“No, it’s fine. I owe Roman a favor, and I’m going to pay up. Every mage has a weakness, no matter how powerful they are. None of us are gods,” he says.
“How are we supposed to—” Before I can even finish my question, the answer comes rushing in. I spent days with Rune, and I already know what his weakness is. “We need to overwhelm him.”
“Overwhelm him?” Atlas says.
“When he was holding me captive, right after you guys gave up and left, he came into my room and noticed I was feeling claustrophobic. His magic was stretched thin by the illusions he was already holding in place, and he had to borrow my energy to make my room look different,” I explain.
“If we overtax him, we weaken him and level the playing field,” Drax concludes.
“Exactly.”
“Smart, mate,” he murmurs, invisibly stroking our bond.
I shiver and grin.
“How exactly do we do that?” Roman scratches his beard and cocks his head. It’s easy to picture him in his wolfish form with big ears flopping with the head tilt and a tail wagging slowly as he screws up his face in thought.
“There are at least four of you,” Jareth says with a shrug. “And… here…” He crosses the room and kneels in front of a chest in the far corner. He rummages around for a minute before returning to us with a few small satchels in hand. “Each of these is a momentary illusion to help create confusion.”
“Thanks.” I take the bags. “How do they work?”
“Throw one at the ground and a lifelike image will appear for approximately thirty seconds.”
“Got it.” I stuff them into my pockets.
“You still have his scent, Atlas?” Roman asks, and Atlas nods with a serious look on his face. “Perfect. Then why don’t we go home and get some rest, and we’ll try again tomorrow. But this time we’re going in prepared.”
DRAX
A satisfied feelingswells in my chest when Mac follows me into my quarters instead of disappearing into his own when we get back to the compound. The scent of lust is still lingering in my nose from the sex den, made more intoxicating by my mate’s smoky pheromones surrounding me.
As soon as the door swings closed behind us, I let the glamour of clothing fade away, along with the illusion of human skin. Mac smiles at me and wraps his arms around my neck, leaning his weight into me and bringing his lips teasingly close to mine.
“Tell me something I don’t know about you,” he murmurs, running his fingers through the fur that trails down the back of my neck.
“What do you want to know?” I slide my hands down to his ass and pull his body more fully against mine.
“Anything.” He smiles, pecking a kiss against my lips. “Everything.”
“I think it would take an incredibly long time to tell you everything about me,” I warn, walking backward slowly to the bed and towing my mate along with me.
“I’ve got time,” he says agreeably. “Dragons live thousands of years.” He huffs a laugh and I feel a little pulse in our bond, like he’s stroking an invisible finger along it. “Even longer, I guess, if we…”
If. That word sends a jolt of fear to the deepest parts of me that Mac feels immediately. He tightens his arms around my neck and presses his chest against mine.
“I didn’t mean it that way, Drax. I just meant…” He shakes his head and gives me an apologetic smile. “This is what I meant about always messing things up. Having me as yourmate is going to mean a lot of foot-in-mouth moments and dumbassery.”
I frown. “Why would you put your feet into your mouth? Oh, is it the foot fetish thing that’s so common in your realm? Would you like to lick my feet too?”
He sputters a laugh. “No, it’s just an expression. It means I say a lot of stupid shit without thinking.”
“So, you do want to be mated to me?” I check, knowing he can feel the hopeful stutter in my heart.
“I don’t know. I think I do.” He chews on his bottom lip and looks at me with worry in his eyes. “I need time to adjust to all this, okay? But I do like you. Alot.”
“I like you a lot too, dragon,” I purr, nuzzling my nose against his.
He smiles and unloops his arms from around my neck, giving me a little nudge towards the bed.
