“Pateri, you should be resting,” Aerén said, stopping opposite him.
“I am furious that thecuzzonsorcerer has done this to us.” His too-thin face still bore the ravages of his torture. “He will wish he never came after us when I find him. But I must find my Aderyn first. Find my mate…”
His throat worked, his gray eyes misting. “We…we had a disagreement on that ill-fated day. She went riding to cool off. I didn’t like her being upset; I went after her, except they must have already laid their trap. I never saw them coming, never saw her again.”
Aerén listened, anger twisting his gut, but he reeled it in. This was the first time his sire had mentioned his capture.
“We will find her. Butyouneed to be fully recovered first, ormateriwon’t be pleased,” he pointed out.
“I will remain here in Cidéra. It will give me the time to regain my strength, then to find her…” He flexed his healed fingers and rubbed his chest, his attention shifting to Leya. “How did she know?”
Not wanting to overwhelm his sire, Aerén had only mentioned Leya was the one who’d found him.
“A voice that wouldn’t leave her alone begged her to free you. She thought it was premonitions of me at first, and she tried to stop me from going after the rebels and getting caught.”
His sire smiled a little, then frowned. “You mentioned a rebel mortally wounded her with a bespelled arrow? Who brought her back from death? Allatus?”
Damn. What did he say to that? He’d promised Aethan.
Well, unless they planned to go to Earth to exact punishment… Yeah, he didn’t see that happening. And his brother was a force to be reckoned with.
My pardon,frater. He sent his apology across the dimensions to Earth.
“Aethan.” His sire’s head snapped up at the name. “He saved her, gave my mate life again.”
His sire blinked. His throat worked, sadness darkening his eyes. “So, it wasn’t a dream he was here. When I heard his voice…”
“No, not a dream,” Aerén said quietly, then explained about Aethan’s ability to his stunned parent. “But there’s more.” Gunmetal gray eyes, so like his older brother’s, bore into Aerén’s. He divulged what Aethan had revealed. “Ariana lives,pateri.”
His sire swayed.
Aerén flashed across and grabbed him. “You need to go back to bed.”
“I’m okay.” He patted Aerén’s arm. “I’m okay. My children live. Both of them…” He shuffled away from Aerén. While his frame remained gaunt, his immense power grew stronger, wrapping around Aerén like a garrote before it snapped off. He lowered to the armchair Aerén had set near Leya’s bed.
Yeah, only a matter of time before his sire tore down realms to find theirmateri.
Watching him, Aerén remembered something else. “Pateri? What—who is Sebris to you?”
His sire’s gaze snapped to him, shock darkening his eyes to thunderclouds.
Aerén didn’t back down. “He saved you when I couldn’t. The spell was killing you.”
“What?”
“He gave you his blood. I, of course, didn’t care for that, but he said he’s an Original, like you, and I should ask you about it.”
When his sire remained silent, Aerén added, “Sebris…well, his people did aid me the first time.” He explained about saving Leya from a demon bolt, and how he ended up in Sebris’ fortress. “He’s given me leave to use their portal, too, so I can take Leya home at the same timesheleaves her world—it’s a useful anomaly.”
His features pale, his sire pushed to his feet. Aerén moved to help him, but he shook his head, trudged to the open door, then slowed to a halt in front of it.
“He…he’s my brother.” The door shut softly behind him.
What the—?
Fuuuuuuuck!
Aerén remembered all the times he’d tried to kill Sebris.
