Page 17 of The Missing Sentinel
Chander grinned, and it lit up his entire face. “I know. I love you too. Now, go find our Duc.”
Lifting Chander’s chin for another kiss, Alaric brushed their lips together and offered his mate a vow. “I will do my best.”
∞∞∞
Ducarius snatched the daggers from his hips as he stalked out of the idiotic castle created by a necromancer who’d spent the last five centuries manipulating Drexley. It was morbidly fascinating to Ducarius how it was possible to convince any sentinel to give up training, and he idly wondered where Drexley kept his weapons. When was the last time the sentinel had touched them?
The situation reminded him of Albrecht. Trapped in a tiny cell half the size of the one Ducarius had once called home, Albrecht had been locked away without his blades. Ducarius had often wondered how Albrecht had kept sane without training to soothe him. But it was clearly possible, and now Drexley was another on the short list of sentinels deprived of a talent and skill Ducarius needed to practice immediately.
Unfortunately, free space was in short supply. There was little land around Adney’s castle, and much of it was crumbling away. Thankfully, Ducarius had found a patch of land at the backof the large monstrosity Adney had created, and it served his purposes well enough. The moment Ducarius located the spot again, a wave of homesickness hit him.
If he were outside of Adney’s realm, Ducarius would not have to summon a shadowy version of himself to practice against. At home, Ducarius had family and friends at the ready to spar with no matter the time of day. Every man in the Sentinel Brotherhood enjoyed training, and Ducarius relished the exercise and sense of peace he gained from matching his skills to others’. But he was stuck in Adney’s realm, and Drexley had somehow been convinced that training was ungentlemanly.
That made zero sense to Ducarius.
Outside of sentinels, people established ways to defend themselves. Shifters and elves wielded weapons of their choice, and sorcerers created spells to damage their enemies. Danger was part of life, and no one was less honorable for their desire to survive an encounter with a foe. Adney’s reasoning that weapons were evil was the most dizzying logic Ducarius had encountered.
And it pissed him off that it was his mate who’d been manipulated to believe such a ludicrous sentiment. Ducarius blew out a breath as a fresh wave of anger heated his blood. Squeezing his eyes shut, Ducarius gripped his blades tight and used the bit of magic his creators had granted him to summon a hologram of himself.
Then Ducarius slipped into invisibility and charged. The muscles of his legs bunched as he swung himself and his blades in a wide arc that nearly decapitated the fake Ducarius. Desperate for some sense of balance thanks to the wild events of the past few days, he battled his rage along with his training partner as he whipped around the small patch of grass behind the castle where his mate lived.
Ducarius did not want to spend every waking moment wondering what the hell had happened to Drexley in the pastfive hundred years. Fate had brought Ducarius his other half. Ducarius’s primary goal should’ve been to get to know who Drexley was now and build a bond with him. Learning to love someone as a partner was a daunting thing to contemplate, but Ducarius was excited for the challenge.
Although Drexley was vastly different from the other sentinels in Ducarius’s life, that was not a mark against him. Drexley had adapted to the world around him, but Ducarius’s suspicions had grown that the other sentinel was unaware that he was being influenced by a draining spell. That spoke of Adney’s character or lack thereof, not Drexley’s.
In fact, Drexley’s embrace of being a scholar and gentleman reinforced Ducarius’s theory that sentinels could adapt to anything.Or nearly anything, he mentally corrected as a discordant memory of fellow Skeleton Lord Eduard’s saxophone skill played through his head. Shaking his head to purge the sound out of his brain nearly cost him in his battle with himself.
Ducking, Ducarius avoided his hologram’s blades. Ducarius regrouped and changed his grip as he sprung up. Rising to his toes, he soared through the air in a flip and nearly stabbed his phantom self between the shoulder blades. It was a satisfying charge, and Ducarius grinned.
A vision of Drexley wearing a similar expression earlier in the library filled his mind. The other sentinel was gorgeous, and his smile lit up his soft brown eyes. It was an expression Ducarius hoped to encourage Drexley to use often. Ducarius wanted his mate to be happy. Which meant he had to tread carefully as he probed gently to get answers to the growing list of questions in his mind.
Ducarius wanted to know everything about Drexley. Most importantly, Ducarius was desperate to learn how well Fate had done in pairing them. Would they someday share the rare fullybonded gifts of telepathy and knowing instinctively the emotions of the other given to a pair of mated sentinels?
It was risky to offer himself and his heart to Drexley, but Ducarius refused to back down from the challenge or reject a gift from Fate. And Ducarius was already fascinated by the book-loving sentinel who’d set aside his own instincts to build a bond with his necromancer—one who believed resurrected beings were inferior to sorcerers. Ducarius snarled as he rose to the balls of his feet to execute another perfectly timed flip, and his blades crashed into the nearly transparent ones of his foe.
There were far too many necromancers infatuated with the idea of being superior to others, and that was why the Sentinel Brotherhood so often categorized them as assholes. But what Ducarius could not forget was that whatever Adney’s flaws were, Drexley cared for the man, and he was dying.
Along with the mourning Drexley would surely need to do, everything about his life would change when he had to face reality beyond Adney’s realm. Ducarius promised himself he would be the strong shoulder Drexley needed as he adapted to the Council. Determined to be an excellent partner to his mate, Ducarius would stop at nothing to ensure Drexley had everything he needed.
Which meant Ducarius’s first task was to build trust between himself and Drexley. And if a growing bond meant Ducarius would get to press his mouth or other parts to Drexley, then he would happily accept those gifts. Ducarius was thankful he had a thorough education of sexual matters despite formerly believing the entire thing was unappealing at best.
If Ducarius was lucky, the future would grant him the chance to use everything he had been taught. The thought tantalized. Ducarius already understood why the mated people around him were so often fusing their lips together. Infused with resolve as a picture floated into his mind of doing the same withDrexley, Ducarius flashed a smile. He threw his dagger, and it landed squarely in the chest of his foe.
Hopefully, that would prove to be just one of many successes as the day progressed. Happy with that idea, Ducarius readied himself for a second round with his hologram and eagerly anticipated being with Drexley once his training was completed.
Chapter 9
Ducarius had bided his time throughout the day to get his thoughts in order and to ensure he did not overwhelm his mate by gluing himself to Drexley’s side, though the idea was tempting. The evening meal was interesting, and not in a good way, but Ducarius hadn’t complained as Adney ignored him completely. Adney had engaged Drexley in complex conversations about books Ducarius had never read. Nor did he want to, which he would have been happy to tell Adney if the necromancer had asked.
Since he hadn’t, Ducarius had kept his mouth zipped and listened as Drexley spoke animatedly about spells he would never cast. Did it bother Drexley that he lacked magic? Ducarius hoped not; the last thing he wanted was for his other half to pine for the impossible. At least Ducarius could soothe himself knowing that after Adney’s inevitable death, Drexley would have plenty of people around to discuss his interests.
If things went well, Drexley would share a bed and home with Ducarius, and the Arch Lich was a notable scholar. Ducarius could easily imagine Drexley and Chander swapping tidbits of knowledge. It would likely forge a great friendship between the pair, and Ducarius was already devoted to the cause of fully incorporating Drexley into the Daray family.
Fueled by the image of Drexley sitting at the dining table with the boisterous Darays and hoping to hell he wouldn’t have to someday kill Baxter for discussing his dick in front of his mate, Ducarius ventured through the castle. Although he could easily track the only other sentinel in the castle, it was likely unnecessary. The place was gigantic, but the rooms were strangely allocated.
Besides the ample space devoted to Adney’s private chamber, the vast library, and the long dining hall, everything else was tiny and cramped. It was obviously how Adney preferred it, but Ducarius had rolled his eyes at the way the few summoned skeletons bumped into and tripped over each other as they completed their chores. So, given Drexley’s love of books and the castle design, Ducarius would bet everything in his bank account that his other half was back in the library.
The tall door of the room creaked as Ducarius opened it and smiled internally as he confirmed his hunch. This time the sentinel wasn’t alone, and Adney’s expression was not overly friendly.
