Witch Darkness Follows (Maeren Series Book 3)

by Mercedes Jade

  “Those are such beautiful claims to be hiding. I don’t remember seeing them when you broke into our caves,” Geer commented. “Did your princes decide that you needed a binding to keep you from flying away from them again?”

  Could Geer make it any more obvious?

  “Claims are not a leash,” she muttered to him.

  "Do you need assistance with the dragon nipping at your heels?" Daemon asked.

  "He’ll go away once he gets his way, which should be soon,” Elizabeth admitted.

  "Geer takes protection seriously,” George said, although he sounded approving about it.

  "This time, I think he’s gone too far. Pan does not need a dragon torq and three claims!" Elizabeth insisted.

  "Are you going to make her pick one between the Dogs?" Daemon asked.

  "You have two claims, so it’s hardly that much of a stretch,” George remarked." I still don’t like the idea of you going first to meet the light clan."

  Daemon and Raphael had made their deal.

  She could stand safely on the sidelines, and not affect the promised soldiers to get Daemon his kingdom back.

  The problem was that she wasn’t the girl who watched on the sidelines.

  Daemon knew this, but George was still coming to terms with her slayer side.

  “I’m not fighting because I’m obligated, but because I want to put that rotten, child-abusing lizard in his place ten feet under,” Elizabeth muttered.

  Her exacerbated threat to slay a dragon finally shut up George in her head.

  Geer growled, shocking her out of her mental conversation.

  “We should have killed him sooner. Is what the witch says true, scrappy?”

  Elizabeth had said that last out loud, instead of responding in her mind.

  A completely junior slip up that she hadn’t done since she was old enough to realize the difference between the voices in her head and talking like everyone else.

  The strain of trying to monitor the conversations going on around her and in her head had gotten her wires crossed.

  Pan paled and looked down at the ground.

  “I’m not a very obedient niece. My uncle had to discipline me daily, and I still ran off, ignoring my duties,” she admitted, so quietly that Elizabeth had to strain to hear.

  The Dogs were silent. Much too silent upon hearing this evidence of Pan’s abuse.

  “The other light dragonesses are not deserving of the same punishments. You can’t break your word to free them,” Pan insisted, looking back up at Geer, her eyes shining with sorrow and determination.

  “Did your uncle hurt your wing while he was disciplining you?” Cason asked, his voice so tight that it would snap if Pan shed one tear.

  “No, it was—I attacked Markus in the Wastes. He was within his rights, as we are engaged and the bans are being read,” Pan said, looking down again, so she didn’t have to see the shocked looks on the Dog’s faces. “Markus wanted me to return home.”

  “I don’t care if you love him,” Reid growled out. “You’re never returning to that cage.”

  The poetic lover sounded more than ready to do violence.

  Pan’s eyes snapped back up.

  “Claims of your own free will, raindrop, would stop us from going crazy with worry,” Cason said, almost begging.

  "Maeren, it’s going to take a squadron just to keep the Dogs from ripping this Markus apart. I’m coming over to sort this out,” George said.

  "Hurry!"

  “If you think Raphael will let you face your uncle and fiancé without protection wrapped around your neck—”

  “I never said I wouldn’t wear the torq,” Pan interrupted Geer. “I just don’t see why I need to bother anyone else when Elizabeth won’t have the princes guarding her. I’m a grown witch, too.”

  “Actually,” Elizabeth softly spoke. “I’m not really being given free rein. Remember the princes are in my head.”

  “Can’t you block them if it’s your magic?” Pan pointed out.

  “Circumventing protections seems to be a habit of yours,” Geer commented.

  “It’s not only Elizabeth’s magic that permits telepathy,” George said from behind them.

  Geer got a territorial glance as big hands grabbed her hips and pulled her body against the fiery earth-prince who had marked her left shoulder.

  "It means the magic marks you mine!" George said it with a satisfied smirk she could feel in her mind. “We told you not to cover yourself up until we got closer. Protection under wraps doesn’t do you much good."

  “Males can be clingy,” Elizabeth said, elbowing George. “Sometimes, it’s better to give in a little to their overprotective demands before they smother you,” she advised.

  George released her. “It’s important not to frighten a lady with too arduous attention or you risk losing any chance of her letting you close enough to stake a claim.” This advice, he directed towards the Dogs.

  "As if, you’re one to talk. You kidnapped me!" Elizabeth protested.

  "I’m not far from throwing you over my shoulder and letting Daemon deal with this mess.,” George warned her.

  “Pan is a young, female—”

  “Dragoness,” George interrupted Sam.

  Pan stood a little straighter, glancing at George from the corner of her eyes.

  “She has the protection of the dark clan with Raphael’s torq around her neck. You insult him by insisting that she needs further protection, especially if the lady declines.”

  Cason cleared his throat loudly over Sam’s response.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “I expect you three to show better scouting skills this time if you’re going to take the vanguard position,” George said.

  Geer smiled and it was genuinely frightening.

  “We have played a few games of fox and chicken to sharpen their skills.”

  “Foxes don’t fly,” muttered Reid.

  Elizabeth’s did fly, but Rai was a demon familiar.

  “Chickens don’t thunder about like elephants,” Geer retorted.

  “It is imperative that you keep hidden, so our females are not put at unnecessary risk,” George said more seriously.

  “You want us to advance and stay hidden?” Cason repeated, sounding uncertain.

  That wasn’t much action for three vampires that wanted to do something more violent after Pan’s confession.

  “Exactly so,” George said. “You need to be ready when the battle breaks out.”

  He looked over to Pan.

  “Would you say that your uncle will talk to you directly to negotiate? Will his son, Markus, be with him? Perhaps you should describe them, so the Dogs can do a proper reconnaissance.”

  "I thought you were going to put a stop to the Dogs tearing Markus apart?" Elizabeth asked, already seeing a clear problem with this new plan.

  "I never said that I would stop them. I said I would sort it out,” George said.

  “Remember there are dozens of females that will likely remain in the caves. Earth-magic should be used judiciously,” Geer cautioned.

  “I doubt it,” Pan said.

  She got all of the attention again, but this time, she met the male gazes head on.

  “The dragonesses are the hunters, warrior-trained if needed, although most of us have never seen fighting more than confrontations with rogues that the dark clan sends out.”

  “We’re going to be fighting females over their own freedom?” Geer asked, the implausibility of the situation straining his calm voice.

  “Not if negotiations go well,” Pan said.

  “They’ve been restrained for a long time,” Geer said, his voice calming as he put more thought into the new facts Pan had revealed. “Perhaps they would prefer the devil they know to the things they’ve been told about our dark clan?”

  Pan nodded. “There are many rumours.”

  “Kidnapping and torturing witches,” Cason said.

  “Terrorizing edge towns for their crops,” Re
id said.

  “Raging beasts that would overthrow the kingdom if not for the curse,” Sam said.

  “Pan knows best that the dark clan is not the one kidnapping witches or stealing crops. Raphael has enough troubles with his own clan not to bother Maeren’s court with those petty transgressions,” Geer said.

  “The blood of our dragonesses isn’t strong enough,” Pan said. “It’s a side effect of the curse. The light clan has no choice, but to take a few witches to meet the need for blood.”

  Geer eyed Pan with disbelief.

  “The light clan keeps all of the female dragons for themselves and then fails to service them properly, blaming the curse for the lack of power in the feeds?”

  “They hurt them when they feed,” Elizabeth said.

  “Raphael will hear of this,” Geer said, quickly turning from their group to search for his prince.

  “It’s not your blood, Pan. A vampire needs to properly prime a witch for a feed to be effective,” George explained.

  “Maeren,” Reid softly cursed, scrubbing a hand over his face. “You have never been primed? I—I thought you were teasing about never being kissed.”

  Pan blushed hard.

  “Nope. I’ve never fed anyone yet, either. Just—I was made to watch, in order to understand my duties once married to Markus.”

  “That isn’t happening,” Cason said.

  “Let us place claim tattoos on your shoulders. No priming or feeding necessary,” Sam said. “It will simply be a message that you are no longer available for marriage.”

  “Won’t Raphael’s torq do the same?” Elizabeth asked, not wanting Pan to be pressured into accepting a claim.

  The Dogs would also be disappointed if the magic didn’t take and form the bond they all so desperately wanted.

  “No, as we are related. Raphael’s torq on my neck is a promise of protection, not a claim,” Pan admitted.

  “Please, let us,” Reid said, his tone pleading.

  “C-can we take a break, so we’ll have some privacy?” Pan asked, looking at Elizabeth.

  "Are you sure?" Elizabeth asked.

  "Yes. I—I won’t let them hurt me. I know better now,” Pan said.

  "Oh, these boys don’t mean harm. I can see in their thoughts, remember?"

  "Do they like me?”

  "You already know the answer to that question."

  “Go into the woods, just out of sight. I will explain to Raphael,” she told Pan.

  The Dogs looked eagerly towards the woods.

  “Wait for me to scout first,” Cason said.

  His whistle from within the woods followed not long after.

  The twins took Pan’s hands and walked her swiftly to the woods before she could change her mind.

  Elizabeth would have slowed them down, but Pan was as eager as them in her thoughts.

  “Nature calls?” Geer guessed as she walked over to him and Raphael.

  “No, the Dogs have asked to give Pan claims—the tattoo only—for her protection. You knew they were going to act once they found out about Markus.”

  “Their intent is pure hearted, for which I’ll endure the feeling of their magic trespass while Pan wears my torq,” Raphael said, looking strained.

  Oh.

  “We’re kind of new to this torq thing. Pan seemed not to know much about it either,” Elizabeth explained.

  “We know,” Geer said. “The Dogs giving Pan their claims was my idea, after all. Raphael would prefer the dragoness be untouchable by her clan. They won’t take her back if she is marked by non-dragons.”

  “What? You didn’t mention that!”

  “Pan would know that law. Her uncle is the one who set it, upon taking my throne,” Raphael said. A little muscle twitched at his temple and he gritted his teeth.

  “Why?”

  “He blames the female dragons for the poisoning. An earth-lover of one female doomed us, according to him,” Geer answered instead of Raphael.

  Elizabeth remembered Pan saying something about it previously.

  “Do you—do you blame the females for the loss of your throne?” Elizabeth asked.

  “No,” Raphael answered. He shook his head. “I was too young to understand fully what set the unavoidable events in place, but it happened during wartime. Wrong actions were on both sides.”

  “Sometimes, what is done wrong cannot be fixed without a truly fate altering step,” Geer said.

  His torq shone brightly in the sunlight for a moment, blinding her.

  She blinked and refocused on his face.

  Power seemed to dim from his light eyes, as if he’d been using magic a moment ago.

  “Don’t look at him too closely when he has visions,” Raphael said, grabbing one of her hands and drawing her to the side.

  “Visions?”

  “He’s marked, can’t you see?” Raphael asked.

  “The tattoos?”

  “Yes, but they’re not all tattoos. There are markings he was born with under the skin. We merely reinforce them whenever he accidentally shifts.”

  “You know what he is, then? His power? He says that everyone forgets!” Elizabeth said, confused.

  She’d only just guessed at Geer’s power recently. It seemed it wasn’t the secret she’d believed.

  “We have a special bond, as has always been between the royal family and the prophet. He remembers,” Geer explained, conscious to the rest of them once more.

  “Did you have a vision just now?” Elizabeth asked, looking him over.

  “No, it was a mere flashback of when I had one about the cursed sleep,” Geer answered.

  A high-pitched scream interrupted their conversation.

  There was only one other female in their group.

  “Pan!” Elizabeth shouted, running towards the woods.

  Geer grabbed her back, pulling hard on her shoulder.

  “No! Let Raphael check. She wears his torq. It’s his duty.”

  Raphael had let go of her hand as soon as Pan screamed.

  He was already running, but he didn’t get much further than Elizabeth.

  Dozens of vampires poured out of the woods.

  They mindlessly attacked, their sick magic hitting at Elizabeth’s mind as she opened her barrier to search for Pan’s magical signature in the crowd.

  Zombie-vampires. It felt unmistakably the same.

  Fly Away

  Raphael

  Pan was safe.

  Her strong magic radiated through the connection afforded him by his torq on her neck.

  Pan hadn’t shifted yet if she had the torq on, so that meant whatever she faced wasn’t so dangerous a threat as to immediately make her shift to escape.

  Unless she refused to leave her newly claimed behind. The Dogs were earth-bound vampires who could never take to the skies like her.

  There were more vampires coming out of the woods than the Dogs could be expected to deal with on their own.

  Geer would arrange a counter attack, the feel of dragons shifting already, exploding all around them.

  Raphael wanted to join them, but he had to make sure Pan escaped the mêlée first.

  Once a dragon’s familiar took over, it was like the hindbrain ruled, instinct driving actions.

  A dragon excited by bloodlust or fear became his animal.

  It was not the best circumstances for clear thinking.

  A rescue with so many weaker prey running about to distract his dragon was unwise.

  Shoving through the vicious vampire pests that tried to take a bite out of him—A dragon!—as he passed, he followed the feel of his torq’s magic.

  The Dogs hadn’t taken their claimed far to do the tattoos, thankfully.

  She was just up ahead . . . and up a tree?

  Raphael couldn’t get to Pan easily. She had to have climbed instead of flown up the tree, as she wasn’t shifted.

  The Dogs were surrounding the tree trunk, their backs all to it, as they encircled and guarded from any of the attackers
getting close.

  With a dragon roar, Raphael got the attention of Pan and the Dogs.

  The foolish attackers ignored him, still scrambling and clawing at the Dogs in a single minded intensity. They wanted the dragoness.

  Other dragon roars joined Raphael’s own, his warriors ready to eliminate the threat.

  It wasn’t a battlefield that a young dragoness should be part of—although, the Dogs looked prepared to fight.

  The problem was that Raphael doubted Pan would let him save only her and leave the Dogs to fight on their own.

  Raphael started fighting his way through the swarm of attackers, wishing he could shift, so his thick hide could block their sharp teeth and claws.

  They were more crazed animal than him in their rabid attack.

  The only time he’d been that mindless was when he’d seen his gaisa in the park, being attacked by demons.

  “Sir, they came out of nowhere!” the tow-headed one shouted. He was the Dog’s leader.

  “Hard to kill. A heart strike isn’t immediate—cut off their heads!” one of the red-headed Dogs advised.

  “I’m going to shift and back up to the tree. I’ll use fire to clear our way, if I must, but these old trees burn fast. Get yourselves and Pan on my back and hang on for a hard take-off,” Raphael ordered.

  The Dogs didn’t question him, three nods accompanied by their combined, “Yes, sir!”

  Pan looked terrified, like a cat stuck in a tree once it had realized how high up it had climbed.

  One of them was going to have to go up there to fetch her.

  “Reid, get Pan down!” the Dog’s leader yelled, cutting off a vampire’s head with a short sword. He always carried two swords and used the weapons with deadly efficiency.

  Reid started climbing the tree. He shook the vampire that latched onto his leg to try to loosen it off, then dug his fingers into the bark of the tree, kicking off with his other leg to put his boot crunching into the vampire’s face.

  The neck had to have snapped under Reid’s boot, but surprisingly, the fingers grasping the Reid’s leg didn’t release. Another shake finally did it.

  Raphael shifted with another roar.

  The attackers didn’t move swiftly enough—still mostly ignoring him to try to get to the tree—and a few of them were squashed under his greater mass.