“No need to shout,” Anthony scolded.
“What does he want with the dryads?” Silver asked.
Xavier hesitated in answering. He didn’t want to lie and owed Melcori his allegiance, but if this group broke into Melcori’s castle, there was no saying what he would do.
“Does he have all of them? Even my mother?” Rance asked, wiping away his tears.
“I believe so. I don’t know how many were in the Grove, but they are all alive. Melcori is looking for you.”
He was going to get killed for a pretty face. Would his family pitch in for a tombstone or drop him in an unmarked grave? It was a grim thought exercise.
Oliver frowned. “But why does he want this Grove?” Before Xavier could come up with an answer. Oliver kneeled, closed his eyes, and pressed his hand to the ground. A low buzzing sound drifted around the edges of Xavier’s hearing.
He knew he was doomed before Oliver opened his eyes and locked gazes.
Damn it.
“Dryad gems. That’s it, isn’t it?” Oliver’s voice was carefully neutral, but Xavier still felt guilt bite him down to his bones.
“Yes.” What was the point in denying it? “Melcori needs the gems.” They didn’t need to know about his gambling addiction. Xavier still had some loyalty. “He made a deal with one of the dryads for them.”
“Don’t the wizards and the dryads have a pact?” Hallea asked. “I thought they couldn’t harm each other.”
Xavier nodded. “They have a pact not to kill each other. Melcori hasn’t broken that.”
Silver clenched his massive fists. “He will if anyone dies imprisoned.”
“I’m aware, but there isn’t anything I can do about it. If it helps, he’s ensuring they get good medical care.”
“And you’re not willing to help,” Oliver sneered.
He took a deep breath and employed calming techniques to avoid punching the assassin in his judgmental face. If it came to a fight, he wouldn’t win, and he didn’t want to get his ass kicked in front of his new mate. “He doesn’t have a pact not to kill me.” Xavier had lost sleep over that little fact when he was younger. Nowhere in the contract does it state that Melcori had to prevent his death.
“That’s not true. Your apprenticeship contract should stop him from killing you.” Oliver folded his arms and stared at him like a lawyer giving his closing argument to a hostile jury.
“Have you ever read one of those contracts? My parents offloaded me to Melcori. They didn’t care what he did to me as long as I was no longer their problem. I don’t have the luxury of hoping my master doesn’t use my blood in a ritual if I betray him!” he ended, all but shouting. The few remaining birds that had reclaimed a half-charred branch took off in a flutter of caws and feathers.
He guiltily lowered his voice. ”My contract states that he won’t ‘purposely’ kill me. There is a universe of nuance in that phrase.” Accidents happen all the time in Blood Magic rituals. If Melcori ‘forgot’ to give him safety tips for a ritual or had him do something that drained his magic or his blood, he could always tell others that Xavier had overreached. There were drawbacks to his reputation as an overachiever. It made it far too easy for Melcori to kill him while blaming Xavier for improper preparation. It wouldn’t be the first time Xavier rushed a ritual seeking faster results. The excuse would be entirely plausible.
Oliver continued his staring match. “He needs Rance to get the gems, doesn’t he?”
Xavier’s defenses crumpled like a cheap paper bag. “No. He needs Rance to convince his mother to let another dryad lead the new Grove. If we have him in custody, Melcori is convinced Talula will allow another dryad to become the leader, and per their agreement with Melcori, he will get the gems.”
“Which dryad?” Hallea’s sweet voice turned colder than winter frost.
“Octavia.” He didn’t see any reason to hide the truth. They were determined to squeeze it out of him, and he wouldn’t start a relationship lying to his possible mate. “Melcori made a pact with Octavia that she would get the leadership of the Grove if she helped him. Although, if they find out she’s why the Grove went up in flames, I’m not certain if the others will let her.”
“They will,” Rance spoke up. “There are enough of them mad at my mother’s choices. They will support her.”
“How long does it take for a new Grove to form?” Kat released the young dryad, then scooted closer to wrap around Xavier’s right arm.
“I was told it could take between seventy-two hours to a week. It’s not an exact science, but as long as the majority of the dryads are gathered, they should be able to pull the magic from the old Grove and into the new.”
“They won’t be able to,” Rance said.
“Why?” Xavier thought Melcori had covered all his bases from everything he'd read.
“Mother confessed to me that Mother Nature told her that only a male dryad can create a Grove. We’re the original Green Men.”
