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

unreasonable extents. However, after the vision, Karein had grown increasingly reluctant to allow Sari to do anything out of the ordinary. It wasn’t necessarily Eanera’s injury causing him to act this way, but rather, a larger feeling that something terrible was going on.
    Sari could only nod at his mate’s words. “I promise.”
    Karein didn’t look very convinced, but nevertheless, he guided Sari out of their room. They headed toward the one assigned to Eanera, with Karein treating Sari like he was made out of porcelain. Sari couldn’t even bring himself to be irritated with Karein. He could only imagine what he’d find when he finally saw his mother. What had Alwyn done? Had he truly been the guilty party? Karein had been the one to find out about her injury, but he hadn’t been told much else.
    It was with a heavy and anxious heart that Sari entered his mother’s room. They found Talrasar already there, speaking with several draechen medics. Sadly, Ornoz medicine was focused on shifter physiology, so they couldn’t have been able to help much. Not to mention that, as a rule, dragons didn’t really need doctors. They healed on their own, so they rarely required additional assistance.
    Well, perhaps Talrasar would be able to provide him with an answer. “Your Highness, what happened?” he asked.
    Talrasar sighed. “To tell you the truth, Sari, I don’t really know. She seems perfectly all right…except she isn’t.”
    What was that supposed to mean? “I don’t understand,” Sari replied, puzzled.
    “It’s hard for me to explain, and I don’t want to taint your perspective with mine. Go. See her. Just tread carefully. She’s very…unsettled.”
    Somehow, Sari suspected that Talrasar’s words were the understatement of the century. Nevertheless, he and Karein headed toward the bedroom door. He knocked lightly, and to his surprise, the answer came quickly. “I said I didn’t want to see anyone,” Eanera called out.
    Sari shared a look with Karein. “I’ll wait here,” Karein said through their bond.
    Sari nodded and brushed a kiss onto Karein’s cheek. He should have been relieved that he’d heard his mother, and she was, apparently, alive and well, but there was far more to this than met the eye.
    Slowly, he opened the door and stepped into the bed chamber. “Not even me, Mother?” he asked.
    His mother lay on the bed, curled in a miserable ball. She looked toward him and winced. “Oh, Sari,” she whispered. “Please go. I don’t want you to see me like this.”
    She averted her face quickly, but not quickly enough. Sari ran to her side, as quickly as he could in his very pregnant state. He joined her on the bed and gripped her chin, forcing their gazes to meet.
    It hadn’t been a trick of the light. The gem in the center of his mother’s forehead, the one he’d inherited from her, was gone. “Mother…What…”
    Before he could even finish the question, his mother burst into tears. “Sari. I can’t feel Jenarra anymore. At all.”
    At first, Sari almost thought she was joking. Surely, this couldn’t be happening. His mother was the high priestess. But her tears didn’t lie, and neither did the fact that the gem was gone.
    He embraced her tightly, petting her hair, holding her close and trying to soothe her like she had many times in the past. And then he saw it. He saw the gray strands in Eanera’s locks and knew this was only beginning.
     
    * * * *
     
    Alwyn waited in his room for news on Eanera’s condition. Ever since the medics had taken her away, Alwyn had been desperately waiting for news, wondering, hoping, and berating himself for what he’d done.
    He didn’t even know what had happened. One moment, he’d been actively trying to open his heart to Eanera, and then, a burst of power had exploded through him and rushed into the high priestess. Judging by the way Eanera had behaved after that, Alwyn guessed he must have hurt her pretty badly.
    Rachen sat down next