Twenty-Seven
Gareth
Boyce was… unimpressive. Both as a man and a mage.
He was tall, reed thin, with a beak?like nose, and thinning, greasy dark hair that he’d kind of combed over to hide the bald patches.
Basically, he was a stereotypical bad guy.
Think of that Count guy from Lemony Snicket.
That’s who he reminded me of. It was almost laughable.
I heard an intake of breath when Riley and Paxton spotted the people in the car. My sight wasn’t as good as theirs, so I pushed a little magic into it and had to brace myself against Tatsuya to stop my knees buckling. “That’s a child,” I whispered, aghast.
Keeley looked at me in horror, likely mirroring my expression, because I knew who that child belonged to. The next moment, Riley confirmed it.
“That’s my son,” Riley said, barely above a whisper. We all heard it, the words rocketing through us. “I didn’t know.”
Boyce had found a stronger bargaining chip than curses or even their mom. He had a child Riley didn’t know existed. His own son.
Tatsuya didn’t show any outward reaction. However, I felt him tense beside me. I was grateful Riley decided to include him, given my friend’s ability to keep a level head. He was exactly what we needed.
“This is how it’s going to go.” Tatsuya laid out a plan. Keeley and Oscar would use magic to hide themselves and sneak toward the car. They would focus on getting the kid, but if they could get Riley’s mom too, they would. While they did that, we would head out and keep Boyce distracted.
Riley was pale. Sweat rolled off him, and he was trembling as I took his hand and led him to the wards. On his other side, Paxton didn’t look much better. I heard him muttering, “How?” repeatedly. He was just as shell?shocked as the rest of us.
Boyce grinned when he saw us emerge from the wards. We could see out, but he couldn’t see in. “Ah, there you are, boys. It’s time for you to come home. Your mother and I need you. We can put this nonsense aside.”
I used my magic to mask what Tatsuya was, and then lowered my magical levels so I looked less powerful to him if he tried to scan me.
A handy trick I’d learned from all the attacks on the town.
As I thought, the mage dismissed us as I’d hoped, all too focused on Riley.
Even Paxton was ignored in favor of my mate. It made my blood boil.
“I’m not coming back,” Riley called firmly. He was shaking. We needed to get this over and done with. Once we got the signal that the kid was safe, we could move against Boyce.
Boyce sighed. “I thought you might say that. You’ve found yourself your own warlock, so maybe you don’t think you need me now, but your mom does. And your son.”
“Where’s Mira?” Riley demanded, pulling Boyce’s focus to him. “She needs to answer for what she did to me!”
The mage laughed bitterly. “Oh, she answered for it. Died last year after hiding Arthur from me.”
Riley’s stricken face turned to me. “Gar, what do we do?”
I gripped his hand in mine, letting him know I was by his side always. “We stick with the plan,” I murmured.
“Come back, Riley,” Boyce urged. “You can help me raise your son to his fullest potential. I’ll let your mother go.
Paxton can take care of her.” He turned to see that the car only held their mom.
The woman was ghostly pale and looked on the brink of starvation.
Her dark hair was frizzy and unkempt around her heart-shaped face.
“See, darling? I promised you could be free—”
Realization that the boy was gone hit, and with it, his anger boiled over in an instant. In his fury, Boyce sent an arc of lightning toward us. I shielded as best I could. “Keeley?”
“Got the kid behind the ward with Oscar!” came the reply.
It turned into a battle, with Boyce flinging magic at me and Riley, while Riley changed into many forms, trying to get close.
He was an eagle, a lion, a fox, a rabbit.
All quick shifts that were draining his energy.
I felt him through our bond. He was tiring, and we were getting no closer to ending this.
I shielded us from the worst of it, but felt my power draining from constantly blocking bursts of fire and lightning bolts.
Riley charged ahead in rhino form, only to be knocked back.
He hit the ground with a cry before rolling over into a lion.
Pax sprinted ahead in wolf form, only to cry out when a spell hit his paw.
Eason got more shots in, using a bullet technique I’d never seen before. All it seemed to do was irritate Boyce. “Dammit, I’m tapped out. It’s like he’s sucking my magic.”
“Fall back,” I ordered. “Help Oscar and Keeley keep the kid safe. Protect the wards.”
The demi-god stumbled back toward the barrier, looking paler than I’d like. While his back was turned, Boyce aimed a strike at him.
“Got you,” Tatsuya called over the sounds of battle. He shielded us while I fired back at Boyce. I used everything I had, drawing on a new, deeper well of power thanks to my bond with Riley. My hits landed on target, throwing Boyce back against his car.
“You’re almost impressive,” Boyce drawled as he spat out blood. “Shame I’m going to kill you and take your power.” He launched into another attack. We had underestimated him. In his many pockets, he had charms and amulets to boost his power.
A spell crashed through my wards, hitting Tatsuya in the back. He let out a roar, his dragon surging forward. He pushed Paxton away from another bolt and turned mid-shift.
“Move!” he yelled at Riley’s mom. She screamed and did as she was told, rushing into the trees that lined the road.
Tatsuya, once he saw the path was clear, let out a long stream of dragonfire as he let the shift take over. Finished, he stood over us, shielding us from the sight of the smoking man.
Boyce let out a twisted laugh that was cut off when the dragon leaned down and swallowed him whole.
“Fucking hell!” Riley cried as he stumbled away from the dragon and landed on his ass.
“I bet Fen could have turned him to ash,” Paxton crowed. “Man, I wish he was here.”
“Doubtful,” Tatsuya said as he turned back to his human form. “Longwei is an ice dragon.”
“This…” Pax gestured to us and the place where Boyce had just stood. “Doesn’t mean I forgive you.”
“I know.”
There was nothing left of the car or the man who was once called Boyce. If I had anything to do with it, we would soon forget his name too.
“Mom?” Riley shouted for her.
“Riley?” Her trembling form came closer until she collapsed into his arms. “I’m sorry!”
A little hedgehog came running and butted at my feet before turning and heading toward Riley and his mom. The creature shifted into the little boy Oscar was supposed to be holding. He was tiny and could only be about five at most. “Nana?”
“I’m here, Corbin. Come meet your dad and uncle.” She held out a shaking hand for the little boy. “Riley, what Mira did to you was horrible, but the boy is innocent, please—” she begged her son. It surprised me that she was so coherent. Especially after all that she’d been through.
“Sorry!” Oscar came running through the wards.
“He’s fast!” It was almost comical, but I felt too outside of myself to take part in any conversation.
My power was buzzing along my veins. I sent another blast at the car, adding to the fire.
With that done, I was able to rein it in and focus on Riley and his family.
Riley was leaning down to speak to his son. “Hey, Corbin, I think I’m your dad. Did your mom ever talk about me?”
The little boy looked shyly at Riley. “Mama showed me pictures. She said you might be angry, but she’s sorry. Mama said when you say sorry, it makes it better. Does it?” He turned innocent, dark brown eyes up to his father, and drifted closer to Riley as if pulled by a magnetic force.
“Some things your mama did are still bad, Corbin. Saying sorry can’t fix everything.
” The little boy looked so downcast. Riley tentatively picked him up, and Corbin relaxed against his dad, looking perfectly content to be held by him.
They looked so natural together. “You’re not bad, though.
I can tell.” He shot a look at his mom. “Where’s Mira? ”
“He wasn’t lying. She died about a year ago. There’s a lot to explain.”
“I think we should move this to City Hall,” Tatsuya said, taking charge of the situation. “I’ll call Calder to come put the fire out.” He started typing on his phone.
“I can do that,” said Keeley, who changed her mind at Tatsuya’s look. “Or maybe I’ll let the fire chief do it.”
“No offense, Keeley, but Calder is trained to deal with fires like these. You’ve never dealt with dragonfire.” He pocketed his phone and watched the reunited family.
I went into autopilot and directed people toward the cars. Riley’s mom, Molly, clung to Paxton, and Corbin to Riley, so I made sure they were all riding with us. For such a quick journey, it didn’t matter that Corbin was in the passenger seat on Riley’s lap.
The kid was cute. Full of stories of traveling on a plane and things his nana had told him about his father and uncle. It was a good sign that he was happy to talk to us. Considering who his parents were, and what was sure to have been a rough upbringing, he was well adjusted.
City Hall was bustling when we arrived. Debra showed us straight into the mayor’s office, where Hestia went about the introductions we’d neglected to do.
The young metamorph mage seemed content to stay with the brownie who was feeding him sweet treats.
He was fascinated by Cian. Speculation was that the bodach and brownie had finally made their relationship official over Christmas.
I tuned in to hear Hestia say in a sad voice, “Unfortunately there is no one here capable of working with your needs. There is another sanctuary in Westhaven, though, that has the people we would need to restore your shifting and heal you fully.”
“I’ve heard rumors that Fen has gone there,” Paxton said. “So, if you’d be okay with it, Riley, I’d still like to go. Maybe I could take Mom with me, and once she’s ready, we can come back?”
There were sounds of agreement, but all I could focus on was Riley. His sadness bled into our bond. “Ry?”
“Mom, Pax, I want to stay here. Gareth has his life here, and I’m finally making friends. I want to see you healthy as much as anything, but I have to think of him.”
Molly looked at her sons, then at me. “Of course you do. You have a life here.”
“What about Corbin? Will he go with you?”
Of course, that was his main concern. Riley had only just found out he had a son. It would break his heart to lose him so soon.
“It’s fine, Riley, we can go to Westhaven—”
“I can’t stay here,” Eason cut in, glaring at me. “Our agreement is fulfilled. Since I know the healers in Westhaven, I’ll accompany Molly and Paxton there.”
Without another word, Eason stalked from the room.
“Corbin needs to stay with you, Riley,” Molly whispered in the stunned silence that followed Eason’s sudden departure. “The boy needs his father and help from the goddess.”