by Marcy Jacks
And he really did lose all strength after that.
Gold hadn’t realized just how much he’d been running on fumes.
“Oof!” Sebby said as Gold put his entire weight on top of him.
Gold wanted to roll off him, to give Sebby a chance to breathe, but he couldn’t bring himself to pull together the strength he needed.
And Sebby didn’t complain. So why move?
“I love you,” Gold sighed, though he was a heavy, useless lump as Sebby squirmed beneath him, allowing them both to lie next to each other.
Sebby inhaled a sharp breath before his body relaxed. "I love you, too."
“I’ll always protect you. I love you. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
Those were the words Gold meant to say, but considering his lack of strength and the spinning in his head, he wasn’t sure if those words made it out of his mouth or not.
He just slept, lulled by the sensation of Sebby’s fingers stroking his scalp.
Chapter Seven
Sebby wanted to stay in bed with his mate forever. He didn’t want to move. He didn’t want to go anywhere. He wanted to enjoy the warmth of his lover’s body and never move another muscle for as long as he lived.
Except he couldn’t do that.
Sebby gingerly eased himself out of the love nest his mate had put together for him. It felt strange to get off the sofa when his body was still so…
Relaxed.
Sebby blew out the candles, cleaned himself up, and dressed quickly. He still didn’t have many clothes since he’d only lived on the territory for a few days, but he had an extra pair of clean jeans and a few shirts lying around his room upstairs.
He went upstairs while Gold slept.
He tried not to think about why Gold was still not bringing him into his bedroom for their lovemaking, but then he shook his head.
That wasn’t fair. Gold had complained often about the stink of smoke. Maybe after sleeping for so long in bed had transferred the scent?
Sebby went to his bedroom. He sniffed the air.
He could vaguely make it out. He supposed that was enough.
Sebby collected the covers, sheets, and even the pillowcases Gold had been sleeping in for all that time, and he brought them downstairs to the laundry, tossing them in.
He returned to get a quick sniff of the air. Maybe. He wasn’t sure. Sebby hadn’t been the one who has stuck running around in a burning building, so he supposed he wasn’t all that sensitive to it.
Still, he washed the windows, realized there was dirty laundry in the bathroom, and then brought that downstairs, as well.
Meanwhile, Gold still slept.
Sebby had hoped the man would wake. Honestly, while Sebby wanted to do all of this for his mate, part of him was also aware that he was only doing this to waste time because he didn’t want to do the thing he was thinking about doing.
Artemis knew about the spell. He knew what Sebby had done to Gold.
Did that mean he could undo the spell?
Sebby pressed his lips together. He did the breakfast dishes as he thought it over.
Stupid. It was such a stupid idea. Artemis could just as easily put a curse on Gold instead of removing the spell.
Unless Silver forced the man to do it.
Could Silver force Artemis to remove the spell Sebby had cast? Sebby was a stronger Warlock now, so he might be able to oversee the procedure. Make sure nothing went wrong. Now that he knew Artemis was a coward, he might just do everything the dragons wanted him to do if his freedom was promised after the fact.
Didn’t Sebby have a responsibility to at least ask?
He scrubbed a little harder on the frying pan. Sebby really didn’t want to answer that question.
Even though he already knew the answer.
The answer was yes. Sebby had a huge responsibility to have the spell removed.
Gold had told Sebby that he loved him. It wasn't the first time, but they hadn't been together long enough that Sebby heard those words often. The weight of them still got to him. Gold was even eager to defend Sebby from his own friends, but at the same time…
Was that the spell? Or was it the mating? Gold seemed to think that by now it was only the mating that made his feelings as strong as they were.
Sebby hoped he was right. He wanted Gold to be right.
But what if he wasn’t? What if Gold was still a prisoner of the spell Sebby had cast? What if every time they made love…it wasn't lovemaking, but something much more horrible and cruel?
What if Gold was trapped inside his own head, desperate to get out and still hating Sebby for the spell he'd cast?
How could he live with himself if he didn’t do everything in his power to make sure that wasn’t the case?
Sebby put the dishes in the drying rack. He checked on Gold. Still sleeping.
Sebby’s heart pounded. He stared at the man sleeping on the sofa, with his feet propped up on the arm because he was so tall, with genuine fear.
What would it feel like if Sebby had the spell removed and Gold no longer loved him?
Worse, was disgusted by him and wanted nothing to do with him? Hated him even?
It didn’t matter.
That was why Sebby left the house, as quietly as possible, and walked back to Silver’s home.
He didn’t see any signs of Lightning walking around, which was good. Erin, Silver’s mate, sat on the deck in a rocking chair, book in hand. The man looked up, confused and shocked at the sight of Sebby walking toward him.
Then he got up. His belly was showing signs of getting bigger. Sebby still didn’t understand how that was possible without the help of spells, but shifters were always unique like that.
“Hey, um…” Sebby struggled to get his voice under control. “Can I speak with your husband?”
Erin blinked then smiled, welcoming him. “Yeah, sure. He’s out back.”
Erin took him through the house instead of walking around. Sebby eyed the basement door. There was a padlock on it. A couple of them, actually.
It seemed Silver was taking no chances with the warlock in his makeshift prison.
Unfortunately, when Erin brought him to the backyard, Sebby did happen to see Lightning out there, along with Silver, Rey, and a man Sebby didn’t know.
He assumed that was Tim, Lightning’s prisoner.
Everyone looked at him. They stopped talking.
Of course they would. Sebby had never felt so awkward in his entire life.
Silver put down the drink he’d been holding. “Hey, Sebby, what can I help you with?”
Sebby swallowed hard. He’d never felt so nervous about anything before. Not even when he was in front of his father, performing his tests and failing every single one of them with the exception of the theory tests.
“I…I was wondering if you would let me speak to my cousin again?”
There wasn’t much of a noticeable reaction from the men standing around. With the exception of Lightning, who lifted a brow at him.
“Okay. Can I ask why?”
Right. This probably looked a little strange to him. And suspicious.
“Actually, it would be best if you were there, too. Maybe one of your friends.”
Just not Lightning. Anyone but him.
Now Silver’s brows lifted, as though he wasn’t sure what to make of this at all.
He looked back at the men around the ice tub of drinks. “Rey? You want to do this with me?”
Rey put down his drink immediately. “Sure.”
“What’s going on?” Erin asked.
He sounded worried.
“I just want to ask my cousin a question,” Sebby said softly. He didn’t want to worry a pregnant person about this sort of thing. It probably wasn’t good for the egg or the baby or whatever he was carrying inside him.
Whatever. It was still a child.
Silver came up and put his hand to Erin’s shoulder. “We won’t be long.”
Erin nodded, though he
still watched his mate and Rey walk back into the house with Sebby in tow.
Silver shut the door behind them, immediately looking down at Sebby. “Can I ask where you left Gold?”
“Sleeping on the sofa,” he replied, desperately hoping the dragon shifter wouldn’t ask him why or what they’d done before that.
Sebby got the feeling the taller man knew exactly what was up.
Aside from the color of their eyes, and the color of the dragon scale tattoo beneath his eye, they looked almost entirely the same. There was a slight difference in their voices, and Silver had a crinkle on his brow that Gold did not have, but the similarities were definitely there.
“What do you want to talk to your cousin for?” Rey asked, snapping Sebby out of his trance.
“I…” He looked away from both men. His hands balled into fists. “I want to ask him if he knows how to remove the spell I put on Gold.”
Sebby glanced up just in time to see the wide-eyed shock on both men’s faces.
He’d seen that coming. It didn’t make it less hard to stand there and take.
“I want to know if Gold can be set free from the mating without hurting him. And if…” Sebby hesitated. “If he would really still love me without the spell binding him to me.”
Chapter Eight
Silver sighed then rubbed the back of his neck.
“Sebby, I think Gold made his decision about you. You shouldn’t be worrying about something like that.”
“But I do worry about it!”
How could he not?
Rey reached out and grabbed his shoulder. “Look, Gold wants to be with you. He was saying that he wanted to see you again when we got him back in the air after our raid.”
“That’s because of the spell.”
“Might not be. Not anymore.” Rey shrugged, as though he didn’t have the answer for that one way or the other.
“Even if you were sure of this, there is no way I would want that warlock downstairs putting any more spells on anyone in this clan. We’ve had enough of that. No offense,” Silver said.
Sebby briefly pressed his lips together. “None taken, but it’s not for him to cast the spell. It would be for me. I’m terrible at most everything, but I’m good at theory. All he would have to tell me are the ingredients I would need for a proper cleanse, and I think I could work it out.”
This time both men really did lift their brows at him.
"Uh-huh, and what if your cousin gives you ingredients that can poison my brother?"
"Even if he tried I would know what items would have that kind of effect," Sebby said. "It's not the most perfect idea, and even if he refuses, I want to know if it's possible."
"Not the most perfect idea is an understatement," Silver said. "By your own admission you're not that great at spell casting."
"But I'm good at theory. Nothing has to be done today. I just want to ask him if he would know what to do."
The dragons still looked at him as though he was insane. Didn't they understand that Sebby wasn't necessarily saying he wanted to do anything today, but that he just wanted to know if this was possible?
“I mean it! I know I’m bad at magic, but I can still cast some spells properly if I put the effort into it. I think I could do this. Maybe. I just want to talk to him for now. See if it's possible.”
The need to free his mate. To make sure Gold was with him of his own free will and not something Sebby had done was too damned important to him.
He had to do this.
Silver sighed. “We can go downstairs and have a chat with the guy. He already knows about the spell anyway, but to be honest, Sebby, I don’t want you casting any more spells. It’s nothing personal,” he added quickly. “But you’ve made it known to everyone here that you’re not a talented warlock. I know you love my brother, but I’m not risking that you mess anything up and he gets hurt.”
That made sense, though it was still disappointing to hear.
“I understand. I’d still like to know if it can be done.”
If it was the sort of spell that couldn’t be removed…
Sebby didn’t know what to think about that. On the one hand, he would be able to stay with Gold for the rest of his life.
On the other, he would have to live with the guilt of being unable to so much as try to free him for the rest of his life, as well.
Silver sighed. “Right. Let’s get this over with.”
* * * *
Gold woke up only a little groggy. He was always groggy after a nap.
He wasn’t a lazy man, however, so he usually pulled his ass out of bed despite said grogginess. If only because he loved coffee that much.
He could have gone back to sleep, however, because the blankets and pillows around him were warm with the scent of his mate.
Except when he slid his hand out, searching for Sebby, he didn’t find him. He found nothingness.
Gold pulled himself up to his knees. The warm covers fell around his waist.
He glanced around. Had Sebby gone to the bathroom or something?
“Sebby?”
He got no reply.
Weird. Very weird.
Gold stood up. He stopped suddenly, doing a quick check of himself.
Huh. He wasn’t lightheaded, and he didn’t feel so weak anymore.
He grinned. Sex and a power nap were apparently useful to his recovery.
Gold walked to the kitchen, noting how the dishes were drying in the rack. He’d done the dishes while Gold slept?
A quick check of the clock told him he hadn’t been out for that long. Barely more than an hour.
“Sebby?”
Gold chanced the stairs. His legs still wobbled a little, but it was nothing compared to how it had felt going up and down them earlier.
He checked his room. The smell of smoke had drastically diminished.
God, it was almost nice in there.
Sebby had been doing chores in the house. Gold was going to have to lay down some ground rules. He didn’t want his mate to think everything here was his job. Was that how things were done back in Sebby’s coven?
“Sebby?”
Nothing in the upstairs bathroom either.
Gold started to worry.
He pulled out a clean pair of clothes from his drawer. It was easier to be in his room now that he couldn’t smell the smoke too badly, but then it was a matter of getting his ass downstairs as fast as possible and getting outside.
He was no wolf shifter, but he still had a sense of smell. Sebby was all over the house, so short of looking, it was difficult to tell where he was, but when Gold walked out the front door, he could tell the scent of his mate walking away was fresh.
Fuck. Where did he get off to?
Sebby was hard to read at times and he harbored way too much guilt over the mating spell.
Had he run away? No, that couldn’t be possible. They’d had that talk. They’d come to an understanding. Sebby knew how Gold felt about him.
Except he traced the scent of his mate back to Silver’s house.
Shit.
He marched on over, barely suppressing the urge to run.
So long as Sebby was over there, then he was fine. So long as he was with Gold’s brother, then Sebby was perfectly safe, and that was the only thing Gold cared about.
Erin was on the porch. He looked up from his book as Gold approached and smiled at him. “Hey, Gold.”
“Hey. Did Sebby come in here?”
“Oh, you didn’t know?”
That was never a good answer to get. “I’m just checking. He all right?”
Erin suddenly looked as though he was none too sure about revealing any of this. “He went to talk to his cousin with Silver and Rey.”
The tiny muscle beneath Gold’s eye twitched. “Gotcha. Right, I knew that. Thanks, Erin.”
Gold let himself into Silver’s home. He knew he was welcome and that he was confusing Erin. But whatever. If his mate was doing what Gold thought he was do
ing, then he had to stop him.
The locked door to the basement was wide open. Gold rushed down them and through the hall, heading for the door where he knew—
“You give me what I want and I’ll remove the spell myself.”
Gold stopped short.
Silver snorted. “I’m not taking that risk. You could do anything to him, and then where would I be?”
Gold peered around the doorframe. Just for a fraction of a second. Long enough for him to catch a glimpse of what his brother was doing in there.
As he suspected, Sebby was in that room, along with Rey.
The little shithead warlock was still stuck in his cage.
“I’ll guarantee you all kinds of things if it gets me out of here,” Artemis said. “Shitting in this stupid bucket is hardly fun.”
“It’s not supposed to be,” Silver countered.
“Please, Artemis. Just tell me if you can do it.”
That was Sebby’s voice. Gold’s innards did a little clenching thing.
Baby, no, you shouldn’t be asking those kinds of questions.
“I probably could. I could do all kinds of things if you just break that salt seal.”
“No,” Sebby said. “Tell me how to do it, and I’ll ask Silver to let you go home to Father.”
Artemis snorted. “Not even a promise of release, just a maybe you’ll ask. You always were a soft, wishy-washy idiot.”
Gold was hating this, but at least it sounded as though there was nothing to be done here.
Why would Sebby…did he really still feel that much guilt? Or was it he didn’t want to be mated to Gold because Gold had been too cruel to him when he’d first brought Sebby to the territory?
It could be either of those options, and neither was preferable.
“I didn’t mean to do this to him,” Sebby said. “I want him to be free to make the choice. That’s it.”
His voice was so soft. So hurt.
Gold couldn’t take it anymore.
“Break the salt seal and let me examine him to see what you did. Then I can tell you if I can do anything or not.”
Gold stepped around the doorframe. “You’re not doing shit to me.”
Sebby spun around. He looked as horrified as a squirrel in the sights of a hawk.