by S Lawrence
Sean and Michael began moving the moment Faolan rose off the deck and were already making their way below. Looking back, I check on Patrick who was still working on the wards. He jerks his head, indicating I should follow the others. I smell her unique scent the moment I step below, that and the strong odor of blood. My other rises toward the surface, roaring his rage that she has been injured. With him close, other scents come to me - fear, anger, shame and sex. I am running before I even realize it, heart pounding in fear. I reach the bottom as Michael bars the door. “Move,” I demand, it comes out like a growl rumbling deep from my chest.
I can feel the anger and sadness radiating off him. His neck is corded with his tension. “Kai,” his voice breaks, his fingers thrusting through his hair, his eyes shifting down, “Ah, I think you should wait a minute. Sean is helping her. It’s not good, as a matter of fact, it’s so feckin bad.” His throat works as he tries to get ahold of himself, tears are in his eyes when he looks back at my face. That tells me more than his words; this war-hardened soldier is crying for the destruction beyond the door.
It opens, and her sobs reach my ears before I can see her. Shoving him aside, needing to touch her. “Shhh, I got you now,” I whisper, as I take her as gently as I can from Sean, who has tears streaming down his face, his sadness and anger beat at my senses.
He turns to look at Michael, “Come, brother, we must get Chris down.”
My eyes dart throughout the room, and I see the quiet, bookish druid, who was always ready with an easy smile, hanging from a pulley. Dead. His blood still dripping into the puddle that formed below him. We hadn’t made it in time. The temperature in the room goes up as my anger rises. It isn’t until I hear her whimper that I realize my muscles are tightening around her. Looking down, I see her head lies limp against me. She is gone away from this reality, and I am glad for it, but I still whisper, “Sorry, love.” Hoping my voice reaches her, wherever she is.
I nod to the two warriors and turn, leaving them to collect their dead. Striding up the stairs, I cradle her to me, careful to keep the sheet that Sean draped around her wrapped tight. When I reach the deck, I see that Patrick has moved on from trying to bring the wards down to setting explosives. “No others will be tortured here,” he says with a promise, his eyes are filled with sorrow and anger when he turns to us. His face crumples, when over my shoulder he see the others carrying Chris’s body.
*********
I’m floating in a sea of pain and darkness. My last sight was the shock and disgust on Sean’s face as he rammed through the door. The last thing I hear is his anguished cry as he finds Chris dead, blood pooled under him. The last thing I say is ‘please.' I then float away. If he is here, then Dorran won’t be back. No more pain, never again will he touch, not just my body, but my soul. I am safe here in this sea. I can hear her singing to me. Momma has come to hold me close. I feel her hand in my hair just like from when I was little. Her arms are warm around me, and I curl into them whimpering, ‘I don’t want you to see what he has done, how he has broken me.’
She smiles, ‘You are not broken. You think you are, but you aren’t.’ Soft hands wipe away my tears as she begins to rock me back and forth, humming all the while. I recognize the Dolly Parton song we played at her funeral, and soon I am sobbing. All the while her arms hold me, she says quietly, ‘Sparrow, that’s what you are right now, cause you feel broken, but baby girl, that eagle in you flew. It kept you alive, and it will fly again, just like the song.’
I just shake my head, I’m broken and don’t think I can ever be put back together. ‘Can I just stay with you, momma?’ I plead.
Her eyes are sad, ‘For a while baby, but you got things to do yet. People are waiting on ya. But for a while, let’s just sit here in this rocking chair. Let me hold you; I’ve missed you so much.’
Pulling her closer I breathe her in, smiling a little at the perfume that was her one splurge. ‘Okay, momma. Just for a while. I have missed you every day and so does everyone else.’ And so we sit and rock. Talking, I tell her everything she has missed. She tells me she loves Emma, that she’s happy, and asks me to forgive Grandmother. So it goes, rocking and talking, huddled in the warm of her arms, time slips quietly by.
********
I look at her. She is breathing but does nothing else. Faolan is curled around her body. The heat from his rage beats at us all. The druids have to bury their dead, sealing him in the tomb under the stones to the north. They wait for us, holding off the ceremony to see if she will return to us. It has been a few days, the wounds on her body are starting to heal but her mind is far from us. I can’t stop looking at her face. I have tried to leave, to check on Jason, to see if he has gotten any leads on where the Sceach are now, but I can’t. Suddenly, I am kneeling beside her; my friend emits a deep threatening sound. Looking into his eyes, an answering growl boils up from my chest. ‘Leave her Kai. She has suffered enough.’
I rear back as if struck, eyes narrowing on him. ‘You think I mean her harm? You think so little of me?’
I can feel my dragon rippling under my skin; he too is angry that our honor is being questioned. My hand's fist at my side. I try to tell myself that he is just worried, upset for this daughter he has never had a chance to know. I can’t explain why I need to be near her; I have never even spoken to her. Sighing, I sit near his massive paw, leaning on his tail where it curls around her. A puff of smoke floats toward my face as he huffs. Both of our anger simmers lower at my brazen action.
‘I’m sorry, my friend, but my rage has me longing for the old days. I wish to loose my fire upon the earth. I know how honorable you are, Kai. I wouldn’t have sent you to find my beloved if I didn’t,’ Faolan replies with sadness.
‘I am sorry I have failed you and your Jean.’ My eyes caress the woman’s face.
‘Och, I failed my Jean twenty-five years ago when I, not only didn’t reach her but also let her leave without binding our souls.’
My gaze jumps to ice-blue dragon eyes, which are filled with such sorrow. ‘She was your cinniúint, your destiny?’ I ask, surprise ringing in my voice.
The great sides of his dragon form heave, his agony beating at me. ‘Kai, I didn’t send you to find Jean, I felt her leave this world years ago. But when I felt the bracelet call to me, I thought maybe...maybe, I had been wrong. I knew if I wasn’t, then someone dear to me would be wearing it. I just didn’t realize she would be important to you also.’
Denial is stamped across my face when I open my mouth to speak, but a shake of his massive head stops me. ‘My friend, brother, I see you. I see your eyes that keep straying to her. I saw the way you carried her here to me. I felt your fire burning when we unwrapped her. Do you deny that pull?’
Jumping to my feet, I pace away, shaking my head, not wanting to admit I had failed my own cinniúint. Allowing her to be violated, tortured - the images playing through my head on a continuous loop and suddenly my dragon is breaking free, vengeance on his mind. The roar that rips from my body shakes the ground and echoes across the Isle. Soon the sky is filled with dragons, circling, coming to our aide. Faolan curls tighter around Aislin, protecting her broken body from view. My dragon’s blood runs cold preparing for the strike. My roar has called the Guardians to war.
Chapter 24
Hidden from view, a sliver out of the dimension, Danu and Morrigan watch their Guardians gather. They can feel their anger and worry for the world.
Morrigan looks to her mother, but Danu’s attention is on the girl. “Mother, we can’t let them bring war to the world for the girl.”
A sad smile curves Danu’s beautiful face as she replies, “Isn’t that the very reason we waged war before? The reason we created your Guardians in the first place is because these horrible humans, in this disgusting Order, desecrated our daughters. Reach for her mind, daughter, what do you find?”
Morrigan’s gaze falls to the one called Aislin. As her mind quiets, she reaches for her, lost in her suffering. Tears run do
wn Morrigan’s face at the beauty of the world Aislin has constructed, protection from the reality of what happened to her body and soul. Morrigan’s hand flies to her chest, and she steps back when the mother’s piercing green eyes raise, pinning her with resentment.
Releasing her mind, Morrigan jerks her face to her mother’s. “Yes, I see you noticed. Her mother’s soul is here. She has been here for some time, waiting for Faolan, but now she gathers her daughter close as we mothers do.”
Morrigan stares at her mother, waiting for her decree. Her head turns to look at Kai, deep in thought, sitting close to Faolan. She tilts her head as if listening to something, maybe she was but what, Morrigan doesn't know. Movement near the portal has them turning, eyes narrow as Morrigan gives her mother a questioning look over her shoulder. She too is watching the newcomer closely. Her power reaches for him and when it nears him, his body tenses. Interesting. Whatever she feels causes Danu to shift the rest of the way to the Isle.
One by one the Guardians land, kneeling before her. Morrigan has followed and is received with their battle cry. Danu walks straight to the stranger, as he meets her gaze with insolence. “Who are your parents? You are not of this clan,” She demands.
Most of the Guardians have left after paying their respects, and Kai has shifted back to his human form. Curiosity is in his gaze as he waits for the answer. “Yes, Jason. Just who the hell are you?” he calls as he moves into a defensible position in front of Faolan and the girl.
A smirk lights up the almost black eyes of the golden stranger. “My clan settled in the Mediterranean when you journeyed here. As for my father, well that is for another day, my lady.”
The Guardians bristled at the lack of respect this Jason showed their Goddesses, although they have long known the truth of our origin. “Kai, I bring news. You should also know I heard your call to war even from the other side of the veil. If I did so will have others.” Looking at Aislin with affection, Jason asks, “How’s my girl?”
Laughing he dodges out of the way as Kai leaps for him. “She is not your girl,” he snarls, through gritted teeth as Kai tried to rein in his anger.
Danu smiles, knowing looks passing between her and Faolan. They are both silent, obviously speaking to each other as they were both nodding their heads and looking to Kai. When he finally notices, he turns, hands thrust out and demands, “WHAT?”
Chapter 25
Jason was the first to answer me. “Hey, asshole. We all know she is your destiny. For fuck’s sake, I tried to tell you back on the mountain.”
I look between those standing near, head shaking as if to deny the truth but my heart cries out in acceptance. Soul shattering as I study her still form, measuring the breaths that cause the fabric to rise and fall. Steeling my resolve and straightening my spine, I lower myself to my knees, “Goddess.” I gaze beseechingly at first Danu, then Morrigan. “I have failed her! My other...my destiny. I have failed my brother, also. She breathes but doesn’t wake. I beg you, bring her back to me so that I might know her. That I might love her.”
*********
Morrigan falls to her knees in front of her Guardian, this warrior who has fought for her for hundreds of years, one so special to her heart. She saddens knowing this woman has been hurt so, even more so because she knows how rare it is, for one to have the magic in their blood, to find the mate for the Guardian’s twin souls. A woman whose soul was destined for both the man and the dragon. “Warrior, it is not We who has the power to bring her back. Danu and I both reach deep for her.” Her eyes slide to Faolan, a warrior who has known too much misery already, then back to me. “She is with her mother. A mother who loves her enough to come back to her when she needs her most. Her mother that sent her on this journey to find you both. She means to keep her girl safe. So you, warrior, must convince them both that you’re the best guardian of her body, her heart and her soul.” Looking back at her mother, she tells her, ‘I can see that my announcement of Jean being near has upset Faolan that was not my intention.’
*********
Danu’s gaze softens as she looks at us both. ‘Don’t worry daughter; I will speak to him and explain that she was near because she waits for him.’ Pulling me to my feet, before she walks to Faolan, speaking gently to him, convincing him to move away with her. This gives me a chance to reach Aislin in the world she has built in her mind.
I look at the Goddess, for even though we know what they truly are, she will always be my Goddess. Pleading with my eyes, I beg her for some clue as to how to reach this woman, my other, my mate. She offers nothing. I sit, easing Aislin's head into my lap, her silken hair running through my fingers. It is the first chance I had had to touch her, other than when I carried her from that hell. My heart pounds, looking toward my brother who has never recovered from his loss of her mother. What will happen if I never hear her voice or feel her touch? What if, after all that she has suffered, she never recovers? I notice that my fingers still stroke her raven-colored hair and I long to see her eyes.
Feeling someone at my back, I stiffen, then Jason’s hypnotic voice whispers in my ear, “Calm yourself dragon. Think! You know the answer.” The power in his voice rolls over me as my heart steadies and my body relaxes. Looking at him with gratitude, as the answer floats down through the storm that is raging in my head. A grin breaks across my face as he nods. Gazing at her, I gently pull her up with her head on my chest, circling her with my arms and begin to sing. I sing songs by The Pogues and Flogging Molly. When I run out of them, I start singing Galway Girl because it reminds me of her, her hair is black, and her eyes are blue. Finishing the song, I notice tears running from the corner of her eyes. I put my lips to her ear, whispering nonsense, trying to ease her pain.
*********
‘Momma, do you hear that?’ I ask, a huge smile breaking across my face.
‘Yes, Sparrow and that means it is time to fly. This one, so like your father, will help you soar,’ she answers me.
I am entranced by his voice; it grows from a faint whisper to that smoky whiskey that I love. ‘But I’m scared. What if he doesn’t want this broken me, this soiled me?’
Tears are in her eyes as she holds my face in her hands, shaking her head. ‘Never let me hear you say that. You aren’t broken or soiled. You are strong, brave and a warrior equal to him in so many ways. He’ll see that; you’re too brave to stay hidden here.’
I don’t know if I agree with her. ‘I don’t want to lose you again.’
‘Never, Sparrow! But it is time for you to go back, they wait for you. You have things to do. Emma will be coming, guns blazing if you don’t contact her soon. When you get back, and things are sorted out, let Joy know I love her more for how much she has loved you.’
My arms tighten on her; I can’t seem to let go. Suddenly, she is gone, nothing remains but her voice whispering her love.
The moment I reach consciousness, my entire body stiffens, and I rip away from him. Panic grips my mind and body, confusion at where I am and who is touching me. Screams tear from my throat as my eyes open to see a massive dragon peering at me. Clutching the satiny cloth to my body, I spin in a fast circle. I’m panting, and my heart feels as if it might pound right out of my chest. My frightened stare lands on the man who held me as I came back to this reality. He is beautiful, and I know he is Kai. I’d know his copper hair anywhere, but his face has me frozen. A strong square jaw, full lips, and golden eyes stamped with sorrow.
It is the sorrow that breaks my heart. I can’t help cringing back from the knowledge swirling in his face; my hope disintegrates, he has seen my broken body. I feel my stomach revolt as I fight the urge to throw up. A deafening roar has me clutching my head as I turn to flee. Strong hands wrap around my arms as I plunge headlong into fight mode, I will NOT be held against my will again. I kick out, years of self-defense and martial arts muscle memory falling into place. I hear grunting as my feet and knees connect with those holding me. Suddenly, a deep chocolatey voice slides into my brain,
“Kukla, darling. Be calm. We are not here to hurt you. Give your Kai a chance to explain.” At once, my body relaxes, and I stop fighting.
“DO NOT take her will, you dick. She will never have her freedom stolen again. No matter the reason.” A growl rumbles through Kai’s body as he thrusts me behind him. I can feel his need to attack the one who spoke, peering around his back, I see Jason. A sob bubbles up; I find myself pushing around and stumbling toward the only familiar face. Crashing into Jason, I throw my arms around him.
Chapter 26
Kai is gaping at her, as she wraps herself around me. I feel a bit giddy at his complete confusion. Slowly, I enclose her in my arms, rubbing her back; all the while watching his face, as growls rumble not only from him but also from Faolan, who begins to pace. I raise my eyebrows in question, what do they expect me to do? Her voice is broken as she cries, the only word I can truly understand is the name, Chris.
Slowly and carefully, I ease us to the ground, pulling her into my lap. For a reason I can’t explain, I rock her, laying my cheek against her hair. I feel the heat rising, knowing that the dragons are growing more agitated. Suddenly, Danu and Morrigan both lay their hands upon my shoulders. Whatever looks pass between them and their Guardians, must have helped in easing the possessiveness. Oh so carefully, I begin to speak to her, making sure I contain my power. “Darling, none of this was your fault.” On and on I go, whispering encouragements, hoping to convince her.
What might have been hours later, her sobs subside, and I feel her stiffen when she feels my hand on her back. “Don’t,” she says softly, swirls of shame and disgust in her words. My jaded heart cracks a little. Putting my finger under her chin, I bring her gaze up to mine. I am again captivated by her beauty. A cat-like face with delicate black eyebrows above eyes, so blue they remind me of the Aegean Sea. A dainty nose that turns up a tiny bit, right at the end and lush lips that beg a man to kiss them.