At his brother’s touch, Brennan stepped aside, but he continued to glare at her. They filed into the large van, and Kellan drove them for the two and a half hours it took to reach the coast. They left the van in a small village and walked toward the cliffs where the dragon shifter clan had once thrived.
“We’re going to reclaim these lands one day,” Kellan said. “A dragon shifter clan belongs here.”
Fallon agreed. She might not be speaking to Brennan right now, but his family had every right to reclaim their land. It had been brutally taken from them, and they deserved their birthright. She could see Kellan taking it back one day in the future, leading his clan again.
As they march forward, a blood-curdling scream of rage filled the air. The witch was there, and now she knew that they had arrived. She had not anticipated they’d come to her, not yet. There was no point in trying to sneak up on the witch. She knew they were coming. They split into three groups and spread out.
It had been eight years since Fallon had practiced her battle skills, but she knew they would return to her. Her breathing remained steady, and her heart did not thunder.
In the distance, waves crashed against the rocky cliffs. Without warning, a deep rumble sounded. It was the sound of dragon shifters roaring in unison. As the roar faded, three dragons burst out from a cave. The one in the center breathed fire. The other two took flight, lifting high into the air.
The witch took a step forward, but she kept a hand on the dragon shifter closest to her, the one that remained on the ground, guarding her. “Kellan, how nice to see you,” said the witch. Her words oozed with rancor. “I see that you brought some friends.”
She turned her venomous gaze to each of them as if to greet them one by one. “I see that each of you has come. Liam, Quinn, and Brennan. And look, Liam, you brought your fierce mate, Brynne, who was raised by vampires.”
Brynne growled and lunged forward, but Liam put his hand on her arm, restraining her.
The witch’s gaze pinned Fallon in place. “Well, it looks like the wayward Fae has returned.” She cackled. “I can feel your sister and her companions, even though they stayed home.”
Fallon gritted her teeth. She had forgotten how slimy the presence of the witches felt. There was only one witch and three of her shifters. There were six of them, and the plan was that they would stay in their separate groups of two, even if she attacked.
“You should have brought your hatchlings,” she said. “After all, you’re trying to rebuild your clan. You’re trying to reclaim these cliffs so that you can raise them here, as your parents raised you. It will never work.”
Fallon tightened her grip on her sword. She’d managed to cover its existence with her glamour projection. It was more than likely that she would need to use her sword. It had been forged by a Fae long ago and spelled by a witch back when they were still allies. It was the only way she could easily kill the witch.
Shifting quickly, in the blink of an eye, Kellan and Brennan moved forward in their dragon forms. They ignored the witch and went straight for her protective dragon. Quinn and Liam, also having shifted, each lifted up into the sky, going after the other two shifters.
Roars echoed through the air as Quinn and Liam tangled with the shifters in the sky, but they were unable to defeat them. They were evenly matched, and any damage done by a shifter would not harm another shifter. The real harm would come from a witch’s spell or a weapon that a witch had enchanted.
While Brennan continued his attack on the guardian dragon, Kellan moved sideways, going straight for the witch. Even Fallon could feel his unease.
Each time they had battled, the witch’s abilities had been different. Her skills were ever-changing. From her pocket, the witch pulled a small knife. A knife usually would not penetrate a dragon’s scales, but it was likely heavily spelled. She aimed the knife and flung it hard.
The small knife stuck in Kellan’s shoulder, and he went down, hitting his head on the ground. Brynne roared in fury as her brother-in-law fell. She charged the witch. Having been raised by vampires in New York City, she didn’t have the experience that the rest of them did. The witch flung her hands out again. This time, a powder-like substance landed on Brynne’s scales. She hit the ground and began to writhe in pain.
Fallon, who was still standing back, waiting for the right time to use her sword, looked up at Quinn and Liam, who were still holding off the shifters that were in the air. Kellan and Brynne were down. That only left Brennan to tackle the witch.
He had fought her before. He was the right one to use the sword. “Brennan,” she said. Brennan stepped forward, and Fallon held out her sword. “Change back into human form and use this against her. She won’t be expecting it.”
To Fallon’s shock, Brennan did as she said. He quickly morphed back into a human and grabbed the sword from her hand. He charged forward, stabbing at the witch. The witch’s guardian shifter lunged toward him, but Fallon leaped onto its back. She grabbed the shifter’s neck and squeezed with all of her strength. The shifter screeched and bucked, but Fallon held tight. It clawed at her, scratching a deep line of fire across her right leg. Fallon cried out as the fiery heat blazed across her skin, but she held on.
Brennan lifted this word and plunged it straight into the witch’s heart, but that wasn’t quite enough. The witch was still alive, but her power had faded. Immediately, the two dragon shifters in the air disappeared, leaving only a wisp of smoke behind. They had been an illusion, cast by the witch, and now that she was gravely injured, the illusion evaporated.
“Cut her head off,” Fallon yelled, but her voice was weak. Her grip on the shifter was beginning to loosen. “Use my sword!”
The dragon that Fallon was fighting was real. It kept thrashing. It flung its tail out, connecting with her body. She flew backward, hitting her head against a hard cave wall. The last thing she saw was Brennan dropping the sword and running toward her.
23
Brennan
When Brennan saw Fallon crash into the rock wall of the cave, he lost it.
He withdrew the sword from the witch’s body, and he lifted it high above his head. With a swift swinging motion, he brought the sword down in an arc and sliced right through the witch’s neck, cutting her head off. Liam appeared then, and he let loose, breathing fire onto the witch’s body, incinerating her.
Brennan ran straight to Fallon. She wasn’t moving. Fae were resilient, just like shifters, so the witch must have hit her with a spell. She was breathing, but her pulse was weak, and her chest was barely moving.
The two dragons that had been in the air disappeared. They had been powerful illusions created by the witch. Only one shifter remained—the one that had been guarding the witch. Quinn went to subdue that shifter and try and find out why he was cooperating with a witch. After Liam got Brynne and Kellan up and moving, they joined Quinn in investigating the dragon shifter who’d been serving the witch.
Brennan was only vaguely aware of what was going on. He knelt over Fallon. He lifted her hand and pressed it to his cheek. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I was a jerk. Forgive me.”
He touched her pale cheek as her breathing slowed. Even with the illusion that she had kept up, how had he ever missed that she was part Fae? In retrospect, it all seemed obvious.
“Fallon.” He shook her shoulders. “You saved the day with your sword. Come on, wake up. It’s not going to be a victory worth celebrating without you.” His voice broke. “You need to tell me that you were right all along.”
She was his mate. He’d been too stubborn to accept it, and now he was going to lose her. He stroked his hand over her forehead. Her skin, which should have been cool to the touch, was blazing hot. Fae didn’t get sick. They didn’t get fevers.
“Quinn! Help her,” he cried out.
Quinn came running over and knelt on the other side of her.
“Can you save her?” Brennan asked.
“I’m going to do my best,” Quinn said. “I thi
nk she was poisoned. The shifter must have scratched her skin, and its claws must have been spelled by the witch.”
Poison from a spell? Fuck. Brennan had no idea what to do for her. She wasn’t merely knocked out from a hard blow. She’d been poisoned. There was a chemical coursing through her veins, and the only one who would know what that poison contained was dead—killed by him.
“She’s my mate,” Brennan said to his brother.
Quinn’s strong hand landed on his shoulder. “I know. I can feel the connection between the two of you.”
Brennan had to hope that Fallon could feel that connection, too, and that it was strong enough to keep her alive.
24
Fallon
Fallon’s skin burned. Strong hands lifted her from the cool ground. The mossy grass had felt good against her heated skin. It had been soothing.
She moaned in agony. “Stop. Hot,” she said. She tried to swat the hands away, but they persisted. “Put me back,” she said, begging.
“It’s the poison,” she heard a male voice say. Was that Quinn?
Where was she? What had happened? Why had someone in Texas poisoned her? She was bouncing along with her body held at an odd angle. She cracked her eyes open and saw a crumbling stone fence and, beyond that, the green Irish countryside.
The witch had been planning to attack.
She struggled to sit up, but she couldn’t move. Where was Brennan? He hadn’t wanted her there, but she was still in love with him. Was he injured? God, was he dead? No, God, please don’t let him be dead. She couldn’t survive if she lost him.
“Brennan?” She needed to see him. She needed to know where he was.
A masculine voice spoke. “I’m right here.”
She blinked up to see that Brennan was the one carrying her in his arms. Relief flooded through her veins. She went limp until the next wave of pain hit. This time, a sharp stab ricocheted through her brain. She squeezed her eyes shut again. She finally got one hand to move. She lifted it and covered her eyes while her body curled up, trying to escape the torture.
“What’s wrong with her?” Brennan demanded.
“The poison is designed to affect different parts of the body at different times,” Quinn said.
“Can’t you fix it? Why is she suffering so much? Do something!”
Quinn shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that. She’s not a shifter. Her body is not like ours. Her sister should have some treatments back at her home.”
“So you’re telling me that we’ve got to get her back in that van and drive two hours before we can cure her?”
“Yes, that’s absolutely what we have to do. If they have their own remedies, those are optimal. I’m not privy to them. It would be a mistake for us to experiment on her in this delicate state. Put this on her head,” Quinn said.
The next thing Fallon was aware of was a cool cloth pressed over her eyes. She sighed.
“Is that helping?” Brennan asked.
She wanted to nod, but she knew that would be a mistake. Instead, she lifted her hand and curled her fingers around his bicep. The feel of his strong muscle under her hand gave her comfort.
His lips brushed over her forehead. “I love you.”
She heard Brennan say the words just before she lost consciousness. Then everything went black.
When she woke up, she was lying on a bed inside her childhood home. She stretched, relishing the fact that she could move without blinding pain. She turned her head to the side to see Brennan stretched out on a pallet on the floor. He was sound asleep. A glass of water sat on the table next to her. Did it belong to Brennan, or had someone anticipated her waking up soon?
Memories of the battle with the witch came rushing back. Afterward, she had vivid memories of the way the poison affected her body. That had not been fun, but it had been worth it. Now their son and Brennan’s family were safe. Her sister and her new tribe were safe as well.
It was more than she could have asked for when they got on the jet to fly to Ireland.
25
Brennan
When Brennan had seen Fallon lying limp on the ground, he had lost it. His dragon had roared. The human side of him freaked out. He immediately regretted all the time he had wasted. He could have spent the last few weeks trying to win her over, but instead, he’d let her go. His brothers had tried to talk sense into him, but he’d refused. He’d been stubborn. He hadn’t been ready to let go of the bachelor’s life.
All he had to do was confess his feelings to her, but he had not been willing to make the first move. He hadn’t been brave enough to risk rejection so that he could start his life with his mate.
Fallon had arranged for them to be here and be protected by her family. She had created a safe space for her son and his cousins. What had Brennan done? He had said around and bitched and moaned for no good reason. Then he’d almost lost Fallon.
She hadn’t hesitated. She had handed him the sword and allowed him to end their feud with the witches, once and for all. Fae never handed over their swords to non-Fae. It was a stunning act of trust. That act of trust alone had shown him the depth of their true connection.
He’d been so worried about her that he hadn’t thought about the sword until they were already back in her home. Luckily, Liam had remembered the sword and brought it back for them. Yet right then, Brennan didn’t give a shit about the sword, magical heirloom or not.
Fallon had been out for three days. Each day, the children were very quiet while they were in the house. Brennan had stayed by her side, every hour of the day. He held her hand. He brushed her hair. He talked to her. He did anything that he could think of that might give her a reason to come back. While he sat with her, his brothers kept a close eye on Rowan.
Each night, Rowan had come to lie down beside his mother. Brennan was wracked with guilt that he had allowed his son’s mother to be so gravely injured. Maeve assured him that it was not his fault. That made him feel a little better. Fae were not known for their tact, so he assumed if she said something, she meant it.
Each night, Rowan kissed his mother’s cheek and said, “Please wake up, Momma.” It broke everyone’s heart in half.
Brennan continued to sit by her side all day, every day. His brothers tried to get him to take a break, but it was futile. He’d gotten her into this mess, and he was going to sit by her until she was out of it. Finally, on the fourth day, Fallon’s eyes had opened. He knew when he saw her bright green eyes shining that she would recover fully.
Now that Fallon was awake, Brennan was determined not to waste any more time. He had confessed his love for her when she was injured, and he had told her that she was his mate while she recovered. Now that she was feeling better, he was ready to propose. She might say no. He could live with that. He just wasn’t going to screw around anymore, pretending like he wanted to be single. He absolutely did not want to be fucking single. He wanted Fallon as his mate. He wanted her any way that she would have him.
His dragon agreed wholeheartedly.
Brennan had not told his brothers yet, but from the way they smirked at him, he figured that they knew that he was going to propose. However, he knew nothing about Fae marriages. They had always kept their traditions to themselves.
He was going to have to talk to her sister. He was aware of the previously strained relationship between Fallon and her sister. He didn’t have all the details, but he was pretty sure her sister had treated her like shit, which made Brennan not want to cut her any slack.
Yet, it was clear that Maeve had been worried out of her mind when Fallon was injured, and for some strange reason, Maeve didn’t blame him, which was more generosity than he expected or deserved. He had failed to keep Fallon safe, and that was something he had to live with. If something like this ever happened again, he would have to learn to fight alongside Fallon and deal with the consequences. He knew now that she would never accept being left behind.
Brennan pulled Fallon’s sister aside. “I’m
going to ask Fallon to marry me. Is there any type of ring the Fae prefer?”
“She is Fae, but she’s also human. You should get her whatever you want.”
He glared at her sister. “That was really not helpful.”
“You know her better than I do,” Maeve said, which was sad but true. She threw her hands up. “I’m no relationship expert.”
In the end, Brennan went with simplicity. He got a plain gold band with an embedded diamond. On the inside, he inscribed the word mate.
He waited until she was feeling better to make his plans. On the seventh day after Fallon had been injured, she was finally up and moving around. On the eighth day, he asked if she’d like to take a walk. He knew that it was probably better to wait until they were back home in Texas, but he wasn’t going to make it that long. He had to know how she felt.
“I’d love to take a walk,’’ she said. “Everyone’s been really kind to me, but I could use a break from the hovering.”
Brennan really doubted that he was going to be able to quit hovering. As it was, he held onto her elbow as she walked out the door. They walked along the rocky path, pausing only to greet the passing sheep and the waddling ducks. When they reached a large boulder, he helped her sit down so that she could rest. This was the perfect opportunity.
He sat down next to her. “Do you remember when you were injured, I told you I loved you?”
“Yes, I remember that very clearly.”
“Do you also remember when I told you that you were my mate?”
“Yes, I remember that. I always thought you were my mate too.”
Would she ever stop surprising him? “You did?”
“Yes. Fae don’t have mates in the same way dragon shifters do. We form strong bonds.”
Sheriff Dragon's Secret Baby (Irish Dragon Shifter Brothers Book 4) Page 12
