He had made it to Shannon.
The woman who had somehow helped him out of the unusual slumber the enemy’s dart had caused.
“Why didn’t you ask her about that?” Tait said into Matthew’s mind. “It seems she feels something haunts you so I would have thought you—”
“Whatever I thought, I must have been mistaken,” Matthew grumbled into his mind before Tait could finish. “As I told you before, I am keeping my options open.”
“Well, keep them off of Lauren,” he grumbled. “Because you cannot have her.”
“Maybe I can.” That same old darkness was resurfacing in Matthew again, and his next taunt hit its mark. “After all, I can enter her tent. You cannot.”
When Tait leapt to his feet and pulled a dagger, his cousin did the same. This was exactly what he needed. A good fight. A chance to get out some pent up frustration. Matthew seemed just as eager as a challenging grin curled his lips. Tait grinned right back, more than ready to have it out.
“Oh goodness,” Mema Angie exclaimed before she shook her head. “If you two feel the need to fight, then take it outside.”
“I can’t go outside,” Tait reminded and swiped his dagger at Matthew.
“Oh, that’s right.” She started removing breakables from the surrounding area. “Just stay away from the windows.”
Neither responded but went after each other
Matthew punched. Tait ducked.
Tait swiped his dagger again. Matthew spun away.
Svala grew excited and watched avidly. Sean had a casual arm around her shoulders, as he kept one eye on the men circling each other and the other on a sports program. Sven shook his head and ignored his uncles as he whittled away at a piece of wood. Aunt Megan yawned, tucked her feet beneath her on the couch and frowned at them. “The garage would be a better idea, boys.”
“Our boat’s in there,” Svala and Sean said at the same time.
Megan looked at them. “Since when?”
“Since we started building another one,” Svala reminded and glanced upstairs. Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Remember? For Emily?”
“Ah, yes,” she responded.
Meanwhile, he and Matthew fought as they edged toward the garage, unwilling to test Aunt Megan. Yet all came to a halt when his cousin opened the door and froze. Eager for a fight, Tait nudged him along. They could navigate around the boat just fine.
“I do not understand,” Matthew whispered, his skin ashen as he walked slowly down the stairs into the garage and stared in the direction of the Viking boat Sean and Aunt Megan had built together years ago. “How is she here? How are they here?”
“Who?” Tait looked around. Nobody was here.
“Sigrunn.” His eyes went wider, and he shook his head. “And Freydis.”
Matthew’s dead wife and sister?
“Mama!” Emily suddenly yelled from upstairs. “You better come right away! Something’s wrong!”
Tait didn’t wait around for Matthew, who seemed completely stunned and immobile, but rushed back into the house and took up defense in front of Lauren.
“Svala!” he shouted, stopping her halfway up the stairs. “Protect Lauren. Now!”
He would have asked Sven, but he had already raced up the stairs ahead of everyone.
“Tait,” Lauren whispered, her eyes wide on her globe. “What am I looking at?”
He stepped closer and peered at the keychain. “Loki’s cock, no,” he managed to whisper before Matthew was beside her, peering at the ball in horror.
“Håkon? Son?”
They all watched as the little boy was snatched up by a black dragon with red eyes.
The enemy.
“No!” Matthew roared seconds before Aunt Megan appeared on the balcony with damp eyes. “You better come look at this, Nephew.”
Matthew was up the stairs in three bounds as Sven came out of Shannon’s room holding one of Cybil’s pictures. Titled Fury, it was taken at night and captured the full moon shining over the ocean in the wake of a bad storm. Prisms of blue, a dragon appeared to materialize out of nowhere. Anger burned in its eyes, caught by the reflection of lunar light on water.
That, however, was not what everybody was looking at.
No, everyone’s eyes were drawn to the black dragon in the distance holding the limp body of a little dragon in its talons.
“I knew you should not have been here.” Emily glowered up at Matthew. “I just knew it!” She pointed at the little dragon, fury in her eyes. “He belongs to you, doesn’t he? And you’re here not there protecting him!”
“Enough, Emily!” Shannon scooped her up, mouthed, “I’m sorry,” to Matthew and headed down the hall.
A look of horror still in his eyes, Matthew seemed to be breaking free from his own curse as he shook his head and stared at the picture. “She’s right. I should be with him,” he whispered. His eyes went to Aunt Megan as if she had all the answers. “I…I don’t understand.” He rubbed his forehead and looked down at Tait. “Where is Håkon? Where was he last?”
“Remember, Nephew, the enemy likes to play tricks.” Aunt Megan put a comforting hand on his shoulder. “This is likely nothing.”
“No.” He shook his head and strode down the stairs. “This is something. And his mother was just trying to tell me.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I need to get home. I need to find my son.”
Mema Angie and Aunt Megan looked at each other and debated something before Angie nodded. “I’ll bring him out to the tree and call on Sam.”
Aunt Megan squeezed her shoulder. “Okay, I’ll go look in on Emily and Shannon.”
All might seem calm enough, but Tait kept his weapon at the ready and watched as Matthew headed outside.
“You should make sure he is all right, Tait,” Lauren said. “That would be the right thing to do.”
“Of course he’s all right.” Yet Tait felt uneasy. “At least now he remembers he has a son who misses him. A son he has barely been there for lately. For a while now, actually.”
“A son who might already be dead,” she whispered.
“No,” he growled, in flat out denial. Unable to contemplate his young nephew in harm’s way. “The enemy does not have Håkon.”
“Probably not,” she agreed. “But you should say goodbye to Matthew. You should let him know you will be there to help him as soon as you’re able.”
His eyes met hers. “But what if I’m never able to, Lauren? What if I remain trapped here? Would that not be a lie?”
“Sometimes people just need to know you will be there whether or not you will,” she murmured. “There is comfort in that.”
Tait realized she was trying to tell him something outside the obvious. She was sorry for not letting him protect her. And she was sorry for something else…but what?
“Please.” Her eyes held his. “Matthew is a good man. Let him know you will be there as soon as you can. That we will be there.”
He nodded, more impressed by her than ever. Here they were cursed, and she was concerned about Matthew but more so, the relationship he and his cousin shared. A relationship that had been truly strained lately through no fault of his own.
“Cousin.” He strode along the floor-to-ceiling windows until he could see Matthew by the tree. “All will be well. We will come help you as soon as we can. Trust in our All-Father.”
Matthew’s hard eyes met his through the darkness, and he nodded.
That was it.
A simple nod.
Then he was gone.
Yet it was enough to make Tait grateful he had done it. That Lauren had asked it of him. Because he knew Matthew was as much under the influence of everything happening as they were. And he had a child involved. Tait clenched his jaw and returned to Lauren, unable to truly process what his cousin was going through. What it would feel like to have his offspring taken from him.
Perhaps that was why he never settled on one woman. Because would that not involve a family? Offspring? And
what greater risk was there than that? Just look at how vulnerable they were. Look at how vulnerable their parent’s hearts were? Tait thought of little Håkon and scowled. Perhaps vulnerable hearts didn’t just apply to parents but uncles as well.
“Thank you,” Lauren murmured and sat.
Tait sat beside her, as close as he could without touching the unseen barrier. “I think perhaps I should be thanking you.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “You make me think differently sometimes.” His eyes met hers. “In a good way.”
She crossed her legs casually in front of her and offered a small smile. “You do the same for me too.”
“Yes?” He eyed her. “How so?”
She was about to respond when Mema Angie returned. “Samantha’s got Matthew. He’s off on his adventure now.”
Interesting way to phrase it.
“Do you think Håkon will be okay?” Lauren said. “I never got to meet him, but I heard good things. And no child deserves…” She swallowed and shook her head. “No child should be subjected to that monster.”
Mema Angie glanced out at the ash tree where Matthew had been then up at Shannon’s bedroom door. “I think the odds are in Håkon’s favor.”
Before Lauren could respond Angie blew them kisses, turned down the lights and said she was off to bed. Everyone else had already vanished. It had been a long night and rest was desired by all.
“We never did get around to eating Sean’s lobster’s, did we?” Lauren said as she settled back and pulled a blanket over her.
He shook his head. “I think he put them in the refrigerator. Would you like some?”
“No.” She chuckled. “Leave it to Sean to have the good sense to refrigerate the lobster despite tonight’s events. Die-hard fisherman.”
“You say that fondly,” he murmured as he settled back as well. “Do you like fishing then?”
A disgusted look flashed across her face before it melted away and her lips turned up. “You know what? I really do…I did. A long time ago.”
“That is hard to believe.” But he liked the whimsical expression on her face. The way the stiff woman she had been was fading away. “It would ruin your nice clothing, yes?”
“It would,” Lauren agreed. She eyed her wrinkled pants then her shirt. It was unbuttoned enough to reveal a flash of tempting cleavage. “I am not so sure I care about ruined clothing anymore, though.”
“No?”
What he wouldn’t do to touch that bit of cleavage right now.
“No,” she confirmed. “Yet there might be benefits to ruined clothing.” Her voice softened. “They are better taken off than left on.”
His eyes shot to hers in interest. Arousal neither of them could afford flared. Not separated as they were. So he reminded her of her previous wishes. “There are no benefits to ruined clothing when two people are only friends and nothing more.”
Tait found it amusing how much she had changed since she helped him over the very threshold they sat on now. He also found it very alluring.
“Right, friends,” she whispered as she lay on her side, propped up on an elbow and fiddled with her keychain as she eyed him. “Why was it again that I thought that was the best option for us?”
A slow grin crawled onto his face. What was she up to? While some might consider it a bad idea because they couldn’t touch, he was more creative than most in the bedroom.
“I believe you were trying to ease my guilt over not committing to you....more than my soul, that is.”
“That’s right,” she murmured, her eyes a little less sensual by the moment. “Maybe we had that all wrong.”
“Had what all wrong?” he said, shifting to ease his arousal, his intense need for her. She had never looked more beautiful with her hair loose and tousled and her posture so relaxed. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She had looked just as stunning in the shower…and before that in his dragon lair…and before that in his…
“Tait, are you listening to me?”
“Yes,” he replied as he shook his head no and offered what he hoped came across as a charming smile.
“I said I think we had it all wrong.” Her eyes held his. “Maybe I was the one who did not commit. Not enough. Maybe that is half the problem.”
“How do you mean?” What he wouldn’t do to touch her soft skin, to feel her small body against his.
“There is something I need to tell you, Tait,” she murmured. “Something that happened before I killed you in my nightmare.”
Now she had his complete attention. Mainly because of the distress in her eyes. The waver in her voice. He wanted to take her hand and reassure her that it would be all right. That whatever it was hadn’t happened in this life so she shouldn’t feel guilty. Instead, all he could offer was a nod as he encouraged her to continue.
“I turned you away, Tait.” She shook her head. “I tried to keep you from following me.” Her eyes met his. “You were my best friend, and I would not accept your help. We were always there for each other. We never denied each other anything. Until I denied you. And it got you killed. What's worse, is that it was by my own hand.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Neither do I,” she whispered. “There’s more. Something’s missing.” Her pained eyes searched his. “I did something more than kill you. Something that broke your heart. I just know it. And whatever it was echoed straight into this life for us both.”
More upset by the moment, Tait was about to start pacing. Anything to fight the nervous energy that had just arisen. The strange sense that she was right.
“Tell me how you gave me a piece of your soul,” she said softly. “How one dragon does that for another? How they do something so intense that it commits them to another.”
Tait was hoping this might never come up. That he wouldn’t have to admit what it took. “Why does it matter? It’s finished.”
“You say as much.” She shook her head. “But it does not feel finished.” Her hand moved closer as if she were eager to touch him. “Please just tell me. I need to know.”
He nearly started pacing for sure this time but held himself back. She deserved to know. He would want to know in her position. Especially considering it involved such commitment. A word he had never been good at.
“All right.” He nodded and glanced upstairs, trying to delay the situation. “But I think I should check on little Emily first. And Sven.” Then as an innocent afterthought. “And of course, Shannon.”
“Absolutely not,” she said, not moving an inch but totally relaxed as her eyes narrowed on him. “Your days of desiring Shannon are over. Now tell me, Tait. Tell me what you did to save me.”
He liked her newfound sense of confidence but had never been all that good at being tamed, so he stretched and took his time answering. She watched him the whole time with an amused expression. Likely because he wasn’t getting his way in the least but delaying the inevitable.
“Fine,” he eventually muttered as his eyes slid her way. “It takes the element of a very strong emotion to be able to do it, to begin with. If you don’t have that, then there’s no moving forward.”
“Okay, that doesn’t sound so hard.” She perked her brows. “What emotion then?”
Tait sighed and clenched his jaw, more uncomfortable by the moment. “Dragons are very sensitive to certain things. Certain feelings of the…” He sighed again and crossed his arms over his chest. “We feel too strongly and if we are able to access the strongest of those emotions then, well…” He shrugged. “We have the capability of sharing our soul to save another.”
Her brows flew together, and she frowned. “The strongest of those emotions, being?” she asked, her question trailing off as the answer occurred to her.
“Tait,” she whispered, her eyes suddenly locked on his. “Are you talking about love?”
He nearly said no because it sounded so serious, too much like a commitment, but if they were getting technical, that was what a dragon h
ad to feel in order to share their soul. So he managed a single nod.
Lauren remained calm as she processed what he was implying. The only sign that showed she understood was the slight reddening of her cheeks.
“So, you felt love for me only having met me a few times?” She pressed her lips together and shook her head, clearly unconvinced. “I did not like you until after our leap back in time. And as far as I knew, you did not like me much either.” She shrugged. “At least not the second time.”
“I agree,” he said. “On both counts.” He offered a shrug. “But a small part of my dragon had to have felt something for it to work.”
“Your dragon,” she murmured, that same strange look in her eyes from earlier. A flicker of sadness maybe?
“Yes, my dragon felt that,” he said, far too fast and without thinking. “Not me.”
Tait frowned and focused on anything but her. He wished he hadn’t said that. Not so adamantly anyway. Probably not at all. Loki’s cock, he was confused.
Yet he suspected he wasn’t confused at all.
And that was something he wasn’t quite ready to accept yet.
Or was he?
“Well, rest assured, I do not love you either,” Lauren said, her voice tight. But there was a quiver of emotion. “Tell me the rest. What does the dragon do next to share its soul?”
“Why are you so curious?” he said, preferring to change the topic, or at least detour it.
“Because I am.” Her eyes met his. “Your dragon did something monumental for me, and I need to understand it. I just do.”
Their eyes held for a long moment before he relented. If nothing else, she deserved to understand Dragon Lore.
“If the element of love is there, a dragon can…” he searched for the right words. “Separate part of their soul and fuse it to another’s. In some ways, it is like donating an organ but far more intense. More personal.”
“I am surprised you know what an organ transplant is,” she remarked.
“My mother is from the twenty-first century,” he reminded.
She nodded. “Okay, so what you did is along the lines of a brain transplant then?”
Tait snorted. Lauren certainly kept him entertained with her interpretations. “If we were to choose any organ considering its memories and everything that goes along with it, yes. But this is a soul we’re talking about, Lauren. It is so far beyond the human brain, there are no words to describe it.”
Soul of a Viking (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors' Kin Book 3) Page 22
