by Unknown
She went still, her vision turning inward. “I . . . don’t know.”
“But you were . . . connected to him. He said he could find you.”
She shook her head. “I lost track of him when we came here. I was focused on them,” she said, gesturing toward the slaves.
“Can you reach him?”
“I . . . don’t know.”
She closed her eyes, her hands clenching at her sides as she did something with her mind that he couldn’t even imagine.
Finally, she opened her eyes and looked at him. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened. Maybe he’s dead. Or maybe he’s too focused on the fight.”
Talon nodded, wishing she could give him some information.
Ross joined the conversation. “Until we find out what happened with the dragons, somebody is going to have to keep the adepts under control.”
“Yeah,” Talon answered, feeling the tension among his cousins and their life mates. They all understood that if Gallagher lost the fight, their situation was precarious.
Kenna shuddered, and he knew she was thinking about the monster who had been her master for months.
But when she spoke, it wasn’t of Vandar. “There will be people hiding in the cave. They’ll be worried about what’s going on. Are they going to be punished? Killed?”
Talon sighed. “I guess we’ll have to go in after them.”
“It’s not one big open space,” Kenna said. “There are corridors and rooms.”
“Will the people in there have weapons?” Ross asked.
Kenna shook her head. “Vandar kept weapons away from everyone except the soldiers. But if the people are frightened, they could have gotten into the armory. Or they could have taken knives from the kitchen.”
Lance cleared his throat. Like Talon, he’d changed from wolf to human form. “It would be nice if we could tell them their master is dead.”
“Yes,” Kenna murmured.
They had just turned toward the cave when a flash of movement in the sky made them all look up. A dragon was flying toward them. A dragon with silver scales and a bleeding wound on his underside.
“Vandar,” Swee cried out, a look of triumph in his eyes. “I told you he would come back.”
Ross raised the machine gun he was carrying, sighting on the approaching beast.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
“NO ! WAIT,” KENNA cried out.
After tense seconds, Ross lowered his arm. But he kept the gun at the ready. For all the good it would do him, Kenna thought, remembering the last time the werewolves had tried to shoot the dragon.
The great beast continued toward them, but she saw it was faltering in its flight.
If it was Vandar, he would rain down fire on them and free his adepts.
If it was Gallagher, it looked like he was in serious trouble. Could he even land without injuring himself?
As the dragon drew closer, there was no blast of fire. Somehow the beast made a soft landing, then lay panting on the dark ground.
When Kenna darted forward, Talon tried to grab her, but she slipped from his grasp and ran to the monster, putting her hand on his huge head.
“Ramsay,” she cried. “It’s you, isn’t it?”
The creature’s whole body shook. It opened its mouth, but nothing came out besides a long moan.
Kenna knelt beside him. “Don’t try to talk.”
The dragon clacked its huge teeth together, its chest heaving.
Talon moved to her side. “I can’t talk when I’m in wolf form. I’m sure he can’t talk as a dragon.”
She nodded. “He’s in pain.”
“Yes.”
The great beast shuddered as it scraped at the cinders under its claws. Then, before their eyes, he began to shift his form. The scales, claws, and fangs disappeared. His body began to shrink into the form of a man. Moments later, Ramsay Gallagher lay panting on the ground. His skin was pale as paste, a huge gash swept across his middle, and one shoulder was burned.
“It looks like you were in a hell of a fight,” Talon muttered.
Ramsay’s eyes were out of focus, but when Talon gripped his arm, he met his eye.
“Is Vandar dead?”
“Yes,” Ramsay gasped out. “He’s to . . . the right . . . around the mountain.” His body was shaking now.
“Thank the Great Mother,” Kenna said. Turning to the adepts, she shouted in triumph, “This is the other dragon-shifter, Ramsay Gallagher. Vandar is dead.”
Without waiting for a reply, she knelt by the wounded shifter.
While Renata and Rinna stayed with the adepts to secure them with psychic restraint, the rest of the women joined the group around Ramsay.
After introducing herself and explaining that she had some healing powers, Zarah knelt and put her hands on the shifter’s head and shoulder, then drew in a quick breath. “He’s in bad shape. But I hope we can save him.”
Zarah unfolded several blankets she’d brought. After laying one beside him, they gently rolled him onto it, then covered him with another.
As she knelt beside him, Zarah lit a small lamp. Kenna had seen that before and knew it was a focus for the woman’s powers.
“Form a circle around him,” she murmured, “and we’ll see what we can do.”
Zarah’s lips moved as she stroked one hand on the dragon-shifter’s forehead.
Kenna felt a low hum of energy flowing around them that made her skin tingle.
“Great Mother, let him live,” she whispered. She had been terrified that Ramsay was like Vandar. Now she knew how different he was, and how much he had sacrificed for her and everyone else here. He had killed Vandar. Killed himself in a way. And she couldn’t imagine how horrible that would be.
Slowly, Ramsay’s skin color grew pinker, and his breathing became less labored.
He had looked near death. Now it seemed as if Zarah had worked a miracle. She pulled down the blanket enough to see his shoulder and the gash across his chest and belly. Both of them had begun to heal.
Gallagher looked down at his chest, then turned his head toward Zarah. “Thank you.”
She found his hand and clasped her fingers with his. “You fought him and won. That was . . . extraordinary.”
He answered with a small nod.
“And Vandar’s slaves are free,” Zarah added.
“You’d better take care of them.” He closed his eyes and drew into himself, and Kenna could see he didn’t want to talk about the fight with his other self. From the looks of him, it had been a battle that both dragons had known they must win to live.
Rinna stayed with Ramsay, and the others walked back to Vandar’s adepts, who were still lying on the ground, under the control of the men.
Kenna gave the leaders a hard look. “Swee, Wendon, Barthime. Your master is dead.”
The men glared at her.
“Why should I believe you?” Swee growled.
“Why should I lie?”
“You want him to be dead.”
“Don’t you?” She stared at him. “You were never harsh with me. I thought you were suffering under his control, the way I was.”
“I thought you were doing the master’s bidding.”
“You helped me memorize all those facts. Let me help you now.”
“You should have stayed in the other universe.”
“This may be more difficult than you imagine,” the dark-haired man who had led the horsemen said. “I’m Griffin,” he added. “Head of the Sun Acres council.”
“I’m . . . honored that you came to help us,” Kenna stammered, awed that the leader of a city had risked so much for them.
“You did me a favor. I knew there were problems in this area. I had heard people were being stolen from their cities. The beast could have attacked us.”
He raised his voice and spoke to the adepts. “I can help you get back to your cities. And if you were slaves before you were brought here, I can offer you a place as free men and women in Sun Acres.
”
Most of them looked grateful.
Swee, Barthime, and Wendon still looked defiant, and she wondered if they could ever live in normal society.
When she heard a noise behind her, she turned and saw Ramsay staggering toward them, a blanket draped over his shoulder like a toga. It was clear he could barely stay on his feet, but he wasn’t letting Rinna help him walk. Instead, she trailed behind, ready to steady him if he stumbled.
He stopped a few feet from the adepts. “I am called Ramsay Gallagher. I am Vandar’s twin brother. We were separated for many years.”
Swee glared at him defiantly. “Then where were you? Why are you coming here now?”
“I was living in the alternate universe. The universe where you sent Kenna.”
The adept glanced at her, then back at the dragon-shifter.
“I sensed her presence,” Ramsay continued. “Because of her connection with Vandar, I think. When I came back here and met your master, I knew the two of us could never exist in the same time line.”
“If you’re his brother, you could have killed him anytime. Why now?” Wendon challenged.
“At the beginning, we were very much alike. Over the years, we grew apart.”
Kenna listened to the explanation. It wasn’t strictly the truth, but it would do. Probably, the adept wouldn’t believe the real truth, anyway.
“Accept that he is dead,” Ramsay said, his voice wavering slightly.
“Bring me his body!”
Kenna glanced at Griffin. “Can we do that?”
“I don’t know. It depends on where he’s lying. Maybe we can bring his head.”
Knowing that Ramsay had done what he could, Kenna took his arm. “You were badly wounded when you fought him. You need to lie down. You should go into the cave where you can be comfortable.”
“I have no interest in his cave,” he shot back. “I want to get as far from his damn lair as I can.”
“Then maybe you could go back to the smaller cave where the portal is located.”
He thought for a moment, then nodded. “All right. And perhaps one of you can bring me some clothes.”
Ross handed him the pack he’d been carrying.
Gallagher took it and started back. Kenna would have gone with him, until she saw Talon give her a long look. She’d formed a very intimate relationship with the dragon-shifter when they’d melded their minds back in the mountain country. They had never been physically intimate, but they had been tied together in a way that nobody else could share.
Stopping, she turned to her mate. “He’s my friend. That’s all.”
Talon answered with a tight nod, then walked over to Ross and Griffin.
Kenna came back and joined the group. “Ramsay’s weak. And he doesn’t like having anyone see him at less than his best.”
“Too bad,” Talon muttered.
Kenna touched Talon’s arm. “Can we talk for a minute?”
He looked like he wanted to protest. Instead, he followed her a few yards away. “Don’t be jealous of him,” she said in a low voice.
“I’m not!”
“I would be, if I had watched you meld your mind with another woman.” She kept her gaze fixed on him. “The most important thing that ever happened to me was finding you and bonding with you. Ramsay will never come between us. I’m thinking that Zarah and the other women can help me break the link with him, but I can’t take the time to do it now. There are still too many of Vandar’s slaves that need to be found. They’ve got to be hiding in the cave.” She gave him an open look. “I don’t want to go in there by myself. Will you come with me?”
“Of course.”
When she went to tell the others where they were going, Swee gave her a murderous look, and she turned swiftly away.
Without glancing back, she and Talon walked into the rock-bound antechamber. The cool air made her shudder.
“This place gives me a spooky feeling,” Talon whispered.
“A lot of bad things happened here. To me and the other slaves.”
He closed his hand around her arm. “You don’t have to do it. Let’s get someone else to search the cave.”
She wanted to agree, but she knew she still had work to do. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she called out, “This is Kenna. I used to be one of Vandar’s slaves. You may know me. I worked in the library. Vandar is dead. You can come out. It’s all right.”
“And his adepts are neutralized. They can’t hurt you, either,” Talon added, then lowered his voice and said, “Tell them what happened to you.”
She looked at him, then called out again. “This is Kenna again. Vandar sent me on a mission. You might not know where I went. But it was to another universe. I met some people there who could help us. They killed Vandar.” She paused for several seconds, then said, “Please come out.”
After a few more seconds, Talon heard a shuffling noise to his right. A woman in a white dress appeared.
“Lina,” Kenna said. “Thank you for trusting me.”
“Is it really true?” the woman asked.
“Yes. Go on outside.” Kenna stepped forward and hugged the other woman. “My friends are there. And they have the adepts under control.”
“Nobody can control them,” Lina whispered.
“My friends are stronger. Some of them are from this universe. From a city called Sun Acres. But some of them are from the other side of the portal,” she said, like that would give them powers. Of course, the opposite was usually true, but Lina didn’t know it.
The woman gave a tiny nod.
“Do you know where the others are hiding?” Talon asked her.
“Some are down there,” she said, pointing to a room farther along the corridor. Then she walked cautiously toward the cave entrance.
When she was gone, Kenna took a few more steps into the cave, then stopped short.
“What?” Talon asked.
“I feel danger . . . but I don’t know where it’s coming from.”
“Then let’s go back.”
She looked up and down the tunnel, expecting one of the slaves to come charging out at them with a knife in his hand.
“Is it my imagination, or is the floor vibrating under our feet?” Talon asked.
“I feel it, too.” Panic gripped her. “We have to go back. Before it’s too late.”
As she spoke, a huge crack appeared in the ceiling right above her head, and small chunks of rock began to fall around her.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
KENNA’S GAZE MET Talon’s, and she knew in that terrible moment that she was going to die. After all this.
But she hadn’t counted on her mate’s werewolf reflexes.
He grabbed her, pulling her out of the way and throwing his body over hers to shield her as the cave shook around them and rock rained down.
When the ground stopped trembling, they were lying just beyond a pile of rubble.
“You saved me,” she whispered.
He clutched her tighter. “Thank God.”
They clung together, her arms moving over his back and shoulders as she reassured herself that her mate was unharmed, and he did the same.
“What the hell happened?” Talon finally asked.
Until that moment, she hadn’t put it all together, but as the picture fell into place, she caught her breath.
“It was Swee, Wendon, and Barthime. They used their psychic powers to bring the ceiling down—on top of me.”
“But they were being . . . guarded.”
“Yes.”
The sound of feet in the cave made them both turn. Zarah and Renata ran toward them.
“Are you all right?” Renata gasped out, looking over their shoulders at the chunks of rock lying on the floor.
“Yes,” Kenna answered.
“Thank the Great Mother.”
“Let’s get the hell out of the cave,” Talon suggested, his voice gritty. “Before something else goes wrong.”
Kenna nodded, and they
all started back to the exit.
Renata looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry. The power came from the three chief adepts.”