by Sammie Joyce
All of her dragons had the uncanny ability to land underneath her. Even though Rose had been beneath Mace a second ago, when the couch crashed down to the ground, he was suddenly there, like a soft yet firm pillow to land on.
Jagger and Gavin leapt up. Jagger hit the lights while Gavin grabbed a knife from the bedside table drawer.
Rose closed her eyes, wishing she could disappear. Mace’s cock was still inside her. It wasn’t that her other dragons hadn’t seen her in this position many times before, but did it have to happen in such an embarrassing manner?
Jagger was the first to recover. He walked over to them, smirking. “Well, I see someone is having fun. Perhaps we should report the broken couch to the hotel management? We don’t want them letting their guests sit on sub-par furniture, of course. Though we would have to tell them exactly how it broke…”
“Shut up, Jagger.” Rose wasn’t inclined to move any time soon. She was extremely comfortable here on Mace’s chest with his cock inside her.
“Maybe I could be persuaded to stay quiet…” His voice trailed off suggestively.
Rose laughed. It was not like she needed any persuasion. “Come here. You too, Gavin, but you’d better put that knife down first.”
Gavin tossed the knife back into the drawer and advanced on her like the predator. Rose had no problem whatsoever with being his prey.
Chapter Six
“Move, scum!” Elaine shouldered roughly past Asher. He quickly quelled his flare of anger. Now was not the time to act up. It was disappointing to realize how easily he could step back into his old mode of behavior, back when he and his brothers had been prisoners. Just take it, don’t react. Keep your head down.
He didn’t like the person he’d been then, and he didn’t like it any more now, but if he wanted to get back to Rose, he had little choice. With anyone else, any other dragons who saw would react in their defense. That was why so many fights between witches and dragons were breaking out.
Asher was an exception, though. He was reviled not only by the witches, but by his own kind. They hated him for helping Rose escape. They were truly convinced that Rose’s child would be another Hellith.
Annabelle thought it might be a spell making them crazy, but Asher wasn’t convinced. He’d seen no evidence of a spell, but plenty of evidence that everyone around him was reverting to backward, bigoted mindsets.
At least Annabelle and Dane seemed immune, but he didn’t know how long that would last. Would their love survive, or would they break apart like all the other witch-dragon couples had? They were holding up well so far, but he knew he couldn’t rely on them.
“Asher! Come here.”
He looked around, taking a moment to locate Annabelle. Her whisper was low enough that it was likely no one else heard, but she hadn’t left that to chance. He saw only her eyes, peering out from a tapestry. If he hadn’t known Annabelle so well, he wouldn’t even have noticed that the original tapestry eyes had been replaced with a pair that he recognized.
As he got close, the wall opened inward, like a door. Asher stepped inside, looking around. It was a plain room, no more than ten feet in each direction. Annabelle and Dane were there. With the three of them, there wasn’t much space left over.
“What is this place?”
“I’m not entirely sure. I was experimenting with the necklace, trying to find a place where we could meet. As you know, it doesn’t always respond to conscious direction, and when it does, the results are sometimes unpredictable. I was hoping it would help me secure a room with invisibility and silencing spells or something. Instead, this opened.”
It certainly wasn’t the most incredible thing Asher had seen the necklace do, but he was still impressed. “Does it have the soundproofing you wanted?”
“Yeah, and a lot more! No one but you, me, and Dane can get in. The door won’t open if there’s someone other than us outside, and we can see through it. I haven’t run all the tests I’d like to yet, so maybe there’s more. But I wanted to get this to you.”
Annabelle handed him a cell phone. Asher grabbed it, resisting the urge to kiss it. “Thanks, Annabelle. Is Rose’s number in here?”
“Yes, as well as Dane’s and mine, but I wouldn’t risk calling anyone unless you’re in this room.”
“Of course.” Asher was already opening the phone book, dying to hear Rose’s voice again, but Annabelle stopped him.
“Wait. We need to talk.”
“Sure, what’s up?” Asher wasn’t really concentrating, his mind still on speaking to Rose.
“Asher, listen to her. This is serious.”
“Sorry, Dane. What is it?”
“I think I’ve found out something, about the spell.”
Asher wasn’t convinced there was a spell, but he let Annabelle speak without interruption.
“Maria has been running divination rituals lately. I didn’t know about them until yesterday when she invited me to one.”
“What’s a divination ritual?” Rose had never mentioned them, which meant they were advanced enough that she hadn’t learned how to do them yet.
“They’re kind of like guidance spells. A number of witches link their consciousness to try to divine the answers to questions that involve them all. It’s a complex spell, and very imprecise. It was abandoned years ago, but not just because it was inaccurate. Divination rituals are subject to interference. Someone powerful enough can insert themselves and plant ideas in the minds of the witches performing it.”
“Who would do that, though? All the witches and dragons are here, except Rose and my brothers, who would never do something like that.”
“There’s one more.” Dane looked grim, which was unusual for him, at least when he was with Annabelle.
“I think… I think that Hellith may not be as dead as we’d thought,” Annabelle said quietly.
If there hadn’t been a wall so close behind him, Asher probably would have fallen down. He braced himself against it, his head spinning.
Of course. They had all wondered if Hellith was truly gone when they banished her to hell during that last battle. But nine months of silence had lulled them into complacency.
“You think she’s back?”
“Not exactly.” Dane ran his fingers through Annabelle’s hair as he spoke. “If she was back, she almost certainly would have attacked us by now. We think that she’s still in hell, but that she’s managing to get her voice out, and some of her influence.”
It all made sense. Hellith was corrupting them through divination rituals, making them fight among themselves. That had always been her strategy. Divide them, let them fight each other, then come to smash up the remaining pieces.
“We have to stop those rituals.”
“Easier said than done. When Maria invited me, I did a little investigation. It turns out she’s been working through the coven, from the most senior members to the least. And that includes the dragons. I think that just one ritual is enough to start the path of hatred, but maybe it’ll be reinforced later. Basically, most of the coven is thoroughly brainwashed, and trying to stop the rituals will likely just get us locked up.”
“We still haven’t worked out how it all started.” Dane pulled Annabelle close, apparently wanting to reassure her, or perhaps to reassure himself. “Maria has been conducting the rituals, but how was she corrupted first? Was she a spy from the start, always one of Hellith’s agents?”
“No.” Asher wasn’t sure of much, but he knew that before all this, Maria had been good. “She’s a victim in this too.” The answer hit him. “The baby! Remember when everyone was upset about finding out Rose is pregnant? I bet Maria did a divination ritual to try to figure out the best thing to do. That’s when Hellith pounced.”
“If that’s true, it’s good news. If we can break the spell on Maria, she should be able to break it on everyone else.”
“How do we break the spell?”
Annabelle’s face fell. “I don’t know. I’ve read a little ab
out divination rituals, but I’ve never seen anything in detail about how they are corrupted, let alone how to undo the corruption.”
“Then I suggest you find out, and quickly.”
“It’s not that simple. Dane and I have to go to the ritual tonight, or we’ll be found out. What if we’re turned too?”
“I thought your relationship protected you?”
“That’s only a theory, Asher. I’m not risking my love for Annabelle for anyone.”
“Dane, we’ve talked about this. We have to risk it, or we’ll be under lock and key like Asher. We need to trust him to bring us back if we go over.”
“How am I supposed to do that?” Asher demanded. “I’m not a witch. I have even less ideas than you about how to reverse Hellith’s spell.”
“You have to get to Rose. Get her necklace back to her. If Dane and I can’t hold together after the ritual, you’ll need to bring her back and have her free us.”
Asher didn’t like it, but there wasn’t much to like about anything around here nowadays. “I should leave, then, today. If I’m going to have any chance of escaping, I’ll need you and Dane as allies. We can’t risk you going over before I’m out. I just don’t know how we’re going to do it.”
“I do! Rose called earlier. She and Mace have a plan.”
Asher listened as Annabelle laid it out for him. He had to admit, it was brilliant. He never would have expected Mace of all people to be devising his escape, but he was impressed with his younger brother.
“Jagger will be disappointed you don’t have to turn me into a potted plant. I can just wait here.”
“You’re right. Dane can sneak into the kitchens to get you some food and water, then the two of us will make sure we’re in sight, so that no one thinks we had a hand in your ‘escape’.”
“Maybe we can even get the ritual postponed. Once Maria realizes Asher is missing, she’ll order a search. Dane and I will volunteer to stay back just like Rose said. We can come and get you when it’s time to leave, Asher, once everything is clear.”
“What about this collar?”
“I’m afraid I have no idea how to get it off, but once I give Rose’s necklace back, maybe she can. At the very least, they shouldn’t be able to track it while you’re in this room.”
“What about afterward? There’s no way I’m leading them straight to Rose!”
“It might not even have a tracking function. I’m just guessing. I’ve never seen magic like this—it’ll be years before I even start to learn about something this advanced.”
“I don’t care if it’s just a guess. I’d rather die here than risk Rose and our child.”
“Let’s not overreact,” Dane said quickly. “We don’t have to go straight to Rose. Jagger and Gavin can land somewhere far away from here and even further from Rose. We won’t go to her until we get that collar off. Do you think you can do it, Annabelle?”
“If I have time to experiment, and the necklace to back me up, probably. It may take a few hours, though. If nothing else, I can shrink Asher’s head and regrow it after I’ve removed the collar.”
Asher didn’t much like that idea. “How about breaking the thing apart?”
“That’s the first plan, trust me. Shrinking spells on people are complicated, especially with brains. But if nothing else works, we may have to try it. I’ll grab some potions now—a shrinking one, a regrowth one, and one for healing that should take care of any brain damage caused by the previous two.”
“BRAIN DAMAGE?”
Dane stepped protectively in front of Annabelle. “Look, do you want that collar off or not?”
Asher sighed. “If it’s the only way to get back to Rose, I’ll do it.”
“Don’t worry, you’re not going to end up with brain damage. As I said, the healing potion will take care of it.”
“It had better,” Asher muttered.
“It will. Anyway, we’d better go. I’ll see you in a few hours.”
Annabelle and Dane left, closing the door behind them. Asher peeked out of the hole in the tapestry to ensure no one was in the corridor, just in case the room wasn’t as soundproof as Annabelle thought. He then wasted no time in dialing Rose’s number.
She answered on the first ring. “Hey, Annabelle.”
“Rose, It’s Asher.”
“ASHER! Oh my god, are you okay? It’s so good to hear from you! I miss you so much!”
His smile was stretching his lips so wide that it hurt. “I miss you too. Not for long, though. Annabelle told me about the escape plan you and Mace came up with. We’re doing it tonight.”
“Tonight? It’s too soon, Asher. Believe me, I’d love to see you as soon as possible, but Mace says we need to run through all the possible things that could go wrong.”
“There’s no time for that.” Asher told Rose everything that Annabelle had revealed about the divination rituals. He heard Jagger swearing in the background, but Rose seemed shocked into silence.
Mace apparently took the phone, because he was talking to Asher next. “We’ll make a plan, Asher. Expect to see us in a few hours.”
“I love you guys. Stay safe.”
“I love you.” Rose took a shaky breath, but her voice didn’t water. “I’ll see you soon.”
Asher regretfully hung up. He’d have loved to talk to Rose for hours, but she and his brothers needed to get going. He had no idea how far away they were, and for all he knew, it would take them hours to get here.
Asher sat down on the floor, with nothing to do but wait.
Chapter Seven
Rose’s leg was bouncing so hard that she was sure she was going to strain a muscle, but she couldn’t help it. Staying behind and watching everything through Jagger’s and Gavin’s eyes was much harder than she’d imagined, and she’d imagined it would be brutal.
Where is he? He should be here by now.
Relax, Rose, it’s only been five minutes since Annabelle called and said they were on their way. She could feel Jagger rolling his eyes. Mace put an arm around her. He was just as tense as she was. Rose appreciated him waiting with her, even though he’d much rather be out there rescuing Asher.
She scanned the scene through Jagger’s eyes. Gavin was in his dragon form, waiting. They didn’t want to risk the witches setting off some spell with the collar to make Asher pass out, so Gavin was going to be on Jagger’s back to make sure he didn’t fall if that happened.
There they are! Relief swelled up in Rose’s heart. Asher didn’t look hurt. Neither did Annabelle or Dane. The three of them jogged over.
“Everyone okay?” Jagger clapped Asher on the back.
Asher nodded. “We’re good. Let’s get out of here.”
Jagger and Asher climbed onto Gavin’s back. Dane shifted, and Annabelle quickly scrambled up his scales. The two dragons took off, and Rose held her breath, waiting for some kind of retaliation. As long as they were quick, though, they should be able to escape before the witches could cast any spells at them.
Rose thought they were away, but just as they cleared the perimeter of the mansion, a blaring alarm went off. She could only imagine it was triggered by Asher’s collar crossing the border. There was nothing to do now. Dane and Gavin flapped their wings harder, taking broad strokes that propelled them higher and faster.
Rose switched to Jagger’s eyes. As she’d hoped, he was looking back. She didn’t see any signs of pursuit yet, but that wouldn’t last long. Jagger, tell Annabelle to do an invisibility spell. If the dragons chase you, they may not catch up, but they will follow you to the halfway point.
Good idea.
He relayed the idea, and moments later, Rose heard Annabelle murmur the incantation. It would usually be a spell beyond Annabelle’s level, but with the necklace, she seemed to have no problem. Rose sighed in relief as the air shimmered slightly, indicating that it had worked.
“Nothing to do now but wait.” Mace relaxed slightly, though his arm was still tight around her.
“I
think we should meet them there.”
“Rose, we’ve been through this. It’s too risky. The collar could lead the witches right to Asher. We have to wait until it’s off.”
“The collar already set off an alarm. What if it can do more? What if it hurts him? The necklace works for Annabelle, but according to the research we’ve done, necklaces of power work through a bond of love. It’ll work better if I do it rather than Annabelle, as I’m the one who loves Asher.”
Mace didn’t say anything, which meant he was considering it.
“If they try to kill or hurt Asher with the collar, I will need to get it off him as quickly as possible. We may not have time to wait.”
“Alright, Rose, we can go, but when Gavin tries to rip my head off for putting you in danger, I expect you to stop him.”
“Done.” Rose gave him a quick kiss. “Let’s hurry. We need to get outside the city before you can shift, but we should still beat them to the safe point.”
The flight was uneventful, from both sides. Jagger and Gavin were not happy with Mace, but Rose convinced them to save their reprimands for when they were all safe. The safe point was deep in the countryside, between rolling hills and among towering trees. It was the perfect place to hide.
By the time she and Mace landed, Rose felt like she was frozen from the wind. Mace wrapped her up in his jacket, holding her close. “They’ll be here soon.”
Neither of them talked much as they waited. Finally, about ten minutes after they landed, Rose saw them. Gavin’s purple scales flashed in the late afternoon light. Dane’s orange clashed horribly with him, but Rose only had eyes for the figures on Gavin’s back.
The moment they landed, she ran toward them. Asher let himself slip off Gavin’s back and ran to meet her. Rose flung herself into his arms. He held her as tightly as she held him, and it was the best thing in the world.
For a minute, the two of them just stood there, swaying slightly, clinging to each other.
Asher was the first to break away. “You shouldn’t be here.”