Page 3 of Into the Dawn
“What are you doing right now?”
Axis immediately shot back a bratty response.“We are not available at the moment. Please try to contact us again when you have something fun to share.”
“This is serious,”he growled impatiently.“Now, where the fuck are you?”
“We are at the caverns south of the palace,”Axis replied quickly.
He felt relieved to hear they weren’t close by. Usually, the trio tried to follow Ronan and Dominic whenever they were on patrol just to see how long they could hide what they were doing from their elder brothers. They claimed it was good practice for them to learn how to shadow and stalk their prey. Since Ronan agreed with them, he had never bothered to put a stop to their antics.
But knowing the rogues were searching for them meant they were in danger and needed to get back to the palace as soon as possible.
“I need you, Bastion, and Keo to stop whatever you are doing and head directly back to the palace, but do not make it obvious what you are doing. You might be under surveillance right now. Do not let anyone know what is going on. Even your guards.”
“Really?”There was a hint of surprise in his brother’s tone.
“Really,”Ronan stressed.
There was a brief pause, then Axis said,“Rion, Nyros, and Zorin were not feeling well today. They got sick along with a few others from the meal they ate this rising.”
Rion, Nyros, and Zorin Dalkis were several years older than Axis, Bastion, and Keo, and the six of them were best friends. The Dalkis brothers had excelled in all of their training, earning elite status when it came to hunting, tracking, and combat. Ronan was also fond of the guards. He had always been glad they were protecting his brothers, but the current situation seemed highly suspicious.
“Then, who is guarding you right now?”Dominic demanded, cutting in.
“Who?”Ronan growled again when his younger brother failed to respond.
Axis sighed as he finally admitted,“No one. We told Rion, Nyros, and Zorin that we would ask Brel to assign another team to us, but we snuck out of the palace before we spoke to him. We know it is wrong, but the caverns are not far from the palace. We thought we would make it back before anyone missed us.”
If Brel, Galron, and Timus Varko had known the younger trio had snuck out of the palace unguarded, at least one of them would have ended up guarding them. As the Commanders of the Palace Guard, that was their duty. But they were also the brothers of Ronan and Dominic’s former mate and their best friends, which made them family.
The commanders were known to be strict and would have definitely gotten in the way of whatever mischief the young trio had been up to today. The Varko brothers had been the same back when their main duty was to guard Ronan, Dominic, and Eron. Since Ronan had been guilty of ditching them a time ortwo, he couldn’t really be too angry with Axis. However, fear and worry made it difficult to remain rational.
Ronan tried to keep calm as he said,“We will discuss your reckless behavior later.”
“You need to get back to the palace now,”Dominic commanded.“There are over a dozen intruders in the forest who are searching for you.”
“For us?”Axis shook off his surprise and soberly said,“It might be better if we just stay here. We have a great place where we can hide, and no one knows where we are.”
Ronan took a few seconds to consider that. It was a risk since the intruders obviously knew they were outside the palace walls. Still, if the trio were in a location that was relatively safe, that was better than being caught out in the open.
“Do that. Stay hidden until we come for you.”
“Do not worry about us. We know what to do,”Axis said.“Stay safe, brothers.”
Ronan didn’t bother to reply before he cut their connection.
“They will be fine,”Dominic assured.“Our brothers might mess around, but they listen whenever you use that tone.”
“What tone?”
“The do-not-fuck-with-me tone.”
Amused despite the situation, he smiled.“I was not aware I had that specific tone.”
“You do. I would know since I hear it all the time,”Dominic said dryly.
“Aye, coming from your own mouth,”Ronan scoffed.“I trust those little beasts have secret hiding spots all over the forest just like we did. Hellfire, they are probably using one of our old spots in the caverns. I find it highly suspicious that their guards were suddenly sick today, though.”
“I agree. We should contact our fathers to check that out and have them send out more guards to—”Dominic’s words cut offas he cursed viciously. “There is another group of rogues here. Eight of them. They seem more skilled than the ones near you since I barely heard them and made it to cover before I caught a glimpse of them.”
