Dragon's Heart

by Marly Mathews

  “You are here. I don’t think your forces can rally enough strength to win without you being there.”

  “You would be mistaken. You see, you’ve bitten off more than you can chew this time around, Grania. You might be my daughter, but you are first and foremost, your mother’s child. I was reminded of that fact whenever you ran to your mother instead of me. Every time you needed someone you turned to her. That always did strike me too hard. Do you know how much that hurt me?” His eyes hardened.

  “I shouldn’t think so, you are a soulless creature.”

  He stood up at her insult. “I should kill you now right where you stand!”

  “Kill me!” She threw her chest out at him. The widow held fast to her. “Kill me and you will forever damn yourself! You will bring an unspeakable curse upon your life! You know it is the highest sin to kill your own blood child. You know it will damn you!” She screamed the last words, making the chandelier above her, shake.

  He had pointed his finger at her. Red globes of light extended from his fingertip.

  “Kill me and William will not rest until he sees you die a most horribly painful death.”

  “You do adore him, don’t you? It makes me green with envy you know. I wish I could have been your hero. Instead, you had to turn to a bloody puny wizard.”

  His killing fire still danced around the end of his finger. She braced herself when he pointed it again at her, he was going to fire soon, and if it didn’t kill her she’d be scarred for life.

  At the last possible moment, he turned his aim and fired.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Grania was blasted to the side as Draco’s powerful fire bolt hit the Widow. Her screams of agony nearly deafened her. She slammed into the wall and then, crumbled to the floor. Her father still hadn’t noticed that she wore her mother’s bow.

  Her limbs ached. Her head exploded with pain. She tried to get up, but she was stunned so badly, she couldn’t move.

  “I’ve taken care of that crazy bitch. She was too power-hungry for her own good, and mine.”

  She could hear him walking toward her. Why hadn’t he seen her weapon of choice yet? Unless, unless, Merdwyn had enchanted it to turn invisible. She wouldn’t put it past the crafty wizard. Now, she knew where William got all of his cunning.

  William.

  Her heart ached for him and her hand burned with her need for him. Could he feel it as well?

  “Get up.” His order caught her off guard.

  “I can’t.” She was telling the truth.

  “You are not hurt. Get up, now!”

  “The backlash from that fire bolt has rendered me immobilized.” She could feel him reaching for her.

  He yanked her to her feet. They were so close she could spit in his face if she wanted to. Instead, she studied every contour of his face. He hadn’t changed physically, but his eyes had changed. They had lost every ounce of emotion.

  “You should have just killed me, because now, I’m going to kill you.”

  He shook her. Her head rolled back. Her neck hurt. She regained her composure and tried to shrink out of his ironclad grip.

  “Release me, now!”

  “If I do, you’ll no doubt fall down to the floor again. Why do you hate me so much? I was a good father to you. I taught you everything I know. I fostered your seed of greatness inside of you…”

  “You lied to me. You kept me from finding my mate whenever you could you encouraged me to love Denys.”

  “Ah, yes, Denys. He will be here soon. I told him he could have you now. I think he should wipe out the stain that the wizard put on you. I would do it myself, but that would be disgusting.”

  She stiffened at his intimation. She wanted to throw up. “Get your hands off me!” she growled.

  He smiled. “You look so much like your mother right now. Even though she is Andromeda’s twin, they still never looked identical to me. But right now, with that particular glint in your eye, and the way you said, get your hands off me, you look just like her.”

  She felt her strength coming back to her. She tried to wrestle away from him.

  “I’m stronger than you. You are a female—my strength will always be superior to yours. I don’t know what to do with you until Denys can return from the battle. Perhaps, I should put you in the dungeons with Bronwyn.”

  “You have her in the dungeons? How could you?”

  “Well, where else would I put her? She keeps trying to escape me,” he sighed. “Once I am able to kill her mother, she will be mine!”

  Her stomach churned. “Where is Andromeda?”

  “She is somewhere safe. That’s all you need to know.”

  “Your mind has twisted into something unrecognizable, Draco.”

  “Call me, Father!” He slapped her hard causing her head to whip back. She felt her lip start to bleed.

  “You shouldn’t have done that.” The mark on her hand glowed.

  He looked down to her hand. “You should know that I will be killing your mate soon. He has a high price on his head. If he’s anywhere near my forces, they will center their attack on him, and bring him to me, so I can torture, and then kill him. It will be a slow, grueling death. Perhaps, I will allow you to hear his screams.”

  “Torturing is your sport of choice now, is it?”

  “It has always been one of my favourite pastimes, Daughter. Your mother just shielded you from it. She was so nurturing, loving and protective,” he laughed. Her skin crawled. “I think it’s about time you took a tour of the dungeons, you should remember them well.”

  “I just love seeing how they’ve fared. I’m sure they’re near to bursting with you in charge.”

  His eyes sparked. Fire swirled within their depths.

  “Lead the way I have nowhere to go, now.”

  “I want you to relinquish your sword to me.” He stared at her side where she had the sword sheathed.

  She reached for her sword. She could choose to fight him right now, but it would do her little good.

  Guards surrounded her, she wouldn’t get too far before she was overpowered. It was time to be patient until she had the cards stacked in her favour. Once she had Bronwyn secured, they could see what they could do about blowing this house to smithereens with her father’s troops inside of it.

  “I can see that familiar seed of cunning in your green eyes, Grania. They are such a rare colour of green, the way the fire leaps inside of them still amazes me. Do not think you will escape this prison you once called your home. You never should have allowed the Widow to take you into her custody. Your senses are growing weak since you mixed with that wizard.”

  “I never thought you would defile this place in the manner that you have done. Mother used to love being here. But then, little surprises me about how low you can go.”

  Rage erupted in his eyes. She reached for her sword, he lifted his hand. In one swift gesture, the sword was ripped from her grip.

  “You will not be using that on me.” His smile reminded her of a serpent. She wanted to retch all over him.

  “Do you think that even I would be stupid enough to attack you with those guards flanking the walls? I know they’d kill me as soon as look at me. I am nothing to you.”

  He hand still hovered in midair. Was he going to strike her or use his dark powers on her? She braced herself for what was to come.

  “I would only give you what you want by retaliating. You already think me to be a monster of the foulest sort, why give you even more satisfaction?”

  “Do you think your evil ways please me? You are a walking conundrum, Draco.”

  “Keep calling me that and I will give you a lashing you soon won’t forget. Get this ungrateful child out of my sight.” He waved his hand at his guards.

  They came forward and grabbed her roughly.

  “Touch her lightly, I will not have anyone else defiling her. I’m saving her for Denys.”

  Her stomach lurched again, as her throat grew as dry as parchment paper. She
stumbled when the guards pushed her forward. She wasn’t going to stick around here much longer. As the guards pushed her out of the hall, she caught one last snippet of conversation between her father and someone that she couldn’t see.

  “Excellent. Tell me when London is burning to the ground. I’d like to be there to see it.”

  Her heart stopped. London burning? No. She had to do something. This had gotten out of control. If England fell the rest of the world wouldn’t stand a bloody chance. Her father needed to be stopped. She could break away from the guards and use her bow and arrows to kill her father once and for all. Would she even make it halfway there?

  She doubted it. He expected her to try something and the only way she was going to kill him was if she caught him off guard. They led her down to the dungeons, which hadn’t been used in hundreds of years.

  The smell of damp and decaying dead bodies assailed her nostrils. She instantly felt several sets of eyes lock on her. Murmurings spread through the area like wildfire. Hope surged throughout the dank quarters. Why they thought they now had hope was beyond her. As far as they knew she was in the same boat as them.

  “Grania?”

  The guards shoved her into one of the cells separated from the rest. The sound of water trickling set her on edge.

  “Bronwyn, is that really you?” Despite the darkness, she searched the space for her cousin.

  “I’m behind you, Cousin Grania.”

  She whirled around. Bronwyn looked like a waif. Her heart ached. How long had she been imprisoned here?

  “Where is Brianna?”

  “Brianna is fine.”

  “Thank the Graces. I haven’t seen her in so long. I was lured away before the palace fell to Draco’s forces.”

  “She’s safe with her intended mate.”

  “She is?” Hope lit Bronwyn’s sallow face. “Help me up.”

  “It was you. You were calling me for help.”

  “I’ve been calling out for help for days. I knew someone in my family would hear me. I just thought it would be my twin.”

  “Her link with you was being manipulated by the chameleon demon impersonating you.”

  “That’s awful.” Tears welled inside of Bronwyn’s eyes. “I can only imagine what horrible deeds the impersonator did in my guise.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Everyone knows the truth now.”

  She extended her hand to Bronwyn.

  Bronwyn gripped it tightly. “I’m so weak. I haven’t eaten in days. Much like the other prisoners here. I can keep going if I know there’s hope that we can still win. If I were mortal, I suspect I’d be dead now.”

  “No doubt you would be. We dragon shifters are made tough.” She wrapped Bronwyn in a tight hug. “I can get us out of here,” she whispered against her temple.

  Her father had eyes and ears everywhere, if they were going to make a successful attempt at escape they would have to work quickly.

  “How are we going to manage that?” Bronwyn asked eagerly, her weakened voice pulled at Grania’s heart.

  “I have a way to open a portal back to safety.”

  “The prisoners say there is no safe spot now that Draco has reached Earth. No matter where we go, we will fall right back into his clutches.”

  “We have to rejoin the fight,” Grania whispered.

  “I know.” Bronwyn looked around. “Everyone here is loyal to my father…”

  “Bronwyn…”

  “I know, I know. My father was killed by Draco. He came down here to gloat to me after he was triumphant. I just can’t get used to it. I can’t get used to saying he’s gone. Give me time, and maybe I’ll remember. The pain is just too fresh.”

  “I know. It will take you time, but you’re still going to feel the pain. It just won’t feel as if you’re in a waking dream.”

  Bronwyn nodded her head. “Thank you. Now, how many can we take with us?”

  “I don’t know. I have no idea how long the portal will remain open once it’s activated.”

  “Then, we take as many through as we can.”

  “Indeed.” She reached for the bag that Aurora had given her. It reappeared as soon as she touched it.

  “That’s endowed with powerful white magic.”

  “Yes, I had a good witch give this to me a day or so ago. She said it would give me what I needed at the time. I hope it will give me something that will wipe out the bars separating all of us. That way as long as the portal stays open we should be able to evacuate quite a few.”

  “Thank you for coming for me.”

  “I knew Brianna wouldn’t stop worrying until she had you back.”

  She reached into the bag and felt her hands enclose around something circular shaped.

  Pulling it out, she threw it at the bars. A huge gust of smoke blew through the space. When it cleared, the bars dividing all of the cells magically disappeared.

  “Just like magic.” She grinned at Bronwyn.

  Bronwyn gave her an encouraging smile, even though she looked as if her legs were about to give way beneath her.

  “Now you must open the portal, Grania. You have to act quickly the guards will be back down here to check on all of us in five minutes. They never leave us for more than ten minute intervals.”

  “I understand. Is everyone ready?”

  Murmurs of agreement rippled through the dungeons. Bronwyn turned to them all. Speaking in a hushed voice, she gave out their instructions. “My cousin will be opening the portal shortly. She has no idea how long it will stay open. Those of us that can, will get through the portal and rejoin the fight. For those that are left behind know this, I will return for all of you once the war is won. Draco is about to get what he deserves, when I rendezvous with my brother, the royalists will be triumphant!”

  A low cheer went through the large room. Reaching for her bow, Grania felt it solidify under her touch. The enchantment concealing it faded away as soon as her fingers caressed the surface.

  The portal shimmered into existence.

  Her heart surged. “I’ll be the last one to go through.”

  “No.” Bronwyn’s protest was adamant. “I won’t risk leaving you behind.”

  “I’m the older one here. You just heed my order. You’re ailing, therefore you go through first. I want you to stay at the cottage, if you even think of returning to the conflict consuming London, I’ll never forgive you.”

  “I won’t sit idly by while my friends die.”

  “You will. Or else, you won’t survive to fight another day. You need to recuperate from the ordeal my father has put you through.”

  Shadowy fear crept into her eyes. She inhaled sharply. “Okay. Time it is a wasting.”

  Several of the prisoners had already jumped through the portal. “Take care, Bronwyn.” She touched Bronwyn’s hand softly. “I’ll see you soon.”

  “You’d better.” Bronwyn gave her one last hard look then she jumped into the portal.

  “Come on everyone, get jumping! Don’t think just leap,” Grania called out.

  They’d evacuated almost half of the prisoners. The sound of cell doors clanking open caught her attention. They were coming. Soon, they would discover the portal. She reached for an arrow. The guards thought they had disarmed her but they were in for one hell of a surprise.

  “Everyone stand clear of my aim. These arrows will kill our kind on contact.” Suddenly, everyone was behind her. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Keep going, don’t worry about me.”

  She fired off her first arrow, hitting one of the guards. He screamed, as flames engulfed him.

  He was dead. Her heart froze. Could she continue using this weapon?

  She was starting to wonder if perhaps William had been right. This didn’t seem right, but they were working for the side of evil, and she had no other choice.

  “Forgive me.” She shot off another arrow, taking care of the two guards. It wouldn’t be long before more arrived, their screams of agony must have echoed through
out the building.

  She turned. The portal was starting to shrink. It was closing. All but three of the prisoners had made it through the portal. Miraculously, the tide was turning in their favour.

  They lingered, looking at her. “Go!” she shouted.

  Turning away from her, they jumped. She sighed. The portal had shrunk so much that she doubted she would be able to fit through. Closing her eyes, she put her hand into the portal, hoping that the magic would suck her in.

  It did.

  Just in time. As she was sucked into the portal, she felt something sharp graze her side.

  She somersaulted into her cottage. It was bursting full with escapees. “Grania!” Her bow slipped out of her hand and fell onto the floor.

  “You’ve been hurt!”

  “It’s nothing.”

  Bronwyn inspected the wound. “I don’t think you require healing, thank the graces for that.”

  She stood up, wobbling slightly. “You look better, Bronwyn.”

  “I raided your magical stores, and found an elixir that seemed to help me out, restoring me to my old self.”

  “Thank goodness for that.”

  She walked to the window. “We should get to London, the sooner the better.” She turned. “We’ll have to travel by air to London, since there doesn’t seem to be any magic kind left in residence, as I don’t feel like opening one myself, and I’m not too good at blinking in and out. I have always been hit and miss on conjuring portals, especially here on Earth, from one place on Earth to another…Blaze has the talent for it, not I. Ah, how I wish a witch, wizard or warlock was still about.”

  “There is one dishy warlock still in residence!” Nicholas’s voice carried to her from above. Brianna raced around the corner.

  “Bronwyn, I’m so happy to see you!” Sheer joy enveloped her features. Grania turned away feeling a pang that she didn’t have a sibling to lean on. William was all she had.

  William, where are you?

  She reached out to him with her mind. Pain seared her temple. She sucked in a deep breath.

  “We have to get to London, now. Nicholas, do you think you’re strong enough to open us a gateway?”