Fire's Embrace [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 6] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) (8 page)

Alwyn snorted but rushed to comply. “One moment,” Rachen called out toward the door.

Eanera didn’t reply immediately. “Should I return later?” she inquired after a few moments.

“Too late,” Rachen grumbled.

Alwyn squeezed Rachen’s shoulder and kissed his cheek. “It’s fine,” he told Eanera, even if it wasn’t really. “We’ll be right there.”

They cleaned up and got dressed as quickly as they could. Mercifully, they found a robe Rachen could wear. Alwyn made a mental note to have Rachen keep some garments here if they were going to engage in sexual behavior. They were unlikely to have the patience to disrobe regularly. In fact, Alwyn foretold many torn clothes in the future.

When they were ready, they finally rushed to open the door. Eanera was still waiting patiently, and to her credit, she looked a little embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Again, that’s quite all right,” Alwyn said. “I understand your urgency.”

He guided her inside and gestured for her to sit on the couch. “Now, what can I help you with?”

* * * *

Rachen liked Eanera Myrthylar. Perhaps it was a leftover emotion since the time his soul had been inside Karein. She was Sari’s mother, and her affection toward Sari had always been clear to him. Resenting her was an unpleasant feeling, but one he couldn’t help.

She sat down, smoothing her fae robes as she made herself more comfortable. Clearly, she’d been honest in saying that she hadn’t meant to intrude on their private moment. Nevertheless, she didn’t linger too much on that. She directed her attention toward Alwyn. “Sari tells me that you’re confused regarding your real identity.”

Alwyn nodded, now looking apprehensive. “On certain occasions, I’ve caught glimpses of something else beyond…my normal self.”

“I see,” Eanera answered. “Well, I’ve been thinking, and I might be able to help you with that.”

Alwyn immediately leaned toward her, obviously very interested. “Truly? How?”

“Since I’m a healer, my abilities allow me to slip into the bodies of other people. I might be able to push back the illusion—if that’s what it is—and find what’s hiding beneath.”

Rachen wasn’t very sure that would be a good idea. He trusted Alwyn with his life, but taking into account the volatility of the situation and the way Alwyn’s abilities had manifested so far, there could be a chance that this could end in a disaster. It occurred to Rachen that he might find an answer to their dilemma if he claimed Alwyn. There was no point to try Eanera’s suggestion now, taking into account that far better alternative.

“Maybe we shouldn’t risk it,” he suggested. “I could find out who Alwyn really is.”

Alwyn gaped at him, while Eanera arched a brow. “You haven’t done so by now.”

“Well, yes…” Rachen cleared his throat. “I was hoping that something would happen today that would fix that.”

Alwyn’s expression immediately shut off, and Rachen realized how that must have sounded to his mate. “Not that it was my sole intention in pursuing you,” he hastened to clarify. “It would just be an additional consequence.”

His mate clenched his jaw. “I don’t want you mating someone you don’t really desire just to help your family.”

Rachen rushed to the couch and took Alwyn’s hand. “Baby…I would never do that to you. You have to believe me.”

Alwyn freed his hand from Rachen’s grip, then proceeded to ignore him. As the young man turned toward Eanera, Rachen’s dragon roared in protest. “Please listen,” he insisted. “I love you.”

Eanera got up, having apparently noticed the tension, not that it was very hard. “Perhaps I should go. It feels I’m doing more harm than good.”

Alwyn shook his head resolutely. “On the contrary,” he said, “you really put things into perspective. I’m open to going through with your suggestion, as long as there’s no risk involved for you.”

The High Priestess chuckled. “Worry not. It’s not the first time I’m doing this. I will be very careful and retreat at any sign that things aren’t going right.”

Alwyn was beginning to look a little apprehensive now, but then, he glanced toward Rachen and his shoulders went rigid. He nodded and offered Eanera an obviously fake smile.

“Okay,” he said. “I’m ready.”

Eanera sat back down and took Alwyn’s hand. “Close your eyes and relax.” Alwyn complied, and she continued to speak, keeping her voice soothing. “Relax. Open your mind to me. I’m your friend. Jenarra is with us here, watching us. Feel Her touch.”

At first, it seemed to go well. Alwyn was breathing steadily, and Eanera kept caressing his wrist, droning on comforting words. She appeared to be working her way around whatever enchantment surrounded Alwyn. Rachen almost thought that it would work, but then something happened. For about one second, Alwyn’s figure blurred and Rachen could see something beyond it, but he didn’t get the chance to distinguish what it was.

The gem in the center of Eanera’s forehead burst in a flash of blue sparks. Rachen shielded his gaze, the flash so bright it threatened to blind him. A strange force struck him and he was propelled back, hitting the floor with a thud.

He was on his feet in seconds, ready to rush to his mate’s assistance. By this point, though, the power that had struck him was gone. Alwyn lay on the couch, very still, blinking dazedly, with Eanera across from him exactly where she’d been.

Rachen ran to them, hoping against all hope they were both all right. Just as Rachen reached the couch, Eanera opened her eyes. She took one look at Alwyn and screamed.

Alwyn released a gasp. “Oh, no. Jenarra help me. What did I do? Rachen, get help.Get help quickly.”

Rachen’s first impulse was to say
fuck it
, leave Eanera where she was, grab his mate, and flee Draechenburg. He could already anticipate the shitstorm this would stir.

Sadly, as he looked at Alwyn, Rachen knew his mate would never agree to leave. He could only comply and run out of the room in hope of finding of healer. In his heart, though, he suspected that nothing could undo the consequences of this accident. Somehow, he knew that at this point, it was far too late for him or anyone else to assist Eanera.

When Sari first heard that his mother had been injured, he instantly remembered the time when she’d nearly died because of the Ancient Horror. Then, for some reason, he thought of one thing, or rather, one person. Alwyn.

He had no real reason for automatically blaming Alwyn for it, and yet, he somehow knew Alwyn had been involved with whatever had happened. Karein refused to let him go see her, which didn’t help Sari’s concern.

“You can’t possibly expect me to just sit here and wait,” he told his mate.

Karein shot him a helpless look. “I don’t want you to expose you needlessly to danger and discomfort.”

“Needlessly?” Sari repeated. He frowned fiercely at Karein. “Shtamakarein Tersain. You will take me to my mother. Now.”

Karein winced but still didn’t relent. As such, it took a while for Sari to convince his lover of his necessity to see his mother. By the end, he was so frustrated, he was in tears. “Why won’t you listen?” he asked, his vision blurry.

As it turned out, where anger didn’t work, crying did. Karein nearly stumbled over himself to soothe Sari and ended up agreeing to let Sari see Eanera, obviously against his better judgment. “Just let me know if you don’t feel well and we’ll return here,” he said.

Truth be told, Sari was taken aback by Karein’s behavior. Karein was possessive and protective but had never reached unreasonable extents. However, after the vision, Karein had grown increasingly reluctant to allow Sari to do anything out of the ordinary. It wasn’t necessarily Eanera’s injury causing him to act this way, but rather, a larger feeling that something terrible was going on.

Sari could only nod at his mate’s words. “I promise.”

Karein didn’t look very convinced, but nevertheless, he guided Sari out of their room. They headed toward the one assigned to Eanera, with Karein treating Sari like he was made out of porcelain. Sari couldn’t even bring himself to be irritated with Karein. He could only imagine what he’d find when he finally saw his mother. What had Alwyn done? Had he truly been the guilty party? Karein had been the one to find out about her injury, but he hadn’t been told much else.

It was with a heavy and anxious heart that Sari entered his mother’s room. They found Talrasar already there, speaking with several draechen medics. Sadly, Ornoz medicine was focused on shifter physiology, so they couldn’t have been able to help much. Not to mention that, as a rule, dragons didn’t really need doctors. They healed on their own, so they rarely required additional assistance.

Well, perhaps Talrasar would be able to provide him with an answer. “Your Highness, what happened?” he asked.

Talrasar sighed. “To tell you the truth, Sari, I don’t really know. She seems perfectly all right…except she isn’t.”

What was that supposed to mean? “I don’t understand,” Sari replied, puzzled.

“It’s hard for me to explain, and I don’t want to taint your perspective with mine. Go. See her. Just tread carefully. She’s very…unsettled.”

Somehow, Sari suspected that Talrasar’s words were the understatement of the century. Nevertheless, he and Karein headed toward the bedroom door. He knocked lightly, and to his surprise, the answer came quickly. “I said I didn’t want to see anyone,” Eanera called out.

Sari shared a look with Karein.
“I’ll wait here,”
Karein said through their bond.

Sari nodded and brushed a kiss onto Karein’s cheek. He should have been relieved that he’d heard his mother, and she was, apparently, alive and well, but there was far more to this than met the eye.

Slowly, he opened the door and stepped into the bed chamber. “Not even me, Mother?” he asked.

His mother lay on the bed, curled in a miserable ball. She looked toward him and winced. “Oh, Sari,” she whispered. “Please go. I don’t want you to see me like this.”

She averted her face quickly, but not quickly enough. Sari ran to her side, as quickly as he could in his very pregnant state. He joined her on the bed and gripped her chin, forcing their gazes to meet.

It hadn’t been a trick of the light. The gem in the center of his mother’s forehead, the one he’d inherited from her, was gone. “Mother…What…”

Before he could even finish the question, his mother burst into tears. “Sari. I can’t feel Jenarra anymore. At all.”

At first, Sari almost thought she was joking. Surely, this couldn’t be happening. His mother was the high priestess. But her tears didn’t lie, and neither did the fact that the gem was gone.

He embraced her tightly, petting her hair, holding her close and trying to soothe her like she had many times in the past. And then he saw it. He saw the gray strands in Eanera’s locks and knew this was only beginning.

* * * *

Alwyn waited in his room for news on Eanera’s condition. Ever since the medics had taken her away, Alwyn had been desperately waiting for news, wondering, hoping, and berating himself for what he’d done.

He didn’t even know what had happened. One moment, he’d been actively trying to open his heart to Eanera, and then, a burst of power had exploded through him and rushed into the high priestess. Judging by the way Eanera had behaved after that, Alwyn guessed he must have hurt her pretty badly.

Rachen sat down next to him on the couch and took his hand. “Calm down. It wasn’t your fault. She said she could handle it, and she couldn’t.”

Alwyn didn’t dare to look at the dragon. “I never should have allowed it. I knew it was dangerous. You did, too. We realized it better than she did. But I was so angry…I wasn’t thinking straight.”

Rachen’s arms went around him, holding him tightly. Alwyn allowed himself to melt in Rachen’s embrace. He knew he probably shouldn’t be doing so, but he couldn’t help it, not when Rachen’s proximity soothed him so much, making the guilt less painful.

“Then blame me,” Rachen whispered. “Just don’t blame yourself. I don’t want to see you suffering.”

In that moment, Alwyn really hated himself. The entire thing could have been avoided if only he’d trusted Rachen. His instincts told him Rachen was being honest, and yet…why would Rachen still have an interest in him when Alwyn was obviously a danger for the draechen’s family?

It was all so confusing and frustrating. Half the time, Alwyn didn’t even know what he felt. He went from wanting Rachen so much it hurt to being thrust into a reality where he was the villain, the enemy, where Rachen was interested in him only to protect the Tersain.

The pain of the betrayal stirred inside him, but then Rachen kissed his temple, and it dissipated. It left behind the scar that would only fade when Alwyn could finally bring himself to fully trust himself and Rachen.

In the end, it was his own integrity and conscience that he doubted, more than Rachen’s. There were a million things he would have wanted to say, starting with an apology and continuing with a reassurance that Rachen truly loved him. Most of all, Alwyn wanted to kiss Rachen back, to thank him for his support especially in these hard moments. He never got the chance to say any of it.