Azazel’s face flashed through my mind like a blade of anguish and uncertainty, and a fresh weight pressed on my chest. I broke the kiss and pulled away, my breath ragged, my emotions churning.
“Anya?”
“I’m all right. I just need a moment.”
He put some distance between us. “This is a lot to take in. I shouldn’t have...”
I gave him a wry look. “It was a two-way thing, Dante. I want you, that’s not in question. But not now. Not here.”
He looked about, as if realizing for the first time we were in Orion’s quarters, and then chuckled, low and sexy. “Yes, probably not the best idea.”
No reason to tell him that the location meant shit to me, that the real issue was Azazel. I couldn’t let myself go not knowing if he was safe. The way he’d vanished, the horror on his face…that had never happened before. Azazel losing form didn’t mean he left me—he would never leave me in danger, which meant something was keeping him away.
It meant he could be in danger.
The temptation to tell Dante about Azazel was a knot in my throat, but I owed it to Azazel to get his permission. I could trust the fire Dreki. And Vesper, despite his attitude, wasn’t someone who’d betray his queen…His queen. Fuck, would that be me now?
“It will take some getting used to,” Dante said. “But we’ll be here to help you.”
He touched the anklet and the metal flared with heat. I cried out, jerking my leg away from him.
“The magick inside of you wants out,” Dante said. “And it’s fighting the suppressor. You’re getting stronger by the day and Illyrian is getting weaker.”
My gaze flew up to meet his. “This suppressor is affecting him?”
“The stronger your magick grows, the more energy it takes from him. Eventually it would have killed him and absorbed his essence, and then I’m not sure even the mating ceremony would have been able to remove it.”
“I don’t understand why Illyrian made mating a condition of removing it.”
“I do,” Dante said. “If you fell into the wrong hands, they’d be unable to utilize your power for nefarious purposes.”
“I think if I’d fallen into the wrong hands, I’d probably be dead.”
“Seems to me you’re pretty resourceful, a warrior, a fighter. You mother was a politician, a strategist, but the battlefield wasn’t her favorite place. I think things are going to be different with you.” He stood and looked down at me with a soft smile. “I’ll get you some food. You need to fuel up.”
He left the room, closing the door behind him.
I waited a couple of minutes and then closed my eyes and opened my mind. “Azazel?”
Nothing, not even a twinge or a tug.
Panic flared in my chest. “Azazel, where are you? Please…I need you.”
Nothing.
Even when I’d forgotten him, I’d sensed his presence, I’d felt a connection even though I hadn’t remembered what that connection was. There’d been a sense of safety and assurance that if I fell there would be a net to catch me, but that assurance was gone.
There was an emptiness where that bond had been.
Azazel was gone.
No.
No, I refused to accept that. I had power, a ton of power. The sting in my ankle told me so, the heat in my blood warned me so. I could find him. I could get him back. As soon as the damn suppressor was off.
I tugged on the anklet and hissed as it tightened, biting into my skin.
Fucker. Not long now.
Chapter Twenty
VESPER
“You’re being very amiable about this?” I shot a glance at Orion as we strode out of the tower and across the bridge toward the nearest pinnacle.
“You expected me to claim her for myself.”
Not a question. He knew me too well. “Why aren’t you.”
“Now is not the time to fight. We must be united. We’re close to ending the war with the Draco, and to face the Jotunn all our armies must work together.”
Yeah, right. “You think the flame will choose you, don’t you?”
A slight smirk. “The flame will choose the best partner for Anya. One who will be able to aid her in controlling and channeling her power.”
Oh, he was cool and collected, but he was a closet cocky bastard too. “You won’t be able to handle her. The female doesn’t like following orders and we all know you love giving them.”
“A mating is about compromise. And no one gives the Dreki queen orders.” He shot a quick look my way.
Dreki queen. Fucking hell. Anya would be a queen.
“Yes, brother,” Orion said. “So, I’d learn to curb your tongue and show a little respect.”
Now that would be a challenge. The female got under my skin like no other, but she was a warrior, a doer, and she understood what it was like to have feet firmly planted on the front lines. She was stubborn and infuriating and she knew just how to get under my skin and get a reaction, and… Fuck…I wanted the flame to choose me.
Not Dante.
Not Orion.
Me.
But there was a real possibility that it wouldn’t, and I didn’t like how apprehensive and unsure that made me feel. I didn’t harbor those feelings. They served no purpose in battle and yet they were here now.
I was worried about losing power, that was all. If she mated with Dante or Orion, then they’d have the upper hand.
Not acceptable.
She wasn’t like Anara. She’d proven that by coming back for me in the warping. She proven it by going after her father. Being blood bound to Anara had cost me my best friend, and mating to Anya could save the lives of my men. It would be a business arrangement. A meeting of likeminded individuals. Together we’d be a power to be reckoned with.
Yes, I told myself all this, but I was
