by Donna Grant
Malcolm jumped up to land on the monster’s back. But no matter how many times he plunged his claws into the selmyr, he couldn’t kill it.
His only option was to try and find its heart. Before he could, however, the selmyr flipped them so that Malcolm was on his back staring up at the ash-skinned creature.
Malcolm swung his arm to try to cut off its head, but the creature caught his hand. Malcolm let out a bellow of fury as the selmyr’s teeth sank into his skin.
No sooner had Malcolm begun to feel the biting inferno burn through him than a large, dark shape took form in the low hanging clouds. A second later he spotted Rhys dive toward them and clamp his monstrous dragon jaws around the selmyr before flying off with it.
Malcolm dropped his head back and just lay there for a second. They were nearing the mansion where he felt the magic of the other Druids. From his look at it an hour ago, he knew it was heavily guarded. He hadn’t known by what at the time, but he knew all the Druids were safe.
He squatted atop the roof and turned as the mansion came into view. Malcolm anticipated Camdyn’s braking, and when the SUV came to a halt, Malcolm tucked his body and flipped over the hood to land on his feet in front of the Audi.
Camdyn threw open his door and looked at the sky. “Dragons.”
“You doona seem surprised,” Malcolm said as he hurried to help Saffron out of the vehicle.
Saffron smiled at him, dark circles under her eyes. “I had a vision of the dragons, but more importantly, I saw how Jason would get away.”
Malcolm escorted her into the mansion as Camdyn got their daughter out of the SUV. Once inside, Malcolm pulled back the blanket shielding the carrier to find Emma’s tawny eyes looking up at him.
“Thank you,” Camdyn said, and held out his arm.
Malcolm clasped his forearm and nodded. “It wasna all me. Rhys, one of the dragons, told me you were coming.”
“I know,” Saffron told Camdyn when he turned to her and opened his mouth to speak. “Just come back to me. To us,” she amended as she glanced at her daughter.
Camdyn pulled her into his arms for a kiss. “Always.”
Malcolm and Camdyn walked back out into the rain. Camdyn released his god, the dark brown skin the color of earth covering him.
“There’s no way I’m going to allow Wallace to get away this time.”
Malcolm grinned, hearing the answering laughter of his god, Daal. “Then let’s join the battle.”
* * *
Laura’s eyes flew open at the urging of the ancients. No longer could she hear them speaking, and the drums and chanting grew farther and farther away.
Yet she knew they weren’t leaving her.
Laura squeezed Isla’s hand to get her attention. When Isla’s ice blue eyes met hers, Laura nodded to the doorway. Someone was in the house. Someone who hadn’t been there before.
She stood with Isla as they silently made their way to the door. Laura looked around the corner to find a woman with walnut-colored hair removing her raincoat.
“Saffron,” Isla said as she rushed past Laura.
The woman jerked her head to Isla and smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“What are you doing here?” Isla asked as they hugged.
Laura slowly walked toward the two women as Saffron squatted down and unbuckled the baby from the carrier.
Saffron stood with the baby in her arms and looked at Laura. “Hello, Laura.”
“You know her?” Isla asked with a frown.
“She was in my vision.”
“Vision?” Laura repeated.
Saffron let Isla take the child from her and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m a Seer.”
“I thought you were staying away for the child’s sake?”
“I was,” Saffron said. She licked her lips and looked at Isla. “I saw how Jason would get away. We had to come.”
Isla hugged the child to her. “For Emma’s sake, you could have just called.”
Saffron shook her head slowly. “You know Camdyn better than that. He wanted to leave me and Emma behind, but I refused.”
“Come,” Isla said as she turned and started back to the parlor. “The others need to know. What can we do?”
“Nothing.”
Laura looked at Saffron, who still stood by the front door, and Isla who had stopped and faced her. “What do you mean nothing?”
“If we add our magic to try and halt Jason’s departure, he’ll use it to help him.”
“He can do that?” Laura asked.
Saffron nodded. “Oh, yes.”
Isla gave a slight wince when Emma grabbed hold of her long hair. “Then who can stop him?”
“The Warriors,” Saffron answered. “I explained it all to Camdyn. He knows what to do.”
“That’s if he gets there in time,” Laura added. “I hate to point out the obvious, but the battle could be over by now.”
Saffron walked past Laura and Isla to the parlor and paused at the doorway. “He’ll get there in time. After everything we’ve been through, none of the Warriors will let Jason walk away from this battle.”
Laura waited for Saffron to enter the parlor before she looked at Isla to find the Druid’s eyes trained on her. “We’re Druids. We’re meant to help.”
“I know,” Isla said. “That’s the part that stings the most.”
“Are Saffron’s visions never wrong?”
Isla shook her head. “She only sees parts of visions. When she isn’t sure, she lets us know. I’ve never seen her so certain of something before.”
“Why doesn’t she just tell us the vision?”
“It must be bad enough that she’s trying to spare us.”
Laura turned to the window. “I won’t accept the possibility of Charon not returning. I can’t.”
“And I can’t think of Hayden being taken from me. They are Warriors, Laura. You need to trust in Charon’s skill.”
“I do,” she admitted. “I’ve seen what he can do, but I’ve also seen Jason bring him down. With Jason and the selmyr attacking, will the dragons’ aid be enough?”
“We just have to pray it is. And God help Jason Wallace if my Warrior doesn’t walk through those doors.”
Laura raised her hands in front of her as she felt her magic begin to tingle beneath her skin. She turned and rushed into the parlor to hear Saffron tell the others what was going on.
“You said Wallace would use our magic,” she blurted out when Saffron paused.
Saffron frowned as she looked at her. “That’s right. If we use our magic against him, he’ll turn it to his advantage.”
“So, let’s not use our magic against him. Let’s use our magic to heighten the storm or the forces of nature.”
Sonya smiled widely. “Oh, I like that idea. Sitting by and doing nothing wasn’t appealing to me at all.”
“What do you think, Saffron?” Cara asked. “Can we do as Laura’s suggested?”
Saffron sat there for a moment before a slow smile began to form. “Yes. I think we can.”
Excitement pulsed through Laura, causing her magic to hum faster. The Druids resumed their circle on the floor, their hands linked and their eyes closed.
Laura’s excitement grew as she once more heard the drums and chanting.
We’re going to win, Charon, she thought to herself just before the ancients took her again.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
There were too many selmyr. Charon realized it as soon as they were attacked. The dragons were holding hundreds more from getting to the others and joining in the attack.
He caught sight of two selmyr as they jumped on Hayden’s back and bit him. Hayden let out a roar of rage, but couldn’t get them off.
Charon rushed to the red-skinned Warrior and hastily jerked out the spine of one selmyr. The other turned to Charon with a hiss of indignation, Hayden’s blood dripping from its lips.
“Come on, you ugly fuck,” Charon taunted it.
Out of the
corner of his eye, he spotted Hayden get to his knees and form a fireball in his hand. Charon dived to the side the same time Hayden launched the fire at the selmyr.
The creature was set ablaze instantly. It was Logan who gave a battle yell right before he beheaded the creature.
They only had time to get to their feet as more of the beasts rained down upon them. Charon glanced at Jason to see the bubble of magic he had surrounded himself with was diminishing quickly.
Something hurtled into Charon’s back, knocking him face first into the ground. He bit back a yell when he felt a selmyr’s bite.
Darkness, black as pitch, surrounded Charon. A heartbeat later, the selmyr was lying dead beside him. Charon glanced up to find the shadows dissipating and Lucan leaning down to help him to his feet.
Charon pivoted as he caught sight of a creature and sank his claws into its back before he yanked out the spinal column. Around him, Fallon was teleporting all over the place, taking the beasts by surprise.
Broc was swooping down from the sky and beheading all he could reach, while Arran used his control over water to direct the rain into deadly blades.
Ramsey was using his ability as a half-Druid, half-Warrior to confuse the selmyr. Ian was absorbing any of the Warriors’ power and directing it at the beasts to lethal precision.
Charon leaped over a creature as he searched for Phelan, only to find his friend surrounded by selmyr. Charon let out a battle cry and dived into the fray to come up and yank a selmyr off Phelan. There was a rumble beneath their feet, and suddenly the ground opened up around them to swallow the creatures.
“Duck!” shouted a female voice behind them.
Charon and Phelan didn’t hesitate to do as Larena demanded. The only female Warrior was using her power of invisibility once again to her advantage.
There was a startled cry from a selmyr coming at them. Charon looked up to see its spine being yanked out by some unseen hand.
“There’s more coming,” Larena’s disembodied voice said from somewhere in front of them. “Get moving.”
Charon could see how weak Phelan was after all his blood loss. He wasn’t feeling too frisky himself, but the battle was near to ending. How they would be able to sustain the battle, Charon wasn’t sure.
And by the way Jason was now on his knees, the bubble around him thinning with each hit from the selmyr, it wouldn’t be long before the creatures got to Wallace.
Then they would turn to the Warriors.
Charon got Phelan over to Quinn and Galen, who had set up around Aiden. The Druid was using his magic against the creatures. Phelan dropped to his knees, his hands braced on his thighs as his head hung forward.
“I really hate these shits,” Phelan said over the rain.
As if in answer, the storm strengthened. The rain came down at a punishing intensity while the wind howled and tried to knock them off their feet. The thunder rumbled constantly. Charon didn’t know when one round of thunder ended and another began.
“Here they come!” Quinn yelled.
Charon looked up to see a cloud of ash approaching them. The selmyr abruptly appeared in front of them, their teeth bared as they went in for a bite.
Lightning forked viciously over the sky, lashing down upon them. The selmyr standing in front of Charon was fried to a crisp when a bolt zigzagged out of the sky and zapped him.
There was only one Warrior who could control lightning. Charon looked around and spotted Malcolm and Camdyn racing toward them.
“I’ll be damned,” Galen said with a grin when he spotted them.
Charon had never been so happy to see Malcolm or Camdyn. There wasn’t time to welcome them since the selmyr had almost busted through Jason’s magic.
“It’s all about to end,” Arran said, his white Warrior eyes trained on Wallace.
Charon wasn’t ready to celebrate just yet. Deirdre and Declan had always managed to get out of tight spots. Even Jason had proved resourceful. It wouldn’t be over until Charon was standing over Wallace’s dead body.
The three MacLeod brothers lined up together as more selmyr appeared around them. Charon never got tired of watching Fallon, Lucan, and Quinn fight side by side. They were unstoppable.
But even they were soon overwhelmed by the sheer number of selmyr.
“Where are they coming from?” Ian asked.
Charon lunged forward the same time he dodged a creature’s arm. He used his speed to get behind the selmyr and behead him. “Hell,” he answered as the head fell to the ground.
There was no more time for talk as they fought to stay alive and struggled to keep the selmyr off them. There wasn’t a one of them who hadn’t been bitten at least a dozen times, and it was taking its toll.
Charon’s usual speed wasn’t there. It felt as if he didn’t quite have control of his body. And he hurt. Everywhere, but especially the spots he’d been bitten.
He couldn’t give up. He wouldn’t give up. For Laura, for the Druids, for the innocents the world over who had no idea what was going on.
Or the costs it would have on the ones who fought the silent, unknown war.
Charon’s knee buckled as he turned away from a selmyr. Phelan caught him before he hit the ground. He tried to smile at his friend, but it was Phelan’s waxy complexion that made him anxious.
“I’m all right,” Phelan said.
But Charon knew it for the lie it was, because he knew he looked just as bad as or worse than his friend.
Over the rumble of the torrential rain, Charon heard the roars of the dragons. He took a deep breath and got back on his feet. He managed to kill two more selmyr before he caught sight of Jason.
He wasn’t the only one. The creatures around the Warriors had turned toward Wallace, their long strides eating up the ground as they hurried to him.
“Help!” Wallace cried to Charon.
Lucan walked up beside Charon and said, “This is going to be nice to watch.”
“We should leave,” Quinn cautioned.
Galen rotated his shoulders as his wounds healed. “I agree. Once the selmyr kill Wallace, they’ll turn on us again.”
“I’m no’ leaving,” Charon announced.
His words were accented by a fork of lightning that landed close to them. He turned to Malcolm, thinking the Warrior had used his power.
“That wasna me,” Malcolm said when everyone looked at him.
Phelan glanced up. “The storm. It’s the storm.”
“That recently strengthened,” Aiden said.
Camdyn stepped forward. “Saffron had a vision on how Jason would escape. It’s why I’m here. The Druids were going to use their magic to try and hold Wallace here, but somehow in Saffron’s vision he turned it around and used their magic to his advantage.”
“So they’ve strengthened the storm,” Hayden said.
Charon could no longer see Jason, there were so many selmyr. After all the bastard had done to him and Laura, Charon was eager for Wallace’s death. The only thing that could make it better was if Charon took his life himself.
Wallace’s magic was fading quickly. No longer did the sticky feel of drough magic fill the area.
“He didna last as long as I thought he would,” Phelan said.
Charon was about to agree with him when the sky opened and lightning hit Jason’s magic bubble the same time a selmyr did. The boom was deafening as it spread, knocking everyone off their feet and onto their backs.
When Charon opened his eyes he blinked past the onslaught of rain, his ears ringing. He jerked as a face filled his vision. It was Phelan, and he was saying something, but Charon couldn’t hear him.
The quick healing of his god made Charon’s ears pop as Phelan pulled him on his feet. He looked to where Wallace had been, but found the spot empty.
All around it, in a huge circle, were the selmyr laid out unconscious. But they were beginning to stir.
“Shit,” Charon said, and turned to the other Warriors.
“Larena!” Fal
lon shouted over and over for his wife.
Charon’s gut clenched for Fallon. Larena’s ability to turn invisible was a boon, but it came at a steep price when Fallon couldn’t find her.
“Here!” came a shout farther up the mountain.
Charon turned back to the place Jason had almost been defeated. “He couldna have gotten away. No’ when he was so close to dying.”
“I guess there isna a chance the lightning got him, is there?” Arran asked.
Phelan snorted. “If only. We willna know for sure until we go looking for him.”
“Until then, let’s get out of here,” Ramsey said.
Charon hung back with Phelan, Arran, and Ian as Fallon teleported the others to the mansion.
“We can no’ leave these selmyr to live,” he said.
Ian’s lips flattened. “I want them dead as much as you do, but we’re no’ in fit shape to take them on again.”
“We need to give ourselves at least a day to recover,” Arran said.
Phelan caught Charon’s gaze. “Then have a plan to take these buggers out in one fell swoop.”
Charon nodded as the selmyr stood up one by one. He grinned at them, but before they could take another step, dragons dived from the sky, scattering the selmyr to the four winds.
“Until next time,” Charon murmured.
He looked up to see a gold dragon. Somehow Charon knew it was Con. Charon lifted his hand to the King of Kings just as Fallon laid a hand on Charon’s shoulder.
In a blink, Charon found himself in the foyer of Con’s mansion. All around him, the Druids were fussing over their Warriors.
Charon, Phelan, and Malcolm stood alone, watching it all. The sea of bodies parted enough so that Charon spotted Laura at the base of the stairs staring at him.
“What are you waiting for?” Phelan leaned over and whispered. “She’s meant to be yours, my friend.”
Charon put one foot in front of the other as he walked to the one woman in the world who held his heart in her hands. He dodged people and ignored comments directed at him.
All he cared about, all he wanted was to get to Laura. Yet the closer he came, the more he doubted himself. She had been thrust into a world she wasn’t prepared for.