“Awesome, this is going to be a great weekend,” Conley announced before jumping to his feet.
“I can’t wait,” Benton agreed.
The Reverent Knight headed out of the room and Chander could feel two sets of eyes boring into him as he tried to get back to his email. Sighing he barked out, “What?”
“I told you Drystan wasn’t going to be mad at your forever.”
“You know nearly every other necromancer has a strong, silent assassin they never see,” Chander pointed out. “Why am I stuck with you two clowns?”
“Because you have the two best sentinels ever born,” Baxter responded.
“Resurrected,” Chander corrected.
“He might consider Alaric the best sentinel, you know,” Benton suggested.
Chander hardly thought so. He rolled his eyes and got back to work while the two soon-to-be mated sentinels in his office continued to bicker. Life was certainly normal around here.
* * *
Thursday night rolled around and Chander found himself in his room. He was steadfastly ignoring the arguing from down the hall. How in the world his sentinels, who literally wore gray T-shirts and pants every day as all their kind did, could argue over what to pack was a mystery to him. The last thing he wanted was to get sucked into their idiotic conversation, so he yanked a duffel bag out of his closet and decided he might as well get his own stuff ready to go. They were headed to D’Vaire the following day so they could relax with their family and all their guests before the actual ceremony on Saturday.
Alaric would join them for the bloodbinding only, and that was a shock to no one who knew anything about the Lich Sentinel. Of course, except for the three men in this condominium, no one did, so there was probably going to be plenty of tongue-wagging and strange looks over the course of the weekend. Chander supposed it was one of those things he was going to have to get used to. There was no way around it—Alaric was an odd duck.
That thought made him chuckle. All his life, Chander had thought of himself as the odd duck. Here he was, this man who looked strangely like a boy who was surrounded by gorgeous swans wherever he went. Even Alaric was stupidly handsome, though he could use a less severe hairstyle and ease back on whatever he did to make his gaze so intense. Perhaps this whole “I can’t do anything unless it helps the sentinels,” was nothing more than a ruse to cover-up the fact that Alaric was upset he’d been paired with someone so ordinary looking.
With a mental shrug, Chander dug out socks and underwear to shove in his bag. If Alaric had issues with Fate’s choice for him he’d better do something about it before Saturday. Once they exchanged blood, there was no going back. Chander had his own reasons for not wanting a real mate, but he didn’t know what Alaric’s motivation was. He hardly knew the man but it was a pretty big deal, in his estimation, to tie yourself to someone who you wouldn’t share your life with—but again, what did they know about sentinels? Maybe they were more like shifters than they knew and could have sex with someone who wasn’t their mate.
Chander had no idea; he was a necomancer and he knew he was sentencing himself to an eternity of celibacy, but he’d done that centuries ago so he wasn’t concerned. If he had an itch, he scratched it on his own. There was always the possibility in the future they could come to some sort of agreement to meet to take care of their physical desires. He’d admit, if only to himself—Alaric was attractive and if he wasn’t so obsessed with sentinels, Chander would sleep with him.
Grabbing a couple of pairs of jeans and dark T-shirts, Chander threw them into his duffel and wondered why he had sex on the brain. It was probably because now that he thought about it, he hadn’t even jerked off in a couple of weeks. When you’re too tired to masturbate you really need to make more time to sleep, he decided ruefully. Perhaps he’d give it a go a little later when he went to bed. He wanted to get some sleep so he could spend his weekend enjoying himself and not nodding off in the middle of conversations like he did when he pushed himself to the wall.
Chander marveled that he wasn’t nervous about his matebond ceremony. He was rushing headlong into an eternal commitment with a man he hardly knew—and if the truth were told, he couldn’t say he liked—but this was what Fate had chosen for him. He was in no position to be picky, so he’d come to terms with this decision and he was at peace with it. He’d slap his bleeding palm to Alaric’s and then the Lich Sentinel would head back to the compound until he needed to return to further his cause to add the sentinels to the Council.
Chander was committed to helping how he could, which was likely to add up to not much, and then time would tell how their relationship would evolve. He had no hope they would ever get to the point where they would call each other friend, but life had a nasty way of surprising him.…So who really knew what to expect? The important thing was to not let it be one more thing that drove him to avoid the stillness of the night. He didn’t neeed anything else forcing him to bury himself further into the magic books that had become more of who he was than anything else.
Chapter 15
King Aleksander D’Vairedraconis greeted Emperor Chrysander Draconis warmly before shaking hands with the man’s twin and his adopted brother. It was just the second time the trio had visited his home, and he was glad they had wished to make the journey again.
“Thanks for having us,” Imperial Duke Damian Draconis said.
“Our pleasure,” Aleksander replied. “We’re excited about the mating ceremonies tomorrow.”
“Two in one day,” Duke Zane Draconis responded. “This place is becoming a mating destination. This is the second group of Council leaders to choose to travel to this enormous house of yours.”
Aleksander laughed. “We’re just as stunned as everyone else that we’ve become so popular.”
“Is Chand here yet?” Chrysander asked.
“Not yet,” Aleksander revealed. “But we’re expecting him and his sentinels to arrive at any moment.”
“And the Lich Sentinel?” Damian asked.
“I’m told he will be joining us for the ceremony only,” Aleksander said with what he hoped was a neutral tone. He reminded himself each person was unique and entitled to handle their ceremony how they wished. If the Lich Sentinel wasn’t interested in making an entire weekend of it like Chander, then that was his prerogative.
“Interesting,” Chrysander responded. His face remained impassive.
“I hope we’re not early,” Prism Wizard Vadimas Porfyra announced as he materialized next to, one of two wizards who called Court D’Vaire home, Idris Vioric-D’Vaire.
“Not early at all, Vadimas, it’s great to see you,” Aleksander greeted before grabbing Idris into a bear hug. There never seemed enough time to spend with the young wizard, and every D’Vaire would be thrilled when he graduated and was able to continue his magical studies from home.
“Ah, there are our men of the hour,” Chrysander said as two sentinels and the leader of the necromancers shimmered into his living room.
Greetings were passed around from the rather large group of D’Vaires and guests assembled in the spacious area. Drinks were distributed and Aleksander could smell Dravyn had already fired up the grill for dinner. King Aeron Beradraconis was likely out there assisting; the man seemed enamored with all manner of foodstuffs that could be barbecued.
Aleksander embraced Chander and offered a nod to his sentinels. He watched as Benton and Baxter made a beeline to where the two D’Vaire sentinels were standing. King D’Vairedraconis was positive the foursome would be in the backyard trying to outdo each other in combat with their daggers clashing as soon as they finished dinner.
“How’ve you been?” Aleksander asked the Arch Lich.
“Good, you?” Chander asked.
“Very well,” Aleksander replied. “We’ve missed you around here.”
The leader of the necromancers looked to be at a loss for words, and then the entire room went dead quiet when the four men who were at the top echelon of the Ord
er of the Fallen Knights teleported into the room.
“Drystan, Conley, it’s great to see you,” Aleksander said and hugged the Reverents before turning to their two Venerable Knights. “Roman. Vann. Always a pleasure.”
Vann chuckled. “Of course it is, I’m awesome.” Aleksander had yet to see the man without a smile.
“Hey Chander,” Conley greeted.
“Thank you for coming this weekend Conley,” Chander replied. “And to you too, Drystan.”
Drystan eyed Chander and things quieted down in the room again as the tension mounted. The last time the two had been in this same space together, there’d been a wealth of emotion and harsh words. “Chand, thanks for allowing us to come,” Drystan finally stated.
“It’s Aleksander’s home,” Chander said. “I’m no more than a guest.”
“All of you are always welcome here,” Aleksander insisted. He really hoped Drystan could find a way to bury the hatchet, though he understood how it would be difficult to sort through the past. But he would hate to see two people he called friends fail to get along.
“You really should be in politics,” Drystan told him. “You’re always so diplomatic.”
“Talk him into it, Drystan,” Chrysander responded. “Look at him. He’d win votes for any dragon cause with that face alone.”
Aleksander nearly blushed. If they were trying to embarrass him, they were doing an excellent job, but at least the tension seemed to be dissipating. “I have a court to oversee and a sanctuary to grow. Not to mention I use all my diplomacy skills dealing with Dra’Kaedan daily.”
“Hey, Yowie, I’m not that difficult to deal with,” Dra’Kaedan called out.
“You asked Aeron what they call Bigfoot in Australia, didn’t you, squirt?” Aleksander replied.
“You’re a fun vacuum,” Dra’Kaedan accused.
“That means he’s good at sucking,” Vann pointed out.
Aleksander wasn’t going anywhere near that conversation. “So, Chand, when is your assistant arriving?”
“Oh shit,” Chander exclaimed before yanking his cell phone out of his pocket. “I forgot, I was supposed to call Evergreen. Dra’Kaedan, can you go pick up my assistant?”
The warlock in question agreed and after a quick phone call, the two shimmered out of the room. That was when all hell broke out.
“Please tell me Dra’Kaedan did not just leave this house alone,” Brogan yelled.
“He took the Arch Lich with him,” Baxter hollered back.
“What the hell?” Benton bellowed.
The pair were back in less than a minute with a green-gray-eyed necromancer with black hair and his newly summoned sentinel, Dudley.
“Welcome to D’Vaire,” Aleksander said after offering a nod to Dudley and a handshake to Evergreen. “We’re so delighted you can join us this weekend.”
“For Fate’s sake, you’re smoking hot,” the necromancer hybrid told Aleksander before fanning himself with quick flicks of his wrist.
Dra’Kaedan grinned at Evergreen. “Calm down, he’s not gay.”
“Too bad because I was about to ask you to—”
“Dra’Kaedan!” Brogan roared over the rest of Evergreen’s sentence. For once Aleksander was glad his best friend was such a hothead. He was sure whatever the little necromancer hybrid had said would have had him blushing like a boy in front of his Emperor.
“What?” the Grand Warlock shouted back.
“What the actual fuck?” Brogan yelled at the top of his lungs. “You aren’t supposed to leave this house alone. And you took the Arch Lich with you. He didn’t have his sentinels with him. Are you insane?”
“Chand, what were you thinking?” Benton demanded after Brogan’s tirade. “Who knows what the hell could have happened with the two of you out alone without any protection?”
“This sounds like one of those condom commercials,” Evergreen whispered softly at Aleksander’s side. He briefly wondered if he was going to spend the whole weekend with the sorcerer at his side embarrassing the hell out of him.
“Not that kind of protection,” Baxter said in exasperation.
“Is anyone going to answer me?” Brogan barked out.
Dra’Kaedan looked at Chander. Chander rolled his eyes.
“We’re two of the most powerful sorcerers to ever live,” Dra’Kaedan told Brogan. “Calm your ass down.”
“And may I remind you that you’ve nearly died twice?” Brogan retorted. “You aren’t infallible.”
“We were gone for a few seconds,” Dra’Kaedan replied.
“Don’t do it again,” Brogan ordered as he stabbed his finger toward the tiny warlock.
“For Fate’s sake, don’t make me have to yell at you this weekend.” Dra’Kaedan slapped his hands on his hips. “This is Baxter, Benton, Chand, and Alaric’s weekend. Behave yourself.”
Brogan threw his hands up in the air and stalked outside. He would undoubtedly spend his time drinking beer and bitching at Dravyn. Aleksander was glad he wasn’t his cousin.
“I’m sorry Brogan is a stupidhead,” Dra’Kaedan told Chander.
“It’s not stupid to think of safety first,” Baxter pointed out. Clearly, he was still annoyed at his necromancer.
“I’m not going to apologize,” Chander countered. Aleksander thought his voice sounded weary, but maybe he was just annoyed at this entire discussion. Personally, he didn’t think it mattered that the two men had hopped out for a second to pick up Evergreen, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to get into the middle of it.
“Next time, just give us some warning so Bax or I can come with you. Dra’Kaedan is right. This is going to be a fun weekend all about mates, and I don’t want to spend it fighting with anyone—especially not you.”
“Fair enough,” Chander said.
“So where am I sleeping?” Evergreen asked Aleksander with a flutter of his lashes. He had no idea what look he was wearing, but Aleksander’s cousin Noirin came out of nowhere to escort Evergreen to his room. She was grinning like a fool as she walked him out.
“Oh man, Evergreen is awesome,” Dra’Kaedan declared. “We’re going to have to invite him back here all the time.”
Aleksander heard several people in the room snicker but he ignored them. He just hoped Evergreen would get wrapped up in the festivities or Aleksander might have to find a reason to spend all his time outdoors in his dragon form.
“Man, this place always has some crazy shit happening,” Vann said. “You should sell tickets.”
“I was thinking a reality show would be perfect,” Damian suggested.
Aleksander nearly shuddered in revulsion. The last thing he wanted was to be plastered across the planet. “I think we’ll just stick with the whole dragon court and sanctuary thing.”
“Smart, I know I wouldn’t want a camera jammed up my nose wherever I went,” Vadimas responded.
“I couldn’t agree more. I’ve had more than enough press in my life to ever consider being the subject of any kind of television show,” Chander replied.
“They still hounding you over Alaric?” Conley asked.
“Not as much, but I’ve gotten pretty good at avoiding them.”
“They were awful when Drystan and I first got together,” Conley revealed. “And then when they discovered we were the former dragon emperors? Ugh, I didn’t think they would ever go away.”
“How has the Lich Sentinel handled the attention?” Vadimas asked.
“He spends most of his time at the compound,” Chander explained. “He likely hasn’t even seen a camera or microphone.”
“Alaric has been teleporting directly to the apartment or the office,” Benton added in a rushed voice. It made Aleksander wonder just how much time Chander had spent with Alaric. Apparently, they’d decided not to go on dates out on the town, or they wouldn’t have been able to avoid the paparazzi.
“I hope to hell you had that place fumigated before you let him in the door,” Drystan retorted.
“Now w
hat would the point of that be?” Benton asked. “Alaric has to get used to his less than tidy ways.”
“I keep telling you to get a damn housekeeper,” Drystan said.
“I’m working on getting him to agree,” Benton replied.
“Hire one if my filthy habits bother you that much,” Chander fired back with a bite in his tone.
“Did you hear that, Bax? Chand’s going to let us hire someone to clean up our nasty apartment.”
“About time,” Baxter remarked as he kissed Benton.
Chander looked less than impressed with the pair. He wandered into the kitchen where the food and drinks were laid out, and Aleksander saw him grab a beer. The necromancer drank half of it in one swallow and then slipped out the back door. Aleksander didn’t think he looked like a man pleased with life, which was telling. A mating ceremony was something most people waited for expectedly and were delighted to finally bind their blood with the other half of their soul. The Lich Sentinel wasn’t here, and the Arch Lich had an aura of apathy around him. Aleksander hoped he was overthinking the situation, and Chander really was thrilled about Alaric and their future. Any other alternative would be terribly sad and not the destiny Aleksander would wish upon anyone.
Chapter 16
Baxter licked his way into Benton’s mouth as he pressed his body into the wall. He slapped his palms on either side of his mate’s head. Benton grabbed Baxter’s ass in both hands and squeezed. Moaning, Baxter ground his hardening cock against his man and then Benton shoved him away.
“Knock it off,” the other sentinel demanded as he straightened the charcoal cloak he wore that glowed with green at the edges.
“Sorry.” Baxter righted his own matching ensemble before grabbing Benton’s hand.
“Everyone is probably waiting for us,” Benton said as he began walking out of the room they were sharing at D’Vaire.
“It’s our mating ceremony. No one’s going to be mad.”
Rise of the Lich Sentinel Page 11