Chapter Twelve
DALLIN COULDN’T LOOK away from Tyne and Meyer. There was something happening between them, but he couldn’t tell if it was because Tyne had finally decided to keep his promise and talk to his dragon or if something else had happened. Dallin wanted to ask, but he knew better. Tyne would bite his head off if he dared bring it up in front of everyone.
Now that Dallin and Sol had found their way to each other, maybe it was time for Dallin to turn his attention to Tyne. Something needed to be done about whatever Tyne was doing—or not doing—with Meyer, and since no one else seemed to be willing to step into that mess, Dallin would.
He hoped he’d be able to avoid the blood splatter.
“He’s not going to change his mind,”
Graham warned Jarvis.
There was a phone on the table in front of him. He looked like he was afraid to pick it up or even touch it, no matter how many times Jarvis pushed it toward him.
“You just need to try,”
Jarvis said with a smile.
“You don’t get it. You don’t know my brother, but he’s not going to want to leave Carlyle to join me. He won’t change his mind. He feels he’s doing the right thing, and that’s that.”
“He’s probably worried about you, though, right?”
Meyer asked.
“I don’t know about that. Before, he would’ve been, but since Carlyle entered our lives, Simon’s become a different person.”
Graham gently touched his lower lip.
“He would never have hurt me before, but he has now.”
Dallin’s heart bled for the man. He’d lost everything, even his brother, yet he was still willing to help. He was willing to ignore his pain to ensure that Carlyle would pay for what he was doing and to stop him from hurting more people.
Dallin hoped that Jarvis would give Graham a chance to stay with them once this was over. Graham didn’t have anywhere else to go or anyone else to be with. He’d lost everything because he’d decided to help Sol, and Dallin would never forget that.
“I’d still like you to try,”
Jarvis said gently.
“I realize this will hurt, but we need to know where we stand.”
Graham sighed and grabbed the phone. He punched in his brother’s number, then put the call on speaker so that everyone around the table would hear. Sol leaned forward as if that would help him hear better, making Dallin smile.
Dallin wasn’t sure where he and Sol stood. They’d made out at the lake, and they kissed every occasion they had, but was that all there was to it? Sol had said that he felt like Dallin saw him and not Kent, and he wanted to give them a chance, but he was still overwhelmed and possibly confused. He might realize that Dallin wasn’t what he wanted once this mess was over.
It wouldn’t be enough to stop Dallin from spending time with him. It would hurt more if Sol broke things off later, but Dallin was going to enjoy every second with his dragon. Besides, maybe Sol wouldn’t break things off. Maybe they’d live together forever after this.
The phone rang for so long that Dallin was sure Simon wouldn’t answer. When he did, his voice echoed in the room as everyone held their breaths.
“Where are you?”
“How did you know it was me?”
Graham asked.
“Because no one else would call me, Graham. Where are you? I’ll pick you up.”
“Why would you? I betrayed you.”
“You did. What the fuck were you thinking? You betrayed me and Carlyle, but I talked to him. He’s willing to take you back.”
For a second, Dallin thought that Graham was considering it. It would make sense. He didn’t want to lose his only brother, and the best way to ensure that didn’t happen was to go back.
“Don’t you see? Carlyle is manipulating you,”
Graham said.
“He doesn’t care about you. He just wants power and magic, and to have someone to do his dirty work for him.”
“I’m helping him.”
“You are, and it’s the wrong thing to do. Carlyle wasn’t an innocent man trapped in a gemstone. He was a monster who stole his dragon’s magic and left him unable to shift for decades. He was someone who needed to be stopped, and he still is.”
“Stop lying,”
Simon snapped.
“I know you’re with those other mages. They’re brainwashing you.”
“No, Carlyle is brainwashing you. They told me the truth.”
It was clear that the truth wouldn’t be enough to sway Simon to their side. He was pissed, and Dallin was tempted to reach over and hang up when he started ranting about what Graham had done and how it made him a bad person. Graham was biting his lower lip hard enough to draw blood, and Dallin felt sorry for him.
“You’re weak,”
Simon said.
“Carlyle always said that, but I told him that you’d be fine and that you’re on our side. You should be on our side.”
“I just want to do the right thing.”
“And you really believe that doing the right thing is allying with those mages?”
“Considering what Carlyle did to me and what I saw him do to Sol, yes. He’s hurting people, Simon. He’s not going to stop, and he’s going to kill the mages and their dragons. He’s going to steal their magic, and when he does, he’ll move on to other mages and dragons. A good person wouldn’t do that.”
“They hurt him first. They trapped him and stole his dragon.”
Dallin wasn’t surprised that Carlyle had lied. Graham hadn’t talked to Emory yet since he wasn’t here, but Jarvis had contacted him, and he was coming home. Jarvis had offered to open a portal, but Emory had insisted that he’d be fine. He was probably enjoying flying in his dragon form.
“I hate what he did to you,”
Graham told his brother.
“You’re not the Simon I grew up with, and I don’t think you’ll ever be him again. Even with everything, though, I still love you. Please join me. Please leave Carlyle and come back to your senses.”
When Simon started ranting again, Dallin had enough. It was clear that Simon wouldn’t change his mind, no matter what Graham said or how many times he begged him. Dallin snatched the phone from Graham and hung up, feeling better even with the silence so loud around them.
“I’m sorry,”
Graham whispered.
“I wasn’t able to convince him.”
Dallin put down the phone and patted Graham’s shoulder.
“You tried. We knew it was a long shot, and we didn’t actually expect you to pull him to our side. Don’t worry, Graham. You did what you could, and no one is going to hold any of this against you.”
Well, Tyne might, but Dallin would have something to say about that. In fact, he had many things to say to his brother, and he was waiting for the right opportunity to do so. Maybe it would be before Carlyle attacked, or maybe after. Either way, Dallin wasn’t giving up. He would force Tyne and Meyer to talk things out. He didn’t know if Meyer would continue being Tyne’s dragon after that, but that wasn’t what mattered the most. What mattered the most was that if they wanted their family to be as strong as possible to face Carlyle, Tyne and Meyer needed to pull their heads out of their asses.
That would be easier said than done in Tyne’s case.
SOL WASN’T SURPRISED by Simon’s refusal to listen to Graham. Obviously, he didn’t know Simon as well as Graham did, but he did know things about him. He felt he could be more objective than Graham, even though Simon had kicked the shit out of him a few times.
He didn’t hate the guy. He could see that Simon had been pulled in by Carlyle’s charm and that he’d been brainwashed like he’d accused the mages of doing to his brother. Graham and Simon had only had each other. It had to have felt good to have someone else be interested in him, and Simon had fallen for it.
Sol didn’t think Simon would ever come to their side. He wanted him to for Graham’s sake, but unfortunately, Simon was fully enthralled by Carlyle. He wouldn’t leave him, not even for his brother.
Graham looked pale and shaky. Sol wanted to do something to support him, but he didn’t think that anything he could do or say would change how Graham felt. Maybe knowing that he wasn’t alone would help?
He reached out with his foot and gently bumped it against Graham’s. Graham looked up, appearing confused, until his gaze stopped on Sol. Sol smiled at him, unsure what else to do. For a moment, Graham just stared. When the corners of his lips curled up just a bit, Sol thought he’d done what he could. He hoped that Graham knew that he’d be there for him, whatever happened next. Graham had saved his life, and he wasn’t a bad person. Sol would support him.
“That was a bust,”
Keylon murmured.
“What’s next?”
Jarvis sighed heavily as if he had enough of all of this. Sol felt the same, and he’d barely been in this situation for a few days. He could only imagine what it was like for the mages to have dealt with this once already, only to be forced to do it again decades later.
“We can’t allow Carlyle to go into hiding again,”
Jarvis said.
“That means that we need to strike before he and Simon leave the house. I wouldn’t be surprised if they already have, but we have to try.”
Tyne scoffed.
“When I said that the other day, you told me we needed to wait. Now, you’ve changed your mind? Is it because you know it’s too late and that they’re already gone?”
Jarvis narrowed his eyes. He’d always been nice to Sol, but the way he was watching Tyne now made a shiver run down Sol’s spine. Jarvis looked scary like that.
“Are you accusing me of being on Carlyle’s side?”
Tyne’s gaze flickered to the people around the table, then down.
“Of course not. You would never betray us, and I know you want the best for all of us. I’m just frustrated.”
Jarvis’s shoulders relaxed, and the tension that had been rising faded. Sol leaned back against his chair, relieved the brothers wouldn’t start fighting each other.
He knew the mages weren’t actually brothers, but it was what they considered each other and how they behaved. The dragons were close, too, almost as close as the mages. Sol wondered if, eventually, he’d feel the same way about all these people.
He hoped so. He wanted the castle to be his home and these people to be his family. It was all in Carlyle’s hands, unfortunately.
Quick footsteps outside the dining room door made everyone look up. Sol frowned when a man strode in, but he wasn’t worried. He knew there were alarm spells on the castle, and the reactions of the men around the table told him that whoever this guy was, he was welcome.
Penley squeaked and threw himself out of his chair to run at the man. The man looked surprised, but he caught Penley and allowed the mage to hug him. He awkwardly hugged him back, looking at Bennett as if silently asking him what was going on.
Bennett shrugged and clasped the man’s shoulder before gently pulling Penley away. After that, a line formed so that everyone could hug the newcomer. The only people who stayed in their chairs were Sol and Graham, who exchanged a glance.
The man was left standing after everyone retook their seat. He glanced around the room, his gaze stopping on Sol.
“You found the last dragon,” he said.
“Emory, this is Sol, my shield,”
Dallin introduced them.
“Sol, this is Emory. He was Carlyle’s shield.”
Sol had heard about Emory. He knew what Carlyle had done to him and how Penley had managed to help him. He couldn’t even imagine what his life would be like if he couldn’t shift. He hadn’t done a lot of it lately, but now that he was feeling better, he was planning on taking advantage of the spells around the castle and the area where it was located to stretch his wings.
Emory hadn’t been able to do that until recently. He’d had a dragon and a mage, and he’d lost both to betrayal. It was a testament to how strong he was that he was still standing.
“You know where Carlyle is?”
Emory asked after he nodded at Sol.
“If he hasn’t left the house where he kept me prisoner, I do.”
Emory pulled one of the empty chairs away from the table so he could sit.
“We need to know everything about the house and how Carlyle uses it.”
“Graham can probably help with that. I was kept in a cell, so I didn’t see much of it.”
Emory frowned. “Graham?”
To Sol’s surprise, Graham raised his hand to catch Emory’s attention.
“That would be me.”
“You work for Carlyle.”
Graham’s eyes widened, and he shook his head.
“I don’t. I was forced into it, but I escaped as soon as I could, and I took Sol with me. The mages trust me.”
Tyne snorted, but he was the only one who reacted to Graham’s words. When Emory looked at Jarvis in confirmation, Jarvis nodded, and Graham relaxed. He’d been told the mages trusted him, but to see it had to be different.
“I didn’t come back alone,”
Emory said.
“I found allies.”
“We did this on our own last time,”
Tyne pointed out.
“And people know what we had to deal with. They’re willing to help. They don’t want Carlyle to try to take their dragons or hurt their clan. Besides, they’re planning on being on standby. They won’t intervene in our fight against Carlyle unless we need them to. If something happens, they’ll be there to take over and hopefully defeat Carlyle. It’ll be easier if we weaken him.”
“You’re sure you want to do this?”
Jarvis asked Emory.
Sol wondered the same thing. Carlyle had hurt Emory, but he was still Emory’s mage. Sol didn’t know if they still shared a bond, but even if they didn’t—if Carlyle had broken it so he could bond with Sol or before then—Carlyle and Emory had been together for years. They shared a bond that not many people had, even without considering the one between a mage and their dragon.
“He took my dragon,”
Emory said in a hard tone.
“I will never forgive him for that. I will never forgive him for using me and abandoning me. I’m sure this is what I want, Jarvis. You can’t order me to stay away, and if you do, I’ll find a way in. It’s your fight, but it’s also mine, and I won’t back down.”
Sol held his breath. Apart from Tyne, he’d never heard any of the mages or the dragons talk to Jarvis like that. Jarvis was their leader, even though it wasn’t official. Emory didn’t seem to have a problem with standing up to him, though. He looked Jarvis in the eyes and kept his expression neutral, but even though Sol barely knew him, he could tell that if Jarvis didn’t want Emory to be involved, he’d have a fight on his hands.
DALLIN WAS GLAD TO see that Emory was okay. He was worried about the dragon shifter, but it wasn’t his place to tell Emory that he couldn’t fight Carlyle.
It wouldn’t be easy for Emory, but he knew himself better than anyone. He was the only one who knew everything that Carlyle had done to him, and he was the only one who knew whether or not he could truly do this. If he thought he could, Dallin was all for allowing him to fight by their side. They’d need all the help they could get, and Emory knew Carlyle better than anyone, maybe even Jarvis. Jarvis had been Carlyle’s teacher, but Emory had been his dragon and his lover.
“We should go now,”
Tyne said as he got to his feet.
“Even if you decide we shouldn’t, Jarvis, I’m not waiting one more second. We know where Carlyle is, or rather, where he was. If we want a chance to surprise him, we should do so now.”
Dallin wasn’t looking forward to facing Carlyle, but he suspected they wouldn’t find anything at the house. Carlyle might be weaker now than he’d been in the past, and he might be frantically searching for more magic, but he’d never been an idiot. He had to know that the mages would come after him, which meant he would have left that house.
Dallin was disappointed, but he understood why Jarvis had decided they needed to wait to face Carlyle. They would be stronger if all of them had a dragon who could protect them, and until a few days ago, Sol had been too banged up to do a good job. Emory hadn’t been home, either, and facing Carlyle was important to him.
They might have lost Carlyle again, but it wouldn’t be a bad thing in the long run. Dallin wasn’t sure that Tyne would believe that, but that was a problem for the future. First, they needed to deal with Carlyle.
Jarvis got up and looked around the table.
“As always, you don’t have to come with us if you don’t feel ready for this.”
None of them said anything. This was their fight, and they would all be there for it. It didn’t matter that they were scared or that they didn’t want to lose their dragon again. It didn’t matter that some of them might get hurt or, worse, die. They would never know peace until Carlyle was taken care of, and it was time to do just that.
If they could find him.
“You have fifteen minutes to get ready,”
Jarvis continued when no one spoke up.
“I’ll see you in the courtyard.”
Dallin needed to go to his office. He didn’t want to leave Sol on his own, but when he glanced at him, he found him talking to Parker and Bennett. The two of them knew how to protect their mages in a fight, so Sol was probably asking for pointers.
Dallin left them there and rushed to his office. He changed into his work clothes because they’d be more comfortable in a fight, and even though he was tempted to grab some of his books and frantically read them to send more spells to memory, he didn’t. He already knew everything he could learn.
Almost everyone was already there when he got to the courtyard. Sol had changed, too, and he made a beeline for him when he saw him. He looked twitchy.
“You didn’t tell me you were leaving the dining room,”
he said when he reached Dallin.
“I didn’t think I needed to tell you. I just wanted to change.”
Sol looked Dallin up and down.
“Maybe don’t disappear on me, all right? I thought I’d failed at my job before I even started.”
Dallin gently touched Sol’s hand.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think anything of it. You were talking to Parker and Bennett, and I didn’t think you’d even notice I was gone.”
Sol caught Dallin’s hand and linked her fingers together.
“Of course I noticed. I notice everything about you.”
Dallin wasn’t sure that was true, but he wanted to believe it. Before he could promise he’d warn Sol next time, Jarvis cleared his throat, getting everyone’s attention. The tension increased. This was it. If Carlyle was still at the house, they were about to face him.
“Graham told us there are several spells over the forest and the house, so Dallin, we’ll need you to step in as soon as we arrive. Sol, are you feeling up to keeping an eye on him?”
Sol looked confused but nodded. They hadn’t talked about Dallin’s specialty yet, but they should have. It wasn’t as flashy as opening portals or finding people, but neutralizing magic and spells was useful. It was Dallin who’d taken care of the fire Carlyle had started in their forest recently. Without his specialty, it would’ve been more complicated and much longer to kill the spell that had kept the fire burning.
“We’ll help if we need to,”
Bennett said.
“We’re family. We fight together, and we protect our mages together.”
Tyne snorted. Dallin glared at him. At least Tyne looked bashful. He knew he was being an asshole, and while that wouldn’t change, he’d probably stop being so open about it. He might not care about Meyer, but he did care about the mages. They were his family, no matter how much of an asshole Tyne was.
Jarvis opened a portal. Dallin was anxious, but he didn’t actually think they would find Carlyle. He wouldn’t be surprised if they found traps, though, so he was careful as he crossed through.
They’d been here before when they’d come to rescue Sol. Nothing had changed. The only thing Dallin could see was trees, and there were no signs of a house, even though he knew one was there,
“This is as close as I could get us to the house,”
Jarvis explained once they were all gathered on this side of the portal.
“I didn’t want to risk triggering anything. Dallin?”
Dallin looked around. To neutralize a spell, he had to find it first, and he’d become an expert at that. At first look, there was nothing here other than trees and nature. Dallin could see the light shimmering of a spell, though.
It took him a moment, but he found the object in which the spell was anchored—a rock. He touched it and focused, smiling when the spell petered out. They were still in a forest, but when he straightened, he could see a house in the distance.
It wasn’t far, but they had to be careful because Graham had mentioned traps and more spells. He hadn’t been able to say more because Carlyle hadn’t trusted him and he wasn’t a mage, but Dallin could do this.
It took them almost twenty minutes to reach the house. Dallin had to neutralize five spells, including one that would’ve made someone’s head explode if they’d walked through it. He was glad he’d noticed that one. The cleanup would have been hell. Carlyle had been smart because he’d placed the spells in objects that no one would think twice about—rocks, a pine cone, and even a leaf.
“I’m pretty sure the place is empty,”
Tyne grumbled as he stared at the house. It was right in front of them now. They just needed to step forward and open the door, and they’d be in.
“We still need to look through it,”
Jarvis said.
“Stay close to your dragons, and scream if you need anything.”
Dallin wasn’t sure that screaming was a good idea because everyone would freak out, but he nodded along with the others and watched them as they scattered. He and Sol exchanged a glance, and then, they were off.
This was going to be a long day.
SOL WAS SURPRISED TO see how naturally protecting Dallin came to him. He had no idea what he was doing, but his dragon seemed to remember what being a shield meant.
He stuck to Dallin’s side, moving ahead when they had to open a door or glance around the corner, but he let Dallin do his thing the rest of the time. Sol had never felt stronger, and he liked it. He liked knowing that he was protecting Dallin. It made the bond sing between them, and he couldn’t wait for this mess to be over so they could explore it without the feeling of impending doom.
“You could wait outside,”
Dallin offered as they stepped into a kitchen.
Sol remembered the place since he’d walked through the kitchen to leave the house, so maybe he’d tensed or had made a face that Dallin had been able to read. He was trying to look out for Sol, even though right now, it was Sol’s job to look out for him.
“I’m fine,”
Sol reassured him.
“Are you sure? Being back here can’t be easy.”
“It’s not, but I’ll be fine.”
Sol had had a few nightmares since he’d left this place, but he’d dealt with them, and he would deal with this, too. He liked that Dallin was worried and wanted to help, but he needed to do this. He needed to be the shield Dallin deserved.
Sol expected Dallin to argue. He would have if the roles had been reversed. He only ever wanted to protect Dallin, and that included protecting him from bad memories. Instead of arguing, though, Dallin nodded. Maybe he knew that Sol wouldn’t take no for an answer and that he wouldn’t leave.
Sol stayed tense and ready to react if anything happened, but it was all for nothing. By the time they were done exploring the house and gathered with the others outside, no one had found anything, and Sol didn’t think that anyone would.
“I poked around in Carlyle’s office,”
Keylon declared.
“He was definitely trying to bond Sol to him.”
Emory arched a brow and looked at Sol.
“That’s what he was doing to you?”
Sol nodded.
Doing so made him uncomfortable, but Emory didn’t seem particularly offended or hurt.
Carlyle had hurt him in a way no one else could, and Emory had had years to accept that and work through the grief.
Maybe he didn’t care about Carlyle anymore. Maybe he only cared about him because he wanted revenge.
“Sol is the only dragon Carlyle managed to get his hands on, but I don’t think he knew that Sol was already bonded to Dallin,”
Keylon added.
“Even if he’d known, it wouldn’t have stopped him,”
Emory said.
“It’s not like he cares about the bonds. He just wanted to create one so he could use Sol.”
Sol had already known that, but hearing it gave him the creeps.
“Well, he didn’t get me.”
“And we didn’t get him, either,”
Tyne snapped.
“I knew we should’ve come right away.”
“If we had, we would have been in trouble,”
Jarvis pointed out.
“Carlyle might be weaker now than he was when we faced him, but you saw the spells he left on this place. He’s not weak by any means.”
“We’re not weak, either. We could have taken him.”
“We couldn’t risk it. What would have happened if we’d been defeated? We're not the only ones in danger here, Tyne. You have to think about everyone else.”
It was clear that Tyne wanted to tell everyone else to fuck off, but instead, he gritted his teeth and set his jaw.
He stared at Jarvis, who sighed.
He looked tired.
They all were. Waiting for Carlyle to do something was getting on everyone’s nerves, and fighting each other would only help Carlyle.
“Let’s go home,”
Jarvis said.
“Keylon, did you find anything else in Carlyle’s office?”
“I don’t think he had time to pack up most of his things. There were books and journals, as well as ingredients.”
“We should take the journals. We could gather precious information from them.”
Keylon raised his hands, showing Jarvis a few notebooks he was carrying.
“I’m ahead of you.”
Jarvis nodded and turned to open a portal.
Sol had been as excited by all of this as he’d been terrified, but he was glad nothing had happened.
He still didn’t know what he’d do if someone attacked Dallin, and it was good to know he wouldn’t find out today.
Eventually, they’d have to deal with it, but for now, Dallin was healthy and as safe as he could be considering the circumstances, which was all Sol cared about.
When Sol and the others had left the castle, there had been a small group of people who worked and lived at the castle who’d gathered in the courtyard to see them off.
They were still there, including Pippa, who made a beeline for Sol.
“How was it? Did you have to fight many mages?”
“We were looking for two of them, but they were gone, so no.”
Pippa pouted.
“That sounds boring.”
“I wouldn’t call anything in this situation boring, but yeah. Carlyle was gone.”
“I wonder where he went. Do you think he has other safe houses around the country?”
“Probably.”
Graham had mentioned that Carlyle didn’t seem to have any money problems and that initially, they’d moved from one house to the other so that the mages wouldn’t find them.
Once Carlyle had grown a bit stronger, he’d used spells to ensure that he wouldn’t be located.
The mages would never have found him if it weren’t for Sol and Graham.
“I really wish this mess was over,”
Pippa murmured.
Sol wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.
“It will be eventually, and when it is, we’ll celebrate.”
“Maybe I can talk to Thorne and Jillian and start organizing the party.”
Sol loved that Pippa was convinced they would win the fight.
He wanted to feel the same, but he was also afraid of what would happen if he allowed himself to hope and have that hope dashed.
He supposed that if it was, he’d be dead, so would it really be a problem?
A loud explosion rocked the castle.
Pippa screamed and tripped back, but Sol grabbed her and pulled her back.
He looked around frantically, needing to find Dallin.
He felt better when he saw that Dallin was with Parker, but part of him also felt guilty because that was his job, while Parker should be focused on Ansley.
“What was that?”
Pippa asked.
Sol pushed her toward the closest door into the castle.
“I don’t know, but you’re not sticking around to find out. You need to run and hide.”
Pippa clung to Sol’s arm.
“I can’t leave you alone.”
“You can, and you will. Go with the others. You know what to do if the mages fall and the castle is breached.”
No one had wanted to think about that, but the mages had put together a plan so that the humans who worked for them would be safe.
As long as Pippa stayed with Thorne and Jillian, nothing would happen to her.
They’d be able to leave the castle if they had to.
Hopefully, Carlyle would be distracted by the mages and their dragons and wouldn’t try to stop them.
Another explosion shook the ground.
Pippa squeaked as Sol pushed her into Thorne’s arms, but she didn’t try to stop him from leaving.
He hoped this wasn’t the last time he would see her, but he couldn’t avoid wasting time saying goodbye.
He didn’t want to say goodbye because it would make all of this feel final. He had to believe he’d see Pippa again.
“What’s going on?” Sol said.
He had to scream to make himself heard over the sound of a wailing siren.
Jarvis’s expression was grim.
“We’re under attack.”