Chapter Seven
TAIT INSTINCTIVELY PULLED Lauren close as what he suspected was the real cave emerged. Where in his era endless trinkets hung from the ceiling, in this day and age, what had to be the distant past, nothing existed but a monstrous fire pit in the center and too many shields to count. Shiny and round, they were the same type that hung in Uncle Kjar’s lodge. As far as he knew, they were a means for those with seer, dragon or demi-god magic to communicate.
After all, this was the seer Cybil described from a vision she had when she first came to this mountain with Heidrek. This was the man who had snuck Lauren’s bloodline out of her century and sent her to the future to keep her safe from the enemy’s descendants.
The old man looked directly at Tait. “Do you see that your kin are safe, Dragon?”
Tait looked at the others and nodded before a bright light flashed and instead of standing beside him they were reflections within the shield.
“They have returned to your century, Tait,” Eluf said. “They know you are here, safe and eagerly await your return.”
Disgruntled, Tait frowned, eyed his kin and did his best to protect Lauren who miraculously enough, remained by his side. “I do not like this.”
“You are not supposed to like it. You are separated from your kin.” Eluf gestured at a small table with two mugs. “Please sit so that we might talk. Our time is limited.”
“No,” Tait started as Lauren nodded, moved forward and said, “I would like that very much. Thank you.”
What? Tait tried to stop her, but she was surprisingly fast.
“There is nothing to be afraid of, Tait,” she said over her shoulder before she sat primly at the table.
“I’m not afraid,” he defended, eying Eluf the whole time as he stood beside her. “But I will not sit.”
Lauren shrugged and gave Eluf her undivided attention. “I am interested in what you have to say. Please speak.”
“Of course you are, child.” He smiled warmly. “But then you have needed to hear this for some time, yes?”
Lauren gave no response, but Tait sensed her unease. Her desperation. What was this about? Why did she seem so composed when she should be fearful? Tait’s frown deepened as he rested a protective hand on her shoulder and reflected on the things that apparently did frighten her. More so the person.
Charles.
Her former mate.
What Tait had done to save Lauren made him far more vulnerable to her. More than that, it connected them in a whole new way. Somehow, even though he had been trying to save her using ancient dragon magic, he had ended up in a hallway.
One of many within her mind.
“I have needed to hear what you have to say for some time,” Lauren whispered in response to Eluf. “The tree is dying. Why?”
“Because you burned it, did you not?” Eluf said softly.
Pain flashed in Lauren’s eyes. “No…how could I have?”
“To remember something,” he prompted. “Something very important.”
Lauren shook her head. “I would never burn my favorite tree.” Her voice dropped several octaves. “I would never hurt it like that.”
“That’s enough,” Tait growled and stepped in front of her, his eyes narrowed on Eluf. “Say what you mean to say then send us home.” He pulled out a dagger. “If you mean to help us then help. Otherwise, let us go.”
“I am helping you.” Eluf’s eyes flickered to Tait’s weapon before their eyes met and his voice began to fade. “Keep safe Bjark’s blood to keep safe Einar’s.”
“Einar,” Lauren said. “The man in your lodge, Tait?”
He shook his head, more confused than ever as Eluf began to fade as did the shields. By the time they vanished altogether, there was nothing left in the cave but the fire, the table Lauren sat at and a satchel. Where were his siblings? His cousin?
“Tait?” Lauren seemed just as confused as she stood. “Where is everyone?”
“I don’t know,” he muttered as he began searching. While tempted to call out for them, he knew better. There was no way to know if the enemy was near or if someone threatening was listening.
One thing he knew for certain was that the sun was rising and if he was to follow the premise they all had since the enemy first attacked, it was best not to be out in daylight. While this cave was relatively protected, it was far too large and had an entranceway too vulnerable. He took inventory of his weapons. Thankfully, he still had three daggers and a sword.
Tait snuffed the fire with a chant, grabbed the satchel and took her hand. “Come, Lauren. We need to travel deeper into the mountain.”
While he expected possible hysterics or maybe even a flash of fear in her eyes, none of that happened. Instead, she nodded and followed. Allowing his dragon instincts to guide them, he lit a torch and traveled deeper and deeper into the cave. While he had visited this mountain often enough and probably enjoyed the company of more female seers than he should have, now he was traveling somewhere new.
They descended tunnel after tunnel and tight alleyways. Huge caverns then tiny ones. All the while Lauren didn’t complain and remained unusually quiet. Hours later and about halfway down the mountain, she stopped and peered down a pathway in the rock. “There.”
She opened her fist and showed him the little globe.
Running water poured around its edges, and it glowed dimly. He nodded in agreement that it seemed to want them to turn left, so they did. At the end, they found a small cavern with water trickling down its wall from an unseen source above. Some said the best place to hide from those with magic was surrounded by running water because it inhibited their ability to locate things. Tait had always thought it was dragon myth but now had to wonder.
The only downfall to running water was the extra dampness and chill in the air. As dragons, they could tolerate it, but it would not be comfortable. Unsure what they would be facing and how much magic he could safely use, he had gathered a few sticks along the way but not many. Enough to start a fire and fuel it with tiny amounts of magic if needed.
Fortunately, when he opened the satchel, he realized Eluf had provided well for them. Though small, the burlap contained far more than it should. Two large heavy furs, skins of mead, and some food items. Not much but something.
So Tait spread out one fur for them to sit on and saved the other to cover them with. Lauren sat without being asked. Legs tucked beneath her, she stiffened her back, folded her hands on her lap and focused on the fire as he sat beside her. He knew she was trying to hold onto normalcy… a sense of reality.
“Lauren,” he began, determined to put her mind at ease only for her to shake her head and cut him off.
“You do not need to say anything, Tait. You do not need to worry about me.” Her eyes remained on the flames. “Your confusion has to be as great as mine.”
Tait wasn’t sure what to make of her words or of her demeanor in general.
“Do you have any water?” she murmured. “I am thirsty.”
He shook his head and handed her a skin. “All I have is what’s in this skin, and I doubt it is water.”
“More mead then?” She shook her head, though she glanced at it. “I cannot help but wonder if the mead didn’t lead me to what we witnessed, to begin with.”
“The mead?” His brows shot up in question as he took a swig from his own skin and tried to set aside worry over his family. “How so?”
She took the skin he offered and stared at it. “As a rule, I do not drink much,” she said stiffly before her tone wavered and became less intense. “What I drank before we saw Eluf was more in one sitting than I’ve had in years.”
“You mean what I did not wear,” he chided, oddly determined to take the lost, confused expression she wore off her face. How many times had she worn it? How often did she isolate herself within her mind trying to figure out what she had done wrong? Too often he figured based on the one hallway full of doors in her mind he had walked down.
“Yes
.” She swallowed, her eyes flickering over his nude torso before they shot back to the fire. “What you did not wear.”
Loki’s Hel, he nearly forgot he had taken off his tunic. Tait clenched his teeth and tried his damndest not to inhale because he knew what he would smell if he did. Lauren’s desire. While nothing had ever smelled so sweet, he did not want to become aroused right now. For the first time in his life, he wanted to get to know a woman better rather than bed her. Some might say because he needed to get answers, but he knew it was more than that.
So he bent his knees, planted his feet on the ground, rested his elbows on his knees, and hid his erection the best he could. “You and Eluf spoke of a burning tree.” He kept his eyes on her face. “Where was that tree, Lauren? I know it meant a great deal to you, but I could not see where it was.”
“How do you know that exactly?” Her sharp eyes met his. “How do you know it meant a great deal to me?” Before he could respond, she continued. “What happened when we were pulled away from the Fortress?” She shook her head. “Runa said you gave up a piece of your soul to save my life. What does that mean?”
Though tempted to flirt or even look away to avoid her questions, he could not. “It is a thing dragons can do,” he explained, not sure how he should phrase it. “To save another dragon.”
“You are not telling me everything.” Her eyes narrowed. “Please tell me. What did you do?”
Tait took a deep swig from his skin then met her eyes again. Why was he so hesitant to tell her? But he knew. He didn’t want her to feel indebted to him. More than that, he didn’t want her to think he expected something in return, her body or otherwise. And that was shocking to realize.
Since when did he not take a woman’s body when it was presented to him? Offered willingly? Not to say she had yet but she might if she knew the truth.
“We can save another at cost to ourselves,” he finally said. “Under the right circumstances, we can pull another dragon back from Helheim, the underworld of the dead, and give them life again.”
“Another dragon,” she whispered as her pupils flared. She clenched and unclenched her fists methodically as her eyes held his. “Me, then.”
Tait knew she still struggled with the idea of being a dragon even though she had somewhat accepted it long ago. The things that went on in her mind were very hard to decipher, nearly impossible to understand, but they were starting to reveal themselves only because he had seen them.
He had been inside her mind now.
So he knew she had time and time again, locked her dragon away in one of her rooms.
Though that was sad, at least he understood her better now. She might not be as mentally disturbed as he thought. At least not in the common sense.
“Yes, Lauren, you were the dragon I saved,” Tait said, his eyes still with hers. “When I did I became a little less…me. At least for now.”
“A little less you?” Lauren shook her head. “What does that mean? Is it part of the curse? Are you having even more difficulty with your personality when there is distance between us?”
“I don’t think so, but we have not been apart yet.” Loki’s cock, he was trying his best not to think about what the consequences of his actions might have on his pre-existing curse. While he could admit he was slightly more in favor of Lauren than he had been before, he still did not like the idea of being so closely connected to a woman. “No, this is a different sort of connection now. One made between…our dragons.”
Lauren stiffened even more and slanted him a distrustful look. “What does that mean exactly?” Her eyes narrowed. “Did we…” her eyes widened as something apparently occurred to her, and she struggled to get the words out. “Did your dragon take advantage of mine in a,” she swallowed heavily and gestured between them, “in a sensual manner?”
“Did my dragon what?” Tait took three heavy swallows from his skin and decided it might just be best for him to keep his mouth shut.
Had she just accused his dragon of raping hers?
“You heard me,” she bit out, her voice far surer as she rallied behind her supposed cause and clasped her hands neatly on her lap. “Did your dragon take advantage of mine in order to save my life?”
He really wished she would take a sip of mead. Just one small sip. Anything to loosen her up. Or even throw them into another century with a long-dead cryptic seer that might likely be part of his kin’s future demise.
Anything was better than this.
“Well,” she pressed, her eyes growing wider as her posture grew stiffer and stiffer. “What did you do to me, Tait? What sort of harm did you—”
“I committed to you,” he bit out before she could say something too unfortunate. “More so, my dragon committed to yours.”
She frowned. “I do not understand.”
“And I would rather it stay that way,” he returned before he polished off his mead and swiped hers.
Several long moments passed before her tone softened. “I need to know what that means, Tait.”
“Why? It’s done,” he grumbled. “There is nothing more to understand.”
What he didn’t expect to see when he looked her way was confusion. More than that, a flicker of sadness before her expression smoothed and she tucked her hair behind her ears. A gesture he realized would normally be her smoothing her clothes or some other compulsive habit that helped her feel organized and contained.
Under control.
Better than everyone else.
Or at least better than the things she was trying to escape.
“You know I am married, right, Tait?” Her tone was tightly matter-of-fact. “And I intend to remain faithful to my husband.”
He couldn’t wrap his mind around that if he tried but saw this as the perfect opportunity to get himself out of an uncomfortable situation. One that might cost him more than he could handle. Because right here, right now, and quite likely until their last dying breath, he did not want Lauren to know how connected they really were at this point.
“I know you’re married, Lauren.” Tait pulled the other fur over their laps. “Tell me about him, then. Tell me about this mate of yours.”
Her expression softened a scant fraction and her brows perked. “Really?”
“Yes.” He took a swig from the skin and braced for either torture or boredom. He supposed his dragon would decide which.
“Well, he is the love of my life,” she announced.
Boredom it was then.
Yet something deep inside that wasn’t dragon related in the least got more and more agitated as she spoke methodically about her amazing relationship with Charles. The name sounded like something he might find caught in his talon if he tromped through a dank swamp. A pesky, maggot like creature that was good at festering in vulnerable locations and feeding off things left unattended for too long.
Even beautiful things non-swamp related like Lauren.
“Are you listening to me, Tait?” she interrupted his thoughts. “Have you heard what I said about my husband?”
“Yes,” he lied, trying his best to remember he wanted to keep her mind off him saving her and on Charles.
“Nobody gets in his way,” she said with pride as she swiped his skin of mead and took a sip. “He demands respect. As he should.”
Anger flared.
Tait knew he had only touched the surface of her mate when in her mind, but it was enough to set his blood on fire. The man had used, manipulated, abused and abandoned her.
“A real man should demand respect,” he agreed, unable to help himself as he egged her on. As he tested just how far gone she was. “As should a woman.”
“Yes.” She nodded and took another sip, her eyes trained on the fire as she looked into the past. “But then sometimes it is best to trust that a man knows what he is doing. That he knows best.”
“So he has made this great career for himself,” Tait finally said, unable to bite his tongue he was so frustrated. “And what is your career then?
Or is your pride in him all that you are proud of?”
He didn’t realize until he said it and saw the look on her face how cruel that might have sounded. Still, it wasn’t long before she notched her chin and narrowed her eyes at him. “At least I can say I rallied behind someone. That I put my all into supporting another human being. I made someone better.” Lauren sat up straighter if that was possible, more haughty than ever. “No, I made someone great.” She gave him a less-than-impressed look. “Can you say the same, barbarian? Can you say that you have done anything worthwhile with your life?”
So they were back to barbarian, were they?
“Actually, I can, woman,” he growled. “I have defended and protected my King, Queen, kin and people my entire life. I was willing to lay down my life for any of them at any time, and that has not changed.”
He narrowed his eyes at her and almost said what was on the tip of his tongue. That she was a fool for loving someone who had been so cruel to her. A fool for being devoted to someone who would never protect her as he could. But he didn’t say any of that because as much as she irritated him to Asgard and back, she didn’t deserve it.
She had already been through too much.
“While noble I am sure, you live in a day and age where your obligations are cut and dry,” Lauren said and took another sip of mead. “Nothing like what it is to deal with politics in the twenty-first century.” She released a small squeak that may or may not have been a snort. “Now that is where heroes are born and die. Where what you are really made of holds sway.”
While tempted to keep frowning, Tait couldn’t help but smirk. Lauren wasn’t just being her usual judgmental, self-righteous self. No, she was feeling the effects of the mead, and it seemed to be affecting her differently than before.
“It sounds like an admirable era then,” he agreed, nudging her mead just enough to remind her it was there. “A more civilized place where real heroes are born, yes?”
“Yes.” She cast woeful eyes his way as she took not a sip but a swig. “You could learn something from Charles.” She patted his arm as her eyes trailed over his nude torso. “To begin with, how to dress decently…or dress at all for that matter.”
Soul of a Viking (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors' Kin Book 3) Page 10
