chapter Nineteen
We spent the day resting with Bahlin eating every two hours. He explained that this was normal for dragons preparing to go into a fight. “We burn a lot of fuel when we use our magic, Maddy.”
“Does shifting constitute magic?” I wondered aloud.
“Ah, now that’s a great debate. It’s similar to the question about the chicken and the egg, but our version is which came first, the man or the monster?” He laughed out loud at his own hilarity. I just rolled my eyes. I didn’t know if I could take a lifetime of bad jokes.
“Hellion called back and his coven will be there, along with three other covens nearly equal in power. He’ll not be as powerful for having lost Gretta, but there are several pairs that will be joining us.”
“Why are pairs important?” I asked again. Apparently it was my evening for questions.
“Ah, because magic is based on the laws of nature. And what is the unarguable fact of nature?”
“In everything there is a male and female?” I responded, posing it as a question just to see if I could.
“Almost. In everything in which there is a male and female, the two are more powerful for their joining. Together a male and female make life, love, happiness, sorrow, anger—all the most powerful emotions. And so when you pair a male to a female you get the tradition of Yin to Yang. One is never complete without the other.”
As abstract as the thought was, it made sense. “So are dragons the same way?”
He hesitated only briefly, but I saw it. “They are.”
“So I inhibit you by not being a dragon,” I said.
“Dragon or not, you’re a woman and I count myself lucky to be your Trékkor.”
“Is that like a spouse?” I asked…yet again. I had to stop with the questions. I was beginning to annoy myself.
“It is. You’ll be my Trékkar. But don’t fool yourself, Maddy. It’s more serious than human wedding vows,” he said gravely. “There’s no such thing as divorce in the clans. Once you’ve committed to me, and I to you, we’re together until one of us dies. Then there are rules about remarrying. Really you should have a crash course in this, but there’s just no time.”
“I hate to ask another question, because all my conversation seems to be punctuated with a question mark today, but if that’s the case, what about the prophecy?”
Bahlin’s eyes hardened. “We’ll beat it somehow. I don’t know how, exactly, but we’ll have to find a way to change the nature of the thread on Clotho’s spindle, my love.”
All I could think was, Damn straight.
We went up to the rooftop deck, Bahlin jamming the door lock with a reverse version of his breaking and entering show from only a week ago. The hotel was one of the tallest buildings in this part of town, minimizing the threat of being seen. He stripped down to his skin and shoved his clothes into the same messenger bag we’d carried days ago. He smiled at me and then ripped through the change, one minute a man and seconds later a full-sized dragon. He took a deep breath and was suddenly cloaked, appearing as nothing more than a vaporous smudge on the night air.
“Feeling frisky tonight?” I laughed before I stepped into him. He scooped me up in his arms, and I was instantly wrapped in the miasma of his cloak. He clutched me tight and shot up into the air without hesitation, the buildings falling away. I realized that, for the first time, he was acting like a dragon with me. No apologies, no coddling, just all animalistic behavior. It was liberating and terrifying.
We flew to the northwest at breakneck speeds, the land and lochs blurring by in the clear light of the nearly full moon. If we failed, the full moon would be upon us and Tarrek’s power would be stronger than since this had started. He’d have Imeena’s heart, and his own evolution would be complete.
Over the sound of Bahlin’s booming breath I heard the flap of other wings. Looking out across the sky I saw nothing in the moonlight, but I knew we weren’t alone. And then a figure darted below us, and Bahlin bellowed with rage. He began to swoop toward the offending dragon when he drew up, seeming to remember I was there. He grumbled deep in his chest and I imagined that, for whatever the offense, when he caught the other dragon there’d be hell to pay.
We arrived at the predetermined spot about an hour before we were supposed to be there. Already the clearing was teaming with life despite the remoteness of the location. Men and women in robes stood segregated from the most beautiful creatures I’d ever seen. They seemed to glow in the moonlight, and I knew Imeena’s vampire kiss had shown up to either save or avenge her. To the other side of the clearing were groups of dragons. How did I know? Some of them were still in dragon form—the rest were in some state of undress. I knew if I saw Leith or Aiden without clothes I would have to bleach my brain. I couldn’t see my in-laws naked and come out unscarred.
“Niteclif,” boomed out a disturbing voice.
“Oh good. Hellion’s here already,” I muttered, schooling my face into polite interest before I turned around. What I failed to remember was that all but the witches and wizards had exceptional hearing and there were some snickers from both crowds.
“Something funny?” he asked frostily.
“Definitely not,” I answered. Honest. “Glad you made it.” Not as honest. While I knew we needed him, I didn’t feel we could trust him.
Bahlin was speaking to his mother, gesturing in an agitated manner.
“Hold that thought, Hellion,” I said, walking toward Bahlin and Adelle. Reaching Bahlin’s side I asked, “Problem?”
“The Elder isn’t here,” Bahlin hissed, staring across the clearing at his father. “Apparently someone felt he’d be safer at home.”
“Ah, I see,” I said, and I did. I pulled off the knives with which Bahlin had been coaching me. He’d improvised harnesses from his own leather belts, boots and duct tape, and I threw them to the ground. Next I undid my own belt, ejected the clip on the Colt 1911 and dropped it to the ground. Yes, guns were illegal in the UK. But hello? It was owned by a dragon. Obviously the officials weren’t asking the right questions.
“Maddy,” Bahlin said, the warning clear in his voice.
“Sod off, Bahlin,” I snapped, storming toward the Glaaca. “Leith.”
“Niteclif,” he answered coolly. “Problem?” he asked, repeating my comment with sarcasm.
I got right up to him and waved him close to me. Being an arrogant ass, he bent at the waist and got close to eye level with me. I gathered myself and, in a perfect single motion, dropped a roundhouse kick on him that would have snapped the spine of a lesser monster. Okay, so he stood perfectly still while I wound up and he didn’t know I’d had three years of kickboxing and one year of karate, but really? Talk about arrogance.
My foot would be bruised tomorrow, but it was so worth it to see him trying to determine up from down as he lay sprawled in the heather. He stumbled as he tried to get up and I set up for another kick, but Aiden was in front of me.
“No, Maddy. You get the one, but not another,” he said, and I thought I saw approval dancing across his features. Brylanna was at her father’s side, helping him up. I backed away from the group of them, watching the blue dragons gathering around their fallen leader.
Leith made it to his feet and spit, discarding a useless tooth. “I imagine you’ll pay for that.”
“Send me the bill.” I turned my back on him and walked back to Bahlin.
We milled about, waiting on the last of the vampires to arrive. Imeena’s kiss had called in some favors and we had two other kisses joining us, one from Ireland and one from Galway. It wouldn’t be long before our ragtag bunch was together, for better or worse. Leith stayed away from me, and I from him, until it was time to begin tactical planning. He stormed over to our group and announced that he’d have nothing to do with fighting with a human and wouldn’t hold his weyr to a war he, himself, intended to avoid.
Bahlin stepped away from the group and said to his father in a low, carrying voice, “Da, what’s the meaning of this?”
“Yeh’re blinded by yehr cock, boy, and yeh can’t see beyond the cunnie standing in front of yeh,” he hissed, standing to his full height in a long-practiced move that reeked of intimidation. It was the first time I realized he was slightly taller than Bahlin.
“Yeh’ve crossed the line, Da. Say such again and I’ll knock yeh on yehr ass for the second time in a night, old man,” Bahlin said in a conversational voice. “Or I’ll let her have at yeh again.”
Several of the weyr laughed, but some of the older members looked shocked first, pissed off a second later.
“Speak to me that way again, boy, and yeh’re forsaken.”
There was an intake of breath, and Bahlin froze. It didn’t take much to figure out his dad had just threatened to cut him off.
“So be it,” Bahlin said. “When this is over, we’ll settle who is Glaaca of this wyvern. But tonight, we need every able-bodied warrior we can have to put a stop to the crazed fae.”
No one moved. If I’d thought being forsaken was bad, this was far worse. The other clans looked on with great interest, and even the other supernatural groups watched curiously.
“So be it,” Leith said. “Let all stand as witness that from this point forward, Bahlin Drago is no longer my son. He is forsaken, and none must offer him aid.”
I walked to Bahlin’s side and took his hand. “Really?” I asked for the second time tonight. “Over a kick?”
“It’s been a long time coming,” said Aiden, standing at his brother’s side. Adelle was weeping softly behind her husband, and Brylanna was nowhere to be seen in the crowd.
We pulled together quickly after the drama with Leith and Bahlin. Just before we were getting ready to depart for Castle Duncan, Leith announced he was leaving. He offered again to take any of his wyvern that didn’t want to fight with him. He ordered Aiden to his side and the young dragon had to go. Bahlin said he wasn’t old enough, or strong enough, to do otherwise.
“Brat’s the one who did the fly-by on us earlier,” Bahlin muttered. “Stupid sod was supposed to stay home,” Bahlin said, looking down at me. His hair hung loose around his shoulders and, in the moonlight, cast shadows across his face. A feeling of foreboding skittered down my spine, and I reached up to push his hair from his forehead so I could see his eyes. He looked at me questioningly, and I just smiled.
“It’s nothing,” I said. “Just nerves.”
“It will be over before you know it,” he said.
“Did Aloysius ever fight in such a winner-take-all battle?” I asked.
“Truth? No,” he said, sighing. “But times were different then.”
That didn’t give me any hope for the future.
The plan was that Bahlin would fly a shape-shifting wizard and me in to the edge of the castle grounds. The shape-shifter’s alternate form was a horse. He’d shift and carry me to the castle on the hoof. Bahlin would follow in the air, watching for any dragon support Tarrek might have. I didn’t like it, but all the arguing in the world hadn’t changed anyone’s mind that this was the best option.
Leith departed with one final offer to take any of his wyvern with him, but other than four members—two males, two females—and Aiden, he left alone. Even Adelle stayed, despite his order that she accompany him. Little Adelle stood her ground, and I was impressed. A few changes were made after Leith departed since we were an odd number now, then we were good to go.
Bahlin packed us up and we were off, the wizard riding behind me on Bahlin’s back since it was easier to carry passengers astride than in his arms. He set down in a copse of mature trees just east of the castle. Lights were clearly burning in several of the downstairs windows.
“Take care, mo chrid, and I’ll be with you again in no time.” Bahlin took to the air and the wizard, a spritely little man named Henley, changed in front of my eyes. He was a gorgeous dapple gray, and he knelt to help me up on his back. I’d ridden for years as a child, and it really was like riding a bike. After a couple of false starts and one harsh reintroduction to the ground, we set off at a good pace toward the castle.
I felt it the minute we crossed the magical plane. Someone had set some type of wards around the house, and my wizard friend stumbled. I leapt to the ground just as he changed back to his human form, his robes strangely intact.
“He’s got magical folk inside,” Henley said, “though I cannot tell what flavor they are. His wards are strong. Could be fae, could be other witches or wizards, or it could be dragons. I’m just not sure.”
“No worries,” I said, putting a hand out to stop Henley. “Go back twenty paces and flag down a dragon. Make sure the others know about the wards before they get here. Maybe Hellion’s gang can do something to circumvent them.”
“Good idea,” he said and turned to head back without argument.
I wonder if I can train my dragon to do that. I smiled. But then he wouldn’t be Bahlin.
I approached the front door of the castle, astounded that they actually had traditional doors. I knocked, and it swung open ominously.
“A little overdone, Tarrek,” I called out.
“So you’ve found me out, little Niteclif,” his voice rang out. “Pray tell, what gave it away?”
“Seriously, who else could it have been? Remember, I come from a long line of sleuths. You didn’t stand much of a chance.” I looked around the barren entry hall, surprised at the detailed woodwork and the beautiful parquet floors. I was going to feel bad about destroying the castle.
“What have you done with Imeena?” I asked, taking a further step into the entry.
A sultry female voice chuckled and I was jerked around only to find her teeth pressed to my throat. “I thought you came from a long line of sleuths, Madeleine,” she said, scraping the skin just enough that it stung. Supernatural creatures of every flavor began coming out of the woodwork like roaches in the dark.
My heart thundered in my throat, ironically, just where she wanted it. “I thought you’d be part of the rescue mission, not one of the casualties,” I said with bravery I didn’t feel.
“Foolish little mortal. What did you think you were walking into?”
“I’ll answer that,” said Leith.
How many bad guys were there? I demanded of Tyr, knowing he could hear me.
“You should be able to,” I said, “since you were at the pep rally.”
He looked confused and I said, “Forget it. It’s an Americanism. This you’ll understand. How could you turn on your son?”
He strode across the floor, grabbed me from Imeena and slapped me twice in quick succession, my head rocking back. I tasted blood in my mouth and, feeling around with my tongue, felt a couple of loose teeth. I could feel panic beginning to build in the back of my throat and I worked to keep it held in check. If I reacted or screamed before the cavalry arrived, it would be a death-sentence for Bahlin who was circling close by in case of trouble. I was pretty sure this qualified, but I’d wait it out and try to keep Bahlin safe as long as I could.
Leith threw me across the floor, and I crashed head first into the wood paneling I’d admired moments ago. I was less impressed now that it had cracked my skull and left me seeing double. No, make that triple.
I heard a slithering sound and watched in horror as a shambling horde of bodies began coming down the main staircase and making their way into the hall.
“Tarrek,” bellowed Leith. “Get in here. Your dead ha’ come callin’.” And he laughed. He laughed. There were all manner of people and supernatural creatures with sightless eyes and slow, uneven gaits. They were like zombies, but worse, they’d never died.
“They aren’t exactly zombies, are they?” I asked, my words only slightly slurred.
“No, Madeleine, they are not zombies,” Tarrek answered, his voice carrying from somewhere in the midst of the mobile bodies. They were like a walking shield. “They are a byproduct of the cú sith when it’s controlled by a superior creature such as myself.
“You need to understand that this has all been a matter of besting Bahlin, Madeleine. I knew of the prophecy from Leith and Meyla, via Hellion. I had hoped you would choose me originally, and then I could rule the High Council without going through this extra effort. But you proved a stupid, sentimental mortal and I was forced to carry on with my original plan of collecting talents. What I couldn’t have hoped for was that when you chose Bahlin, he would actually love you so much as he does. Or should I say did since tonight’s his last on this plane?” Bodies shifted around the central figure but it was too fast for me to really see him. “I’d hoped for it, but more than anything it’s just a bonus. I knew if I could create a competition where he figured himself the winner of your affections and then I destroyed you, he’d be easier to kill. I need his Dragon’s Stone to complete the metamorphosis with the vampire’s heart. I originally thought I’d need his body, but I’ve fared well with the change so far, wouldn’t you say?”
He emerged from the army of bodies, and I gasped. He was transformed, his face part dog, his hair a white-blond like Hellions but with green undertones, and his body infinitely larger.
Nausea was building in my stomach, and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to pull off my part of the changed plans. “I have a question, Tarrek.”
Leith looked at me sharply, realizing that this was a departure from my script.
“Go on, Madeleine,” he said mockingly.
“Why did you need me here so badly? Or am I just bait?”
“Oh, don’t flatter yourself,” Imeena said sharply.
“Imeena,” Tarrek bellowed before regaining control of his temper. “You’re looking at my two generals, and this is my army, though everyone needs to remember who their king is.” Tarrek called one of the other vampires forward. He came to Tarrek, and Imeena gave a small hiss.
“Not Darrek,” she said, the slightest of pleading in her voice.
“It’s not your choice, is it?” Tarrek took a deep breath and the man’s back arched, something wispy and dark being pulled from his mouth and nose. Tarrek seemed to drink it down. The man stood there, eyes dead, and Tarrek said, “Join the others.”
The man walked to the edge of Tarrek’s army and stood, one of the mindless masses.
“Bahlin’s place as either victim or soldier will be determined by how willing he is to fall into line.”
Leith’s body stiffened. “You promised me,” he snarled, “you promised me I’d take his place in the new order.”
Aha. Leith was jealous of Bahlin’s political success.
Tarrek shrugged and said, “We’ll see when it all comes down. I need the strongest warriors I can find, and so long as I have a Dragon’s Stone, any Stone, I’ll be content.” He looked pointedly at Leith, who broke eye contact and glared at me. “Besides, it’s so hard to tell who will be the better man for the job. Isn’t that right, Jossel?”
A once-beautiful faerie nodded woodenly and my heart broke for him. All these people, all these mythological creatures, and I’d been unable to save them.
Leith trembled with rage, his eyes flashing to icy blue.
Imeena feigned a yawn, walking over to Tarrek and running a manicured hand suggestively across the crotch of his leather pants.
“Nice,” I commented. “But I’d save some mystery for the bedroom, Imeena.”
She hissed at me, her pupils eating into her eyes until they were a flat black.
A war cry ripped through the sounds of shuffling bodies and the roof four stories up peeled back. Using the diversion I unholstered Bahlin’s pistol and shot Tarrek in the chest three times in fast succession. Blood and bone splattered against the faces of the nearest soulless creatures and they turned, watching Tarrek fall. Then they turned back and looked at me, blank faces devoid of any reaction.
“You fool,” screamed Imeena. “He was the only thing controlling them.” She moved like a flash toward the hole in the roof, scrambling up the stone walls like a spider. The other creatures charged the doors and windows, some flying, some running, but all prepared to fight. Outside the sounds of battle and the flashes of battle—gunfire, magic, fire and more—were already decorating the night.
“Coward,” Leith yelled at her retreating form and then he turned on me. “You stupid bitch. You’ve ruined everything.” He launched himself across the hall, shifting mid-leap, his dragon as large as Bahlin’s though his scales were more battle-scarred and his eyes slightly milky. I could see several missing teeth in his gaping maw, but it was irrelevant, really. Sort of like saying an orca was ill equipped to catch a seal pup because the orca needed braces to correct its bite.
Bahlin’s dragon trumpeted in rage, continuing to rip the roof back. I looked back at the advancing hostile dragon and Tarrek’s army and I knew he’d never get here in time. I looked up at Leith and saw a string of Tarrek’s soldiers fall onto his back from a break in the upper balcony railing caused by Bahlin’s whipping tail as he fought his way into the building. The fallen bodies knocked Leith slightly off balance. He instinctively stuck his forearms out to catch his balance, and I saw the small soft spot over his heart. I squinted, trying to keep him in focus and I squeezed off shots until the gun dry fired. At least one ripped through his flesh, and he screamed in pain just as Bahlin got enough of the roof off to fully pull himself inside the hall. He gripped the back of his father’s head in his jaws and ripped, covering me in gore when the body flopped to the floor.
A garbled voice said something indiscernible, and the soldiers turned to me. They fell on me in succession, and I was defenseless. I felt them ripping at my hair and clothes and pulling at my limbs with abandon. I screamed, biting, kicking and scratching to no avail. Suddenly a clawed hand reached through the bodies and Bahlin grabbed me, yanking me to his barrel chest one-handed as he tried to crawl up the walls and reach the night sky. Sounds of fighting could still be heard outside, but it was the voiceless scrabbling across stone and wood that came from behind us that terrified me. I was battered and bleeding, and it felt like my right shoulder had been fully dislocated. My right knee had been violently wrenched and was swollen and hot to the touch. Something was torn.
With a cry of shock laced with pain, Bahlin shuddered as something hit him hard. I struggled to see, but he clutched me closer and I heard a dragon screech at him. He bucked again and I knew we were in trouble. Bahlin set me down roughly on the empty balcony that jutted out from the second floor and looked at me. No one was home in that face but his monster.
“Go,” I shouted, as the blue dragon behind him reared back to strike again.
Bahlin launched himself backward and took the other dragon to the floor. I struggled to draw myself to the edge so I could look over, but the stone balustrade was crumbled and piled too high for me to see much without standing, and I could only make it to one knee.
Sounds of intense fighting came from below and I nearly missed the sound of a body being dragged across the floor behind me. I threw myself sideways, away from the sound, and the stone railing I’d been propped against disintegrated into dust. I instinctively reached behind myself to break my fall. The jarring impact shoved my swollen shoulder back into joint, and I screamed.
Tarrek stared at me, blood bubbling from his mouth with every breath.
“I shot you,” I rasped, my throat raw. “I know I hit you with cold iron bullets. How…”
“You hit my lungs but missed the heart, bitch,” he said, pushing himself up to sitting. “I’ll heal,” he gasped, blood and spittle raining on the floor around him in a macabre pattern.
I tried to push myself up but it was too much work. I lay there, knowing I was going to die. I reached behind me with my left hand and grasped my last hope. It was the one knife Leith hadn’t known about, the one that hadn’t been ripped off me by the soulless, grasping hands. I fumbled, trying to get the knife from the tape holster stuck to my skin, but it had been fashioned for my right hand.
“Don’t do it, Maddy,” Tarrek gasped, beginning to raise a hand toward me. I knew the hand held my death.
I ripped the tape holster from my back, tearing skin away at the same time. Blood ran down my back and seeped between my butt cheeks, pooling under my right hip. That was going to leave a mark. Pulling the knife from the homemade holster, I shoved myself to my feet, my right knee refusing to hold any weight.
“Come on, you jackass,” I croaked, weaving like a drunk.
“So eager to die? I should have killed you the first night, at the stones.”
“That is so canned,” I snarked, rolling my eyes. Then I paused, looking at him. “That was you?”
“It was.”
“Did you put my family tree in the car?”
He cocked his head to one side, considering. “No, I did not.” He coughed and some of his discharge splattered me. “Enough.”
Tarrek pushed himself to standing, and I knew this was my one chance. I gritted my teeth just as he raised his hands, opening his mouth to begin chanting under his breath, and I pushed off with my good leg. I fell into him and sliced across his face with my knife, splitting his lips horizontally to stop the spell. Blood splattered my face and hands, and I dropped the knife as I fell. I was a dead woman.
Bodies of Tarrek’s soldiers rounded the corner at an awkward run. I lay there and accepted death. It had ironically taken me ten days to finally live—to make a wish, to fall in love, and now to die.
A horrible roar came from below as a dragon launched itself over the railing at our little party, shifting into a woman before hitting the balcony.
“Tarrek,” screamed Brylanna. “No.” She held him to her breast, sobbing. “You must stay with me my love.”
That explained a lot. I heard a commotion behind me and Bahlin pulled himself over the ledge. Looking at me he froze and I whispered, “Finit.”
With a roar of pain and rage, Bahlin belched out a column of fire that devoured the two lovers, taking them into death’s embrace together, but not before Tarrek’s final spell was cast. It blew me back into the wall. Bahlin turned to me in slow motion and began to shift back to human. The horror on his face was the last thing I saw before darkness claimed me.
I sat up and was amazed that nothing hurt. I looked around and realized that Tyr was at my side.
“You may have set a record,” he said and almost smiled. “Shortest Niteclif service in the history of all Niteclifs. Do I congratulate or console you?”
I thought about that for a minute. “Wait. I can’t be dead,” I challenged, looking around for proof, but there was none to be had.
“You have a choice, Madeleine Dylis Niteclif,” Tyr said. “Do you stay, or do you go?”
“Go where?” I asked skeptically. “Because there are options, apparently.”
Tyr tipped his head back and laughed but sobered quickly as something happening over my shoulder caught his eye. I turned to see what he was looking at and I froze, my heart seizing in my chest.
Bahlin was bent over me giving me CPR. Not good. He was working feverishly, but I obviously wasn’t responding.
“Put. Me. Back,” I said, my voice and posture uncompromising. “I mean it, Pops.”
“Ah, you’re shitted. No, wait. That’s not right. Hmm. You’re pissed. That’s it. You’re pissed,” Tyr said, look pleased with himself for getting the slang right.
“Yes, I’m pissed. Put me back or show me how to get back.” I turned and looked at Bahlin who continued with chest compressions, a new franticness taking over his earlier smooth efforts. Behind him lay the smoking remains of corpses. They were so charred and mangled, piles of limbs sticking this way and that, it was impossible to tell who had died.
“Do you love him?” Tyr asked.
“I do,” I said, pain beginning in my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t…
“Do you believe he loves you?” Tyr asked. I didn’t answer for a moment, and Tyr asked again. “I need to know, Maddy.”
“He does love me. I have to believe it,” I said, turning my back on Bahlin so I could answer Tyr without the distraction Bahlin presented. “I don’t want to die, Tyr.”
“Then live.”
I slammed back into my body with the force of a Mac truck wrestling with a squirrel. I was the squirrel. Everything hurt and Bahlin’s chest compressions felt like they may have cracked my sternum. I involuntarily arched my back off the ground, my mouth gaping as I sucked in air, falling back to the floor with a muffled thud.
Bahlin shouted, then grabbed me and pulled me close. “This is goin’ teh hurt yeh like the devil, mo muirnín,” he murmured, “but there’s no choice for it.” And then he bit me. Fire breathed through my body, the flames licking at my raw, open wounds the same as wildfire consumes everything, with indiscriminate speed. I swear I saw light flicker behind my eyelids as I clenched them shut, trying to breathe through the pain. But it was too much and I began to struggle, screaming and begging and pleading with him to stop. It was so much worse than the last time…so much worse. My heart stuttered and I thought, Beat, damn you, and I focused on its rhythm, willing it into compliance. It was horrible. Bahlin lifted his head and I foolishly thought it was over, but he was just moving on to different wounds. It went on and on, with Bahlin shifting his bite now and again, renewing my screams and pleas. I quit struggling before he made it to my lower body, and passed out somewhere around the bite to my knee. This time Tyr didn’t visit me. Smart deity.
I came to lying on the grass outside, Bahlin back in dragon form and crouched over me as a small woman I vaguely recognized from earlier went over my wounds. Bahlin was bleeding all over the grass and the night sky had swallowed the moon so there was no light by which to see his wounds. It must be late. I tried to lift a hand to him, but my arms weren’t working yet.
“You know what you’ve done, dragon,” she said in heavily accented English.
He glared at her.
“Do not get testy with me you giant reptile,” she barked. I liked her. Noticing I was awake, she smoothed her hand across my head and I relaxed some. “It will take days for you to recover, Niteclif. Your dance card was already full when death came calling, and it took you closer to the edge than a human has a right to go. Rest.” She rose and had turned away when a voice rang out through the night.
“Niteclif. I demand my justice. Either stand and face me in front of the coven, or I invoke my right for immediate reparation as per our agreement,” Hellion yelled so that everyone heard him.
Seriously? I thought. I could hardly move. He’d kill me all over again, and dying freaking hurt. I wasn’t going through it twice in one night.
“No,” I croaked out, my voice barely above a whisper.
Bahlin hummed low in his chest, and I rolled my head to look at him. He shifted subtly, putting himself closer to me in case I needed him. But he let me have enough space to see Hellion.
“What did you say?” Hellion asked, incredulous.
“I said, no,” I croaked again. I tried to roll to my side, but things were still not working right and my whole body ached.
“I demand reparation,” he shouted.
“I can’t, Hellion. Give me a few days and we can talk about what happened to Gretta. But nothing we do tonight will change what’s happened.”
Bahlin huffed out a sigh, and I realized that my foggy brain hadn’t chosen its most diplomatic public voice.
Hellion’s head fell back, and he bellowed to the night sky, “You owe me a life.”
“But it won’t be mine,” I said softly. And then I looked at Bahlin. “And it won’t be his. I’m not guilty.”
Hellion raised his hands as if to strike from a distance, and Bahlin threw himself between us. He grunted when whatever magic Hellion had thrown at him struck his abused back, but he didn’t go down. Scooping me up in his arms, Bahlin shot into the night sky, cloaking us with the first flap of his wings. The ground fell away as Bahlin’s humming began, and I started to warm up.
Behind me I heard Hellion scream at our retreating forms, “Game on, Niteclif. Game. On.”
No doubt.
About the Author
Denise Tompkins lives in the heart of the South where the neighbors still know your name, all food forms are considered fry-able and bugs die only to be reincarnated in aggressive, blood-craving triplicate. Thrilled to finally live somewhere that can boast 3 ½ seasons (winter’s only noticeable because the trees are naked), her favorite season is definitely fall. It’s the time of year when the gardens are just about to pass into winter’s brief silence, and the leaves are out to prove that nature is the most brilliant artist of all.
A life-long voracious reader, Denise has three favorite authors. Why three? Because favorite authors are like chips: a person can’t have just one. Her little house was so overrun with books last year that her darling husband bought her an e-reader out of self-preservation. He was (legitimately) afraid she might begin throwing out pots and pans to make room for more books, and he didn’t want to starve.
Her debut novel, Legacy, is the first book in The Niteclif Evolutions.
You can find out more about Denise by visiting her website, www.denisetompkins.net, or by following her on Twitter, @DeniseJTompkins.