by Nicki Ruth
Jason had returned his flames to him, had sought out sacred fire to mend the soul being torn from him.
This Jason. The one who trapped him in the pendant, who plotted with the dark mage.
“Thank you,” Cade hissed. “You’ve returned my fire.”
Jason’s eyes lit up, a grin splitting his handsome face, but the light was soon extinguished.
“But you betray me no more. Let thisss be the last time you ever ssstand before me.”
“No, Cade. Please . . .” Jason cried, but Cade launched himself into the air, seeking respite in driftless clouds, hoping he, too, could discover another sacred remedy—this time to mend the fire smothered in his heart.
Chapter 27
Jason felt his father’s presence next to him as he crouched among the rubble left behind by Cade’s departure. Cade never wanted to see him again. Could he blame him? He’d betrayed him in the worst way.
Cade, who’d been kind to him, helped him come to terms with his heritage, who’d loved him. Jason wiped the tears from his face and rose to his feet.
Cade left because you don't deserve someone like him. You are nothing, no one. A wretched creature like you should be alone.
Jason knew this to be true. Didn’t he? So why couldn’t he accept this?
He swallowed the lump in his throat and turned silently to his sire as he struggled to keep his head above a sea of turbulent anguish.
“Jason. You did well and I’m proud of you.” Alexios stepped closer and raised Jason’s chin to meet his dark gaze. “All will be well. You did your best, and that’s all you can do.”
His best? He’d lost the most wonderful thing to ever happen to him, if even for a few weeks.
Jason rested his head in the crook of his father’s neck, listening to the rush of life flowing through his veins. If this was his best, then he truly deserved to be alone.
Everyone left him, and maybe fate was justified by her actions. He was no good to anyone.
“Let’s go back. It’ll be dark soon,” Alexios said, wrapping his arms around Jason. “Besides, there’s something I need you to see.”
Jason simply nodded into his father’s neck, feeling the wetness pooling against his face.
∞∞∞
“All right, since we’re all agreed, let’s get packing and ready to leave. We don’t know how quickly more enemies may find us,” Karina said to the gathered survivors.
They’d lost few, but among this small group of refugees, they’d lost much. Karina looked over to a sullen Jason. These youngins and their melodrama, Karina thought as she chuckled to herself.
Cade and Jason would do well together, but she had one other matter to take care of. “Davina, can you accompany me to my place? There’s much we need to talk about.”
She inclined her head for Davina to follow and noticed Davina exchanging a measured glance with Alexios. She smiled, marveling over the blood queen’s inheritance of so many of her sister’s bloodgifts.
“So,” Karina began when they fell in step with each other, “I know this is a great task I’m asking, to look after this bunch of misfits, but they need the protection of a powerful benefactor.”
“Of course. I will ensure their protection on Damurios for as long as they choose to remain. I know some are a little uncomfortable being among my kind, but I assure you, no harm will come to them. And they already look to Jason for guidance. Between the both of us, we’ll find a new home that’s right for everyone.”
Karina nodded at this, but this was not the matter for which she needed Davina’s ear.
“That’s wonderful. I don't doubt they’ll be all right. However, there is something else I think you must know. What you do with this knowledge will be up to you.” Karina paused, holding the amber gaze of the queen before her.
“The gods of old are planning to return to the mortal plane. Some of my brethren are against this, but they are small in number. I know not when or how they plan their return, but I am to join them. And I suspect many will court the aid of the awakened blood god. You must be prepared. Whether you decide to aid their cause is your choice.”
Davina frowned. “But what do the gods have to do with me?”
Karina suppressed a grimace. “As I’ve said, you’re the reincarnation of my sister, Lillian, who dwells within you. She is one with you, and thus you have assumed her role and powers. Surely you feel the might of the gifts within you, for they are not of this plane.”
Davina’s eyes widened, then grew hard with anger and determination. “Let me guess. They come to rule over us, demanding our fealty,” she said with sarcasm and a one-sided curl of her lip.
Karina laughed but sadness peppered the sound. “They plan to rule, and this means complete annihilation.”
∞∞∞
Jason looked about the clearing and the remains of the small village that had been his home for the last couple weeks. It was time to go, to settle his new charges on Damurios and find them a new, permanent home.
Karina was right. They couldn't stay here any longer; their sanctuary had been compromised. But at least they’d gained many treasures from the mage’s wrecked ship—even two other vahanas Jason released from their cruel bindings.
He’d been surprised when they voted to travel with him and his family to Damurios. They trusted him and had faith that these new abilities he’d acquired would help keep them safe. Their confidence in him only served to ratchet up his self-loathing.
If only they knew the wretched creature he was. Soon they would, and soon they would leave him behind, too.
He spread his wings and leapt into the air, taking flight one last time to secretly seek out Cade, who hadn’t returned from deep within the mountains.
For the three days after he released Cade from the pendant, Jason had slipped from the village and tracked Cade, making sure he was fully recovered, that he was eating, resting, or just simply there—alive and breathing. He’d made sure to keep a good distance away, peering over ridges and waterfalls, concealing his presence so as not to enrage Cade further.
He needed to know Cade was all right. That no dark magic assailed him, that Cade was able to move on . . . without him. Cade remained in his drogulis form, and Jason longed to see his tanned skin again, to tangle his fingers in his blond hair, and feel his warm body against his own.
But now it was time to leave, and he’d be leaving behind a piece of him on the mountaintop. On the ledge he’d noticed Cade would often perch on, Jason placed the golden bracelet Cade had gifted him. He no longer deserved Cade’s token.
Would he ever be free of the ache in his chest where spiteful thorns ripped and bled from him his desire to see another tomorrow?
He spied the golden beast lounging near the lake’s edge, where silver crowns winked at the sun on the surface. His wings were lazily draped across the boulders he rested against, his tail sluicing the water, creating happy ripples that sloshed against the pebbled shore.
It was the lake they used to visit to bathe and splash about, the lake where Cade had first taught Jason to conceal his wings. Jason hid behind the boulder and settled down to watch over his friend. He found comfort here, watching the drogulis’ carefree afternoon. Did Cade think of him or remember the times they spent at this lake? The times they’d kissed and touched and enjoyed each other?
Hours passed, and the shadows lengthened. They were planning to leave today, and Jason’s throat tightened as he realized this would be the last time he saw this golden beauty. He would leave Cade, returning to his vampire life.
Silent tears slipped from his eyes watching the light of the sun recede into the horizon, just as his happiness receded from his aching heart.
∞∞∞
Cade grumbled and turned over, seeking out the dwindling rays of sun as they retreated behind the choppy peaks that surrounded the lake. Once again, he felt Jason’s presence nearby, as he had for the last few days. At first, he thought he was imagining it, since he dreamed about the vampir
e every waking moment, and when he closed his eyes, yellow ones bored into his restless slumber.
He wanted to call to Jason, to be as they were when last they were at the lake. Cade missed him terribly, even though it pained and confused him to think of Jason’s betrayal.
How had things turned out this way? Why did Jason keep turning away from him?
Cade grumbled and flicked his tail over the surface of the lake, sending a wall of water crashing over himself. Thinking about Jason was vexing and arousing. It was one of the reasons he stayed in his drogulis form; he didn’t trust he wouldn’t give in to his desperate desire to find Jason behind whichever rock he hid and take him right there.
After a while, Jason left and Cade groaned again, slipping silently below the now placid surface of the water, blowing bubbles through his nose. Jason had covetously marked his territory in Cade’s heart, his soul.
How would he erase Jason’s laugh, his playful smile, his noisy moans of passion from his memory?
Did he even want to?
“How long do you intend to stay here moping?”
Cade perked his head above the water to see Karina standing on the bank. With a heavy, irritated snarl he hefted half his body out of the lake and sprawled onto the pebbly shore.
“Cadeonidas. What bothers you so?”
Cade’s head jerked up, incredulous at Karina’s question. Certainly, she wasn’t daft.
“Can you at least return to your mortal form so I can speak to you. I’d rather not have your fire breath on my person.”
Giving Karina his best reptilian eye roll, he shuddered and took his human form.
“Ah, now that’s better. I do so like the naked male form.” Karina grinned, running her gaze up and down his naked body. “Very nice. No wonder Jason is so forlorn.”
“Do not speak that name to me,” Cade ground out. “I do not wish to speak of him, if that’s why you’re here.”
“Fine,” she grumbled. “Be stubborn. But I’ll have you know Jason has already been abandoned by those who’d been tasked with caring for him. Save his sire, he has had none in the world to care for him. He desperately wants to belong and be loved by someone.”
“I said. Do. Not. Speak to me about him!” Cade thundered. “Not ever again!”
“Do not raise your voice at me, Cade!” Karina countered, violet eyes blazing. “You wallow here in your self-pity while Jason is bearing the burden of taking care of you and those you promised to protect. Even now, he is doing what you should be, and near forfeited his life for yours. Do not raise your misplaced indignation at me!”
“What are you talking about? Have you forgotten he plotted with the mage, cursing me to the pendant, shackling me within it. He—”
“Yet here you stand!” At Cade’s speechless glare she jabbed her finger into his chest. “Healthy and whole, gifted with Drogar’s fire and more powerful than ever, your enemy vanquished. Oh, what a terrible person he is. Let’s send him to the gallows!”
Cade shouted in frustration and slammed his fist against an unfortunate boulder, which splintered and burst into flame.
Karina’s words battered his mind. Hadn’t Jason struck a deal with Paxor? How did he almost forfeit his life?
Karina sighed and draped herself along another large rock partially submerged in the water. “I am here to also let you know . . .” She hesitated and looked away, her reflection wavering among the restless sway of the lake. “I’m leaving.”
“What? What do you mean leaving?”
“I’ve been summoned. Besides, I’ve lingered here too long. I grow weaker by the hour. Defending my earth stone from the mage took a toll. And I’ll need to replenish for what’s to come.”
Karina stood upright and walked toward Cade, stopping in front of him, her red braids swaying behind her. “War is coming. The gods plot their return. They’ll be seeking their strongest champions.”
“No. They left and promised they’d not return. They left us here to wither on our own.” Cade ran his hand through his hair, agitated. “They think to come back? To have us fight senseless battles? No. I want no part of it.”
Karina shrugged. “You may have little choice.” She leaned forward and placed her hands on his chest. “I’ll miss you. Miss our time together. I haven’t told Wushien. He . . . he will not be able to let me go.” Sadness laced her voice as it broke. “Take care of each other. And Jason—he yearns for your love and forgiveness.”
Cade scoffed. Karina smiled up at him and he folded her into an embrace, mourning the loss of his dearest friend. “Promise you’ll return?”
“I will, if you promise you won’t get mad when I say everyone has already gone.”
Chapter 28
Four months later
Brandr watched Jason fidget with the table’s centerpiece, distracted and unfocused. This had been Jason’s demeanor since returning to Damurios months ago. Brandr had tried his best to distract him with amusements he liked, like tonight at the Harridan Club. Here, all types of barely-dressed males and females flirted and danced and offered their services. It was a place he and Jason would sometimes frequent to take their minds off one lass or another. But Jason didn’t seem to want to get his mind off Cade, despite Brandr’s attempt to avoid the club they’d first encountered the fire-breather.
“How’re your boys settling in?” Brandr asked Jason.
His boys were Albus and Valere, two divine beings connected to Jason in some way he didn’t quite understand. But they plagued Jason with incessant questions and requests to explore the empire.
Valere, the dark-haired one, had a quick temper that seemed to only rear its head for Jason. They were constantly at odds, with Valere taking to pranks to get a rise out of him. He seemed to get on with Brandr just fine, though: the boy’s mind for warfare impressed Brandr. Albus preferred to bury himself in books or the computer, learning all they’d missed while they had been subjugated to an enchanted box.
But they both stayed near Jason’s side, watching over him in their own way.
Jason sighed and eased back into the booth. “I had to threaten to take away their games if they didn’t clean their room. As you can imagine, the little devil didn’t like ‘being threatened’—his words. And so ensued the standoff. I swear Brandr, I think I’ve been cursed with these brats.”
Brandr chuckled and took a sip of his valmir. Jason complained, but he enjoyed them. If only they could somehow banish the sadness he saw lingering in Jason’s eyes.
“Tomorrow I’ll take them to the Virtualand. Introduce them to virtual reality games,” Jason continued. “If only I could lose them there.” He laughed, but there was no humor in his eyes.
Changing the subject Jason asked, “Any word on what they’ve decided to do?”
Brandr tensed for a moment before he forced himself to relax. Just as they had been leaving Rosthos, their queen, Davina, was summoned by Damurian elders demanding her permanent presence on the planet.
Apparently, her absence was creating political turmoil, with reports that factions not wanting a new monarchy were priming to stage a coup d’etat.
Davina was quietly amused by the whole affair, but Alexios was incensed they would treat their new queen so disrespectfully.
Now a decision needed to be made. Alexios would not leave Davina’s side; they were somehow bonded. But plans to find Marius needed to be made. Jason had reported their only intel thus far: Xanthus. A desperate place for anyone to be, especially now it declared itself an independent territory.
“No. But tensions haven’t settled here. The ministers are still foaming at the mouth, jostling for their queen’s attention. Many still feel her place is permanently on Damurios, especially with the Dāmming still on us,” Brandr replied.
The irony was that Davina was immune to the effects of the Dāmming, and now so too was Alexios. His gifts had returned fully, probably because of his unique bond with Davina.
“What if we never find Marius? What if he’s gone for good
?” Jason said, chin buried into his chest, his voice barely a whisper above the noise around them. “Isn’t it funny how people can disappear from your life so easily?”
“Jason, stop. We’ll find Marius. Even if it's just you and me.” Brandr shifted in his seat, uneasy with Jason’s leaden depression and grief over Cade.
He cursed the man, wishing they never encountered the blasted fire-breathing kidnapper! He and Alexios had gotten into a heated argument over this very issue when they first returned to Damurios.
Alexios called for compassion for Cade’s feelings while Brandr wanted to go back and destroy him. But his sire believed Cade may eventually come looking for Jason, that Jason deserved this chance at happiness.
Did Alexios think he didn’t want Jason to be happy, that he’d been blind to his condition when they first found him on the merchant ship, bloodied and left for dead but with obvious signs of old wounds and trauma? He could only imagine the horrors his brother had faced.
And that’s why they needed to protect him. He would never forgive the slithering reptile for hurting Jason like this.
He hated to see his brother so dejected, often staring into the distance, lost to his sadness. It was so unlike him yet reminded Brandr of the Jason they’d first met—dull and hollow, as if his inner light had dimmed. Brandr missed his boisterous laughter and his silly shenanigans. Now, he remained sullen and quiet, except when battling Valere.
It was times like these he truly missed Marius, who would know what to do or say.
“Then let’s go. Father can’t forbid us. We arm up and take the ship. Maybe we can convince Amir and Wushien to come with us.”
“Maybe. Let me think on it and a plan.”
Maybe this was the distraction Jason needed. Finding their brother.
∞∞∞
Davina turned in his arms, murmuring in her sleep like she usually did. She’d outdone herself tonight; his skin still tingled from their intense lovemaking. Alexios smoothed a curl from her forehead and looked into her sleeping face, her nose scrunched at a restless dream. He gently eased away from her and got to his feet, his mind also restless.