After the quickest shower of her life, Seraphina dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt, and walked with Max down to the parlor of Peltier House, where their children and basically every adult resident under the roof waited for him. As well as every Dark-Hunter, former and current, in New Orleans, along with Acheron, Sin, Zakar, and Styxx.
“This is utter bullshit!” Dev snarled, unaware of their presence behind him. “I say we tell Savitar where to shove it.”
Acheron laughed as he glanced past Dev to meet Max’s gaze. “I dare you.”
Max stopped next to Dev and put his hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right, bear. I’m not afraid.”
Seraphina laced her fingers with his. “For the record, I am.”
With a stern frown, Aimee caressed her stomach. “Can’t we do something? Max is here under our protection. I thought our laws protected him, so long as he doesn’t leave.”
Styxx sighed heavily. “They did. But the other dragons are calling for his ass. He attacked and they have the right to demand a hearing for his new crime … and the old when he appears for it.”
Vane nodded. “That’s why we’re all going. As Kattalakises, we’re character witnesses. Our family started this against you and we’re going to do our damnedest to stop it.”
Hadyn’s scowl matched Aimee’s. “And if you can’t?”
Dev cracked a wicked grin. “I’m tossing the dragon over my shoulder and running for the door. You gonna cover my retreat, kid?”
Sighing heavily, Samia pressed her gloved hands to her nose. “I wish he was joking with that threat. Instead, I have this awful vision in my head and an ulcer in my stomach.”
Dev kissed her cheek. “I promised you that living with me would never be boring.”
She let out a tired breath. “That you did. You are definitely a bear of your word.”
As they started to leave, Illarion stepped forward to go with them to the Omegrion.
“No!” Max roared, pushing him back toward his brothers. “Blaise, keep him here.”
The stunned look on Illarion’s face would have been hysterical if Max’s life didn’t hang in the balance. You can’t leave me out of this.
“I can and I will.”
Illarion shook his head in denial. He tried to step around Max, but Max wasn’t having any of that.
Max caught his brother and pushed him back again. “I mean it. You go and I’ll run.” He looked to Falcyn, then Blaise. “He’s not allowed to go. You have to keep him here. No matter what.”
A chill went down Seraphina’s spine. Illarion knew something about all this. Something Max didn’t want spoken out loud. And given what she knew about her mate, it would incriminate Illarion in the murder and free Max.
There was no other reason for him to act this way. To be so angry and insistent. No other reason to bar Illarion’s presence from the hearing. Not unless he was afraid his brother would speak up and condemn himself in order to protect Max from harm.
She met Illarion’s grief-stricken, tormented gaze and in that moment, she knew exactly what had happened. “You killed the prince, didn’t you? It wasn’t Maxis. It was you.”
“Sera,” Max growled. “Stay out of this.”
But she couldn’t. Not if it meant saving her mate. Releasing Max, she went to Illarion and forced him to meet her gaze. “Tell me what happened.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Max swallowed hard. “I bear the mark and I’m the Dragonbane, not Illarion. Leave him alone.” He glared at his brothers. “Do not let him leave here.”
And before she could say another word, Max vanished.
“No!” Yet it was too late. The irritating beast was already gone.
Terrified and shaking, she turned on Illarion. “Tell me the truth. What happened?”
It was an accident.
She met Acheron’s gaze. “We’ve got to get the others to listen. Somehow.”
Vane agreed. “Don’t worry, Sera. They can’t start the council yet. Four of the members are still here.”
She arched a brow at the number. “Four?”
“Me, Fury, Alain’s mate—Tanya, and Wren Tigarian behind you.”
Tanya Peltier she’d met while tending Max’s wound. Quiet and shy, the tall, dark-haired Katagari bear worked as one of the cooks in the kitchen of Peltier House who oversaw caring for the residents there, and not in the public Sanctuary bar. She made the menus for their children and families, and was the Ursulan Regis for the Katagaria branch since the death of the Peltier matriarch, Nicolette.
And while Tanya was mated to the eldest Peltier bearswain and had three sons with him, Seraphina couldn’t help noticing the way the bearswan’s face lit up whenever the lead singer of the Howlers came near her. Tanya positively glowed at Angel, who did his best to avoid being around her.
That too said a lot about their relationship, since Angel was extremely friendly and easygoing.
Not wanting to think about that, Seraphina turned to find the other council member, watching her from the back corner of the room. A part of the group and yet apart from them.
Like Max, Wren held that same disturbing aura of quiet predator that said he was eyeing you like prey. Sizing up your every movement to detect the weakness he was about to use to bring you down for a kill. The most disturbing thing was the way his eyes that changed color depending on the way the light hit them. They went from a light gray to a vibrant turquoise.
Highly disturbing.
Until he unleashed a friendly grin at her that made him appear boyish and shy, and around the same age as Hadyn. “Sorry. My wife Maggie is always getting on to me for making people uncomfortable. Although she seems to enjoy my doing it at her father’s cocktail parties. Sometimes she even puts me up to it, but it’s a bitch at the playground. I’ve sent three of my daughter’s playmate’s nannies in to therapy.”
Unsure what to think, she let out a nervous laugh.
He held his hand out to her. “Wren. Nice to meet you.”
She shook his hand and by the mark on his palm, she knew he was a rare tigard. His scent told her he was a Katagari snow leopard and tiger.… What a peculiar mixture.
“Sera. Thank you for coming.”
He tucked his hands into his pockets and stepped back. “My pleasure. I had a similar unpleasant experience with the Omegrion a few years back. Let’s hope this turns out as well, shall we?”
Tanya moved closer and rubbed Seraphina’s arms comfortingly. “Don’t worry. We won’t let them take your Max, any more than we let them hurt Wren. We always watch after our own.”
But as they arrived in the Omegrion council room on the mysterious Neratiti island home of Savitar, Sera felt her hope dwindle quickly. The large circular chamber was decorated in burgundy and gold. Through the open windows that spanned from the black marble floor to the gilded ceiling, she could see and hear the ocean on all sides of the room. Oddly enough, the entire room reminded her of an ancient sultan’s tent. Lavishly decorated, it had an enormous round table in the center that made her curious as to what the rest of the palace might look like. But one look at the angry grimace on Savitar’s handsome face and she knew she wasn’t about to ask him for a tour.
He was still dressed in a black wetsuit, his hair damp and his arms crossed as he sat on his throne that was set to the side of the room so that he could watch over the council members—most of whom were already there, and so silent you could hear the wood drying on the walls.
That, too, said it all about Savitar’s somber mood.
Composed of one representative from each breed of Were-Hunter, and from the Arcadian and Katagaria branches, the Omegrion council that made the laws to govern their races should have had twenty-four members.
But one chair at the table remained forever empty. An eerie warning and reminder.
Back in the day, it’d belonged to the Arcadian Balios or jaguar patria. Legend had it that centuries ago, the Regis of that group had run so afoul of Savitar’s temper that he’d single-handedly destroyed every member of their species.
Total extinction.
Which said it all about the power and temperament of the disgruntled Chthonian sitting in judgment of her mate.
His long dark hair brushed back from his face, Savitar glared at the group who’d arrived with her. “How nice of you to join us. I trust all of you had a nice nap after I summoned you?”
Acheron had the audacity to laugh. “Miss a gnarly, awesome wave, Big Kahuna?”
“Don’t start, Grom. Not in the mood.” Savitar sat back on his throne to glare at the large crowd. But it was the collection of Arcadian and Katagaria dragons and the Arcadian Kattalakis wolves on his right-hand side that set his jaw ticcing.
Savitar let out a long, exasperated breath. “Hear ye, hear ye … ah, fuck it. We’re here today for bullshit and we all know it. So let’s dispense with the usual formality and get on with this witch hunt before I lose what little grip I still have on my patience.” He ran his thumb along his goatee. “So, Dare Kattalakis, state your case and demands to the council. And do it fast, with as few words as possible.”
A wolf who bore a striking resemblance to Fang and Vane stepped forward. Sera wasn’t sure if he was born of the same litter or not, but from appearances she would say he had to be of close kinship.
Clearing his throat, he moved to stand in the center of the round table to plead his case. “First, I want to restate what a travesty it is that my family’s seat is taken by—”
“Wah, wah, wah … quit crying at the tit,” Savitar snarled. “Your brother Vane is the head of the Arcadians and Fury leads the Katagaria. Seek a therapist who gives a shit, or if you’d like to challenge either of them for their position, we can do with some entertainment. Hell, I’ll make popcorn for the show. Otherwise, bitch, get on with it.”
Wow, he was in a particularly nasty mood. Sera was so glad he wasn’t angry at her.
Dare lifted his chin, but wisely kept his gaze away from the surly ancient. “Fine. We all know why we’re here. Maxis Drago as the Dragonbane is the cause of the war between the Arcadians and the Katagaria. Because of his actions alone, all of us have lost family and been scarred and cursed into perpetual war. Now he’s unleashed the gallu and Apollo on us! He’s—”
“That’s not true!” The words were out before Seraphina could stop them.
Every eye in the room turned to her. That would have been bad enough, but when she came under the vicious scrutiny of Savitar’s lavender gaze, she wanted to run screaming for the door. And it didn’t help that Illarion and his brothers picked that moment to show up and garner an even more fierce glare from Max.
But at least Savitar’s features finally softened as if he approved of both occurrences. “The dragonswan speaks.”
“She’s his whore!”
Savitar slung his hand out and caught the Kattalakis dragon who’d insulted her with an unseen force that lifted him up and pinned him to the wall between two of the open windows. “Only I’m allowed to be an insulting asshole in this room. Understood?”
The dragon nodded.
Savitar dropped him straight to the floor, where he landed with a pain-filled groan and in an unceremonious lump, before the ancient returned his attention to Sera. When he spoke, it was in a kind, fatherly tone. “You were saying, dear?”
Yeah, his kindness was even scarier than his nastiness. And it left her terrified. She’d never liked public speaking and this … this was worse than facing a herd of angry dragons out to feast on her entrails.
“It’s okay, Sera,” Max said kindly. “You don’t have to speak up for me.”
Those words gave her the courage she needed. “No, but someone does. I don’t know who released the gallu—”
“That would be us,” Zakar said, raising his hand. “Oops. Sorry about that.”
Savitar rolled his eyes. “Sit your punk ass down and shut up. You and I will talk later.”
Zakar laughed good-naturedly. “Hope you take your Abilify first, old man.”
Savitar started to wag his finger at Zakar, then gave up and waved him away. “Shut up.” He returned his attention to Sera. “You were saying?”
“Just that my mate is innocent. The gallu came after him first. And neither of us have a clue about Apollo. We don’t even know what you’re talking about.” She tucked her marked hand into Max’s.
He winced before he laced his fingers with hers and clutched her hand tightly in his.
Savitar watched that single gesture closely for several heartbeats without comment.
“I demand he pay for his crimes!” Ermon Kattalakis—one of the Arcadian dragons—demanded. “It was the blood of my grandfather he spilled!”
A strange look passed between Savitar and Acheron, then him and Styxx, before he rose to his feet.
Without a word, Savitar closed the distance between him and Max. “It occurs to me, Maxis, that with our historian, Nicolette Peltier, gone, there’s no one here who knows the history of this council. She died before she could pass the origins along to her only daughter.” He turned toward Tanya. “I suppose you should inherit that part of her job as well, no?”
Tanya looked as frightened to be under that fierce scrutiny as Sera had been. “It would be my honor to record it, my lord.”
An odd half smile played at the edges of Savitar’s lips while he continued to stroke his goatee with his thumb. He glanced back to Max. “What do you say, drakomas? Have I your permission to break our pact?”
She saw the indecision in Max’s golden eyes as he debated. He glanced from her to Illarion, then to their children.
It’s time. Illarion inclined his head to him. Tell the truth, brother. Let them decide for themselves.
With an audible gulp, Max nodded. “Although, I would remind you both that when the truth was told last time, it didn’t help. No one cared.”
Ignoring that, Savitar stepped back then so that he could walk a circle around the table. “Some of you have been coming here for centuries. You occupy seats you inherited from your family or won through combat. All of you know what an honor it is to sit here and represent your independent species. Both those who hold human-Apollite hearts and those born with animal hearts. Two halves of a single whole. Both sentient, and forever condemned by the gods to war against each other for no real reason, other than the fact that the gods are assholes. Everyone knows that part of the story. What none of you know is why you answer to me. Why you answer to this council…”
Savitar gestured to Max. “You blame the Dragonbane for the war that divides your two branches of the same species, but he didn’t do this to you. That belongs to the three bitches who cursed your race in the beginning. To Zeus and Apollo and their childish tantrums that made them cry to the Fates to do something because they felt cheated that you were spared the Apollite curse that would have required all of you to die horribly at age twenty-seven over an event you had no part in. But as with all history, that is only one tiny, bit part that you’ve been told, which was colored by those seeking to sway your opinion and make you hate for no real reason. To keep you divided by your inconsequential differences when you should be whole and focused on the real tragedies you have in common. The ones that unite you as a single, sentient species. Follow me, children, and let me show you what you’ve never seen, but what you need to know.”
And with that he threw his hands out. The doors crashed closed and darkness fell into the room so completely that for a moment, Sera felt like they were in Irkalla again.
The sudden, unexpected nothingness was oppressive and terrifying. But for Max’s pressure on her hand and presence by her side, she’d have run for a door.
And just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, a light came up to show a much younger Max and Illarion. While she’d known how much Hadyn favored his father, it wasn’t until now that she realized just how much they shared in face, form, and mannerisms.
But what struck her most was the starved and ragged, filthy condition Illarion and Max had been left in. The two of them were in human form, kept there by their collars, and locked inside a cage where another man stared in on them. This one was impeccably dressed in royal princely garb.
Sera’s jaw went slack as she saw the last thing she’d expected. Maxis wasn’t the Greek prince.
Illarion was.
Meanwhile, Max stared through the bars of their cage at the prince and his elegant clothes, and the dark-haired lady beside him. He’d seen the prince numerous times since they’d brought them here, but the woman was a new addition to their drab, dingy home.
“Eumon?” she whined, trying to pull the prince away by his arm. “Why did you bring me here? Don’t you grow weary of looking at them all the time? It’s so creepy!”
Max didn’t appreciate being called creepy when the only real oddities in the room were the ones who needed his species to continue living past their twenty-seventh birthdays. There was nothing creepy about being a dragon.
Human-Apollite bodies?
That was the stuff of nightmares. They smelled and had all manner of weirdness to them he’d rather not suffer.
The prince smiled at his beautiful, petite wife, but his gaze never wavered from the two inside the cage. “Look at them, Helena. But for the fact that he doesn’t speak, you’d never know he wasn’t me. And the other … he is the very image of Pherus. It’s as if I’m still looking my brother in the eye.”
She wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Pherus was never your brother. He was the son of a slave.”
“Slave or not, he was my brother through my father. And I loved him as such.” Eumon licked his lips. “Do you think they can understand us?”
“No. They’re animals and you’re lucky you survived the merging your uncle did to you. Now, can we go? I don’t like it here. It smells.” She pressed her dainty hand to her nose to illustrate her point.
Instead of leaving, Eumon knelt down and held his hand out to Illarion. “Here, boy … come to me.”
Curling his lip, Illarion scooted closer to Max.
Eumon lowered his hand and sighed. “It seems like we should be able to train them. Doesn’t it?”
Max bit back a scoff. As if.
“Maybe so as not to wet the rugs or their beds, but I wouldn’t hold out hope for any more than that. As I said, they’re stupid animals, incapable of thought or civilization.”
Oh yeah, they were the problem in this equation.…
“You are terrible, Helena!” he teased.
All of a sudden, a large number of guards stormed into the dungeon. Max tensed at the sight of them. Something that never boded well for those kept in cages. Anytime that many came in like that …
One of the prisoners got seriously hurt.
Or seriously dead.
Prince Eumon shot to his feet to confront the stone-faced soldiers. “What’s the meaning of this?”
“Orders from the king, Highness. We’re to destroy all the experiments to placate the gods.”
The prince’s face went white as Max’s stomach shrank. “What?”
The guard nodded. “The dictate came from the head priest this afternoon. The gods are demanding that all the abominations be put down. Otherwise, they’ll kill your father and you, and your brother.”
Illarion exchanged a panicked look with Max.
Never fear, brother. I won’t let them take you, Max promised, hoping he wasn’t lying as he spoke those words.
But there was nothing save doubt in Illarion’s eyes. Something that cut to Max’s bone. How could his brother think for one minute that he’d allow them to hurt him?
Never. Even if it meant his life, he’d keep Illarion safe from them and get him out of this mess.
With a mighty roar, Max rushed at the bars.
The prince stumbled back with a fierce gasp, dragging his wife with him.
Screaming, she fell to the floor. “I told you! He’s an animal! Kill him! Kill him now!”
Fury tore through Max with such ferocity that he lost complete control of his magick, even with the collar on to control it. All he knew was that he refused to go down like this. He refused to watch them kill his brother.
The howls and screams of the others filled his ears as the soldiers set about carrying out their orders.
This was utter bullshit! Max threw himself against the bars, over and over. When that wasn’t enough, he summoned every bit of magick he could and held his concentration. Then he sent it out into the air around them.
Like a thermal shock, it rolled out of him and sent a pulsating wave through the air. One that shattered the cage and sent the guards, prince, and princess tumbling.
Weak, but determined, Max grabbed Illarion. “Free the others. Be damned if those bitches are going to take their lives for this!”
It’s not our place!
“I don’t answer to the Greek gods. They can kiss my scaly ass.” Max grabbed the keys from the guard who was closest to him. Baring his fangs, he took the man’s sword, then moved to free the Arcadians and Katagaria. His brother still stood there. “Illarion! Move! Save everyone you can!”
Finally, Illarion began to cooperate.
As soon as they had the doors open and had started to leave, the guards moved to stop them.
“We have to talk to the king, first. No one can leave here.”
To his complete shock, Eumon stepped forward. “Let them pass.”
“Highness—”
“Do it!”
Reluctantly, the guard stepped aside and ordered his men to stand down.
Grateful to the prince who was allowing them to leave without war and bloodshed, Max inclined his head to him. “Can you show us the way out?”
The prince narrowed an evil glare at him. “I knew you could speak! I need you to show that to my father.”
“And we need a guide before your father learns of this and kills us.… Please. My brother and I have always been overtaken whenever we’ve tried to escape. I know there’s a way to the forest, but we haven’t been able to locate it.”
Without hesitation, he nodded. “Follow me.”
“Eumon!” his wife breathed. “You can’t do this. If the gods have spoken—”
“They’re sentient, Helena. Look at them.” He gestured at Max and Illarion. “Half of them are Apollite. I can’t condemn them to die and especially not by execution in a cage after everything else we’ve done. It would be wrong. I’m their prince. It’s my place to protect them.”
“And what of your son I carry? Who will protect him when the gods kill you for this hubris?”
He kissed her lightly on the forehead. “Relax, precious wife. No one’s going to kill me.” Pulling away, he led Illarion and the others through the dark cavern. “Follow me and I’ll see you to your freedom.”
She glared at Max as they started filing out of the dungeon. “I have a bad feeling about this.”
Max ignored her and the indigestion he thought was a bad feeling, too, as he sought to get the others out as quickly as possible. He didn’t trust the guards not to attack them, in spite of what the prince had ordered.
As the last Apollite animal filed past them, he began to breathe a little easier. They were almost out of here.
True to his word, Eumon helped them relocate to a small campground in the forest, where Max and Illarion made sure everyone had a place to sleep and something to eat.
“Thank you,” Max said to the prince before he went to tend his brother.
Eumon stopped him. “All these weeks and you’ve said nothing. You’ve pretended to be mute. Why?”
“There was nothing to say. Your uncle ripped us from our homes and lives for you. Both Apollite and animal. No regard for what we thought or wanted. And then we were turned into this?” He gestured angrily at his human body. “You may have desired the dragon in you, Highness, but I promise neither Illarion nor I wanted this. Nor did any of the others. Now that you have some of my brother’s genetics in your heart, you should know exactly how we think.”
“You have a fierce code of honor and kinship. That’s where this comes from?”
Max inclined his head. “And now you tell me that your gods have decreed our death for your deeds. How do you think that makes me feel?”
“I will talk to my father. He’s a reasonable man.”
Max arched a brow at his lie.
“He loves us.”
Which was true, but … “That makes him highly unreasonable.”
The prince nodded. “If you and your brother come with me.… Let my father see that you’re capable of rational thought and speech. It will change everything. I promise. Come and help me to set this right.”
Still, Max was skeptical. It wasn’t as easy as the prince made it sound. He knew that. Yet as he looked among the desolate, fear-filled faces, he knew he had to try.
For them.
Illarion wended his way through the others to approach Max. Surely you don’t believe his lies.
“We have to try.”
Shaking his head, Illarion didn’t want to participate, but he loved his brother too much to let him go about his stupidity alone.
So together, they headed back toward the palace, with Eumon in the lead.
For the first time, they emerged out of the dungeon and into the palace grounds that led to where the royal family lived.
They had just reached the gardens when a man who appeared eerily similar to Vane approached them.
“What is this?”
“We’re going to see Father.”
The newcomer scowled with fierce disapproval. “What have you done?”
The prince let out a tired sigh. “Linus, please. I have to speak to him and I don’t have time.”
“You heard what the priest told Father. We’ve angered the gods. If you don’t return them for execution right now, they’ll demand our heads, too! Do you want to die?”
“And what’s to stop them from doing that anyway after the others are gone? The gods are capricious. You know that. I don’t trust them.”
Linus gestured at Max and then Illarion. “But you would trust an animal?”
“They’re not just animals. They can speak.”
Linus scoffed. “Now you’re being ridiculous. Did you perchance eat a bad lotus batch?”
“He’s not wrong.”
Linus’s gaze had widened at the sound of Max’s voice. “You can think and talk?”
“Of course.”
His eyes darkened dangerously as he moved to confront Max. “Are you the reason Dagon did this to me?”
“Did what?”
In response to his brother’s question, Linus turned on Eumon. “Or did you do it?”
“Do what?” Eumon repeated.
Linus raked him with a scathing glare. “You were always Father’s favored son. Had your life not been threatened, I’m sure he’d have let me die, as he did our mother.”
Eumon let out a tired sigh. “I don’t have time for your insecurities. Move aside.”
“Oh right. You never have time, do you?” Linus sneered at Helena. “You took the bride that was meant for me and now you took my true animal form. I should have been the dragon. Not you!”
“What madness do you speak?”
“Helena was my bride!”
She lifted her chin defiantly. “I refused your hand after I met you. There’s a cruelty in you, Linus, that scares me. Treaty or not, I would never have married into this family had I not met Eumon and seen for myself that, unlike you, he has a soul.”
Shrieking in anger, he lunged at her, but Max caught him and forced him back. “Stop it. We have dire business to attend to here.”
Linus’s jaw went slack. “So, it’s true. You do speak. You could have convinced Dagon to give me the form I wanted, but instead you chose to remain silent? Did you kill your own to keep me from being like you, too? You did, didn’t you?”
“What?”
Linus shoved Max away. “You all disgust me. You never let me have what I want.”
He’s mad, brother. We should leave.
Max couldn’t agree more. Protect the princess.
As Illarion moved in to comply, Linus pulled out a knife and attacked. “Don’t you turn your back on me, Eumon! I will not be disregarded!”
Eumon shoved him aside as he lunged for Illarion. “Are you stupid? He’s the animal, you moron! I’m the prince. How can you not tell us apart?”
Those words had slapped Max hard. Especially since the only way to tell them apart was by the finery one wore and the filth on his brother. In his opinion, it said more for Linus that he hadn’t noticed their difference in dress.
Linus wrested his hand and weapon free from his brother. “I should have been heir! I’m far more worthy!”
Eumon had laughed in his face. “You were never worthy.” With that, he disarmed him and kicked him back.
Horrified, Max had helped Illarion to his feet. Then placed his body between Illarion and the princes to protect him.
Rolling his eyes, Eumon threw the knife down. “Ignore him.” He chucked Max on the arm and then Illarion. “Follow me and we’ll settle this.”
As they started away, Max caught the movement from the corner of his eye. He turned to disarm Linus, but he still hadn’t mastered his human body. Before he could do anything to stop it, Linus stabbed him, then turned on the others.
Furious, Illarion attacked.
“Stop!” Eumon growled, trying to get between them.
Max knew the prince would be hurt if he didn’t remove him from the conflict. “Highness?” He pulled him back at the same time Illarion and Linus staggered together, fighting for control of the knife.
They slammed hard into Max and Eumon, knocking them off balance and sending them reeling.
In a huge clump, the four of them fell to the ground.
As Max went to stand, he realized they were covered in a lot more blood than they should have been. Stunned, it took him several seconds to realize it was Eumon whose artery had been sliced open in their fall.
Panting for air, he met Max’s gaze. “Protect my wife.”
His eyes haunted, Linus pushed himself to his feet and staggered back. Dropping the knife, he pressed his blood-soaked hand to his lips.
“Highness?”
Screaming in agony, Helena had rushed forward to weep by her husband’s side. “Don’t leave me, Eumon! Stay with me!” She applied pressure to his wound, but it was too late.
As his last act, Eumon reached up and removed Max’s collar so that he could shapeshift freely. “Protect them all.” And with that he expelled his final breath.
Helena had thrown her head back and shrieked like a harpy. “You beast! You killed my husband!”
“No…” Linus backed up in terror. “You saw for yourself. It was an accident.”
Shaking her head, she sobbed and sobbed.
Max glanced to Illarion, who watched them with an equally horrified gaze. What do we do?
He had no idea. Linus was insane and he’d never tell the truth and implicate himself in this. His fear of being blamed for his brother’s death wouldn’t allow that. The gods had decreed them all to die.…
But one look at Illarion’s face and he knew he’d never stand back and let that happen.
I have to get them to safety.
There was only one place he could think that would be safe from the reach of the gods. One place where the king couldn’t demand Illarion’s head. Gathering his brother and the weeping princess, he shifted to his dragon form and took flight with them.
Her terrified shrieks filled his ears as she insulted him and tried to break free. Illarion fought against his grip. Remove my collar so that I can fly, too!
Not yet. He wasn’t sure what reception they’d have when they reached his destination. It could be welcoming.
Experience said it wouldn’t.
Even so, Max closed his eyes and prayed for this to work. When he finally reached the southern beach, he laid his brother and the princess down on the white sands, then landed. His stomach knotted, he gazed out over the perfect waves and did something he hadn’t done in centuries.
He summoned the demon Chthonian. The one being who was given protection and charge over their kind.
Granted, no one had seen the bastard in centuries and all kinds of speculations abounded. Some said he’d finally died of the wounds he’d sustained during the great Chthonian war. Others that the Greek god Mache had cursed him in retaliation for being bound and imprisoned.
Another said that the goddess Apollymi had drowned him when she sank Atlantis. There was even a rumor that Artemis had captured him and was keeping him as her pet on Olympus.
Max didn’t know if any of that was true.
All he knew was that he needed a miracle and that the only creature who might help them was the Chthonian who’d once led Max’s mother’s people to freedom.
Throwing his head back, he let out a summoning cry for the beast.
The princess shrank away from him as the waves rolled in and out on the beach.
“What is he doing?” she asked, throwing her hands over her ears to mute the sounds of his call.
Max ignored her as he continued to summon Savitar.
And as time moved slowly and no one responded to his summons, he realized that the Chthonian must be dead.
Or that he didn’t care.
Heartsick, he turned away from the beach, toward his brother. His jaw went slack as he saw the tall, muscular man approaching them.
Savitar.
His lavender eyes glowed as he paused by Illarion’s side and swept his gaze over the blood-soaked gown on the cringing princess. “Seems I missed an impressive party. Care to enlighten me, dragon?”
Max quickly told him what had been done to them, and what had happened to Eumon and Illarion. “I need your help, Chthonian.”
Savitar had scoffed. “I’m done helping others. Last time I did that … it turned out badly for everyone. Especially me, and I rather like me, most days.”
“They’ll kill us.”
“Everyone dies sometime.”
“That’s it, then? You’re literally washing your hands of us?”
Savitar shrugged. “You have a new life. You should enjoy it.”
“Until the Fates have us killed, you mean.”
Savitar had gone stock-still. “Come again?”
“The Greek Fates? Because of Apollo and Zeus, they’ve ordered all of us to be put down.”
“You should have led with that, little brother.”
“Meaning?”
Savitar smiled. “Meaning there isn’t much I wouldn’t do to make those three bitches scream in agony. Take me to your camp.”
By the time they returned, most of the Apollite-animal hybrids were dead. While Max had been gone, the guards had found their camp and slaughtered them down to a meager handful before they’d driven them off.
Disgusted by the cruel horror, Max had walked around the other newly made shapeshifters, assuring them as best he could.
“What are we to do?”
He met Savitar’s gaze.
Finally he saw the spark there that lived in his heart.
Savitar stepped forward. “As a new species, I offer you my protection. I will make it known that the Chthonians are aware of you and that no one, especially the gods, are to prey on you without repercussions.”
While Savitar dealt with the new species, Max had finally removed Illarion’s collar.
About time.
“I know. I’m sorry.”
Why did you wait?
“In case we were taken, you could have passed as the prince and escaped. So long as you remained in a human body.”
Illarion shook his head as he scanned the others. We are an abomination. Are you sure we should have survived? Perhaps it would have been kinder to consign us to death.
“Perhaps. But then life isn’t kind. All we have to get through it is each other. I couldn’t stand by and watch them die.”
Illarion let out a tired sigh. Your Arel blood seriously screws you at times. What is this innate need you have to protect?
“I don’t know, but you should be glad I have it. A sane dragon would have left you behind.”
As they rounded them up, Lycaon and his army rode in to finish their slaughter.
Until the king saw Savitar. “What is the meaning of this?”
Savitar faced the king without fear. “I’m here to take them to their own lands to live.”
“You can’t do that.”
Savitar arched a brow. “You want to cross me?”
“The gods have decreed—”
“And I, as a Chthonian sworn to protect mortal life from the gods, overturn that decree.”
Lycaon shook his head. “You can’t do that! They’ll kill my children in retaliation.”
“It’s done.”
While they argued, Helena grabbed Max’s arm. “You can’t let me return to the palace. Not after what’s happened.”
Confused, he scowled at her. “You want to travel with us, the animals?”
“Please. I’m afraid of what Linus will do to me and my children. While he might keep me alive and claim me as his, he will never suffer my children to live. Not so long as they are heirs to their father’s throne. You saw him. His ambitions are ruthless and he will stop at nothing. Worse, we know he killed Eumon. So long as any of us are alive, he’ll view us as a threat and want us removed. Understood?”
Illarion had shaken his head. Max … I know that look on your face. You’re the one who’s always telling me to stay out of things.
Max had nudged the princess closer to Illarion. “Keep an eye on her, for a minute.”
Not quite sure what he was doing, he closed the distance between Savitar and the king. The moment Linus saw him, he did just as his sister-in-law predicted.
He ordered Max arrested for the murder of his brother, and demanded the return of Helena.
She was right. Linus would never suffer her to live and birth those children. He would kill them and remove them from the line of succession.
“He and his brother slaughtered mine, and I demand their heads for it!”
“Illarion is innocent. I, alone, am responsible.”
Savitar faced him with a stern glower. “Do you understand what you’re doing?”
Hell, no. But it seemed to be the only option.
He met Savitar’s furious stare. “I only understand what will happen if I don’t.”
Sighing in disgust, Savitar pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose as if he had a brain tumor forming. As the guards came to retake Max, Savitar stopped them.
“No! The Arcadians you’ve created are a separate race and shouldn’t be subjected to the laws of man.” Savitar glared at Linus and his father. “They are a sentient group and should make their own laws to govern them. If Maxis is to face judgment, it will be by a jury of his own hybrid peers and not handed down from a scheming brother and grieving father. If travesty is to be done, it should be impartial.”
“’Cause that makes it all so much better,” Max muttered.
Savitar narrowed a threatening glower at him. “Don’t lip me, dragon, or I’ll turn you over to them.”
“And what of this jury?” Lycaon demanded. “Who’s to oversee it?”
“I will personally guarantee it. You have my word.”
Fury, and the promise that this wasn’t over, glared out from the king’s eyes. “Fine. I’ll hold you to it. But I want that dragon’s head mounted to my wall for what he’s done! I will be expecting you to bring it to me when this is over. Otherwise, I’ll be declaring war on this new breed.” And with that, the king led his army away.
Illarion finally approached them. I’m glad that’s settled. Not even a little.
Savitar laughed bitterly. “You’re right. Nothing’s over. This is just the beginning. Wait until Zeus and Apollo hear of it.” He glanced around at the faces and animals.…
Apollites, lions, eagles, falcons, hawks, tigers, wolves, bears, panthers, jackals, leopards, snow leopards, jaguars, cheetahs, and dragons.
“What the hell was Dagon thinking?”
Max let out his own exhausted breath. “That his wife was grieving for her brother and that he had the magick to make it better.”
“You consider this better?”
Max shrugged at Savitar’s question. “Better than death? Aye. Barely.”
“And you, dragon, are an idiot.”
“I’ve been called worse.” He glanced to Illarion. “And that was just a few hours ago.”
Savitar shook his head as he met the gaze of the princess. “Those are the first of their kind you’re carrying, you know that, right?”
Her face had gone pale. “What?”
“You conceived them after your husband had been transformed. The good news is, they won’t die of the Apollite curse that comes with Eumon’s bloodline. The bad news is, the gods won’t be happy that your prince thwarted said curse.” Savitar growled in aggravation. “There’s only so much mitigating I can do. Knowing the gods and those bitches in particular, I can tell you this isn’t over. They will have something new in store for us all. And it won’t be merciful.”
And he’d been right. In spite of the evidence, and Helena’s testimony over what had happened, Max had been found guilty during that first Omegrion meeting. When Illarion went to testify, Max had kept him out of it, lest he implicate himself and come under fire.
Better one should be marked than both. He’d pressed upon Illarion the necessity of keeping Helena safe and fulfilling their promise to Eumon. Something they couldn’t do if they were both being hunted.
So he’d been marked while Illarion had been left as a Katagari guard for the first Arcadian princes born to a human mother.
But for Max and Illarion, there would have been no Were-Hunters spared the sword.
Only Linus and Eumon.
Lycaon would have gladly slaughtered the rest to spare his two sons from the wrath of the Olympian gods.
One wolf and one dragon.
Seraphina stared in awe of her mate. She’d had no idea of the sacrifices he’d made for their people.
No one had. True to his Arel birth and blood, Max had borne his duties in silence. The only time he’d struck out against them was when his brothers were threatened.
When she and their children were under fire.
The worst irony was that neither he nor his brother even held a seat at the very council that had been started because of them. Rather Helena and another Drakos born from an earlier experiment between an Apollite slave and dragon had taken the first Regis positions. Helena as the Arcadian Regis, until her eldest son, Pharell, had been old enough to inherit it, and Cromus, who ceded his place to Helena’s Katagari son, Portheus, when he’d come of age.
Linus had been left to found the same wolf bloodline that had led to Vane, Fang, and Fury. Ever bitter over being forced into his wolf status, he had gladly waged blood feuds against the Katagaria and other species. And it had been his powerful testimony and leadership that had condemned Max.
His ruthless need to put down all the others and rule them that had forced Savitar to create the limanis so that the Were-Hunters would have some refuge from the gods and others out to slaughter them needlessly.
Now, Savitar pulled back and lightened the room. One by one, he met the gaze of those seated at the council table. “There you have it. Yes, Max technically drew first Were-Hunter blood, but he did so in protection of you all. Are you really going to be as the first council and condemn him again, knowing that?”
Damos Kattalakis, the descendent of Eumon and Helena who currently held the Arcadian Drakos seat, rose. His looks reminded Sera a great deal of Vane’s and he closely resembled his brother Sebastian, whom she’d met earlier.
Slowly, cautiously, he approached Max and Illarion.
His face unreadable, he removed the feathered mask that covered his Sentinel marks. Running his hand over the scales and delicate workmanship, he studied the mask before he spoke. “It is the custom of my patria to make these out of the remains of the Katagaria we’ve slain. It’s done to remind us that while they are animals, we are not. That we are civilized and descended from the blood of princes. In particular, Eumon Kattalakis.”
He dropped the mask to the floor and met Max’s gaze, then Illarion’s. “I don’t know why my great-grandmother failed to tell us of you, but I promise that if I should be fortunate enough to have dragonets one day, they will know the truth and what we owe our Katagaria cousins.” Striking his shoulder with his fist, he saluted Max. “Thank you for saving my family. As the head of the Kattalakis Drakos, I swear that should we ever hear the Bane-Cry of you, or your mates or children, every member of our patria will answer. On our honor.”
Max inclined his head and saluted him back. “Thank you.”
Smiling, Damos drew him in for a hug, then Illarion. “My father rolls in his grave.” He turned back at Savitar and scowled. “Is this why you’ve always hated me?”
Savitar nodded. “Sins of the father, brother. Sins of the father. But today, you took the right step. And I saw it.”
Snorting, Damos appeared less than amused as he turned toward Dare Kattalakis. “What of you, cousin?”
“They can kiss my furry ass. We’re still at war.”