by Riley Storm
“I claim the position of Archmage of the Council!” she shouted, now less than ten feet from the Archmage, his long white hair billowing backward, even as her own short bob danced like crazy from the energy being unleashed nearby. “Yield!”
“Never!” the Archmage shrieked and redoubled his efforts.
It wasn’t enough.
Chapter 29
Galen watched the skies around Drakon Keep.
A vast stormfront was moving in, the first layers of its clouds just now drifting over Drakon Keep, covering it in their dark embrace, a foreshadowing of what was to come. The system was supposed to hang around for the next three days, though Galen didn’t expect to live long enough to see it end.
Thirty-six hours.
That was as long as he gave the vampires before they attacked, their strength finally at a peak and ready to eliminate the dragons now and forever. He almost hated that it would be that long before it all began. The anticipation had reached its height, and now it was just wearing on everyone’s nerves, leaving them frazzled beyond belief.
The siege had gone on for months now, ever since he’d been awakened, though it had grown stronger with every passing day, until they were all hemmed in. Thankfully, his brothers had foreseen this eventuality, and the Keep was fully stocked with provisions to keep them going for a long time. They wouldn’t starve to death.
All the preparations had been made by this point, not just the food. The exit tunnel, carefully crafted by Jax over the course of several weeks, ran under the building and to the edge of the wall. The spot was marked and the gryphons would come in once the main bulk of the vampires was busy assaulting the Keep itself.
Then the women and child, along with the three humans who lived there would all be taken away to safety. Once they were clear, Galen intended to ensure that as many of the dark creatures within his embrace burned before he went under.
The vampires couldn’t lose since they were too strong, too numerous, but he was damn sure going to make them know they’d been hurt, and badly. His mouth formed a silent snarl as he looked out at the edges of his property, barely visible from this distance, even lifted high into the air as he was on a cloud of wind that swirled silently beneath his feet.
A flash of light to the west caught his eye. Galen brought his hands together and then compressed the air, using it to bend the light as he peered through it, the effect amplifying his vision, acting like a set of binoculars.
“Kyla?” he gasped watching as a familiar figure exited from the rent in reality, immediately erecting a wall of energy behind her as she raced for the safety of the wards around Drakon Keep.
A mental thought triggered his air cushion, and Galen went hurtling toward the main gates on the western edge of the property at full speed. A sonic boom would be heard by anyone around as he broke through the sound barrier.
Air swirled around his forearms and leapt up from his fists into two long curved blades, twin scimitars that shrieked as they cleaved the air. Galen could see figures racing forth from underneath the tree cover, going after Kyla.
Their attacks came on, but green-gold energy deflected them all. Galen eyed that magic, wondering just what it portended. He’d never seen its like before, but Kyla didn’t seem overly bothered by the attacks, blocking them all with ease.
A dark shadow rose up in a solid wave as Galen neared the edge of his property and dove down at Kyla. He landed at the same time and thrust both hands forward.
His blast of air mixed with Kyla’s energy and together they tore right through the ominous shadow, obliterating it. Before the caster could recover—it had to be one of the most elder vampires to create something that large and strong—Kyla darted through the wards and into the protection of the Keep.
Galen didn’t wait for the gates to open. He leapt over them, snatched her into his arms and flew off.
Behind them, the angry vampire lashed out. Shadow met the wards, and golden energy spread for hundreds of feet in every direction. Galen swallowed nervously, wondering if perhaps Kyla’s arrival had set the vampire attack off early, but nothing else came. The light slowly faded away, matching the last of the sunlight as the clouds finally blocked it off too.
Drakon Keep was now utterly engulfed in shadow.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he growled at Kyla as they landed on one of the spire balconies.
“It’s nice to see you too.”
Galen glared at her. “You were supposed to leave,” he whispered fiercely. “You were supposed to be safe.”
She smiled, reaching up to stroke his cheek. Galen trembled at her touch, not realizing just how much he’d missed it. “I’m aware,” she said just as quietly. “I’m also aware that I’m an adult, and I get to make my own decisions. If want to be back here, at your side, there isn’t much you can do about it.”
Galen bit his lip. “You would willingly choose to be back here, with me, instead of somewhere else, living safely?”
“Is that so hard to believe, Galen Drakon? That someone might enjoy your company?” Kyla put her hands on her hips, giving him a look that warned him to think before answering.
“You won’t be able to enjoy my company for long,” he pointed out fatalistically. “In less than forty-eight hours, I’m going to be dead. As will anyone around me, which is why I wanted you somewhere else!”
“Well maybe I don’t want to be somewhere else,” Kyla snapped, losing her patience. “Maybe I like you. Maybe I want to make things work with us.”
Galen sagged. “It’s not that I don’t want things to work with us, Kyla. I…I think I do. I’ve missed you. More than I was able to admit to myself, until I saw you again. But when I saw you, under attack, you have to understand…it worried me.”
The curvy raven-haired beauty relaxed, her irritated expression softening. “Oh Galen. How do you think I felt then, knowing that you would be under attack?”
He frowned. “It’s not the same.”
“Do not start that with me. I’m not an idiot, and you know it. So don’t treat me like one.”
Galen decided to take the wise course of action and shut up. He nodded instead, hoping that was the correct answer.
“Much better,” Kyla teased. Then she all but threw herself at him, arms wrapping wide around his chest as she rested her head on it too. “I missed you, Galen.”
“I missed you too,” he said, echoing his earlier words. “You know we’re not going to be able to set any longevity records for making this work, right? I…I don’t want you to die.”
“We all die sometime, Galen. If I choose to die now, with someone I care for, that’s better than spending the rest of my life alone, and sad. Besides, we both know the vampires are going to hunt all us mages down once they’re done with you. Just how long would I have lived anyway?”
He didn’t have an answer to her question, so he didn’t bother trying.
“There’s one other thing I want you to know, Galen,” Kyla said with sudden somberness and sincerity.
“What’s that?” he asked, not without a bit of trepidation. What was she about to tell him?
“I want you to know that I am not trying to replace Katherine. That I don’t want you to think you have to forget about her, or never think about her.” Kyla paused for a moment. “In fact, when you’re ready, I want you to tell me about her. All about her.”
“Why?” It was the only question he could think of.
“Because she was your mate,” Kyla explained. “She was taken from you, not by choice on either of your parts. You’re always going to love her, and that’s okay with me. I want to help honor her memory.”
Galen just stared at the mage, wondering why life was so unfair.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, sensing his discomfort. “Was it something I said? I…I just want to do the right thing by you, and by her.”
“No, it’s not you,” Galen said, pausing to try and swallow the lump in his throat. “I’m just upset that life has on
ly given me such a brief time with you.”
There was more he wanted to say. More to his feelings than he’d admitted to her just yet, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. To speak the words. Not now, not with such a short time left to them.
And if you say it out loud, it will mean admitting that you’re ready to move on from Katherine. Something you swore never to do.
He admired Kyla’s willingness to embrace his deceased mate, however, and knew that couldn’t be easy for someone to do.
Galen was torn. He could no longer deny that he had feelings for Kyla, but he felt that if he openly acknowledged just how strong they were, it would be a betrayal to Katherine.
What am I supposed to do?
If the fates really had blessed him with a second mate, something that was supposed to be impossible, then did he run a risk by denying their gift? Perhaps they were just waiting for him to accept it…
“I can’t believe you came back here to die with me,” he said.
“I didn’t come back here to die with you Galen,” she said. “I came back here to live with you.”
Chapter 30
Kyla wasn’t sure what sort of reception she had expected from the others, but the broad smiles and knowing glances directed her way as she walked into the room on Galen’s arm was certainly not at the top of the list.
“They don’t seem surprised,” she said quietly, leaning her head in toward him so that only he would hear.
“Yeah. Don’t you just hate it when someone knows something before you do?” Galen grumbled lightheartedly.
“They knew that there was something between us?”
Kyla was cautious about how she phrased her question. Although it seemed that Galen was finally beginning to open up and accept that, as she’d said, there was ‘something’ between them, he’d not yet used a specific word to describe it. She didn’t want to push him into anything, not when he was still working to accept it himself.
If Kyla had any doubts that she was on the right track in regards to their connection and what it meant, the smiles and nods from the other shifters and their mates put to rest any real remaining doubt.
Now if I can just get Galen to see it too.
But there could be no rushing him. Grief over the loss of a loved one was tricky. Doubly so when it came to dragons, who usually only mated once. Galen had become accustomed to being alone over literal centuries. It would take him time to open up to her, to let himself believe.
Unfortunately, it was time they didn’t have. Kyla had known this, had known if she came back that it was unlikely he would be able to open up and express his true sentiment to her before shadow swept over them and tore them to shreds, but she’d realized that she didn’t care. Actions spoke louder than words, and the way he held her tight now was all that she needed.
“I’m sure things from the outside were a lot easier to read,” Galen replied at last. “Though hopefully, they won’t make too big a deal out of it.”
They were in one of the smaller ballrooms that the Keep housed. Music was piped in through speakers hidden in the walls throughout, flowing notes that evoked a sense of time a century or more in the past, yet was still known in the modern day and age. Kyla soon found herself bobbing and swaying gently to the beat of a master composer long dead.
“Can we dance?” she asked, noticing several of the other couples out on the dance floor, moving and turning in time with one another. “Can you teach me?”
“Teach you?” Galen said with a grin. “There’s nothing to it, just move with me.”
“What? Hey where are we—” Kyla’s protest cut off short as Galen swept her up in his arms and guided her out onto the floor. At first, she desperately tried to keep up, watching his feet, but it was hard.
“Relax,” he rumbled. “Go with the flow, feel my body as I guide you through it, and then just step.”
She arched an eyebrow. “Magic doesn’t work like that, mister. I won’t just be able to cast a spell and be able to dance.”
“No magic,” he chuckled. “Look, you’re already doing it when you talk to me instead of looking down.”
To her surprise, she found she was. Galen was a master at leading, and the more she relaxed, the more she was swept up by the rhythm and by the lead of her man.
Her man.
It was the first time Kyla had allowed herself to even think of him as a possessive, and she found she couldn’t stop smiling.
“What’s so funny?” he asked as she spun in time with the other women, the dragons all knowing the dance and coordinating their moves.
Even Cheryl moved with the others, her belly large and swollen with child. She was grinning and having a wonderful time too. Kyla was happy for her. Happy for all of the women that they could have something like this as one of their last memories of their mates.
“Oh nothing,” she said with a knowing smile. “Women things.”
“Women things,” he rumbled suspiciously. “That sounds terrifying.”
Kyla laughed and leaned into him, resting her head on his chest, feeling the beat of his heart, imprinting it on her mind. Although she wouldn’t be leaving with the other women the next night, that didn’t mean she too wasn’t cherishing this memory.
Their first dance.
She tried not to think about it as also being their last. There was no point in getting somber and morose over anything. This was the journey she’d chosen, and there was no turning back now, even if she’d wanted to.
“I promise, nothing bad,” she said, turning a wicked eye on him. “Maybe just thoughts of later.”
“Later?” Galen asked, not understanding.
Kyla stood back a bit, looking up at him through her eyelashes, letting her bottom lip curl up under her teeth as she looked at him. “Later,” she said huskily, making it very clear.
“Oh. Later,” Galen rumbled, eyes twinkling with that royal blue she found so intriguing.
“I knew you would understand,” she said, pressing back into him more than a little sensually.
She felt him stiffen, heard the low growl in his throat meant just for her and let the shiver of anticipation run all the way down her spine. Yes, later would be fun.
“So you decided to come back,” Aaric said as the music died down and the couples took a break, heading over to the buffet tables of food that had been prepared.
“I did,” she admitted, but not offering anything more about her trip back to the Academy. Not everything worked out properly, despite her best efforts and intentions. They didn’t need to know that.
“It’s good to see you again,” the fire dragon said after she didn’t elaborate. “With him.”
Kyla smiled, while beside her Galen shuffled uncomfortably. “Thank you,” she said, leaning her head against Galen’s bicep. “It’s good to be with him.”
“I am hungry,” Galen announced somewhat gruffly, uncomfortable with the attention.
“Just smile you idiot,” Aaric retorted with a sigh. “We can tell you’re happy too. You’re actually a terrible actor.”
Galen started in surprise, and made to protest, but she squeezed his arm, looking up at him.
“You too?” he moaned.
She nodded. “Yeah. Sorry. You’re a good person Galen, but acting…not your strong suit.”
“How long were you going to wait to tell me this?” he asked, taking a deep breath.
“We just did,” Aaric pointed out, fighting back a smile.
Galen glared at his brother. “You’re not funny, Aaric.”
“Actually, he kinda is,” Olivia said, returning from the drinks table with two glasses, one of beer for Aaric, one of water for herself.
“Funny-looking, maybe,” Galen grumped, but there was a smile turning up the corners of his lips.
Aaric turned proudly to Olivia, waiting for her to say something, but found himself staring at his mate as she eyed him up and down, looking like she was agreeing with Galen somewhat.
“Hey,�
� he protested. “Since when were we picking on me here? I thought this was pick on Galen!”
The others laughed loudly and then continued on over to the food.
“Where is Francis by the way?” Kyla asked, looking around. “I thought he would be here too. He should be.”
“He will be,” Aaric assured her. “At least, he said he would.”
“Good. Everyone deserves to share in this. Not just the shifters.”
“Don’t worry, we made sure he was invited and we expected him to be here. He said he’d be here once his date was ready though.”
“Date?” she asked, wondering who he meant. “I thought everyone else had left? That’s what Galen told me?”
“Not quite,” a voice said from behind them.
She turned to see Francis with someone on his arm.
“Margery?” Liv gasped from in front of them where she’d been putting food on her plate.
“That’s Melina’s nanny,” Galen whispered, meaning the middle-aged woman next to Francis.
Suspiciously close to Francis.
“How long has this been going on, I wonder?” Valla said as he calmed his wife from the initial shock.
“Get over it, boys, she’s mine,” Francis said proudly, holding his head high.
Kyla giggled, happy for the sharp-witted steward of the Keep. He deserved happiness too, just like the rest of them. She was glad he’d decided to let everyone know now, so that they could be happy for him.
“Is this why you’ve become tamer of late?” Victor asked, joining the circle with Cheryl in tow. “I’ve noticed your bark isn’t what it was.”
“We’re working on that,” Margery said, giving Francis’ arm a squeeze. “Aren’t we?”
“Yes dear,” Francis said, smiling and nodding wide.
The entire group burst out into laughter at the look on his face. Kyla could sense the mood lightening even further, the laughter uplifting everyone’s spirits as they all but spit in the face of death, refusing to face it in a gloomy pit of depression. She muttered a word to herself, then waggled her fingers, pointing them up to the ceiling high above.