by Dianna Love
“Evalle?”
Standing awkwardly on her crooked, but now stronger, rear leg, she looked up at him and just stared.
She’d faced every creature he’d thrown at her.
Now he expected her to fight a kwane. What was that?
She finally nodded her gryphon head, indicating she was ready.
When the gate opened, a black bird the size of a human walked into the arena. All those black feathers and one spot of color, a dark gold beak with large nostril holes.
Birds tended to have fragile bones compared to a gryphon, no matter the size.
She started shaking her head, telling Germanus she would not kill some creature in cold blood. Even if that bird breathed fire, it wouldn’t go one round with her. Every other flying critter had attacked Evalle’s gryphon with intent to kill.
Her gryphon stood ten feet tall and seriously outweighed that bird.
“I’m waiting, Evalle.”
Instead of answering, she shifted to her human form, hoping the damn bird wouldn’t attack her. She’d had occasional use of her kinetics, again controlled by the whims of Germanus. When she stood barefooted in her usual sack dress, she looked up to find Germanus seething.
Score.
He stood up and yelled, “I did not bring you here to use as a sacrificial offering.”
Maybe she was feeling stronger or maybe she was losing her mind, but she yelled back, “I still don’t know why I’m here, but I’m not killing something that much smaller than my gryphon. If this is all for your sport, you need to raise your expectations.”
He mounted one of his gargoyles, and it flew him down to the arena. He gave the kwane a command and it backed up ten steps to stand near the gate.
Walking over to Evalle, he said, “You will regret testing my limits.”
“I doubt it. On the other hand, if I knew what you wanted and why I’m here other than to prove I will survive, this would be simpler.”
“Very well, I’ll tell you. I had hoped to get you better trained first, but—”
“Better trained?” she asked with no small amount of sarcasm. “I’ve killed a wyvern, a roc, a cockatrice and I would have smashed this bird if I sat on it.”
He allowed her to interrupt, then continued. “As I was saying, you are dragging your feet in training. These first battle opponents have been nothing compared to what I have in this realm. My goal is not for you to kill all of the beasts, only to cull out the weak ones. If I wanted you destroyed, I would have done so long ago, but you will play an important role when Daegan does arrive.”
She didn’t want to ask, but she needed to know. “What role?”
“You will help kill the dragon, of course.”
Her mouth opened, then closed, in shock. This guy was freaking delusional. “First of all, I’m not even that powerful. Second, I am not attacking the dragon king of the Beladors.”
“You will be strong enough with the aid of my army, which you will lead,” he argued.
“Even if I were to consider doing that, which I’m not, what do you need with me? Why not fight him with your army? In fact, why would Daegan even care to come bother you if you had not grabbed me?”
“You will do as I say and battle whatever and whomever I point you toward.”
She crossed her arms. “No. I’ve been fighting to survive and I’ll kick anyone’s butt who tries to hurt me, but you can’t make me do anything you say like this bunch of flying sheep who jump when you snap your fingers.”
He sighed. “I keep trying to do this the simple way, but you are stubborn.”
“It’s a character flaw I fail to see the harm in.”
Turning, Germanus looked at the other side of the arena, which looked big enough to play two football games side by side.
Germanus waved a hand toward one of the four gates.
Screaming reached her ears. It came from deep inside the building on the other side of the fighting pit.
Evalle froze.
That had sounded human. She hadn’t seen any humans except Germanus and he wasn’t worthy of a place in the food chain.
The gate opened and an eight-foot-tall gargoyle she hadn’t seen before walked out, dragging the person still screaming. A young, human-looking guy.
Jerking back and forth, the guy yelled, “Let me go!” His voice sounded full of tears.
Growling, the gargoyle grabbed the young man by his shoulders and lifted him off the ground then turned him to face Germanus.
Evalle went still with shock.
No. That couldn’t be ...
“E-valllle! Save me!” Kardos cried out.
She lunged forward and was pinned in place. Her arms were locked to her side. She pleaded, “Let him go. Don’t hurt him.”
Germanus said, “Unfortunately, you keep forcing me to prove that I do rule this place and everyone here will do as I say, including you.” He turned to the kwane and quietly ordered, “Attack.”
The gargoyle released Kardos, who started for Evalle. Tears spilled down his face.
She yelled, “Runnnn!”
Kardos looked all around. The gate behind him closed.
“Don’t do this,” she begged. “Please don’t do this. I’ll do whatever you want.”
Germanus said nothing as the kwane opened its wings wide. Lightning shot down from a clear blue sky to strike the bird. Blue veins of electricity raced across its wings and body.
Then the bird’s beak opened and two fangs dropped down.
Kardos took one look at the bird, spun and ran for the gate that was shut tight. He flipped back around with terror streaking his young face.
The black vampire bird began herding Kardos from one side to the other.
Evalle’s heart banged her chest like fists beating to get out. She screamed at Germanus. “Stop it! You made your point. Stop it!”
He ignored her.
With a flick of its wing, the bird sent a lightning bolt of energy at Kardos that hit him so hard he lifted into the air, howling in pain.
The bird flew up and hovered as it stabbed those sharp fangs into the vulnerable teenage body.
Kardos and Evalle screamed at the same time.
Blood ran down the floating body and poured to the ground as the bird fed.
Evalle couldn’t feel her legs or hands. How could she have let them do that to Kardos? She yelled curses at Germanus between tears. “You miserable bastard. That boy did nothing to you. What kind of monster are you?”
Germanus calmly turned to her. “One you should not test again. I can bring the other twin, Lanna, that little pet gargoyle ... even Storm in here next. My friend who brought you here filled me in on all of them. He knew I would need that knowledge to deal with you. Are we finally clear on who is in charge?”
She couldn’t answer him. She drew shuddering breaths as she stared at the limp body now lying on the ground and no longer making a sound or moving. Her mind could not accept the image, but she smelled the fresh blood on her next strangled breath.
Germanus gave an order and his gargoyle scooped up the body.
“What are you doing with him?” Evalle said, her voice a broken sound even to her ears.
“I had intended to burn the remains.”
“No.” She cried the sad word.
“There is nothing you can do for him. If I don’t burn it, my army will use what is left for food.”
She wasn’t going to survive this after all. Her gaze locked on the gargoyle lumbering out of the arena. She would kill every creature in this place. There was nothing but evil here.
Germanus thought she’d lead his army?
Not if she managed to rip apart all of them.
Then she could help Daegan if he did find her, but something told her that Germanus had a trick up his sleeve he had yet to share with her.
Maybe she’d die here after all.
She could no longer regenerate from death like the other gryphons currently on Treoir Island. They all started with three regener
ations and the others had used at least one.
The invisible clamp holding her in place vanished.
Germanus walked back to his gargoyle ride and climbed on. He said, “Are you ready to face the kwane now?”
With that, the gargoyle pushed off the ground, flying too easily for something his size with wings that small.
She turned to the black megabird, now bulked up after having fed on someone she loved.
She cracked her neck and called up her gryphon fast. Power surged in a flash flood through her body. The physical pain that shift caused was nothing compared to how her heart suffered.
I will destroy this one for you, Kardos, she vowed silently.
Then she would do her best to either take down every other creature here, including every fucking gargoyle, or draw her last breath trying.
Now she was glad she had not bonded with Storm or she could only wonder what fate he would face by being connected to her.
The kwane opened its winged arms.
New lightning bolts struck each wing. That miserable black bird made a high, keening noise of delight, then its fangs dropped.
Evalle lifted her gryphon head and roared in fury.
Bring it.
CHAPTER 20
Himalayas north of Nepal
Icy stalactites had begun reforming above Cathbad’s head by the time he heard Brynhild return in dragon form to the remote lair he’d provided for her.
He eyed the shield at his side.
Would she call it to her again?
Power rushed in from the cave opening, alerting him that she’d just changed shape.
When she entered, she was in human form once more, and still wore gear suited to a medieval battle.
She would be a tenacious one for sure.
He stood with his hands in his pockets. “Enjoy your flight?”
“Yes. I did.” She walked over and lifted the shield, letting him know just how confident she was to gain it at any time. “Where is Daegan?”
“If you’re ready to begin training, I’ll show you.”
She gave him a flat stare. “I asked about Daegan.”
Cathbad could not allow her free reign if she was going to destroy his plans before he got started. “If you think to attack Daegan the first time you see him, then I will not help you.”
Sighing with anger, she spit out, “You are an old woman to nag me.”
Enough was enough.
Stepping close, he powered up his energy so that she would know he was not her lackey. “Take heed, Brynhild. I am not an old woman. I am a druid who has survived many things more dangerous than you. There is a limit to my patience. You would be wise not to reach it or to continue testing me.”
She took a step back and tossed her shield away. “You would threaten an ice dragon?”
“Only if you continue to be unreasonable.”
She lifted her arms above her head and shoved her hands down in front of her while yelling a battle cry.
He saw the attack coming and didn’t move.
Fire rained down on him in a shower.
His clothes disintegrated. His hair, close-trimmed beard and eyelashes burned away. Once the flagrant assault was over, he stepped calmly from the spot where embers continued glowing across the floor.
That surprised her.
Her face twisted in rage. Flipping her hands around, she slammed him with a load of power.
His naked body flew across the room backwards. At the last second before he would have splattered against the wall, he could have teleported, but he didn’t.
Inches from the jagged wall, he stopped in midair and remained suspended. As he floated there, he called up a new set of clothing, then replaced his hair, eyelashes and beard.
Floating down to floor level, but stopping two inches above the ground, he moved toward her until they had ten feet separating them.
The room stank of singed hair and burned clothes.
He might have made a mistake in keeping this one.
Maybe he’d have done better to go find one of her brothers before both princes had died. Surely a male dragon would be more suited to strategizing a battle plan, and less emotional about the goal.
Straightening the collar of his shirt and smoothing his hands over the new suit, Cathbad gave her a weighty look. “What else do you have?”
She’d become deathly silent, probably just realizing she’d stepped into a majikal pile of shit up to her neck.
When she said nothing, Cathbad told her, “In that case, I think we need a little more time apart.”
Her eyes turned reptilian, a sure sign she prepared for a battle.
He flicked a hand to the side and pointed at the pond.
Ice ruptured and burst into the air.
Her gaze left his to follow the explosion.
With the chunks of ice suspended above the churning water, Cathbad said, “I will not battle you every inch of the way. If you are not prepared to do your part and follow my lead, then perhaps you need another fifty or sixty years underwater ... but you shall be conscious this time.”
Shaking her head back and forth, she said, “You would not.” Then she glared at him. “Do not dare!”
She began shifting into a dragon.
Cathbad pulled a bracelet out of his pocket. The wide silver band had the Celtic braided outline of her family’s dragon emblem and glowed from being so close to Brynhild.
He lifted the band and ordered, “Return to human form, Brynhild.”
She was halfway shifted.
Her body stopped expanding and started shrinking. The gut wrenching sounds coming from her blasted through the room and echoed back.
In seconds, she had returned to human form, now naked after ripping out of her battle gear. But she had to also be exhausted from shifting so many times close together.
She began shivering and wrapped her arms over her breasts. Pushing an evil look at him, she snarled, “That bracelet is mine! Give it to me.”
“And still, you’ve learned nothing,” he chided. “I hope you enjoy your next time out of this world.” He lifted his empty hand.
Her eyes flared wide. “No. Do not. Wait. I will ... talk more. Do not send me—”
With a flick of his wrist, her naked body lifted up and dove head first into the water. He pointed at the still-suspended ice then down at the pond.
Chunks flew back together like a movie scene shot in reverse.
He powered up his hearing.
Brynhild screamed curses at him.
She might find her way out of there. If so, she would be ready to kill him when he returned for her again.
Or she could become an ally with better manners if she was still beneath the surface next time. He couldn’t give her fifty or sixty years.
He didn’t have that kind of time to waste while stalking Daegan.
CHAPTER 21
County Kilkenny, Ireland
Storm’s olfactory sense picked up the scent of Noirre the moment he landed in Ireland near Dunmore Cave. Having a teleporting dragon on hand made all the difference in this hunt.
He didn’t want to push anyone to enter a cave known as a death trap, but he had no qualms about going in on his own.
Tristan walked up with his gaze on the sinking sun. “Think it’s the same day here, right?”
Quinn confirmed, “Still Sunday, but four hours later. That puts local time around just after five in the afternoon.”
Time had no relevance to Storm while Evalle was missing. As the team assembled again, he asked, “What do we know about this place today?”
Quinn said, “The cave is a tourist location. I can’t recall everything, but I do remember reading that bodies were recovered from the site during archaeological excavations at one time. Once those were removed, this cave was turned into a museum of sorts.” He asked Daegan, “Will the plant be growing where those removed bodies are buried?”
“Not the Noirre plant. It grows only deep inside this cave, which mean
s some remains were missed. Maybe the spirits had a way of shielding those. I have no idea where the plants and bodies are exactly, other than inside the cave.”
Stepping into the conversation, Tristan mused, “How can something that deadly be in a cave where humans have survived visiting? Why haven’t those plants been discovered?”
Reese had been staring out over the rugged landscape covered in patches of grass, rock and dirt. She suggested, “Plants are living things. Daegan said the plants were thought to be sentient. If this is the case, the plants could have moved the bodies to a secure location inside the cave.”
“I smelled Noirre out here,” Storm announced to the group. “If the plant only grows inside, then it’s been brought outside.”
“Can you pinpoint an actual spot for the scent?” Daegan asked.
Lifting his nose to determine a direction, Storm took off, moving quickly. If they wanted to go with him, they had to keep up. After hiking over a knoll and down the backside of the hill, Storm noticed a sign off to his left that indicated the entrance of Dunmore Cave. They had to keep an eye out for human visitors and staff. Daegan might need to drop a cloak over them again.
Storm stopped short and leaned down.
When he straightened, all of the team had caught up. He pointed at the ground. “The Noirre scent is right here. I’m picking up the scent of the same being from the art park in Atlanta in this spot as well.”
“Have you figured out who the scent belongs to?” Tristan asked.
“No, but I’ve smelled it around Atlanta on occasion. No matter how hard I try to connect it to a face, I can’t, which means I haven’t seen this person’s face.”
“We’re close to the cave,” Quinn said, turning to nod. “That fits what I’ve read about the entrance being at the bottom of a gulley.” He told Daegan, “As we crested the hill, I climbed a bit further and saw two cars leaving. There’s only one in the parking lot, which probably belongs to staff. The cave exhibit closing at five local time would make sense.”
Reese moved forward. “Let me see if I can pick up anything from here.”
Evalle had shared with Storm that she picked up more going on between Reese and Quinn than just their joint interest in Phoedra. Evalle had seen them kiss once and said Quinn looked at Reese like a woman he cared about. His mate had been anxious to grab Quinn alone to ask what was up.