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Heart set to shatter, Sebastian flew down the hall toward the hoard, where he’d told Perry to rest until Everard’s arrival. On his way, a pane of glass shattered somewhere unseen. An alarm began blaring, and Sebastian, enraged, began to change. Scales plunged down his neck and over his shoulders, his teeth sharpened, and deadly talons took the place of his fingernails.
So it wasn’t trouble with the babe, then.
It was an intruder.
The omega.
Raven.
He’d found a way in despite Misha’s best efforts and laid his hands on Perry, just like he had five hundred years ago.
Sebastian’s ears told him that the shattered glass had come from down a hallway that led away from the hoard, but his bond with Perry led him onward, and he did not stray from his course to investigate. Raven was crafty, and if he’d managed to sneak inside beneath all their noses, then surely he could have arranged for distractions to lead Sebastian off the trail. But Sebastian didn’t care for his windows—he cared for Perry, and so on he went.
If even a hair on Perry’s head had come to harm, he would gut the omega, Bertram be damned.
To his consternation, the tug on his mate bond did not lead him to the hoard, but past it, to the atrium. Its door was ajar and there was movement from within. Anger spiked inside of Perry and echoed into Sebastian’s soul, and Sebastian ran harder yet, bursting through the atrium door, claws out and ready to attack.
What he saw beyond the atrium doors stopped him in his tracks.
Raven, his pale skin near spectral in the moonlight, stood behind Perry, using him as a shield. He pressed a hunting knife to Perry’s throat.
“Come one step closer,” Raven warned, sounding eerily like Bertram, “and I’ll kill him. You’ll stay where you are if you don’t want your pretty omega to die.”
Sebastian snarled, but he did not move. He knew that if he did, Raven would follow through on his threat, and not even all the magic in the world could bring Perry back from the dead.
“What do you want?” he growled. “Gold? Jewels? Whatever it is, it’s yours as long as you let him go.”
Raven laughed, the sound so unhinged that Sebastian shuddered. “What I want,” he cooed, smirking at Sebastian from over Perry’s shoulder, “is your baby. So I’ll be taking your omega. He’ll be better off with me, anyway, away from the meat market you dragons have brainwashed us all into thinking is normal.” The blade dug slightly into Perry’s neck, causing him to wince. Through their bond, Sebastian felt its bite all too well. “So if you know what’s good for you, you’ll turn around and go on your way. No need for formality—I’ll show myself out.”
Sebastian glanced between Raven, whose expression was crazed and dangerous, to Perry, who was doing his best not to look any one way at all. Fear shivered through their bond, so Sebastian did his best to counter it by thinking calm, reassuring thoughts.
He would find a way to save Perry and their child. This mad omega would not win.
“If I go,” Sebastian said in as even a voice as he could manage with a mouthful of pointed teeth, “you must swear he won’t come to harm.”
“You can bet your life on it.” Raven paused thoughtfully. “Or his. Probably his.”
“And the babe?”
“I would never.”
As they spoke, the door behind Raven leading from the atrium into the hallway connecting with the garage was nudged open, and in toddled Pake.
An idea came to Sebastian then.
It was a long shot, but it was all he had, and he would regret it forever if he didn’t try.
“If he is to leave me forever,” Sebastian said as his transformation regressed, “then will you allow us one last moment? If you do, I shall leave and allow you safe passage out of my lair.”
Raven’s eyes narrowed. “This is a trick, isn’t it? You’re trying to trick me.” He clenched his jaw and sneered at Sebastian, holding the knife ever steady to Perry’s neck. “He’s staying with me, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay right where you are, too. Say whatever it is you need to say, but don’t come any closer or I’ll kill him.”
“I won’t come closer.” Sebastian held out his talonless hands. “What I need to say can be said from here. Perry?” Sebastian locked eyes with his mate, and while he could see that Perry was afraid, he was proud of how steadfast his mate was acting despite the harrowing circumstances. It was far from the first time Perry had been targeted by an enemy, but Sebastian did hope that it would be the last. “Do you remember long ago, when we first met, on the morning before we left Ljouwert? How I bathed you and showed you dragonfire for the first time? Do you remember what I said to you then?”
A spark of curiosity lit Perry’s eyes. “No.”
All hinged on this moment. Sebastian composed himself, ignoring his hammering heart to focus on the task at hand. If Raven were to interpret his gestures as hostile, it could all be over in an instant, but Sebastian had hope that wouldn’t be the case. Very slowly, so as not to spook the omega holding Perry captive, Sebastian summoned balls of flame into existence in the air above them, each one made to burn as bright as he could get it. Compared to the rest of his brothers, Sebastian’s magic was crude at best, but he didn’t need much to get the job done. All he needed was to make the fire bright enough that it cast its orange glow onto the grass beneath it, and with night having arrived, it was easy enough to do.
“What are you doing?” Raven’s face tightened with anger. “If any of it gets close to me, I’ll slit his throat.”
