Nigel looked at the sky to see how much time had passed. Waiting was not something he did well. It was a failing he and the Jezibaba both shared.
He smiled when the dragon finally appeared, but it faded when he saw the smirking idiot was alone. “Oh for Merlin’s sake. Did ya fail again?” Nigel demanded.
Thane huffed and shook his head. “Quite the contrary, warlock. I have succeeded beyond your wildest dreams, but it will cost you to collect more than one prize from me today.”
“Stop fooling around, Thane. Which Chosen One did you end up bringing?”
Nigel felt the dragon’s pride swelling within him. The energy of it was disgusting to experience. But prejudice has no place in business and his empathetic skills had kept him alive up to now.
“You were supposed to surprise me, Thane, not bore me to distraction.”
“Ladies, come say hello to Nigel,” Thane called.
Nigel’s mouth dropped open when a powdered covered Jezibaba and two young women walked out of the trees. He drew back in alarm when the Jezibaba walked to Thane and laid her red-haired, curly head gently on his shoulder. Thane glanced over and smiled at her before bringing his smirking gaze back to Nigel.
“How much do you think such a complete set would be worth to your Council of Witches? The Great Jezibaba is now at my command.”
Nigel walked to her and searched her eyes which were clouded by magic. “Hello, Lovey. How goes it?”
“Hello Nigel.”
The Jezibaba blinked as she looked him up and down. Nigel could tell the train wasn’t completely pulled into the station, but her greeting and recognition of him proved some part of her was functioning.
“Why are you not in prison where I left you? I think I shall have to kill you to keep you out of my business,” Jezibaba said softly.
Unsure of how much control the dragon actually had over her, Nigel quickly put some distance back between them. Best not to take any chances.
His gaze met the dragon’s. “How long will this binding last?”
Thane shrugged. “I have no idea. It’s an aphrodisiac spell so of course the results vary with each situation and each female. For the moment, all three will do anything I ask so long as I promise I will be theirs and only theirs.”
Nigel rubbed his face. “I can’t believe the Jezibaba was brought down by an aphrodisiac spell.”
“Scoff all you want, but the proof has her head on my shoulder again. Pick one of the girls to kill and get it over with, warlock. I wish to be done with my obligation to the council. I may take my other two prizes with me and bargain for more later.”
Nigel looked at the two younger girls. “Buggers. I don’t think I can hurt the one dressed in all pink. It just wouldn’t feel right.”
Thane snorted. “Good. She’s a shifter healer and may be salvageable. Perhaps with the other one gone, she’ll drop the Baba Yaga nonsense entirely.”
Nigel huffed. “I wouldn’t get my hopes up too high, dragon. Morgana backs these witches.”
“Forget your Goddess. I’ll let you have both girls if you’ll double the price. Just think, all the competition for witch protectoress can be ended here today.”
“What about the Jezibaba?” Nigel asked.
Thane smiled wickedly. “She’s not part of any bargain. I know someone who would pay much more than your Council of Witches would for her. Her death is forbidden, but there are darker gods who want to end the dragon witch’s life. She is an abomination to our kind, like the ancient one whose name is never spoken. I will go down in dragon history as a conqueror.”
“Or as just another dragon Morgana The Red wiped from existence,” Nigel warned.
“Thane?”
Thane turned his head to the woman at his side. She was growing on him. Perhaps he could understand what Damien saw after all. Perhaps he’d sample it himself. “Yes, darling?”
“They’re coming to rescue us,” she said.
“Who is, sweetness?”
Jezibaba sighed and squinted her gaze at the sun as she thought. “A dog and an elf.”
Thane threw his head back and laughed. He patted her cheek. “This day is just getting better and better.”
Chapter 18
Damien was in his office when Nathaniel popped in on him. Or at least he thought it was Nathaniel. The man smelled like the old warlock, but didn’t look like him at all. His dragon senses roared in displeasure. He’d neglected his beast for far too long.
“Sorry to disturb you, Professor Smoke. Have you seen the Jezibaba? We can’t locate her or the Chosen Ones. My concern grows every minute. They haven’t left the grounds, but that’s all I can determine.”
Damien shook his head. “No, I haven’t seen her. I need to find her too. Don’t you have some way to track her?”
“Not without involving Morgana. I was hesitant to do that until I knew it was a problem. The Goddess tends to overreact.”
Damien held up a hand. “I understand. Let’s look a little harder. If we call Morgana, we’ll have blood and death and who knows what.”
“Agreed. I go then to continue my search,” Nathaniel said. Before he could transport, a wind lifted inside the office. In moments, Zenos stood before them. Or at least Nathaniel thought it was Zenos. The mage was a bit younger than he recalled, but then look at what happened to him?
“Yer not going to find them in time, druid. I can’t stand to watch this troll shite anymore. If Professor Dragon Pecker here hadn’t pissed her off, she’d have confided in him. She’s been looking for him since daybreak.”
Damien’s stomach fell at the news. He should have been there when she woke up. He’d ignored his instincts to stay so he could continue his investigation. “Who are you?” he demanded. “How did you get past my wards?”
“Feck off, Professor Bluster. How did that dragon boy ya trained get around them? Ya got wimpy magic, that’s how. Ya never use yer beast and he’s resentful. She doesn’t use hers and she’s waning. I should kick both yer arses. With protectors like ya two, the girls are lucky they’ve survived this long.”
Nathaniel sighed loudly. “Professor Smoke, this is Zenos. He’s the mage who’s going to train Hildy and Carol.”
“Mage,” Damien said, the word sounding wrong somehow. The man glaring at him was far more than a mage.
“No time to play twenty questions to educate a hard headed dragon, druid. The English plotter has them all in the woods. Yer golden dragon boy powdered all three with what he thinks is a love potion. The thing is though, it’s one third control spell. It will require a good effect to break its hold.”
Damien walked round his desk. “Take us to them,” he ordered.
Zenos snorted. “Why? So ya can betray her again?”
Black smoke billowed from Damien’s nostrils. “I will fry you if she dies.”
“Oh, now yer worried,” Zenos declared. “Well, ya see I’m having a little problem with my own magic since healing Nathaniel.”
“Stop making excuses. They want them dead,” Damien yelled.
Zenos drew himself up and morphed into a giant gorilla. He beat his chest and roared into Damien’s face. Then he grabbed the dragon and the druid and transported them, enjoying their oomphs as they dropped into a sacred circle where Pissy Miss stood waiting to be sacrificed.
They scrambled to their feet. The first person Damien saw was the warlock the Jezibaba said she’d locked up over and over and hadn’t managed to kill. He would correct that for her today.
“I remember you, Nigel,” Damien said viciously, glaring at the wide-eyed villain who laughed nervously.
“This is not your business, Professor Smoke. Dragon politics never concern themselves with the lives of witches. Just leave here while you can,” Nigel encouraged.
“Take Carol to safety,” Damien ordered Nathaniel.
Flames erupting on Nathaniel’s cloak prevented the warlock from obeying him. Nathaniel dove outside the circle, struggling to escape the burning cloth.
Where in hell was the frustrating mage?
Damien looked back over his shoulder to see Thane smiling. Elenora’s head on his shoulder angered his beast and him. Thane and Nigel would both die today.
An irreverent god’s voice drifted out of the trees. “True love’s kiss breaks the spell, eegits. Get to lip locking yer women before it’s too fecking late.”
“Darling…” Thane began, but he was cut off by a camel braying loudly in his ear. Startled, he jumped and blasted the animal with his flame. It morphed into a yapping, angry dog.
“No! Don’t kill him,” Hildy yelled, before she dove on top of the dog.
Breathing hard, Thane glared and turned back to the Jezibaba. But it was too late.
“Forgive me. I should never have doubted you.” Damien said before putting his mouth on hers. He wanted to sink into her when her arms came around him. Goddess, it had been so long. He bent her backwards, then lifted her until she was pressed all along him. His pride had almost cost him the most precious of his possessions.
“No!” Thane yelled, morphing into his dragon form.
Damien ran from the change, dragging the woman he loved with him. He didn’t doubt his love for her was strong enough. He just hoped the spell broke sooner than later. They could all use her help.
“Stay out of the way,” he ordered, morphing into his dragon.
Much larger than Thane’s, he took out several trees near the clearing. When the younger dragon shot skyward to flee, Damien was close behind.
Nigel saw the Jezibaba rubbing her face and moaning. Knowing he had little time left to complete the most important part of his task, he lifted his hands and chanted. A lighting bolt built in his palm. It would be all he needed at this close range. He turned to throw it, but an elf streaked across the lightning’s path and knocked the Chosen One to the ground. The boy climbed on her with no finesse whatsoever and planted his mouth on hers. She squirmed under his weight and eventually threw him off to the side where he lay still. The elf’s clothing smoldered beneath him.
Buggers. He’d hit the wrong target.
Readying himself to transport away, Nigel didn’t sense the wand’s power in time to stop it from constraining him. He winced as the Jezibaba walked over to where he struggled to pull himself to his knees.
“Ouch, Lovey. That hurts something fierce,” Nigel complained.
“I warned you what would happen next time I came across you in the flesh,” she said.
The Jezibaba lifted the wand in the air, only she never got the chance to fashion any spell. A tiny, black dagger sailed accurately through the air and landed precisely in Nigel’s chest. Jezibaba could see the deadly throw had pierced the warlock’s wicked heart.
Wide-eyed, Nigel’s gaze went to the angry girl glaring at him. “Bugger. Didn’t see that coming,” he said, falling over in the dirt.
Jezibaba looked on with a heavy heart as Carol turned and dropped to her knees beside the boy who had saved her life.
Iren gasped as Carol turned him over. “Why did you do that?” she demanded. “Why did you jump in front of me?”
“Because your life is more important than mine,” Iren said hoarsely, closing his eyes as his head rolled sideways.
“No!” Carol screamed in denial. “I refuse to die a virgin. You can’t die, Iren!” She glanced around in panic. “Iren saved my life. Someone help him.”
Jezibaba walked to the circle and knelt beside the wildly grieving girl. “Iren took a direct lighting bolt to the back, child. I don’t think there’s anything we can do. That magic is deadly.”
Carol looked back at Hildy. Ahmed was trapped in her arms and whining over it. Her friend said nothing. The spell was not broken for her. In her current condition, Hildy couldn’t even try to heal Iren.
Carol glared at the Jezibaba. “This can’t be right. This can’t be how it works out. Thane can’t win this way. The Council of Witches can’t win.”
“They haven’t,” Jezibaba insisted, gripping Carol’s shoulder tight. “You live. Hildy lives. I live. They haven’t won anything.”
A naked, burned Nathaniel limped to the circle. He held a smoking remnant of his robe over his private parts. He looked down at the boy who’d sacrificed everything.
Nathaniel glanced off into the trees and yelled. “Zenos, you promised to protect them and to train them. You nearly broke that promise today. Come help us, mage. I command you to keep your word.”
Carol didn’t even react when a giant black gorilla appeared outside the circle. Maybe she’d become shock proof in the last hour. He morphed into a younger version of the mage who’d tormented them. There was gray in his hair, but he wasn’t as portly. He wasn’t young but he wasn’t old either. He reminded her of Professor Smoke and looked nearly as good now.
“Feck off, druid. I’ve already broken more magic laws today than Jezi-blah-blah has broken in three centuries. There are prices to be paid for this level of shite. Because of ya, I can’t hold my human form more than a short while.”
Nathaniel lifted his chin. “Break one more rule… for the girl. You know why.”
“Yes, I heard. The whole forest heard that Pissy Missy doesn’t want to die a virgin. Someone with a deadly aim like hers ought to be able to do a little better than a fecking elf for the job.”
Carol glared up at him. “Don’t be insulting. Iren saved my life.”
Zenos rolled his eyes. “And I saved all three of ya by fetching help. I don’t see ya throwing yerself at me and offering yer maidenhood.”
Carol sniffled. “Please… I can’t handle this. Help him if you can. At least try.”
Zenos blew out a breath. “Bollocks, girl. Stop yer blubbering. I was teasing ya. I swear… immortal or not, ya two witches are going to be the death of me. Move over.”
He used his hand to motion her to scoot away.
Stooping to his knees in the dirt, Zenos rolled the elf boy over and back. Sighing, he put a hand on the boy’s back where the lighting had entered. He hoped this worked. Sometimes nothing did.
“Restituetur,” he commanded, the words echoing in the woods. He could only hope the wrong powers weren’t hearing.
The lightning came out of Iren and balled itself into Zenos’s hand. Turning he sent it into a tree which sizzled as the lighting burned a hole through it. The boy coughed, gasped, and opened his silver gray eyes. He immediately searched for Carol who crawled over and kissed him with no thought as to who was watching.
Zenos rolled his eyes again. “This is too fecking sweet for me,” he complained, rising to his feet. He wobbled a bit until a set of small strong arms came around him. He looked down at Carol gazing up at him in adoration.
“Thank you, Zenos. I promise you’ll be proud of me as your student. I swear on Morgana The Red.”
“Do ya think I’m impressed by ya swearing on that conniving siren?”
“Well, I’ll honor my promise just the same either way,” Carol said.
Unwilling to dignify the child’s solemn reply, Zenos lifted his chin. “Yer fellow virgin over there isn’t going to get off so lucky as you and Jezi-blah-blah. She has no true love to kiss her. Without the dragon, she might wither away from a broken heart before the spell wears off.”
Carol chewed her lip. She glanced at Iren as the Jezibaba and Nathaniel helped him to his feet. Iren wasn’t her true love the way Professor Smoke was for the Jezibaba. But Iren cared enough to save her. That was a pure form of love… and as true as caring ever got.
Carol got an idea and snickered, mostly because she knew in her heart of hearts it would work. “Well, actually I know someone who absolutely adores Hildy. It may not be true love in the typical sense, but I think it might turn into it some day. Love is it’s own kind of magic, right?”
Zenos chuckled beside her. “Ya talking about the little bear shifter?”
Carol looked up in surprise. “Are you like constantly spying on us?”
“It’s a special spell called near omniscience,” Ze
nos said. “I’ll teach it to ya if ya want.”
Carol nodded and smiled. “I think that would be very useful for a Baba Yaga.”
Zenos snorted. “Yer dedication to yer calling is going to break the elf’s heart.”
Carol sighed. “Probably, but we’ll always be friends. Can you stand by yourself now?”
“Yes, little Pissy Missy. I’m fine,” Zenos declared. “I’ll be changing forms shortly. The weakness goes away when I do.”
“I like the gorilla,” Carol said. “How many forms can you take?”
“All creatures but one,” Zenos said tightly. “Want to see my new favorite?”
“Yes!” Carol said, running to link her arms around a wobbly Iren. She hugged him tight as she watched.
Zenos morphed in to a twenty feet tall firebird. His phoenix form was as tall as any dragon she’d ever seen. He lifted into the sky and flew away, his wings making enough wind to blow the last of the cursed powder off all of them.
Carol watched until he was out of sight and then turned to Iren. “How are you feeling?”
“Not up to deflowering either of us, but I promise I won’t let you die a virgin.”
“I can’t believe you heard that,” Carol said, blushing as she dipped her head.
“It was the reason I hung on long enough for the mage to bring me back. I saw my ancestors waiting for me in the grove. I didn’t want to die a virgin either. They laughed at me for wanting to come back to you, but waved when I got yanked into my body.”
Carol giggled nervously and hugged her new elf boyfriend as hard as she could.
“What about Hildy?” Iren asked as they turned to limp that way. “You need to save Ahmed. I don’t think she’s turning loose. He came and got me. I will always owe him for that.”
Carol saw the Jezibaba pull a reluctant Hildy to her feet. The cats sat in front of Hildy and hung their heads as the Jezibaba scolded them for not being there sooner to help. Ahmed glared at them from Hildy’s arms and growled low. What bothered her most was that her friend ignored a nearly naked Nathaniel standing nearby. That was wrong… completely wrong. The warlock’s naked butt was an awesome sight not to be missed.
Magic and Mayhem: How To Date A Dragon (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Baba Yaga Saga Book 2) Page 13