6. A Dangerous Bond

6

A DANGEROUS BOND

The mage’s home was warded to hell and back, in a way that impressed Telos.

“What the hell,” Mav muttered when he had to get out of the car a fifth time to hop one-legged on a small gray rock.

“Don’t get distracted with your muttering,” Telos sang. “You need to keep count. Ten, three, five, seven, one.”

“Fuck you,” Mav snarled, stepping off the rock so he could start over. “Are we rescuing your kid, or not?”

There was rescuing Estie, and then there was keeping Telos sane because Mav was driving him nuts. Mav had been watching Telos like a hawk on the entire drive here, as though he was seeing something he shouldn’t. It made ants crawl under Telos’ skin.

“You were up to eight,” Telos said after the fact. “Besides, they’re not going to kill Estie. It’s in their best interests to keep her in good shape, so she can grow up strong enough to fight.”

It made Telos worried and hopping mad, too, but he wasn’t going to lose his cool in front of Mav. He’d already embarrassed himself enough.

Mav glared and stepped back onto the rock to hop the appropriate number of times.

The invisible barrier dropped. Mav swung himself back into the car, and they continued down the bumpy forest trail.

“If I had this much land, I’d be doing the exact same thing,” Telos mused. “But with wards that are actually fun.”

“I wouldn’t want to know your definition of ‘fun’.”

“Only because you’re as boring as stale, musty socks. Your lair probably has dull, soulless wards.”

“And yours, what, makes every visitor twirl around twenty times?” Mav groused.

“Great idea. Remind me to look into that with Hilly-Billy.”

They drove down the winding dirt path between huge trees, until they found a tiny log cabin in the middle of the forest. Right before they reached the cabin, the car bumped into another barrier. Mav had to hop out and press his hands against two stones on a tree stump.

“What if a visitor only has one hand?” Telos mused. “Or what if they’re not human-shaped? They won’t have two hands for that ward. Can you put your cock on the other hand sensor?”

Mav grimaced. “Why is your first thought to put a cock on there?”

Telos shrugged. He wasn’t going to admit that he wanted to see Mav do exactly that.

The shield dissolved for a few seconds. Mav hopped back into the car, and Telos parked in front of the cabin.

They’d barely gotten out of the car when the cabin door opened, and a broad-shouldered alpha stepped out. He was smaller than alphas usually were, shorter than both Telos and Mav, and he had several scars on his arms and face.

“Uriel,” Mav said, nodding.

Uriel didn’t step forward immediately. He glanced at Telos. “You’re the one who needs the spell?”

Telos nodded. “To escape detection by other magic users. Powerful ones, just in case.”

“You plan to infiltrate the kidnappers’ den,” Uriel said, studying Telos again. He twitched almost imperceptibly. “The spell will be complex.”

“How complex?” Telos asked.

Uriel sighed. “It’s going to use up quite a bit of power. At some point, you’ll be too far away for the spell to keep drawing on my reserves. I can only put so much magic into the spell at any moment—there are two ways to get around it. The first is me embedding a token into your body, containing my magic.”

Telos shuddered. “Not my first choice. What’s the other option?”

“You draw on someone else’s power to keep the spell going.”

“Another mage?” Mav frowned.

“No, another supernatural being. All supernatural creatures have some form of magic that makes them different from non-magical humans—I can craft the spell so it draws on your magical energy. Both of yours, if you don’t want it to completely exhaust your own.”

It made sense, because Telos still needed his energy to shift between forms, to maintain his disguise.

“That means we’ll have to stay close to each other,” Mav said.

“Is that the only downside?” Telos asked.

Uriel hesitated. “Because you’re drawing power from another person, you may end up with some spillover effects.”

“Like what?” Mav asked warily.

“You may share some things over the bond, such as your emotions.”

Telos’ stomach clenched. Flying fuckcakes!

With anyone else, it would’ve been fine. But Telos had a secret, and it was all stupid emotions. About Mav. That Mav could never find out.

Mav frowned, glancing at Telos. “I guess I’m fine with that. It won’t be for long, anyway.”

It wasn’t as though he had anything to lose.

Come to think of it, what did Telos have to lose? Mav wasn’t really his friend; Mav wasn’t his anything.

I could lose my pride. But Mav didn’t even think much of him. What was more scoffing at his expense?

He sighed. He’d try to keep Mav out of his head. And hopefully he’d emerge unscathed by the end of all this. “Fine.”

Mav was watching him from the corner of his eye. Uriel had just stepped off his porch, when a noise came from within the cabin.

It was a small, whimpering sound, like a hungry baby.

Uriel stiffened. “Just a moment.”

He disappeared into the cabin; the baby’s noises stopped abruptly, like Uriel had thrown up a sound barrier.

Telos stuffed his hands into his pockets, turning away. “The sooner we get this over with, the sooner I can rescue my baby.”

“Should’ve thought of that before you went out for breakfast, then stopped for another coffee.”

“Shut up. You finished all that food.”

“I wasn’t letting it go to waste.”

Mav was exasperating, and—well. This part of Telos’ emotions, Mav could have. It would be a good cover for the parts he was trying to hide.

Uriel emerged from his cabin not too long later, his shirt rumpled. There were two wet spots on his chest where his nipples were, almost blending into the dark blue fabric.

Telos blinked. Wasn’t Uriel an alpha? He looked like one. And he wasn’t a shapeshifter. How was he lactating?

Maybe there was a spell involved somewhere.

Mav had noticed, too. They exchanged a look; Telos was the first to look away. It wasn’t any of his business.

“Now, the spell,” Uriel said. “I’ll need you to sit in this chair with your shirt off.”

The spell casting seemed to take forever. Uriel wrote several runes across Telos’ bare back, each drag of his fingertip leaving an electric tingling on Telos’ skin. When it felt like he’d written an essay on half of Telos’ back, he had Telos and Mav both prick a fingertip.

“I’ll need your blood to mix, to create the energy conduit,” Uriel explained. He collected a few droplets of blood from each of them in a small bowl. Then he mixed the blood, and smeared some over a tingling rune.

The spell took a few moments to activate. Uriel stepped back and studied Telos, nodding to himself. “I can’t sense what you are anymore. Your scent is muted, and everyone else will be distracted by your other tricks.”

“Good,” Telos said.

Something whispered at the back of his mind. Then he felt a presence, faint but there.

Telos frowned, nudging at it with his thoughts.

“I felt that,” Mav said. “Wariness.”

Ah, fuck. Telos breathed out and cleared his mind. Focus on Estie.

She, at least, would think the world of Telos. Telos felt a renewed determination, and an urge to save his baby.

“Thanks,” Mav said to Uriel. “Before we go, could you spell some of our clothes? We’re rescuing a child who is part firewalker and we have nothing on hand for her.”

Uriel’s expression softened. “Just a few pieces.”

Mav nodded and strode to the car. Telos was about to ask how far apart he and Mav could be for the energy draw to still work, when he spotted Mav opening his duffel bag.

The one with the cum-soaked shirt.

Telos panicked.

Mav looked up sharply, his gaze zeroing in on Telos.

Fuck. Mav had felt that.

Mav raised an eyebrow. “Is there something in here that I shouldn’t be seeing?”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. Telos squashed down his nerves and strode over, yanking the bag out of Mav’s hands. “I’ll pick out the clothes I want spelled. You wouldn’t know which works best.”

He turned away and set the bag on the ground some distance away, carefully pulling out a set of clean clothes. He added an extra shirt to bundle Estie with. “These,” he told Uriel. “Thanks.”

Uriel glanced back and forth between Mav and Telos, before nodding and taking the clothing. “Be right back.”

Telos zipped up the duffel and waited for his heart to slow. This wasn’t going to take long. Soon enough, they’d meet up with Crush, Duke, Ace, and Raptor, and move ahead with the plan. There wouldn’t be time for Mav to grill him over this.

“There’s something in there that you don’t want me to find,” Mav said, striding up behind Telos. “Contraband?”

Telos snorted. “Sure.”

He felt a tickle of idle curiosity at the back of his mind. It was Mav’s. Crap, how the hell was he going to get Mav’s attention off his bag, now that he’d panicked over it?

He could find a way to discreetly discard the shirt. He hated that idea, because he’d spent countless nights wondering what Mav tasted like. He knew now: Mav was deliciously musky, salty and bitter and perfect on his tongue. And he wanted another illicit taste, another deep sniff. He wanted this shirt tucked safely under the covers of his bed.

There was another option.

Telos slipped his phone out of his pocket, pulling up a chat.

Telos

I don’t suppose you could show up over here.

HillsBills

OMG. Is this a super special secret mission!?!?!?!

Telos

I need something transported away from here, ASAP. No one is to know.

You may as well bring some baby clothes while you’re at it. Formula and bottles too.

HillsBills

fgejfeojijaijijf O M G

I’ll be there before you know it

OMG this is the best assignment ever

Telos

Get here soon. Please and thank you.

HillsBills

On it. I’ll track your coordinates.

That took the edge off his nerves. When Telos looked up, he found Mav watching him thoughtfully. He scowled and shoved his phone back into his pocket.

Uriel returned with the spelled clothing soon after. “These should hold for a while.”

Telos took them gratefully. “How much do I owe you?”

Uriel shook his head. “Keep me updated on the rescue. Tell me if you need more help.”

“Will do,” Mav said, looking around the forest. “If you need someone just to chat with, we’re also available for that. We’re part of a large group of alphas in Cartfalls, SoCal. A number of us have mates with babies, and they’re always up for making friends and sharing childcare tips.”

For a second, Uriel almost seemed wistful. It had to be lonely out here, just him and a baby in the middle of a forest. Then he seemed to shake it off, straightening his shoulders. “I’m fine. Thanks.”

Telos tucked his spelled clothing away—on top of his hidden treasure—and carefully placed his bag in the trunk, keeping an eye on Mav to make sure he didn’t go rooting around in there again.

Mav shot him a sidelong look when he climbed back into the passenger seat. “Want me to drive?”

“No, you’re better as a passenger.” Really because Telos needed something to distract him, so he wouldn’t have any more feelings. “Any updates from the others?”

Mav checked his phone. “They’ve found a group of kidnappers skulking around, and they’ve acquired a stroller and some baby clothes for you.”

Telos sighed. “Who’s going to push me around?”

“Duke will decide.”

Telos had volunteered to join this mission because he was bored. That, and they needed a shapeshifter, and Mav had committed to the rescue, too.

But now... Telos had a whole other reason for it. If Pinks’ friends’ kidnappers were the same ones who had taken Estie... then he was very likely going to meet his daughter soon.

Maybe even by this time tomorrow.

He shoved down the nervous anticipation in his stomach, steering the car out of the forest. Mav glanced at him again. Telos continued to ignore him. The moment they reached the highway, he went over the speed limit—to cut short his time in the car with Mav. Because he could already sense all the questions bubbling in Mav’s brain.

It was a different kind of torture, knowing what Mav felt. Knowing Mav would never feel anything like affection toward him.

“You’re full of contradictions,” Mav murmured.

Telos stiffened, clutching the steering wheel. Think about Estie, think about Estie. “I’m not talking to you.”

“I wouldn’t have known this,” Mav continued as though Telos hadn’t spoken. “You feel things. You just bury it so it doesn’t match the expression on your face.”

Damn it. “I don’t do that all the time.”

Mav raised an eyebrow. “It’s enough for me to know you’re not the fool you pretend to be.”

Telos rolled his eyes. “I like being a fool. You said you’d stop judging.”

There was a pause. Then Mav asked, “Are you being a fool because that’s what I’ve said you are?”

Telos scoffed. “Don’t be so full of yourself.”

“You weren’t like this before.”

“Yeah, well. People change.”

He didn’t want to look too deeply into everything. Didn’t want to consider that maybe Mav was right. That he’d given up trying to impress Mav a long time ago, after he’d figured out he couldn’t.

Estie, Telos told himself. Estie, Estie, ESTIE.

Everything would be better after Telos rescued her. He would swing her into the air and admire the way she giggled; he would focus his thoughts on her so Mav couldn’t read him. She was saving him even before they’d met.

“Maybe we should—”

“ No, ” Telos growled. “I don’t want to hear it.”

Mav exhaled, glancing at Telos again. Then he folded his arms and settled back into his seat.

The discussion wasn’t over yet. Telos wished Mav would give up on it, but that alpha was really like a dog with a bone.

At least he had a daughter to distract himself with.