Only now did it occur to her that this was not some ordinary place. This was a place laced with magic. A truth she could not deny, as they crossed the breadth of the forest. The deeper they travelled, the more she wanted to turn around and run. Her heart rate increased, and an unaccountable fear took hold of her.
“I can give you something to help with that,” Tara shouted. Although with the wind whistling past her, Serena only caught her words faintly.
“No. Thank you,” she replied.
“It’s a spell. To keep outsiders away. It will only get stronger the closer to the centre we get. And the dragons live right in the centre of Spellholm.”
Serena gritted her teeth, determined not to accept help from Tara. “I’m OK.”
“Suit yourself. But when you start puking you might change your mind.”
Serena closed her eyes. Trying instead to concentrate on the beat of Connor’s wings, as they swept over the treetops. When this failed, she conjured up the image of him from earlier, when they had made love. The feel of him between her thighs did nothing to take her mind off the growing nausea in her stomach. The taste of bile was in her throat, and she had to take big gulps of air to gain control.
It was no good, she slumped forward onto Connor, and closed her eyes, trying to block out the intense feelings sweeping over her. Every nerve end felt red raw, her head ached and her stomach churned. The last thing she remembered, as she blacked out, was the ground rapidly coming up to meet her, and the sound of a dragon in pain.
Chapter Six - Connor
“Is she alright?” he asked, looking down helplessly as Tara tried to bring Serena back to consciousness.
“She would be if she’d accepted my help.”
“Perhaps if you were a bit more likeable, she might have.”
Tara stood up and faced him. “Likeable. What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You know what it’s supposed to mean. One thing you are not is stupid.”
“I’m sorry if I’m not some imbecile who was fortunate to have a dragon land in her lap.”
“You know, more than anyone, what she’s been through. Do not think I do not hold you responsible.”
Tara took a step back, shock registering on her face. “If it wasn’t for me, she would never have been made to come to you.”
“Exactly. Made to come to me.” He knelt on the floor, gently lifting Serena up against him. He looked up at Tara, and said, “What is this? And what can you do for her?”
“Oh, now you want my help.”
“Tara, my patience with you has always been thin. Help her, or I will make sure you never get to see the dragons that live here.”
Something in his eyes must have convinced her he meant what he said. She went to the bags, which were now dumped on the ground, and rummaged through them. Finding what she needed, she returned to where Connor knelt stroking Serena’s face.
“Here.” She offered him the small bottle.
“What is it?”
“An antidote is the best way to describe it.”
“And you had it with you all along?”
“Yes.”
“So you knew this would happen, but didn’t think to inform us?”
“She would have thought I was trying to poison her. It is where Spellholm gets its name from. The spell makes it an island of safety for the other creatures.”
“Other creatures?”
“Like you. No mundane human can stand the place. Usually they turn back way before they get this close to the centre.”
“You should have warned us, Tara,” he said, his temper flaring. Inside him, his dragon tested his strength of will. It wanted to burst out and incinerate this troublemaker.
She saw it, and for once cowered before him. Connor decided it was time she was afraid of him. Perhaps, from the first, he should have made her aware of his strength and power. Instead, he had allowed her to control things.
“I’ll help her,” Tara said.
Connor grabbed her hand, twisting it cruelly, causing her to cry out. “I am warning you, witch.” He spat the word in her face, his eyes ablaze. “If anything happens to my mate, or my child, you will pay for it ... painfully. I have much experience in pain. Do you understand?”
She nodded, struck dumb by the terrifying nature of the beast within him. Connor released her, and she fell to her knees. At first, she did not move, and then she crept towards Serena and lifted her head carefully.
Connor moved beside her, and brushed her aside. “I’ll do it.” He took the bottle from Tara’s trembling hand. “All of it?”
She nodded again, and watched while Connor gently prised Serena’s mouth open. Carefully, he poured the contents down her throat, making sure she didn't choke. At first, there was no response and Connor's concern grew. Then slowly the colour returned to Serena's cheeks, and her eyes fluttered before opening.
“Connor,” she said, lifting her hand and stroking his face. “I fell.”
“And I caught you. I will always catch you.” He bent down and kissed her lips.
“How heart-warming.”
They pulled apart instantly, shocked by the strange voice. There, standing at the edge of the clearing, was a man. Big, muscled and tattooed. Serena gripped Connor tightly, and he turned back to her, reassuring her. Then he kissed her head, before standing and going to the stranger.
“My name is Connor.”
“I know who you are. The question is; why are you trespassing on the lands of Dòmhnall, Dragon Lord of Spellholm?”
“Dòmhnall,” Tara breathed, a faraway looking her eyes.
Great he thought, there is even a spell that takes the wits from a witch. Was he the only one capable of keeping his senses? “I have come to speak to your Dragon Lord.”
“He does not speak to strangers.”
Connor stood up, tall and broad, a more than even match for the man in front of him. “We have come a long way to meet your master. I suggest you take us to him.”
Chapter Seven - Serena
Pushing herself up to sitting position, she took in the scene before her. Tara seemed to have gone into a rapture, staring ahead, into the trees, unseeing. Connor was squaring up to the man in front of him, his fists clenched. Not a good way to introduce themselves to the dragons of Spellholm.
Carefully climbing to her feet, Serena took a moment to let her nausea pass. She decided the atmosphere needed diffusing before someone got hurt. Walking forward slowly, she first touched Tara on the shoulder. No response. Shaking her a little harder, she waited for the witch to come out with some smart retort and tell her to get her hands off. Nothing.
“Tara.” She shook her harder. Nothing. “Tara,” she shouted. With no response, she did the thing she had been itching to do since the first time the witch had opened her clever mouth. She slapped her across the face. Not as hard as she would have liked, but hard enough for a reaction.
Even then, there was no clever remark, just a shifting and refocusing of her gaze. “What?”
“You said you were the key to getting this dragon to see us.”
Tara looked around vacantly, and then she caught sight of the two men. They were beginning to circle each other slowly, two fighters in a ring. Any moment now, they would launch themselves at each other.
“Do something!” Serena said sharply.
Tara came fully back to her senses. She stepped between the men, and turned her attention to the stranger. “We’ve come a long way to see your lord. I suggest you take us to him.”
“Why should I?” the stranger asked with a sneer.
“Because we have bought your lord a gift.”
Serena started, her cheeks flushing pink. Tara had known all along that she had the stone. That was what it was for, a gift for the Dragon Lord. She took a step towards the bags to retrieve it.
“What gift can you possibly bring the Dragon Lord?”
“Me.”
Serena stopped breathing. Confusion took hold of her. So it wasn’t the stone
. It was Tara. She knew the witch was arrogant, but this was something beyond that.
“You?” He looked her up and down, unimpressed.
“Yes.”
“What could you have, human, that the Dragon Lord would want?”
Tara, now fully back to normal, stepped into the man’s personal space, and leaned in close to him. “I can see the future.”
He laughed. “You expect me to believe that? You expect me to take you before the Dragon Lord and tell him that?”
“Yes.”
The man stood up straighter, looming over her, but she didn’t give an inch of ground. It unnerved him, and Serena saw the urge to move away battling with his need to stand his ground against such a small opponent. “Prove it.”
“I thought you’d never ask, Kier.”
He took a step back, as though she had punched him squarely in the gut. Recovering quickly, he said, “That proves nothing.”
“Oh, I know. I was just putting us on more friendly terms. I am Tara, by the way.” She held out her hand to him, and trance like, he took it, shaking it slowly. “That’s better. I think we should be friends, because I know things about you that your Dragon Lord does not.”
Another step back, and a worried look, but Tara didn’t release his hand. Instead, she gripped it tighter, stepping closer to him again. “I am right, Kier, aren’t I? He has no idea about you and that little hyena you like to visit.”
“Hyena. I don’t...”
“Don’t lie. There’s no point. I see you both. Tonight. You are planning to visit her tonight. But now you will be going to meet her to tell her it is too risky. Your lord doesn’t like you tainting yourself with the lesser shifters. Does he?”
Kier shook his head, looking at Tara as though she was demon spawn. “And I wouldn’t do that either.”
He looked so guilty, Serena could have laughed. A guilty schoolboy with his hand in the cookie jar. “I...”
Tara turned back to Connor. “If you try to break my neck. To silence me. My big friend here will incapacitate you.” She patted Kier’s hand. “Permanently.”
Kier jerked back away from her. “You witch.”
“Yes. A very useful witch. If I can see your future, just think what else I can see. I am a very powerful gift.”
Kier stood still, his breathing heavy. His gaze went from Tara to Connor and back again. Serena entirely ignored as he digested this information. Tara suddenly turned and ran. Only just in time to avoid the slashing tail of the small dragon who had appeared before them. He had transformed so fast he even took Connor by surprise. The next moment they all hit the ground as the hard downbeat of his wings launched him into the air.
As he faded into the distance, Serena sat staring at the sky. “They fly in the day time.”
“They have nothing to fear here. It’s full of creatures that can shift. You’ve experienced the spell that protects them from the mundane.”
“Is that what I am?”
“Yes. Very mundane.” Tara looked at her, but the barbed comment lost its sting.
“What happened to you Tara? For a moment you were out of it.”
“I was in awe of that magnificent man standing before me,” she answered sarcastically.
“Keep your secret then.” Serena got back up, and went to Connor. Relieved Tara was back to her nasty self, but still unsure of what had made her lose herself.
“Are you feeling OK?” Connor asked, his face pale.
“Yes. And you?”
He nodded, before saying, “I’ve lived for thousands of years. In a world that has become smaller with the passing of the centuries and the growing population of men. This is the first time in so long that I’ve seen another dragon, other than Zoah.”
“You don’t seem too happy at finding out there are more of you.”
“I always thought this was a fruitless journey. I know Tara said they were here, and I had heard rumours. Yet still I didn’t expect to find them.”
“We could always go home.”
“No,” he said excitedly. “This is what I came in search for. Perhaps I did not want to hope. Now we know they’re real, there’s so much we can learn from them.”
“Like what?”
“Like how to turn dragon so fast,” Tara interrupted. “You look like a slow old man compared to Kier.”
Connor looked at Tara, and then back to Serena, his words unsaid. Serena wanted to ask him what his real answer would have been, but the moment was gone. Instead, he moved away to pick up their bags. “So what do we do now, ‘Oh gift to the dragons’, follow him?”
“No. We wait. He’ll be back shortly.”
“And then what?” Serena asked.
“We go to their stronghold.”
“And?” She pressed for an answer.
“And what? It’s a surprise,” Tara said brushing her off.
“Tell us.”
“No.”
“Tara, if there’s anything we need to know, tell us,” Serena demanded.
“Where’s your sense of fun? Isn’t it nice to get a surprise sometimes?”
“Not right now. No.”
“Well tough.”
Suddenly, they heard the sound of dragon wings, growing louder with each downbeat. They all turned and listened. “More than one,” said Connor.
“How many?” Serena asked, her voice betraying her fear.
“Four," Tara answered.
“Oh, you can tell us that. But not whether we’re going to come out of this alive," Serena said acidly.
Tara stood still, her breathing deep, her eyes off into the distance again. “As things stand, yes, you two will go home and live happily ever after.”
Serena reached for Connor’s hand, trying to stop her teeth chattering. “You’re sure.”
Tara looked her in the eye, leaving Serena with no doubt of her sincerity. “Yes.”
“Wait. You said Connor and I. What about you?”
She smiled sardonically. “I have no idea.”
“What? But you can see the future.”
“Not my own.”
“Then why have you come here to meet this Dòmhnall? Why did you want to come?”
“Because I can’t see him.”
“I don’t understand.” She could see the dragons now, their big bulking bodies filling the sky.
“It doesn’t matter.” She clutched their hands. “Just don’t tell him I can’t see his future. Not straight away. I can fool him to start with; I’m good at blagging my way into these things.”
Her voice was so sincere. Yet, her eyes carried a deep pain Serena could never have imagined in a woman so bold and brash.
“What’s wrong Tara?” Serena asked softly.
“Nothing.” Tara pulled her hands away.
The four dragons came down into the clearing. They changed to their human form on landing, filling the small open space. It was too late now for questions. Their fate was now in the hands of the Dragon Lord. Not the best position to be in when their seer was of no use at all where he was concerned. Once more Serena felt as though they were all pawns in Tara’s game. A game Tara no longer knew how to play.
Chapter Eight - Connor
He tried to keep his body language relaxed while the four dragons landed. However, the desire to protect his mate from these strangers was almost too great. Yet to fight them would be futile, they were big, maybe as big as Zoah. One on one he would win, but never against them all. He was not reckless enough to risk it.
“So, you've returned with some friends,” Tara said. She walked forward, trying to gain mastery of the situation.
“Quiet.” A command from another of the dragons. “I have come to take you to the Dragon Lord.”
“About time. Lead the way. My friends and I have had a long journey, and we’re hungry and thirsty.”
“Only you witch. The others stay here.”
“I don’t think so. If one of us goes, we all go.”
“You have no power here. You do
not tell the Dragon Lord what to do. He wants you to prove yourself.”
Connor shifted nervously. He was afraid she would go and they would lose their leverage. “I am a dragon. Why won't he see me?”
“You are an outsider. Only members of our clan are permitted to enter the stronghold.”
“Really, Marcas?”
Marcas turned his full attention on Tara. “Don’t try to coerce me witch.”
“Why? Are you so above everyone else that you are blameless in all things?”
“I am the strong arm of the Dragon Lord. I do his bidding in all things.”
“Are you sure you want to have this conversation in front of your underlings?”
Connor felt nervous energy filling the air. All of the dragons before him had secrets to hide. They looked on Tara as the worst kind of betrayer. One who held all their secrets but had nothing to lose. The frisson of electricity in the air worried him. It was a sign more than one of the men before him fought to control his inner dragon. Someone here had a big secret he wished to keep hidden.
Tara threaded her way along a line so thin it was almost invisible. The realisation that their lives were in her hands worried him. But his trust in her grew in these tense moments. If she only wanted to get herself inside, this was her opportunity. But she was standing before four powerful beasts, arguing their case in the only way she knew how. Riddles.
She stepped up to Marcas, smiling at him. “My, what big muscles you have.” She reached up and trailed her fingertips across his chest. “All the better to fight with.”
He looked down at her sharply. “Silence.”
“Or else you’ll have to silence me?” She cocked her head on one side and the smile disappeared from her lips. She leaned right up to his ear, and whispered so quietly that no one else could hear. The three remaining dragons tried to avoid listening. However, each betrayed their curiosity to know the secret of their lord’s strong arm.
He remained impassive, only his eyes flickering up, and across to Connor. In his mind, he was evaluating the threat before him. Whatever Tara had said, she was a bigger threat than the sole dragon and his mate.
“Come,” was all Marcas said.
Heart Of The Dragon: BBW Romance (Her Dragon's Bane Series Book 3) Page 3