24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Duskek

T he room was filled with the delicious tang of fear, and the biting flavor of despair. But for once, it wasn't me causing everyone's discomfort. I leaned against the wall in my usual corner of the living room, watching the drama unfold before me.

Josh was missing. Sadavir was about to have an aneurism because no one would allow him to go after his beta friend and attendant. Cicely was attempting to calm everyone, soothing them with his golden boy charm and his fae magic. Martina was silent, but focused, probably doing a mental inventory of every weapon at our disposal—or just hoping this would be the time we finally killed some vampires. Sanka looked both guilty and pissed-off, likely because someone had managed to get around his magic—he was used to being the best, and letting down his alpha and his court had to be weighing on the big beta softie. Yukio was also propping up a wall, arms crossed and a bored expression on his face, but he just happened to be conveniently close to the door—and to the raging naga.

Robin had taken a seat in one of the wingback chairs, her spine ramrod straight and expression placid, like a queen on her throne. And Ruya stood beside her, tall and proud, that determined look on her face that said she was hiding strong emotions.

She was probably thinking what we all were—that we should have seen this coming. The nightmares, the mystery illness, his fatigue… he had been showing signs of a psychic attack for days now. But we all had such absolute trust in Sanka's abilities.

"Again," Robin said evenly. "But slower this time, Sanka, and in some sort of organized fashion." Everyone had been talking over each other for the past few minutes. At Robin's words, they all shut the hell up like someone had pulled their plug.

"The only way Acacia could use her blood bond to call Josh through my warding spell is if she already knew exactly where he was. And if she has a powerful sorcerer working for her. Old family level, like me." His brown eyes darted over to Sadavir, and he bit out a terse, "I'm sorry. It should have been fairly fail-proof."

Robin cleared her throat, and I rolled my eyes at the way she narrowed her eyes at Sanka. The alpha princess didn't like her beta apologizing to another alpha. Gods save us from Alpha posturing. Sometimes it was a handy tool. But in times like this, it was more likely to get everyone killed than the actual enemy.

"So," Robin said, voice still deceptively calm as she forced herself to focus on the problem, rather than her turf war with the naga. "Acacia knows for certain that Josh and Sadavir are with us. Prior to this, she may have guessed, but had no proof and has not acted. Which means…"

"Some-fucking-how she remembers that we're the ones who jumped her and tried to attack the emperor," Sanka confirmed in a growl.

"She must have invested in stronger protections since the last time we slipped her my little treats," Yukio bit out, clearly not happy with his part in this failure, even though he didn't have quite the same beta urge to please as Sanka did. With Yuki the fury was pure injured pride.

I looked around the room, taking in the currents of anger, fear, and agitation, drawing them toward me, containing them on my side of the room, trying to help Cicely with his efforts at avoiding any outbursts. Ruya tilted her head, her crystalline blue eyes seeking me out as if she could sense what I was doing. And maybe she could. Even though we now knew her heritage, her powers were still largely unknown. It was hard telling what would manifest when you mixed paranormal types. Her expression softened for a moment, her lips tilting up in a soft smile of thanks.

I pulled my gaze from the handsome omega. It was too easy to get absorbed in those beautiful eyes and forget who and what I was. I needed to focus. I couldn't love her like the others. But I could guard her happiness. And it was pretty clear to anyone with working eyes in their head that the court's omega cared for the missing human.

Sadavir signed something, his movements slow enough for the rest of us to keep up, but executed with a violent, barely restrained fury. "Why are we standing around here? We need to get him back."

Robin sighed. "I understand how you feel, believe it or not. But we can't just go rushing off. Acacia might just want her favorite pet back. In which case, I'd gladly let you go traipsing off to your demise, snake. But knowing vampires—and Acacia specifically—I suspect it won't be that simple." She cut off Sadavir's reply, lifting a graceful hand in a staying motion. "We need to see what her demands are before we decide how to proceed."

Sadavir made a slashing motion through the air, and I could sense his rising anger as his citrine eyes flashed, becoming slit-pupiled and starting to glow.

Ruya left Robin's side and made her way to the naga, placing a hand on his arm and directing a pleading expression in his general direction. "We can't lose you too," she said, her voice soft yet firm. Ruya's confidence had grown so much since we first found her. She was no longer the hesitant, sheltered girl we had liberated from the witches. The woman before us was beginning to rival Robin in queenly demeanor. "I know you haven't been with us long," she said evenly, "but I trust Robin's judgement." Her mouth quirked up at one corner as she shot our leader a wry look. "At least in this."

Sadavir placed a big hand over Ruya's and leaned down to kiss her forehead. I supposed it was a signal that he trusted Ruya's decision, even if he didn't like Robin. But the gesture earned a soft growl from our fiery leader. It was a clear sign that she was angrier about this little kidnapping than she let on, if she was getting that worked up over such a minor infraction on Sadavir's part.

"Alpha theatrics aside," I said, enjoying the way half the room seemed to start, as if they had forgotten I was over here lurking in the shadows. "Robin's right. We can't just go rushing in and take on the entire nest of vampires. Even if we did manage to end them all—which I'd give us fifty-fifty odds—we'd then have the entire syndicate and all its factions, including the emperor, out for our blood. It would be pointless." Fun. But ultimately pointless all the same.

Martina nodded, finally coming out of her mental trance long enough to weigh in. "Agreed. We are strong. But they have the numbers. And what use is it to rescue him if it only gets us all killed in the end—Josh included?"

Sadavir grimaced. He probably recognized that he was reacting in a very stereotypical alpha way, blinded by outrage and ready to rush in and solve things with his fists. Or fangs, or whatever. "What do we do?" he signed.

Robin rubbed her forehead as if she were developing a headache, then abruptly dropped her hand as if only just then realizing what she had done. I narrowed my eyes at her. Dragons didn't get headaches. And if they did, they certainly wouldn't announce the weakness to the entire room. I was worried about our fearless leader. Her coming of age was rapidly approaching, and I don't think anyone really knew what would happen if she reached that magical age without access to her stolen magic.

"We wait," she said flatly. "But before you lose your tiny little snake mind, rest assured that we won't be sitting here idly doing nothing. I have contacts. I have ways of obtaining information. I will do what I can to figure out what Acacia is up to and get your little human pet back."

Sadavir hissed at the dismissive way Robin referred to his human. But they both let the potential fight go. "Your word you will do all you can, as fast as you can," Sadavir demanded in sign. "You have no idea what she could be doing to him right now."

Robin nodded gravely, not playing alpha games this time. "I promise," she said evenly. "And believe me, I do understand."

Ruya sought me out as the meeting broke up and the others left the room. I halted as she placed a hand on my arm. She didn't flinch or gasp the way people usually did when they came in contact with the terror of my aura. Instead, she just peered up at me with those beautiful blue eyes, completely uncaring that she was in the presence of a nightmare. "Thank you," she said quietly. "For what you did to help keep them from fighting."

I shook my head. "It was nothing. Your faun did most of the work." Those words just made me think of another time when I had watched as the faun did "most of the work." I really was a degenerate when it came to this woman.

Her lips curled upward in a wicked little smile, as if she could read my mind. Or as if maybe she was having the same thoughts. But her levity faded quickly enough. "I hope we can get Josh back soon."

I looked up over her head as Sadavir came to join us. He took Ruya's hand automatically, as if she were the only thing that could ground him. And maybe she was. Omegas were more powerful than many people gave them credit for. The room was empty now except for the three of us, so I didn't guard my words for fear of setting off our princess. "I hope so too," I said honestly. "Josh is a good man. And I know he means a lot to both of you."

Sadavir's gaze met mine, his unusual eyes back to their normal appearance. The color was so strange, neither yellow nor gold, nor orange, but somewhere in between. He was handsome—strong jawline, high cheekbones, tall and broad, and emanating raw power. I could see why Ruya was drawn to him—and why Robin wanted to eat him simply for existing. "I know we aren't part of your court," he signed slowly. "And I appreciate the protection and support you all have offered us."

He didn't acknowledge how much the human meant to him, didn't point out what we all knew—that Josh was his weakness, just as Ruya was ours. The one thing he'd risk everything to protect. Alphas. So stubborn. I nodded to acknowledge his words.

Ruya patiently waited, clearly used to not catching all of the silent communication, without Cicely here to use his mind speak to keep her informed. "Sadavir was thanking us for protecting and supporting him and Josh even though they aren't part of the court," I supplied.

Ruya huffed impatiently. "Nonsense," she said firmly. "Josh is one of us, Sadavir. So are you. You and Robin might like to pretend otherwise, but it doesn't matter." She grinned. "You're all mine . And that's all there is to it."

I chuckled as Sadavir shook his head, a fond smile playing across his chiseled lips. And why was I noticing how good-looking he was constantly? I enjoyed both men and women—as much as I could without actually touching them. But I tended to favor softer men… pretty guys like Cicely. And this was another alpha. It felt not only strange, but… disloyal, to find myself more than a little drawn to this odd naga.

I cleared my throat. "If that's all? I should go see what I can do to help with information gathering."

Ruya tilted her head, as if she had picked up on my discomfort. "Of course," she said slowly. "I only wanted to thank you. But… when you have time, will you come see me? I feel like we haven't spent time together in ages, Dusek."

Ah. Busted. She was right. I'd been avoiding her. She had a way of not letting me hide, and my feelings for her were too complex, too dangerous. "Of course," I said reflexively. "If I don't get sent out on a spy run."

She pouted. It was adorable. And maddening. Sadavir watched this little back and forth with one eyebrow raised. It was only then that I realized he was standing within my aura and didn't seem the least bit fazed.

"I… should go. Get to work," I muttered, nodding once to the confused duo before dematerializing into shadow and escaping to find something more productive to do.