He whispered her name, and she skittered back on the log, wondering if she should run.
“I wanted to leave you there to rot, but Dianthe insisted on healing you. She said she saw light in you. She said she’d never felt right about what happened to you as a child and thought bringing you here could be healing.”
“What are you talking about?” Aborella’s throat constricted on the words. “You couldn’t have known who I was.”
He threaded his fingers. “Dianthe suspected, but she didn’t confirm it to me until later. I refused to stay in the same house as you, which is why she’s kept you in that cabin this entire time. My mate says your mother abused you and that many fairy children made it worse for you. She thinks that’s why you left Everfield.”
Aborella’s blood froze in her veins. How had Dianthe known? “Your mate is very perceptive.”
“Dianthe is a seer like you.”
At first Aborella was surprised, but then she recalled the signs. The deep hue of her skin. The strange eyes. Fairies were born in a diverse array of colors and shapes, but the darker the complexion, the stronger the magic. Dianthe was powerful. Some part of Aborella had always known that.
“Then she knows how cruel the citizens of Everfield were toward me.” Aborella scowled.
“Yes.” Sylas frowned. “But she’s also seen you fighting on our side in the future. So I am here now, asking you to choose the potential my mate saw in you. Aborella, we need you. Join forces with your own people. Help us free the five kingdoms.”
The music was loud, and the other fairies paid no attention to their close conversation. But Aborella couldn’t help but wonder what the others would think if they knew who she was. She glanced toward the fire. “And if I don’t?”
He drew a line in the dirt with his toe. “If you want to go back to the person who put you in that hole, you can go. I promised Dianthe I wouldn’t kill you, not if you didn’t attack first. But I promise you, if you hurt anyone I love, I will tear you apart and burn the pieces. I will not allow my mate, whose heart is bigger than her head, to save you again. Do you understand me?”
She stared at him, overwhelmed by the revelations and confused about what to do next. Pain radiated from her bottom ribs, sharp and quick. She almost doubled over. Eleanor. She was tugging insistently on the bond. Fuck! The empress would wait no longer.
A vision filled her skull of Everfield overtaken by Obsidian guards, homes burning, fairy blood flowing. If she did not go to Eleanor, Eleanor would come to her. She closed her eyes against the vision. She could not lead the empress to this place, could not put Sylas or Dianthe in danger. The tooth couldn’t be removed. Even if she wanted to help them, she’d only be a risk to their cause.
“I have to go,” Aborella said. “Tell Dianthe goodbye.”
He sneered at her and shook his head. “I knew she was wrong about you.”
Aborella swallowed. “A seer is never wrong, but a picture only shows part of the story.”
His eyes widened.
Calling on her deepest magic, she twisted her shoulders, dissolved into smoke, and transported herself to Paragon.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Through pouring rain, Avery stormed from the stables toward the brownie’s cottage, her heart aching. Why did the first guy she’d cared about in years have to be a Highlander involved in some major political shit? The worst part was that after his kiss, her entire body felt weird, like he’d awakened something inside her that didn’t want to fall back asleep. It was an internal fire she knew only he could extinguish. Or time. Lots of time. Maybe a lifetime.
She flung open the door to the cottage and came up short when a winged woman appeared quite suddenly in front of her.
“Jesus Christ!” Avery leaped straight back, somehow slipping through the door, over the porch, and landing in a crouch in the rainy yard outside the cabin with her skirts flared out around her.
Glenna stepped out of the house toward her. “How be it that ye can see me?” the oread asked.
“How could I not see you, Glenna? You were right in front of me. What are you doing here?”
“I’m looking fur Laird Xavier. ’Tis of great importance that I speak with him immediately.”
“I am here.” Xavier stood in the rain behind her, looking sexier than any man should be allowed to look. He hadn’t rebuttoned his shirt, and her eyes sank to the sliver of exposed flesh between its folds. Just like that, she was horny again.
Xavier spread his arms, and Glenna ran into them. As he hugged her, the oread’s skin glowed brighter, even in the rain. Avery realized the dragon was transferring his energy to the nymph. Her sister had told her about the symbiotic relationships between oreads and dragons, but the theory did not hold a candle to the reality. The transfer of light was both beautiful and intimate, and Avery understood suddenly that it was something she wasn’t supposed to be able to see.
“Come inside,” Xavier said to Glenna. “We can speak out of the rain.”
Glenna was wild-eyed and frantic. “It’s been horrible at the castle without ye. I did as ye asked me to. I spied on Lachlan. Now I’ve to warn ye of his plan!”
“What has Lachlan done now?”
Avery led the way inside and held the door for them. She wiped rain from her face and tried not to panic. The oread was shaking noticeably, her wings drooping as if the news she had to share was horrific.
“After he figured out ye came here to the fairy hills, he was enraged. He wanted to come after ye, but he couldn’t get any humans to come here. Even his magic couldn’t overcome their deep fear of this place.”
“Aye.”
“But he hates ye, Xavier. Hates ye wi’ the fury of a thousand suns. He’s never been loved the way ye were loved by yer people. He has to force them, and it takes a lot of magic to keep them under his mind control.”
“What’s he done, Glenna?”
“He called on every blacksmith in the builgean to take apart yer cage, melt down the metal, and fashion it into nets, chains, and weapons. He ordered four teams of hunters, the strongest men among the clans, to the castle and worked his magic on their minds. Lachlan has offered his weight in gold to the team that brings ye in. They plan ta set out for the fairy hills tomorrow ta search for ye.”
“Let them come. They’ll never find us here. If they somehow do, I’ll be ready.”
“There’s more.” Her otherwise smooth, pearlescent face crinkled with her frown. “He has decried that he will kill one of your clan every hour ye aren’t found. He’s going to start with Mistress Abernathy.”
“No!” Avery yelled, unable to stay silent. “Mistress Abernathy was always kind to me. She gave me a job when I had nowhere else to go. We can’t let him hurt her!”
Xavier gave her a reassuring nod. “Agreed, lass.”
She pulled the sword and scabbard over her head and held it out toward him. “We have Fairy Killer. Let’s go now.”
“I agree we need to do something, but we have to be smart about it. Lachlan is trying to lure us in. He has weapons charged with my own magic. It’s a trap.”
“There’s something else,” Glenna said.
“I’m almost afraid to ask.” Avery set the sword on the table but kept her fingers resting on it. Its presence gave her comfort.
The oread lowered her chin and focused her intense butterscotch-colored eyes on her. “You should be. He’s put a price on yer head—one thousand pounds to anyone who ends yer life.”
Avery’s terror was interrupted by a resounding crack. Xavier’s grip had broken the back of the chair he’d been holding in two. His expression twisted into a murderous visage.
“That bastard,” he said through his teeth.
“Ye stood out ta him, Avery. He said ye seemed invulnerable to his magic.” She glanced away. “Behind closed doors, he mentioned he might have killed ye then if ye weren’t so bonny. He hopes to capture Xavier, but you he plans to kill.”
The growl that rumbled up Xavier’
s throat was nothing short of threatening. Glenna took a step back.
“So, in summary, Lachlan wants my pretty head on a stick, has dragon-capturing tools, and is trying his best to lure us back to the castle.” Avery drew a shaky breath.
An eerie calm came over Xavier. “What time has Lachlan scheduled the public execution of Mistress Abernathy?”
“High noon. Lachlan wants to give the hunters a chance to flush you out.”
“We should go tonight, under cover of darkness,” Avery said.
Xavier shook his head. “We won’t go at all.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Lachlan will be ready tonight, and he’ll have all the weapons he’s made at his disposal, ye ken? But tomorrow, when the hunters leave to search for us, they will take some of those weapons with them. If I go then, there will be less men and less risk.”
“If you go then? Where will I be?” Avery scoffed.
“On Tàirn, heading for the door to the builgean.”
“And I suppose I’m to wait for you there while you fight Lachlan on your own?”
He nodded. “If there’s trouble, I’ll send Glenna to carry you through. I’m confident with all the modern magical devices ye’ve described to me ye can find yer way back to my brother. Tell him that if I survive, I will join his cause.”
Avery ground her teeth. “You’ve got to be kidding me! Take your eighteenth-century, patriarchal, chauvinist attitude and shove it up your ass!”
Glenna gaped at her, then looked at Xavier as if she expected him to leap across the table and tear her to pieces. He did look decidedly livid. His eyes had narrowed, and she didn’t miss the way the temperature in the room rose.
“You will go, fur yer own safety.”
“Or?”
“Or I’ll be forced to fly ye there and toss ye into Glenna’s arms maself.”
She snorted and met his stare with her own. Slowly, she drew the sword from its sheath and held it out between them. “Just. Try. It.”
Xavier’s growl shook the walls, but she stood her ground.
“Damn it, woman. I canna fight Lachlan and protect ye too!”
“I snuck into the castle and freed you from under his nose. I don’t need your protection.”
Xavier strode slowly around the table, his blue eyes never leaving hers. He didn’t stop until the tip of the sword pressed against the skin of his chest. “There’s a price on yer head. Ye don’t have invisibility. Every clan member will be searching for ye.”
Somewhere, deep inside, she knew he was right, but she refused to admit it. She absolutely would not leave him to do this alone. “He’ll smell you coming, Xavier.”
He tipped his head. “I can take care of maself, lass.”
“So can I.” Her narrowed gaze lowered to the tip of the sword resting on his chest.
Glenna hissed, her wings jutting out from her back defensively.
Xavier held up his hand to her and shook his head. “Leave us. I’ll call for ye if I need ye.”
The oread scowled at Avery before dissolving into thin air.
Xavier turned back to her and curled his lip at the sword. “Will you run me through, Avery? Kill me before Lachlan has the chance?”
She glared up at him. “No. But I won’t let you force me to go.”
For three long breaths, they stared at each other in silence until he finally softened. “All right. If I promise not to force ye ta do anything, would ye lower the sword then?”
She withdrew the tip from his skin and slid it back into its sheath. “Yes.”
He moved toward her slowly as if she were a skittish animal. “Only a few moments ago, I offered ye my mating bond, my very heart exposed.” He gestured to his chest where the sword had just been.
“Yeah… I’m sorry about that—”
“I’m not looking for an apology, Avery. Did my brother teach ye nothing about a dragon’s instincts?”
She shook her head.
His lids sank low and heavy over his eyes. “We only offer the bond to someone our dragon chooses, and a potential mate doesna come along often. You, in fact, were ma first. You can deny me, deny the bond, but ma dragon wants ye in the most feral way. My deepest instinct is to protect ye. If ye come wi’ me tomorrow, I won’t be able ta concentrate. I won’t be able to do what I need to do to kill Lachlan, because ma every thought will be of protecting ye. Dragons are immortal, but we can be killed. I’m confident I can defeat Lachlan in a one-on-one battle, but if it came down to ye, I’d let him have ma head.”
A lump formed in Avery’s throat. It wasn’t only his words. Xavier’s expression was nothing short of genuine. He wanted her. Wanted her permanently. “Do you love me Xavier?”
“The human word for love doesn’t fully encompass a dragon’s need to bond, but I suppose it is as good a human word as any.”
He took another step closer. Everything he’d said rang true. She’d seen the dragon mating bond in action with Raven and Gabriel and with Nathaniel and Clarissa. And the truth was, although she couldn’t accept Xavier’s bond for all the reasons she’d mentioned before, she too felt an inexplicable link between them. She would never want to do anything to put him in danger. And he was right—she would be a distraction.
“Okay.” She glanced at her feet. And then she closed the space between them and took him into her arms.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Xavier took Avery into his arms and buried his face in her hair. Wrapped around her like this, he was reminded how fragile she was, how incredibly human. He drew her scent into his lungs, sweet and clean. It would be so easy to give in to his urge to take her. The way she leaned into him indicated her willingness certain enough. What was it she’d said in the barn? If he hadn’t mentioned the mating bond, she’d be leaving footprints on the ceiling.
All his instincts told him she’d be as accommodating now. But could he make love to her without the bond? Not without hurting himself. He was already in too deep. And she’d be leaving soon.
“We should eat and rest. We’ll part ways in the morning.”
She gave him a small nod, her eyes watery. He reckoned she felt it too, this immediate, consuming connection.
Stepping outside, away from her, he rejoiced in the feel of the rain, the cool breeze against his hot skin. Avery Tanglewood was an enigma, both a balm and a poison to his soul. There was no doubt in his mind that she’d been sent by the Mountain in answer to his prayer when he was Lachlan’s prisoner, but given the circumstances, he wondered if the goddess had a sense of humor.
“I canna believe ye let her speak to ye that way.” Glenna formed in front him, her wings sparkling in the rain.
He grunted. “How? Like ye talk ta me?”
She gasped. “That isn’t the same. She’s a mortal.”
“A mortal who holds ma heart,” he murmured.
Glenna’s face drooped with her wings. There was a long pause. “She’s a witch. Has to be. She’s ensnared ye with her feminine wiles.”
He grunted. “A happy prisoner I may be.”
“She is a witch, ye ken? She saw me when she shouldn’t ’ave been able ta.”
He furrowed his brow. “She saw ye like I see ye?”
“Aye.”
Xavier’s head began to ache as he thought about Avery. He rubbed it now as he considered Glenna. “Would ye do me a kindness?”
“Anything, ma laird.”
“Make us supper.”
“Ma pleasure. Anything particular ye might like, considering it may be yer last?”
He sighed. “Do your best with whatever you can gather. The brownie who lives here stocked the cupboards, but he can’t cook like ye. I want it ta be special before…” He looked down at a puddle forming near his feet.
“Before ye have ta say goodbye.”
“Aye.” He lifted his head to meet her eyes.
Glenna’s expression softened. “I’ll make ye something ta remember.”
She drifted to
ward the cabin, and Xavier returned to the stable and chores he’d left behind. An hour later with the cow milked and the brownie fed, Xavier returned to find the table set with a dinner only an oread was capable of. There was roast rabbit that she must have hunted herself, herbed root vegetables, boiled greens, and fresh bread.
Glenna was gone, but Avery was there, standing by the fire and dressed only in her shift. He had to force his mouth not to drop open.
Her deep blue eyes seemed to darken as she looked at him, as if he’d dived into the loch and was sinking into its depths.
“My dress was wet.” She ran her fingers through her curly hair, the drying coils falling loose around her shoulders.
“You are… truly lovely.” His throat turned hot and dry, as if he’d recently breathed fire. Oh, there was a blaze inside him, but it wasn’t in his throat. He tore his eyes away from the bewitching way the fire’s glow shone through her thin shift. “Are ye hungry?”
“Starving. I was just waiting for you.” She strode to the table, and he held out a chair before taking a seat across from her. “How is it you’re dry? You just came from outside.”
He grinned. “Body heat. I dry quickly.”
The light that came from her answering smile cut straight to his heart.
“I guess there are benefits to being a dragon.”
He watched her fill her plate and start to eat. The meal was delectable, but he picked at his food.
“I think ye’re wrong, Avery.”
“About what?”
“About not being a witch.”
She snorted. “We’ve talked about this before. There isn’t anything special about me.”
He shook his head slowly. How could a woman so beautiful and strong have absolutely no self-awareness of her many stunning attributes?
“I find ye utterly enchanting. Spellbinding, beyond explanation. You have bewitched me.”
She lowered the piece of bread she was holding to her plate and stared at him. “You’re the first one to think so.” Her voice held a breathless quality, and she tucked her hair behind her ear. He wished he had done it for her. He longed to stroke one of her curls between his fingers. “And,” she continued, “that doesn’t mean I’m a witch. It just means your dragon has a crush on me.”
Highland Dragon Page 17
