Fighting For Her Dragon

by Julia Mills

  “Yes ma’am,” were the only words he could squeeze past the lump in his throat. The look in Siobhan’s eyes said she meant every word she’d spoken. She was not threatening; she was promising him that there would be hell to pay if anything happened to Emma. What the Healer could not have known and Andrew was not inclined to tell her, was that he felt the same way about his miraculous mate. When all was lost, she was the one person who never gave up on him, and there was no way in Heaven or Hell he would allow her to feel anything but happiness and joy.

  The traitor is now the sap…whoopee!

  “Now that we have that cleared up, I think we better get Em awake. I don’t want to be around if she doesn’t have time to do her hair,” Kyra chuckled while unpacking the large duffle bag containing her magical supplies.

  A sudden pang of regret hit Andrew right in the gut. He thought of how he’d misused the white witch’s magic and almost caused her to be sanctioned by the Council. Unable to stop himself, he crossed the room to help her while making sure to stay close enough to Emma to keep her calm. The look Kyra shot him said she remembered too.

  Swallowing his pride because it was the right thing to do and something he was going to have to get used to doing to keep his mate happy, Andrew stood right in front of the white witch. “Kyra, I wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for being such an asshole. I never should’ve messed with your magic. I hope somewhere down the line you can find a way to at least tolerate me for Emma’s sake.”

  The little witch looked at him for a long minute, tilting her head to the side as if she wasn’t sure what to say but was thinking over her options. Nodding, she finally answered. “Ya’ know Andrew, I should hate you. I know some of the others do, or at least think they do, but I’m not that kinda girl. Instead, I have a proposition for you. We’ll be fine as long as you take care of Emma. You treat her like the treasure she is and make sure she never so much as frowns because of something you’ve done, and we’ll be good. Deal?”

  He replayed Kyra’s words in his head, making sure he wasn’t missing anything. It sure sounded straightforward and something he knew would make Emma happy. “It’s a deal. Thank you.”

  Not sure if he should shake her hand or if they should hug, he followed her lead and started placing groups of yellow, white, and pink candles around the room with cachets of herbs and White Ash chips at the base. He noticed Anya and Siobhan were studying an ancient book that he recognized as the Tome of Dragon Magic. The magic of a blood relative would be so much stronger than his, the blood of a mate, but it didn’t stop his jealousy from rearing its ugly head.

  Shaking his head, he had to remind himself that although he wanted to be everything Emma would ever need, that was not only improbable, but just plain crazy. It was going to be an everyday battle not to grab her up and take her as far from the people he still held responsible for his misfortune, but it was something he was going to fight…for her…his mate…his Emma.

  “Time to wake up the bride,” Kyra called from her place behind the head of Emma’s bed. “There are four of us so we will take up the positions of power. Anya, you will face the East and say, hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the East, powers of air, hear me, before lighting the white candle. Siobhan, you will face the South and say, hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the South, powers of fire, hear me, before lighting the red candle. Andrew, you will face the West and say, hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the West, powers of water, hear me, before lighting the blue candle. Finally, I will face the North and say, hail to the Guardians of the Watchtowers of the North, powers of mother and earth, hear me, before lighting the green candle.”

  Each person did as the little witch had instructed. When they were all holding their lit candle, Kyra began the spell. “We pray to the Heavens. We pray to the Goddess of All. We pray to the Universe who protects us one and all. We, your humble servants, ask that you bring our Emma back to us. She is lost in the sleep of the transforming. Please calm the dragon, reassure the woman, and guide them back to their mate and family. Your will in all things. Blessed be, blessed be.”

  There were a few moments of silence before Kyra said, “Blow out your candles, but do not leave her bedside.”

  Waiting for Emma to wake, Andrew found himself praying, something he hadn’t done much of over the last nine or ten years. He wasn’t even sure who he was praying to, just that he was asking anyone out in the vast universe to bring his mate back to him. When no one and nothing answered while Emma continued to sleep, his thoughts took a darker turn.

  This is all my fault. Had I not have come here, or been brought here, then we would never have bonded. Her dragon would’ve stayed dormant and she would’ve had a normal life. Way to go, Drew!

  “But then the Prophecy could not have been fulfilled. The Blessing couldn’t have been given and those that want to bring Hell to Earth would have free reign. Would you want your Emma to suffer that fate?”

  Wondering who was hijacking his thoughts, Andrew could only come up with one entity strong enough. “Shavon?”

  “Yes, you are correct.”

  “Do you often make a habit of running through people’s thoughts?”

  “Only when those people require my attention. Speaking of attention, your beloved is waking. She will need you. Be strong for her, dragon. Be strong for them all.”

  Emma’s hand moved against his. The spark of electricity he was beginning to associate with his mate shot up his arm, making his pulse race. Watching her face for any signs of lucidity, Andrew almost jumped out of his skin when her eyes opened, locked with his, and she whispered, “Damn, I’ve missed you.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Emma had never seen a more stunning sight than the smile on Andrew’s face when she was finally awake. Add the love she saw shining from his mismatched eyes and she was over the moon. Looking around the room, she was shocked to see Anya and Kyra.

  “What’s up? Y’all having a party without me?”

  “No, mo chroi’. We were trying to wake you up. You’ve been basically comatose for five days.”

  For a moment she couldn’t speak. Her grip on Andrew’s hand tightened; it was the only thing that felt real. “Five days? What happened?”

  “Before we answer that, what is the last thing you remember?” Siobhan asked.

  “Well,” she thought for a minute. “We were in Andrew’s room and…” Emma paused as memories of her fight with Aaron came rushing back, then what she and Andrew had done and then…nothing.

  She looked up to see her mate nodding. “Why did that happen? Why did I act like a raving lunatic?”

  Andrew looked at Siobhan, who nodded, then back to her. “Okay, here it is, but I want you to promise me if you start to feel weird or think you might lose control, you’ll let me know, and we’ll take a break.”

  “Afraid I’m gonna kick your ass like I did your brother’s?” She laughed, trying to lighten the mood.

  Andrew was obviously not up for jokes. Using the hand he held as leverage, he pulled her into his arms and lifted until they were looking into each other’s eyes. “No, I don’t care if you kick my ass every day for the rest of our lives and twice on Saturday, but if you ever leave me for five days again I just might kick yours. This whole loving someone thing is way out of my wheelhouse, and the thought that you might never come back to me was…well… more than I could handle. I know how to be an asshole. I know how to cause trouble. I’m even pretty handy with a sword, but sitting and watching you day after day, not knowing when or if you’re coming back to me, is just too much. Got it?” He slammed his lips to hers, kissing her with the same vehemence his words had held. Far too soon Andrew pulled back, looked into her eyes for a just a few seconds, and nodded once before gently setting her back in the bed and sitting down beside her.

  “Feel better now?’ Emma asked, biting the inside of her cheeks to keep from laughing.

  “As a matter of fact, I do.”

  She could tell h
e was pleased with himself and just couldn’t let him sit there and gloat, so she added, “You love me?”

  Almost immediately a deep red blush began to work its way from under the collar of his T-shirt. Clearing his throat, Andrew simply said, “Yes, I do, and that brings us to everything that happened while you were out. Before I get started, are you hungry? Do you need anything?”

  Nice change of subject there, bub.

  “No, thank you. I’m good right now.”

  “Okay, mo ghra’, buckle up, this is gonna be one helluva ride.”

  Thirty minutes later, Andrew had caught her up on just about everything that had happened while she’d been out, including another visit from the Ancient Dragon, Shavon. Emma could tell there was something he needed to tell her but was stalling. She’d tried to look through their mating bond but he had it locked up tight. Growing impatient, she blurted out, “Come on, Drew, I can tell there’s more to it. Out with it. The suspense is killing me.”

  “You’re right. There’s no way to do this but just come right out and say it.”

  He paused and she noticed him looking from Siobhan to Kyra to Anya, as if asking them for help. Her impatience was quickly becoming irritation. She’d always seen herself as laid back, all her friends teased that nothing got under her skin, but something had changed, something elemental inside her. Whatever it was had a temper and an incredibly short fuse, and if she wasn’t mistaken, had just chuffed inside her mind.

  Andrew had obviously sensed it too. His procrastination was immediately replaced with a sense of urgency that had him speaking so fast it took her ears a second to catch up. “There’s no easy way to say this…you’re a dragon. You’ve always been a dragon but someone put your dragon to sleep, for lack of a better term. When you got angry with Aaron in defense of me, your mate, your beast started to wake up and then we…well we…you know.”

  At least he had the decency to look embarrassed before continuing. “Any way, all of that woke your dragon up, but it was too much for your system to handle and it shut down.”

  Emma wanted to call him a liar. She wanted to scream that there was no way she could be a dragon. She wanted to pull the covers over her head and pretend the last hour hadn’t happened, but she could see from the looks on the four faces staring back at her that hiding was not an option.

  “And there’s more,” Andrew added, quietly.

  Of course, there’s more. Why stop at sorta crazy–let’s go for certifiable.

  Unable to speak, she nodded and prepared for what was to come. True to form, it was a doozy.

  “You’re a green dragon.”

  He paused and Emma could tell that was supposed to mean something, but no bells were ringing so she said, “And?”

  “And, well…”

  “Good grief, why do men take so long to say everything?” Anya grumbled from the corner, making her way to Emma’s bedside. “What your mate is failing so miserably at telling you is that we are sisters. The last two Green Dragons that anyone knows of and the first two female dragons in hundreds of years. It’s a long story and one I can show you if you’d like?”

  Emma could only nod as Anya held her hands, linked their minds, and replayed everything she knew about their heritage. It was an amazing story and one that made sense. It filled all the gaps Emma had chosen to ignore throughout her life.

  When she’d seen all there was to see, Anya let go of her hands and enveloped her in a huge hug, whispering, “I couldn’t have wished for a better sister.”

  The tears that had been threatening to fall while she’d watched Anya’s memories finally did when Anya sniffled. Laughing at one another, like Emma had always imagined sisters did, warmed her heart, and filled her with a sense of belonging she’d thought lost to her.

  Anya slid her eyes to the right and winked. Emma followed her sister’s eyes and burst out laughing at the truly pained expression on Andrew’s face. Holding out her hands for him to come to her, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

  He held her hand and looked back and forth between the two women for a minute before asking, “Why are you two crying? Is something wrong?”

  It was Kyra’s turn to chime in. Coming up behind Andrew, she swatted him on the back and chuckled. “You’ve gotta lot to learn. But right now you need to finish getting Emma up to speed. It’s gonna be sundown before you know it, and this place will be crowded.”

  Smiling a knowing smile that made Emma wish she knew what was going on, Siobhan added, “And on that note, we have things to check on.” Looking at Andrew, she said, “Stop stalling. We’ll be back in thirty minutes.”

  The Healer left the room with Kyra close behind, while Anya stopped and whispered, “Check out the box in the closet. I might’ve gotten my sister something pretty to wear.” Without another word, she disappeared into the hall, closing the door on the way out.

  “All right, what the hell is going on?”

  Andrew held both her hands in his and looked longingly into her eyes. She could feel him opening himself to her, letting her feel how much he loved her, how much he wanted her to be happy, and how inadequate he felt as her mate. On the heels of all of his feelings came pictures that soon turned into a replay of Shavon’s visit.

  Not that I don’t appreciate it, but these memory movie things are not all they’re cracked up to be.

  Intent on finding out whatever it was that was making her mate so uncomfortable, Emma watched and waited. What she heard and saw made her heart race. Shavon motioned for Andrew to join her at Emma’s bedside. Once they were both settled beside his mate, the Ancient Dragon began to speak. “You must make your mating official. You have awakened something within your mate that until you came into her life had remained dormant. Without the official ceremony and blessing of your Elders and Force, I fear she will remain trapped within herself for eternity.”

  She knew she had to resemble an owl from how wide she could feel her eyes had opened and how high her eyebrows had raised on her forehead. Afraid to look at Andrew for his reaction, but more afraid not to, Emma raised her head to find him studying her. It took less than a second for him to ask, “Are you disappointed?”

  Emma burst out laughing. “No, you big goofball. Are you?”

  “No,” he answered, looking confused, and more than a little lost. “Why are you laughing?”

  “Because you are so clueless. Did you really think I would NOT want to be your mate? To make it official?”

  “Well, I didn’t…I mean…Who knows… Oh dammit, Emma, do you want to be my mate? Can we have our mating ceremony at sundown? How about spending the rest of our years together, in love? Any of this sound good to you?”

  Tears rolled unchecked down her cheeks. It took three times but she was finally able to speak past the lump in her throat. “Yes! Yes! Yes! It all sounds good.”

  “Hell yeah!” Was all she heard as Andrew pulled her into his arms and spun her around the room, kissing her like she was the most precious creation in history and he was the luckiest man in the world.

  “That’s because you are and I am,” he chuckled directly into her mind.

  “Hey! No fair listening in.” She pretended to be annoyed, when in all honesty; it thrilled her as little else could.

  “You better get used to it.” He laughed.

  “And you better put me down and let me get ready or we’re gonna be late to our own mating ceremony.”

  She could see the reluctance in his eyes, but he did as she asked and deposited her right in front of the bathroom door. Placing her hands on either side of his face, she stood on the tip of her toes and kissed the tip of his nose. She whispered, “I almost forgot…I love you, too.” Then kissed his lips gently, took a step back, and closed the door while Andrew stood there shocked at her revelation.

  When she exited the bathroom, body and hair wrapped in towels, Emma found all the mates of all the Guardsmen waiting patiently. Even Grace, who looked that she was going to go into labor at any moment. “Bout time. Ge
t out here and let us help you get all beautiful,” Anya teased as she took Emma by the hand, bringing her into the room and pointing to the wooden chair placed before the vanity mirror on the far wall.

  The next hour was filled with laughter as the ladies all took turns fixing Emma’s hair and helping with her makeup until she barely recognized the woman looking back at her in the mirror. Anya appeared behind her carrying a large white box. “Traditionally, your mate would’ve gotten this for you, but he was busy sitting by your bedside and worrying, so I took the liberty.”

  She turned around, headed for the bed, and called over her shoulder, “Hope you like it.”

  Never one to be able to resist a present, Emma jumped up and ran to the huge box sitting in the middle of the bed. Tearing into like a kid on Christmas morning, she immediately stopped after pulling back the tissue paper and finding an absolutely gorgeous, silver gossamer gown with miniature black flames embroidered all over the corset-like bodice.

  “It is gorgeous. Thank you so much.” She turned and looked at her newly found sister and smiled.

  Even in the fluorescent light, the fabric sparkled as she pulled it from the box. A full length skirt, also embellished with small black flames, had a slit that started at the hem and she guessed would end at the middle of her thigh. Holding the dress to her torso, Emma pulled a thick, black satin ribbon that would serve as a belt and a pair of silver satin ballet slippers from the box. Spinning, she couldn’t help but giggle. Never in all her years had she seen such a beautiful garment.

  “Hurry up. Put it on. We can’t wait to see you in it and,” Kyndel tapped her temple, “the guys are almost ready for us.”