“You don’t believe that, Karein, right?” he inquired a little desperately. “You don’t think I’d do that to you?”
“Of course not,” Karein answered, his tone softening. “I wouldn’t have believed it even if I hadn’t seen the truth through our bond. I admit I don’t understand it, but I do believe it.” A hint of terror echoed through their bond. “But they don’t know you like I do. They’ll hurt you, baby. You need to run.”
Karein’s urgency made Sari snap back to reality. He was in a serious problem here, and given the cruelty of the emperor, if he got caught, his child would be in danger. Sari couldn’t allow that, no matter what.
Sage seemed to be leading him toward the exit of the palace, obviously realizing the severity of the situation as well. But as Sari and the lieutenant ran together, they were intercepted by another group of draechen. Sari threw one more shield up to block their path, but they could no longer continue in the same direction.
“Back,” Sage gasped out. “Go back.”
Karein’s panic flooded Sari’s mind, making him stumble. “Overlords… Sari, please! I’m coming now. Find a way out.”
Sari would have loved to do just that, but there was nowhere to run. More soldiers were coming from every corridor until Sage and Sari were completely surrounded. One of the groups was actually led by the princess. Sari tried to keep the soldiers from approaching by using his shields, and to a certain extent he succeeded. His powers had grown since mating Karein, just like he had known they would. But his attackers were simply too many. As Akarawem summoned a fire spell and threw it at Sari, it slipped past Sari’s defenses.
The magic might have hit him had Sage not pushed Sari behind himself, summoning an ice spell that clashed with the fire bolt. Akarawem sneered at Sage. “So you’re the one who had fun with the Ivenian whore. Tell me, Lieutenant Zager, what do you think my brother will do when he finds out you stabbed him in the back?”
“I would never betray His Highness,” Sage answered. “I am merely following his orders and protecting what is his.”
“You know as well as I do that the child the whore carries isn’t a Tersain,” Akarawem shot back. “Last chance, Lieutenant. Stand aside.”
“I will not,” Sage insisted. “My general will decide what to do with Prince Sareltae upon his return from the United States.”
Akarawem shrugged. “Suit yourself. Guards, attack!”
As a last resort, Sari released the full extent of his abilities, creating a bubble which the draechen guards could not penetrate. Taking a few deep breaths, he created small force fields and attempted to use them as weapons that would give him and Sage room to pass. But Sari was a healer, not a warrior, and he only had limited success. A great deal of his opponents shifted into their dragon forms, becoming far harder to combat. Sari’s powers held the soldiers at bay, but still kept him and Sage trapped.
Likely, he and Sage would have never managed to escape this place, but then, Sari remembered something. He reached into his pocket, where he kept the wooden wolf. Not even knowing what kind of instinctual knowledge guided him, he retrieved the toy and placed it on the floor, straight in front of the draechen soldiers.
At first, the guards—even those in dragon form—seemed puzzled. Akarawem actually burst into laughter. “What is this? Has the whore lost his mind?”
Her chuckles died, though, when the toy dissipated into thin air and a pack of huge, black wolves appeared in its stead. They passed through Sari’s shield and lunged at his enemies.
By rights, a wolf-shifter had very few chances against a draechen in hand-to-hand combat. The only reason Caelyn’s mate, Graham, had escaped with his life from Draechenburg was that he’d used trickery. Therefore, the draechen didn’t seem fearful or impressed upon seeing the black wolves advance upon them.
But these were no ordinary animals. As the dragons summoned their elemental magic to crush Sari’s aids, the spells just went through the beasts, as if the wolves had been wisps of shadow, invulnerable to whatever the draechen tried. And when they attacked, one hit of a wolf’s paw was enough to send a dragon sprawling to the ground, completely drained of energy.
Upon seeing this, the soldiers lost their courage. “It’s General Shtamakarein,” one of them said as he shifted back into his legged form. “Sage is right. We shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Karein isn’t here, you fools,” Akara shouted. “Go—”
She didn’t get to finish the phrase because one of the wolves pounced her, and she fell to the floor in an unconscious heap. It wasn’t even something Sari had consciously commanded, but it still made him ridiculously pleased. He didn’t dwell on that foolish emotion, though, as he didn’t know how long the wolf enchantment would last.
“Can you fly us out of here?” he asked Sage.
Sage nodded, seeming surprised at this development. “I can shift and carry you away from Draechenburg,” he answered as he started to pull Sari through one of the corridors. “I don’t even have to go to the cliff. A room with a big enough balcony would do. But I don’t get it. How did His Highness do that?”
“It’s not me,” Karein said in Sari’s mind. “It’s not my power. I can’t do anything like that.”
“I know,” Sari replied. “It must be Prince Kaelezrin’s, and likely, Prince Talrasar’s.”
He had no idea how to tell Sage that without startling him further, but he planned to try. As he opened his mouth, though, another wave of dizziness swept over him. This time, it must have been fed by his exhaustion, because Sari could no longer keep hold of his consciousness. Reaching out one last time to Karein, Sari surrendered to the darkness and prayed that, for his child’s sake, Sage would manage to find a way out.
* * * *
“So let me get this straight.” Philip Strange crossed his arms over his muscular chest and glowered at Karein and Hareem. Even if he was wearing a mask, his disbelief and bemusement remained obvious. “You want me to contact Monroe Lovington, asking him to come discuss his brother’s welfare with you. You must be joking.”
“Not at all,” Karein answered, his tone completely neutral. “You know me well enough by now to realize I have no intention whatsoever to set a trap for Monroe.”
Hareem had no idea how his brother could be so calm when this seventh-caste mercenary was giving them so much trouble. Nevertheless, he allowed his brother to do the talking. Karein had warned him ahead of time that he needed to keep rein over his temper, because an outburst from Hareem wouldn’t encourage Philip to cooperate.
For a few moments, silence fell as Philip seemed to muse over these words. Oddly enough, the mercenary did appear to believe Karein in that regard. Karein hadn’t told Hareem how the two of them had met. Hareem only knew that after a back-and-forth dance of messages being sent through the underground grapevine, Philip had agreed to meet with him in this dirty, random alley in New York.
The half-public nature of the area made Hareem uncomfortable, but Philip didn’t seem to care. “And what exactly is the reason you suddenly decided to free Taryn Lovington?” he asked, leaning against the wall of the building behind him.
“He has become a burden for my family,” Karein answered. “That’s all you need to know. The rest, we will discuss with Monroe.”
At Karein’s words, Hareem could no longer hold his tongue. He didn’t appreciate Karein speaking of Taryn so dismissively. “What my brother means is that we’re doing this for Taryn’s own good,” he amended.
In hindsight, he should have probably accepted Karein’s fake disregard of Taryn, because Hareem’s sudden helpfulness sounded suspicious even to his own ears. Indeed, Philip huffed at his answer. “As if I would believe that. The truth, Prince Shtamakarein, or you can say good-bye to any help you get from me. I might be a mercenary, but you won’t rope me into treachery.”
Karein shot Hareem a glare, as if to ask him what in the world he thought he was doing. Hareem didn’t appreciate being reprimanded like a child by his younger br
other, even through this silent exchange. He might have actually said so, especially since, with everything that had happened with Taryn, he was on the edge. But then, Karein’s expression went curiously blank. His fists clenched and unclenched, and he started breathing faster.
“Karein?” Hareem asked his brother. “What’s the matter?”
Karein didn’t answer. Instead, he just melted into his shifter form and launched himself into the air. His large bulk didn’t fit in with their cramped surroundings, and he grazed a nearby building with his abdomen, sending bricks flying all over the place.
“Whoa!” Philip jumped back, barely dodging the projectile. “What the fuck? This wasn’t what I had in mind when I agreed to meet with you people. I’m out of here.”
Before Hareem could stop the other man, Philip disappeared into the darkness. Hareem would have liked to at least give Philip his personal phone number. That way, Monroe could have contacted Taryn himself and seen that Hareem’s intentions were perfectly reasonable. But it seemed that Philip had no desire to get involved in the personal entanglements of others. As much as it frustrated Hareem, he really couldn’t blame the feline-shifter.
And now, Hareem had another problem to worry about, namely Karein’s unexpected departure.
“What’s happened?” Taryn asked softly in his mind.
“I don’t know, sweeting,” Hareem asked, “but whatever it is, it can’t be good.”
Something was wrong in Draechenburg, something serious that probably involved Karein’s mate in some way. Unfortunately, this meant Hareem had to cut his visit to the States short. He had to return to Germany at once, because he suddenly knew that his presence would be required.
Chapter Fifteen
When the fae prince fainted, Sage had the urge to let him fall and leave him right there for the emperor to find. However, he did no such thing. Instead, he caught Sareltae and took him in his arms. Taking advantage of the protection of the mysterious wolves, he slid into a nearby room and headed toward the balcony.
He must have lost his mind. Sareltae was a traitor. The fae had admitted it himself. Perhaps he had been carrying a child before he’d even come to Draechenburg, and he’d somehow managed to circumvent Karein’s notorious powers by seducing him. As vigilant as Karein might be in military issues, his mate was his weakness.
And that was exactly the reason why Sage couldn’t let anything happen to Sareltae. On the off chance that the fae might actually be pregnant with Karein’s baby—something Sage simply couldn’t fathom, but remained a possibility—Sage’s duty was more important than ever.
Clinging to that thought, Sage shifted into his dragon form. The process took far longer than he’d have liked, and once he finished, he noted with concern that the black wolves that had accompanied them had disappeared. So much for the mystical assistance Sareltae had somehow managed to conjure. Sage was on his own.
Not allowing that to dishearten him, Sage gripped Sareltae’s unconscious form in his paw and launched himself into the air. Predictably, it didn’t take long for other draechen to detect him. Draechenburg was built with a structure that allowed the guards watching it to note everyone who approached or left the area. It came as no surprise that soon, Sage found himself followed by a large group of dragons. Most of them seemed fire or ice dragons, but there were two wind dragons with them, something which concerned Sage a great deal. They were very powerful in air battles and could easily take him out if he wasn’t careful.
Bolts of magic came his way, narrowly missing Sage. He tried to fly in zigzags, and that helped dodge the fire bolts. He wasn’t as concerned about the ice magic since he was resilient to it, but the flame could do some damage if it struck him. When he got the chance, he briefly turned and breathed a small blizzard in their direction. He had no chance of actually taking them out, but if he could at least stall them, he might be able to exit draechen air space before they caught him.
His only chance was to head toward France. He didn’t actually know where Rose Noire was located, but he suspected Sareltae would wake soon enough. Or so he hoped. He was no healer, and he didn’t know the exact extent of the strain Sareltae’s spells had put on him.
Unfortunately for him, his pursuers realized his plan and seemed to have no intention to allow him to succeed. One of the air dragons summoned a small whirlwind that angrily beat at Sage, threatening to tear apart his wings. He almost dropped Sareltae, and only succeeded fighting his way through the enchantment through sheer force of will. He wasn’t fighting only for himself and the fae prince, but also for Camden. Camden had promised to return to him. That wouldn’t be possible now since Sage had fled Draechenburg, but he would find a new way to track his mate down. He just needed to survive this battle.
He aimed another ice blast at the air dragon, but the other shifter dodged. Cursing to himself, Sage focused on flying. He realized in panic that up ahead, the mountain narrowed into nearly a strait. He couldn’t avoid the area anymore since he was going too fast, and once he entered the area, he’d be a sitting duck.
Still, he kept going, hoping and praying that he’d somehow manage to find a way out of this. As he slipped between the rocks, a fire spell hit his wing, but he ignored the pain and kept going. It seemed that the Overlords were watching over him, because as his pursuers followed him through the strait, the mountain began to rumble. The stone seemed to explode from within, and an avalanche of rocks fell on top of the draechen. It should have hit Sage as well, and for a few moments, Sage actually thought he’d be knocked out by a particularly large fragment of stone. But oddly enough, the rock bounced off him as if there had been some sort of invisible force protecting Sage from it. Sage stole a look at Sareltae, thinking that the fae prince might have recovered, but no. Sareltae was still very much unconscious.
In the end, the source of the unexpected aid didn’t matter, just the fact that it had come. With his former allies, now opponents, distracted, Sage continued to fly. But another obstacle appeared in front of him, this time as a helicopter.
Sage stopped, eyeing the aircraft warily. It didn’t seem to belong to the draechen. Sage would have recognized it. He caught a glimpse of a black rose painted on its side and realized the fae had sent reinforcements. He couldn’t really understand how they’d known about what had happened, so he remained cautious.
The aircraft doors opened, and a woman dressed in white came into view. Sage had never met her, but it didn’t take a genius to realize who she was. The gem shining in the center of her forehead, as well as her long silver locks, marked her as High Priestess Eanera, Sareltae’s mother.
Comprehension finally dawned, and Sage flew closer to the helicopter. Carefully, he handed the unconscious fae to Eanera. The priestess shot him a grateful and somewhat tearful smile and mouthed, “Thank you. Follow us.”
As she closed the doors, the helicopter turned around and headed toward France. Sage could do nothing but comply with Eanera’s command. He had to say he completely agreed with how she’d approached the matter. She’d managed to keep the draechen away from her son without visibly getting involved. Of course, the Emperor would undoubtedly use this to attempt starting a war, but him not knowing where Sareltae had been taken couldn’t hurt.
There wasn’t time for the helicopter to stop so that Sage could shift and get into the chopper himself, so they flew like that for a while longer. Finally, it became too risky for Sage to remain in dragon form. They were approaching human settlements, and if someone saw him, there would be hell to pay.
Fortunately, Eanera seemed to realize this as well, as the helicopter descended and landed in a small clearing. Quickly, Sage did the same, paying close attention to keep his distance so that his large wings wouldn’t accidentally hit the blades of the aircraft. Taking a deep breath, Sage went through the shifting process one more time, this time turning into his legged form.
At last, he stood as a human in the center of the clearing. On somewhat shaky legs, he made his way to the helico
pter. The door opened and he climbed inside, where, predictably, he found Eanera holding Sareltae.
“Will he be all right?” Sage asked quietly as he closed the doors.
Eanera nodded, beaming down at her son. “He’s just sleeping now. The strain of the spells he cast, combined with his pregnancy, pushed him into exhaustion. It could have seriously harmed another magic user, but my Sari is very powerful. He should wake up in a few hours.”
She looked up at Sage and took his hand. “I owe you a great deal. You don’t realize right now just what an important thing you’ve done today. In fact, you’re very upset with my son. But know this. Sari’s child will be the first baby to be born out of a black dragon. It should have happened a long time ago, but too many mistakes stopped it.”
The gem in the center of her forehead began to glow hypnotically. Sage felt a warm power slide into his body, and for a few instants, he caught glimpses of himself and Camden, sometimes arguing or even crying, sometimes kissing or making love. A lot of it didn’t make sense, but Sage’s heart was instantly flooded with hope as he understood that yes, he and Camden did have a future together.
As he opened his eyes—when had he closed them?—he realized the helicopter had taken off once more. Sage’s fatigue and minor injuries had disappeared altogether. He’d have liked to ask what Eanera meant by those cryptic words. She clearly knew about Sareltae’s baby and thought it was Karein’s. But even if that was true, the draechen would never believe her or Sareltae.
As Sage stole a look at the fae prince’s face, though, he knew that he’d done the right thing. He could easily imagine Camden in a position of danger. For that reason, because he understood how Karein felt about his mate, he’d thrown everything he’d known away. But he feared what his decision would bring. He feared for them all.
* * * *
The moment his connection with Sari succumbed to silence, Karein’s dragon completely took over. The only thing that kept him from going on a rampage was that the bond remained there. However, Sari was in terrible danger. Kael and Talrasar’s power had assisted him, but it would never be enough. Karein knew Draechenburg, and he realized all too well that it wasn’t a place someone escaped so easily.
Hyacinth, Scarlet - Draechen's Mate [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 2] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) Page 22