Acker frowned. “Then we should get the hell out of here before we’re spotted.”
“We’ll need to get supplies soon too.”
“Yeah, I planned to get enough to hold us over for a few days with the Cahula, but we’ll be in trouble soon if we’re not careful. We can ration more and be more mindful of stopping at places with water and the potential for game.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
Suddenly, someone shouted, “Lady Kadelynn!”
Her face froze in horror, and Acker reached for his sword as he turned his horse to look back at the lone man on horseback. As the man slowly approached, Acker held his breath, looking between Kadelynn and the man. Who was this? How did he know Kadelynn? And was he a danger to her?
The man had hair so closely cut that he could see his head between the short strands. He looked thin, ragged, almost sickly, but he road down to them confidently, while Kadelynn watched his approach through narrowed eyes.
At last, he stopped in front of her. “Cousin, it’s good to see you.”
“You got out,” she said, her tone clipped.
The man frowned, and his face was even more unpleasant when he did. “I thought at first you really were just going to leave me with a dagger to free myself and hope I made it out alive, but then I saw that you’d lit everything on fire and provided me with the cover to escape.”
Kadelynn said nothing.
He cleared his throat. “I owe you my life.”
“Yes, you do,” her tone practically dripped with venom.
He glanced from Acker to her. “So what do you want me to do? Do you… want to be free of this man, so you can return to Lord Gannon?”
Acker had the sudden urge to punch the young ass in the face, but Kadelynn spoke before he could. “No. What you could do for us is provide us with supplies and tell no one you saw me.”
The man sat up taller on the horse. “I’ll do that right away.”
“And, Bronson,” she paused, locking eyes with him. “Don’t betray me again.”
“Never,” he swore, turning his horse back to the camp. “I’ll be right back.”
He rode away, and Acker didn’t release the hilt of his sword until the man disappeared from view. At last, he turned to her, confused. Who the hell was that?
Kadelynn answered before he could ask. “Bronson is someone who betrayed me. He is a sniveling, pathetic excuse for a human. I gave him a dagger when I found him as a prisoner of the Cahula, but I honestly didn’t care whether he lived or died.”
Whoa. He didn’t know who this woman was, but he kind of liked this side of her. In so many ways, she seemed like some innocent princess who could never make a hard decision, because she’d never had to make one. But Acker didn’t know her as well as he thought, something he was realizing more each and every day.
“Do you think we can trust him?”
“No,” Kadelynn said, frowning. “But if anyone follows him here, we’ll run for it. And I don’t care how fast they ride, they’ll never catch us.”
Acker believed her. “So, I guess we wait.”
“And then we continue.”
“To find your Dragulous,” he said, a smile touching his lips.
Her brows drew together. “But maybe first another place.”
“Another place?”
“Yeah,” she hesitated. “It’s kind of… whispering to me.”
He frowned. “Like the trees?”
She shook her head. “No, but I think I need to go there.”
“Enough to not keep looking for a Dragulous?”
Her eyes widened, and she looked at him. Several times her mouth opened, but she didn’t answer. Acker felt a strange rush of worry. The Dragulous was her whole goal, right? What could possibly be important enough for her to change her entire goal? Something she’d risked her life for?
It worried him.
14
Drazen
Drazen and Talin stopped their horses at the edge of acres and acres of burned trees. A party of Cahula warriors rode toward them and both their horses were antsy beneath their touches, but they held firm, facing down this enemy just as they had faced down the crazy king and his men many years before. Usually, they didn’t go looking for a fight, even though both were skilled warriors. But whatever had happened here, the magic had called to them, and they wouldn’t leave until they knew why.
Six Cahula warriors stopped a short distance from them, their expressions fierce. “What do you Seers want? More of our trees?” His last words were shouted, and he pointed at the ash-covered earth behind him. “Can’t you see that they’re gone?”
Drazen drew himself up taller. He despised the Cahula. They were beings that stole magic and enjoyed the suffering of other beings. It was exactly the opposite of how the Seers had been taught. Magic had always been something precious. You were born with it, or you weren’t.
At least, that’s how things had been when the dragons still filled the sky.
“We simply want to know what happened here,” Drazen told them, his gaze unwavering.
The man raised an angry fist. “One of your kind burned them to the ground! No, not a Seer, a Stonebuilder woman with the Seer!”
A Stonebuilder woman with a Seer? A chill rolled down Drazen’s spine. Had one of his people discovered Kadelynn’s connection to the dragons and sought her out? Was she in trouble now because of him?
“What direction did they go?”
Instead of answering his question, the Cahula man gestured to his warriors, and they began to circle him and Talin. But his friend didn’t so much as flinch. He knew Drazen would keep them safe, no matter what odds were against them. And if for any reason Drazen didn’t stop them, Talin was capable of far more than anyone realized.
“Which way?” Talin repeated the question, a threat in his voice.
The Cahula man pointed behind them with a smile. “There, but you will never see them.”
Drazen narrowed his eyes and let his magic flow. Every Cahula man was yanked from their horses and thrown onto the ground. Not hard enough to cause any serious injuries, but hard enough to make his point clear. He was not like them. Magic was a part of him. And if they made him, he would hurt him.
“Thank you.” Then, he hesitated before continuing. “And can you tell me what these trees are? Why the magic called me to them?”
Instead, the Cahaula man spit toward him
Drazen frowned and shook his head. He still didn’t entirely understand what the trees were, but right now it was more important to find out if the Stonebuilder woman they’d referenced was her. And if she was in trouble.
He turned his horse and went in the direction they’d indicated, with his best friend behind him. He and Talin road as the final rays of sunlight faded from the sky, but the further they went the more Drazen felt certain they were on the right path. Something was calling to him. Tugging him along. And he couldn’t help but think it was Kadelynn herself, which filled him with even more hope that the magic was working to help them put dragons back into their world.
They road for hours before Talin called to him.
“The horses need a rest, my friend. As do I.”
Drazen felt a rush of guilt. When he obsessed, he forgot about all else. Talin had been pushing himself for the past few days. He deserved a good night of rest.
“Of course.”
When they found a good resting place, near a river with a few trees, and tall grass around the outside of their resting place, they stopped. They cared for the horses, Talin started a fire, and Drazen laid down, pulling the bottle from around his neck. Talin had convinced him not to take another drink until they were away from the camp where they’d been attacked, but now it was more than time enough.
“I’ll watch over you,” Talin said, softly.
“It’s okay,” Drazen told him. “Sleep.”
Talin nodded and laid down in his blankets, but his gaze never left Drazen. He considered ordering his best fr
iend to eat, rest, and relax, but he knew it was the one thing Talin couldn’t do, not when he was worried about Drazen. So, Drazen drew the tiny bottle on a chain around his neck and looked at the liquid as the firelight danced off of it. The liquid seemed to shift colors, even glow beneath the light, like a living thing.
But then, it was from the Pool of Life. The water that surrounded the only piece of land in his realm. It was magical water, capable of eating away at anything within it, but also it was within the water that the dragon eggs hatched. The only place they could hatch. Drinking the water was forbidden, although there were stories of Seers who had done so in the past. It was said that by drinking the water, the magic would lead a person to the thing they most desired. But that drinking too much of the water could kill them.
Drazen had betrayed his people by taking the water. He’d gone against one of their most sacred rules. And even though the loyal heart within him ached with the knowledge that he wasn’t so different from his brother, the decision to take the water hadn’t been easy. It was his last chance at saving dragon kind. And even if it cost him his life, he wouldn’t stop until there was nothing left inside of him.
Removing the lid, he took a deep breath, then drew the tiny bottle to his lips and took a small sip. Closing the lid once more, he tucked the bottle back beneath his shirt as the world began to spin. His eyes closed against his will, and a strange sensation came over him. Like he was being sucked through a vast whirling pool, and that death was chasing him.
When he hit the steady ground beneath his feet on his knees, he gasped in breaths. The first time he’d drank the water it’d been different, less frightening, but he suspected each time it’d be worse. The magic was trying to warn him that what he was doing was dangerous, and he heard the warning loud and clear.
As he looked up from the ground, he stared out at the acres of ash and burnt trees. Apparently, the magic had returned him to where he’d met the Cahula. Frowning, he rose to his feet and moved to the ash. This place had called to him before. But why? Kneeling down, he touched the ash and stiffened. A howling of voices rose around him until he fell backward, panting. Truly the trees were even eviler than Drazen had realized.
He shivered. Why was I drawn here?
“You again?”
He turned slowly around and saw Kadelynn standing not far behind him. She wore a leather outfit, similar to that of a warrior, and a cloak that shifted in the wind behind her. The moon bathed her in a soft, almost loving light, but her expression was some mix of confusion and curiosity.
Rising, he moved toward her, then stopped a few feet away. She was tall for a woman, and her long hair had been left wild this time. It was strange looking down at her. He’d never even imagined a woman who looked like her before, but he found that she was easily the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. There was a youthfulness to her face, and innocence in her eyes, and yet he saw her as an equal. He sensed in her a kind of magic that rivaled his own.
And once he realized it was her magic that he was feeling, he took a step back from her. He’d felt something inside of her before, but now it was as if someone had opened her up to the world, like the magic that flowed all around them was gathering within her. Building with each second that passed.
The magic loved her in a way that it loved him. But he was so blessed because he was Dragon Touched, why did this Stonebuilder woman have the same gift?
“You’ve never met a dragon?”
She frowned and shook her head.
He had expected as much. Stonebuilders didn’t live nearly as long as his people, and he believed her when she’d said before that they were gone before her time. And yet, she didn’t make sense to him.
“Then why has the magic chosen you?”
“The magic?” Her pale brows drew together in confusion.
“Can’t you feel it? All around you?”
Her pale blue eyes widened. “Is that what the whispering is?”
Whispering? “Tell me and I should know.”
She released a shaky breath. “When I walked by the Cahula’s trees, I heard the voices of too many souls trapped inside them. I guess the Cahula take… the Life Essence from people and trap them within the trees.”
Drazen gasped. “That is… evil.”
“It is! I’ve never felt anything like that before. I’ve never heard anything like that before. So, I lit the trees on fire. I released the people trapped within them. It was confusing, I wasn’t completely sure why I was doing it. But I had to.”
This woman was no Stonebuilder. She was tapped into the magic in the world in a way that none of her kind could be, in a way not even most of his kind were. Whatever she was, this was the reason the magic had brought him to her.
“Kadelynn, you have magic. A kind of magic few others have.”
She shook her head. “I’ve never had magic. I’ve never even shown signs of having it.”
“But you grew up in a home with one of your people’s white stones?”
“Yes.”
“It might have suppressed your magic. And without anyone there knowledgeable in magic, you had no one to teach you or even help you with what little magic there was beneath the influence of the stone.”
She wrapped her arms around herself. “I don’t know. It’s hard to believe.”
He reached for her, resting his hands gently on her arms. “I promise you. I can feel a powerful magic within you.”
Her gaze moved up to his, and it was suddenly hard to breathe. “Can I kiss you again?”
She hesitated, then nodded.
He leaned down, and their lips touched. Electricity moved between them, and it was as if the magic inside of them swirled around them in a storm. Her lips were soft, gentle, and inexperienced, so he followed her lead, only deepening their kiss when she seemed to want more. Her hands moved to his chest, traveled up slowly, then wrapped around his neck.
A groan slipped from his lips, and his tongue swept into her mouth.
She pressed herself against him, and his blood raced until he felt his arousal, obvious and desperate. For too long he’d ignored everything outside of his desire for the eggs, but around this strange woman he longed for more. His desire to have her was like a flood, threatening to sweep him under. Some small logical part of him realized that this time was precious, that it was costing him his life, but he couldn’t seem to stop.
He broke their kiss and then moved down, pressing more kisses to her throat.
Her breathing came in and out faster, rasping from between her lips.
With his women, he knew what to do. It might have been a long time, but he knew that they loved to feel pleasure. And as long as they didn’t already have a man, making love to them didn’t have to mean much outside of that moment together. But with Kadelynn? He had no idea how it’d work, or what rules her people followed. So, he moved slowly, leaving her every opportunity to stop.
When she pressed herself harder against him, he stroked his hands down her arms and sucked harder on her neck until she moaned his name. His entire body went rigid, and he skirted the edge of her shirt with his fingers before sliding inside. She arched against him when he cupped her breast, and she gasped when his thumb began to stroke her nipple. His mouth returned to her lips, where they kissed each other with abandon, and her body’s instinctual rubbing against his groan began to drive him mad.
He knew he needed to have her, to take her, so desperately that he ached, when she suddenly pulled back from him. His gaze moved to her, and he wanted to pull her back, but remained frozen.
She touched her lips, her blue eyes wide.
“Should I… should I not have?” he asked, praying that he hadn’t made a mistake.
Her gaze met his and a soft smile curled her lips. “No, it was perfect. I just…”
He waited, but she said nothing more.
Fuckery. He had no idea what a Stonebuilder woman expected of him now. “I’ve never felt this way about a woman before,” he told
her honestly.
She dropped her hand, looking nervous. “I had a dream.”
He lifted a brow and said nothing more.
“I dreamed that I was tied to three men, but I didn’t understand how.”
“Three?” His people often took more than one partner, so it wasn’t strange, but the thought of sharing her with anyone else bothered him in a way he doesn’t understand. “It could be your destined for other partners than just me.”
“So you think you’re one of the three men from my dreams?” she asked, her voice almost musical.
“I better be,” He told her, and he meant it.
Her head suddenly jerked to the side, and she frowned.
“The whispering?”
She nodded but continued to frown.
“Is it the sound of the souls that were bound to the trees?”
She shook her head. “This time it’s different.”
“How?”
It took her a long minute before she met his gaze again. “They sound like… children. They’re ready to go to the Pool of Life.”
A cold rush flowed through him. “Those aren’t children, they’re dragon babies. You hear them? Do you know where they are?”
“I think so,” and there was amazement in her voice.
“Where?”
The vision of Kadelynn twisted and began to fade.
“No! Wait! Where are they?”
He jerked upright gasping in breaths. He was soaking wet, and Talin was staring down at him, worry on his face. “You stopped breathing.”
“Damn it!” he shouted, then collapsed back, exhausted.
Talin’s face was above his again. “What happened?”
“She knows where the dragon nest is.”
“Where?”
Drazen closed his eyes. “It ended before I found out. But now, we need to find Kadelynn. She’s the answer to all of this.”
If only he had a clue where to look for her.
15
Gannon
Gannon had been on the road for days, flanked by the king’s men. None of them gave away why the king had sent for him, rather than just waiting for the king to meet him at his betrothed’s manor. But every possibility that came to him wasn’t good. If his cousin had caught Gannon’s assassin, if the assassin had spilled who had sent him, Gannon was dead.
Dragon Memories: A High Fantasy Reverse Harem Romance (Legacy of Blood and Magic Book 2) Page 12
