Yet, here they stood. A precipice of vow and heartbreak. Brandt needed to be included in the search. Manning could join, too… There were others who would gladly care for Reykos and Raisa, but a glance at Bjorn’s stern posture, the stubborn set of jaw, stilled his reply. A king’s duty was to remain behind, to send others in their place. To remain steadfast in the care of the whole versus one or two.
“You’ll check in regularly? Keep yourself safe?”
Brandt nodded.
“Then kiss me and go. Bring our sobroke home.”
Brandt’s kiss was hard and fierce, his palms cupping Manning’s face with strength and determination. And then he was gone, pushing through the guard with Seraphina and Sekvyn on his heels.
Manning pressed his hands over his mouth, muffling his cries. Bjorn’s strong arms wrapped around him, his brother’s sniffling loud in his ears. Father Tai, Father Ly, and Lian formed a circle around Manning and Bjorn, blocking the other humans and Drakken with their bodies and wings, and once hidden from view, the brothers fell apart.
Chapter 7
Kayluth
He hated tight, dark places. Kayluth couldn’t remember ever getting stuck somewhere or having been left in the dark when he was a drakeen. He didn’t have an irrational fear of feeling closed in or cut off… not like Moondrake had. And, yet, he’d always carried this phobia.
Several of the humans held small lanterns, barely lighting their way, not that Drakken required much as they could see quite well in almost pitch-black settings. Not that it mattered, as there wasn’t anything to see except the backs of the Volé traitors and the stone walls all around them. The air was still and musty. The dust stirred by their movement caught in their throats, causing every one of them to occasionally cough. It was the only sound other than clomping footsteps and the rustle of clothing.
Tyr shuffled behind him, his boots dragging over the rough uneven ground of the tunnel. Moondrake heard Tyr’s breath hitch and pant, but he could do nothing to console the drakeen because it took all his control to walk straighter, to keep his breathing even, as his heart thumped like a hammer pounding against his ribs. Maybe it wasn’t the long darkness stretching in front of them or the tightness of the tunnel… maybe it was the fear of never seeing his sobroke again.
Kayluth replayed the conversation above ground and reached out through the faint yet ever-present bonds with his mates. He felt their panic, their distress, their dread, but there was also determination and confidence.Oh…
Sundrake… my love.
Their loved ones probably tried to talk him out of joining the search. All would try except Moondrake. Kayluth remembered how Sundrake bristled inside his imagined confinement when Moondrake had been kidnapped. He’d barely left the nest until Kayluth had had enough and acquiesced. Even then, Sundrake had only left for an arn or two, needing the illusion of freedom as he helped Bjorn, Ivar, and Orm plan the search for Moondrake. How their lives had changed in less than a sun-cycle!
Anxiety bled through their bonds, knotting in Kayluth’s gut. Images of Reykos and Raisa flitted through his mind. What would his children do? How would they react? Perhaps Reykos would immediately want to join Papa-sun in the search for Father Kay, the prince in him recognizing what needed to be done even if his mind didn’t quite know why. The more sensitive Raisa would curl up in Papa-moon’s lap, instinctively knowing he needed her near when her other fathers couldn’t be there to hold him.
Tyr cursed and bumped into Kayluth. “>”
“>” Kayluth slowed and gathered Tyr to his side, tucking the younger Drakken under his arm.
“>” Tyr shuddered. “>” he whined, throwing his arms around Kayluth’s waist, and burying his face in Kay’s tunic.
Kayluth hugged Tyr tighter. “>” He peered over the guards’ heads, trying to think of something to say that would bolster Tyr, and noticed silvery webs in the upper corners.
“Quit with the hissing,” Hazer growled from right behind them, startling Kayluth. “And walk faster.”
“Ssu, ssu. Fine.” Kayluth ducked to avoid a thick patch of webbing coating the ceiling, unwilling to disturb the spider’s home. The tiny creatures normally didn’t bother him, but who knew how many hid unseen. “Sso many webss. How many sun-ssycless passt ssince thiss tunnel wass lasst used, do you think?”
Hazer chuckled. “This path was filled. Lost several humans clearing it.”
“Losst?” This surprised Kayluth. “Are there trapss?”
“No.”
The way Hazer drew the denial out piqued Kay’s curiosity. “Then how?”
“The little things survived by consuming each other. I didn’t think one of their species could get so big. It poisoned three humans before we could kill it. Look there.”
Kayluth looked where Hazer pointed, where the guards in front of them sidestepped a dark heap. Dried blood and yellow ichor streaked the tunnel walls, and on the ground, the hacked limbs of a giant spider piled high.
Tyr shuddered and pressed closer to Kayluth, making him stumble. Hazer’s quick grasp kept him from falling. Kayluth jerked away. He would have rather fallen than been helped by a Fenrir.
“I am not your enemy,” Hazer whisper-hissed, incredibly close.
Kayluth scoffed and hurried forward.
