Yet it seemed he was not completely immune to his own game because she heard his heartbeat, she knew he was losing control. It was unnatural not to take one another when they needed to, which was typically at every given opportunity. What he did now was driving them mad.
Raw.
Desperate.
It was then, as their eyes locked, and she knew she could never truly deny him, that her sister’s words whispered through her mind and he suddenly saw…understood…at least some of it.
One thing became blatantly obvious as he sprang to his feet. He had been fishing before, but now he knew something terrible had happened. Something that would affect his family. Something that would affect everything. Almost worse than that, though, was the way he looked at her. As though he were seeing her for the first time. It was a look she would never forget.
He knew his best friend, his mate, had betrayed him.
Chapter Seventeen
TAIT HAD NEVER been in a more perplexing situation.
While part of him understood he and Lauren were reliving a past life and could separate his emotions because of that, another part felt extremely engrossed. He was feeling everything just like he did back then. Yes, they were living in a time near the beginning of dragon kind on Midgard, yet that astounding fact didn’t matter. All he could focus on was one thing.
The truth his mate had been keeping from him.
Now he was hurt, confused and enraged as he heard Maeva’s words whisper through his mate’s mind.
“Sister,” she said. “Come now. It is time to see through what we have long planned.”
Something didn’t sound right about her sister’s voice. His mate sensed the same based on the quickly repressed fear that flashed in her eyes.
“Something is wrong,” she whispered and shook her head. “Bard is there…close to her…too close.”
More astounding things flashed in his mind. How much in harm’s way she and her sister really were. The enemy had raped Maeva. She was pregnant. They had kept it from his tribe to spare Einar. That was why Maeva turned Einar away. Why she sought sanctuary at the mountain’s peak.
Rage filled him.
He needed to fix this.
The horror Maeva had suffered through. The heartache his mate had felt because she hadn’t gotten to her sister in time. She hadn’t prevented this.
“The Sigder’s will protect Maeva,” he growled. “Einar and my people will stand by her every step of the way.”
Somewhere in the back of his mind, a place he wasn’t ready to acknowledge, he understood that this had to be. That if Einar and Maeva had been the ones to have a child together, Lauren couldn’t possibly be with him. Her sisters couldn’t be with his kin. They would be too closely related. Regardless, that held no sway as he readied himself.
As he became every inch the man he was in another life.
“You know nothing about this,” Lauren said as she strode after him along the shore. Or should he say the woman she once was. “Stop, mate. Now!”
He did, but only once he reached the spot where his weapons were stashed. He pulled out several, sat down, and started sharpening them. While he wanted to rush into things because the lives of his kin were at stake, he needed to think. How would he approach Eluf. Because he knew the troublesome seer was at the heart of everything.
Hadn’t he been at the heart of everything that had ever gone wrong with the Sigdir’s?
His mate grabbed a weapon as well and sat down. Like him, she was suddenly dressed for combat thanks to magic and in an equally dark mood. Even so, she knew the look in his eyes.
There was no turning back.
“Do not go.” Her tone was a mix of concern and determination. “If you do, you will die.”
Die? That was the least of his concerns. Not when it came to Bard and his tribe. That Loki’s spawn had the ability to wipe out everyone in his path before they knew what hit them.
“I do not care,” he responded. “You cannot face this alone.”
“But I will,” she growled. “I have to.”
“No, you do not.” He closed the distance between them within a blink. He came so close her breath caught as he pressed her hand to his chest. As he urged her to feel his thundering heart. How strongly he felt. “He is baiting you. Anything to destroy you so that he can have your sister.”
“That is exactly why I am going.” She returned to sharpening her blade. Something was wrong, and she was ready to forfeit her life. “And you are not.”
“We are mates,” he returned and set to sharpening his blade as well. There would be no stopping her. But maybe he could stay one step ahead. “We fight together or not at all.”
“Fool,” she muttered and set to working on her other weapons. “If you follow me, you will die, and you know it.”
“Yes,” he agreed and shrugged. That was a risk he was more than willing to take.
His mate acknowledged his words but said nothing more as she strode back down the shore. He said nothing only followed her. Since she was little, she had been stubborn, and that would not change now. As a rule, the best way to protect her was to stick close. To watch her every move and try to stay one step ahead of her magic.
“Leave me be,” she flung over her shoulder. “Or you will regret it.”
“I can never leave you be,” he said. “Not since the day we first looked through our dragon eyes together.”
“Let it go, mate.” She raced toward the tree and started speaking within her mind. “Sometimes things do not work out as we would have hoped.”
Tait felt her words right down to the deepest part of his soul. How true they would become. How scared and lonely she would be. That’s why she started inventing hallways and doors within her mind.
Had it all really begun here in this life? Truly?
He raced after her and shifted when she did.
“Leave me be,” she roared. “Let me go.”
Then there they were again.
Not little dragons but big as they circled the ash tree eying one another. Her head was as high as its tallest branches, but his was much higher.
“I will let you go,” he replied. “So long as I can go with you. Protect you.”
“I can protect myself.”
He scowled. “You fool yourself.”
Her anger grew, and her breath singed the leaves as she glared up at him. “Maybe. But right now that does not matter.” She shook her head, her breath only getting hotter. “I need to do this without you.”
His eyes widened as several leaves caught fire.
This was their tree.
Every first they had ever shared had been here.
And now she meant to destroy it? Them? Their memories? He shook his head and worked to put the fire out, yet it was stubborn. Resistant.
“I am going,” she said.
“Not without me.”
“Very much without you,” she promised then did the last thing he expected.
She rained fire down on their tree.
And it was just enough to distract and slow him as he tried to put it out. Dragon flame had a unique way of ripping away everything in its path. So he tried. At first. To preserve what they’d had. Yet he soon realized what they had was flying away and straight into danger.
So he let the tree go and flew after her.
He felt her emotions. How desperate she was to save her sister. How she was willing to give up everything, including him, to save Maeva’s unborn child. And while it broke his heart, he applauded her devotion to her lineage. The lengths she was willing to go to protect her family.
That was why she was his mate.
The only woman he would ever love.
She was fierce and loyal to those who mattered most. Even him, though most might say she wasn’t. She was. And he knew it as he raced over the moonlit ocean. She was determined to defeat the enemy and save everyone.
Her tribe.
His tribe.
All of them.
/> What his stubborn, fierce little dragon didn’t seem to understand was that they were part of each other. Him and her. Mates. That meant if one went to battle, so did the other. If one was determined to fight to the death, so was the other.
That might have been his first mistake.
Flying into an unknown situation with nothing but righteousness on his mind.
As a rule, it was never good to underestimate the enemy especially when he was caught up in the throes of love. When his mind was furious, and his heart thought it would succeed because love conquered all, right? Pretty foolish in retrospect.
As it turned out, love really didn’t conquer all.
At least not in the common sense.
He followed his mate all the way to Mt. Galdhøpiggen’s peak straight into Eluf’s cave. And straight into a war he was ill prepared for. One that was almost over before it even had a chance to begin.
He’d lost sight of his mate, but not Bard.
Tait shifted and attacked. Yet something wasn’t quite right. Whatever it was broke his concentration. Made him a fraction of a second slower than he should have been. And that, unfortunately, was all it took.
The enemy slipped by his defenses and whipped several daggers into his chest before he ran up and thrust his sword through Tait’s gut. Bard snarled in triumph and followed Tait to his knees moments before something shifted. Changed. Soon enough, it was clear that they had been cast beneath an enchantment spell. A spell so dark and horrific, he could barely believe his eyes when the truth was revealed.
The enemy had not ended him.
At least not directly.
His mate had.
Deceived by magic, they had looked like the enemy to one another.
Her mouth fell open as she stared at him, just as stunned. Then something caught her attention.
Bard.
He wore a devious grin as he stood just over Tait’s shoulder. “You made the mistake of letting your emotions control you, little dragon.” He walked around and leaned close to her, flirtatious, and evil to the bone. “And now you have no control.” His eyes narrowed. “Now you have killed your own mate.”
“No,” she whispered and shook her head before she looked directly at Tait and screamed, “No.”
Tait watched in horror as she was suddenly driven through by Bard’s sword. Their eyes held as blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth. It took longer for dragons to die than most, but that didn’t mean they had much time. Yet still, a scant chance of survival remained for her. There was no hope for him.
He gripped the back of her neck and shook his head in denial.
It couldn’t end like this.
They couldn’t lose each other.
“Save her,” she whispered into his mind. “I do not matter.”
That’s when he realized something was happening. Maeva and Eluf were there. Hidden by magic in the shadows of the darkened cave, she was getting ready to flee, yet Bard had spotted her.
“Save her, mate.” His woman's eyes pleaded with him. “If she does not survive, neither do I.”
“But you will.” He held her tight. “You have to.”
“Do not be foolish,” she whispered.
Suddenly, she was making him remember something. A day from long ago. Her little dragon had peaked around the trunk of their ash tree. She was teasing him. “You could leap over the tree and get me, yet you debate and try to talk things out. You could win this game in an instant!”
“That is too easy,” he declared. “No smart enemy would be taken that easily. You have a trick up your sleeve!”
Lauren gave him a coy look as her dragon scales reflected everything around her from the vibrant green grass to the varying shades of leaves blowing in the wind.
“Then how will you go about it?” He remembered the challenging glint in her eyes as she dared him. “How will you go about capturing me without doing what makes the most sense? What I expect you to do? What anyone would expect you to do?”
Their eyes held, and a small smile curled her lips as he returned to the present.
“How will you do it then?” she whispered into his mind.
Their eyes held for a long moment as he realized what she was trying to get across to him through a memory. She wanted him to see the bigger picture. To think wisely. Like she did. Always had. “I will capture you without doing what makes the most sense.”
He pulled out his last dagger, not surprised to see it was the jagged-edged Gungnir blade. His eyes went to Eluf then Maeva. He knew what he had to do. What would protect her lineage. Tait didn’t waste another moment but mustered the last of his strength and whipped his dagger straight into Maeva’s heart.
“No!” the enemy roared as Maeva dropped to her knees, her eyes wide on the blade. She held her stomach protectively as her eyes met Tait’s and a thankful, knowing smile met her lips.
“No!” Bard roared again, but it was already too late.
The moment Maeva’s heart stopped beating, Tait gave up a piece of his soul to save her. He might not feel true love for her, but that didn’t matter because her unborn child created a lineage that led to someone he did love. So he shared his soul with Maeva and connected with the gene that would eventually lead him to his mate again. His heart. His best friend. His perfect match.
As it was in every life, he would give up part of his soul to save her.
Even if it was the last thing he did before he died.
Now he also understood his unusual connection with Shannon. If he had shared a piece of his soul with Maeva, or Erica, it stood to reason that connection might have resonated with her twin in another life. After all, twin dragon’s possessed powers far different than most.
“You cannot touch them now.” Eluf smiled and bared his teeth at the enemy. “You cannot have this new dragon bloodline.”
Bard kept roaring in rage as Eluf started throwing magic at him. But he quickly realized defeat was imminent if he did not flee. After that, things became hazy. Maeva was healed and unharmed as Eluf handed her the Gungnir blade, and then they both vanished. She would live because she had taken a part of Tait’s soul.
A connection to the Sigdir’s that would live on through her child.
A connection that would help her lineage survive.
“My mate,” Lauren whimpered as she held his head in her lap and tears dripped on his face. Tait tried to speak but couldn’t as blood blocked his airways and slowly suffocated him. He wanted to touch her, let her know it would be all right, but couldn’t. She was too far away now, and his arms had grown too heavy.
“My mate,” Lauren whispered again and shook her head. “Do not go. Please do not go. Not now. Not ever.”
Only then as the world started to fade away and his dragon eyes met hers did he realize what she was doing. She was giving up a piece of her soul to save him.
“No,” he tried to roar, but nothing came out.
“My lineage is safe because of you,” she whispered. “Now help keep yours safe because of me.”
Tait flailed against her as she wrapped her arms around him and did something indescribable. It almost felt like he was being reborn. It was turbulent but immensely peaceful at the same time.
Their previous exchange filtered through his mind.
“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 each other?”
“No,” he kept trying to say, but her words overrode his. He didn’t want her to do this. He didn’t want her to risk herself like this. To sacrifice herself. He kept trying to deny her, but it was pointless.
He was too far gone.
His own words echoed deep inside his mind. Words that she was using now. Making hers. “Dragons are very sensitive to certain things. Certain feelings of the…We feel too strongly and if we are able to access the strongest of those emotions then, well...We have the capability of sharing our soul to save another.
”
“My mate,” she whispered, so close, so warm. “Are you talking about love?”
Again he tried to respond but could not. Yet it didn’t matter because she was taking over. She was giving him a piece of her. Though he knew he hadn’t shifted, their dragons wrapped together within his mind. Melded. Nearly became one. He had never felt anything so intense. It was far different being on the receiving end of a soul than giving up a piece. Far more powerful.
To know how deeply you are loved.
Yet love came at a cost. At least this time it did.
Nonetheless, all he could focus on initially was how he felt as he took a deep gasp of air. The feeling that overcame him was indescribable. Better than sex. He tried to make sense of it. Nothing was better than sex. But this was. A thousand times over.
He tried to tell her, tried to share, but everything grew dimmer and dimmer until it was just warmth wrapped around him. Then there was nothing left but contentment. He didn’t feel anger, bitterness or hurt.
All he felt was…completeness. Contentment.
He started breathing easier. Everything was going to be all right. Despite her wound, she was doing it. She was bringing him back, making him feel better. And that’s all that mattered. Getting back to himself. Getting back to her. All might be dark, but when she squeezed his hand, he felt it.
“My mate,” he whispered, so grateful to be with her again, grateful that he had somehow survived. “Thank you.”
He pulled her closer as his breathing eased. The enemy had fled. At least for now they had time to heal then face another day.
That’s what he thought at first anyway.
Time passed, long minutes as he returned to reality, as his dragon healed. All the while he was in her arms. Brought back by his mate. Kept safe by her. That was all he needed. This. Now. Knowing the enemy was driven off, he had saved her lineage, and life could finally be…”
Soul of a Viking (The MacLomain Series: Viking Ancestors' Kin Book 3) Page 25
