DragonsHeart.wps (26 page)

Look upon it as a blessing—given to us by your uncle to watch over in times of need.”

“Please, don’t call him my uncle. I barely know the man.” He grunted, rolling his eyes.

“And yet, he is your relation as he seemed so determined to point out.”

“Well, thank God he didn’t marry your mother, cause I don’t think we’d be

together right now if he had.” He shuddered.

She raised her hand, asking for his silence. Her heart leapt in her chest. The voice whispered through the trees again. A faint breeze, rustled through the air, stirring her hair.

“We should keep moving like you said. Do you know which way we should go?”

Dylan asked softly, keeping his voice at a low tone.

“As long as we keep walking north, we should find the person calling to me. I’m sorry if Nicholas has indeed fallen. He was a great wizard—if not more annoying than DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

you.”

“He’s a hard one to kill. If he has walked into the light he would have at least taken out a few of the enemy before he went down.”

A rustling in the trees made Dylan reach for her and pull her down. “Listen.”

She reached out with her senses. Relaxing, she shrugged off his hand. “They are friends. Do not fear. The ones that approach me are known to me, and I to them.”

Moonlight swept across the darkening landscape, stars started to appear in the sky.

“Grania?” A hoarse weakened voice of an old woman met her ears.

“Yes, wise mother, it is I.”

“Thank the Graces, you have returned. Come, we must retreat to the sanctuary.

Draco’s sentries will be out soon. No one will be safe then, not even you and your wizard. He’s rather large ... larger than I imagined.”

Five other faces shadowed Mistress Mooney’s face. She knew three of them, the other two were unfamiliar to her.

“And that’s Widow Mooney now.” The widow’s voice was emotionless. Had the

scars of war desensitized her to that extent? The thought both disturbed and rankled her.

Pain lanced her heart. In her mind’s eye, she recalled the easygoing nature of Master Mooney. His constant air of joviality, his sparkling grey eyes and the way he could come up with jokes to ease all of your stress. He had been a good friend. And now he was one of the fallen ones.

“I’m sorry, Widow Mooney. Your husband will be dearly missed. I still

remember his first lesson to me.”

“Which was?”

“Listen before you leap.” Her heart plunged down into her belly, in reaction to what she feared was slowly coming to fruition.

The Widow nodded. “My man was a good brave soul. He died with valor and

honor as his bedmates. He will live on forever in my heart. He will be forever remembered as a dragon shifter that died fighting for his cause.”

Now Grania understood why Widow Mooney seemed so haggard and worn. She

had lost the man that had been her mate for many centuries. She could only imagine the depth of her grief. To have someone wrenched from you so suddenly, someone that you’d loved for years—agony clawed at her being.

“I’m going to see those Draconian bastards rot in the pits of hell before I die.”

Widow Mooney met her gaze. “I know what you’re thinking, Grania. But I’m not so weak as to give up now. My man went down with one hell of a fight, and I shall do the same. These are my kin. You know my children, and the other two are my nephew and niece. I have no idea what happened to my sister and brother’s children. I haven’t heard from them in many moons. For all I know they could be on Earth with Blaze. How is the Prince?” When she glanced back at them Widow Mooney’s eyes sparkled with intense interest.

They trailed along behind the Widow and her family, carefully picking their way through the bush.

“He’s well. He’s as determined as you are to see the Draconian bastards rot in hell.”

“I’m sorry for talking so to you, Grania. I know this must be hard. You do your DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

mother an honor like no other to side against your father. It is the right path. The only just path. Your righteousness shall set you free.”

“Have you heard from the twins?”

“They are still here? I had thought they would be with their mother and that

bastard.”

“No, they were able to escape.”

“Thank the Graces for that blessing,” The Widow’s voice faltered. “Nay, I have not heard of the wee lasses whereabouts. We can only hope that they are safely in hiding with the other royalists. There are bands of us clustered throughout the realm. Those of us that were not able to fall back with Blaze to Earth had to find sanctuary where we could. Already, Draco’s followers have executed many. If we are discovered, we shall be next.”

“You won’t be discovered. You are the best hider that I know.”

“Indeed,” she chuckled. “I taught you the fine art of camouflaging. You are

right, secrecy and shadows are my friend.”

Dylan was so close to her whenever she hesitated, he bumped into her. “You

don’t have to be so close,” she whispered harshly.

“Don’t worry, I like being this near to you. Why does Dragonia have four

moons?”

“Never mind. I’ll give you a history of our realm later.”

“Good to know.” He stopped. “Get ready, we have company coming our way.

And I, for one, really don’t feel like becoming their dinner.”

She bristled. “I don’t sense any of my kind.”

“That’s because the company that’s coming, isn’t of this world, or my world in fact. We have some harpies coming to tea.”

“Oh, fabulous,” she groaned.

“Children, move on to the sanctuary. We will lead them off the scent.”

Before she could say anything else the widow shape shifted.

“Hey, you better not pull that blasted trick.” Dylan poked her reprovingly in the back.

“I’m not going to shape shift. Hopefully, Widow Mooney hasn’t been doing that too frequently. If she has ....”

“Do we have to worry about her going all postal on us?”

“I don’t think she’s another O’Malley, although it is not safe to shift too many times in a short span of time. She is playing with fire, and not in the way that we usually do.”

“Then, we keep a close eye on her. I’m not about to have us come this far only to get smashed by a black widow.”

“She’s not black, she’s sapphire colored.”

“She looks black in the moonlight. I’m starting to get the creeps, you know

that?”

“Well, she isn’t.” While he was distracted, she reached for her bow and then

grabbed for an arrow. Three harpies descended upon their position. Four others swarmed around the Widow, hissing and wailing.

“Do you think we should help her?” Dylan asked.

Grania fired off an arrow. Fire lit up the sky as the Widow belched out a billow DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

of flame. It engulfed two of the harpies.

Screams rent the night sky.

“Scratch that. She just answered my question. I’m starting to think that female dragon shifters are a hell of a lot more lethal than male ones ... your father excluded.”

He levitated himself into the air. “Where do you think you’re going?” she called.

“I’m off to intercept those harpies before they reach you. I’m your husband,

remember? I have to keep you safe.”

“Wait a second!” With one arm, she grabbed a hold of him. “You’re not getting out of my sight. I keep trying to tell you that I’m supposed to be guarding you and you keep trying to turn the tables on me.”

She hung onto him with her bow in one hand. “Why don’t you just use your

trusty sword? I’m certain it will work much better than that bloody thing does.” Distaste welled in his voice again. She was actually beginning to enjoy the way that the weapon set his nerves on fire.

“On the contrary, the sword is sometimes cumbersome. Besides, I’ve always had a knack for using a bow and arrow, the ability came naturally to me. I constantly had to work at becoming a skilled swordswoman. And even now, it never truly feels like it’s a part of me. Using a bow just
feels
right.”

“You did? Pity that.” He gave the bow another disdainful glare. “If that thing hadn’t been forged by Merdwyn magic I would have already blown in up.”

“It’s invulnerable.”

“I sort of figured as much. Are you going to hang off of me all day, or are you going to sprout your own set of wings?”

“I thought I’d hang onto my big brawny husband.”

“In that case, I can levitate the two of us.”

He encased them in a see through bubble. “Impressive, for a wizard like you.”

“Like me? And what pray tell do you mean by that?” Irritation filled his voice.

“Well, after you came into contact with Merdwyn … I thought you felt a little less of a wizard.”

“Why would I? His blood runs through my veins. And if you ask me, I’ll tell you that he might even be a greater wizard than his brother.”

“You shouldn’t say those things so loudly. Merlin might hear,” she whispered, darting a cautious gaze around.

“He’s a powerful wizard, but he’s not omniscient.” He snorted.

Her attention was diverted by a melee on the ground. “Do you think you can

lower me to the ground and take care of the rest of the harpies that are airborne?”

“I’m usually the one that’s grounded.”

“Role reversal. Start to embrace it.” His eyes flashed at her, as he activated his magic and lowered her to the ground.

A shadowy figure moved in the thicket of trees. Whatever was coming toward

her wasn’t harpy or troll.

Her stomach clenched again. She almost buckled over.
Almost
.

“Help me.”

She heard the voice once more. At least it wasn’t a voice in her head, this voice was real, and the evidence was standing right in front of her.

“Who goes there? Come into the moonlight, the shadows are hiding your image

DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

from me,” Grania called out.

“You have to help us, Grania.”

“Bronwyn?”

“Aye. It’s me. And Brianna is here too … she’s trying to keep Nicholas alive. I fear she is fighting a losing battle.”

She moved through the brush toward them. Leaves crunched beneath her feet,

and the gentle melody of the trees as the breeze brushed through them, relaxed her little.

They still weren’t out of the woods yet … she wouldn’t calm down until she knew her family was safe.

It looked as if Bronwyn had cleared a path around where Nicholas lay. She was almost startled to see how much the twins had matured. They were quickly reaching adulthood. The thought jarred her. She had allowed the years to slip by her without realizing that they were growing up. She sighed, swallowing the thick lump in her throat.

Why could so many years pass by in a literal heartbeat and the last few days felt as if they’d gone on forever?

She dropped to her knees before Nicholas. He’d been burned ... badly.

She inhaled deeply, as sympathy rushed through her. He had to be in a good deal of pain … and yet, he was holding up quite well. Newfound respect and admiration for him rushed through her.

“How did this happen?” She looked at Bronwyn.

“He was distracted. He’d touched Brianna and something went on between them

in his moment of disorientation, his guard lapsed. One of Draco’s sentries came out of nowhere and threw a fireball at them. I was off trying to open a portal to Earth, but it wouldn’t stay open.”

“I know. You need to calm down, Bronwyn,” Grania whispered softly.

“Calm down? I don’t think you understand! This happened to him because he

threw himself on top of Brianna and everyone knows that any sort of flame can’t hurt Brianna. He let his emotions for her, weaken him!”

“Nicholas didn’t know. There are those of us dragon shifters that can be harmed by enemy fire. Nicholas only wanted to protect her … it’s his job.”

“I knew you’d see the logical side of the situation.” Her voice turned downright snarky.

“Bronwyn, I need you to keep a watch out for my husband.”

“Dylan?”

“Aye.”

“I can do that. Nicholas showed us a picture of him.”

She walked over to Brianna and Nicholas. “You have to actually get your tears on the wounds, Brianna.” She spoke in a soft low voice. Brianna stared up at her. Her face was streaked with tears, her eyes were swollen and her hands were shaking and soaked in his blood.

“I don’t know what to do .…” She was shaking so hard and her chest was heaving with sobs.

“Cry a little directly over his wound. That should heal him enough to bring him back from the brink of death. The wounds are severe, I’m sure he’ll still be hurting after you cry over him, but he’ll be well, and he’ll be in far less pain, which is a blessing.”

“I’ll try.” Brianna's voice shook. Gradually, her hands stopped trembling. “This DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

happened to him because of me. I gave him an electric shock when he touched me, he never touched me before, but he grabbed for my hand to pull me back .…”

“Why did he pull you back?” Grania asked.

“Bronwyn wanted to abandon him and rendezvous with the other loyalists. He

wanted us to get to Earth where he thought he could keep us safe. I kept trying to tell both of them that no place was safe, but they just kept bickering!”

“And now?” Grania prompted.

“Now, they’ve come to a standstill. Bronwyn doesn’t know what to do with him, and I don’t know what to do either. Look!”

She showed her palm to Grania. It glowed with the mating mark.

“Oh, no.” Grania shook her head feeling her stomach do another nosedive. “What are the fates trying to do to this family?”