Chapter Six
S ullivan was sneaking back to his bedroom after having visited the kitchen when it happened. He was carrying food and was eager to reach his room so he could eat without fearing that the coven leaders would find something wrong with what he was doing, but he should have known it wouldn’t be that easy. Nothing ever was with the coven.
Like everyone else, he’d been spending most of his time in his room. He barely left it anymore, not even to use the office he shared with other mages. If he couldn’t do something in his bedroom, he tried not to do it at all.
He hadn’t seen Matty again. Their date last week had been perfect, and Sullivan wanted more, but it was dangerous. He couldn’t afford for the leaders to think there was something up with him. They’d ask questions, and Sullivan wouldn’t be able to answer them to their satisfaction. It was better to stay as far away from all of them as possible, but unfortunately, Sullivan couldn’t control people who weren’t him.
A loud banging made him jump. His heart raced as he realized something was happening in the hallway ahead of him. He could turn back and try to get to his room in a different way, but at the same time, if people were in danger, he wanted to know. If the coven leaders were involved, there was nothing Sullivan could do, but if someone else was, he could help.
With a sigh, he dumped his food onto one of the tables that Deborah had insisted were placed in all the hallways. Each of them held a different ugly vase that Sullivan couldn’t wait to get rid of. Hopefully, his food would still be there when he returned.
Hopefully, he would return.
He rushed ahead, turning the corner as someone barged out of one of the doors there. The man looked around frantically. His gaze stopped on the window at the end of the hallway. The man moved toward it, but someone else stumbled out of the room and latched onto the man’s back.
Sullivan knew what was happening. He’d seen it once before, and he hadn’t thought he would see it again.
“Bethany!” he yelled as he rushed forward.
Bethany clung to the man’s shoulders, but that wasn’t enough to stop him from moving since he was at least six foot two and muscled while Bethany was petite and barely reached five foot two. The dragon shifter moved sluggishly, which wasn’t a surprise since he was supposed to be under a sleeping spell. Even though the spell had been broken, there would still be traces of it in the man’s system.
The man grabbed Bethany’s hand and attempted to pry her off his back. She didn’t let go, but that didn’t stop the man. Sullivan sucked in a breath when he slammed back against the wall, squashing Bethany between it and his body. Bethany yelled and dropped down, and the man turned back to the window.
Unfortunately for him, more people were starting to arrive, and his path to the window was blocked. The two mages there raised their hands, ready to fight the dragon. Considering the state the dragon was in, he wouldn’t win. He seemed to realize that, too, and to Sullivan’s horror, he started shifting.
Sullivan had to do something. There wasn’t enough space in this hallway or anywhere in this house to hold a dragon. If the man shifted, he would destroy the house. It wasn’t actually a bad thing, but there were people here who didn’t deserve to be hurt, and they would if the house collapsed.
Sullivan rushed forward. He almost fell on his face as he slid into the space between the dragon and the two mages. He heard one of the mages call his name, but he was more focused on the man in front of him as he raised his hands. “Don’t shift.”
The dragon growled. He wasn’t fully shifted, but he was still fucking scary.
“You’re not the only prisoner here, and if you shift, you’re going to hurt or kill the others. I know you want to be free, but I don’t think you want innocent people to be hurt.”
“Like you hurt me?”
The dragon’s voice wasn’t entirely human. Sullivan hadn’t known that shifters could shift partway, and he was intrigued, but now wasn’t the moment to ask questions about that.
“I wasn’t involved with what happened to you.” Not directly, anyway. Sullivan had never seen this man before.
“You’re one of them.”
The dragon stepped forward. Sullivan sucked in a breath and glanced behind himself, not surprised to see the two mages had moved back. Sullivan should, too, but he needed the dragon to calm down.
“I’m a mage,” he confirmed. He lowered his voice. “But not every mage here agrees with what’s been happening. I’ve been working with a nearby pack to free all of you and the people like me from our leaders. It’s taking more time than anyone wants, but destroying half of the house and killing people in an attempt to escape won’t help anyone, not even you. The coven leaders will get you back. There’s nothing left of your clan, and while I’m sure you can protect yourself, there are dozens of mages ready to fight you. You need help.”
The dragon stared. “Will you help me?”
Sullivan swallowed. He and the dragon were close enough, and the other mages in the hallway were far enough that he didn’t think they’d heard any of this. It wasn’t what he’d planned. He wasn’t supposed to leave the coven, but there was no other way to save this dragon. If Sullivan wanted the man to survive, he’d have to help him, which meant exposing himself as a traitor to the coven leaders. It meant leaving permanently.
“I’ll help you,” he confirmed. He turned to the two mages behind him. “Step aside.”
One of them did so instantly, but the other stared.
“Step aside,” Sullivan barked out.
“You’re going to help him escape?” the mage asked. Now that he looked better, Sullivan recognized him as one of Clarence’s supporters. He wasn’t the worst leader, but he wasn’t good, anyway.
Sullivan was in trouble.
Luckily for him, it looked like he wasn’t going to stay around to find out how the leaders would want to punish him.
He glanced at the mage again. “He doesn’t belong here, and the leaders shouldn’t have hurt him. Yes, I’m going to help him.”
“I won’t allow either of you to leave.”
Sullivan rolled his eyes. He wasn’t the strongest mage in the coven by far, but he was sure he was stronger than this guy.
He shouldn’t have worried. Something pushed him aside, slamming him against the wall. He scrambled to get back into position, only to see the dragon grab the mage around the neck and throw him down. The mage tried getting back to his feet, but the dragon kicked him in the stomach, causing him to fall back down. The dragon opened the window, and, for a moment, Sullivan thought he’d leave him behind. If that was the case, he’d have to find another way to leave the coven, and fast.
The dragon scrambled out of the window and dropped onto the porch roof. He turned and looked at Sullivan. “Well? Are you coming?”
Sullivan didn’t have a choice. He hoped that Braden would manage to protect his family because there was nothing he could do for any of them. The leaders would know what happened here, and they’d react accordingly.
Sullivan climbed out of the window. His legs shook, and he was terrified, but he told himself that there was no other way to do this. He couldn’t stay back and allow the leaders to hurt him. He knew too much about the pack and the people who’d agreed to help them from within the coven.
“What now?” the dragon asked.
“Now, you shift and fly away.”
The dragon nodded. “I can’t promise we’ll get very far because I’m not feeling great, but I’ll get us as far as possible.”
“I’ll tell you where to find the pack. They’ll help you.”
“And you, hopefully. I’m Oliver.”
“Sullivan.”
“Well, Sullivan, it looks like you’re about to go on your first dragon ride.”
Sullivan had watched Matty shift the other night, so he knew what to expect. A dragon was much bigger than a bear, though, so he pressed his back against the wall. He kept an ear open for what was happening inside, and since he could hear people running and screaming, he knew he and Oliver had to get out of there now.
Luckily, it didn’t take long. As soon as Oliver was done shifting, he pushed himself into the air. The porch creaked but held strong, and for a second, Sullivan thought Oliver was leaving without him. Instead, Oliver grabbed Sullivan with one big paw and raised him to his shoulder, where Sullivan had to scramble to get on his back. It wasn’t the easiest thing to do, especially as he worried about what the mages inside were about to do, but he managed.
He didn’t even slide down to his death as Oliver flew away.
* * * *
W hen Matty’s phone rang, he didn’t think much of it. He was on the couch, leaning against Seth’s side, watching a movie with some of his siblings. Even Sabrina was there, sitting on the floor, and while it was strange to see her with the people Matty had adopted as his family while he was on the streets, it also felt good to reunite both sides of his life. They’d welcomed Sabrina as if she’d always been one of them, and she’d cried when she’d hugged Theo and thanked him for watching out for Matty. Matty had been slightly embarrassed, but it was good that his sister cared so much about him.
“We’re watching a movie,” Wade complained.
His sister elbowed him in the side. They were sharing the second couch with Josie while Theo was on Matty’s other side. Theo and Chance bought new furniture for the living room when Theo moved in with his boyfriend so that his family would always feel welcome in their home, and they all spent a lot of time there. It was almost never all of them because they had jobs and partners now, but it felt good to have a safe place to spend time with the people who meant the most to Matty. He was sure the same went for all of them.
“Just answer,” Wade grumbled as he paused the movie. “It’s clear they’re eager to talk to you.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Is it your boyfriend?”
Matty leaned forward and grabbed his phone. It was Sullivan, and Matty grinned at Wade as he answered. “Hey.” He pulled the phone away from his ear at the weird sound that answered. He frowned, then listened again. “Sullivan?”
What Matty could hear sounded like wind, which didn’t make sense. As far as Matty knew, Sullivan was with the coven. Maybe he was working a spell? But why would he call Matty during work?
“I’m sitting on a dragon right now,” Sullivan’s voice said.
Matty blinked. “What do you mean, you’re sitting on a dragon?”
That got the attention of everyone in the room. Wade pushed away from his sister and sat up, leaning forward as if to listen better. Seth’s body tensed, and he squeezed Matty’s shoulder as if he thought Matty would need his support.
“Exactly what I said.” Sullivan had to yell so that Matty could hear him. “We escaped from the coven.”
“What happened?” Matty didn’t know any details about what Sullivan was doing with the pack and the coven, but he did know that this wasn’t planned. Sullivan was supposed to stay with the coven for as long as possible.
His heart raced as he told himself to breathe. He couldn’t panic. Sullivan needed him.
“One of the dragons tried to escape, and I couldn’t let anyone hurt him. We’re coming to the pack, so please warn Chance. I wouldn’t want anyone to attack us when we land.”
“I’m at his house right now, so I’ll do it right away.”
He wouldn’t have to because Theo was sitting next to Matty and had heard the conversation. He had his phone out and was typing, probably explaining everything that was happening to Chance.
Chance had been in his office, but Matty heard the door open in the distance. He wasn’t surprised when the alpha walked into the living room, his phone still in his hand, a worried expression on his face.
“Sullivan’s coming here with a dragon,” Matty explained, still on the line with Sullivan. “He wanted us to know so we won’t attack him.”
“He doesn’t have to worry about that,” Chance said with a nod. “Tell him to land in front of the house if they can.”
“Did you hear that?” Matty asked Sullivan. “Chance wants you to land in front of his house if it’s possible.”
“I’m not the one in charge here, but I can try guiding Oliver,” Sullivan answered.
Matty blinked. So the dragon’s name was Oliver. When had Sullivan and Oliver introduced themselves? What the fuck had happened at the coven house?
Matty had too many questions and not enough answers, and he wouldn’t get them until his boyfriend got there.
Luckily, it shouldn’t take long since Sullivan was coming by dragon. Oliver wouldn’t have to stop at red lights or worry about traffic. He did have to worry about people seeing him, but hopefully, being a dragon shifter, he knew how to avoid that.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” he promised.
“I can’t wait to see you,” Sullivan answered before the line went dead.
Matty lowered his phone and stared at it. Had Sullivan hung up on him? It didn’t sound like it, but if he hadn’t, it meant that something might have happened, and Matty didn’t think he could deal with that.
“Breathe,” Sabrina said. She leaned forward and squeezed her fingers around Matty’s wrist. “He’ll be fine.”
“The line went dead, and I don’t know why. The coven might have followed him. What if they found a way to go after him and his dragon friend? What if they shot them out of the sky?”
“You can’t think like that. Sullivan is coming here, and you need to have faith that he’ll get to pack territory in one piece. I doubt that the coven will be able to stop him.”
“They have to have planned for something like this to happen.”
“I don’t know about that,” Chance answered. “They’re arrogant and sure of themselves. I’ve been talking to Sullivan, and he told me that after what happened with the last dragon who woke up, they tightened the spells around them, but that’s pretty much it. They didn’t expect more dragons to break free of their spells, and they wouldn’t dare wake up a dragon to use them to fly. They won’t be following Sullivan.”
“They could still shoot Sullivan down.” Matty put down the phone to wring his fingers. “I can’t lose him. I just found him.”
“You won’t,” Chance promised, even though he couldn’t know that. “What did you hear? Was Sullivan yelling or worried?”
“No more worried than he should be in this situation. I could only hear a lot of wind.”
“He probably hung up because he needs to focus on clinging to the dragon.”
Matty’s stomach dropped. His boyfriend was sitting on a dragon, high in the sky, and risking sliding off at any moment. Suddenly, Matty was glad that Sullivan had hung up. He needed to cling to his dragon friend because Matty didn’t want to lose him.
“Have faith,” Chance said with a smile. “He’ll be fine, and you’ll see him soon.”
Matty sighed and flopped back against the couch. “I’m so fucking scared.”
Seth patted Matty’s knee. He hadn’t said anything, but Matty didn’t need him to. He didn’t need any of his family members to say anything. Their presence was enough for him to get through this.
Since they didn’t know when Sullivan would be arriving, they headed outside. Chance tried to convince some of the others to go home, but they all wanted to stay with Matty. Sabrina and Josie were already fast friends, and they ignored everyone else as they talked, but they didn’t leave, either.
Matty was glad to have the support. He didn’t know what was about to happen, but he was freaking out when instead, he should be strong for Sullivan.
“He’ll be fine,” Seth murmured. He knocked their shoulders together. “He’s a fighter.”
“Yeah, I know.” Sullivan was fighting the coven leaders. If he could face that, he could face a dragon ride.
“And it looks like he made a friend,” Seth added.
Matty chuckled. “I don’t know about that, but he called the dragon by his name, so maybe.” Matty was curious to know the circumstances of the escape. Sullivan had said that the dragon had woken up, but how was that possible when the coven leaders had ordered the spells to be strengthened? And how had Sullivan ended up in the middle of it? Why was he escaping with the dragon when he’d told Matty that he had to stay at the coven house for as long as possible? Knowing him, he’d probably tried protecting the dragon and had been caught.
Matty prayed that wasn’t the case. He needed his boyfriend to be okay, and he wouldn’t be if one of the leaders had gotten their hands on him. Matty had only heard stories about them, but they were enough to scare him.
* * * *
S ullivan had never thought he’d be here—here being on a dragon flying through the sky. He kept slipping to the side, and his abs hurt with the effort of keeping himself upright. He clung to Oliver’s back, but it wasn’t easy when he hadn’t exactly had the time to situate himself and find a good spot so he wouldn’t feel like he was about to fall to his death every five seconds.
Sullivan couldn’t really complain. Oliver had saved him, just like Sullivan had saved Oliver. He wouldn’t have made it out of the house if it wasn’t for Sullivan, and Sullivan would have been in the hands of the coven leaders right now if Oliver hadn’t agreed to let him come with him.
It was a good basis for friendship, as long as Sullivan made it to pack territory without splatting on the ground.
He squeezed his knees around Oliver and leaned forward so that the dragon could hear him. “There,” he said, pointing ahead. “You see these houses? They’re in pack territory.” It had taken a moment for Sullivan to orient himself since he’d never arrived at the pack using this mode of transportation. He recognized the town to the right, though, so he knew more or less where pack territory started. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to pick out Chance’s house, but he was going to try.
He wished he could have stayed on the phone with Matty, but he’d been scared he’d drop it, so it was back in his pocket, where it was mostly safe. It wouldn’t be if Sullivan slid off, but Sullivan wouldn’t care about his phone if that happened.
He couldn’t wait to see Matty. He could imagine how freaked out his boyfriend was, which he hated, but it wasn’t like he’d had a choice. He’d needed to warn the pack that he was coming, and the only person he’d wanted to talk to was Matty. He’d known that Matty would relay his message, although he hadn’t expected it to happen so quickly. Maybe he should have because he knew that Matty tended to spend a lot of time with his family, including Theo.
Oliver grumbled and turned slightly toward the houses. Sullivan squinted against the wind, trying to find Chance’s house. It was hard at a distance, but eventually, he recognized it.
“There,” he said, pointing and squeezing his knees.
Oliver huffed but lowered. The landing wasn’t going to be easy, but Sullivan knew that other dragons had done it, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Oliver circled around the house once, maybe thinking about how he was going to do this, before finally landing. He slid toward the trees, but they didn’t crash against them as Sullivan expected.
He slid off Oliver’s back as soon as it was safe to do so. His legs shook, and he briefly considered kissing the ground. He didn’t have the opportunity to do so because seconds later, Matty was in his arms.
Sullivan hugged him back, clinging to him and telling himself that he was fine. He’d survived the escape. He’d made it to pack territory, and while he was terrified of what would happen to his family, Matty was safe. He was in his arms, clinging to him as if he was afraid Sullivan would disappear if he didn’t. Sullivan was grateful because he felt a bit like he would disappear if he wasn’t in Matty’s arms.
“How are you?” Chance asked as he strode forward.
“Well, this wasn’t planned, but it could have ended up much worse,” Sullivan answered as he unhooked one of his arms from around Matty and shook Chance’s hand.
He turned, not surprised to see that while Oliver had shifted back to his human form, he was keeping his distance. He was naked since his clothes had exploded when he’d shifted at the coven house, and while shifters were used to nudity, it didn’t mean it was a comfortable situation for him or for anyone else.
“Oliver, this is Chance. He’s the alpha of this pack, and I’m sure he’ll help you. Chance, this is Oliver. He’s one of the dragons the coven kidnapped from that clan. I’m not sure how he managed to wake up from the spell that was keeping him under control, but he did, and I had to step in to protect him.”
Chance nodded. “That explains why you ran.”
“Here,” another man said as he moved forward.
Sullivan was sure he’d seen him before, but he couldn’t remember if he knew the man’s name. Oliver seemed to recognize him, though, because he gasped and stumbled forward. When the man reached him, holding out a blanket, Oliver threw himself into the man’s arms.
“That’s Mark,” Matty explained. “I don’t know if you know this, but Mark was supposed to be the next alpha of their dragon clan.”
Right . These two had belonged to the same clan before the coven had attacked it. Of course Oliver recognized Mark. He’d been his future alpha.
“Why don’t the two of you come in?” Chance offered. “I’m sure you could do with some rest and maybe food.”
Oliver still looked wary, but Mark guided him forward. Oliver didn’t hesitate to follow, no doubt trusting the man who would have been his future alpha. He wouldn’t, but it didn’t matter. As long as Oliver respected Chance as the alpha, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Sullivan trudged behind Chance and Theo, who were quietly talking. Oliver and Mark were behind them, and when Wade tried to follow, Seth wrapped a hand around Wade’s bicep and kept him back. Wade was pouting, but Seth didn’t let go, which was a good thing because Sullivan didn’t think that Oliver would be comfortable with too many people watching him. He didn’t know Matty’s brothers well yet, but he did know that Wade was a lot, even when he had a quiet day.
Sullivan knew what had happened to Oliver in detail and what spells he’d been put under. He’d never gone through any of it, but he could imagine that Oliver felt exhausted and like he could sleep for a week.