“Evergreen, does this man have an appointment?” Elder Sigimund called out in a shrill voice.
“He can’t schedule a damn appointment,” Chander snapped. “There are no clocks at the sentinel compound. How would he know when to arrive?”
“He can’t just show up here unannounced,” the elder complained.
“I’m pretty sure he’s not here to see you, Sigimund, so why don’t you let me worry about my own schedule?”
“What do you want, Lich Sentinel?” Elder Sigimund demanded.
“I have completed the papers to file the sentinels’ petition to join the Council of Sorcery and Shifters,” Alaric replied and watched as Sigimund’s gray eyes filled with alarm.
Sigimund turned to Chander. “The Order of Necromancia controls the sentinels. They cannot join the Council. We make their rules and they need to remain at their compound.”
“The sentinels deserve the right to make their own decisions, Sigimund,” Chander said. “We can’t tell them where they can live and what to do.”
“The hell we can’t,” Sigimund insisted. “Without us they wouldn’t even exist. Not that I agree with having them at all, but the truth remains they cannot be a separate entity. They are too dangerous to have free will.”
Alaric decided he didn’t like Elder Sigimund, and he could see the man would never help the sentinels. He held out the papers in his hand to Chander, who took them. “Is there anything else you require from me?”
“I’ll file this and let you know,” Chander promised as their eyes met. He thought Chander seemed a bit lifeless and hoped he was not the cause for the weariness on his face.
“Thank you, Arch Lich,” Alaric replied. “I look forward to bettering the lives of the sentinels.”
“I’m aware,” Chander said with a ghost of a smile.
“I must return to the compound,” Alaric stated. “Send word when you’re ready to discuss our matebond ceremony. It will be good for the sentinels for us to be united.”
Chander closed his eyes as Elder Sigimund gasped. “What?” the elder screeched out.
Alaric had no idea what his problem was and he was unable to linger and find out. His duty was done, and he had to return to tend to his men. He covered his face with his cloak and teleported back to the place where sentinels had been confined for their entire existence. It had been nice to see Chander, and he would cherish those moments. Alaric knew so little of the Arch Lich, but it was not for lack of interest. He found the small sorcerer captivating. Hopefully he would be able to find other ways he could benefit sentinels so he had more excuses to visit him.
* * *
Chander wished he had a sentinel’s dagger. He’d use it to stab Alaric. To be fair, it wasn’t really Alaric’s fault. He hadn’t known Chander had kept the fact that they were mates a secret. Mostly it was because the man humiliated him at every turn by never spending any time with him, but he’d also known the elder council would lose their shit over the announcement. Just as Sigimund was doing now. He was ranting and raving about the dangers of sentinels, and Chander leaned his very tired body against the wall. The feeling of being drained wasn’t a new one, but it seemed to be hitting him with more ferocity these days. Chander couldn’t deal with an irate elder, so he was going to stand here until he wound down and they could speak rationally. Or as rational as any of these idiotic elders got.
“Elder Sigimund,” Evergreen shouted. “You need to watch what you say. The Council forbids anyone coming between mates, and I’m pretty sure you suggesting Chander lock his mate up in the compound and never seeing him again is against the law.”
“Stay out of this, you stupid man,” Sigimund snapped. “This is none of your business.”
“Don’t speak to my assistant that way,” Chander retorted. “He’s right. You can’t come between mates, and you certainly are in no position to tell me how to handle my personal life. You and the rest of the elder council may have maneuvered yourselves into controlling the Order of Necromancia, but there will never come a time when you will control me.”
“You know very well everything you do impacts the Order of Necromancia. We cannot have these dangerous animals running around.”
“Do not call my mate or my sentinels animals, Sigimund,” Chander stated with clear warning in his tone. His chest ached and he was in no mood to deal with this nonsense.
Sigimund’s spine went rigid. “Once again, I can see you are being completely unreasonable. You cannot put your own desires above necromancers.”
“I’m going to say this and I wish it was for the last time, but we both know it won’t be,” Chander began as pushed off the wall, “I’m the Arch Lich. You don’t have to like it, but you damn well have to live with it. Now if you don’t mind, I have work to do.”
With his sentinels trailing behind him, Chander went into his office and thanked Fate he could head home shortly. He was planning on doing nothing but spending his entire weekend catching up on sleep. Perhaps then he’d be able to tackle the problem Alaric had created for him, because there was no way Sigimund wasn’t going to run out and tell the world about who his mate was. Chander had no idea what kind of impact such an announcement was going to make within his people and the Council at large, but he had a feeling he wasn’t going to enjoy it.
Chapter 12
Benton kissed Baxter and got a slap on his naked ass for his efforts. “What’s the matter with you?”
“I’m tired of doing nothing but stroking each other off,” Baxter complained.
“Hey, I tried to suck your dick, but you got all weird about it.” Benton rolled off Baxter and landed with his back cushioned by the mattress.
“I didn’t get weird,” Baxter grumbled. “It tickled.”
“Why didn’t you just say, ‘Suck it harder’?”
“I don’t know,” Baxter muttered. “What we did is fine.”
“Then why are you complaining?”
Their eyes met. “You said we would talk about our mating ceremony.”
“I think I convinced Alaric it would be good for sentinels if he and Chand had their ceremony,” Benton replied. “But the only time he’s been around is last week when he came in with the petition.”
“You also said he told you to plan it and you would talk to Chand about it.”
“Well, it’s awkward talking to Chand about it,” Benton complained.
“I’m not going to wait forever.”
“We’re immortal. You’ll wait forever if you have to.”
“Ben, stop being so difficult about this. I care about you. I want to be your mate.”
“There’s always the possibility if we schedule our ceremony it will inspire Chand and Alaric into being more interested in their own relationship,” Benton said as he thought it over. He was ready to be Baxter’s partner, and he knew if he did wait for Chander to want to fall in love and for Alaric to be around long enough for that to happen, a couple of millennia might pass before such a miracle could occur.
“There you go,” Baxter said. “Let’s make a plan and get them on board.”
“You think they’d have their ceremony with us?”
“Only one way to find out.”
“I’d want Gavrael and Gedeon to be there,” Benton announced.
Baxter smiled. “I think we should have the ceremony at D’Vaire.”
“Chand will lose his mind. He avoids that place like the plague.”
“Too bad. He and Drystan need to work their shit out. It’s been months since he and Conley mated. He’s had time to get over his mad and be Chand’s friend again.”
“You don’t get to decide when people are done being mad, you know.”
“Whatever, we should have it at D’Vaire.”
“I’m not against the idea, Bax. We’ll need to talk to King Aleksander and get it scheduled before we tell Chand.”
“Yeah, I agree.” The corner of Baxter’s mouth lifted. “I can’t believe you finally agreed to this.”
&n
bsp; “I wasn’t trying to be an ass about it.”
“Oh, the things I’m going to do to that ass.”
“Aaaand we’re back to sex.” Benton winked at Baxter.
“Get down there and let’s give this oral sex thing another try.”
“I’m not the one who giggled like a school girl before pushing me off,” Benton responded as he climbed between Baxter’s now spread legs. All he needed was to see the naked body of his man to start getting hard. He ran his hands up Baxter’s calves and then over his thighs.
“You’re sexy.” Baxter undulated a little on the mattress.
“I’m the one with the killer view right now,” Benton said as his prick became as rigid as steel. The other sentinel was having a similar reaction. Benton allowed his palms to move higher, sweeping his thumbs over Baxter’s balls on his way up to grab his hips. He lowered his body so he could get closer to his prize. Deciding to start with the heavy sacks around his sex, Benton laved them with his tongue and smiled as Baxter squirmed.
Once they were wet with his spit, he licked his stiff cock and Baxter let out a moan. A little afraid he would send the other sentinel into another laughing fit, he took a deep breath, latched his lips around Baxter’s dick firmly, and sucked in his cheeks. He didn’t hear any chuckles so he bobbed his head up and down while increasing the pressure. Baxter responded by jerking his hips upward, and Benton tightened his hands where they rested on his flanks so he could no longer move.
He was doing his best to learn how to pleasure the other sentinel; he didn’t need Baxter jamming his pole into the back of his throat. As it was he couldn’t get him in that deep—Baxter was thick and he was new at this. Baxter was making all kinds of happy noises—he must’ve done something right. Benton diligently went about his work and was rewarded with the salty taste of his man’s pre-come. He released him from his mouth so he could lap it up from Baxter’s slit.
Baxter whined, so he got back to the task at hand while he humped the mattress under him to get some friction on his own aching sex. The feel of Baxter between his lips was driving him wild, and he knew this time he was doing it right. Baxter’s head was thrashing back and forth on the pillow and his hands were fisted in the sheets.
His mate’s balls drew tight against his body and Benton knew he was close. He increased the pressure and Baxter let out a yell before his dick began to spurt out his seed. Doing his best to swallow it down, Benton could feel it running out of his mouth and down his chin. Benton continued to suckle him until Baxter raised himself up on his elbows. “You really can’t suck it forever,” Baxter teased.
Benton released him with a pop and ran his hand over his face. “I like the way you taste.”
“I like the way you look wearing my come.”
“I’m glad you said that.” Benton rose to his knees before licking his hand and wrapping it around his cock. He was close so his grip was tight and nearly rough. Baxter ran his palm down Benton’s side as he jerked himself.
“So hot,” Baxter whispered. Their eyes locked and Benton twisted his hand around the head of his dick. It was just what the needed to come. His back arched and he painted Baxter’s groin and belly with stripes of white. Baxter lurched up and grabbed Benton’s shoulders to drag him down for an openmouthed kiss.
When they finally came up for air, Benton reached over the bed to grab a T-shirt to clean them up and said, “Guess I figured out oral sex.”
“Fuck yes. We need food and then we’re going to switch places.”
“Damn, I love having a mate.”
Baxter smiled and kissed him. “Me too.”
* * *
It was a Saturday night and Baxter could think of better things to do than being glared at by a pissed off necromancer.
“I’m not going to ruin your matebond ceremony by having mine on the same day,” Chander snarled.
“I fail to see how having a double ceremony is ruining anything,” Benton argued.
They were sitting in the living room and had just finished yet another pizza. Baxter was pretty sure if he was ever dissected, half of his organs would be made of cheese and pepperoni. “We want you to share it with us,” Baxter added.
“Well, I think you two need to rethink this idea,” Chander responded. “You deserve to have the day all to yourselves. Alaric and I can worry about our ceremony some other time.”
Benton’s sandy brown eyes narrowed. “You’ll put it off forever.”
“As much as I love you guys, it’s really none of your business if I wait forever,” Chander insisted as he leaned back in his chair. Not for the first time, the necromancer looked washed out. Of course, that was hardly a surprise since he skipped meals and only slept when he collapsed into a heap.
“Fine, we won’t have our ceremony without you.” Benton crossed his arms over his chest. Baxter gave the other sentinel a questioning look, but Benton’s eyes begged for him to trust he was doing the right thing, so he didn’t argue. However, he had every intention of letting Benton know they were, in fact, having their ceremony on the date they’d already agreed to with the leader of the Draconis Court of D’Vaire.
“Why is it so important we do this together?” Chander asked, clearly exasperated.
“We found out we were mates when you met yours,” Benton pointed out. “It makes sense since we are all interconnected that we should have a joint ceremony.”
“And Alaric has agreed to this?”
“He has agreed to having the ceremony,” Benton replied. “He said we could handle the planning since there’s no real concept of time at the compound. I’m sure he’ll be pleased when we tell him the details of our plan.”
“Yeah, he’s really excited about being a mate,” Chander deadpanned.
“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to be with him,” Baxter responded.
“I’m not going to defy Fate,” Chander countered. “I’ve got enough bad fucking karma.”
Benton’s eyes were hopeful. “Then you’ll do this with us?”
“If it means that much to you then yes, I’ll do it.”
“You won’t regret this,” Baxter promised. “It’s going to be really great.”
“When is it?”
“Next weekend,” Benton revealed.
Chander jumped out of his chair. “Next weekend?”
“We didn’t see any reason to wait.”
The Arch Lich scrubbed his hands over his face. “Okay, did you ask Vadimas to do the honors?”
“No, our Prism Wizard will be a guest,” Baxter explained.
“Then who?”
“King Aleksander D’Vairedraconis,” Benton announced.
Chander’s whole body seemed to deflate. “Oh.”
“It’s going to be fine,” Baxter promised. “Evergreen is going to be there. He’s really excited about getting to meet the D’Vaires.”
“I bet,” Chander said. “You didn’t invite the elders, did you?”
“Fuck no, I don’t want those assholes at our ceremony,” Benton retorted.
“Okay, so I guess you can let Alaric know, and we’ll go do this thing next weekend.”
“Bax and I are going to do mating bands like shifters wear. Did you want Madeline D’Vairedraconis to make rings for you and Alaric?”
“No, that won’t be necessary.” Chander’s expression was forlorn and Baxter wondered why his necromancer was willing to go through the farce of this ceremony with a man he hardly knew who had made it apparent that he wasn’t interested in anything to do with Chander.
“We’ll take care of everything,” Benton insisted. “We’re going to ask Gavrael and Gedeon to do the bloodbinding. We thought it would be nice to use the blades you designed for fallen knights.”
Baxter knew they had to tread carefully. As close as they were to Chander, they’d never told him about the black poison sentinels could use to cut the skin of resurrected men and women. It was the same poison Alaric used at the bottom of his daggers. The world thoug
ht sentinels and fallen knights were indestructible, but sentinels could cut anyone’s skin.
Chander had used magic to create a toxin which allowed fallen knights and presumably sentinels to bleed for a few moments so they could bind with their mates. During Gavrael and Gedeon’s ceremony, Baxter had skillfully cut them without anyone in the room realizing he’d used the black poison. To this day everyone at their matebond believed the green poison they used most of the time had cut them.
“That’s not necessary. You guys don’t need them to bleed.”
“It seemed to fit, you know since you created them in the first place,” Benton said.
Chander shrugged. “Whatever you guys want.”
“Fantastic,” Benton responded. “We’ll let Alaric know. You guys can discuss anything special you want to do for your ceremony.”
“Sure.” Chander yawned. “You talk to Alaric. You’ve got five minutes then I’m going to bed.”
“It’s seven,” Baxter pointed out.
“I know that,” Chander snapped. “But I’m tired.”
“He’s had a long week.” Benton glared at Baxter. Chander didn’t say a word as he left the living room.
“I’m sorry, I’m just surprised,” Baxter responded as soon as his necromancer was out of view. “He’s usually ready to spend his weekend reading.”
“I know, but it’s not like he can’t use the sleep. He looks like shit. I’ve only got a few minutes, so I’m heading to the compound.”
Baxter kissed him. “Be quick.”
“I will,” Benton said before donning his cloak.
He was glad Chander would be bringing him home soon; Baxter had sexy plans for Benton and had no intention of setting them aside so his mate could deal with the Lich Sentinel all night.
Chapter 13
Stripping down to his boxers, Chander began untangling the mess of sheets and blankets at the edge of his bed. He yawned and nearly fell backward when the comforter he was trying to rip from the confines of his footboard was suddenly released. Clearly this would be an easier task if he weighed more than one hundred and thirty pounds. Okay, he was probably a little less than that since he skipped meals, but who had time to do all that body maintenance? If he gave in every time his body needed fuel or rest, he’d never get anything finished.
Rise of the Lich Sentinel Page 9
