Fire's Embrace [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 6] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) (3 page)

Karein rubbed his eyes, his shoulders slumping. “What do you want me to do, Rachen? What do you want me to say?”

Rachen licked his suddenly dry lips. Starting today, Karein had become one of the three Imperial Consuls that led Ornoz. He had a lot of pull, and if Rachen played his cards right, he could be able to investigate this without Alwyn getting too involved. “I don’t want you to hurt him in any way,” he said. “I’ll get to the bottom of this.”

Karein just sighed, and he wasn’t the one who replied. The bedroom door opened, and Sari appeared from inside. Unlike Karein, he’d actually put some clothes on, although that did nothing to disguise the fact that his lips were swollen from kisses, perhaps more. He was beautiful, but he didn’t hold a candle to Alwyn. Distantly, Rachen wondered how he’d ever thought Sari was his true mate.

“You have to know that Karein would never harm Alwyn,” Sari said. “We all understand how much he means to you.”

“It’s not just that,” Rachen insisted. “He’s not a murderer.”

“You seem very sure of it,” Karein pointed out. “You’ve discussed it with him?”

Rachen hesitated. He truly wasn’t sure how much it was safe to tell Karein. He wanted to trust his brother, but some things had to stay between him and Alwyn.

Nevertheless, Karein needed to know about Ferradul’s potential involvement. “He feels it’s possible that his father could have had something to do with it.”

“Which brings us to our original issue,” Karein said. “Why would a sprite, be it Alwyn or his father, do something like that? What could he possibly have against Elina?” His gaze sharpened as he looked at Rachen. “What did she know, Rachen?”

Rachen struggled to keep a straight face and not show the turmoil rushing through him to his brother. “Why are you asking me that? She said that it was a secret about a member of the Tersain family. It could have been about anyone, including you, including Sari.”

“You’re right, of course,” Sari said. “I just get the feeling we’re missing something.”

Even as he finished the phrase, Sari’s eyes widened. He swooned and would have fallen, but Karein shot forward, catching him before he could hit the floor. Rachen stared at them in shock. He would have rushed to get a healer, but the gem in the center of Sari’s forehead was glowing. He was very still in Karein’s arms, at least for a little while. Then, his entire body started to shake and small whimpers of pain escaped his lips. Much to Rachen’s shock, he cried out. “No…Don’t!”

* * * *

Sari sat at the dinner table in one of the private rooms in Draechenburg. It was a rare moment of peacefulness, during which all of them could gather together and just enjoy the simple, sweet quiet.

On the seat next to him, Karein smiled. He reached for Sari’s hand and squeezed it.
“I’m so happy,”
he said through their bond.

Sari’s hand drifted to the swell of his belly where his child rested comfortably.
“Me, too,”
he replied.

He glanced across the room, where Taryn was giving his son his bottle and Hareem was, like always, beaming at them proudly. Galyn had grown quite a lot, and he was already showing signs of having inherited magic from both of his parents. As if guessing his thoughts, the infant suddenly created a tiny flame in his hands and threw it at Hareem. Hareem just laughed, obviously used to Galyn’s antics.

“I can’t wait for our children to be born,” Talrasar said to Sari’s left. “And not only because Galyn is so cute. I swear, when I prayed for a baby, I really didn’t think I’d feel so awful half the time.”

Sari patted Talrasar’s hand. He knew pregnancy had been harder on his ancestor than on him, so he tried to support Talrasar, in whatever way he could. Kael certainly wasn’t much help. Half the time, he just beamed stupidly at his mate, at least until someone except direct family approached Talrasar. His demeanor could make a complete one-eighty in seconds if he felt another draechen was threatening his territory. Even now, he had a possessive arm wrapped around Talrasar, ignoring everyone else except his mate. So very normal.

Caelyn and Graham sat next to Sari and smiled at Talrasar. “But it’s all worth it,”Caelyn said, rocking his own son. Caelyn’s baby slept comfortably in his arms, and the sight of the two of them made Sari look forward to holding his own son even more.

“That it is,” Talrasar confirmed. As they spoke, Graham kissed Caelyn’s temple, then got up and retreated to chat with Taryn. Sari almost couldn’t bear so much happiness. Having his friend with him again, now that they both had families, was like a dream come true. But then, Caelyn was more than a friend. He was like a brother, and seeing him so in love filled Sari with joy.

The peaceful scene was interrupted when the door burst open and Sage rushed inside. For a few seconds, Sari thought something had actually gone wrong, but then, he took a good look at Sage’s face and saw only bliss. Camden followed him, looking like he’d just been handed the keys to Varuna’s realm.

“It’s confirmed,” Sage said. “We’re going to have twins. We’re not sure about the gender yet, but there are certainly two children.”

Camden grinned proudly, his slitted eyes glowing like twin suns. “I almost can’t believe it. And now that everyone is working on the Directive…it’s not even dangerous anymore.”

Behind Sage and Camden, Rachen and Alwyn walked into the room. Distantly, Sari noted that Rachen’s hair was bloodred. But of course it was. After all, Rachen’s nature as a fire dragon demanded it.

“My brothers certainly are something,” Rachen commented. Turning toward Alwyn, he asked, “Don’t you agree, baby?”

Alwyn didn’t answer. Suddenly, the room began to darken, the familiar furniture fading. “What’s going on?” Taryn asked with a frown. He held Galyn protectively, and Sari noted that even Galyn’s bottle had vanished. “This is…”

Taryn didn’t get to finish the phrase. His form began to blur, like it did when he was about to change shapes. Hareem snatched the child before Taryn could drop him. And not a moment too soon, because Taryn was suddenly on all fours, a wolf.

The small black wolf released a loud howl. He glanced at Hareem, nudging Hareem’s leg with his snout. Hareem reached out to him, like he was about to pet him, but out of the blue, Taryn snarled and bit Hareem’s hand. He turned his back on Hareem and fled, disappearing into the shadows.

By Hareem’s side, Graham was fighting the shift, trying to head toward Caelyn. He stopped midway and changed into his wolf form. Like Taryn, he released a savage snarl, almost looking like he was about to attack the dragons present. He must have thought better of it, because instead, he ran, disappearing after Taryn.

“What in the world is happening?” Sari gasped out.

“I don’t know,” Sage replied, clutching Camden’s hand, “but I don’t like it.”

Sari scanned the area, his senses screaming that something was terribly wrong. They had to do something before it was too late. To his shock, he realized Talrasar and Kael had disappeared. Rachen was also gone, and only Alwyn stood there, still looking at them in eerie silence.

Before Sari could do anything, Alwyn stalked to Hareem’s side. Galyn started to cry as Alwyn snatched him from Hareem’s arms. And then, much to Sari’s dismay, the child vanished into thin air, his wails silenced before they could even express the full extent of his anguish.

“No, don’t,” Sari said. “What are you doing?”

The question turned out to be a mistake, because it drew Alwyn’s attention to Sari. Alwyn’s fathomless gaze fixed on him and he started walking toward Sari.

Sari reached for Karein, trying to get him, suddenly very afraid. Only Karein wasn’t there. He sat with Caelyn, a good distance away from Sari, and he wasn’t looking at Sari. Caelyn ignored him, too. His child was nowhere to be seen, but he didn’t seem to care. In fact, he appeared to be completely focused on Karein.

Sari tried to call out to his mate, but neither he nor Caelyn paid attention to him. And finally, they vanished as well. Sari was all alone. The world swirled and writhed, and before he knew it, Sari was on his knees, lost in the darkness. He pressed a hand to his stomach, and he found it flat.

Almost broken with loss, Sari was snapped out of his trance when a sudden voice reached out to him. “Sari, come back to me, baby. Come on.”

It was Karein. Karein had come for him. Karein was still there, loving him, caring for him. Sari followed the voice, and finally the darkness cleared.

The world became normal again, and Sari looked up in Karein’s familiar but terrified eyes. “Karein,” he whispered, “I lost him. I lost our son.”

“You lost…No, baby,” Karein replied. “He’s right here.” He took Sari’s hand and pressed him to his belly. Sari realized in shock that he could still feel his child. “See?”

Over his shoulder, Karein asked, “Rachen, what happened with that doctor? Isn’t he coming already?”

The mentioning of Rachen’s name reminded Sari of what he’d seen. He clutched Karein’s arm so hard he must have drawn blood. “Karein…It’s Rachen. Alwyn. They…He…”

He was hyperventilating, still lost in the feeling of grief in the vision. Because it had been a vision, just like his mother always had. Sari didn’t know how she dealt with them on a regular basis, but for his part, he had trouble processing it. None of it made sense. He just knew he had to keep touching Karein, because if he didn’t, Karein would leave him.

Fortunately, Karein was there and held him tightly, hugging him close and petting his hair. “Breathe, Sari,” he said. “Slowly. Breathe and calm down.”

With his mate’s strength supporting him, Sari finally began to relax. He stopped gripping Karein like the man was going to disappear any second now. Taking his cue, Karein asked, “What happened, Sari? What did you see?”

“I saw…I saw death.”

* * * *

Alwyn paced through his room, feeling anxious and uncertain. Rachen had left almost an hour ago to speak to his brothers, and he hadn’t returned yet. It didn’t take a genius to figure out things hadn’t exactly worked as planned.

Earlier, Alwyn had heard commotion outside his door, and he’d wanted to go see what was going on. However, he’d found that there were guards posted at his door, just like before the entire Ancient Horror thing, when he’d been just another prisoner.

It wasn’t in the least bit encouraging. Every second seemed to turn into an hour as he waited, wondering what in the world was taking Rachen so long. Had Rachen found out something they hadn’t known before? If so, what?

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, a knock sounded at the door. Alwyn was there in mere seconds and opened it. Rachen stood at the other side, and judging by the dark expression on his face, he didn’t have very good news.

Swallowing around the sudden knot in his throat, Alwyn gestured for the draechen to come into the room. He ensured their privacy by closing and locking the door, and then opened his mouth to ask what was going on.

Before he could do so, Rachen pushed him against the door and crushed their mouths together. For about half a second, Alwyn didn’t respond to the kiss, too surprised at the suddenness of it, but that didn’t take long. His body reacted to Rachen’s proximity, and he kissed the draechen back, clutching Rachen’s shoulders wildly. His dick hardened, and he rubbed against Rachen, seeking more of the addicting sensations.

Rachen groaned as he thrust his hips against Alwyn’s. The friction drove Alwyn wild with rapture. Whatever thoughts had gone through his mind before, he completely forgot about them. His world became Rachen, the need to have Rachen touch him. The blaze of all-consuming lust consumed him, and Alwyn embraced it, embraced the fire of their shared passion.

When Rachen broke the kiss in deference of their need to breathe, Alwyn refused to allow the moment to stop. He found himself dropping to his knees and starting to work on the bindings of Rachen’s trousers. Rachen released a choked groan. “Alwyn, what—”

Alwyn didn’t give his mate the time to finish the phrase. He slipped his hand into Rachen’s pants, engulfing the dragon’s prick in his fist. Rachen’s words melted into an incoherent moan, one which Alwyn echoed. It was the first time they shared an intimate moment like this, the first time Alwyn had touched Rachen’s cock. He’d known that Rachen was well endowed—their previous kisses had always ended in Alwyn feeling Rachen’s hard-on through those tight garments he wore—but actually witnessing it firsthand, no pun intended, was a different matter altogether.

He needed more. He had to taste Rachen, to sample the flavor of his mate’s pre-cum. Not even allowing himself to think too much about what he was doing, Alwyn freed Rachen’s dick from its confines. Generous amounts of liquid already flowed from the tip, making Alwyn’s mouth water. He couldn’t have stopped himself to save his life.

Surrendering to the passion boiling within him, Alwyn licked over the glans, gathering the fluid on his tongue. Rachen’s spicy flavor exploded on his taste buds, fueling the fire inside Alwyn. He’d have liked to actually take his time, to explore the thing of beauty that was Rachen’s dick at leisure, but he had no patience left. Instead, he began to suck his mate’s dick in earnest.

Rachen was too big for Alwyn to be able to take all the way into his throat, but Alwyn was nothing if not determined. He bobbed his head up and down, reveling in the sounds of pleasure the dragon was making. At first, Rachen seemed to attempt to hold back, but Alwyn would have none of it. He persisted in his efforts, moaning for extra effect and using his hands on the base of Rachen’s dick.