The Scars of Her Dragon (Dragon Guard Series Book 14) (11 page)

When the mad dragon finally stopped pacing and spoke, Kellan was shocked by his words. “You’re right. I just want you to promise me that if you feel it getting away from you, if the darkness and nightmares threaten your good judgment, you’ll let me know. I’m not explaining to that feisty little lass of yours why you’re not with her. Deal?’

Still surprised that even the mad dragon could show good sense once in a while, Kellan could only nod. Maddox closed the distance between them, placed his hands on the scarred dragon’s shoulders, and with a tone that sounded so much like Kellan’s father it was scary, said, “Because there will be no self-sacrifice on this mission, my boy. I know I wasn’t with you in the desert and I know it was your choice to help those people before worrying about yourself, but not this time. No more scars. You get me? Not this time.”

Smiling at Maddox’s rare show of sentimentality, Kellan readily agreed. “I get you...and Maddox?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”

Maddox dropped his hands from Kellan’s shoulders and had taken a step around him when Rory called from just behind them. “Aww, boys, I’m shattered...”

Kellan turned just in time to see his smartass friend put his hand over his heart and pretend to swoon then add, “You left me out of the love fest.”

“Shut the hell up, you pain in the ass,” Maddox grumbled as he stomped past Rory towards the noise of their brethren.

Rory and Kellan burst out laughing while following the muttering mad dragon back towards the house. As they walked, Rory asked, “So the old man get you all sorted out?”

“You heard?”

“Hell, I think the ancients heard, “Rory snorted. “Maddox really needs to learn to shield his thoughts a little better.”

“Can you teach an old dragon new tricks?” Kellan snickered.

“Not sure, but if I’m right, which you know I usually am,” Rory waggled his eyebrows and barked out a laugh, “there’s a certain Grande Priestess who thinks she might be up to the challenge.”

Shaking his head and trying to imagine Maddox with a mate as they stepped on Rian’s deck and opened the sliding glass door, all Kellan could say was, “Is it bad if I hope you’re wrong?”

“Not at all, brother, not at all.”

Laughing together, they rejoined their friends and family and prepared for the battle to come.

A
ny other time, spending four hours with her arms wrapped around her dragon would’ve been heaven, but on this occasion, Olive could not stop thinking about what they were driving towards, what they would find, how much more blood would be shed in the name of justice. Riding on the back of Kellan’s Harley as he roared over every hill and took corners like they were on rails was so much like flying she’d had to remind her dove to stay put until she was needed. And there was no doubt the beasts that lie within all of them were going to be needed when they arrived at Tariq O’Baoill’s house of horrors.

Flashes of the images Max had shown ran through her mind, reminding her...preparing her for what was to come. This was about so much more than capturing a madman and his followers. This rescue mission was about protecting their kin and restoring order to the Universe.

Olive smiled as she thought about something her mother used to say to her when she was a little girl ...
Light needs darkness in order to shine so brightly. Just like darkness needs light to be seen. One cannot exist without the other. All that matters is that you choose to live in the light while respecting the darkness. It is all about balance, my sweet daughter. Always look for the balance.
It had never been a secret why her mother’s name was Seraphina or why she’d been the Spiritual Leader of the Clan of the Light for so very many years. The older dove had a wisdom that few had been blessed with and even fewer could truly comprehend.

Letting her mother’s teachings of tolerance and peace fill her with the resolve needed to do what was being asked of her, Olive also shared it with Kellan. Letting it flow through their mating bond to ease the anxiety and anger battling within her mate, the dove prayed her dragon would get the closure he so desperately sought.

They arrived ahead of everyone else. Kellan left her to watch for the others while he scouted the ridge surrounding the facility. Staying connected through their bond as mates, Olive was able to see everything her dragon did. To the naked eye, it appeared to be nothing more than an open pasture with a large metal circle sitting atop a two-foot by two-foot raised concrete platform in the middle. The grounds were well maintained without so much as a weed, but what was telling for both dove and dragon was the absence of any and all wildlife. No birds in the trees, no lizards or snakes in the grass, not even a cricket, grasshopper, or ant...it was absolutely deserted. That fact confirmed what they already knew—terrible things were taking place just under the picturesque surface.

“Can you feel that?”
Kellan asked, making Olive pay less attention to her mate and more to what he was sensing.

It took a few precious seconds and she had no clue what it was she felt, but her dragon was right. There was something different, out of place but familiar, mixed among all the pain and suffering wafting from the torture chamber below. Nodding, then remembering he couldn’t see her, Olive answered,
“Yeah, I do. What is it?”

“I’m not sure. It feels familiar in some ways but very wrong in others. I just can’t make it out.”
He hesitated. Olive could feel Kellan pushing his senses farther into the underground prison, searching for the odd presence but still falling short of his objective.

What he did find and she felt right along with him was overwhelming pain and despair. Every soul he touched had given up hope. They were injured and tired and had been pushed farther both mentally and physically than their enhanced bodies could take. Time was running out. Olive felt the panic rise within her. They needed to get down there and save those shifters before it was too late.

Calling to Ettie, she asked,
“How long till you get here?”

“No more than five minutes. Why? What’s wrong? You sound upset?”
The eagle’s response was short and clipped. She was ready for battle.

“Oh, Ettie, it’s terrible. Kellan is out near the entrance and we can feel their agony. Y’all need to hurry. Some of them are very near the end. I don’t want them to die down there.”

Olive could hear Ettie talking to the other feathered shifters and then Claire relaying the information through Rory to the rest of the dragons. Maddox privately called to her and Kellan, who’d come up behind Olive and was now holding her in his arms.

“
How you doing, boy?”

“I’m fine, old man. Just get your ass here. We need to get this done.”

“Two shakes, young’un, give me two shakes.”

Apparently, two shakes meant two minutes, because that was exactly how long it took to hear the roar of Maddox’s Harley right before he was parked beside the couple and was kicking the dust off his boots. The caravan of SUVs and vans followed not far behind, parking on both sides of the heavily wooden dirt lane Brannoc had found on one of his many maps of the area.

Declan, Rian, and Royce wore camo fatigues, had their faces painted with dark green and black face paint, and carried long soft cases strapped across their backs containing sniper rifles. The other Guardsmen were armed to the teeth with blades of every length and width and .9mm glocks. Kellan explained they had to be ready for any and all situations. Tariq’s men were ex-military, highly trained and ordered to kill intruders on sight.

Then there were the werepanthers; they were the only ones without conventional weapons. It had been decided that they would be in panther form guarding the perimeter and catching any zealots that escaped all the other precautions that had been set. Having some of their group in animal form would also be helpful for the shifters who were disoriented or without their usual enhanced senses. Kellan had done an excellent job of thinking of every contingency. Olive was proud and could see his brethren were just as happy to have the scarred dragon back in command as he was to be there.

Maddox stood beside Kellan as the Commander addressed the group one last time. The little dove had to smile at the proud papa look on the mad dragon’s face as her mate said, “We all know what to do. Watch your backs. Stay alert and let’s bring our people home.”

“And kick ass,” Rory yelled.

“And kick ass,” Kellan repeated, smiling at his brethren.

Walking to her mate, Olive stood patiently while he explained to Maddox about the weird feelings he’d gotten while out in the field. Maddox assured Kellan he would be on the lookout and walked away to talk to Rian before the Dragon Leader headed to his post with Declan and Royce.

Taking Kellan’s much larger hands into hers, Olive kissed the back of first one and then the other before looking into his eyes. “I want you to be careful, Kell. I know how important it is for you to confront Tariq, but I want you to remember that your life is worth way more than any amount of vengeance will ever be.”

Dropping his hands, she stepped closer and hugged him tight.
“And I’ll kick your ass if you get hurt.”

His chest shook under her cheek with his laughter at her threat before he answered,
“Never fear
, mo chol beag
, I have every intention of living a very long, very happy life right by your side.”

Pulling back, he gently placed his thumb and forefinger on her chin and lifted her face until they were once again looking into one another’s eyes.
“It is you I want to remind to be careful. My life is worth nothing without you. I love you with all that I am, Olive. Please be safe.”

Standing on her tiptoes, Olive was glad her dragon met her halfway as their lips touched in a slow, earth-shattering kiss of love, commitment, and understanding that can only be shared between two souls meant to be united for all time. Only the catcalls from his brethren broke them apart, with Maddox’s thick brogue the loudest of all.

“You can kiss your lass later, boy. Let’s get a move on.”

Smiling at one another, the couple separated but remained linked mind-to-mind. Olive and her group, along with Lennox and Pearce, followed Kellan and Maddox’s lead around the perimeter, hiding behind a dense patch of trees, brush, and foliage less than fifty yards from the large iron lid that would lead them into the facility.

Tense minutes ticked by while the snipers got into place. The werepanthers shifted to their animal forms and then took their positions both on the ground and in the trees. It had been discussed early on about Olive and her cousins also taking their aviary forms and being aerial support. That idea, however, was quickly squashed when Brannoc located ten separate underground gun silos with telescopic lens and launch capabilities strategically placed all over the land covering the underground laboratory on the county maps.

Olive was deep in thought, preparing herself for what they were about to see when Rian’s call came in, closely followed by Royce, and finally Declan. Then it was Max on the earpiece in Kellan’s ear confirming his panthers were also in place and ready for action.

One last look over his shoulder with a nod and wink and the scarred dragon calmly ordered,
“Let’s move.”

No sooner had the words floated through her mind than Kellan and Maddox were speeding across the field faster than she could track, with Lennox and Pearce right on their heels. The four dragons made quick work of the almost six-foot in diameter manhole cover, throwing it to the side as if it were a Frisbee. Olive held her breath as first her mate, then the mad dragon disappeared into the deep dark hole of the bunker. Holding her breath, the little dove counted the seconds while waiting on pins and needles for Kellan to give the okay for Lennox and Pearce to come down.

Nineteen...Twenty...Twenty-one...Twenty-...

“All clear.”
Kellan’s voice was like music to her ears.

Watching the next two of their team disappear under the earth, Kayne and Rory stood, signaling for the feathered shifters to do the same. Once again, Olive played the waiting game, counting to pass the time until finally, she and her cousins could get in there and help the poor souls who’d already suffered so much.

Luckily, Kellan’s call came quickly. Rory turned and whispered, “Everybody ready?”

All nodding in unison, the ladies ran as fast as their enhanced speed would carry them the second Kayne ordered,
“Let’s move!”

Tensions were high. Olive could feel each of her cousins preparing to not only rescue the injured but also fight whoever or whatever stood in their way. Hell hath no fury where the feathered shifters were concerned. She and her cousins would fight to the death if need be to end the pain and suffering the hunters under Tariq’s command were causing.

As her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, she took in the tubular shaped metal walls with multiple pipes overhead and ladders running up the sides every few yards that were reminiscent of the pictures she’d seen of the inside of a submarine. Her cousins seemed to agree, especially Gabby.

“This place is creepy. I feel like I’m twenty thousand leagues under the sea.”
The swan shifter chuckled.

“Creepy doesn’t even begin to describe it. Can you feel all that suffering and anguish?”
Delilah, the empath, whispered.

Olive knew this was hard on all of them, but everything touched Dell more deeply. Trying to help, the dove said
, “I know it’s hard, Dell, just focus on what we’re here to do. If it gets too hard, pull back.”

“Thanks, Ollie. I will,”
the hawk whispered, sounding a little better. 

“The corridors to the cells are coming up on the right. Everyone remember to stay with your partner. Let’s get in and get ‘em out.”
Kayne’s voice was quiet and clipped even though he used mindspeak.

Turning the corner and moving as one unit, the nine of them reached the first alcove when Lennox’s call came in.
“Charges are set. Fifteen minutes on the clock.”