by Donna Grant
“I see.”
And Brandr did see. Whatever he’d felt was causing more and more disruption on his realm. The answer seemed simple enough: Get the Dragon Kings off Zora immediately. That should right things instantly. He’d known that Eurwen had been wrong to create the doorway. If she really wanted to meet their parents, she could’ve done it on Earth. No one needed to come here.
He didn’t care about the Kings’ wishes to see the dragons. In his mind, they’d lost that right when they sent their clans away without finding them a proper home. He didn’t care that they’d never left their realm. To blindly open a dragon bridge to some unknown place was tantamount to murder in his mind.
Brandr stilled when he heard a woman cry out in pain. He frowned, wondering if it was Jeyra. He didn’t know much about the mortal, other than that she was Varek’s mate. She appeared quite capable, however. In fact, she would’ve been someone Brandr would have considered entertaining as a lover. But he didn’t tread on other’s territory.
The woman shouted again. This time, he was certain it came from Eurwen’s cottage. Instantly, he reached out to her via their mental link. No matter how many times he said her name, Eurwen didn’t respond.
“I’ll kill each and every one of them if they harm her,” he vowed as he strode angrily across the expanse to his sister’s home.
Brandr threw open the door to find Con, Rhi, V, and a pregnant female. The woman was propped up on Eurwen’s bed, her long, blond hair stuck to her face from sweat. Her lips were pulled tight in pain as she gripped V’s hand as if her life depended on it.
The King of Copper’s face was set in determined lines as he softly urged the woman on. But Brandr saw V’s fear.
Rhi sat on the bed near the woman’s feet. She had her hand on the mortal’s protruding stomach. “Breathe, Claire. That’s it. Just breathe.”
In an instant, Brandr realized what was happening.
Con suddenly stepped into his line of sight. “I hoped to meet you, son. These are no’ the conditions I expected to see you under, however.”
“Where’s Eurwen?”
Brandr saw the briefest of frowns on his father’s face. “She didna tell you?”
“Would I be asking if she had?” he snapped.
Rhi suddenly said in a clear, authoritative voice, “Enough, you two. Outside. Now.”
Con walked past him without hesitation. Brandr hesitated a heartbeat before turning on his heel and following his father outside. Brandr closed the door and realized that Con had strode farther away from the cottage.
Growing more irritated by the second, Brandr lengthened his strides to catch up with him. When he did, Brandr glared at him. “Where is my sister?”
“She went with Vaughn, Jeyra, and Varek to Dreagan.”
“She wouldna.”
Con stoically stared at him. “She did.”
Brandr didn’t want to believe it, but Eurwen would never go without answering his call no matter how angry she was with him. The fact that she hadn’t answered earlier confirmed what Con had said.
“I didna know she left without telling you,” his father said.
First the doorway, then Vaughn. And now, this. Brandr felt as if he were losing his sister. He wasn’t sure how or why it was happening. They’d always had each other’s backs, but she was doing things completely out of character lately. And he wasn’t sure what to do.
“She’s merely getting a tour of Dreagan,” Con told him. “Something you’re welcome to do anytime.”
Brandr shook his head. “Nothing on your realm interests me.”
“As I told Eurwen, we’re no’ here to try to take over or invade your realm. Rhi and I are here to see the two of you.”
“You’ve seen. Now, leave.”
A muscle ticked in Con’s jaw, the only thing that let Brandr know he was irked. Con’s face remained impassive. “Leaving at the moment is impossible.”
“Because of the pregnant woman?”
“That is V’s mate,” Con said, his voice dipping lower. “Claire is here in hopes the bairn can be born alive.”
Brandr crossed his arms over his chest, his fury building with every second. “This is why I didna want the doorway built. You all think you can just come and go as you please.”
“Contrary to what you might believe, we asked for Eurwen’s permission.”
And the hits just kept coming.
Con blew out a breath. “You know about us. You know that only three bairns have been born alive. Melisse, you, and your sister. All three of you are half-Fae. Claire isna Fae. She isna a Druid. But a Fae ensured she conceived. Usaeil wanted to hurt us. Most unions between dragons and humans end in a miscarriage fairly soon. It’s uncommon for a mortal to carry a bairn to term. Claire and V have the right to see their child born alive.”
“All of that is your problem. Things from your realm. What gives you the right to bring any of it here?”
“You want to keep our realms separate, but that isna possible. You’re my son. The dragons you rule are here because of me. Our two realms are tied together, whether you want to believe it or no’.”
Brandr snorted as he dropped his arms to his sides. “You talk so nobly, but when it came right down to it, you didna try very hard to get here to know your children, did you?”
Fury filled Con as he narrowed his black eyes. “You know nothing of what you speak.”
“Oh, I speak the truth. Something you’re unable to do.”
Con’s nostrils flared. “Your mother and I knew nothing of you and your sister. Erith took you from Rhi to save the three of you, but when it came time to return you to Rhi’s womb, you two would have none of it. At least, that’s what Erith told us. She took you from us. We never knew the joy of your birth, never got to name you, watch you crawl. We missed it all. Yet, you and Eurwen knew of us the entire time. You came to Earth. You watched us. You’re the ones who made it clear you wanted nothing to do with us. Could we have stormed Zora? Could I have made you talk to me? You’re bloody right I could have!”
Brandr saw for the first time why the magic had chosen Con as King of Kings. He was formidable, clever, and astute. His calm demeanor belied the fierce dragon he was.
“Rhi and I respected your wishes,” Con continued. “Even though it tore us both apart. Your utter disregard for our feelings and the lack of control we had in any of this is appalling and inexcusable. You’re better than that.” Con walked past Brandr back to the cottage.
Brandr swallowed, pretty sure his father had just firmly put him in his place. He hadn’t liked what Con had said, but he couldn’t deny the truth of it.
“By the way, we’re no’ leaving until Claire has the bairn,” Con threw over his shoulder.
Brandr turned, but Con had already continued walking. He stared at his father’s retreating back, unsure of what to do. He didn’t want any Kings on Zora, but they were already here. Brandr couldn’t, in good conscience, send Claire away now that her labor had begun. He thought it was foolish for them to think that having the child on Zora would make a difference in whether it lived or not.
Claire cried out, the sound filled with agony. Brandr recalled V’s face and the panic there. A King and his mate were attempting to bring a life into the world. Whatever anger Brandr felt toward the Kings didn’t apply to an innocent child.
He returned to his home, but he could still hear Claire’s screams, even across the distance. The hours progressed, with day fading to night, but Claire’s cries only grew louder and longer. She was in tremendous anguish. Finally, he’d had enough and teleported from his place to Eurwen’s. He wasn’t sure why.
Brandr quietly opened the door and stepped inside. V sat behind Claire, supporting her as she reclined against him. Rhi was between Claire’s spread legs, guiding her and telling her when to push. Con stood off to the side, watching it all with a worried expression. Something in his father’s face made Brandr realize how important this birth was. He’d been too wrapped up in his an
ger to comprehend that until now.
“Come on, baby,” V urged Claire. “You can do this.”
Tears fell down her cheeks. “I’m tired. So tired.”
“I’ve got you,” V said and kissed her temple. “I’ll always have you. No matter what happens.”
Claire’s face scrunched up as she bore down, her teeth bared as she strained. Brandr wasn’t sure he should be here, but he couldn’t make himself leave. No one had noticed him yet. It felt as if he were intruding.
Another twenty minutes passed as he watched Claire pushing without any movement from the baby. Suddenly, Brandr felt the urge to go to her. He fought it, not understanding. Until he could no longer ignore the feeling within him.
He started forward. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Con’s head jerk to him. As he neared Rhi, she looked up in surprise. Brandr looked at V, then Claire. The human mate met his gaze. He paused, waiting for her approval. He had no idea why, but it was important. Then, she nodded once.
A cry tore from her as a contraction hit. He could see her stomach moving from the cramp. Brandr lifted his left arm. He watched it as if from outside his body as he rested his hand upon her belly. The moment his palm made contact, he felt the Fae magic.
He jerked back in shock.
“Whatever you did, do it again!” V shouted.
Brandr looked at the Dragon King. Claire screamed as if in more pain than before. Brandr returned his hand to her belly, and she quieted. He felt the contraction moving through her body, but more importantly, he discovered why the bairn had yet to be born.
He swallowed and looked at the couple once more. “Usaeil’s magic caused you to conceive. That magic guaranteed the babe would live to term. But it’s also her magic that’s causing the bairn to remain in your womb.”
“If she wasna already dead, I’d kill her again,” Con said from behind him.
Rhi caught Brandr’s gaze. “Can you help?”
“Do you feel the Fae magic?” he asked.
Rhi shook her head. “Usaeil must have made sure none of us could.”
“I have no’ felt it,” V said. “And I’ve tried.”
Brandr shrugged as he looked at Claire and then V. “I’ve never done this. I’m no’ even sure I can.”
“Please,” Claire begged as her face scrunched in pain with another contraction.
Brandr drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes as he focused on the Fae magic. He called it to him. It clung to the infant in Claire’s womb, refusing to let go. Brandr felt it draining the life from the bairn.
He deepened his focus and demanded that the magic listen to him. The first time it brushed against him, he nearly gagged. It was Dark Fae magic. The evil was sickening, and the more it obeyed him, the more he felt as if he were suffocating. But he didn’t stop. He had to get all of it or the baby would die.
Little by little, he gathered the magic until he had all of it. When he lifted his hand from Claire’s stomach, the magic covered his arm like a black mist. He tried to look at Claire, but his eyes were fuzzy, and his knees started to buckle.
“I’ve got you,” Con said as he supported him.
Brandr suddenly found himself in a chair, dimly aware of the shrill cry of a bairn.
“You did good, son.”
He wanted to tell Con to shove it, but oddly, the words affected him. Brandr didn’t have the energy to think about that now. He concentrated on the magic that crept up his arm. He wanted it gone. His attempts to shake it off were in vain. Then he felt himself falling, sleep pulling him under.
Chapter Nineteen
Dreagan
* * *
Eurwen couldn’t stop thinking about when Vaughn had told her the story of his stillborn child. His pain had been there for all to see. He no longer hid it. Unfortunately, Darius and Sophie either chose to ignore that or didn’t recognize it for what it was.
“Are you the only two attempting to have a child?” Eurwen asked the couple.
Sophie looked at Darius and smiled. “We’ve not spoken to anyone else about this.”
“At least you spared V and Claire that,” Vaughn said.
Darius’s gaze cut to Vaughn. “Would you really have all of us live forever without children?”
“I would spare you the agony of losing another one,” Vaughn snapped. He sighed, visibly distressed. “I would expect you, of anyone, to understand what it means to lose a child.”
Darius’s nostrils flared in anger. “I’ll never forget that pain. Ever.”
“Then why?” Vaughn demanded in exasperation. “Why would you put yourself and Sophie in such a position?”
Eurwen looked between the two, suddenly realizing what Vaughn was saying. Darius had also lost a child. Now she understood why Vaughn was so distraught about Darius’s and Sophie’s seemingly flippant decision.
Darius drew in a deep breath and turned his head to Sophie. His lips softened as he gazed into her eyes, his love evident. “I can’t change the past. Nor do I wish to. The love I share with Sophie is more than I ever thought I would have. She’s helped to heal the broken pieces of my heart. I didn’t spare any details of what I went through. We’ve had numerous discussions about the odds and what could happen. It isn’t an easy decision. But it’s something we both want.”
Sophie smiled, her eyes glittering with unshed tears. Eurwen’s heart was torn. She saw the affection between Darius and Sophie and why they wished to attempt to have a child. Eurwen’s gaze slid back to Vaughn, and her heart broke all over again for the pain reflected in his eyes. This kind of decision was one that would have to be made by each couple once they knew the facts of both sides.
Eurwen realized this conversation wasn’t going anywhere. It was time she stopped it. She caught Sophie’s attention. “You think I’m different because I was born on Death’s realm and have lived for some time on Zora, right?”
“I do,” Sophie said as she turned her attention to Eurwen. “I gather you don’t?”
Eurwen shook her head. “You know my parents.”
“And that in itself is something to consider,” Darius said.
Vaughn pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “Darius, you’re my brother. We’ve stood together for countless millennia. Sophie, I hold you in high regard for your ability as a doctor. You’ve done great work. I understand why you want to study Eurwen, but as she told you, she’s no different than Melisse.”
“I’d like the opportunity to find out,” Sophie stated.
Eurwen shook her head. “No.”
“What are you hiding?” Darius asked.
Eurwen raised her brows, surprised at the vehemence in his words. “Nothing.”
“Then it won’t hurt for me to examine you. Take some x-rays as well as blood,” Sophie said.
Vaughn moved closer to Eurwen. “She’s given her answer. Perhaps you should start gathering data from Melisse or us first.”
Darius said nothing as he took Sophie’s hand, and the couple exited the library.
Once they were gone, Eurwen turned to Vaughn. “Are you all right?”
“It’s like they couldna hear me.”
“It isn’t that they couldn’t. It’s that they didn’t want to.”
Vaughn shook his head as his Persian blue eyes met hers. “If you had been here for the last nine months of Claire’s pregnancy, you would understand how shocked I am.”
“I might not have been here, but I heard your and my parents’ words about the couple. I also saw V and Claire for myself. Why do you think I agreed to let Claire go to Zora? If there’s a chance the child could be born alive, I want them to have it. It’s the least they deserve after what Usaeil did to them.”
Vaughn walked to the sofa and sank onto the edge of a cushion as he rested his forearms on his knees. “Please doona think I doona want my brethren to have children.”
“I don’t think that,” she told him. “I know why you hold that opinion.”
He turned his head
to her. “If Claire and V’s bairn is born alive, more Kings and their mates will start trying for their own.”
“Maybe that’s what is supposed to happen.”
“Eurwen, I lost a child with a woman who wasna my mate and it nearly broke me. Magnify that a hundred times, and that might come close to what it would feel like between a King and his mate.”
She sat beside him, wanting to comfort him in any way she could. “They will lean on each other.”
“Some will. Some willna. That kind of loss can destroy once-strong bonds.”
Now it made sense to her. “Dragons mate for life, but humans and Fae don’t.”
Vaughn slowly nodded his head. “Con has long feared how mortals might respond mentally to being immortal. It isna in their DNA to live that long. Though that wasna his only concern. At one point, he actively tried to dissuade the Kings from taking mortals as mates.”
“How did that turn out?”
“As you’d expect. Once a dragon finds his mate, there is no one else for him. Con knew that. He understood it. But he looked to the future, as he always does.”
Eurwen scooted to the cushions on the sofa to support her back. “There is no divorce for dragon mates.”
“Dragons know this. Con tried to explain it to the mates, but all of them swore their love for their King. I believed them. We all did. Even Con.”
“But that doesn’t stop him from worrying that something might eventually tear one or more couples apart,” she guessed.
Vaughn slowly sat back as he sighed. “When I first became King of Teals, I remember looking at Con and thinking it couldna be that difficult to be King of Kings. I’ve learned from watching him over the eons that I had no idea what I was thinking. Con shoulders a great responsibility. He’s put his happiness to the side for ours, time and again. He’s always thinking about our continued survival and how we can find fulfillment and love while remaining hidden from the humans.”
“If any of the mates leave their King, it would mean death for both of them. A dragon can’t survive without its mate.”
