Chapter 11 #2
“Go,” Cassius says. “I’ll gather the crew. Let’s meet in the library.”
Roman nods, taking my hand in his and leading me through the meandering halls. I can sense his worry and fear, but there’s something else more complex twisting around those emotions. I can’t quite name it, but whatever it is, it’s powerful.
“Did you fuck him?” The question pours out of me before I even have a chance to examine it.
“What?” Roman looks over his shoulder. “No.”
“But you want to? Or…” I shake my head as his aura swirls into a mess of colors. “Something else. Do you have feelings for Lochlan?”
“Can we not do this right now? We need to find him.”
“Oh my gods. Are you serious?” I know there are much bigger problems right now, but I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. I can’t breathe. Roman and Lochlan?
“It’s not what you’re thinking. Please don’t get yourself worked up.”
“Worked up? Roman, I love him.”
“I know,” he shouts, making the walls around us shake. “I would never hurt you like that. Don’t you know me better?”
We stop inside a room set up with a few tables and floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with an astounding number of books.
Roman puts his hands on my shoulders. “Jareth, you know me.”
“Something’s changed. I can sense it.”
“All of this is happening because of how I feel about you. Do you understand that?” he growls.
I shake my head, crossing my arms over my chest. “Oh yes, these feelings you have that you won’t do anything about because I’m not your fated mate. How could I forget?”
“Because I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Well, you did anyway.”
I turn my back to wallow in my pity.
“Jare, come on.”
Before we can continue the conversation, the room fills with a bunch of men, all in different states of dress given the hour.
There’s the dragon and his demon mate; the vampire, of course; a gargoyle; and… Oh, another mage. A powerful one.
Roman conducts quick introductions, but my eyes are still stuck on the mage.
His aura mixes with the gargoyle’s, indicating that they’re mated.
Interesting. I didn’t know mages could have fated mates.
That would mean Roman is right and there’s no way we could simply choose each other if fate has other plans.
Ugh, why am I even thinking about this? I need to focus on finding Lochlan, the other half of my heart. Even if I’m still not sure I can ever forgive him or take him back, I can’t stand the thought of anything bad happening to him.
“You,” Rune says. “It was your magic.”
“Uh, what?” I ask.
“When these assholes attacked me with all those illusions to get Mac back last year,” he says.
“You can tell?” the dragon asks.
Rune nods. “The illusions had such a distinct scent. Very impressive, mage.”
“Awkward,” I mutter.
“Bygones.” Rune smiles. “Why have we all been rudely awakened in the middle of the night?”
“Not all of us were sleeping.” Drax waggles his eyebrows at his dragon mate.
“Eww.” Cassius scrunches his nose up.
“We need help,” Roman says. “We’ve lost Lochlan, but he must be down here somewhere. Any ideas? Splitting up and searching the endless grounds doesn’t seem like a good use of time.”
I feel Rune’s gaze on me, and when I turn toward him, I’m hit with a wave of his power. Okay, wow. This guy is something else.
“We can do it,” he says. “Jareth and me. Come. Let’s go to my workroom.”
If I could find him on my own, I would have, but maybe Rune knows how we can combine forces. Before we make it to the room though, a large demon appears in the hallway, blocking our path.
“Pets,” he says. “There is trouble.” His vivid aqua eyes fix on me. “And a stranger. Why do we always have unannounced guests lately? Most unusual.”
“He’s my guest,” Roman says, protectively holding my hand. “But we’re leaving soon.”
“What is the matter?” the demon asks. “I sense it.”
“Everything is fine, Auri,” Cassius says. “Just hanging out.”
Seconds later, a huge black dog with three heads comes loping down the hall, tongues hanging out and tail wagging. He pounces on Auri then happily bounces around to all the guys. They have a hellhound?
“Down, Grim,” the dragon says as the dog licks his face with multiple tongues.
Eww.
“Do not lie to me, pet.” Auri strokes Cassius’s hair, which seems to annoy the vampire as he swats the demon’s hand away.
“We sort of, uh, lost Lochlan,” Roman admits. “And Jareth here had a vision that he might be in trouble. So, we’re just looking for him.”
I brace myself for the demon to become enraged, ready to toss a protective shield over Roman and myself, if necessary, but he throws his head back with laughter instead.
“My silly boys,” Auri says. “Losing a vampire in the underworld. That’s a new one even for me.”
“We’ll find him,” Roman grunts.
“See that you do. I don’t need it getting out that I run a loose ship. I have a reputation to uphold.”
“Yes, boss,” Roman mutters.
Auri vanishes as quickly as he appeared, the dog chasing his shadow down the hall.
“Back to work,” Rune says, continuing his walk.
“Auri isn’t mad?” I ask Roman quietly.
“No. He will be if we don’t get this sorted though. His reputation is important. It’s how he keeps his rank and why we exist as a group at all.”
“What do you mean?”
“Long story short, he collects artifacts and we help him. The more he has, the more his power and reputation rise in the underworld and the more benefits and amenities he gets.”
“I see.” I have more questions but now is not the time.
We’ve never talked much about what Roman and the guys do.
I’m not sure it’s entirely ethical, and I try very hard to only use my magic for good.
Not that I’m above a little trouble, but I’ve seen too many of my peers get into danger by dabbling on the dark side.
Rune opens the door to a room filled with shelves and tables.
As we enter, the heady, earthy scent of his magic swirls around me, drawing mine to the surface.
Rune’s skin lights up with intricate symbols, and I quickly realize he’s a legacy mage, born from multiple generations of magic users.
I don’t know anything about my own bloodline except that my mentor explained to me that the simplicity of my markings indicates that I likely only inherited my mage lineage from my mother and that she was probably only first or second in the bloodline to have it.
I preen a little knowing my illusions were still capable of disabling the powerful mage, even if only briefly.
He rubs his hands together. “Okay, boys, let’s find ourselves a vampire.”