He snorted at Jo's comment. Dracokyn are very territorial, my lady. We don't play well with others. 'Tis why there are so few of us left. I'd rather die alone than den down with my enemies.
"You remind me of someone else I know." She glanced pointedly to Cadegan, then, impulsively, she hugged Illarion. "Again, I'm very sorry for what they did to you."
The expression on his face reminded her of Cadegan. As if he couldn't fathom compassion from another person. He passed an uncomfortable glance toward Cadegan, who didn't appear pleased that she was hugging another male.
Not wanting him to be jealous, she moved from Illarion to Cadegan and kissed his cheek. "Don't look like that, sweetie. We don't need to find out if dragon meat tastes like chicken."
What?
Cadegan snorted. "She does that a lot. I only understand about half of what she says. It's part of her charm." He looked up at the sky. "And we be needing a claw quick. We're almost out of time."
You trust the sharoc?
"Not really."
Smart man. And when they said claw, what exact words did they use?
Cadegan paused to think. "A dragon's claw. A stone from Emrys Merlin. The lion's heart. A bit of hair from the White Stag. Arthur's blood, and the blood and sweat of a waremerlin."
Illarion let out a silent whistle. Quite a list you have there.
"Aye, believe me, I know."
And it's not a list so much as it is a riddle.
Cadegan arched his brow. "How so?"
A stone from Emrys Merlin would be a goylestone, not a rock. Arthur's blood is a flower that blooms on the other side of the Tor, and a dragon's claw isn't a fingernail.
Cadegan growled low in his throat. "That dodgy bastard. I should have known it was a trick."
Aye. I'm sure the others are every bit the riddle. But I don't know them. I only know those three because the goylestones are what the mandrakes feed on. It's easy to set a trap for them when they go to eat. The Adoni use Arthur's blood for healing, and I know exactly what my claw is.
"And that is?"
One of the most sacred of objects to a dragon. It's almost the same as asking you for a testicle.
Cadegan actually blushed. "Watch your language before me lady!"
Unabashed, Illarion smiled at her. Forgive me, my lady. He turned toward Cadegan. Why do you need this potion?
"Me lady can't get through the portal without a key. Gwyn ap Nudd says he can make one for her."
At what cost?
"It's for me to pay. Later."
Illarion winced as if he understood how harsh the payment would be. For what you've done for me this day, I will loan my claw to you, but you have to take me with you and return it once this is done. Understood?
"You have me word."
Word of a demon. Illarion shook his head as if he couldn't believe how stupid he was being.
"He's good for it," Jo said without hesitation. "You won't regret trusting him."
Cadegan froze as she gave him the most precious gift of his life and she didn't even realize she'd done it.
She trusted him. Had faith that he wasn't the bastard demon everyone else thought him to be. For that alone, he could love this woman. But she gave him so much more.
And that was why he was willing to trade his life and comfort for her freedom.
Illarion hesitated before he unlaced the leather cuff from his arm. It appeared to have a metal baby dragon sitting on top of it. He handed it reverently to Cadegan.
"How's that a claw?" Jo asked.
Illarion pulled down the bar the dragon was holding on to, until it made a sound like it was locking into place. When it did, two sharp spikes shot out and a third shot from the dragon's head.
"Holy crap! What is that?"
Illarion smiled at her shocked question. A dragon's claw. They are given to each Katagari Drakos once he or she comes of age, to protect us should we ever be locked by magick into a human's form.
"Your weaker state."
He inclined his head to Cadegan. As I said, my people were hunted to the brink of extinction.
Respecting its sacredness, Cadegan held it with the same reverence. "I shall guard it with me life, and make sure it's returned to you as pristine as it's been received."
Jo frowned while Cadegan wrapped it in a cloth to protect it. "I have a weird question. Why would the sharoc need that? What purpose could it serve for a potion?"
She's right. They had no way of knowing I would simply give it to you when normally, I'd kill before allowing another to take it.
Cadegan sighed as he stored the claw. "Believe me, I've already thought of that. The purpose, obviously, was to get one of us killed. Maybe both."
And to have you fail your quest.
"Aye, to be sure. There is no other reason for this assignment." Cadegan winked at them.
"Now, what say we go and ruin Gwyn's day?"
*
Gwyn ap Nudd hit the wall behind him so hard, he was surprised his back wasn't broken.
"You fool! What were you thinking?"
Gwyn wiped at the blood on his lips as he faced the giant, demon overlord in front of him. Fire rippled over his skin as his wings spanned out, making him even more terrifying than normal. And that was saying a lot, since his normal demeanor would make the stoutest heart piss its pants.
For centuries, Paimon had offered unimaginable riches, and even magick, in exchange for the capture of his son. Given that, it seemed reasonable that the bastard held no love for the child.
It was so painful to be wrong.
Gwyn's hand shook as he lowered it from his face. "I thought you'd be happy. Now you'll have him."
Paimon rolled off unintelligible demonic curses. "His soul will not come to me. Not that I give a damn for it." But luckily, Cadegan didn't know that. "It's his living body I need!" He grabbed Gwyn by the throat. "If he's dead, he can't wield his shield. It's worthless then! Only one of his blood can command it!"
Oh, that stunk.
"Forgive me, my lord. I didn't know that."
Paimon flung him across the room. "Of course you didn't. Moron! And you better pray with everything you have that he survives this suicide venture you've put him on. In addition to your precious Morgen, Valac is now after him. If that bastard takes him..."
Gwyn arched his brow. "Why do so many dark forces seek him?"
"That's not for you to know! Your job is to return him to me, alive and breathing. Or you'll wish I'd have killed you this day." Paimon vanished instantly.
Gwyn licked at the blood on his lips as his mind swirled with the disclosure. While Cadegan had always been hotly sought after by their dark mistress and other demons, it'd never been this intense. Something strange had happened, and recently. And he needed to find out what.
One thing was certain, until he knew what was going on, he planned to keep his own eye on Cadegan. Mayhap the beast could help him, too.
No matter what, he'd have to move very cautiously. Cadegan was a cagey, skilled warrior, who'd disemboweled anyone foolish enough to attack him.
This would require skill and more magick, and an audacious affront Cadegan wouldn't see coming.
And the use of the one and only weakness the cold-blooded demonspawn possessed.
8
Not that Cadegan had any doubt that Gwyn had wanted him dead, but the look of shock on his face as they walked through the portcullis on time confirmed it for sure.
The fey king stared at him in disbelief. "You barely made it in time."
"I would say that I'm sorry to disappoint. But I'm not."
Ignoring the sarcasm, the king narrowed his eyes on Cadegan. "So where's the claw?"
Cadegan pulled it out and carefully unwrapped it. When Gwyn reached for it, he moved back and shook his head. "This be only a loan." He indicated Illarion with a jerk of his head. "The dragon wants it back when you're finished, and I promised him we would do so."
Gwyn paled as he realized who and what Illarion was. "Ho
Cadegan passed a grin to Josette. "It's amazing what a dragon whisperer can do." He handed the claw back to Illarion. "Now if you don't be minding, we're all a bit wanged-out from our adventure, and we wouldn't mind seeing to those rooms you promised us."
"Very well." Gwyn snapped his fingers.
A shadow servant peeled itself off the wall. Without a word, it showed them to rooms. But Cadegan refused his.
"I'll sleep on the floor outside your room, lass. Just to make sure no one bothers you."
Jo bit her lip at his precious protectiveness. She adored how honorable and noble he was. "You could just sleep in the room with me. Be easier to protect me that way."
His cheeks mottled in that adorable way they did every time something embarrassed him. "Are you sure about that?"
Nodding, she pulled him into the room with her.
Cadegan paused to look back at Illarion with an arched brow.
I'll be back in the morning. Not sure I want to be sleeping in this place.
"I feel your sentiments, brother. Had I a choice, I'd go with you."
I'll see you two in the morning.
Cadegan held his arm out to Illarion. "Thank you."
Illarion had the same reservation in his eyes Cadegan had whenever someone showed him any compassion or kindness. As if he was waiting for it to be a cruel trick.
Finally, he shook Cadegan's arm, then turned to leave them.
Cadegan narrowed his gaze on the shadow that had led them in. "That'll be all now."
It vanished instantly.
He closed the door and locked it. Not that it really mattered. There was no way to keep the shadow fey out, especially when you were on their home territory.
Jo didn't miss Cadegan's unease as he locked the windows. "What's wrong?"
"I've many enemies, Josette. I don't trust them to not find me here."
"Why do they want you so badly?"
"Me mother is the guardian for an object of immense power. One me father would do anything to possess. But even if he had it, he couldn't use it. You have to be born of me mother's blood to wield it."
"Then why not get one of your siblings for it? You said you had a lot, right?"
He laughed bitterly. "Me mother's a goddess, lass. Ergo, me siblings through her are all full-blooded gods as well. I'm only part, and that makes me the only one me father can control. It's why he seduced her."
"Can't you overpower your father?"
"It's not that simple. Me father's not the typical demon. He's one of the oldest and strongest. With three hundred legions under his command. I am but one. There's no way to fight through that number to reach him and be alive when I get there. They'd overrun and gut me before I got near him. And if I die, he owns me. Forever."
And that was Cadegan's worst fear. To be trapped for torture, with no way out. Now it really made sense. "I'm sorry, Cade."
"Nothing to be sorry for. 'Tis what it is. None can help what parents them." He double-checked the door and windows. "It wouldn't be so bad if me father hadn't put such a price on me head. Anyone who delivers me to him will have riches unimaginable and a lesser demon to control."
"Ouch."
He nodded. "Ouch, indeed." Taking her hand, he sat down on the bed and pulled her to sit beside him. "But I don't want to talk about them. Tell me of your parents, Josette. Witch me with your happy stories."
His humble request choked her. Biting her lip, she couldn't help admiring the beauty that was her demon protector. "I don't know what to say. My mother's a bit off. She's part Romanichal."
"And that is?"
"Gypsy."
Scowling in an adorable way, he scratched at his ear. "I've still no idea."
She laughed. "I don't know how else to describe them. They're Eastern European by way of Greece, and migrated to France and England before heading to America. It's a very special culture, and I'm proud to be a part of it, but it's distinctive and unlike anything else you've ever encountered. My father's a typical Cajun-Creole with roots that run deep into the Louisiana swamps."
Smiling, he stretched out on the bed to listen.
"You have no idea what any of that is, do you?"
He gave her a charming, warm grin. "Not a bit. But I hear the love in your voice when you speak of them, and that's what I pine for. Tell me more of your mixed family heritage."
She curled up beside him, wishing he'd take his armor off so that she could feel closer to him. "My aunt Marie, who lives for genealogy, swears that my father's family is actually Welsh in origin and that we have Druid blood in us. But that would have been centuries ago ... maybe even before you were born."
Cadegan laughed at her swiping at his age as he listened to her stories about her cousins and their lunacy as they sought ghosts and goblins, and how they'd sell their souls to spend a night in a fey castle.
She was so normal, and it made him wonder what it would have been like to have a family such as hers.
As a boy, he used to dream of what the world would be like outside the monastery walls. Brother Eurig would oft take him to task for his idle thoughts.
Pray you never know the misery and horrors of the lay world, boy. Be grateful you're here with us, toiling for Our Lord.
Yet his curiosity was never far away. It was why he'd volunteer to ring the monastery bell to call the others to prayer.
In the bell tower, Cadegan could see out to the lush, rich world that seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions. There he would dream of normality. Of living an adventure, where every day brought him new, exciting things to see and do, instead of the same drab walls, and boring routine of prayer, chores, and more prayer.
All that had changed in an instant when the Powys king, Elisedd ap Gwylog, had brought his army through their gates for refuge from the Mercians who were in pursuit of them. The Mercian king, AEthelbald, had been new to his throne and eager to prove himself against both the Cymry, Saxons, and his own Mercian people.
Though he had his eyes on being named the bretwalda--king of all Britain--the best AEthelbald had achieved, before his own bodyguards had slaughtered him, was to rule the English land south of the Humber.
Senseless bastard.
AEthelbald's campaign and that of Elisedd had caused Cadegan to be ripped from his home, and thrust into a bloody war at an age when lads should be in their mothers' arms, not knee-deep in fields soaked with entrails. He'd learned fast how right Brother Eurig had been to take him to task for wishing to leave the monastic life.
All Cadegan had wanted then was to go back to what he'd known, what he'd so foolishly spurned. It'd taken him three years before his army passed the quiet hill where the monastery had been built.
Joy had raced through his veins as he rode hell-bent to see the brothers and embrace them.
The moment he'd topped the hill and seen what remained, his heart had shattered. Within days of his conscription, AEthelbald had led his soldiers to the monastery and laid waste to it in retaliation for the aid they'd been forced to give to Elisedd and his troops. The monks had been brutally slaughtered and the monastery savagely burned to the ground.
Only ashes remained, along with the husk of the bell tower where Cadegan had once climbed to summon the monks for prayer hours.
The furious anger over that injustice was what had unleashed the demon in him. A demon he'd turned loose on the Mercians and Saxons and anyone who got in his way. Blind with hatred, he'd lost himself to war.
Until the day he'd met AEthla.
She had given him back his soul. Or so he'd stupidly thought. Lies, deceptions, ruthlessness.
Hatred.
It was all a demon like him deserved.
"Are you listening to me?"
He brushed his hand through Josette's soft, dark hair. "Aye, love. I've heard every word of it. And I'm sorry you're aggravated that your cousin Amanda abandoned you to be the only normal one in your clan. She should never have sided with her twin for the paranormal against you."
She smiled sweetly at him. "You were listening." She leaned down to kiss his lips.
Cadegan wanted to run from the tender feelings she stirred in his heart. They terrified him.
Was it all deceit again? Could she, like AEthla, only be preying on his loneliness? AEthla had deceived him so completely. He'd vowed to never allow anyone else to ever do that to him again.
In all the pain of his life, nothing had cut more than AEthla's confession that she hated him ... that she had always hated him.
You're a monster! I live only for the day when I hear news that you've been gutted in battle!
"Cade? What's wrong?"
His breathing ragged, he tried to put down the past. But it wouldn't go. And the last thing he wanted was to be left shattered again. "You're lying to me, aren't you?"
Indignation darkened her eyes as she pulled back from him. "Pardon?"
Hissing, he rolled from the bed and paced the room. "Dwr! I know better than this. I'm not a fool, Josette. I won't let you play me as one."
Jo stamped her anger down, even though she wanted to insult him back. Badly. Having been handed her heart on a platter by Barry's betrayal, she understood his fear. His inability to trust.
But she'd done nothing to make him mistrust her.
"Why do you think I'm lying to you?"
"Because I'm not human. You know I'm not human. You've been railing against your crazy family and their beliefs. Yet, here I am. The epitome of everything you hate about them."
Tears choked her as she realized what she'd inadvertently done by railing against their paranormal obsessions. "None of that was directed at you, sweetie."
"How can it not be?"
"Because ... I vent. It's my pressure valve. But I don't mean it. I don't hate my family. And I definitely don't hate you." She left the bed to cup his face in her hands. "You are not a monster."
For the first time, she saw tears gathering in his eyes.
"I don't want these feelings you give me, Josette. Take them and go."
"What feelings?"
He pressed her hand to his heart and held it there while his gaze searched hers. "You make me dream again. Hope. And I cannot allow myself to feel either. Every time I have..." Clenching his teeth, he looked away.
Jo did her best to understand the fear and anger she saw in his eyes. It ignited her own fury that he'd been hurt so badly by others that he was now incapable of accepting her heart. "What?"
"It matters naught." He tried to pull away.
-->