Touch of Ice (Dawn of Dragons Book 1)

by Mary Auclair

The pain was immediate and sharp but Aldric kept his hand steady. Slowly, Rhyl’s eyes shed the insanity of the dragon fire and he blinked, returning to reality.

  Behind the dragon, Aldric’s men gathered, rounding up the civilians and shooting frequent glances at Rhyl. They knew the dragon was still a potential danger, even if he was recovering rapidly. As for the humans, they were scrambling on their feet, holding on to their loved ones, looking up at Rhyl and Aldric like he was the monster responsible for burning their town.

  In a sense, he was.

  Taking Endora for his mate had triggered this. He’d made her and every other human a target. Except he wasn’t taking the responsibility for the Knat-Kanassis’ hatred, only his failure to protect his people. He would see the Knat-Kanassis pay, every last one of them.

  “My Lord,” a small voice called, and Aldric turned to see the young boy he’d saved a few minutes earlier. He was clutching a piece of paper to his chest and behind him, his mother stared at Rhyl with wide eyes. Quietly, she urged him on. “Before they forced us to go out, each man gave us this.” The boy handed a picture to Aldric. It was a picture of a young woman with long dark hair, holding a small girl on her lap. Aldric’s guts twisted in angry knots. The woman—Endora, his Endora—had a circle and cross painted across her face.

  “They asked us about her,” the mother said, pulling at her nightgown. “I have known Endora since we were girls. She went away a few months ago and didn’t come back. We all think she signed a mating contract, but I can’t be sure. She’s a good woman, and she has a little girl. Please find her.”

  Aldric’s fist crushed the picture, and he turned to find Dalgo standing right behind him.

  “My men are scanning the woods. If there are more of them, they’ll be found.” Dalgo glanced down and noticed the crumpled picture. “What is that?”

  “Endora.” Aldric found his voice at the same time as the fog lifted from his brain. “It was always about Endora.”

  His eyes caught Rhyl’s, and understanding traveled between the beast and the man. In a few steps, Aldric was seated on the saddle across Rhyl’s shoulders.

  “What are you doing?” Dalgo caught up to him.

  “It was always about Endora,” Aldric repeated, louder this time. “This was a diversion. Endora is their target, she was always their target.”

  “I’m coming with you.” Dalgo moved toward the saddle but stopped when Aldric shook his head.

  “Take care of the civilians. Look for any clues as to who is behind this. We have to find out. We have to bring them in front of the Council.”

  Dalgo hesitated, then took a step back. Rhyl opened his wings, and with a few powerful flaps, they took to the sky again. Only this time, they were flying against the clock.

  Time had a funny way of stretching when life was a finite thing. Endora could feel every second passing by, never to be seen again, leaving whatever remained a smaller and smaller quantity. She could almost accept it. Almost.

  But there in the box in which her abductors were transporting her and Tallie, with the soothing smell of fresh pine in her nostrils and the softness of Tallie’s hair under her chin, she found she was powerless to fight it: that burning need to survive at all cost. Even as the sensation on the left side of her body long faded away and her legs pulsed with a sustained agony, she couldn’t give up.

  She could abandon the fight just as much as the birds in the sky could accept living in a cage, or the stream accept its prison of rocks. She was going to fight them with everything she had, no matter the outcome.

  It wasn’t just for the small form of Tallie, curled against her body, fast asleep after hours of weeping. Nor for Shari and her big, love-starved heart. Not even for the child that grew in her belly, or the man she loved.

  At first she’d thought it was, but that was a lie. Endora wanted to fight because, at the end of the day, she was as unable to accept defeat today as she had been that fateful day Doctor Leniard told her there was no more hope for Tallie, or the day she’d stopped waiting for Wilmer to come back.

  She was ready for a fight because that was the only way she knew how to exist.

  As the hours went by, she was filled with a cold kind of anger, the kind of anger that latched on to its target without letting up, that only grew with time. An anger that seemed boundless in time or distance.

  In fact, it wasn’t anger at all.

  It was hatred.

  Endora had never truly hated before. Not Wilmer when he left, not Doctor Leniard, when his greed slowly bled her family of all their possessions, not the Delradon doctors when they refused to treat her grandfather. It was almost surprising. True hatred wasn’t burning, like passion. It was a cold spot, empty and full at the same time, that made its home inside her heart, and now that it was there, she was afraid she could never get rid of it.

  She hated Mistress Hael and Raeg, hated all the Knat-Kanassis and the Lord who financed them.

  If they didn’t kill her, she would hunt them down to the last one, even if it took her entire lifetime. As the time passed with a claustrophobic, slow pace, Endora nurtured her hatred, feeding it like a savage, bloodthirsty animal one morsel at a time to keep it coming back.

  Then the movement of the box stopped. Horses neighed, the sound high-pitched and plaintive. The sound of animals asking for food and water after a long haul. Seconds later, voices rose and spoke in Delradon, somewhere at her back. She understood nothing of the Delradon dialect, but she didn’t need any translation to understand irritation of the male and female who spoke in increasingly harsh tones.

  As abruptly as they had risen, the voices died down.

  Tallie stirred, waking up from her long slumber. “Maman?” her voice, small and shrill, came up in the stony silence. She was terrified, and her large eyes reflected the dim light inside the box.

  “Hush, now.” Endora patted some hair away from Tallie’s forehead, hushing into her ear. “Don’t let them know we’re awake.”

  As if they had heard Endora’s words, the cover of the box was yanked open and blinding sunlight inundated her face. Endora blinked furiously, the sunlight making her vision blurry.

  Tallie screamed as hands grabbed her and yanked her out of the box, prying her from Endora’s grip. Endora fought and roared with rage and fear as the same hands yanked her up then threw her down in the snow. Smaller hands—Tallie’s—soon found her and Endora grabbed her daughter, gathering the small body as close to her as she could.

  She lifted her gaze to Raeg, standing over them with a satisfied, sadistic expression on his face.

  Those eyes chilled the courage in her bones, filling her with an animalistic kind of fear. The instincts of prey staring into the cold, calculating eyes of a predator right before the strike.

  Hatred might be an undying monster, crawling under her skin, waiting to pounce, but it wouldn’t help her against a man like him. He was rugged and used to combat, knew how to hurt, how to maim, how to kill.

  “Get up.” Raeg kicked snow at them, splattering Endora and Tallie.

  “Where are we?” Endora looked around at the unfamiliar woods and the small log cabin that stood amid the fresh snow. They were lost in Aldric’s wild territory, in the vast wooded lands that stretched farther than the horizon.

  “Far enough northwest that no one will come looking for you here.” Raeg smiled, and it was full of expectation, of unspoken ugliness just waiting under the surface. “At least… not in time. Now, get up. She’s going to be upset if you’re not able to walk. You don’t want her upset.”

  “You don’t know what I want,” Endora said through clenched teeth, pulling Tallie to her feet at the same time. “And you have no idea what Aldric is going to do to you once he rescues us. He will make you wish you were never born.”

  “The traitor is not going to be a problem in the future,” said a feminine voice, high-pitched and filled with triumph. The voice of someone who had already won. “After his mate and heir die, he will be forced to
surrender power to the next in line.”

  “The next in line…” Endora didn’t finish her sentence. An image of a tall, slim-shouldered man with a haughty expression on his face came to her mind. Lord Misrael, Aldric’s cousin. Yes, this all made sense.

  “Lord Misrael will cleanse this world of the disease of impurity. First, he will destroy you and your kind, all those humans who taint the Dragon’s blood with their compatibility, then he will bring down every house that ever allowed the taint into their bloodlines.”

  “You’re wrong,” Endora said, surprised at how steady her voice was. “Aldric will find you, he will find out it was Lord Misrael who was behind it, and then there will not be a place on this planet you can hide. He will come for you, and he won’t be alone. Rhyl and Myral will be coming too.”

  A shadow spanned over Mistress Hael’s face, skittering like wrinkles of fear on the woman’s skin. She had no fear of Aldric, but the mention of the dragon’s fury didn’t leave her cold. Her throat moved as she swallowed but hatred still gleamed in her eyes. “Soon, there will be no one to remember there ever was a time when dragons mixed their bloods with humans.”

  Mistress Hael turned away, barking orders at Raeg in Delradon. She had obviously finished with Endora, and dismissed her. Endora had to think fast, stall them before they could send them too far away for Aldric and Rhyl to track.

  “Is that why you hate Shari?” Endora spoke softly, knowing she would get under Hael’s skin. “You took care of that girl since she was born, and I haven’t ever seen you touch her, not even once.”

  Hael turned, her face contorted with rage.

  “That abomination ruined my life.” Hael walked up to Endora again, barely containing her fury. “Every day she lived, I knew I was getting closer to obtaining what I wanted, what I deserved. I was compatible with Lord Desmond Donos but he refused me. He had a chance at a pure blooded child, yet he cast me aside because he wanted to keep his human mate. Not even after I got rid of that little abomination’s mother did he take me. Well, now his line will pay the price, and I will have my revenge. Shari won’t see the next year coming.”

  Endora stared at the woman, too stricken to speak. Hael had looked after Shari since her birth, taking care of the child every day, all that time hiding her true feelings deep inside, festering like an abscess.

  She truly was a monster.

  “You’re the one who’s an abomination,” she said, her voice carrying with her own anger. “If Lord Desmond saw what a twisted, sick soul you had, he would never have let you near that child. She is more pure, more deserving than you have ever been.”

  Hael’s mouth twisted in a snarl as she exposed her teeth. In a few steps, she was up close to Endora, her blade hanging at her side like she’d changed her mind and decided to stab her on the spot. Instead, Hael took aim with her feet, landing a wind-knocking kick squarely in Endora’s stomach. The pain doubled her over and Endora fell face first in the snow as Tallie screamed behind her, her small hands grabbing her coat.

  “There. I hope the child poisons you before Lord Misrael gets rid of you.”

  Endora watched as Hael bent over her, her face a mask of pure hatred so cold it burned to look at it.

  “What did you do to my family?”

  A familiar voice, followed by a familiar face, came into Endora’s field of vision. Her mind became a blank as Wilmer walked to stand in front of Hael and Raeg, his eyes wide and his face etched with surprise.

  Chapter 22

  Endora sat down on the wooden plank, holding Tallie close to her body, close to the blazing fire in the old stone chimney. The log cabin was old and smelled stale and musty, but at least it offered shelter from the freezing wind. The fire Wilmer started was warming them, but it did nothing to alleviate the tension in the air; the scent of blood to come, of screams and terror.

  She held the trembling shoulders of her daughter as her eyes followed the three standing figures.

  “This wasn’t the deal.” Wilmer turned to face Raeg and Hael. “My family was supposed to be delivered to me unharmed.”

  “Don’t worry your little human head.” Hael slowly slipped the blade inside the folds of her gray dress. “You will get what you were promised. Once you fulfill your end of the deal.”

  Hael and Raeg walked to the door, turning to stare first at Wilmer, then Endora and Tallie. Outside, the horses neighed, tied to the hitching posts in front of the stairs leading to the house. The rugged, short-legged horses were sturdy and wide, perfect for the mountain terrain and cold weather.

  “We’ll be back soon with Lord Misrael’s men.” Hael looked down at Wilmer with disgust on every line of her face. “You’ll have your payment then.”

  A few seconds later, the door closed on Hael and Raeg, leaving Endora and Tallie with Wilmer.

  “What have you done?” Endora scrambled to her feet, pulling a shivering Tallie up with her. Now that danger was momentarily gone, her temper flared anew—even stronger now she knew the one who’d betrayed her was her ex-lover. “Do you even know who these people are?”

  “What I have done?” Wilmer turned on Endora, his face lit up with anger. “What have you done? You went off and married some rich Draekon Lord, taking my daughter with you. You left me no other choice.”

  Endora felt the heat of anger slip through her veins, pushing the fear down. “How dare you get involved in my life, in our lives, after all these years?” Her words came out with all the pent-up rage she had stored up for him. “You left me. You left her. Where were you when we needed you? When Grand-Papa died, when Tallie fell sick? You weren’t there when it mattered the most. You have no right to us anymore.”

  Wilmer stopped in front of her, incredulity on his face.

  “You knew who I was. I was never a father, never a husband.” He shook his head. “I did my best, but in the end, I knew you were better off without me. When I received your letter for Tallie, I began saving money but that takes time. You didn’t give me enough time.”

  “Enough time? Tallie was all out of time,” Endora’s voice boomed, uncontrolled. “She was dying. I did what I had to do to save her life.”

  “By becoming a Draekon’s whore?”

  The slap came, the sound harsh and dry in the stillness of the cabin. Wilmer’s head snapped to the left, and his hand covered his cheek where Endora had hit him. His eyes met hers, his head half turned away, leaching resentment. Looking at him, at his full cheeks, pouting mouth, boyish stare filled with a petulant grudge, she understood. He never came back because he didn’t have to. She never gave her heart away to anyone else after him. Not even once did she allow any of her many suitors more than casual flirtatious banter. She had shielded her heart all those years.

  And he knew. He’d had eyes on her, all that time. Making sure she was still his, never belonging to anyone else.

  All those years she’d needed him, needed support and money. Needed a shoulder to cry on or a warm body to sleep with at night. He wasn’t there, yet somehow, he assumed she still belonged to him, was waiting for him.

  He came back only because she’d found someone else.

  Her anger turned and churned, burning dangerously close to the frozen ball of hate at the core of her soul, the hate she reserved for those who hurt the ones she loved the most. And Wilmer had hurt the most precious of them all.

  Something moved low to the ground, and Endora looked down to see Tallie scrambling to her feet. Her large, open eyes stared at Wilmer with something akin to wonder, and Endora’s heart pinched with pain. She’d forgotten the child was present, forgotten Tallie would be holding on to the information with all the hope a ten-year-old would have for the father she never knew.

  “Are you my father?” The small voice broke the standoff between Endora and her ex-lover as both looked down at the child. The man smiled, his easy, heartbreakingly handsome grin a wide blade of seduction in his too attractive face. Anger churned and blossomed inside Endora’s heart at the sight of him. He bent
, going to one knee to look Tallie in the eyes. Even now, all these years later, Endora could feel it, the deception coming off of him in waves. He was gliding into the role of the father with ease, without thought or concern for the girl whose life had hung in a precarious balance in the small refuge in the mountain.

  “Yes, Tallie. I am.” He tilted his head, the mass of dark hair sliding across his forehead. In that instant, Endora saw it. Tallie had his smile, the fullness in her lips that always curved up, ready to smile, that clean curve of her jaw, so dainty.

  Wilmer opened his arms and Tallie rushed forward, out of Endora’s reach, too fast for her mother’s reflexes. As Tallie’s small frame hit his chest, Wilmer’s arms closed around her in a tender embrace. Endora glared at him, not sure what to do.

  Then she noticed how his face went slack, how his smile lost its well-practiced ease and his eyes grew wide with shock. He was as stunned about his feelings as Tallie was.

  “I’m so happy!” Tallie’s small voice, filled with pure joy, danced in the air, the sound hanging between Endora and Wilmer as they stared each other down.

  Finally, after a long time, Wilmer pulled Tallie’s shoulders away. His eyes were serious and his mouth fell, not a trace of smile remaining. “I am so sorry.” He swallowed, still making eye-contact with Tallie, then his gaze slid to Endora and he held her stare. “So sorry.”

  Seeing him like that, with Tallie so strikingly similar to him, Endora found she could never truly hate him. She resented him, and she was angry, but she could never hate the man who gave her Tallie.

  “I know.” Endora shook her head, accepting the apology for what it was. There was nothing more Wilmer could ever do to make up for the time they’d lost. “But now, if you want to make it up to us, you have to help us escape.”

  “Don’t worry. I have everything figured out.” Wilmer got to his feet, holding Tallie’s shoulders close to his body. “We’re going to have a fresh start as a family. Just you, me and Tallie. Like it should have been.”