Page 70 of Dark Reckoning
“Is Sage going to be the shifter?” Salino asked.
“Nope. He's... I guess corrupted by mage blood and vampire. Being a hybrid cancels him out. But don't worry. We have a wolf alpha who'll be the third,” I said.
“And have you spoken with Damon?” Salino asked.
“Not yet, he's next. But we need to hurry.”
“Will this kill me?”
“No. It will drain you, though. You'll be weak, and probably out of commission for a while,” I said, just being honest.
Salino nodded and looked at Juliano. “Sire—Prince... I leave the command of my empire in your capable hands while I'm away. Can I trust you?”
Juliano sighed. “I'm still angry with you, child. But I am loyal to you. I always have been. I will protect your empire and you with my life.”
Salino smiled. “And once this is over, I want you to stay a while longer. You, Sarino, and I need to bond. We need to catch up when we're not in the midst of all of this.”
“I've had some time to think about what happened that night. I do want to know my brother,” Juliano said while looking at Sarino with a mixture of curiosity and compassion.
“I want that, too,” Sarino said, smiling.
Salino closed his eyes and I heard the message he put out to every vampire in his line. He gave full control to Juliano and it was an interesting experience that I received his message too. I figured Sage did as well. He looked at me. “All right, let's go.”
“Oh, ummm, one minute. let me call Damon to let him know we're on our way,” I said.
Salino burst into a fit of laughter then. “Oh, he's not going to take that well.”
“What? Do you two have a beef?”
“He tried to take over my territory about thirty years ago—failed. Having me in his territory will not be something he'll want,” Salino said.
“Well, he's going to have to suck that shit up.” The world was going to hell in a handbasket and the last thing I had time for was petty territory feuds.
“Oooh, you're sexy when you take control like that,” Salino flirted.
“Save it,” I said, then dialed Damon's number. To his credit, he answered right away. I told him what we needed and there was a lengthy pause while he mulled it over.
“It is necessary to bring him here?” Damon asked.
I thought about it. “Nope. Don't worry. I'll drop him off, then come back for you. Just be ready.”
“That, I can work with. How long will it take?” Damon asked. I did love his Greek accent and the cadence of how he spoke.
“Probably three minutes, tops.”
“Give me five.”
“Okay. See you soon.” I ended the call and looked at Salino, who was grinning.
“I told you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, thank god I can teleport now, because if not, I'd have had to insist.” I rose and Salino did the same. “Hey, why aren't you taking this more seriously?”
He cocked his head at me. “Oh contraire, I am. I'm also very confident that you, Sage, and the Council will resolve this.”
“Why?” I asked.
Salino shrugged. “The two of you have done what other mages couldn't. Every task you set out to do, you've done it. And now, you have the full backing of the Echelon Imperial... it's only a matter of time. I mean, aren't you here now because you have a plan?”
