But I couldn’t feel anything.
Torvek was clearly cloaking himself.
Just before we reached Winter, a blast of vermillion magic slammed into him and sent him flying across the empty fields with a grunt.
In the next second, Torvek materialized from a sudden burst of teleportation, storming toward Winter with unrestrained fury, and roaring, “How dare you endanger her like this?”
Winter staggered back to his feet. “What? What’s going on?”
“Yeah, what the fuck are you doing?” Zayn yelled over, calling his power.
Oh, no.
“Torvek, stop!” I called out.
He ignored us both, his molten gold eyes blazing. Then he fired another blast of his magical flame at Winter. Thank fuck it wasn’t his actual dragon fire. While Winter couldn’t be killed, he could be hurt.
Winter’s Wraith frost sparked and he threw up a wall of it, just as Torvek hit, managing to hold it at bay.
But barely.
He was compromised by what had just happened. And… something that was wrong with his necromantic magic. Strategically, calling on that against the likes of Torvek and his sheer power would have been the best bet, hands down.
“Got too much, did it? Denying your desire for her? You decided to force the issue, give her no choice?” Torvek thundered. “That makes you no better than Keuric!”
“Stand the fuck down!” Zayn bellowed. “Or I swear to fuck—”
“Your magic so much as touches me and I’ll torch you where you stand!” Torvek yelled back.
“T! What is going on?” I demanded, as I grasped Zayn’s shoulder, urging him not to intervene. When Torvek got like this, which was super rare, all bets were off. Zayn would get hurt. Badly. And I wouldn’t have that.
“The spell he promised us that he’d keep up to hide the fact that you two slept together is down. That’s what Olaren came to me about earlier. One of the Dracoryn Guards that Draven has keeping an eye on you from a distance picked up on the connection between you two and told Olaren before reporting it straight to your father or anyone else in House Vortimer, because he knows how Olaren respects me, and Olaren knows how much you mean to me.”
I frowned. “No, that can’t be.”
Zayn told me, “It’s not his fault. There’s something wrong with Win’s magic.”
Torvek overheard with his dragon senses. “Excuse me?” He glared at Winter. “Is this true?”
Before Winter could respond in his shock—and fear, from what I was scenting from him, Zayn cut in, “It can’t be known, you asshole. He’d be locked down. And if word got out to the wider supernatural world, a whole lot of panic would run wild.”
“You knew that, then you should have taken precautions!” Torvek yelled at Winter. “You’ve endangered her!”
Winter looked between him and me, absolutely distraught. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”
“I know, Winter,” I assured him. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out. It’ll all be okay.”
“It’s not okay!” Torvek shot back. “You forgive too easily. Because he’s got a talented dick, or he’s gentle and sweet… whatever it is, you shouldn’t, Evi!”
His ruby dragon’s head pendant nestled in the open collar of his black shirt started sparking.
Torvek gritted his teeth. “No,” he muttered. “Don’t interfere.”
He opened his mouth, then let loose his actual dragon fire, headed toward Winter, the deep-orange and yellow stream cutting through the dark of the night.
I moved to intervene, intending to block it with a burst of speed and a counter of my Chill Blast.
But rapid-fire movement cut across my vision a moment before Winter was grabbed and burst off to the side.
