Shane: Dragon’s Savior – Ménage Erotic Fantasy (Dragon's Savior Book 4) (2 page)

His wife told him that Mary would not fail. There was little doubt that she was to have a babe and that it would be a daughter. The rest had already been set in motion, and she need only to live long enough to bear the child. Eve patted his hand, then turned back to Mary to tell her of what they needed.

“Mary, we know that you have magic, but not a great deal of it. You can cast spells that come to pass, but other than that, you have nothing more.” Mary opened her mouth, but his lovely mate only raised her hand to stay her words. “I will not listen to you puff yourself up, Mary. You know as well as I that I am telling you no falsehood. You might be able to fool others with your misguided attempts to be a great sorceress, but we both know you have no more power than this rock does. Now cease these lies once and for all.”

“‘Tis as I have said about his son, my lady. He took me over and over one day and I conceived his bastard. When I went to his father when he’d do nothing to support me, I was beaten again and brought before the group you found me with.”

They also knew this to be only partly true. Michael had taken Mary, anywhere that he could find a hard surface. But she had enjoyed their coupling as much as he had. It wasn’t until she was full of a child that she complained. That was when he’d hit her, knocked her away from him, and scorned the woman. After going to the man’s father, she was taken into the cell that had held her until she was to be burned like nothing more than meat upon a spit. Anthony thought that humans, for the most part, were an odd group of beings.

Anthony wished that he could take all the men in the world that would raise their hand to someone smaller and without means of protecting themselves and burn them. It would take a lot of his flame, he thought…there were that many horrid people in the world. But there were times, he also knew, that the women could be just as mean, just as cruel as any man could be. Sometimes, in his experience, more so. People in general, he had learned, were not willing to think before speaking when they felt an injustice had been done to them.

“We have need of your help, in the form of a female child…your child. Her magic is greater than your own and will need guidance in the world that we live in. If you do not listen to me, follow my direction, she will surely die and you will be burned at the stake that we have saved you from this night.” Mary rubbed her hand over the babe there but said nothing. “Anthony and I have a place for you to go. A place where you will be safe and kept from harm should you do as you are told. There will be help as well, for you and any children you should have after you have given us this help. You will have more than enough coin to keep you, and food enough to never feel the pangs of hunger again. All you have to do is keep the babe safe and help her grow into her magic. If you wish to say no, then we will leave you to yourself and go about our business. But know this; you will die, soon, and by the flame that nearly licked at your feet this night, Mary Wayne.”

“I have no wish to die, my lady. But I’ve no way of keeping her safe either, unless you do indeed help me. Even now he plots my death.” Anthony knew this to be true, but also knew that his son was now dead, as cold as the ground that he fell upon. Not from the hand of the woman here, but because his own lady wife had found out about the babe Mary carried and the others. She had poisoned him. “I cannot keep myself safe now, much less a child. You say I will have coin? Servants? Someone to cook for me?”

“Yes. We shall protect you.” Mary began shaking her head even as his lady wife spoke. “You know what we are, Mary. You have known this since you were a child at your own mother’s feet. A dragon can protect you like none can. And we shall.”

“My babe, she has meaning to you? You wish to buy her from me? I will gladly birth her and sell her to you.” Eve shook her head; they would not lie to the woman, but they couldn’t tell her why they’d not take her from her mother. They might not give her all the truths of it, but they’d not lie to her. “Then you take her. Raise her as your own so that she’ll be safe, and I will live in this house you have given me for payment. With the servants, of course. I shan’t be able to keep a house like I need on my own.”

Anthony wanted to tell her no, that someone as selfish and greedy as her should be punished. To think that she’d sell her own flesh and blood for nothing more than a house. Anthony would no more do that than he would cut off his lovely wife’s head. He wished now that they’d never seen the future, especially the one in which they needed this woman’s help.

“We cannot take your child. And should you wish not to do this, there will be no coin, no servants, and no home to keep you safe. You must do as we tell you. The hour grows late and the men are, as you said, plotting.” He and Eve moved forward, deeper into the forest where the house was, knowing in their hearts that they’d have to convince this woman no matter what. But they also needed to be firm in their dealings with her. “You will come with us now. We will protect you and the babe so long as you do as you are told. We’ve set up this place to be safe and ready for you, with people there to help you once you have given birth.”

It took them nearly an hour to get her settled in her new home. Anthony wanted to shift, show her how well they could protect as they said they would and be done with it all. But he knew that while she believed what they were, she would be terrified to see him. As they walked along to a safe place to shift, he spoke to his lady. Yes, they had done what they had come to do, but there were still going to be repercussions for young Mary Wayne.

“You have not told her the whole of her life. Nor have you told her she must love both her children equally. She will not, and you know this.” Eve said that it would do her no good to do so. “Yes, but you know as well as I that she will misunderstand what we have put before her.”

“Yes. And that will be good for the child too. The second child will survive, not by her mother’s hand, but because she will be left to her own devices. She will learn and survive as a strong woman. There are others there that will make sure that she gets what she needs to live and be what we need her to be. What all of us need for her to be.” Anthony knew this as well
.
“I have managed to help the children, not once as we had planned, but with both the magical powers they will need. Especially the second born. Her immortality is set now; they both, provided that they are born, will live for a great many years.”

“They will live then? Despite their mother’s inability to see the clear picture?” She said they would. “My love, my life, I don’t know if I can do this. To think.... I cannot lose you like this. We have so much to give. And our children, we shan’t see them grow and become the men we hope for them to be.”

“I know this too. And it grieves me so that I will never touch their skin, see them smile. We must do this, Anthony. You know this as well as I. Because if we don’t do this, then all will be lost. As will our children.” He nodded, his heart heavy with what they knew was coming. “Anthony, our children, do you think them to be great men? Men that will think of us when this all comes to pass?”

“They will love us no matter what we have done for them. This, this will ensure that our line does not end, but more importantly, that a great many lives will go on as well.” She nodded and reached for his hand. Taking hers, he put his hand over her heart and told her that he loved her.

“And I you. And will beyond our deaths. You have been the reason for my heart beating, my blood pounding in my body since I first touched you.” He wanted to stop now, take her into his arms and hold her. But he could not. Things were in motion now, things that they could see coming, and if they did not act now, everything and everyone would be lost.

Chapter 1

Kiaran sat very still. His body hurt; there wasn’t a part of him that he thought had not been touched by the magic and power that he’d received from the witch. Erin, he knew, was dead. He looked at Asher when he joined him at the table; he too was feeling the effects of the power.

“Essie, she is all right?” Asher nodded, but said nothing to him. “I had no choice, Asher. I could feel her fear, taste it on my tongue. It was take it or no one would ever know who killed her. And in honesty, it wasn’t that much magic, but the way that we received it is what hurt us so. I think I have the memories, but we all shared in the pain of receiving it.”

“I know that. And I am also aware that you had no time to warn us. The magic, I can taste something on it that we have encountered before. She wasn’t just a witch either. I felt wolf there as well.” Kiaran nodded. His parents were the magic that Asher tasted, along with the wolf. He told him what he’d figured out and Asher didn’t seem the least bit surprised by it. “Do you suppose that she was one of the others’ mates? That she was to come here and help us?”

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t have any idea.” Kiaran looked at Essie and stood when she came in the room. She was due soon; their child was going to be born before the next full moon. When she was seated, he poured her some tea and gave her a plate of the fresh scones that Grandda had made last evening. Christ, he loved this woman with all that he was. “We were just discussing Erin and her magic. And whether or not she might have been mate to one of our brothers.”

“I was thinking the same thing. But did you see the darkness too?” Kiaran only nodded. Yes, he’d seen it, and had even tried to touch it. It wasn’t magic, but hatred and cruelty. Erin had not been one that he would have liked to have encountered. “Would you say that she was a dark witch? Not like Helena was, but close?”

“Not close, no, but she did use the dark arts as her magic. I haven’t any idea what she was to us, but my parents, they had a hand in her life. The darkness of her soul however, that is something that makes me think that perhaps she’d been cruel to others.” Kiaran moved out of the way of Elbert when he entered the kitchen as his dog. “What do you suppose we’re supposed to do with this magic and knowledge, other than to find her killer?”

“I’ve no idea.”

Grandda changed then, his body becoming the man that he’d known his entire life, leaving behind the dog as if he were taking off a warm sweater. Kiaran knew that if anyone would know about the woman and her magic, he would, and asked him about it.

“I know not, but as the other witches are here, Caroline and Gobi, we could ask them.” Grandda set a plate of food in front of Essie and took the scones. There was fruit as well as grain and fresh eggs. As she glared at him, he was all smiles at Essie when he returned his gaze to her. “You must eat better. These sweets will give you energy, but the babe, it needs this more.”

As they talked about the day they had planned, the witch and all the million and one things that seemed to be on their plate at all times, Kiaran leaned back in his seat and thought about his family. They were all here and happy, and to him, that was enough. He thought also of becoming a father and what that would mean for them all. He only wished that his own parents were here to witness the birth of—

Hello.
The touch to his mind had him looking at Essie and Asher. Neither one of them seemed to have been contacted, so he only waited. Whoever or whatever the person was, he wasn’t going to show his hand just yet.
You don’t know me. Well, that’s obvious. But my sister, she had contact with you before.... She died, and I need to speak to you about who might have done it.

I saw his face. I think she made sure of it.
Kiaran could feel that while the person was magical, he felt no wolf about her
. You said you were her sister? How is that possible when she was a wolf and you aren’t? I mean, I don’t mean to be presumptuous, but I do know what she was.

You have her memories, correct? Then I’m pretty sure you can figure out that she went by her own rules. Being a wolf, for whatever reason, suited her, and so she did it. I don’t know what else to tell you. She found herself someone to convert her and there you go. Do they perhaps do it differently where you’re from?
Kiaran smiled
. Christ, can’t you just think of the person who killed her and let me do my thing?

And what thing might that be? Do you plan to kill him as well?
The person said nothing.
My name is Kiaran. Maybe we should start with introductions.

Or maybe we shouldn’t. And yes, I plan to kill them all.
He asked her what she meant.
You’re not going to just let me have the information, are you? You’re going to have to have it all or hound me until I have to come there, beat the shit out of you, and then get what I need. I mean the Herald. A group of idiots that have been around longer than.... Well, perhaps not longer than you, but I’d say it’s close. Anyway, they killed her for what she is.

A witch.
The person didn’t answer him, but then he really didn’t need her to. Kiaran thought of the women with him and on a hunch, he decided to see what she might say.
Have you heard of Caroline? Perhaps Ariannona or Gobi?

Yes.
The voice, the fear in it, had him sitting up straighter in his seat. He looked at Asher when he said his name and asked for a moment.
Are they safe?

Yes. As safe as we can make them. Are you a witch as well?
No answer
. Perhaps it would be safer for you should you tell me your name and let me see if they know you.

They do. Both of them do.
He started to ask her which two when she continued.
Erin was my sister. Erin Wayne. If you speak to any of them, tell them that she is dead and that you have her memories. I won’t contact you again unless I have to. I hope that I don’t, but I might have no choice in the matter.

It was almost as if they had been on a handheld phone, the snapping of the connection was that loud and that complete. Kiaran tried to reach out to her again, knowing that with the slight connection she’d used to contact him, he should be able to. But she had cut that avenue off as well. He told Asher and Essie what was said.

“You think she means them harm? The other witches, I mean?” Kiaran had no idea why, but he told Asher that he didn’t think so. “You go and talk to them, tell me what they say, and I’ll go on out to the castle. If you need me, just yell.”

“I will. But I have a feeling that there is more to this than just what she told me. The Herald was indeed after Erin, but I’m betting from the memories, that she wasn’t all that nice of a person to begin with. And I’m not so sure about the sister either.” Asher just shook his head, as if resigning himself to this problem to solve as well. “I’ll ask if I can see them today, this morning if possible.”

Kiaran asked to meet the women. They had been staying on the land for the last few weeks, each of them doing their part to help out where they could. Even Gobi, who he’d found out that even though she was considered a
new
witch, she was nearly two hundred years old. Caroline…well, he’d not had the nerve to ask her about her age. He was pretty sure that he didn’t want to know. Ariannona said she’d meet them there in a bit, she had to help Izic with a project he was having issues with.

He told the witches the same thing he had Asher, even about how she’d not told her what her name was.

“Erin Wayne? Yes.... I have to say, it’s been a very long time since I’ve heard the name. She was trouble from the beginning, and I try my best to avoid it when I can. Her mother…good heavens.” Caroline got up and left them there, and returned seconds later with a book in her hand. To say she left them as in she simply went into another room would have been wrong…she simply left. “Mary Wayne was her mother. A little bitty thing, stupid as the day is long if I remember correctly. Anyway, yes, you’re right, your parents did have a little to do with the magic that her children carry. Mary was one of many women that the Herald murdered when the group was first started. The Herald, named for the man who had started the group, was said to be a sadist and cared no more for his daughters than most men their dogs. Mayhap he treated the dogs better. He might well have not even known their names. But he was a man that would bend the Bible to suit his own needs or issues. His son, Michael, wasn’t much better. He was a man that had more bastards than most men twice his age did. The father nearly as many. Mary was said to have carried the younger Herald’s child, and it got her under the watchful eye of Rohm Herald. I think she was burned at the stake when the girls, her daughters, were nothing but teenagers. Erin was a willful child. Cruel at times and full of her own self. Her magic wasn’t that great. And she and her mother practiced the dark arts more often than not. But this other child...? I have to admit, I don’t know a great deal about her other than to tell you that she was born and that’s all. Her name eludes me at the moment. But Erin, as I said, was a troublesome girl. Mary indulged her overly much and she turned out spoiled. Not too badly, but enough that most would rather smack her around than speak to her.”

“When we got her magic and memories, we could feel that my parents had a little to do with it. We were wondering if you think she might have been a mate to one of the others.” Caroline said that she had no idea but doubted it. “I didn’t think so either. But it was worth a shot. This other girl though, she’s not wolf.”

“What do you mean? Neither of them.... Are you sure you have the right magic? What a silly question, of course you do. But wolf? Not sure. I suppose she could have found someone to turn her, but I’ve not been privy to it.” Caroline thumbed through some of her pages and turned it to him. “You should read this. I meant to show you sooner, but we’ve been getting settled and all. And Gobi and I have been working on a few spells to keep us all safer.”

He was still reading when Ariannona joined them. Izic wasn’t with her, but she looked frazzled and a little angry. Kiaran started to ask her what was going on when she put her hand up. He grinned, thinking that for someone so tiny, Izic could get into more trouble than most full grown adults.

“He’s got him a mate, as you know.” Kiaran nodded. This was going to be epic, he knew it. “Well, now he wants a house. Not a house for a brownie, but one the size of mine. He wishes to fill it with children with his good wife.”

“That’s a lot of children.” She nodded, still pissy. “So what did you tell him? I’m assuming that didn’t go over well.”

“You have no idea. When I asked him about how many children he thought that might be, reminding him that he couldn’t sire children on his own, he told me that his lady wife would be finding them and bringing them to their home. Sort of like an orphanage. When I looked at her to see if she was in on this…whatever it was, she was looking at Izic like he’d lost his mind. I bet you a nickel that she had no idea what was going on until that moment.” Kiaran laughed and Ariannona turned to him. “He thought—and I kid you not—he thought that should the house be filled with children that the queen would bless him with a title. Just any old title, he told me. But he thought he’d like one, especially after all he’d done. And don’t get me started on his list. It’s as ridiculous as this idea of his.”

“I see.” Kiaran was having a hard time not bursting out laughing. Ariannona could and would hurt him if she didn’t see the humor in this. “And did you talk to Essie? What sort of title is she going to find for him?”

“She won’t be giving him my suggestion, that’s for sure.” He asked her what that might have been. “Lord of the Fools and Court Jester of Idiots among others. But she said that it was too much of a mouthful. I then suggested that we just knock him around a bit, and you know how she can get. So I guess that’s not an option.”

Kiaran couldn’t help it, he did laugh, and nearly fell to the floor with it. Every time he looked at Ariannona, he could see Essie putting a crown of little bells on the brownie’s head, and his toes would be covered in long curled shoes. Every step Izic would take, he’d sound like an ice cream truck coming to feed his several million children.

“This is not funny.” And that, of course, sent him into more peals of laughter. He had not had this much fun in a very long time. “He’s going to want a scepter after this as well.”

Kiaran left the room. It was that or he was going to get himself killed by his sister-in-law. Taking the book with him, knowing that he couldn’t leave the house with it because of the magic protecting it, he went into the large living room and sat on the couch. Spurts of laughter still spilled from his lips, but he soon got deeper into the story that Caroline had asked him to read.

~~~

Lelani wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do now. Her sister, she knew, was dead, but how or by whom wasn’t going to come to her. She had no one left now, not a single uncle or aunt, no one. Not that she’d had all that much contact with her sister in the first place, but it was the point of the thing.

Feeling sorry for herself wasn’t going to get her work done, so she leaned over the tapestry and tried to see where the stitching started to change colors. It was difficult, not only because the person who had brought it to her to look at was hanging right over her shoulder, but the rug stank, like someone had taken a major dump on it and had not cleaned it. When she sat up again, stretching her neck muscles, Lelani knocked heads with the man.