Celtic Dragons

by Dee Bridgnorth

  Wings back, neck stretched out, tail rigid and pointed high to the sky, he dove, making his body as streamlined as possible and using only the occasional powerful push of his wings to propel him faster. She had several seconds on him—maybe thirty—and the only thing that might give him hope of saving her before she crashed into the solid earth was that she was flailing around, slowing herself down without realizing it, and he was a practiced flyer, who knew how to gather speed quickly.

  He was gaining on her, but it did nothing to slow the pounding of his heart or ease the panic raging in his mind. There would be no relief until she was safely in his arms again, and every second that ticked by felt like an eternity.

  Closer and closer, he had his eyes pinned on her, his wings sweeping through the air, then clinging to his sides again, sweeping, then clinging to his sides again. When he was close enough to make out the expression on her face—one of sheer panic—he knew that he was going to get to her in time. With one last push of his wings, he flew beneath her, softening the momentum she’d built by catching her lightly with the softness of one wing and tucking her underneath him.

  Only when he had her safely in hand did the relief hit him, but it was short-lived as he looked down to see that they were above a small town busy with early-morning foot traffic and that all it would take was for one person to look up and they would see something totally unbelievable in the sky above them.

  He wanted to comfort Dhara, knowing she must be terrified, but he couldn’t in that moment. Tossing her lightly up into the air, he caught her on his back as gently as he could and flew them high again, soaring away as quickly as he could and sending a wish out into the universe that nobody had noticed a great chestnut-brown dragon nosediving above them.

  He could feel the weight of Dhara’s body limp on his back, and that comforted him slightly as he flew them away from the small town, his eyes searching out somewhere safe to land. The first clearing that he saw, he took the risk and landed there, lowering himself all the way to the ground so that she could roll off of him. When she did, she curled up into a little ball, hugging her knees as she rocked back and forth.

  Kean wasted no time transitioning, taking his human form back and hugging her to him as hard as he could. “You’re all right,” he whispered. “You’re all right. I’ve got you. Dhara, it’s okay.”

  She was shaking and shivering against him, tears rolling down her cheeks, but she didn’t sob or fall apart or cling to him. She just sat with him, letting him hold her until her body had calmed down enough for her to lift her head, her eyes rimmed with red and her cheeks tearstained.

  “What happened?” he asked. “How did you…?Why did you…?”

  “It was the Jinn,” she said, her voice cracking. “Or whatever this thing I have in me is called. One minute I was flying along, looking at the clouds as we went. The next there was fire and darkness and pain, and I had to get away. They were all flying at me—all of them. There were so many.”

  He closed his eyes, bringing her closer to him and burying his face in her hair. “God. If I hadn’t gotten to you.”

  “I didn’t realize what was happening until it was all too late,” she said. “I was so sure that I was going to die, Kean. This thing—it wants to kill me. Why does it want to kill me?”

  “I don’t know,” he said, pulling back enough to kiss over her cheeks, her forehead, her lips. “I won’t let it. I’m so sorry, Dhara. Maybe this was a terrible idea—you flying with me. I thought it would be easier. I didn’t want anything to happen while we were on a plane, but it was stupid of me not to think what might happen when you’re in the open air.”

  She shook her head, kissing him back, her palm lifting to cup his cheek. “I had you. You saved me.”

  “I love you,” he whispered fervently. “God, Dhara, I love you.”

  “I love you too.” They clung to each other as they sat there, both of them letting their hearts and nerves settle back into place. Kean stroked her hair, and she rested her head against his chest, her hand tucked into his. Time passed, and though there were so many reasons that lingering where they were was a bad idea, Kean didn’t rush her.

  When she finally did lift her head again, her eyes were dry and her hands were steady. “I still have the bag,” she said, gesturing to the pack that was strapped to her back and trying to smile. “That’s something, I guess.”

  It was such a miniscule detail in the midst of this life-threatening morning, and her expression was so sincere, that Kean had to laugh. He crushed her to him, kissing her fiercely. “You still have the bag. That’s my girl.”

  “Am I your girl?” she murmured, looking up in his eyes.

  “Always.”

  Getting to his feet, he pulled her to hers and took the pack from her back. “We won’t fly. We can go in and catch a plane or a bus or a train. Something.”

  “No,” Dhara said, staying his hand and shaking her head. “No, that’s a waste of time and money. It’ll be so much faster if you fly us, and I don’t want to spend another minute with this…thing inside of me.”

  “But…” he didn’t want to put the thought of a repeat fall into her head, but it was all he could think about. “If something happened…”

  “We’ll both be on our guard,” she said, nodding her head stoically and managing a tight smile. “It’ll be fine. I’ll be aware, and you’ll be listening for me. Looking for me.”

  He still hesitated, but she shook her head.

  “Kean, honestly. I’m not wasting money and time just because I’m afraid.”

  “Okay,” he said, agreeing reluctantly and admiring her gumption at the same time. She had been through absolute hell for weeks, but she wasn’t backing down. She wasn’t afraid to get on the horse and ride again, so to speak. “If you’re sure.”

  “I’m sure,” she promised, managing another smile, one that was more convincing this time. “Look at me. I’m perfectly fine. Nothing happened that people don’t go to cliffs and pay for. Bungee jumping, right? Just a morning activity.”

  It wasn’t the same thing at all, but Kean got on board the denial train, nodding with her. “Sure. Right. Okay.”

  Kissing her one last time, he stepped back, transitioned, and lowered himself to help her climb onto his back. As he rose into the air this time, he did so as carefully as he could, holding himself as still as possible to avoid jostling or jarring her. He could feel her settle in, and after a few minutes of flying, when her warmth was constant and relaxed against him, he started to relax as well.

  It would be hours before they reached Santa Fe, and he had a long flight ahead of him, but as long as he could feel Dhara safely nestled against him, then he could fly for days and not get tired. All he needed was for her to be safe.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Dhara

  It took just over five hours for Kean to fly to them to Santa Fe, and after her fall, Dhara spent every single minute of it wide awake, staring up at the sky, and willing her mind not to take over again. Her thoughts were still dark, and there were pins and pricks against her skin, little reminders of the torment that was possible if her inner demon truly raised its head. The few times she did close her eyes, horrible images played in front of her—images that couldn’t be real but that horrified her nonetheless. Whispered words moved through her mind like thoughts, but she knew they weren’t alone.

  Better off dead.

  No more pain in death.

  One leap is all it would take.

  The words only made her cling to Kean more tightly, as she forcibly replaced the dark thoughts with sweet thoughts of lovemaking and whispered affections. Daydreams of building a life with Kean—his future assigned mate carefully left out of her imaginings—helped to see her through until she felt him lowering himself toward the ground, the air pressure changing around them.

  His landing was soft, and Dhara rolled off his back, glad to be back on solid ground. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy soaring through the clouds w
ith Kean, but the long hours of nothingness had given her far too much time to think, and her mind was not a safe place for her to dwell right now.

  He shifted, his naked human form once again appearing. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, handing him the pack from her back. “Fine. Are you? Are you tired?”

  “No,” he said, pulling out his clothes, his eyes still watchful on her. “It wasn’t an easy flight for you, was it?”

  Dhara shook her head, trying not to be overly dramatic, even though tears wanted to flow again. “No, not really.”

  He moved toward her once he was dressed, taking her in his arms and kissing her warmly. “We’re here to find the answer,” he whispered, looking down into her eyes, his gaze fixed reassuringly on hers. “We’re close.”

  Nodding, she tried to believe him, but as she took his hand and followed him from the open stretch of desert where they had landed, she had no idea where they were going or what the plan was.

  “Kean…?” she said, squeezing his hand. “Do you know where this person we’re looking for is?”

  “I have an idea,” he said, looking back at her as she hung behind him a bit. “I at least know where we should go first. Then we’ll see where that leads us. The paranormal community can be very tight-knit, which may mean that we find the person I’m looking for easily—or it could mean that everyone closes ranks and tries to protect her for some reason.”

  “Her?”

  Kean glanced back at her, tugging her to keep up with him as he walked quickly along a path that he must have somehow mapped out in his head. “Yes. Her name is Nicolette Herman, and she survived what you have.”

  “What I have? A possession.”

  “Specifically, a Disgorge.”

  Dhara’s eyebrows shot up. “What is a Disgorge?”

  “It’s what you have,” Kean told her, not slowing his pace as they headed in toward civilization. Under other circumstances Dhara would have been amazed by the new landscape all around her—the brown expanses, the mountains in the distance, and the adobe houses that she could see up ahead. The yards weren’t landscaped, but had differentcolored gravel in their yards, some green, some blue, and some purple. It was a beautiful place, mystical in its own right, regardless of what spirits were floating around, waiting to find her.

  “I understand that it’s what I have,” Dhara said, tugging Kean’s hand as they stepped onto a sidewalk that led them into a neighborhood. “But you didn’t have a name for it before. Did you research it?”

  He shook his head. “Not exactly. I was talking to Ronan, explaining what’s been going on with you, and he knew exactly what it was. He’s done some research of his own, and this woman that we’re looking for—Nicolette Herman—is a survivor.”

  “A survivor.” She said slowly. “It sounds like I have cancer.”

  “Do you want me to be honest with you?” He glanced back at her, his expression serious.

  “Of course.”

  “Very few people survive this, Dhara. The spirit that’s living inside of you is …you. We can’t just remove it. It’s the dark parts of you, mobilized by magical forces. And it’s out to kill you.”

  “Okay, not that honest.”

  Stopping, he turned toward her and took his hand in hers. “After what happened on the way here, yes, I do need to be this honest with you.” His gaze was warm on hers, but there was a steel behind the affection she saw there. “We’re past this entity messing with you, scaring you, or toying with you. It threw you off my back to fall to your death. I’m terrified of what might happen next if we don’t get some kind of answer. So I need you to be completely in this with me, Dhara. Do you understand how serious this is?”

  “Of course, I do,” she said, keeping her voice steady, but only with great effort. “Why do you think I’m avoiding it at all costs? I’m terrified.”

  Kean nodded. “Good. I need you to be, for right now. Once we get the answers we need and get you cured, I’ll make sure that you never have to be afraid for another day in your life. But until then, I need you to have enough fear in you that there’s nothing you won’t do to make sure that this doesn’t kill you.”

  The steel in his eyes settled low in her gut, and she nodded, knowing that he was right. “Yes. I’m in.”

  “No more dragging your feet…”

  She tugged at his hands, starting to walk again. “It would help if you would tell me where we’re going.”

  “To a place I know,” he said, walking beside her. “It’s a hangout place, of sorts. A paranormal hangout.”

  “Those exist?”

  Kean nodded. “Of course, they do. Anywhere there’s a high paranormal presence, you’re going to have secret community hot spots. Not really in Boston, so much, given that we’re the main players in town and our offices are the only hangout I know of. But here in Santa Fe? It didn’t take long to figure out where we’re going to find the paranormal community.”

  As he talked, he led her down a smaller street, away from the neighborhood and through a sketchier area, coming out in front of a tiny, hole-in-the-wall restaurant with a faded sign reading Downing Street.

  “Here?” Dhara frowned skeptically, glancing around. “It just looks so normal.”

  “Well, there was hardly going to be a dragon carved into the doorway,” he said, holding the door open for her and giving her a reassuring wink as she slipped past him into the dimly-lit room.

  It was midafternoon, but there were already quite a few people inside the small joint, and music played loudly in the background as those patrons mingled about the bar, largely ignoring the tables set out for them. As Dhara walked in, every single person turned to look at her, and at Kean, who quickly followed her. In an instant, the mood in the room shifted from one of reasonable pleasantness to concerned skepticism, and several of the patrons moved toward Kean and Dhara.

  “What’s going on here?” one man said, looking back and forth between them. “You two have business?”

  Dhara glanced back at Kean, not at all sure what they were supposed to say. Was it acceptable for them to admit to their paranormal agenda here, where supposedly, if Kean was right, they were amongst like-minded people? Or was Kean’s secret still a secret? She wasn’t about to be the one to blurt it out, and Kean seemed to agree, stepping in front of her, his large body shielding hers from the advancing patron and his friend behind him.

  “I’m looking for the owner,” Kean said, not answering the man’s question. “Is that okay with you?”

  “Not really.”

  Dhara couldn’t understand why the man was being so aggressive. It was an establishment seemingly open to the public, so why would he find it so strange that they had walked in off the street? “We’re not here to cause trouble,” she said, stepping around Kean but not moving in front of him. “We just want to see the owner. What’s the harm in that?”

  “I think there just might be plenty of harm in that,” the man said, fixing his eyes on her. “I don’t like the looks of you at all,” he said, staring her up and down, his arms crossing over his chest as his stance widened. “I think you should both head on out of here.”

  Dhara opened her mouth to respond, but Kean touched her arm, warning her not to.

  “Listen,” Kean told the man in front of them, taking a step forward. “Whatever you’re picking up on, it’s what we’re here to talk to the owner about.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “You’re getting a bad vibe from us,” Kean said, gesturing between Dhara and himself. “Is that right?”

  “From her, yeah.” The man jerked his head toward Dhara. “I don’t like it one bit.”

  They weren’t using the words, but Dhara suddenly realized they were speaking about the presence that haunted her. Whoever this man was, he had some sort of supernatural capabilities that allowed him to be in tune with the paranormal world, and he was picking up on the evil that lived inside of her. Only he didn’t realize that it wasn’t her, but the very
thing she was there to rid herself of.

  Dhara was staring at yet another person with paranormal characteristics, and she was starting to wonder if everyone didn’t have some sort of connection to the world she’d never known anything about. Then again, she didn’t remember most of her life, so perhaps she had known at one point.

  “She’s got a problem,” Kean was saying. “I’m hoping the owner can help.”

  “Yeah, well, Cassandra isn’t in right now,” the man said. “So I can’t help you.”

  “Oh, lay off of them,” another man said, the one still sitting on his barstool. “Cassandra’s in the back and you know it.”

  “Greg,” the man said sharply. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re drunk.”

  “So?” Greg said. “I’m drunk, but I’d take you on in a heartbeat, Alan.” He lifted his beer, sloshing liquid over the side and onto his brown cargo pants. “Get off your high horse, why don’t you?”

  Alan, dressed a pair of brown cargo pants that were oddly similar to Greg’s, didn’t back down. Instead, he jerked his head at Kean. “Get her out of here, or there’s going to be a problem.”

  It was not the first time that Dhara had ever felt unwelcome based solely on first impressions. Whether she had grown up in India as a middle-class girl from a happy family or a broken girl from an even more broken family, she had still grown up in India. When she had come to the United States, there had been plenty of moments in which she had felt unwelcome, simply because of the way that she looked. Now it was because of the energy inside of her that Alan was picking up on, but despite knowing that, it was no less hurtful.

  “Has it ever occurred to you that I might need help?” Dhara asked, stepping around Kean, frustration building inside of her. These days, it was like her anger was always just under the surface, waiting to boil over at a moment’s notice. “Why would you turn me away, when you can obviously tell that I’m in trouble?”

  “Dhara—” Kean reached a hand out to her, ready to put her behind him again. “I’ve got this.”

  “No, I’ve got this,” Dhara said, her hands settling on her hips. “How about a little compassion, Alan? Haven’t you ever needed someone to take a risk for you before?”