Dragon Greed

by Kelly Armenta

  “Your Majesty,” he breathed and I nearly squirmed at the look he gave me. Roral and Lira had moved to flank him and both were standing with their legs shoulder width apart, hands loose at their sides. They acted like I was in danger of being attacked at any second. Tdem’s guards were arranged behind them and I could see their red eyes glowing from my peripheral vision. Marcus stood at the edge of the group with Roa’ beside him, both looking tense.

  “Cursed, release me,” I told him softly. He hesitated and made a negative sound, which I ignored as I leaned forward, again asking with my body to be released. His arm slipped away and I took the step forward that put me within arm’s reach of Cam. His eyes narrowed and he watched me closely as I bent at the waist toward him. I raised my hand and slipped it into his hair, holding him for my kiss. My lips brushed his softly and when he made an anguished sound I closed my eyes and leaned into the kiss, sending him the pleasure and release I’d felt earlier within Marcus’ arms. He went limp and nearly pulled my arm from its socket as I held him up by the hand I had buried at the back of his head. Roral and Lira reached to assist me from behind and I glanced over my shoulder at Owen, who raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing. Aerandir looked confused and glanced from Cursed to Cam. “I gave him release. He will be fine. Owen, could you please just send him home?” I asked. And perhaps you should send…” and I glanced around at the men for a moment, trying to decide who was best to send with him.

  “I will go, Your Majesty,” Lord Aerandir informed me, my jaw nearly hitting the floor. His gave me a sly smile and nodded, then went to a knee before me. “The Queen has given me leave to attend you,” he informed me while I struggled to keep my eyes on him and not look at Cursed.

  “What happened to Cael?” I finally asked. “I promised him we would take him with us.”

  “I believe he traveled ahead with your Demon,” Aerandir replied and I breathed a sigh and nodded, motioning for him to stand while Cursed assisted me back to my feet. I couldn’t help myself and moved my eyes to search Cursed’s face, happy to see that he was unperturbed. I pulled a breath into my lungs and sent up a plea that this would not become any more awkward that it already was.

  “Do not worry, My Lady. We have made peace,” Cursed informed me. I felt my smile become just a little sickly as I nodded. Uncles and nephews, mentors, fathers, brothers, a king and princes… this was becoming just a little too complicated, even for me.

  “Owen, if you would?” I asked, my hand shaking just a little, while Aerandir moved to stand next to Cam.

  Aerandir leaned forward and brushed his knuckles down my cheek while I stared back at him. “I find I cannot let you work through all these issues alone. Not after your recent… misfortune, which I cannot but feel somehow responsible for,” he told me. Leaning down to place a kiss upon my brow, he said, “I would repay the debt between us… thus I will honor you with my service, just as you have honored my house.”

  “Then we will see you shortly, and I thank you,” I told him while he smiled, then disappeared along with Cam.

  “Shall we?” Tdem asked and reached for my arm, tucking it firmly into his own. The others spread out around us while Cursed took point, leading us down the hall at a good clip. I thought it odd that we met no one along the way.

  Tdem leaned down and informed me. “They are still recovering from your recent and most glorious efforts, Your Majesty,” and he smoothed his fingers over mine and gave them a gentle squeeze. His golden hair brushed against my arm and I felt my cheeks go pink while he chuckled. We’d walked in silence for several minutes when Tdem leaned down and breathed against my ear, “He will not thank you for sleeping with his father. And neither will I,” causing me to jerk and I nearly stumbled.

  “Then perhaps you should have convinced him to remain here,” I growled back at him and lifted both my shields. This was hardly the subject to be discussing in the Sidhe halls. I did not wish to get Aerandir into trouble from any wayward thoughts. My eyes swung to first Marcus and then Roa’. Both of them were looking at me curiously. Behind them one of Tdem’s guards walked on, but his red eyes were focused on me and I knew that he sensed me.

  He sighed and nodded. “He feels responsible for his niece’s actions, however I suspect he misses the Prince and wishes to be near him… away from here. My Nephew’s time here has hardened him. Yet you have managed to sooth his edges and helped him find himself again. One day he will be a fine King.”

  “Unless you have a child of your own! And even if you do not, it will be a very very long time from now,” I replied pulling my eyes off Tdem’s guard and feeling a morbid sense of dismay to be speaking of such things. He glanced down at me and chuckled, then sighed and stroked my fingers.

  “You could give me that child, Lexi my love,” he whispered and I stared up at him wide eyed.

  “But I am not yet fertile,” I breathed back, my voice so low he strained to hear it. A sexy smile lit his face and his black eyes caressed mine.

  “For the Drakes you are not. But for me you could be, if you but chose.”

  We walked while I mulled it over in my mind and something niggled just under the surface, something that eluded me each time I reached for it. “How do you know this?” I finally asked.

  “Because we danced,” he replied. I frowned and remembered the look upon my Mother’s face when I had told her of Tdem’s dance of lights and how I had swallowed his light and taken it into my body. I stopped in the middle of the hall, my feet refusing to move me forward as I bent at the waist and placed my hands on my thighs.

  I squeezed my eyes shut tight and reached for Goldy, shoving at her so that she glanced up at me in alarm. In my mind I asked the question I was, nearly too afraid to speak out loud. Am I pregnant? I demanded when she glanced up at me, her eyes whirling softly. Marcus and Roa’ both made a distressed sound but I ignored them. Do you wish to be? was her response, which was really no response at all! I didn’t know how to answer that and stared down at her helplessly. Her head shifted and she seemed to glance over my shoulder toward Tdem. If so…heal him, she told me and I sank to my knees with a sharp cry while around me my men gathered anxiously.

  “Lexi, what is it?” Owen demanded and I squeezed my eyes shut tight and felt every piece of the puzzle fall into place. All the comments Goldy had made about me and the women of Faerie not being the problem! Stars and seas, it was the men! They were… sterile. Goldy pulled her eyes off Tdem and tilted her head as she glanced up at me in approval. Heal him, as you’ve healed your others, she whispered and I made a strangled sound as I realized… Amras, Cursed and Cam were all viable. And Lira and Roral, too, because on the day I’d been poisoned, I had healed them both. Only the two, Goldy told me sharply then blinked up at me. Which two? I thought, lifting my head from my thighs where it had fallen. My hand braced myself against the floor as I stared down at her. A picture formed in my mind of Amras and Cursed’s faces. Only the two, she repeated and I frowned and knelt upon the floor while I could hear Marcus’ voice speaking softly.

  I bit my lip and squeezed my eyes shut tightly, feeling a little shell shocked. Only the two she said and it was crystal clear to me. It was only the two I had taken as lovers. Goldy rumbled in approval and turned her back upon me as she made herself comfortable upon her rocky bed. Her golden eye blinked up at me calmly and her tongue flicked out just before she added, Heal them all. I moaned softly and shook my head thinking that this was not a good plan, not a good plan at all.

  I took a moment to gather my scattered thoughts and pushed myself off my knees. Hands reached to assist me to stand and I brushed back the hair from my face, taking a moment to tidy it behind my ears. I bit my lip and before I could stop myself, I reached for Tdem cupping his face between my palms. I closed my eyes and I pushed healing down my arms and into him. He murmured at the tingling sensation and blinked down at me when I opened my eyes. I gazed up at him, confused and amazed at what I had just done. And for a moment I simply stared at him, then I
reached to pull him down to me, gently kissing his lips. “Lle naa eithel.” You are well I told him, not knowing the word for ‘whole’ which is what I truly meant to say.

  He looked at me oddly, holding my sides with the tips of his fingers. “Thank you, Your Majesty. But I think the question we would all like to have answered is, are you?” he said in a confused voice. I dropped my forehead to his chest and felt my body trembling. What had I done? I wondered, as I slipped my hands down his chest and around his waist, allowing him to hold me gently.

  Behind me I heard Roa’ whisper, “She asked her little one if she was… I do not know the word.” And then Owen’s voice asking something I could not hear. “I do not know, only that she then asked… which two? I could not hear the little one speak.”

  And I heard Marcus clearly reply, “Pregnant. She asked her Dragon if she was pregnant.” And the hall went dead silent while I stood trembling in Tdem’s arms.

  Cursed made a strangled sound of pain and I jerked and turned to look at him. “No!” I nearly yelled, then pulled air into my lungs while their faces looked frozen, eyes wide. I took a deep breath and added more calmly, “No, I am not pregnant. I am fine. We are all fine,” I told them while my eyes moved to Cursed, who looked as if he was recovering from a knife wound to the heart. “I am sorry, I did not mean to alarm anyone. And I just realized something. Something I cannot discuss here,” I told them and held up my hand indicating the Sidhe.

  “Why did you tell me I am ‘well’?” Tdem asked in a low voice, and I dropped my eyes to the floor and chewed my lip. “Your Majesty…” he breathed and turned me back to him, then placed a finger under my chin and lifted my face. “For what reason did you heal me?” he asked me softly. I stared back at him and felt just a little bit frantic.

  “Please, Tdem…do not ask me. I cannot say it. Not here,” I told him. He searched my eyes and must have found something there that convinced him of my sincerity, because he finally nodded and cupped my chin. When he leaned down to kiss me I moaned and clutched him tightly.

  “Vee’ lle nauva amin mal-tari.” As you will, my golden Queen, he replied against my mouth.

  “Thank you,” I breathed, then pulled myself together and turned to Cursed who looked like he’d just been to Hell and back. I gave him a tentative smile and he looked at me as if he did not know how to react. “You are also well,” I told him. “As is Amras.” He frowned and stared back at me in confusion. “Which will be important to you all should you wish to have children of your own some day.”

  “Lexi, what have you done?” Owen asked me, his voice sounding strange. My eyes moved to him and his dark brown eyes looked almost alarmed.

  “I have evened up the playing field,” I told him softly and watched as his eyes widened. “I could not… not once I realized,” I told him and turned to glance at Tdem. “Since I already had,” and I turned to glance at Cursed. “Though it was not intentional, except for the last.”

  “I think we should hurry,” Owen informed the group and glanced around, then snapped his fingers and we found ourselves standing in the hall near where I had burned my images into the wall. Tdem reached for me and pulled me into his arms.

  “Here is where I must leave you,” he breathed against my hair. “But I will see you again very soon, Your Majesty,” he promised. “And perhaps then you will give me your decision.

  “Tdem, I already have,” I told him, then pulled from his arms and moved quickly down the hall to where my parents stood waiting.

  I don’t remember much of what was discussed with my parents. I was too distracted with what had just occurred and trying to figure out what, if anything, I was going to tell Amras and Cursed. And worse, how was I going to explain any of this to Gareth and Jace. Just thinking about Gareth’s reaction made my heart tighten and I felt an overwhelming need to see them both, I hugged my parents distractedly and called for Owen. “I’m sorry, but we have to go, right now,” I told them and ran for the door. The others sprinted after me, and after frightening the guards, I laid my hands upon the portal. It shifted immediately and we stepped out into the night air. “Quickly Owen,” I cried and felt the ground shift beneath me.

  We arrived in the middle of our front room and I stared around us in horror at the destruction everywhere. “Owen, my weapons,” I whispered and he flicked his hand at me and suddenly my spiked boot heels were very much shorter. I was armed with several knives, including the one Gareth and Jace had given me, as well as the blade Owen always gave me which was now strapped about my waist. I suspected it was the one Areth provided during my sojourn with Immy. I dropped my shields and cried out for Gareth and Jace while Owen provided Marcus with weapons. “Where are they Owen?” I demanded and he closed his eyes as something brushed past me.

  “The caverns,” he hissed back and we turned and ran for the hall.

  KIT! I yelled in my mind and a black and red haze appeared next to me. “Mistress, hurry we have been overrun by Vampires,” he told me, then winked out.

  “Owen, I need my chopsticks,” I told him and my black lacquer hair holders appeared in my hand. Owen yanked the door open and we piled into the second hall, then down toward the sauna. As we passed my doorway I skidded to a halt, feeling a draft of cold air coming from under the closed door. My dress flapped around my legs and I reached down and unsnapped several of the snaps. Lira and Roral also stopped, as did Marcus who had a pained expression on his face. I watched him for half a second and realized his eyes looked glassy. My gaze moved to Owen and I motioned for him to look at Marcus. “Send him back to my parents… now,” I breathed and watched as Marcus disappeared.

  I reached for the door handle and shoved it open, staring in horror at the body upon the floor. I recognized Calvin, who had been with me when I’d gone to dinner with my parents. Above him three other men were standing in the middle of my room. Two of them were clearly Vampires while the third… was Dean. Their mouths were covered in blood and only the fact that they held him up gave me hope that he was still alive, quite unlike poor Calvin who they’d already murdered and left for carrion. Vampires do not eat the dead, but judging by the amount of blood everywhere Dean might not last long, either. There was blood on my floor at his feet and I assumed it came from his neck, as it had run down his chest, soaking up the light blue shirt he was wearing and turning it nearly black.

  “Let him go,” I growled as I stepped into the room, followed closely by Cursed and Owen. Roral and Lira covered the hall while Roa’ moved into the room and to my left.

  “What are they?” he breathed and from the corner of my eye I could nearly see his breath upon the air. Clearly they had been here for a while. Dean was unable to lift his head although his hand moved at the sound of our voices. .

  “Bloodless ones… Kindred,” Lira breathed with a touch of disgust in his voice. “The one they hold between them is Lupine. Do not harm him.”

  “Roa’… wood through their hearts!” I advised him. “Or take their heads if you can… or even better. Areth!” I yelled and my gnome appeared in a black haze.

  “Mistress, you are back!” she breathed, her black eyes glancing around at the group in agitation.

  “They need help in the cavern, a little sunshine to help warm our cold guests up,” I told her quickly. She smiled and winked out while the vampire on the left dropped his hold on Dean and came for me. I had my sword in hand and was just raising it when Cursed swept by, and something flopped to the floor next to me, then rolled about a bit just before it erupted in a cloud of ash.

  “Pardon, My Lady. I did not mean to distract you,” he called to me as he moved to stalk the remaining vampire, who watched him closely and bared his fangs. His pale face swung between us and I moved to my left on the balls of my feet, while Cursed slid to the right.

  “Let my friend go and we may allow you to live,” I told the blood sucker. He stepped back, leaving himself open to the foot long wooden arrow that flew over my shoulder and embedded itself in his chest up to
the hilt. My eyes widened as the Vampire exploded in a cloud of dust and Dean collapsed to the floor in a heap.

  “Damn you, Dean!” I growled when I shoved him over. “Check the closet, there is a tunnel to the caverns,” I yelled, while my hands pressed against the nearly severed skin of his neck and I rammed my healing down into him. His body jerked like I’d electrocuted him and he flew off the floor, then slammed back into it smacking the back of his head on the hard surface and crying out. “Oh shut up you big baby,” I growled at him. “And get off your ass and help us!” and I jumped to my feet and ran for the door. Behind me I heard him yell an obscenity which I ignored as I yanked open the door to the caverns, and there found them lit up with sunshine like a hot August afternoon. Bless Areth!

  Gray ash covered everything and there were bodies all over the place, some still trapped in their animal forms. Nick’s men littered the sand and I reached for the first one nearest to me, and then proceeded to quickly make my way across the room. With my shields down, the healing rebound was kept to a minimum. I tried not to think about what I was doing as I recognized several faces. A couple of them were beyond help and I forced myself to not think about it, moving as fast as I could between their fallen forms using my talent to heal their savaged bodies.

  Eventually I found myself huddled on the sand at the far side of the caverns. I had hyperventilated, and that was where Gareth and Jace found me. When they reached for me I screamed, and then screamed some more as I beat my fists against Gareth’s chest in anguish. Near to me on the sand were Nate and Jon, spread out like a couple of broken GI Joe dolls. Their lifeless eyes staring up at the ceiling, both of them covered in blood. I had been too late to save either of them. Dean went to his knees upon the sand across from me and his face looked hallow, while tears overflowed his dark eyes and slowly rolled down his cheeks. He reached for Nate and gently closed his eyes. Nate and Jon had both had their throats ripped out and I could not stand to look at them. “I am so sorry,” I sobbed as I held to Gareth’s chest. “I should have been here sooner.” This was my fault. I should have saved them.