The Magic Thieves (3 page)

Kaythan waited long enough to see the two men nod before he stepped up to the portal, Elryk in tow.

"Ready?” He looked at the wizard.

Elryk looked even paler than usual but he nodded, his eyes huge as he stared at the gateway without so much as a blink.

"Are you okay?” He was risking exposure by showing this much concern, but something looked really off.

"Sure.” Elryk nodded mechanically, still fixated on the colourful surface of the pulsating gateway energies.

He didn't have a choice. Even though he couldn't quite believe that Elryk even knew what he was talking about, he was going to have to take the wizard's word for it.

Taking a deep breath and clearing his mind of as many extraneous thoughts as possible, he took one last look at Elryk before grabbing the man's arm and stepping into the gateway with him. The trip was only going to take a few seconds. Surely nothing could go wrong in such a short time?

The scratchy tingling along his skin as the energies enveloped him was what he expected. So was the low rolling thunder in his ears and the scent of burnt hair.

What wasn't normal was the jolt that went through Elryk as he collapsed. The wizard went limp immediately, and Kaythan barely managed to catch him before he fell and hurt himself.

What the fuck was going on here?

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Elryk came to very slowly. Reality seemed to be fuzzy around the edges. His head hurt so badly he wanted to scream. It was dark but he couldn't open his eyes. As far as he could tell he lay on his back on some soft surface. Wasn't he going to be taken somewhere? He was sure he wasn't supposed to be lying in what felt like a bed. Why couldn't he remember any details? And why was the pulsing behind his temples matched by an equally painful ache between his legs?

What the hell was going on
?

"You're okay."

The sudden appearance of a voice made him panic. Who was that? Where was he? What had happened?

"Don't worry, you're safe here. Just breathe for a while and give your body time to recover."

That was easy for him to say, whoever
he
was. Elryk was ready to jump out of his skin as the headache got worse, now accompanied by a tingling itch at the back of his neck. Shit, but that didn't feel right.

"You had a nasty shock when we used the gateway to travel back to Tah'Nut. You lost consciousness for a few seconds after we entered. I don't know what caused you to collapse, but I suspect it has something to do with your magic.” The voice sounded familiar.

It even made him feel safe. How was that possible? It had gone straight to his groin, and had made the ache between his legs even worse than it had been when he'd first woke up. It pulsed every time the man spoke. How ridiculous was that?

His sense of smell was next to return. The musky scent that assaulted his brain was overwhelming. It was strong, male, with an underlying note of sandalwood and leather. He took a deep breath and the scent seemed to travel straight to the itchy place at the back of his neck, stabbing into it to make the pain flare up. Next, it made his cock throb in response, increasing the pressure in his balls. How was it possible for him to be this aroused from hearing a voice and smelling another man, as familiar as he seemed to be?

Worse than the arousal was the pain it seemed to cause. It was quickly becoming close to unbearable. He moaned.

"Ah, your voice is back.” The man chuckled. “That's a good sign."

"What—where...” Elryk swallowed past the pain in his parched throat, still trying to open his eyes. He'd had it with the darkness and the not knowing who the hell was talking to him.

"Easy.” The man slid a straw between his dehydrated lips. “Have some water. Your throat probably hurts because you've been unconscious for quite a while. Drinking this will help relieve the discomfort."

Elryk sipped the ice-cold liquid gratefully, wishing it would reduce the pain in his head, neck and groin as well. But of course, it didn't, being just water. He tried to open his eyes. When he succeeded, the bright light almost blinded him.

He was in a large, well-lit room, sunlight streaming in from floor to ceiling windows on his left. The walls and ceiling were painted a light blue, with one wooden door looking as if it lead to a bathroom, the other to a hallway. Only trees were visible outside. He could hear birdsong that was uninterrupted by traffic noise. It didn't look or sound as if he was in the capital city Tah'Algor. Wasn't that where he was supposed to be?

The man sitting to his right, one deliciously muscled thigh on the bed, looked at him with a hesitant smile. Rugged looking, with a square jaw and a straight nose, his face exuded strength. His eyes were the deep blue of the ocean right before a storm and his full lips were as red as ripe cranberries. Short, dark-brown hair and skin the colour of golden olives made Elryk's mouth water. He'd be at least six-feet-five when standing, and the man's broad shoulders and muscular, well-trained body made the ache between his legs flare up.

"Kaythan.” Elryk's memory came back in a rush, making his head hurt even more.

Shit
. This was the man who'd taken him prisoner so he could return him to the Xoh'kas. But why hadn't he done that yet?

That wasn't his only problem, though. The Law Forces Commander had gotten to him from the very first moment they'd met, making him wish they weren't enemies. He'd felt an irrational longing to get to know this man, to be in the man's arms and kiss him, that had made his knees weak. He still felt that same longing now, only it was ten times worse.

"You remember my name.” The smile broke through and lit up Kaythan's face, making his eyes twinkle.

"Uhm, aren't you supposed to hand me over to the Xoh'kas?” Elryk frowned. “You did arrest me, didn't you? I think I remember you restraining me before you took me to the gateway."

"Do you
want
me to hand you over to those idiots?” Kaythan's eyebrows rose.

"Huh? Are you the same Law Forces Commander who put handcuffs on me and threatened me with ‘worse than torture'?” Elryk shook his head trying to clear it, wincing with the shooting pain that stabbed the back of his eyeballs. “Not that I'm complaining, but are you even allowed to think of them as idiots, never mind say something so traitorous out loud?"

"I'm not their puppet. I never was and never will be.” Kaythan flinched, anger briefly clouding his eyes.

"You could have fooled me!” He didn't know what to believe anymore. His current location definitely wasn't a prison, and there were no guards around, so maybe the man wasn't who he'd seemed? But who was he and what was his agenda? How did Elryk fit into any of this?

"Look, this may sound weird, but what I said and did in that office was all an act. I had to make it seem real until I could get you away from the chronicling equipment. If the Xoh'kas had suspected that I wasn't planning to turn you in, they might have stopped me.” Kaythan blushed but refused to look away.

"An act?” Now he'd heard it all. Yet it made hope surge in his heart and increased the pounding between his legs. “It was pretty damned convincing."

"I assure you, I only did it because I had no choice.” Kaythan swallowed. “I've been planning this for a long time, ever since I found out that you'd refused to become head of the Magic Council. Only someone against the absolute power of the Xoh'kas would refuse such a well-regarded position."

"Only someone willing to be a complete puppet would be stupid enough to accept.” He was going to speak his mind. He couldn't get into any more trouble with the Xoh'kas than he already was. So even if this was a trap to get him to reveal himself, he could only be ‘reprogrammed’ once.

"You're right.” Kaythan grinned. “But that act of refusal made me hope you might become an ally in my plan to defeat the thrice-damned magic thieves. Then, of course, before I was able to contact you, you decided to run and make things very difficult for me."

"
I
made things difficult for you?” The man was obviously deluded.

"Yes, by running away. So the magic thieves are still at large and the Xoh'kas rule unopposed.” Kaythan looked at him as if all of that was his fault.

"I agree that someone will need to take them out at some point. Both the Xoh'kas and the magic thieves are evils Tah'Nut can do without.” Elryk took a deep breath. His gut told him he could trust this man. “All I could do back then was refuse to become their puppet on the Magic Council. They would have breathed down my neck the entire time. Shit, they even took my lover hostage to make me do what they wanted."

"But they didn't succeed.” Kaythan's gaze was full of admiration.

It gave Elryk the courage to continue talking about the events that had led to his leaving Tah'Nut.

"No, I couldn't give in. Not with their plans for taking away even more rights from everyone than they already had. So I tried to negotiate with them, but they wouldn't even listen. When I kept refusing, they killed Zolak in cold blood. I'll never forgive myself for letting that happen.” Elryk closed his eyes for a moment. It still hurt that he'd failed his lover so badly. He should never have allowed them to kill him. Surely there was something he could have done to stop them.

"It wasn't your fault.” Kaythan's voice was soft.

"Yes, it was. I should have stopped them.” He didn't know how, but he should have tried harder.

"So why did you run?” There was no accusation in Kaythan's tone, just curiosity.

Elryk couldn't have endured this man's disdain.

"I was angry. I had to flee before the rage took over. I was very close to losing control over my magic. And I didn't want to kill innocent people by unleashing uncontrolled lightning magic on them.” He swallowed.

He'd almost not made it through the portal in time. Uncontrolled lightning magic held the worst potential for destruction of all the forms of magic available to wizards. Luckily, the energies inside the gateway had absorbed the ones coming from him and the potential catastrophe had been averted.

"I know. I still think that it wasn't your fault and I'm sorry you had to suffer like that.” Kaythan's hand covered his and squeezed his fingers in silent support.

The tingling itch at Elryk's neck became painful and the fire between his legs flared up. Kaythan's eyes widened at the same time.

"What the fuck?” Kaythan withdrew his hand.

The other man stared at him as though he'd caused the problem.

Shit
. It almost felt as if they were connected somehow.

This wasn't supposed to happen. In fact, it
hadn't
happened to anyone in almost two hundred years. He only knew about the phenomenon because the old books he'd studied when learning some rare spells had all referred to it.

According to those sources, connections between potential sexual partners called
mate bonds
had been known throughout Tah'Nutian history. Nobody had ever figured out what triggered them. They formed as often between partners of the same sex as between those of different sex. The early theory that they only served to make bonds between breeding couples stronger had been disproved centuries ago.

Instead, they were known to have served as additional support for many existing alliances, and had occasionally been useful to overcome hostilities between warring factions. They had always been honoured, even when they were controversial. Everyone knew better than to try and interfere, since that only ended in death and destruction.

He was exhibiting all the signs of a mate bond in its early stages—his aching groin, the tingling itch at the back of his neck, and the flaring of desire every time he looked at or smelt Kaythan. From Kaythan's reaction to their touch just now, the other man wasn't any better off.

"This can't be happening!” Elryk wanted to rant and rage.

This was not a man he could be bonded to. Maybe they weren't enemies any longer, but surely they could never be more than allies at the best of times. On top of that, he was a wizard and Kaythan was a soldier. The two almost never mixed. They hadn't even been ‘easy’ combinations in ancient times, never mind during more recent centuries.

But the symptoms were unmistakable.
Shit
. There was nothing he could do to prevent any of what was about to happen. Many throughout history had tried to find an antidote to unwanted mate bonds. Other than killing one or both of the people involved, there was no remedy.

Not even magic could stop it.

Kaythan took several deep breaths, trying to calm his insistently throbbing cock the hell down. He'd found the wizard attractive from the first moment he'd met him, but this level of arousal from a mere touch of hands was absurd.

"What did you just do to me?” He unsuccessfully tried to hold back his growl. This was more than annoying. “Maybe I shouldn't have touched you, but I didn't mean any harm. Punishing me by causing this sort of—discomfort is just cruel."

"I didn't
do
anything.” Elryk closed his eyes. “And just for your information, I'm having the exact same problem."

"So what's happening?” He was going to get to the bottom of this. He didn't care whether it was intentional or a coincidence, it needed to stop. “Maybe you didn't do anything, but something is definitely wrong."

"You don't know the half of it.” Elryk swallowed and opened his eyes. “I believe that what we're both feeling is the beginning of a mate bond trying to form between us. For some reason that is entirely beyond my understanding or control, we seem fated to be mates."

"Mates?”
Ridiculous
! Kaythan frowned. That was the stuff of ancient myths and legends. Only children and crazy people still believed in that sort of nonsense.

"I believe so.” Elryk looked miserable.

"What makes you think that?” Admittedly, the screaming arousal he felt was probably a big hint, as was the increasing pressure between his legs.

"The typical symptoms are all there.” Elryk shrugged.

"Just to make sure we're on the same page—what exactly are they?” He wasn't willing to follow some vague feeling or the wizard's say so. He needed something more tangible as evidence—as in a whole
list
of evidence.