Saved By Her Dragon (33 page)

Slowly,
and with incredible focus, she made it to the kitchen sink, filled
a glass from the closest cabinet with water, and drank it down in
one gulp. She repeated the process several times until her throat
no longer burned. Exhausted and barely able to put one foot in
front of the other, she shuffled to the couch. Falling onto the
soft, overstuffed cushions, she pulled the throw from the back
letting it cover her body wherever it fell.

Anya was
shocked when the clock on the mantel chimed four times. What had
felt like an eternity of pain had taken less than ten minutes.
Hovering between consciousness and delirium, she reached for Devon
with her mind and was glad to find him blessedly dreaming of
children that resembled the perfect combination of them both.
Lulled to sleep by the tick of the clock, she was immediately
jerked awake when the fire that had threatened to overtake her just
moments before returned with a vengeance.

The ball
of fire not only surged within her body but also all around. It
felt as if the blood in her veins boiled and her heart would burst
from her chest. A compulsion so powerful it broke through the pain
forced her to her feet and drove her out the front door to the
clearing just past the row of trees that surrounded Devon’s home.
Anya fell to her knees, the sticks and pebbles digging into her
hands and legs.

Struggling to breath, unable to see more than shadowy shapes,
she screamed for her mate with her mouth and mind. His answering
roar assured that he had received her distress call and was racing
to her side. Her vision darkened to a single fuzzy dot in the
distance just as her lungs seized in her chest. She pitched
forward, her cheek hit the ground, and darkness overtook her just
as she felt Devon’s hands on her body.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Devon
awoke to an empty bed and complete silence blanketing the house. He
called to Anya through their bond, received no reply, and then
yelled her name. He had made it two steps from the bed when her cry
of pain and fear rang loud and clear in his head and his ears.
Following their mating bond, he flew down the stairs, burst through
the front door, and ran as fast as his enhanced speed would carry
him until he found Anya in the clearing, naked and
unconscious.

Pulling her into his lap, holding her to his chest, he
bellowed,
“SHE’S FADING! I can feel it!
Please help me, I think she’s dying!”

The answering calls from all his brethren filled his head.
Lance yelled,
“I’m bringing Sam and we’re
grabbing Siobhan.
”

Time
stood still as he rocked back and forth, Anya limp and cold in his
arms, barely breathing. He whispered words of love and comfort,
pouring all his strength and healing powers through their bond
while he prayed to the Heavens for her safety. The sounds of
footsteps approaching from all directions reached his ears as Anya
gasped and bowing up, pushed off his lap.

Devon
scrambled after her as blood-curdling screams poured from her lips.
Magic stronger than he had ever felt filled the air, stinging his
naked skin and making it difficult to breath. His brethren called
their arrival through the haze surrounding them, but his eyes were
glued to his mate as she lifted just slightly off the ground, as if
hanging from invisible wires. He reached to pull her from her
magical bonds when a bright light exploded, temporarily leaving him
blind and deaf.

Rough
hands pulled at his arms and shoulders, dragging him away from the
last place he had seen his mate. Everything went deadly silent but
still he struggled against his brethren while he and his dragon
roared their insistence to be with Anya.

Aaron’s voice cut through the chaos, “Open your fucking eyes,
Devon! You are
not
gonna believe this shit!”

His eyes flew open. At first blurry, his sight immediately
cleared, but what he saw had him not only doubting his vision but
also his sanity. There, standing not fifty feet from where his bare
ass sat on the cold hard ground stood a full grown,
female,
green
dragon.

She was
absolutely gorgeous. Smaller than his dragon in height and weight,
more compact but imposing nonetheless. The creature before him was
absent horns on her snout or head possessing only a row of short
but deadly spikes running the length of her spine and tail ending
into a three-sided Caudal spade, not unlike his own. He had no
doubt of the power lurking within her and could feel it begging to
be unleashed. His dragon pushed hard at his confines, growling
within Devon’s head to be allowed an up close and personal meeting
with their mate’s new form. Her light green scales with just a
touch of blue were an exact match for the woman’s eyes and
glittered in the moonlight. One look into the glowing crystalline
eyes trying hard to focus told him the gorgeous beast before him
was his mate, even as his mind struggled to make sense of what had
just happened.

“Devon? I’m scared. What’s happening? Where am I?”
Anya asked, her fear a living being between them.
Hearing her fears and knowing that she thought she was once again
trapped in magic, Devon stood and took a step towards
her.

The wellbeing of his mate took precedence over all else. Not
caring who saw his nudity, Devon strode towards the beautiful
creature that was his mate, speaking as he went.
“I’m here,
mo
chroi’
. I’m here. I know you’re scared but
you’re gonna have to trust me and not freak out. Can you do
that?”

“Yes…but Devon…”

“Stay with me, Sweetheart.”
he
interrupted, stopping a few feet from her paw and then
adding,
“Now, look down at your
foot.”

She resisted for just a second before following his
instruction. He watched and listened as the beast before him
lowered her head. The bond between them was deeper than before
allowing him to see what she saw. The picture of a dragon’s paw
shone large and bright in her mind while she worked hard to make
sense of it.
“Devon? But I…? What is…? Am
I…?”
she whimpered.

He moved under her massive head, making eye contact and
letting her see that he loved her just as much in that moment as he
ever had and he would take her any way he could get her.
“Yes
, mo ghra’.
You are dragon.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Anya was shocked as every Guardsman and all their mates came
forward, touched her paw, and offered their love and support. She
could feel their confusion that matched hers, but she also felt
their unconditional acceptance. She wasn’t sure if dragons could
cry but knew her eyes filled with tears. Siobhan was the best,
offering as much explanation as she could. “It would seem the mark
on your wrist was a clue we all missed,” the healer chuckled. “We
know you were adopted; now we just have to find out where your
birth parents came from, other than the obvious Green Dragon Clan.
I was a young girl, just barely mated to Gareth, when they were
savagely attacked and all of dragon kin believed them lost to us
forever. There are several books that detail dragon heritage in
which I am sure I can find out more of your special lineage,
mianach ini’on
. I trust
you two have things to deal with so I will go to research and
return as quickly as I know more.”

It was
Kyra’s words that gave the most comfort and pretty much put her
situation into perspective. “Well, we know what all that magic was
hiding.”

Nerves
almost overtook her when Carrick and the other Elders appeared and
offered congratulations. Malachi, the Spiritual Elder gave thanks
to the Heavens for not only the first female dragon in nearly a
thousand years, but also the return of the Green Dragons, long
since taken from the Earth by their enemies.

Carrick
told of a story he had heard on several occasions, but until that
moment had dismissed as fiction. He said, “An older dragon I was
called to give last rites to told of a female dragon, one of the
last and mate to the Commander of the Green Dragon Guard Force,
which escaped the fighting when her clan was attacked. She took
refuge in the caves high above her homelands where most never dared
to venture.”

“Soon
after her exile, she realized she was pregnant and in due course
gave birth. Unfortunately, without proper nourishment, the added
strain of caring for her young, and a harsh winter, she fell ill.
Using what little magic she had left, she concealed herself and her
child from detection and left the caves. Her condition worsened as
she traveled and she began to count her remaining days. Fearing for
her child’s safety, she came upon a couple overflowing with white
magic and kindness. With her last bit of life, she placed the child
on their doorstep and hid in the bushes until she was sure they had
retrieved the baby.”

“Knowing her child was safe and would be cared for, she made
her way into the woods and perished, returning to the Earth as is
our way. I believe you may be that child, Anya. We, the Elders,
will do whatever we can to assist you. Know that we are here for
you always,
mianach ini’on.”

Carrick stepped back and Zachary came close, also assuring her
they would be assisting Siobhan in the search for her lineage. The
oldest of the Elders confirmed Carrick’s story, letting her know he
had heard it on several occasions and would contact anyone he knew
that might remember. He also called her
mianach ini’on,
which Devon told her
meant ‘daughter mine’.

It was Riordan standing guard, looking every bit the General
he was that shocked her the most. He knelt before her paw and
looked up right into her eyes. His eyes took on the vertical slit
of his dragon and he growled low in his throat, speaking directly
into her mind and Devon’s,
“You carry a
heavy weight,
beag
amha’in
, you bring hope where it was
thought long gone. I will be your sword, should you ever need it.
Your mate is formidable and one I admire above all others, but know
that I protect you both and any that come from your union with my
very life.”

He unsheathed his sword, drew it across the palm of his hand
and placed it on her paw,
“This is my
blood, willingly shed as will always be the case.”

Without
another word, he stood, shook Devon’s hand as she had seen the
other Guardsmen do and then walked to the far edge of their circle,
holding his sword at the ready as he had promised.

Devon’s voice in her mind calmed the chaos,
“They are all going to be here to help you with
whatever you need. Whatever
we
need.”

“What did Riordan call me?”

“He called you
beag amha’in.
It means Little One.”

They
both chuckled at the way things had come full circle right before
Sydney came running towards her. In all the confusion, Anya hadn’t
realized that she hadn’t seen the little girl.

“Anya!
Anya! Look at you!! I knew you were something cool, just couldn’t
see the picture,” Sydney screamed as her little blonde curls
bounced all around.

Without any fear the child climbed up on her paw and motioned
for her to bend her neck. When Anya paused, afraid she would hurt
the child, Devon instructed,
“It’s just
like bending your neck any other time, only now you have more of it
to bend. Go slow and don’t let your head fall forward.”

Following his directions to the letter, Anya lowered her head
until it was almost on the ground, and her eyes were just shy of
Sydney’s. The girl reached out and stroked the soft scales under
eyes, cooing as she spoke. “You make a pretty dragon, Anya. I can’t
wait to watch you fly.”

“Me too, Syd. Thank you,”
she thought
towards the child and was rewarded with a huge smile letting her
know Sydney had heard her words.

As the
sweet girl climbed down she said, “I love you, Anya.”

“Love you too, Syd.”

It was
only a few minutes before Devon began shooing everyone away,
telling them he needed to be alone with his mate. After another
round of goodbyes she and her mate were finally alone in the
clearing.

It took several hours, coupled with her mate’s impenetrable
patience and unyielding strength, but Anya finally came to terms
with her new state of being. Along the way she learned to walk
without leveling everything in her path, to lie down without
falling over, and to spread her wings. She had asked to fly but
Devon had chuckled and said,
“Maybe you
should learn to turn back into the beautiful woman I mated
first.”

And that was the hard part–returning to her human form. Devon
told her to picture what she looked like as a woman and pour her
dragon magic into that thought, which proved to be way harder than
it sounded. She watched as he changed back and forth over and over,
making it look effortless, but still she remained a dragon.
Dropping to her haunches and huffing smoke, she complained,
“I’m gonna be a dragon forever.”

Devon laughed, which sounded really weird coming from a
thousand pound dragon and said,
“Then we’ll
be dragons together.”