Fire's Embrace [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 6] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) by Scarlet Hyacinth Read Free Book Online Page A

both, but unfortunately, as you might probably know, he hasn’t been feeling very well lately. Once his mother checks him over, you’ll be able to see him.”
    “Thank you, Your Grace,” Caelyn said, his voice suddenly subdued. “I have missed him a great deal, but I don’t want to put any strain on him in my zeal to speak to him.”
    “Soon,” Hareem promised. He stopped in front of a room in the guest wing. “In the meantime, you can rest here. Of course, let us know of anything you need.”
    “Thank you. We’ll do that,” Caelyn replied. Glancing at Alwyn, he smiled. “Perhaps during my stay here, we can spend a little more time together.”
    Alwyn beamed back and nodded. “I’d be honored.”
    Truth be told, Alwyn hadn’t left his room since he’d had the strange…well, Alwyn hesitated to call it a vision, but he feared that was exactly what it had been. He wasn’t feeling very social, or too capable of acting like a so-called host. Not to mention that there was something in Caelyn’s voice that put Alwyn on alarm. Even so, he tried not to let it show and simply kept up his façade of warm welcome.
    It was with great relief that he watched the two guests slip into their room. Once they were gone, he leaned against Rachen and groaned. “Well, that was painful.”
    Rachen chuckled, his hand combing through Alwyn’s hair and making him shiver with delight. “I thought it went quite well.”
    “I agree,” Hareem said. “Their apprehension toward being here is normal. They’ll warm up to you more. Caelyn will certainly appreciate having another sprite here.”
    Except Alwyn wasn’t sure he even was a sprite. He didn’t say it, though. They were all aware of his doubts and were working to figure out whether there was some truth to them or not.
    As they started to walk away, he did his best to convince himself that Caelyn’s arrival was a good thing. His mind kept returning to the way Caelyn had looked at him. He couldn’t help but wonder if Caelyn knew something he wasn’t saying, and what it would mean for Alwyn.
     
    * * * *
     
    Inside their new room, Caelyn plopped down on the bed. “My feet hurt,” he complained, beckoning Graham closer with a pout.
    Graham chuckled and sat down, too. He gathered Caelyn’s legs in his lap and started to massage his feet. Caelyn closed his eyes and melted against the pillows, allowing himself to relax. Even if he’d done his best not to show it, ever since he’d stepped on Draechenburg soil, he’d been expecting the worst, remembering their last visit, when he had almost lost Graham and their unborn child.
    “We could have stayed in Eternelle,” Graham pointed out. “No one forced us to come here.”
    “No, but I don’t regret it,” Caelyn replied. After a small pause, he opened his eyes and fixed Graham with a glance. “Did you notice?” he asked.
    “I could tell something wasn’t right, but I can’t put my finger on it.”
    Caelyn released a heavy sigh. “I really hope I’m mistaken about this. I hope I’m just seeing things because of being in Draechenburg again.”
    “But you don’t think so, do you?” Graham inquired.
    Caelyn shook his head. “No. Still, I can’t be certain. I’ll try to spend more time with him, get a better feel of what he’s like. It’s too soon to tell. Besides, I’m likely way off. There’s no way Ferradul Cyraltin would have done something like I imagine. The amount of magic needed for it would be…I really can’t even compute it.”
    “Let’s just not make any rushed judgments,” Graham told him. “Most of all, we can’t take any chances. If there’s any danger involved in investigating this, we’ll just leave. But in the meantime, we can’t tell the draechen about this.”
    Caelyn shuddered at the idea. “Believe me, I don’t have any plans of sharing this information until it’s absolutely necessary. I don’t look forward to telling Rachen Tersain that his mate might not exist at