Earth's Blood (Earth Reclaimed)

by Ann Gimpel

  “I can fly there.” Bella floated to the junction of the dragon’s neck and shoulder.

  Love, an emotion Dewi had denied forever, surged through her. These were her people, her family. A rush of fierce protectiveness warmed her as she called the magic that would transport them to safety.

  Something about the MacLochlainn was different. It took the entire journey home before Dewi realized Aislinn’s womb was empty.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Dewi’s warmth soothed Aislinn. She leaned against the dragon’s comforting bulk and tried not to think, but it was a losing proposition. Her mind jumped from topic to topic, none of them pleasant. Perrikus had tried to kill her. If he hadn’t been so intent on murdering her child, he might have succeeded. By the time she’d felt the life within her flicker out, the dark god had moved on. An unpleasant thought jabbed her. Perrikus must have thought she was dead right along with the child; otherwise, he’d never have left her side.

  Her lungs burned. Her vision grayed at the edges. Travel between Earth and the border worlds was brutal. She turned her face toward the dragon. A few air molecules were trapped within her ruby scales. Just when Aislinn was certain unconsciousness was imminent, the air improved. Tears filled her eyes. They’d be home soon. No. There is no more home. We’ll be back on Earth at Marta’s. And I’ll be alone.

  Guilt stabbed mercilessly at her. Aislinn hadn’t wanted the baby, not really, but she would have done her best to love and care for it. It was a shock when D’Chel had rubbed her nose in her pregnancy. Things happened so quickly after that, she hadn’t had a chance to warm to the idea. Grief mingled with a healthy jot of self-blame now that the child was no more. She laid a hand over her abdomen and murmured, “I’m sorry.”

  She’d tried to draw the dark gods away from Fionn—and done her damnedest to kill D’Chel. Yeah, I was chock full of hubris and bravado, and look where it got me. Worry for Fionn raced through her. He and Arawn were far from safe. It would be a miracle if the four Celts returned from the border world intact. The tears that had threatened earlier spilled over. If she lost Fionn, Aislinn swore she’d lay waste to the world. Her heart retreated behind the protective shell she’d erected after her mother’s death.

  Never should have taken it down. Hurts too much.

  Dewi’s forelegs tightened around her. “Hush, child. I know you mourn your loss, but you must be strong. There will be more bairns.”

  “Not if Fionn doesn’t come back, there won’t.”

  The dragon didn’t answer. Aislinn hadn’t expected her to. Heartache and fear for the future soured her stomach. She reached for the wolf through the Hunter bond. “Rune?”

  “I am fine. The dragon encased me in some sort of magic. At least I can breathe this trip.”

  Dewi trumpeted. A gateway opened and she marched through.

  “You can put me down,” Aislinn said. Dewi bent and set her gently on her feet. Every part of her body ached, but it was nothing compared with the parched wasteland in her soul.

  A shimmery ball next to Dewi broke open. Rune trotted out and made a beeline for her side. He rubbed his lush pelt against her leg and whined. “Mistress. I was so worried. You lay as if dead for far too long.” He hesitated. “I am sorry about the pack puppy.”

  “As am I.” Bella fluttered to Rune’s shoulder and latched onto it.

  “Holy Christ.” Aislinn put her hands on her hips and glared at dragon, bird, and wolf. “Am I the only one who didn’t know I was pregnant?”

  Rune whuffed softly. “It would appear so.”

  Dewi lumbered toward the far side of the backyard. “Come,” she called over her shoulder. “There’s someone very special I’d like you to meet.” Something bittersweet in the dragon’s tone caught Aislinn’s attention. She’d never heard the dragon sound quite like that before.

  Though she was so weary all she wanted to do was fall on her face and sleep for a hundred years, Aislinn plodded after Dewi. Rune paced beside her with Bella on his back. It was easy to keep up. The dragon was so large, she didn’t move very fast on land.

  Aislinn’s gaze landed on another dragon. “Oh my.” Her hand flew to her chest; fatigue slid away.

  Nidhogg’s dark scales gleamed in the afternoon sun. The Norse dragon was elegant, with such an unearthly beauty it was hard to look right at him. Green eyes whirled at her. He inclined his head in greeting.

  “I am Nidhogg, the Norse dragon, feared amongst all seven seas—”

  “Beloved, oh beloved.” Dewi broke into Nidhogg’s introduction and settled on her belly in the dirt next to him. “You are looking stronger—and larger than when I left.” Aislinn could have sworn Dewi was smiling.

  “Hmph. Never did let me finish my sentences. I ate everything you and Arawn left. It was a start.”

  Aislinn moved close. She forgot her own pain. Compassion for Nidhogg burned deep. “How did you manage to survive for so long in that hideous place?”

  Steam streamed from his nostrils. “The dark ones wanted me alive. They fed off my energy, so they made sure I had just enough to eat to keep me on this side of the veil. I knew eventually—” he harrumphed and leveled his gaze at Dewi “—someone would conjure a way to free me.”

  Dewi wrapped her forelegs around him. He twined his neck with hers. Tears flowed from her dark eyes; they turned into gemstones when they hit the ground. The dragons breathed steam into each other’s mouths.

  “No need to get maudlin, woman. I’ll live,” Nidhogg said gruffly and disentangled himself. “I could use more food, though. Mayhap we could do a spot of hunting.”

  “If you’re sure you’re strong enough…”

  Aislinn stared at Dewi. The dragon sounded positively maternal, her tone soft and tender.

  Nidhogg rolled his eyes. A creaking sound that might have been laughter rumbled from his throat. “If I’m not, I’ll come right back and wait for you to serve me.” He turned and eyed Aislinn. “Hmph. Another MacLochlainn. We need to watch it, you and I.” He lowered his tone conspiratorially. “There’ll be no living with that one”—he hooked a talon at Dewi—“once she has both her mate and the ancient MacLochlainn bond at her beck and call.”

  “I’ll be sure to keep it in mind.” Aislinn smiled in spite of herself. Nidhogg was impossible not to like. He wasn’t imperious or haughty like Dewi.

  Rune trotted closer and sniffed cautiously.

  “You don’t have to be so tentative.” Nidhogg edged closer to the wolf. “I don’t bite.”

  “No, but you command fire.”

  Nidhogg sat back on his haunches. Steam billowed from his mouth. “If what the dark ones told me is true, it has been long since dragons roamed the world, but we never injured bond animals.”

  “It is my fault, beloved.” Dewi mirrored Nidhogg’s posture, but didn’t meet his twirling gaze. “If I hadn’t gone in search of you—”

  “Stop. We start anew today, Dewi. No recriminations. If I hadn’t been so arrogant, I’d never have let those bastards trap me in the first place. Shall we?” He straightened his rear legs and furled his wings. “By the goddess, it is good to be free.”

  Aislinn watched as the two dragons took to the skies. Dewi waited until her mate was inscribing lazy circles in the air before joining him. “I’m happy for them,” Aislinn told Rune and Bella. “It’s not often a love story has a happy ending after such a long time.”

  “Come inside.” Rune walked toward the house and then turned to make certain she was following him.

  “I’m not sure I can.” Fionn’s scent and feel was all over the inside of Marta’s house. For one self-indulgent moment, she considered jumping back to the border world to help him and Arawn. Aislinn shut her eyes. I’m too tired. I’d be a liability.

  Fluid dampened her crotch. Blood. Something else to attend to.

  She plodded up the back steps and into the house. Aislinn stopped just inside the kitchen door and sent her magic spiraling outward. She was tired, but there was no point in walking i
nto something unexpected because she’d been too slipshod to check. She thought about the house being unstable because it was situated on psychic fault lines. They’d need to move their base of operations once the Celts returned.

  “If they don’t come back, it won’t matter,” she muttered.

  “Of course Fionn will return.” Bella sounded indignant. “I swear, that man is like a bad penny. He always turns up.”

  Aislinn bent and ruffled the bird’s feathers where she perched atop Rune. “I hope you’re right.” She ran a hand through Rune’s soft fur and gazed about the kitchen, bleary-eyed. Her search for anything malevolent came up dry. Since the hybrids had escaped their coffins, she wondered if the back of the house would be safe again.

  More blood dripped between her legs. She set her jaw, her teeth clacking together. She needed a bath and a place to lie down so she could reach inside with her Healer gift and repair her womb. She unbuckled her travel pack and dropped it in a corner of the kitchen.

  The wolf sprang between her and the door leading to the hallway. “Where are you going?”

  “To the back of the house to take a bath and lie down.”

  He growled at her. “You can bathe in the front bathroom or kitchen sink and rest in the living room. Fionn said—”

  She put her hands on her hips. “Fionn’s not here. Who are you bonded to? Him, or me?” She blew out an impatient breath. “I checked. I think it’s safe. Besides, I really should go to the attic and look in on Gwydion and Bran.”

  “We can do that,” Bella cut in. She pecked the side of Rune’s head. The wolf narrowed his amber eyes. He looked as if he wanted to say something, but Bella pecked him again, and he turned and trotted down the hall.

  Aislinn warded herself, just in case. When she tapped into her magical well, she wasn’t surprised to find it nearly dry. She’d need rest and food to recharge. She moved cautiously down the hall after Rune and Bella. Fionn’s warding on the attic door was intact. It was too complicated to take the whole thing apart, so she only focused on the part of it that kept the door locked. Panting with effort, she finally tugged the door open for the animals.

  Her eyes fluttered from weariness, and her hands shook. I need food before I tackle the bedroom warding. Aislinn traipsed back to the kitchen, stood over the canisters, and shoveled dried fruit and nuts into her mouth. She turned on the kitchen tap and drank from it. She was just about to go back down the hall when Rune and Bella trotted into the kitchen.

  “Well?” She eyed them.

  “They feel about the same to me,” Rune answered.

  “Yes. Alive, but not. We’re hungry, too,” Bella added.

  “If you can spare me for a while, I would like to hunt.” Rune swished his tail.

  “Of course.” Aislinn made shooing motions with both hands. “I’ll be fine. About all I’m going to do is sleep.”

  She trudged down the hall and reached toward the casting holding the bedroom door closed. Fortunately, Fionn had used similar magic, so it didn’t take her nearly as long to dismantle as the first one had. Her gaze scuttled from bathtub to bed. She finally decided on a compromise and grabbed a towel from the bathroom so she wouldn’t bleed all over the sheets.

  Aislinn undid her pants and let them slide down her hips. Her eyes widened at the amount of blood staining the fabric, but then she reminded herself that bloody wounds nearly always looked worse than they were. She turned back the bedcovers, spread the towel, and lay on it. The room was cold, so she pulled the blankets over herself.

  She swallowed, but her throat was dry and the tissue rubbed against itself. This next would be hard, but it had to be done. She marshaled what magic she had left and probed her injured womb with Healer energy to help the thickened lining slough off. Her embryo was gone. She found the place it had been attached and layered magic over ruptured blood vessels. Her heart ached. Maybe she was destined to lose every single thing she’d ever loved.

  Clear and cold, the voice of reason intruded. Be honest. I didn’t love it. That’s why I feel so wretched.

  Only because I didn’t know about it. Her cheeks were damp with tears; she scrubbed them away with grubby fingers.

  Oh, Fionn. Why didn’t you tell me?

  Realization nearly wrecked the concentration she needed to Heal herself. He’d tried to broach the topic that last day in the kitchen, but she’d been so high-handed, the conversation had died before it could even get started. She attempted to picture the look on his face when she’d said flatly that she never wanted children, but it wouldn’t come into focus.

  “It’s just as well,” she murmured, finishing up with her ministrations. She might bleed for a day or two, if at all, but other than the searing emptiness in her soul, there’d be no lasting scars.

  Dragons trumpeted loudly. She rolled off the bed and moved to the window. At first she couldn’t see anything, but then two forms—one black, one red—came into view. Their bodies were twined together, and she realized they were mating. The trumpeting escalated, radiating joy and possession and love.

  Even though Aislinn felt she was intruding on a private moment, she watched their graceful, aerial ballet, her eyes hot and gritty. She needed to cry, but was empty of tears right along with magic. A leaden dullness sat heavily in her chest.

  I’ve got to get hold of myself. Aislinn gritted her teeth. Self-pity wasn’t her style. She left the window and fashioned a rag out of a scrap of cloth. That done, she pulled on her panties, and settled the rag between her legs to soak up her flow, in case there was any. She looked longingly at the bed, but knew she’d sleep better and waken stronger if she ate more.

  Aislinn clung to small tasks to keep herself from shattering. Every time she thought about Fionn, she felt like a tennis ball. On one side of the court, her life would be over if he didn’t return. When the ball bounced to the other side, she was furious with him for not discussing something as important as a pregnancy, which would impact her body for months, before he sent his sperm to settle in her uterus. Because the dichotomy was ripping her heart to shreds, she forced herself to focus on one thing at a time, walked slowly to the kitchen, and made herself eat and drink.

  She chewed and swallowed mechanically. The food was tasteless. It may as well have been sawdust. After a last slug of water from the tap, she found her way back to the bedroom. Aislinn crawled into bed, pulled the covers over her body, and closed her eyes. She was so exhausted, she assumed sleep wouldn’t be a problem. Her entire body ached. Heart sore and weary, she willed sleep to erase everything for a while. Instead, Fionn and Arawn rose behind her closed lids. It took a moment for her to realize they were in the same place Perrikus had held her prisoner.

  Fionn started. He spun and looked right at her. “Nay, leannán. Doona try to return here. Not with your mind or your body. ’Tis dangerous for you to even be within my mind. D’Chel still wants you. He hasna given up.”

  “Fionn.” His name tore from her in an anguished howl. “You have to—”

  The vision winked out as quickly as it had come. Sour-smelling sweat poured from her body and pooled beneath her. What was going on? Had they been taken captive as she’d been? She raised both forearms under the covers and slammed her hands down on the mattress. Frustration battled an impotent rage.

  I couldn’t take on a field mouse in my current state. I have to sleep.

  Rune padded into the bedroom, claws muted by the carpet. He jumped onto the bed and licked her face. The anguish pouring through her quieted under his touch. After a time, he lay next to her, and the warmth of his body lulled her into an uneasy sleep.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Fionn glared at Arawn. “Do ye have any more bright ideas?” He snapped his fingers a few times. “Quick. I need them afore Aislinn throws caution to the winds and comes after us.”

  “Aye. I have one, but it might be the death of Gwydion and Bran. Mayhap us, too.”

  Fionn clamped his jaws together. His mage light knocked gently against Arawn’s, whe
re the two globes were suspended off to one side. He scanned the underground room where they’d found Gwydion’s and Bran’s astral selves contained within glowing cylinders. The dank chamber looked like an impromptu dungeon with stone walls and an iron portcullis for a door. Water dripped down slime-covered walls. Not so much as a rat had shown up to pump for information. Fionn shook his head to clear it. He wanted to return to Aislinn so badly, it got in the way of his concentration.

  He laid a hand on the glass chamber with Gwydion’s essence locked inside. It brightened. The master enchanter spoke into his mind. “I wish to hear Arawn’s idea.”

  Fionn lifted a brow. “Did ye hear that?”

  “Aye.” Arawn nodded. “’Tis a small enough boon, but I doona believe Aislinn was held in this space. Did she tell you how she managed to free herself?”

  “Nay. There wasna time. I’d been injured.” The glass warmed beneath Fionn’s hand. A corner of his mouth turned down. “Gwydion is impatient, and rightly so. Ye changed the subject at hand.”

  “That I did.” Arawn drew his dark brows together. “’Tis because I am still thinking, but I can see why he would be edgy. He must find his body—and soon.” Arawn strode across the small space. Something that sounded like bones crunched beneath his boots. He laid a hand on the other side of Gwydion’s cylinder. “Can ye hear me when I am not touching you?”

  “Yes.” Gwydion’s mind voice sounded exasperated. “Ye doona even need to stand nearby. Bran and I can hear. We just canna talk unless ye are touching us.”

  Fionn started to ask how they’d let themselves be captured, but now wasn’t the time. “If ye have an idea”—he locked gazes with Arawn—“spit it out.”