“You should have stayed away,” Aiden roared, pushing him backward forcefully, sending him careening over the open railing on one side.
Aaron tried to grab hold of the banister, but it seemed to give way to nothing, and he felt himself falling, crying out as he tumbled downward. His body jerked forward just before hitting the floor below. He lay there, staring at the ceiling as daylight seemed to pour in from everywhere around him. Slowly, his mind cleared, and he realized he had dozed off and gotten lost in the dream.
“Stupid,” he muttered to himself as he climbed out of the bed and made his way back downstairs, creeping out the same back door through which he had entered and making his way quietly down the block toward Rebekkah’s house.
He was barely in sight of it when he heard raised voices coming from the front steps. Slipping around the side of the house, he could hear both Rebekkah and Kate arguing with someone. As he peered around, he could see Aiden with a group of guards gathered about.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kate was saying.
“I’m sure that you would like for me to believe that, but we both know it’s not true. Did you really think you could come here and me not find out who you are?”
“I’ve done nothing to you. I’ve done nothing wrong,” Kate said angrily.
“That is yet to be determined. You’ll have to come with me.”
“I’m going nowhere with you. You have no reason to demand that I do!” she shouted back at him angrily.
“I am the dragon leader of this clan, and you are in an area under my command. I’m afraid that I have every right to take you in and question you further,” he replied.
Aaron hesitated for a moment. If he let Aiden take Kate, there was a good chance he wouldn’t be able to get to her. If he was to save her, he would have to make a move now. His heart raced as he slid around the building, just in the moment that Kate panicked and shifted herself, taking flight in an effort to get away. Aiden began to shift to go after her, and Aaron knew he had to do something, shifting as he ran toward Aiden and barreling into him with great force.
Both dragons tumbled backwards from the impact of their collision. The Dragon Guard stood by, waiting for a signal from Aiden before joining the fight. It was their rule to only interfere when specifically ordered to do so. To do otherwise, it was felt, made their leader look cowardly. The truth was, he was cowardly, but that was something none of them could ever speak aloud. Instead, they stood their ground and waited for direction as Kate flew away, forgotten in light of Aaron’s attack.
Up on his feet, he started toward Aiden again, his large, dark wings extended in fighting stance. This wasn’t exactly how he had intended for things to go down, but it seemed that it is how they would be. At least now, he didn’t have to worry about how to lure Aiden out, but he did have to worry about the Dragon Guard. If Aiden accepted the challenge as a true leader would, they would not interfere. However, that was not how it was going to be, it seemed. Rather than taking his own fighting stance, Aiden shifted back to human form.
“Seize him!” he barked loudly at the guards.
Aaron knew he couldn’t attack Aiden in human form, and Aiden knew it, too. It was forbidden, and he would be the one tried for cowardice if he did so. Instead, he attempted to take flight but was quickly brought down by the Dragon Guard. He was no match for four dragons and heeded their commands to shift upon being pinned back down to the ground by them. Inside, he was seething. Of course Aiden would take the cowardly way out.
“Get him to the holding cell,” Aiden yelled. “I’ll be back soon with the girl.”
Aaron tried to shift again, to go after him, but the Dragon Guard quickly sedated him with a syringe. He was barely able to focus as they tossed him into the back of their vehicle, and then everything went black.
CHAPTER 8
The cold water splashed across his naked body, leaving him shivering in the tiny cell where he had been placed. These must be the underground holding cells he had heard about from others, he surmised as he looked around, trying to shake off the grogginess he still felt from whatever sedative they had given him. There was no chance of him shifting here. To do so would be his death, as the confined space was smaller than his dragon form, and the walls were filled with sharp spikes that would press into his expanded form.
“I see you are awake,” Aiden said, standing outside the cell with the now empty water pail.
Aaron glared at him menacingly without responding.
“Do you think that I don’t know who you are? Who your little girlfriend is? Where is she? Where were the two of you hiding before you came back here?” Aiden demanded.
Aaron breathed a sigh of relief. She had gotten away. Hopefully, she was safe wherever she had gone, either back to the cabin in Newry or to their families in Kearney by now. Of course, she wouldn’t have gone straight there. Aiden was faster and bigger. She would have taken cover somewhere until it was safe to fly again. Aaron hoped she was okay, wherever she was.
“Silence is not your friend here, Donnelly. You’d do well to answer my questions,” Aiden hissed.
“I demand to speak with the Council.”
“You will speak with the Council soon enough, not that it will do you any good. If I had my way, I’d have you destroyed right here and now for the crimes of your father, but I wouldn’t want people to say I am unfair. You’ll have your day in the courts.”
“Fair? You have no idea what that word means.”
“That’s some very big talk for a man in your position. Your family is not welcome in this village. You were exiled, never to return.”
“We were not. We left of our own free will.”
“Yes, like cowards in the night, but I have taken measures to ensure that you were exiled in absentia. I would have had proper notice sent to you all, but I failed to locate which rock your lot of rodents had scurried beneath.”
“I wouldn’t talk about rodents if I were you, Aiden. You are a cold blooded murderer. I know what you did to the McCords’ father. You exiled them before they could do anything about you, and they seem to have accepted that fate, but I have no plan in doing the same.”
“You have no plan at all, I’m afraid. It would seem that you are stuck in a cell that prevents you from shifting. In the morning, you will be taken before the Council for sentencing.”
“And what is my crime?”
“You attacked the dragon leader, of course. Even you should know that is a crime.”
“I was protecting a woman who could not defend herself against you. It’s hardly a crime to defend someone against evil intentions.”
“I had no such ideas. I had merely been notified that a member of this clan who had been exiled had returned and was in hiding among our clan.”
“Ah, but not just any member of the clan. One that you thought could get you back something you couldn’t obtain for yourself.”
“I have no clue what you are going on about,” Aiden said with a smirk.
“Oh, I think you do. You planned to use Kate to lure her mother back here. We both know her mother means nothing to you. She was merely an intended conquest that escaped your filthy claws. Your ego holds a grudge, doesn’t it?”
“And you don’t hold a grudge? You aren’t here to protect your little friend. You came here to challenge me, to try and prove that your family isn’t as cowardly as perceived. What sort of man reveals the secrets of the man he is sworn to serve and then runs away?”
“A man that knows what the man he betrayed is capable of. You would have killed him and anyone related to him just to prove that you are not to be crossed. Your entire position is based on maintaining a healthy level of fear among the people here. Well, I’m not afraid of you, Aiden. I’m not afraid at all.”
“You should be,” Aiden said simply, turning to walk away.
Aaron listened as his footsteps faded down the hallway and then sat down on the small bench in the center of the cell to contemplate ho
w he was going to escape what was surely a death sentence with Aiden’s hold over the Council. He was surprised when, less than an hour later, two guards arrived at his door. One tossed him a pair of prison coveralls and a pair of slip-on shoes into the cell.
“Get dressed, Donnelly. The Council is ready to see you now.”
“Already? Why so soon?”
“I don’t know. I just do as I’m told. Get the coveralls on and let’s go.”
Aaron did as he was instructed and waited while they opened the door. The confines that led from the cell to the main Council room were equally as small, preventing any shifting from taking place. He could attempt to do so in the Council room, he knew. He had seen it once when he was younger when his father had brought him there. The problem was the stone walls and exits. Once he was shifted, he would have to stay shifted and fight his way through all that opposed him in order to resume human form and escape.
“Stand here,” one of the guards told him, positioning him in front of a large bench inhabited by the elder Council of the village.
“Aaron Donnelly, are you aware of the charges against you?” one of the elders asked.
“I would like for them to be read to me,” he replied.
“Very well,” the elder replied, motioning toward a younger member to speak.
“Aaron Donnelly, you are charged with the attempted murder of our dragon clan leader and four counts of assault on his Dragon Guard,” the younger man read from a paper in front of him.
“That’s a load of horseshit!” Aaron barked back at him.
“Young man! You will show respect in this courtroom!” the first elder shouted at him.
“Respect? Why? You’ve no respect for me! You are nothing more than Aiden’s group of hangmen, doing whatever he bids you to do. There is no fairness in this court. You might as well sentence me without hearing my case at all!” Aaron yelled angrily.
“Your outbursts will get you nowhere here, son,” the elder replied. “Let’s just get on with this business. I’d like to get home to a hot dinner for a change. How do you plead?”
“I plead not guilty, you pompous ass. How dare you imply that your next meal is more important than my life! How do you fucking sleep at night?” he spat at him.
“You’ve been warned, Mr. Donnelly. If you continue to display this level of insolence, you will be remanded back to your cell, and this trial will be held without you.”
“As if that would make any difference in the outcome,” Aaron sneered back at him.
“Very well, then,” the elder began, but he was cut off by the younger member who had read the charges.
“Hold on one minute. I, for one, would like to hear what Mr. Donnelly has to say,” he said.
The other members of the Council all looked at him as if to warn him silently, but he ignored them and continued to speak.
“Mr. Donnelly has rights, and he is due an opportunity to refute the charges brought against him. Please explain your side of the story for us, Mr. Donnelly.”
“Thank you, councilman,” Aaron replied, realizing he hadn’t even been afforded the names of these men who were his judges and jury.
Aaron explained the events that had transpired earlier that morning, how he had heard the voices and found Aiden attempting to take his friend into custody for reasons that remained unclear.
“Were you aware at the time that you and your friend were exiled from this village?” one of the other elders asked.
“No, I was not. Both my family and Kate’s family left to preserve our safety. There was good reason to believe that Aiden would do harm to all of us at the time we had fled, and we were unable to keep in touch with anyone here for fear that we would be tracked down and slaughtered.”
“Slaughtered is a bit of a stretch, isn’t it?” a Council member asked.
“No, not by any means. Aiden is ruthless and only does what suits him, not the people of this village.”
“And your purpose in coming here was to challenge him?” the young member asked.
“Yes.”
“But instead, you attacked him without permission to challenge him as leader?” the young member asked.
“I did what I felt was necessary to protect Kate, who could not defend herself,” Aaron replied. He did not mention the true nature of their relationship, as that might give Aiden even more reason to go after her if this ended poorly for him.
“Guards, can you remove the prisoner while we converse among ourselves?” the young member said.
Aaron was taken by both arms and led to a small exterior room where he could not hear any of the continued conversation in the Council room. After what seemed like hours, he was returned to stand in front of the Council. He noted that Aiden was now present as well, standing nearby and looking incredibly angry.
“Mr. Donnelly, the Council has reached a decision in this matter. It is our determination that the charges against you for attempted murder are not warranted. They have been reduced to a simple assault, though we can’t dismiss them as self-defense due to the person in danger not being yourself,” the first elder councilman told him.
Aaron hung his head. This was it. Reducing the charges meant nothing when he was sitting in a cell operated by Aiden and his band of Neanderthals. It was a death sentence either way.
“However, we feel that your request to challenge our current leader is warranted. It is tradition in this village to allow those who we feel have valid reason for challenge be allowed to do so. Therefore, we are suspending any sentence for your crime and allowing you to depart freely in preparation for this event, which will take place one week from today at first light.”
Aaron looked at them in disbelief. He looked at each of them, their faces revealing their own fear as they avoided the oppressive gaze of Aiden, who suddenly turned and stormed out of the room.
“I don’t know what to say. I can’t express my gratitude for this opportunity,” he said, his heart racing with some blend of elation and trepidation.
“You are dismissed,” the young councilman said blandly, nodding toward the guards.
Aaron walked out into the morning light with guards on either side of him. One of them looked at him and smiled before turning to walk back into the building, his face right back to appearing somber. Aaron wondered what he had missed here. Something was afoot, and he wasn’t sure what. All of this seemed too good to be true, that he could challenge Aiden on fair ground with the Council’s approval. He knew that he would have to be extraordinarily careful to steer clear of any plans for him that Aiden might have before the challenge took place.
CHAPTER 9
Upon his release, Aaron had wanted to fly directly to the cabin to see if Kate was there, but he resisted the urge. Instead, he had simply gone back to his childhood home and looked around a bit more, tidying up in preparation for his return. He was surprised by a knock at the door some hours later, hesitating as he made his way towards it and tried to peep out.
The face on the other side of the door was familiar, but he couldn’t place it. He decided to just wait it out in hopes that whoever it was went away without incident. There was another knock, followed by a moment of silence before a voice began to speak.
“Look, man. I know you are in there. I’m not here to cause grief. I came to help you, but you have to let me in before someone sees me.”
“Who are you?” Aaron asked suspiciously through the door.
“My name is Josh. I am the guard that led you outside the Council. Let me in, or I have to go.”
Aaron remembered the way one of the guards had smiled at him for a moment as he departed. It was him. That is why he remembered the face. Still, why should he trust him? He wanted to just let him go and then get out of here as soon as he could, but something was telling him to hear what the man had to say.
“Don’t try anything funny,” he said as he opened the door and motioned him in.
“Right. You need to lay off the crime thrillers,” Josh quippe
d as he slid inside.
“Why are you here?”
“I brought you some things. Supplements to make you stronger, faster.”
“And you think I’m going to take anything brought to me by a member of the Dragon Guard? You do know that Aiden has been known to poison people, right?”
“Man, I don’t give a shit about Aiden. Those didn’t come from him. They came from Connor and Owen McCord. Take them, don’t take them. Your choice.”
“Why would the McCords send me anything, and especially through one of Aiden’s people?”
“I’m not Aiden’s people. I mean, I used to be. I was there the day that he sent the McCords away. The way they were treated just for trying to defend their father’s legacy, avenge his death, was typical for Aiden. Aiden wanted them put to death, but was forced to merely exile them to maintain his persona as a fair leader. What people don’t know is that he sent us after them the moment they were out of range where no one would know what became of them.”
“The McCords are dead? That is why they didn’t return to finish the job?”
“No. They knew he would come for them. They made sure that they and their loved ones were safely out of Aiden’s reach and went into hiding.”
“So, they are cowards then,” Aaron shot back.
“No. They are just like you. They needed time to regroup. I thought the same, but I learned recently that they are nearby, just like you were, plotting to take down Aiden.”
“They’ve been gone for months. How long does it take to get ready?”
“Aiden is strong, stronger than most know. He won’t be an easy opponent to take down. They were just trying to be as prepared as possible to assure success.”
“You’ve been feeding them information,” Aaron said, suddenly realizing that there was a mole in the Dragon Guard.
“Not at first. Not until recently. About a month ago, my sister was taken in the night. Aiden had her brought to him, to use as he saw fit. The details are horrible, not fit to repeat and quite frankly, too much for me to stand telling anyone.”
Loved by a Dragon: A Paranormal Shifter Romance (Exiled Dragons Book 2) Page 4