“What did they…” Saeward gulped then leaned down to breathe deeply. “Oh, no. No, no, no. Sawyer, who had you? Can you tell me? What were they doing to you?”
Sawyer’s answer was another groan. Saeward gently brushed Sawyer’s dark hair off his forehead. “Sawyer, please. You must tell me.”
Sawyer opened his eyes then let out another pain-filled groan. “T…Tiamat,” he managed to stutter out.
Saeward couldn’t hide the expression of horror that must have crossed his face.
“Wh…what did they do?” Sawyer gasped.
“You were being sacrificed to Tiamat,” Saeward whispered in horror.
“Yes,” Sawyer said quietly. “The griffins, they thought I was an imposter. But I’m not. Magdalen thought she could find her true mate.”
His eyes drifted shut again. The words made little sense to Saeward. How was Sawyer an imposter? How could he help this Magdalen find her true mate? Those questions could be answered later. They had more immediate concerns to address. Saeward shook him gently. They had no time to lose. The pieces were slowly coming together and the picture was not a pleasant one. Saeward was well aware of the practices of the cult of Tiamat. She was an ocean goddess, one who boasted of chaos. But her other skill was one of fertility, and the griffins, like many of their world, were unable to have children. He’d heard whispers of the growing desperation of others like him, and it shouldn’t have been a surprise that someone would try dark magic to ease their panic. Tiamat had fallen out of favor well before Saeward’s time as her worshipers performed dark and dangerous rituals with terrible consequences. Dark magic which they’d worked on Sawyer.
“Sawyer, do you have a mate?”
“Y…yes,” Sawyer said. “My… my guardians. Help me find them.”
“Sawyer, where are your guardians?”
“The griffins,” he said. “We went to the cottage. Why does it hurt? I’m so hot. Something’s not right.”
“They’re at the griffin compound? Focus, Sawyer. This is important.”
“Yes. Where am I?”
Too far away. The griffins were along the coast as well, but were hundreds of miles south from where Saeward had made his home. He’d purposefully separated himself from others, choosing an isolated life instead. For years, he’d avoided any chance of interaction, but he’d broken his own rules and he still didn’t understand why. He’d swum farther south than normal earlier that evening, something calling him, an itch he couldn’t scratch until he’d followed it. Then he’d brought Sawyer back to his cabin, farther away from his mates than he would have been otherwise. It meant that they were hours away from where the griffins made their home, even with him swimming at full speed, which he couldn’t do with Sawyer in his current state. He’d never be able to get Sawyer to his mates on time. “Sawyer, listen to me. My name is Saeward.”
“Ward?” Sawyer asked. His voice was becoming more slurred by the minute.
“Ward works,” Saeward said. He’d been called worse and the nickname was easier. “Here, drink this.”
He pressed the mug of tea back to Sawyer’s lips and encouraged him to drink. He wasn’t expecting for Sawyer to grab his hand in a suddenly tight grip, or for his eyes to widen. “You’re one of them,” Sawyer said.
“One of who?”
“My guardians. I’ve been looking for you.” The words were said on a whispered sigh, one that twisted Saeward up inside.
“No, Sawyer. My name is Saeward. Ward. You’re confused. You’ve been…poisoned and we’re too far from your mates. I need you to understand.”
Sawyer ran his hand over the mark on Saeward’s wrist, the mark which had mysteriously appeared one day long ago with no explanation. He’d never found another with a mark like his, even though he’d searched the oceans far and wide before he gave up and found his isolated refuge. “Guardian,” Sawyer whispered.
Saeward trembled. The word struck a chord deep within him, one he didn’t quite understand, but one that settled deep into his bones asright, as right as he felt wandering through strange woods earlier and coming across this injured human and knowing he had to risk exposing himself to help.
“Sawyer, please.”
“You can save me,” Sawyer said. He ran his finger over the mark again. “I should have known the goddess would send me to you. She does that, you know. She’s sneaky.”
This man, this human, spoke of the goddess as if he knew her. It wasn’t possible. The daughters never revealed themselves to humans, and the mother had been gone for so long. “Sawyer, I can save you but… I can’t get you to your mates in time.”
“Ward,” Sawyer sighed, “you’re so beautiful. Henry’s going to love you. Draco will scowl because you’re bigger than him. He likes being the biggest, but it’ll be okay. Andvari will take a while to warm up, but that’s the way he is. Eduard… well, he’ll wait and see but he’ll give you a chance because you belong to me. He believes in tradition, you know. I’m cold and hot at the same time. Isn’t that weird?”
“You’re going to be okay, Sawyer. I… I’m sorry it has to be this way but… I hope you will understand.” Saeward picked Sawyer up and carried him through to his bedroom. He placed him carefully on the bed before unwrapping the blankets from around him. Sawyer’s body was flushed red, his cock full and leaking. They’d dosed him with one of their potions and had planned on fucking him until he died, keeping him on the edge for as long as possible until they spilled his seed and his blood in one violent moment. That was their sacrifice, their gift for their goddess. But it meant that if he didn’t have sex, he would die, the ancient incense that they’d used ensuring he would be an acceptably potent sacrifice to their dark goddess.
Ward had a small pot of oil that he used when he pleasured himself. He placed it on the table beside the bed, and then crawled up beside Sawyer. He was so much bigger than Sawyer, towering over him even as they lay beside each other. Sawyer lifted his hand and cupped it around Saeward’s cheek.
“Why are you so sad? You found me. It was fate.”
