Oath of the Alpha - Eva Dresden Page 0,7
brush to switch with those only a little fresher.
“Then don’t!”
“Don’t what?” Endi asked, coming up beside Ath’asho with the warm brown of her brow creased with deep furrows.
“He’s going to—”
“It is none of your concern, mage.” Er’it forced his spine erect, shrugging away his exhaustion. With one hand delving deep in the silken strands of Kal’s mane, he faced Endi head on with what dignity he could muster.
“You wouldn’t hurt him,” Endi whispered, taking a rushed step back. With eyes widening to show the whites, uncertainty pooling in their dark depths the longer she looked at Er’it, she shook her head once in a slow denial of what she saw in Er’it’s resolve.
“It could kill you, son,” Tor’en murmured, appearing at Er’it’s elbow, having approached unnoticed. “They are not meant for such things, and while Kal would lay down his life for you without hesitation, he has no control over the raw power he possesses. There is no guarantee that you will survive it, and even if you do, there’s no certainty that it will aid you in finding her.”
“Er’it, you can’t… he… She isn’t worth that!”
Endi let out a short scream when Er’it stepped into her. Grabbing her arms, he hauled the small woman who was still so much stronger and sturdier than his missing Omega into the air. Letting Endi’s feet dangle, he put their faces close.
“She is worth everything.”
“You’re becoming a-a monster,” Endi sobbed, kicking and writhing in his grip. Wild eyes angled to beseech aid from the two males who made no move to interfere. “Surely you agree with me, Tor’en! You, of all people, know what he’s done, what he is willing to do.”
“It is not my place to harass my king, Endi. I have spoken my feelings, and he has decided not to heed my advice.” Tor’en stuffed his hands into the opposing sleeves of his robe, his lips a taut grimace though he did not look away.
“Er’it, listen to yourself,” Endi pleaded, the dewy tracks of her sorrow turning her rounded cheeks glossy. “The man I knew, the man I loved, he would never have done what you have. She’s making you into this-this thing of unspeakable cruelty. She will take away what humanity you have left to you, and then what?”
“Then this entire fucking world will be mine, and none will be able to stop me,” Er’it said with a growl that resonated through the clearing.
Birds shrieked their surprise, their harried flapping filling the forest as they took to the air in droves. Other creatures of the woods crashed through the undergrowth to escape the sound. Kal pawed at the dusty earth, tension riddling his bunched shoulders as if he prepared for battle. Er’it’s lips twisted up at the corners as he tossed Endi away. Nodding once at Tor’en as he passed, Er’it gave Kal a sturdy pat on the neck and ignored the sniveling cries behind him. Leaving Ath’asho to soothe Endi’s dust-caked pride, he walked away with back straight and shoulders proud, not letting his staring soldiers view even a hint of his dismay.
“I know you’re not as heartless as that,” Tor’en said, hurrying to catch up and fall into step with Er’it. “I understand why you did it as well.”
“Makes one of us.”
“I heard what she said, same as you. I think perhaps things are not so simple anymore.”
Line forming between the dark sweep of his eyebrows, one quirked at the old mage’s toothy smile, Er’it gave Tor’en a sidelong glance. “What are you blathering about?”
“Strange, isn’t it, that when she appeared to be losing all control, she sought you?” Tor’en gave a delicate sniff, waving knobby knuckles in a vague circle.
“I don’t believe Endi has lost control over anything in her entire life, Tor’en.”
“Are you that dense?” Tor’en snorted and shook his shaggy head, flinging his arm out toward the forest and pointing to deep within the thick trees. “The girl, Er’it. The one you cannot resist, who tore Otaso down to nothing for trying to take what she’s given to you in abundance. Sound familiar yet?”
“Old man, you are on my last nerve,” Er’it ground out as he ducked into his tent to strip out of the sweat and dirt-caked pants he’d lived in for far too long now, rolling his eyes toward the sky when Tor’en followed tight on his heels. “A bit of privacy, if you please?”
Tor’en grunted and settled his aging bones onto a plump cushion, the pointy bulges of his knees held akimbo.