Authors: Scarlet Hyacinth
Tags: #Romance
As he watched Cal go, Philip wondered what in the world he was going to do now. Even if his friends made a complete recovery, it was only a matter of time until Graham and Caelyn became outcasts for the felines, too. Philip couldn’t protect them. Where would they go then?
* * * *
A few days later
Graham ran through the darkness, dazed and exhausted. His paws felt like they were weighed down by lead. He sniffed the air, trying to find a trace of his mate, but the scent simply wasn’t there.
Whining, Graham followed the instinctive mate bond that connected him to Caelyn. As always, it shone bright and true, but it didn’t seem to give him any clue as to how to find his mate.
Graham didn’t know how long he ran, how long he kept searching. From time to time, he thought he could see the darkness melting into shadows, and on occasion, he heard voices somewhere nearby. But none of them belonged to Caelyn, and he kept walking, kept trying, to no avail.
At one point, though, the darkness began to clear. Graham didn’t want to leave, didn’t want to return to the light, but he had no choice.
Suddenly, the wolf was gone, and Graham opened his eyes, now back in the real world. “Caelyn? Angel, where are you?”
Unfortunately, Caelyn didn’t answer, but a familiar voice did offer a reply. “Welcome back, Graham,” Philip said. “We were very worried about you.”
As Graham’s vision cleared, his gaze fell onto Philip. For once, his friend had taken his mask off. His tired smile held a great deal of relief, but also a dose of regret. Instantly, alarm rushed over Graham. “Where’s Caelyn?” he asked. “Philip, what happened to my mate?”
“Graham, you have to calm down,” the panther said softly. “You’re in good hands.”
Graham shot out of the bed, all weakness chased out of him as if by magic. “Philip! Where is he?”
“He’s in the next room.” Philip got up, lifting his hands as if trying to calm down a wild beast. “I’m sorry. He’s still unconscious, and so far, nothing we’ve tried to do has been able to rouse him.”
“So far?” Graham repeated. “Wait a second. How much time passed? Is our child all right? How did we get here in the first place? I want to see Caelyn now.”
He was rambling, incoherent with concern, his wolf howling in panic. He wanted to grab Philip and physically shake him, to force the information out of him. Fortunately, it wasn’t necessary. Philip took his hand and led him out of room and into the hallway.
Graham still had no clue where they were, although judging by the significant increase in temperature, they’d left Draechenburg behind. The humidity in the area made sweat bead over Graham’s forehead, or maybe it was just his anxiousness at not having any real knowledge of Caelyn.
But that was easily fixed. As they rushed toward the adjoining room, Philip began to explain. “Prince Shtamakarein somehow figured out I helped you two in your original escape. He contacted me through another friend of mine, which suffice to say, didn’t make anyone happy. Anyway, I came to pick you up and brought you here, to Brazil. You seemed to be doing fine, and almost woke up once or twice, but you lost consciousness again and again for no real medical reason. You’ve been out of it for days. Caelyn hasn’t recovered at all, although he does look much better than when you first arrived. He’s in here.”
Philip opened the door to the room in question and let Graham in. Graham’s heart nearly stopped at the sight that met his eyes. Caelyn lay in bed, looking so very beautiful, like a true angel. It almost seemed that he was sleeping, but he was far too pale. The machines monitoring his heartbeat and breath beeped steadily, but he didn’t stir at all as Graham walked to his side and knelt next to his bed.
“It’s nice to see you up and about, Mr. Powers,” a distantly familiar voice said. Graham briefly turned, only to see a handsome, dark-haired man approach. Graham recognized him as Raul Gomez, the fae who’d assisted them in New York.
He couldn’t really come up with any polite platitude to say, so it was fortunate that Philip intervened. “When I realized this was beyond my knowledge, I brought in Raul. I thought that since he’s fae, he might be able to help your mate.”
At that, Graham snapped out of his trance. “I don’t understand any of this. I’m told I’ve been unconscious for days now. That makes no sense. And what’s wrong with my mate? Is our child all right?”
“You’re quite right that your recovery should have been faster, but you practically refused to come back because your mate was still in that situation. Your wolf felt that you might be able to find your mate in the cloud of your unconsciousness, which was, of course, deceiving. Thankfully, your body and survival instinct pulled you out of it.”
Graham supposed that he understood that, but Raul hadn’t answered the most important part of the inquiry. “And Caelyn?”
“Your mate is fine. In fact, he’s perfectly all right. Medically, there’s nothing wrong with him, and your child’s development is normal.” Raul paused and gave him a look full of regret. “I don’t know why he isn’t waking up. Perhaps you can tell us. Did he do anything strenuous that might have caused this? A particularly complicated spell, perhaps?”
The pieces of the puzzle began to come together. “Toward the end of our captivity, Caelyn cast an illusion to make us seem dead,” Graham replied numbly. “He said it would be easy, that he could do it even if the Dog-Catcher drained him of energy.”
Raul frowned. “So he cast the spell, and it lasted even after he lost consciousness.”
“That was the plan, although I’m not entirely sure.” Graham wished he had asked Caelyn more about what needed to be done, but it was too late now. Remembering something else, he added, “Before, I also had to fight some draechen, and he helped me through it, feeding me power. He had this… disruptor thing on that was blocking his power.”
“Well, that explains it.” Raul released a heavy sigh. “I suspect that your mate must have put too much of an effort into everything he did, and forcing his way past the disruptor couldn’t have been easy. You see, Mr. Powers, illusions are tricky things. For them to outlast the will and consciousness of the caster, the enchantment has to have a lot of power backing it up. The spell itself might not have been complicated, but what it entailed took a lot out of your mate. Since he must have already been weak from the disruptor’s effect… Well, it was simply too much.”
The words made Graham feel a little sick. “But Caelyn…he said it wouldn’t hurt him.”
And so had Shtamakarein, damn him. This was entirely and completely the draechen’s fault. But Graham couldn’t say that. Likely, he had already said too much by mentioning Shtamakarein in front of Raul. They had agreed to keep their arrangement a secret, insofar as it was possible at least. Everyone had to believe Caelyn and Graham were dead if they had any hope of building a life together. Not to mention that the draechen prince’s involvement in the ruse could easily get him killed, too.
“Likely he didn’t realize what could happen,” Raul explained. “It’s no one’s fault. It was an accident.”
Graham forced himself to calm down and not start screaming at the unfairness of it. “All right. An accident. The real question is, can you do anything about it?”
“Not me, but I might know someone who can.”
* * * *
Fae palace of Rose Noire, somewhere near Calais, France
Sari paced through the hallway, his steps echoing against the marble flooring of the temple. He needed to speak with his mother at once, but sometimes, there were real disadvantages to being the child of the Great Priestess. Yes, he was always well received in the Temple of Jenarra, but his mother wasn’t always available to him.
Normally, he understood that, and it didn’t really bother him. It was almost a privilege since it meant he had grown around all the other priestesses, and they loved and cared for him as well. But sometimes, like now, only a mother would do.
Finally, another priestess walked up to his side and said, “She will see you now.”
Sari barely managed to suppress his sigh of relief. “Thank you,” he answered as she allowed him to enter the Great Priestess’s rooms.
His mother was already waiting for him there, lounging on a settee, almost looking asleep. The priestess bowed and took her leave, closing the door behind her.
For a little while, Sari just waited. He knew that his mother wasn’t asleep or ignoring him. If she’d agreed to see him, she would do so. Of course, the visions from Jenarra came and went with no regard to the wishes of the individual, but Sari respected that. He was impatient, but he couldn’t exactly shake his mother out of meditation.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, Eanera opened her eyes. “You’re unsettled, dear child. Come closer. Come to me.”
Sari did. As he sat down onto the couch, Eanera pulled him close, petting his hair. “Oh, Mother… Father told me Graham and Caelyn were captured,” he blurted out. “He said the draechen are blaming us for the entire debacle.”
“Yes, they are,” his mother answered. “Calm down, Sari. Selbrian doesn’t blame you for anything. It’s not your fault at all.”
Wasn’t it? He didn’t think he could have done things differently, because he never would have forgiven himself if he hadn’t helped Caelyn. But what if his involvement in the matter plunged Ivenia into a war, breaking a tentative truce that had lasted for generations? Could he have handled the matter in a better way?
“Sari, listen to me. If this hadn’t happened, the draechen would have just come up with something else. The emperor is a truly evil man.”
Sari’s eyes widened. “What are you saying? That a war with Ornoz is inevitable?”
Eanera shook her head. “Nothing is inevitable. Contrary to popular belief, sweet child, I do not know the future. I only know what Jenarra decides to show me.”
“And what has she showed you now? What happened to Graham and Caelyn?”
“They were nearly killed and only narrowly avoided it,” she answered. “Unfortunately, Caelyn has yet to recover. He desperately tried to support his mate and protect his child while straining himself to extend a spell. I believe I don’t have to tell you that’s a recipe for disaster.”
Sari released a gasp of distress. “He could die from that. Wait…child? Oh, Mother…please. We have to help. I know it’s dangerous and crazy. But there has to be something we can do.”
“Caelyn is with an agent of mine right now. One word from me, and Raul will bring both of them to France. It will be tricky, but I can get you out of here for a few hours.”
“Truly?” Hope bubbled inside Sari. He was forbidden to leave the Ivenian citadel without heavy guard, and he’d never been allowed to step into a human town. His life had always been here, and the only people he’d had contact with who weren’t fae had been sprites. The unknown didn’t frighten him, though. Oh, if his mother could manage that, he might be able to help Caelyn.
“Yes, sweet child. You’re the only healer other than me that can assist him. For obvious reasons, I cannot leave. But I will arrange it so that you can do so.”
Sari almost couldn’t believe his luck. “But Father, and Queen Onyerre…Jenarra above, if Queen Onyerre finds out…I don’t even want to think about it.”
“Let me worry about Onyerre,” a male voice suddenly rang out. “You need to do this, Sari, and you need to get them somewhere safe. No matter what happens, the draechen must not find them again.”
Sari turned, only to see his father leaning against the doorjamb of his mother’s private quarters. He gaped in shock. He had just come from a private audience with the man. Granted, he’d been waiting for a while outside, but surely his sire would have mentioned something if he planned to come see his mother.
But then again, his father was king. He didn’t owe Sari any explanations. Although Sari was curious as to what other things his parents must have discussed, he decided to ask as few questions as possible.
In their own ways, his parents loved him, but Sari knew that he was also an inconvenience to them. His mother had only ever been affectionate to him, but there were times when she stopped being the woman who’d given him birth and became just the High Priestess of Jenarra. It made her seem aloof and distant, like a star that shone in the night sky, guiding Sari but forever beyond his reach.
Similarly, his father cared for him. But Selbrian had another family, separate from Sari and Eanera, a legitimate one that hated Sari. Suffice to say, Sari didn’t belong there either.
So, Sari made no inquiries whatsoever. “I understand, Father,” he said instead. “I will not fail you.”
“No, you won’t,” Selbrian answered. He made his way to Sari’s side and pressed his hand to Sari’s shoulder. “You are a good son, and I love you a great deal. Go, and let us worry about the rest.”
Sari bowed and gleefully rushed toward the door. As his hand hovered over the doorknob, he hesitated and threw another look over his shoulder. A part of him, the one that was still a child seeking their approval, wanted to go embrace them, to thank them for this opportunity. But Selbrian didn’t give him the chance. “Go,” his father said again. “Your mother and I will send for you when it’s time.”
Sari made another bow, this time far more polite than before. “I will be waiting, Father. Thank you.”
But oddly enough, even as he left his mother’s quarters, a cloud of uncertainty settled over his heart. He couldn’t get her words out of his mind. The draechen wouldn’t be satisfied until they started a war with Sari’s people. They weren’t satisfied with their leadership over the shifter world. They wanted to rule the magical creatures as well. Sari might be able to help his friends today, but what would happen tomorrow?