Aurelius, with his infuriatingly calm demeanor and his birth-given, ancient power of healing light, the blinding white energy, and the fire that is almost a mockery of my own, filled me with a cold, jealous rage. Did he actually love her? That is a weakness I am starting to comprehend, yet it is a threat I cannot ignore. His power may be a near match for my own, and with it, he could challenge the rank.
Even though we grew up together and have always been friends, I have held a certain wariness toward my Master of Dragons. When he was born with his silver hair, a trait of those of the ancient bloodline, my father decided to manipulate his blood test results to show his power was slightly less than my own, assuring his own lineage on the Flaming Throne. To this day, I do not know if he is equal to me or above me, but it never mattered. He never wanted to rule. He just wanted to fly. So, I made my friend the Master of Dragons and my second. He has never had a reason to challenge me, until now. I need to remind him of his place without cracking the pillars any further.
Just then, I inhaled an overwhelming scent of arousal and passion, so pungent that I fought back a dry heave. I broke away from my mental conversation with Aurelius and scanned the room for the source. No, it can’t be. Cercies? Unbelievable. My General has been so distracted and disengaged thisentire
meeting, and now he is staring at the doorway, his heart rate beating out of control. I wonder if Delilah walked by.
I fire gazed into her room, but she must have extinguished her fireplace, I saw that coming, I should not have watched her pleasure herself but I couldn’t help myself, to be fair, it was not intentional, I was merely checking in on my mortal guest and then I saw her riding the clone of my cock, I couldn’t look away, I needed to know if she could take all of me, if she could handle my size. Fuck, now I was getting aroused!
But there was one other way to check up on my mortal mate, my sentient orb. It is an extension of my own consciousness, one I plucked from my mind and shaped into the physical form of a fireball. To create it, the magic required me to choose a part of my mind that I could live without. I chose my inner child. I made it to help her navigate the castle, and maybe to spy a little as well.
I focused my mind on the whereabouts of the other part of me. I could see her. She was wrapped in the blanket and crying. Fuck. I’ll let the orb handle this. I had bigger things to worry about.
So, Cercies must have been just thinking about her then? Damn, that strong of a rush for a thought. My boys were in deep. Sending them away for a while to clear their minds of Delilah’s hold is exactly what they needed.
“Very well. I will sign off on the crystals for Lady Delilah Raye, and Titus, do glamour your fire traits to lower suspicion. I will fly back to select my search companions, and I will return in a week. I want my clearances by then,” Folliade concluded.
I nodded in agreement.
“And by the way, if you misuse the crystals for anything other than livestock, I will join with the Shadow and Water Kingdoms to bring you down, so don’t fuck me over, Titus. I’m going out on a limb trusting you,” he threatened politely.
“A decision you won’t regret, old friend,” I replied, my tone thick with sarcasm.
I turned to address the room. “I want to thank you all for coming so quickly in our kingdom’s time of need. You are all welcome to stay for the annual SkyGuard performance and feast tonight,” I announced as I concluded the meeting.
The moment I did, Cercies made a break for the door. Where was he going in such a hurry? He wouldn’t. Is he seriously going to Delilah’s chambers to finish what we started in my lounge? He has always had a large sexual appetite, but damn, we were in the war room discussing an attack, and my General was too distracted by his urges to focus on the matter at hand. Aurelius stayed behind to coordinate the route to the remaining livestock towns, and I decided to follow my third in command.
After the meeting, I lingered in the hall, pretending to be preoccupied with a document so I could study the path Cercies took through my castle, trying to determine my General’s intended destination. After a few paces, I was beckoned by the last person I wanted to talk to, Caddver.
“A word, Lord Titus,” Caddver summoned.
I ground my teeth, annoyed by the interruption. Cercies rounded a corner and was out of my line of sight. I would have to follow his scent later.
I turned to the head of the Council.
“Yes, Council Member Caddver?” I said with forced decorum. My sarcasm did not go unnoticed. He snarled, showing yellow, crooked teeth and blackened gums.
“Who, may I ask, is Delilah Raye? I have not heard this name, and since I am the head of the Council, I should have full knowledge of any and all official associates of the High Lord.”
Hearing her name come out of his rotting mouth made my flames bite at the surface of my skin.
“Spare me the small talk, Caddver, and ask the question you really want to know. I am in the middle of something,” I scowled.
A slow, menacing smile crawled across his hideous face. “Very well. Is Lady Delilah your mate?”
“No,” I replied plainly.
He narrowed his eyes and said, “I know you think that because I reside in the Temple in Embris, I am unaware of the goings-on up here in the castle, but I assure you, there isn’t anything that happens that I don’t know about.”
A cold chill ran through me. There was no way he could have known about what happened in the lounge. Could there be? I made a mental note to question my staff later. I slipped my mask of cold indifference into place and replied, “Well then, since you know so much, perhaps you can fill me in on what the fuck you are talking about.”
His eyes blazed with triumph, knowing he had caught me off guard. He continued, “Lady Delilah is the mortal who was rescued from the sacred forest.”
“And?”
“I know you have been obsessed with that prophecy, that dagger, the God Dragon. You plan to use her, don’t you?” he stated.
“Perhaps. Your point, Council Member?” I huffed.
