Necessary Passion [Alchemy Mates 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) (14 page)

“Easy, boys,” Sky cautioned. “This is Trist and Hans. They’re both loyal members of my court. Hello, gentlemen.”

The two of them bowed in unison. “Forgive us our intrusion, my lord. Sentries told us you were almost here, and we thought to come greet you. Those of us in support of you have already cleared the ground of snow where your tent is designated to rest and are eagerly awaiting your arrival.”

“And what of Jessup? Has he arrived yet?” Sky asked. Aidan looked closely at his lover. He’d never seen him exercising his royal power as a vampire prince. It was a little disorienting. Gone was the genteel lord of the manor, and in his place sat the hard-edged vampire prince that only made appearances with Aidan in the bedroom.

The one who’d spoken, Hans, he thought, nodded. “Yesterday, my lord. He and the rest of his supporters have already set up their lodgings and have been taking in the battlefield. His blood servant, Guilanna, seems confident. The final members of the inner court had been delayed on account of the weather but should be here tomorrow or the next day to start hearing grievances. I hope this business concludes quickly. I am quite sick of the cold, my lord.”

Sky inclined his head. “I am in complete agreement with that. All right. Show us the way down to the area you’ve cleared, and I’ll have the MacGregors set up the tents. They should be rather proficient at rough living.” He winked at Aidan to let him know he’d been joking, but the comment still stung a bit.

The other vampire’s eyes widened. “So it’s true? I had heard that your champion was none other than the hunter Aidan MacGregor, but I hadn’t believed it.” His eyes bore into Aidan, and Aidan shifted on his horse. Being the center of attention at a vampire gathering didn’t sit well with him. “I suppose it is you?” Aidan nodded. The vampire beamed. “Most excellent. I was a trifle worried because of the relatively short time you had to train with your servant, but a MacGregor will have no issues dealing with the witch bride that Mirah Jessup has taken. This way, my lords.” With that he turned and headed in the direction which they were riding, and Aidan felt a little of the tension leach out of his shoulders. He had the sneaking suspicion that he would spend the entire week in a state of near panic if he wasn’t careful.

“I’ll take first shift,” Andren volunteered, reading his mind. His brother didn’t trust them any more than Aidan did.

“Sounds good,” Aidan agreed, pushing his heels into his horse so that he could catch up with Sky. He wanted to be by his side in case anything unforeseen happened. He wouldn’t risk his lover for anything. Yet it seemed like they were just heading deeper into danger with each passing moment. He took a deep breath and exhaled.

“Easy, jäger. The real tension hasn’t begun to build yet.” Sky’s warning didn’t give him any more confidence in the situation.

* * * *

“Sky Engleman, you son of a bitch, get out here!” The snarling voice in the darkness startled Sky out of his pleasurable stupor. After setting the tent, all the men minus Mahogany, who was running errands, sat down around the fire in the center of the tent to take a much-needed rest before the business of setting up everything for the challenge had to be completed. Aidan had started rubbing Sky’s shoulders, and within moments he was halfway in between sleep and awake.

“What in the hell is that?” Aidan rumbled, rolling for his bag and his weapons.

Sky frowned. “That sounds like Jessup.” He pushed himself to his feet and stood. “What in the blazes is going on here?” He quickly donned his still-wet coat and shoved his feet into his half boots.

Aidan came to stand by his side, his weapons at the ready. Sky resisted the urge to hug him. The hunter could say what he would about wanting his freedom above everything else, but he valued what was between them. “Stay behind me,” Aidan commanded. His voice allowed no room for argument, and Sky sighed. The hunter still viewed him as something to be protected. The human seemed to forget more often than not that Sky was a millennia-old vampire with powers that far exceeded Aidan’s own.

“That’s quite unnecessary, jäger. I only said to remain armed in order to protect yourself. I don’t need your assistance in this matter. If he strikes me, we’ll have a row and the challenge will be invalid. Jessup may be angry, but he isn’t stupid.” Though for the life of him he couldn’t figure out what Jessup could be angry about. It wasn’t as if Sky had been the one throwing spells about that affected bonds and messed with their alchemy. Annoyance shot through the vampire as he remembered that little detail. If anything, he had the right to be beyond pissed.

“Unnecessary or not, I have your back,” Aidan said, that stubborn note in his voice. There was no arguing with him when he was in such a mood.

“Fine. Stay beside me and try not to stab or shoot anyone.”
Please, don’t shoot anyone
. The plea was more for God’s ears than Aidan’s, but he hoped both took heed of his warning. The headache that would arise from Aidan acting so aggressive was more than Sky really wanted to deal with.

“Sky!” Jessup shouted from outside. “Get your arse out here, or I’m coming in.”

“I suppose that is our cue. Let’s go,” Sky said. He pulled back the flap that acted as a door and stepped out into the snow.

Jessup stood there just beyond their tent in nothing but a pair of trousers and half boots, looking furious and disheveled. His brown hair was stuck up in all different directions, and four long scratches ran down his bare chest.

Sky’s eyes widened. “What in the devil are you dressed like that for?”

Jessup let out a bellow like a bull and glared at him. “This is your fault! How dare you cast a spell on my alchemy mate! I didn’t mean to turn her, and it’s all your fault! You can guarantee the court will hear about this, Sky. I knew you didn’t like me, but of all the low acts to win, this is the worst.”

“I beg your pardon?” Sky asked, confusion bubbling up inside him like a never-ending fountain. “I cast a spell on you? Are you mad? I’m not the one who has been casting spells. You, sir, have tried time and time again to sever or disrupt my training with my Aidan. I’m not the one who studied the arts so aptly.”

“What bullocks!” Jessup yelled, taking one aggressive step forward. “I had to sever my blood-servant bond tonight because your stupid spell was eating through the cords and would’ve hit our alchemy bond within the hour. I didn’t want to turn her yet, but we didn’t have a choice. The challenge is off, Sky, but mark my words, I will not forget this damn treachery of yours.”

Sky blinked. “Jessup, I swear to you, I cast no spell.”

Jessup snorted. “Who would? There is no other who would benefit from it.”

“I have been training my Aidan diligently in the past few months in order to meet your challenge fairly. A good leader wouldn’t have needed extra assistance to win. Am I to understand you cast no spells on us either? Exam my Aidan, Jessup. You can see a similar spell to the one you describe attached to our bond,” Sky said, reaching out and taking one of Aidan’s hands to increase the connection.

Jessup frowned but did as he was bid, peering into their bond. After a moment he spoke. “What in the name of all things unholy is going on here, Sky? If you didn’t cast the spell, who did?”

Sky shrugged. “I was going to ask you the same. I had planned on bringing a grievance against you tomorrow and asking you to remove it. The spell is slowly making its way down through the blood-servant bond to the alchemy bond beneath it, and I had hoped to have it removed before it got to that point. I rather like my alchemy mate and the bond the way it is.”

Jessup nodded. “We need to talk. Meet me tomorrow at the border between our two camps, and we’ll discuss it. Whoever has been playing games with us needs to be dealt with swiftly.” He glanced at Aidan. “Any man who is powerful enough to take on a hunter as a blood servant and sleep peacefully at night has my respect. We have had our differences, Sky, but I hope that we can be honest with one another in this.”

“You have my word as Prince of Prussia,” Sky agreed easily. He always prided himself on being levelheaded in situations which required him to act in his official capacity. “We’ll meet tomorrow and discuss it. Is your mate well?”

Jessup sighed. “She’s tired and recovering from the turning but otherwise fine. I hope that you find a way to break the spell that binds you, or else you’ll be forced to the same decision I was.”

Sky felt rather than saw Aidan tense. His heart sank.
No. Not another rope that he can hang himself and our relationship with
. He could practically hear the wheels turning in Aidan’s head. The hunter didn’t need much incentive to bolt, and now that the challenge was moot, Sky imagined he just needed an excuse to leave.
I will not lose it in front of my adversary.

Sky steeled himself and was proud when his words sounded steady and strong. “Give her my wishes for a swift recovery. I’ll see you in the morning.” Jessup must’ve known a dismissal when he heard one because he left within seconds of the words being out of his mouth.

Aidan gripped his shoulder. “Sky, we need to talk.”

He swallowed and nodded. Yes. They did.
No. Too soon. It’s too soon
! “Let’s get back inside by the fire and we’ll discuss what needs to be done.”

* * * *

“Could you two go for a walk or something?” Aidan asked as soon as they came back inside. His brother and Lucian took one look at them and stood to do as he asked, for which he was supremely grateful.

“That confrontation didn’t sound like anyone anticipated,” Lucian commented as he pulled his jacket on. “Are you two going to be all right?”

“We’re going to be just fine,” Aidan reassured as he all but pushed the two of them out the door. The semblance of privacy was all he really craved. He knew logically that any vampire in a twelve-foot radius could hear his heart beating, forget his words, but he didn’t care. He needed to feel like he was alone with Sky.

As soon as they were gone he turned to his vampire. “What will happen if the spell works its way through our blood-servant bond and into our alchemy-mate bond?”

Sky sighed and shrugged off his coat before dropping in front of the fire. “Then it will attack that bond and sever it. You should suffer no ill effects if that happens.”

“And what about you?” Aidan asked, the first stirrings of anger beginning to percolate through his system. Why hadn’t Sky told him about these possibilities before?

Sky regarded him for a bit, his blue eyes awash with some unspeakable emotion. “Then I will most likely go mad and have to be put down.”

Aidan exploded. “Are you insane? Why would you keep this from me?” He could shake the vampire for this. All this time he’d been concerned with winning the match and having the choice of choosing Sky and his life or go off on his own, and he should’ve been concerned about the thing attached to their bond.

“Because you would’ve done something rash. You would’ve volunteered to fix the situation and resented me for the choice for the rest of eternity. I thought that so long as you and I confronted Jessup and had him remove it before the challenge, it wouldn’t matter,” Sky explained, his voice soft. Aidan resisted the urge to strangle him. “I didn’t think that Jessup wouldn’t have been the one to cast the spell, Aidan. Had I thought that was a possibility, I would’ve discussed it with you first.”

“How do we fix it?” Aidan demanded. He needed something to fight. Worrying over spells and vampire challenges was just not his forte.

“We have a few options, find the person who cast the spell and demand he remove it, have someone turn you into a vampire, or let it happen,” Sky said, his face unreadable.

“You bat-crazy vampire! We can’t just let it happen. Think about it, Sky, I feel what you feel, every emotion, every love, every hate, what the fuck do you think is going to happen when you start going loony?” Aidan snapped. His self-sacrificing vampire was going to be the death of him. He started pacing in front of the fire. “That option is out. We need to find the person who did this.” He wasn’t ready to be a vampire yet. He was ready for many things, but being a vampire wasn’t one of them.

“I love you, Aidan,” Sky murmured. “Please know that. I know the challenge is off, but I still want you to stay with me. I know you want your freedom, and you may have it. You can wander as long as you need to, but please come back home to me after.”

Aidan sighed, the anger leaving him in a rush. The decision to leave that he’d been wrestling with since the beginning of their insane relationship was suddenly made. “I don’t want you to be my maker.” Sky looked like he’d been punched in the face. “However,” Aidan continued. “I want to stay with you. I don’t know how the whole turning business works, but I don’t want you to have any authority over me. I want to be an independent man.”

Sky swallowed. “We can ask Lucian if he would be willing to take on a fledgling if you like. That way you’d be of another line.”

Was he seriously considering this? “If we can’t find who did this then I will concede to Lucian turning me into one of you. However, if we could delay it, a few more human months wouldn’t be amiss. I’d like some time to get used to the idea. It won’t affect the alchemy bond?”

Sky shook his head. “No. The bond will remain intact no matter who turns you.” He swallowed. “So can I take this to mean that you’re staying?”