Asher: Dragon's Savior (5 page)

“What’s happened?” Before she could answer, Kiaran spoke behind her, telling Jacob to let her go. “I will not. She’s been crying. What did you say to her? Where is my son?”

“That fucking prick put him in a deeper sleep so I could be tossed out.” The words hurt even herself, but she didn’t care. “I’d very much like it if you moved the hell out of the way, Mr. Jacob. I’ve got somewhere else to be.”

She got the door opened and was tossed back so hard that she hit her body against the wall across the room. The heat, blistering and consuming, touched every part of her, and she knew that she was dead. Hands pulled at her. Essie tried to get away but the pain was too much. Suddenly she was wrapped up and the pain was gone.

“Breathe.” She nodded, not sure what was going on, but she was told to breathe again and again. “You’re burned badly, but if you’ll just give me a few more minutes, I’ll have you healed.”

When he released her, she realized who’d held her. Backing away from Kiaran, she bumped into a large body behind her. When he touched her arms, there was no pain, but she knew it was Asher. Turning to look at him, she could see that he’d been burned too and started to pull away.

“No. Not yet. I just need to hold you.” Essie nodded again, feeling out of sorts when she looked at Kiaran. He was a dragon now, and he looked like he might have taken some damage as well.

Essie pulled from Asher again, and he let her. Turning to the door, she wasn’t really surprised to see that not only was there no door left, but some of the cabinets had been scorched as well. Essie looked at the dragon.

“You didn’t have to do that. I was leaving anyway. Hurting the people who live here and this lovely house wasn’t necessary. As I said, I was—”

You think I did this?
He was still a dragon, but she could understand him. She wasn’t sure how, but she nodded at him anyway.
You think that I’d burn my friend, my host, to get at you? You think…Christ, you do. You think I did this to you. Doesn’t the fact that I saved you mean a thing to you?

“You’re not allowed to be all pissy with me, buster.” She moved toward him and poked him in the chest with her hand as she spoke to him. “You’re the one that told me I wasn’t good enough for him. Accused me of bedding him to get…I fucking have no idea, but you are not going to get mad at me when I’m in a fine pissed off mood myself.”

I can see that.
She turned and glared at Asher when Kiaran moved toward him and disappeared. She knew that the dragon lived on Asher’s body, but to see it sort of melt into him made her dizzy. When Asher reached for her, she smacked his hand away.

“He was protecting me.” She nodded and backed from him. “I want to touch you again. I need to know that you’re all right.”

“I’m just fine and dandy. And I’ll be better when I’m out of here.” Asher shook his head. “Oh yes, I am going. This place and all of you are fruity.”

His laughter caught her off guard, and she nearly fell back when he reached for her again. Essie thought his laughter was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard. Then she shook her head. She was not fanciful and that was what that sounded like to her.

“Kiaran said to tell you he’s sorry.” Nodding, she turned her back to Asher. “Essie, look at me please.”

“I’m leaving. And tell him…I don’t care what you tell him.” His hands touched her shoulders, and she wanted to lean back into him. “I didn’t come here to seduce you. I was just fine where I was.”

His mouth moved along the back of her neck to her shoulder. She felt his hands slide down her arms to her waist, and he pulled her back to his chest. Her body felt like he’d stroked her, not just where he was touching her but everywhere, inside and out.

“The burn on your body, it was caused by the same witch that touched you. I can smell it on you.” She stiffened and started to turn when he held her still. “No, listen to me. The fact that you were burned by her makes me think that she knows what we are. Not the family but what you are to me.”

“I’m nothing to you, Asher. We had sex, that’s it.” His hot breath on her bare shoulder made her shiver. “Stop that. I can’t think when you’re breathing all over me. I have to get out of here before I let you fuck me again.”

“I’m okay with that.” She growled at him and felt something move along her skin. “It’s Kiaran. He’s got it in his head that you hate him. I can understand why you’re mad at him. He told me what he said to you. But he’s very sorry.”

“I don’t hate anyone. It’s a waste of time and energy. But he did hurt me.” The movement along her skin made her think of the dragon tat on Asher’s body. “He said you were his host. What does that mean?”

He pulled back from her, and she felt the loss of the heat immediately. But when he took her hand and led her to the table and asked her to sit, she realized that it was just the two of them in this room. Or three. She wasn’t sure what to do with Kiaran.

“When…I’m not really sure where to start. Okay….” He sat down. “I’m nearly three thousand years old.”

She wanted him to say he was kidding but just knew that he wasn’t. Getting up, she went to the cabinet and pulled down a glass. She’d been in the house enough over the last few weeks, coming in to shower and stuff, that she’d been able to find where everything was stored. After getting a glass of water with ice, she sat back down, her mind not even considering what he’d just said as anything but the truth.

“Let’s just say that you are three thousand years old and that I’m going to believe you.” He nodded. “What does all of this mean? And I think you need to explain to me the part that you have a dragon that lives on your body and he’s not you at all.” Even to her own ears that made absolutely no sense, but Asher seemed to understand her.

“Long ago, before I was born, my mother and father lived in the village near a castle. The king, Anthony, was a good king by all accounts. His wife the same. She was adored by her people as much as her husband. But they were dragons.” Essie nodded. “One day, right after a big storm came through the village and knocked over buildings and ruined crops, Anthony and Eve were flying over to see the damage. It was probably not the smartest thing to do with tempers high over the damage that had been caused. And so far as I know, this was something that they did a lot…surveying the land for things out of order and to see if anyone was struggling with their crops or farm. As I said, they were very good to their subjects and were only looking out for them.”

“This would be Kiaran’s parents, I’m betting.” He told her it was. “And somehow, people being what they are, they blamed everything on the dragons. I don’t suppose anyone thought to ask them what they were doing out there, did they?”

“No. It wasn’t…I think someone might have gotten them worked up about things when it was just as easy for it to be put to rest. But you’re right, they were Kiaran’s parents. The king and queen had six sons. Eve had just given birth to six hatchlings a few weeks before. She’d hidden them away, deep in the mountain, just before they were out where the people could see them. The people, most of them, attacked the couple, and Eve gave her life protecting her young. Anthony was hurt badly in the process, but knew that he’d have to do something quickly to save his children.”

Essie could almost see it taking place. The dragon queen, trying to save her children and killing a great many people before she’d been killed herself. And her spouse, a man who more than likely loved his wife more than his own life, did something that no human man would do…put his children’s lives ahead of his own.

“He brought my father to him that night, a man he thought of a great deal, and my mother as well. They’d never met before then, and he told them what he needed them to do. He said that they’d have six sons, and sometime after they were born, his son’s would come to them as babes and protect them. We would protect each other.” Essie nodded, almost afraid for him to continue. “A few days after I was born, Kiaran came to me. Wrapped his body around mine and stayed with me. Forever. And so long as one of us lives, the other will as well. My brothers have the same duty as I do. To protect them with our lives, as they would us.”

Essie sat there for several minutes. He never spoke again, for which she was grateful. She wanted to tell him her story, tell him that she was a hunted person, but only stood up and went to the opening where the door had once been. Before stepping out, she turned to him.

“I know the witch. She’s my mother. She doesn’t…I think she no longer has any idea who I am. I’ve been gone from her a very long time. When she hurt me the other day, it was because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She’d been startled, as was I, and she attacked.” She looked down at the wrap that held some vile-smelling medicine before continuing. “I’d like for you to leave me alone now. I don’t know…she more than likely won’t come after me again. It was like I said, a one-time thing. But she’s not a nice person, and I don’t want to be responsible for her harming anyone here. Especially Mr. Jacob or Elbert.”

She left them, his laughter ringing out the door after her. Essie liked the sound and was afraid she’d get used to hearing it, only to be tossed away again. No, this was better, she thought, to get away now before she became too attached to him.

Chapter 4

Asher didn’t go after her. But he did ask the earth around him to keep her safe and to alert him when she was in danger. His duty now was to keep her as safe as he would Kiaran. Calling the dragon out, he watched as the man paced the room.

“I hurt her. Badly, I think. And not just her feelings, but her body as well. I didn’t get to heal her burns completely.” Asher said nothing as Kiaran continued. “I only wanted to see if the witch had sent her here to find us. The cut on her arm…I don’t think it was put there on purpose, but I missed why in her memories.”

“She fought with the witch. Tore into her when she came upon her when she was stealing herbs from the forest beyond our home. The herbs are those of another tenant on the land, and the old woman that lives there was very upset that the witch was taking them from her. Essie stepped in and fought her for them. She is the witch’s daughter, in case you missed that. She just told me that part. Neither of them have seen each other for a long time, and Essie is pretty sure that the witch has no idea who or what she is to her. And Essie has something that her mother wants from her—or so she believes.” Kiaran asked him how he knew that. “I was with her when she rested, remember? Her dreams are full of nightmares that you and I would think horrific. And we both know how much we’ve seen.”

Kiaran nodded before talking again. “What is it she thinks that Essie has? I mean, I’ve been to her home, where she’s been staying, several times. There is nothing there of any value.”

“You know as well as I do that one person’s value could be nothing to everyone else.” Kiaran nodded. “You have to fix this with her. You know that she’s my wife now, according to our laws and morals. And I can’t have the two of you at odds any more than you can.”

“She…I will admit I thought her not good enough for you. No. That’s not right. I didn’t want her to be good enough for you.” Kiaran stopped pacing and looked at him. “Asher, she has something that no other woman I’ve met has. Did you know that?”

Asher nodded. He didn’t know what it was she had, but he knew there was something extraordinary about her. Asher thought of all the things he’d learned about her, and some of the things that he wished he knew now.

“She sees Dad.” Kiaran told him that she talked to him through their link as well. “See, more things to add to our list of things that she can do. I can taste some magic on her…not a lot, I don’t think, unless she’s hiding it from me. Which, I suppose, is possible. But there’s more to her than we can see on the surface.”

“Her body was burned badly. Had I not been here….” Kiaran shivered. “I promise I’ll make this right between the two of us. And see if I can get her to come back here. I’ve never seen you so…I was going to say laid back, but I think it’s just because you’ve been laid.”

Asher picked up the sponge that was on the table and tossed it at his other half. Because after years and years of not understanding what they were to each other, they had figured out that being a part of something whole was the best way to explain it to themselves. Kiaran left a few minutes later, going out into the yard.

Standing up, Asher surveyed the damage done to the doorway. Lifting his hands up, he placed them on either side of the opening. Closing his eyes, he used some of the gifts that his mother had given him when she bore him. Magic coursed through his body much like his blood, making him a very strong and extremely dangerous person. The entire area was instantly back to the way it had been before the heat blasted into the room.

With the damage fixed, he realized he’d gotten something else. Something that he’d never gotten from repairing damage before—a connection to the person who had done this. The witch was indeed trying to kill Essie, and the reason why surprised him more than the knowledge that she’d done it. Essie wasn’t just her daughter but something more…much more than anyone might know. And she was strong too. Very much so.

“What do you see, son?” Asher turned slowly to look at his father. His father had been gone from Asher’s life longer than he was in it…it had been that long since he’d seen his father. And the joy he felt that he’d come to him now was nearly too much for him. Asher stared in disbelief at the man before him. “It’s me. You’re not going to have a fit, are you? That I’ve been around for a while?”

“No. I knew you were.” His dad nodded. “Where’s Mom? Why is she not here with you? I’m assuming that she knows that you’re here.”

“She does, but she can’t come. Not that she doesn’t want to, but she can’t. She’s not…I want to tell you something. Something that I should have told you a long time ago. All of you.” Asher nodded and leaned against the counter to listen. “The girl? What do you think of her? Something else, isn’t she?”

“Yes. I’m assuming that you thought she’d be my wife?” His dad nodded. “What if I didn’t want her? Or anyone in my life. What would you have done then?”

“You need someone in your life, Asher. You were never meant to be alone. None of you were.” Asher didn’t say anything as his father continued. “Elbert said that you and…that the two of you are man and wife now. I’m glad for that.”

“She’s left me again.” His dad looked out the door and beyond to the mountain. “Yes, that’s where she’s gone. She and Kiaran had words and she’s pissed at him. And at me, I suppose. You should have stayed out of it.”

“I should have. But I didn’t. And I won’t now.” Asher asked him what he had to tell him. “I’m working up to it. I’m not as quick on the mark as you and the other boys are. I need to work it out.”

“Her mother is looking for her. She thinks that Essie is more powerful than her. I think she might be right. But what does killing Essie do to make her any stronger?” His dad sat down and didn’t answer him. “Dad, I can’t help her if you don’t tell me everything.”

“She’s been to the tomb. Essie has. She’s been there a lot. It’s in her cave.” Asher sat as well. No one, so far as he knew, had ever been there. There was no one beyond his family who even knew it existed. “The queen…I think the queen passed something on to her that even Essie is not aware of yet. I can see it on her.”

“But the witch knows, doesn’t she? Knows that the dead queen, after thousands of years, has given something—we don’t know what—to a woman that is my wife. Great. Is there anything else that I should know?” His dad nodded. “And what happens to it if Essie is dead? Does it go to her mother?”

“Not necessarily. It goes to the person who takes her life.” Asher had known that but didn’t want to think on it. “Kiaran and her, Essie, they have a connection as well.”

“He told me just now.” His dad nodded and got up to pace. “What else, Dad? Should I call the rest of them here? Just to keep her safe? Because as much as I’d like to take her to them, I’m thinking there is more magic here to help us than at home.”

“Essie has her own magic, as you already know. I was with her a few days before her mother found her, and could see her glowing with it. She didn’t know, of course, that she has something more. And so you know, Helena has no idea who she is other than she has magic that she wants. I don’t think Essie would tell anyone about any of you. But she’s been touched by the same magic I received when I saw the king that night.” Asher could remember the stories that his parents had told them over and over, and how he’d gotten his name; Asher for the ash of the kingdom, and Anthony, who brought his parents together.

“How is that even possible? The dead are that, Dad…dead.” His dad stopped pacing and looked at him with a cocked brow. “Good point. You’re here, aren’t you? But I don’t understand what could have been given to her. Or did she simply take it?”

“I don’t know. And I’ve not asked. But she needs to take you to the tomb. You and she need to go there with Kiaran.” He asked him why. “The day your brothers were born, their dragons came to them. Immediately. There wasn’t a delay like there was with you. A near week had gone by without him coming to you, and we feared for your life. You’d not nurse, and you cried until you were weak with it. I had thought that the hatchling had been injured somehow, and that the death of the egg would mean that you were going to die as well.”

“But he came.” His dad nodded. “Then what? Everything was okay? You never found out what happened?”

“No. I asked Kiaran about it. He just looked confused. I don’t think he knows what happened either. And like I told you, the rest of his brothers came within minutes of my sons, your brothers, being born.”

Asher knew that there was something else, maybe something that his dad did not know, and felt that he and Kiaran should investigate. He stood up to go and see the tomb with Essie and Kiaran.

“What are you going to do now?”

“Bring her back here. I know now that she’s safer here. And so will the tomb be safe, I think, with her away from it. I’m hoping that I can get her to trust me enough that she shares whatever she knows with me. I think that—and this is just thinking—she is the key to this.” His dad said that he agreed. “Dad, does she have magic that she’ll share with me?”

His dad stood up and smiled. “Son, she has given you all that she is. And you have shared as well. It’s why I thought…no, it’s not what I thought when I had Elbert bring you here. I thought that you’d find someone that you could have some fun with. I hoped for love and marriage, but didn’t expect it. Now I can see that I made a good choice.”

Asher thought so too, but only nodded before telling his dad what he was going to need from him. “I’m calling the rest of them here. All of us together should be able to figure this out. And I want you to talk to them.” His dad shook his head. “Dad, they have a right to know that you’re around. We’ve really missed you.”

“I’ve missed you as well. And I’ll think on it. It’s hard on me, you know. Staying here talking when I should be resting.” Asher nodded. “I’ll work on it. In the meantime, go and get the girl and bring her home. She needs you as much as you do her.”

~~~

Essie was sitting next to her little fire when she felt the dragon. Her not turning to acknowledge him only made him laugh. Essie didn’t want to smile at the way his laugh made her feel, so she kept her back to him.

“I came to make amends with you.” She snorted at him and put her little pot over the flames to boil some water. Her one vice was tea, and she spent more on it than she should, being as broke and on the run as she was. But she loved it, and it was all she ever treated herself with. “I know that Elbert makes some very nice tea. I’ve drank it a few times when he’s been in the mood to share it with me. He makes scones too. Strawberry ones.”

She turned to look at him. Scones were her downfall. And she loved strawberries as much as she did her tea. But like a lot of things, she seldom could get them. Turning her back to him, she tried to think of a way to show him she didn’t care.

“Mr. Kiaran, if Asher sent you here to make these amends, then you can shove those up your ass. I don’t want anything from you. And in the event you didn’t notice, I’m not near your precious Asher.” His laughter had her turning to him again. He was sitting down now and he’d taken off the jacket he always wore. It startled her to see a dragon crest on his forearm. “You’re marked.”

He looked surprised that she could see it, and he pulled his sleeve up so that she could see it all. It looked like a crest of someone’s and a dragon holding it in his claws. She stood to get a closer look. As she studied it, he turned his forearm to and fro for her to get the entire picture. Yes, that’s what it was, a lovely silver dragon that looked like it had just been made, and the silver was still very well preserved. And on the crest was a swirl of some sort that she’d bet was flames.

“I didn’t have it put on here, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m not sure, but I think it’s from my father. I never met him, of course, but back then a crest was worn on everything. I wish I could have seen it. It would have been great to see, but since the castle was burned to the ground, there would have been nothing left of those either.” He pulled the sleeve down. “My brothers don’t have a mark. None of them. I think perhaps it’s because I’m the oldest.”

She didn’t think so and asked him if she could touch it. He hesitated, and she started to go back to her fire when he put out his arm. The sleeve was pulled back up, and she thought maybe she shouldn’t be doing this.

“It might hurt. It…the only other time I’ve done this, the person was bad, I guess you could say, and it hurt him.” He asked her if she would be hurt. “Yes. But not like you might be.”

“Then I would rather you didn’t do it. I think I’ve hurt you enough.”

He started to pull the shirt back over it, but she put her hand on the marking. The pain was there, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as she’d expected.

“It’s not from your father, but your mom. She wanted you to have something of his and she gave you this. It’s power. You need only to ask for it and it will be yours.” Kiaran asked her what that meant. “I don’t know. But she seemed to think that you’d know when the time was right. Also….”

Essie pulled her hand away and looked at the opening of her cave. Asher stood there, looking like he knew a great secret. Instead of telling Kiaran what else she’d found, she got up and went to the back of her cave.

“I have something to show you both. I have to show you, not that I want to.” Kiaran asked her what the difference was. “I love the place deep within the cave, and when I visit there, I feel like I’m a part of something huge. It’s a tomb I think. Where your mother is.”