Page 35 of Fractured Sky
“Considering what Carlyle did to me and what I saw him do to Sol, yes.He’s hurting people, Simon.He’s not going to stop, and he’s going to kill the mages and their dragons.He’s going to steal their magic, and when he does, he’ll move on to other mages and dragons.A good person wouldn’t do that.”
“They hurt him first.They trapped him and stole his dragon.”
Dallin wasn’t surprised that Carlyle had lied.Graham hadn’t talked to Emory yet since he wasn’t here, but Jarvis had contacted him, and he was coming home.Jarvis had offered to open a portal, but Emory had insisted that he’d be fine.He was probably enjoying flying in his dragon form.
“I hate what he did to you,” Graham told his brother.“You’re not the Simon I grew up with, and I don’t think you’ll ever be him again.Even with everything, though, I still love you.Please join me.Please leave Carlyle and come back to your senses.”
When Simon started ranting again, Dallin had enough.It was clear that Simon wouldn’t change his mind, no matter what Graham said or how many times he begged him.Dallin snatched the phone from Graham and hung up, feeling better even with the silence so loud around them.
“I’m sorry,” Graham whispered.“I wasn’t able to convince him.”
Dallin put down the phone and patted Graham’s shoulder.“You tried.We knew it was a long shot, and we didn’t actually expect you to pull him to our side.Don’t worry, Graham.You did what you could, and no one is going to hold any of this against you.”
Well, Tyne might, but Dallin would have something to say about that.In fact, he had many things to say to his brother, and he was waiting for the right opportunity to do so.Maybe it would be before Carlyle attacked, or maybe after.Either way, Dallin wasn’t giving up.He would force Tyne and Meyer to talk things out.He didn’t know if Meyer would continue being Tyne’s dragon after that, but that wasn’t what mattered the most.What mattered the most was that if they wanted their family to be as strong as possible to face Carlyle, Tyne and Meyer needed to pull their heads out of their asses.
That would be easier said than done in Tyne’s case.
* * * *
SOL WASN’T SURPRISEDby Simon’s refusal to listen to Graham.Obviously, he didn’t know Simon as well as Graham did, but he did know things about him.He felt he could be more objective than Graham, even though Simon had kicked the shit out of him a few times.
He didn’t hate the guy.He could see that Simon had been pulled in by Carlyle’s charm and that he’d been brainwashed like he’d accused the mages of doing to his brother.Graham and Simon had only had each other.It had to have felt good to have someone else be interested in him, and Simon had fallen for it.
Sol didn’t think Simon would ever come to their side.He wanted him to for Graham’s sake, but unfortunately, Simon was fully enthralled by Carlyle.He wouldn’t leave him, not even for his brother.
Graham looked pale and shaky.Sol wanted to do something to support him, but he didn’t think that anything he could do or say would change how Graham felt.Maybe knowing that he wasn’t alone would help?
He reached out with his foot and gently bumped it against Graham’s.Graham looked up, appearing confused, until his gaze stopped on Sol.Sol smiled at him, unsure what else to do.For a moment, Graham just stared.When the corners of his lips curled up just a bit, Sol thought he’d done what he could.He hoped that Graham knew that he’dbe there for him, whatever happened next.Graham had saved his life, and he wasn’t a bad person.Sol would support him.
“That was a bust,” Keylon murmured.“What’s next?”
Jarvis sighed heavily as if he had enough of all of this.Sol felt the same, and he’d barely been in this situation for a few days.He could only imagine what it was like for the mages to have dealt with this once already, only to be forced to do it again decades later.
“We can’t allow Carlyle to go into hiding again,” Jarvis said.“That means that we need to strike before he and Simon leave the house.I wouldn’t be surprised if they already have, but we have to try.”
Tyne scoffed.“When I said that the other day, you told me we needed to wait.Now, you’ve changed your mind?Is it because you know it’s too late and that they’re already gone?”
Jarvis narrowed his eyes.He’d always been nice to Sol, but the way he was watching Tyne now made a shiver run down Sol’s spine.Jarvis looked scary like that.
“Are you accusing me of being on Carlyle’s side?”
Tyne’s gaze flickered to the people around the table, then down.“Of course not.You would never betray us, and I know you want the best for all of us.I’m just frustrated.”
Jarvis’s shoulders relaxed, and the tension that had been rising faded.Sol leaned back against his chair, relieved the brothers wouldn’t start fighting each other.
He knew the mages weren’t actually brothers, but it was what they considered each other and how they behaved.The dragons were close, too, almost as close as the mages.Sol wondered if, eventually, he’d feel the same way about all these people.
He hoped so.He wanted the castle to be his home and these people to be his family.It was all in Carlyle’s hands, unfortunately.
Quick footsteps outside the dining room door made everyone look up.Sol frowned when a man strode in, but he wasn’t worried.He knew there were alarm spells on the castle, and the reactions of the men around the table told him that whoever this guy was, he was welcome.
Penley squeaked and threw himself out of his chair to run at the man.The man looked surprised, but he caught Penley and allowed the mage to hug him.He awkwardly hugged him back, looking at Bennett as if silently asking him what was going on.
Bennett shrugged and clasped the man’s shoulder before gently pulling Penley away.After that, a line formed so that everyone could hug the newcomer.The only people who stayed in their chairs were Sol and Graham, who exchanged a glance.
The man was left standing after everyone retook their seat.He glanced around the room, his gaze stopping on Sol.“You found the last dragon,” he said.
“Emory, this is Sol, my shield,” Dallin introduced them.“Sol, this is Emory.He was Carlyle’s shield.”
