Like he had called his wolf, he called the Chaos magic to him, pulling on it and requesting that it give him a portal to a place that was safer and far away. He had a location in mind. He hadn't been there in many years, but he did remember that, for a time, it had been home.
The portal opened up, no longer a swirling mass of fear and terror.
He was the King of History, a holder of Chaos. and now the portal before him was filled with gold and silver swirls, like the Chaos had looked when it was wrapped around his wolf.
After a moment of marveling at the changes his body had already created, he streamed through the portal and was gone from Encantado.
Chapter Nineteen
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NANSHE AWAKENED SLOWLY, stretching her arms above her head in happiness and relaxation. Finally, she and Carlo had come together, and not a moment too soon. Of course, she would have hoped for their official first time after meeting to not be something thathadto be done, but it had worked for them, nonetheless. And she could be happy for her body aching in such a pleasant way.
She knew she would still hold the essence of his touch for days.
He was powerful and strong within her, and she loved every minute of being with him. Something was different in the way they had come together during the marking, as if he had recognized more between them once he had opened himself to the Chaos.
She trembled, a moment of worry seeping through her thoughts. She just hoped he didn't seemore. It was one of the dangers of him having access to the past, like he was seeing more than he should and wasn't prepared to understand. She wasn’t able to explain it to him, but she didn't imagine he would be likely to investigate too far into the beginning of his powers. Well, at least she hoped he didn't. For now, though, she would just be happy they had shared the moment with each other.
Stretching again, she reached for his side of the bed, eager to start their day with another bout of what he’d already showed her, but all she felt was coolness beside her.
What?
She snapped up, her eyes scanning the room. Where was he? Shrugging off unease and hoping he wasn't as far away as it seemed—maybe he was just taking a shower—she got out of bed to stretch, elongating her spine and moaning in pleasure as it clicked into place. Yes, she would have much rather woken up doing something delicious with her mate. But just remembering the action was enough to sustain her for now.
She called as she always did, using her magic and the past to restore her dress onto her body instead of the shreds littering the floor from where she had torn it from herself, eager to get to Carlo and help him the night before. Now she would go in search of her mate. But the more she looked around the room, the more she began to stress.
Carlo was not in his bathroom, and the shower and sinks were bone-dry. It hadn't been touched in quite some time. He was nowhere to be found in his room. When she went into the hall, wolves raced back and forth, away from a bellowing Arturo.
“Find him, and you find him now!”
She went to Arturo’s side. “What has happened? What's going on?”
Arturo turned away from her, not answering her question. But she ran around and jumped in front of him. “Tell me, where is my mate?”
Arturo growled. “I am protecting you because I must, and you have done a great service to Encantado. But you insisted on coming here, and because you're here, my wolf has had to do what he felt necessary to protect you. You will not go after him. I will not allow you. But Iwillknow he is safe, and that is all I can give you.”
