Page 94 of The Mating Claim
He couldn’t think that way. Life was suddenly no longer right or wrong or black and white. The gray areas had drifted into his life with the high-spirited, daring Lacey and he could not dismiss them as one would ignore oceanflotsam.
The sex had been amazing. No, it was more than sex. It was making love, that intimate feeling of being fully attuned with another living, breathing person after centuries of loneliness. Isolation and solitude in the purgatory of the Shadow Lands had worn his spirit down like water pounding against granite. As much as he’d tried to pretend the emotional pain of being alone had never tormented him, he could not lie tohimself.
Once Danu made him the Coldfire Wizard, guardian of judge of all dragons, he knew he couldn’t, as Xavier said, screw up royally. But Lacey, ah,Lacey.
Lacey had blown into his strict, orderly wizard life like a welcoming ocean breeze. She disregarded the rules, lived life to the fullest and found joy in the simplest of things, like beachcombing for shells. She relentlessly battered against the barriers he’d erected to keep his life as the Coldfire Wizard orderly anddisciplined.
Restless, he dematerialized to Tir Na-nog , seeking Tristan’scounsel.
He found the Silver Wizard in the gardens behind his home in wolf form, digging frantically at the soil. Tristan stopped, loped over to a nearby tree and lifted his leg, then resumed hisdigging.
Bemused, Drust stared. “What are youdoing?”
The wolf looked at him and spoke. “Digging a den for myself and my mate andpups.”
Drust raised a brow. “And your home no longersuffices?”
The wolf sniffed at the ground. “Not quite. I want to hide them here until I’m certain the danger passes and mark my territory to warn offintruders.”
Odd. Tristan was a powerful immortal and no danger existed here in peaceful Tir Na-nog . He went to the wolf, scratched behind his ears. “Tristan, what’s wrong? Why are you reverting to your wolfinstincts?”
The Silver Wizard materialized back into his human form. “I don’t know. You can take your hand off my head now,Drust.”
Sitting back on his haunches, he regarded his friend. They had fought together for years as mortals, the dragon and the wolf, winning victories until Drust’s wife at the time betrayed Tristan to the evil Fae King during the Fae Wars. Tristan had freed him from the Shadow Lands and he owed him a debt he could neverrepay.
Yet Drust suspected what haunted Tristan now was something he could do nothingabout.
“Why did you wish to hide Niki and thetwins?”
Tristan dusted off his hands. “She is taking them to…Montana.”
He made it sound as if his family were venturing into the bowels ofhell.
“To visit Nia, Aiden and theirchild?”
Tristan sat back, nodded. “I have visited Aiden and he’s assured me he will set double guards upon them at all times. Aiden would give his life to protect my mate and family. He’s a good Lupine. But I cannot shake the feeling something wicked is in the air on the mortal plane, and it will harm my beloved and ourchildren.”
A chill raced down Drust’s spine. “Then order them to remainhere.”
He sighed. “If I do, she will obey, but resent me for being overbearing and worrying. I cannot be with them at all times, Drust. I cannot protect them as much as I try, and I know she needs to have freedom as well. It’s a challenge, having a mate and children I lovedearly.”
Life was far easier as a bachelor. Once he would not have envied Tristan’s dilemma. But now he understood his friend’s fears, and his struggles to keep his marriage balanced and his mate happy. All he could do was offerfriendship.
Drust put a hand on the Silver Wizard’s shoulder, his own troubles seeming far less. “I am here for you if you need me, my friend. Simply call uponme.”
Tristan’s dark gaze searched his. “Why are you here? Do you need mycounsel?”
“Nolonger.”
The Silver Wizard gazed into the distance, as if trying to foresee the future. “Yet there is something that drew you here. And while you are here, a little advice. Waithere.”
When Tristan returned in a moment, the wizard bore a wooden wand, carved with intricate runes. “Takethis.”
Drust turned the wand over in his hand. “Why? You told me we have no need ofwands.”
“Normally, no. But in certain circumstances, they serve to amplify our magick. After that incident with the demon in Lacey’s store, I realized you should have one. There is something about Lacey that requires extra protection. I can feel it. She is a magnet. A magnet that attracts badthings.”
The simple wood stick felt heavy in his hands, heavy as the responsibility resting on his shoulders. He could feel it pulling at him, at the magick inside him, wanting to absorbit.
