Chapter 20
“How long do you think they’ll be asleep for?” Willow asked sometime later, putting her plate on the ground.
Oz had come in earlier and brought them all dinner.
“I don’t know,” Demi replied, sipping his coffee. “They were all exhausted, so they might not wake up until tomorrow.”
“Can you not wake them?” Tobin asked.
Demi shook his head. “No, that would just wake up their human selves; their dragons would still be asleep.”
“We need to check on Eggleston,” Willow said. “We’ve not checked on him for hours.”
“Devon or Dask will still be looking after him. But do the three of you want to go and spend time with him? I promise I won’t leave my mate’s side.”
“Okay, we’ll be back as soon as we can,” Forrest said, standing up, Tobin and Willow with him.
“You better be awake when we come back,” Forrest said to his brother.
“Yeah, Eggleston needs you,” Willow said. “We need you.”
Tobin wrapped his arm around Willow. Forrest walked to her side and took her hand, giving it a squeeze.
With a final look at Silver, they collected the dirty plates and left the dome, running back to the pack house.
“Blake, I’ll sit with Puff if you want to check on things,” Oz said. He produced dinner for those who were awake and had just finished eating.
“Thanks, Oz,” Blake said, standing up. “Any idea how long they could be sleeping for?”
“I’m hopeful they will awake tomorrow, but Silver and Brook might take a little longer.”
Blake nodded. “That’s good to hear. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Thanks, Oz.”
“I can keep you updated, Blake. Go do whatever you need to,” Ash said to him.
“Okay, thanks Ash.”
Baylan stood up as well. “I’ll come with you and check on Maddy.”
Blake slumped into the chair behind his desk and ran a hand down his face. What a day. Watching the dragons working together to save Silver was incredible. Dark magic was so wrong, but Zeus assured him that they had pack mates that would help counteract black magic, but would that be enough?
He was pulled out of his head by a knock at his door. “Come in,” he called.
The door opened, and Frederick walked in, with four men he recognised behind him.
Blake stood up and walked around the desk. “Hey Frederick,” he looked at the demons. “You’re Plog, Winnal, Stanley and Jaxton.”
“Yes, sire. Lord Hades has requested we come and stay with your pack to help protect Consort Frederick,” Winnal said.
“You are very welcome. We need to find you somewhere to stay,” Blake said, looking at Frederick.
“My mate has created a large house for them, situated by the warrior angels,” Frederick told him.
“Perfect. If you find anything lacking, just let Frederick or me know, and we can sort it for you.”
“Thank you, sire,” Jaxton said.
“Call me Blake.”
The demons nodded.
“How are the dragons, Blake?” Frederick asked.
“Still resting. Oz doesn’t expect them to wake up until tomorrow at the earliest.” Blake paused, then looked at the demons. “I don’t suppose any of you know how to track shadows?”
They all shook their heads. “Sorry, no,” Plog said.
“It was worth a shot. We have other ways we can try.”
“We’ll leave you now, Blake,” Frederick said.
“See you all tomorrow and thank you for coming.”
The three demons bowed.
“And you don’t need to bow,” Blake told them with a slight grimace.
Frederick laughed. “If you need me, just call.”
“Thanks.”
“Okay, we really are going now,” and with that, Frederick and the demons left, Stanley closing the door behind him.
Blake walked back around his desk and sat down, turning his laptop on and signing in. He flopped back in his chair, not really looking at anything for the moment, longing for the peaceful quiet life he had been looking forward to.
Ares appeared in the healing dome, where he found Demi, sitting on the ground, stroking Silver’s nose and softly talking to him.
“How are you doing, son?” he asked, touching his shoulder, before sitting down next to him and stroking Silver.
“What if he never wakes up?” Demi asked him, voicing his secret fear to his father.
“He will wake up. It might take him longer to wake up, because of the forced shifting, but he will wake up,” Ares put his arm around his son’s shoulder. “You’re going to be parents in a few months; do you think Brook or Silver will miss that?”
Demi leaned into Ares’ side. “You’re right, I know you are.”
“Where are the children?”
“They went to spend time with Eggleston, but they’re coming back soon,” he looked at his father. “Thank you for killing the dark magic user and Maggon, and sitting with me.”
“You never have to thank me. I’m your father. I would destroy the world for you and our family.”
“If that ever happens, I’ll back you up. Do you know how the others are?”
“No, I’ll go and see them in a bit.”
They heard rain hitting the dome, not just light rain, but the heaviest of heavy rain.
“Let’s hope this dome is waterproof,” Ares commented with a grin.
Demi laughed. “We’ll soon find out.”
Just then, a laughing Jason and the children came running into the dome, soaking wet.
“It’s raining,” Forrest said, shaking his arms out over Demi and Ares.
“Thanks for that, Forrest,” Ares said, laughing.
“My god, how about drying us off, pretty please with a cherry on top,” Jason asked, sitting next to Ares and kissing his cheek.
“I think I can do that,” and with a wave of his hand, Jason and the children were dry.
Willow hugged Ares from behind. “Thanks.”
Ares patted her hand.
She let go and hugged Demi. “Are you okay, Demi?”
Demi nodded. “I am indeed. How was Eggleston?”
“He’s still an egg,” Tobin said, grinning.
“Thank goodness,” Jason said, chuckling.
“Dask is looking after him for us. We put a top of yours and a top of Brooks in the box surrounding Eggleston,” Willow said.
“We wanted him to know you were both still with him,” Forrest told him.
Demi cleared his throat, then said, “Thank you.”
“So, is Eggleston a boy or girl?” Tobin asked, grinning.
“I actually don’t know. That’s being shielded from me,” Demi replied.
“Do you know?” Forrest asked Ares.
He nodded. “But I’m not telling. You’ll just have to wait and be surprised.”
The children groaned.
“Now you three are back, I’m going to check on the others,” Ares said. He looked at Jason. “Come with me?”
“Always,” Jason said, standing up and holding his hand out to his mate.
Ares took it and stood up. “We’ll be back later,” and with a thought, Ares and Jason vanished.
They reappeared in the dragon ward.
“How is everyone?” Jason asked generally.
“They’re still resting,” Ash answered. Nick and Henry were with him.
“How’re Silver and Brook?” Cade asked.
“Still resting as well. Demi and the children are keeping them company,” Ares answered.
He walked to General Delinga and looked at the General’s son. “How are you holding up?”
“Okay, thank you, my lord. I don’t think it will be long before my father wakes.”
“Really?” Oz asked, standing up and walking over to the General’s side.
Charles nodded. “Yeah, my dragon said he should be awake within the next few hours.”
“Are the others close to waking as well?” Ash asked hopefully.
“I don’t know, sorry,” he said. “We can check with my father when he wakes up. It could be because my father is so much older than your mate and friends.”
“At least they will wake up,” Ash said softly.
Nick stood and hugged his brother. “Wendy will wake soon, you’ll see.”
Ash laughed at that. “Arse.”
“Can I just say, I’m glad Tudor is resting,” Cade put in. “Can you imagine how upset he would be?”
“Yes, thank goodness. Truthfully, I hope he stays resting until everyone has awoken,” Oz said.
Barnabus had been patched up by one of his pack.
It wasn’t as good as having the shaman heal him, but at least he was no longer bleeding.
Nothing could help with the pain he was in, however.
He decided he needed a distraction and logged into his emails, wondering if any more rogues would answer his call.
He smiled as he went through the replies.
Rogues were coming. He needed to attack more packs and assimilate more wolves into his pack.
Maybe he should look at other groupings, not just wolves.
He could look at bears and lions. He wondered if he could get his hands on a gorilla shifter as well. Now there was a thought: could he?