Henrik was now standing on a hill full of flowers, watching Red—and God, Malik—sitting down next to each other. The old dragon leader had taken her hand in his and was kissing her shoulder, and she was sighing in his arms. In that quiet moment, they watched the sunset with her head on his shoulder and his arms around her, and love flowed.
Love flowed so freely, so strongly, it made Henrik stagger. He could not stop staring, even when he felt like an intruder of a very intimate moment.
The scene changed. Now they were traveling towards the cabin in the Altai Mountains, their faces filled with excitement when they finally arrived at the top. Red had her eyes closed the entire time out of Malik’s insistence, and she only opened it when Malik positioned her to face the mountains and the house.
Surprise sparkled in her eyes once she absorbed the sight—then, joy so bright that it had Malik grinning and Henrik’s heart swelling.
“Malik,” Red gasped. “This is so beautiful. Are we staying here?”
“This is where we will be spending our last moments before we get married,” Malik promised.
She grinned up at him and launched herself into his arms, and colors surrounded her—her magic overflowing out of her in her happiness.
The next scenes were of Celine, already being controlled, calling Red and telling her she needed to tell them something. Then the next were the most difficult scenes Henrik had to watch, as he witnessed firsthand how Malik was killed up to the second his head hit the floor. Blood flowed, just as freely as the love.
Red’s face was placid as she watched Henrik arrive, but inside, emotions raged—from the panic to the fear, down to the grief that hadn’t really settled yet. But then it did, and it flowed, and it spread. He could see it now, could feel every bit of it as if he was the one experiencing it.
And it was the worst feeling ever.
Her grief connected with him, binding them both as the scene washed away. Henrik found himself back on the rooftop, and Red was now sobbing. The sight pained his heart, even as his own grief rose to the surface at the death of his friend, recalled so starkly all over again.
She had loved him. Red had loved Malik with all her heart when she was still innocent and full of love. He wished she would hurt him now, because Henrik was an idiot who fueled his rage on her when he should have been there for her through her darkest time.
They loved each other like life itself, Malik and her—and it was something he could never be a part of, no matter how he tried.
Heart feeling heavy, Henrik wished he could hug her. So he did, pulling her towards him even while she fought him at first. Eventually, she slumped against him, her cries never ending and her soul just as lost as his.
This was why they could never be.
Henrik’s heart grieved again for that, but he set it aside and kept hugging her tight. Together, they finally mourned the truth and the man who still should have been very much alive.
*****
Beyond the silent understanding that was somewhat also a goodbye, they never spoke a word as they went back downstairs to their room. Henrik opted to sleep on the couch, even when his instincts screamed at him to keep her close and to touch her all over again.
These instincts were going to keep screaming at him, and he was going to have to keep fighting it.
Too fast, night passed, and soon it was daytime. Dylan had gathered most of his shifters and his best men join the march, and had already communicated with the vampire leader regarding the matter. Red informed Dylan of what happened last night, and Dylan listened in silence. When she was done, he asked if perhaps now they had an idea where the witches were going to place themselves.
At this question, Henrik nodded. “I know where it will be.”
Because only Gloria would defile the place of innocent love.
Of course it was going to be the hill.
In the afternoon, they gathered over the hill and in a flat plain, setting up camp and being careful to place magical barriers behind them so as not to be surprised by any sneak attacks. There were also shifters in hiding, with instructions to only come out when needed.
On top of the hills were the vampires, separated by another magical barrier from the shifters. Lucinda was somewhere there, ready to support if need be.
In the plain, Hans was notably absent from the front lines. But Dylan himself was somewhere in the middle mark, along with a few of the shifter leaders.
Front-most were Henrik and his fellow dragon shifters, along with the shifter who’d asked Red the polite question at the beginning of the meeting. She got acquainted with him later on, when he introduced himself as Wesley and leader of the tiger clan. Beside him was his mate, Tashi, who was sister to the fox clan leader. The fox clan leader was notably absent as well.
The sun rose bright, and they all witnessed as the sun steadily sank lower until it went down the hills and slept for the day. When night arrived, the fire was set up, and every shifter eye focused on the road ahead.
Dylan came by later around eight, sitting with them as they ate roasted meat. The magical barrier had masked the smell, and Sophia made a few rounds to make sure everything was still in place. After a while, Dylan left to meet up with Lucinda.
Eight became nine. Then, ten. The full moon was out, casting an unnaturally bright light that Sophia and Red had to drive out together so their set up areas would be covered in darkness. They could no longer see the hills, or what the vampires were up to. Finn was up there, too, the only shifter in the crowd.
Ten became eleven. Henrik had given up on the pretense of ignoring her, knowing it was stupid at this point. He found her almost immediately in the middle of camp, subtly rubbing her arms under her cloak. She stilled when he sat beside her, but didn’t say anything.
After a while, Henrik spoke. “You’re cold.”
“I’ll be fine,” she assured. “I’m just reserving my magic for the important stuff.”
He frowned. “Keeping warm is quite important.”
A small smile appeared on her lips, then was gone just as quickly. Sadness reflected within her, and it made him want to reach out and offer comfort.
Instead, he cleared his throat, wanting to get this settled. Needing to say goodbye in a proper way.
Suddenly Red’s head came up, as if she sensed something. Almost immediately, he sensed it, too—magic. Too much magic in the air, and it was coming closer.
They were here.
He stood up to warn Dylan and the rest—but before he could, something exploded on his back, sharp and painful.
And Henrik was suddenly flying through the air as the attack started.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Red had accounted for Gloria trying to yank her again using the apparition method and causing her pain, and she’d taken the extra precaution to wrap herself up in a barrier of protection so as not to let that happen again.
She hadn’t accounted for her connection with Henrik to be used, as Gloria yanked at him instead.
His consciousness didn’t leave the vicinity, but she saw the flash of pain in his expression right before he was thrown through the air. It got her distracted as she ran towards him, using her magic to catch him before he crashed on the ground.
That was all the distraction Gloria needed, it seemed. Suddenly there were explosions everywhere, as well as loud voices.
Bewildered, Red looked around—and to her relief, found the area still intact as the explosions didn’t penetrate the magical barrier. Sophia was now on it, strengthening the front barrier as fire and more magical explosions broke outside. Red waited until Henrik was deposited to the ground properly before joining Sophia at the front.
The barrier was holding well, but the explosions in front continued. It was a blast fest, riveting the shifters even while the noise in their camp died down.
Wesley and Robbie strode to the front, and Wesley’s eyes narrowed as he checked out what was happening. The continuous explosions sent smoke surrounding the barrier
, and the tiger clan leader’s gaze followed the movement.
His head snapped up. “Men! Formation to check!”
Footsteps scrambled, and Red watched as shifters went to move in a silent arrangement in different directions. Henrik came over and talked to Wesley in hushed voices before giving her a thank you nod. Then he was going over to the back, barking out the same order that Wesley did. Robbie and Charlie followed their dragon leader.
“Soph, the back?” Robbie called out.
The witch nodded her head before following as well.
The explosion lasted for only a while, but it might as well have been hours on end for all the tension she could feel from the creatures inside. A spark of nerves hit her as she wondered if there were bear shifters in the vicinity even without Hans around, but she shook it off and focused on the task at hand.
It went on. A few minutes became half an hour, and half an hour became one. Some of the shifters had sat back down, leaving only the front liners standing. Wesley didn’t leave his spot, and soon Red saw Tashi join them there, quietly eyeing the scene.
Suddenly the explosions stopped. The abruptness of the silence sent everyone on their feet again, and Wesley visibly tensed before Tashi’s hand on his shoulder somewhat calmed him down. Only smoke filled their surroundings now, and Red tested it twice to make sure that there wasn’t any hidden magic within. There was none. She let her magic flow further, reaching out beyond the smoke for any other hidden attack.
What she felt instead had her blood suddenly running cold. But she tried to keep her face placid, so as not to alarm anyone. Subtly, she moved closer to Wesley, waiting until she got his attention enough to whisper in hushed tones in his ear. His expression hardened, and he nodded his head at her before turning to a shifter. “Get Henrik!”
It took a while for the smoke to clear—and by the time it was clear, the vision that met their eyes was exactly what she’d expected in line with what she felt earlier. Before them, more or less a hundred meters away, stood witches—witches in cloaks, all lined up in a straight line and unmoving. Red heightened her vision using her magic and found herself recognizing some of the faces, as these were the recruits she’d met and helped train when she was pretending to be one of them. None of the leaders were in front.
But there were at least a thousand of them gathered in eerie silence.
Some minutes later, she felt not Henrik but Robbie standing beside her. He took a look at their enemy and uttered a soft curse.
“Henrik will be here shortly.”
Wesley cut Robbie a glance at the tension in his voice, but opted not to say anything as he turned to Red instead. “Are they any good?”
Red shook her head. “Not since I was training them. They know the basic attacks, so you’d have to be careful about that. But I see some second liners there that are pretty good.” She looked up at the sky. “No flying. I suspect that’s the first thing Gloria would place a trap on, considering huge dragons would upset her numbers right away.”
Robbie grumbled some more.
“But if they simply use their basic attacks, it won’t penetrate our barrier.”
“What can penetrate our barrier?” Tashi asked.
“Some pretty real explosives,” Red confirmed. “Sophia and I didn’t think they’d carry missiles or grenades with them, so it was the best bet. We’re basically fighting magic with magic right now.”
The dragon shifter whistled in appreciation. “Sweet.”
“Not so sweet,” a voice popped from behind. Henrik appeared a few seconds later, his whole body tense as he stood beside her. She felt his palm on her back, a light touch. “Dylan’s missing.”
Wesley’s eyes sharpened. “What do you mean?”
“He went up to discuss with Lucinda, and they did meet. But something went awry up the hill, and now both the vampire leader and ours are missing.”
More cursing came from Robbie.
“Chuck and Sophia are looking for them right now,” Henrik continued, glancing at Robbie. “They’ll be safe with Soph’s cloaking spell.”
The leaders left tried to keep the calm, even while this certain news wasn’t good at all. Henrik went to the back to check things out again, while Wesley and Tashi divided their energy to the sides. This left Robbie in charge of the front lines. There was more tension on his shoulders now, and Red knew exactly where it was coming from.
“She’ll be fine,” Red said. “Her powers are pretty good.”
Robbie grumbled, but didn’t say a word. They kept watch over the fields in front of them, wondering what the witches’ game plan was.
Suddenly, the front line moved—or at least ten cloaked witches did, walking the flat plain towards them. Red watched the progress, not particularly alarmed as she couldn’t detect any magic yet. Not even Gloria would be that good at masking them all.
Beside her, Robbie barked orders for the others to partly shift. He did the same until his claws were out, his limbs were covered in scales that doubled as armor, and his head was not much of a human head anymore. The look was fascinating and unnerving, and Red watched out of the corner of her eye as his ear perked up, like he was communicating with…oh. Right. They could communicate when they were shifted to dragon form. It looked like partial dragon also worked.
More curses came out of Robbie’s mouth, but he voiced it extra low. She gave him a raised brow, to which he whispered the news in her ear.
Apparently, vampires were attacking one another and also trying to get through the barrier at the back.
This was a mess.
The ten cloaked witches kept moving. Red squinted her eyes, not recognizing a face as they had now crossed the dark portion of the fields that she and Sophia had conditioned. She let her magic flow and reached out again, trying to detect their signature and hoping she could recognize them through that.
She did. Confusion filled her when she realized these were some of the coven’s worst pupils. She detected the boy she had insulted, and the one Jericho had hit after—God, the teenager. She didn’t even know his name, and he was approaching.
A hundred meters became fifty, then twenty. They kept walking, not showing a smidgen of hesitation in their task. What were they planning? Were they here to deliver a message? She tested the barrier again, confident in the knowledge that it was as firm as ever.
She heard loud voices at the back, but it was faint. She didn’t turn her head, but Robbie did, and his eyes darkened at the sight.
“Men! Half and half! Defend the back!”
“What’s wrong?” Red asked.
“The barrier between shifters and vampires broke. Some vampires are attacking shifters, but not all.”
“How did it break?”
“Sophia was trying to get Finn alive.”
This was definitely a mess.
As far as Red knew, vampires couldn’t be controlled, especially in that number. What was happening at the back?
Stay safe, Henrik whispered in her mind before disappearing completely. Red shook her head and concentrated, even while worry flashed.
“It’s Lucinda’s right hand. Finn said he’s betraying her and using this as opportunity,” Robbie was saying.
“And Lucinda and Dylan?” she asked.
“Don’t know yet. Soph’s coming back here to check out the witches. Henrik is keeping things under control.”
“Is Hans involved?” she whispered this one.
Robbie shot her a look. Then he shook his head. “He’s sitting this one out. He wouldn’t dare.”
Twenty meters became ten. Then five. Red mentally prepared herself, even when she couldn’t feel any magic. A cloak slipped off, revealing the face of the fifteen-year-old boy. His eyes were blank, meaning this group was being controlled. But the coven leaders couldn’t direct powers this way—at least not their strong powers on these weak witches. It was much like Celine, who was not powerful enough to contain magic from others—but her body was enough to be controlled, and so she’
d been used as a puppet.
Just like these ten witches were being used.
The barrier didn’t keep them from hearing her and vice versa, so Red opened her mouth to speak.
“Do you have a message..?”
Her voice trailed off as a breeze shifted the cloak of one of the witches, revealing her clothes. Even through the darkness, Red saw it—a black device strapped to the witch’s chest, glinting.
Horror filled her senses.
Explosives.
Then she was forcibly pushing Robbie back.
“What the hell, Red—”
“Stand back,” she snapped, her magic flowing out. She raised her voice to a shout. “Stand back! STAND BACK, EVERYONE—”
Her words were cut off as a loud boom came and threw her in the air, jarring her senses and rendering her immobile. She crashed on some rocks, felt the sharp edges dig into the skin of her knees and palms. Pain radiated everywhere. Dizziness overtook her as her vision swam in circles, and it took her a few seconds to even sit up.
Then she was being yanked to her feet, and she heard it—shouts, panic, and chaos everywhere.
The barrier had effectively broken enough for some witches to enter.
“Red! Red! Red?”
Sophia’s voice swam through her mind, and Red gritted her teeth and pulled herself back from nausea. The witch was shouting something at her, and while she couldn’t hear anything through the buzzing in her ears, she knew what Sophia wanted.
They stood and ran for the frontlines, where more witches were entering. Red had a second to register the maddening fight as shifters lunged at witches and witches attacked with spells. Then she let her own powers loose. Sophia stood beside her, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as they rebuilt the barrier until it was firmly back in place. Sophia stepped back.
But Red kept going.
She doubled the barriers, then tripled them, feeling her nerves protest at the strain. In her mind’s eye, she watched the colors flow as bricks, very thick bricks that now even explosives couldn’t destroy. They stacked on top of each other, and her nerves stacked up too until she felt herself trembling hard.
Dragon: The Clan Legacy Series Page 49
