Page 53 of Unsubmissive Omega
Whatever his motivation, when I explained the situation to Xeres, he wasted no time in scrying for Xander’s uncle’s location. Then because he wasn’t necessarily at home, Xeres also located Xander’s cousins and aunt. When he found a location with several of them clustered in the one place, it was a fair bet that we’d found their house.
Xeres insisted on accompanying me. My distracted brain noted that this was unusual behavior – the mage didn’t normally take a hands-on approach with pack matters – but I didn’t argue. It wasn’t wise to go alone, and the alternative was to take Zendius with me. I wasn’t sure if I could trust him now, so that was definitely a ‘no’. And having a mage with me would be intimidating to anyone with a sense of self-preservation.
We didn’t speak at all for the several hours it took to drive to Xander’s old home. Xeres sat silently in his seat, staring fixedly out the windshield. His hood hung down behind his neck, his short brown curls making a rare showing. His youthful features were even more pronounced like this, and I wondered again what his story was. It was likely I would never find out.
What was he thinking, I wondered, his unblinking gaze rattling me somewhat.Was he practicing spells? Remembering moments from his past?
“Actually I’m hoping you don’t crash the car.”
I nearlydidcrash the car. How the fuck…?
“Can you read my thoughts or something?” I demanded, casting a suspicious glance sideways at him.Fuck!What if he could? Every dirty thought I’d had about my mate…
He pointed to the road ahead. “Youaredriving rather fast,” he said, as the vehicle fish-tailed a little going through the curve.
“I can’t slow down,” I said grimly, knuckles white on the steering wheel.
“And I probably could, if I chose to,” the smirk was evident in his tone, “but… eew.”
Despite the urgency of the situation, I did allow myself a small smile. That was the closest to a sense of humor I’d ever seen from the mage. He was always so serious, too serious for someone that age. Well, I reminded myself, no-one knew exactly how old he actually was.
Several hours later I pulled up at the house. It was a very fine two-story building set amongst well-tended gardens. Camellia bushes nestled against its beige walls, the soft pink flowersdeceptively charming. A perfectly manicured lawn wrapped itself around the building, split by the graveled driveway. The perfect house, for a perfectly respectable family.
Except they weren’t, were they?I silently fumed. For all Xander’s uncle had projected a superior, snobby, attitude, he wasn’t above treating his own nephew like a second-class citizen, and if he truly had a dungeon here, what else was he capable of? The steps of societal power in the shifter world were paved with evil.
The car crunched to a halt in the turning area, and I got out. Xeres materialized beside me, his dark hood falling softly into place over his head. He looked so much more mysterious like this, unlike the young man who had briefly allowed me to see his playful side in the car.
I nodded at him and strode towards the door. I couldn’t fail to be acutely aware of Xeres’ presence behind me, bolstering my confidence. With my shifter hearing I could hear the rustle of his robe despite the crunch of our footsteps, but even more so, I felt the powerful aura he projected now he had mantled himself again in his mage persona. I put him out of my mind. He would do what he would do. There was no commanding a mage. But I trusted he had my back.
The door swung open before I reached the top step and a man stepped out. The hostile glare I received was not exactly unexpected. But I was startled by the way my blood roared in my ears as I detected Xander’s scent on his uncle’s clothes. It wasn’t strong, but it was fresh enough. A new and alarming thought occurred to me.
“Where is he? What have you done to him?” My hand closed around his throat as I slammed him up against the wall. I wasn’ta killer, but if he had done anything more inappropriate than abduction, Goddess help me if I didn’t come back and gut him.
My hand vibrated as he choked and struggled. The very air seemed to shudder with my rage. The roaring in my head grew louder. The alpha’s eyes were wide, all white sclera and dilated pupil, none of the iris showing. His mouth opened and closed like a gasping fish. He looked panicked. As well he should be, I raged inside.
A gentle pressure on my shoulder, startled me and I snapped my head around to find Xeres beside me, a strained look on his face. His other hand pointed towards the upper level of the house… which was crumbling. I watched one of the window frames slide down and out of sight as the wall around it disappeared in a cloud of pink and beige dust. Another section of the roof collapsed inwards, disappearing behind the red-tiled slope in front of it. Vibrations shook the house dislodging another window and a section of wall. The center of the roof had collapsed completely, particles floating in the air where it used to be. A rumble from within the collapsed roof suggested further destruction. Upper story walls crumbled from the top down, picture frames and lights clattering downwards into the melee. My brain was struggling to make sense of what my eyes were seeing.
Beside me, Xeres’ hood was tossed back and he was muttering through gritted teeth. A trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face. Strain lines marked his features.
His hand remained outstretched, pointing towards the door. “Hurry,” he gritted out through clenched teeth. My brain finally caught up - he wasn’t pointingatthe house, he was holding it up. Barely.
“Where is he?” I demanded, turning to face the older alpha who was starting to turn blue with the unintentional extra pressure I’d been applying to his throat. His hands were around mine, claws out, rivulets of bright red blood dripping from the back of my hand. I eased my grip slightly, enough for him to gasp in a breath.
I shook him, “Where is he?”
He pointed inside. Another shake.
“Where?”
Xander’s uncle shrugged. Then his eyes flicked to the doorway where a young alpha struggled as the debris from the house fell around him. He was a younger version of the alpha I had pinned to the wall, and the contortions of his face and body as he struggled frantically against… thin air?... were grotesque.
Xander’s uncle eyes were wide with horror, eyes flicking to something beyond me. Oh yes, Xeres. The mage was the reason the alpha’s son couldn’t leave the house. The force of his magic was not just supporting the house, it was blocking the young man from leaving.
Xander’s uncle realized it too. “Through the kitchen,” he gurgled.
Xeres’ luminous eyes flicked to mine. His face was set in an expressionless mask, but the sweat rolled freely down his face, his curls dark with moisture. I dipped my head in consent. Timber from a window frame clattered to the doorstep in front of us. I could see the whites of the young alpha’s panicked eyes. A chunk of stone landed in the garden with a thud.
Xeres changed the direction of his arm, angling it higher. The force preventing the younger man from leaving having beensuddenly redirected, he lunged forward and fell forward onto the top steps. At the same time, Xeres grabbed my shoulder and pulled me forward. By necessity I let go of the older alpha. I didn’t wait to see what happened to the two of them.
