Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“The connection is gone.”

The panic in Erwan’s voice was evident, and Jermon couldn’t blame him.

Jermon and his brothers had been hanging out together in Erwan’s living room, sharing stories about their mom and finding solace and comfort with each other in their grief. Jermon had just been about to head back to his mates and hatchlings, when Erwan had cried out in surprise, sensing his mate needed him. Seconds later, they had all felt the pull on their magic. They had linked hands and sent as much of their power as possible into the connection.

The drain on their magic had peaked, and Jermon had sent protective and healing spells, praying with all his might they would reach Rhene. The strength of the pull had weakened to a mere shimmer, which they had interpreted as good news, as whatever danger had threatened Rhene being gone.

Jermon closed his eyes, focusing with all his might on the thin thread linking them to Rhene until mere seconds ago. Erwan was right. They had lost him. He opened his eyes again.

“It could be for any number of reasons,” he said to his brother, but it came out weakly. He knew better, and so did Erwan.

“Something happened to him.” Erwan’s voice broke. “You know I’m right. You felt it too.”

What sense was lying? They all knew the truth. “I’m sorry.”

Erwan hung his head, his hands balled into fists. “I should never have left him there. He has no magic. He’s powerless against the Murphys and against Cladhaire and Baoth. What was I thinking?”

Jermon put a strong hand on his brother’s shoulder. “This is not on you. It must feel that way, but it’s not. He wanted you to go. He knew you needed to be with Mom. Even if he’d known something would happen to him, he would’ve still insisted on you saying goodbye.”

“Jermon is right,” Valdis said. “And Rhene would never want you to blame yourself. Besides, he is one badass wolf, so don’t count him out yet.”

“Maybe he ended it because he didn’t need our magic anymore,” Nadiv said.

“Yeah, maybe,” Erwan responded, but he clearly didn’t believe it. Neither did Jermon, if he were honest.

“I need to get back there.” Erwan nodded as if convincing himself. “I should ask Cedric if he can teleport us back.”

“Last I heard, he was still on bedrest, completely drained by the effort of getting you here,” Jermon said. “I doubt that’s an option.”

“A plane ticket, then. My mate needs me.”

Jermon hated that he had to be the voice of reason, but somebody had to, right? “I’m not saying you shouldn’t go, but are you sure that’s the wisest course of action? If Rhene is in danger, he wouldn’t want you anywhere near. You know his first priority is keeping you safe. But also, remember that on a plane, you can’t communicate with any of us. Whatever happens, we won’t be able to get a hold of you, and even if we did, you’d be stuck there for hours, helpless to do anything.”

Erwan’s shoulders slumped and tears formed in his eyes. “I can’t sit here and do nothing. I’m the White Dragon, for crying out loud. There has to be something I can do.”

Jermon sat up straight. “We need to get the clan together. Your powers are at their strongest when the clan is united, remember? If there ever was a reason to combine our magic, it’s now.”

“We already asked everyone to gather when Mom was sick. I’m not sure if we can ask them again so soon.”

Nadiv shook his head. “We didn’t ask them, bro. They all came of their own free will. Hell, no one got a formal invitation or anything. People just showed up because they sensed they needed to be there. We only asked the Hayes pack to join us in the end, but that was it.”

Erwan raised his chin. “Then we won’t ask them this time either. We will leave the choice with them.”

That decision was hard to argue with, so Jermon didn’t even try. Instead, he texted his mates he would stay with his brothers for a while. They’d understand. He had no doubt about that. And indeed, Wilmer sent him a quick reply he should do whatever he thought was best and had his full support, whereas Riordan replied with lots of hugs and hearts. How befitting their personalities. Love for his mates filled Jermon’s heart. He was so, so lucky to have found them.

“While we wait, why don’t you tell us about the Dragon Council?” Valdis asked. “You gave us the highlights, but I’m sure you skipped a lot. You might as well fill us in on the details now.”

Looking relieved—probably because he needed the distraction—Erwan followed that suggestion and shared what he and Rhene had encountered. Jermon listened with rising indignation, his mouth dropping open at times.

He held up a hand. “Wait, what? They were running a brothel?”

“Yeah.” Erwan’s jaw ticked. “You should’ve seen Rhene when he came back after discovering it. He was literally trembling with anger.”

“No kidding.” Jermon blew out a shaky breath. “Every time I think I’ve heard the worst, I discover something else. That is the most despicable, dishonorable thing ever, whoring out omegas.”

“And you’re saying this was common practice?” Nadiv asked.

“Apparently,” Erwan replied. “The clans took turns running it.”

“Including the Fitzgeralds? I thought you said this Fergal was a good guy,” Jermon said.

“He is, but he’s only been king for a short time. A couple of weeks, I think. His father died unexpectedly and pretty young, and Fergal took over. But he’s determined to change things and restore honor to his clan.”

“He’d better watch his back,” Jermon said. “A radical move like that won’t make him popular.”

Erwan nodded. “Yeah, the alphas in his clan are not fans, from what I understand. He’s taking away their power and privileges, so of course, they’re going to be pissed off. Though not as angry as the Murphy alphas were when King Ennis declared their clan dissolved. You should’ve seen their faces. Pure rage. The king outright accused them of poisoning him, which in itself was already shocking, but before they realized what was going on, he announced the end of the Murphy clan. According to the Code, it no longer exists.”

Jermon frowned. “He can do that? That easily?”

“Yeah, the Code gives kings that option. Which is one of the problems. The king has way too much power, regardless of whether he wants to use that for good or for evil. There are no counterbalances, nothing and no one to stop him. I don’t like that. That’s not how it should be.”

Jermon couldn’t agree more. “No one person should have that much power. Power corrupts. There should be some kind of counterweight.”

“We’ll have to start figuring out what we want to do with our clan now that we’re the official Doyle clan,” Valdis said. “At least, that’s what I concluded from what you said.”

“We are. No more True Doyle clan. We’re the Doyles again, with me as the reluctant king.” Erwan sighed. “At least until we’ve found a different solution.”

“A democracy, that’s what we need,” Jermon said. “Something with elections and rule of the majority. Where omegas have equal rights to alphas.”

“I agree, though we have to keep in mind that our clan will be very unbalanced.” Valdis looked at Erwan. “You said we’re getting eight new omegas?”

“Eight that I know of, but as many as thirty-five in total. Fergal said he wanted to extend an invitation to the omegas in his clan, and he expected quite a few to take us up on the offer. And there may be more omegas coming from the Murphy clan, which no longer exists. Though I have no clue how they’ll get to us.”

“And the O’Connors?” Jermon asked.

“I don’t know. It may sound strange, but I almost harbor more ill will toward them than the Murphys. The O’Connors have been spineless cowards who turned a blind eye to what the Murphys and the others were doing. The conditions in their clan may not have been quite as bad, but if you stand by and watch others abuse their power, you’re just as guilty if you ask me.”

Jermon opened his mouth to answer when a knock sounded.

“Come on in,” Erwan called, and Emma stepped into the room, her face beaming.

“I found something!” She looked around excitedly, but then her smile dropped. “Is something wrong?”

“We’re worried about Rhene,” Nadiv said. “We sensed him using our magic, but he severed the connection.”

“Oh.” Emma’s face tightened. “Is there anything I can do?”

Nadiv held out his hand to her. “Just sit with me, baby, and tell us what you found. We could use the distraction.”

Emma settled on Nadiv’s lap, and Jermon’s heart warmed at seeing them together. His brother was maturing, and Jermon loved seeing him become the man Emma needed, especially now that she was carrying his eggs.

“I found my grandfather’s diary,” Emma said, and the room grew quiet. “He kept copious notes about all kinds of things and hid them in books. In the Encyclopedia Britannica, to be precise. Every volume contains hundreds of diary entries on thin paper in his neat handwriting, all carefully dated. I’ve read about fifty now, all holding a treasure trove of information.” Her eyes welled up. “It’s like having him with me for a bit longer.”

“Oh, baby.” Nadiv held her close and kissed the top of her head. “How wonderful for you to find that. I know how much you miss him.”

“I do.” She took a deep breath. “But I also discovered some incredible new details. In 1776, he had a vision that he wrote down. Listen.” She pulled a piece of paper from her pocket and read, “The dragons will be faced with the choice between honor and betrayal, and they must choose wisely. Old alliances will be reconsidered, with implications that will impact generations to come. But when the White Dragon and the True Alpha join forces, peace will reign.”

“That’s the same vision King Fergal mentioned,” Erwan said. “So he was telling the truth.”

“But there’s more,” Emma said. “Cladhaire poisoned Fiona, Baoth’s wife.”

“He did?” Jermon frowned. “Why? Did it have to do with her vision about Erwan?”

Emma shook her head. “No, Cladhaire feared his brother would try to claim the throne for himself and his children. So he killed your cousin Ciaran and made it look like a horse-riding accident. And when it looked like Fiona might have eggs again, he poisoned her.”

“Holy shit,” Jermon whispered. “His father, his nephew, his sister-in-law…and he tried to kill his son. Is there no limit to how low this man will stoop for power?”

It scared him to know he was related to him, that he carried that man’s DNA. If not for his mom, he would’ve despaired and feared he would turn into his father, but there was more of her than his father in him. Thank the gods.

“My grandfather knew Erwan was a white dragon. He overheard them talking about it. Cladhaire and Baoth, I mean. And that they were using black magic on him to reverse it.” She rolled her eyes. “As if they could ever undo that.”

“Did he mention my mom?” Jermon asked.

She nodded. “Several times so far, and with nothing but admiration and respect. He knew she was protecting Erwan.”

Jermon let that all sink in. They had suspected as much, but now they had confirmation. Despite everything, that had to be hurtful for Erwan. “How are you feeling about this?” he asked him softly.

Erwan sighed, rubbing his eyes with a tired gesture. “Like I’m stuck in a never-ending nightmare. I just want this to end. I want them to die. Is that horrible of me?”

“No.” Nadiv’s answer came fast and firm. “I want the same thing. If I didn’t know it would violate my honor, I would end their lives myself, but I can’t ‘cause that would make me just as evil as them.”

Emma kissed him. “Perfect answer, baby.”

“Let us know if you discover anything else,” Jermon said to her.

“I will. One thing he hinted at but didn’t mention in more detail is that he suspected Cladhaire and Baoth of using blackmail against the Fitzgeralds and the O’Connors to get them to go along with the Great Shame. But like I said, he only mentioned it once and said he would try to find out the truth, so hopefully, he did and wrote that down somewhere else.”

Another piece of the puzzle. When would it ever end? Erwan wasn’t wrong about this feeling like an endless nightmare. But the bigger question was: where the hell was Rhene?