Illarion waited outside of Max’s room for his brother to answer his knock. His brother had sent him to Avalon to retrieve the children so that they could say good-bye to their mother. But the moment he’d started to contact Blaise, he’d remembered something important.
The lesson about his mating mark and magick between the two realms.
Given what had happened with him and Edilyn, he didn’t dare bring the children back through the Veil. It could be catastrophic.
“Come in!”
Holding one of Merlin’s magical spheres, Illarion opened the door.
Max scowled at him. “Where are the kids?”
They’re fine and still in Avalon. Since they’re not in the process of reconverting to stone, Merlin kept them there. We spoke about it and she thinks whatever is affecting Sera and her tribe here can’t break through the barrier to reach them on her side of things. We were afraid that if she sent them back, they’d begin to turn, too.
Sera let out a sound of happiness as she sat up. “They’re not changing back?”
Illarion held the crystal ball for her to see into it.
Both of the children were there, in Merlin’s castle. Happy, but concerned about their parents.
Edena bit her lip as she moved her head about like a little bird, trying to focus on her mother’s face. “Mom?”
Sera smiled at her as she took the ball into her hands. “Edena? Hadyn? Are you all right?”
Hadyn nodded. “We’re fine. You?”
“Wonderful, now that I know you’re both okay.”
Edena’s lips quivered. “Is it true? Are you changing back?”
She nodded. “I want you two to listen to your father and let him take care of you for me. Can you do that?”
They both nodded.
“I love you, Mom,” Hadyn said, placing his hand on the orb. “I wish I was there to say it to your face.”
“As do I. Just remember that no matter what, I will be close. And Edena, I need you to be kinder to your brother in my absence. Stop trying to clip his wings all the time. Let him learn to fly or crash on his own.”
“I shall try. For you.”
“I love you both. Please take care of each other and your father and uncles for me.”
Edena started crying as Hadyn pulled her into his arms to comfort her.
Max swallowed hard. “Merlin? Are you there with the children?”
The beautiful white-blonde enchantress moved to stand next to them. “I’m here. What do you need?”
“If I brought Seraphina to you in Avalon, do you think you could stop her from turning? That whatever is saving the children could save her, too?”
Merlin hesitated. “It might, but it could also kill her, since she’s in the process of changing already. I don’t know what type of spell Zeus has her under. You know as well as I do how unreasonable magick can be, and the unforeseen consequences.” She glanced to his children. “Plus, she’s not your bloodline. While she carried your young and has mixed her blood with yours, it’s not the same as being born of the drakomai. There’s just no telling what might happen. I’m sorry, Max. I don’t want to try something and lose her.”
Illarion agreed with that. No one could ever predict what magick would do when it crossed pantheon borders.
Damn the gods for that. Because she was part Apollite and not drakomai, she couldn’t even go into a torpor.
“Thanks, Merlin.”
She inclined her head to Max before the mist in the orb swallowed them.
Sera cocked her head to stare up at him. “What’s with that look? What are you planning?”
Yeah, you’re scaring me, too.
He stood up. “I’m going after Kessar and the Tablet.”
“Are you out of your mind?”
For once, Illarion agreed with Sera.
Max shook his head. “It’s the only way. He used it to free you. Then I can use it to keep you here, too.” He looked at Illarion. “Right?”
Illarion hesitated. Yeah … no, this is a really bad, bad idea. Like trying to blow-dry your hair while showering, or piss into a high wind. Are you out of your mind? He repeated Sera’s words.
“No. I’m desperate.”
Same thing.
He gave his brother an irritated smirk.
Well, it is.
Sera stood up beside him. “I agree with Illarion. Don’t even think about doing this. Are you insane? You can’t walk into a colony of demons and Amazons who want you dead, and take the Tablet the head demon covets most. They tend to react badly to such things. Believe me. I’ve seen it. I do believe Nala wears the claw of the last dragon possessed of such arrogance.”
Illarion nodded vigorously. How many more challenges are you planning to issue? Sheez, Max. There are far less painful ways to die. Drowning in acid comes to mind.
Suddenly, a light flashed in the room with them. Max started toward it, but something kept him in place. A strong, unseen force he couldn’t break.
Furious, he manifested a fire blast to attack. Until he recognized the source of the power.
Falcyn.
Only this time, he wasn’t in dragon form. Dressed in their ancient black war garb, he wore the skins and furs of the slayers who’d made the mistake of coming after him, as trophies and testament to his unsurpassed martial skills. His black hair was short except for one long braid that was wrapped around his throat and adorned with a silver dragon pendant that matched his pale eyes. They flashed like mercury in the dim light.
And they missed no detail at all.
Illarion’s eyes widened as he saw him there. He inclined his head in acknowledgment of his older brother’s birth order and out of respect.
Returning the gesture to Illarion, Falcyn closed the distance between them with that fierce predatorial walk that was uniquely his.
Without a word, he stopped in front of Seraphina and met Max’s gaze. “May I?” It was forbidden for a drakomas to touch another’s mate without permission. To do so was a killing offense in their culture.
Max nodded.
Sera frowned at him as she looked back and forth between them. “Max?”
“It’s all right, Sera. This is my brother Falcyn. I trust him … most days.”
Ignoring his teasing barb, Falcyn touched her icy forehead, then her hand. “Who curses her?”
“Zeus.”
He scoffed disdainfully. “Then I hope this seriously pisses that bastard byblow off. You should have told me that originally. I wouldn’t have had to soul-search nearly as long before helping you.”
With one claw, Falcyn made a small incision on his wrist until he could gather three drops of blood. From his satchel, he pulled a small oblong ball that resembled an egg, then coated it with his blood. He placed it in her hands and cupped them around it while he chanted in their mother’s tongue. He used her hands to turn the egg round and round.
After a few seconds, Sera sucked her breath in sharply, but Falcyn held her hands in place around the egg. She hissed. “It’s burning.”
Max tightened his arms around her. “It’ll be all right. He’s drawing the poison from you. Give him time to work.”
Only then did she relax a degree.
By the time Falcyn finished the ritual, she was even paler, but her breathing was more solid.
Falcyn wiped the stone off on his sleeve, and returned it to his satchel. He glanced about the loft expectantly. “You said you have dragonets?”
“A son and daughter. They’re with Blaise. In Avalon.”
For the first time, Falcyn’s stern features softened. One thing about their brother, he had a soft spot for dragonets and for Blaise. “I’ll see them protected and shielded, too.”
As he started to leave, Max stopped him. “Thank you, brother. Can I ask why you changed your mind?”
Falcyn turned at the curtains to look back first at Max, then to Sera. “I still think you’re an idiot. I still hate and begrudge every breath that fills your lungs. But you are my brother and we are drakomai. It’s not my place to take from you your heart.… If there is any way to help her, then I am honor bound to do so. You know the code we live and die by. Regardless of my feelings for you, it is my responsibility to protect what you love and preserve our bloodline.”
“Again, thank you.”
Falcyn didn’t respond to that. It was as if a part of him was embarrassed by the gratitude. Instead, he turned toward Illarion. “You still have your dragon’s claw I gave you?”
Always.
“Yeah, not what I heard.” Falcyn clapped him on the arm. “I heard you loaned it out to an Addanc. What the hell’s wrong with you? Did I teach you nothing?” He shook his head at Illarion. “An Addanc? Really?”
Falcyn made a sound of supreme disgust. “All my brothers are morons. I swear. Now take me to the dragonets before Blaise sucks what little intelligence they have out and leaves them lacking, too.”
Illarion rolled his eyes and followed Falcyn from the room.
Outside, Falcyn turned toward him. “I’m sorry.”
For what?
“About Edilyn.”
Illarion swallowed hard as he pushed the pain away. He wanted to say something, but there was nothing to say. Words would be insincere.
And Falcyn hated insincerity even more than he did.
I’ve lost my way, brother.
Falcyn snorted. “What makes you think anyone has a roadmap? You think I know where I’m going? That I ever have? We’re all mice stumbling in our mazes, trying to find our cheese. Hoping the levers we’re pulling are the right ones and not the ones designed to shock us.”
The problem was, Illarion was a warrior. He needed a target and in this, there wasn’t one. How could he defeat death? It was the one bastard who gave mercy to none and spared no creature its eternal bite.