Chapter Eleven
MEYER STEPPED THROUGH the portal.
Like everyone else, he was dressed in black, which made him feel like he was in a bad spy movie.
He wished he could have shifted before walking through the portal, but it would’ve meant that Jarvis had to open a massive one, and no one wanted him to overwork himself before the fight.
Tyne was right behind Meyer.
Meyer turned to glare at him because he should have waited until the dragons confirmed the area was clear, but Tyne ignored him.
He bumped their shoulders together and looked around, squinting as if he expected to be able to see the spells Carlyle had left in the area.
Meyer wished that was how things worked.
Instead, they were going to have to wait until the spells were triggered and be surprised, which wasn’t something anyone wanted to deal with.
If Meyer had his way, he would have left Tyne behind until he was sure that all the spells had been triggered.
He and the other dragons would have shifted and stomped around for a bit.
Unfortunately, Carlyle probably would’ve noticed them doing that.
They needed to reach him before he could protect himself, which meant being stealthy.
And having six dragons—seven counting Emory—walking around would be anything but that.
“What now?”
Meyer asked in a whisper.
Tyne rubbed his hands together.
“Now, we find the spells.”
“Everyone ready?”
Ansley asked as he stumbled through the portal.
Parker looked like he was about to have a heart attack. He grabbed Ansley’s arm and kept him on his feet, but Ansley ignored him.
Meyer had seen the mages work magic before.
Hell, he’d watched Jarvis open the portal just minutes ago.
He was still impressed every time the mages did their job.
He had magic, but only the kind of magic that helped him turn into a dragon.
It would never compare to what the mages could do, and that was okay.
Meyer wasn’t here to be a mage. It was here to protect his mage.
Ansley’s magic washed over the area. Meyer’s eyes widened when he saw objects light up. They were purple beacons in the night, and while he wasn’t sure what that meant, he could take a guess.
Ansley grinned.
“I might not have been able to locate Carlyle, but I can locate his spells.”
The mages spread out. The dragons stuck with them, each of them focused on their own mage. Emory was alone, though, and he looked like he was ready to bolt and find Carlyle on his own. He took a step forward, tripped on something, and a loud alarm began to glare.
Tyne swore.
“There goes the element of surprise.”
Meyer didn’t disagree, but he didn’t blame Emory.
The dragon wanted revenge, and now that he didn’t have to be as careful, he rushed forward.
He narrowly avoided a spell that exploded on his left, and he didn’t even slow down.
Now that they weren’t trying to be stealthy, the mages could fully use their magic.
Meyer heard someone clap, and the night turned to day.
There was no sun in the sky, but it was so bright that Meyer had to blink several times.
There was a house in the distance.
Emory was headed straight toward it, but the mages were being more careful.
Apparently, Emory was willing to die to get his hands on Carlyle, and while Meyer respected that, he didn’t want to lose anyone tonight.
The house’s door slammed open, and Carlyle strode through.
Simon was behind him, looking a bit shaky as he carried a bunch of objects.
Carlyle reached back and grabbed one of them before throwing it in Emory’s direction.
Meyer winced when it touched the ground and exploded.
“I’m going to shift,”
he told Tyne.
Tyne nodded.
“Stay close.”
“It’s my job.”
Meyer wanted to kiss Tyne, but now wasn’t the time.
He shifted and stretched his wings, using one of them to knock Penley away from a purple-lit object before it exploded.
Bennett, who was in his dragon form and had been focused on another one of the objects, growled at Penley.
Penley looked sheepish, but he took the time to pat Meyer’s wing and thank him.
Meyer didn’t need to be thanked.
He just needed the mages to be careful.
Most of the objects Carlyle had spelled seemed made to explode, but not all of them.
Some made the ground crack and shake under their feet as they walked toward the house.
Others threw pointy objects at them.
Luckily, Meyer’s dragon skin was thick, and Tyne knew how to defend himself.
He was better at offensive spells, but he was doing a good job.
Meyer still didn’t think he’d be able to relax until they were back in the castle, though. He didn’t want Tyne to be in danger, but that was where he was headed.
Toward the heart of the danger.
Tyne was focused on Carlyle.
Meyer understood why, but it scared him.
He needed his mage to be okay by the time this was over.
He also needed Tyne to focus on everything that was happening because not doing so was putting them in danger.
Meyer had to pull him away from purple objects and flying spells several times because Tyne was staring at Carlyle.
Meyer huffed and bumped his head against Tyne’s shoulder.
Tyne turned to look at him, and when he pressed his hand against Meyer’s snout, Meyer thought that he’d finally realized he needed to be more careful.
Instead, his words turned Meyer’s blood to ice.
“He’s still wounded,”
Tyne said over the sound of the explosions.
“I need to take advantage of that. Stay here.”
He started moving forward.
There was no way Meyer would allow Tyne to go anywhere on his own, so he did the same just in time to see Carlyle throw something at them.
He didn’t know what it was.
It wasn’t purple like the objects hit by Ansley’s spell. It sailed toward them, and Meyer only had a few seconds to think about what he should do.
It was an easy choice.
He placed himself between Tyne and the object, hoping it would be enough to protect his mage from whatever was coming at them.
IT TOOK A SECOND FOR Tyne to understand what was happening.
When he did, he launched himself forward, his heart racing as he wondered how hurt Meyer was.
He’d been about to do something stupid, and Meyer had saved him.
Tyne would never forgive himself if his dragon paid the price for that.
He got his hands on Meyer’s side just as Meyer moved.
Thankfully, thanks to Keylon’s spell, there was enough light that Tyne could see what he was doing.
That meant there was also enough light for him to check over Meyer.
“Are you hurt?”
he asked, moving around Meyer. His dragon was massive, so it would take him a few minutes to go over his entire body.
Meyer shook his head and huffed. He turned his head and narrowed his eyes at Tyne, who didn’t have to ask to know what Meyer was thinking.
Meyer wasn’t wrong.
Tyne knew better than to do anything alone, especially in this fight.
Even if leaving the other mages behind to get to Carlyle was an option, he couldn’t do the same with Meyer.
Where one of them went, so did the other. It was how their bond worked.
“You’re sure?”
Tyne asked.
Meyer nodded, then turned back to the direction in which Carlyle had thrown his spell. Tyne did the same just in time to see a dragon throwing themselves at Carlyle.
Emory.
Emory took Carlyle down. It must have hurt, but Tyne couldn’t care less. Carlyle deserved to be hurt.
Emory didn’t, though.
It was Tyne’s job, dammit.
He was the one who was supposed to get to Carlyle first.
He was the one who was supposed to kill him.
He hadn’t wanted any of the other mages to have to make that decision, but he especially hadn’t wanted Emory to do so.
Emory had loved Carlyle, and beyond the fact that the feelings he had for Carlyle might give him pause, it also wasn’t fair to him.
No one should ever have to kill someone they’d loved.
Even though that someone was a cruel asshole who’d deliberately taken their magic and had hurt them for years.
He moved forward. He didn’t have a plan in mind, but he wanted to help. Of course, that was the moment in which Meyer extended a wing and blocked him from getting anywhere near Carlyle.
Tyne gently slapped the delicate bone in the upper part of the wing.
“Let me pass.”
He wasn’t surprised when Meyer shifted back.
He could have taken advantage of the moment and rushed forward, but his dragon would come after him, and the last thing he wanted was for something to happen to Meyer.
He’d been hurt the first time they’d faced Carlyle.
If there was anything Tyne could do to avoid Meyer getting into that kind of situation again, he’d do it.
That was when he realized that to him, Meyer was more important than killing Carlyle.
It was a startling revelation because, for decades, Tyne had planned how he’d kill the man who’d taken the dragons from him and the other mages.
He was still angry and resentful, but if he had to choose, he’d let Carlyle go.
He’d do many things he might not be proud of if it meant keeping Meyer safe.
He swallowed.
He knew what that meant.
He’d never truly stopped loving Peyton—maybe because he hadn’t had the opportunity to see things through with him—and he was falling for Meyer.
It was hard to reconcile his feelings for the two men when they were one and the same, and Tyne was glad he didn’t have much time to think about it right now.
His focus needed to be on the fight, so he turned toward Emory and did his best to ignore Meyer.
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
Meyer asked as he reached for Tyne.
Before, Tyne would’ve stepped away. He wouldn’t have allowed Meyer to touch him. Now, he leaned it and allowed Meyer to pull him closer.
“I wasn’t thinking,”
he admitted.
“Damn right you weren’t. You don’t go anywhere on your own, but especially not anywhere near Carlyle.”
“I promise I won’t, but now isn’t the time.”
Meyer’s jaw tensed, but he nodded.
He turned toward Emory and Carlyle, and Tyne took the opportunity to look him over.
He truly seemed to be okay.
He wasn’t bleeding, and the only wounds Tyne could see were scratches on his face and hands.
There were probably more under his clothes, but it was nothing that should worry Tyne too badly.
“It’s over,”
Emory said.
Tyne turned toward Emory.
He’d shifted and was standing in front of Carlyle, who was on his knees, both of his hands raised toward the dragon.
It looked like he was begging, but that wasn’t like him. Tyne had thought Carlyle would fight until his last breath, but maybe he’d been wrong.
Or maybe Carlyle had more tricks up his sleeve.
“I still love you,”
Carlyle said.
Tyne looked around.
The other mages and their dragons were still working on the spells Carlyle had hidden in the area.
All of them glowed purple, so it was easy to find them, but disarming them was different.
Tyne should be doing the same, but he wouldn’t abandon Emory. Emory might need help, and Tyne wanted to provide him with that help if he could.
“I don’t,”
Emory said.
“I haven’t loved you in a long time.”
“That’s not true.”
“How can I love you after what you did to me? You know what you took from me. If it wasn’t for these mages, I wouldn’t have my dragon back.”
There was something in Carlyle’s smile that raised Tyne’s hackles.
He stepped forward as Carlyle reached for Emory.
He was sure that Carlyle was plotting something, but he didn’t get there in time.
He’d barely started moving when Emory shifted back, raised his head, and roared.
Emory threw himself at Carlyle.
He had one paw raised, claws glinting in the spell light.
He was fast as he swiped it down toward Carlyle.
He didn’t hesitate, even though he and Carlyle had been in love. Tyne had been worried about Emory still having feelings for the mage, but it didn’t look like he did.
Someone cried out.
Tyne wasn’t sure who it was, and he was unwilling to look away.
He needed to know that Carlyle was gone for good and that he would never hurt him or any of the people he loved again.
He needed to know that Carlyle was finally paying for all the pain he’d caused.