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The world was so confusing now with Amaru there.
Thankfully, the meeting with Rodrigo, Evora, Sam, and Dimitri was incredibly short. The earth dragons were less than a day away. In all likelihood, they’d be arriving that night—assuming the thunderstorms relented for a few hours. They just needed a quick discussion about options for allowing earth dragons into the cave, how important it was to actually preserve the writing on the walls, and what spells they needed to maintain the integrity of the cave while the earth dragons cleared a path.
Not that they could decide much until the earth dragons arrived, but they at least got a priority list made.
If Sam had his way, nothing would be harmed or touched, but they had reassured him that even if they lost the writings on the walls, they would have access to the creators themselves. Living history. That helped to calm him…a little.
Didn’t matter. Luka could barely keep his mind on what they were talking about in the first place. He wanted to get back to Amaru and Vasily. The mage was right. It wasn’t often they had the chance to spend time together where it was all three of them.
When Rodrigo set them free at last, Luka turned to go back to the tent, even though he wasn’t sure that was the best option. Still, he had promised Vasily he would try. He couldn’t go back on that promise, not when it meant so much. When their future was on the line.
The closer he got to the tent, the louder the laughter he was hearing became. Someone was having a good time. A wide grin automatically spread across his face at the sound of Amaru’s wild laughter pouring through the thin fabric.
But the grin stiffened when he leaned inside to find Amaru and Vasily wrestling amid the blankets and pillows. Vasily was tickling Amaru and the mage was twisting under him, laughing and gasping for air while seeming to half-heartedly bat at Vasily’s hands.
Then it was like everything slipped into slow motion. Even from the other side of the tent, Luka could see how their eyes locked and they both stopped moving. Vasily was leaning over Amaru, his hands still on his slender waist. Tension was a palpable, living, breathing creature in that room, drawing the two men closer and closer together. His own lips tingled as he waited for one or both of them to cross that distance and take the kiss that was hanging between them. His breath stuck in his throat, hoping his dragon would claim these two men as his mates.
All he received was dead silence.
Luka jerked from the doorway and forced leaden feet to march away from Amaru and Vasily. He kept going into the surrounding forest until the camp disappeared completely from sight. His human side ached to shift into his dragon form and fly away. To fly as far as he possibly could. The other side of the globe wouldn’t be far enough.
But his fucking dragon was still so incredibly quiet in his mind.
Pain was a living, breathing thing inside of him. He now understood that his dragon’s silence had been the kindest way his dragon could tell him that he had lost Vasily. There would be no happy ending for them. No ever after with a mage to complete them.
He couldn’t see through the tears in his eyes or think rationally right now; he just had to find some quiet place to lick his wounds. Far enough away no one would find him. His heart felt like it was shattering into a million pieces, the shards digging into his chest, and he could barely breathe around the pain of it.
Luka’s knees buckled and he slowly slid to the ground, his shoulder banging into a tree trunk. He barely noticed the bark biting into his flesh or the rain pouring down on him.
Amaru wasn’t his.
Neither was Vasily.
And Luka had to give them both up.
It was the right thing, the proper thing to do. It was the only way Vasily was going to be truly happy. That was the only thing that mattered. Vasily had given him so many years of blissful happiness, and Luka cherished every last second of them. He wouldn’t trade them away for anything, even knowing now that he’d have to give Vasily up.
The least he could do for Vasily would be to step back and let him properly bond with his mate. To not cause any problems. Let his lover bask in the happiness every dragon deserved to find with their mate. Right?
Luka heard something that sounded like keening through the rushing noise in his ears. It took a long minute to realize it was him, but he couldn’t get it to stop.
Why couldn’t he get it to stop? A strangled laugh burst forth, one that turned into a sob, and at that point the tears he’d been holding back started to fall. He gave in and wept and wept and wept.
