Earth's Hope (6 page)

“Of course.” Kra’s tone was prickly. “My long stay here hasn’t addled my mind.”

Dewi ignored his barbed comment. “How about the rest of you? Do you know where we’re going?”

“The northern tip of Inishown, not far from the sea,” Royce rumbled.

“Near enough. You’ll sense my energy once you get close. See you there.” Dewi gathered power, reaching deep into the magic that thrummed through the dragons’ world. No point wasting her own magic when she had a ready source near to hand. What had taken the better part of a day to fly to, took only a few moments to cover using a teleport spell.

She burst through the veil separating her world from Earth right atop Fionn’s manor house, spread her wings, and floated to the ground in one of the many courtyards. It was morning, but still dark since the sun didn’t rise much before nine during the cold months. Before she landed, she trumpeted a command to her young to join her.

It wasn’t her brood, but Aislinn who stomped out of the house to greet her. “Finally!” Aislinn grunted, sounding very out of sorts. Her long, flame-colored hair hung in tangles to her waist, and fury blasted from her golden eyes.

“My younglings! Are they—?”

“They’re fine,” Aislinn interrupted. “Everything isn’t about you.”

Dewi blew out a frustrated breath, tinged with flames. “Are you going to tell me what happened, or are we going to joust with one another? Four other dragons will be here soon, and—”

“You told me there weren’t any more.”

“I didn’t think there were. I have a bone to pick with Arawn about that.”

“Fucking Celts,” Aislinn snarled.

Dewi snorted. “Och, so you’re beginning to see them in that light too?”

“Don’t forget you’re one of them.” Aislinn screwed up her face as if she’d bitten into a rotten lemon.

“Child.” Dewi folded her forelegs across her scaled chest. “We can spar, or you can tell me what happened.”

Rune bounded from the shadows around Fionn’s manor house and planted himself in front of Dewi. Bella flew through the air and landed on the dragon’s shoulder.

“They took Fionn,” the raven shrieked.

Trepidation gripped Dewi and sent icy tentacles winding around her spine. “Who?” she demanded and twisted her head to look at Bella.

“Harpies,” Rune answered.

“This just gets thicker and thicker,” Dewi muttered. “Why? What would they want with him?” She sent a penetrating glance Aislinn’s way. “What did Gwydion say? Or Bran?”

“It’s terribly convenient, but neither of them knows shit,” Aislinn said.

“Damn it! I haven’t laid eyes on a Harpy since the fifteen hundreds. Which ones showed up?”

“Why does it matter?” Aislinn asked sullenly.

“You have to find him,” Bella quorked. “We must leave now.”

Dewi sought the bird’s mind with her own and sent soothing magic her way. “We can’t go anywhere until we know where to look.” Dewi switched her attention to Aislinn. “It matters if Celaeno was one of them.”

“She was.” Angst and frustration streamed from Aislinn, forming a bubbling mass of energy around her. “Why did you ask?”

“Momma! Momma’s back!” All seven younglings picked up the chant, streaming from a side door in the manor house. Dewi bent and opened her forelegs. The baby dragons pushed, bit, and shot fire at one another as they fought for a choice spot next to their mother.

“You didn’t answer me,” Aislinn shrieked. “While we’re at it, where’s Nidhogg?”

Dewi straightened with dragons clinging to her body. “Celaeno is the dark one. She’s the brains behind the Harpies and by far the most dangerous. Did they tell you why they needed Fionn?”

Aislinn spat on the ground. “Somehow they think if he’s out of the way, the war with the dark gods will vanish. What a crock! If Celaeno’s their mastermind, she’s not a very smart one. A bigger problem, though, is Aello. She fancies Fionn back in her bed.”

Breath whistled through Dewi’s teeth. “I’d forgotten about that. I don’t believe he spent very long with her—”

“I don’t give a flying fuck if he spent a hundred years with her.” Aislinn picked up a handy rock and threw it so hard it shattered against the manor house wall. “I don’t want him with her now.”

Wing beats sounded, loud against the still of the new day, and Aislinn and the wolf gazed skyward. The other dragons floated to the ground and formed a rough circle around them. Hackles raised the length of Rune’s back and he growled.

“They’re friends,” Dewi said to reassure the wolf. Clearly he was reacting to Aislinn’s ill temper.

“How could they be?” Rune demanded. “You told us there weren’t any other dragons.”

Kra inclined his head at Rune. “I greet you, bond wolf. My name is Kra. The red dragon is my mate, Berra. The green is Vaughna, and the black, Royce.”

“Where did you come from?” Rune persisted.

“They were on the dragons’ borderworld,” Dewi said. “Nidhogg and I found them when we went there to bury our daughter.”

“Yes, but what were they doing there?” Aislinn asked. “And why didn’t you know about them?”

“We were hiding from Odin, so he wouldn’t kill us after Nidhogg was kidnapped,” Kra answered.

“Great! That clears things right up,” Aislinn muttered.

“We want to hear about our sister,” the black youngling spoke up.

“Yes, you must tell us of her ending,” a red youngster said. “She was brave, and we must sing of her courage so we will never forget her.”

Tears pricked behind Dewi’s eyes. So much to do, it was difficult to determine what needed to happen first. Aislinn clearly expected her to drop everything and go in search of Fionn. The four adult dragons needed to be brought up to speed, and she wouldn’t rest easy until Nidhogg returned. Goddess only knew how long he’d be closeted with Odin. On top of everything, her brood was well within their rights to want to hear about their sister’s final moments.

Bran, Gwydion, and Arawn marched out of the gloom.

“When did you get back?” Aislinn extended her arm toward Arawn.

“Just now.”

“All right.” Dewi blew a fiery breath and pointed at Bran. “You tell these dragons everything about the Lemurians and the dark gods.” She narrowed her eyes at the master enchanter and considered blasting him with flame for not treating more equitably with Aislinn earlier. “Sit with Aislinn,” she told Gwydion. “Tell her what you know about the Harpies, and work out a plan to get Fionn back.”

“Somehow I believe I know what ye have in store for me.” The god of the dead straightened and pushed his dark hair behind his shoulders. He’d exchanged his dark robes for battle leathers, which clung to his lithe frame.

You have no idea. “Get on my back,” Dewi commanded. “You and I need to talk.”

“I’m leaving,” Bella cawed. “I know when I’m not wanted.” The raven spread her wings and floated to Rune’s back.

Arawn pulled magic and vaulted across the space between them, landing neatly between Dewi’s shoulders. “Ready when ye are, madam dragon.”

“Humph. MacLochlainn!” Dewi focused her gaze on Aislinn. “Take care of my brood until I return. Berra and Vaughna will help you.”

Chapter Five

“What the hell?” Aislinn sputtered. “She sounded like an army general.”

“Ye havena seen that side of her afore. Or at least not much of it,” Gwydion noted dryly.

“I’ve seen her act like a high-handed bitch,” Aislinn countered, “but not like just now. This was different. She was cold as ice.”

“She’s angry because Arawn hid the other dragons from her,” Bran said.

“Do you know why?” Aislinn asked.

Bran made a sound midway between a snort and a grunt. “Aye, lassie. She canna keep secrets, that one.”

Aislinn rolled her eyes. It was true that Dewi was an irrepressible gossip. Secrets weren’t even a remote part of her makeup. Her thoughts boomeranged back to Fionn. “I don’t need to know why Odin was so angry that Arawn felt the need to hide the dragons. We have to get Fionn back.”

“The dragon’s orders make sense,” Bran said. “I’ll catch this group up.” He spun and trotted a few feet away. “Gather round,” he gestured at the four newly-arrived dragons with both hands, “this willna take all that long.”

“We’re dragons. We would hear what you have to say too,” the black youngling, clearly the brood’s alpha, announced in his clear, ringing voice.

“I dinna say ye couldna be a part of this.” Bran smiled, and it turned his solemn face into a thing of rare beauty.

Aislinn looked away, missing Fionn so much her insides cracked into a million jagged shards of misery.

She gazed into Gwydion’s clear, blue eyes, so like Fionn’s it was uncanny. “Help me get him back.”

“I will, lass. Ye were so overwrought earlier, ye wouldna listen to reason.”

Rune trotted close with Bella on his back, and Aislinn placed a hand atop his head. He felt good next to her, warm, solid, and comforting. “I was too listening, but mostly you didn’t have any answers.”

Gwydion drew her into the shadows of the manor house and dropped onto a stone bench. He patted the place next to him. Aislinn sat and Rune curled at her feet with the raven still clinging to him. Once she’d settled, Gwydion said, “No one’s seen the Harpies since the early fifteen hundreds. They retreated to the Strophades Islands in the Aegean. Rumor had it the Eumenides joined them.”

Aislinn drew her brows together. “Aren’t those the Furies?”

“Aye, ’tis their Greek name, but all the deities and monsters had both Greek and Roman names. It dinna mean there were two of them, merely that different people saw the same creatures and named them according to their own language and customs.”

“So all those mythological beings are real?” She thinned her lips and pressed them together.

“I’m surprised by such a question from you, lass.” Gwydion sent a sharp glance her way. “If Fionn and I are real, why wouldna everything else be as well?”

“Crap! I have no idea. Living in the States my whole life, things like that never came up.”

“Mayhap not things like that.” Understated cynicism ran beneath his words. “Merely Lemurians and dark gods.”

Aislinn looked askance at him. “Don’t forget their filthy minions like the Bal’ta.” She shuddered as she thought about the apelike men that had nearly been her demise on more than one occasion. She sucked in a tense breath and spread her hands in front of her. “Okay. I get it. Every fucking nightmare I ever had is real. How do we get Fionn back?”

“Ye werena listening.”

“Don’t lecture me, goddammit!” She clenched her jaw muscles in frustration.

“I told you the Harpies live on islands in the Aegean. Unless my information is incorrect, that would be where they took Fionn.”

She surged to her feet and pulled magic so quickly it made her nauseous.

Gwydion was by her side in an instant. He laid a hand on her arm and chanted a single word that cut the power filling her. “Ye canna run off half-cocked, lass. They’ll kill you.”

She jerked her arm away. “I’ve been in rough spots before. Rune and I will figure it out.”

“And me,” Bella cawed. “You’re not leaving without me.”

Gwydion blew air through his mouth in a whistling hiss. “Waiting isna your style, but Fionn would have my balls if I let you throw your life away.”

“If you have a better idea”—Aislinn sheathed her power and rocked back on the balls of her feet—“let’s hear it.”

“Better, lassie.” The master enchanter sent an appraising glance her way. “We wait for Dewi and Nidhogg to return. I suspect Nidhogg is having it out with Odin, and Dewi is flaying the skin from Arawn’s bones, but neither should take long.”

“Once everyone is back, then what?”

“Back up a step. What exactly did the Harpies say?”

“Something about not liking their peace disturbed and that they saw Fionn as some sort of epicenter. If they could remove him from the action, their lives would improve. They didn’t seem to get that the dark gods were key players.”

“Mmph. That might be good news—if they’re telling the truth, and all they want is to be left alone.”

“Good news how?” Aislinn stared at him. None of this seemed like good news to her.

“If we can provide peace, they’ll side with us. If the dark gods promise the same, they’ll side with them. They never were verra intelligent, but then none of the Infernal ones were, except perhaps Medusa and Tantalus.”

Aislinn snapped her fingers under Gwydion’s nose. “Focus. I don’t need a history lesson.”

“Aye, but ye do. Ye’ll be much better equipped if ye understand your adversary.”

She walked in a tight circle and returned to face Gwydion, hands on her hips. “I’m leaving to find him. Now. You can deal with all the rest of who fucked whom over without me.”

“That wouldna be verra smart.”

A wheedling tone entered his voice; she recognized a mild compulsion spell and threw a ward around herself.

“You will not force me,” she ground out, “to do anything.”

Bran closed from behind her. “I’m done with my part of Dewi’s assignment.” He jerked his chin back toward the dragons where the adults had hunkered in the thick grass to play with Dewi’s brood.

Aislinn glanced at the riot of scale colors and heard the adults crooning to the younglings in the dragons’ tongue. A place deep inside her cracked open. If she hadn’t been so insufferably stubborn, she wouldn’t have lost Fionn’s child. Her empty womb mocked her. Maybe being alone was her destiny—until she was killed battling the dark.

“I’ve been listening with half an ear,” Bran went on. “Gwydion is correct. Ye must wait until we are all reassembled. ’Tis possible Nidhogg or Dewi will know far more about the Harpies than we do. Nidhogg in particular, since he is truly ancient.”

“Dewi doesn’t know anything,” Aislinn muttered. “I already asked.”

“Ye willna like to hear this,” Gwydion’s voice was soothing and she recognized more magic, “but if Aello wants Fionn for herself, he’ll be safe enough.”

Aislinn doubled up a fist, but Gwydion caught her arm before she could swing at him.

“I told you, ye wouldna like it, but it means Fionn’s life isna in any immediate danger.”

“Fucking great,” she spat. “You won’t let me leave, and now you just told me that conniving bitch has her sights set on Fionn.”