DragonsHeart.wps (8 page)

“Are you alright?”

She remained impassive and immobile. Had he somehow wandered into a

dream? Or was she truly struck down with something he could not detect?

He opened the glass door keeping him from stepping into the stall. Her

nakedness, - though a beautiful sight, didn’t not even deter him. So consumed by concern for her, he just wanted to touch her to tell himself that she was indeed sound in body.

She didn’t start when he gently gripped her by the shoulders and turned her to face him. Her vivacious green eyes were unusually lackluster. The dullness in her gaze DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

made his heart do another dance up into his throat. His stomach twisted with unease.

“Grania—you must snap out of whatever trance you have been consumed by!” He

had his voice at a fevered pitch, unconsciously hoping that it would somehow will her awake.

His mind wandered back to what she had said only an hour before. “Don’t tell me you’ve fallen into a state of hibernation. Come on, Grania! You are my assigned protector … and whether or not I need your protection—I want it. You have my heart, you have my soul—don’t betray it, protect it with your fullest power! You wield a might that would stop most of my kind in their tracks. Let them wonder at your glory—come back to me!”

Her body went limp in his arms. He reached for a long fluffy towel and wrapped it around her body. Using his magic, he conjured a towel for her hair. He looked to the shower and stopped the water flow. Then, snapping his fingers, he magically cleansed his own body. He hadn’t realized how much the night’s activities had taken a toll on him. He now stood in a puddle of water. He directed his magic to the floor, drying it so that he would not fall flat on his ass while carrying her out of the bathroom.

Worrying about her seemed to plague him more than when he’d entered into

battle with the evil dragon shifters. Love was a chain—having someone like her in his life would cause constant anxiety.

“I’m so tired.” Her soft whisper made him jolt. When he looked back down into her eyes again, he saw recognition glinting in their beautiful depths.

“Don’t get too tired … that poison must still be in your system. You need to fight it. Rise above it.”

“Rising above a poison that can kill my kind in a concentrated enough dose isn’t as easy as you think.” Weariness stole into her voice.

“Kill you? You told me it would only put you into a coma-like state.”

“If the dose was as small as I thought it would be. I didn’t think that James would kill me—perhaps, I was a bit off the mark with that. At any rate, if you hadn’t come into the bathroom when you did—I shudder to think of where I’d be right now. I felt myself drifting away—it was the most peaceful and yet disturbing feeling I’ve ever felt. I know there are those of us that can literally transport our spirit from our physical bodies, but I have never wanted to be one of those astral walkers. If I leave my body, I don’t know if I’ll ever find my way back.”

“How do I help you?”

“You need to summon another one of my kind. I think this might be something

too big for the magic cream to fix.”

“How do I contact your kind?” His eyes searched her features. She looked as

worried as he felt. He believed her when she’d broached her worries about not being able to return to her body. If he’d actually almost lost her .…

“The crystal ball communication network. I know your kind use crystal balls .…”

“We do. Where’s the closest dragon crystal ball?”

“On my night table in my bedroom.” She shivered.

“You need to get some clothes on.” He finished drying her, and snapped his

fingers. She was instantly wrapped in a warm—albeit it not so sexy nightgown. “I called that from your wardrobe. Is that a good representation of the rest of your clothing?”

“Never mind. I’m fighting to just speak—please, Dylan, don’t be a smartass. If DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

you don’t act quickly, I will die—on the positive side, I’ll die fighting for a cause I believe in, and fighting to protect your life. At least this way, you won’t have to have the burden of me as your mate.”

“Hey, I’m no prize as a husband, either. Just hold on. Don’t you go and abandon me now—I’m becoming a bit codependent on you.”

He laid her on the bed, and then reached for the globe on her nightstand. Placing it on the bed in front of him, he looked over at her. “What now?”

“Allow me to touch it. It’s activated by telepathy … dragon shifter telepathy.”

She circled the palm of her hand around the pinky colored crystal. “It will light up soon, you’ll have to speak to Blaze. He’s my cousin—he’ll come to help me.”

“I just bet this Blaze is the picture of perfection. All of the women fawn over him, and drool over him, don’t they? Does he have a harem full of sexy dragon shifter females?” he joked.

She gave him a serious look of chastisement.

“He has not found his mate yet—but yes, his female subjects adore him, however, to my knowledge he does not keep a harem full of women to satisfy his every carnal need.” She sighed, wincing with pain. “He is a most respectful, charismatic and chivalrous prince. His subjects would do anything for him—the loyal ones that is.”

“Subjects? Oh, no, I’m going to have to put up with a royal dragon shifter? Can you say Royal Pain in the Ass?”

“Don’t provoke him when he’s here. Talk to him politely and tell him I’ve been poisoned with Dragon Night Shade.”

“Okay.” He couldn’t help but sound a bit sullen. He knew he was a pratt, and

reveled in it—usually. Right now, the way she looked was striking the fear of bad magic into him.

“Grania?” The mists in the crystal cleared. “You aren’t Grania … where is she?”

Blaze demanded.

She leaned forward so Blaze would see her in the crystal. “Oh … my, Grania,

you look like you’ve been through hell. No doubt courtesy of something that git did to you. What do you need?”

“I need your healing help.”

“She’s been poisoned with Dragon Night Shade,” Dylan interjected.

“Shit. I’ll be right there … it will take me some time to open a portal without being detected. Just give me a second.”

“A second? You just said it would take you some time ....” Dylan's voice trailed off

“He’ll be here almost immediately. He won’t let me down, even if the capital is burning.” Grania's faith in him seemed rock solid.

“Capital? Are you telling me that Draco has almost reached your capital? That’s not good news for us.”

“That’s why you have to move your ass on getting the spell completed. We are in dire need of it.”

“If they’ve broken through your lines of defense and reached the capital, then, your civil war is almost over. Draco is the champion.”

“No—we will never give up hope, no matter how dark our world might seem.”

“I don’t mean to alarm you or anything, Grania, but our door is on fire.”

DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

“Our door isn’t on fire—that’s the way we dragon shifters open our portals from this realm into our realm. Or, in Blaze’s case, from Dragonia into this realm.”

“Uh, huh. I get that. I shouldn’t have been so stupid. You have your own special kind of magic, the more I get used to that thought the better we’ll be able to understand each other.”

“He’s hurt as well. I can feel it as his proximity to me grows nearer.”

“How badly?”

“Not as badly as me—thank God. But it’s grim—this means he either left the

capital to visit the fighters at the front lines—or the capital ....”

“Has already been invaded. That’s just great. Should we be bracing ourselves for an all out invasion of Earth?”

“The last loyal to our side will fight until they no longer draw breath. They will attempt to disable the magical transportation link between Earth and Dragonia. If we are lucky they will succeed; which, in turn, will slow down Draco. Without the link, he will not be able to conjure a sustainable portal, with which to mount an all out incursion.”

“Then, my hope is that our two kinds are already working together. We do have some very skilled operatives placed within Dragonia … if they have discovered the news about how this transportation link works then, they would contribute with all of the magic they wield.”

“That’s good news. Some of my kind have lost touch with the way of dragon

shifter magic, this will hopefully help us out.”

“He’s about to make his entrance through the doorway of fire.”

“Blaze always aims to help me. He’ll do whatever he can.” She’d started gasping for air. “Oh, man, my lungs are burning so badly.”

“Just hold on … are you sure there’s nothing I can do for you?”

“Just stay with me until Blaze arrives. I don’t like to be this vulnerable.”

“You aren’t. I have no intention of leaving your side.”

Finally, it looked as if someone was coming through the portal. The figure wore a cloak of dark crimson. When he came through the gateway he landed on his feet.

“Greetings, Wizard. I am here to see my cousin. Please, stand aside.”

“Well, I see you and your cousin share some of the same personality traits.

You’re both curt and to the point when you are on a mission.”

She gave him a wane smile.

“Dragon Nightshade, nasty bit of business that is.” Blaze shook his head, fire flashing in his cognac brown eyes.

Dylan stood up, allowing Blaze to gain access to Grania. Blaze stooped over,

gently feeling her forehead.

“Hmm … you’ve been injected with quite a lot of Dragon Nightshade. You’re

forehead is clammy and cold to the touch ....”

“And I’m burning up inside ....” Her breath caught on her last word.

“Indeed. The bastards that did this to you—where are they? I will tear the both of them new hides.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, I don’t have any dragon shifter tears on me. Fortunately, for you, I have a ready supply right here.” He tapped his temple.

“So, your tears will heal her?”

“They will draw the last vestiges of the poison out of her system, enabling her natural healing gene to kick in—then, she should be right as rain by dawn.”

DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

“You can just turn on the waterworks?”

“I have a lot to mourn for—many of my friends perished in the assault today. It was grave indeed.” His voice almost broke.

Dylan could only imagine the sort of strain he was under at the moment.

Watching his world crumbling around him while he was fighting to stop it was the worst nightmare he could possibly think of.

“Perished? Grania has showed me tonight that your kind isn’t quite as

invulnerable as we witches and wizards thought—but from the tales of my childhood, your kind was always portrayed as being nigh unstoppable.”

“When we are facing you wizards and witches, we are a formidable fighting

force. You don’t know the special ways to hurt or kill us,” Blaze explained.

“Then, why do you need me? If you can be hurt and killed so badly, why can’t

you just handle this on your own?” She made a strangling noise. He walked to the other side of the bed. “You should start crying, Blaze. She’s fading away.” Reaching for her hand, he gripped it tightly. Raising it to his lips he kissed her. She shivered in reaction to his touch.

“Before I, as you say put on the waterworks, I will have you know that I am not easily brought to tears.”

“He isn’t trying to imply that you are a coward, Blaze. Don’t be a ninny. He just wants to know why we can’t put an end to this civil war.”

“Let’s equate this civil war to England’s civil war. The Royal House is falling—

by the time I get back there’s no telling what will have happened to the Palace. Even if the monarchy falls, we will rise again. The battle for Dragonia might almost be over, but the war—the war is far from over. The Royalists will never give up.”

Her face had turned ashen white. “I hadn’t realized it was going that badly.”

“There was no need for you to know the full extent of it, Grania. I know how

much this hurts you. Mother didn’t want you to know.”

“Blood against blood … it is madness. Sheer madness.” She shivered again.

“Get on and cry or I swear, I’ll give you full reason to!” Dylan shouted,

exasperated by the way Blaze was drawing out the healing process.

“The scars of war are never pretty.” Blaze brushed his hand over her wound. He watched as the skin started to heal. Before the skin healed completely, he leaned toward her. Tears glistened in his eyes.

Dylan tried craning his neck around so he could see the entire process. One

single tear slipped out of his eye. It hit the still raw looking wound. She inhaled sharply, screwing her face up in pain. “I can feel the Dragon Nightshade being pummeled. I don’t feel so sleepy anymore. Tired, but not like I’ll drift away literally if I fall asleep.”

“You’ll be fine now, Grania.” Blaze looked down lovingly at her. If he weren’t related to her by blood, Dylan would have been green with jealousy.

“Thank you for coming, Blaze. I understand how significant of a decision that was, concerning the state of affairs right now,” she murmured, her voice constricting with emotional turmoil.

“I couldn’t just let you die, Grania. You are family.”

“Have you eaten in the last twenty-four hours? Maybe you should go down to the kitchen and grab a bite to eat before you go back to Dragonia," Grania suggested.

“Non-conjured food—that sounds good to me. We dragon shifters really haven’t

DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170

gotten the knack of magically conjuring tasty food—though there is this one lass that can conjure delicious food.”