleksander rolled his eyes.
“I would jump out of a window first. This isn’t my first day as a shifter,” the D’Vaire king said in a dry tone.
“The wizard is strong but not a match for us. Latarian is no threat,” Dra’Kaedan agreed and lifted the spell that kept them invisible. Aleksander opened the seemingly ancient door that was practically rotting off its hinges. He motioned for the group to enter the space, and everyone entered ahead of him save for Brogan who shook his head violently at his king. Giving another blue-black eye roll, Aleksander stepped into the room with Brogan on his heels.
They found themselves in a kitchen that boasted dark wooden cabinets scarred with age and use. Whoever the home belonged to, they had not kept up with caring inside the home any more than they tended to the outside, Gavrael thought. The appliances looked barely serviceable, and the stone floor was heavy with cracks.
“Who is there? Idris?” a gentle voice asked. Gavrael looked down to find an elf in a very poor state sitting on the worn floor. Pale hair covered in oil and dirt, one ear broken and bent, and clothes so dirty it was a wonder they did not walk away on their own, the elf had Gavrael’s immediate sympathy. His eyes were also milky white and likely blind, so Gavrael immediately understood the nature of his question. Without sight, he could not ascertain who had entered the room.
“It is not Idris. Is that the wizard? Do you know where he is?” Gavrael asked and hoped his voice would not scare the abused creature.
“Please don’t hurt me. I beg you,” the elf responded.
Aleksander bent down onto one knee from his great height and spoke softly. “I am King Aleksander D’Vairedraconis and you have my promise no harm will come to you. What’s your name?”
“Your Highness, I am called Edion,” the elf said, and though his voice sounded more confident, Edion still trembled where he sat so inelegantly.
“Edion, two members of my family were brought here. We only wish to bring them home. Can you help us?” Aleksander asked, his voice tender with kindness.
“Your Highness, there are two people here brought against their will. They are downstairs in a room full of stones that drain magic.”
“King Aleksander, how wonderful for you to have paid us a visit. Dra’Kaedan, I see Edion has made himself known to you. Did he make mention of his tribe? He is Cwylld. It was elves much like him that ended the lives of your father and mother,” Latarian announced as she entered the room in which their group stood with Edion. Aleksander raised himself back up to his six foot six height and glared in her direction.
“I would advise you not to antagonize us, Latarian,” Aleksander said.
“I bet you thought we would scream and yell when we found out Edion here is Cwylld, but we already knew they were involved somehow, otherwise you wouldn’t have the ability to drain magic. Sorry to disappoint you by not being shocked, but we’re going to go downstairs now and get Gedeon and Renny. Then we are going to haul your crazy ass back to the Order of the Fallen Knights,” Dra’Kaedan said in an unimpressed tone as he began walking across the kitchen. Gavrael did not waste any time and fell right into step behind him.
Latarian let out a great gust of breath and then shrieked Idris’s name at the top of her lungs. Above them, Gavrael could hear the thunder of the wizard’s feet as he rushed down the stairs to do Latarian’s bidding. Dra’Kaedan and the rest of their group continued to ignore her as they began searching for a staircase to lead them down to the bottom level of the crumbling home.
“Idris, I need your magic.” Gavrael heard Latarian’s voice drift to his ears from where she remained with the wizard now at her side.
“Too late Latarian,” Dra’Kaedan called out to her from where he roamed the house in front of Gavrael.
“Idris, I am waiting,” she demanded.
“I don’t know what’s wrong. I swear. I’m trying but my magic isn’t going anywhere,” Idris said in a panic
.
“I blocked it,” Chander yelled out in a helpful tone while Benton snickered next to him.
“Found it,” Dre’Kariston announced, and they all rushed to his side to hustle down the stairwell.
“It will do you no use. They are in a room full of the Cwylld stones. Your magic too will be drained. Then you will be powerless. Powerless. The same as me,” Latarian said in a sneer as she caught up with them and pushed right past. Gavrael was not going to get in her way; she was leading them straight to his mate.
“Not exactly powerless. If you drained the magic of all the sorcerers here, and we all fell asleep in an adorable little pile, you still have three dragon shifters to contend with. They aren’t casters,” Dra’Kaedan said with a rueful shake of his blond curls.
“I will not be left this way. I will not be left without any magic while you and your murderous brother enjoy it beyond the measure of most,” Latarian replied in a dark voice as she slowly pushed open a thick door. As the door opened, Gavrael’s first thought was that he was finally once again in the presence of his mate. The next thing he felt was the draining of the stones. They yanked at his senses, and Gavrael detested any kind of weakness.
“Get in here already,” Gedeon demanded through their mind link.
“I am right behind Dra’Kaedan,” Gavrael assured him. As soon as the door was opened wide enough to allow her to pass, Latarian rushed into the room. Dra’Kaedan followed and Gavrael gave the door a hefty shove so those of a larger frame could enter the space. Gavrael looked into the room, and his eyes met the cool mint of the man he would spend eternity with. His heart soared, and Gedeon offered him a wink before he turned to his left and stepped in front of Latarian to block her from touching Renny. Slowed down his mate might be, but his instincts were honed to perfection.
Sentinel's Dagger (D'Vaire, Book 2) Page 23
