by Riley Storm
“Okay. You’ve made your point,” Galen said, the wind picking up even more, a warning to Aaric that he was pushing his luck.
“I know you’re scared,” Aaric said, coming and sitting next to the wind dragon, both of them turning their backs on the world behind them. “We all are,” he said quietly. “I’m terrified. I don’t want to die. I just found my mate. Olivia just told me the other day that I’m going to be a father. I don’t want to miss that.”
Galen looked up. “She’s pregnant?”
Aaric nodded. “Yes. We’re not saying anything because…well, because everything is hard enough.”
“Congratulations,” Galen said, then returned to morose silence as he realized Aaric would never be around for the birth of his child, or to see them grow into an adult and become a dragon shifter themselves.
“But I’ll always have the happiness of knowing that the time I spent with Olivia was full of happiness and joy, Galen. Smiles and laughter. I’ll remember her touch, and that’s what will keep me smiling even when the shadows roll over us.”
Galen nodding, feeling an empty pit in his stomach where such emotions and memories would normally evoke a feeling of warmth.
“You can have that too,” Aaric said softly. “All you need to do is what I’m doing now.”
“What do you mean?”
Aaric’s hand flashed out and smacked Galen in the back of the head. “Talk to her, Galen. Tell her how you feel. All of it. Every single piece, don’t hold anything back.”
“I don’t—”
“If you weren’t about to say “I don’t know if I’ll ever get another chance to tell her how I feel about her”, then you’re saying the wrong things and you haven’t been listening to anything I’ve just said,” Aaric said. “Have you been listening?”
Galen paused before replying.
“If I go to her, she’ll stay and fight by our side,” he said quietly. “She won’t leave, like your mates. She’s going to die if I tell her how I feel. Plus what about Katherine?”
Aaric nodded. “I never knew Katherine,” he said softly. “But from what I have heard over the years, she was a wonderful woman, who wanted you to be happy.”
“She was,” Galen said quietly. “She truly was. I couldn’t have asked for more.”
“Yet we can all see that Kyla awakens something in you, Galen. It’s obvious to anyone, we notice the way you look at her, the way she made you smile. Even when you didn’t fully trust her, there was obviously a connection of some sort between you.”
“But how can that be?” Galen asked helplessly.
“I don’t know. But the winds of fate have given you a second chance. Don’t you think it’s a little rude not to take it? I’m sure that Katherine would not begrudge you happiness. In fact, I think she would prefer to see you smile and enjoy yourself. Keep her memories with you always, Galen. But don’t be afraid to make new ones either.”
“She’ll die if she stays,” he countered.
“That is her choice, Galen. Not yours. You cannot change that. In fact, you need to respect it. To treat her like an adult, because that’s what she is. You aren’t her King. She doesn’t want you to treat her like one. She wants you to be Galen.”
“Maybe,” he said, nodding his head. “Maybe.”
“I’m glad you’re finally coming around,” Aaric said, slumping over. “I was afraid I might have to beat some sense into you for you to understand.”
“Good luck with that,” Galen said with a laugh, feeling his spirits lift for the first time in days.
“Now, are you going to go, or what?” Aaric asked, standing up and taking several strides back into the spire, pausing at the top of the stairs while he waited for an answer.
Galen frowned. “Go where?”
The fire dragon groaned. “After her, you idiot!” Then he launched a ball of flame right at Galen that backflipped him off the railing and out into mid-air. “Go!”
Wind shrieked like a banshee around him, and Galen was gone.
25
Kyla stared up at the wall in front of her.
Beyond it lay the edge of the protective wards around Drakon Keep, and her freedom. All she had to do was scale it and run. This time, she was going to open a portal on the ground. Making it harder for any vampires watching to intercept her in time.
She was also going to use up a lot of power and conjure a second portal, one that they could attack, while she went through the original. It would take effort to focus on two portals at once, but she’d done it before.
It was probably redundant anyway; she doubted any vamps could reach her in time. Not when she was exiting the wall at a completely random spot, nowhere near the front gates. Still, better to be safe than sorry.
She lifted her staff into the air, prepared to call upon a spell that would lift her up and over the wall itself.
Her hand paused mid-air as her ears detected a faint noise.
What the hell is that?
Worried about a possible vampire attack, she ducked low. Had they started their assault on the Keep this night? It would be incredibly bad luck for her if so. Crouching, she moved right up into the cover of the wall as the sound grew louder.
It sounded like a wail, a high-pitched noise that grew louder and louder.
Whatever it was, it was getting closer. Feeling threatened, her back literally up against the wall, Kyla tapped her staff on the ground twice. The ruins lit up with golden light and a green haze appeared in the sky above her.
Her left hand twitched slowly and a dull red glow washed over her face as she summoned her fighting rope, letting it hang in her hand, ready to deploy as necessary.
If the vampires were coming, she wasn’t about to go down without a fight.
The shriek intensified. She was able to pinpoint where it was coming from, raising her hand to launch a blast of magic at her attacker.
It came close, then faded abruptly as the whirling winds slowed, dispersing to reveal a familiar figure as he dropped ten feet or so to the ground, his windy transportation becoming ethereal once more before disappearing entirely.
“Kyla.”
She tiled her head, dropping the magic shield and her prepared blast of red energy.
“King Galen.”
“No,” the big shifter rumbled as he came forward. “Just Galen.”
“Very well. Galen. What can I do for you?” she asked, fighting down the fluttering feeling in her stomach. She knew better than to entertain such hope. It had been shattered twice already in one night. She was not about to endure another episode of it.
“I need to talk to you,” he said.
She lifted her eyebrows in question, noting the gravity of his words, the emotion present in them. Maybe she was talking to Galen, and not his Kingly persona.
“You’ve had plenty of chances to talk to me,” she pointed out. If he wanted this, it wasn’t going to come easy, that was for sure. She had to know he truly meant it.
“I know. And I’ve screwed them all up. Badly.”
Kyla worked her jaw, looking at him in the gloomy darkness. Although she could mostly see him, she couldn’t pick out any details. Whispering a command, her staff grew bright once more, this time acting as a light for her to see by.
“You haven’t done a great job, no,” she said, though her voice was gentle.
“So it was made clear to me,” Galen said wryly. “First off, I think I owe you an apology.”
Intrigued, she gestured for him to continue.
“I have treated you badly. You’ve tried to…to, talk, with me, about, um, everything,” he said, fumbling over the words. “And I’ve shut you out.”
“Are you ready to let me in?” she asked quietly, deciding just go for the jugular instead of standing around talking.
Galen was silent. He was present, however, his attention fixated entirely on her, and she didn’t get the feeling that his mind was somewhere else. “I don’t know how,” he said at last.
; Kyla almost told him that it wasn’t enough. That he needed to be better than that, but she realized even as she thought it, that he was trying. Galen hadn’t said he wouldn’t. Just that he didn’t know how.
“Tell me what you do know,” she said instead, not putting the words in his mouth, but giving him encouragement at the same time. Letting him know she was willing to listen. To give him one final chance.
“I know that you make me feel things,” he began, before breaking off.
“What kind of things?” she asked, sensing that however vague his statements might be, they weren’t easy for the normally private dragon to say. He was trying, for her, and she could respect that.
“Things that I haven’t felt in a long time,” Galen said, looking grateful for her prompt. “That I haven’t felt since Katherine passed away.”
“Good things?” she asked quietly, unsure if she should draw attention to his past mate or not. That was a landmine that Kyla simply did not know how to navigate around. She had no experience dealing with deceased lovers. Hopefully, she wouldn’t screw it up or say the wrong thing.
“Yes,” Galen answered quietly, his head tilting downward. “Things that no woman other than her has made me feel.”
“Why did you try to send me away then?” she asked, wanting to distract him. She could sense the shame he felt in admitting to his feelings for her. That would fade with time, she believed. For now, she wanted him to focus on the feelings themselves, to accept them, to believe they were real, and to tell them to her.
Galen lifted his head. “I don’t want you to die too,” he said, and his voice nearly broke saying it.
“Oh Galen,” she said, forgetting everything that had already gone on between them that night and throwing herself at him. “It’s not like that,” she said, letting herself get wrapped up in his arms as he held her tight. “It’s not the same.”
“I want you to live,” he said gruffly, trying to disguise his emotions. “It should have been me last time, Kyla. I should have been the one who died. But I was too slow. I couldn’t save her. Don’t you understand?”
She nodded, stroking the back of his head as the big shifter broke down in her arms. So much of the mystery surrounding his determination to keep her away was clear now.
“It should have been me,” he repeated dully.
“You are not to blame,” she said. “Nor does Katherine blame you, of that I am certain. You didn’t attack her. You tried to protect her. The fault lies with the one who attacked you. The mage,” she said, hating that he would draw lines between his mate’s killer and her, but knowing it was unavoidable. “That’s the one to blame. No one else.”
“You don’t think she would be mad that I’m falling for a mage?” Galen asked hoarsely. “She should hate me for it.”
“I would hope that if she met me, Katherine would realize I am not my ancestors. That I no longer harbor you any ill will. Not after meeting you and getting to know you. To most of us mages, especially the younger ones, the war is history. It was over a long time ago. We have moved on, we’re not war-mongers. We just want to exist, to learn our craft.”
Galen shrugged, not sure what to say.
“I don’t blame you for anything,” Kyla said, stroking the back of his head. “Nor does anyone else. You need to stop blaming yourself.”
“If I’d been just a bit faster…” he said.
“Then you would be dead, and your fellow dragons wouldn’t have the right person to lead them. Everything you’ve done, Galen, every choice, every action, it has all led up to this moment. This is the time you’re needed. This is where you’re supposed to be. They need you to be you, and to help them in the coming fight.”
And you need help in it. Kyla kept her thought to herself. Galen didn’t need to know about her plan. Not now, not when she had no idea how to make it work.
“I wish I’d found you earlier,” he said quietly, and one of his hands moved from her back to stroke her hair. “Under different circumstances, perhaps, where we could have had time to explore this.”
Rising up on her tiptoes, Kyla planted a kiss on his cheek. “Perhaps we’ll have the chance to do that before long anyway,” she said. “Never give up hope, Galen Drakon.”
He straightened. “You’re not staying then.”
She shook her head. “I can’t.”
The big man bit his lip, and began to nod.
“It’s not because I don’t want to,” she said, stroking his cheek. “Know that I too, feel things for you. That I want to explore them.” She bit her lip. “And maybe, just maybe, if things work out perfectly, you’ll see me again and we can try it.”
Galen’s shoulders rose and fell. “I would like that,” he said as he exhaled his breath. “A lot.”
“Me too,” she said, pulling him in for a real kiss. Kyla let it linger on for as long as she could.
Pulling back, she patted him on the chest. “I have to go now.”
He nodded firmly and stood back. “Know that I care for you.”
She shivered at his words. “I care for you too, Galen Drakon, King of the Dragons.”
Then she was gone, the spell she’d called to mind ages ago carrying her up and over the wall. Landing without a noise, she dashed forward.
The instant she cleared the wards, her magic flowed easier. There was a shout from somewhere to her left, but it was too far. The vampires too slow.
Magic flowed through her mind and out her staff. Two portals appeared, one on the ground, the other shimmering in mid-air, a pretty target for the vampires.
Shadows darted in, aiming for her decoy.
Kyla turned, raising her left fist to the group of vampires charging at her. Only one finger was raised.
She stepped through the portal and dropped several feet to the ground, appearing in the same courtyard at the Academy through which she’d left. It felt like ages since she’d been there, though in reality it had only been days.
The portal closed and she stood up, brushing herself off.
The easy part is done. Now it’s time for the hard part.
Kyla walked off into the Academy, wondering just how the hell she was going to pull this off.
26
“I don’t like it!”
“You don’t have to like it, you just have to do it! We’ve been over this.”
Galen slowed as he approached the common room, the rumbles in his stomach forgotten, as was his quest for food. He’d heard the voices growing louder as he approached, but now they were shouting.
The last thing he wanted to hear was an argument. The night was fading, and the vampires hadn’t attacked. They were going to live to fight at least another day. He suspected that it would not be the following night, but the night after that the attack came. There was nothing to back it up besides his gut feeling, but Galen just knew.
“Hey,” he said, darting around the corner before anyone could resume their shouting.
The room was large, meant to hold two dozen people with relative ease. The six people sitting in lounge chairs made most of the room look empty, but it certainly didn’t feel that way. It was filled with his family, and to Galen, no room ever felt empty when that was the case.
“Galen.”
He froze mid-step at the glower and cool tone that Olivia directed his way.
“Uh, hi? What can I do for you?” he asked, starting to regret entering the room at all. “What did I do?” he added belatedly, deciding to just accept the blame then and there.
“You came up with this plan,” Olivia said, crossing her arms.
Galen looked around the room, noting that all the women had similar looks, and all were directed his way.
“Um. I just got here. Can you clue me in on what I missed?”
“You want us to leave you all here to die.”
Galen sagged, shooting Aaric an unhappy glare. The fire dragon had told him that the others had accepted their fates and were just trying to live out the last bit of time they had
together as best as possible. Apparently, things hadn’t been quite so well after all.
Shocker, he thought to himself, knowing full well the strength of a dragon mate.
“You’re not staying,” Victor growled when Cheryl turned her look on him. “That’s final.”
“You can’t seriously want to stay?” Galen said, looking out at them, including Liz, who was holding baby Melina. He let his gaze drop to Cheryl’s stomach, and then gave Olivia a knowing glance, telling her that she too should know better. “It’s suicide.”
“You’re staying,” Sarah pointed out from where she stood next to Jax.
“To buy you all time,” Galen said. “The gryphons have agreed to meet you out by the north wall. They will fly you to safety after we draw the vampires in on us. You will be safe, as will the children.”
The woman looked unhappy at that. “Don’t use our children against us.”
“Would you rather I just pretend like they don’t exist?” Galen retorted. “Life dealt you a hand, in that only you can bring a child into this world. It’s a miraculous gift. But it comes at a cost, and you cannot deny it,” he said, realizing that now, here, his family needed him to be the King.
“I know,” Olivia said, slouching. “I just…I don’t want to lose him.”
“And you think I want to lose you?” Aaric exclaimed. “But we both know what’s coming. As strong-willed and smart as you are, this is a battle you just can’t fight, my love. It’s not fair, I know, but it’s the truth.”
Olivia turned a pleading look on Galen, but they both knew he wasn’t going to change his mind.
“The plan will remain as we’ve already discussed,” he said quietly, leveling a gaze at all the occupants of the room, making sure that they all understood. “You will take the tunnel Jax has been working on to the north. Upon exit, the gryphons will fly you away, faster than any of us, or the vampires, can match.”
The women nodded, almost as one moving closer to their men. Galen envied them that closeness. He wished he could have it himself, but he was glad that Kyla, at least, was far away from the coming mess. It bothered him not being able to figure out what she was to him, but at least he’d managed to confess to her that he had feelings, to let her know she wasn’t alone in that regard.