Chapter 34

Joseph Kelley

T he islands shuddered as a blast of power flowed past his aura. It had a familiar cadence to it, a taste Joseph recognized, but it was muddled with something else… someone else. His own son's aura was unmistakable. Yet when he probed further, the other strain, also, was all too familiar. As he realized what exactly this was, he growled, putting down the volume of Thomas Golden's journals he'd been reading.

Rose and Will had started the process of their mating.

Never before had he felt the magic of mating so strongly, not even with his own mate, Will's mother. Jealousy, hot and swift, burned inside him, twisting his features into a grimace. Though he'd learned of their connection much earlier, the fact that it was his own son… His claws slipped from his nail beds.

Rage was too kind a word for what he felt in that moment.

After seeing them together the first time and recognizing the way their auras blended, Joseph had done so fucking much to ensure his son never realized that disgusting human was his mate. He'd tried to keep them separated, tried to make it so that whatever Gods-cursed feelings they had would die out, but when none of that worked, he'd done something some might consider unforgivable. Well, worse than messing with the sacred bond of matehood.

He'd made it so Will would never be the same in her eyes ever again.

He had been more than capable of taking on Cornelius in the cave that night. Joseph sent his son forward very intentionally, ordering him to rip out the species-traitor's heart.

Rose's screams had almost been enough to break his hold on Will's mind, the mating instinct to protect strong. But Joseph had been stronger. He held his son's mind fast, forcing him to watch her as she sobbed up at him. As Joseph tossed her around and hurt her to get the information about the talisman from her.

Killing her had been out of the question. He'd already been skirting around taboo with this interference, but he'd had no desire to bring the Gods down upon him.

Now he regretted not doing it when he had the chance.

The last thing he wanted was for his son to be with that vile, willful little bitch. He wouldn't be able to control Will anymore. Mate bonds brought so much power to the couple. More than that, it would mean his son had what he did not. So, if he could stop them from completing the bond, he fucking would. There was no way he was going to allow his own son what he himself had been denied.

But he'd never reach Rose behind her wards. Joseph tossed the journal on the desk and went to the balcony just outside his study, the rage turbulent within him. Casting his awareness outward, he closed his eyes, bolstering his range using the stones he'd hidden on each of the islands—trying to find someone, anyone who could confirm his suspicions.

Taking time he didn't really have, he searched island by island for the source of the signature. If he was close enough that he could rip the girl limb from limb for daring to touch his boy… But there was nothing. Not a single person was close enough to the epicenter of the burst to have seen anything.

He swore, his hands gripping the railing so hard it began to crumble.

He pushed farther out, straining his already drawn-thin power. Pain pounded behind his eyes, little splinters of his aura breaking off at the edges as he felt around the perimeter of his influence. Any further and he would tear his own soul permanently away from his body, turning him into a husk. But he could not give up. He had to find where that little bitch was defiling his son.

Just when he was about to give up hope and take to the ocean himself, a presence niggled in his periphery along the coast of Casper. It swam closer and closer, likely also drawn in by the blast of energy. So, Joseph waited and waited for the merperson to get close enough for him to snare.

"Come on, you son of a bitch!" he snarled, impatient.

Finally. Fucking finally, the merperson swam within the boundaries of his reach. Joseph focused all his energy and power into breaching their mind. His aura crashed into them like a tidal wave, shoving the entirety of their mind to the back and nearly snapping the tethers. It took great effort not to make the merperson into his permanent little puppet—he would need to assess them for potential usefulness before he did that.

The moment he was in their mind, he rummaged around for the memory of where they'd seen the source of the magic. Sure enough, they'd seen it near the shores of Casper, but from where exactly, they didn't know. They were unfamiliar with the area.

With a snarl, Joseph ordered the merperson to come to Golden Castle, and when he was sure they were on their way, he turned his attention to his underlings. He all but screamed down the line of their connection, ordering his best men into the water.

He was going to find them if it was the last thing he did.