Archer’s jaw tightened. “I think the time for that is past.”
Miles cast a worried look at Hunter but said nothing more.
I looked at Archer. “It is time.”
He frowned. “Not for that.”
“Please, let me do this,” I said, sliding my hands up to his face, my eyes on his as I spoke against his lips. “Let me do what I am best at.”
“I’m not going to stand for this,” Hunter said in an injured voice. “I will simply draw my spells with my left hand. Let’s see…it goes this way first…No, I have to reverse that because now it’s widdershins…and a curl there…Dammit, that’s not right. Starting over.”
Archer looked deep into my eyes, his gaze piercing and full of doubt, but I let him see my confidence, both in him and in my own ability. “I love you, Archer. I love you so much that I’m not going to let this go on any longer. Too many of your dragons have died because of this, because of what you and your brother are. I want to live in peace with you forever, and we can’t do that until we restore the medallion. Until we fulfill your parents’ wish for you and your brother. Until we bring balance.”
His jaw worked. I knew he was going to reject what I said and continue on the path that he thought was inevitable, one cast in stone since his birth and that would end in more deaths. But he surprised me, this dragon of mine who could hold the power of a storm in the palm of his hand. “You are that certain?”
“Yes. I think we can do this.”
He looked at me, just looked at me, then did something I thought he’d never do. He took a step backward and gestured toward Hunter. “Do it.”
I looked to Miles and Hunter. The latter was still muttering to himself as he attempted to draw spells in the air, but the symbols didn’t hang in the air as they did when drawn with his right hand. Miles stood beside him, his eyes on Archer. I recognized the look I saw in them.
“You love Archer, don’t you?” I asked Miles.
His face twisted in a grimace. “He is family. The bond between dragons with family is ever strong.”
“You’re not first cousins, are you?” I asked, distracted for a moment by Hunter, who was glaring at his left hand as he drew a symbol that knotted up on itself and poofed into nothing with inky black residue that drifted down to the floor.
“No.” It was Archer who answered, and I saw to my relief that amusement glinted in his eyes. “Our great-grandmothers were sisters. Twins, as a matter of fact.”
“So you’re second cousins. That’s better.” I felt like a shadow had passed by.
“Well, it’s not like they’re going to have babies,” Bree murmured in my ear.
“Damned straight. If Archer has babies with anyone, it’ll be me,” I answered.
She gave me a look and nodded toward Hunter.
“You’re kidding,” I said, startled. “You mean Miles is in—er…” I eyed Miles.
Bree grinned.
Miles looked embarrassed. “Can we change the subject back to how I betrayed Archer, please?”
“You gave him the wrong transcription, but you didn’t betray him. I’m sorry I was wrong about you. I thought you were hiding something. I just didn’t realize it was…” I stopped, not sure if I should go on.
Miles pinned me back with a look of belligerence. “As you said, I did not betray him. I brought Hunter the inaccurate copy of your notes.”
I gawked at him. “How did you know I made a copy?”
He rolled his eyes. “I’m not a fool, no matter what you think of me.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
Hunter transferred his glare from his hand to his cousin. “You did what?”
Miles shrugged. “It seemed best. I knew you’d want to go off on your own if you had the correct copy. So I gave you the false one.”
“So you don’t know what the leaf says? Not really?” I asked Miles.
He shook his head. “I didn’t look for the one you must have hidden away.”
Archer stood with his arms crossed, the sword back in its scabbard. His face expressed no emotion, but his eyes…oh, his eyes were warm with love.
“The manuscript tells the tale not of the Raisa Medallion but of the sun goddess named Saule, who was shattered when her two sons, two constellations, were born imperfect, together a whole, but separate…unfinished. She gave her life so that her sons Sagittarius and Orion could find their balance.”
“The Archer and the Hunter,” Archer said, his voice a low rumble that I felt thrum deep in my bones.
“But the constellations were separated by a great gulf—Sagittarius rises in December, I believe, while Orion is in July—at one end, the remnants of the mother, the sun, and at the other the father, the moon. Each morning, the sun mother rose to give life to her sons.”
I had Hunter’s attention now. He stood, his hands at his side, his eyes sliding past me to look at his twin. “You are part of the Raisa Medallion,” I told Hunter. “Just as Archer is. The medallion is made up of the two of you. Separate, there is no balance. You both wield great power, but neither of you have peace.”
“You’re saying we, what, need to kiss and hold hands?” Hunter asked with something that very much looked like horror. “No. I am willing to put up with a lot, but I cannot live with him. He’s impossible.”
“I don’t relish the idea of being bound to you any more than you do,” Archer snarled, taking a couple of steps forward.
Hunter glowered and took a step forward as well, until the two men were separated by a few feet.
“Right. Let’s hope this works, because otherwise, Archer is going to let me hear about it for a very long time.” I took a deep breath and put my left hand on Hunter’s chest and my right on Archer’s. Nothing happened. The world continued to turn; Archer’s chest rose and fell under my hand with the warmth of his dragon fire simmering softly within him. Hunter shifted, obviously impatient and just as doubtful as his brother.
I looked at Bree. “What am I doing wrong?”
“Saule,” was all she said.
I thought about that. The leaf said the sun had given birth to the two constellations, but it was an allegory for Raisa, the mother of twin sons that she loved so much, she gave her life to bring them balance.
Love. She loved her sons. The connection, the bond between the three of them was love. I kept my hand on Hunter’s chest while I turned to Archer, my hand over his heart, leaning into him to press a kiss to his lips, one that said better than words just how much I loved him. His mouth curved under mine, and just as his hands reached for me, the world shifted into a moment where everything went out of focus, then sharpened again with a percussive blast that sent us all flying, bringing the house down around and on top of us.
Chapter Sixteen
“MATE, IF YOU TRY TO GET UP ONE MORE TIME, I will tie you down.” Archer shot Thaisa a look that by rights should have scared a good five years off her life, but she wouldn’t be the exasperating, maddening, wonderful woman she was if she didn’t disregard even the most reasonable of his commands.
“I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that I’m fine, you annoyingly adorable man.” She teetered when she stood up from the sofa that had been blown upward when the house exploded, stepping over various bits of debris, broken furniture, glass, trees, shrubs, and shattered wooden walls, while soft bits of down and thread from the destroyed upholstery drifted lazily on the night air. “Bree, is he coming around?”
“Not yet, but he’s moaning, so he’s still alive,” Bree answered from where she sat on a big flat piece of wall that now lay in Hunter’s front garden, Miles lying on his back next to her.
Archer grunted as he hauled more downed walls off the spot where Hunter had stood before Thaisa had blown the house up around them. “Anything?” he asked Ioan quietly. He didn’t want Thaisa upset in case his brother had been destroyed as a result of her attempt to bring them together.
“No.” Ioan shifted a solid oak chair frame, digging through the rubb
le with hands that were red with blood from the flying glass. Archer noticed that most of Ioan’s wounds were healing, as were his. His gaze strayed to his flower. The front of her dress was splattered with blood, but since he’d managed to grab her right as the house came down, she had been sheltered by his body.
“Archer, I insist you rest for a little bit. Your back is a mess. Again.”
Beyond them, the shadow dragons who had heard the blast were working to dig out the remains, hoping to find their master. The looks they gave Archer were pure venom, but he ignored them, taking charge of the dragons as naturally as if they had been his tribe. He issued orders, setting teams of two to work together to clear sections around the spot where he’d clawed himself and Thaisa from the rubble. The shadow dragons didn’t want to heed his instructions, but with sullen looks and suspicious eyes, they gave way before him.
He had to find Hunter. He couldn’t do what needed to be done by himself.
“Hunter was standing right in front of us,” Thaisa said, her hands on her hips as she looked around the crater that was the remains of the house. “Maybe if he got blown back that way?” She pointed just as one of the shadow dragons gave a cry.
Archer leaped across fallen concrete beams, scrambling down into an inky crevasse, his body protesting when he swung himself into the jagged hole.
On the ground, a female shadow dragon knelt over a black figure.
“Does he live?” Archer asked the dragon at the same time Thaisa called the same question above him.
“Yes,” the dragon answered, looking indecisive. “I don’t know if we should move him or not. He might have internal damage.”
“He will heal,” Archer said, but his hands were gentle as he turned his brother over.
“Archer?”
“He’s alive,” he yelled up to Thaisa. Ioan stood close to her, clearly taking up a protective position in case any of the shadow dragons should think to attack his mate. Archer made a mental note to make sure the man was promoted to his personal guard, then turned his full attention to his brother.
There was blood on Hunter’s head and neck, a jagged gash that had bled copiously but that was even now sluggishly slowing while the flesh mended itself. Judging by the odd angle of Hunter’s right arm, it was likely broken, as was a foot that twisted the wrong way. “Get the door open. Is there a stretcher?” he asked the shadow dragon.
“I’ll check,” she said, scrambling over the broken furniture and walls that had collapsed down into a basement room. Archer rose with his brother in his arms, moving slowly so as not to trip over any of the sharp fingers of twisted wood and metal that reached up to grab him. By the time he made it up the miraculously still-standing stone stairs, the shadow dragons had cobbled together a makeshift stretcher made out of a bit of bedsheet.
“Where is the healer?” Archer asked, watching when his brother was laid on the slab where Miles was now sitting upright, his hands on his head.
“On his way,” the nearest shadow dragon answered, his eyes flicking between Archer and Thaisa. “Why did you remain after you set the bomb?”
“It wasn’t a bomb,” Archer said.
“It was magic,” Thaisa said at the same time. “Very old magic, and although I’m pleased I was right about it, I’m very sorry that this happened. I had no idea the balancing would cause such a reaction.”
“It’s not your fault, mate.” Archer straightened up, the muscles and tendons and bones in his back screaming. He’d taken the full brunt of a wall that collapsed on top of Thaisa and him, and although he healed just as fast as the other dragons, he suspected that it would take more than a few hours to repair the damage done to his spine.
Warmth flooded him, flowing along his back, causing his fire to answer. Thaisa pressed herself into his side, one hand gently rubbing his back. “Come on, my superhero. Let’s get you sat down with Miles and Hunter so we can talk.”
“I have no need to sit,” he objected, leaning into her despite the words. He breathed deeply, capturing her scent and holding it inside him, where it glowed around the knowledge that she loved him.
“Well, I do. And I have a hundred questions that I very badly want Hunter to answer.” She slid a glance up to him. “And you, too.”
He raised his eyebrows, wondering what her analytical mind was busy with now. It fascinated him, that mind, and he felt a certain amount of pride that of all the people who had sought to find the Raisa Medallion over the course of six centuries, it was his Thaisa who had put it all together.
“Why did you pretend to be upset that Miles betrayed you?” she asked him.
He sighed. He had a feeling she’d seen through it. With his mouth next to her ear, he said softly, “Ioan was there.”
“But he’s your tribe member,” she whispered.
“Yes, but he’s only been so for a short time. Although I have no reason to believe he is anything but what he says he is, Hunter, Miles, and I trust no one else. Not even tribe members.”
“I suppose I can understand that, although it seems like a lot of extra work.”
The shadow dragons continued in a desultory manner to stack up bits of the wreckage, looking for anything they could salvage. Two of his brother’s tribe sat next to Hunter, their eyes wary, but at least they stopped looking daggers at Archer.
“All’s well that ends well, don’t you think?” Bree hopped onto a bit of fallen masonry and peered out into the night. Archer tried to get Thaisa to sit on a stone garden bench that had survived the destruction, but she pushed him down onto it and then kept him there by sitting on his lap.
He wrapped his arms around her, her delightful round, warm breasts right there at mouth level. He eyed them, wondering just how long it would take his back to heal so he could give those breasts the attention they were due.
“I don’t know that I’d quite go for that cliché, but I suppose as long as Hunter isn’t seriously injured, it is apropos,” Thaisa commented before making an annoyed tsk. “What are you doing, Bree?”
“Looking for my sister.”
“You have a sister?” Thaisa sounded surprised.
“I have two, actually. Sasha is the eldest, and Clover is the youngest. I told Clover she needed to be here tonight, since she’s looking for work, but I don’t see her.”
Thaisa looked like she was going to ask more questions of the sprite, but Archer, wanting to get Thaisa home and to his bed, tried to herd her to the discussion he knew she was determined to conduct. “What other questions do you have, flower?”
“Hmm? Oh, well…” She paused and looked at Miles, who had gotten to his feet, having to hold on to a bit of tree trunk in order to keep upright. “Am I right in saying that you have a—for lack of a better word—passion for Hunter?”
Miles looked startled, then pugnacious. “I’ve told you before that family is valued in dragonkin.”
“Even a family member you thought was killing all your members?” Thaisa asked.
He was silent.
Archer watched his cousin. He’d known that for almost as long as he’d known Miles that the younger man harbored romantic feelings for him, but since Miles knew he didn’t reciprocate them, they had an easy relationship. He had no idea that affection had turned to Hunter.
Thaisa glanced at Archer, clearly asking if she could speak freely in front of the others. He gave her a little nod. “I believe the time for our deception is over.”
“Good. That’s going to make things a lot less confusing.” Thaisa kissed Archer’s ear.
“Simplification is welcome. So is a morphine drip,” Miles said.
“You’re a part of the whole thing, so you have no right to act like you didn’t intend on pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes,” Thaisa pointed out. “That’s what confused me. You and Archer were so adamant that the shadow dragons were killing off the storm dragons, and yet, I see now that you really did nothing about it. You didn’t attack them. You didn’t wipe them out. I know how Archer feels about his
tribe, and I know he’d move heaven and earth to keep them safe, and yet…” She gave first him, then the prone form of Hunter a long look. “And yet, what was tantamount to a war went on and on and on.”
Archer shifted to a more comfortable position, his hands on Thaisa’s thighs. She really was far more prescient than he’d given her credit.
“And then there was Hunter. He said almost the same things that Archer did—that the shadow dragons were persecuted by his brother’s tribe, that they just wanted to live in peace, all while they, too, did nothing to stop the war. They didn’t wipe out Archer’s remaining members. They didn’t harm me, which I gather would have been a big deal.”
He squeezed her leg and bit her shoulder. “It would have destroyed me.”
“I love you, too, my darling,” she said, kissing the tip of his nose.
Hunter moaned and tried to sit up, rubbing first his head, then his neck. Archer noted that the jagged wound was now nothing but an angry red welt about six inches long. “Am I dead? Is this the Underworld? Who are you?”
“My name is Sasha,” said a woman who appeared out of the forest. She bore a close resemblance to Bree, clad as she was in a pink ballerina’s tutu, white-and-black-striped thigh-high stockings, and a man’s embroidered vest. Her hair matched the color of the tutu and looked like it was tied in a knot on the top of her head, with bits of it poking out in all directions.
“Hey, Sash,” Bree said, giving her sister an odd look. “I thought Clover was coming?”
“She is. I figured you’d want everything official and stuff, so I popped along.” She looked around at the remains of the house. “Cheese and crows, that was one hell of a curse being lifted.”
“Curse?” Thaisa frowned. “It was a curse? I thought it was just bringing the two brothers together. Did you know it was a curse?” she asked Archer.
He hugged her tighter to him, drinking in the scent and feel of her. “It’s not a curse in the traditional sense of the word, but yes, I suspected that if the medallion existed, then something like that had kept it hidden for so many centuries.”
Day of the Dragon Page 23