Yet it was difficult when it went against everything she knew.
"Fine, then. Please, explain to me why you humiliated me today."
He'd snorted in shocked disbelief and repeated her words back at her. "Please explain how I humiliated you?"
"By not being there when I returned. You showed a total lack of regard for me and my standing in the tribe. And they all laughed at me because of it."
His jaw had gone slack. "I didn't know that." His brow furrowed by earnest regret, he'd closed the distance between them and cupped her cheek in his warm palm. "If this is true, then I'm so sorry, Sera. I had no idea that was your custom. No one told me. I swear, I never meant to hurt you."
It was so hard to be mad at him when he looked at her like that. When he touched her with such loving sincerity. She felt her anger wilting. But worse than the anger was the underlying hurt, and their mockery that stung much deeper than she wanted to own up to. "Why weren't you there?"
Then she saw it. The bitter agony in his eyes. His own hurt and embarrassment. "In the future, if you will call out to me on your approach, I shall make sure to be in attendance on your arrival."
"But you won't stay in the village while I'm gone?"
He'd shaken his head.
"Why?"
His gaze had burned into hers. "You know why, Sera. My speaking it aloud will only anger you, and solve nothing. And we both know the only thing you can do is leave ... which you won't do." He'd placed a tender kiss to her lips. "I don't wish to fight with you any longer. Come, let me make amends for my unintended slight. I promise, by the night's end, I'll earn my way back into your good graces."
And that he had. He always did. No matter how much she wanted to stay angry at him, he had ways of making her smile. Of melting her ire until she was laughing and happy again.
That was his greatest magick of all. His ability to wash away her pain and drive out her demons with nothing more than a teasing smile, warm hug, and tender kiss.
Worse, he'd been right that day. The members of her tribe had always been too free with their hands on his body. Even though they knew he was mated and off-limits--that he couldn't do anything had he wanted to--they'd constantly tried to corner him so that they could compare him to a "regular" man. Get a "hands-on" comparison.
To Maxis's credit, he'd done everything he could to avoid them and their cheap caresses. Everything he could to fit in and please her. To make their union work.
If only I'd met him halfway.
Seraphina winced as the guilt of it settled hard on her shoulders. She'd asked things of him that were so far beyond tolerance, she still couldn't bear to think on them. Things he'd suffered.
To please her.
She hadn't deserved him and she knew it. Unfortunately, that realization had come too late. She'd listened to the wrong people and allowed their venom to color her heart. Had allowed their beliefs and opinions to interfere with her relationship with Maxis. Instead of trusting herself and her husband, she'd trusted them.
And learned the hard way that too many people spoke jealousy under the guise of "truth" and "good intentions." When honestly, their only purpose was to make others as miserable in their lives as they were in theirs.
And instead of having a devoted husband at her side when her children had been born, as Aimee would have with Fang, she'd been completely alone.
The loss of what should have been was what made her saddest of all. Her pride and blind stupidity had robbed them all of the family life they should have had.
But there was no way back. And she had no one to blame for it except herself.
"So how do we find where they're holed up?" Dev asked Fang, distracting her from her thoughts.
"I called Thorn, and because they're gallu, he's clueless. Since they don't fall under his jurisdiction, he doesn't deal with them and knows nothing bout them. I tried to call Sin and got no answer, so I left word with Kish to tell him what was going on. He said he'd have him call me ASAP."
Dev glanced over to his younger brother Kyle, who'd joined them a short time ago. "What about Kerryna? Doesn't she know them? They are technically her family, right?"
Kyle made a rude bear sound. "Um. Yeah. They're hunting her so they can enslave and use her to awaken her evil sisters. Needless to say, she tends to keep as far away from the gallu as she can. Kind of like you and Remi. As much as she loves us, she's not volunteering to help with this fight. And if we ask for that favor, her hubby will tear our heads off and make us bearskin rugs. Charonte are ridiculously protective that way, especially when it comes to the mother of their young. Xed basically chased me out of the club for even trying to talk to her about the gallu."
Dev snorted. "But she can give us intel, right?"
Kyle gave him a droll stare. "Let me reiterate. He chased me out of the club ... with barbecue sauce. While smacking his lips and calling my name."
"And?"
Fang answered for him. "Give the kid a break. They basically locked her up from the moment of birth, so she hasn't really interacted with them ... and while she's born of the gallu, she's not really one of them. From what she's said in the past, they're a separate beast."
Seraphina felt sick at where this was going. And how slowly. They didn't have much longer before Nala would return here and demand she leave.
Or worse, discover that she'd lied and Maxis was here, after all. In retrospect, maybe she shouldn't have come. She could have screwed this up on her own.
Really, she didn't need any help at all.
Off to the side, Maxis passed a look to Illarion that said the two of them were speaking in their heads. Then he locked gazes with her. "I might be able to find them. But it will require my mate to trust me and do something that's repugnant to her."
Her eyes widened at that. "What?"
Illarion took his arm and vigorously shook his head no.
Maxis ignored him. "It'll be fine."
Illarion rolled his eyes. He mouthed a silent curse at his brother.
Blaise burst out laughing, then stopped as he realized the rest of them weren't in on their private conversation. Clearing his throat, he slinked off to a corner to examine a spot on the wall, even though he was blind.
Seraphina scowled. "What's going on?"
Max hesitated as he swept his gaze around everyone gathered there. This motley hodgepodge was his family and he didn't want to risk losing any of them. "I can track the children."
"There's no way," Sera said affirmatively. "They have them shielded. If it was possible, I would have done it already."
"I can find them." His tone held absolute resolve.
Her doubting expression was as comical as it was beautiful. But then she'd always underestimated his abilities. Most creatures, to their detriment, did. "How?"
"If you'll trust me. Completely. I can do it."
Fang cocked his head as if he now understood what was going on. "You're part Oneroi?"
Max snorted at the assumption that he was one of the gods who raided human dreams so that they could siphon off emotions. "Don't insult me. I'm not Greek. I was captured and dragged to Arcadia. It was never my homeland."
Fang's jaw dropped. "Seriously?"
Illarion nodded. While I'm a son of Ares, we're related only through our mother. Max is a lot older. His powers much stronger and more akin to those of the gods than a typical Were-Hunter.
Even Dev was awed. "So what are you, then?"
"Xarunese."
"Bless you," Dev said drily. "You need a Kleenex? Benadryl?"
Max sighed heavily at the bear's fucked-up sense of humor. "Land of Xarun. Much like Atlantis, the gods took issue with it. What little remains sits at the bottom of the Black Sea. I'm one of the very few who survived the sinking."
"Ouch."
Max inclined his head to Kyle for his verbalizing the pain of that particular nightmare.
"So wait a minute." Dev cocked his head as if he just realized what Max was telling them. "You're not Greek
or Apollite ... how exactly are you Katagaria?"
Carson Whitethunder, the hawk who was also their resident vet and doctor, passed a smirk to Dev. He and Aimee were the only two creatures here who had ever seen the mark that was branded on Max's thigh. And only because they had treated his injuries. Aimee when Max had first arrived one heartbeat from death, and Carson decades later after a couple of their grittier confrontations with enemies who'd tried over the years to destroy the Peltier family. "Haven't you ever wondered why, in over a hundred years of living here, Max has never stepped a single foot outside of this building?"
Dev snorted. "We're all freaks here. I don't judge."
Max glanced to Seraphina as he remembered the less than pleasant way she'd handled the news when she'd first learned what that mark was. Why he bore it.
He'd never intended for anyone here to learn about it. But it was time to come clean.
"Remember that you're all bound by the Omegrion laws. None of you can attack me on Sanctuary grounds."
"Sheez, boy," Dev groused. "What are you? The Dragonbane, or something?"
Max inclined his head to him, and as soon as he did, it sucked every bit of oxygen from the room. Half the shapeshifters around him took a step back, as if terrified being near him would taint them.
All humor and friendliness evaporated from Dev's eyes as he gaped. "Are you shitting me? You're the sole reason for the war between the Katagaria and the Arcadians?"
Illarion stepped between them. It's not that simple, Dev. Calm down.
Dev curled his lip. "Not that simple, my ass. You murdered Lycaon's heir in cold blood and started this bloodbath between our people, and you're telling me it's not that simple?"
Max felt that same sick knot in his stomach he got any time someone saw his mark and recognized it.
He was the most hated among his people.
No, not his people.
They were Greeks and Apollites.
He wasn't. He'd never really been one of them. Forever a hated outsider. An interloper who'd been mistaken for them since the day Dagon had captured him and mixed him in with their ancestors.
Unable to bear their rejection, he met Sera's gaze and waited for her to condemn him as well.
Seraphina choked on tears as she saw the familiar agony in that golden gaze. The reservation and acceptance of the fact that he didn't belong to anyone.
For the first time ever, she saw him.
Worse, she saw herself in the way the others reacted as they shouted and accused him of crimes and misdeeds. Judged him without a hearing or without understanding. Like her, they had accepted him only a few minutes ago and now they were attacking him, without listening. They were so busy condemning him over the stories they'd all been told that none of them even asked him what had happened.
They acted as if they knew.
But none of them had been there. With the exception of Maxis, none of them had been born.
Yet they were the experts, with all the answers.
"Enough!" Fang shouted, holding his hands up to get the others to settle down. "We'll deal with the Dragonbane issue after this is over. Right now, we need to focus on getting the kids away from the gallu before they convert them. Regardless of anything else, they're innocent in this."
His eyes haunted, Max held his hand out toward Seraphina. By the expression on his face, she could tell that he expected her to react the same way she had the first time she'd learned he was the Dragonbane.
To refuse him completely and shirk away as if he were poison.
This time, she did what she should have done then--she took his hand and smiled up at him. "I trust you, Lord Dragon. Lead me to your lair."
But as he closed his hand around hers, a chill of foreboding rushed over her spine. With this one action, she was either saving all their lives ...
Or consigning them to death. And not just them. Her children were counting on her to not screw this up. Yet what choice did she have?
There was no one else to turn to.
Yes, Maxis was the most hated enemy of her people. But he was the father of her children. And he was the only chance she had to save them.
Please gods, let this be the right choice.
7
Seraphina let out a slow, nervous breath as she cast her gaze around the huge attic where Maxis had made his home. It held "modern" things she couldn't even begin to comprehend, but aside from a few of those, it reminded her so much of his sparse cave that it raised chills of deja vu on her body.
Those were definitely the same trunks from his cave that lined the right brick wall. This was his home in a way her village had never been.
And that made her saddest of all. He'd found a comfort here with strangers that he should have known with her. His mate.
Maxis used his powers to light four huge iron candle stands. The light flickered and merged with the rays of the dawning sun to cast their shadows against the wall.
Illarion and Blaise followed them into the room and closed the door. By the way Maxis continued to grimace and act toward his brother, she assumed they were having a private conversation in their heads.
Sighing, she met Blaise's blank stare. "He doesn't think much of me, does he?"
"I'm trying to remain impartial, but if one-quarter of what Illy is saying is true ... do your people really make jewelry from the tusks, scales, and bones of dragons?"
She felt heat creep over her face. "We don't hunt mandrakes."
"From what I'm hearing, you don't know. Your people don't exactly bother to find out if they're hunting Katagaria or not. You basically kill indiscriminately and go after any large serpent that isn't Arcadian."
"Stop, Blaise," Maxis said in a gentle tone. "She's not to blame in this."
No. We are, you and I. I curse the day I ever let you talk me into saving their kind. Illarion raked her with a chilling stare. We should have let the gods have them all.
"Enough, Illarion. And I didn't talk you into shit, as I recall. You were in it more than I was. Besides, what's done is done. Now either choose to be part of this solution, or leave. I'm not about to tolerate your incessant bitching. I have to focus."
Illarion threw his hands up. Fine. Let's see how she handles this. After all, she never bothered to ask you anything about what you really are. Where you came from. How you were dragged into her world to become part of it. The three years you lived with her, she never once cared enough to learn.
Maxis growled at his brother. "Stay out of my head and thoughts.... I swear, I should have eaten your egg instead of nesting it."
Seraphina arched her brow at that. "You nested him?"
"Sadly, yes, and I did a piss-poor job of it, too. As you can see."
Illarion rolled his eyes.
Blaise laughed. "Max attempted to nest all of his siblings. At least those of us he could find. Once a year while she lived, he'd journey to where our mother placed her eggs and collect them so that they wouldn't have to hatch alone, and flounder for survival."
The irritated look on Maxis's face told her he didn't want his brother sharing that tidbit with her. But she was glad that Blaise had spoken.
And Illarion was right. There was a lot she'd never bothered to learn about her husband.
"Did you nest Hadyn?"
Maxis nodded. "He was the first I found, just days old. Wandering and lost, like a little bug."
No wonder they'd been so close.
Max taught us the Bane-Cry to clear our lungs and so that no matter how far apart we were, we could always call out to each other for help, should we need it. And while the rest of our siblings might not respond, Max would always come to us if he was physically able to do so.
That thought brought tears to her eyes. And it was that capacity for love that she missed most about her mate. No, he wasn't the animal her tribe had accused him of being. How could I have ever let you go?
"Neither here nor there," Max said, passing an annoyed grimace at each brother in turn. He led her toward
a large area of the attic that was curtained off.
It wasn't until he pulled the heavy, dark blue brocade curtains back that she realized this was where he "nested" nowadays.
It actually made sense. Since he slept in dragon form, he'd be far too large for any kind of bed. And again, it reminded her of how different they were. Of the fact that in spite of his male beauty and form, he was still an animal at heart.
As if he heard that thought, Illarion sneered at her. This is a bad idea.
Sighing heavily, Maxis passed an aggravated stare at his brother before he took her hand and pulled her inside the curtained-off area. His gaze scorched her with that peculiar mixture of jaded worldliness and precious innocence that was uniquely his. "I know that you've never seen me as anything more than an animal and I'm well aware of what you think of my species. Just remember this is for your children and hold that thought tight."
She opened her mouth to deny it, but he placed a gentle finger over her lips. "Don't lie. We both know the grisly truth. I am an animal. Hatched and spawned." He stepped back. "Blaise? Can you hold her for a minute? I'm not sure how she'll react to this."
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him not to treat her like a child when he shifted so fast that she almost screamed in terror of it.
She'd forgotten just how large his dragon's body was. How massive and terrifying.
Even as spacious as the attic was, Maxis had to crouch low and could barely move about. He completely filled the area. For that matter, he couldn't turn around. Rather, he had to back himself against the wall where she assumed he slept. Heavens, he was humongous.
"You okay?" Blaise rubbed her arm for comfort.
Swallowing hard, she nodded. "It's just been a long time since I was this close to a living dragon. And never one that wasn't trying to kill me." Because they prided themselves on being human, her tribe rarely took dragon form. It was considered a loss of control ... similar to throwing a temper tantrum.
Maxis's iridescent scales glimmered like jewels in the dim light. And as he moved, she saw on his wings the vicious scarring Nala and her tribe had left behind. Guilt stabbed her hard for the part she'd played in that.
"I'm so sorry, Maxis," she breathed.
Max froze at the sound of her earnest words. This was a far different reaction than she'd had the last time she'd found him in dragon form.