That explained why there was no sign of a struggle in the cell, why it looked like Noro had simply walked out, and why his fear scent tinged the air. He knew Blaze could put a spell on him, but he wasn’t as strong of a mage as me--he had no way of fighting back against Blaze’s magic.
Desperation made me want to cry out, but this wasn’t the time to break down. I had to stop this, and I knew exactly how.
I had to tell Blaze about Bastian’s heat.
My baby kicked again, harder than before. I ignored her. But I did notice Neil’s eyes drift towards my belly as if in surprise. Whatever he was thinking with that tiny brain of his--if he wasevencapable of thinking--I just shouldered him out of the way.
Throwing caution aside, I ran through the crowd, using my teeth to air-snap if I had to gouge a path through the gathered gryphons.
“Move!”
Confused and startled, they moved aside. It took all my willpower not to simply bite Blaze in the ass for everything that was going wrong, but I knew I had to solve with words, not revenge.
I shifted to human form and stood in front of Blaze.
“Blaze!” I snapped. “Make them stop, now!”
He didn’t look too happy to see me, especially moments after Neil had assured him that I’d been safely locked up in his bedroom. His face turned from cruel glee to an annoyed sneer. “What are you doing here?”
“Apparently you’re not the only one with the power to brainwash people,” I spat venomously.
Blaze looked shocked as he realized what I’d done to Neil, along with the understanding that I knew he turned Noro against my other mates.
“Matheson!”
The familiar voice instantly pulled me out of my conversation with Blaze. My head snapped towards the direction of its sound.
My heart skipped a beat. Or two.
Standing there above a crest of earth were my two mates, Ramsay and Colton. Relief and heartache washed over me. I wanted to run to them, wanted to feel their arms around me--but unfortunately there was no time to have a big reunion. Growls and shrieks still resounded in the air above us as Noro and Eric continued to fight.
I saw Ramsay and Colton try to come closer, but as soon as they made a move, Blaze roared and put his talons around me possessively.
“Don’t touch him!”
The furious voice came from above. Eric saw what Blaze was doing to me. But in the moment he wasn’t paying attention, Noro raked his claws across Eric’s face--the same way Blaze had done to Noro earlier.
“No!” I screamed.
Eric bit down on Noro’s forearm, then wrenched his body out of Noro’s grip while the gryphon shrieked in pain. He landed hard on the marble platform with a groan, but forced himself to his feet.
A familiar grey wolf bolted towards him.
“Eric!” Crystal cried.
Chaos broke out. More wolves--and humans--streamed out from the crest Colton and Ramsay had hidden behind. They rushed to Eric, protecting him from the gryphons that were now ready for a battle.
But a white wolf and a red wolf still ran towards me. Ramsay’s eyes burned with angry fire, and Colton’s were icy and dangerously hard. There was no mercy in them as they lunged for Blaze, flanking him like two predators going in for the kill.
But Blaze was bigger than both of them combined. He reared back, still holding me with one fist, and swatted them away in an arc of movement. They got to their feet, snarling, but I interrupted.
“Wait! Just hang on!”
Everyone came to a stiff pause, including Blaze, whose talons dug into my shoulders. He stared down at my body now as if seeing it fully for the first time since I’d run up to him.
“What happened to you?” he demanded, both in awe and what sounded like fear.
I didn’t know what he was talking about. “What?”
