“David Trew, I love you,” I screamed, hot tears stinging my eyes as the dragon readied himself to pounce. “Did you hear me? I love you. I always have, and for the rest of my days, I always will. It was always you, David. I was too scared to make a move in case you didn’t feel the same way … but … but .. I’m telling you now. I’m getting honest, and I’m telling you how I feel.”
It was strange; although I didn’t feel the magic course in my wand arm, as I usually do, I did feel the spell working its way through my body, coming to rest as a warm and living entity around my heart.
The Wyrmrig roared an almighty roar, full of flame and smoke. Only this time, David had directed his ire at the sky instead of the moving targets in front of him.
He brought his head down close to the ground and extended his neck until his face was just feet from mine. The fierce lights in the dragon’s eyes dissipated, only to be filled with a liquid warmth, and … and … love? And then, with a thunderous crash, my man dropped onto his side like a prehistoric boulder.
Still clutching my wand, I ran over to him and watched as the Wyrmrig morphed, by degrees, into David Trew. Finally, the chief’s broken body emerged from behind the scales and spines of the creature. A slow-moving stream of blood oozed from the chief’s neck wound, but David managed to open his eyes. He looked up at me, his baby blues still slightly shimmering with the ghosts of those fiery lights. “Hat?” My friend raised a trembling hand to my face. His fingers traced a tender trail from my cheekbone to my chin. “Yes, it’s me, David, I’m here,” I said, still feeling the power of the love ward course through my core. The stirring around my heart had picked up the pace, somewhat.
The chief coughed. I held the back of his head as he struggled to take in some air. His eyes flicked to my face again. “I … I heard you. What you said.”
Incredibly, I blushed like a schoolgirl. I couldn’t see my cheeks reddening, but I could sure feel the rush of blood flood to my face. “It’s true, David,” I said, blinking away my tears. “I do … I --”
My friend cut me off. “Hattie Jenkins, I love you,” he said, straining to lift his head. “With everything I have, I love you. My heart belonged to you before you could even walk.” His head fell back in my hands, but he kept his glazed eyes on my face. “I’m … I’m sorry it took so long to share that with you. I was … scared I’d lose you as my friend if I told you how I felt. I couldn’t … risk it. If I lost you, I’d have never forgiven myself.”
I laughed, and a fresh batch of tears streamed down my face to fall on David’s cheek.
“I think are some things in your family history you’re not telling me about, mister,” I joked.
“And if I knew my bloodline came from a mythical monster, I probably wouldn’t have told you for fear of ruining my chances.” The chief’s lips tugged up into a crafty smile.
“Well, I was bound to find out one day, I guess.”
“And?”
“And what, CPI Trew?”
“Has it ruined my chances? Maybe you’re not into scales and fire breath?”
“I didn’t say anything about not liking scales,” I said, brushing the chief’s damp hair from his forehead. “But, there will have to be rules about when and where you do your shifting. And, I’m telling you now, I will never ever live in a wooden house with you.”
“But you will live in a house with me?” David tried sitting up.
“Isn’t that how marriage works?” I teased.
The chief’s mouth collapsed into a dreamy smile as he let his eyes close.
“Waited over thirty years to hear this exchange,” Carbon said, nuzzling David’s head. “Jeez, you two are a pair of boneheads, eh?”
I laughed, letting the relief and love wash over me. The fluttering around my heart grew in intensity. Wow, I must have really unleashed a special kind of power with that love ward, I guess. Who’d have thought I’d have --
A soft mewing stopped my thoughts, and I dropped my head to see the front of my jacket moving. Fraidy! I tore at the zipper, releasing my downed little man from the confines of my coat. Fraidy rolled onto my lap, and looked around, his fur disheveled and tufted.
“Are you trying to kill me?” He protested. “I couldn’t breathe in there! It was almost as bad as getting stuck in that hole.” My indignant kitty shook his head and took stock of the scene before his eyes. “What happened?”
Fraidy’s brothers and sister ran over to join their awakened brother, all of them crying tears of joy. Even ‘Clipsy’s eyes were misty.
“It is wonderful to see you, dear brother,” Onyx said, dipping his head in a regal bow before Fraidy.
Fraidy spun his head to face me. “Did O just bow to me? What’s going on?”
“You saved our lives, bro,” Shade said, giving his brother an affectionate head rub. “You misdirected the dragon fire. We’d have been a pile of cinders if it wasn’t for your quick thinking.”
“Stupid thinking, you mean,” Gloom said, affectionately headbutting Fraidy’s cheek. “But, yeah, thanks, you did good, cowardly-custard.”
Fraidy just blinked.
“Lucky Hattie broke out the wand, I say,” Midnight said, “Probably that love charm broke out over you too, Fraidy-bro.”
Onyx nodded. “Yes. Very well done, Hattie. Your wanding skills have proved to be exceptional.”
“Only she didn’t use the wand,” Eclipse said, his eyes unreadable. My mysterious cat nudged something with his paw until the item landed in the middle of our small huddle. Just beyond our circle, I could see Portia speaking to the emergency crew at Howling Mercy. The Broomedics would be on their way shortly. David would be okay.
My eyes wandered back to the item, just as Eclipse withdrew his paw. A soft blue light hummed from the applewood stick, highlighting the recently unlocked love ward.
I shook my head. “But … how is this possible? I have the wand right --” I unfurled my palm to reveal nothing more than a stick. A branch that had fallen from the sycamore as the Wyrmrig had battled it out with Sweet Boy. Heck, it didn’t even look like a wand.
“How’d you do that?” Carbon said. I noticed his eyes take on something that looked like reverence.
“I … I don’t know,” I began. “I thought it was my wand.”
“But you’ve unlocked the love ward,” Gloom said, her own eyes filled with admiration. I’d never seen anything like it from my she-cat before.
“I know … but I don’t … I just don’t see how that’s possible,” I said.
“I guess, Miss. Jenkins that you just don’t realize your own power.” Portia’s voice was tired and gentle, as she peered into our little ring. “I … I guess not,” I stammered.
“Broomedics are on their way,” she advised. And walked away to join the other Custodian’s and their friends.
“You finally got in touch with your inner sorceress,” Carbon said, resting a paw on my knee. “We all knew you’d show your potency one day. And today was it.”
I nodded mutely. But I secretly came to the quick conclusion that it was love, not me, that had saved the day here. Sure, I thought I was accessing the wand, but it was the true, honest and innocent power of love that I had dived into.
Love. What else could match its might? What else could transcend love’s boundaries?
I didn’t need magic or my wand to unlock this devotional power. Because love is already boundless magic in and of itself. And I had unleashed this tender sorcery today to bring back to life the two loves of my life. Yes, I had unlocked the love charm on the applewood’s shaft, but it wasn’t from any kind of necromancy. It was a power that every sentient being on the planet knew and possessed.
Love is the ultimate magician, Hattie. Grandma Chimera’s voice came wrapped around a bright smile; I could just sense it.
David and Fraidy are alive. That’s all that kept running through my head. I didn’t lose them. They’re alive. Thanks to a host of small miracles handed to us from the timeless realm.
<
br /> I smiled and mouthed the words ‘thank you,’ in the hopes that Grandma would see, and then wheeled around to my friends.
“Everyone okay?” I said, noting the row of exhausted, grubby faces.
Verdantia and Hinrika spun around in some kind of enchanted fairy embrace, but Vee looked at me from her cyclone hug. “I think we’re all doing rather well, Hattie,” she breathed in her tinkling voice.
“Shields?” I gasped, bolting toward the spot the governor fell. Portia grabbed my arm and shook her head. “He’s gone, child.”
“Gone?” I said, spinning my head wildly. “What do you mean gone?”
“If yer meanin’ the governor, ‘attie, then he up ‘n’ magicked himself outta ‘ere,” Horace said, averting his gaze.
I looked at Millie, who nodded at me apologetically. “He disappeared before our eyes while you were facing the Wyrmrig. There was nothing we could do, Hattie.”
I swallowed, swiping at the fresh angry tears that tumbled down my face. “Not your fault,” I said. “I just hope --”
“It’s in GIPPD hands now,” Portia said, gently. “They’re on North Illwind already, and swarming the Drakon Dunes. Don’t worry; Shields won’t be breaking from this atmosphere.” The Witch Fearwyn laid a hand on my shoulder. “It’s over, Hattie. We’re safe now. We're free. And it’s mostly thanks to you and your daft cats. Even that crazy one pulled some inspiring moves out there on the broom today.” I could hear the rumble of Jet’s purr as he pulled up beside me. “Yep, yep,” he bleated proudly.
My head turned back to David and Fraidy. My brave kitty now sat, slightly dazed, on David’s chest, purring down his healing vibrations to the chief. Portia smiled at my man and my cat.
“All that remains for you to do is to go be with the ones you nearly lost today. The Broomedics will be here shortly, but I suspect your love will like to see your face until they arrive.”
My love. I felt the warmth and truth of those words radiate from my chest to my throat. I nodded and gave the Witch Fearwyn a fierce hug.
“I … I can’t thank you enough,” I said. “For all you’ve done for us. For keeping us focused and on track. Without you, we’d have fallen apart.”
“Nonsense, child,” Portia said, pushing me away gently, and wiping away my tears with a bony finger. “We worked together. All of us. This was our strength. We pulled together for the good of the planet, and it paid off. Now, go. Go and be with your family.”
I smiled and returned to David and Fraidy; all the other kitties joining our little huddle.
David opened his eyes as I lifted his head. He smiled as I hovered my face over his. “Well, if this isn’t the most beautiful sight I’ve seen all day, I don’t know what is,” he said.
I dipped my head a little lower, and David reached his hand into my hair and pulled my face down to meet his. We kissed. Tentative and self-conscious at first, but as David and I both felt the union of our lips, the kiss deepened into something that could only come from fairy tales. Something profoundly loving; a kiss that spread from the lips to the heart in a matter of seconds.
I could hardly believe the deliciousness; the rightness of it. Even through the holler of cheers and whoops, that first meaningful kiss with my man was more magic than I could reasonably handle. So I couldn’t help but smile, knowing full well that I’d be experiencing this kind of sorcery on a daily basis as I kissed my man good morning or good night.
From a black and hopeless future only thirty minutes ago, I was catapulted into the most hopeful future there could ever be: One spent with my ‘Trewlove.’
Pure magic.
The Happy Epilogue
“Middie, come on, buddy, we’re going to be late,” I said, running around in my underwear, holding a scalding cup of rosehip tea as I rushed to find my dress for the day.
“I’m just reading about the Cathedral, boss,” he said, looking up from the newspaper opened before him. “Says here, they’re still finding pieces of debris from the launch mount under the rubble. Nuts, eh?”
“Well, it will probably take them at least another year to find all the rocket flotsam, I guess. I read yesterday they found some cathedral rubble more than thirty miles outside of Chalice,” Eclipse opined, reading the story over Midnight’s shoulder.
“Maybe not, bro,” Midnight said. “Another twelve thousand volunteers have flooded Cathedral for the cleanup operation. Plus, with the overwhelming support the cause has gotten, it looks like Black Diamond Cathedral will be rebuilt from the ground up.”
“That’s awesome,” I said, flying by my cat once more, this time with one shoe in my one empty hand. “Any pictures?” I asked.
“Yep,” Midnight said, flipping the pages of the paper. “Look. A bunch of volunteers working on the west chancel. They’ve done great work, already.”
I nudged Eclipse out of the way so I could peer at the images. A bunch of happy volunteers stood grinning at the camera, each holding a hunk or fragment of Gideon Shields’ launch pad.
If your sleuthing skills haven’t made the leap yet, you might have gathered that the Warlock Chief did manage to launch his rocket to Mars, after all. While the whole of Glessie Isle Para-Police Department, and half of Talisman’s own special forces, to boot, swarmed the Drakon Dunes searching for Shields’ facility, the governor was getting ready for his launch on another isle entirely: Cathedral. And the launch spot? From deep within the cavernous interior of the Black Diamond cathedral. The governor had had the building shut down for alleged repairs for the best part of a month before he flew off. In the dead of night, Shields had simply transferred his expensive equipment from North Illwind to Cathedral. Nobody suspected a thing. Who’d have thought to hide a rocket in plain view like this? This was what the governor had meant when he asked about there being no worshippers to see him off. And also why the Black Diamond cathedral had been closed for supposed repairs. The Warlock Chief had tricked us. Quite cleverly so, in fact. Even Portia Fearwyn showed a little admiration for the governor’s sheer gall. So the Warlock Chief remains free. I took a little comfort in the fact that Shields’ resume couldn’t now boast the annihilation of our planet.
“I wonder how long it’ll take them to finish,” Gloom mused, sitting on the seat backwashing her ears.
“And I wonder how long it’ll take you guys to get ready,” I quipped, shaking my shoe at my kitties. “Come on, I mean it. The ceremony will be starting soon, and I’m half naked here trying to herd you guys into action.”
“Did I hear the words ‘half naked?’” David stepped behind me, and wrapped his arms around my middle, brushing his palms in a teasing dance across my stomach. He kissed my neck. “Personally, I think you should show up like this, Mrs. Trew.” My husband growled a low sultry sound.
I laughed. “You’d have your wife show up at a wedding undressed?” I turned my head to meet David’s lips. He nibbled my lower lip playfully. “I guess you’re right. I wouldn’t want to spend all my time fending off your admirers,” he said. “It took long enough for me to make you mine.”
Mine. As an independent, thinking woman, I’d have ordinarily contested such a claim. But to hear my husband call me ‘his,’ had me practically frothing at the mouth with happiness. I tell ya, six months in as Mrs. Trew, and my new life … well, let’s just say it never gets old, you know?
“How’s your family tree coming along?” I jibed. “What does your research tell you?”
David squeezed me harder. “Well, I’m back to the seventeen-hundreds now, and still no sign of dragons,” he confessed. “But, don’t worry, I’ll keep looking. Plenty of time.”
I brushed my husband’s cheek with the back of my hand.
A lot had happened since the final battle at Dilwyn’s farm. Of course, first, there was the governor’s rocket firing from the spires of Black Diamond Cathedral. As David’s men searched North Illwind’s dunes for the Warlock Chief’s space center, Shields had strapped himself in his missile and had taken to the skies thro
ugh the towering ceiling of Cathedral’s cathedral.
Who could have guessed? Well, not us, for one thing.
So, yes, the governor got off his trail of destruction scott free, as it were. I could only hope that Gideon Shields was rattling around, cold and alone in the deep confines of space.
Sweet Boy, as luck would have it for Dilwyn Werelamb, was now a rather stunning fountain piece in the middle of the farmer’s recently opened -- and, already highly successful -- merman pool. The volunteers who flocked to Cathedral to help with the church’s rebuild, invariably made a stop on Glessie just to see this famed merman reservoir, and its notorious fountain. Where the glittering, hardened black flame spewed from the creature’s mouth, a spout of water now pulsed, creating crystalline beads of moisture over the body of the formidable statue. Seriously, Dilwyn couldn’t have picked a better sculpture himself. It was Werelamb’s farmstead where the reception for today’s wedding would be held. A dance floor had already been set up in front of that grandiose pool and its dragon fountain.
Typhon Jyldrar was sentenced to a one-year internment in Steeltrap. It turned out that the drifter was nothing more than a petty thief. The Nanker resident had a record as long as your arm for crimes such as smuggling, theft, and of course, arson. He had shown up at the cavern on the day we confronted Shields and his dragon by way of the smuggler's tunnel. He had arranged to meet the renegade grumlin there for a trade of the gems. Jyldrar had merely been in the right place at the wrong time.
Talisman is still searching for Ankou. The Unseelie King had understandably moved the location of his enchanted isle, Mag Mell. We had tried, several times, to access the island, but had ended up in the middle of nowhere each time. Who knows where that fat, greedy fae ruler’s homeland now floated. But at least he wouldn’t be making trouble around these parts for the foreseeable future.
I turned to my husband. “I have to get dressed,” I said, kissing his nose. “Think you can round up these animals yourself?” I straightened his tie.
The Angel and the Dragon Page 22
