20. Beckett

All four of them put up a shield of their magic around the house at Beckett’s suggestion before they returned to the town. Esen was first, and Arlo followed up. After the magic settled for a moment, Beckett added his layer, and Enzo did the same. Beckett could feel their power mixing well, and the house had a glow that could ward off anyone if they noticed it. Beckett had heard of this being possible a few years ago, and he and his brothers tested it out around the house. It was during a time when people were challenging them for their position on the island, and someone stood at the edge of their property as they were too nervous to come toward the barrier they built.

As they walked away, he didn’t want to tell them that Blaze had done that all himself. They hung on to the fact that they couldn’t smell anyone else the entire way back to the house. Then Beckett did something that none of the others thought to do.

He looked at the mate bonds.

Blaze’s red flame burned a little brighter along with their own. It was slightly larger than before, almost like he was on the path to accepting Kaida as his mate. It was still half the size of the others, but it still showed how strong it had become since the first time it showed up. Something about being mated to Kaida made them all stronger than the average dragon. Beckett assumed it was due to her being Plasma, but there was no lore to tell him otherwise. The downside of no information being logged about the Plasma Dragon had Beckett snarling to himself. Any information right now would solve more problems than anything. The most they knew was Plasmas were different. If that was the case, Beckett assumed that meant that normal rules of their magic did not apply to her or them.

Blaze’s ability to burn through the metal of the bars with warding could be a sign that his magic was working differently than usual. If that were the case, he wouldn’t have needed any help. While they flew home and felt the ruckus inside the mate bonds around Kaida, Beckett noticed them all being able to add speed, and they usually didn’t have to get home to her.

What if we all can feed each other’s powers through the bonds? Is that possible?

It could be possible. Mates can share power to keep others in line beneath them. It is similar to the pack bonds of Lycans and why Gemar can contain all the dragons in his kingdom.

What about sharing power to produce higher levels of magic?

That I have never seen done. I may have knowledge that travels back to the birth of dragons, but Plasma Dragons are still a mystery.

Beckett mentally rolled his eyes. Of course, it couldn’t be that easy. Nothing has been done since Kaida came around. Though Beckett couldn’t get angry about that, Kaida brought a new breath of life into all of them. As much as they wanted to be angry about their lives always having bumps in the road compared to what they used to be, none of them would give it up. None of them would ever want her out of their lives.

When they returned to the building, a few people had gathered around to ask questions. It worked in their favor of not having to hunt down scents to find anyone around when everything went down. One of them was a local with whom Beckett had had a lot of dealings in the past. He was another Tidal Dragon who often tried to challenge him to become the island’s leader. Each time he tried, Beckett wiped the floor with him and sent him home with a bruised face and ego. The guy’s name was Brutus, and his temper did not align with that of other Tidals. It wasn’t until he learned that he had Ember in his lineage that Beckett no longer took offense to his constant defiance of him and the other princes.

As Brutus approached, Beckett slid into a stance that could easily turn into him defending himself if need be. He didn’t think Brutus would cause a fight, but he aired on the side of caution. People were still losing control of their dragons with the Dark Dimension. As much as Beckett knew that Brutus was not stupid enough to challenge him now that he was mated with the others to Kaida, he still did not want to let his guard down with Kaida out of commission and Blaze gone.

"Hello, Brutus. How can I help you today?"

Brutus held up his hands in a truce while lowering his head briefly before staring at the ground while he spoke. "I heard a lot of racket around here earlier. I saw your mate walk past afterward. When I tried to get through the building, I got knocked on my ass."

Beckett tensed at the mention of Kaida and urged Brutus on for more details, "Did you see anyone go in or out of that building?"

"No, I didn’t. I just felt a rush of power and magic, and then I was on my ass. I flew over to the other side of the street and into that building. I hit my head and went out cold. By the time I came to, there was no one around. I didn’t see anyone come in or out for a while, so I stayed nearby until you four returned."

Beckett clamped his hand on Brutus’s shoulder and sighed. "Thank you for the information. If you can remember anything else, let me know. We must find who did this."

"I wish I could be more helpful. Your mate has done a lot of good around here. I hope she wasn’t injured."

Beckett shook his head but felt a wave of pride at the mention of Kaida. "She wasn’t, but thank you for your concern."

"That’s good to hear. Isn’t that where Prince Blaze was being held?"

Beckett nodded, "Yeah. He was infected with what was making people go berserk lately. We kept him there for his and everyone else’s safety."

Brutus glanced at the building again and asked, "Is he still in there?"

"No," Beckett said, wishing he had better news. The thought of Blaze anywhere but here made Beckett’s skin crawl. No matter how much he fought the bond, he was still his brother, blood or not.

"It wasn’t Ember magic that threw me back. That I do know. I know what that feels like after getting into a fight with Blaze a year ago."

That piqued Beckett’s interest, but he didn’t let that show on his face. This meant that Blaze did not do this of his own volition. That bodes well for them if he was under someone else’s influence. If they could get him back from the Dark Dimension, they could get him back from anything. "It’s good to know it wasn’t him. Thank you."

Brutus nodded before walking away from the scene. There were still others walking around, three speaking to the other mates. Beckett looked up into the sky and prayed to the Great Dragon that Blaze had not lost his damn mind. Even though Brutus didn’t feel his magic, that meant nothing now that Beckett understood that his new power level could have come from Kaida. If Blaze had manipulated the bonds to do that, he might have borrowed her magic. Rules didn’t apply anymore because of Kaida so that anything could be possible. Until he found another explanation, he continued with this assumption.

The few others knew nothing but stuck around to see the excitement. The ones Arlo, Esen, and Enzo talked to didn’t know much either. They relayed similar information Brutus did about hearing something happening and stuck around to give their side of the story. None of them saw anyone go in or out of the building other than Kaida going in.

One person was left. A teenage kid apparently went berserk earlier, and Kaida came to his rescue. Beckett smiled as Brad explained what had happened to him and how Kaida had saved him from hurting his friend, who was a Lycan. He went about them at the infirmary and then ran after her to ask her a few more questions about the dark dimension and if she would come with him to talk to his friend to explain what happened.

"Then what did you see?" Enzo asked him as a rumble in his chest caused Brad to step back.

"Don’t scare the kid. He could have kept quiet about all of this. He is doing the right thing." Arlo’s voice was calm, and Beckett could smell his earthly magic working through the air and even inside the mate bonds to calm Enzo down.

"I saw Kaida walk into the building. I heard a commotion before I saw this man walking Prince Blaze out of the building. Power rolled off him like I’ve never felt before. I think he had gray eyes. He didn’t see me off to the side as he walked past, so I only caught a glimpse. He was tall, with brown hair but not too dark. He had this menacing energy about him. It literally felt like if you came near him, he would kill you."

A growl rose from Enzo’s throat as he looked away from the kid. Brad looked at Beckett first, curling into a small smile to reassure him.

"You did great, Brad. Can you tell me anything else about this guy? Did he have Blaze in chains or anything like that?"

Brad shook his head. "No. Prince Blaze seemed to want to follow him. I had never seen a prince who was compliant with someone before. The guy told him to follow him and to shift. Blaze did. It was another dragon. No one that I know, though."

Beckett’s eyes widened and had a hopeful thought, "Did you notice the coloring of the guy’s dragon?"

Brad looked guilty. "No. I don’t know what happened. I saw Prince Blaze shift into his dragon first. I think the guy noticed me standing there because I was hit with something, and then everything went black. I woke up to see them like dots in the sky."

"Good, Brad, you did really well. Thank you for the information. It helped us more than you know."

Brad nodded and walked off toward the town. Enzo walked over to the building that once held Blaze and punched the wall. None of them walked toward him as he belted out a roar before striking the wall again. Beckett could feel inside the mate bonds that Enzo’s rage had a reason behind it. Enzo recognized the person whom Brad was talking about. If that was the case, his anger meant something more than just him recognizing who took Blaze from them.

"Enzo, who was with Blaze?"

Enzo roared before taking a deep breath to center himself. "It was my fucking father."