Throne of Oak (Maggie's Grove)

by Dana Marie Bell

  No wonder Dominic hid.

  “Mina.”

  Mina started. She’d been staring blankly at Dragos, her thoughts whirling, ignoring completely the battle with the dragon clutch. How could she have forgotten that her lover lay injured, her brother of the soul barely alive?

  “What the hell are you doing, you idiot?” Mollie’s outraged voice pulled her attention away from Dragos. Mina blinked and laughed. Greer was turning cartwheels in the middle of the Throne. “You were dead.”

  “And now I’m not. Isn’t that great?” Greer leapt into the branches of his tree and shot Mollie a saucy grin. “Were you worried about me?”

  The fire elemental glared at him. “No.”

  Greer fell out of the tree, laughing his ass off as Mollie started to race toward him.

  “Welcome to Derpville, population one.” Selena was also smiling, shaking her head at Greer’s antics. “Okay, Dragos, you should be fine with a little blood.”

  “Thank you, Selena.”

  “You’re welcome.” She went to stand and swayed, almost collapsing. If Ash hadn’t caught her she would have been right next to Dragos on the ground.

  Ash swept the witch doctor up in his arms. “Time for all good little witches to go to bed.”

  Selena stuck her tongue out. “What will you do if I’m a bad witch?”

  Ash looked down at her and raised one eyebrow. Mina didn’t need to hear his response. It was written all over his face.

  That was not the way she wanted to picture her brother. Ever.

  Ew.

  “Buy her some ruby slippers!”

  Greer’s outburst startled a laugh out of Ash, but that didn’t stop him from carting Selena from the Throne.

  “I wonder if she looks good in green?”

  Mina shared a glance with Dragos and burst into laughter.

  Flame erupted above her head, silencing her. “Thisss isss not over. I will not allow thisss!”

  Dragos struggled to his feet. “Hello, Father.”

  The periwinkle-blue dragon, its scales pearlescent in the light cast by the Throne, hissed. “Do not call me Father. You lossst that right the moment you accepted the Kisssssss.”

  Dragos nodded once. “Fine. Get the fuck out of my town, Laurentiu.”

  “You do not order me, abomination. You ssshould be dead.”

  Dragos shrugged. “Technically? I am.” He crossed his arms over his chest and lifted into the air, bringing himself in line with his father’s snout.

  Mina clenched her fists. One wrong move, and she’d have barbecue instead of a lover. Vampires were not immune to flame, and Dragos had just placed himself in the flamethrower’s path.

  “My people will not bow to sssome furball from the coloniesss.”

  “They already have.” Noah’s voice floated to her through the darkness surrounding the Throne. With the light up, it was impossible to see into the trees, the darkness deepened to an impenetrable veil. “Stand down, Laurentiu Ibanescu.”

  She saw the dragon shudder at the power in the wolf’s voice. The lavender eyes, glittering in the light of the Throne, turned toward where Noah’s voice had come from. “No.”

  With that, the Prince of Dragons sent forth a cry that shook the very ground. Every dragon but the brothers Ibanescu answered that call, crying out with one voice for their Prince. The clutch took to the air, swooping and hovering around their Prince in a dance that appeared to be a familiar one.

  Greer snickered, unimpressed. “Dude.” He laughed harder.

  Laurentiu’s massive head swiveled toward Greer. “What, you idiot?”

  Mina almost grinned. Yet another person underestimated Greer.

  “You’re lavender.” Greer elbowed her in the side. “How the hell am I supposed to take a lavender dragon seriously?” He started singing “Puff, the Magic Dragon” under his breath.

  Laurentiu roared.

  Dragos tsk’d. “Oh, that touched a nerve.”

  “I swear, if you start singing the Barney song...” Mina glared at Greer.

  Greer shuddered. “Wouldn’t dream of it. Even I’m not that sadistic.”

  “Enough!” The Throne shook with the force of Laurentiu’s bellow, even the oak rocking down to its roots. “I challenge you, Dragomir. Face me in battle.”

  Dragos, his expression filled with horrified wonder, shook his head. “What the fuck is wrong with you? You exiled me. I’m no threat to you. I couldn’t rule the clutch even if I wanted to. Which I don’t, you piece of shit.”

  Laurentiu shifted and landed outside the Throne. Mina dimmed the light, hoping to catch a glimpse of the man who’d made her lover’s life a living hell.

  He had the same dark hair, the same gray eyes as his children, but where even Vasile, hard as he seemed, had a gentle edge to him, Laurentiu had none. Cruelty and rage lived in his face, marking it with frown lines around his mouth and deep grooves in his forehead. His shoulder-length hair was as thick and full as Trajan’s but lacked Vasile’s soft waves.

  It was as if someone had taken all the darkness in each of the Ibanescu brothers, distilled it to its finest, purest form, and named it Laurentiu.

  “Go back to Honalee, Puff. No one’s interested.”

  Laurentiu didn’t deign to respond to Greer’s taunt. “I have been watching you, Dragos. You’ve built a clutch here.”

  “A clutch of one.”

  She was starting to wonder if the sneer ever left Laurentiu’s face. “They may not be dragons, but this is still a clutch. See how they came to the defense of your—” he flicked a dismissive glance at Mina, “—sotiei?”

  Dragos landed next to her and slightly in front, as if he expected his father to storm the Throne’s protections and attack her personally. “Then you should have no worries that I’d want to run your clutch, Laurentiu.” He took a step forward. “I would have let you be forever, but you couldn’t let it alone, could you? Your people were the ones watching me, not you. They liked what they saw here, didn’t they? They wanted what my people have, what you refuse to give them.”

  “And what would that be?” Gods, she hoped Dragos heard the subdued hatred in Laurentiu’s voice.

  “Freedom.”

  Figures moved at the edge of the light, and Mina extended her senses. The dragons had surrounded the Throne, listening as Dragos and his father exchanged verbal barbs. The owl, bat and wolf shifters drifted through the dragons, taking their places by the sides of men and women they’d been fighting to the death only moments before. Even the vampires, wounded and not, took a place by the sides of their Maggie’s Grove brethren to find out what Dragos would do to put an end to Laurentiu’s madness.

  “I am the Prince of Dragons, the ruler of all our kind. You are an exile, an abomination. You have no right to build a clutch, to rule anyone. You cannot even rule your own nature.”

  Dragos gestured to the people gathered around the Throne. “And yet I have, for centuries. These are not cattle, here to feed my appetites. These are my people, my friends, and I will defend them with my dying breath.”

  “Then accept my challenge.”

  “If you win?”

  Laurentiu waved his hand. “All that is yours becomes mine.”

  Dragos took a step back toward Mina.

  “Your Queen will come under my rule, but her virtue will be safe.” Laurentiu grimaced. “I would not want to toy with your leavings.”

  The trees around the Throne rustled their leaves at the insult to Mina. The feel of the forest became darker, less welcoming. The dragons shifted restlessly, their shifter nature tied just as tightly as the locals to the atmosphere of the forest. Even Laurentiu shifted his feet in response.

  “Father.” Vasile stepped to the edge of the Throne and faced Laurentiu. The fight with the pale blue dragon had taken its toll on him. He held his arm cradled to his side, and blood dripped from a gash on his cheek. But he stood tall, his back straight, his eyes locked on his father. In him, Mina saw what Laurentiu could have been. A pro
ud, strong man—a true leader, one who could take the clutch and make it something greater.

  “You are no longer a son of mine.”

  Laurentiu attempted to dismiss Vasile, but the younger dragon was having none of it. “You know the law, my Prince. You cannot challenge Dragos.”

  “Which is why I’ve been trying to simply kill the abomination!” Laurentiu moved until he was right in Vasile’s face, but the younger dragon didn’t flinch, didn’t react. “How dare you side with him? You and your brother are dead to me.”

  Vasile nodded. “Then I challenge you in my brother’s place.”

  “You have no brother.”

  “My brother is Dragomir Ibanescu, wrongfully exiled by the man I am forced to call Prince. My other brother is Trajan Ibanescu, mated to Edward Warren, Renfield to Dragomir Ibanescu, the child of his heart.”

  It was Laurentiu who flinched back, his horrified gaze turning to Trajan. “You mated a human? And a male?”

  Greer leaned in and whispered in Mina’s ear, “Child of his heart, huh? Isn’t that incest?”

  Mina elbowed him in the side, trying to keep her attention focused on Laurentiu. It was like Greer was giddy. A side effect of Dominic’s healing, perhaps? She just didn’t know enough about unicorn healing to be sure, but he was being even sillier than normal.

  If he wasn’t careful, he’d find himself charbroiled.

  “Humans are beneath us. You know this.”

  “He’s my mate.” Trajan took his place by Vasile’s side. “And as such, my brothers support our joining.”

  Laurentiu sighed wearily. “Of course they do.” Laurentiu turned once more to Vasile. “You correctly cite the law. I cannot challenge Dragomir, as he is an outcast and abomination. I accept your challenge, and will destroy him after I win and his entire clutch with him.”

  “Good luck with that.” Greer grinned, his silver sword flashing into his hand.

  Laurentiu ignored Greer. “The rules of engagement are clear. You have six days to prepare before we meet on the field of battle. None may interfere. Any cheating will result in a forfeit of life on the part of the cheater, with all properties dispensed to the winner or the winner’s family.”

  “Of which you now have none.”

  Laurentiu smiled. “Don’t I?”

  Oh, Mina did not like the sound of that. Laurentiu was up to something.

  “Father—”

  Laurentiu waved his hand dismissively. “Name your second.”

  Vasile glanced at Trajan, who nodded. “Trajan Ibanescu will, as always, stand by my side.”

  Trajan bowed. Only the brothers and Mina knew how they’d danced warily around each other, pawns in their father’s games of power. To everyone else, the brothers acted as one.

  Laurentiu turned his back on the brothers and shifted, branches breaking as his form expanded to fill the area. With a cry he leapt into the sky.

  His dragons, however, did something extraordinary. More than half of them turned to Vasile and Trajan, surrounding the brothers, still in human form.

  The rest moved to an area that had been cleared by fire before shifting, taking to the sky after their Prince.

  “Can you do this?” Dragos’s voice dragged her attention away from the flying figures. He was staring at Vasile, his expression concerned. “Can you kill him?”

  Vasile nodded once.

  It was apparently enough for Dragos, because he wrapped an arm around Mina’s waist and sagged against her, nearly taking her to the ground. “Good. I think...I need some rest.”

  “Hungry?” Mina wobbled under his weight until Greer took up position on his other side, relieving her of a great deal of the burden.

  “Starving. Think we can do something about that?”

  She doubted he could do more than feed right now, but the wicked gleam in his gaze said he was up to trying. “I think we can manage something.”

  “TMI, guys.” Greer tsk’d. “T. M. I.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “Dragos.”

  Dragos fought the overly sweet voice that called to him. There was something wrong with it, something...slimy. He didn’t want to listen to that voice. The only voice he wanted in his mind was—

  “Dragos. Sweetheart, I know you can hear me.”

  That soft drawl was a familiar one, but there was an odd echo to it that wasn’t familiar at all. Why wouldn’t it leave him alone?

  “Come on, lover. Wakey-wakey.”

  He flinched. Only one person had the right to call him that, and it wasn’t the owner of the voice. “Go ‘way.” The sun was still high in the sky, and he was sore from the previous night’s battle. He shouldn’t be awake, and if he was, the beast should be ascendant, not Dragos.

  Something was definitely wrong. He struggled to wake, to push the voice away, but it wouldn’t let go. “You don’t really want that, do you?” A ghost hand dragged surprisingly sharp nails down his chest. “I’ve missed you.”

  He flinched away from the sensation, revulsion making his stomach roll. The owner of that voice should not be touching him, not when he was naked. Mina wouldn’t like—

  Mina.

  That was his lover, the one entitled to call him sweetheart. Not the owner of the saccharine, viperous voice.

  He opened his eyes to find himself alone in Mina’s bed. Once everyone had left the Throne the night before Mina and Greer had hauled Dragos through the secret door. Greer had assisted Mina in taking Dragos to her bedroom before leaving them alone. Dragos had no idea where the other dryad had gone, and he hadn’t been in any position to care. Dragos had been unable to make love to Mina the way he’d hoped, but at least he’d slept in her bed, his sotiei in his arms.

  Until now, anyway.

  What had dragged him out of his day sleep? And where was Mina? The thought that she might be in danger from the voice was unbearable.

  “I know where you are, lover.”

  He recognized that voice now that his mind was no longer muddled. “Kate.” Hell. He’d hoped Selena had gotten rid of Kate’s influence over him once and for all.

  Apparently not.

  “Mm-hmm. Did you think you could hide from me?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Do we have to descend into bad villain dialog?”

  “Very funny.”

  She sounded amused rather than irritated. Dragos could almost see the reluctant smile on her lips. A pang went through him for his former lover. He’d been one of the few people who could coax a laugh out of her. Damn it. When had it all gone wrong? They should have become friends after he found his sotiei, not enemies. “I try.”

  “You need to come home, Dragos.”

  She sounded so reasonable, like he was going to miss a simple appointment if he didn’t return to his mansion right away. “I don’t think so.”

  “Sotiei or no, you belong with me.”

  “I belong to Mina.” And he always would, no matter what evil spell Kate came up with.

  “Do you have any idea what I could do to Mina if you don’t return to me? I’m so deep in her mind I can drive her insane before Selena can reach her. There would be nothing you could do to save her.”

  “You’re the one who’s been tormenting Mina?”

  Hell. He should have known. Mina’s nightmares—the way the creature in her head changed from Terri to Laurentiu after they found out his father was on the way—should have been a clue. Kate had met Trajan, knew the dragons were coming. She had access to his office in city hall, and she’d let herself into his home.

  Even the pain she’d inflicted should have told him. It was caused by weeds, but even weeds—no matter what Amara said—were connected to the earth. All witches were connected to the earth, even the black ones. Except for the witch doctor, who was somehow tied into the spirit world.

  Kate wanted him, and was willing to do anything necessary to get him. Up to and including torturing his sotiei until he had no choice but to leave her before Kate destroyed her.

  His beast fo
ught him, and he struggled to get it under control. The sun was still in the sky. If he went after Kate now, they would burn before they could reach her, leaving Mina vulnerable.

  That thought was the only thing that stopped the beast in its tracks. They could not leave Mina alone, not with homicidal Van Helsings and dragon princes running around.

  “Guilty as charged.”

  “The witches will have something to say about this.”

  He’d had no idea that a person could hear someone snorting a laugh in his head. “Please. The white witches are so busy sniffing flowers they barely notice anything else around them, and the grays won’t care as long as I don’t go after them. You know that.”

  Kate seriously underestimated the white witches of Maggie’s Grove if she thought they wouldn’t take steps against her. She’d broken their most sacred law—An it harm none, do what thou wilt. By torturing Mina for her own selfish gain, she’d proven to be among the worst of the black witches.

  Unfortunately, she was right about the gray witches. Unless it directly impacted them, they wouldn’t act. Not without some concession from the white.

  And the black who would deign to notice her actions would probably applaud them.

  “Why am I not surprised to find out you’re the one behind all this?” He’d been warned. Eddy’s reaction should have told him all he needed to know. But he’d been so caught up in Laurentiu and Van Helsings he’d ignored everything else, even the danger Kate posed.

  “I can make her hurt at any time, Dragos. And you’re the one who can make it stop.”

  “How?” The question slipped out before he could censor it. Damn it. He’d do almost anything to get Mina’s pain to end. Already the sun threatened to drag him back into deep sleep, making him incautious.

  “Come to me. Let me bind you. Let me love you again. I give you my word that if you do, Mina will be free to live out her life however she sees fit.”

  That had the ring of magic to it. She’d literally bound herself to her own word. If he broke his mating with Mina and accepted Kate, Mina would be free.

  “Don’t even think about it, Mr. Ibanescu.” Mina’s voice was a welcome one, even if it was only in his mind.