Dragon's Heart (14 page)

D
raakar escorted Paul to the front door.
 
He had to return to his wife.

“I’m
sorry your wife twisted her ankle yesterday, but to be honest it could have
also been the magicks at work. Especially as you say a root seemly sprung up
from nowhere. Sometimes Mother Earth engineers things because you needed to
come here alone.”

“Yeah,
it sure stopped her from coming on the overnight hike we were supposed to take
together with James. But she insisted I still go.” Paul shook his head. “And
when I called to check on her last night she seemed fine and had plenty of
company around at the inn.”

Draakar
stopped at the door and turned to face Paul. He would return to America in a
couple of days to start his part of the search for Draakar’s son and the
betrayer.

“I
honestly don’t know what to tell my wife,” Paul said, looking down on the tiled
floor then raising his face to look at Draakar. “We’ve always been honest with
each other. We’ve only been married for two years, but we’ve known each other
since we were teenagers. She’s my best friend, and I’ve always loved her. How
do I hide this from her? Do I even tell her what I am? What the children we’ve
been talking about having someday could be?”

     
“Only you can
answer those questions, Paul. If she loves you she will accept you.
 
Humans have loved and accepted brethren
as mates. Some were even truemates. You have not changed.” When Paul gave
Draakar an incredulous expression, he smiled. “No you haven’t, not really. What
you are now, you have always been; whoever you were before, you still are. It
is just that you are so much more than you thought you were.”

     
Paul shook his
head. “I understand what you’re saying. The question is, though, will she? Will
she be able to accept all of this?” He ran his hand through his hair in nervous
frustration.

     
“If you want,
you may bring her here for dinner later tonight. Tell her I am a friend of
James whom you met while camping on my land. I can read her mind when I meet
her and tell you if she can be trusted with our secrets. I would go with you
now but I must

remain
here.” Draakar sighed. “If my powers were at their peak, I could have just
tuned into her through your mind and read her but alas, my powers aren’t there
yet.”
 
       

“I
don’t know. That seems wrong somehow.”

“It’s
your call. Bring her to dinner anyway. In fact, why don’t you both spend the
last two days of your stay here? There is a pool out back and tennis courts.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the Earth rumbled. Anyone watching from
the windows of the castle would have seen a section of forested land ripple
into the ground and vanish. In place of trees a tennis court and a thirty-foot
long infinity edge pool rose up from the ground.

     
Without pause,
Draakar continued his conversation. He placed his hand on Paul’s shoulder and
gave him an encouraging squeeze. “We all need to spend a couple more days
together working on your skills. This will also give you an opportunity to see
how she deals with it all. If you decide to tell her and she can’t accept it, I
can also take those memories from her. Just let me know what you would like to
do.”

     
“Thank you, my
Lord.”

     
“No, Paul, just
Draakar while we are here.”

     
“Okay, Draakar
or is that Draak?” Paul grinned for a moment. Draakar could feel Paul’s anxiety
relaxing a little at the thought of telling his wife about his dual heritage.
 
“I’ll bring her back with me later
tonight, at least for dinner. Thank you for thinking of it.
 
I’ll talk to her about staying here and
see what she says. Maybe after dinner I’ll have a better handle on what to do.”

     
“You don’t have
much time.”

     
“What…what if
you discover she’s not my truemate?”

     
“I may or may
not be able to tell. I will be able to tell you if her answers are true as she
believes, but I cannot read her heart, only her thoughts. When it comes to
human emotions, the head doesn’t always speak for the heart. Frankly, as your
own powers increase,
you
will be able
to tell. In your heart you will know. Your powers will only increase to their
fullest potential if yours is a true bonding.”

Draakar
did not tell Paul what he now understood. If his wife were not his truemate,
Paul would not be much use to the brethren on Akgon or Earth. His powers might
not ever grow beyond what they were now, and as time progressed they could
weaken. In fact, they would begin to lessen as soon as Draakar returned to
Akgon. The brethren were weak already because not enough truemates had paired
and he needed them strong.

But
the decision belonged to Paul, and Draakar would honor Paul’s decision. Draakar
like Valour, believed one of the reasons for their diminished powers stemmed
from fewer true bondings amongst the brethren. Yet he could not force them to
wait for their truemates when he had not. However, he’d spoken the truth when
he told them at the Circle of Stones, hope existed because a growing number of
the young on Akgon were not bonding, and hope for them dwelled here with the
Earth brethren.

     
“I understand.”
Paul took a deep breath. “Truemate or not, I do love her. What if I don’t want
to know? It makes no difference to me.”

     
Draakar just
stared at Paul. How should he answer his question? It had taken him a thousand
years to finally understand it did make a difference. Each brethren must make
the decision on his or her own. Just because mates chosen from necessity were
not truemates didn’t mean love could not grow. It could and it did. He had
loved Sierran.
 
Not at first. He
had been fond of her and eventually fondness had grown into love.

How
could he not fall in love with her, after all she had done for him and the
brethren? She had been a caring, compassionate and beautiful woman who had
given him a son he loved. Yet, sometimes, the depths of his soul ached because
it knew a different kind of love waited out there, and from time to time he
felt its pull.

Only
one could forever calm the fire raging within his dragon. A truemate, and
Draakar knew she existed.
 
Had
known for a long time because his soul suffered with her each time she entered
the world alone. He had just found Maya and already he understood the
difference between love for a good woman and love of his woman. He tried to
find the words to share some of his thoughts with Paul.

     
“I did not love
Talon’s mother when we were first mated because she was not my truemate, and we
both knew it. But she loved me and I grew to love her, and Talon was the result
of our union. That was all I had or could have and I knew contentment.”

     
“Was it
enough?”

     
“That is a
question only you can answer, but I am here now.”

     
Paul glanced
away then returned his gaze to Draakar’s. “I think I understand.
 
You’re right; it’s a question only I
can answer. I’ll see you later. Thank you, Draakar.”

     
Draakar clasped
his shoulder again and they shook hands. He wished Paul luck. Standing at the
open door, he watched as Ian drove the Benz back down the driveway to return
Paul to the inn. He’d sensed the presence behind him for some time and finally
turned around. His gaze immediately sought out the one who stood at the top of
the balcony.
 

     
Maya looked at
this man whom drew her like no other. Today he wore all black again, a favored
color of choice for him: jeans, a long-sleeved silk shirt, untucked of course,
with a Naru collar and black cowboy snakeskin boots with silver tips. He’d
pulled his hair back and tied it at his nape with a leather thong. His features
appeared sharper, more defined. If the man looked like a dark angel before, he
looked like a dark god now. If he could get any more handsome, Maya didn’t want
to see it. Green eyes glowed, daring her to deny him. She forced herself to
ignore his looks and her strong attraction to him.

You never answered his question,
Dark One. Was it enough?

No.

Maya
maintained eye contact with Draakar, trying to decide his sincerity from a
single word answer seemingly carrying so much. Finally, admitting to herself
the truth behind the word, she inclined her head slightly in acknowledgement.
Good
.
 
Maya turned and walked away.

     
Stop running away.

     
Don’t flatter yourself.

     
Forgive me, Maya.

     
Not today, maybe another.

    
I will not ask again. But it is time for
you to hear it all

   
You do not need to ask for that which will not be given, and I already
know all I need to know. You did not love her at first, but you love her now,
your mate.
Maya continued walking down the hallway toward her bedroom.
Draakar materialized before her. His bulk and six-foot-four frame blocked her
room’s closed doorway. She halted an arm’s length before him, clenching her
hands in frustration. His nostrils flared, anger and hurt simmered within the
depths of his flashing eyes. Raising her chin, Maya refused to let him
intimidate her.

     
Loved her, Maya, loved her. She’s dead. Just
before I arrived, she died giving the last of her life energy to Talon and to
me so I could return here and try to right so many wrongs.

    
Wh-What?

 
   
Do not hate her, Maya. She
was not trying to hurt you. I was not trying to hurt you, but we did not know
if or when you would be born. The brethren needed me. They needed my strength,
and they still do. As their leader, I had no choice. Our survival left me with
no other option.

     
Maya wrapped
her arms around her waist and shook her head, either in denial of his words or
because she didn’t want to hear it, or maybe both.

Sierran was the strongest amongst
the females. We grew up together. We were friends. She knew eventually our
mating would destroy her. I did not know how much our bond weakened her until
it was much too late. She hid it from me. I didn’t know until recently. Over
time I drained her powers, taking the life energy she freely gave to help
sustain me so I could sustain the brethren. This kind of draining does not
happen between truemates because the bond sustains both; it works both ways.
Truemates strengthen each other.
 

    
Maya inhaled sharply, unshed tears
bright in her eyes. She held her hands up and covered her face.
Oh God! I…I didn’t know! I didn’t know!
She
lowered her hands but wrapped them back around her waist. “I’m sorry, Draakar.
Sorry for her, sorry for you, sorry for us. I understand now, but that
understanding doesn’t change the pain I’ve had to endure because of your
choices. Because I too had no choice then and I have none now.
 
Please let me pass. I want to be alone.
Both of your choices condemned me to that, so let me be, alone.”

     
Emerald fire
sparked from Draakar’s narrowed eyes; frustrated anger radiated off him in
waves. He shook his head sharply. “No, Maya. You are not alone. Not anymore. I
am here. Do not shut me out now. Give me a chance. Give us a chance to be what
we always should have been.”

     
She hung her
head unable to look at him. She refused to accept his words and what they could
mean to her.

     
Ask me how she died.

    
You just told me.

 
   
Draakar stood
unyielding before her. She could feel his gaze boring into her. His pain became
hers.