CHAPTER 8 RAGNOR
CHAPTER 8
RAGNOR
The cool wind welcomed him when Ragnor threw the terrace doors open and walked out. He came to a stop before the balustrade and leaned his forearm on it, closing his eyes as he breathed in deeply, trying to put his raging mind to rest.
He’d just returned from a meeting with both his Lieutenants—a rare occasion nowadays, what with Ragnor being constantly busy—and he was reminded of his past inadequacy.
Margarita Wallen, his second Lieutenant, was a pain in his ass. Once upon a time, she’d been useful, what with her extremely unique Gift and sharp mind, but in the past decade or so, she had started testing the boundaries he’d set. So far, he’d let it go, if only because she’d earned his trust a long time ago, but the meeting two hours prior told him that the time of letting go was reaching an end.
For the first time since her appointment forty years ago, Margarita had questioned his decisions.
Ragnor allowed only a select few to question him, and Margarita wasn’t one of them.
Thus, he left the underground compound of his League and visited his town house to take a breather.
Now, as the silence surrounded him, thoughts he was fighting day and night came rushing in.
Hazel eyes, framed by thick, dark lashes, crashed into his mind. He used to love looking into those expressive eyes as he moved inside her, seeing the pleasure spreading across her as he brought her to climax after climax.
His knuckles turned white as he clutched the balustrade with the aching, unbearable need to hold her again in his arms. To caress her beautiful body, her soft olive skin, and feel her shattering under him.
He yearned to hear her pretty lips taunting him again. Unwilling to bend even an inch for him. He longed to hear her husky voice throwing curses at him as her eyes flared with heat.
He missed her so much, it was as though a limb had been torn off, and he was incapacitated, unable to do a thing as long as she wasn’t by his side.
A distant flapping sound made Ragnor’s eyes snap open and his muscles tense. He did not expect any company, and yet the flapping noise grew closer until a winged man appeared out of thin air, floating right above the balustrade.
Ragnor straightened himself and stepped back. “Luceras.”
The Malachi’s jungle eyes were alert as he landed on the terrace floor. “I have news,” he said, and there was a sense of urgency in the Malachi’s voice that made Ragnor extremely alarmed. There were very few things that could ruffle a Malachi’s feathers, and none of them were good.
By nature, they weren’t emotional beings. Rather, they were able to remain levelheaded. Stoic. The Malachi doled out justice when needed. They waged war upon the unjust and made sure to win. And when the time came for the Malachi to ask something of Ragnor, he would not be able to refuse them.
“Is it about Vermont?” Ragnor now asked, eyes trained on the Malachi. It had been about a month since he’d asked him for this particular favor.
Luceras’s eyes seemed to penetrate Ragnor’s. “When was the last time you encountered the Jinn?”
Ragnor grimaced. “You sensed them there, then.”
“Answer the question, Deveran.” Luceras’s voice grew low and threatening as he said the derogatory nickname.
Unfortunately for the Malachi, Ragnor wasn’t one to be cowed. “Tell me what you found first. Quid pro quo.”
While Luceras’s face remained blank, a spark of annoyance appeared in his eyes. “I found strange shifts in the ether south of Montpelier, near a large farmhouse that seemed to have been built in recent years.”
It was just as Ragnor suspected. As the Lord of a League that functioned as an information guild for all intents and purposes, Ragnor was mostly in the know when it came to what happened in his part of the world and some other parts too. When he received tips that several vampires—both members of different Leagues and Leagueless—disappeared in the northeastern area of the States, he knew something had to be up with the Jinn. No one but the Jinn would mess with vampires.
He’d asked Luceras to scout Vermont using the Malachi’s special capabilities. Ragnor had a few affiliates in other nearby states who didn’t report anything was amiss, and he knew for a fact that Maine, the home state of his League, was clear. Vermont was all that was left, and it appeared he was right.
“It’s your turn, Deveran,” Luceras said now as he gracefully jumped into the air and swiftly sat down on the balustrade.
Ragnor let out a rough sigh. “The last time I encountered the Jinn was a few months ago, in Las Vegas.” He could still remember what happened there. Aileen had attempted to run away and was caught by three lesser Jinn, two of whom he’d killed. Thinking about that incident made his chest clench. If he hadn’t been there in time ...
Shaking himself out of these unpleasant thoughts, Ragnor folded his arms. “According to extensive research I’d done after, I found that there weren’t any Jinni branches in the Nevada-California area. Those Jinn must’ve been sent there to snoop around and stumbled upon a golden opportunity when they caught a ... League member of mine.”
Luceras stared at him silently for a few moments before he spoke again. “You can’t let the Jinn run rampant, Deveran.”
“I know,” Ragnor said, irritated. “Send me the exact coordinates. I’ll take care of it.”
Giving him a curt nod, Luceras jumped again and landed on his feet on the balustrade. “She’s here,” he suddenly commented.
Ragnor gave him a curious look. “I told you she’s staying here.”
Luceras’s jaw ticked. It was a rare show of emotion from the Malachi that put Ragnor immediately on guard. “How is she doing?” he asked, his voice like gravel.
Cautiously, Ragnor responded, “She’s doing well, for a woman on the run.”
If he was feeling any sense of guilt, Luceras didn’t show it. “Take care of her,” he said quietly, and it sounded like an order.
Ragnor gave him a humorless smile. “Eliza can take care of herself.”
Without any farewell, Luceras disappeared into thin air, and Ragnor could hear his invisible wings flapping away as the Malachi left.
Once he was gone, Ragnor returned to leaning against the balustrade and pinched the bridge of his nose. He told Luceras he would take care of the Jinn, which he absolutely intended to do, but he had to be careful.
The Jinn weren’t creatures to be messed with. Ragnor himself, who was powerful even by Sacred standards, couldn’t exactly march into a farmhouse full of Jinn and expect to come out of it without a scratch.
Ragnor thought of Aileen then. The bane of his existence and the light of his darkness alike. He wondered if she was all right. Was she thinking about him? Did she have any lingering feelings for him, despite what he’d done?
He doubted it was the case, but that didn’t matter. He would snatch her back from Atalon’s clutches whether she wanted him to or not. He’d won her over before, after all, and so he was confident he could win her over again.
And once that was done, he would deal with the Jinn.
Because right now, Aileen was his top priority.