Chapter Nineteen
Bastian
Laryn had trouble keeping up with me on our return home. He would pass through my territory before continuing to his lair. Our hunt had been successful, our bags full of gold. Laryn seemed in better spirits and I was glad we’d gone. I was not glad to be away from my bride.
Approaching my lair, I noticed the gold and jewels thrown from my perch. If this was the worst of it, I would have her in my arms, and minutes later, my cock buried deep in her warmth.
The rooms were silent when I walked through them naked. I needed my bride. I searched everywhere before making my way to the hallway leading to the remainder of my castle. I unlocked the door, throwing it open. Maxwell stood on the other side. I could immediately tell he was upset.
“Is she here?” I thundered.
He shook his head and pointed to the front of the castle away from my private rooms.
“When did she leave?”
He stared at me in a panic.
I took a breath knowing I had to ask yes and no questions.
“Did she leave today?”
He nodded.
“In the past hour?”
No.
“This morning?”
Yes.
“Do you know where she went?”
No.
I turned around and slammed the door as I ran to my room, out the doors, and over the ledge. My roar belted out with fire shooting hundreds of feet in front of me. I was beyond angry, and planned to paddle her curvy little ass when she was home. How dare she disobey me!
The first pass, I circled close to my lair. Between spewing fire and smoke, I saw very little. On my second pass, I flew outward, cutting back on the smoke and fire looking closer at the places a small human could hide. There were hundreds, maybe thousands. One thing I couldn’t control was my roar. I knew she could hear it, and I hoped she was afraid. She needed to be.
An hour later, my anger turned to worry. I flew slower, looked harder. Returning to my lair, I grabbed a clothing pack and flew off the perch again. I landed, dressed in comfortable clothes complete with boots before walking around the castle searching out her scent. It took me little time to find her trail, and I rebuked myself mentally for allowing my temper to keep me in the air so long. I would find her quickly and lock her in my lair for a month as punishment for her foolishness.
Beside the stream, I found several small footprints. I also found evidence that she tried to hide them. I snapped down on my fury and stayed on her trail. Laryn’s scent hit me at the same time I saw one of her shoes on the ground. I ran toward the shoe and saw the indent in the rock. I knew she was gone, and my rage exploded uncontrollably.
Laryn was a dead dragon.
My clothes ripped as I shifted and took off for Laryn’s territory. This was my fault. I knew I’d messed up before I left with Laryn. My arrogance got in the way, and I went about explaining the entire trip wrong. Knowing she would be angry, I fought back without giving her a chance first. We could have talked about it. I could have coaxed her more. She had a soft heart, and if she knew I wanted to help my friend, she would have given in. Now I would kill my friend and relish every drop of his blood.
I pushed my speed feeling the burn in my wings. It didn’t matter. I approached his lair, my fire burning the tops of the trees in front of me. Dragons kept their inner dwelling secret. Even when we played cards, we only saw a few rooms. I landed on a flat surface near a large turret and shifted. I leapt to a balcony catching an iron rail and pulling myself up. I knew the place was big, but I wasn’t leaving without Acasia.
Oh and blood. A lot of blood.
I needed to get past the human quarters and into Laryn’s main rooms. The humans flashed me strange looks, some afraid, some challenging. One went flying ten feet because he tried to block me. Delicate was not on my agenda.
Laryn’s domain was similar to mine. I found the passage under his castle to his treasures, but I didn’t care about them. I was in pursuit of only one treasure. A short while later, I located his rooms. Quiet greeted me, deathly quiet. I looked about his great room; a few books, a set of gold goblets, sparse but lived in. Enormous beds took up most of the space in the two bedrooms. He kept little of his treasure up here. The bathing room was the one room more luxurious than mine. It was more of a bathhouse.
Grief overwhelmed me. Laryn hadn’t brought her to his lair. Her scent was nowhere. He had another hiding place.
I searched the territory for hours before flying to Sarn’s. I hadn’t eaten; my three-day adventure had left me exhausted, and my bride was gone. Sarn would feel me enter his territory. I collapsed in front of his lair. Maybe Sarn wouldn’t ask questions and just kill me for coming uninvited. I knew I was barely coherent by the time he found me.
His human hand was surprisingly gentle on my bare shoulder. “What is it, Bastian?”
I expected anger, death, but never concern. I wasn’t as close to Sarn as I was to Laryn. Not that friendship had anything to do with stealing another’s bride.
“Laryn took her.” I didn’t look up. Yes, I was pathetic, but the loss of my bride ripped my heart open, and I felt like my life was over.
There was a long pause before Sarn spoke. “Come inside. I’ll find you clothes and we’ll contact Tahr. I’m under the assumption you’ve been to Laryn’s home?”
“Yes.”
Sarn pulled up on my arm. “I wouldn’t bring her back here if I had her, so I’m not surprised you didn’t find them.”
“I can walk.”
“Then walk. I’d prefer not to carry you inside and allow my bride to see you as weak.”
His words penetrated my foggy mind. “I need food,” I said as I struggled to follow.
“You’re posing more damn trouble than you’re worth, but I’m sure Calista will take pity on you.”
I followed him to the room we played cards in. I sat in an oversized chair across from Sarn. “Calista is bringing food. Start from the beginning and tell me what happened.”
Usually I would never admit to making a mistake or treating my bride as anything but a possession. I no longer cared if Sarn or even Tahr thought me whipped. I couldn’t live without Acasia.