by test
“Thanks, Delilah. Give my regards to Alf.”
“I will, Dylan. Have a good day.” Her voice suddenly turned syrupy sweet; all trace of the wheeze was gone.
“Well, that’s not much for security.” A door appeared in front of them. A door that had nothing behind it and only them in front of it. “You’re kidding right, what do you do if a mortal comes in here?”
“Most of the mortals that work here, know about our organization. Don’t worry about it.”
“So that door behind the human secretary …?”
“That leads to their part of the building. Ours is cloaked.”
“Huh. You learn something everyday. Why are you sharing so many of your
secrets with me? We dragon shifters have never had any spies in your world, but you have had them in our world for quite some time, I’d imagine. It’s almost as if we’ve had big brother watching us.”
“I can’t help it that my kind became so proactive after our last defeat at the hands DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170
of the dragon shifters. We aren’t going to make that mistake again.”
“You aren’t? How can you be so sure that you’ll win?”
“I’ll show you. Take my hand and walk through the door.”
* * * *
He watched her eyes light up with awe when they stepped through the doorway into the magical part of the MI6 building. “This is definitely something I never expected to see in a million years. I can literally feel the power in this place.”
“I know. It does get into your bones. With all of the magical people inside of this building it’s a wonder outsiders don’t feel it. But for many years we have been here in secrecy. Helping when we can, fighting when we need to.”
“Why do you know so much?”
“My mother and father have dedicated their lives to this cause. There was a time when I was young when my parents were so busy here, that my aunts and uncles were always taking care of me, watching over me, helping me with my magic. That’s probably why I took such an interest in taking up where my uncle left off. Someone had to take up the torch. That and my mother came home one day with intelligence on your father telling us that he was going to try this. The second sighters were right.”
“And now, we wait until they come to Earth.”
A group of men and women bustled toward them. The woman in the lead was his
mother.
“Come, Dylan. You and your ... Mistress Grania, you will go with Amelia here, and you will see what can be done about Master O’Malley. We have had our best telepaths trying to breach the walls erected in his mind, but they’ve been unsuccessful.
You need to fix that, Grania. We know how talented you are at the mind reading bit between your kind. We have had the reports.”
“Good. I’m sure you know just as much about my life as I do. Why don’t you
give me some more shiny little tidbits you’ve gleaned through your spies?”
“I understand your confusion, Grania. We were only doing what we deemed
right. It would seem that keeping tabs on you and your father wasn’t such a foolish thing to do in the first place.”
She remained silent. To say something would only make things worse for Dylan.
His mother wasn’t the most maternal woman on the face of the planet, and now she knew why. Her true child was her career.
“Call me impressed.” She shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. “But you still
haven’t shown me the piece de resistance, I’d like to see O’Malley.”
“Of course. No need for a tour of the place anyway. The less you know, the
better.”
“Mother!” Dylan sounded horrified.
“I’m only watching out for her best interests. If she were ever taken by the enemy while working to protect you, it would not bode well for us, if she were able to give them unneeded Intel.”
“Yes, your mother is only looking out for me, while she secretly hopes that I will fall into enemy hands.”
“On the contrary. I would like to solidify your relationship with my son. We’ve been researching your culture. You don’t kill the members of your own family, even in the name of war.”
DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170
“Times, they are a changing.” She snorted. “If you honestly believe linking
Dylan and I together by way of marriage will deter my father from killing him ... well, you are mistaken.”
“I don’t think I am. And Dylan can vouch for the fact that I’m usually right.”
“It’s true.” Dylan lowered his voice to a whisper. “It’s freaky, but true. You don’t want to mess with my mum when it comes to being right. I’ve tried—and lost.”
“Great. I’m not going to be a blushing bride, Dylan. I know people tend to tie the knot during times of war and all that, be that as it may, I’m not really ready to be hitched, yet.”
“You will be soon. I’m sure mother dearest already has an entire wedding party all dolled up and waiting for the wedding march.”
“Fine. Can we please get to fixing up O’Malley first? Ordinarily, I’d try to fight this whole wedding thing. I’m not. I will marry you if only to help me achieve my objective.”
“Your objective?”
“I’ve been trusted with protecting you. If, for some stroke of luck you being bonded to me makes my father spare your life ... then, I’ll take the gamble. It might be a fluke but it’s worth shooting for.”
“Stranger things have happened." His eyes softened, and the look he gave her made her heartbeat quicken.
“I’m wearing red for the wedding per my people’s tradition.”
“My mother probably has a white dress waiting for you—but hey, I’m sure she
can change the color in the blink of an eye.”
Amelia stepped forward, as Dylan’s mother moved away. “Does your mother
have a name?” Grania asked.
“You may call me, Aine.”
“Thank you, Aine.”
His mother narrowed her eyes at her, paused for a moment and then, moved away.
“I still don’t think she likes me,” Grania whispered.
“You’ll grow on her.”
“That’s what you think. If I grow on her, it will be akin to moldy cheese.” She chuckled.
Amelia gestured to them. “This way, O’Malley is locked up on the next floor.
He’s in a special containment room, allowing for his transformations.”
She started to feel hot and ill at ease. Dylan tossed her a look of concern. She gave him a weak smile. As she drew nearer to O’Malley, she started to get some pretty weird vibrations.
“What’s the matter?” Dylan whispered, concern tingeing his voice.
“I’m feeling his desperation ... his feelings of restlessness, his regrets, and his feeling of loss. They are all washing over me in rather strong waves.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s nothing to apologize for. He’s been cut off from his kind for how long?
Nicholas has been impersonating him so ....”
“Nicholas has been under cover in the guise of O’Malley for exactly three years.”
Amelia’s answer was curt. Grania doubted that Amelia would even give her the time of day if the circumstances were different.
DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170
“Three years?” She blanched, feeling the blood drain away from her face. Her
head swam.
“Aye.” Amelia looked back at her, smiling. “We are most dedicated to protecting our kind and the rest of Earth from the tyranny your father poses.”
“I know he’s a threat, but .…”
“You have been fighting the war for almost four years, we were lucky to get
someone in so quickly to start minimizing the damage. Our operatives have been among you since before the start of the war, but we had to learn how to remove key dragon shifters and replace them in
order to truly get the sort of information we needed.”
“Where are the rest of the ones that you’re impersonating?” She remembered
Nicholas’ words—they had to be dead … killed by her father, or .… She couldn’t bring herself to think the next thought.
“And here we are.” Amelia smiled at them. Her smile was cold and distant when directed at Grania. She efficiently ushered them onto a lift, they went down one floor and arrived in an area that looked like a clinical science lab. The floor seemed to cover quite a good deal of space. There were wizard and witch guards everywhere. Another wizard came forth, he wasn’t wearing a guards' uniform, but she could tell that he was ready to fight if the need presented itself.
“Mistress Amelia, I see you’ve brought the dragon shifter we’ve been waiting
for.”
“Aye,” Amelia answered.
“The dragon shifter has a name.” To her surprise, it was Dylan that was speaking up. “Her name is Lady Grania Burns, try to use it.”
“Of course, sir. Mistress Burns, please, come this way. We’ll allow you to go into the interrogation room that we’ve moved O’Malley into. He’s still a bit drowsy from the sedative we gave him. He really doesn’t like to be moved from his home cell.”
“Cell? So you admit you are keeping him as a prisoner,” Grania said, anger
surging through her.
“We are keeping him as our guest.”
“Just point me in the direction of the room,” she ordered.
“Actually, we’ll have to go with you, in case he becomes a bit too feisty. You’ll need one of us to subdue him,” Amelia argued.
“I can assure you if it comes to it; I know how to subdue him.”
Dylan gave her a wary gaze. “I think you should heed their advice, Grania. You really need to watch yourself ....”
Pursing her lips, she nodded. “Fine. Someone can stand sentry directly outside the door, that way, if something does happen they’ll be able to come to my rescue.”
They led her toward a large room surrounded by glass. She assumed they could
see in but O’Malley couldn’t see out. She recognized him instantly. His ginger hair, freckled face, and sky blue eyes were hard to miss. He looked like he’d been through hell and back. He was thinner than she remembered, and he had dark circles beneath his eyes.
“Oh, O’Malley.” She felt a twinge of sympathy for him. Bolstering herself for what was to come, she waited while the wizard next to her waved his hand over the handle of the door. It swung open. She walked through and when it shut, it made a jarring locking noise.
DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170
“Grania?” He squinted his eyes. By the dopey look in them, she knew he was still partially drugged.
“Greetings, O’Malley. I’d ask you how you are doing if it weren’t already written as plain as day across your face. I’m sad to say that you look like shit.”
“You would too, if you’d been locked up here for days on end, year after year.”
He heaved a shuddering breath. “How goes the war?”
“I don’t think they want you to know that information, O’Malley.”
His eyes dimmed even further. “I was hoping you were going to tell me that we were winning.”
Her stomach sunk. When he said we, did he mean the Royalists or the Rebels?
She looked at his hands. They shook. “Have you eaten lately?” she asked gently.
“Yeah, had me breakfast a few hours ago.”
She swallowed. He was shaking because he kept trying to call on his powers and the room and drugs pumped into his system prohibited them from emerging.
“You want my father to win, don’t you?” she queried, hoping to catch him off
guard.
He jerked his head upright. His slouched shoulders suddenly grew rigid.
“Why would you say that?” He tried to look indifferent. She narrowed her eyes.
He would keep avoiding her questions, she had to read his mind. She’d hoped he’d open up to her but that was just wishful thinking.
“Don’t go into my mind, you won’t like what you see. Their telepaths tried to get in, and I showed them lies, or at least I tried to. The last one, almost scratched the surface. When they took her out of here she looked as white as a ghost. You don’t want to know what I know. Nothing can stop your father—nothing. He’ll be here soon, and when he comes, we’ll all be in a living hell.”
“My father isn’t that vicious.”
“Your father has darkened to a point where no light invades his soul anymore.
When he lost your mother, he lost himself. I believed in his cause until ...,” He shook his head …. “No. I’ve lived with what I know for three years, and since even you can’t take away my guilt you should leave now.”
“Do you know how my father intends to take Earth?”
“There’s no way to stop him, Grania. Return to his side, and beg for his mercy, beg for his love. If you don’t, you’ll be damned forever.”
A chill swept through the air. “I’m not going to take my father’s side. I made my choice long ago, and he knows where I stand.”
“He will still take you back. He still loves you.”
“Stop it!" she shouted. "I’m supposed to be here asking you questions … you aren’t supposed to be doing what you’re doing.”
“What am I doing?” he asked innocently.
“You’re trying to play on my sympathies.”
“No, I’m not. I am only giving you fair warning. By this time tomorrow, the first wave will be here. When that happens, you need to have your father on your side.”
“Not going to happen.” Before he could react, she’d grabbed a hold of his hand.
In one spiraling moment, she was inside of his head. He tried to pull his crazy mirage shit on her but she was too good for him. After all, she’d learned from the best. She knocked down one of his erected walls, and walked into a memory.
DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170
Grania stood motionless over a dead body. It was a woman. Her flaxen hair, mingled with the blood pooling around her body. Her eyes were open and frozen in horror; her one hand was clenched over her heart. That was where the blood came fromÑheÕd killed her by driving her through the heart, and the only way he could have done that was if heÕd been close to her. She resisted the urge to heave. Now, she knew why the woman was half-clothed, and why she seemed utterly astonished. She could see the look of betrayal etched in her eyes and across her face. If he hadnÕt taken her life by force, the woman would have died from heartbreak.
A man stepped out of the shadows. She didnÕt have to look to know that it was OÕMalley. ÒIÕm sorry, my love. He wanted you dead. I couldnÕt fight his order. You were starting to stir up too much shit, if youÕd warned the King and Queen ... ah, sometimes life really does hand you the short end of the stick. Sleep easy, my beauty.Ó
The dagger he still held in his hand, clattered to the ground. He sunk to his knees. A keening wail of agony ripped from his mouth.
His visage changed. It was almost as if he had two different personalities.
Was OÕMalley a split personality? One personality loyal to her father while the other personality was loyal to the crown? If so, they had a definite loose cannon on their hands.
The memory faded, to be replaced by another more recent one.
ÒLord Draco, we have found a way for you to bypass the blockades the Royalists will put between Dragonia and Earth.Ó
ÒTell me, Desdemona.Ó
ÒIf you open a portal by the ancient Oak tree in the Tarilian Forest, you will be able to link with another ancient oak in England. The one that will suit our purposes is an ancient oak located on human holy ground. The Abbey in Tewkesbury. Close enough to the Welsh borders to suit your fancy and yet still on English land.Ó
ÒExcellent, my dear. I knew you would serve me well.Ó
ÒLord Draco, what will our occupation of Eart
h mean for the humans?Ó
It was OÕMalleyÕs voice. He sounded terrified É and yet, awed at the same time.
ÒIt will mean that we slaughter whoever gives us resistance, and if they submit, they can serve us as our slaves. The humans of this world will soon learn that we are the superior race.Ó
ÒWhat about the magical community? They might give us a form of resistance.Ó
ÒWe will turn their magic against them, and we will kill them. Without mercy.
Dylan Lightfoot, as the biggest troublemaker of them all, will be the first to die.Ó
She’d heard enough. Breathing deeply, she traveled out of his mind. She no longer wanted to see anything that O'Malley had done for her father. If he’d killed his own mate, he’d already damned himself for all eternity. And if he truly did have a mental disorder and he was two people sharing one body, then, both identities had sentenced themselves to a fate worse than death.
She released his hand. “After what you’ve done, I don’t think you should have a moment’s peace. Live in your hell, and enjoy it with my compliments.”
As she was walking away, he sprang to his feet. She could feel his towering rage, feel his fury at being judged and condemned by her. She allowed him to knock her down to the floor.
DRAGON’S HEART Marly Mathews 170
“Am I talking to the one that murdered his mate?” she shouted.
At her demanding tone, his eyes took on a hardened glint. “She was no better
than a bitch in heat. She confused me, she muddled my mind, and she tied me down.
Every time I turned around there she was right up my ass. I couldn’t be free. When she started to dig into my comings and goings, she had to be eliminated. She was a filthy little royalist, why fate had given me her to love, I don’t know. So, I threw her back into fate’s arms.”
“You are despicable!” He circled his hands around her throat. She allowed him to do so. Then, when he was about to attempt to squeeze the life out of her, she retaliated with the full force of her abilities.
In that moment, the door to the interrogation room banged open. Dylan rushed in followed by two other wizards while Amelia brought up the rear. She’d knocked O’Malley out cold.