Sentinel's Dagger (D'Vaire, Book 2)

by Jessamyn Kingley

  “Give up the dream, Latarian. There is no way whatever plan you have concocted is going to work. Now get out of the way, so we can get Renny out of here. Can someone grab her?” Dra’Kaedan turned his head toward the doorway of the small room where the rest of their group was huddled. Latarian said nothing. She turned sharply away from Dra’Kaedan and toward the bed where Gedeon had been sitting when Gavrael entered the room. Reaching for an object sitting on the table next to it, she snatched it up and whipped her body back toward Dra’Kaedan.

  Throwing her arm back Latarian swung it forward again, and Gavrael saw the quick flash of the object in her hand as she plunged it into Dra’Kaedan’s chest. He let out a surprised huff of air and immediately began to sink down to his knees as Dra’Kaedan’s mate let out a mighty roar. Latarian gave the object a shove and then released it. Gavrael watched her face light up in an evil grin.

  “Geddy?”

  “It was a knife. Covered in that stone crap.”

  Words weren’t always necessary. Gavrael had learned that. He might not always be able to verbalize his thoughts, but he would always have his instincts to rely upon and now was no exception. Whispering for his weapon, Gavrael gripped the hilt, and with the aim of ninety-four years of practice, he let it fly. Seconds later, the blade of his poisoned dagger was embedded in the chest of the female warlock. Latarian was likely dead before she hit the ground. Not a sound could be heard in the room as everyone looked to Gavrael in surprise. Everyone except Renny and Dra’Kaedan.

  Renny was still unconscious, and Dra’Kaedan had his dark blue eyes focused on his mate as he slid to the floor. The dagger Latarian had thrust into his chest was now in Brogan’s large hand. Gavrael could see the life leaving his body as those of born and summoned magic were gifted with such senses. It was as visible to him as the blood pouring out of Dra’Kaedan’s chest.

  It was Brogan’s voice that broke the silence. “No. NO. I can’t do this again. No, Dra’Kaedan. No.” The words were so filled with anguish Gavrael felt his throat begin to thicken. It was the first time he had ever been moved so close to weeping.

  “I’m healing him but it’s not working,” Dre’Kariston said, his eyes welling up. “Brogan, get him out of here. Pick him up. Maybe if we get him away from the stones.”

  “The knife was imbued with parts of the magic-stealing stones,” Gedeon said in a miserable voice. Gavrael did not think; he pulled his mate to him and wrapped him in his arms. Gedeon leaned against him, and Gavrael was so thankful to feel his body so close once again.

  “I took the knife out,” Brogan said in a thick voice as he picked up his mate.

  “Brogan, I-I love you,” Dra’Kaedan stuttered out as he lost his battle with consciousness.

  “I took the fucking knife out,” Brogan repeated as the tears spilled down his cheeks. Aleksander followed him out of the room with Renny in his own arms. Renny’s body was beginning to fade as Dra’Kaedan was losing his battle with life. It was Dra’Kaedan’s magic that had summoned Renny, and without Dra’Kaedan there to replenish his power his death was imminent as well.

  Chapter 22

  Duke Dravyn D’Vairedraconis shoved the heavy door closed, saving the sorcerers of their group from the pull of so many magic-stealing stones. Savoring both the power and the fragility that came with having a mate, Gavrael allowed all the joy Gedeon brought to his life to flow through their link. There was no way to put the depth of the feeling that was coursing through him as he watching a matebond slip apart in front of him. Fate had cast a cruel hand on the Grand Warlock and the dragon shifter he loved, Gavrael recognized with sorrow. He didn’t have to say anything to his own partner; Gedeon would understand, for there were no words for moments such as these. As heavy as his heart was, Gavrael found himself distracted as he once again heard the heavy footsteps of the wizard as he tore down the stairs that led to where their group was doing its best to accept the reality of the last few minutes.

  Once downstairs, the wizard took one look at the bloody warlock tightly gripped in Brogan’s arms and gasped. “Did she stab him?” he asked with his eyes wide.

  “Can’t you see he’s dying? Of course the bitch stabbed him,” Dre’Kariston bit out as he continued to cast healing spells on his brother.

  “I can help. I helped make the knife and I might have accidentally stabbed myself a time or two with it. I made up a spell to pull the dust out. Can I cast it on him?” Idris asked.

  “Thank you,” Chander said. “I might be able to copy your spell and together we can remove it.”

  “I don’t use words or anything. I just imagine a big magnet. Like this,” Idris explained and pushed his hands out in front of him to where Brogan stood with his now mostly lifeless mate pressed against his chest. Within a matter of seconds, Chander too held his hands out as Idris did. The air grew thick with all the spells being cast in the hallway. Light, dark, and the wizard was somewhere in between. Soon it was not only magic filling the hallway; a blur of fine blood-covered dust began to emerge from Dra’Kaedan’s barely rising and falling chest. Encouraged, Dre’Kariston threw more power toward him as the wound in his heart began to finally heal.

  Invisible to many, the magic was so thick in the hallway that Gavrael could see ribbons of it dancing across his vision. The necromancer’s silver and black twisted with the silver and navy of Dre’Kariston’s, and Idris’s untutored but powerful blue poked through. Blood continued to pump through Dra’Kaedan’s wound as the dust rose from it. The silvery black ropes of Chander’s sorcery seized upon the dust, and with little more than a tiny spark destroyed it a grain at a time. Watching with his breath caught in his throat, Gavrael saw the crimson flowing out of Dra’Kaedan’s chest was finally slowing. His lungs were still taking in oxygen too slow; the warlock’s lips were a pale blue.

  Brogan continued to hold his mate and wept with quiet dignity as the sorcerers continued their work. Chander’s eyes were molten silver as were Dre’Kariston’s. Like Brogan, Dre’Kariston’s were also full of tears. Idris’s lacked the confidence of the experts around him, but determination was bright in his vivid blue. Finally, the wound no longer bled, and though it was impossible to tell from his vantage point, Gavrael had to believe it was now closed. Sparks no longer filled the air, and the leader of the necromancers lowered his arms. Idris followed suit, and the hallway now held only Dre’Kariston’s wide blue and silver streaks as he desperately continued to heal his only brother.

  Without warning, Dra’Kaedan lifted his head and heaved in a large breath. He began to gasp, and this time it was Brogan who sank to his knees. Still clutching his mate, Gavrael watched as the life essence that belonged to the little blond warlock slowly slipped back into his body. The wizard had saved Dra’Kaedan, Gavrael realized with something akin to awe. Dra’Kaedan coughed as his body struggled to fill with oxygen, and Gavrael noted his lips were losing the cast of blue that had tinged them.

  “That was cool how you destroyed the dust, can you teach me how to do that?” Idris asked, breaking the silence.

  “I’m afraid that is a spell only a dark sorcerer can cast,” Chander responded in an apologetic tone.

  “The dust is in the familiar. I’m sorry. I put it in him. Latarian told me to stab him. I stabbed him in the arm so I wouldn’t hurt him too bad,” Idris explained.

  “That explains why he won’t wake up,” Chander replied.

  Dre’Kariston blew out a deep breath as he finally stopped casting healing spells on his brother. He put his hands on his hips and lowered his head. Once again inhaling deeply, it was obvious from where Gavrael stood still holding Gedeon that the raven-haired warlock was trying his best to regain his composure.

  After clenching and unclenching his fists a few times, Dre’Kariston spoke, “It’ll be necessary to cut him open to remove the dust. I can heal him. It’ll also be crucial my brother give him some magic, but I believe Brogan still has need of Dra’Kaedan for a few more minutes.”

  Indeed, Brogan was now
sitting cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed and holding Dra’Kaedan close. Dra’Kaedan had his arms wrapped around Brogan’s neck and the pair were obviously thankful to once again have cheated death.

  “The familiar, he’ll be okay, right?” Idris asked.

  “He’s no longer near death, and his power isn’t being drained anymore,” Chander explained.

  “Yeah, there wasn’t that much dust on the knife when I stabbed him, but Latarian, she wanted me to stick more dust to it for when I was supposed to kill him,” Idris said as he pointed at Gedeon.

  Gavrael turned his mate slightly, so he could look into his eyes. “You did not mention any attempt on your life.”

  Gedeon swung his head toward the wizard but didn’t loosen his grip on Gavrael. “Are you the one that threw the knife onto the floor in there?”

  “Yeah, I didn’t want to kill anybody. I was scared. I thought maybe you might kill me instead so I just closed my eyes and threw the knife. Where’s Latarian? Did she die?” Idris finally asked.

  “I’m sorry. Idris, is it? Was she a good friend of yours?” Chander asked quietly as he patted the wizard’s back.

  “Sometimes. Sometimes I thought she was, but she could be mean too. Everything was supposed to get better when she got her magic back, though,” Idris said with a sniffle.

  “It wasn’t hers. It was mine. Latarian and her grandfather stripped it from me. They robbed me of my identity, they stole my power, and twice now she has tried to kill me. I’m sorry if she caused you any pain, Idris. Although my mate tells me otherwise, I feel I’m to blame for her being here at all. I should have tracked her down so she could pay for her crimes,” Dra’Kaedan spoke in a voice that gradually grew in strength as he turned in his mate’s arms and slowly made it to his feet. Brogan was plastered to his back with his hands wrapped across the top of Dra’Kaedan’s chest. The warlock’s color was back to normal, Gavrael noted with relief.

  “I’m sorry she hurt you too,” Idris said to the warlock as he dropped his gaze to the floor. His shoulders slumped in defeat.

  “Idris, will you help us heal my familiar?” Dra’Kaedan asked.

  “Yeah, I could do that,” the wizard replied and immediately began to perk back up.

  “We’ll need a blade,” Dre’Kariston said.

  Though normally it would have embarrassed him to do so, Gavrael dropped a kiss onto Gedeon’s mouth and said, “I can remove the poison from my dagger, and we can use that to cut him.” After the words left his lips, Gavrael recalled he had his mate’s daggers secured in his cloak. He reluctantly let Gedeon go and handed him back his blades. Gedeon thanked him with a kiss of his own, and seconds later they were floating at his jeans-clad hips. Then Gavrael withdrew the dagger that wasn’t embedded in a certain female warlock and removed the poison. Idris pointed out where he had stuck Renny, and Gavrael made a cut just large enough for them to repeat the process that had removed the dust from Dra’Kaedan.

  As they worked on healing Renny and resupplying his magic, Benton disappeared into the stone-filled prison where Latarian’s body lay. Poisoning his dagger once again, Gavrael allowed it to resume its usual resting spot at his side. Benton reappeared and handed Gavrael the blade he had used to put Dra’Kaedan’s past to rest back to him. The Arch Lich’s sentinel had cleaned the blade, for it no longer bore the blood of Latarian. Grateful for Benton’s help and for having his beloved weapon back, he offered him a nod in gratitude, and Benton responded in kind, though his was accompanied by a smile.

  Second dagger back at his hip, Gavrael reached out and pulled his mate close to him again. With Gedeon leaning his body into his, the sentinel watched as Renny’s eyes fluttered open from where he lay still in Aleksander’s arms. The familiar then jolted upward and pointed at Idris and yelled, “That shithead stabbed me.”

  “He also saved your life as well as mine, so shut the fuck up and calm down,” Dra’Kaedan said in a voice shaky with emotion as Aleksander bent down to allow Renny to stand on his own two feet.

  “Please tell me you didn’t almost die again. I can’t live if you don’t,” Renny said and tried to get his arms around Dra’Kaedan to give him a hug. Since that was impossible to do with a certain dragon shifter attached to him, Renny just wrapped his arms around both Dra’Kaedan and Brogan the best he could. Dra’Kaedan, in turn, grabbed a hold of his familiar and squeezed him tightly.

  “You really do need to stop getting yourself almost killed. My heart can’t take it,” Dre’Kariston complained.

  “Yeah well, with his personality I’m surprised there isn’t a line of people following him wherever he goes. Right, squirt?” Aleksander said with a wide smile.

  “So says the king that got exiled by his own people for over six hundred years,” Dra’Kaedan replied with a smirk.

  Idris was watching the byplay as if it were a tennis match before he blurted out, “Are you guys gonna leave now?”

  “I believe we have some cleaning up to do,” Chander said.

  “Yeah, like what the fuck are we going to do with a big pile of magic sucking stones?” Gedeon asked.

  “A great question, but I think they can wait until we clear up a few other matters. Idris, is it only you and Edion here?” Aleksander asked.

  “Yeah, I’m in trouble, aren’t I? Because I helped Latarian? If you have to kill me, can you take care of Edion? Those elves didn’t take care of him. And Cadlyr with his spear? That elf is scary. He can’t go back there. Oh, and we stole those stones from them, so they are probably mad anyway,” Idris explained, and Gavrael wasn’t able to fully comprehend all that the wizard was talking about.

  “How old are you, Idris? You seem unfamiliar with how to use your magic. Perhaps we could help you with that,” Chander asked.

  “I’m sixteen, but I’m mature for my age. I took care of my grandfather until he died. I can take care of Edion too. So maybe you shouldn’t kill me.”

  “And your parents?”

  “I don’t know them. I guess they are dead. My grandfather said they were dead to him, but he wouldn’t tell me if they were dead, or if he was just really pissed off at them,” Idris said.

  “My very good friend is Prism Wizard Vadimas Porfyra. He is in charge of the Spectra Wizardry. They have a very good school. They could teach you how to use your magic. You are very powerful, especially for someone so young,” Chander said.

  “Wow, you have really important friends. He’s the Grand Warlock,” Idris said as he pointed at Dra’Kaedan.

  Letting out a laugh, it was Benton who replied. “He is Arch Lich Chander Daray, the leader of the Order of Necromancia.”

  Idris’s eyes went wide, and he said, “You probably shouldn’t stay here. My grandfather used to say all the wizards want you dead. You seem nice. I don’t want them to kill you.”

  “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on staying much longer,” Chander reassured him with a smile.

  “Okay, so Idris is going to go to Vadimas. What about Edion?” Benton asked.

  “He’ll come with us. We’ll take care of him,” Dra’Kaedan announced.

  “He’s Cwylld,” Dre’Kariston pointed out, though there was no heat in his voice.

  “He’s a threat to no one, and he’s in need of a great deal of care. We can look after him,” Dra’Kaedan said.

  “And the stones? What of them?” Dre’Kariston replied.

  “Is this all of them Idris? Did you steal all the stones?” Dra’Kaedan asked.

  “I think so. They kept them all in a hut. We took them all with us. Cadlyr is going to be mad if we go back there.”

  “These stones gave the Cwylld the power to kill my people. I won’t be returning them. Can you destroy them, Chander?”

  “Yes, I believe so. Although it will have to be a quick and powerful spell. It may destroy the house with it.”

  “That’s okay, it kinda makes me sad anyways. Latarian, she was going to make Edion a cottage. I was gonna ask him if I could go live there. I didn’t want to be
here,” Idris interjected.

  “What is it that prevents the stones’ power from leaving the room, Idris?” Dra’Kaedan asked.

  “Copper. We put copper on the walls and on the door.”

  With a wave of his hand, Dra’Kaedan summoned a box much the same size as one would use to house a pair of shoes. The word Cwylld was etched into the top of it.

  “Brogan, will you grab some of the stones and place them in this box?”

  “I’ll do it,” Dravyn offered, and Brogan thanked him. It was obvious the shifter wasn’t ready to leave his mate’s side. Gavrael had no trouble understanding that as he still stood body-to-body with his own other half.

  Once Dravyn had returned with the box of stones, Chander asked Idris to gather both his and Edion’s belongings. Gavrael was forced to let Gedeon wander a foot or so away as their group was traveling back up the stairs to share their plan with Edion and put it into action. Soon they were all standing outside and staring up at the old crumbling house.

  “Since you have no problem with the house being destroyed, I’ll cast a spell strong enough to incinerate everything. All of you should head back to D’Vaire. I’ll call Vadimas to come and pick up Idris,” Chander stated.

  “Your spell will only take a minute or two; we can wait and return together,” Aleksander said.

  “Idris may not want to see his house annihilated,” Renny said. “I can take him back and then you guys can follow.”

  “There’s no need for any of you to wait for Benton and me,” Chander began. “Since I’m here, there is a task I need to complete. One that is long overdue.”

  “We can help,” Dra’Kaedan offered.

  “No need, but thanks for the offer. Just get our friend Idris to that wizard school,” Chander said with a small smile.

  Pulling Gedeon close once more, Gavrael rested his head against the side of his mate’s and waited while everyone said their good-byes to Chander and Benton. Closing his eyes, he felt the air shimmer around him as Dre’Kariston cast a teleportation circle that would send them all back home. With Gedeon back home where he belonged, Gavrael was going to rededicate himself to ensuring his life lacked for nothing.