by Sammie Joyce
It reminded Rose of her early days in the coven, when Hellith had infiltrated and become the coven leader. Those lessons were devoted to propaganda aimed at making witches and dragons hate each other.
Three days into the not-so-subtle attempts to persuade her that her baby would be a monster, Rose lost her temper. “Enough! I’m not listening to this anymore. Maria, if you have some actual magic to teach me, let me know. Until then, I’m out of here.”
To her credit, Annabelle followed Rose as she stormed out.
“How dare she…” Rose muttered under her breath. She continued a constant stream of complaints under her breath, with Annabelle occasionally murmuring her agreement. Rose was glad to have at least one witch on her side.
“It’s nearly lunch,” Annabelle pointed out in a moment of silence. “Do you want to eat?”
“Not here. I’m so sick of people giving me those looks.”
“At least they’re not actively trying to convince you anymore.”
“Yeah, Mace putting Elaine through the wall really put a damper on their enthusiasm—at least to my face.”
Mace was usually the most even-tempered of her dragons, but eventually even he had lost his patience. Rose had been close to tears, and Elaine had showed no sign of stopping. Maria had healed Elaine, and no one had dared to make a fuss about the incident, not with Gavin, Asher, and Jagger arrayed behind Mace, their fists clenched and their eyes narrowed dangerously.
“I can bring some food down to the basement, if you want?”
“That would be great, thanks.”
Only Mace was in the basement. Asher, Jagger, and Gavin were all out flying. Rose wished they were here, but she wasn’t going to call them back. They needed to figure out a way to blow off some steam that didn’t involve throwing people through walls. Mace, at least, seemed to have gotten that out of his system.
“Hey. Sorry about your class.”
Reading each other’s thoughts was second nature by now. Mace opened his arms and Rose stepped into them, breathing deeply, taking in his calming scent.
“How long is this going to go on for?”
“Honestly? Probably all the way through your pregnancy. I imagine that once people see that our child really is that—a harmless child—they’ll start to calm down.”
“I’m not sure I want to do nine months of this.”
Exactly my point! We should leave before this bullshit gets any worse.
Rose rolled her eyes. Relax, Gavin. Focus on flying.
In answer, he let out a burst of flame, turning a large part of a rock cliff face to blackened glass.
Excellent idea. Let’s see who can make the most glass in an hour! Jagger started blowing flame at the mountain too.
Just make sure to break it off and bury it afterward. We don’t want some human hikers finding it and questioning how a cliff turned to glass.
You’re such a buzzkill, Asher! Live a little.
He’s right, Jagger. Have your fun, but cover up afterward. Rose smiled at their antics before withdrawing from their minds, focusing once more on Mace.
“Maybe we should take up guarding you again,” he suggested. “Like we did when Hellith was after you.”
“I don’t think guarding me from judgment is going to work. They still give me those looks when you’re around.”
“Well, perhaps I can distract you.” Mace pulled her closer and kissed her. Rose returned the kiss easily. She didn’t even need the excuse of a distraction. Kissing Mace, or any of her dragons, was never something she’d turn down.
Rose had hoped that with Hellith defeated, they would have more time to relax and spend quality time together, but it wasn’t looking like that was happening any time soon.
Still, she didn’t regret her pregnancy. Every time she thought of raising her child with Asher, Mace, Jagger, and Gavin, she felt a flutter of excitement.
Mace was just sticking his hand under her shirt when they broke apart at a choking noise.
“Ugh, there goes my appetite. Get a room, you two.”
Annabelle was coming down the stairs with a large tray of food.
“We’re in our room, thank you very much. Get your own.” Mace winked at Annabelle, letting her know not to take his words to heart.
“Fine, I’ll just leave you to starve.” Annabelle put down the tray and shoved Mace playfully, inserting herself between him and Rose.
“Thanks, Annabelle. I guess I just got distracted.”
Annabelle shook her head, but she was smiling.
“How’s it going with Dane?”
Her smile widened. “Great! He’s one of the few who actually think you should have the baby. The other dragons are learning to watch their tongue around him.”
Rose could feel her own glow of appreciation echoed in Mace. “That’s great. I have my doctor’s appointment tomorrow, but it’ll probably still be a while before we know the gender.”
Mace attacked the plate of food. It was lucky Annabelle had brought a lot. Being in a relationship with a dragon certainly taught you always to bring extra food.
The three of them quickly got caught up in conversation, and for a few hours, Rose was able to forget about all the drama surrounding her pregnancy. She ate and laughed, enjoying spending time with her friend and her mates.
Over the next two weeks, Rose spent almost all of her time in the basement. Whenever she ventured out, she was met with disapproving looks and muttered comments. A couple of people tried to ambush her and persuade her to get an abortion when she was alone, so she took to going everywhere with one of her dragons.
No one dared bring up the abortion in front of them, but that didn’t stop the looks.
Annabelle brought meals to the basement, and each day when Wendy and Jade were done with their lessons, they came to teach Rose and Annabelle anything they had missed. It wasn’t much, as Maria was still churning out the abortion propaganda, but Rose felt better being able to learn what few spells she did teach Wendy and Jade.
A couple of times, one of her dragons took her out flying with them. Rose understood why they did it so much. The freedom of the open air was incredible. She didn’t have scales to protect her from the cold, though, and the wind always seemed to get through even the thickest pants and jackets.
The third week since announcing her pregnancy arrived without any sign of change.
Wendy and Jade didn’t have lessons on Saturdays, so Rose arranged a picnic with them, Annabelle, and her dragons. They would go to the forest where no one else could interrupt them. Annabelle had the kitchens making a number of tasty picnic foods. Rose was really looking forward to it.
Annabelle was supposed to bring the food down to the basement, as Rose had the picnic basket, but she was late. Rose was on the verge of going to look for her when the basement door opened.
“Annabelle, there you are. Are you ready to—” Her voice cut off as she saw that it wasn’t Annabelle, but Maria. “Oh. Hello, Maria.”
Though her voice was polite, the tension in her words drew her dragons like moths to a flame. Mace and Jagger came to the main room holding the picnic basket and blanket. Asher stood up from his place on the couch, and a few seconds later, Gavin hurried down the stairs after Maria, evidently having dropped his search for a perfect picnic spot in favor of supporting Rose.
Whatever Maria had to say, Rose was glad to have her dragons beside her while she heard it.
“Rose, we need to talk. Alone.”
Asher seemed to double in size. “Rose is our mate. If you want to say something to her, you can say it to all of us.”
“Your self-control of late doesn’t exactly bring me much confidence, Asher.”
Though he remained outwardly unabashed, Rose could tell that Asher was regretting some of his rash actions over the past two weeks. “You want my guarantee that you won’t be hurt? Fine, you have it, as long as you don’t hurt my mate.”
Maria nodded, but she didn’t look happy. “Please sit down.”
Rose sat on the couch between Jagger and Mace. Gavin sank down to the floor in front of her, providing a barrier between her and Maria, though Rose highly doubted Maria would attack them. Telling her overprotective dragons that wouldn’t do any good, though.
Asher didn’t sit. He stood behind the couch, his hands gripping its back on either side of Rose’s shoulders. “What is it?”
“I’ve been involved in extensive discussions with all of the senior coven members, as well as the leading members of your clan, Asher.”
“You seem to have missed four.”
“You aren’t objective in this and you know it. We’ve talked through the problem of your pregnancy and decided that you absolutely can’t have this baby, Rose.”
Rose spoke through gritted teeth. “We’ve already discussed this. I’m not getting an abortion.”
“No, I don’t think you understand. This time, I am not asking. As the leader of the Areva coven, I am ordering you to see the doctor and end this pregnancy.”
Rose knew she needed to do something quickly before one of her dragons exploded. “I’m not going to follow that order. You can make all the rules you want, but I don’t care.”
“Yes, you are. You’re a member of my coven and you will do as you’re told for the good of everyone.”
“Right, you know what? This nonsense ends now! You’re only the leader because I asked you to lead while I learned about my powers. I’m the rightful leader. I terminate your leadership here and now. You are no longer the leader of our coven, Maria.”
Rose expected that to be the end of it, but Maria didn’t seem discouraged. She pulled out a piece of paper. “I thought you’d say that. As I said, you’re not objective. This is a vote of no confidence. You are no longer the rightful leader of the Areva coven. We have all the signatures needed to make it happen. You are under my authority.”
Rose stared at the paper, feeling tears well in her eyes. She’d known that the rest of the coven disagreed with her choice, but that they felt strongly enough to declare her an incompetent leader…
I should rip their heads off, Asher growled. Mace, Gavin, and Jagger weren’t far behind him.
Let me handle this, Rose said quickly. We don’t want to fight a war. That will just risk the baby to no purpose.
Asher sighed, but didn’t try to tear Maria’s head off, which gave Rose at least a bit of time.
“If that’s the way it’s going to be, then I’m leaving. Asher, Jagger, Mace, and I are exercising our right to leave the coven, and leave its leader’s authority. We’ll be gone within a day.”
Chapter Three
Something Rose didn’t quite understand flashed through Maria’s eyes. “So be it. You have until tomorrow to leave. After that, you will no longer be welcome at the Areva coven.”
Rose managed to hold back tears until Maria closed the basement door behind her. Jagger put an arm around her while she wiped at her face. She knew she was being silly. She still had her dragons. They were together, and that was the most important thing. Asher was still quietly seething, but Rose knew he’d calm down once they were gone.
“I suppose we should start packing.”
Gavin got up. “No, you stay there. I’ll pack up. You shouldn’t be on your feet.”
Usually, Rose would protest. She was still in the early stages of her pregnancy, quite a while before she had to be careful with what types of physical activity she did. Right now, though, she was quiet happy to stay here, tucked into Jagger’s side.
Mace went to help Gavin pack. Asher started stroking Rose’s hair from behind, but she could feel the tension in him even through that light touch.
“I don’t like it,” he growled. “There’s something off with her scent. She’s not telling us everything.”
“I don’t see what more she needs to tell us. She’s already given us the most important information—the coven no longer trusts me to lead them.”
Asher started to say something, but evidently thought better of it and went back to stroking Rose’s hair.
She didn’t know how long she sat there, soaking up the comfort of her dragons’ touch. Gavin was packing so viciously that she wasn’t sure how many of their things would survive the trip whole, but she couldn’t bring herself to reprimand him.
The basement door suddenly burst open. Annabelle dashed down the stairs, tripping near the bottom. Asher leapt to catch her. “Are you okay?”
Annabelle had blood all down the side of her face. “Rose, barricade the door.”
Rose did it without hesitation. She shot to her feet, tears forgotten as fear took hold. “What happened?”
“You don’t have a lot of time, but you need to get out of here.”
“We know, but we have until tomorrow, so there’s still time to pack and—”
“No, Rose, you don’t understand! Maria and the others have no intention of letting you go. Maria’s plan was to try once more to get you to have the abortion. If you didn’t agree to do it willingly, she had another plan. They’re probably already on their way, Maria and some of the senior witches and dragons. They’re going to subdue you by force and do the abortion whether you like it or not.”
Rose swayed on her feet. Jagger quickly steadied her with an arm around her waist. “Annabelle, are you sure?”
“Absolutely sure. I knew they were having a meeting and cast some listening spells. I was hoping I’d get some idea of how long this abortion nonsense would go on. When I realized what was really happening, I tried to come and warn you, but they caught me.
“Maria ordered me held in my room. Luckily she doesn’t know about the talismans we’ve exchanged with Jade and Wendy. I was able to get a message to them and they got me out. They’re keeping the guards subdued for now, but they won’t be able to manage it for long. Our only real advantage was surprise. In terms of our magic, we’re not up for a fight with the senior coven members.”
Asher was trembling violently. Rose took one look at his face and backed as far away as she could within the basement. She knew that look. He was struggling to control his dragon side.
Jagger put himself between her and Asher. “Asher, go! Get out of here.”
He didn’t need telling twice. The last thing Rose saw was the look of murderous rage on his face. Asher bolted, and she took down the shielding to the door just in time.
He didn’t make it outside. A horrendous screeching and ripping noise told Rose he had shifted within the mansion itself, tearing the portion he was in apart.
At first, she thought it was an accident and he’d fly away.
A few seconds later, she realize it wasn’t an accident at all. The tearing and splintering continued. Rose stepped into Asher’s mind, but cringed back at what she saw and felt. He was ripping the roof off the mansion, belting fire out at any witches or dragons he saw. He was tearing the place apart, trying to get at the threat to Rose.
His mind was a haze of black rage. Maria had crossed the line so badly that it wasn’t even in sight anymore.
Asher, stop! Please, we have to go now! We can’t fight a war against the whole coven and win.
Either he couldn’t hear her, or he ignored her.
Mace grabbed Rose’s arm and started pulling her to the basement door, all luggage forgotten. “Come on, Rose, we have to go.”
“But—Asher—”
“It’ll take him hours to calm down and we don’t have the time! We need to use this distraction to get away.”
Rose knew he was right, but how could she run, leaving part of her heart behind? Asher may be powerful, but he stood no chance on his own against the entire coven.
“Mace, I can’t. We can’t leave him.”
Mace wasn’t discussing it. He picked Rose up and threw her over his shoulder. “Gavin, we’ll ride with you.”
Rose kicked and struggled, but Mace was too strong for her. She couldn’t bring herself to use magic against him, especially since some part of her knew that this might be the
only way for some of them to escape. She had to think about was best for her child.
But leaving Asher still felt wrong. It reminded her of when Gavin had left them for a time. This felt the same. It felt like she was losing a vital part of herself, and being left bleeding.
“Annabelle, come. It’s not safe for you to stay here.” Jagger tried to usher Annabelle along with them, but she resisted. “I can’t leave Wendy and Jade. They helped me escape. I’m not abandoning them to Maria’s retribution. Besides, you’ll need an inside person. For… for Asher.”
Hope leapt in Rose’s stomach, temporarily overwhelming the fear and grief that were swamping her. Maria was more likely to capture Asher than kill him. Killing Asher would mean death to the entire coven once Jagger, Mace, and Gavin found out, so she’d want to avoid them.
If Annabelle could stay, she might be able to help orchestrate a rescue for Asher.
“You may not be any better off than he is,” Rose pointed out, even as Mace hauled her away. Annabelle trotted to keep up.
“If I’m quick, I can get to Wendy and Jade. There were only two guards. We can do a memory modification spell on them and convince them that I never escaped. I’ll get back to my room, and we can blame their injuries on Asher.”
Rose gaped at her. “Memory modification spells are some of the most powerful in existence. Only a handful of the most talented coven members can even pull off a simple one. How on earth do you think you’re going to do it?”
They were outside now. Jagger and Gavin shifted. Mace paused, giving Rose time to make last-minute plans with Annabelle, but she knew he wouldn’t wait long.
Annabelle hesitated. “I can’t, on my own. But I’m dedicated to peace between witches and dragons. I’m in love with a dragon—with Dane. I… a necklace of power would work for me.”
Rose realized what Annabelle was asking. If she lent Annabelle her necklace, Annabelle would be able to pull it off. The last time Rose had parted with her necklace, the consequences had been disastrous.