Chapter Nine
DALLIN NEEDED TO DO something that wasn’t being a creep outside of Sol’s bedroom door. He’d done that yesterday, and when he’d realized how bad things had gotten, he’d left the castle and had gone for a walk around the lake. Even there, though, he’d found himself glancing back at the castle and trying to find the window of Sol’s bedroom.
Today was a different day. Today, Dallin had a plan. It would be hard to stay away from Sol, but Dallin had promised his dragon that he would give him space, and that was what he was planning on doing. Once Sol felt better and was ready to talk to Dallin, he’d come to find him. The last thing Dallin wanted was to push Sol into a conversation he wasn’t ready for, so he’d wait for him.
Sol didn’t have the benefit of the memories of the moments he and Dallin had shared. He wasn’t even the same person. Dallin supposed that, technically, he didn’t have any memories with Sol, either. His memories were of Kent, and Kent was gone.
Dallin wanted new moments with his dragon. He wanted to build more memories—new ones. He couldn’t do that now, though, so instead, he decided to visit Graham.
Tyne would be pissed if he found out about it, but Dallin didn’t care. When he’d promised Tyne he’d get out of his bedroom more, Tyne had agreed that in exchange, he’d talk to Meyer, but Dallin was pretty sure that he hadn’t yet. If he as much as breathed in Dallin’s direction, Dallin wouldn’t hesitate to tell him what he thought of that. They’d made each other a promise, and Tyne hadn’t kept it. Dallin wouldn’t forget that anytime soon.
He’d stopped at the library to grab some books for Graham. He didn’t know what the man liked to read, but he suspected that anything would be better than staring at the ceiling. Or maybe Graham was really into bad daytime TV shows. Anything was possible.
Dallin knocked when he reached the bedroom. Graham couldn’t open it, but Dallin still wanted him to know that someone was coming in. He opened the door with his magic, peeked inside, and smiled at Graham when he saw him curled up on the couch. He had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, and he held onto it as he sat up and warily eyed Dallin.
“Sorry to bother you,”
Dallin said.
Graham snorted.
“You’re not bothering me. It’s your right to be here.”
“This is your bedroom.”
“Is it? Or is it my cell?”
“Only until this mess is over.”
Dallin held up the books he’d grabbed in the library.
“I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got a little bit of everything.”
Graham stared for a moment. The TV was off, and the silence felt heavy, but Dallin gave Graham time to find the right words.
“Thank you,”
Graham eventually said.
“You’re kind.”
“I will never be able to thank you enough for helping my dragon escape Carlyle’s clutches.”
“I didn’t do it for you.”
Dallin closed the door and used magic to lock it again. He put the books down on the closest dresser, then turned to face Graham.
“I know. You didn’t know me back then, but I suspect you still knew of my existence.”
“Carlyle talks about the bunch of you all the time.”
A small smile twisted the corners of Graham’s lips.
“Usually, it was to complain.”
Dallin wasn’t surprised.
“He was always a complainer.”
“You knew him before? I mean, before he decided to take over the world or whatever he did that got him stuck in a gemstone.”
“I think we all somewhat knew him, although only Jarvis was close to him.”
Carlyle had been his apprentice, and Jarvis was still kicking himself over that. It was ridiculous, but he blamed himself for how Carlyle had ended up. No matter how many times Dallin and the others told him that he had nothing to do with it, Jarvis never fully believed it.
Graham nodded as if he’d expected that answer.
“Well, he thinks about you a lot.”
“That’s something I could’ve gone without knowing.”
Graham snickered.
“Not that way, but yeah. I get it.”
Dallin glanced around the bedroom.
“Do you have everything you need?”
“Are you kidding? After everything I went through with Carlyle, this is downright luxurious. I have a bathroom where I can shower whenever I want for as long as I want, clean towels and clothes, and I’m fed regularly. I even have a TV, and you brought books. There’s nothing more I could want.”
Dallin was pretty sure that was a lie, but who was he to point it out? If that was how Graham wanted to think about what was happening, Dallin wouldn’t be the one to stop him.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying your time with us.”
“I wouldn’t say that I’m enjoying it, but I know that I’m safe here. I haven’t felt that way in a while.”
Probably not since Simon had released Carlyle from the gemstone.
“Well, you are safe here. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you, no matter what Carlyle does.”
“I don’t want you and your brothers to get hurt because of me. I’m not worth it.”
“I think only I get a say in what I find worth defending and protecting. You should ignore Tyne. He’s a dickhead, and it only gets worse when he doesn’t get what he wants.”
“I think he wants to protect his family.”
“And you protected my dragon. That doesn’t make us family, but it does make us friends.”
Graham blinked. “Really?”
“Really. It would have been easy for you to turn the other way, but instead, you did the right thing. You made sure that Sol could escape, and you kept him safe while the two of you traipsed through the forest. I can never thank you enough for everything you did. The least I can do is make sure nothing happens to you. I don’t care what my brother thinks. I’m on your side, Graham.”
Graham glanced down.
“Thank you.”
Graham might technically be one of the bad guys, but he seemed like a decent person who’d been forced into a situation he didn’t know how to handle. Dallin wouldn’t say Graham was perfect, but he’d done the right thing, and that meant something. To Dallin, it meant the world because the right thing that Graham had done was freeing his dragon.
It was all Dallin cared about, and he was ready to fight Tyne if he continued being an asshole about this.
SOL SIGHED IN RELIEF when Parker and Marlow left his bedroom. He loved that they’d visited, and he wanted to know more about being a dragon shifter and everything he could do, but he was exhausted.
He wasn’t only exhausted physically, although that didn’t help. Mentally, he needed a break. Between finding out that mages existed, that there were other dragon shifters around, and everything else, Sol needed to allow himself to think, and that wouldn’t happen if people kept knocking on his door and fussing over him.
At the same time, he was glad he had someone fussing over him. Before meeting Pippa, he’d been utterly alone. This felt like having a family he hadn’t expected, and it was good.
That was the main reason he didn’t ask people to leave him alone. Not only was he living in their home, but they were also taking care of him, feeding him, checking on his wounds, making sure he was okay, and all of that. It would be ungrateful of him to ask for time on his own.
Although, he was still tempted to do it.
But these people had protected Pippa when he hadn’t been able to. They hadn’t known her, and it would have been easy for them to leave her at the apartment, but they hadn’t. They’d told her about Carlyle and what he was doing, and they’d convinced her to move to the castle. They were supporting her and feeding and housing her. In a world where all of that was so expensive, Sol didn’t take it for granted.
He’d been wary before, but now, he knew that the mages and dragons weren’t the bad guys. The situation might be odd, but Sol felt like he was finally back where he belonged. At the same time, he had no idea what was going on around him.
Everyone kept asking about Dallin and how he was taking all of this. Sol didn’t have an answer because he had no idea. Dallin hadn’t visited him once. Sol had expected him to be first in line the day after he arrived, but so far, there had been no sightings of him. Sol was tempted to leave his bed and go hunting for the man. He might have if Pippa hadn’t threatened to break his ankles if he as much as thought about getting up.
She wasn’t wrong. He was still tired and aching, even though he felt like he’d been sleeping for a week. He wanted to be at his best for the upcoming battle, though.
“Well, they only mentioned Dallin twice,”
Pippa said. She was sitting in what Sol already thought of as her armchair by the bed, scrolling on her phone.
“Penley asked about him five times when he was here earlier this morning,”
Sol lamented.
Pippa lowered her phone.
“You know what would solve the problem?”
Sol sighed.
“Yes, I know that I need to talk to him. I don’t see how I can when you threatened to beat me up if I left this bed.”
“I could probably go and find him. I can drag him to you so you don’t have to move.”
“No dragging, please. I don’t want to force Dallin into anything.”
Dallin had been gracious enough to give Sol time. The least Sol could do was to do the same, although he didn’t fully understand why Dallin needed that time.
“You’re going to have to talk to him eventually,”
Pippa said in a gentle voice.
“And I know that everything’s a mess right now, but think about it. Think about him. He was in love with the man you were before. Even though he knew you wouldn’t have those memories, he probably expected the two of you to be close. Maybe he’s still in love with you. Imagine how hard all of that has to be. Imagine what you’d feel if the man you loved and lost for decades didn’t recognize you.”
Sol didn’t have to imagine. He’d been thinking about it nonstop since he’d found out.
“He can’t be in love with me anymore.”
“Well, he’s not in love with you. You’re not the man you were before. But he’s still in love with Kent, and you look exactly like him.”
Because, in a way, Sol was Kent. He couldn’t remember anything from his past, though. He didn’t remember Kent’s family or how he and Dallin had met. He didn’t remember how he felt about Dallin. He didn’t remember the last time he’d kissed Dallin, the last words they’d said to each other before Carlyle had cursed them, or the last time they’d made love. Sol was missing a chunk of memories, and he’d always resented that, but it had never made him as angry as he was now.
Dallin was Sol’s mage. That meant that the two of them should be close, but instead, because of Carlyle and whatever spell he’d cast on the dragons, Dallin couldn’t even be in the same room as Sol. How was it fair? How was Sol supposed to deal with it?
“I want to talk to him,”
he murmured.
Pippa leaned forward to squeeze Sol’s shoulder.
“Then I’ll make sure you do. He won’t know what hit him.”
Sol snickered. Dallin really wouldn’t. Pippa might have been living with the mages for a little while now, but she’d told Sol that she’d mostly stayed in her room. That was over now that Sol was there. The mages would have to deal with Pippa, and she always got what she wanted.
This situation wouldn’t be any different.
“YOU SAID YOUR brOTHER lied to you the other day,”
Dallin said, hoping to start a conversation.
He wanted to know more about Graham and the circumstances that had brought him to work for Carlyle. He didn’t think that Graham had ever wanted to hurt anyone, but he had anyway. Maybe knowing what was behind it would help his cause. Tyne would never like Graham, but he wasn’t the one making decisions.
They were a family, and they made decisions together. Tyne would have a vote, but so would everyone else, and Dallin was inclined to be on Graham’s side. He didn’t think that anything he’d find out would change his mind, but he still needed to know more.
Graham glanced out the window. It was clear he didn’t want to talk about this, and Dallin wished he could give him that. Graham had mentioned that he and Simon didn’t have any other family. Dallin could imagine this wasn’t easy for him.
“I’m not sure when all of this started,”
Graham eventually said.
“A while ago, we were contacted because our great-aunt died. We didn’t even know we had a great-aunt. She was our mother’s aunt, and she didn’t have any other family, so everything she owned went to us. I was still in college, and Simon said he’d take care of everything. I was relieved. It’s not like I didn’t want to help, but I didn’t have any idea who this woman was, and I didn’t want to fly to the other side of the country to poke around her stuff when I had class.”
It had been a long time since Dallin had been to any kind of class. He still studied and read a lot, but it wasn’t the same as college. He’d gone to school, though. He remembered how it was, even though it probably had been very different.
“He went back and forth for a bit,”
Graham continued.
“In the beginning, everything seemed normal, except that he was tired because of everything he had to do on top of his job. Things started getting weird after a while. He barely called me anymore, and when I asked him about the stuff he was selling and the house, he was vague. I didn’t think too much of it. I never thought my brother would take what was mine. I mean, our great-aunt left everything to us, but we never expected to inherit anything. It was just a nice bonus, you know?”
“How did that bonus bring you to Carlyle?”
“Eventually, Simon said he had to tell me something.”
Graham grimaced.
“I had no idea what to expect, but it wasn’t for him to tell me that he’d found a journal and a gemstone and that there was a mage stuck inside of it.”
“That sounds like it would’ve been a shock.”
“It was. I thought he was having a nervous breakdown or something. I had no idea what he was talking about, and I was worried. He sounded convinced of what he was saying, though, so I decided to listen to what he had to say. I didn’t want to push him away or for him to think that he couldn’t come to me when he needed me. He showed me the gemstone and the journal, and he said he wanted to free the mage. He promised he wouldn’t do it on his own, and I believed him. I also believed him when he said that it would be a good thing for us and that it was our family legacy. He said that Carlyle had been imprisoned by bad people and that he deserved to be free, and once he was, he would make us rich and powerful. None of that sounded like Simon, but I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t realize that Simon had started gathering the ingredients he’d need.”
“What did your brother mean when he said it was your family legacy?”
It wasn’t the first time Graham had said that, and Dallin had been curious about how Graham and Simon had gotten their hands on the gemstone, and now, he knew. There was more to this, though. How had the gemstone ended up in their great-aunt’s home?
“The journal explained it,”
Graham said.
“Our great-great-great or whatever grandfather found the stone. He didn’t go into details in his journal, but from the little Carlyle told us and what I know of the situation, I believe he was there right after your fight with Carlyle. He mentioned several unconscious men.”
That gave Dallin the creeps. There had been someone there, someone who could’ve helped them while they were unconscious, but instead, the man had stolen the gemstone and had abandoned them there.
“I guess that Carlyle was still strong, even though he was stuck inside the gemstone,”
Graham added.
“From the journal, it’s clear that he talked to my ancestor. He told him that bad mages had imprisoned him and that he would need his help to escape.”
Graham scoffed.
“I doubt he expected it would take us so long. It didn’t matter in the end, though. He got free. Simon took care of that.”
The situation wasn’t great, but at least now, they knew what happened. Dallin and the other mages had never imagined that someone would willingly let Carlyle out of the gemstone, but they also hadn’t expected the gemstone to vanish for decades. Carlyle had found a way out of his prison, and he was back.
“The gemstone has been in our family since then,”
Graham explained.
“Apparently, it’s been passed down from generation to generation. I guess it should’ve gone to my great-aunt’s children, but she didn’t have any. It found its way to us instead.”
“Thank you for telling me all of this,”
Dallin said, knowing that it had to hurt Graham to talk about his brother. Dallin didn’t know if Simon believed everything Carlyle had told him, but even if he didn’t, he was on Carlyle’s side. At the same time, he was the only family Graham had.
“I never wanted to hurt anyone,”
Graham whispered.
“I just wanted to be with my brother.”
“You saved Sol. As far as I’m concerned, that’s all that matters. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll stand up for you. You don’t deserve to be locked up. You don’t deserve to get hurt for what Carlyle did.”
“I’m pretty sure your brother disagrees.”
Dallin snorted.
“Tyne disagrees with a lot of things. Sometimes, I think he does it just to be contrary.”
A ghost of a smile played on Graham’s lips.
“Simon was like that before. I always found it infuriating, but I wish we could go back to what we were then.”
There would be no going back for him and Simon. They’d both made their choice, and, unfortunately for Graham, his brother had chosen the wrong side. That didn’t mean he would die, but it did mean that the mages would have to ensure he didn’t hurt anyone.
Whatever happened, Graham would lose his brother—the only family he still had left.