Dance of the Dragon

by Kira Nyte

  Gabriella nodded. “I’ll do anything for you. Anything. You’ve given me life. I trust you implicitly. I’ve been learning so much from the other women. I might need guidance, but I won’t let you down.”

  “I know you won’t. Let me see your finger.”

  Her trust in him when she produced her finger squeezed at his heart. He grasped her finger in a gentle hold and brought the pad to his lips for a soft kiss.

  “I love you, Gabriella.” He caught her gaze, hoping to burn his sincerity into her mind.

  “I love you, too, Taryn.”

  Taryn extended the tip of the talon from his thumb and pierced her skin. She gasped, flinched, but didn’t tug away. A bead of crimson welled up from the puncture. He guided her finger to the opening of the reservoir and milked a few more drops of blood.

  The lid flicked closed.

  Gold light sparked as the lid sealed shut and the whirling colors in his jewel illuminated, accepting and absorbing the final essence. That of the woman with whom he would live out the rest of his life.

  As the magic swirl of colors faded, Taryn stole a tiny taste of her blood before healing her wound with a lick.

  A smile touched her mouth. “No fireworks.”

  Taryn laughed, reaching back to lay his dragonstone in the box on the stool. “My angel, I think we’re about to make our own fireworks.”

  Gabriella pressed her torso to his. “I think I have a new appreciation for shattering under your expertise. Let’s see if those fireworks can compete.”

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  “Are you sure you want to do that?” Briella asked, running her hand over the swaying pink and yellow flowers. Her brows were furrowed with concern, her hazel eyes fraught with worry.

  Ariah shook her head as she dished out a scoop of some mixed-berry cobbler and handed the plate to Gabby. “It’s not a good idea. Not now.”

  Gabby glanced up at the flashes of clear blue sky she could see through the weeping silvery-purple leaves of the tree that shaded their picnic. Small birds darted overhead, nothing more than silhouettes against the blazing sunlight and cloudless backdrop. Their screeches were more musical than cringe-worthy, lending a pleasing melody to the light rustle of the leaves and high grasses.

  She understood their concern, but they didn’t understand her need for closure.

  “Amelia, please say you agree with me and Ariah,” Briella begged.

  Amelia’s violet gaze held steady on Gabby until she met her friend’s eyes. The flash of warning in the witch’s eyes was enough to make Gabby’s stomach churn and force her to forfeit her first bite of cobbler.

  “You know what I’m going to say.” Amelia’s thumb stroked a small golden disk that hung from a short string at her hip. Gabby had given up trying to keep track of the amulets and talismans and other magical knick-knacks Amelia kept about her person. “You haven’t discussed your wishes with Taryn yet, have you.”

  Gabby looked away, preoccupying herself with a long stem topped with dainty yellow petals. Butterfly-like creatures flower-hopped, the veins in their wings glowing all the shades of the rainbow when the sunlight caught them.

  “Gabriella, may I have a private word?” Amelia finally asked as she climbed to her feet and brushed her hands over her long skirt. She maintained her characteristic friendly grin, but her eyes spoke something to the contrary.

  “Excuse us,” Gabby said to the others, getting up to fall in step with Amelia.

  She had become familiar with Amelia’s subtle expressions over the last few weeks, having spent many days in her company. She didn’t need that experience to know this “talk” wasn’t going to be anything she cared to hear. She had already made up her mind.

  Amelia stopped at the bottom of the dip in the field and faced Gabby. They regarded each other in silence. Gabby half-suspected Amelia had a vision of her future, another tidbit she didn’t want to hear about.

  “Taryn won’t allow it,” Amelia said, foregoing pretense.

  “He will when I explain why.”

  “No good will come of you two returning to New Orleans, Gabriella. Nothing. I understand your reasoning. I understand your need for closure with your mother, but she is not worth your life.”

  Gabby took a slow breath and shook her head. “She took my life for almost thirty-one years. She tortured me, broke me again and again. She messed with my head bad, Amelia. I need her to see, to know, to hear that I’ve overcome her poison.”

  Amelia nodded thoughtfully, the penetrating violet, see-all eyes that Gabby both admired and, at moments like this, cursed never leaving her face.

  “Look around you, Gabriella. Take a few minutes to truly see where you are and what your life has become. Soak it in. Think about who you have in your life now. Then remember your past. Remember her.” She tilted her head in a way that made Gabby feel the woman was turning a key inside her head. “What do you wish to sacrifice for her?”

  “Nothing.”

  “But you will. You’ll sacrifice everything that has come to mean something good to you if you make this trip. Leave Janice Metz in New Orleans. Leave the nightmares where they belong. Far away from here and far away from you and Taryn. She cannot return here without the dragons. You need never see her again.”

  For days, Gabby had it in her head that she wanted to return to her former world, if for only a few minutes, to rip into her mother for all the things she had done. The lies she’d told about Gabriella’s father. The lies about Taryn, all just to satisfy her own sick desires. Using her own daughter to keep her boyfriends around.

  Amelia was right.

  Gabby wouldn’t sacrifice Taryn, or any of the people who had become her family here in The Hollow, for the despicable woman who had given birth to her.

  It didn’t keep her from wishing for a minute, just a minute, to tell Janice how she felt.

  Gabby sighed and hugged her midsection. “I never thought I’d see the day when I’d rise above her damage. I want her to see it.”

  “You don’t think she knows? You chose Taryn over her at the house before the Baroqueth came. You’ve not returned to her in almost a month.” Amelia placed a hand on Gabby’s shoulder, the brief touch conveying calm and warmth. “She’s very aware. Rest easy with that knowledge.”

  “The gratification of seeing her face, though…”

  “Is not worth the price you will pay. Just like it would not have been worth my stubbornness to remain in New Orleans when I knew what would become of me if I didn’t allow Cade to bring me to The Hollow. She would have found me.”

  Gabby stiffened. “The woman sorcerer?”

  Amelia nodded once. “Yes.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Do you know who she is? Do you know anything about her?”

  “No, other than that she’s on a fanatical mission and nothing will stop her.” For the first time, Amelia’s gaze lowered to her clasped hands. “Things will get worse, Gabriella. Much, much worse before they get better. You and everyone connected with this world, whether they know it or not, must do everything possible to stay safe.”

  A chill slithered through Gabby’s soul with Amelia’s words, and followed her back to the blanket spread under the tree with silver leaves. She smacked a smile on her mouth throughout the remainder of the picnic, despite the growing unease in her gut. Ariah’s cobbler tasted sour in her mouth, and the fruity tea Amelia had brewed made her stomach roll.

  Turmoil lay ahead. She knew that. She understood what becoming part of Taryn’s world meant. There would always be danger. Always be enemies.

  But there would also always be love.

  Emery, wings backflapping to control his landing nearby, arrived to taxi them to their respective homes. Although Taryn, with the help of Syn and Briella and her parents, had been teaching Gabby to ride—she’d never ridden a horse, and here she was, hopping on the back of a ginormous dragon—she didn’t feel comfortable on anyone except for her dragon. The lack of communication with anyone other than Taryn during
the flight made for an uneasy ride if she began to panic.

  At least Taryn’s landing shelf was the first stop.

  “Let’s plan on taking a hike in the forest tomorrow,” Ariah suggested. “Alazar assured me that a mile or two won’t put us in the paws of some gnarly predator. And I understand there’s a quaint waterfall and multiple streams that spread from it.”

  Gabby nodded. “That sounds like fun. It’ll be nice to explore.”

  “Great! I’ll prepare a few sandwiches and fruit cups from Saralyn’s garden.” Ariah glanced at Briella. “Your mom won’t mind, will she?”

  “Nope. Not at all.”

  “I’ve got some fruits growing as well,” Amelia chimed in.

  “Then we’re all set,” Ariah concluded. “Have a great evening, Gabby!”

  “You, too. And thanks for the lift, Emery.”

  The dragon nudged her arm gently with the back of his massive paw, snorted, then stepped off the shelf, reappearing seconds later as he soared up and away with his passengers. Gabby held her smile steady until she slipped through the archway that led to one of many fire-lit stairwells. She followed the one Taryn had taught her led to the main living quarters.

  His home continued to amaze her. The labyrinth-style design that protected him and his hoard.

  And now you.

  Instinctively, she touched the pendant resting on her chest and smiled.

  “Everything is fine. Everything is right.”

  Her daily mantra put a spring in her step as she descended the last corridor and arrived at the hidden door. She fumbled along the rough rock wall until she found the secret latch that opened the door, and stared. Taryn, holding a bouquet of wild flowers, waited in the center of the living room.

  Gabby’s heart swelled.

  Taryn crossed to her and held out the flowers. “Here, my darling angel. A little something to brighten your day.”

  “All my days are bright now, but thank you.” She brought the flowers to her nose and inhaled the sweet aromas. “Mmm, they smell so nice.” She gave him a slow once-over, arching a brow. “You’re all dressed up.”

  He smiled and held out his arms, inviting her to look all she wanted. God help her, the man could wear anything and still look impossibly handsome. Including a simple white button-down open at the chest and black pants. His hair was pulled back in his usual small knot at the nape of his neck with strands of sandy-blond waves brushing his cheeks.

  Oh, boy. She melted. Right in the places that could easily lead them to the bedroom.

  “I want to take you out. On a date. Somewhere you’ve never been.” He dropped his arms, but his eyes sparkled. “How about…Northern Lights?”

  The excitement that bubbled to the surface quickly died. “I thought it wasn’t safe to leave.”

  “Well…” Taryn stepped into her, molding his hand to her cheek. The shimmer in his eyes darkened with mischief as he thumbed her lower lip. “Nothing is safe.” He lowered his head until she could feel his breaths against her lips. Naturally, she leaned into him, her eyelids lowering. “But I think a spontaneous trip to Iceland for an hour or so wouldn’t be too much of a risk.” He swept his lips over hers, turning her nerves into a tingling mess. “What do you say, love?”

  “I say kiss me, then let me change.”

  He chuckled, teasing her with the airy motion of his lips over hers. “You know what happens when I kiss you?”

  “Yes.” She slipped her arm around his neck and lowered the bouquet to her side. “You send my world tumbling.”

  When she tried to kiss him, the damn man wedged his thumb between their lips. “You love playing with fire.”

  “Only yours, because I know you will never burn me.”

  Taryn kept his next kiss restrained before he tugged on her lower lip with his teeth and straightened. “I’m going to behave and not send us tumbling into bed. Yet. Dress warm, angel. It’s cold in Iceland this time of year.”

  Chapter Thirty

  “I’d feel much better if we came with you,” Syn said quietly beside Taryn. Taryn didn’t take his eyes off his angel and Briella wrapped up in excited chatter. He loved seeing Gabriella so lively. To think only a short time ago she had hit the bottom of hope and tried to end it all.

  She was the proof that love could work magic. That tenderness could help the damaged blossom. Kindness nurtured shriveled roots.

  “Briella and I would stay away, give you two your time. But for the sake of safety, we should go in numbers.”

  Taryn planned to stay far away from the Big Easy for a few years, if he ever returned. He missed the city, but everything he could ever want and need was here in The Hollow. Here, in his true home.

  That didn’t mean there weren’t little things he wanted to share with Gabriella. Little things that, despite all the magic and wonder of The Hollow, he couldn’t give her here. Little things she should have had before him, including a magical jaunt to Iceland.

  His angel deserved the universe.

  Taryn tore his attention from the women and looked at Syn. The man’s lips were curled in content adoration as he watched his own lifemate.

  “Quite a blessing, finding your lifemate,” Syn said. He nodded toward their women. “I told you before all this started that your life hadn’t gone to shit. Should learn to listen to me, brother.”

  Taryn laughed. “Look who’s talking.” He jabbed his elbow into Syn’s arm. “Sure. Come along. I’d imagine the lights would provide some inspiration for sweet Brie.”

  “Don’t let her hear you call her that.”

  “I have half a mind to tease the both of you, but it’s getting late. We should start out. Is Brie using Gio’s old riding coat?”

  Syn nodded. “Until more of the civilians return, I haven’t bothered those here to fit Briella. What about Gabby?”

  Taryn winked. “I’ve got a surprise for her.”

  “Don’t you always.” Syn snickered and crossed the field Gabriella had managed to turn into a majestic garden. He said to his lifemate, “Sweet, Taryn’s been kind enough to invite us along.”

  “You twisted my arm,” Taryn corrected.

  Briella laughed. “Your arm looks in good shape for being twisted.” She greeted Syn by snuggling up against his side. Gabriella stepped into Taryn’s arms. “We should get ready, then.”

  “Meet you in the air in twenty?” Syn asked.

  “That’s all the time you need? Damn, man.”

  Syn rolled his eyes. Briella gave him a pat on the stomach.

  “Taryn, green doesn’t look good on you, my friend.”

  “I’m certainly not jealous, sweet Brie. I might’ve given your man some pointers.” He shooed Syn. “Go. We’re running out of night.”

  “I love how at ease everyone is here. I can’t get over it,” Gabriella said after Syn launched off the field with Briella on his back. The backdraft from Syn’s wings fluttered flowers and plants and his angel’s hair across her face. He tucked the rebel strands behind her ear. “The camaraderie will never cease to amaze me.”

  “You learn after a few decades that family is more than blood. Trust runs deeper than words. We face danger, but live life. There is no such thing as immortality. Even immortals die.” Taryn knew that all too well. All of the surviving dragons and civilians had learned that difficult lesson. “I found something for you.”

  “You spoil me.”

  Taryn kissed her head. “Love, I thoroughly enjoy spoiling you.”

  He left her long enough to retrieve the package he’d left behind some rocks. He held it out and smiled. “Open it.”

  Gabriella’s brows furrowed as she took the package. “What’s in here? It’s heavy.”

  “Why don’t you find out?”

  She tore open the brown paper wrapping. Taryn’s smile dimmed as the coat unfolded in her hands, the sight of it bringing wistful memories. Gabriella looked up at him questioningly.

  “It belonged to your father,” Taryn said, relieving her of the ja
cket and holding it open. The question in her expression turned into realization, then sentiment. He caught the sparkle in her eyes as she turned away so he could help her into the long leather riding coat. Despite her height, she swam in it.

  He circled her and took his time fastening the gold closures. “One of the men in town found it about a year ago in the rubble of Corvin’s home. He patched up the tears and conditioned the leather, working it until it was like new.” He ignored the strain in his voice as he secured the last closure. He brushed his fingers over the faded seams of repaired tears along the front flap. “He and his wife offered to size it down to fit you. When you’re ready.”

  Gabriella caressed the coat with trembling fingers. Her chin quivered and a few tears fell from her eyelids. She lifted the collar to her nose and inhaled.

  Finally, she looked up at him. “I want to know him, Taryn. Can you show him to me? If only once, and for a moment, I want to know him.”

  Taryn caught strands of her hair in his fingers before he combed both hands through the wind-blown silk. He lowered his forehead to hers, holding her gaze steady until she closed her eyes. The scent of her tears wrenched his heart as hard as drawing up the memories of his late Keeper.

  “Open your mind to me,” he whispered.

  Their lifemate bond glowed bright in his mind’s eye. As she fully opened her mind to him, that light swallowed him up. The warmth of her soul coaxed him to accept her comfort. Little did she realize that she gave him the strength to dredge up memories from the bottom of his soul. Memories that continued to hurt because he hadn’t saved his Keeper.

  Corvin made the ultimate sacrifice to save others.

  Taryn could live with that, but it didn’t ease his own pain for not being able to save Corvin.

  He shared with her the good times. The happy times. He and Corvin in flight, or helping the villagers. Partying at festivities. Corvin beamed with kindness in everything he did. He put others first every day.