Tall-and-ugly laughed harshly and even Short-and-silent managed to cheer which pushed me far enough over the edge that I gave up on human niceties.
“You, stay out of this!” I swung my tail at his suspended form which knocked him away from the glass and he landed with a thud at my feet. With one powerful snap of my jaws, the smaller Fae let out one pained cry before he disappeared and it left me with an incensed Tall-and-ugly.
“You, dragon are starting to get on my last nerve!” He roared, whipping the wind into a tornado-like frenzy and everyone up on the cliff hunkered down a little to brace themselves against it. Edan could hear branches snapping off trees behind them and the sound of shutters on the houses started to bang and he prayed that his house, with his wife and children inside, would weather the storm okay. Jamie could hear his horses whinnying in the barn as the intensity of the storm picked up but he would be damned if he left his post to try to tend to them. I was his friend and he would stand behind me and do everything he could to support me. This was his home that I was down there fighting for! He had latched the barn doors as securely as he could in hopes that would keep them safe and all he could do now was wait and see.
The wind made fire a bad idea because I really didn’t want to roast myself again so I pulled myself to my feet and thought fast. My two biggest forms of defense were flight and fire. Neither was possible right now - fire would blow back at me and flight would be next to impossible with the wind whipping around us the way it was and I knew that was exactly what Tall-and-ugly was banking on. I did have one skill though that he didn’t know much about and it was all I had left.
“Mom? Dad? Granddad? Someone please help me.” I pleaded in my thoughts and Ian felt his heart clench at the lonely request and he exchanged a pained look with Stephanie, each of them squinting against the wind, sand and mist that was making it almost impossible to see.
But as I thought the plea, my mother’s voice entered my mind, murmuring words slowly, as though she was coaxing me through a speech, and while I didn’t understand the words, they were in a foreign tongue, I repeated them anyway and I watched in amazement as Tall-and-ugly fell to his knees, clutching his head in sudden agony.
“You! What are you going to me? You shouldn’t have this kind of power! No one defeats me!” He roared, trying to gain enough strength to fire another bolt of lightning at me. His bolt missed by a long shot and hit the cliff again, sending more boulders down onto the sand, the cold, sickening sound of smashing glass echoing in everyone’s ears as the boulders crashed into the glass made by my fire. A few boulders kind of ricocheted off each other and landed on my already injured hind quarters and I roared in pain.
“Lani! No!” Ian and Stephanie both shouted in panic but I was too focused on the Fae before me, who was still clutching his head and down on his knees.
“Hear this dragon. No matter what happens to me, your heart will stop beating at the stroke of midnight of the start of this Samhain. If I won’t live, neither should you!” He shouted the curse at me as I sent one last volley of flame in his direction. He caught fire immediately, but didn’t utter another word, just crumpled to the ground and disappeared like his friend had.
Once he was gone, the clouds turned from dark purple and blue back to a light, cold grey, the wind died down and the waves reverted back to their methodical rolling back and forth. But by now the noon tide was starting to come in and my claws were getting wet. I couldn’t move though because of the boulders pinning my backside to the ground and I shot a pained look up at everyone that still stood on the cliff.
“Everyone! The tide is coming in! We have to get Kailani free and back up here where she’ll be safe! Grab whatever you can - ropes, twine, shovels, anything you can think of - and let’s get down there and help her!” Edan shouted urgently to his people and the crowd dispersed immediately. Ian ran, skidded and slid down what was left of the path to the sand where I lay pinned and his heart clenched painfully in his chest when he saw me lay my head down on the watery ground in exhaustion.
“Don’t worry lass, we’ll get you out of here.” He promised, stroking my muzzle. The glamour spell I’d cast to make me look so much bigger had worn off and I was back to my normal size but that didn’t mean that it was going to be an easy feat to get me free and up above the tidal line, and as Ian stood with me, stroking my head and murmuring reassurances to me, he chose to ignore the water that was now up over his shoes.
Edan, Hugh, Jamie and a few others appeared next to me with pickaxes and shovels and they worked as quickly as they could to pry the boulders loose and they rolled off me but I didn’t have the strength to even try to help. Ian took on the colossal task of holding my head so it stayed above the water and when I looked into his eyes he was gazing down at me with tears in his.
“We’ll get you free Kailani, I promise. Just hang in there lass, please.” He begged. Without another thought I closed my eyes and let him pretend it would all work out fine.
Chapter 17
I don’t know how they did it, I must have passed out for quite some time, but they managed to get my large, unresponsive body up the side of the cliff and laying in the grass of the clearing. When I woke up, I opened my eyes and saw the grass and trees, and the spot where Ian and I had had our picnic two days prior. My body hurt - bad - and I could barely move my back legs or tail, my wings were burned and raw-feeling and my head pounded.
“How do you feel?” Ian’s voice sounded just off to my right and I looked around for him. It hurt more than I thought it would to try to move my head so I was grateful when he moved into my line of sight and squatted down in front of me.
“I hurt.” I admitted honestly and he frowned slightly.
“Any chance you can change back and I can see what I can do about your injuries?”
“I can try.” I closed my eyes and willed myself back to my human form but nothing happened. I tried again to think of my human body; my arms and legs, lack of a tail or wings, but again nothing happened.
“Ian, I can’t!” I thought in a panic, my eyes shooting back and forth as I tried to focus on something - anything that might help me.
“Calm down, Kailani, it’s okay. We’ll figure something out.” He soothed, ignoring the giant lump in his throat. When everyone had worked together to pull me up over the cliff, Ian had worried that this might happen. They had all heard the curse the Fae had put on me and they were all feeling the weight of time ticking by.
He desperately wanted me to change forms because then he would have a better idea of what injuries I was suffering from. Because of the way I had howled in pain when they had been hoisting me up over the cliff’s edge - despite the tranquilizers that he had given me - he suspected I had at least one broken hip and knee. But as long as I stayed in dragon-form, there wasn’t a damn thing he could do for me.
“Not that it’s going to matter. She’ll be dead at midnight.” A wicked, completely unproductive voice whispered in the darkest part of his mind but as soon as he heard it, he rejected it.
“She’s not dead yet. There has to be something more I can do.” He told himself firmly, gazing down at my broken and blistered body with a certain level of agony. Just this morning, we had laid in bed together, arms wrapped around each other and while I had dozed, not quite ready to wake up, he’d stroked my hair and pressed kisses all along my shoulder, unable to resist or ignore the smell of pineapple and coconut that was always present on my skin.
Now, my dragon body lay in the grass, and for the first time, my burgundy and silver scales didn’t glisten. They looked dry and rough and my underside, from what he could see, looked almost sunburned, likely from when my fire had been blown back at me.
I could feel Ian’s gaze on me but I didn’t have the energy to try to communicate with him so I kept my eyes closed and my thoughts as silent as possible. I knew there was nothing he could do for me as long as I was a dragon, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t change back. So I kept my eyes closed
and pretended to sleep in hopes it would give him even a small sense of peace.
“Doctor?” Ian turned when a male voice suddenly spoke and my hearing perked up even though I didn’t want to care. I had heard the curse Tall-and-ugly had uttered as he’d gone up in flames and I had no reason to doubt his ability. My heart would stop beating at midnight tonight. How much longer did I have? Did it even matter?
“What can I do for you, Jamie?” Ian asked and Jamie was silent for a moment as he looked around the other man at me.
“How is she?” he asked, nodding at me and Ian sighed tiredly and raked a hand through his hair in agitation.
“Sleeping, I think. Or she’s ignoring me but I guess after I tranquilized her to get her up the cliff, I can’t blame her for either.” Ian said wryly and Jamie nodded.
“Well, if that’s the case mate, why don’t you head back to your cottage and change your clothes? Miss Ciara is terrified you’re going to catch your death of a cold if you stay in your wet clothes much longer.” At those words, I cracked my eyes open a sliver to see what I was missing. Ian was still wearing wet clothes? Why?
“I really don’t want - “ my lover started but Jamie held up his hands in a pacifying manner.
“Mate, I’m just relaying the message. You deal with Miss Ciara if you choose not to heed her words. I’ll stay here with her if you’d like so she’s not alone. And if she needs anything I’ll be sure to come and get ye.” Ian wanted to argue more but he eventually sighed and nodded.
“Aye, Ciara wins. Stay with Kailani and if she needs anything you come and get me. Lass, I won’t be long, I promise.” He came over to me and gently rested a hand on my head briefly before he turned and disappeared into the trees. All I had been able to see of him through the sliver between my eyelids had been wet, crusty looking pant legs and squishy sounding shoes but I still didn’t understand why and it was driving me crazy.
Jamie waited until Ian was out of earshot before he chuckled slightly and came over to sit on the grass by my head, right in my line of sight so I didn’t have to try to move to look at him.
“I thought those words might have gotten your attention. He’s gone now, ye don’t need to pretend to be asleep.”
“How did you know?” I asked a bit sheepishly and the young man laughed and shook his head.
“Our good doctor is an expert at reading people. Ye can rarely slip something by him unless he is really distracted or worried about something. I, on the other hand, am the estate expert on animals. And I could tell from your body language that ye weren’t sleeping. How are ye doing, Miss Lani? Can I get you anything?” he turned concerned in a heartbeat and I sighed heavily through my snout.
“A new body if there’s one laying around. My back legs and lower back by my tail hurt like the devil.” I admitted and watched the young man frown and press his lips together and roll them inward.
“I’m guessing ye can’t change back?”
“I’ve been trying but I can’t do it. I think I’m stuck in this body until - “
“Aye, we’re not going to talk about that, lass.” He cut me off abruptly and I caught a glimpse of how torn up he was and I felt my eyes fill with tears.
“Was it worth it, Jamie? Is everyone okay?”
“Aye, lass. We’re all fine and you did it. The clouds cleared immediately after that loud, angry fairy disappeared. Some say the waves are calmer, the sky - albeit still cloudy - is clearer than it has been in a long time. You did it. You saved us.” His voice held so much pride and gratitude in it that I had to swallow hard.
“Good.”
“Just so ye know lass, Ian saved your life today down in the bay. He stayed with ye from the moment his feet hit the sand until we got ye free of those boulders and the ropes and pulleys secured to pull ye up. He held your head above the rising water as the tide came in and nothing was going to tear him from your side. So ye might want to cut the man a little slack, eh? He cares about ye a great deal and I think it’s safe to say it’s eating him up inside that he can’t help you.”
“I know Jamie but I’m so tired of saying goodbye to people I love. My grandparents, my parents, all of you. Him. God, I don’t want to say goodbye to him.” I thought raggedly and Jamie blinked back tears in his eyes at the pain in my voice.
“There isn’t a person on these grounds that doesn’t love ye lass, and think of ye as family. As one of us. And I promise ye, none of us want to say goodbye to ye either. Even if ye were to leave and go home to the United States, it would still break our hearts.” Neither of us realized right away that Ian had rejoined us and his heart officially broke when he heard me say that I loved him and didn’t want to say goodbye to him. He scrubbed at his eyes quickly to make sure there were no tears visible and then he cleared his throat. Jamie jumped and turned, getting to his feet and dusting his jeans off as Ian approached.
“Well, ye look a little drier now than ye did a few minutes ago. Miss Ciara will be happy to know we won’t have to call in a doctor to take care of our doctor because he was too daft to put on dry clothes after wading around in the sea.” Jamie kept his tone light and joking with a bit of difficulty but was rewarded when Ian chuckled and nodded his head ruefully.
“Aye, she was right. I’m not much good to anyone if I don’t take care of myself. Thank you for staying with Kailani while I was gone.” He said sincerely and the barn-hand clapped a hand on his shoulder as he started to walk away.
“It was my pleasure. Don’t take her guff, Doctor. She’s stubborn but she’s still in there and she’s listening. I’ll be back later to check on both of ye.” He gave a wave before disappearing into the trees and leaving us alone and I gazed up at Ian, waiting to see what he would say to me, if anything. He was now wearing a pair of jeans and a heavy sweater and I couldn’t help but admire the view. I’d never seen him in blue jeans before and they accentuated his long legs, and the dark green wool of the sweater set off his reddish brown hair perfectly. He looked like a walking dream to me and before I could stop myself, I spoke to him.
“Will you do me a favor my good doctor, and turn around?” Ian’s brow scrunched together in confusion at my request but he did as I asked and when he heard the very animal-like purr behind him he realized why I had asked and he blushed despite his best efforts.
“Satisfied now lass?” he asked with a clearing of his throat and I smiled inside.
“For now.” I watched him come over to me and without a word, he sat down on the ground so close in front of me that his crossed legs brushed my muzzle but before I could ask what he was doing or why he was so close, he effortlessly lifted my muzzle off the ground and rested it across his lap. We gazed at each other for a long time without saying anything and eventually he reached a tender hand out and stroked the horns on my head and the tusks that jutted out from the sides of my snout.
“They’re not as rigid as I thought they’d be.” He murmured once in amazement and I twitched my nose, trying to adjust them against his legs. Still, I didn’t speak, I didn’t want to ruin the moment and just enjoyed feeling his hand move along my head.
“You’re so beautiful, lass. Woman or dragon, it doesn’t matter, you take my breath away every time I look at ye.” He whispered in awe after a long silence and I closed my eyes, feeling my heart tighten in my chest and more tears came to my eyes. I’d finally found a man who accepted me for who I really was, all five-foot-eleven and a half inches of me, even if I sometimes had wings and a tail and was too big to fit in a house, and I was going to lose him because of some stupid fairy who couldn’t have just left everyone alone. Life royally sucked sometimes.
As the afternoon wore into evening we had more visitors. Hugh and Stephanie came for a short visit, Alice and Will were next. Madeline came with Ciara, both of them holding a baby and I held my breath, hoping desperately that I wasn’t so scary that I’d make them cry. But the complete opposite happened, both babies were awake and stared at me in wonder. Their wide, innocent eyes and toothle
ss mouths gaping open made me want to cry all over again.
“They are so beautiful, Ciara. You and Edan must be so proud.”
“Aye, we are. And we’re proud of you too Lani. Thank you for saving my family.” Ciara’s voice broke as she tried not to cry on the last few words and a big dragon-sized tear finally squeezed out of the corner of my eye.
“I was happy to do it and I’d do it again in a heartbeat if I had to.” As my words echoed in everyone’s mind, Ian felt his own eyes tear up again and he closed his eyes and bent his head down to rest it against mine. Ciara watched him with me and she finally let her tears run unchecked down her cheeks. She had known Ian for so long and had wanted him to find someone who would be his equal, who he would love and know that his love was returned. She had wanted him to find someone he could share the kind of life with that she and Edan and been blessed with, and she had always been forced to remind herself that not everyone was lucky enough get a fairy-tale ending. And yet here Ian’s real-life fairy-tale lay stretched out on the grass with a head in his lap, dying.
As night started to fall, everyone started to come back into the clearing and this time they were here to stay. Some brought lit candles that they set on the ground, Alice and Will brought baskets of food, Jamie and Stephanie lugged a few bales of straw into the clearing so there would be places to sit. And it became abundantly clear to me that I would be surrounded by family when midnight came.
“Tell Rachel that I love her, would you please?” I asked, my question directed at Ian and he nodded instantly.
“Aye, of course lass. Is there anything else we can do for you?”
“Grandad’s journals are in a safe behind the bathroom mirror. I don’t think I locked it so could you take them and put them somewhere safe? Keep them for interest’s sake at the very least?”
DragonSpell Page 25
