Lumen helped her to her feet, and as she steadied herself her eyes widened. “I don’t feel so bad,” she said, surprised. Minutes ago she’d welcomed death, and now she felt as though she’d woken from a deep, restful sleep. “I really could get used to this whole quick-healing thing.” She laid a hand on the shoulder that Umbra had bitten, only to realize that Lumen had patched her up.
“I hope you don’t mind—I found some bandages in the bathroom.”
“Of course not. But you keep saving me. You’re making me feel like the damsel in distress I never wanted to be.”
“Not distress,” he said. “You’re the damsel who’s loved by a Dragon shifter. It’s quite a different matter.” He pulled her hand to his lips, kissing each finger. “Come, it’s time for you to hop on my back again. Then perhaps you can explain to me how you know where the Relic is.”
When Lumen had shifted, Neko climbed up, her knives neatly sheathed. The Dragon arced into the air directly from the kitchen, as the Hunter stared back at the house’s gaping wound; the entire back wall and part of the roof were gone, vanished. It gave the whole notion of open concept homes a new meaning.
“As for the Relic,” she told him, leaning in close, “when Umbra had me by the throat the other day I caught a glimpse of the Syndicate’s tower. I don’t know why it had never occurred to me before—the windows—”
“Circles, quartered by crosses, like the Dragons’ symbol,” his voice rumbled in her head. “I did notice that this morning.”
“Yes. And it’s an old church tower, of course. I remembered that ages ago someone had told me that the church had been devoted to a saint, though I couldn’t recall which. It had been used as a watchtower in the old days. By whom, I don’t even know. But for some reason, all the vague information came clear when Umbra was on the verge of murdering me, and I became certain that it was the hiding place.”
“Clarity comes in the strangest moments,” Lumen said, his words nestling in her mind. “We’ll be there soon, and then we’ll know. But I suspect that you’re right, my Neko.”
And it was true; before ten minutes had passed, the tower had come into view in the distance, its steeple pointing high towards the sky above the buildings surrounding it.
“Now, I have no idea how the hell to find one Relic among so many stones,” she said. “But I’ll try.”
“That’s all I—or any of us—can ask.”
The Relic
Lumen circled the tower a few times as Neko’s eyes searched the area around the vast round windows for signs of the Relic. The glass itself called out to her, four reflective beacons, each quartered by iron, seeming to shout, “You’re in the right place, Hunter. Now finish your task.” But no clues showed themselves, no clear hints as to where the Relic could be hidden.
“The top part of the tower is relatively new, I think,” she said, noting that the building’s top levels were a different colour from the lower, no doubt added in later years. She wondered how she’d never noticed it before. But then, she’d never looked at the tower from the vantage point of a Dragon’s back. “Let’s go down and see what the foundation looks like. I think it’s been around for centuries; something tells me that’s where we should start.”
At the tower’s base, figures were beginning to assemble. As she and Lumen descended, Neko could see clearly that the newly forged alliance of shifters and humans was waiting for them, silent and observant. The only missing ally was Minach, still in hospital, recovering from his wounds.
Lumen landed softly on the ground before the watchers, shifting into human form as soon as Neko slipped off his back. Immediately he approached Lyre and gestured a few words in sign language. Neko watched as Lyre nodded a reply, no doubt giving him a status report on his brother.
Trix, Bertie, Anaïs and a few other Syndicate members stood to one side, all eyes fixed on Neko, as though they understood exactly what she was about to do. The Hunter, alone in her task meanwhile, walked around the base of the tower, eyes and fingers running over each large stone in her sight line. After a few minutes she’d made her way around the entirety of the structure’s square foundation before turning to face Lumen, who stood in wait, tense but confident. Shaking her head, she said, “I just don’t see anything that leads me to think that it’s here. Maybe my hunch was just…wrong.”
Dejected, she wondered if the Relic was simply lost; gone forever. Perhaps, after all she’d been through, she wasn’t meant to find it. Perhaps she was a failure as a Seeker.
Lumen faced her, laying large hands on her shoulders. “You’re not wrong,” he said, leaning in close. “You’re never wrong.”
A wry smile spread across her lips. “Oh, my. Never wrong? I’m going to have that engraved into steel and mounted in our house.”
“Good. Do. You’re right about this, too. I know it. Neko—remember when I taught you to look for the hidden doorways?”
Her face lit up with his words. It was true—a sort of magic had crept into her with his lesson, allowing her to find the hidden entrances by some sort of trick of the mind. She’d never quite honed the skill, but she had succeeded once or twice, and maybe she could do it again, with a little effort. She turned back to the tower, allowing her mind to empty as she drew her eyes over the stones once again. Looking for something—anything. A shape that could act as a clue. A quartered circle, like the windows above?
Think, Neko. What ties you and Lumen together?
And in a quick flash it struck her at last: their marks. The strange scarring on each of their bodies. The mark of water, carved into her shoulder and into his side, the mysterious, identical brands in their flesh.
Once again she began to walk slowly, guided by nothing more than an unconscious drive. Eyes moving stone by stone, searching for the image she knew so well. It must be there somewhere.
And sure enough, it was when she’d reached the second side of the structure that she saw it, a small, almost imperceptible shape, carved into the corner of one large brick.
Lumen followed at a distance, his heart swelling with love and pride. He watched as his lover stepped forward, slipping her fingers around the edges of the enormous stone and pulling. She shouldn’t have been able to move it, of course; it would weigh at least a few hundred pounds. But the same magic that had drawn her to it allowed her to move it out of its place with ease, gently laying it on the ground in front of her.
Slowly the Guild and Syndicate members joined Lumen, observing Neko as she reached into the spot where the stone had sat. After a moment she withdrew a shining box made of forged silver. Time and the elements should long since have tarnished its surface, and yet it gleamed as brightly as if it had just been polished by expert hands, preserved by some force that she couldn’t begin to comprehend.
She turned to face the others, the box in hand, and wordlessly showed it to her fellow Hunters and the shifters. On its lid was a beautiful Dragon, its body curled round in an exquisite circle.
“Lumen,” she said softly. “I think we’ve found it.”
“You’ve found it,” he replied, reverently keeping his distance. “Now open it.”
She did so with one hand, her breath frozen in her chest. Inside were two items: a stone quarter circle, the mark of water engraved into its surface. Unremarkable, yet infinitely beautiful, she knew immediately what it was; she could all but feel the power emanating from its surface.
The first of the Relics.
In the box next to it was a small, dark metal tube, which Neko withdrew, handing it to Lumen.
“I don’t think this is meant for me,” she said.
He took it from her and examined it for a moment before pulling its ends apart. In the centre it opened, revealing a rolled up piece of parchment. Lumen withdrew the paper, his eyes going for a moment to his fellow Dragon shifters.
“The next verse,” he said. “It has to be.”
“It looks as though you’re the Keeper,” Kliev replied, stepping forward. “You will memorize
it, and give it to the Kindred when the time comes.”
Lumen unrolled the small paper in the palm of his hand. Ancient and fragile, it cracked at the edges, threatening to crumble at his touch. He had just enough time to read and memorize the words before they eroded into tiny fragments in his palm.
He smiled at the knowledge that the task was out of his hands for now, quite literally, as the tiny pieces disappeared into the air about him. When the time came, the Dragon in question would find him, and he would reveal the words. Until then, his task was complete, as was Neko’s.
Moving towards her, he looked down at the silver box, still in her hands.
“You can give that to Kliev,” he said. “He’ll see to it that it’s well protected.”
Neko understood, closing the lid and handing the box over to the other Dragon shifter. He would make sure that it was safely stored away, not to be touched until the three other Relics had been unearthed.
Kliev took it from Neko, bowing his head slightly as though in reverence for all of her strength and sacrifice. He turned away, moving to stand next to his fellow Guild members.
But it was Lumen who got down on his knee before Neko, taking her soft hand in his. Slowly, gently, he wrapped her fingers around his own, kissing each of them gently.
“Will you forgive me,” he said, “for ever doubting you? For trying so hard to guide you, when you clearly didn’t need any guiding?”
She laid a hand in his hair, combing her fingers through and raising his face so that his eyes had no choice but to look into hers.
“There’s nothing to forgive,” she said. “I doubted myself, and so I can’t blame you for doing the same. And I suppose I doubted the strength of our bond, Lumen. I should have trusted you, too, to help me when I needed it. The truth is that I couldn’t have done this without you. A Seeker is only as good as her mate.”
With that she knelt, mirroring his position rather than drawing him upwards, and threw her arms around his neck. “I love you, you know.”
“I know. And I love you back. So very, very much that you make me completely mad. Which is the greatest feeling in the world.”
“Well then. You and I are perfect for each other, aren’t we?”
“Yes, we are.”
She pulled back and looked at him, narrowing those large eyes of hers. “But there’s something I need you to do.”
“Mmmm?”
“Fix our house.”
“Our house?”
She nodded. “I love the flat under the park. But sometimes I miss being above ground. What do you say to having a country house, as well as a city flat?”
“Your wish is my command,” he said, rising to his feet and pulling her up with him before wrapping her in his powerful arms again. “Don’t forget, though, that I too have a city flat above ground.”
Of course. She’d all but forgotten stalking him to it several nights back; what felt like decades ago now. It seemed that they were to live a luxurious life; one that she’d only ever dreamed of.
“A country house and two flats, then,” she laughed.
They turned to the others, the looks on their faces communicating all the joy that anyone could possibly endure.
“Our work is, for the time being, done,” Lumen told them. “So I think we’ll go home to whatever home we wish, and get some rest. When the time comes, you’ll know where to find me. With a drill in hand, putting a new roof and wall on a country cottage.”
Slowly the others began to go their separate ways, the shifters altering into their Dragons to fly off. Kliev took the silver box in his talons, his body arching into the sky in the direction of Hampstead Heath.
Lyre was the last to change. For a moment Neko thought she witnessed a silent interaction between him and Trix, who threw him a smile, even as he reflected the sentiment. Could it be that their bond was developing? Neko grinned at the thought, turning to Lumen, who was lifting the stone back into its place in the building’s foundation, his muscles bulging, all his strength required simply to heave it off the ground.
“You ready to get out of this place?” he asked when he’d finished his task.
She nodded, a crooked grin curving her lips.
“What’s that look, then?”
“Oh, just the look of a woman with a massive weight off her shoulders,” she said. “And the knowledge that tomorrow morning she can make love with you. And tomorrow afternoon. And night.”
He kissed her. “What about today?” he asked.
“Today goes without saying.”
Lumen shifted, inviting Neko onto his back. And the Hunter obliged, perfectly content to be with her Dragon once more. All the worry, all the anxiety that had infected her for days had dissipated, stolen away by a distant breeze. Her massive burden was gone at last. And as the beautiful silver Dragon soared over London’s buildings, she closed her eyes, revelling in the chill wind that soothed her tired body.
So she didn’t see the dark figures far below, slipping out of their hiding places. Revealing themselves on London sidewalks for the first time.
Neko’s and Lumen’s battle had ended. But the war was about to begin.
More from London’s Dragon Shifters
Read Trix’s story in Dragon Seeker, coming in Summer/Autumn 2016!
Also by Carina Wilder
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Carina’s Books:
Dragon Hunter Books:
Dragon Hunter, Book One
Book Two
Book Three
Book Four
Sought by the Alphas, a five-part serial:
Sought by the Alphas Box Set
Seeking Her Mates, Sequel to Sought by the Alphas: Complete Set (Five Books)
The Seekers, the follow-up stand-alone novels to Seeking Her Mates:
Illusions
Sorceress
The Plenty of Shift Choose Your Own Sequel Shifter Dating Series begins here:
Miri: Plenty of Shift, Book One
Naomi and Tyler, Book Two
Naomi and Quinn, Book Three
The Wolf Rock Shifters Series (these are complete stories and can be read out of order):
Wolf Rock Shifter Box Set
Winning the Alpha
Bearing Up In Wolf Rock
The Right to a Bear's Arms
To Lie With Lions
Alpha’s Hunt
The Billionaires and Curves Serial:
Billionaires and Curves (Taken With You) Trilogy
Taken With You
Crazy About You
The Way to You
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