“Brax, don’t—”
“Go!”
His urgency swallowed my protest, and I knew I had to make sure our kin made it into the mountain. This was what it meant for us to rule together. No matter how hard it was to leave his side, I had to trust my mate to fight his own battles, and I knew he could handle himself around Dragons. Even Azazel.
Star shot forwards with my silent request, and the guard and I flanked the few rides left to enter while Braxton and Tharion flew towards the four-headed beast. Asher flanked him on Athina.
Having guided everyone inside, Star and I hovered over the entrance to our Hidden Kingdom, and I watched with bated breath as Braxton stood on Tharion’s head, facing off with Azazel. The beast didn’t move; he didn’t charge. His four heads just rose and fell slowly as he observed him. Several sun-seconds passed, but Azazel just stared at them.
No. Not at them. At my mate.
Unlike past encounters, Raithian was not with the beast, and from what I could see, he didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking. He was surveilling him again. Braxton had confessed to Azazel following him on a few occasions after Raithian’s attack, but experiencing it today shook me to my core. The way the beast watched him…
This could only mean one thing. It was a warning from the Warlock King. A reminder that he was lurking in the shadows, and he could destroy us all if we didn’t give him what he wanted, now…
Braxton.
“I’m done with his threats,” Braxton growled when we entered our quarters, removing the cloak from his back.
“Thankfully, no one noticed,” I added, glancing to the window that overlooked the courtyard and market. Music filtered through it, reminding us that the party was still going strong even though night had arrived.
“I know. I’m grateful too, but it doesn’t matter, Evie—”
“Of course, it matters,” I assured, walking to his side, and cradling his cheeks. My gaze held his meaningfully. “Today was a good day, Braxton. It was a wonderful day that they will soon not forget. Neither will I.” I reached for the tiny gold wing on my neck. “And this is all thanks to you.”
Pulling him to the window, I gestured to the multitude below us—merrily twirling, laughing, eating, and drinking in celebration.
“You did this. Even Kingston is dancing with Willow, holding her when he had never even touched her before, and it is all thanks to you. Take a moment to revel in that.”
A deep breath expanded his chest as he glanced below us, a smile briefly tilting his lips before the burden of duty clouded his eyes again. “And that is the very reason I need to do this. Raithian can’t just come and threaten us whenever he feels like it, taking away their joy and throwing them back into an abyss of fear. I can’t allow that, Evie. I have to draw a line; I need to do something.”
“Okay. We’ll think of something together, and deal with it tomorrow,” I promised.
“No. I have to deal with this now.” Bringing my hands to his lips, he kissed them and walked past me, stopping by the wall behind us as his irises ignited with Devenish magic.
My gut tightened with dread. “What exactly are you going to do?”
“I’m going to use my legacy magic to call on Raithian. I have to talk to him.”
What I could only describe as a ripple of power rushed over his skin, and alarm captured my entire being. Desperate to stop him, I reached for his arm. “Braxton, don’t—!”
Our quarters suddenly began to disappear, melding with a dark tower. The surfaces changed amidst the wave of magic, replacing almost every inch, every piece of furniture. Nevertheless, when I looked behind me, the warm hues of my castle still filled the space, the music drifting through the window.
I somehow stood between Braxton’s mindscape and my reality by just touching him.
A gasp threatened to escape me at the same time that Braxton tensed under my touch. A large figure in a royal blue robe began to materialize before us.
“Stay silent. He can’t see you. You are not really here,” Braxton whispered so low that I barely heard him, before straightening to his full height and facing the Warlock King. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have a drinking problem.”
Raithian’s chuckles drifted through the shadows as his form solidified before the bar, and he reached for a decanter, serving himself a drink. “It is bad manners not to offer my enemy at least a drink before I have the pleasure to kill him.”
My pulse faltered in my veins the instant Raithian turned to face us, fully stepping out of the darkness. The sight of his unmasked face was unsettling, perhaps even more than his monstrous iron mask.
Braxton took a step closer, mockingly snorting in response. “You need to work on your humor.”
“Perhaps.” Raithian shrugged, taking a slow sip while gesturing to the second glass on the counter. “How about this? If I did not know any better, I would say you already know how to use your ability, and you are trying to trick me into teaching you what only I know.” Sweeping the air with his finger the glass flew towards Braxton, but he caught it without hesitation. “It takes power to summon me, Wizard.”
The word left his lips like it was a filthy slur, and my heart lodged in my throat.
“I’m not a Wizard. I don’t know what I am.”
It was the Warlock’s turn to scoff.
“Do not insult my intelligence, Boy. I have drained more of your kind than I care to count. I can smell the stink of Wizard in you… Of course, most didn’t taste as sweet as you do, I will admit that. Though, in their defense, they were not worthy of the line. Their magic was barely existent, weak, as it is expected when a Wizard is randomly born from my slaves. A fluke, of course.”
Both my mate and I tensed at his blatant disregard for life, but I bit my tongue not to respond. The shadows around me swirled.
“So, have you called on me to accept my gracious offer? When should we start?”
“I didn’t come here for that,” Braxton seethed, placing the liquor glass on the windowsill next to him. “I came to order you to—”
“To order me?” the Warlock King chuckled derisively.
“To demand you stop having Azazel follow me everywhere we go. Whatever this is, it stays between you and me, Raithian. I won’t have you scaring my people to death just because you have nothing better to do with your time. They have been through enough because of you!” Braxton snapped, furious like I’d never seen him.
“Following you?!” Shock and rage immediately distorted Raithian’s face. “He has been following you?!” A bright green glow engulfed his eyes before he disappeared into a cloud of smoke.
Following you? Following you? Following you…?!
His roar boomed around us as though the shadows gave it power before he reappeared a mere step before me.
My breath halted with his threatening presence, and I instinctively stepped back, immediately scolding myself for doing so. With the action, I accidentally let go of Braxton… cutting my connection to their mindscape.
“No!” I gasped when everything vanished, and I was left in our quarters. I could no longer see what my mate saw, even when he was still in the room with me, his gaze focused on the enemy.