by Donna Grant
Aisley crept around the side of the cottage until she came to another window. There, she was able to make out another form. She couldn’t see the man’s face, but she suspected it was Aiden.
Her gaze surveyed the area before her, waiting for Quinn or Galen to attack. Jason had told her Quinn’s power was to communicate with animals, and Galen’s was to read people’s minds.
There was a lot the Warriors could learn of Jason if Galen got ahold of her. That’s when Aisley realized Jason had no intention of letting her get captured. He planned to kill her the instant Quinn or Galen showed up.
The realization shouldn’t have surprised Aisley, but it did. She was expendable to Jason. He doubted her, and in doing so it meant her death.
One way or another.
Aisley took a deep breath and slowly released it as her mind focused, sharpened. She felt the hum of her magic and let it fill her.
If she was going to die, she was going to go out in her own way. And it wouldn’t be by Jason’s hand, if she had any say in it.
She squared her shoulders and pushed away from the cottage to walk around the second corner to the front of the house. Mindy already stood there, her hand reaching for the doorknob. Before Aisley could stop her, Mindy opened the door and walked inside.
Aisley took a step toward her and stopped. Something touched her skin. It felt as soft as a caress, tender as a kiss. And as brilliant as a summer’s day.
As swiftly as it had touched her, it was gone. Aisley had never experienced anything like it before. She didn’t know what it was, but it had been something spectacular.
She was so absorbed in what had happened that she was taken unawares when there was a shout from Mindy as Aiden and Britt ran out of the cottage.
Aisley rushed after them, but Mindy blasted her with magic from behind that sent Aisley tumbling to the ground.
“They’re mine,” Mindy said between clenched teeth and took off after them.
Aisley climbed to her feet and hurried back to Jason. “Aiden and Britt ran,” she told him between panting breaths.
Jason narrowed his cold blue eyes on her. “Why are you no’ chasing them?”
“Mindy wanted to catch them. She’s after them now.”
Jason smiled, satisfied with her answer. “Where are Galen and Quinn? Quinn wouldna leave his son for long.”
“I saw no Warriors in the cottage.” Aisley looked around, noticing for the first time a few other Druids and Dale were missing. “Where’s Dale?”
“Hunting,” was Jason’s reply.
Which meant Dale was hunting the Warriors.
“They’re here,” Jason whispered as he leaned a shoulder against one of the tall pines. “I know Galen and Quinn are near. Dale willna fail me. He’ll bring me at least one of the Warriors.”
“They’re older than Dale,” Aisley pointed out. “Which means they’re stronger. Their power will be greater since they have full control over their god.”
Jason’s head slowly swiveled to her. “Are you doubting me, cousin?”
“Merely pointing out the facts. Cousin.”
“No’ always a wise move.”
She shrugged. “If you’re looking for a reason to kill me, there’s no need. Just do it.”
“You’re still useful,” Jason said with a mocking grin. “But I doubt that’ll last too much longer.”
Aisley opened her mouth to reply when Mindy let loose a shrill scream that was cut short. Jason instantly took off running to where the sound had come from.
She was the only Druid of his coven that stayed behind. Aisley looked around and saw that she was alone. She could take a chance and run now. Jason would eventually find her, and what he’d do to her when he did would be horrendous.
“Now’s your chance,” Dale said as he walked from behind a tree.
Aisley jumped and turned to look up at him. There was a frown marring Dale’s forehead, his mouth turning down at the corners in concern. “What are you doing? I thought you were looking for Galen and Quinn?”
“They are no’ here. Something is, though.”
“A Druid?”
Dale shook his head. “I suspect another Warrior. Doona concern yourself with that. You should leave. Jason will just get you killed.”
“I know.”
“Do you want to die?”
Aisley looked away from Dale’s probing stare. “I chose this life. I’ll live—and die—with what I’ve chosen.”
“You deserve better. You deserve more.”
She forced a grin, startled by the tears that suddenly filled her eyes. “You wouldn’t say that if you knew the real me. The me before I became drough. I wasn’t a good person.”
“No one is ever a good person,” he whispered.
A moment later there was a shout of pure fury.
A shudder of foreboding ran through Aisley. “That was Jason.”
“I doona think you’ll have to worry about Mindy anymore,” Dale said. “Come. We need to get to Jason.”
* * *
Laura stood by the door of the parlor as the Druids of MacLeod Castle gathered to recount their last few hours.
She learned a lot by just watching them. Not a one of them vied for power over the others. It was as if each Druid was comfortable with who she was.
A novel concept after the way Laura had been raised. Especially now that she knew her magic had been stolen from her. There was much laughter among the Druids, and lots of hugs.
Sadness weighed heavily in the room as talk of the innocents dying in Edinburgh reached Laura’s ears. She leaned back against the door and watched as Marcail wrapped an arm around Cara in comfort.
Laura might not have been introduced to anyone yet, but she had caught their names as they greeted each other. She was waiting to learn the others’ names when a woman with silvery blond hair and amazing emerald eyes turned to her.
“You must be Laura,” the woman said with a welcoming smile as she walked to her. “I apologize for leaving you out. It’s been a trying night. I’m Danielle Kerr, but everyone calls me Dani.”
“Dani,” Laura repeated. “It’s nice to meet you.”
A second woman with black hair and violet eyes held out her hand. “I’m Gwynn. We’d hoped to meet you while you were at the castle, but Charon wanted to keep you all to himself.”
It was a nice way of saying she had been kept separated because Charon doubted her. Laura shook Gwynn’s outstretched hand.
Suddenly she was surround by all nine Druids. Laura ran her gaze over the faces before her, unsure of how to proceed.
It was Cara with her wealth of chestnut curls who stepped forward next. “Charon has finally come to his senses, I see. Now, we’re a loud bunch, so please forgive us. And with so many of us, we don’t expect you to remember everyone’s name. I’m Cara MacLeod. My husband is Lucan.”
Laura was quickly introduced to Marcail, Isla, Reaghan, Sonya, Tara, and Ronnie.
“We’re just missing Saffron and Larena,” Tara told her. “Saffron has a baby she’s keeping as far from the selmyr and Jason as she can.”
Isla nodded her head of inky black hair pulled back in a French braid that hung to her waist. “And Camdyn is with them, of course.”
“And Larena?” Laura asked.
Ronnie grinned, the corners of her hazel eyes crinkling. “I can’t wait for you to meet her. She’s the only female Warrior.”
“Really?” Laura asked in surprise. She’d just assumed all the Warriors were male. But to have a female Warrior. It was exciting, and Laura couldn’t wait to meet Larena.
“You realize she’s our first English Druid,” Marcail pointed out.
Laura looked into Marcail’s unusual turquoise eyes before she glanced at the rows of tiny braids atop the crown her head. “The first?”
Tara took her hand and led her to one of the couches. “That’s right. Gwynn was the first American. Dani is half American, and Saffron and Ronnie are both Americans as well.”
&nb
sp; “Cassie and Elena are from the States,” Laura said as she thought of the Dragon Kings’ wives.
Reaghan sat across from Laura. “Who?”
“Oh,” Laura said, comprehending that they hadn’t met any of the women at Dreagan yet. “Cassie is married to Hal, and Elena is married to Guy. They live here.”
Isla leaned forward and lowered her voice. “You know Dreagan is the Gaelic term for dragon.”
Laura looked away and bit her lip to keep from smiling. She couldn’t believe the Druids didn’t know about the Dragon Kings yet, but then again, when had the Warriors had time to tell them?
“Laura,” Gwynn said with a knowing look. “What do you know?”
Laura parted her lips and glanced around. “I’m not sure it’s for me to say.”
“Spill,” Dani urged with a grin. “Who knows when our men will tell us?”
The rest nodded their heads in agreement. Laura looked out one of the tall windows to find the rain coming down harder than ever. It was difficult to know when it was thunder she heard and when it was a dragon.
She stood and walked to the window. The storm had darkened the sky, and with the rain, it was almost impossible to make out the shapes of the dragons flying in and out of the clouds.
“I had to be shown,” Laura said into the silence of the room.
A moment later and Reaghan stood beside her. “What did you have to be shown?”
Laura pointed to the sky and the amber dragon that dived out of the clouds at that moment. “That. I had to be shown that.”
There was an audible gasp from the room as each Druid caught sight of the dragon.
“They’re real,” Isla murmured, stunned.
“Very real,” came a cultured voice from behind them.
Laura turned to see Jane. “I never get tired of looking at them.”
“Me either,” Jane said with a laugh. “And I’m married to one. I’ve made some tea, but since Con has sent everyone who isn’t a Dragon King or mate away, I’m afraid I’m going to need some help bringing it in here.”
Tara laid her hand on Jane’s arm. “Dragon King? Is that what they are?”
“While you have your tea, I’ll tell you everything,” Jane promised.
Laura was the last to leave the parlor as Jane directed them to the kitchen. Charon had been right. The Druids weren’t just kind, but welcoming as well.
“Are you all right?” Jane asked.
Laura nodded and walked beside Jane to the kitchen. “I wasn’t sure what they would think of me.”
“They’d be fools not to see what a wonderful person you are. You’re a Druid, Laura. From what Charon told Banan, there are few of you left. I’ve a feeling they protect their own.”
Laura paused inside the kitchen doorway. “Now I have something to protect. The Druids, Warriors, and the dragons.”
Jane squeezed her hand before she pulled her into the kitchen and began her tale of the Dragon Kings.
CHAPTER FORTY
Charon stood atop a mountain and dialed Phelan’s mobile phone for the tenth time. Once more, it did nothing but ring and then go to voice mail. Charon shoved the phone into his pocket and let the drops of rain pelt him.
“He’s fine,” Arran said above the roar of the storm.
“He better be.” Charon didn’t want to think about Wallace getting his hands on Phelan.
Ian clamped a hand on Charon’s shoulder. “Phelan is smart and cagey. He’ll be here.”
They had been standing in the rain for almost an hour surveying the landscape. Charon pointed out where he wanted to box Wallace in, and then showed them the two places in the valley that could be potential problems.
Charon was torn in his worry over his friend and his concern for Laura. She hadn’t been in a battle before. She didn’t know what it was like to face black magic. Or any magic, for that matter.
How could he concentrate on doing his part in the battle if he was fretting about her? Because if something happened to her, Charon would never forgive himself.
“It’s hell,” Logan said as he walked up.
Charon frowned as he looked at the Warrior. “What is?”
“Knowing you can no’ protect your woman during a battle.”
Charon looked away and swallowed past the growing lump of unease. “How do you do it?”
“With difficulty.”
Charon met Logan’s hazel eyes before they both began to chuckle.
“You have no choice but to trust her and the other Druids,” Logan said once they had finished laughing. “The first time is the hardest.”
“So it gets easier?”
“Nay,” Logan confessed, his smile gone. “Every time feels as if you’re walking through Hell. It’s only after the battle is over and you can hold her in your arms again that you feel you’ve made it.”
Charon pushed his wet hair back, the drops of rain falling from his eyelashes into his eyes. “I didna want to care for her as I do.”
“I didna want to love Gwynn, but we doona get to choose when love finds us.”
“Love hasna found me,” Charon said sharply.
Logan merely grinned. “Has it no’, my friend?”
Charon thought over Logan’s words long after Logan walked away. Did he love Laura? Was it love that clawed at his insides when she was away from him?
Was it love that made him crave her touch?
Was it love that made him yearn to hold her in his arms?
Charon knew nothing of the emotion. But the thought of her no longer being in his life made him want to tear apart the world.
A dragon the color of midnight blue landed in the valley below and turned its great head toward Charon. Charon looked at the thick body and the long neck and tail with its gemlike scales of the darkest sapphires.
Charon could’ve sworn the dragon smiled at him while rows of massive teeth flashed. And in a blink, the dragon was gone as Banan shifted back to his human form, standing naked in the storm.
In two leaps, Charon was down the mountain and standing in front of Banan, eyeing the two intertwined dragons tattooed with an unusual mix of red and black ink. Or was it ink? Charon wasn’t sure when it came to the Kings.
“What is it?”
“Quinn’s group draws closer,” Banan answered.
“And Wallace?”
Banan’s lips turned down in a frown. “He’s no’ far behind.”
“Any sign of Phelan?”
There was a moment’s hesitation before Banan gave a slight shake of his head.
Charon ran a hand down his face. “How long until Wallace reaches us?”
“With the storm, I’d say two hours.”
Without another word, Banan turned and shifted back into a dragon. He let out a roar and spread his midnight blue wings as he leaped into the air and flew away.
“I doona think I’ll ever get used to that,” Lucan said as he came up beside him.
Charon looked up to see several dragons above them. “They knew of us from the verra beginning.”
“I know. Fallon told me.”
“Is he angry? Are you, that they didna help us with Deirdre?”
Lucan sighed at the same time lightning forked across the sky. “In a way I am, and in others I’m no’. Fallon feels the same. I doona believe the Kings would’ve allowed Deirdre or Declan to take over.”
“Jason must be a real threat for them to offer to help,” Charon pointed out.
“Maybe.” Lucan fingered the griffin head of his torc that he’d worn around his neck for seven hundred years. “With the dragons, Jason will be no more.”
“And the selmyr?”
Lucan let out a string of curses. “That is another matter entirely.”
Charon had seen what the selmyr could do. He knew in an instant they could take Laura’s life. Or even his. It didn’t matter how strong he was or what god he had inside him. The selmyr were too powerful.
They could disappear on the wind, looking like a gray mist until
they suddenly reappeared. Arran had been bitten by them, and very nearly died.
Arran described their bites to feel like acid, and as the selmyr drank their victims’ blood, the victims became so weak, they could barely move. And in a Warrior’s case, that meant they couldn’t call up their god or use their power.
Charon knew the chances of everyone coming out of the battle was slim, but he had put in a failsafe for the Druids. If the selmyr or Wallace got the upper hand, the Kings would ensure the Druids were kept safe.
The only problem was that while the Druids were away from the castle and Isla’s magic shield, they were mortal.
Laura hadn’t had the privilege of living under the shield, but Charon wanted her to. She deserved to have a long, happy life. And he wanted to be there with her.
Charon spotted Con as he walked down into the valley, Fallon by his side. He and Lucan walked to meet the two.
“Everything is in place,” Con said.
“All the Kings are helping us?” Lucan asked.
There was a subtle shift in Con’s demeanor that told Charon something was amiss.
“We have all we need,” Con said.
A moment later, Fallon and Lucan walked off. Charon waited until they were out of earshot before he asked, “Is everything all right?”
“There are a couple of Kings that couldna be woken.”
Charon was more than a little surprised Con told him such news, but even more worried about what that could mean for the dragons. “Does that happen often?”
“Sometimes a King will sleep for several thousand years. Some have been asleep since before the pyramids were constructed. Most realize we must get on with our lives, as difficult as it is without our dragons.”
“Then they just wake up and find a new world around them?”
“It is the duty of those who remain awake to go in every century or so and share with those who sleep about the world.”
“They’re asleep.”
Con chuckled. “Ah, but a dragon will always hear a dragon.”
The rain slackened and Charon shook his head to displace the water running down his face. “Why tell me this? You could have told Fallon, but you chose no’ to.”
“You doona value your own worth,” Con said as his black gaze came to rest on him. “As to why I didna tell Fallon, I didna want him to know.”
