Magic and Mayhem: How To Date A Dragon (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Baba Yaga Saga Book 2) (12 page)

Slipping a wand discreetly from her bra, she thought of what she wanted to bring here.

“
Inhabitus ebay maximus
.”

Zenos snorted at her chant, but then he grunted in approval when the small bed and nightstand were immediately replaced by a large bed and full-size desk and chair.

“I see yer using yer wand, Jezi-blah-blah. Still leaking power?”

She wasn’t going to talk about her problems with a strange mage she didn’t trust. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Zenos snorted. “And yer still lying to yerself. When ya come to yer senses, let me know.”

Jezibaba compressed her wand and tucked it away. His gaze never left hers to check out her breasts—not once. If he was playing a game, he was good at it. Zenos was obviously no lecherous male and she doubted he was a fool either. What then was he? One day soon she would make it her business to know.

“You made quite the impression on Carol and Hildy today.”

Zenos snorted. “I should have figured they’d whine to ya.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t call what they did whining. Neither of them is a whiner. I wouldn’t allow it. And by the way, Carol does a great impression of you insulting her breasts.”

Zenos grinned. “Aw… don’t get yer hackles up over it. I could see they’re not bad lasses. They’re just not trained well in magic. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw they were trying to fight a whole colony of bats with nothing but a couple of sticks.”

Jezibaba grinned. She was proud they had fought at all, but she wasn’t telling Zenos that. “The girls have lots of raw talent. Neither has the level of confidence required for protection magic yet. But I’m sure they will both develop it.”

“Tell me something, Jezi-blah-blah. Are ya worried I’ll corrupt them before they come into their own power?”

Jezibaba laughed. “No. I’m worried they’ll open their smart-ass mouths one too many times and you’ll do something vile to them. I’d hate to have to kill you.”

Zenos chuckled. “Simmer down. I mean yer babes no harm and I’ll not let any harm come to them when they’re with me.”

“You’re mistaken. They’re not my babes.”

Zenos smiled at her quick denial. “Oh they’re yers alright. The one fusses just like ya. The other is a softy like you are on the inside—girl just acts tough.”

Jezibaba sighed. “You have a lot to learn about me if that’s the kind of person you think I am. But for now, I think I’ll just leave you to settle in. We’ll talk tomorrow. I want to check on Nathaniel one more time.”

“Right. Speak of the devil. Where is the manipulating bastard hiding out? I’ve been wondering all day why he hasn’t come round to gloat. I know he had to feel me arriving.”

Jezibaba shook her head. “I doubt he knows anything at the moment. Calling you took quite the toll on him.”

Zenos rolled his eyes. “What is with all this beating around the hawthorn bush crap? What’s fecking wrong with the druid? Speak plainly, woman.”

Jezibaba crossed her arms and glared. “Not that it’s any of your business, but I don’t know what’s wrong. Nathaniel has been in a coma since he called you. He passed out just after he closed the sacred circle.”

Zenos snarled and growled before stomping over to the one piece of luggage he’d brought with him. She watched him dig around in the satchel until he pulled out a stone. She listened as he mumbled what sounded like a chant under his breath.

Jezibaba frowned and listened harder. “What language are you speaking? It sounds a bit like dragon.” Zenos stiffened at her question but just as quickly relaxed. He was not saying much truth, but then again, she wouldn’t either if their positions were reversed.

Zenos scratched his head and ran a hand through his hair. “I’m so fecking old I forget most don’t know the tongue of the ancients. Let’s just say what I’m speaking was dragon before dragon was called dragon. Can ya understand that?”

Jezibaba nodded. “Surprisingly, I can. I knew there were languages older than dragon. I just thought they were lost to the world.”

“They are,” Zenos declared. “Now take me to Nathaniel, woman. I need him alive to make sure we close out my promise. I will not allow this debt of honor to be passed to his fecking next of kin. Bloody warlocks and their large, stupid families. The fecking druid has like nineteen siblings. Did Nathaniel ever tell ya that? His father put his pecker into any woman who held still long enough.”

“Really?” Jezibaba asked, nearly blushing when Zenos grinned. “I meant about the nineteen siblings, you dirty old fart. Nathaniel’s in his quarters on the other side of our building.”

“Why are we still standing here then? Lead the fecking way. I said I would follow ya, didn’t I?”

“No, Zenos. You didn’t say anything. You just ordered me around.”

Zenos shrugged and frowned. “Well, I meant to say I would. Now let’s go. I need to see him before it’s too late.”

Jezibaba watched in fascination as Zenos walked round and round Nathaniel. Occasionally the man would speak to himself in that strange tongue that sounded like dragon to her ears. When he did utter words, a blue mist would form above Nathaniel and drop down on his body.

Eventually Zenos stopped what he was doing. She waited patiently to hear what he had to say. Instead the mage threw a fit.

“Fecking arse. I knew it. The son-of-a-peckerhead is dying of old age. I can’t believe the stupid eegit used the last of his magic on getting me here. Fecking do-gooder. I hate creatures like him. They give their all and for what? The pious druid probably never got laid again after his wife died. His wasted cock probably shriveled up fifty years ago. Well, this is some big lump of troll shite, this is. I’ll not allow the ballsy cocker to die this way. I’m not done watching him suffer yet. Feck no… the bastard is not leaving me here to fend with a bunch of crazy witches on my own.”

Jezibaba cleared her throat when Zenos appeared to run down a bit. “If it’s Nathaniel’s time to leave this life, there’s nothing to do but honor his last breath. Morgana will come to claim his spirit as her own when it roams free of its earthly shell.”

“Bull bollocks, woman. He’s leaving over my dead body and that’s never going to happen. I swear on the source of all, that ungrateful, lying banshee will not have the druid today. I know a way to get around her greedy, conniving goddess arse.”

She watched as Zenos marched to the bed and pulled up a chair. He had to wiggle his substantial ass until he got his big butt to fit in it. Lifting Nathaniel’s hand, Zenos put the stone he’d brought with him in the dying warlock’s palm, then closed his own over it.

“Get out now and don’t come back until I tell ya,” Zenos ordered.

“I think not,” Jezibaba said calmly, crossing her arms. Nathaniel wouldn’t be the only one to use the last of his magic. She wasn’t going to let the mage harm her favorite warlock.

“Look, witch. If you value yer servant’s bloody life, step into the hallway and guard the door. Let no one in until I’m done here. And don’t come back yerself, no matter what kind of screaming ya hear. The healing won’t be pretty and it’s going to be painful for him when his organs regenerate. I did this to a human once before, so I know I can keep this fecking do-gooder from escaping to an early grave.”

Jezibaba raised her chin, fully intending to refuse. She’d just gotten rid of the last bossy male in her life. She was not taking on yet another one. “Why should I believe you?”

Zenos met her glare with his own. “May yer lying goddess strike me completely dead if I mean yer druid any real harm. Now go, woman. Trust me in this request and fight me another day. Nathaniel is about out of time and this takes a right bit to accomplish.”

“What are ya… I mean… what are you going to do to him?”

“I’m going to give him a bit of extra time. Nothing more complicated than that. Don’t worry. He’ll still be an annoying arse when I’m done.”

Jezibaba snorted. “That better be all you do if you want to live to see tomorrow. I will not hesitate to kill you if I have reason.”

Zenos chuckled. “Yes, I know that’s true. Your bloodthirstiness is my favorite thing about ya.”

Rolling her eyes at his odd sense of humor, she glanced at Nathaniel. He looked dead already to her. His natural face was skeletal and he hadn’t eaten in days. She knew he’d been dying, but nothing she’d done had stopped his condition from getting worse. She assumed it was just his time.

But what if Zenos could bring him back? She knew Nathaniel would want to monitor how things worked out between Zenos and the girls. And honestly? She wasn’t ready to lose the only male who’d never once betrayed her in word or in deed.

“I will hold you to your word even more than Nathaniel did,” she warned.

***

Leaving quietly, Jezibaba walked outside and closed the door behind her. The other warlocks were there waiting for the bad news.

“Nathaniel is facing his death, but the mage says he can heal him. I have decided to let him try. I’m not going to leave Nathaniel until this is done. I need you all to go find the girls and keep watch over them from a distance. If you see anyone strange hanging around, let me know. I’ll call you back as soon as I can.”

Asking no questions, the warlocks bowed their heads to show they were complying before they disappeared. Jezibaba sighed to find herself alone in the hall. Inside the room, she heard Nathaniel call out and flinched over the agonizing sounds he was making.

Morgana The Red would not be happy with her decision to let the mage try to heal Nathaniel, especially since Zenos was a non-believer. But then, Morgana wasn’t going to like her breaking things off with Damien either.

So much had been happening, she’d so far been able to avoid thinking about her break-up with the sexy dragon. She also refused to dwell on Damien’s lack of faith in her many centuries honed instincts. He had let his intellect override his heart when he’d chosen sides. His support hadn’t landed with her this time. As far as she had been concerned, that was the end of their relationship.

She rubbed her chest when Nathaniel called out again. She could tell he was in torturous pain. Healing the body was never all that easy. It hurt being born and it hurt again when you died. Some day she’d experience that end-of-life pain just the same as any other creature on the planet. There seemed to be no getting around that never ending circle, but some continued to try.

Whether the Goddess got angry or not, she had no choice but to let Zenos try to save Nathaniel if he could. She needed the warlock, and the girls needed him too. If Damien chose to return to his dragon lair, Nathaniel and the warlocks would be all the help she had to keep her replacements alive.

Reaching under her skirt, she pulled a large wand from a thigh holster she’d fashioned for it. It was the largest and most powerful wand ever magically charged by the elves. Costing the equivalent of a house on the most expensive beach in the world, the wand had been worth it because it functioned as an amplifier for the magic she had left. She used it now to drop a bubble around Nathaniel’s room, ensuring no one but her would hear what went on inside it.

***

Two hours later, Nathaniel’s pain-filled yells finally faded away to groans. Another thirty minutes later no sounds at all came from the room. When she knocked, she received no answer, so she opened the door and walked inside. There was no sign of Zenos anywhere.

The now vacant chair was still positioned by the bed, but the only occupant was a very well-built, completely naked man. He was lying on the bed where Nathaniel had lain. The man looked to be human and was in his late twenties or early thirties. He was sprawled on top of the covers, rolling and thrashing in the sweat pouring off him. When finally he stopped moving, he lay very, very still.

Creeping over to investigate, Jezibaba looked down into the man’s agonized face. Recognition had her pressing a hand to her mouth to keep from calling out. He must have felt her stunned staring because his eyes popped open. A very familiar, and very concerned, gray-eyed gaze bore into hers.

“What is it, M’lady? You look terrified. Have I succumbed to a spell?”

“Goddess, how did he do this to you?” she whispered, staring at Nathaniel in wonder.

“Who did what to me?” he asked in a whispered question.

“You were dying. Zenos… he… oh, Nathaniel. I’ve never seen such magic. Look at you.”

Nathaniel seemed hazy and confused, not to mention still being in great physical pain. Goddess only knew what he’d endured in the last few hours as he’d undergone his transformation to the man she now saw.

She yanked the tangled covers down under him and pulled them back up until only his head was showing. Nathaniel cuddled into the warmth of the covers like a child. He swallowed repeatedly as he fought to speak.

“Zenos came? The children. I’m so sorry, Great One. Never would I have suggested him if I did not believe he was mostly good beneath his bluster.”

“The children are fine, Nathaniel. Rest now. You’re going to live and that’s all that matters today. You need sleep to recover from your recent ordeal. We’ll talk tomorrow, old friend.”

“Yes, M’lady. I am rather tired.”

“I’m sure you are,” Jezibaba said.

She pressed a hand to his shoulder and felt large firm muscles beneath her palm instead of a bony shoulder blade. Her lead warlock had been well past his boyish prime when he’d come to serve her. Yet now a younger Nathaniel than she’d ever known rolled away at her command and fell instantly into a deep sleep.

It dawned on her that she could stand here all night and still not be able to believe what she was seeing with her eyes. How had Zenos restored not only Nathaniel’s health, but his youth as well? This was a level of magic no one but a god or goddess possessed. Was Zenos a god of some sort? Would the contrary old man even tell her if he was?

Morgana had always flatly refused to extend anyone’s earthly life no matter how much she’d begged for the person. Whereas Zenos had done this with only his own motivation to keep Nathaniel around. Did Nathaniel know how much power Zenos possessed?

At the moment, all she had about Zenos were questions without answers. Whatever the mage was, she now had a healthy respect for the amount of power he wielded.