Dragons of Cinderhollow Bundle

by Hawke Oakley

  Terror gripped me like the dead of winter. “Halo? Where is she?”

  He trembled as he shook his head. He was too choked by tears to respond.

  I grabbed him by the shoulders and rocked him before I could stop myself. “Halo! Answer me!”

  Halo winced and curled into himself. I felt guilty for scaring him, but right now my only priority was learning the truth about my daughter. If she was dead, I could never forgive myself - or Halo.

  “Just answer one thing,” I said firmly. “Is she alive?”

  Halo nodded. Quietly, he said, “Yes.”

  A massive sigh of relief left my body. “Thank the gods. Is she safe? Where is she?”

  I forced myself to pause, then waited for Halo to collect himself. I’d never seen him so distraught. It was like someone had forcibly ripped the soul from his body. Where was the proud, strong mate I once knew? This wasn’t like him at all.

  As difficult as it was, I quashed the urge to question him again. It was only upsetting him further. If I wanted the answer, I had to wait.

  I clenched my fists impatiently.

  Finally, Halo caught his breath and lifted his head. Dark rings circled his eyes, like he’d been crying for a long time before I even showed up. I felt the slightest pang of sympathy, but right now my focus was my daughter, not him.

  Halo opened his mouth to speak. “Kass, she’s - ”

  The door flew open. The slam nearly made me jump out of my skin. Halo recoiled against the chains. I stood and whipped around, bracing myself. A low, deep growl came from beyond the threshold. A dragon.

  A shift took place, and a man replaced the beast - a man I recognized.

  Silas stepped through the door, his brows raised and his expression a mix of confusion, wariness and surprise.

  “Captain Kassius,” he said slowly, giving me a wide berth. “You’re alive?”

  “I am.”

  “I’m surprised to see you.”

  “I can say the same, Silas,” I admitted.

  My mind suddenly raced to put the pieces together. The two figures I saw earlier - the one in chains was Halo, so the other must have been Silas. The familiarity of the scene stunned me. The Knight with the cornered mage. It was like four centuries had barely passed.

  Silas is alive. Halo is alive. I’m alive.

  We were right back where we started. How was any of this possible? What was the point of all the time that had passed? Time was supposed to heal all wounds, not just gloss them over.

  Maybe this is all just a bad dream, I thought miserably.

  Silas stepped closer to me, eyeing me like he wasn’t sure how I would react. He reached a hand out to touch my arm in a cautious but friendly way. “How have you been all this time? We were all so worried. We thought you... might have passed away.”

  I shook my head. “I’m sorry. I needed time alone after what happened.”

  “I understand.”

  From the corner of my eye, I saw Halo’s frown deepen. Surely he wasn’t enjoying this conversation any more than I was.

  “But how - I’m sorry for this rude question, but how are you still alive?” I asked. “You shared a claiming bite with your omega, didn’t you?”

  A strange expression crossed Silas’s face, quickly replaced by a decidedly neutral one. “Ah, well. You see, arrangements were made. It was all very practical. Don’t worry, Captain, I’ll fill you in later.” A few heartbeats passed before he said, in a strangely genuine tone, “It’s good to see you again.”

  Not knowing what to say, I nodded.

  “You must be tired. You look like you’ve travelled a great distance to be here,” Silas remarked.

  “Not really,” I replied. I caught my tongue a moment before I spilled the fact that I was almost always fatigued nowadays. That was a weakness I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to share with him yet.

  “Oh. Well, in any case, feel free to rest. There’s plenty of room in the cabin, Captain,” Silas said with a slight smile.

  One of deference, I thought.

  I glanced back to Halo, still crumpled in a miserable pile on the floor. The pathetic gaze he stared up at me with filled me with an uncomfortable mix of sympathy and disgust. He wasn’t acting like himself. The Halo I knew would have busted free from any chains long ago and burned down the cabin while he was at it. Now he was as meek and hopeless as a mouse trapped in a shoebox.

  “What about him?” I asked Silas.

  Silas shrugged with a grin. “What about him? He’s been captured - finally. Gods know it only took four centuries, but we did it, Captain.”

  His mention of we made me remember something. “Commander Sterling… She shared a claiming bite with her mate, too, so unless you know something I don’t, then she’s been dead for quite some time now,” I said sadly.

  The Commander was always a brave woman. Even though she held the belief that magic was to be feared and controlled, like the rest of the Knights, she was never quite as callous and harsh about it as Silas. At least, not until the very end. She’d finally given into Silas’s constant badgering to capture Halo when he proved that magic was truly evil.

  It filled me with sadness, knowing that the woman I’d looked up to for so long was dead.

  “So she had no part in this?” I asked.

  “Ah, no,” Silas said, like he was trying to let me down gently. “She wasn’t organized with… That’s a shame, about her passing. I’m sorry.”

  I noticed the way he trailed off, but didn’t comment on it.

  “Regardless, Captain, the omega won’t get away again,” Silas promised.

  Why was Silas so sure of himself? Halo had eluded him - us - once. I wasn’t convinced he wouldn’t be able to pull it off again.

  But presently, Halo didn’t struggle. He hung limply in chains, making no motion to gather his magic and free himself. There was no flicker of fire or fight in his eyes. Had he truly given up? The thought made me ill. It was like a pair of wolves hunting a sick, cornered rabbit. Silas seemed proud of himself, but this wasn’t a Knight’s victory. Something was wrong with Halo.

  Silas pulled half a loaf of stale bread out from a pouch on his waist and seemed like he was about to throw it to Halo, but then he hesitated. With narrowed eyes, he asked, “Hang on. Where’s the child?”

  Halo froze.

  At the same time, my breath caught in my throat. “What?”

  “The child!” Silas growled, rounding on Halo. “She was here before I left. What did you do?”

  Halo turned his face to avoid Silas’s gaze. He didn’t speak.

  Panic flaring, I rushed to Silas and grabbed his arm. “Silas, tell me what’s going on. What child? Was it mine?”

  Silas tensed like he wanted to jerk his arm away from me, but he didn’t dare insult his Captain. He set his jaw and ground out, “Yes.”

  “Angel was here?”

  “Yes, Kassius.”

  I let go of Silas before I dug my nails into his skin. My breath quickened as I faced Halo again, desperate. “Where is she? You were about to tell me before Silas showed up. Halo, where?”

  “I won’t tell you,” Halo muttered, not looking at us.

  The sound of the sharp impact registered in my mind as Halo’s face snapped viciously to the side. A bright red mark from Silas’s hand burned on his cheek, and a tiny whimper escaped his lips.

  My body acted instinctively. I snatched Silas’s wrist in a deathgrip.

  “What are you doing?” I snarled.

  Anger and confusion clouded Silas’s eyes. “Captain, I’m - I’m punishing this omega!”

  My heart raced. The sight of Silas abusing my former mate sent rage searing to the surface of my buried memories. Despite all my anger and frustration towards Halo, seeing him get smacked across the face was too much for me to handle.

  I threw Silas’s wrist with a growl. “Don’t do it again.”

  There was a wary flash in Silas’s eyes. “Captain, I thought you no longer had feelings for the
omega.”

  “I don’t!” I snarled. Halo flinched. My voice echoed throughout the cabin, and I realized how loud I’d been. In a quieter voice, I repeated, “I don’t. But you don’t need to hit him. That won’t get the information we need out of him.”

  Silas shrugged like he didn’t agree, but also didn’t want to argue with his captain. “Fine. Then might I suggest you think of another way?” He threw the bread into the far corner, away from Halo. Then in a quiet mutter, he added, “I know you don’t agree, but torture is effective.”

  He wasn’t quiet enough. Halo let out a tiny, choked sound at Silas’s words.

  “No,” I stated firmly. “That’s an order.”

  Silas set his mouth. He pulled me to the side, out of earshot. “Tell me straight, Captain Kassius. You’re still on board with the Knights, aren’t you?”

  I paused. Silas’s eyes widened slightly at my hesitation.

  “Sir?” he asked.

  I raised a hand for his silence and growled, “Yes, Silas. Give me a damn minute. I don’t know where you’ve been for the past four centuries, but I’ve been alone with my thoughts the whole time. Memories get muddied.”

  Silas nodded like he understood. “I see. Shall I refresh you, then?” he offered.

  I shut my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Maybe. Yes. Sorry. I’m confused and tired. I don’t know what the hell is going on. It’s like all the time passed for nothing.”

  Silas paused, then put a sympathetic hand on my shoulder. “I understand, Captain. I’m sorry for my insolence. I didn’t realize how difficult it’s been for you.”

  I nodded and opened my eyes again, just wishing he would explain everything already.

  “Here’s the quick rundown,” Silas began. “After the omega disappeared, none of us knew what to do. You, Captain, were the one who suggested he might have escaped with his magic. Travelled through time.”

  My head began to ache. There was too much I didn’t remember. “I did?”

  “Yes. At first we thought it was ridiculous, or that you might have been lying to protect him. But it made sense. We looked all over and couldn’t find a trace of him, or the child.”

  “Time travel?” I repeated, my head throbbing even more. “That’s insane.”

  “It shouldn’t be possible. Not for anyone else.” Silas narrowed his eyes. “But the omega, he’s… He’s more powerful than we thought.”

  I turned to glance at Halo over my shoulder. The gaunt young man in chains who seemed like he could barely lift a finger - he was the most powerful mage of all time. But right now, he was nothing. A pathetic shell of his former self.

  Silas continued. “In any case, we made preparations. We knew he wouldn’t go far from his precious barrier.”

  “What do you mean by preparations?”

  A small smirk crossed his lips. “I volunteered to be turned to stone, frozen in time until Halo reappeared. I knew he wouldn’t be able to resist destroying a monument dedicated to the Knights he despised so badly. And we were right - he freed me, by accident, just as expected.”

  All of this was too much for me to handle. My head pounded. I clutched my forehead with a grunt. “Wait, who is we? The Knights have no magic.”

  Silas’ smug grin faltered for a single moment. “Sorry, I meant I. There was an outside source of the magic, of course. As despicable as it is, it does have its uses. If it meant an opportunity to catch the omega, I was willing to take the risk.”

  “So that’s why you’re still alive,” I mumbled. I remembered Silas had an omega mate, Kenan, the one he shared the claiming bite with - the bite that was supposed to divide a couple’s lifeforce, meaning Silas would have died long ago without the aid of magic. “Your mate, Kenan, he…”

  “Died a natural death,” Silas finished with a shrug. “It was necessary for the mission.”

  I grimaced, thinking about his omega dying alone, but I was even more off-put by Silas’s indifference to the situation.

  Maybe I’m being too harsh on him, I thought. Maybe he grieved in his own way. It’s none of my business.

  “In any case, the mission was a success,” Silas remarked with a smile. “We have the omega mage in our custody.” He frowned. “Even though we lost the girl. I still don’t know how he did it.”

  My throat tightened. “Angel, she - she was here? You saw her?”

  “Yes, Captain,” Silas said, voice neutral. “But please, I must remind you not to let your emotions get the best of you. She could be a danger, the same way her omega-father is.”

  I frowned deeply. Even if my daughter carried the spark of magic like Halo did, would that automatically make her dangerous? She was just a little girl, for crying out loud. She was about as threatening as a butterfly.

  “You don’t know that for sure,” I growled to Silas. “She might not have it.”

  Silas didn’t look convinced. “I’m sorry, Captain. I think it’s best to assume the worst until proven otherwise. If Halo raised her, and trained her to be like him…”

  “Are you threatening my daughter, Silas?” I growled, taking a step closer to him.

  “No, of course not, sir,” Silas said quickly. “Only stating the facts.”

  I glared down at him for a moment longer before moving away. Sadness clawed at my chest. “It doesn’t matter. She’s not here anymore.”

  “She was here before I left to - ” he paused, then said, “before I left. So the omega must have done something.”

  I stormed back to Halo’s side, and Silas followed.

  “Halo, please,” I said, trying to keep my voice cool. “Where is Angel? I just want to know if she’s safe.”

  To my surprise, Halo’s head snapped up with a furious expression. “You want to know where she is? Well, too fucking bad, because I won’t tell you - either of you!”

  Silas clenched his fist like he wanted to hit Halo again - and the only reason he didn’t was because I was standing there.

  “Why not?” I asked firmly.

  Now Halo’s burning glare rested solely on me. “Why should I? I don’t care that you’re her father - you betrayed us! Why would I ever tell you anything again?”

  My jaw dropped at the sudden vitriol in his words.

  “Where is the girl, omega?” Silas growled.

  “Fuck off,” Halo spat. “Go to hell.”

  Silas snarled like he was about to lunge at Halo, but he restrained himself. “Fine. We don’t need her anyway. You’re the one that matters.”

  I couldn’t tell if my mind was playing tricks on me, or if I really did see the slightest hint of a smug smirk on Halo’s lips. “Fine by me.”

  Silas whirled back around, his finger pointing dangerously near Halo’s face but not actually touching him. “I know you used your heathen magic to make her disappear. I don’t know how you did it, but if you try anything like that again, you’re going to regret it.”

  A sudden thought struck me and I felt stupid for not realizing it before. After the time travel and whatever stunt he pulled with Angel, Halo’s magic must have run completely dry. That was the real reason he couldn’t escape the chains, not because he didn’t want to.

  Silas said Angel was here before, I thought. If Halo had any scrap of magic left, he must have used it for her sake. That explains why he looks so terrible.

  I glanced at my former mate with a flash of brief sympathy. Even chained to the floor, haggard and completely spent of magical energy, he still glared at Silas with burning defiance. Maybe he wasn’t completely broken after all. The thought filled me with relief, before I remembered Silas - and my duty.

  Despite everything that happened, it was still my job to keep Halo prisoner. And that’s exactly what I was going to do.

  6

  Halo

  The nightmare flickered, like staticky snatches of memories and emotions patched together.

  “I have to do this, Halo,” Kassius said, his voice steel and his expression cold.

  “No, you d
on’t!” I cried. “You have a choice, Kass, and you’re making the wrong one!”

  A brief flicker of torment crossed his face. “Do I? You took away my choice when you did - when you did that.”

  The venom and disgust dripped from his voice. I winced at the accusation - but Kass wasn’t wrong. I’d done exactly what he said.

  And I’d do it again, too.

  “You don’t understand,” I argued, shaking my head.

  But before I could continue, Kassius cut me off. “No, Halo, I don’t understand. I don’t understand how the man I loved could do something so horrible. I thought I knew you. I thought - that you weren’t like that.”

  My skin prickled. “What are you saying, Kass? Just spit it out.”

  He set his jaw. “I’m sorry, Halo. I have to tell the Knights.”

  “Tell them what?” My voice cracked as the panic began to build. “What are you going to tell them, Kass?”

  He turned to me, his eyes unloving and hurt. “That they were right about you all along.”

  “Kass - ”

  “You’re a monster. And everyone needs to know.”

  * * *

  I woke with a gasp that ripped the air from my lungs. In my panic, I jerked against the cold restraints before I realized where I was - and why I could barely move.

  Groaning in frustration, I yanked my handcuffed wrists upward and tightened the chain. Maybe if I pulled as hard as I could, they would break. But I had no such luck. I threw myself back down with an agonized, exasperated sigh. Nothing could ever just be easy for me. Ever.

  “Are you alright?”

  The familiar voice made me wince and sit quickly upright. Kass sat a few feet away at the table, watching me cautiously as his spoon hovered above his steaming bowl.

  That’s right, I thought bitterly. Kass is here. That’s probably why I had that horrible dream about him.

  Except it wasn’t a dream. It was all real, just like the vivid flashback I’d had before. My unconscious brain was forcing me to remember the moment Kass betrayed me and ruined our lives.

  To top everything off, upon gaining consciousness, the bruises on my face from being hit earlier began to bloom with pain.