The Reverent Knights disappeared down the hall and Alaric glanced at Albrecht. “Let the others know we won’t be returning until we find the wizard.”
Albrecht nodded, then shimmered away. Alaric teleported to D’Vaire. He had Chander to find, because Conley was right—he needed to say good-bye. Once he did, he was going to grab the latest variation of the D’Vaire stone and be on his way. This case had already gone on too long, and he desperately wanted to be able to tell both Chrysander and Ellery they had the people responsible. It might not fix Ellery’s predicament, but it was at least some semblance of justice. The law clearly stated that the penalty for coming between two mates was death. Alaric didn’t take kindly to a matebond being interfered with, and he hoped the culprits paid the ultimate price.
Chapter 19
Chrysander dropped down onto one of the comfortable chaise lounges on King D’Vaire’s deck. He had a beer in one hand and his feet were bare. Out in the yard, the few D’Vaires not currently ensconced in the office building trying to fix Ellery were tossing a ball around. The stunning white elf-dragon was chasing after it like a giant puppy.
“Who knew dragons liked to play chase?” Aleksander wondered. He was surrounded by his dukes: Brogan, Dravyn, Mac, and Worth. Like the leader of D’Vaire, Chrysander had his own three guards relaxing nearby.
“Let’s hope Renny’s too busy to notice. Otherwise he’s going to start thinking all the shifters in the house are pets,” Brogan teased.
“What’s the worst-case scenario?” Damian asked.
“I find a giant box of dragon litter in my bedroom.”
The image of that produced a chuckle from Chrysander. “The sad part is, your mate probably would side with his familiar.”
“Yeah, for a man whose purpose in life revolves around helping others, Dra’Kaedan has a nasty evil streak,” Brogan lamented.
Costas shook his head. “Yeah, you look real miserable.”
“If he starts talking about his relationship, I’m going to throw up,” Aleksander warned.
Brogan playfully slapped his shoulder. “Wow, someone’s bitter. I guess I need to start begging Fate to bring your other half to the house. She’s probably wandering around searching for your ass and doesn’t know how to find this place.”
“When the time is right, I’ll meet my mate.”
“Speaking of mates, a bunch of sentinels have already teleported to Europe,” Costas remarked. “Let’s hope they can find this wizard quickly.”
“I’m just glad we finally have an avenue to search. I know I’ll feel better when I find out who put that shit in Elf’s mug,” Zane growled.
Damian laid a hand on Chrysander’s shoulder. “How are you handling the implication that Wesley was involved?”
Chrysander turned to stare into his brother’s dark eyes, and his jaw tightened in anger. “I suppose for a man who’s worked for centuries in our office, I should champion his cause and go with the whole innocent until proven guilty thing. But this is my mate. I don’t give a fuck who it is or how long they’ve worked for me. If they hurt Ell, I want them to pay for this. Look at him. He can’t talk. He’s fucking stuck for only Fate knows how long.”
“Let’s hope this wizard is willing to cooperate if he’s telling the truth,” Aleksander commented. “We need evidence connecting whoever in your office did this, or we have nothing.”
“Exactly. I want that fucking evidence. Then, I’m all for Chand’s idea of ripping out his still-beating heart,” Chrysander snarled. Though Chrysander wasn’t around when Chander first suggested it, the D’Vaire family kept no secrets that he knew of, and news traveled fast. It was only fair to Chrysander that the culprits pay that way—after all, his own heart was broken in too many ways to count.
“That’s almost too humane of a consequence. The person or persons involved should have to be tortured as long as he’s stuck in dragon form,” Aleksander said. His voice was calm, but his exotic blue-black eyes were filled with a rage Chrysander recognized. All the men and women who made up Aleksander’s family had the same volatile emotion in their gaze.
“You’re a scary guy, Aleksander,” Damian commented. He took a swig of his beer. “But I agree.”
“No sense in designing a punishment,” Chrysander warned. “That’s out of our hands. Which I have to say is almost a relief. I’m not sure I could live with myself if I was able to get anywhere near anyone who hurt Ell. I don’t know that I want to be that in touch with the savage beast that I share my soul with.”
Zane nodded. “Now I understand why you guys were glad my father was punished while I was still a child. Sometimes it’s better to have someone else dole out the justice.”
Chrysander nodded. “My energy is better spent seeing to Ell’s needs.”
“And working through your own emotions.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to do that, Dame? I can’t even put names to all the feelings inside me. They change minute to minute. I’m stuck in the darkness and all I can think is, no matter how bad I think it is for me, it’s at least a million times worse for Ell. I can scream, yell, cry, or lean on someone’s shoulder. He has none of that. It’s like someone’s buried him alive and he’s struggling to get out except no one can hear him.” Chrysander couldn’t say anything else if he wanted to keep himself from bawling like a baby. He wasn’t ashamed of his tears, but he was afraid if he started to cry, he’d never stop.
As a man who shared his soul with a dragon, he was acutely aware that misery was not his friend. Shifters could die of heartbreak, and this situation was bleak. He wouldn’t do that to Ellery; as half elf he would likely drag his mate to the other side of the veil right along with him, should he perish. Only Fate knew if his aggressive dragon would prevent him from finding release even in death, which would be truly sentencing Ellery to a cage for eternity.
His brother nodded sagely. “I get it, Chrys, but bottling it up is going to kill you.”
“I’m not going to get heartsickness,” Chrysander stated calmly. “I believe in Sorcery D’Vaire. I know they’re going to find a way to return Ell to me. Meanwhile, I’ll do my part to keep the Council running to the best of my ability.”
