Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

Keegan settled on the floor of his room, with his legs crossed beneath him. The scent of sandalwood and frankincense from the candles he'd lit filled the air, and although he didn't really believe they gave him clearer visions the way the woman who'd sold them claimed they would, he liked the way they smelled. At this point, he'd take any extra focus he could get.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, reaching for the place inside himself where his power resided. It came to him slowly, sluggishly. He frowned but didn't let that deter him. Instead, he pushed harder, calling Apollo to mind and inspecting all the threads of the future that were connected to him.

The visions that came to him were faint and blurry like someone had smeared Vaseline over a camera lens. Either someone was trying to interfere with his ability to see clearly or he was far more tired than he'd thought he was.

A headache began to build in the back of his skull as he tried to force the images into focus, but he ignored the pain and kept pushing.

Finally, the vision cleared enough for him to make out Apollo in a room with the other victims. All of them had their hands bound behind their backs, and some of them were wearing anti- magic collars around their necks. Apollo's eyes were closed, his head lolling to the side. Keegan couldn't tell if he was unconscious or just sleeping.

He tried to take in more details about the room, but the vision wouldn't cooperate. It kept slipping away from him, fading back into blurriness no matter how hard he strained to see it clearly.

He caught a glimpse of a symbol painted on the floor in what looked like blood before the vision dissolved completely, leaving him gasping and clutching at his head as pain lanced through it.

"Fuck," he gritted out, massaging his temples.

That symbol… Hadn't he seen it in one of his books?

He had to write it down and do some research. As he got up, though, his head was pounding and his stomach contracted in a way that let him know, if he'd still been mortal, he would have thrown up.

He cursed again, making his way to his desk where he grabbed a piece of paper and hastily scribbled down what he'd seen.

It wasn't much, but it was a start.

And at least he hadn't seen Apollo die.

That was something, right?

Sadly he also hadn't seen the villain who was holding him. He'd have to take another look, be more specific about the kind of information he was looking for.

Before he could, though, a knock came at the door.

Keegan dragged himself to the door.

That had better be Jaron or he was going to have to rip someone's head off.

To the great fortune of everyone in the coven, it was indeed his mate who greeted him on the other side of the door. Jaron smiled at him at first, that smile of his that made everything seem right with the world for a moment, but then his brows quickly drew together.

"You look like hell," he said, pushing past Keegan into the room.

Keegan closed the door and leaned against it, lacking the energy to argue. "I'm fine."

"Sure you are." Jaron turned to face him, his eyes narrowed. "How often do I have to tell you that sleep is important?"

Keegan waved a dismissive hand. "Now's really not the time for sleep."

Jaron huffed. "And how do you think you can be of any use to anyone if you're falling apart? I swear it was easier to put my brothers to bed when they were five."

"No, listen—" Keegan started, but Jaron was already dragging him towards the bed.

"I'll listen to what you have to say after you get some shut-eye," Jaron argued, pushing Keegan down onto the mattress. "Now, do I have to read you a story? Sing you a lullaby? Feed you a bottle of my own blood? What's it gonna take?"

Keegan almost laughed—and he would have if he hadn't thought that his furious dragon mate was being dead serious.

Also, it was really fucking nice to be lying down.

Keegan knew he would be out within seconds once he closed his eyes.

He sighed, admitting defeat. "I'll sleep."

Jaron shot him a look of suspicion. "I'll stay the night so you can't crawl out of bed again the moment I leave."

Keegan did laugh at that. Did Jaron think Keegan needed watching over? Apparently, he did. And he wasn't wrong either. "There's things I need to do," Keegan protested.

"Let me do them."

Keegan stared up at Jaron.

"I mean it," Jaron said. "I'm your mate. Let me help you."

Keegan swallowed. He hadn't wanted to bother Jaron with the things he'd found, but they concerned him too, didn't they? Keegan couldn't shield him from the truth forever, however much he wanted to.

"There must be something I can do," Jaron insisted, brushing Keegan's cheek with the back of his fingers.

"There's a book in the library," Keegan said, giving in. "'Weaving Fate.' Look at it and compare the images in it to the drawing on my desk."

Jaron's voice softened. "Is it related to your visions of us?"

"Maybe. I don't know, but I need to know if there's a match."

"All right, I'll look at it," Jaron promised. "And while I do that, you rest."

Keegan nodded but his eyes were already closing. He felt Jaron's lips on his forehead, and then he was drifting off, the world fading away as he slipped into darkness.

Jaron lingered a moment longer, watching the steady rise and fall of Keegan's chest. The vampire looked so peaceful in sleep, the lines of worry and exhaustion smoothed from his face. Jaron exhaled a breath of relief, feeling something warm in his chest. He'd been rushing from one place to the next all day, always worrying about one thing or another.

At least he'd managed to do something about his worry for his workaholic mate.

And he'd even gotten a task so he could do something more for him. He picked up the drawing from Keegan's desk and eyed it curiously, treasuring the amount of trust that Keegan had put in him.

Quietly he slipped out of the room and made his way to the library. The musty smell of old books greeted him as he entered. That was the problem with underground vampire abodes. Terrible ventilation.

Jaron wrinkled his nose. They should get a fresh-air spell for that.

Stepping up to the shelves, he scanned them until he found the tome Keegan had mentioned: "Weaving Fate." It was a heavy, leather-bound volume with gilt-edged pages.

Jaron carried it over to a nearby table and carefully opened it. The pages were filled with dense text and intricate illustrations. He flipped through until he found the drawing that matched the one on Keegan's desk.

What was it about?

Jaron's eyes flew over the text that accompanied the drawing. It described a ritual to sever the bond between fated mates and harvest the energy released. Jaron's stomach turned as he read the details.

'Sever the bond.'

That had to involve killing people. How else would you de-couple a fated pairing?

He read a little more, trying to understand why anyone would want to do this.

To alter the course of fate.

Wait, wasn't that what Keegan wanted to do for them? Were these the sacrifices he'd talked about before?

He'd hoped Keegan had let that go.

He had to know Jaron would never agree to this, not in a million lifetimes. If this was the only way for him and Keegan to live happily ever after, if the foundation of their joy had to be built on the misery of others… He didn't want it.

He swallowed hard, bile rising in his throat as he snapped the book shut.

He wanted to go and yell at Keegan, except that he didn't want to wake the vampire now that he'd finally gotten him to close his eyes and sleep.

Jaron left the library, unable to quiet the urge to do something, anything, to distract himself from the growing sense of unease in his gut.

He climbed the stairs to the club area. Maybe some fresh air would help—or a drink.

As he stepped into the club, though, he spotted Mordyn pacing in front of the exit, clearly waiting for the sun to go down so he could go out and search for his missing mate.

Jaron froze, unsure what to say to the vampire. Guilt twisted in his chest, a heavy weight that made it difficult to speak.

This was Apollo's mate.

And it was Jaron's fault that Apollo had been kidnapped. If he hadn't left work early, if he hadn't abandoned his duty…

Mordyn turned around, and for a brief moment, Jaron caught a flash of raw pain in the vampire's features before his expression smoothed over into a mask of calm. "You feel guilty," Mordyn observed, a hint of a question in his voice.

Empath.

Right.

Mordyn could probably sense the turmoil raging inside him. "It should have been me," Jaron said, the words spilling out before he could stop them. "Keegan saw something bad happen to me, so he told me to leave work. That's the only reason Apollo left the office, to cover for me."

Mordyn's eyes narrowed, and Jaron thought he saw a flicker of anger in their depths. But then the vampire's shoulders slumped, and he let out a heavy sigh. "I don't blame you," he said, his voice tired. "And I don't think Apollo would either. He made his own choice to go out there and try to protect that mortal."

Jaron shook his head, the guilt still gnawing at him. "But if I had just stayed at work, if I hadn't listened to Keegan?—"

"Don't get me wrong," Mordyn cut him off. "I'd love to blame you and Keegan for everything and tear your heads off. That would feel really good for a minute or two, but it wouldn't change a thing, would it?" He shook his head. "Apollo would have found a way to place himself in the path of danger whether you did your job or not. That's what he does, and I will save him as many times as I can. That's what I do."

Jaron shifted uncomfortably, at a loss for words. "I'm sorry," he said again, the words feeling hollow and inadequate. "I'll do anything I can to help."

Mordyn studied him for a long moment, as if debating with himself. "There is one thing you can do."

Jaron nearly jumped at the chance. "What is it?"

"Complete your bond with Keegan."

Jaron blinked, confusion washing over him. How would that help Apollo and Mordyn? "I don't understand."

"You didn't know?" Mordyn asked. "When a vampire drinks from their bonded mate, it makes them much more powerful. If you and Keegan were fully mated, he might be able to see who took Apollo and how to get him out."

Jaron's mouth went dry. No, he had not known that.

"It's the least you two can do for us," Mordyn continued, his voice taking on a hard edge. "Pull your heads out of your asses and get mated already."

"I would love to do that," Jaron admitted. He wasn't the problem. He would have claimed Keegan as his in a heartbeat if the damn vampire had let him.

Keegan must have his reasons for refusing, though, and Jaron was never going to take him against his will.

He only wished he understood those reasons.

"I'll talk to him," he promised Mordyn, his voice coming out a little rougher than he'd intended. He'd wanted to talk to Keegan anyway.

He needed to know what the vampire had seen that was making him hold back, and he wasn't going to leave this building again before he did.

"Good," Mordyn said, eyeing Jaron for a moment longer. "If nothing else helps, get your blood on his lips while you fuck. That'll do it."

Jaron stared at Mordyn, that was certainly a piece of advice he hadn't expected to get.

"He needs to drink from you while you have sex to seal the deal," Mordyn explained. "And you need to drink his blood at the same time. Don't let him tell you anything different."

That sounded needlessly complicated to Jaron. "Dragons just have to fuck." At least, that was what his instincts were telling him to do, to sink his cock into Keegan's ass.

Mordyn shrugged. "That's how a blood bond is established." He turned to the door, then left through it without another word. The sun had set.

Jaron stared after Mordyn for a long moment, feeling stupid. He'd never really given much thought to the intricacies of vampire mating rituals before, but now that he was faced with the reality of it, he realized just how little he actually knew.

It was no wonder Keegan had been able to keep things from him so easily.

No longer.

With a sigh, Jaron turned and made his way back to Keegan's room. The vampire was still fast asleep, his face peaceful and untroubled in a way that it never was when he was awake.

Jaron sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled out his smartphone. He dug a pair of earphones out of his pocket and put them in, then brought up a search for informational videos on vampires and vampire mates.

The latest magitechnology allowed his phone to project a screen in the air in front of him for easy watching.

The first video he tapped on featured a serious-looking woman with dark hair and pale skin who introduced herself as a vampire historian.

"When a vampire finds their fated mate," she began, "the bonding process is not as simple as it is for other species. While dragons, for example, need only engage in sexual intercourse to seal their bond, vampires must exchange blood during the act of mating."

Jaron nodded to himself, remembering what Mordyn had said. He clicked on the next video, titled "The Power of the Blood Bond."

This one featured a male vampire with silver hair and a regal bearing. "When a vampire drinks from their bonded mate," he explained, "they are able to draw on the strength and power of that bond. It enhances their abilities and makes them far stronger than they would usually be. There are, of course, downsides to this. A vampire who has bonded this way can never drink from another person as long as his mate is alive. They are also incapable of harming their mate or forcing them into giving up their blood, which puts them in a difficult situation should their mate choose to deny them."

Jaron's brow furrowed as he took this in. He glanced down at Keegan's sleeping form and gently ran his fingers through the red hair, marveling at the softness of it.

"That's not what you're afraid of, is it?" he whispered.

Jaron would never deny Keegan anything, least of all his blood.

He kind of liked the idea of being the only person in the world his vampire could drink from.

He liked it a lot.

If only Keegan would let him be that person for him.

Suppressing his longing for his mate as best he could, Jaron turned back to his phone.

By the time Keegan woke, he would be prepared with all the information he could gather, and then they would have a good long talk about sacrificing people.