by Lynn Landes
“No. I’m human, mostly. It’s complicated sweetie. I’m taking you to a safe place. Buckle up, please.” She waits for her to return to her seat and then concentrates on the drive and heads off the road into the woods.
“Will the bad ones come now, cause you used your magic?” She asks reaching for Farley who is now resting his head on Brynley’s lap.
Her eyes jump to the child in the rear view mirror. “No. I blocked my magic first, so it would not be seen. Have you not been taught how to hide yourself?” Nienna asks. She is curious about this child. Syrran had instructed to collect the girl and block her magic. He would contact her when he finds a place for them to meet.
“No. Mama wasn’t special and she said not to use my magic cause the bad ones would find us. I didn’t mean to use it, but sometimes it hurts when I hold it in too long.” She pets Farley and yawns. Understanding dawns and Nienna feels a kinship with this child. All that power in the human world and no one to train or guide her. It’s a powder keg waiting to be detonated.
She pulls over on the side of the gravel road and twists in her seat to look at the child. “Brynley, I need your help to get us to safety. My magic isn’t strong enough, but yours is. Will you help me?”
Brynley looks at her grandpa and chews her lip. “Will the bad ones come?”
“No. I can protect us and with your help, we can disappear.”
“Okay.” Brynley unbuckles and climbs over the arm in between the front seats.
“You’re very brave. Ok, I will hold a picture in my mind and I want you to see it in your head.” Nienna jerks when Brynley takes her face in her small hands. Placing one hand on each cheek, she stares into Nienna’s blue eyes.
Brynley seems to stare into Nienna’s soul before pushing through her memories, she gasps.
“Do you see the picture?” Nienna asks.
“I see it!”
“Good, now think of a big door leading to it and open it just like you would at home.”
Brynley nods and opens a doorway to Scotland.
Nienna smiles as a portal explodes into being in front of the jeep. Brynley gasps.
“I never did that before,” she whispers.
“I can show you how to do much more but first we need to get to safety. Buckle up and we will go.” After Brynley climbs into her seat, she drives the jeep through and closes the portal door behind her. Then she shows her young charge how to cleanse the air and the earth of their tracks to hide them before she drives off.
“Why don’t you sleep Brynley and I promise to wake you when we get close,” Nienna whispers a sleep spell and sighs with relief when the child dozes off. She tries not to think about how much power is in this child as she drives down a dirt road leading to a highway. She continues until she comes to a town to get gas. “Come on Farley,” she whispers and hops out to fuel up. She walks Farley to some grass for him to use and uses her cell phone to locate and call a real estate agent in the area. “I’m in need of a private holiday home to rent.” She talks for a few minutes while Farley jumps into to his seat and she finishes fueling the jeep. The agent promises to call her back, but she has a few properties in mind in the town of Ayr. She gets back into the driver seat quietly and continues driving.
A half hour later, Nienna gets a callback. “I have a property that just came on the market. It is a detached holiday property, situated on the banks of the River Ayr. It is secluded and has panoramic views of the river and woods. A three bedroom, two bath home with all the linens included and of course it’s fully furnished.”
“It sounds perfect. We need privacy for my grandfather to rest and if he can fish that would be excellent,” Nienna says with a laugh.
“He can fish right off the back deck of the house. It backs up to the Ayr Gorge Woodlands Nature Reserve. It has excellent hiking trails. This property will go fast, so if you want it we need to reserve it.”
“I can pay now. It sounds perfect.” Nienna pulls over on the side of the road and finishes the transaction. The agent sends her directions to her email with the lock box codes. Nienna maps it on her phone and discovers she is only sixty miles from the town she needs. It is two miles west of the River Ayr and next to the Nature reserve. Perfect.
‘Syrran, I hope you know what you are doing,’ she murmurs as she continues the drive. It isn’t like him to keep her in the dark and it worries her. ‘Where are you?’ She should have heard from him by now. A glance to her passengers and she knows they will need a place to hide until she can figure this out.
Taking them to his family is out of the question, but being close in case she will need to bring them in for help is the best solution she can come up with. Edward’s family is located further west from the rental property. As soon as everyone is settled, she will try to contact Syrran.
Nienna will not take her charges to their family as they had hoped, but instead to a small home in the village of Ayrshire. It is close to the forest and secluded enough to give her the privacy she is seeking.
She follows the directions in her email to “The Little Pine Cove,” property and pulls the jeep down a long winding road lined with massive trees. The temperature drops as they enter the edge of the reserve. Nienna releases her spell and both of them begin to stir. Edward groans and sits up wiping his eyes and stares out the window in shock.
“Glory be! You’ve brought me home?” he whispers in a hoarse voice.
There is no need to tell him where he is, for the signs on the road point to the reserve and the river running along it. He rolls down his window and laughs.
His joy is contagious, Farley barks and pushes his head into the space between the seats. Brynley smiles at her Grandpa and looks around in delight. He can almost hear the bagpipes playing.
“Oh, Papa. It’s so green! Maybe I can find a fairy here?”
“No!” they say simultaneously. Brynley frowns and the moment evaporates replaced by the serious predicament they are in.
“Where are you taking us, Nienna?” Edwards asks as they bump down the gravel road, twisting, and turning until she comes to a large metal gate and lock box. She rolls her window down and punches in the code the agent gave her and the gate swings open.
“To safety. For now, that is all I can promise.” As she drives down the tree covered path Nienna isn’t even sure she can keep that promise.
Gage felt a surge of magic in the air. It rippled across the air like a stone tossed into a pond. Something new has arrived, but what? With a beat of his mighty wings, he soars through the air, unnoticed by the humans below. The white hawk turns and heads back to a perch to search for the magic he felt a few moments ago.
He lands on top of the Dentoncross Castle and tucks his magnificent wings close to his body. A search across the landscape around him shows the echo of the magic came from the east. Gage decides that will be as good a start as any and flies until he spies a lighthouse in the distance. His job is to protect all who live here from any outsiders who might harm them, and the strength he felt with this flare of magic signals something powerful has paid a visit. He needs to find out who or what it is and investigate.
In his hawk form, he is able to cover great distances without detection. Things have been quiet in the area, until now. Gage dives to a tree top and lands to wait. He is a patient Angel and he knows it will only be a matter of time before it shows up again.
Chapter 8
There are some demons that once they taste your blood and your soul, they can hunt you anywhere. Only in death can you escape their unholy pursuit.
Micah calls to her pets, smiling when they join her under the dark sky outside her cavern. “I bet you are starving, aren’t you?” She grins as they cower away from her. The sound of her whip scrapes the hard rocky ground as the glass and iron spikes embedded in the leather drags behind her.
“Here is something to tide you over.” She tosses Lilliana’s blood-stained, tattered rags to them. Amusement fills her dead heart as she watches them fight each other
for it. “That’s right, my loves. Go find her and drain her dry.” Micah releases the magic that binds them. “Bring me the Drow, alive. He will pay for his betrayal!”
The Triplet demons, part-Vampire and part-Drow, and all demon, bow, backing away from her. They had learned the hard way never to turn their backs on her.
“Her scent is on the air, grass and leaves. Hunt near the river, it calls to her.” Micah instructs and watches as they move away, like a black fog flowing across the land.
“He is not the only connection to the child.” Micah smiles. Humans are predictable. “The grandfather will go to his family to seek aid and I will have a surprise waiting when they reveal themselves.”
Lilliana hears them coming, they always fight each other over the first taste. Terror builds and she is tempted to hide but she is trapped in a cell with nothing for shelter. The sound of her heart pounding fills her ears. Her fear always excites them. Black vaporous fog flows beneath her cell door and three identical pairs of glowing red eyes materialize.
Slowly the horrific eyes pass around the pitch black cell searching for their meal, they spread out. Upon finding their prey the scaled shadow soaked bodies begin to solidify to fill the corners of the dark room. The anticipated fight fills their minds with excitement and the clawed hands flex, gouging at the walls making a harsh screech as the black stone is scored deeply.
“Not this time, you hell spawn heathens,” she whispers. This time she has a surprise for them. Earlier she used a piece of flint she had hidden in the folds of her ragged smock and sliced the main artery in one of her wrists. Dizzy from the lack of blood, her heart stutters and skips. She smiles at the roar of rage when they realize what she has done. Micah will heal the wound and it will cost her in lashings, but just this once the Triplets will go hungry.
“It’s worth it,” she whispers smiling in the dark.
As one they leap to the floor like animals lapping at her blood on the ground. One of the cursed monsters jumps on her and tears at her other wrist…
Lilliana’s scream brings Syrran running.
“Lilliana, wake up.” He grabs her by her shoulders only to be blown backward away from her, crashing into a mirror and wall behind him.
Her blue eyes are terror filled as she leaps from the bed and runs for her life. In a blind panic, she slams out of the door and down the hallway, into a living room.
His groan of pain reaches some part of her brain and she stumbles, slowing her flight.
“I can see,” she gasps.
She skids to a stop and looks around. In front of her is a wall of glass windows. Beyond the windows as far as her eyes can see … sky. The sun is rising and calling to her. Unshed tears fill her eyes and slowly she walks towards the clear wall.
Syrran watches from the hallway, holding his ribs from the crash and presses a button causing the wall of glass doors to smoothly slide open. Instantly fresh air blows her sweat soaked flaming hair back away from her face.
“Thank you,” she whispers.
The golden orb of the sun hides behind clouds, shooting streaks of gold, pink and purple across the sky. Lilliana walks outside holding her breath, waiting for the moment it bursts free. The sky begins to glow orange and pink until finally nothing stands in its way. The sun breaches the horizon and clouds filling the sky with its golden light.
Lilliana weeps and her hand covers her mouth as tears flow unchecked down her cheeks. The brilliant beams strike her and her soul absorbs it, like a sponge waiting for water. Her arms fly out from her sides, her head falls back, and she can almost feel her wings stretched out behind her.
Syrran is quietly watching, taking it all in, he never understood the majesty of a sunrise until this moment. He finds that the moonrise can be just as stunning as the sunrise, but nothing compares to the splendor of Lilliana. Watching her he is trembling with his need and just this once, he wishes. Syrran wishes for things that he will never have, family, children, and love. When he turns to leave quietly, her voice stops him.
“Don’t go,” her tear stained face turns back to him and she reaches for his hand.
For the first time in his life, Syrran doesn’t question, think, or wonder about motives, he just enjoys. The moment his hand touches hers the power flowing into her from the sun intensifies. It surges through her and into him, healing every wound it finds. Her power seeks the poison Micah left behind in his blood and pushes it from his skin, leaving black stains from its passage. Once again she saves him. His silver skin grows warm to the touch and his amber eyes glow with passion. Their hearts beat in unison as they stare at each other in shocked wonder.
Syrran lifts her hand to his mouth and presses a moist, hot kiss to her palm. The longer they hold onto each other the stronger the pull becomes. Lilliana is the first to pull away.
“You aren’t safe with me,” she murmurs.
He turns away to watch the sunrise and stands quietly next to her trembling form. On the top of his mountain home in Norway, Syrran’s life changes forever.
“No, Lilliana, it is you who aren’t safe.” He has heard of the legend of fated mates. The Drow actually laugh about it. They simply satisfy their carnal desires and do not believe in Mates, but the Elves believe that when they find their true partner their powers become as one and amplified. It is terrifying to him, the thought of such intimacy between two beings, yet it’s undeniable what he is feeling.
“They are coming to destroy me, Syrran.”
“When they come, you will not be alone.”
The simple honesty in his statement has her turning to stare at him. “Why?” she turns her eyes to his and catches her breath. His snowy hair is blowing around his chiseled face. There is no denying the pull of desire between them, but Lilliana will not harbor hope for her future.
Syrran does not answer, instead his hand wraps around her neck and pulls her slowly into his embrace. Her mouth opens in surprise, but she does not stop him as his kisses her softly, savoring the flavor that is Lilliana. The moment her hand slips into his hair Syrran goes still. “Because you are for me, Lilliana.”
He is a Drow warrior, not a gentle elf. Sex is an outlet, a tool used to gain power in the Drow world, but here in his world, there is only this moment, only him, only her and the passion uniting two souls.
Lilliana is starved from two hundred years of pain, torture, and mind games.
“Anamacha,” Fated, he whispers and loses himself in the taste of her. The gentleness in his statement is her undoing. She crushes him with her kiss, changing it from sweet, to carnal in an instant.
This kiss is hot and sensual, deep and wet, taking all thought of gentleness from their minds. Her hands are in his hair, and moving over his body pulling him closer. She shutters with relief when he responds tightening his hold on her, sucking, taking and dominating her. He draws back to look at her dazed by how quickly things are escalating and she laughs.
“We will see, Drow, if you are for me,” she turns away to watch the sun and misses the grin of appreciation he flashes at her.
“I would not have it any other way, Dragon Singer.”
Chapter 9
His home is on a mountain top made of stone and steel. He chose a single level style floor plan so it would not compete with the beauty of the landscape around them. Green, lush, tree covered mountains with waterfalls and rivers. The entire backside of the house is a glass covered wall, except for the master bedroom and bathroom. Syrran spared no expense in building his retreat.
Nienna helped with the design and it is a safe place where they come to escape. Magical runes are carved in the foundations all around the house. They provide an extra layer of protection from any who mean them harm. The rear patio they are standing on is literally on the edge of the cliff, overlooking the vast expanse below.
“Lilliana we have to talk.”
They share breakfast outside at a small table and she sighs. “Those coming for you are powerful, but you are not the only thing they’re after. I
have the child.”
“I don’t understand any of this, Syrran. How is it possible that a human child could be a Dragon Singer?” Lilliana stands up, stretching, and walks to the edge of the patio. She grasps onto a steel banister that supports the half wall.
“I don’t have all the answers, but I can tell you what I know. Both factions, the dark and the light want her. To what end, I do not know and quite honestly, I am not sure either side should have access to that kind of untapped power. I think you should meet her and decide if she is trainable. Teach her how to protect herself and shield her from the demands that will be placed on her, before we make a decision.”
Lilliana is listening and thinking. “We? What is your part in all of this?”
“I was hired by the Queen to rescue you and bring you both to the Kingdom,” he replies back.
The thought of being trapped behind any wall seems like a snare to her. Lilliana steps back in fear from him. “No!” Panic filled eyes glance over the edge of the patio to determine how quick her death would be if she leaps off.
“Lilliana, look at me,” he murmurs sensing the rising terror in her. “You are safe now.” Sorrow fills her eyes and he feels her determination.
“I will never be caged again, Syrran. I would rather die and find true freedom.”
“It will not come to that,” he moves cautiously towards her. Lifting her cold hand he places it on his chest over his pounding heart. “Slow your heart, match the rhythm to mine, Lilliana.” He inhales with her and encourages her to take soothing breaths and soon her heart is marching to the same drum as his.
“Amazing,” she murmurs.
“Now, search my mind and see my intentions.” His hands squeezes tightly to her refusing to let her release him.
Lilliana glances at him in astonishment, curiosity tempts her and she looks into his eyes, sinking inside. His aura matches the golden color of his eyes. Orange, warm and golden tones showing courage, kindness, passion, and vitality. She dives past and sees a hard spirit, a love for his sister and black fury. Rage at the way she was treated and guilt that he could not do more. Pain, he feels her pain as if it was his own, determination to save Lilliana and protect the child. Afraid of what else she will find she attempts to back away, but Syrran seizes her mind.
