Dragon Redeemed

by Linda K Hopkins

  “To ensure my loyalty?” Robin asked cautiously. Xavier could scent his annoyance at being doubted.

  “No. Because with my blood in your system you will be protected if Callaway tries to attack you. Only a death blow will kill you – your body will recover from most other wounds. But you do realize that there are other effects?”

  “Are you referring to the bond?”

  “Yes. I’ve never given a human my blood before. I don’t know how strong my hold will be over you.”

  “Robin has a strong mind,” Lleland said.

  “And Xavier has strong blood,” Aaron countered. “He’s right to be cautious.” He turned to Robin. “You understand that you will be placing yourself under submission to Xavier. He may demand things of you that you wouldn’t normally do, and you won’t be able to resist his demands.”

  Robin turned to Xavier, meeting his gaze. “I understand,” he said slowly. “We share some of the same blood, you and I, so we already have a connection that might make the bond different than for other humans, but I also trust you to do the right thing.” He lifted his eyebrows. “This isn’t going to turn me into a dragon, is it?”

  “Have you had dragon blood before?” Aaron asked as he shot Lleland a quick look.

  “No. Why?”

  “Then the chances are pretty slim,” Zach said. He laughed at Robin’s look of concern. “There’s no chance you’ll turn into a dragon, I’m sorry.” He glanced at Xavier and Aaron. “Before we take away Robin’s free will, perhaps we should discuss how we’re going to handle his directive to kill Xavier.”

  They all fell silent for a moment. “There is one thing Callaway wants,” Xavier said slowly. “A chance to kill us all at once. He’s been waiting for the right opportunity to present itself, remember?”

  “We will be playing right into his hands,” Lleland said wryly.

  Xavier turned to Robin. “Do you have any idea what his secret weapon is?”

  “Callaway told me that he had found a particularly strong strain of wolfsbane somewhere in the east.”

  “Wolfsbane? Nothing in his journals led me to think his weapon was a poison. Do you know how he plans to use it?”

  “He said he had developed a particularly effective method of delivery, but told me no more.”

  “A weapon that can deliver a larger amount than usual?” Lleland suggested.

  Aaron tapped his leg. “You think we should let Callaway come to us, then kill him and his hunters?”

  “If he thinks he has the upper hand, he might be less cautious. And he’ll bring along all his hunters.”

  “We already know that if we act quickly enough we can prevent wolfsbane from killing us,” said Lydia.

  Xavier was thoughtful as he wound a ribbon of flame around his hand. “He might still have something else up his sleeve.”

  “Then we move cautiously. But it sounds as though we’ve run out of time,” said Zach.

  “Yes. We have to move forward with what we know, and be prepared to change our plans should the need arise.”

  “If he uses wolfsbane,” Keira said, “Margaret, Cathryn and I can be on hand with daggers to cut away the affected flesh.”

  “No,” Aaron growled. “I don’t want you anywhere near this battle.”

  She laid a hand on his arm with a smile. “They won’t be after me, they’ll be after you. And you know that my body recovers almost as quickly as yours now.”

  “It’s a good idea,” said Zach.

  “No. I almost lost you once, and don’t want to live through that again.”

  “You won’t,” Keira said. “That time I was a target, but not this time. I can help, Aaron.”

  He ran his hand through his hair with a groan. “Very well, but you must stay well away. We can fly a short distance even once we’ve been shot, and I will direct the dragons where to go.” He glanced at Xavier. “I agree that Callaway has something else up his sleeve, however. His hunters may be good, but he seems to be putting a great deal of faith in a poison that we can avoid, and if necessary, cut away. And how many hunters does he have? A dozen? Does he know how many there are of us?”

  “He said around three dozen,” said Robin.

  “Then he will be in for a surprise. Are you sure he hasn’t mentioned anything else that could help us?”

  Robin was thoughtful for a moment, then shook his head. “I’m sorry, no.”

  “Very well. Then this is the best plan we have. I think we all want to bring this fiasco to an end, and I’m sure we can handle whatever Callaway brings.”

  “What do I tell Callaway?”

  “Tell him that you came here to kill me,” Xavier said, “but before you did, you overheard something you thought he would want to know.”

  “Which is?”

  “You heard us discussing a dragon conclave where most of the dragons of the clan will be in attendance.”

  “He’ll ask who was here.”

  “I think he already suspects most of us in the room, so you can give our names. Except Lleland.” He looked at his father. “Perhaps don’t mention he was here.”

  “And where is this conclave to be held?”

  “In the hills.”

  “Just beyond the coastal road,” Aaron added. “There is a large valley where we can gather. We’ll be there at dawn.”

  “Dawn? That only gives him a few hours.”

  “Exactly!” Xavier gave a satisfied smirk. “He won’t have time to get all his plans in place, but will move heaven and earth to be there. There are more than a hundred of us already within the city, and when he sees our numbers, his confidence will falter. We will take him and his men down, and the citizens of Civitas will be none the wiser.”

  Robin smiled grimly. “I will gladly deliver the message. Do we do the blood thing now?”

  “Yes,” Xavier said.

  Zach passed Xavier a dagger, and Keira handed Zach a wine glass.

  “Hold out your arm,” Xavier instructed.

  Robin winced as the knife was drawn across his wrist and blood began to pour from the wound. Zach held the cup to catch the flow before it fell to the floor. The wound wasn’t deep, and the cup was only a quarter full when it began slowing. Zach passed Xavier the cup, and he threw back the contents. The flames in his belly reached up to take the offering, and Xavier could feel the link forming between him and his cousin.

  Handing the cup back to Zach, he slashed the dagger deeply across his own wrist, and Zach positioned the cup as his blood began to flow. It was almost at the brim when Zach pulled the cup away and handed it to Robin.

  Robin stared at the dark crimson liquid for a moment, then glanced at Xavier, his eyes wide.

  “Drink up,” Zach said.

  Robin drew in a deep breath, then lifted his head and drained the contents. The glass dropped from his hand and smashed on the floor as he fell to his knees with a cry. With a small gasp of alarm Lydia stepped forward, but Aaron held up his hand to stop her, and they watched as Robin dropped his head to the floor and groaned.

  Slowly, he rose to his knees, his eyes wide as he stared at Xavier, who crouched down beside him.

  “How do you feel?”

  “I feel …” He examined his hands, then patted his face. “Different. Stronger. I feel as though I’m connected to you, somehow.”

  “You are.” Xavier rose. “Now bow at my feet.”

  “What?” Robin gave him a look of horror, and Xavier grinned.

  “Just checking.” He reached for Robin’s arm and pulled him to his feet. “You belong with us, no matter what happens.”

  “No getting rid of us now,” Zach said, slapping Robin on the back.

  “Are you sure Callaway won’t notice something different about me?”

  “You look the same to me,” Keira said. “Although the dragons can probably see a difference, no human will.”

  “All right.” Robin twisted his back and flexed his arms. “Then I should probably go see Callaway.”

  Cha
pter 29

  Evelyn moaned in her sleep as Xavier invaded her dreams. His eyes were burning brightly – gold and yellow flames that leapt and sparked – and his tongue was a tongue of flame that burned her with its touch. She clenched the sheets as he took her, slowly and gently, and she called out his name. Her eyes flew open, searching the room, until the cool night air brought her to full awareness and she remembered the events of the previous day. She pulled the quilt tighter around herself, trying to hold back the emptiness that surrounded her.

  The sound of pounding feet made her lift her head in confusion. A shout rang from below and she recognized Uncle’s voice, yelling for someone to deliver a message. Other voices joined his, and even though she could not make out the words, she could sense the urgency behind them. Wondering at the commotion, she crept to the door and opened it slightly. The voices became more audible. It was soon clear that something of an urgent nature had arisen, but assured that it was not a question of personal safety, she climbed back into bed and pulled the quilts around her shoulders, leaning back against the headboard.

  Sleep had been quite chased away, and she glanced around the room. The moon shone through the slats of her shuttered window and a faint sliver of light fell onto Uncle’s journal, still sitting on the table where it had been placed earlier. In all the events of the day, she had forgotten to return it. She stared at it for a long time, thinking about Xavier’s words, and she wondered again what he had been searching for. She had no desire to invade Uncle’s privacy by reading his personal journal, but the book taunted her, teasing her with unknown information.

  After a few moments of hesitation she reached for the candle and tinder box, the single flame chasing away the immediate shadows, then darted to the table to retrieve the book. Returning to the relative warmth of the quilts, she opened it to the first page. The flickering flame of the candle shed little light, and she had to squint to see the words properly. As she had already deduced, the journal detailed Uncle’s hunting activities and his frustration at his lack of success. Evelyn flipped over a few pages and read another paragraph where Uncle had detailed all he knew about dragons – height, wingspan, length of tail, approximate speed, range, colors. He had recorded each new piece of information meticulously, but it was clear that despite all this knowledge, his hunting successes were few. Evelyn flipped over a few more pages and looked at the sketch Uncle had drawn. The creature on the page looked beautiful, she thought, not like a terrible monster. She closed her eyes with a sigh. All this information was very interesting, but it did not shed any light on what Xavier had been searching for. Perhaps it was something else entirely, completely unrelated to dragons. She snapped the book shut and reopened it near the end, where a phrase, heavily underlined, leapt out at her: take human form. She frowned and backed up to the start of the paragraph.

  Interview with Tom Goodwin who escaped the black dragon in the twenties. According to this eyewitness, dragons can take human form.

  Evelyn’s eyes widened as she read the words. Lleland Seaton had been a hunter until he had gone to the Northern Mountains. Had he learned the truth about dragons? Was that why he stopped hunting? She continued reading.

  Even in their human form, they manifest dragon qualities with their hot skin, glowing eyes and flaming breath.

  She dropped the book to the bed. Xavier’s skin was always warm, and she’d been sure his eyes were burning when he’d held her in his arms. She shook her head at the fanciful path her mind was traveling. Xavier couldn’t possibly be a dragon! Such a notion was ludicrous. She picked up the book with a shaky breath and resumed her reading.

  In either form, dragons are immune to fire and not easily injured. They have the same sense of smell as a beast, and can smell a human’s emotions. Their eyes are like those of a hawk, and their ears like a bat’s. They have immense strength. They can fly in human form and live to a great age, sometimes hundreds of years old.

  She read the words again as the image of Xavier’s parents rose in her mind. She shook her head, banishing the thought, but it was replaced with the memory of Xavier flinging her attacker down the alley. She groaned softly to herself before taking a deep breath and trying to refocus her thoughts. For some reason, the information contained in the journal was important to Xavier. Did it tie into the rumors about a dragon attack? Perhaps Xavier and his family were working with dragons. If dragons could take on human form, then it made sense they were already in the city.

  She cast her mind back to the conversation she had overheard between Uncle and Xavier, trying to remember what was said before Xavier crushed her with his comments. Uncle had used some pretty disparaging words to describe Xavier – spawn of the devil; monster. Her hand flew to her mouth as the import of the words became clear. Surely Uncle didn’t think Xavier was a dragon. But Xavier … Xavier hadn’t denied it. Instead he had threatened to eat Uncle’s heart!

  The book slipped from her hands as images swarmed to her mind: Xavier’s burning eyes as he made love to her; the light that seemed to spill from him and light the room; the way he could always track her down; his strength when facing her attacker; his youthful appearance.

  She shook her head. It wasn’t possible – she couldn’t possibly be married to a dragon! Dragons were beasts – except Uncle’s journal made it clear that they weren’t. But surely Xavier would have told her the truth, unless he never intended to remain with her in the first place. She closed her eyes. Of course. He kept talking about going back to the mountains, and leaving her behind.

  And if he were a dragon, that meant his parents were dragons, too. Lydia, with her beautiful features, and Lleland, who looked twenty years younger than his younger sister! But Lleland had been a hunter, so he couldn’t be a dragon, but clearly something had happened to him in the mountains.

  Her breath was coming in uneven gasps, and she dropped her head into shaking hands. Suddenly, it made sense that her husband was a dragon. And Baric Callaway hated dragons. She drew in deeply, trying to calm her trembling, then picked up the book and quickly skimmed through the remaining pages, pausing with shocked breath when she read Uncle’s plan to involve the citizens of Civitas. That he had been the source of the rumors that placed her husband in danger seemed too dreadful to contemplate. Even if Xavier had used her, she did not wish death upon him. She closed her eyes as she thought of the man she had taken into her arms. He had played her well, making her fall in love. Except …

  She sat upright in the bed as she thought of how he had kept her at a distance the first few days of their marriage. His plan had never been to get close to her, but something had changed. He had started to develop feelings for her! She placed her fingers on her temples, trying to recall what he’d said to her through the door – something about his heart. He had said that she’d worked her way into his heart. Was it possible? Was it possible that he really did love her?

  Anger gave way to remorse as she considered how she had refused him the opportunity to explain himself. She had been so fixated on the hurt of his admission, she hadn’t contemplated the reasons for his actions. The fact that Xavier had married her in order to learn Uncle’s plans was clear, but considering what she knew, she was just as certain that he had developed feelings for her.

  A shout in the street interrupted her thoughts, and she hurried over to the window. People were rushing down the street, hastily pulling on tunics and coats as they grabbed various weapons. Evelyn watched in shock before dashing back to her bed and grabbing the journal. What had Uncle written? Something about waiting for an opportunity. Had the opportunity arrived? Was that what the commotion was about? She flipped between the pages, hoping to learn as much as she could about what Uncle was planning to do. She was about to close the journal when a sentence caught her eye. She read it twice, then flipped to a page near the beginning, before dropping the journal with a thud.

  Uncle had a secret weapon – not wolfsbane, but something far more powerful. Whatever it was, Uncle had not committed the se
cret to the pages of his diary. Was this the knowledge Xavier had been trying to discover? Had he learned what it was?

  Hastening to the door, she pulled it ajar and listened. All was quiet downstairs, and she tiptoed to the top of the stairs, pausing once more. Confident that she was alone in the house, she ran down the stairs to Uncle’s study. The door was wide open and she stepped inside. The desk was strewn haphazardly with papers, as though Uncle had left in a hurry, but she had no idea of what she was looking for. Sketches of dragons lay scattered across the surface but she hastily pushed them aside, searching for something that might be useful in identifying a weapon. Sheets of names and notes of locations went flying to the floor as her search grew more frantic. Nothing on the desk seemed to give her the slightest hint of what the weapon might be, and she spun around, searching the room for another source of information. Along the wall was a bookshelf, stacked from floor to ceiling. She swept her glance across it then paused. A small corner of paper, peeking from between two books, caught her attention, and she hurried over and pulled the sheet free. It was an invoice, and she was about to throw it onto the floor with all the other papers when the words on it caught her attention. Clutching the page tightly, she raced back up the stairs. She fell to her knees before her chest, barely glancing at the gown she withdrew and hastily pulled over her head. The laces were at the back and she pulled them as tight as she was able before slipping her feet into her boots and grabbing her cloak, still clutching the invoice she had found. She dragged her fingers through her curls as she raced back down the stairs and onto the street. The first streaks of sunrise lit the sky pink, giving enough light to travel through the city.

  Gathering her skirts in her hand she hastened along the road, heading in the direction of Drake House. She had only been there once before, but she remembered the church with the steeply pitched roof along the way and the huge tree that had been split by lightning. She turned onto a wide boulevard and sighed with relief when she saw her goal; she hurried to the door and pounded it with her fist. It was opened a moment later by a maid.