Chapter 27
Chapter
Twenty-Seven
Bokkan
My hands were still clenched into fists as I walked down the hall to my office.
I wanted to tear something apart, only I was the cause of my own anger and pain.
Ripping myself to shreds was out of the question when Leda was in the training barracks without me.
I needed to be here to protect her if she needed me.
She doesn’t really need you. You made sure of that.
I grimaced at the thought, stopping just outside my office door. I took a moment to wipe the scowl from my face before I entered. By the time Dryden turned from the window he was staring out of, my face was expressionless.
“General,” he greeted me, gesturing to the chairs in front of my desk.
I bristled. He behaved as though this were his office. As though he had a right to invite me to sit in my own chairs. I swallowed a growl and moved to one of the chairs.
Once we were settled, Dryden leaned back in his chair, placing his elbows on the armrests and steepling his fingers in front of his face. He remained silent for so long that I wondered if he was ever going to speak.
“I should report you to the magistrate,” he finally said.
“Why is that?”
“The human lied for you without realizing what she was agreeing to. She is here without a contract and against her will. What you are doing is wrong and you know it.”
“I know,” I sighed. “Guldan convinced her to go to the magistrate’s office and say we were in our testing period. He did not give her all the details because he still does not believe that she was brought here by force.”
“Well, Guldan is wrong, and he is a fool. She tried to hide her reaction when I asked for an invitation to your mating ceremony. I thought perhaps it was a cultural misunderstanding. Until I explained everything to her. She looked as though I had slapped her. Or told her that she was slated for execution at sundown.”
I winced at his description because I did not want to be responsible for making Leda feel that way. Unfortunately, it was too late for that.
“I promised that she would be able to return home,” I said. “And I meant it. Even after what Guldan did, I intend to help her find her way back to the human realm.”
Dryden scoffed and shook his head. “As if you will be able to let her go once your mating instincts are fully in control.”
“I have no choice,” I replied. “I gave my word, and I am a male of honor.”
“You know what will happen if you do that.”
I nodded. “I do.”
He studied me for a long moment. “Why would you take that risk? The human cares for you. Otherwise, she would not have felt so betrayed by your lies. Why not keep her here until you can convince her to remain as your mate?”
“She will never be safe here. She will never have the same freedom a female daemon has. I cannot ask that of her. Not when she is from a realm where she is free to do as she wishes. I cannot stifle her fire like that. She deserves the life she wants, with a male who has not hurt her the way I have.”
Dryden sighed and dropped his hands into his lap. “You make it impossible to be angry with you, General.”
I shook my head. “How many times do I have to tell you to call me Bokkan? I have retired from the King’s Guard. I only work as a trainer for his private regiment now.”
“You will always be a general in my eyes,” he answered.
It was my turn to sigh again. “Very well. If you feel it is necessary, go ahead and tell the magistrate the truth. I will accept my punishment.”
The other daemon got to his feet, giving me his back as he looked out the window, his hands clasped behind him.
“I wish it were that simple,” he said. “But I cannot do that because it would leave your female unprotected and subject to the magistrate’s whims. And I confess I do not trust the magistrate to make the correct decision in regard to her.
He is of the traditional bent. Humans are for serving daemons or fucking.
He will have her back on the auction block with the slave master before the bars of your cell are closed behind you.
Even with proof that her contract is forged. ”
Impotent anger roared through me at the thought of my female being in danger, and my fingers dug into the arms of my chair, the sharp claws of my left hand scratching the stained wood.
“What do you propose instead?” I asked.
He faced me. “I will tell the magistrate that all is well with your testing period and that both of you were truthful. She will be safe until you can arrange for her to be returned home.” His stare hardened as he met my eyes.
“Though you should consider how much danger that will create for her in the human realm before you do it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Humans absorb magic when they are in Penumbra. It makes them a magnet for magic users and other creatures in the human realm. That is why so few return after they have spent time here. It is not safe for them.”
My chest grew alarmingly tight. “What?”
Dryden’s answering look was quizzical. “You didn’t know?”
“No. I had no idea that humans absorbed magic here. How did you?”
He shrugged. “I know a few witches.”
“How long do they have to remain before the magic grows too much for them to return to the human realm?”
“A month or so. Less if they have magic of their own. Penumbra magnifies human magic and gives magic to those humans without it the longer they are here. It also slows human aging. They usually only live seventy to eighty years in the human realm. Here they live as long as we do.”
The tightness in my chest became heavy, weighing my body down. The thought of sending Leda away from me, to a place where I could not keep her safe and she would die in fifty short years… it hurt.
Dryden moved back to the other chair and sat down. “If she was not going to return home, would you want her as a mate?”
“Of course.” There was no hesitation in my answer at all. “She is all I could want or need in a mate. There is nothing I would not do to earn her love and regard.”
He studied me, his body still and eyes narrowed. “You’re telling the truth. You don’t see her as less than you, but as your equal.”
“She is not my equal. She is superior to me in all ways that matter.”
Dryden slapped his hands down on the arms and got to his feet. “Then, I have made my decision. Leda will remain with you for the duration of your testing period. What happens after that will be up to the two of you. As far as I am concerned, you attacked Karaj to protect your mate.”
He came forward and held his hand out to me. I rose to meet him and reached out to grasp his wrist.
“Whatever you decide to do,” he said. “Don’t wait too long.” He shook my hand. “I will see myself out.”
I remained motionless in my office as he walked down the hall and out the front door.
Any hope I had that Leda might grow to love me was fading. I thought I would have time to prove myself worthy. Before today, I would have believed I could.
Now that she was so angry with me… I doubted it.