Though Sage didn’t seem hysterical, she was trembling, so Sven was glad to see her take several deep gulps.
“She’s very cold,” Emily said into their minds. Strange considering dragons usually ran hot. Nevertheless, Halla began building a small fire at the forest’s edge.
Sven handed Leif off to Kjar who proceeded to tie him to a tree.
“Come sit by the fire,” Emily urged Sage as she continued gulping down the mead. “Warm yourself then tell us what’s going on.”
“Okay,” Sage whispered, her curious eyes on Sven again before they floated to the others. He didn’t miss how they lingered on both Leif and Håkon before sweeping over everything then returning to Emily. “So this is tenth century Scandinavia?”
“Sort of, yes,” Emily murmured, leading her to the fire where she sat her down and wrapped a blanket around her shoulders. She made brief introductions as the others joined them. “Tell us what happened, Sage. Are your sisters okay?”
“They were when I left, yes,” Sage confirmed much to everyone’s relief. “But I didn’t mean to leave.” Her worried eyes met Emily’s. “I have to go back. They need guidance.” She shook her head. “There’s too much going on, and Shea should not be in charge. Not of something like this.”
Though Emily didn’t outwardly cringe, Sven sensed her alarm and tended to agree based on what she had shared about Shea. A cupid dragon did not sound like leadership material, never mind the sort that should be overseeing all of the sisters.
“I think I’m probably here because I’m your first,” Sage murmured, her eyes still with Emily’s. “I have to protect you.”
Sven remembered Jessie’s last words to him when he left her in medieval Scotland. How when her magic stopped protecting Emily, Sage’s would kick in. It seemed she was right.
“Sven protects me just fine,” Emily assured, though they both knew full well that statement wouldn’t be entirely true until they were mated. Nothing could protect her better than his dragon.
“Has your father arrived?” Emily asked. “Did he fill you in?”
Sage nodded. “Yes, a few weeks ago.” She shook her head. “He’s not a fan of animals though so he’s staying with Pierce for a bit while we get things situated.”
As if all of this was simply something to get situated.
“How is Pierce?” Emily asked, clearly concerned.
“Worried about you.” Sage’s eyes flickered from Sven to Emily. “He'll be glad to know you’re with Sven. That you’re safe.” She shrugged and rolled her eyes. “Beyond that, he’s been well entertained by Shea and even Kenzie.” The corner of her mouth shot up in amusement. “He certainly comes around enough, and it’s not because he’s under the influence of dragon magic.”
“I imagine he does.” She eyed Sage. “So did you buy the house?”
“We did actually thanks to a little dragon magic forgery considering you weren't there to sign papers.” She smiled at Emily. “The house is beautiful. You took good care of it.” Then she snorted. “Now we can only hope the animals don’t destroy it.” She shook her head. “Well trained pets or not, it’s always a fiasco having dragons and animals under the same roof. Not overly recommended.”
Emily cocked her head. “So I take it Kenzie brought the animals?”
“I’m afraid so.” Sage leaned over and rested her head between her knees. “She refused to come unless they could too.”
Emily shook her head at the others when they eyed Sage curiously. Sven had heard about the woman’s strange stretches.
“What kinds of animals?” Emily asked, perking up more by the moment. Like Kenzie, Emily was one of those rare dragons that liked pets rather than ate them.
“One dog and two cats.” Sage stretched her arms over her head. “Harley, short for Harley Davidson, is the Golden Retriever. Pink and Floyd are the cats.”
“Ha! Great names.” Emily grinned. “Gives me a good idea of what Kenzie might be like.”
“Trust me when I tell you that no one ever really knows what Kenzie’s like,” she muttered. “Even Kenzie herself on occasion.”
Naturally, Davyn’s, Håkon’s and Leif’s eyes never left Sage. A fact she didn’t seem to notice as she inhaled deeply then rested her hands on her lap, seemingly finally at peace as her eyes went between Kjar and Vigdis. “You’re different.” Then her eyes went to Leif. “So is he.”
When his dragon eyes flared in response, Emily leapt to her feet and blocked Sage’s line of sight. “Don’t look at him, sweetie. We haven’t figured that guy out yet.” She gestured at anyone who would listen. “Maybe tie him the other way on the tree? Or blindfold him?”
“It wouldn’t matter,” Sage said matter-of-factly. “He can see me anyway.”
“Still,” Emily replied. “It would make me feel better.”
“What do you mean he can see you anyway?” Davyn asked. Though his tone was concerned, his eyes were anything but as he looked her over with blatant admiration.
Håkon surprised Sven though. While it was clear he found Sage attractive, he wasn’t coming on as strongly as he might have. Especially considering she was from the twenty-first century and he had long declared his desire to claim a mate from there.
“I’m not sure how I know Leif can see me,” Sage murmured as her eyes fell to the fire. “I just know he can.” Her eyes rose to Håkon’s. “So can you.”
“He can?” Emily looked between them as their eyes held. “Is that true, Brother?”
Unlike Leif’s, Håkon’s dragon eyes didn’t flare, but his pupils did before he nodded once and looked away. “Yes, I can see her.”
“So even when you’re not looking at her you can see her?” Sven asked. “As if she’s in your mind’s eye?”
“Something like that,” Håkon murmured. “It’s hard to explain.”
Sage looked at Håkon oddly for a moment before she rolled her neck as though stretching again. Outside of their physical appearance, Sage reminded him of Jessie in many ways. The mysteriousness around her. Like Jessie, he suspected she kept secrets. Ones he would ask her about eventually.
“I thought you only needed to do that stretching when dealing with stray magic?” Emily said as she sat again.
“I do.” Sage glanced at the tree before her eyes returned to the fire. “I’ve got more stray magic flaring up here than I did in Maine, so that’s saying something.”
“Because of the tree then?” Sven said.
“Definitely,” Sage confirmed. Her eyes swept over Håkon and Leif again, or in the general direction of him seeing how he was tied to the other side of the tree now. “At least some of it’s because of the ash.”
“You mean Níðhöggr’s Ash,” Halla supplied.
“Is that what we’re calling it then?” Sage said, nodding as if she agreed the name suited it.
Halla grinned and nodded. “A good name, yes?”
“Enough with names,” Emily interrupted, her focus on her brother as her eyes stayed on Sage. “So Håkon and Leif are stirring up your DNA too, I take it?”
Sage nodded. “Somehow they’re connected to me through Níðhöggr.”
“It sounds like you’re a little more familiar with Níðhöggr now,” Emily murmured as Sage tilted her head back and polished off her skin of mead.
“Yes,” Sage replied, not all that daunted it seemed. “Dad filled me in on everything. The prophecy. Skáld and Níðhöggr’s vendetta. Everything.”
“You don’t seem all that concerned,” Halla remarked, her eyes alight with curiosity as they remained on Sage. Her response to Sage was what he had expected from Håkon minus the lust.
“Dad’s always been pretty open with us,” Sage explained, “and warned us that someday something like this might happen, and we would have to band together.” A touch of sadness flickered in her eyes as they met Sven’s. “What he didn’t tell us, well, me, was that I had a twin.” She shook her head. “And that she lived a few states away my whole life!” Her eyes searched his
. “What is she like? Where is she now?”
“She’s in medieval Scotland with her mate, Bryce,” he replied. “And she’s one of the strongest and most courageous people I’ve ever met. You should be very proud.”
“Will you allow me to see her through your mind’s eye?” she said softly. “Please. It would mean so much.”
“I don’t think that’s such a great idea,” Emily said, worry in her voice as her eyes met Sven’s. “Not until we know what’s going on.” She looked at Sage. “I’m sorry, no offense, I just can’t risk his safety.”
“Sage will need Jessie’s help,” Sven said into Emily’s mind. “That is what I was told.”
“Then they’ll connect when they’re supposed to,” she countered. “Preferably not through you. It’s too damn risky, Sven.”
“Emily—” he began before Sage spoke aloud.
“It’s okay.” She looked between them before she focused on Emily. “I understand. When you’re ready.”
Had she just followed their conversation? A special connection that was theirs and theirs alone? Emily was obviously thinking the same thing as her eyes narrowed.
“How did you get here, Sage?” Kjar asked, cutting into the uncomfortable silence when it lingered. “It sounds like it was against your will.”
“It was in the common sense,” Sage granted. “My human half wanted to stay with my sisters. My dragon, however, answers to a calling now. One ignited in my DNA by none other than Níðhöggr himself.” Her eyes roamed over everyone. “But that's not all.” She looked from Emily to Sven and said the last thing they wanted to hear but knew full well was coming. “Regrettably, my arrival marks the beginning of war.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
“I REALLY DON’T like this, Sven,” she murmured, staring at her brother as he stalked around like a beast trapped in a cage. “Håkon’s all wrapped up in what’s going on, and I don’t know why.” She met his eyes, so worried it was hard to focus. “What do you think happened to him earlier? Because although he acted possessed it was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. And we both know I’ve seen my fair share of actual possessions.”
They sat together against a tree just beyond the circle of firelight. Sage slept soundly, pleading tiredness like she had in Maine. Vigdis and Halla were restless with lust again, and Davyn and Kjar kept a close eye on Leif, who hadn’t uttered a word. He just sat there staring into the darkness as if he were a zombie.
“I wish more than anything I had answers for you, Emily,” Sven murmured. He had her fingers laced with his on his lap. “All I know is that our sword broke him free of whatever trance he was in. I also know as Vigdis said, that his behavior was a result of protecting Sage.”
“As was Leif’s,” she muttered. “So what’re we supposed to think? That Håkon is Sage’s mate? Or that Leif is?”
“I don’t think we should assume anything yet,” he replied. “It could very well be that they are simply her protectors until she meets her mate. Somehow, Níðhöggr brought her here through his ash trees. Her and her alone. When he did, this place was ready for her. Håkon and Leif were ready. Even us. It all came together as I believe the Great Serpent planned when he cursed his enemy so long ago.”
“A master plan that seems to have blocked all outsiders except Sage and her sisters from the twenty-first century,” Emily said. “Because according to Sage the Maine Ash hasn’t acted sinister at all since I left. Which is good I suppose.” She sighed. “It wanted me away not them.”
Sage’s transition from Maine to here had been quite peaceful. She was investigating the ash’s roots again when she was swept off her feet. A bright light flashed then she was standing where they found her.
“You are being kept away from the twenty-first century,” Sven said. “But clearly not from here. Not from the heart of it all.”
She met his eyes in the darkness as she sensed his tentative thoughts. What he knew he had to do at some point.
“If you let Sage see through your mind’s eye so she can witness everything that happened in Scotland, she’ll have full access to your dragon, Sven.” She shook her head. “How could you even consider it?”
“Because I believe the key to all of this doesn’t just have to do with Sage and her sisters in Maine,” he replied. “But her connection to Jessie. The night they were born, the night they were separated, Scotland’s curse sparked. When that curse lifted, all this began. Eventually, the two of them are going to need to come together. I know it like I know nothing else.”
Emily sighed and nodded. “It just scares me. It’s hard to trust anyone outside of our kin when it comes to you and your safety.” She eyed Håkon and his odd behavior. “And lately I’m not even sure if I should trust them.”
“I understand your concern,” he said. “But you can trust Jessie. I promise you that.” His eyes drifted to Sage. “I’ll be curious to see if she shares her twin’s gifts.”
“It might come in handy...at least the time travel aspect,” she replied. “The thought that Níðhöggr holds all the cards and is the only one who can shift people through time is alarming.”
“I could not agree more,” he murmured.
According to Sven, though not a Dragon Seer who could control other dragons, Jessie still shared the ability. Not only that, apparently she could be in two places at once. Then there was her ability to use other dragons’ fire to time travel.
Emily’s eyes slid to his again, curious. “I know Sage says it’s all Níðhöggr’s doing, but do you think we might’ve had something to do with her traveling back in time when she did?” She couldn’t help a small smirk. “I mean what are the odds that right when we, yeah know, got off, those bursts underwater happened then the tree lit up? Kinda coincidental don’t you think?”
“It was certainly interesting timing,” he agreed as his fingers brushed lightly over her palm, sending chills of awareness through her. “As was the arrival of our sword.”
She liked how he said it was hers even though it was suited to his size. It was his way of telling her that everything of his was hers. That they were mated whether their dragons agreed or not.
“We are,” he whispered, following her thoughts. His eyes lingered on hers for a moment before he spoke again. “I wanted to hold off until all of this was over so I could make it more special, but I don’t know when that will be or what the next moment will bring.”
He unsheathed his blade and sank down on one knee in front of her. “I have loved you since the moment we met. Though once platonic, the love we shared has grown and changed as have we. I do not care where our dragons stand. There will never be another for me.” He shook his head. “I will never love so deeply.” He held the sword with the blade pointed up with a ring on the end as Vikings did during marital ceremonies. “Will you marry me, Emily? Will you become my wife?”
“Oh, Sven,” she whispered as her eyes welled with tears and she removed the wooden ring with a shaky hand. Hand carved, it was stunning. Delicate wildflowers twisted and turned around it, so well whittled they created colors and textures.
“I carved it the winter before our first kiss,” he murmured. “It had to be those flowers. Your favorites.” He fingered one of her curls. “The ones you always wore in your hair.”
She nodded, tears running down her cheeks as she slipped it on. “I remember you had them all over your lodge...for me.” Her eyes rose to his as she began to realize. “Sven...were you going to propose that day? Having never even kissed me?”
“Yes,” he said softly, taking her hand in his. “I didn’t need to kiss you to know I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you.”
Dragon hormones or not, she couldn’t help but release a small sob as she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. “Of course, I’ll marry you. Right this second if you want.”
She kept crying as he sat against the tree again and held her on his lap. He said nothing just stroked her hair and kept her wrapped up in his arms. Damn emot
ions. But then these were good emotions. The sort that had been a long time coming.
Then something awful occurred to her.
“Can we marry?” She met his eyes. “Can we without our dragons claiming one another?”
“I don’t see why not,” he replied.
“But what if...” She trailed off, not able to say the awful words.
“What if we are not dragon mates,” he finished and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I will not take any dragon but yours. Ever.”
“But you know as well as I do, something like that is out of our hands.” She rested her head against his chest. “Nothing can stop dragons fated for each other from coming together eventually.”
“Like Vigdis said, our dragons clearly want each other,” he reminded, his tone aggravated. “They are simply being blocked right now. Something I have every confidence will change once Níðhöggr allows it.”
“I hope so,” she whispered as she straddled him so she could get even closer. Or that’s what she told herself, well aware of the erection he’d had pretty much since they sat down.
“You are asking for trouble,” he rumbled even as he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her closer and inhaled her scent deeply. “We are not all that far from the others.”
“Far enough,” she murmured against his ear. “And I don’t know about you, but if our inner dragons enjoy it so much, why not keep giving them what they want? Maybe if we do they’ll finally be able to break free of whatever hold Níðhöggr has on them.”
“That is logical thinking,” he replied with approval before he pulled her lips to his and began yanking at the strings on his pants. Once he freed himself, he assisted her as she pulled her pants down.
She buried a groan in the nape of his neck as she sank onto him. Gods, it just felt better and better every time they did this. She tried like hell to remain silent as they began moving. Technically speaking, their kin would be able to hear them even if they were on the other side of Níðhöggr’s Realm. Like all of their senses, dragons had superior hearing.
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