Celtic Dragons

by Dee Bridgnorth

  “You’re over in a different country pampering yourself ad nauseum,” Gayla shot back, her shield going down as she advanced on her so-called friend. “Meanwhile, I’m trying to hold down the fort here!”

  “And failing. You’re failing!”

  Gayla’s plain, flat face turned red with fury. “She’s right about you, you know. All these years, I’ve backed you because you needed the spotlight. You needed the beauty. You needed the glory. We delayed our plan a hundred years so you could give yourself a damn magical facelift! And now this is how you’re going to speak to me?”

  “You had one job.”

  “No,” Gayla shouted. “I had every job! Your job has only ever been to sit there, look pretty, and gather all the power for yourself. And I thought that because I had been so loyal, you would always make sure that I got what I was due, but you’ve just proved that I can’t trust you.”

  Nova rolled her eyes. “Dramatic much?”

  The two women continued to squabble, seemingly having forgotten the dragon and his passenger above them. Autumn crawled along Eamon’s neck, getting close to his ear and whispering, “Get Gayla. Pick her up and let’s get out of here. She’ll work with us. I know she will.”

  Eamon turned his head, looking back at her for a long moment. Then he nodded and swooped down, interrupting the witches’ fight by grasping Gayla with one powerful claw. He picked her up and carried her away from the fire still burning along the cavern floor, the mass of cracks opening up the rocks, and the hissing, slithering snakes that still lingered around the edges of the cavern.

  Autumn held on as tightly as she could, her eyes widening as she realized that Eamon wasn’t heading for the opening of the cave through which they had entered, but the opposite side, and he was diving low, as though he was about to submerge them in the water.

  And then he did, taking them underwater, down further and further. At first, Autumn panicked, clutching the scaled ridges of his neck to stop herself from getting swept away by the displaced water. If she hadn’t trusted Eamon completely, she would have been terrified, particularly after Gayla had simulated drowning her over and over again.

  But she knew Eamon, and he would never risk her life. She didn’t know where they were going, but he did, and she closed her eyes, focusing every bit of her energy on keeping hold of him.

  Her lungs began to burn again, and Autumn struggled through the panicked feeling as they began to lift higher and higher. Even with her eyes closed, she could tell that they were returning to the surface, and then, all of a sudden, they broke through.

  Autumn threw her head back, gasping air into her lungs as rain beat down on her from above. She put her head down on Eamon’s neck, her breaths still ragged as her body readjusted to having oxygen again, and slowly opened her eyes, seeing that they were just off the coast of Georges Island, floating in the water. Eamon only lingered there for a moment before lifting them higher so that Gayla was also out of the water, undoubtedly gasping for air just like Autumn was.

  Her lungs might be burning and her body weak with exertion, but Autumn knew that she was safe with Eamon as he began to fly her higher and higher into the clouds. Where he was taking her, she didn’t know. But when they landed there, they would figure it out together, and they would find a way to end this once and for all.

  Chapter Forty

  Eamon

  He flew Autumn and Gayla back to the clearing that he had used to transition just hours earlier, before he had flown out to rescue Autumn. Landing in the midst of the woods, he dropped Gayla without much thought and then lowered himself so that Autumn could easily slide off his back. Then he shifted, standing naked before the two women. Autumn’s eyes immediately focused on him, and despite the situation, a small smile formed on her lips that almost made Eamon smile back.

  Instead, he turned to Gayla, who was still coughing and sputtering, having had a much rougher ride than Autumn. “I hope you know that you’re only here and alive because that’s what Autumn asked for,” he told her. “I would happily have left you and Nova to destroy yourselves in that cavern.”

  She glared at him, pointedly looking away from his naked form. Eamon could have sworn that she actually flushed, and he briefly wondered if the life of a vengeance-seeking, power-hungry witch wasn’t a relatively lonely one.

  “We couldn’t leave you there because we need you,” Autumn said, turning toward Gayla. “We need you to tell us where your power stores are so that we can destroy them once and for all.”

  “That’s your plan?” Gayla said, scoffing at her. “Destroy our stored power? You realize that if you do that, all of that stored-up magic is going to explode into the universe and wreak havoc like you won’t believe. You can’t just release all of that. There has to be balance.”

  Autumn walked toward the woman, and Eamon tensed, ready to attack the moment that Gayla lifted a finger against Autumn.

  “Then how do we destroy it?” Autumn asked, standing right in front of the witch. “You can’t be so blind that you don’t see Nova’s true nature now. She will do nothing for you that doesn’t advance her own agenda.”

  Gayla looked away, and Eamon was surprised to see actual pain in her face. He wouldn’t have thought the woman had any feelings, given how brutally she’d tortured Autumn. The fact that she did almost made it worse, because it meant she was potentially capable of empathy but just chose to show none.

  “It’s all ruined now,” Gayla muttered. “I’ve devoted hundreds of years to avenging my mother, and I thought that Nova would hold true to that. But it’s about power for her. It’s not about purpose. You’re right. It’s about her, and she’ll cut me out of the whole thing.”

  “You see it now,” Autumn said quietly. “She’s not your ally.”

  “I thought that if I kept waiting, she would get there. That it would all be worth it.”

  “You have to take her down,” Autumn said, reasoning with the woman. She grew closer, actually reaching out to touch Gayla, and the hair on the back of Eamon’s neck stood up straight. Still, he let Autumn have her space to try it her way. His own way, should it come to that, would involve less talking and a lot more of him forcing Gayla into giving up what she knew so that the people he loved would be safe.

  Autumn was still softly persuading. “Tell us how to destroy her, Gayla. She’s betrayed you and what you’ve worked for. You can’t keep protecting her after that.”

  The look on Gayla’s face was one of pure hatred, and she all but spat in Autumn’s face, anger flashing in her eyes. “You think it’s that easy? You think that a bump in the road is going to make me give up anything? I have waited years—centuries—for this, and I’m not going to give up just because someone disappointed me. People always disappoint you. All this means is that I’ll enact the plan myself. I’ll take the power. I’ll see it through. I should have done it myself from the very beginning. I won’t be making that mistake again.”

  Eamon stepped forward, sensing that Autumn’s plan was faltering. He didn’t interfere yet, but he moved close behind her, ready to act at a moment’s notice.

  “And what will that accomplish?” Autumn asked. “Will that make your life complete? Vengeance? Power? Control?”

  Gayla sneered at her. “You really think you can give me that cajoling face and your best deathbed reasoning and convince me all of a sudden that what I’ve devoted my whole life to isn’t really worth it after all?” She laughed humorlessly. “It’s not that easy, you twit. I’m not looking to make my life complete, and I don’t just need love and acceptance to make me a nice person.” Mockingly, she batted her eyes at Autumn. “Not all of us are as pitiful as you. Vengeance is about bringing about justice, and power is about access. You’re not getting any information out of me, no matter what you do. I will find a way—I always find a way—to get what I want.”

  As she made her declaration, Gayla rose up to her full, significant height and lifted her arms, sparks flying between her palms. Eamon lunged fo
rward, knowing that she was about to cast a spell, and whether it took her out of their grasp or brought harm on Autumn, he didn’t care—either way he wasn’t going to let it happen. He tackled her to the ground just as lightning crashed against the sky, and they rolled over and over again on the grass, Eamon’s hands around Gayla’s throat, squeezing mercilessly.

  A string of curses erupted from the woman’s lips, but it was clear that he had the upper hand. She wasn’t used to fighting in hand-to-hand combat, and as long as he stayed close, interrupting her ability to channel magic, she was helpless against him.

  With ease, he flipped her onto her back, pinning her arms behind her as he rested a knee against the small of her back. “Change your mind yet?” he growled, yanking her arms up so hard that he was on the verge of snapping them in two.

  Gayla howled in pain, kicking back against him. “You stupid, naked brute! I’ll kill you. I’ll kill all of you!”

  “Really? Because I think you’re trapped with your face in the mud,” Eamon shot back at her. “How are you going to kill me now, Gayla? Face it. You’ve lost.”

  “Never.”

  Eamon snapped one of her arms, and Gayla screamed in agony, writhing beneath him. Eamon was so intent on keeping her still that the sudden force that pushed him backward took him off guard. He ended up splayed on his back, staring up at the stormy sky as the rain poured down over him.

  The pendant. He touched the spot where it should have been hanging around his neck, then realized that when he had transitioned in the cavern, he would have lost it. Gayla had pushed back against him with her mind, and his body, unprotected by Isabelle’s charm had followed her orders.

  She was on her feet, her arm dangling obscenely in the wrong direction, but her face was gleeful as she looked down at him. “Ah, now I’ve found your weakness. I knew you had to have one.”

  Eamon kicked outward, taking her off her feet again, but Gayla was up in an instant, facing off with him just as he got to his own feet. They were both covered in mud, rain pouring down over them as they sized each other up. Gayla shot out a hand and a viper shot out of her palm, flying toward Eamon’s face.

  He had no spell protection at all, so Eamon had to rely on his own skills. Reaching out a hand, he snagged the viper out of the air by the neck, grabbed the creature’s tail, and tied the body in a knot before throwing it to the ground and crushing its head with his heel. The whole time, he never took his eyes off of Gayla’s, and the smirk that spread over her lips sent chills through him.

  The woman was evil, and Autumn’s hope that they could reason with her had, as far as Eamon was concerned, been proven wrong. He was going to have to deal with her his way. But without his pendant, he couldn’t shift. When he tried, his power just fizzled along his skin. It left him momentarily panicked, but he still had his strength, his speed, and his bulk on his side, and the knowledge that she couldn’t use magic to kill him.

  She had to do it with her bare hands, and she would never be able to.

  Gayla lunged at him, and Eamon grabbed her around the waist, throwing her to the ground. She retaliated by pushing him backward again, and his back slammed up against a tree, forcing him to catch his breath before he took after her again. They grappled together, Gayla using her magic to escape his hold and push him off of her whenever he had her dominated.

  “Stay still!” she shouted, holding her hand up as though pushing the command at him.

  Again, he felt that sizzle along his skin, and he froze, waiting to feel her control take hold of him. Her eyes gleamed with triumph, but when she flew toward him again, his hand came up, gripping her face in his large palm and sending her reeling backward.

  She was in shock when she landed on her ass in the mud, her hair falling out of its braid and mud slicked over her face.

  Eamon just grinned at her. She might have some control over him, but it wasn’t complete. He was supernatural too, and even a power as strong as hers couldn’t control him completely. It was harder to move toward her this time, but he pushed through the forces trying and failing to hold him back and when he reached her, he grabbed her up by the neck, holding her feet off the ground as he stared into her eyes.

  “You’re never going to beat me,” he told her. “And I’m tired of playing your games. This is your last chance. Tell Autumn what she wants to know, and I might not kill you.”

  Gayla looked directly into his eyes, and, with her invisible force, shoved him backward again. He toppled, taking her with him, and when he landed with her above him, he immediately flipped her over, raised his fist, and landed a blow to her head that was so hard, the light in her eyes went out instantly. Her head lolled to the side, her eyes closed, and all of the fight went out of her body. With a shudder, her hands fell from his arms and lay limply by her side, and Eamon stared down at her for a long moment before looking up to meet Autumn’s eyes.

  The tiny, sweet ER nurse looked horrified, her hands both up and covering her mouth as she stared at them both. “Did you…? Is she…?”

  “No,” Eamon said, shaking his head. “She’s breathing. But she’s not waking up anytime soon.”

  Autumn closed her eyes, breathing a sigh of relief. “I know she deserves death. By my job is to bring people back to life, not kill them. I…God. I’m not cut out for this. She should have just listened to me!”

  His heart went out to her, and he loved her even more for her sweet, innocent spirit that couldn’t bear the thought of taking a life—even a life that had tortured her and tried to kill her children. Eamon wanted her to always be that pure, and he knew he would do anything in his power to make sure that she could be.

  Getting up, he walked over to her and pulled her into his arms, getting her as filthy as he was. “I love you. I’m sorry that you’ve had to go through any of this, Autumn. I’m so sorry.”

  “I love you too,” she whispered, holding him tightly, despite his filth. “I’m ready for it to be over, Eamon. For good. What do we do now?”

  He eased back and touched her cheek. “We need a couple of not-so-great witches.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  Autumn

  Deep in the woods, Autumn stood in a circle with a group of people she could never have imagined existing, much less interacting with. To her left, Eamon stood in clean clothes that Ronan, on his other side, had brought with him when he arrived with Siobhan and Kean. All of them were dragon shifters, and they formed the northern part of the circle, standing with solemn determination. She stood to Eamon’s right, and to her own right were Isabelle and her friend Leah, forming the southern side of the circle. In the middle, Gayla lay, still unconscious from the blow that Eamon had dealt her, though now and then she would open her eyes, stare blankly, and then sink back into unconsciousness.

  Autumn’s hands were firmly tucked in Eamon and Isabelle’s, and she focused on Gayla, as Isabelle and Leah chanted under their breath, channeling the power of everyone in the circle to try to access Gayla’s mind.

  When Eamon had called Isabelle, she had said that if Gayla’s defenses were down, she could access her thoughts easier and get them the answers that they needed, but so far they had been channeling for half an hour and Isabelle and Leah seemed no closer to the answer than when they had begun.

  Autumn’s eyes slid over to Eamon, but he was staring at Gayla, his grip on her hand so tight it was almost painful.

  “I’ve got it!” It was Leah’s voice that broke the silence, and she dropped the hands of those beside her, looking up at Eamon triumphantly. “She’s still blocking us somehow, even though she’s weak and unconscious. It hard to get through. But I see a place. I see a place with an altar and glowing objects all around it. That has to be it.”

  “That’s it,” Eamon agreed, urging the woman on. “Where is it? Describe it to us.”

  “It’s…in a basement,” Isabelle said, joining in. “I’ve been seeing that altar for a while. I just didn’t know it was important.”

  Autumn winced,
sensing Eamon’s frustration with the woman who never quite had it together, no matter how helpful she’d been.

  “A basement where?” Ronan asked, releasing Siobhan’s hand as they broke their circle. “We need a location, guys. And soon. She’s not going to stay out for much longer. It’s been almost an hour.”

  “I’ll knock her out again,” Siobhan offered, her voice derisive as she spoke about the ailing witch. “Bitch.”

  Eamon held up a hand, trying to keep them focused as he moved toward Leah and Isabelle, one hand on each of their shoulders. “Where? Tell me anything that you can think of—everything is important. Where is it?”

  “By her house.” Leah pointed at Autumn. “It’s near her home.”

  Autumn’s eyebrows shot up. “What? You don’t even know where I live.”

  “I do,” Leah insisted. “Somehow I know—I guess because Gayla knows—that it’s near your house. In a basement. There are window lights, and a pit dug in the floor, like a grave. Like when people bury their victims in a basement. In that pit, there’s an altar. It’s glowing. It …it’s …blue. The house is blue.”

  Eamon turned toward Autumn. “Is there a blue house near yours?”

  She floundered, still stunned by the revelation. “Of course! There are blue houses all over the neighborhood. They’re all a pale blue—like a robin’s egg blue.”

  “This one’s different,” Isabelle said, her eyes closed and her hands held out, palms up. “It’s a darker blue…more vibrant. And it has a…”

  “Flag,” Autumn said, finishing the woman’s sentence. “It has a strange flag hanging where most people fly American flags.” She turned toward Eamon, her eyes wide. “I know where it is. If that’s the place, I know where it is. God, I’ve been living down the street from them.”

  Ronan crouched over Gayla as she began to stir in earnest. “Go check it out. We’ll deal with her.”

  “Like this,” Siobhan suggested, crouching down as well and slapping the woman across the face so hard that Gayla went limp again. She smiled up at Eamon. “See? Under control.”