Page 90 of Death Warden
I turned to Finley, my shock morphing into anger. “He said that?”
“No. I surmised. Think about it. Coming here is your only option, the only way to keep the lock safe until you get your revelation. The small risk of Dralos being able to tap into the leyline power through his connection to the amulet is worth it.”
I pulled my phone from my pocket. “I need to speak to Tobias now.” Once again, the phone rang and went to voicemail.
I was tempted to throw it across the room. “Dammit!” The guys exchanged glances, probably thinking the same thing I’d been thinking the last few days. Something had happened to Tobias. “I got a text a few days ago. He said he was fine.”
“Anyone could have sent that text,” Curo said.
“Dralos can’t have done anything to him. He’s locked away and Tobias isn’t in Frostgate for Dralos to be able to influence him.”
Logan sat forward. “Dax said that you had to come here because another mage and conduit bound to the lock died? Is that correct?”
“Yeah.”
He arched a brow. “What if it wasn’t an accident.”
“Acolytes!” Curo said. “He has to have had minions working for him. If this guy is the same as my trader, then he was always trailed by minions.”
“Acolytes who somehow continue to do their master’s bidding,” Spectre muttered.
I held up my hands. “Whoa, whoa, this is all speculation and pretty wild stuff too. There is no solid evidence to suggest the trader and my prisoner are the same person.”
“Except in your dreams,” Finley said. “I bet if you could recall those, we’d know.” He swung his head toward Logan. “Know of a way to unlock the mind and recall your dreams?”
Logan gnawed on his bottom lip. “Memories yes, dreams no. They’re two very different beasts. But leave it with me. I’ll do some research.”
Dax appeared in the doorway. His gaze flitted from me to Spectre and his jaw tightened. “I thought I made myself clear.”
“What, we can’t work a case together now?” I was too pissed to be polite.
“It’s for the best,” Dax said. “You both know that—”
“No.” Spectre pushed back his chair and stood.
Dax seemed to expand, his frame becoming larger and more intimidating “No?”
Spectre held his ground. “This is our mate bond and it’s up toushow we deal with it.” He held up a hand to stall any interruption. “You’re my alpha, my prez, and the only father I’ve ever known, and I understand you feel keeping us apart is for the best, but with all due respect, itisn’tyour decision to make. It’s ours. No status trumps a fated mate bond.”
Dax exhaled and shook his head. “You’re making a mistake, Spectre.”
“The mistake would be never experiencing my mate bond. The mistake would be not allowing myself to get to know the female the fates chose for me. I’d rather love and lose than never know love at all.” He looked to me. “That’s what I want, Adi. But you have a choice too. A choice to be with me, if you want it, for as long as you can.”
I’d been introduced to the bond without understanding it. Then I’d been warned against it by Dax, and I’d stepped back, worrying about the potential pain—pain that could be years away, for all we knew, in which time I’d have to deny a part of myself, never feeling whole. What Spectre proposed was for us to stop fighting the bond. To just go with it. The knots in my belly I hadn’t even registered were there melted away.
“I want to be with you.” I smiled up at him. “I want to get to know you too.”
“So be it,” Dax said with another sigh. “I just hope you don’t live to regret your—”
A weight settled over me, tugging me off my chair and onto the ground. My lungs felt as if they were imploding, breath exploding from my lips, and the spot where the amulet rested heated, burning my skin.
I cried out but it came out as a wheeze.
“Adi? Adi!”
Shadows hovered around me, hands on me. I was being carried. I couldn’t see. Why couldn’t I see?
* * *
