Dragonmark (27 page)

Furious, he manifested a fire blast to attack. Until he recognized the source of the power.

Falcyn.

Only this time, he wasn't in dragon form. Dressed in their ancient black war garb, he wore the skins and furs of the slayers who'd made the mistake of coming after him, as trophies and testament to his unsurpassed martial skills. His black hair was short except for one long braid that was wrapped around his throat and adorned with a silver dragon pendant that matched his pale eyes. They flashed like mercury in the dim light.

And they missed no detail at all.

Illarion's eyes widened as he saw him there. He inclined his head in acknowledgment of his older brother's birth order and out of respect.

Returning the gesture to Illarion, Falcyn closed the distance between them with that fierce predatorial walk that was uniquely his.

Without a word, he stopped in front of Seraphina and met Max's gaze. “May I?” It was forbidden for a drakomas to touch another's mate without permission. To do so was a killing offense in their culture.

Max nodded.

Sera frowned at him as she looked back and forth between them. “Max?”

“It's all right, Sera. This is my brother Falcyn. I trust him … most days.”

Ignoring his teasing barb, Falcyn touched her icy forehead, then her hand. “Who curses her?”

“Zeus.”

He scoffed disdainfully. “Then I hope this seriously pisses that bastard byblow off. You should have told me that originally. I wouldn't have had to soul-search nearly as long before helping you.”

With one claw, Falcyn made a small incision on his wrist until he could gather three drops of blood. From his satchel, he pulled a small oblong ball that resembled an egg, then coated it with his blood. He placed it in her hands and cupped them around it while he chanted in their mother's tongue. He used her hands to turn the egg round and round.

After a few seconds, Sera sucked her breath in sharply, but Falcyn held her hands in place around the egg. She hissed. “It's burning.”

Max tightened his arms around her. “It'll be all right. He's drawing the poison from you. Give him time to work.”

Only then did she relax a degree.

By the time Falcyn finished the ritual, she was even paler, but her breathing was more solid.

Falcyn wiped the stone off on his sleeve, and returned it to his satchel. He glanced about the loft expectantly. “You said you have dragonets?”

“A son and daughter. They're with Blaise. In Avalon.”

For the first time, Falcyn's stern features softened. One thing about their brother, he had a soft spot for dragonets and for Blaise. “I'll see them protected and shielded, too.”

As he started to leave, Max stopped him. “Thank you, brother. Can I ask why you changed your mind?”

Falcyn turned at the curtains to look back first at Max, then to Sera. “I still think you're an idiot. I still hate and begrudge every breath that fills your lungs. But you are my brother and we are drakomai. It's not my place to take from you your heart.… If there is any way to help her, then I am honor bound to do so. You know the code we live and die by. Regardless of my feelings for you, it is my responsibility to protect what you love and preserve our bloodline.”

“Again, thank you.”

Falcyn didn't respond to that. It was as if a part of him was embarrassed by the gratitude. Instead, he turned toward Illarion. “You still have your dragon's claw I gave you?”

Always.

“Yeah, not what I heard.” Falcyn clapped him on the arm. “I heard you loaned it out to an Addanc. What the hell's wrong with you? Did I teach you nothing?” He shook his head at Illarion. “An Addanc? Really?”

Falcyn made a sound of supreme disgust. “All my brothers are morons. I swear. Now take me to the dragonets before Blaise sucks what little intelligence they have out and leaves them lacking, too.”

Illarion rolled his eyes and followed Falcyn from the room.

Outside, Falcyn turned toward him. “I'm sorry.”

For what?

“About Edilyn.”

Illarion swallowed hard as he pushed the pain away. He wanted to say something, but there was nothing to say. Words would be insincere.

And Falcyn hated insincerity even more than he did.

I've lost my way, brother.

Falcyn snorted. “What makes you think anyone has a roadmap? You think I know where I'm going? That I ever have? We're all mice stumbling in our mazes, trying to find our cheese. Hoping the levers we're pulling are the right ones and not the ones designed to shock us.”

The problem was, Illarion was a warrior. He needed a target and in this, there wasn't one. How could he defeat death? It was the one bastard who gave mercy to none and spared no creature its eternal bite.

 

26

Illarion was aghast at the gathering in the parlor of Peltier House. For the life and sake of his brother, basically every adult resident under the roof, as well as every Dark-Hunter in New Orleans, former and current, along with Acheron, Sin, Zakar, and Styxx, had come together to keep Max safe.

It was incredible.

“This is utter bullshit!” Dev snarled, unaware of Max's and Sera's presence behind him. “I say we tell Savitar where to shove it!”

Acheron laughed as he glanced past Dev to meet Max's gaze. “I dare you. Double bear dare you.”

Snorting, Max stopped next to Dev and put his hand on his shoulder. “It's all right, bear. I'm not afraid.”

Seraphina laced her fingers with his. “For the record, I am.”

With a stern frown, Aimee caressed her distended belly. “Can't we do something? Max is here under our protection. I thought our laws protected him, so long as he doesn't leave.”

Styxx sighed heavily. “They did. But the other dragons are calling for his ass. He attacked and they have the right to demand a hearing for his new crime … and the old when he appears for it.”

Vane nodded. “That's why we're all going. As Kattalakises, we're character witnesses. Our family started this against you and we're going to do our damnedest to finish it.”

Hadyn's scowl matched Aimee's. “And if you can't?”

Dev cracked a wicked grin. “I'm tossing the dragon over my shoulder and running for the door. You gonna cover my retreat, kid?”

Sighing heavily, Samia pressed her gloved hands to her nose. “I wish he was joking with that threat. Instead, I have this awful vision in my head and an ulcer in my stomach.”

Dev kissed her cheek. “I promised you that living with me would never be boring.”

She let out a tired breath. “That you did. You are definitely a bear of your word.”

As they started to leave, Illarion stepped forward to go with them to the Omegrion.

“No!” Max roared, pushing him back toward his brothers. “Blaise, keep him here.”

Illarion was aghast.
You can't leave me out of this. I'm part of it.

“I can and I will.”

Illarion shook his head in denial. He tried to step around Max, but Max wasn't having any of that.

Max pushed him back again. “I mean it. You go and I'll run.” He looked to Falcyn, then Blaise. “He's not allowed to go. You have to keep him here. No matter what.”

Seraphina gaped at Illarion. “You killed the prince, didn't you? It wasn't Maxis. It was
you
.”

“Sera,” Max growled. “Stay out of this.”

Releasing Max, she went to Illarion. “Tell me what happened.”

“It doesn't matter.” Max swallowed hard. “I'm the Dragonbane, not Illarion. Leave him alone.” He glared at his brothers. “Do not let him leave here.”

Before she could say anything more, Max vanished.

“No!” Terrified and shaking, she turned on Illarion. “Tell me the truth. What happened?”

It was an accident.

She met Acheron's gaze. “We've got to get the others to listen. Somehow.”

Vane agreed. “Don't worry, Sera. They can't start the council yet. Four of the members are still here.”

She arched a brow at the number. “Four?”

“Me, Fury, Alain's mate—Tanya, and Wren Tigarian, who's behind you.”

Like Illarion, Wren held that same disturbing aura of quiet predator that said he was eyeing everyone around him like prey. Sizing up their every movement to detect the weakness he was about to use to bring them down for a kill. The most disturbing thing was the way his eyes changed color depending on the way the light hit them. They went from a light gray to a vibrant turquoise.

Highly disturbing.

Until he unleashed a friendly grin that made him appear boyish and shy, and around the same age as Hadyn. “Sorry. My wife Maggie is always getting on to me for making people uncomfortable. Although she seems to enjoy my doing it at her father's cocktail parties. Sometimes she even puts me up to it, but it's a bitch at the playground. I've sent three of my daughter's playmate's nannies into therapy.”

Illarion laughed. He could just imagine. The tigard was indeed a rare breed.

Tanya moved closer and rubbed Seraphina's arms comfortingly. “Don't worry. We won't let them take your Max, any more than we let them hurt Wren a few years ago when they called for his head. We always watch after our own.”

But as they arrived in the Omegrion council room on the mysterious Neratiti island home of Savitar, Illarion wasn't so sure she could keep that promise.

The large circular chamber was decorated in burgundy and gold. Through the open windows that spanned from the black marble floor to the gilded ceiling, he could see and hear the ocean. Oddly enough, the entire room reminded him of an ancient sultan's tent. Lavishly decorated, it had an enormous round table in the center that was presided over by Savitar, who wore an angry, pissed-off grimace.

Still dressed in a black wetsuit, Savitar sat on his throne with damp hair and his arms crossed over his chest. So silent you could hear the wood drying on the walls around him.

Yeah, that wasn't creepy or disturbing at all.

Composed of one representative from each individual breed of Arcadian and Katagaria Were-Hunter, the Omegrion council made the laws that governed their races.

It should have had twenty-four members.

But one chair at the table remained conspicuously empty. An eerie warning and eternal reminder that back in the day, it'd belonged to the Arcadian Balios, or jaguar patria. Legend had it that centuries ago, the Regis of that group had run so afoul of Savitar's temper that he'd single-handedly destroyed every member of their species.

Total annihilation.

Which said it all about the power and temperament of the disgruntled Chthonian sitting in judgment of them all. And today, Savitar glared at the group with a particular air of
I've had it, folks
. “How nice of you to join us. I trust all of you had a nice nap after I summoned you?”

Acheron had the audacity to laugh. “Miss a gnarly, awesome wave, Big Kahuna?”

“Don't start, Grom. Not in the mood.” Savitar sat back on his throne. But it was the collection of Arcadian and Katagaria dragons and the Arcadian Kattalakis wolves on his right-hand side that set his jaw ticcing.

Savitar let out a long, exasperated breath. “Hear ye, hear ye … ah, fuck it. We're here today for bullshit and we all know it. So let's dispense with the usual formality and get on with this witch hunt before I lose what little grip I still have on my patience.” He ran his thumb along his goatee. “So, Dare Kattalakis, state your case and demands to the council. And do it fast, with as few words as possible.”

As a littermate to Vane and Fang, he bore a remarkable resemblance to his brothers.

Too bad they all hated each other. Passionately.

Clearing his throat, he moved to stand in the center of the open round table to plead his case. “First, I want to restate what a travesty it is that my family's seat is taken by—”

“Wah, wah, wah … quit crying at the tit,” Savitar snarled. “Your brother Vane is the head of the Arcadians and Fury leads the Katagaria. Seek a therapist who gives a shit, or if you'd like to challenge either of them for their position, we can do with some entertainment. Hell, I'll make popcorn for the show. Otherwise, bitch, get on with it.”

Illarion passed an amused arch of his brow to Blaise. Damn, Savitar was in rare form, even for Savitar.

Dare lifted his chin, but wisely kept his gaze away from the surly ancient. “Fine. We all know why we're here. Maxis Drago as the Dragonbane is the cause of the war between the Arcadians and the Katagaria. Because of his actions alone, all of us have lost family and been scarred and cursed into perpetual war. Now he's unleashed the gallu and Apollo on us! He's—”

“That's not true!”

Illarion was shocked that Seraphina finally rose to his brother's defense. It was about time she did so.

Savitar's features finally softened, as if he approved. “The dragonswan speaks.”

“She's his whore!”

Savitar slung his hand out and caught the Kattalakis dragon who'd insulted her with an unseen force that lifted him up and pinned him to the wall between two of the open windows. “Only I'm allowed to be an insulting asshole in this room. Understood?”

The dragon nodded.

Savitar dropped him straight to the floor, where he landed with a pain-filled groan and in an unceremonious lump. Then he returned his attention to Sera and spoke to her in a kind, fatherly tone. “You were saying, dear?”

Yeah, his kindness was even scarier than his nastiness.

“It's okay, Sera,” Max said, reaching out to touch her hand. “You don't have to speak up for me.”

“No, but someone does. I don't know who released the gallu—”

“That would be us,” Zakar said, raising his hand. “Oops. Sorry about that.”