AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“It won’t,” Sebastian said. “It’s only meant to help Peregrine remember.”
Sebastian held the flame in place, where it danced and flickered in the air, casting color all around them. From across the room, Pake perked up and began to trudge toward the light.
“I recall the bath,” Perry admitted in a small voice, “but not what you said. What was it, Sebastian? Tell me.”
Pake reached the first of the orange patches of light. Sebastian snuffed out the fire it belonged to, and on Pake moved to the next, coming closer to Raven and Perry.
“I told you that the fire yields to me, and that one day, I hoped you might, too.” Sebastian snuffed out another ball of light, tempting Pake to come closer. “You told me that you did yield to me, but I explained that it wasn’t in the way I wanted. You were no more than water back then, meekly pushed aside when introduced to any kind of resistance. What I wanted was to see you independent. Like a flickering flame. Do you remember now?”
Recognition flashed through Perry’s eyes. “I do.”
“You’ve grown so much since that day.” Sebastian extinguished a third ball of light. Pake had come so close now that he’d arrived nearly behind Raven, where the patterns on the ground cast by the fire were reminiscent of stained glass. “When I met you, you were a proper Pedigree omega who aspired to nothing more than to serve his purpose, but now you are the mate of a dragon. A treasure worthy of any hoard. A brave warrior in your own right. My heart, my soul, and my voice of reason. Not just my equal, but my superior. Without you, I would be empty. You are the stars in my night sky, and without you, I am lost to darkness.”
Tears streamed silently down Perry’s cheeks. “But how can I be starlight when, without you, I’d never shine?”
“Nonsense.” Sebastian smiled and extinguished one last light. “You have always shone, Perry. I was simply the dragon lucky enough to have noticed.”
“Are we done here?” Raven demanded. “You’ve had your moment. Get rid of the fire and let us leave.”
“As you wish.”
Sebastian willed the flames out of existence, plunging the atrium in darkness. With their eyes having adjusted to the light, it was hard to see much of anything, but Sebastian knew better than to fly forward and attack in a rage. In just a little longer, he would end the omega once and for all, but not until Raven’s guard was down.
“Goodbye, Perry,” Sebastian said to the only man he’d ever loved. The one who had given him everything when he’d been least expecting it. The one with whom he shared eternity. “I have vowed to keep you safe, and if this is the only way I can do it, then so be it.”
Through the mate bond, Sebastian told Perry all the things he couldn’t say with words—that this was not the end, that he wasn’t giving up, and that all would be well. He only hoped his emotions translated.
“Raven,” he said. “You may go. I won’t follow you. You’ve won.”
There came the frenzied sound of shuffling feet, as if Raven was reeling back. “How do you know who I am?” he demanded. “Did Bertram tell you? I’ll—”
Raven gasped, cutting himself short. At the same time, there came the clatter of something solid and metallic striking the ground, then a large thud and a sickening snap—the crunch of a broken bone. Pain be damned, Sebastian sped through his transformation to bring out his teeth and talons, and as he did, he willed fire back into the sky. In its light, he saw that his plan had worked—Pake, who’d once loved to play in the patterns cast by their stained-glass windows, had chased the orange patches in the grass until he was standing right behind Raven, and Raven, unaware that the boulder of a tortoise was there, had crashed into him while hurrying away from Sebastian and tripped, falling hard. He’d dropped the knife in his surprise, but had grabbed onto Perry and brought him tumbling down with him. They’d landed on their sides, but Raven had twisted them so Perry had landed partially on his stomach.
Sebastian saw red.
Kill, his dragon urged. Maim. Destroy. Devour.
It was not a bad idea.
Sebastian tore across the atrium, leaping over Pake’s shell to land on his knees on top of Raven, whose arm was twisted at an unnatural angle. Without hesitation, he raked his claws down Raven’s side, leaving deep gashes in their wake that gushed fountains of blood. Raven let out a bloodcurdling scream and writhed, but without his weapon, he was weak, and Sebastian would rend him limb from limb until there was nothing left.
Before he could attack again, something painful struck Sebastian in the head. Howling with pain and fury, he turned his head to look at what it was and there was Bertram. He was wielding a Glock, the butt of which he’d slammed into Sebastian’s skull.
“Stop now,” Bertram growled, “or I’ll shoot you, and I’ll keep on shooting until you die. Do you understand me, brother?”
“What the bloody hell is going on?” a querulous voice asked loudly. It was Everard. “Sebastian, why are you half dragon? Bertram, put down that gun. You will not shoot our brother. What on earth is the matter with you?”
Bertram ignored Everard and kept his gun trained on Sebastian. “Step away from the omega right now,” he snarled.
Sebastian’s head spun. Alarms were blaring. His brothers were shouting. The smell of blood spiced the air, and through it all, distress warbled through the mate bond, and with it, pain.
It was Perry.
Sebastian shoved himself off Raven and crawled on his hands and knees to be next to his mate. Everard and Bertram were squabbling, but it didn’t matter. Nothing did. Because Perry’s fair skin had gone ghostly white, and he clutched his round stomach as though in agony. Sebastian attempted to reach out to him through the bond, but Perry shut it down, and like an elastic stretched too far, the sudden severing snapped back and struck Sebastian in the heart.
“Perry?” Talons gone, he caressed Perry’s cheek. “Open the bond back up to me.”
“I can’t.” Perry winced, opening his mouth in a silent scream. “It hurts. Sebastian… the baby… she’s coming.”
