Chapter 30

Chapter

Thirty

Magnus

Twenty minutes into our sparring session and I had to admit, Rose had more skill than I'd expected. She'd gotten a couple of decent shots in on me, including a solid hand strike to my jaw, and I'd probably have a sore jaw in the morning.

"Not bad, little flower. But you're going to need a lot more to make it through the dark forest."

"I can always run. And you're still going to teach me to ride, right?"

My brain nearly exploded at those words. She was talking about riding on the back of the dragon, but with her mating pheromones active, it wasn't easy to focus on anything else. If we were all in our right minds, we wouldn't even consider going through that portal until she was safely past this.

Unfortunately, there was no guarantee it would end without her getting pregnant with my dragonling, and no way in hell was I taking her through the dark forest in that condition.

"Fuck. We need to call it a night." Isaac groaned. "I can't take it anymore." We all looked at each other, and save Rose, we all knew exactly what he meant without him saying another word.

Rose looked exhausted. Still beautiful, but tired.

"Kitra and I will go ahead in. You two want to clean up here and meet up with us for a late dinner?"

Not really. I wanted to take Rose upstairs, bend her over the end of the bed and rail her until we were both out of our minds with pleasure.

Of course I wasn't sure how she'd take that idea, but it made me and my dragon want to jump for joy.

Since my mind was a little preoccupied with all things Rose, I did little more than grunt my agreement at Isaac, grabbed Rose's hand, and walked off the field. She looked stunned that I was dragging her away, but all the pent-up frustration and worry about her had built to a crescendo and it needed release.

"Magnus! What are you doing?" she hissed. "We need to help them."

"No, we don't. And trust me they do not want our help."

She glanced over her shoulder. "Why not? What's going on? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I bit out through gritted teeth. Only my cock felt like it was going to burst if it didn't get inside her. Something I wasn't about to say out loud in the middle of an open field where my asshole brother and his mate would hear.

A growl formed deep in my chest and rumbled through me violently. But I could see the frustration on Rose's face, and when she jerked her hand from mine and came to a sudden stop, I figured she'd had enough of my attitude.

"Look. I don't know what's going on. But I do not need to be dragged across the lawn like a child about to be punished."

A warning growl passed over my lips. "Punishing you is the last thing on my mind. Unless you consider spanking an aphrodisiac. In which case, yes, I will be punishing you as soon and as much as possible.

"That's what this is about?"

I looked at her blankly. "What did you think it was about? Are you not overdue?"

She curled her lip and wrinkled her nose at me. "Overdue? What in the Gods’ names are you talking about?"

I blew out a hard breath. "Mating heat," I said slowly, enunciating both words as clearly as I could. "You should be panting for me by now. I can scent your arousal."

She further wrinkled her nose at me. "I really wish you'd stop talking about my scent. You make it seem weird."

"Not my intention. Especially when you smell as delicious as you taste."

Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. "I swear you get weirder and weirder. Is this a dragon thing again?"

"Of course it is. But it's also an omega thing. An alpha triggers your mating heat and you in turn trigger their rut. It's basic science. I thought that was your thing."

"It is. But if I'm not behaving like you expect me to, then maybe you're wrong."

"Not wrong. In fact, right now I'm considering pushing you onto that table and riding you fast and hard. How does that sound?"

I could see she was about to tell me what she thought of that idea and I doubted it would be good. But her eyes widened, and her pupils dilated, giving me the real truth.

"I—"

I slammed my hand over her mouth and stopped whatever bullshit words she was about to fling at me.

"Don't lie to me. My senses don’t lie. Neither do your dilated pupils and racing heart. You may not want what I am about to do to you to happen in public, but you do need it. And it's my job to take care of that need."

I gave her a few extra seconds to let that sink in before I uncovered her mouth and let her go.

"You're an asshole." She flung the word at me as if it might somehow hurt, but she was very wrong. I'd been called so much worse in my lifetime and deserved every one.

"Agreed. Now can we go upstairs or do you need me to prove myself here?"

"I'm not having sex with you! In fact, I need a break from you. I will meet you later at dinner." With that she turned on her heel and stomped her way into the house and up the stairs. I stood there on the terrace listening to every footfall as she slammed the door and flipped the lock.

As if that would keep me out.

For now, though, she could have her time and space. I'd given her what she needed the day before and I could do it again. I knew a little about what it was like to go through hell after finding out the truth.

"Trouble in paradise, little brother?"

I flinched at Isaac's voice as he came up behind me. "Not now."

"That seems to be the theme of your life. You ever ask yourself why you keep having all these problems?"

"If you're about to give me some sort of family philosophy about me needing to be the better person for once in my life, I'm going to bite your head off. And that is NOT a metaphor."

Isaac laughed. "I think part of the reason we can't get along is because we are too alike. Until my life was turned upside down by a curse, and then a trip to the fae realm made it even crazier, I cared about no one but myself."

"Then that's how we differ. I hate myself as much as I hate everyone else."

"Even her?"

That was an asinine question and we both knew it. One that would not get an answer no matter how much he goaded me. "Rose got the short end of the stick in all of this. She deserves better."

"We all do. You have no idea how badly I wish I could go back in time and right some of the wrongs."

"Because of Ian?" It was Isaac's turn not to answer the question as we both stood there staring out over the field and the cliff on the other side. The bluff this property sat on couldn't be more perfect. Not only did it have a moody vibe, but it had been built into the island in the most defensible location.

"Isaac!!" We both heard Kitra screaming and took off at a run. Magic washed over us when she came around the corner and screamed again. "No. No. No. Don't change."

If we were younger we'd have had no chance to stop it. Fortunately, we were both far experienced with our magic and were able to stop the change before it was too late.

Isaac was across the terrace and inspecting Kitra for some kind of damage before I could blink. Even I had to admit his power and speed were impressive.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's the portal. Someone has found it."

"That’s impossible," Isaac reminded her. "Your magic is shielding it."

"We know it is on this side, but we have no way to know for sure what's happening on the other side, but I'm telling you. I know something is happening. There's no mistaking the feeling." She held up her hands and her magic shimmered up and down her arms before settling into small pools in the palms of her hands.

"What is that? Some sort of perimeter alarm?" I asked, fascinated by the level of magic she now possessed. She'd come a long way from the days of being a meek stepdaughter to the king. But it was also more than a little frightening for one person to possess so much power. Goddess forbid our uncle or any other power hungry supernatural found out about her. They'd want to take that for themselves.

"Yes. I guess you could call it that. I sensed it first, but then this happened. Something or someone is definitely trying to get my attention."

"So if the bastard is getting close, I guess it's time for us to go."

We all whirled around to find Rose standing in the doorway, barefoot and freshly showered, in clean clothes and her hair dripping down her back.

"What?" she asked, her gaze darting between the three of us. "I heard Kitra screaming and then heard half of what you said on my way down. You three are loud."

My left eyebrow climbed toward my hairline. How could she possibly have heard...?

"You two have to go now, or it's going to be too late. The bastard king has enlisted help. Whoever is helping him has enormous power, and if they find the portal before you go through I can't guarantee you ever will."

Isaac perked up, probably because of the confusion on our faces. "She's right. It's now or never.”

Rose and I looked at each other. I could feel the tension still coming from her and the hum of her arousal still buzzed under both our skin. "Now is not the best time."

"Of course it's not. Danger and evil don't work on reasonable time clocks. But there is never going to be a perfect time for this. Have you changed your mind about going then?"

"No," we both answered in unison.

Kitra smiled. "That's what I figured." She looked at Isaac. "Did you get them?"

He stepped forward with two backpacks in hand. "Of course."

"What's that?"

"I took the time to pack a few things you might need. You know, like food and water, some daggers. I know not much will have changed since we left, but you'll still have to travel through the dark forest, and it won't hurt to be prepared."

"I agree," Rose said taking one of the bags and placing it on her back. "And since I don't know as well as the rest of you what I'm walking into, I will take all the help I can get. Now, where is this magical portal anyways?"

"Out there." Kitra pointed to the edge of the property where the cliffs were the tallest, and the trees more dense than anywhere else on the island.

"Of course it is." I snatched the second pack from Isaac and settled it on my back without even looking at it. It might be practical to carry supplies, but I couldn't keep the snarl out of my tone anyways. It likely had nothing to do with Kitra's kindness or even Isaac's gloating smirk. My attitude came from pure worry.

Rose was not only not prepared to face the dangers of the fae, but also not ready to learn the truth about her family.

I should have told her sooner. Instead, I'd let the distractions prevent from telling her what she needed to know ahead of time.

As we trekked to the edge of the property, I remained silent while the three of them chatted away. Rose still had a lot of questions, and Kitra seemed eager to rush her through anything she might need to know.

By the time we got to the top of the cliff, I'd worked myself into quite a froth. It wasn't pretty, but I was prepared to walk through that portal and do whatever it took to stop my uncle once and for all.

"This is it," Kitra declared as we stepped to the edge.

I glanced around the area looking for something that looked like an entrance and nothing looked familiar from my arrival other than we were high on a cliff overlooking the ocean. There were no rock formations, no trees big enough to enter.

"Where?"

She pointed down from where we stood on the cliff. I peered over the edge still seeing nothing but rock formations far below us and the rough waves of the ocean beating those rocks mercilessly and consistently.

"What am I missing? Where's the cave we used last time?"

"That's an exit only. These portals are not as linear as you would expect. If you recall, it wasn't easy for us to open the portal from the fae realm to this one so it stands to reason that this will be the same.”

I took a deep breath, hoping to calm the dragon threatening to go into a rage. "You could have told us about this."

Kitra nodded. "I could have, but I didn't want to freak anyone out."

I knew she was talking about Rose, and for that I should be grateful, but I was still annoyed as hell.

"You don't have to sugarcoat anything for me. In fact, I think the best way for me to deal with all of this is head on, with all the facts."

I nodded, agreeing with Rose. And if Kitra was leaving out pertinent details on this then I could pretty much guarantee there were more things she'd "left out."

"There's no sugarcoating any of this. It's going to be one big-ass bitter pill. But why not take it in chunks as it comes so you don't choke on it."

I shook my head, not enjoying Kitra's weird analogies at all. I didn't like riddles, puzzles or any of that kind of thing. I much preferred to deal in absolutes.

Rose leaned over the edge again, and I had to fight the instinct to grab her and pull her to safety. She was fine.

"So are you implying that we're going to jump and magic is going to whisk us into a portal instead of us plunging to our gruesome deaths on those jagged and lethal rocks down there?"

"Sort of." Kitra stepped up to Rose's side. "You are going to jump, but please don't, until I get the portal open. Which is the complicated part."

I already didn't like the sound of that. "How complicated?"

She exchanged glances with Isaac, them both wearing a grimace on their face.

"This is where I entered the fae realm." Isaac didn't look happy to say that, and I understood why. "But to get it open required a sacrifice."

"What?" Both Rose and I said at the same time, although hers was more of a shriek and mine a rumbled bellow.

"So what are we going to do now? How do we get around the whole sacrifice thing?"

Kitra pressed her lips together for a moment before she spoke. "We don't. I've tried everything. My magic alone won't do it. We must have a sacrifice."

Rose backed away. "Is this some sort of trick? Was that what I was brought here for? So you all could sacrifice me and send him back to where he belongs?"

I started to protest, but the look on Isaac's face told me she might not be off the mark.

"What the fuck?" I roared, my skin quickly turning to scales.

"Slow your roll," Kitra yelled. "Let us explain before you go full force dragon and end up hurting someone."

I did my best to push the dragon down, but he refused to be leashed. He would not sit idly by if there was even a whiff of danger in Rose's direction.

"Then you'd better explain quick because he's about to snap," I seethed through gritted teeth.

"Then just hold on and hear me out because we did consider using her as our sacrifice when we first showed up at her cottage. Until we figured out she was a dark fae omega and far more valuable unharmed."

"If you think any of what you just said was going to make me feel any better, then you are sadly mistaken. And more than that, just plain crazy. What. The. Fuck. Kitra!?"

"I know. It was a dumb idea and barely more than a thought. I may wield dark magic but that doesn't mean I have any interest in fae or human sacrifices."

"Then what are we doing here if we need a sacrifice?" Rose had taken a few more steps away from Kitra and I couldn't blame her. If I were her, I would have run screaming from us a long time ago. Any normal human would have labeled us insane and called the police.

"Well, I've spent a lot of time on this and tested lots of theories."

"Like what?"

"I considered an animal sacrifice."

That struck me almost as hard as the idea of sacrificing a human. "Not acceptable," I growled.

"Agreed. So I started thinking outside the box about what could be considered a sacrifice that didn't require us doing something stupid like taking a life." She side-eyed Isaac on that one.

"And?" I had that instinctual feeling that no matter what she was about to come up with was going to hurt. Whatever fucked up magic held this portal together wasn't going to be an easy thing to appease. Magic lived and breathed like the rest of us, and it hated being abused more than anything else.

"She already made it."

"Excuse me?" Rose questioned.

"It’s going to sound a little weird but hear me out. When I gave Rose the choice of staying here and losing her magic forever, or leaving with you to the fae realm and never being able to return to your time, she made a sacrifice. When she chose to help you and fight through danger to learn her truth, I felt the change in my magic, but at the time I had no idea it had anything to do with the portal."

"Is that why the timeline got pushed up?"

"Now you're getting it. Your decision tapped into my power, and that woke up a lot of magic. Which is how I think the king is closer than ever to getting through."

I looked over the cliff again as if on second glance I would magically see a powerful fae vortex down there beckoning us to jump through.

"Hold up. Do you know all of this for fact, or are you theorizing? Because there's a huge difference between the two."

"I may not know it as fact, but I wouldn't expect either of you to make that leap of faith if I didn't feel the rightness of it."

"Oh boy," Rose said. "I feel like I’m back to square one again. With square one being my parents trying to convince me that it was okay to believe in magic and science. But this is probably the biggest leap of faith I've been asked to make to date."

"No. Forget it. This is not how this is happening."

"It is not your choice," Rose said quietly.

"To hell it's not. It's my job to keep you safe." I grabbed her hand and dragged her to me. I had to feel her body pressed to mine and hear her heartbeat in tandem with mine. "You are not a sacrifice. Do you hear me? I'm not letting them take this kind of chance with you. Trust me, you are not the first to face this and it’s simply too risky."

She placed her small hand on my chest, and I felt the burn of connection through the clothes I wore, my skin, and even the dragon scales that made me impervious to fire. Her touch had effectively stripped me bare.

"Then we make this leap together. If I'm not meant to be the sacrifice, then it sounds like we are both in this equally. I admit I've given you hell about the mate thing, as well as the whole omega idea, but damned if I don't feel you under my skin anyways. I must have kidnapped you for a reason...."

"Because you didn't want to go to jail," I said, frowning.

She laughed, and I felt that precious sound down to my marrow. Right now I would give anything to hear that for the rest of my life. Everything but her.

"There is some truth to that for sure. It's not every day I think I've killed someone. But I think I understand there is more to it now. You and I met for a reason."

"Ms. Scientist ready to admit there might actually be something to all this magic nonsense?"

"I never said there wasn't. I might have felt a lot out of my control, and I had a hard time believing, even after seeing the impossible. But I think I've handled this pretty well, so we might as well keep going."

I was about to tell her how important she was to me, and that we could absolutely get through this if we stuck together, when I felt a hard shove.

I went careening over the edge too fast to stop myself. In a panic, I tried to disentangle myself from Rose before she went with me. But I wasn't fast enough, and gravity had taken over.

I called on my magic to transform, but even that wasn't quick enough to keep her from falling. By the time the dragon had fully taken control, Rose had slipped from my grasp and was plummeting to the rocks below.

Isaac

"Isaac! What the hell?" Kitra screamed at me as I peered over the edge. I could just make out Magnus's dragon, and I had to admit I was impressed at how quickly he'd made the change.

"Someone had to do something. At the rate they were going, they were going to talk all day about their feelings. It was nauseating."

She slapped at my shoulder. "You are a bully. Are they okay? Did they go through the portal?" she asked as she too looked over the edge.

"Well, I don't see any bodies on the rocks."

"That's a plus," she deadpanned. "But did they go through the portal?"

"Had to have. They've vanished into thin air."

Kitra exhaled. "I sure hope this works. Although I still feel bad for manipulating Rose into all of this."

"What choice did we have? All these months of hunting Magnus and trying to get his head on straight couldn't be for nothing. If the king gets through that portal, the human realm as it's known will be destroyed. We had no other choice. You said yourself that the king's death had to be at his hand."

"I know what I said," she snapped. "But Rose is innocent in all this. When she realizes that she has no accessible magic..."

"She'll adapt and overcome. Magnus will take care of her. She is his omega. He'll burn the entire realm before he'll let anyone hurt her."

"And who's going to protect her from him?"

"You said yourself that we couldn't take care of this ourselves. That they both had to see this through. What would be the point of you having all that power, if you simply ignored your visions? Besides, we know my nephews and niece need me now. I owe that much to Ian, and I'm not going to let him down."

"You should have said goodbye to Magnus."

"Don't—" I warned, not wanting to think about how I'd just lost another brother. They both had their own lives to live, but it was still weird that one did so in the past and the other would do it in the future.

"Let's go home, then."

"This is our home for the foreseeable future. We have to be prepared, in case this all blows up in our face."

"Oh it will. I'm not sure how yet, but we both know that karma is a bitch and there will be consequences for our actions."

I shook my head at my mate. While I didn't necessarily disagree with her assessment, her obsession with balance threatened to drive me mad.

"Karma can kiss my ass."