by Tara West
“Do not fret.” Mother brushed a strand of hair behind Fiona’s ear. “My granddaughter still lives, and so will you.” She frowned. “But first we must talk.”
A wave of shame washed over Fiona, for she knew she would have to answer for that grievous night of passion with Duncan. Fresh tears ran down her face as she hung her head. “Mother, I did not know what my mate was before I joined with him.”
“Fear not, child,” Mother cooed. “I do not hold any ill will toward you.” Mother paused, cupping Fiona’s chin and forcing her to meet her gaze. “Or him.”
Fiona gasped. “B-but he murdered you!”
“My child, there is someone I want you to meet.” Mother stepped back, holding out her arm.
A man appeared from the fog. He was tall and handsome, with ruddy blond hair and eyes the color of amber.
He looked at her with an intensity that made her heart melt. “Hello, daughter.”
Her hands flew to her mouth. “You’re my father?”
He nodded, flashing a watery grin. Much to Fiona’s surprise, her mother clasped his hand, looking up at him as if her universe revolved around that smile.
He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before clearing his throat. “It breaks my heart to see how long you have suffered. I have come to ask you to mend the bond with your mate.”
Fiona gaped at him. “B-but he killed my mother.”
“Oh, child.” Mother looked at her mate as she wrapped an arm around his waist. “My death was a blessing.”
Fiona didn’t understand how her mother and father could look lovingly into each other’s eyes. Wasn’t this the man who’d abandoned her mother after he discovered she was a dragon?
She pointed a shaky finger at her father. “But I thought you abandoned us.”
He heaved a weary sigh. “I was a Templar Knight. Though we operated underground, our forces were still strong. Many believed your mother was the devil, Baphomet, and they sent me to kill her.”
Fiona was stunned. Her father was a dragonslayer, too? How could her mother have mated with him? But then she thought back to the night she gave herself to Duncan, and she understood how easy it was to be blinded by a seductive smile.
Her father chuckled as he looked down at her mother. “I fell in love instead.” His smile diminished as his fair eyes darkened. “When I failed to bring back evidence of her death, they beheaded me, but because my mortality was tethered to hers, I did not die. They believed I was a demon and kept my head and body separated in metal boxes. I lived that way for thirty years until MacQuoid took your mother’s life, ending my torturous imprisonment.”
Oh, Almighty Mother! What a terrible fate!
Fiona was filled with a mixture of relief and dread at her father’s revelation. She couldn’t imagine the torment of being dismembered and locked in boxes, never finding the reprieve of death.
“I thought you abandoned us,” she said.
He frowned. “So did your mother, but I’d never willingly abandon my mate and child. My intention was to come back after I convinced the Templars your mother was dead.”
Mother looked into his eyes, tenderly cupping his cheek before turning to Fiona. “If Duncan hadn’t struck me with that spear, your father would still be in his hellish prison, and I’d still be mourning him. By killing me, your mate freed us both.”
Fiona’s throat tightened with emotion as she searched her parents’ gazes. They opened their arms to her.
She fell into their embrace, feeling an overwhelming sense of joy and sorrow, as they alternated between laughing and crying.
Finally, her mother pulled back, lines marring her brow. “Earth Mother is calling us. You must return to your mate and child.”
Fiona’s heart clenched. She did not wish to leave her mother and father so soon, yet she yearned for Duncan and Safina, too. “So you truly forgive him?” she asked, then tensed, fearing their answer.
Mother flashed a wide smile that reflected in her sparkling emerald eyes. “I have forgiven him long ago. It’s time you do the same. Go now before it’s too late.” She waved Fiona away, and then Fiona was floating backward, her peripheral vision darkening as if she was being sucked through a tunnel.
“Mother!” she screamed. She was not ready to leave her yet.
“Peace, child.” Mother placed a hand on her heart right before the light diminished. “We shall always be with you.” Her voice echoed in Fiona’s skull.
Fiona screamed as she fell through a sky as black as pitch. She tried to break to dragon form and fly back to her parents, but some invisible binding force wouldn’t release her.
She screamed again, and then gagged as she swallowed a salty gulp of water. Her eyes shot open as if she were waking from a dream. She had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. She looked down at her talons, which had stirred the sand. Fish darted past her in the current as violent booms and dark noises were heard from above.
Fiona’s chest ached, her lungs screaming for air. She kicked toward the surface, but it seemed so far away. Long tentacles darted out from the muck, pushing Fiona upward.
Surfacing, she gasped for air, pelted by wind and rain. The seas were rough. Wave upon wave toppled on one another, so that she could not tell where one ended and another began.
A girl’s cry for help pierced the night air.
Safina!
Fiona swam swiftly toward her daughter’s aid. She found her mate and child riding a tall crest. They came crashing down the wave, their board shattering to pieces. Duncan held Safina as she flailed in the water.
Fiona grabbed them both in her talons, pulling them tightly to her chest. She turned her snout toward the sky and expelled her healing fires. The ashes solidified on the way down, coating the dragon queen in a hard shell. She spun and spun until the shell completely encompassed them. Then she cradled her family in her arms as their cocoon sank to the bottom of the sea.
* * *
As soon as the cocoon settled in the sand, Fiona made the transformation. She knew Duncan and Safina would not tolerate the sulfuric smell pouring from her snout for long.
She grabbed Safina in a loving embrace, kissing her forehead. “I am so relieved you are safe.”
Safina looked up at her with watery eyes. “How long must we stay here?”
It was then that Fiona realized her daughter was afraid of being forced to live in a shell again. She flashed a reassuring smile and wiped a tear from Safina’s eye. “I will not keep you from your mate too long. We will stay here only until the storm passes.”
Safina heaved a sigh and looked at Fiona’s nude body with a devious grin. “You are indecent, Mother, and there is a man present.” She giggled.
Heat flushed Fiona’s cheeks. She looked beyond her daughter at Duncan, who was looking at his feet. Fiona knew he’d seen her, and the thought filled her with apprehension and excitement all at once.
Safina slipped out of her skirt and shirt, leaving only a thin shift to cover herself as she handed her wet clothes to her mother. Fiona sat in the crook of the shell, leaning against the smooth surface while draping the billowing skirt across her nude body.
Duncan had no clothes to offer. He’d lost his shirt and his trews had been torn to shreds, hanging off legs that were battered and swollen.
The cocoon shifted, and they saw the silhouette of four large tentacles resting on top of it.
“By thunder!” Duncan exclaimed before falling to his knees with a grunt.
“Don’t worry, Father,” Safina giggled as she curled up beside Fiona. “That is only Graechen. She’s a friend to dragons.”
He let out a low whistle as he looked up at the outline of the bubbly arms that cradled the cocoon. “I have heard tales of giant octopus before, but until now I’ve never seen one.”
Fiona gasped when Duncan spun on his knee. His back looked even worse than his legs, covered with angry red welts and lashes, as if he’d been beaten with a whip.
She narrowed her eyes. “Come here, Dun
can. Let me heal you.”
He looked over his shoulder and shrugged. “It can wait, lass. You look drained already.”
“Father, please,” Safina cried. “Your wounds look terrible.”
He knelt over their daughter, grasping her hand. “It makes no difference. You’re alive, and that’s all that matters.”
Fiona’s heart swelled near to bursting. Nothing had ever brought her greater joy than seeing Duncan’s love for their child. It was at that moment Fiona realized she loved Duncan with all her heart and soul, and she wanted nothing more than to reconcile with her mate, sealing their bond once more.
She leaned up, holding out her arms as a slow smile spread across her face. “Duncan, please come to us.”
He arched a brow. “Are you sure?”
“Aye, I’m very sure.” Her chest ached at the look of uncertainty in his eyes. How else could she prove to him she wanted to reconcile?
He crawled between them, slipping his legs underneath the wet dress. Heat radiated off his virile body, warming Fiona’s skin and especially that spot between her thighs. Safina wrapped an arm around his neck, as Fiona forced him to roll onto his side. She ran her healing hands down his back, smoothing scars and watching as gaping wounds faded. After he sank against the wall of the cocoon with a satisfied sigh, she used the heat from her hands to dry their makeshift blanket.
Eventually, her eyes fell shut of their own accord. She turned into Duncan as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, enjoying the feel of his chest hairs tickling her nose.
She smiled across Duncan at Safina, who also snuggled in the crook of his arm. Fiona’s heart warmed when she realized for the first time her family was whole. She fell asleep listening to the steady beating of Duncan’s heart, as a new dragon song played in her mind.
“Sleep my child, and when ye wake
The dawn of love again will break
As frosted fields give way to spring
The song of love again you’ll sing
The summer rains and falling leaves
Grant the lovelorn slow reprieve.
Slumber all ye hatchling queens.
Two hearts entwine in dragon dreams.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Abby awoke with a gasp. “Charlotte!”
“I am here, Abby,” a meek voice answered from across the hall.
Abby came to her knees, wincing as her bones cracked against the hard floor. She squinted into the glare of the morning sun as light spilled in from the open doorways. Charlotte was sitting up on the blood-stained mattress, leaning against the wall as her baby suckled her breast.
Abby crawled over to them and sank on the mattress beside Charlotte, wrapping an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “I’m so relieved you’re alive.”
“We are,” Charlotte said as she smiled down at her child, “all thanks to you and your friends.”
“They are amazing, aren’t they?” Abby said with a note of awe in her voice. She could hardly believe Gabriel’s wizard-like magic or Fiona’s ability to turn into a magnificent dragon. Still, she wouldn’t voice a word of what she’d seen to Charlotte or anyone, not because everyone would call her crazy, but because she suspected her friends wanted her to guard their secrets.
Charlotte shifted, the infant in her arms cooing as her eyelids fluttered.
Abby stroked the baby’s soft cheek. “Where are the others?”
“I only saw Gabriel this morning. He went searching for Safina. He said he would send help, and we are to stay here.” Charlotte frowned. “I doubt I have the strength to walk anyway.”
Abby brushed blonde wisps of hair from Charlotte’s forehead. “You had a rough night. You’ll be as right as rain soon enough.”
Charlotte flashed a smile that didn’t quite mask the sadness in her eyes. A tear slipped down her cheek as she looked at her daughter. “Isn’t she beautiful?”
“She’s perfect,” Abby agreed. “An angel.”
The baby’s suckling slowed until she released Charlotte’s breast with a satisfied burp. Charlotte wiped a drop of milk from her infant’s lip before snuggling her against her chest.
“Would you like to hold her?” she asked.
Abby jerked up, instinctively holding out her arms. “Oh, only if you don’t mind. I held her most of the night.”
In truth, Abby could hold Charlotte’s child for an eternity. After all the sorrow that had befallen the city last night, listening to an infant’s soft breathing, holding her cuddly little body, and inhaling her fresh scent, brought Abby a sense of comfort. It was hard to believe, out of so much destruction and carnage, a new life had found a way to prevail.
Charlotte placed the baby in Abby’s arms before heaving herself from the mattress with a groan. “I simply cannot wait another moment to use the toilet.”
She hobbled away, leaving Abby to soak in the baby’s warmth.
Abby closed her eyes and sang a lullaby to the child, one she remembered her Nana singing to her when she was young.
“I think little Abigale likes you.”
Abby’s eyes shot open. So consumed was she in the music, she hadn’t noticed Charlotte return. “You named her Abigale?”
Charlotte looked at her from beneath thick lashes. “After her mother’s dearest friend, the woman who bravely risked her life to keep us safe.”
“Thank you, Charlotte.” Abby held little Abigail tightly to her chest. “I hope it’s all right with Teddy.”
“If Teddy was alive, he would have come for me.” Charlotte held Abby’s hand, a heartfelt sadness in her eyes, as if Abby was the one who needed comforting.
“Charlotte, don’t say that,” Abby pleaded, for she couldn’t imagine Theodore Carter, a man so utterly devoted to his wife and child, dead. Teddy had too much to live for. He simply couldn’t be gone.
“I’m only trying to be a realist, Abby.” More tears fell as she stared straight ahead. She sounded so emotionless, it was as if her soul had been swept away with the storm. “I don’t wish to get my hopes up only to have my heart broken.” Her voice cracked, and she buried her face in her hands, shaking as she sobbed uncontrollably.
“There, there, dearest.” Abby shifted the baby into the crook of one arm and wrapped the other around Charlotte. “Please don’t give up hope yet.”
Abby flinched at a loud bang downstairs, followed by the sound of feet splashing through water. She handed Abigail to Charlotte and stood on shaky legs, grabbing a candlestick for a weapon and positioning herself in front of the mother and child.
“Charlotte!” a familiar voice boomed.
“Teddy!” Charlotte shrieked.
Abby’s knees weakened when Teddy raced up the stairs. She dropped the candlestick to the ground and stepped aside.
A dirty, blood-stained bandage hung from his head, and he had a wild look in his eyes. “Oh, thank God you’re alive! I tried so hard to get to you, but then I was struck down.” He fell to his knees beside Charlotte and burst into tears. “Is that, is that?” he sputtered.
“Yes, Teddy, it’s your daughter, Abigail.” Charlotte leaned forward, placing the baby in his arms.
“Abigail?” Teddy stood, looking down at his child before turning around to gape at Abby.
“Abby saved us,” Charlotte said, a note of awe in her voice. “She braved flood waters to get to me. She brought help, too. I nearly died giving birth, but the healer saved me.”
“Abby,” Teddy rasped as he clutched his child. “I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”
Abby flushed as she stared down at her mud-encrusted boots. “No need to repay me.”
Abigail squirmed against him, making another cooing sound.
Teddy traced the line of her brow and stroked her cherubic cheek. “She’s beautiful.”
“Of course she is.” Abby beamed. “She looks just like her mother.”
“That she does,” Teddy answered.
Charlotte blushed when Teddy knelt beside her, staring deeply into her eye
s.
“I-I thought you’d died.” She sniffled, wiping her eyes.
Teddy bent over her, placing a tender kiss on her forehead. “It will take a lot more than a force of nature to pull me away from you.”
Abby needed to give the family privacy, for she had now become the fourth wheel, the awkward, uneven one on the back of Señor Cortez’s cart.
“Now that Teddy is here, I need to go tell Nana I’m safe.”
“Of course, dearest,” Charlotte answered, her gaze still locked with Teddy’s.
“Abby, I heard that all the houses close to the beach had been destroyed.” Teddy turned to her with brows drawn together, the bloody bandage swaying against the side of his head. “Had your Nana moved to higher ground before the storm hit?”
“Oh, yes. Don’t worry about her.” But in truth, Abby was worried. She knew how much the old woman fretted over her. She must have had a fit after Abby left.
“It looks like a battlefield out there,” Teddy said. “It’s not safe for you to leave unaccompanied.”
Abby’s spine stiffened as she locked eyes with Teddy. “I battled a hurricane to get to my best friend. I can handle the aftermath.”
“Very well, but after you find your Nana, I want you both to come directly to our home. It was hardly damaged by the storm.” Teddy puffed out his chest, his tone leaving no room for refusal. “You are welcome to stay as long as you like. Your Nana’s roomers are invited as well.”
Abby was floored by Teddy’s generosity. “Thank you so much for the offer.”
Teddy looked down at the child sleeping in the crook of his arm. “It is small recompense for what you’ve done.”
Abby had to stifle a laugh, thinking Teddy may come to regret inviting her Nana, the biggest gossip in all of Galveston, to live under the same roof. She hoped he and his family didn’t have any dirty laundry. Soon, it would all be aired to the world.
* * *
Teddy hadn’t exaggerated about the destruction in Galveston, though his warning didn’t prepare her for the horror. Piles of splintered wood and mangled wreckage lined the streets. She would never forget the bloated corpses with twisted limbs and looks of terror etched into their faces. Those bodies, and their foul smell as they baked beneath the Texas sun, would haunt her nightmares for years to come. It sickened Abby to know Irene was most likely one of those corpses, and she feared her list of dead friends and neighbors would grow.
