Page 10 of Gambling with Time

"You can blame it on me, but I haven't used a lick of my abilities since I've been here. Your sister is just that attracted to me."

Raiden glowered at the demon, and I had a feeling everything was going to devolve soon if I didn't do something about it. "Knock it off or I'll put a dagger through your heart."

"Mmm, I love it when you talk dirty." His tail whipped the surface of the leather couch behind him, and he leaned against a pole, his arms loosely crossed. When I cocked my head at him, he smirked and flicked his tongue over one of his fangs suggestively.

And I didn't hate it. It was possibly the opposite, and I actually enjoyed his borderline actions.

Alastor cleared his throat, gaining all of our attention. "I know I ran, and once you all have a clear picture of everything that happened, you'll see me exactly how Lex sees me now. But I am here until you all get your memories restored. Then if you hate me and you don't want me around, I'll go."

He wasn't going anywhere. I didn't care what any of them thought once we had our minds back. Without him, I would still be trying to figure out the lie the mage was telling. But I rolled my lips between my teeth, holding in my words. Maybe they would be more cooperative if Lex and Bellamy thought he would leave.

"We need to go to Tartus, and to the royal palace of the dragons. I can portal, but not all of us at once, so that is where you come in, Bellamy."

He lifted an eyebrow at Alastor. "I have only made a portal for myself."

"You've made one for all of us," I said. The words shocked me, but I saw it clearly. In this room, we portalled to Tartus, with Brook.

He released an exaggerated sigh like I couldn't possibly be right, but he stepped closer to the mirror. The surface swirled, revealing a bedroom.

"After you," Bellamy said.

Tyler edged toward the portal. "See you on the other side," he quipped and was through the surface before I could protest.

"He will be fine, Samantha. You do not remember it, but he was gifted powers from a muse."

Alastor was right, I did not remember that. All I saw was my defenseless brother leading the way into danger. I practically launched myself through to the other side, not waiting for everyone else.

"I knew you'd be next." Ty was leaning against a four-poster bed as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

He held up his hand, and a swirling ball of light formed on his palm. "I can protect you and me now. Especially here. This is light magic, as in the sun."

It sparked another memory, and I clamped my mouth shut. He'd helped more than once. The others were through already, so I just nodded once, and he closed his fingers around the magic.

"Let's go, be quiet. We don't want to be caught by the king," Bellamy said as he brushed past me into the hallway.

CHAPTER 7

Lex

"The mage has lied to you," Alastor said, his attention on Bellamy. "You are not a false prince. Your father loves you and running into him will only result in slowing us down because he will want to talk."

There was something different about Alastor. I couldn't put a finger on it. But it was more than us both being older. He wore his emotions on his sleeve in a way that he hadn't before. Sure, he also had the spirits that swirled around him as if they thought they were his armor. But it was more.

Bellamy scoffed. "I don't want to be King."

"That was true. Before Samantha." Alastor nodded. His eyes flicked over to me. "And Lex."

Bellamy ran his gaze down my body, and something stirred in my stomach. A longing. Similar to the one I've had about Samantha since the mage said she was to be his bride. I felt like I was walking around blind. Feelings drove me in a way my logical mind wanted to fight.

But here I was, back in Tartus, the one place I never wanted to return to, with the one person who made me feel that way. I slid my attention back to Alastor. He broke me once upon a time, but now he was here. And I hated that I couldn’t remember what he could.

"We should get moving," Raiden said.

The dragon was all business. He was the only one of the four that my heart didn't feel like dropping out of my ass for. I didn't feel like I loathed him, but it wasn't emotional either. It was like how I felt about Samantha's brother. Just a familiar feeling.

Bellamy moved to the front and led us through the halls and out toward the gardens. I ran my eyes over the recognizable landscape of the red mountains in the distance as Raiden stripped out of his clothing. His skin rippled, and he shifted into an enormous dragon.

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