Relief flooded him when Bryce glanced down at his side to see Jessie looking up at him. She was alive. Sven had saved her. While he was beyond grateful, he couldn’t help but focus on something else.
Her gaze.
Better yet her eyes.
After all, what reflected in them was the very last thing he expected.
Chapter Eleven
SHE KNEW, NOT only based on the red haze of her vision but the flare of Bryce’s dragon’s pupils, exactly what he saw when he looked at her.
Dragon eyes.
Something had shifted inside Jessie as she embraced so much magic on the ship. A magnification of her power she never could have expected. Almost a birth of sorts. Something brand new was awakening inside her. A sort of strength and magic so much more powerful than what she possessed before.
This wasn’t Erin’s dragon magic but her own. She might not be able to shift, but a dragon did exist inside her. Or remnants of one. She could sense it. Feel it. Much like a shadow, it was just out of reach but still there. Always a part of her though she could not embrace it.
“Finish him,” she whispered as she touched Bryce’s haunch, began chanting within her mind then looked at the warlock. “It’s done. You have no more power over me.”
Pain and blasphemous rage ignited in the warlock’s eyes as her magic overcame his and left him completely vulnerable to Bryce.
“I know you’d like to make his death long and torturous,” she said into Bryce’s mind. “But I need this to end now. The sooner it’s finished the sooner I can move on.”
Though she couldn’t be sure whether she compelled his dragon or if he simply abided by her wishes, Bryce did as she asked. Half a blink later, and a sharp slice of his dragon talon, the warlock was beheaded, and another piece of what had caused her a lifetime of torture came to an end.
She stepped back as Bryce reveled in the kill and tossed the body into the pounding waves. Clearly still furious and needing to take his anger out on something, he roared fire and seared the head until nothing but ashes were left.
She breathed deeply as the warlock’s tether to her snapped away and freed her even more. Having destroyed the most powerful of them, the weight that lifted off her this time was so much more noticeable. She almost felt like she was walking on thin air. That she might very well float away.
Yet moments later, Bryce shifted back and pulled her against him, grounding her in a way she knew nobody else could. She pressed her cheek against his chest, more grateful for him than he could imagine.
“Bloody hell, I’m glad yer all right.” Steam still rose from his skin as he stroked her hair. “Ye gave me a good scare, lass...many times.”
“I know,” she murmured, pulling back enough so she could meet his eyes. “And I’m sorry for that. I had no choice.”
He nodded. “I know, lass.”
There wasn’t anger in his eyes but relief as he pulled her cheek back against his chest. It seemed for the moment he refused to have any distance between them at all. In agreement, she inhaled deeply, both comforted and aroused by his sweet yet smoky scent. It was a mix of him and his dragon she knew she would never tire of.
“And though my dragon doesnae like to be controlled,” he continued, the emotion obvious in his deepening voice. “’Tis becoming verra clear that if anyone is going to do it ‘tis ye he wants. ‘Tis ye he respects.”
“Well, I would hope so,” Christina said, grinning as she came alongside them.
While Jessie would prefer to remain in Bryce’s arms, it was time to acknowledge how thankful she was to those that were there for her. Beyond grateful, she hugged Christina then Sven.
“Thank you so much.” Her eyes went between them, as unexpected tears welled in a rush of emotion. Not just because they had saved her life but because they gave her a chance to stay with Bryce. Something that had nearly been taken away from her. “I’m lucky you were both here.” Before they could respond, a rowboat bobbing on the ocean caught her attention, and she managed a smile. “All of you, for that matter.”
Christina waved and grinned as Graham and Aðísla drew closer. The ships had likely continued around the bend where they could anchor safely.
“I saw caves and woodland not all that far inland,” Sven said. “It’s a nice enough area to take shelter for the eve.” His knowing eyes met Bryce’s. “I do not see why Captain Angus needs to know the warlock is defeated until tomorrow morning.”
When Bryce’s eyes met hers in question, she nodded. She fully understood what that look was about. If she was able to harness so much power already, imagine how much more she might be strengthened if her and Bryce found their true connection. And that, as they all knew, would most likely happen once they came together.
Suffice it to say, they weren’t doing too badly considering they had just defeated a warlock without the power of the ring. As far as everyone knew, that wasn’t supposed to be possible. But then none of them took into consideration that she had such a strong dragon lineage running through her veins. Something she fully intended to ask the Vikings about once they found shelter.
Upon Graham and Aðísla’s arrival, the Viking assured her any injuries Angus’ men suffered were minor. Nothing their ship physician couldn’t handle. So, though Angus was grateful for the offer, Aðísla and Jessie were not needed.
That in mind, they began making their way inland. Though the storm had fled the air was still crisp and gusty. Luckily, Aðísla and Graham had brought enough supplies from the ship to get everyone through the night including blankets, and a change of clothing.
“I’m ravenous,” Christina mentioned, eying Jessie as they walked. “Don’t you get hungry after using so much magic? Tired?” She shook her head. “Because you look pretty darn peppy.”
Jessie shook her head and smiled. “I feel great actually. But then each warlock that’s destroyed makes me feel better and better.”
“Oh, honey, I’m so glad to hear that.” Christina squeezed her shoulder and offered a sympathetic smile. “I just wish you hadn’t been repressed like that all this time.”
“You and me both,” Jessie agreed. “But there’s no changing the past.” Her eyes went to Bryce who walked ahead with Graham. “Just the future.”
Her friend nodded, her smile only growing wider. “So you two are really getting along well, huh?”
“We are.” Jessie couldn’t stop smiling. “Much better than I had hoped.”
“That doesn’t surprise me. Bryce is pretty great once you get to know him.”
Jessie raised a brow at her. “Why just once you get to know him?”
“Oh, I just had some unfounded issues with him is all.” Christina shook her head. “We got it all worked out though.”
She nodded, sure she knew where this was going. “You mean about him trying to be with all of you at one point or another while he was promised to marry another.”
“Well, yeah, that’s exactly what I meant,” Christina exclaimed, surprised as her eyes went to Jessie. “So you know about all that?”
“I do,” she replied softly. “Remember, I’ve been with all of you one way or another since the beginning, so I’m well aware of Bryce’s actions.” She couldn’t help a small knowing smile. “More than that, I know he was never attracted to any of you nearly as much as he is me.”
“Aw, look at you go.” Christina chuckled and winked. “I like the less repressed Jessie.” Then she grew a little more serious. “So I’m dying to know a few things.”
“I’m sure you are.” Jessie squeezed her hand as they walked. “Things like why you were abducted and brought to Stirling Castle by one of the warlocks? Or maybe why I showed up in the woods after you and Graham were intimate?”
Christina nodded. “Yeah.”
More than willing to share now that she could, Jessie took the time to explain everything to the best of her ability. For starters, how much influence Ainsley really had over Christina and Graham’s adventure because she was trying
to protect her brother.
“Convincing the warlock to take you to Stirling Castle was all me, though.” She flinched, well aware of the poor treatment Christina initially received. “And I’m so sorry. I just didn’t see any other way to keep things moving in the direction they needed to go.” She frowned as anger flared. “As it was, I barely convinced the warlock to spare Lindsay’s life.”
Instead of being killed, Lindsay had taken a blade to the hand.
“How did you manage that, anyway?” Christina asked. “We were shocked Lindsay was spared.”
“A lot of manipulation,” Jessie said quite frankly. “As long as I kept convincing them we were working toward taking down an even greater threat, they played along.” She fought a wave of nausea as she thought about what the warlocks were capable of. “And it didn’t hurt reminding them they didn’t have much time at that particular juncture to enjoy killing Lindsay.” She suspected her eyes appeared haunted when they met Christina’s “Not the way they would have wanted to.”
Their eyes held for a moment as her friend got the gist of just how bad it could have been.
“Well, I know I speak for Lindsay and myself when I say all’s forgiven,” Christina murmured, gratefulness in her eyes as they went to Graham. “Because just look where I am now. All I’ve learned about myself. Who I’m with.” She put a protective hand over her womb. “What we created together.”
Jessie pressed her lips together against yet another unexpected well of emotion. Not just happiness for her friend but the thought of having her own child. Something she most certainly never imagined would be possible. Bryce glanced over his shoulder and met her eyes. Just long enough for her to see the intense interest he felt at that particular thought.
“So I get the whole ‘you steered everything along’ part,” Christina continued. “What I can’t help wonder about is why the warlocks didn’t figure out you were betraying them sooner. Especially when my abduction was so clearly a means to set history back on track.”
“Like I said, I was always manipulating them and coming up with one excuse or another,” she replied. “We’ve been together since their conception, so they assumed they knew me inside and out. If I kept secrets or my intentions worked against them, they would know it.” She shrugged. “Not only that, but I worked hard over the years to gain their trust. Enough so that they trusted me to always have a master plan.” A sour taste filled her mouth. “Though my grandfather was their creator I was something akin to a mother.”
At least to four out of six of them.
A shiver rippled through her at how she had to convince them several times that everything was happening for a reason. How their eyes seemed to narrow more and more as time went on. How their dark whispers filled her nights warning her against deceiving them while at the same time still loving her in their own twisted way. It had been pure hell. A long, dangerous game she was glad was behind her now.
Well, mostly.
Only one warlock left to go. Her eyes went to Bryce. One very familiar warlock.
Christina didn’t question her too much after that, but Jessie kept talking anyway, filling her in on as much as she could. Something she intended to do with Milly and Lindsay too when the time came.
Later, having found a rather pleasant mossy area sheltered by enough cave and thick trees to keep a warlock away, everyone sat around a fire and ate. At long last, the focus was off the warlocks and on something she was incredibly curious about.
What she was beyond an elemental witch and possible arch-wizard.
Namely, her dragon ancestry.
As it turned out, in Norse mythology, Níðhöggr—malice striker—was a dragon known for several ominous things. Some tales had it gnawing at the root of the world tree, Yggdrasill where others had it sucking the blood from the corpses of the dead on Náströnd in Hel.
“Those tales were but folklore carried down generation after generation,” Aðísla said, her voice soft, and curious. “In truth, as far as we knew, the Níðhöggr bloodline never left dragon kind’s home world of Múspellsheimr. They were a fierce and powerful lineage that had no use for Midgard’s—Earth’s—weak creatures.” Her eyes met Jessie’s. “Yet here you are. Proof that we were wrong.”
“That’s incredible,” she murmured, more overwhelmed than she would admit and thankful when Bryce’s hand slipped into hers to offer comfort.
“Do you have any siblings, Jessie?” Sven asked, still whittling away as his eyes lifted to hers. Somehow he had managed to keep the same little piece of wood with him from before.
As their gazes held, something flared in his eyes that made her vision go red for a moment.
He was connecting with her dragon. Or better yet her dragon magic. Because she wasn’t really a dragon but merely carried the bloodline. Right? It was so hard to know because at times it felt like more. Like what she had felt on the shore. But that had to be hereditary dragon magic. It was the only thing that made sense.
“No, I don’t have any siblings,” she started to say but snapped her mouth shut when images started flashing in her mind’s eye. Memories from what had to be her at a very young age. Or so it seemed. But why was her father there? That couldn’t be right. As far as she knew he died in a fishing accident shortly before she was born.
Yet it appeared that wasn’t the case.
Familiar with his image from a picture Mama kept tucked in a drawer, she recognized her father standing outside their house in Maine with her mother. By the looks of it, he carried an infant. A strange rush of familiarity blew through her as she tried to see the baby more clearly but it was impossible. The memory was too muted and the evident magic protecting and masking the three of them too strong.
Her parents talked in hushed tones, her mother sobbing before she nodded. Then she kissed him and the child before her father fled into the night. No sooner did he vanish then a burning dragon sizzled in the air then flickered away on the wind like a thousand fireflies.
It was the dragon on fire symbol.
What had she just witnessed? Who was that child?
“She was a little girl,” Aðísla whispered, staring into the fire as Sven returned to whittling with a truly troubled look on his face. His expression was so intent that she knew his aunt’s next words were going to be profound.
And they were.
“The burning dragon symbol was the result of you and that child being separated,” Aðísla continued. “A protective spell wrapped up in prophecy. One that seems to be affecting a great deal now.”
Baffled, amazed, Jessie frowned. “You mean the prophecy in your era affecting your people?”
“So it seems,” Aðísla murmured. “One set in motion the moment your grandfather’s curse first ignited.”
“That’s why it was so important to protect her,” Jessie whispered, talking about someone else entirely as she suddenly remembered what her mind had kept from her. “Because she’s going to help my sister when she comes. She’s going to guide her and help your people.”
Sven stopped whittling and narrowed his eyes as he sensed something. “Who?”
“I remember now,” she murmured as her eyes met his. “I stopped in Winter Harbor on the way to New Hampshire. I knew I needed to go there but wasn’t sure I ever did.”
She blinked several times as the memory came rushing back.
White-knuckling the steering wheel, she had stared at the sprawling chalet on Frenchman Bay and knew this was precisely where she needed to be.
“You can do this,” she whispered to herself. “You have to do this.”
Courage rallied, she wrapped her hair in a tidy bun, grabbed her bag of cleaning supplies and got out. Determined to see this through, she put one foot in front of the other and headed for the front door, praying her magic was strong enough. No sooner did she get there and raise her hand to knock, when the door swung open.
Clearly not expecting to find her there, a beautiful woman around her age with a wild mass of curly jet-
black hair and bright blue eyes stopped short. “Oh.” Her eyes widened a little before she gathered herself. “I’m sorry, I was just heading out. Can I help you?”
Remain calm, she preached to herself, hoping the magic she had used ahead of time helped this go smoothly. Because the woman in front of her was very powerful.
“Yes.” Jessie smiled warmly and embraced a false persona. “I’m with the cleaning service you hired. My name’s Jessie.” She cocked her head, sure to appear curious and light-hearted. “Are you Emily?”
“I am,” Emily responded, a smile blossoming on her face. “But call me Em, everyone else does.” She opened the door wider. “Come in, Jessie.”
“Are you sure?” she said. “I can come back later if it’s more convenient.”
“Don’t be silly.” Emily ushered her down the hallway. “I just forgot you were coming. My fault, not yours.”
That couldn’t be further from the truth considering everything about this meeting was pre-planned by Jessie.
She eyed the sprawling chalet, trying harder by the moment to remain calm. This place was at the heart of so much. In control of so much. Her eyes went from wall to wall, imagining the pictures that once hung there. Ones she had dreamt of. Dragons.
And Emily? Jessie looked at her out of the corner of her eye. She was at the root of far too much. More than that, she was in terrible danger. Or at least she would be if Jessie didn’t help.
That meant casting a spell to keep her off the warlocks’ radar.
To keep her free from this God-forsaken curse.
Dangerous, not without risk, she knew she had to be quick about it. That Emily would catch on in no time if she hadn’t already. So she whispered a chant within her mind then discreetly dropped a slip of paper from her grandfather’s notebook as she set her bag of cleaning supplies down.
“Looks like you dropped something,” Emily said as she scooped up the paper then slowed as she looked at it.
“What is this?” she whispered, shaking her head as she sank onto the stool at the kitchen island.
“Safety,” Jessie whispered as she picked up her cleaning supplies, took the slip of paper out of Emily’s hand and left.
Avenged by a Highland Laird Page 15