“Yes. It is right,” Owen replied, not looking up from what he was working on.
Their conversation was disrupted by a knock on the door. They looked at each other curiously. Emily was away for a couple of days, visiting relatives, so it couldn’t be her. They rarely had visitors at home. Owen walked toward the door and opened it, looking at the small, frail man that stood on the other side in confusion.
“Owen and Connor McCord?” the man asked.
Connor studied him for a moment. He was unshaven and unkempt, hunching over in that way that some older men seemed to as they aged. He might have been nice-looking, once upon a time, but he now looked haggard and weary. Even his clothes were worn through, as if he hadn’t bought anything new for years.
“That’s us,” Owen replied from the other side of the room. “What can we do for you?”
“You don’t know me, I know. My name is Liam Donnelly. I need to talk to the two of you.”
“About what?” Owen replied, rising from the table to walk over by Connor.
“It’s, um, private. Can I come in? I can’t be seen here.”
“Come on in,” Owen told him, waving him inside and closing the door behind him.
“Why can’t you be seen here?” Connor asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.
“Aiden. If he finds me here, he’ll kill me. Well, I don’t suppose that really matters at this point,” Liam added with a nervous laugh.
“I thought I knew everyone here, but I’ve never seen you before. How do you know Aiden?” Connor asked.
“I keep a very low profile. I’m the one that remains in the shadows and does what needs to be done,” Liam said.
“What does that mean, exactly?” Owen asked.
Both of the brothers stood looking down on the old man a bit menacingly. Something about him didn’t quite feel right. Aiden wasn’t exactly high on their list of allies. Though he was the dragon leader, they stayed away from him as much as possible. Rumors had long alluded to the fact that he was involved in the death of their father, and possibly the previous dragon leader whom he had replaced.
“Look. It doesn’t matter. Can we just sit down for a bit? I’m old and not well. It took most of my energy just to walk here,” Liam told them.
“Sure. Have a seat, Mr. Donnelly,” Owen said, waving toward the chairs around the kitchen table.
The old man hobbled toward the table, almost collapsing into it. He seemed to gasp for each breath of air he drew as he sat there for a moment in silence. Owen remained standing, arms folded neatly across his chest as he studied Liam.
“Do you need something to drink, Mr. Donnelly?” Connor asked.
“I would appreciate that. Just some water would be nice. I’m pretty parched.”
“No problem.”
Connor walked over to the fridge and retrieved a bottle of ice-cold water, handing it to the beleaguered old man and sitting down across from him. Owen finally pulled up a chair nearby, silently waiting for Liam to finish drinking some of the water and gather himself.
“First, let me tell you how very sorry I am about all of this. I should have come here years ago, but I was afraid,” Liam said.
“Afraid of what?’ Connor asked.
“Aiden. You’ve no idea just how dangerous he is,” Liam told them.
“Why don’t you tell us, then?” Owen said.
“I was there, the day your father died. There is more to his death than anyone knows about,” Liam said.
Connor looked at him, his eyes narrowing as he tried to determine what the old man was up to, but before he could ask, the man dropped a bombshell on them.
“Aiden was there, too. I saw him kill your father,” Liam finished.
“What?” Connor roared, up and out of his chair like a shot.
He yanked the old man up by his collar, shaking him as if the answers to any further questions would just fall out of his shirt or pants. Rather than looking terrified, Liam just looked resigned, dangling like he was nothing from Connor’s powerful hands.
“Connor, stop it! Put him down and let him finish,” Owen yelled at his brother.
“Not until he tells us what he saw,” Connor barked back.
“I believe he was doing that before you started manhandling him. Put him down, brother.”
Connor dropped the old man back down into his seat. Liam straightened up in the chair and took another sip of the water before speaking again. He didn’t appear shaken at all, just resigned to whatever fate he was dealt.
“Like I was saying, I was there when Aiden killed your father. We were on Sheep Island, where we had flown to find a shifter. Your father had been told the shifter killed a young woman in nearby Ballintoy Harbor. Aiden told him that the man was nursing an injured wing, the result of a gunshot from the woman’s brother when he had tried to stop the attack.”
“Our father died here, in the Mournes, not all the way up the coast on Sheep Island,” Connor said flatly.
“No. Your father fought his way all the way from Sheep Island to the Isle of Man and back to the Mournes, where Aiden finished him off while he was still weak.”
“That’s impossible,” Connor said. “Our father was very powerful. He was to be the dragon leader. Tomalin hand-selected him as his replacement, but then my father died before he did. So, Aiden was selected instead. Dad was bigger and stronger, but he was gone.”
“Yes, but your father was drugged. A gift of soup before he was summoned to come to Sheep Island by Aiden.”
“What are you talking about? How do you know this?” Connor snarled.
“Because I am the one that Aiden sent to deliver the soup earlier that day. Your mother had taken you out for a day in the city with friends. Aiden hadn’t known you would be gone. He had intended to kill all of you, but with you away, only your father ate it, and he was stronger than expected. At first, it seemed to have no effect on him at all, then he was only weakened by it. Still, he didn’t refuse when Aiden asked for his help on Sheep Island.”
“That doesn’t make any sense. How could he think he would have gotten by with killing our entire family?” Connor asked, his anger mounting.
“I don’t know. He has friends everywhere. I’m sure he had made arrangements for the coroner to say it was merely food poisoning. Botulism or some such thing.”
“And you did this knowing that he was being set up? Knowing that he was being drugged? Knowing that you were helping to try and kill an entire family?”
“Yes,” Liam replied evenly. “It was the same poison he used later on with Tomalin, only a heftier dose. Once he had failed with your father, he made other plans to take advantage of his weakened state. He didn’t want to make the same mistake with Tomalin. The idea with him was to make sure he died quickly. Tomalin was on the precipice by then anyway, so no one questioned it.”
“How did you see him kill our father if they were fighting their way back from Sheep Island, out into the sea to Isle of Man and then back onto the Mourne coast?” Owen demanded.
“Your father was still alive when he reached the coast. He had gone into the water, badly injured, and managed to drag himself out of the sea and onto the beach. I was standing on the cliffs above and saw Aiden as he swooped in for the final kill, snapping his neck and leaving him lying there on the sand. He came up with the story about your father being attacked by an unknown dragon shifter and left for dead.”
Connor’s fists unclenched and his body vibrated. He could feel himself shifting, but he was called back by the sound of Owen’s voice.
“Stop, Connor. Just wait,” Owen said to his brother before turning back to Liam. “So, you helped Aiden kill our father and Tomalin and now you’ve come to confess your sins . . . and his. Why?”
“I’ve carried this weight around with me for years. I don’t want to take it with me into eternity,” Liam said in a tired voice.
“And you think that telling us about it absolves you of your part in it somehow?” Connor said angrily.
“No. I don’t think that at all, but I can die knowing that I helped you to see the truth. Hopefully, you can find a way to stop Aiden before he hurts anyone else. You aren’t the only family he’s harmed, and there will be others unless he is stopped.”
“You are going to come with us to the council. You are going to tell them all of this,” Owen said.
“No. I can’t do that.”
“What do you mean you can’t do that?” Connor demanded.
“If he knows that I told you, he will come after me, but he won’t kill me. Instead, he will make me watch while he kills my family, one by one, in front of me. My wife, my daughters, my grandchildren.”
“Are you sure you aren’t just protecting your own selfish hide?” Connor said.
“There is nothing of me to protect. I’m dying. I won’t last out the month, in all likelihood. I don’t care if he kills me off early. It will only save me the pain of my final days. I do care about those I love, and I know that the two of you don’t want innocents killed on top of everything else he has done.”
“So, you think you can just come here and tell us something like this without us taking it up with the council?” Connor asked.
“The council can’t help you. They are old and complacent. Even if I went to them and told them the truth, they would look the other way. They are scared of Aiden, too.”
“Then what do you suggest we do? Just live with knowing he killed Dad and Tomalin?” Owen asked.
“No. I suggest that you take your rightful place, Owen. Your father was killed so that Aiden could take his place as the new leader. You should challenge him and take him down, take his place.”
“You know I’m not nearly strong enough to take down Aiden.”
“You could be, if you tried, if you trained. It’s the best way to protect others from him and take him out of power permanently.”
“Get out of our house,” Connor said suddenly.
“I understand. I will go. Still, I beg of you not to do anything that will harm my family.”
“We don’t care any more about your family than you cared about ours,” Connor told him. “I suggest you get them far away from here before daylight if you want to save them. We are going to the council first thing tomorrow.”
The old man sighed loudly and nodded in understanding as he struggled to his feet and walked toward the door. He paused as he opened it and looked back at them as if he wanted to say something else, but instead, he walked out into the darkness.
Sometime in the darkness that night, the Donnelly family disappeared. Neither Donnelly nor any member of his family could be found. Despite what he had said about not caring, Connor hoped the old man had managed to get them far away before Aiden could discover his betrayal.
Chapter 3
“We need to get going,” Connor told Owen the following morning as his older brother entered the kitchen from his bedroom, tossing him a bagel with cream cheese to eat on the go.
“Listen, I’ve been thinking about this all night, Connor. The old man is right. We can’t take this to the council,” Owen told him.
“What? You’d protect that old man’s family rather than defending the honor of our own? You know what Aiden did. He claimed that our father was mixed up in some sort of shady business and was killed by some miscreant when he got in over his head. He made out like Dad was a criminal and left us to defend his honor the best we could when he killed him all along.”
“I’m not saying he should get away with it, Connor. I’m saying that he robbed our father of his place as leader, and thus robbed us of our place as his successors.”
“He robbed you of that,” Connor said. “I’m not next in line. You are.”
“Perhaps so, but you know that you would have been right by my side. We’ve always had each other’s backs and always will.”
“So, then, what are you saying? You want to take down Aiden and take his place?”
“Yes. That is exactly what I’m saying. He should suffer the same fate as our father.”
“Look, Owen. You’re my big brother and I love you, but Aiden is stronger than anyone in this clan. I don’t think you can beat him.”
“You’re right,” Owen replied. “I can’t beat him right now, but I can get stronger. I can train and you can help me.”
“I don’t know, Owen. You’re risking your life. Let’s let the council take care of it.”
“What are they going to do, Connor? It’s just accusations. We have no proof. Plus, you heard Donnelly. He was right about one thing: they won’t do anything to him. They are just as afraid of him and what he would do to them or their families as everyone else.”
“We can get the old man back here to testify.”
“No. We can’t. Even if he has taken his entire family and fled, as he should have, he will either clam up or Aiden will make sure he doesn’t get that far.”
Connor sighed loudly and looked into his brother’s eyes. He knew that look, that cold gray steel that clouded Owen’s eyes when he was determined. There was nothing and no one that could dissuade him from whatever he had set his mind to do when he was like this. Though he loved his brother very much, Connor was aware of how cold Owen could be. He knew that his brother felt a certain numbness to life that might never pass.
Owen had not been the same since his high school sweetheart, Margaret, had died. He had stayed by her side, night after night, holding her hand as she drew ragged breaths that never seemed to quite fill her fragile lungs. One day, they had been planning a high school graduation party, and the next, she had been trapped in a fire that left her badly scarred and her lungs hopelessly damaged. Her subsequent death had changed him somehow. Connor feared that Owen would be alone forever, unable to let go of the ghost of his lost love.
“Okay, Owen. If that is what you want, then that is what we will do. We will keep our mouths shut about this and work on getting you ready for taking on Aiden yourself, but you should know that I don’t want you to do this. I won’t think any less of you if you back down from this fight after you’ve thought it through a little more.”
“No. I won’t be backing down,” Owen replied. “We are dragon shifters and we have grown afraid of our own leader. Not just us, but everyone in this clan. Look around us, Connor. Can’t you see the difference in the people here since Aiden has taken over as leader? We should be fierce, powerful. We shouldn’t be afraid of one measly dragon shifter.”
“You’re right, Owen. I just have other things going on, I guess. I never imagined we’d be planning a takedown of the leader.”
“I’m sorry, Connor. You don’t have to involve yourself in this. You deserve to be happy, and I wouldn’t dream of taking that away from you.”
“No, no,” Connor said. “That’s not what I’m saying. You know we are in this together. I just hadn’t planned on things taking such a huge turn.”
“No one ever plans for something like this to happen, do they?”
“I guess not, brother. I guess not.”
“Then it’s settled. I know Emily is coming back today, so I’ll let you two catch up. I’m going to go check out some things and work on a plan for all of this.”
“Sure. I’m going to spend the night at Emily’s, so you’ll have the house to yourself tonight. Go wild.”
“Right. Like I always do,” Owen said.
“No. ‘Like you always do’ would mean you are in bed asleep by nine o’clock. Plan what you need to, but get out and have some fun too. Have a few drinks. Dance. Meet a girl, perhaps.”
“I met a girl once. I don’t think I ever will again.”
“You never know, brother. You just never know,” Connor replied, clamping his hand down on Owen’s shoulder for a moment before heading out the front door to buy Emily some flowers for when she arrived.
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About the Author
Sarah J. Stone began her life in the mountain town of Aspen, Colorado, where she spent her childhood skiing, photographing, and exploring the wild outdoors that stretched out before her. Her favorite spot, where she spent most of her time, was the bank of the Roaring Fork River. There she would revel in the breathtaking scenery and daydream about fantasy worlds and made-up stories. She would often have a writing pad in one hand and a cup of hot chocolate in the other.
As a postgraduate, the non-writing part of her career led her to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where she worked to prevent abuses in human rights. However, she never stopped writing fantasy tales as a way to escape and rejuvenate from the stress and flurry of the real world. This is why she fuses her fanciful shifter stories with strong, smart heroines.
Now, as a full-time author and coffee addict, you’ll find Sarah at local coffee shops pecking away on her keyboard - drawing out the images, characters, and dialogue before they escape her mind. She adds sugar to her coffee and shifters to her literature.
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