Chapter 26
Carter
So even if she left me to wake up alone, I chose to take that as a win.
What happened to me? I went from being a grumpy ass to craving and begging for the slightest hint of her affection.
My depraved little mate happened to me.
If only there wasn’t so much crazy shit happening all around us, I’d be living the absolute dream.
So, until Dimitri was strong and lucid enough to answer my questions about what the fuck happened and why Arc was acting like a psychotic freak, I decided to finally follow Margaret’s instruction and finish reading the damn journal.
Amyntas was raised weak.
I blame his mother for showing him kindness instead of discipline.
I wish he wasn’t my heir. He’ll only weaken the Dragon line, unlike my second son, Hecatus. His mother taught this one properly.
Maybe Amyntas will choose a good Maiden. No matter where she comes from in the world or what absurd name she gives his heir, it can’t be worse than him.
Or, even better, maybe he won’t find a Maiden at all, and be challenged by one of my other sons for the shard.
It’ll be the best outcome.
Amyntas, dead, and his useless mother gone with him. And when it does happen, I’ll be there watching it all unfurl.
What a lovely father that man seemed to have been…
I turned to the next page, surprised by the change of penmanship.
Reading all these pages filled with garbage and demented thoughts makes me more confident in my actions; Tedregon didn’t deserve to be spared, and he outlived his usefulness.
I’m the Shard Carrier now. And I don’t plan on letting one of my dumb brothers take it from me.
My mother is now safe and free in a human clan. Far from the reach of any soldier feeling brave enough to keep raping her. What happened to her is a grave offense, and I hope the stars will forgive our bloodline for breaking our sacred laws.
Maybe they have, already. Blessing me with a mate was the greatest gift of all.
Only a few Astrals ever found their own. Finding my core, even though he wants to keep it a secret, has given me the push I needed to clean up after my despicable father. After all, I don’t want him to be associated with a clan of liars, rapists, and murderers.
It’ll take time for him to trust that I’m different. That I only want to clear our reputation and bring peace to our people.
That, even though he can’t be my Maiden—for the obvious reason that he is a man—he’ll be the one to receive my love once I have my heir and a few more children of my own. That the two of us could bring peace to the world and rule the sky together.
We only had one night before he left without a word.
But I’ll find him again. By giving himself to me and me to him, the mating bond has already started forming.
He’ll listen to reason.
Soon.
I frowned as I turned another page. What the Heavens was Margaret trying to tell me? Was he the Dragon who was supposed to take Lola as his Maiden?
Why did it start talking about his mate?
I’m leaving for one of my potential Maiden’s clan today. To be honest, she might be the one I’ll choose, even without meeting her.
She’s my mate’s sister.
And since he ignored my requests to meet over the last couple of months, if it’s my only way to get him back to my side, that’s what I’ll do.
Alekrander seemed reluctant in offering his daughter, but I feel like Nefertari didn’t give him much of a choice.
Which only fuels my resolve. If that Maiden has gotten even half of her mother’s stubbornness and her brother’s good looks, she’ll be perfect. Powerful.
And my mate won’t be able to ignore me anymore.
“Fuck,” I cursed under my breath.
Amyntas was Lola’s brother’s mate? Did he mean Vladimir? Or was there another one?
She’s not only his Sister. She’s his twin.
I don’t understand what is going on inside his head. He’s been mostly hostile since I arrived, except for that one slip-up.
Angry sex is the best. I want each of our conflicts to be solved that way from now on. It might only be our second night together, but I can feel our bond strengthening.
And yet, he’s still ignoring me. Acting like we barely even met each other. Like I’m a nuisance. Like he doesn’t want this. Me. Like he wants nothing to do with me and regrets every fleeting moment we shared.
His sister doesn’t like me much either. But little does she know, her fighting just makes me want to choose her more.
I have no idea who the other Maiden is, but I have no desire to be bonded to someone who’ll just accept everything and won’t be able to fight for herself.
I need her to kick my soldier’s asses if they cross a line. To have my clan’s back.
And as my mate’s twin, she must be more powerful than a regular Maiden.
She’d be perfect.
I’m meeting Alekrander and Nefertari tonight.
I’m not sure why my mate is hellbent on pushing me away, or why he’s trying so hard to deter me from choosing his sister.
Since the last night we spent together, he refuses to even look at me. He won’t have a choice once his sister is bound to follow me to my clan, weeks of travel away. He obviously doesn’t trust me…Why won’t he listen to anything I have to say?
I don’t even care if she brings her little lover, as long as they keep their hands to themselves until I have my heir. Once it’s done, I’ll even settle them in a nice home, making sure they have everything they need.
I’m not my father.
And I’ll prove this to him.
My mate is a strange creature.
Why warn and threaten me to stay away from his sister only to take me to bed the next moment?
Because I won’t. And I told him that I wouldn’t.
His sister is to be my Maiden. The name carving ritual was done with their father the night I met with him, linking our fates.
Hopefully, he’ll understand that there’s no running away from fate soon.
My mate is going to drive me insane.
I’ve been gone for months, waiting until my Maiden’s twenty-first birthday to go back and pick her up to bring her home with me.
And he came here twice.
Two times, he’s given me options to try and undo the Maiden’s ritual. Two times he offered for us to seek Witches help to dissolve our mating bond, growing stronger with each passing day.
And two times, we ended up wrapped around each other in either my bed or the forest, his sister still my promised Maiden and him still my reluctant mate.
But I’m growing frustrated with his behavior, and I fear our last goodbye may have made things worse.
I shouldn’t have threatened to keep his sister as a prisoner if he kept pushing me away. Shouldn’t have threatened to forbid him to visit once she was finally here.
Because I didn’t mean any of that, and it certainly strengthened his belief that I was, in fact, like my despicable father.
I’m on my way to pick my Maiden up. I haven’t seen my mate in months, since I made those empty threats.
I hope he’ll forgive my harsh words. I hope that we’ll speak, and that he’ll give me a chance to apologize for everything I said.
Something isn’t right.
Alekrander and Nefertari are looking at me like I’m some insane child. My Maiden has apparently never existed and they swear they only have one offspring.
My mate is nowhere to be found.
Alekrander feels…strange. Like he’s not the man he used to be. They say my Mate is now the head of his own clan and left just a few days ago.
How dare he have a transfer ceremony without inviting me? Even if I weren’t his mate, I’m the chief of the Dragon’s clans. The Shard Carrier.
And yet, I can still feel him. I know he’s far away, but the bond linking us together is pulling me to him.
And my Maiden’s name is still carved in my skin.
I don’t know what is happening, but once I find him—or her—I’ll need some serious explanations.
She’s fucking gone.
My mate helped her escape. With her fucking lover that turned out to be her own mate.
And, to top things off, the Soul shard was probably gone with her.
I needed to find Anastasia. I needed to give the shard back to Aghen. Because a woman couldn’t be the Shard Carrier without risking war between the Astral clans.
And if she didn’t have it?
It meant that the Phoenixes would go extinct. Without the Phoenix Shard, the Astrals would weaken against the rising forces of the Divines and Hellrisers. And they’d finally manage to decimate us, one species after the next, like they’ve been trying to do forever.