Chapter 24
Kai
Others? The dragon hadn’t elaborated, but if Raven was trapped in a facility owned by Tiberius Vane, it made sense he had other powerful magicals imprisoned too.
I didn’t dare think about what he was doing with them.
We needed to leave. A brief vision had showed me what would happen if we didn’t get there in time. Death. So much death.
My softhearted mate would never forgive herself if what I saw came to pass.
The others were bickering about how best to travel to Arizona.
“Zane can teleport us there,” Maverick said, taking charge.
“Do you even know where there is?” Zane huffed. “I’m low on fuel. I might end up accidentally dropping you somewhere over the Grand Canyon. Oops.”
“I can fly us,” the dragon shifter rasped, sending a plume of smoke out through the open door.
I wondered if my mother knew Olaf existed. She coveted pretty, shiny things, especially powerful magicals. She’d be all over him if she discovered his existence.
It was partly why she’d fawned over Farris the minute they met. If she ever met Olaf, she’d want him too. Like a nasty case of mage lice, poor Olaf would never be free of my mother’s questionable intentions.
Was he unmated? I assumed so. I’d seen no sign of others living in this vast castle.
“Dawn’s nearly here,” Maverick pointed out. “The vampire can’t travel in the sun.”
“I can,” Rasmus disagreed, “but prolonged exposure is painful.”
“Perhaps we can stick you in a coffin and the dragon can carry you?” Zane suggested.
From Rasmus’s scowl, he didn’t appreciate the incubus’s dumb idea.
“Enough!” Like me, Maverick was all out of patience.
If they didn’t get their act together, I’d ask the kitsune to take me to my mate.
I was pretty sure he understood us when we spoke to him.
Most familiars were goddess blessed with high levels of intelligence, even if they behaved like any other animal much of the time.
Kenji watched me. Could he read my thoughts? He had a telepathic connection with Raven, so he might pick up our thoughts too.
“Can you hear me?” The little shit rolled his eyes disdainfully.
“Is Tiberius Vane a narcissistic imbecile with a tiny cock?”
Irritation and disgust flared, but I shoved them down. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“Because it wasn’t possible to communicate with you until Raven blew up the wards around the facility. If I can’t talk to her, I can’t talk to you, dumbass,” he added.
I ignored the insult, deciding he was likely upset from losing contact with his bonded witch for so long. “She did what?”
“She sealed the bond with the storm mage and unlocked her magic.”
“Raven’s bonded with Alaric!” I blurted out loud.
The others all turned to me. “She has? How do you know?” Maverick demanded.
“Because Kenji told me.” The massive power surge we all experienced just now made sense. I’d felt it when she bonded with the others, so of course we’d know when she completed the bond with Alaric.
“He did?” Zane looked at Kenji and frowned. The two of them appeared to have a silent conversation before the incubus nodded.
“Wow, Fritz finally got his dick wet. I hope he made my pet come at least once. Although it’s doubtful.”
“Zane! Can you take us to Arizona or not?” From the way Maverick’s shoulders bulged, he was about to shift into his bear. I wondered how the dragon would react to another apex predator in the room.
“Sure, but we don’t have an exact location, and besides, I’ve only ever been to the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, and I doubt she’s there.”
“Why did you visit that?” I asked, regretting the question the minute it left my mouth.
“Because I wanted to see the terrified trees,” the incubus replied. “Only it turned out there were no scared to death trees.” He scowled. “I left a shitty review on MagiTripAdvisor saying so. Talk about false advertising!”
Maverick covered his face with his hands again, muttering some creative insults, while Olaf smothered a laugh.
I’d had enough of being the passive mate nobody listened to. “We need to leave now!”
“He’s right,” Maverick said. “Take us to Arizona, Zane.”
“Step closer, everyone,” the incubus hollered. “As close as you like. We’re all friends here!”