Yet he was right. She could not hate the other woman. Besides, why should what he did matter to her? He didn’t love her and she didn’t love him. Oh, he wanted her. The attraction between them had pulsed with energy from the first time they laid eyes on each other, but she could be nothing more than a necessity to him. A way to save his race. Somewhere inside she knew this last thought to be a lie based on self-preservation.
Draakar had loved another and had placed his needs and the needs of the brethren before her own. Even though it seemed selfish, Maya needed to be the one who meant more to him than anything or anyone else. I too have paid a price with the pain of each of my rebirths, with the agony of coming into this world time after time only to be alone, always alone. I have more than earned the right not to settle for anything less from my Dark Dragon Lord.
The thought came after he turned aside to move down the hallway. Maya quickly closed the door of her sitting room, knowing he probably heard it. She sensed him briefly pause but then he continued, away from her suite. Maya breathed a sigh of relief.
In the bedroom, on the bed rested the most beautiful gold-colored two-piece bikini Maya had ever seen. The embroidered tiny golden sequins around the edges, while beautiful, made it completely impractical to swim in. She walked over to the bed and picked it up. The front portion of the bottom barely covered her hand.
“I don’t think so,” she said to the empty room.
Why not? Draakar asked in her head.
Maya didn’t bother replying. She just focused on the material until it expanded enough to her satisfaction. She also added a long sarong and slipped her feet into the matching sequined slippers she spied at the foot of the bed.
Glancing beyond the bay window she noticed the trees swaying in the distance. The weather for the week had been in the mid to high 50 degrees, but she’d bet a month’s salary the area around the pool would feel like they were in the Caribbean. If it didn’t, she could make it feel that way around her body. Her dragon gift. Exhilaration and sadness competed inside her body as she embraced her brethren heritage, knowing she’d never be simply human again.
At the far end of one of the tennis courts, Maya stood with her hands hanging loosely at her sides and her sandaled-feet planted firmly on the ground. No breeze ruffled the curly hair framing her face. The slit on the side of her bronze sarong allowed for the showcasing of one long, sleek beautiful leg. Her eyes concentrated on the ball on the ground in front of her.
Without a racket in sight and without moving a muscle, she raised the ball off the ground and sent it flying across the net at a speed tennis stars would envy. Since Maya began playing an hour earlier, no one had been able to return her serves…until now.
The ball travelled right back over the net directly at her head, with the velocity of a heat-seeking missile. She had just enough time to duck. “No fair!” she yelled.
“Concentrate,” Draakar said. “Why did you duck?”
“Oh I don’t know,” Maya replied sarcastically. “Just the natural reaction to anything that could either maim or bury me!”
The onlookers standing on the side of the tennis court laughed. Draakar faced Maya on the other side of the net grinning. While some people were dressed appropriately for the pool or to play tennis, Draakar, with his hair hanging loosely down his back, still wore his signature look: black silk shirt, jeans and snakeskin cowboy boots. Not surprisingly, he did not look at all out of place. Then again neither did Maya, wrapped in her sarong. Draakar looked comfortable no matter where he was or what he wore.
With a predatory smile showing all teeth, he said, “Again, and this time don’t duck. This is about manipulating matter. Concentrate.”
“All right already.”
Again, Maya slowly levitated the ball, stopping it once it reached the front of her face. With a mental push she served it even faster than before, back across the net to Draakar. This time she mentally prepared for his return serve. When he sent the ball at rocket pace across the net, she sent it right back at him, and the game was on. The entire game played out without the opponents moving. There were no tennis rackets, and no one physically touched the ball. Yet the ball remained the only thing in motion. No one had ever seen a weirder game of tennis.
Unfortunately, the back and forth only lasted for a few minutes before Draakar upped the ante. “Good, Maya,” he said. “Very good. It is a start. What would you do if I did this, I wonder?”
The ball came toward Maya, traveling so fast it became engulfed in flame before it crossed the net. Maya couldn’t wrap her energy around it fast enough to send it back across the net. She had less than a micron to react, and react she did.
Going purely on instinct, she constructed a wall—a glowing, translucent, golden, paper-thin shield. It stood as tall as she and was wide enough to protect her. It appeared in front of her just in time. The enflamed ball hit, barely creating a ripple in her golden shield. On impact, the ball made a popping sound and turning to ashes, fell to the ground.
Bravo!
“Wow!” came from the lips of more than one of the brethren by-standers.
“Bloody hell!” Richard exclaimed. “Can we do that, too?”
“At that speed?” Draakar raised one eyebrow. “Eventually, but you can create shields now.” He walked over to the sidelines to talk to those who had gathered to watch. “Our shields are what protect all brethren from harm. It is a natural form of protection for us. Maya reacted by instinct and raised hers. She used it as a wall but it can also be raised to encompass our entire bodies.” He demonstrated by encasing himself within a translucent emerald shield. It shimmered a few inches around and away from his body. “In a time gone by, brethren entered battle thus encased and nothing created by humans could penetrate the shield, or so we thought.”
“How did the betrayer breach the shield?” Maya asked, coming over to stand beside him. Drawing the information from her ancestral memories, she knew the betrayer had found a way for humans to breach the shield.
“At one point, the magicks of Earth were weakened, as well as the inner magicks of the brethren. We became vulnerable; the shields were no longer effective against all weapons. The betrayer discovered silver-tipped spears could penetrate our shields.”
“Just spears?” James asked.
“That’s all that was used. Arrows weren’t large enough to hold the weight of the silver required to down us in dragon form. No human could ever get close enough to us to use a sword or a knife. We were still faster and stronger. Normally there would be no contest. However a spear could be thrown from a distance. While we could fight off a few men with silver spears, we could not fight off many spears, or even one spear in the back. If even one breached the shield and pierced our skin, it meant instant death.”
“Is this the secret the betrayer passed along to help mankind destroy the brethren?” Ian asked.
“Yes. And he led many raids against the more powerful of us. While he held off anyone who could help or acted as a distraction, his men were able to surround the more powerful brethren and take them down. Then they went after the lesser brethren.”
“Does silver still have this same effect on brethren?” Maya inquired.
Draakar frowned. “I don’t know.”
“Well, let’s see.” Maya walked over to Cass who wore a shiny bracelet with ends shaped like arrowheads. “Cass, is that bracelet made of silver?”
Cass looked down at the bracelet on her arm then back up at Maya. “Yes, my Lady, sterling silver.”
“I wear silver too. How come we can wear silver if it’s dangerous to us?”
“I never said it couldn’t be worn. Only that in the past it was used to penetrate our shields. But what we used in the past would have been a purer form of silver.”
“Well, sterling silver is still mostly silver so let’s see if it’s still a weakness.” Maya enwrapped herself in her shield. “Cass, take the bracelet off and straighten it. See if your bracelet can get past my shield.”
“Wait,” Draakar said, walking over to Cass. “Give the bracelet to Maya. She can see if it would penetrate my shield.”
“No, Draakar,” Maya argued. “I think we will have to test it on all of us. I don’t think we can take any chances with this. Just because silver may or may not have any effect on you doesn’t mean it would have the same lack of effect on the rest of us. We should all be tested.”
Draakar stared at Maya for a moment. Very well, My Lady, but I will go first.
Maya dropped her shield and took the bracelet away from Cass, who couldn’t hand it over fast enough and stepped back.
“I will change the composition to a purer silver,” Draakar said.
Are you sure about this, Dark One? Maya asked as the bracelet in her hand glowed and changed to a more brilliant silver sheen.
Why? Is that the sound of worry in your voice? Concern perhaps, for me?
Maya didn’t bother to respond, she stepped nearer to him. She thrust the bracelet slowly toward Draakar and encountered a barrier pressing against it until it bent the tip of the bracelet.
“I guess that means your shield works,” Maya said.
“Your turn,” Draakar said, dropping his shield and enclosing both the bracelet and Maya’s hand in his own.
She couldn’t have moved if she wanted to. The heat generating between them consumed her. Six pair of eyes watched as a soft golden glow emanated from around their joined hands before gradually expanding until it completely encompassed their Lord and Lady. The separate male-female forms within expanded and elongated, seeming to shine and shimmer before flaming into a very real Dark Dragon Lord and his golden bronze companion. His great wings unfurled from his sides, expanded, then folded to enclose the smaller bright form standing before him. A uniform gasp echoed across the court.
A stunned Maya raised golden eyes to stare into blazing emeralds. What are you doing?
You know.
What have you done! I asked for more time!
I am giving it to you, but this bond between us has been formed before time began and it will not be denied. I called to you and you came. You need to see for yourself all of what I am, what you are, and what we can be together. I do not require your pledge now, but before all and Mother Earth on this world of both our births, I give these pledges to you now. My life is yours. My soul is yours. Ever they are intertwined with yours. These pledges I made to no other because my soul has always belonged to you. I eagerly and gladly await the time I can complete the rest of the bonding ritual.
The others listened as their lord made his pledge to his lady. They watched in awe the powerful and beautiful creatures of legend standing before them. A moment framed in time they would never forget. Though none who observed the two consciously realized it, each watcher decided they too would bond only with their own truemates.
However, one amongst them carried a heavy heart. She suspected what they shared would be forever out of her reach.
The magicks surrounding the pair caused the hair on the bodies of the other brethren to rise as it reached out and included them. They actually saw the links their Lord and Lady forged, binding one to the other. The bonds formed very visible tendrils of power. It looked like thin black, gold, and bronze intertwined threads pulsing as if alive. These tendrils reached out to connect each of their chosen protectors to them. One by one each human brethren pledged his or her life to the Dark Dragon Lord and his lady of golden bronze.
Maya and Draakar returned to their human forms and the glow surrounding them dimmed then disappeared. He released Maya’s hand, retaining the bracelet in his. From the first time she’d lay eyes on Draakar, she’d been very aware of him. In the grand scheme of things, that meant nothing. She had no idea of just how much more aware she could be. Each time his heart beat she could feel the contraction of the muscle as if it were her own. For every breath he took, the air might as well have entered her lungs.
The bond created a new awareness of Draakar on a level she had no experience with, and little control over. Most of all, she could feel his intense pleasure with her. If she probed a little more she could feel…no, she wouldn’t go there. For her, his thoughts were only covered by a sheer curtain. One she could move aside at will to venture within. He had no secrets from her should she choose to look. Neither did she, but he would never touch the curtain in her mind without her permission. Not yet. Nor could she bring herself to accept his invitation to bare his.
She raised her shield. Draakar barely touched it with the bracelet before he could move the bracelet no more. Neither said a word. Maya merely stepped back as he turned to his brethren. One at a time he had them attempt to raise their shields. They were all able to do so. Some needed a little push, but it could be done. Though none of them could change into dragon form, the silver bracelet could not breach any of their shields.
After the last one tested his shield, the brethren moved off; some went back to practicing control on the tennis courts, while others wandered over to the pool. Maya and Draakar continued to stand apart from their Firsts, staring at each other, caught in a warp of emotions. Suddenly, they turned sharply to look in the direction of the village even though they couldn’t see it from the mountain.
What is…? What is that I sense, Dark One?
Paul.
He’s in danger.
The others must have sensed something too because they all stopped what they were doing and looked toward the village.
“Something’s very wrong,” Draakar stated. “I’m going to the inn.”
“I’ll come with you,” Maya said.
Draakar returned his gaze to her. Together we are stronger than you alone, she said to him. He nodded his head in acknowledgment of her truth. He held his hand out to her.
Ian, you and James follow in the car. Everyone else, stay here.
Maya placed her hand in his. Together then.
Draakar enclosed her smaller hand within his larger one and drew on the power of their bond. He used her nearness to charge his own magicks. An electric surge bounced off each and every one of her nerve endings. Remember how you willed yourself to your room.
Yes.
Think of Paul and the inn.
One minute, Maya stood on the side of the tennis court, the next she and Draakar stood in one of the rooms at the inn. The sitting area in Paul’s room.
Draakar didn’t look around as though he already knew what they’d find. Do you smell it, Maya? The metallic scent of death, and even stronger, the stench of the silver dragon. The betrayer has been there. The chaos has begun.
Maya faced the closed bedroom door. Before she could take another step toward it, Draakar stopped her with a thought.
Don’t, Maya. Wait here.
He moved past her and, turning the doorknob, stepped into the room.
Chapter Fifteen
Maya couldn’t just stand there and let him deal with whatever resided in the bedroom alone. Paul was brethren; one of theirs. She got as far as the doorway before Draakar turned and used his larger frame to block her view. The solid immovable wall of his silk clad chest stood in her way.
“It’s his wife,” he said tonelessly. “She’s dead. Paul’s not here.”
“Dead! My God! The betrayer…he did this. But…where’s Paul? I don’t get a sense of him. I thought he was the one dead in the room.”
“No, he’s not dead, at least not yet. He has been taken. The betrayer knows he is an awakened brethren. It is as I have feared. He will try to use Paul to enter the circle of power.”
“Why would he need Paul to do that?”
“Because the betrayer is barred by the wards surrounding the Stones.”
“I don’t understand.”
“No time to explain. We must get back to the castle. I already turned Ian and James back. They’ll meet us at the castle.”
“What do we do about Paul’s wife? And Paul? Don’t we have to notify the authorities?”
“I will take care of her b
efore we leave. I’ll clean things up too, and have someone find her who can summon the authorities. Then we have to get back. I will need to be within the circle of power to try to locate Paul. I can barely feel my link to him, just enough to know he’s alive but not enough to find him. The energy signature of his life force is being blocked.”
Maya squeezed Draakar’s hands and he closed his eyes. The air around him crackled as power surfaced within him. He stepped away from the door for Maya to look into the room. Cindy lay in bed seemingly asleep, but Maya’s enhanced senses screamed otherwise.
“How…What?” she stuttered, unsure what she expected but not this serene scene before her. Given the violence she’d first sensed, Draakar must have made some changes.
“I had to clean things up so there will be fewer questions. It will appear as if she died of natural causes.”
“Twenty-something year olds do not die of natural causes.”
“No one will question this.”
This time Draakar didn’t offer Maya his hand. He took hers and returned them to the castle. The brethren already waited for them in the center of the Circle of Stones.
We don’t have much time. Please join hands and form a circle around Maya and me.
Draakar watched as each of his brethren unconsciously stood with their backs to the etchings of dragons on the stones matching their color.
Maya, take both of my hands.
She did and placed her forehead on his chest. The Stones around them hummed and glowed. The light in the cavern grew so bright everyone had to close their eyes, but all could still see with their dragon’s inner eye what happened in the cavern. The Stones emitted a wide spectrum of colored lights throughout the cavern. At least one of the lights pierced all the brethren within the circle, crisscrossing through the two at the center, Maya and Draakar, sending all of the light through them. Then abruptly, the lights withdrew and the Stones went silent and dark.
Dragon's Heart Page 13
