From Rasmus’s scowl, he didn’t appreciate the incubus’s dumb idea.
“Enough!” Like me, Maverick was all out of patience. If they didn’t get their act together, I’d ask the kitsune to take me to my mate. I was pretty sure he understood us when we spoke to him. Most familiars were goddess blessed with high levels of intelligence, even if they behaved like any other animal much of the time.
Kenji watched me. Could he read my thoughts? He had a telepathic connection with Raven, so he might pick up our thoughts too.
“Can you hear me?”The little shit rolled his eyes disdainfully.
“Is Tiberius Vane a narcissistic imbecile with a tiny cock?”
Irritation and disgust flared, but I shoved them down.“Why didn’t you say so earlier?”
“Because it wasn’t possible to communicate with you until Raven blew up the wards around the facility. If I can’t talk to her, I can’t talk to you, dumbass,”he added.
I ignored the insult, deciding he was likely upset from losing contact with his bonded witch for so long.“She did what?”
“She sealed the bond with the storm mage and unlocked her magic.”
“Raven’s bonded with Alaric!” I blurted out loud.
The others all turned to me. “She has? How do you know?” Maverick demanded.
“Because Kenji told me.” The massive power surge we all experienced just now made sense. I’d felt it when she bonded with the others, so of course we’d know when she completed the bond with Alaric.
“He did?” Zane looked at Kenji and frowned. The two of them appeared to have a silent conversation before the incubus nodded.
“Wow, Fritz finally got his dick wet. I hope he made my pet come at least once. Although it’s doubtful.”
“Zane! Can you take us to Arizona or not?” From the way Maverick’s shoulders bulged, he was about to shift into his bear. I wondered how the dragon would react to another apex predator in the room.
“Sure, but we don’t have an exact location, and besides, I’ve only ever been to the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, and I doubt she’s there.”
“Why did you visit that?” I asked, regretting the question the minute it left my mouth.
“Because I wanted to see the terrified trees,” the incubus replied. “Only it turned out there were no scared to death trees.” He scowled. “I left a shitty review on MagiTripAdvisor saying so. Talk about false advertising!”
Maverick covered his face with his hands again, muttering some creative insults, while Olaf smothered a laugh.
I’d had enough of being the passive mate nobody listened to. “We need to leave now!”
“He’s right,” Maverick said. “Take us to Arizona, Zane.”
“Step closer, everyone,” the incubus hollered. “As close as you like. We’re all friends here!”
25
Rasmus
While sunlight wouldn’t kill me, it still burned. Over the centuries, I had adapted my lifestyle and become a card-carrying stereotypical vampire. One that slept during the day and made the most of the hours between sunset and dawn.
Now that I’d found my soul-bonded mate, living a twilight existence was no longer an option. She needed me. This rescue mission would require all her mates, and as the strongest, fastest male in her harem, there was no way I could sit back and let the others rush into danger.
The magical pull from our mate had led us to a rundown farmstead in the middle of the Arizona desert. The sun had risen over the horizon, painting the nearby mountains pink and lilac.
Under different circumstances, I’d have appreciated the view. It wasn’t often that I got to enjoy an attractive sunrise. But right now, we had a mate to rescue and a Mage Council leader to tear apart.
An enormous gold dragon swished its tail, nearly taking out a small copse of trees to our left. It had been at least three hundred years since I’d seen an adult dragon. I wasn’t certain, but I believed Olaf to be a descendant of Magnus and Isolde, the leaders of Clan Firestorm.
When this unfortunate turn of events resolved, I looked forward to speaking with the dragon. He seemed a wise old soul, if a little sad when he thought nobody was looking too closely.
