Chapter 37

Chapter

Thirty-Seven

Magnus

"What the hell just happened? Are you okay?" I lifted Rose into my arms and carried her quickly over to the bed. One minute, we'd been anxiously passing the time, and the next, she'd collapsed onto the floor. "You're scaring the hell out of me."

"Me?!" she cried, pushing up on the bed and shoving at my chest, tears streaming down her face. "I'm not the one who was just dead on the floor. What the fuck is going on?"

I reared back, shocked. "What are you talking about? Did you hit your head?" I touched her fiery hair, looking for signs of trouble.

She scrambled away from me. "How are we here? We were surrounded."

"Don't you remember?" I asked. "We came back here after talking to Corvina. We're waiting for the portal to the castle to open."

She shook her head. "But it did. And they were waiting for us. For you." She pulled her knees up under her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs, her whole body shaking. "They killed you and I could do nothing to stop it."

Nothing she said made any sense, but I tried to get through. "Rose. Please. We haven't gone anywhere yet."

She sprang forward and grabbed onto my arms with a grip tighter than possible. "We did. We were in the castle. You have to listen to me. I know what I saw. It was real. You died."

I grabbed her arms while shaking my head. "That's not possible. My dragon would protect me."

"That's just it. They did something to you. Made it so you couldn't shift."

I stared into her wild, panicked eyes, looking for some sign of something—anything that would explain what had happened to her. But we'd not been parted for even a moment. One second, she was pacing the floor, and the next, she was huddled on the ground, a teary-eyed, shaky mess. No one could have spelled her without my knowledge.

The one thing I did know for certain was she wasn't crazy. A more level-headed, brilliantly smart woman I'd never met. Unless?—

"Is it the mating heat? Has it come back sooner than we expected?" Fuck. That was going to be a problem. To prove the point, my body tightened, and a rush of blood moved south. I couldn't afford to be balls deep inside her when that portal opened. Not that I'd allow either of us to suffer if she needed me.

"What? No? Are you not listening? A portal opened in that doorway right there." She pointed across the room. "And on the other side was death and destruction and blood for both of us. You have to believe me. We ARE going to die."

Despite the fear in her voice, her words were clear. And maybe because of that fear—I believed her. Something had happened, even if I couldn't explain it, and it was very very wrong.

I sat on the bed and pulled her into my arms. Watching her like this was tearing me up on the inside. Demons and fae I could handle. Those I could slay for her. This fear... This unknown…. I didn't know what to do to take it away from her.

Except own it.

"I do believe you," I said, pressing my lips to her shaky ones. "I just don't understand it. Something happened. But you are the only one who saw it. I wonder if you had a vision. Maybe you do have more power than we thought. Premonition maybe?"

We sat silently for several minutes as we both tried to come to terms with what happened. Whatever it was, it involved my death. I was now sure of it. I don't think anything else could have shaken her to the core like this. It would me.

"I'm alive, Rose. I promise. And I have every intention of staying that way. Can you give me more details?"

"It was horrifying." She gripped me tighter, and I could feel every ounce of tension in her hold. I didn't ever want her to suffer but seeing her like this told me she was falling for me as quickly as I was her...

Just then, magic shimmered behind us, and when I turned to see, it was as I'd expected. The portal had opened right on schedule. Like it or not, we were out of time.

"We've got to go, baby. We only have a short window to get this done."

"What? No!" She grabbed at me when I tried to stand. "You'll die. Going through that portal is the last thing we should do."

"I have to do this. It may be my only chance. Even if he knows I'm coming, I must see this through. You don't have to go with me. You know I'd rather you not anyways."

She was shaking her head and her hands squeezing me tightly. She had no intention of letting go. "That's not happening. You aren't going without me. We just need to do this differently. He's going to disrupt your power, so we need to find a way to disrupt his."

"I'm afraid we're out of time. It's too late to come up with a new plan."

"True," she said. "But if I know what's coming, we should be able to make different decisions, right? Take a different path?"

"Absolutely! But we have to go now."

She nodded, but she still looked uncertain and more than a little shaky on her feet as we made our way to the portal.

"Please, don't die."

"I won't." I gently gripped her chin and tilted her head to face me. "Not with you there to guide me away from whatever you saw. Okay?"

"Okay," she finally said, taking a deep breath. "But if you die, I'm going to find a way to make your afterlife a living hell."

I smiled even though she wasn't smiling, nor did she smile back. Instead, her fear was still so palpable, it threatened to rip the dragon right out of me. If my treacherous uncle had found a way to dampen my power, this was going to be a lot harder than I'd thought.

With the wetness of more unshed tears still coating her lashes, emotion swelled inside me. Whether her mating heat called to me or not, I needed her. More than I'd ever needed anyone in my life. I leaned forward and captured her mouth, licking at the heat and fear that flooded her. I'd take it all away from her if I could.

But I would never give her up. She didn't know it, but I would have kidnapped her if she had not agreed to come home with me.

Urgent need spiked through my veins, forcing me to break the kiss before I pushed her to the floor and gave us both what we needed.

After. There would be plenty of time after.

I grabbed her hand and walked into the chasm of time and space awaiting us and into a din of chaos amidst hundreds of people taking up all the space in my uncle's throne room.

"What the hell?" He never held court here and it absolutely wasn't a space he'd shared with others for quite some time. I searched the room for any sign of my uncle and his immediate guards, but they were nowhere to be seen.

"I tried to tell you. It's a trap."

She was right. I could sense it. We needed to get out of here and regroup. There were any number of places my uncle could hide as could we. I searched the room for the most obvious answer and opted for the prep room closest to the throne. If he was hiding close by, it would be in there.

"C'mon. I have an idea." I tightened my grip on her hand and pulled her towards the door that would lead us the hell out of this insanity. The hairs on the back of my neck were starting to prickle with unease.

We got less than a dozen steps when she yanked on my hand and stopped us. "No," she pleaded. "That's where we went last time and that's where I watched you die." Her jaw clenched and her nails dug into my skin. The strength of her fear had intensified and I could now taste it on my tongue.

The dragon was about to lose his mind.

I looked at the door that should lead to safety once more and then turned back, leading Rose to the one other room that could get us clear of this mess. Her lips were still compressed into a firm worried line, and her fear still coated my senses, but underneath I could feel a sense of some relief.

As soon as we were clear of this nightmare, we were going to have to figure out what happened to her. The gift of premonition was uncommon, but not unheard of among the fae. Although her inability to separate a vision from reality was setting off alarm bells left and right.

I pushed through throngs of people, wondering how things had gotten so out of hand. The king's guards should be here keeping all these people under control or evicting them from the castle. It was completely out of control.

When I finally reached the waiting room door, I hesitated, my hand on the handle. "Ready?"

She gripped my arm and nodded. "Do it."

I slipped us inside in a break between worshippers. No, not worshippers. Townspeople. Just because my uncle’s ego preferred to refer to the people he ruled over as worshippers, didn't make it true. They were individuals who lived in his kingdom. It was he who technically should have served them.

That thought brought me up short as did the wall of guards guarding the next exit. They should not have their swords brandished in my direction, nor in hers. I couldn't believe the dragon wasn't trying to burst through my skin.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I roared, glaring at each and every one of my own men. A few of them blinked and a couple wavered, but to their credit they didn't back down. They had to thank their training for that shit. What I'd put all of them through may have been called brutal by some, but at least it had stuck and they'd become better soldiers because of it. Not that I was going to let that excuse them when this was all over.

"I am your commanding officer. If you don't sheath your weapons in the next two seconds, I will not be responsible for how many of you burn to death."

"Go back. We have to get out of here now," Rose whispered. Although at least half my men heard her because they were fae with supernatural hearing. They would have heard a pin fucking drop.

"It's either this door or the one you didn't want to take. The main entrance was blocked by the hordes of people." A flash of unease raced up my spine. Whatever Rose had seen in her vision, this was definitely part of that. They'd not only known we were coming, but had planned for this to be the?—

"Trust me. You can't fight them. Not even your dragon can help you now." Her words echoed through the room as the soldiers moved in on us. We had no choice but to defend and pray. I reached for my dragon, and— "Fuck. I can't feel him," I roared, my unease growing with every step forward of the guards. There were at least forty or fifty of them. I could fight and I would to my dying breath. But Rose on the other hand, they could not touch her.

As that thought went through my head one of the soldiers grabbed her arm and tried to pull her from me. I held fast, but I couldn't keep hold for long. They'd rip her arm off. So I let go of her and dove for her waist, releasing her knives. "Fight like I taught you. Vulnerable tendons. Please, Rose. Fight."

She looked like she was in a daze, but her instincts managed to kick in, and she began fighting to get free. When her blade came down and sliced through the wrist of her assailant, I smiled. She'd learned well. He would not live to survive this night.

Unfortunately for me, helping her had cost me what little time I had to fight for my own life. At least six soldiers grabbed me, and as I flung and punched each one away, two more took their place. I had no shortage of ego and fighting ability, but even I knew these odds were impossible. And Rose had been pinned down as well. The awakened mate bond fueled me now as I fought and fought and fought.

"Stop fighting or I'll slit her throat." How I heard the guard's words over the adrenalin rushing through my body I didn't know. But my blood turned to ice as I froze where I stood, turning to see the man who'd dared to touch my mate. It didn't matter that we weren't fully bonded, fate had given her to me and no mere fae would get to take her away.

"If you do, everyone you know and love, and everyone they know and love will burn at the feet of my dragon." The low words rumbled viciously from my throat, every bit as potent in their truth as any I'd spoken. However, I wasn't going to make a move yet. For now, I would have a better chance negotiating for her life than fighting for it. "I demand to speak with the king!"

Their deaths were already written. No matter what happened. It was done. As for my uncle, his death would no longer be quick. The dungeon was out of the question. He would bleed for this.

"You don't even get what is happening do you?" Another soldier from my side sneered. "The king doesn't want to see you. Not alive, anyways. He's demanded your head on a"—pain exploded through my entire body on his hesitation, robbing me of breath—"pike, but first, I'll take your heart," he finished.

I looked down to see a sword run through my chest, and likely the very organ he sought. As blood bubbled in my throat, I looked at Rose to tell her I was sorry, only to watch the guard slowly drag the blade across her neck.