Things were delivered quickly in their building, and it wasn’t long before there was a knock at the door. Chander went to answer it, but Baxter glared at him and yanked it open. He paid for their dinner and then set it down on the coffee table. Opening the box, Chander inhaled deeply and was annoyed that the smell of his pepperoni pizza was no longer his favorite scent. That distinction now belonged to the mysterious leader of the sentinels.
“You sure you don’t want to talk about it?”
“Talk about what?” Chander asked after swallowing his bite of heaven.
“You’re making the same nasty face you made when we were talking about Alaric earlier.”
“I’m not making a face.”
“We’ve been friends for over six centuries,” Baxter said. “I know what all your facial expressions mean.”
“At least I have facial expressions.”
“Sentinels have facial expressions, asshole,” Baxter retorted. “We just don’t use them as often as the rest of the world.”
“I’m not sure your leader even has an entire face.”
Baxter narrowed his eyes. “He has a damn face.”
“He could be part skeleton.”
“He doesn’t have some asshole necromancer forcing him to murder people,” Baxter replied. “He’s not a skeleton.”
“You could be lying,” Chander countered with his mouth still full.
“You’re just trying to piss me off so I’ll stop talking about your mate.”
“Call him Alaric,” Chander ordered. “Or Lich Sentinel. But don’t call him my mate.”
“I wonder if he’s figured out yet that in the eyes of the Council of Sorcery and Shifters, he’s now the Arch Lich-mate since the sentinels aren’t an official race,” Baxter said thoughtfully.
“I’m not going to call him that, and I’ll be damned if I’ll let anyone else call him that either. Fate made him the Lich Sentinel. No one should take that away from him.”
“It’s cute how you’re already defending him.”
“I might not be able to kill you,” Chander remarked after swallowing, “but I can stick you in stasis and lock you in a box for eternity.”
“Do you want to know what the best part of today is?”
“There is literally no good part about today.”
“You just met your mate. How can that not be good?”
“I’ve been telling you I don’t want one forever,” Chander reminded him.
“It’s different now,” Baxter said. “He’s yours. You should take care of him. Learn to live together. All the stuff mates do.”
“I have no interest in that, and by the way he left I would say we’re on the same page.”
“He’s a really intense guy. He puts the care of the sentinels above all else.”
“Doesn’t say much for our future relationship.”
“You are literally the most pessimistic person on the planet.”
Chander polished off his slice of pizza. “I know. I need to get to work.”
“You don’t want to know what I think the best part of today is?”
“You already told me,” Chander said. “I met my mate.” He grimaced. “And I’m sure you’ll add again how cool you think it is because he’s your nearly faceless leader.”
“He’s not missing any part of his face, and that wasn’t what I was going to say at all.”
“Okay then, what?”
“Easy,” Baxter responded with a shit-eating grin. “I got to be there when you met Alaric instead of that loser Benton.”
As the words penetrated Chander’s brain, a deep sense of dread began to creep through him. “Shit.”
“Oh come on, he wouldn’t have been any nicer to you than I am.”
“Bax,” Chander said. “Think.”
Baxter gave him a bored look. “I don’t want to think about him.”
“Too bad,” Chander retorted as the pieces began to line up in his head. “Don’t you get it?”
“Get what?”
“I’m the only necromancer with two sentinels.”
“That’s not news.”
“We always assumed I would be mated to another necromancer and his sentinel would be either your mate or Ben’s, but my mate is a sentinel.”
“I know that.”
“Bax, I have two sentinels because you are mates,” Chander explained and wanted to throw himself in Conley’s box.
“No fucking way,” Baxter yelled as he jumped to his feet. “That loser isn’t my mate.”
“I bet he is.”
“You’re wrong.”
“I’ll summon him and you’ll see.”
“You better not,” Baxter retorted as he started to run out of the room. He tripped over the coffee table and almost brained himself on the wooden floor. Baxter righted himself and tore down the hallway. The next thing Chander heard was the banging of his door against the jamb.
Chander dropped his face into his hands and wondered how he’d managed to once again fuck things up. This time, without intending to, he’d kept his two best friends from being together. It had been his decision to never summon them together—he didn’t think he needed two guards. At first, he hadn’t even known two were bound to his soul. He’d had Baxter with him and had sent him back home as he wasn’t sure he was comfortable depending on a sentinel twenty-four hours a day.
When he’d summoned him back, Benton had shown up. Since that day over six and a half centuries ago, he’d switched back and forth. Now that he knew they were likely mates, he wondered if once again he’d have to see people he cared about looking at him with hatred and anger. To Chander, this was just one more reason why Fate should never have stuck him with a mate. Not to mention one that wasn’t going to be able to forgive him for hurting two sentinels by keeping them apart.
Chapter 5
Since the moment Baxter had used his dagger to bind Gavrael and Gedeon’s blood at their mating ceremony, he’d thought about his own mate. It seemed like a wonderful thing to have. After all, who wanted to be alone all the time? But when Chander had suggested in the living room that Benton was the other half of his soul, Baxter had done the one thing sentinels never did. He’d run from the room like his ass was on fire. He wasn’t afraid of being mated, but he sure as hell didn’t want to be tied to the one jerk who kept him at the compound every other week.
Baxter had been summoned first when Chander was a teenager. So distraught over the loss of nearly the entire race of warlocks, Chander hadn’t waited to turn eighteen as necromancer tradition dictated. At sixteen, Chander had cast the spell that had first brought Baxter to the world of the then Council of Sorcery. Afterward, the young Arch Lich had been chastised by the elder council, and he’d sent Baxter back to that shitty gray prison. When he’d finally resolved to make his own decision about having a sentinel at his side, it was Benton who’d shown up. Since that fateful day, they’d shared the sacred duty of protecting their necromancer.
Over time, Baxter had grown to love Chander. He was his friend. He was his family. And Baxter took considerable pride in keeping him safe from harm. But for each week Baxter spent in Chander’s home, he had to spend a week at the compound. Baxter didn’t care what anyone thought, that place was horrible. It was dreary and the solitude became overbearing. He’d never thought it was fair he had to share Chander with another sentinel. Especially one who was not his equal because quite frankly, Baxter didn’t believe anyone but the Lich Sentinel could be.
And now the person he adored most was calmly suggesting Benton was his mate. Perhaps the trauma of meeting his own other half had caused Chander’s brain cells to misfire. Although Baxter couldn’t imagine why Chander wouldn’t want to be tied to the Lich Sentinel. Sure, Alaric was intense and he never spoke about anything besides bettering the sentinels, but that would change now that he was going to be spending time here at the Council of Sorcery and Shifters. He’d get to know Chander and learn firsthand about all this world had to offer.
&n
bsp; “Bax, open this door,” Chander demanded from the other side of it.
“No.”
“I’ll use magic if you don’t open it,” Chander warned.
That was the problem with living with a powerful dark sorcerer. There was no place to hide. With a great deal of reluctance, Baxter stood and opened the door. “He’s not my mate.”
“Be rational. It makes sense. That’s why I have two. Most necromancers mate other necromancers. We know from Gavrael and Gedeon two mated necros also have a pair of sentinels who are together,” Chander said as he leaned against the wall.
“They are the only mated sentinels. You can’t come up with an entire theory of our people with a single example. There are thousands of necromancers and therefore thousands of sentinels,” Baxter replied as he crossed his arms over his charcoal T-shirt.
“I’m going to summon him and then we’ll find out for sure.”
Pure panic hit Baxter like a wall. “That’s not fair. You should warn him first.”
Chander blew out a breath. “Yeah, I guess I should.”
“Next week when he’s here, you guys can discuss it. Let me know how it goes.”
“No, if I’m right, then I’ve robbed you of over six and a half centuries with your mate. Go back to the compound. I’ll talk to Ben and summon you back.”
“Chand, even if you’re right, I’m not going to tolerate you beating yourself up over this. You keep that damn box of Conley’s in the living room so you can continue punishing yourself over what happened with him and Drystan. I don’t want this to be another thing you use to be miserable and not take care of yourself.”
Chander glared. “Don’t make this about me—it’s about the two of you.”
“Fine, I’ll go but I want to tell you that you’re wrong. We’re not mates,” Baxter said as he grabbed his cloak and escaped Chander’s piercing gaze by flipping the hood. Without another word, he teleported back to his room at the compound. In a little while, Chander would summon him home and then Baxter was only going to make fun of him for the next century or so for being wrong about the whole situation.
* * *
Benton’s world began to narrow, and he hastily donned his cloak. This was something he’d been waiting for. Finally. Chander had obviously realized his other sentinel was ill-prepared to handle the duty of seeing to his safety. He was going to try hard not to rub it in his best friend’s face. As soon as Benton was teleported to the living room of the condo he shared with Chander and He Who Shall Not Be Named, he threw off his hood and smiled.
“I’m glad you finally came to your senses.”
Chander’s forehead creased in thick lines which looked strange on his boyish face. “How did you figure it out?”
“Chand, I’ve been telling you for years he stinks as a sentinel.”
The Arch Lich’s expression relaxed before he frowned. “You two are really going to have to get over your stupid competitiveness with each other,” he muttered. “Have a seat. We need to talk.”
Benton sat down in an ancient armchair which was equivalent to putting his ass on a rock. “Is that pizza I smell? You gotta start eating some decent food.”
“Thanks, now shut up,” Chander demanded as he took a seat on the battered sofa.
“What’s wrong?”
“I met my mate today.”
“Wow,” Benton said. That was not what he had been expecting to hear at all. “Congratulations. Who is he?” His best friend had figured out he was gay when he was still in his teens so Benton didn’t have to take a guess as to the sex of his other half.
Chander grimaced. “Your Lich Sentinel.”
“Alaric?” Baxter asked stupidly.
“Yes, you know he was here today to meet the Emperor,” Chander responded. “Turns out we’re mates.”
“Alaric’s awesome, you know. Fate has smiled upon you.”
“There’s more.”
“More what?”
“I have more news to tell you,” Chander said as he propped his elbows on his knees.
“Okay, shoot.”
“I have two sentinels.”
“I know and I’m sorry. That other one is worthless.”
“I think he’s your mate,” Chander stated.
Benton jumped to his feet. “The hell?”
“Please, sit down. Think about it. Necromancers have sentinels. When two necromancers mate, it turns out their sentinels are also mates. I have two sentinels because my mate is a sentinel. That means the reason I have two is because you are mates.”
Slowly Benton lowered himself back into the chair. “You’re basing this all on Gavrael and Gedeon. Their necromancers are mates and so are they. But that’s one example. There are no other mated sentinels.”
“You sound just like Bax,” Chander grumbled. “Look, it makes sense. Warlocks were that way before they were nearly exterminated. Warlock to warlock. Familiar to familiar. Necromancer to necromancer. Sentinel to sentinel. Fate likes to make sure nothing can separate mates. If sentinels weren’t mated that way, they’d be forced to follow their own necromancer and never have time for their other half.”
“I’m going to admit there’s a great deal of logic in your argument,” Benton responded. “But I can’t be his mate. Fate wouldn’t do that to me.”
“You’ve never even met him. You have based your entire opinion of him on the fact that you’re angry because you have to spend a week at the compound while he’s here,” Chander argued.
“Summon his ass then,” Benton challenged. “We don’t have to sit around and argue about it. And because I love you I’m not even going to rub it in your face when you’re wrong.”
“Fine.”
Benton leaned back and propped his feet on the scarred coffee table as another sentinel began materializing in the room. In his roomy pants, Benton’s sex filled with blood and his head started to buzz with joy. Oh shit, he thought in mild terror. The jerk really was his mate.
“You have to be kidding,” Baxter called out as he threw off the hood of his cloak. Benton had known he was blond, but no one had told him it was the rich color of honey. Like his hair color, Benton had been told his eyes were brown. That wasn’t accurate at all, they were the color of a sandy beach. His full mouth was frowning.
Rising to his feet, Benton narrowed his gaze. “You don’t get to be mad about this.”
“I’ll leave you guys alone to talk,” Chander said. “Congratulations.” Then the Arch Lich strode out of the room.
“He’s upset,” Baxter remarked.
“No shit.”
“Don’t start with me.”
“With you?” Benton asked. “Get over yourself.”
“We both know I’m the better sentinel, but I think we can agree Chand is our family.”
“You aren’t the better sentinel. What you are is delusional,” Benton snapped. “But yes, Chand is family.”
Baxter snorted. “Delusional, my ass.”
“I haven’t seen your ass yet, but if it’s half as nice as your face then I won’t complain to Fate about you being my mate.”
“We could have sex now, you know,” Baxter said. “We’re mates, we might as well enjoy each other and try it out.”
“Are you serious right now?” Benton asked. “We literally just met.”
Baxter shrugged. “Just saying. I’d like to see you strip.”
“I can’t believe I have to spend the rest of eternity with you.”
“I could kill you,” Baxter offered. “Then you wouldn’t have to.”
“Even if you managed to rob me of my daggers, you still couldn’t kill me.”
“I’m thinking I’d like to top you first.”
“For Fate’s sake, stop thinking about sex.”
“Why? I’m enjoying this feeling of being hard.”
“I think it feels weird,” Benton said. “I’m glad it never happened before I met you.”
“Gedeon says masturbating is fun,” Baxter replied. “We’ve be
en missing out on quite a bit waiting for each other.”
“Take it up with Fate. Our people have no sexuality before they meet their mates, so we’re stuck.”
“I’d like to be stuck in you.”
“Would you fucking focus?” Benton asked in exasperation.
“I am focused.”
“On something besides my ass.”
“I wouldn’t mind your dick in my ass.”
Benton threw his hands up in the air. “You’re impossible.”
“Fine,” Baxter responded with a roll of his eyes. “What do you want to talk about?”
“First, can you believe Alaric and Chand are mates?”
“Yeah, I was there,” Baxter replied. “We’re sitting in that meeting and Alaric asks Chand at the very end if they’re mates, then he bolts back to the compound.”
“What the fuck?”
“Yeah, and he never even took his hood off, so Chand is convinced he doesn’t have all of his face.”
“We have so much work to do,” Benton lamented.
“Yeah, they are going to need us,” Baxter said. “And then when Chand came up with this idea of us being mates—”
“Which he was right about.”
“Obviously,” Baxter responded. “And I was prepared to laugh in his face but I have to say now that I’ve seen you…” The other sentinel let his sentence trail off as he comically waggled his brows.
“I know you’re impressed. I mean, how couldn’t you be? But we need to remember Chand is going to go into a shame spiral over this.”
“I know it. He already apologized.”
“So, we both agree this isn’t his fault?” Benton challenged as he leaned a bit forward.
“We gonna kiss?” Benton opened his mouth to scream at the idiot but Baxter threw up his arms. “Okay, okay. Yes, of course it’s not his fault. There’s no way he could have known. He’s not a mind reader.”
Rise of the Lich Sentinel Page 4
