by Dianna Love
Daegan had no idea what this meant. “Do I congratulate ya?”
“Not yet. She hasn’t told me about the baby, but she has too much honor to hide that from me, especially after what happened with Phoedra. In my defense, I used protection, but there’s more to the story. She’s hiding it for a reason I’m pretty sure has to do with protecting me. When this is behind us, I will find out, but I will also raise this child along with Phoedra.”
Daegan hoped they would stop arguing long enough to straighten things out. He hadn’t expected the shaft of jealousy that struck him. Though not planned, Quinn would have two children. Daegan had no hope for a mate or children with no female dragons around.
With no idea what else to say, Daegan shook his head. “Ya have a hell of a life, Quinn.”
Quinn gave a sad chuckle. “That is one way to put it. Now, what is our next move?”
“Did ya retrieve a visual of the boulder where Luigsech climbed out of the tunnel that ran from her cottage?”
“I did. Reese had concise images.”
“Good.” Finally, Daegan could take action to find Tristan. “We shall teleport to the tunnel exit point and start from there.”
“Precisely. If we can’t locate Luigsech quickly, we might have to bring Storm here to track her. There is none better at following natural scents or supernatural essence.”
Daegan couldn’t fault Quinn’s suggestion, but he had reservations they could discuss later. He instructed Quinn, “Focus on that—”
Power flushed into the front room. Imortiks?
Daegan teleported them immediately, hoping Quinn had the visual in place. A boulder would move for Daegan’s energy, but not Quinn who stood too far from his side.
Chapter 13
Torn skin and damaged muscles in Tristan’s abused wrists failed to heal. His dead weight kept a constant drag on his arms, which would be noodles once he got out of these straps.
If he got out of this mess.
The possibility of that happening dwindled by the minute.
He had no idea of his specific location even if he could reach Daegan by calling telepathically.
Tried that again and got the migraine for it.
That damn Cathbad had chosen well for hiding from everyone, including Queen Maeve.
Tristan’s heart thumped over and over. For the first time ever, he wished his heart could be silenced. An Alterant gryphon had an unusual evolution, which Cathbad and Queen Maeve had forced on Tristan, Evalle, and the rest of their Alterant pack. When those two crazies had the Alterants captured in TÅμr Medb, they’d shoved each Alterant into a life-and-death battle with another creature capable of killing them.
Tristan would never forget the first time he drew his last breath.
That’s when he found out Alterants had to die once to evolve into gryphons with the ability to fly. Then each Alterant had two more lives.
Since then, he’d died again and regenerated.
Sounded simple.
Wasn’t. Hurt like shit.
Where he’d been forced to die the first time in TÅμr Medb, he’d chosen death the second time when their team had brought Evalle home from the Scamall realm.
The teleportation killed her.
Noirre majik had been shoved in her body to prevent anyone from teleporting her out of that realm, but Daegan, Storm, and the team wouldn’t leave her with the realm collapsing.
Tristan had held her hand and taken his last breath with her, thinking he would pull off a trick Evalle had once done. She’d used her last regeneration to save Tzader after he’d died crashing through the ward on Treoir Castle to protect their warrior queen, Brina.
Tristan had been terrified of killing Evalle himself, but he’d held tight to her. He forced her to use their Belador ability to link with him so she would come back to life as he regenerated a second time.
Looked fucking good on paper.
But he’d been sure he lost her at one point.
Worst moment of his life. He never wanted to hold someone’s life in his hands again and made that clear to Daegan. The dragon king said it would happen again. That protecting and caring for others sometimes came at a high personal price.
Of course Daegan was right, because Tristan would do it again if given the choice.
That damn powerful heart of his thumped faster with the frightening memory. All that blood coursing through his body caused the pain and agony to kick up another notch. He gritted his teeth to keep from yelling out.
Why had he gone off on that mental rabbit trail?
Ah, yes.
Because he’d been searching for a way to beat Cathbad at his game of turning him into a polymorph. It would be so simple if Tristan died from a heart attack, but his gryphon heart wouldn’t fail.
If anything, he’d come back as a more powerful monster with his third, and last, regeneration.
Wouldn’t that be a bitch?
A polymorph of unimaginable power and the ability to shift into a flying beast.
Even to emulate a red dragon.
If agony of being captured and used to destroy Daegan would stop a heart, his would have quit the minute Cathbad announced his sick plans.
Daegan deserved better. That dragon shifter would fight the world for his people.
Somehow, Tristan would find a way to do the same for his boss and his people. He just needed an idea. Might be easier to think with a sip of water. He licked his cracked lips and wondered if he still had a voice.
Across the room, Brynhild made a growling noise and slammed her foot hard against the ground. The cavern shook. Ice cracked along the roof and splattered across the ground.
Some hit Tristan’s skin, piercing him like tiny daggers.
But she’d held her hands up over her head. Ice sheets that could slice her in half instead drifted to each side of her like a stream flowing around a rock in the river.
She’d been stomping around the cave since Cathbad left. Tristan had grown accustomed to the incessant bootheel thumping when she crossed an icy surface.
What was the chance he could get information out of her?
Worth a try.
Tristan called out in a hoarse voice, “If you’re bored, you could talk to me. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon.”
She ceased her private grumbling and turned to him.
Across the wide expanse of this semi-lit cavern, her eyes glowed a bright blue.
Studying him like a strange beast, she moved her head from side to side. He’d say she moved in an unnatural way, but neither of them were natural.
Walking slowly in his direction, she asked, “What would we speak of?”
That one might be a hard nut to crack, but with the motivation riding his shoulders, he was up to the task. He’d do pretty much anything if it meant finding a way out of this place and protecting Daegan from these two.
He dragged out a smile as far as his dry lips would allow when he wanted to snarl. “You could tell me what this is all about.”
Brynhild stood still for a moment, staring at him with indecision in her face. Then she continued strolling forward.
What kind of nonhuman was she?
Tristan couldn’t see Cathbad uniting with a mere witch. Could Brynhild be Fae? No, Tristan was pretty sure a Fae could get out of here.
What about a mage?
Still, not as powerful as Cathbad. He had a deadly goddess for a partner. Tristan could not see that druid taking a step down to a less powerful partner, not when Queen Maeve would annihilate both of them.
Brynhild’s arm swung as she walked, revealing the yellow claw-stick Cathbad had whacked Tristan with to knock him out.
Well, shit. Tristan didn’t want that thing near him.
This might not go as well as he’d thought.
When she stopped fifteen feet away, he forced a wider grin. That alone should earn him an acting award with the pain banging through his head and muscles screaming in his arms being stretched.
He tried
to clear his dry throat. “Hi there.”
She cocked her head to the side again and speared him with a surly look. Strange woman. “Who are you?”
Tristan found that interesting. So Cathbad hadn’t shared much with her, huh?
He could work with that opening as a starter.
Offering her a confused look, Tristan said, “You mean you’re holding me hostage and you don't even know who I am?”
Gorgeous blue eyes brightened even more. Blond hair played across her shoulders and fell to her waist. A braid down one side of her face landed on a perfect mound of breast.
Sexy as hell. Evil as shit.
She argued, “I did not capture you.”
Ah, wait a minute. She’d said that as if accusing her of such an act impugned her integrity, if she had any.
“Sorry.” Tristan tried for contrite. “Cathbad had me convinced you two were in this together.”
She scoffed at that. “We are not together. He is gone. I am here.”
This had more potential by the minute. Tristan continued to play up to her. “At least you have a nice place for a cave. I’m impressed with that whole setup for reading over there. If you free me, we can sit there and chat.” He angled his head, indicating the overstuffed chair next to a tall bookcase and reading lamp.
Clearly all of the latest caves came standard with those amenities.
She followed his gaze to the area he commented on then whipped a furious look back at him.
Well, damn. What had been so wrong about that idea?
Brynhild’s eyes blazed with dark thoughts. “No. We can speak now.”
Definitely a ballbuster when it came to simple conversation.
Fatigue and pain made every effort monumental, but Tristan had to get through to this female. “Sure, this works. Why didn't Cathbad tell you who I was?”
She took a step closer and the soft shape of her face changed to one of curiosity. “How do you know Cathbad?”
Neutral ground. Finally.
Tristan reached for a foothold in this conversation. “Oh, I've known him since he reincarnated or whatever it was that he and Queen Maeve did to wake up after thousands of years of sleeping. You know her, right?”
From the tight expression on Brynhild’s face, he’d say the answer was no. He’d guessed that already.
She lifted a smooth shoulder. “Queen is not important.”
This got better all the time.
He’d never been one for cat fights, but he’d kill for a beer to watch this one and Queen Maeve go at it.
Brynhild had zero issues with her ego, so he played to her strength. “You must be some kind of badass to make that statement.”
The woman’s relaxed face fired up again to a ferocious warrior in the blink of an eye. She called out an order in some language.
A shield flew across the room to her extended hand.
She caught it without looking and flipped it in front of her. “I did not capture you, but I allow no one to live who insults me. Make peace with your god and prepare to die.” She didn’t change shape, but everything about her became more dangerous and aggressive.
“Whoa, hold it, please,” Tristan quickly begged. She looked like the kind of woman who would torture him first, starting with his family jewels. “What did I say wrong?”
She frowned. His sincerity must have thrown her a curve. “You call me name.”
Tristan grinned. “No, I complimented you.” When her anger dipped a notch, he hurried to explain. “In my world, a badass female is a powerful warrior, someone nobody would dare threaten.”
Lo and behold, Brynhild lowered her shield and her attitude. Her shoulders softened along with her facial muscles. She began nodding. “Yes. I try to tell Cathbad this. I am badass.”
Hallelujah. He’d found a tiny connection, which might spare his life and body parts. “So why are you stuck in here when he leaves?”
Brynhild’s shoulders sagged. She stepped away, walking to the right and continuing in an oval pattern, grumbling to herself in some weird language he’d never heard.
When she stopped and looked up at him, she waved her shield at nothing in particular. “Druid is like old woman. Always nagging. Will not listen. I am warrior, not student.”
Tristan enjoyed the first push of real hope since regaining consciousness here.
Few things worked better in the supernatural or natural world when fighting an enemy than to divide and conquer.
As in, if she was pissed off at Cathbad, Tristan had a chance to gain her ear by convincing her that he could be someone of value.
He had to become her friend.
He altered his face into sincere confusion. “I don't understand what you mean by student? What is he trying to teach you?”
She pointed to his right at the seating area as if he hadn’t already commented on the arrangement.
Standing tall and proud, she said, “Druid wants me to read these things about life today. How women talk and dress.” She turned her nose up. “Weak women. I know what I need to know. I dress as warrior. That is important.”
It finally hit Tristan that she reminded him of someone who had lived a very long time, much like Daegan. Back during a medieval time. Huh.
“Well, Cathbad needs his eyes checked,” Tristan claimed.
“Why?”
He'd confounded her. Tristan dropped his voice into the tone a lover used. Quite a feat since just breathing hurt. He had to make this comment stick. “Because if that druid thinks you need lessons on being a woman, he can't see anything at all.”
Brynhild didn’t fall into a puddle of goo.
Well, Tristan wasn’t exactly at his best when trying to gain a woman’s cooperation from this position.
She’d been staring at him while debating some unknown decision. Speaking now with the regal power of a queen, she asked, “You think I am some foolish woman to fall for your smile and honeyed words? I am no such female. I carry the blood of the most dangerous clan to ever
live ... ”
Shit. How had this gone wrong when he’d had her almost eating out of his hand?
While she continued berating him and insulting his lack of intelligence, her eyes changed as they continued to glow.
Her dark irises elongated.
Oh. Hell.
No wonder Cathbad wanted her as a partner.
Tristan had a pretty good idea what kind of being she was with those reptilian eyes.
Power flooded around him and shoved against his chest until he couldn’t breathe. She started changing into a dragon right before his eyes.
An iridescent blue dragon roared. The cavern shook like a volcano erupting. The pond erupted, shooting chunks of ice into the air. Her scary eyes burned bright blue as a hot flame.
She opened her dragon jaws wide enough to eat a tiger in one bite.
Tristan would be lying if he said he didn’t fear what came next.
He’d pissed off the wrong beast.
Fuck it then.
If he had to die at the hands of a rampaging dragon, he’d get his wish.
Cathbad could not turn him into a polymorph.
Chapter 14
Cathbad teleported into Casidhe’s cottage, disgusted by the nasty odor. He shielded his power to hide his visit, just as he had at the centre today.
But he quickly sensed Daegan’s power again.
So the red dragon shifter had been here, too?
Based on the strength of the energy residue, the visit had been recent.
He stepped over debris from a battle that had left the remnants of Casidhe Luigsech’s life here in pieces.
When had that conflict occurred?
What the devil had caused that odious smell?
Were Daegan and Casidhe working together or had that dragon shifter tracked the woman here and kidnapped her?
Cathbad searched more of the room, trying to discern what Daegan may have found here on his own. The mix of scents and destruction left no clear indicat
ion of a timeline. He spent another ten minutes studying the smashed glassware, upended planters, and broken furniture.
If there had been anything useful here, someone else had found it. Had that person been Daegan, Casidhe, or someone else?
And just where had Casidhe gone?
He continued into the bedroom, which had a smashed window. The glass had landed inside. What had crashed through the window? He inhaled the nasty stink of demon and sensed an energy trail from Daegan and those other two who had also been at the ancestral centre.
Had Casidhe escaped or had Daegan caught her?
Or had she made a truly fatal mistake and allied with the red dragon?
Cathbad mentally sorted through all he’d seen and figured out.
The Luigsech woman had surprised him by not staying put at the centre until he arrived this morning, but that might not have been by her choice.
He considered how he could find her quickly, discarding each idea until he hit on what might be the most productive one.
It might also be the most dangerous choice.
Everything depended upon Queen Maeve having completed her scrying wall and his ability to get back in her good graces.
That scrying wall could locate Casidhe.
Chapter 15
Lanna hurried from the castle in Treoir realm, running down the steps and out to the lawn, which stretched hundreds of feet to the forest.
Phoedra ran along beside her, staying in step. She murmured, “Reese does not look happy.”
Had Garwyli not sat up during a conversation Lanna had been having with him and announced Reese’s arrival into Treoir, Lanna wouldn’t have taken off so quickly. She’d called her apology over her shoulder, but felt an obligation to help Quinn.
Her Cousin had made a mess of things, but he was a good man and deserved a happy life.
Just as Phoedra had pointed out, Reese stood a ways out on the lawn with arms crossed and eyes shooting fire.
One of the Treoir guards walked up to Reese. She seemed to speak politely, but Lanna could feel the chill in her voice from here. The guard nodded and continued on.
Slowing as she reached Reese, Lanna called out a breathless, “Hello, Reese. Is nice to see you.”