by Ann Gimpel
Rune laid his head in her lap. “As soon as that man opened the door at the bottom of the steps.”
“Is that why you took off and didn’t wait for me?”
“I wanted to locate Travis and get myself into position to protect you from him.”
She felt the hot prick of tears, and her throat thickened. “Still, you should have said something.”
Rune leaned into her hand. “If I had, you’d have held me back.”
Aislinn winced, knowing truth when she heard it. I’m as overprotective of him as Fionn is of me.
She glanced at Fionn standing in a corner of the room. Magic buzzed around him and the volunteers. She closed her eyes for a moment. It really had been a stroke of luck that led them to this group. Amongst them, they had links to just about every human left in the U.K. The ones who weren’t coming to Inishowen were heading back to their home communities to rally support and get ready to fight. They’d settled on a telepathic frequency and a communications schedule. All in all, she couldn’t have hoped for a better outcome.
Fionn strode back across the room to where she sat. As usual, Bella was on his shoulder. “Are ye ready, lass? I’ve told them where to jump so they’ll come out within the grounds of my manor.”
She got to her feet. “What? That’s the end of the American English?”
He rolled his eyes. “For now. I’ve apologized sufficiently for the Celtic gods’ oversights. It feels safe enough to sound like one again.”
“The next time that council of yours gets together—”
He shook his head. “’Tis not a time to be holding grudges. Let us hope there is a next council meeting. ’Twill mean there are enough of us left for a quorum.”
Rune moved between them. Fionn channeled magic. The walls of Castle Balloch dissolved, and Fionn’s bedroom rose around her. Aislinn shook her head hard when she looked out the window and was greeted by the feeble light of dawn. No wonder she felt tired. They’d been gone the better part of twenty hours. She looked longingly at the bed, unbuckled her rucksack, and set it on the floor.
Rune whined just before the hall door flew open. “You’re back.” Looking more harried than usual, Gwydion stomped in without waiting for an invitation.
“Aye, and about a hundred humans will begin arriving soon. Is something amiss?”
“Ye could say that.” Arawn crowded behind Gwydion, with Bran close on his heels.
“Aye,” Bran muttered, his coppery eyes radiated worry. “Two of the baby dragons are missing. Dewi and Nidhogg are running amok out there, setting fire to everything in front of them.”
“If you two had been outside, you’d have smelled the smoke,” Gwydion said.
No rest for me or any of us. Aislinn squared her shoulders and turned to face the Celtic gods.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
“Where are the other six younglings?” Aislinn asked.
“Locked in the kitchen and caterwauling their tiny heads off,” Gwydion said. “If we’d taken a firm line with the brood from the get-go, we’d never have had this problem.”
Aislinn bit her tongue. She’d said something to that effect before they left for Scotland, or maybe she’d just thought it. Instead of rehashing might-have-beens, she asked, “How long have the two been missing?”
“Hours,” Arawn said succinctly. He pushed farther into Fionn’s bedroom. “Goddess’s tits, you two were barely off when Dewi decided to do a nose count and came up short.”
“What have you done to locate them?” Fionn crossed his arms over his chest. When Aislinn glanced at him, she saw worry lines etched in the corners of his eyes.
“Everything,” Bran said.
Fionn made a come-along gesture with two fingers. “Could ye elucidate everything? Mayhap I’ll come up with something ye might have missed.”
“We searched the house and grounds with magic and our five senses—” Gwydion began.
“Aye, all the way to the sea,” Bran broke in, “since we know how fond the younglings are of water.”
“While ye were about it, did ye hunt for traces of the Old Ones or the dark gods?” Fionn asked.
“Aye, of course we did.” Arawn sounded affronted. “The whole countryside stinks of Lemurians. There were hints of the dark ones, as well.”
Fionn launched into an abbreviated version of the Bal’ta attack in Penrith and finding evidence of Perrikus and Tokhots.
Gwydion blew out an aggravated sounding breath. “This isna good,” he muttered.
“Did you try reaching the baby dragons with mind speech?” Aislinn asked.
“I would have thought one or both of their parents would have tried that first,” Gwydion said defensively.
Aislinn wasn’t so sure about that. What she did expect, though, was for Dewi to blame this whole catastrophe on her and Fionn leaving. “Um, the brood seems to be able to talk among themselves. Have you asked the other younglings if they know anything?”
The master enchanter’s eyes widened, “Nay, lass. That is one thing we havena done.”
“And a brilliant suggestion,” Arawn added. He poked Fionn in the arm. “I am starting to see why ye are so taken with the MacLochlainn. She’s smart as well as stunning.”
Aislinn was already on her way out the door, with Rune right behind her.
“I can talk with them, too,” the wolf reminded her.
“Good. Maybe you can settle them down. If they’re as wrought up as Gwydion described, it might not be easy to get anything worthwhile out of them.”
She ran into Gwydion’s warding when she tried to pull the latch on the kitchen door. It stung, and she yanked her hand back. Aislinn reached with her mind and recoiled. What a complex piece of work. It would take her hours to unravel it. She raced back into the great room and ran headlong into Fionn, displacing Bella. “I can’t get past the wards.”
The raven resettled herself on Fionn’s shoulder and squawked her outrage.
“’Tis why Gwydion sent me after you,” Fionn said. He tapped the bird’s talons. “Stop fussing. Ye’re not hurt, just surprised.”
Aislinn tried to follow Fionn’s magic as he untangled Gwydion’s casting, but he worked too fast. The second he had the door open, she sprang through and was practically mowed down by baby dragons. A quick head count confirmed one red and one green were missing. Two of them took wing and headed out the open door. “You are not free,” she spoke sternly. “Get back in this kitchen. We need to talk.”
One listened, the other didn’t.
Rune sprang on the red one and carried it back, writhing between his jaws. “I am not hurting you. Stop it,” the wolf admonished the young dragon.
“Good advice.” Aislinn used her mind voice. “All of you just stop it. If you minded better, we wouldn’t be in this predicament.”
By the time the other Celts got to the kitchen, she was on the floor with all six of the younglings ringed around her. Rune had suggested feeding them, and Fionn had dug strips of dried meat out of the pantry.
“How did ye do that?” Gwydion exclaimed. “When we tried to settle them, they flew around the room like modern aircraft.”
“Mother’s touch, I guess,” Aislinn said. “Hush. I was about to try to see what they know.”
“Lost,” the black dragon wailed. “They are lost.”
“Lost where?” Aislinn asked gently.
“They wander in the dark,” a red dragon cried.
“Does that mean they are still alive?” She held her breath.
Rune leaned closer. Bella left Fionn’s shoulder and landed in the midst of the brood.
“We think so,” the black youngling—apparently the brood’s alpha—replied.
Gwydion folded his body accordion-fashion until he sat next to Aislinn. “Do you think you could find them?” he asked the rest of the brood.
“Mother could,” a red dragon offered.
“Or Father,” the black dragon said. “He is wise and brave. He can do anything.”
Aislinn turned to Gwydi
on. “Do we know where either of them are?” He shook his head.“Okay.” She grabbed hold of a chair and hauled herself to her feet.
“Where are you going?” Fionn blocked her egress from the kitchen.
She put her hands on her hips. “I’m going outside to call Dewi. She has to come. I’m the MacLochlainn.”
“She’ll commandeer you to go with her and search.”
“Fine.” Aislinn blinked. Her eyes felt hot and sandpapery. “It’s for a good cause. You need to stay here to meet the humans. They should be here any moment.”
“I doona think much of—”
“Too bad. The brood thinks the other two are still alive. If they’re right, we got lucky, and I aim to take advantage of that.” She swept past Fionn and stormed out of the kitchen, with Rune right behind.
“What a little spitfire.”
It was hard to determine just who had said it, except it hadn’t been Fionn. The look in his eyes had been perilously close to murder. She wondered if he’d truly scoop her up and lock her away to prevent her from leaving.
“If he does, all bets are off,” she muttered and sped across the great room and out the front door. The minute she got outside, smoke burned her eyes and stung her lungs when she breathed. It was hard to fathom just what could be burning, since everything was perennially damp.
Aislinn cupped her hands around her mouth. “Dewi.” She switched to mind speech and cried the dragon’s name again. Squinting against the smoke, she scanned the skies. Long minutes passed. She was just about to call again when dark forms emerged from the smoky canopy and circled to land.
“I was beginning to wonder where they were,” Rune said. He whuffed from the smoke.
“Hmph. I suppose I was, too, but I’m not looking forward to this.”
“If she gives you a hard time, I’ll bite her.”
“Save your energy. Her scales might break your teeth.”
The dragon screamed and cursed before she was even on the ground. By the time she had her feet beneath her and lumbered toward Aislinn, she’d progressed to the predictable, “This is all your fault. It you hadn’t left—”
Something snapped. A thin, brittle anger filled her. “Stop it,” Aislinn shrieked. “Just stop it. We are wasting valuable time, which is the same thing you’ve been doing lighting the countryside on fire. Your brood thinks their missing siblings are still alive.”
“That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to tell her.” Nidhogg made his way to them. “We must clear our minds so we can locate them. Anger clouds everything.”
“Good. At least one of you is being rational,” Aislinn muttered.
Fionn chugged up beside them. “I’m ready to leave. I’ll ride Nidhogg.”
“What?” Aislinn just stared at him. “What about the humans?”
“They’ve begun to arrive already over by the stone bridge next to the moat. Arawn and Bran are taking care of them. Gwydion is closeted in the kitchen with the dragons.”
Fionn watched Aislinn run out of the kitchen, incredulous that she was about to undertake something so dangerous on her own. Arawn’s good-natured teasing didn’t help matters. Good Christ! The woman would go into the jaws of hell itself if she got her dander up. “Come on, you two.” He pointed at Arawn and Bran.
“What about me?” Gwydion asked.
“You’re babysitting. Try to do a better job this time. Your wards seemed to keep them in.”
The master enchanter blew out a breath. “All right. I’ll resurrect them as soon as you’re out of here.” A cacophony of discontent rose from the dragons. Gwydion shook his staff at them. “If any of you aren’t interested in growing up to be dragons, I’d be glad to practice turning you into toads. Do I have any takers?”
Fionn raced out the door, gratified to feel Gwydion’s spell seal it once Arawn and Bran were through.
“What do you want us to do?” Arawn asked.
“The humans need to feel we care about them. You can show them to rooms. Help them get settled. Apparently, those of us who live on this side of the Atlantic hung them out to dry.”
“Aye,” Bran said. “I’d heard much the same.” He shrugged. “Old habits die hard.”
“Old habits,” Fionn said through clenched teeth, “were formed when humans dinna have magic of their own. We must alter our views. They are partners in this war. Worthy ones, at that. They nearly dinna let me inside Castle Balloch on account of how poorly we’ve treated them.”
“I canna say as I blame them,” Arawn said and gestured toward the gates. “Look over there. I daresay they’re beginning to arrive already.”
“Excellent. I’ll just introduce you two to whomever emerges first, and then I’m leaving with Aislinn and the dragons.”
He caught up with Aislinn just about the time Dewi’s temper had blown itself out. After making a bold statement about riding Nidhogg, he remembered himself and bowed to the Norse dragon. “That is, if ye’ll have me as a rider.”
“Of course. And your bird, as well.”
Fionn felt heat rise to his face. He’d all but forgotten Bella.
“I’ll remember that,” the bird said acidly.
“Stay out of my head,” Fionn snapped. “If ye doona behave, I’ll leave ye to tend to the younglings.” Bella clacked her beak shut right next to Fionn’s ear. He glared at her.
“Help me get Rune up onto Dewi,” Aislinn said. “Let’s not waste time bickering.”
The wolf clambered up Dewi’s scales with both of them pushing and a bit of a magical assist. Aislinn followed and settled the wolf in front of her.
Fionn vaulted onto Nidhogg’s back. He hadn’t ridden a dragon in centuries, not since Dewi had flown him a place or two. Despite his worries about finding the younglings in time to save their lives and the delicate logistics of extricating them from whoever had kidnapped them, part of him looked forward to the beat of Nidhogg’s powerful wings.
Dewi spread her wings and launched. Nidhogg’s leathery wings unfurled.
“Do ye know which direction to begin searching?” Fionn asked as they gained altitude. Cold wind rushed by him. It felt welcome after the overheated kitchen and everyone strung tighter than piano wire.
The dragon switched to mind speech. “Not yet. Let me deploy magic. Now that I’m not caught up in Dewi’s fury, mayhap I’ll sense something.”
“Oh, so now you’re blaming me.”
“I’m not blaming anyone. Join your power to mine and help locate our younglings.”
Fionn moved Bella to a more protected place between his spread legs and the dragon’s neck. The bird’s talons had dug deeper and deeper into his shoulder as wind buffeted them. “While we were across the Irish Sea, we sensed Perrikus and Tokhots.”
“I feared as much,” Nidhogg replied. “The Lemurians aren’t stealthy enough to have sneaked up on our children and made off with them. Even young as they are, they would have noticed something was amiss and kicked up a terrible ruckus.”
“Are ye certain?”
“You asked for a reason.” Nidhogg sounded uncharacteristically sharp. “What is it?”
Fionn wasn’t sure how to couch the answer without offending the dragon. By the time he was done hemming and hawing, Nidhogg said dryly, “If you were going to infer that our young may not have noticed the difference between our energy and the Old Ones’ because we are both types of reptiles, save your breath.”
Fionn felt embarrassed. “Don’t mind me. I’m grasping at straws.”
“Birds are descended from dinosaurs,” Bella said sarcastically. “They’re a kind of reptile, too. It doesn’t mean we’re stupid.”
Fionn rolled his eyes. Bella was in a snit; only time would cure it. “Hush,” he told her. “Let the dragons follow their magic.”
They flew in large circles for a while. It began to drizzle. Water ran down Fionn’s face and beaded on Bella’s feathers as he gazed at the countryside. At least the many fires were smoldering and going out. Nidhogg banked; his wings
bit the air. Fionn hunkered in his seat and hung on. He wanted to ask the dragon what he’d found, but didn’t think it wise to distract him. Och aye, likely I’ll find out soon enough. Adrenaline hummed along his nerves as he readied himself for the fight to come.
Fionn still wore the battle leathers he’d donned for their trip to Scotland. The tanned hides were wet and cold where they clung to him. He pulled a small amount of magic to warm himself. The air ahead of them got darker and darker. At first, Fionn thought they were flying into the heart of the storm, but the atmosphere felt thick and wrong somehow.
Lemurians. The wrongness was Lemurian magic. Fionn chided himself for not recognizing it sooner. The Old Ones knew they were up here. “We’re flying right into the enemy’s lair,” Fionn warned.
Nidhogg trumpeted. Fire roared from his mouth. “Yes. No more need for mind speech. They know we’re here.”
“Ye sound pretty chipper.”
Nidhogg craned his neck so he was almost facing Fionn. “I am. All those years I was imprisoned when no matter what I did, it didn’t make any difference… Unless you’ve been there, you have no idea how sweet freedom is. Even if we don’t manage to save my younglings, we will make those bastards sorry they were ever born.”
“We need a strategy.”
“We have one. Dewi and I have been conversing privately. You can use your powers to jump from my back to the ground once we are in the thick of things. Aislinn will do the same, along with her wolf. Dewi and I are most effective providing support from the air.”
“Do ye have any idea how many Lemurians are down there?”
“Many.”
“Dark gods?”
“Yes, I sense them, as well.”
Fionn’s heart hammered against his chest. Finding Aislinn before the enemy did might not be easy. They’d have to come out at the same place, or damned close. An idea took root. “Fly close to Dewi. I’ll bring all of us down together.”
“That could work if we fly in a circle nose to tail. Then you could use the channel our bodies make for safe passage.”
