Dragon Storm (Dawn of the Dragon Queen Book 2) (21 page)

“Oh, Lord in heaven,” Abby breathed. “She’s a dragon!”

F
iona dodged a detached rooftop, using her tail as a rudder as she kicked through the current. The water flowed swiftly across the island, pulling with it livestock, furniture, and other debris, as well as many, many mortals. Fiona’s heart ached, for she wished she could save them all, but her daughter’s screams beckoned to her like a beacon in the night. She had to reach Safina before it was too late.

As the storm raged around her, she followed the flood out into the deeper waters, dodging rooftops and wagons, roaring in pain when she was struck by something sharp and massive. Still, she did not let the injury deter her. Her dragon eyes discerned four legs splashing in the distance. Could it be Safina and Duncan?

Her gaze tunneled on the couple, as she swam with all her might. She didn’t see the trolley car until it was too late. She ducked, but not in time to avoid her head and snout from being smashed by the object.

A cyclone twisted inside her skull. She tried to kick forward, but her legs gave out as her world darkened.

“Safina!” she cried. “Almighty Mother, help me!”

* * *

Duncan held tightly to his child, shielding her from the elements as their makeshift raft raced with the current, pushed to the open sea. He kept his head down as his shirt was torn off, exposing his back to the brutal wind and rain that felt like the lashing of a thousand stinging whips.

Safina’s chest heaved as she sobbed against the wood. “Almighty Mother,” she cried. “Please save us.”

Duncan sent a silent prayer to whomever would listen, begging for the storm to spare his daughter’s life.

* * *

Fiona was back in human form. Her body felt weightless as she glided across the clouds toward the open arms of her reflection. She was wearing a flowing white gown, and her hair hung over her shoulders in crimson waves. As she approached what she thought was a mirror, she was stunned to see, not her reflection staring back at her, but a familiar pair of green eyes.

“Mother?”

“Aye, my dear child,” she said with a smile as she stepped forward, welcoming Fiona into her embrace. “It is me.”

“Is this a dream, or am I dead?” she asked as she nuzzled her mother’s neck.

“Neither, Fiona,” Mother whispered in her ear. “This is a gift from the Almighty Mother.”

Wrapping her arms around her mother’s neck, Fiona wept tears of joy. A sense of calm and peace she’d never known washed over her. How many years had she longed to feel her mother’s loving touch once more? But tears of joy turned to tears of sadness when she realized she’d failed to rescue her child.

She pulled back, searching her mother’s gaze. “I must save Safina!”

“Do not fret.” Mother brushed a strand of hair behind Fiona’s ear. “My granddaughter still lives, and so will you.” She frowned. “But first we must talk.”

A wave of shame washed over Fiona, for she knew she would have to answer for that grievous night of passion with Duncan. Fresh tears ran down her face as she hung her head. “Mother, I did not know what my mate was before I joined with him.”

“Fear not, child,” Mother cooed. “I do not hold any ill will toward you.” Mother paused, cupping Fiona’s chin and forcing her to meet her gaze. “Or him.”

Fiona gasped. “B-but he murdered you!”

“My child, there is someone I want you to meet.” Mother stepped back, holding out her arm.

A man appeared from the fog. He was tall and handsome, with ruddy blond hair and eyes the color of amber.

He looked at her with an intensity that made her heart melt. “Hello, daughter.”

Her hands flew to her mouth. “You’re my father?”

He nodded, flashing a watery grin. Much to Fiona’s surprise, her mother clasped his hand, looking up at him as if her universe revolved around that smile.

He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand before clearing his throat. “It breaks my heart to see how long you have suffered. I have come to ask you to mend the bond with your mate.”

Fiona gaped at him. “B-but he killed my mother.”

“Oh, child.” Mother looked at her mate as she wrapped an arm around his waist. “My death was a blessing.”

Fiona didn’t understand how her mother and father could look lovingly into each other’s eyes. Wasn’t this the man who’d abandoned her mother after he discovered she was a dragon?

She pointed a shaky finger at her father. “But I thought you abandoned us.”

He heaved a weary sigh. “I was a Templar Knight. Though we operated underground, our forces were still strong. Many believed your mother was the devil, Baphomet, and they sent me to kill her.”

Fiona was stunned. Her father was a dragonslayer, too? How could her mother have mated with him? But then she thought back to the night she gave herself to Duncan, and she understood how easy it was to be blinded by a seductive smile.

Her father chuckled as he looked down at her mother. “I fell in love instead.” His smile diminished as his fair eyes darkened. “When I failed to bring back evidence of her death, they beheaded me, but because my mortality was tethered to hers, I did not die. They believed I was a demon and kept my head and body separated in metal boxes. I lived that way for thirty years until MacQuoid took your mother’s life, ending my torturous imprisonment.”

Oh, Almighty Mother! What a terrible fate!

Fiona was filled with a mixture of relief and dread at her father’s revelation. She couldn’t imagine the torment of being dismembered and locked in boxes, never finding the reprieve of death.

“I thought you abandoned us,” she said.

He frowned. “So did your mother, but I’d never willingly abandon my mate and child. My intention was to come back after I convinced the Templars your mother was dead.”

Mother looked into his eyes, tenderly cupping his cheek before turning to Fiona. “If Duncan hadn’t struck me with that spear, your father would still be in his hellish prison, and I’d still be mourning him. By killing me, your mate freed us both.”

Fiona’s throat tightened with emotion as she searched her parents’ gazes. They opened their arms to her.

She fell into their embrace, feeling an overwhelming sense of joy and sorrow, as they alternated between laughing and crying.

Finally, her mother pulled back, lines marring her brow. “Earth Mother is calling us. You must return to your mate and child.”

Fiona’s heart clenched. She did not wish to leave her mother and father so soon, yet she yearned for Duncan and Safina, too. “So you truly forgive him?” she asked, then tensed, fearing their answer.

Mother flashed a wide smile that reflected in her sparkling emerald eyes. “I have forgiven him long ago. It’s time you do the same. Go now before it’s too late.” She waved Fiona away, and then Fiona was floating backward, her peripheral vision darkening as if she was being sucked through a tunnel.

“Mother!” she screamed. She was not ready to leave her yet.

“Peace, child.” Mother placed a hand on her heart right before the light diminished. “We shall always be with you.” Her voice echoed in Fiona’s skull.

Fiona screamed as she fell through a sky as black as pitch. She tried to break to dragon form and fly back to her parents, but some invisible binding force wouldn’t release her.

She screamed again, and then gagged as she swallowed a salty gulp of water. Her eyes shot open as if she were waking from a dream. She had sunk to the bottom of the ocean. She looked down at her talons, which had stirred the sand. Fish darted past her in the current as violent booms and dark noises were heard from above.

Fiona’s chest ached, her lungs screaming for air. She kicked toward the surface, but it seemed so far away. Long tentacles darted out from the muck, pushing Fiona upward.

Surfacing, she gasped for air, pelted by wind and rain. The seas were rough. Wave upon wave toppled on one another, so that she could not tell where one ended and another began.

A girl’s cry for help pierced the night air.

Safina!

Fiona swam swiftly toward her daughter’s aid. She found her mate and child riding a tall crest. They came crashing down the wave, their board shattering to pieces. Duncan held Safina as she flailed in the water.

Fiona grabbed them both in her talons, pulling them tightly to her chest. She turned her snout toward the sky and expelled her healing fires. The ashes solidified on the way down, coating the dragon queen in a hard shell. She spun and spun until the shell completely encompassed them. Then she cradled her family in her arms as their cocoon sank to the bottom of the sea.

* * *

As soon as the cocoon settled in the sand, Fiona made the transformation. She knew Duncan and Safina would not tolerate the sulfuric smell pouring from her snout for long.

She grabbed Safina in a loving embrace, kissing her forehead. “I am so relieved you are safe.”

Safina looked up at her with watery eyes. “How long must we stay here?”

It was then that Fiona realized her daughter was afraid of being forced to live in a shell again. She flashed a reassuring smile and wiped a tear from Safina’s eye. “I will not keep you from your mate too long. We will stay here only until the storm passes.”

Safina heaved a sigh and looked at Fiona’s nude body with a devious grin. “You are indecent, Mother, and there is a man present.” She giggled.

Heat flushed Fiona’s cheeks. She looked beyond her daughter at Duncan, who was looking at his feet. Fiona knew he’d seen her, and the thought filled her with apprehension and excitement all at once.

Safina slipped out of her skirt and shirt, leaving only a thin shift to cover herself as she handed her wet clothes to her mother. Fiona sat in the crook of the shell, leaning against the smooth surface while draping the billowing skirt across her nude body.

Duncan had no clothes to offer. He’d lost his shirt and his trews had been torn to shreds, hanging off legs that were battered and swollen.

The cocoon shifted, and they saw the silhouette of four large tentacles resting on top of it.

“By thunder!” Duncan exclaimed before falling to his knees with a grunt.

“Don’t worry, Father,” Safina giggled as she curled up beside Fiona. “That is only Graechen. She’s a friend to dragons.”

He let out a low whistle as he looked up at the outline of the bubbly arms that cradled the cocoon. “I have heard tales of giant octopus before, but until now I’ve never seen one.”

Fiona gasped when Duncan spun on his knee. His back looked even worse than his legs, covered with angry red welts and lashes, as if he’d been beaten with a whip.

She narrowed her eyes. “Come here, Duncan. Let me heal you.”

He looked over his shoulder and shrugged. “It can wait, lass. You look drained already.”

“Father, please,” Safina cried. “Your wounds look terrible.”

He knelt over their daughter, grasping her hand. “It makes no difference. You’re alive, and that’s all that matters.”

Fiona’s heart swelled near to bursting. Nothing had ever brought her greater joy than seeing Duncan’s love for their child. It was at that moment Fiona realized she loved Duncan with all her heart and soul, and she wanted nothing more than to reconcile with her mate, sealing their bond once more.

She leaned up, holding out her arms as a slow smile spread across her face. “Duncan, please come to us.”

He arched a brow. “Are you sure?”

“Aye, I’m very sure.” Her chest ached at the look of uncertainty in his eyes. How else could she prove to him she wanted to reconcile?

He crawled between them, slipping his legs underneath the wet dress. Heat radiated off his virile body, warming Fiona’s skin and especially that spot between her thighs. Safina wrapped an arm around his neck, as Fiona forced him to roll onto his side. She ran her healing hands down his back, smoothing scars and watching as gaping wounds faded. After he sank against the wall of the cocoon with a satisfied sigh, she used the heat from her hands to dry their makeshift blanket.

Eventually, her eyes fell shut of their own accord. She turned into Duncan as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, enjoying the feel of his chest hairs tickling her nose.

She smiled across Duncan at Safina, who also snuggled in the crook of his arm. Fiona’s heart warmed when she realized for the first time her family was whole. She fell asleep listening to the steady beating of Duncan’s heart, as a new dragon song played in her mind.

“Sleep my child, and when ye wake

The dawn of love again will break

As frosted fields give way to spring

The song of love again you’ll sing

The summer rains and falling leaves

Grant the lovelorn slow reprieve.

Slumber all ye hatchling queens.

Two hearts entwine in dragon dreams.”

A
bby awoke with a gasp. “Charlotte!”

“I am here, Abby,” a meek voice answered from across the hall.

Abby came to her knees, wincing as her bones cracked against the hard floor. She squinted into the glare of the morning sun as light spilled in from the open doorways. Charlotte was sitting up on the blood-stained mattress, leaning against the wall as her baby suckled her breast.

Abby crawled over to them and sank on the mattress beside Charlotte, wrapping an arm around her friend’s shoulders. “I’m so relieved you’re alive.”

“We are,” Charlotte said as she smiled down at her child, “all thanks to you and your friends.”

“They are amazing, aren’t they?” Abby said with a note of awe in her voice. She could hardly believe Gabriel’s wizard-like magic or Fiona’s ability to turn into a magnificent dragon. Still, she wouldn’t voice a word of what she’d seen to Charlotte or anyone, not because everyone would call her crazy, but because she suspected her friends wanted her to guard their secrets.

Charlotte shifted, the infant in her arms cooing as her eyelids fluttered.

Abby stroked the baby’s soft cheek. “Where are the others?”

“I only saw Gabriel this morning. He went searching for Safina. He said he would send help, and we are to stay here.” Charlotte frowned. “I doubt I have the strength to walk anyway.”