by Julia Mills
The longer they chanted, the darker the smoke became and the more horrible the air around them smelled. Alicia would’ve said it was sulfur, but it held a coppery, almost sickly sweet scent that reminded her more of day old blood than anything else. She prayed it wasn’t Drago’s blood.
No, it isn’t. I would know if something was seriously wrong. He’s okay. He has to be okay.
Staring into the smoke, the young witch saw billowy figures forming. At first, they were hard to make out. They looked like the pieces of tissue paper she and her sisters used to turn into ghostly decorations every Halloween. But the longer she watched, the more into focus they became, until she realized they were actual human faces. It all became clear and made Alicia sick to her stomach. They were the people who had been sacrificed by the Dorcha to create Drago’s prison.
Yelling over the sound of chanting, Alicia screamed. “Kyra, it’s blood magic! Look at the smoke! You can see them!”
A collective gasp went up from the witches, accompanied by a low growl from the Guardsmen standing behind them.
“Oh, my Goddess!” Kyra answered into the now haunting silence. “Those bastards locked him away with blood sacrifices and not just any blood, they used witch’s blood. There has to be a focus, something that is holding all the magic, and it has to be somewhere below us. That’s what Sarah Beth and I felt. The pieces of shit couldn’t risk it being close enough to Drago to kill him. It was just meant to hold him… forever.” Her last word was spoken with such vehemence that Alicia could almost see the white witch shaking with a fury that matched her own. Kyra may have only been five foot nothing, but she was powerful, off the charts powerful… the daughter of the Grand Priestess and the mate of a very strong, very old Guardsman powerful, and she was pissed off.
Putting out the fire in the copper pot with a single command, “Mhu’chadh”, Kyra looked at Royce standing with his brothers, Rory and Rian, before turning to Rayne then looking back to Alicia. “We have to find whatever they’ve stored the magic in. It will do us no good to try to get to Drago without it. The magic I feel is crazy powerful and super concentrated. It will keep us from reaching your…friend at all costs.” Kyra paused and Alicia could feel the white witch’s hesitation.
Fatigue battled with worry and added to Alicia’s growing fear until just the few heartbeats of silence between her and Kyra almost made Alicia want to scream. Unable to take it anymore, the younger witch growled, “So what do we do? I was talking to him a few minutes ago and our connection just went dead. Now, he’s not responding at all. I can’t even really feel him anymore. I mean I know he’s still breathing but other than that, I have no freaking clue what’s going on.” She was talking so fast by the time she stopped to take a breath, her vision blurred for a split second.
Feeling completely lost, she looked to her mother, “What can we do, Momma? We can’t just leave him in there.”
“We have no intention of leaving him in there,” Rayne answered as he stepped into the circle and walked toward her. “I will save my uncle if it means digging the hole and dragging him out of there myself. I just need you to keep trying to talk to him. Tell him what’s going on. He may be able to hear you even if you can’t hear him. Drago’s one tough son of a bitch. He’ll make it out alive. If for no other reason than to see you.” The Commander shocked Alicia by winking before he turned and walked to Kyra.
She’d never heard him sound so… human. Still thinking about what Rayne had said, Alicia jumped when her mother grabbed her hand and started to speak. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you, sweetheart,” Sarah Beth chuckled then suddenly becoming serious, she added, “the Commander is right. You have to believe. Keep talking to him. You’re all he has until he can once again see daylight.”
“I know, Mom, but it’s hard. I’m scared. What if we can’t save him? What if I can’t save him?”
“You just have to believe, Alicia. You just have to believe.”
But is that enough?
Chapter Five
Drago had absolutely no idea what had happened. One minute he was talking to his mate and the next… she was gone. Not like all the other times when he’d known she was asleep or he’d been too tired to project across the miles to reach her. No, this time was different. He knew Alicia was still breathing but other than that, essentially, she was nowhere to be found. He’d called and called but to no avail. There was just a mass of dead air screaming its ugly silence back at him.
Feeling more trapped than he had in all his hundred years of captivity, the Guardsman and his dragon gave in to their combined feelings of inadequacy and roared. Drago pushed all his anger and frustration into that earth shaking shout of frustration. Feeling helpless was not something the Assassin easily accepted. It was something he fought every day of his captivity but now, without the feel of the woman who had come to mean so much to him in such a short amount of time, he felt lost and completely alone.
Shaking his head the best he could against the silver shackle that anchored his neck to what he feared had become his casket, Drago searched for the calm he’d instilled in all the Guardsmen he’d ever trained. It was imperative he focus. He had to keep calling to Alicia. He had to fight against the flood of pain and agony from almost a hundred years of captivity threatening to drown him. She was his lifeline, and there was no way in heaven or hell he was giving up without a fight. His mate would save him. He would survive. They would be together.
With those exact words forming a mantra in his mind, Drago summoned all his strength and that of the great beast with which he shared his soul and shouted with all his might to his mate. “Alicia! Alicia, mo chroi’, where are you? What is happening?”
He continued for several long minutes, pausing every so often to listen for the reply he prayed would come, but over and over, his hopes were dashed. Drago was left exhausted and aching without so much as a whisper from Alicia.
“I have to rest. If only for a moment.” He spoke out loud for the first time in more years than he could remember. The scratchy, broken echo of his voice was a sad reminder of all the time he’d lost buried in the ground, kept from the ones he’d sworn to protect…kept from the ones he loved.
Drifting in and out of consciousness, Drago continued to call to Alicia through their ever-growing mating bond. He knew it was a weak attempt but he couldn’t give up, couldn’t give into the temptation to sleep even though it pulled at every fiber of his being. Taking a deep breath, his chest expanded against yet another set of silver chains the Dorcha had placed to keep him prisoner, but this time, his constraints felt tighter, almost as if they’d somehow constricted against his torn and broken flesh.
Sure it was his imagination playing tricks, Drago tested the shackles at his wrists and ankles. He shook his head, unable to believe what he felt. It seemed impossible since he’d only ever been able to move a few scant inches, but they too had tightened and restricted his movement even more than they had before. It was at that precise moment he realized every time he swallowed his Adam’s apple rubbed against the thick, silver collar around his neck. The smell of burning flesh filled his cell. Not only were his restraints tightening but now they were starting to burn.
Is it not enough that silver eats away at dragon’s flesh? Now, it is on fire too? Dear Universe, please let Alicia make it in time.
For the first time since being placed in his prison, the cold, dark tendrils of doubt began to fill the Assassin’s mind. He questioned the ability of Alicia and her and family to help him. He questioned the loyalty of his nephew and those his mate had said Rayne commanded to assist in his rescue. It was totally out of character, but for the only time in his life, Drago questioned his sanity and his strength.
Maybe I’ve finally lost my mind. Maybe this was all a fantasy. Maybe Alicia was all a figment of my very tired, very weak imagination. After all, this is what the bastards wanted. They wanted me suffer. They wanted me to weaken. They wanted me to spend eternity in a hole in the ground without one s
hred of hope.
Twisting his hands and feet and turning his head to the side in an attempt to relieve even a second of the pressure and pain his bonds were inflicting, the Guardsman felt a slight shift in the earth around his tomb. Holding his breath and his body completely still, Drago prayed to feel the sensation again. Heartbeat after heartbeat he waited to experience even the tiniest movement, if for no other reason than to reassure himself he hadn’t gone completely mad.
Deciding his imagination was once again playing tricks, Drago attempted to turn his head in the opposite direction, only to find the shackle around his neck had tightened again, making all movement impossible. One by one, he tested every shackle and chain, only to find the same was true at every point. They had tightened so much he was unable to move at all. It was uncomfortable and frustrating to have lost even the tiny range of motion he’d come to rely on, but what worried him the most was the way the mass of silver around his chest and torso restricted his ability to draw all but a shallow breath.
Drago remembered the words of the Grand Draoi as the Assassin drew on his years of training and experience to control his breathing and keep his muscles lax…
“You are no match for the Darkness that will rule the earth. Dragon kin will be destroyed and we will be victorious. Enjoy the rest of your very long life knowing I won.”
The Assassin had always believed the evil wizard meant for him to live forever knowing they were still wielding their offending magic over the world he’d committed his life to protecting. Drago knew from Alicia, if she hadn’t been part of his growing imagination, that dragon kin was still alive and thriving. It was one of the few things he had to be thankful for, along with the beautiful woman the Universe had created just for him. But maybe the Guardsman had been wrong. Maybe his time was now coming to an end.
Drawing another shallow breath, Drago stopped. There it was again and this time, he knew he wasn’t going insane. The earth around his prison had shifted. Unfortunately, almost simultaneously, his constraints once again tightened.
That’s it! It has to be what’s happening. It’s all part of the Draoi’s plan. The bastard literally built a failsafe into the spell holding me captive. The wretched beast saw to everything. He knew there was a chance that I could be found, maybe even rescued, so he added a kill switch to the magic. If for any reason I am about to be discovered my shackles simply wring the life out of me. I must admit, I never saw that one coming.
Attempting a sarcastic chuckle at what the Assassin was sure would be one of his last breaths, he wasn’t surprised to find it was barely a wheeze. The seconds were ticking by. It was becoming harder and harder to breathe. Drago let his eyelids fall. Not that it made any difference in the complete darkness he’d been subjected to for all those years, but opening his eyes was something he’d become accustomed to since discovering his mate.
Alicia…
Her name floated through his mind, accompanied by the image he’d pulled from her consciousness. The picture he’d held onto every day since learning of her existence. She was simply amazing and he would be forever grateful to her for the few hours of comfort she’d provided after all his years of seclusion. Drago knew it wouldn’t be long until he was in the Heavens and knew beyond a shadow of a doubt he would wait forever if it took that long for his beautiful mate to join him.
One more shallow breath, another tightening of his chains, more movement of the earth around him. Silver and heat burnt through his torn flesh. Blood flowed from every wound. His dragon roared over and over in his head at the injustice the Guardsman had to endure.
That roar gave him the strength to send one more message to Alicia, one declaration he wanted her to carry for all time…
“I don’t know if you can hear me, but I need for you to know how very much you’ve come to mean to me. Not just because the Universe said we are destined to be but because of your strength, your intelligence, your beauty, and your heart. You are truly an amazing creature, Alicia McKennon. Know that I go to the Heavens with an abundance of love and admiration for you, my gorgeous mate. Live a long and happy life and know that I will be waiting with open arms for the day you join me. All my love, ceann beag, all my…”
And with that, Drago lost consciousness.
Chapter Six
The dragons had been digging for hours while the witches performed a containment spell for the ever-increasing black magic filling the atmosphere. Alicia worked hard to lend her magic while continuing to talk to Drago through what everyone was calling their mating bond. She prayed every second her calls went unanswered that he was hearing her and just unable to respond. It was the most nerve-racking situation she’d ever been in.
“You better hang on, you crazy ol’ dragon. You’ve caused me too many sleepless nights to get out that easily,” she joked, wishing she felt as happy as she was trying to make her voice sound.
Looking up, Alicia caught Hannah and Melanie looking at her with a bone deep sadness in their eyes that made the young witch’s heart hurt. Hannah gave a weak attempt at a smile while Melanie just gave in and walked toward her.
Moving to Alicia’s left, Melanie grabbed her hand and whispered, “I just can’t imagine how hard this is on you. I’m here if you need to talk.”
Any other time Alicia would’ve fired back a smartass comment about just trying to be a good person and help another out, but she knew it was useless. It was time to admit to herself, if no one else, that Drago was her mate. It was the only explanation for everything that had happened between them, whether she thought she was ready or not.
Her father always told them that Fate knew what she was doing and with the help of the Goddess, would never give them anything they couldn’t handle. Alicia had never really understood that statement until now. It was just a damn shame Fate and the Goddess thought more of the young witch than she thought of herself.
“Dammit, Drago, answer me!” Alicia demanded. “This is all your fault. You barged into my life and made me care about you and now you’re not there when I need you.”
The young witch knew she wasn’t being fair but she was tired, frustrated, angry, and most of all, scared. She just needed to hear her Guardsman’s voice. Nodding to Melanie, who’d rejoined the chanting, Alicia too mouthed the words that would keep the world safe from the noxious magic attempting to escape their grasp.
Dropping the hands she held on either side of her, Alicia moved to the edge of the cavern the dragons continued to dig in search of whatever the Dorcha had used as a focus item when they’d locked Drago away. She squinted into the darkness, listening to the constant sound of metal moving earth as each Guardsman dug with a single-minded focus. They were recovering one of their own. One thought long dead, and they were letting nothing and no one stop them from rescuing the Assassin.
Offering her hundredth prayer of the day to the Goddess and the Universe, Alicia closed her eyes and hoped with all she was. Standing absolutely still, opening herself to whatever heavenly being was feeling especially generous, the young witch let the entities that governed her existence and that of the Guardsman who’d suffered so much see exactly what that one man had come to mean to her. She admitted to them that she needed him to be okay and even more than that, she simply needed him.
Drago had slipped under her radar. He had become as important to her as the air she breathed and the people she loved. There was not a world she could imagine where he did not exist and she would do whatever she had to make it so. Summoning her strength, she opened her mind to call to her Guardsman one more time when Rayne yelled from deep beneath her feet. “Kyra! Sarah Beth! Alicia! Get down here! We found something!”
Without a second thought, Alicia dropped to her butt, let her feet dangle over the edge into the hole in the ground, and began scooting on the newly excavated dirt. She heard her mother tell her to be careful and Kyra call out to Rayne that they were on their way but none of that mattered, the dragons had found something and she was going to see if it would help h
er rescue Drago.
Alicia seemed to slide through the dirt forever before she finally caught sight of the Guardsmen gathered at the bottom of the pit. The darkness was oppressive and she thanked the Heavens when Kyra’s flashlight shown from just over the young witch’s left shoulder. She also chuckled when the white witch grumbled, “I swear to the Goddess. How many times am I gonna have to tell y’all that witches don’t see in the dark the way dragons do? Oh, and by the way, that whole mate sharing thing hasn’t happened where my night vision is concerned.”
Kyra’s complaining seemed to lighten the mood, but her exclamation of ‘Oh shit!’ when she saw whatever the dragons were gathered around had Alicia standing and pushing her way through the circle of huge men. What she saw was something out of every witch’s nightmares.
Sitting not ten feet from where she stood was a four foot by four foot silver box inscribed with every black magic sigil known to witchcraft. There wasn’t a single square inch free of the deep, inky markings. Taking two careful steps forward, Alicia gasped and looked to her mother. “That’s blood. They carved into the silver and then filled the carvings with blood.”
Her mother shook her head but it was Kyra who answered. “More witch’s blood. More dirty blood magic.” She paused and bit her bottom lip, a look of total concentration coloring her violet eyes.
Alicia counted to ten before the tiny witch spoke again. “But this is where the focus lies. It’s in that damn box. Now, we just have to figure out how to get it out of there.”
“If we finish digging it out can we carry it to the surface without letting anymore magic loose than we already have?” Royce asked, apparently voicing what the other Guardsmen were thinking since they nodded and awaited Kyra’s answer.