by Julia Mills
“One other time,” Siobhan answered. “I was a young healer. Gareth, my mate, brought a Green Dragon home from one of their many battles with the wizards. He was so badly hurt Zachary and I were sure he would go to the Heavens, but then his little mate, Cara, wandered into our lair.
“She was a sweet girl, long dark hair, deep brown eyes, and about three months pregnant. The poor thing had made her way nearly a hundred miles over treacherous terrain, after waking up in the middle of the night when her mate received the worst of his numerous injuries. Cara collapsed as soon as she was able to tell us who she was.
“I feared she’d been beaten by any number of treacherous adversaries during her travels. However, when Zachary examined her, he found wounds just like these–internal bruising identical to her mate’s. The only way we could think of to end Cara’s pain was to have her block her mating bond with Shane. No matter how we pleaded she refused, and he was unconscious most of the time so couldn’t help us either. The biggest difference was that Shane’s dragon was active and working as hard as we were to heal the Guardsman. The beast also did everything he could to shield their mate and child. It only took a few days before they were both on their feet and heading home.”
“So if we can get her to break their bond then we can treat her.” Pearce sounded optimistic. Emma wanted to feel it too, but couldn’t. She had no idea how the bond had formed and no idea how to break it, block it, or even burn it down.
“That would be a great plan, but I’m guessing almost all of it is coming from Andrew. I need you to take care of Emma while I go try to convince our ‘guest’ to break their bond.”
Siobhan didn’t ask and didn’t wait for an answer. The Elder Healer always knew the Guardsmen would do whatever they could to help her. Just one of the many reasons Emma loved her family so very much.
“And you think that piece of shit is going to do anything to help any of us?” Emma could only imagine Aaron’s expression from the rage that heated his tone.
“I have to believe if the Universe and Fate have let them find one another, they have also made sure Andrew is experiencing all the protective feelings a dragon has for his newfound mate. He will do whatever it takes to end her pain.”
“Then I’m going too,” Aaron growled.
“Me too,” Aidan rumbled.
“That’s fine. It might help to have you two there.”
Emma could barely hear Siobhan’s voice. The sound of footsteps, followed by the banging of a door, let her know the twins and the Healer were gone. The smell of healing herbs and candles let her know Pearce had decided on a course of treatment. The Guardsman began rubbing what felt like a cream and smelled like outdoors, on her skin. She remembered seeing Siobhan combine healing herbs with lemongrass oil. The Elder Healer had told her it helped with pain and inflammation.
The heat of the ointment, coupled with Pearce’s huge, lightly calloused hands, lulled Emma into a dreamlike state. It seemed the poultice was working its magic; the dull thud in her head and slight pain in her muscles seemed to be slipping away. With her mind clearer than it had been in the last few days, Emma began pushing to wake up.
I mean, come on, it’s time to get the hell up.
She could still feel the traitor’s presence, but he remained silent. It was like he was riding the waves, fading in and out, and she was helpless to do anything but follow. The link Siobhan and the Guardsmen had been talking about explained the weird light in her soul and the ray of light that flowed from it.
When waking up seemed like too much work, the young jeweler focused on her mating bond with Andrew. She knew everything he’d done. All the people he’d hurt. The plans he’d concocted to make everyone he thought was responsible for what he’d suffered, pay. And until the last few days, she’d thought the only true justice would be to watch him burn, but when she looked into the white, warm, ball of energy warming her soul, it was hard to believe it was the same person.
Emma contemplated the idea that somehow the Universe’s wires had gotten crossed and Andrew wasn’t really her mate, but then she remembered the mismatched eyes and the deep timbre of his voice that was so like Aidan and Aaron’s. There was no doubt it was him.
Following the bond, the traitor’s memories began to come to her; recollections from his youth, depicting a happy family with three rambunctious brothers and very loving parents. The longer she watched, the more she saw. It was like a synopsis of his life up to the time he left his clan of birth to train with the MacLendon Force.
Emma could feel everything he had felt, could see how much it had meant to him to follow in his father and brothers’ footsteps. What truly amazed her was how heavily the responsibility of being the Special One weighed on him. He lived in constant fear of letting everyone down.
One memory, heavy with importance, played out like a movie in her head…
Malachi, the Spiritual Elder of their clan and one of the four that made up their Council, was sitting in the Cave of Ancients beside the Great Altar, while Andrew was praying on bended knee. When the younger version of the man they all had come to despise finally looked up, he had tears in his eyes.
“Did you see that, Elder? Did you see what the Ancients said to me?”
“Yes, I saw what they wanted me to see, but what did you see?” Malachi’s soft baritone voice seemed to add reverence to the moment.
Andrew hesitated before beginning. “It was daunting. The Ancient, Shavon, said… ‘Wherever the Special One goes, there so goes dragon kin.’ She explained that as the Special One, I will have a decision to make. I’ll be faced with great tragedy, and out of that I will be forced to choose either the path of light or the path of darkness. My decision will be ABSOLUTE; either completely good or completely evil.
“If by some chance I end up on a dark path, only the one the Universe made for me can redeem my soul and wash away the taint of my mistakes. We have to ‘know of each other’ but not be mated, and she has to want to save me of her own free will.
“She will also be very special and will have to have…”
The rest of the memory was obliterated as a burning pain worse than anything she’d previously experienced, forced Emma’s back to bow off the table. Her arms adhered themselves to her sides and her legs snapped together as if magnetized. Her limbs became so rigid that the popping and cracking of her joints echoed in her ears. The loss of control over her body was scary as hell. She was sure at any moment her lungs would freeze and she would die where she laid.
“Holy shit! She’s seizing!” Pearce’s yell filled the clinic. “Devon, grab her feet! Lance and Royce, each hold an arm. We have to keep her from hurting herself while I get this Tree of Heaven syrup into her. It’s the only thing I know that is strong enough to calm her.”
The Guardsmen’s strength held in her place so tightly she knew there would be bruises, while Pearce’s thumb and fingers bit into her jaw, holding her mouth open, keeping her from choking on her own tongue. Emma floated on the edge of consciousness as cold, thick liquid slid down her throat. The chanting of female voices was far in the distance and she prayed she would live long enough to thank everyone.
Out of her despair came Andrew’s voice, weak and thready, as if he were drawing his last breath. “Tharraingt ar shiúl, mo maite’. Briseadh an banna.”
“How do I do that?” She pleaded as the pain finally receded.
“You have to… I don’t want… Go gcasfar le chéile sinn i na Spéartha, mo a ru’nsearc. Please live….”
His voice trailed off while she tried to figure out what he meant. The ball of light she’d identified as their mating bond faded to little more than a spark just before she felt Andrew let go. Their link wasn’t severed, but it was clear neither the man nor the dragon were actively participating.
Terror filled her heart. She called to him through the link but was unable to wait for an answer as consciousness came rushing back to her.
Gasping, Emma’s eyes flew open. She fought to sit up.
Pearce yelled for her to hold still. The Guardsmen tried to keep her down, and all the while she screamed, “They’re dying. Andrew and his dragon have gone into the Fades!”
CHAPTER TWO
He’d always known he’d die young…and tragically. Even before he was left for dead by his brother, tortured by wizards, and made to cavort with hunters just to survive…it had been a foregone conclusion. Of course, it would’ve been nice to go out in a blaze of glory like James Dean or Bruce Lee, but that hadn’t happened. He’d died on the floor of cave that served as his prison, awaiting a Tribunal to convict him of treason. An offense that, by the way, carried a death sentence.
See the pattern?
No matter, he was dead and that was one thing that had finally gone his way. Since he’d buried John, his second in command and only friend, Andrew had felt his impending doom breathing down his neck. It was weird, but he was relieved.
Over the years he’d heard others say he had no soul, no heart, no remorse for the things he’d done, and they’d been partially right. Andrew had no remorse for the devastation he’d tried to deliver to the dragons. They’d left him for dead, and for that they needed to pay. Heavens knew he’d done everything in his considerable power to deliver that retribution, but the Universe protected Her favorite warriors, and in the end, Andrew had lost. So remorse was not something he felt, but regrets…oh yeah, he had those. Not the ones people might guess, and not near as many as his sanctimonious brothers would want him to carry around for all eternity, but he had them.
I’m bound for hell; isn’t that enough?
First and foremost, he regretted not getting to see the look of utter defeat on Aidan’s face when the Tribunal pronounced Andrew guilty of treason and sentenced him to death. Andrew knew his bleeding-heart, do-gooder of an older brother would’ve argued for life imprisonment. He also knew the Elders and other Guardsmen on the Tribunal would have vehemently opposed Aidan and he would’ve lost.
Poor, poor, Aidan….
Nope, can’t keep a straight face on that one.
Secondly, he hated that he hadn’t been able to take at least a few of those fucking asshole Guardsmen with him. Time after time he’d meticulously planned their deaths; dotted every ‘i’, crossed every ‘t’, and every damn time those sons of bitches had escaped Andrew’s brand of justice. They even blew up his home and killed his only friend. Just another in a long line of atrocities that he’d endured at the hands of the dragons, with no chance for payback.
Lastly, and most importantly, which quite frankly shocked him, was that he would never know the one the Universe made for him. He hated that he’d caused her pain, and surprised himself by wishing for more time to tell her how sorry he was.
When they connected after he’d been dumped on the cold stone floor of his cell, Andrew had pulled away, scorched by the virtue she possessed. Awestruck, both man and dragon had gaped at the pure selflessness flowing from his Emma. Her goodness shone so brightly it diminished the darkness that stained his soul. Andrew actually felt hope for the first time in almost ten years. She made him want to be better.
Those fucking dragons…
Not only had they robbed him of his heritage and the kinship of family, they’d also taken the only beautiful thing he’d ever had. If he only had one more day to make them pay. Just one more day…
He prayed to whoever was listening that his mate knew he’d done everything possible with his waning power to shield her from his pain. When he’d called to her, begging her to come to him, it had only been to break their connection. No matter how many times he’d tried mentally to release the bond, something held them together. He knew a spell, used only in case of an extreme emergency, that would sever the mating bond in an unconsummated relationship, but the mates had to be touching. Emma hadn’t come to him, either because she couldn’t, or because she feared him. Another question he would never get answered. The torment of her suffering would follow him through the depths of Hell for all of eternity.
Floating in the Ether, waiting for his dragon’s soul to take its leave, and for the Reaper of Hell to fetch him, he continued to think of Emma. Glimpses of her soft brown hair and expressive dark eyes haunted him. He was forced to feel something other than hate and vengeance, a whole new experience for him as of late. His trip to the Land of the Lost Feelings didn’t stop with his almost mate; it continued down Memory Lane. The first such trip not centered on his abduction and torture that he could remember, compelling him to pay close attention.
For the most part it was sappy and a complete waste of time. Andrew was well aware of what his life had been before that fateful night. He’d had great parents whom, even through it all, he’d loved, or at the very least, didn’t hate. Love was one of those things he’d sluffed off after deciding on the path of vengeance, so he wasn’t sure what he felt for the couple that had given him life, except to say had they been alive, he wouldn’t have wished them harm. No, all those feelings were saved for his brethren. The word stung his brain as he thought it. They could no more be called his brethren than a gecko can be called a T-Rex. Those bastards were to blame for all he’d been through. Pity his chances for retribution had passed, but it was time for him to move on…literally.
The scene in his mind changed, reaching deep into his past from a time when he’d just begun his training to become a Guardsman. This specific memory contained a young girl hiding in a grape arbor. The one thing he remembered more than her fear or sadness was the way he and his dragon responded to her. Both man and beast reveled in her laugh that sounded like the little bells on his mother’s bracelet. They wanted to bathe in the scent of daffodils that was purely her. Another regret was he’d never followed up and gotten to know the sweet girl better.
Oh shit!
All the pieces of the puzzle came tumbling together in painful clarity. The girl from so long ago, the one that had been crying, that hadn’t remembered her name, was Emma…his Emma!
Well, I’ll be damned.
Already done. He chuckled to himself and then laughed. Talking to myself….wow. That’s got to be somewhere on the list of things a crazy person would do.
Everything surrounding his mate now made sense. They had met before, so of course the mating bond had opened wide and irrevocably linked them together. It explained why his dragon, even in the beast’s weakened state, had pushed so hard to know her and had refused to help him break their connection.
He’d thought about that young girl with the silky brown tresses and sparkling onyx eyes so many times over the years. Had known she was incredible and had wanted to explore the feelings she brought out in him, but Destiny always had another plan. The chance to get to know her had passed. His heart had grown cold and hard; love was not something Andrew had even thought about after the night his brother betrayed him.
Heaviness settled on his chest, a tightness gripped his once beating heart; it was a good thing he didn’t need to breathe, because there would’ve been no way he could’ve drawn a breath. His dragon roared, sending shards of sharp, burning agony into the base of his skull that spread throughout his lifeless body. The beast was mourning the loss of their mate and there was nothing Andrew could do but let him.
Look old boy; be patient. You’ll find her again. Fate always gets what She wants.
The beast continued to grieve, leaving Andrew with the option to lament with him or hop back on the Remembrance Railway and face a whole other pile of steaming bullshit. Faced with two losing propositions, he chose the least painful and spent days floating on a sea of nothingness, reliving every painstaking moment of his life. Sensory deprivation might be nice for meditation or relaxation or whatever Swami Sammy was selling on late night TV, but not for the hard-ass traitor of the world renowned Dragon Guard.
Maybe this is hell and I just missed the Reaper.
“Now you know better than that, Son, your dragon is still here,” the first voice other than his own he’d heard in what seemed like forever said.
&n
bsp; “Excuse me, my brain is not a party line. How the hell did you get in here?”
“A little respect, mo mhac; you’re never too old to get your ass kicked by your athair. It has been a few years, but I’m sure it’s just like taking flight…”
“Dad…?”
“Who exactly were you expecting?”
“In all honesty? I wasn’t expecting anyone.” He stopped talking for a second, wondering if insanity was part of the ticket to Hell, then had another thought. “This isn’t an ‘Ebenezer Scrooge’ thing is it? Are you here to tell me I’m going to be visited by three ghosts and all that happy horse shit? Because that has really been played out and I’m already dead, so it would be a huge waste of resources.”
“You always were a smartass and too damn smart for your own good and the good of those around you.” His father sounded tired and more than a little sad. “This is NOT a Scrooge visit. This, my son, is a visit from a father long passed to his son who is facing eternity in the fiery pits of Hell. It is a wish granted from the Ancients of our kind to me, one of their warriors.”
Andrew immediately felt like he was six years old again and had just been caught putting spiders in his mom’s apple basket. A prank that had not only gotten his butt beaten, but also landed him mucking the horse stalls for a month, and he still didn’t have a regret. He knew he should be apologizing to Michael, but figured it was useless; he’d never lived up to any of his father’s expectations…why try now?
“See, Son, that’s always been your problem. You always thought that you didn’t live up to your potential, so you transferred those feelings to others and used them as a reason to be a complete pain in the ass. In death, you really need to be honest with yourself and grow the hell up!
“Yes, Aidan left you after the wizard attack, but you know damn good and well it was only because he thought you were dead. Tell me what you would’ve done if you’d seen his head thrown into a ceremonial pyre?”
Unable to answer, Andrew waited.