Asher: Dragon's Savior (9 page)

“I can do that.” Elbert stood and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you as well, my dear. Very much so. And I’m glad to have you as part of this family.”

He left them there, and Essie wasn’t sure what to say. Remaining on the chair where she’d been, she watched as Asher took the other. He took one of the scones and broke it in half, and she took part of it while he ate the other part. When he finished he reached over, picked her up, and put her on his lap.

“I’m so very sorry.” She asked him for what and hated that she was getting teary again. “For everything. Hitting you for the most part, bringing you into this. But I guess that wouldn’t have been me, but my dad. He’s just told us that he didn’t know who you were, but he liked you when you cursed at him for sneaking up on you.”

“I was in the barn. There were newborn kittens in there and I was looking at them, when suddenly this man says to me in a sharp voice not to touch them. He scared ten years off my life.” Asher laughed, as did she at the memory. “The mother, he told me, was very territorial, and she’d not accept them if I touched them. I told him that I’d touched them while she was there, and she didn’t seem to mind. He sat with me and talked about you and your brothers the rest of the afternoon. Then he invited me into the house for some lunch.”

“I was brought here under the guise of resting up. I’d been a little stressed lately.” He kissed her mouth quickly as he continued. “Best rest I get is when I come deep inside of you, while you scream out my name.”

He kissed her again, this time slower, his mouth making the rest of her body hum with need. She wanted him to take her, right now, but she knew that there were others around…most of them just inside the house in the kitchen.

“Asher, what are we going to do about this? If what Caroline says is true, and I’m thinking she’s right, my mother is going to come for you guys and hurt the dragons.” He nodded but said nothing. “You were so afraid when you were asleep. All I could think of was that someone was trying to kill you.”

“She was. She wanted me to tell her where they were, I think. And the more I think about it, the more I’ve come to realize she has no idea that we’re one and the same.” Essie sat up, something just occurring to her. “What is it?”

She went into the house and saw Caroline. There was something she’d said to her that made her think she knew more than she was saying. As soon as she looked at her, Essie knew she did.

“Who is he?” Caroline smiled and bowed. “My father. You said that he was special, that he had his own magic. Who is he and where is he?”

She turned to Elbert. Essie fell back but said nothing. Caroline didn’t move either, but Elbert took a step toward her. When she took another step back, he stopped but spoke to her.

“He knew what was going on when I asked him to lay with her. I knew…it was to bring you into the world.” He glanced at Caroline before he looked at her again. “I didn’t know who you were when I got here. In fact, I didn’t have any idea that you were even around this area. I had wanted to watch over you for him. Care for you, but it would not have been helpful to you. She, Helena, would have harmed you; or more than likely killed you. I didn’t figure it out until you said she was your mother. I have let him know since you’ve come here.”

“Who is he? Where did he…what was he? Do you have any idea what you all left me with her? Knowing what kind of evil-assed person she was, and no one came to help me?” Essie wiped at the useless tears as she stood there. “Do you have any idea what she did to me? How she…for days on end she would try her magic on me. Make me lure people to the house so that she could experiment on them too. Then one day when I was twelve, I decided that I’d had enough, fuck that shit and her, and left. I’ve had to…I’ve been alone for sixteen years.”

“You’re not now.” Elbert came to her again and she had nowhere to go. “Come, child. We’re here for you now. All of us. And I know that it sounds trite, but being with her has made you what you are today. A very strong woman who can hold your own.”

“I’m not…I don’t….” She was sobbing now. Her heart felt as if they’d torn if from her chest and stomped it. Then for good measure, they’d burned the sucker too. “I want to leave here. I want to…I don’t know where I’m going, but I need to leave.”

Asher came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. He held her no matter how hard she tried to shake him off. Then he kissed her shoulder. His breath on her neck made her shiver and distracted her from her pain.

“I want you to think. Okay?” She nodded. “Okay. Close your eyes and just breathe for me. In and out, and listen to me.”

“Asher, I—” He hushed her and told her to listen to his voice. To think about only that. She did, but she was so upset that she was sure that whatever he was doing wasn’t going to work.

“We’re going to take control now. You and I are going to have a life together. You have brothers now. Some you’re not going to like so much, but you have them. There’s Elbert and my father here for you. Dragons as well. We’re all here for you.” She started to turn and see if he was serious, but he held her. “You can’t die, Essie. Your mother can. She’s only an immortal because she uses magic. You’re immortal because of the magic that’s in your blood. Once we figure out what you are, we’re going to work on you learning the magic that you inherited too.”

“I don’t want to have magic.” But she did, and she was pretty sure he knew it. “Can I shift? Into a dragon? I mean, can I take on the shape of a dragon?”

“I don’t know.” They both looked at Elbert, and he shook his head.

“So, I can’t shift into a dragon. Or anything else, right?”

“You can be anyone you want or need to be. Anyone.” Elbert nodded to Asher as he continued. “You can do what he cannot because of your magic, but becoming a dragon will not be one of them. You can take on shapes of others but you cannot become one. You are...you are everything.”

He said that like she should know what he meant, but she had no idea. Then Akassa, Simeon’s dragon, laughed, and she looked at him. He pointed to Caroline, who was grinning as if she knew as well.

“I don’t get it.” No one said anything, and she looked at Jacob when he entered the room with them. “They are being very vague and I’m starting to get pissed.”

As Akassa told him what was going on, Jacob turned to her. He was grinning too. “Why, my dear, you could be the dragon bitch that takes out the black witch once and for all.”

She looked at Asher. “You think I can kill her? I mean, just kill her before she harms you?”

“I do. You’re very strong now. And as Kiaran told me the other day, you have a great deal of your own magic that you use all the time.” She shook her head. “Yes, you do. Put out your hand and think of the tea that Elbert just made.”

Her fingers were trembling, but she did what he said with Elbert instructing her on what to do. When the cup touched her fingers, she realized she’d closed her eyes and missed it. She started to ask if someone had done it, but she thought of the cup going back to Elbert and it did. She giggled.

“Holy shit, I have magic.”

Chapter 8

Helena was leaning over her pots when she realized that she was hungry. Starved actually. She’d been trying for days now to come up with a poison that would not just kill the woman off, but bring that other creature with her when she died. But it was the other man, the one that walked the fields in shadows, that made her afraid.

She’d seen him three times in the last few days, always out in the fields beyond her home, and even into the other property that she couldn’t go and get him. Someone had put a protective shield around the place, and she could no longer get close to the house or anyone there. She wasn’t sure who he was or why he was there, but she knew that somehow he was with the woman there. If only her daughter, the spawn of her loins, were there to go into the house and find out what was going on.

She’d never wanted the thing. Her daughter had been conceived because Helena had been stupid enough to think she was too old. Well, not too old, but certainly much too old to conceive a child. And with that man.

It had been her plan when she’d come with him the first time to kill him when she was finished, but she never got the chance. Helena knew that he was powerfully magical, of course. You couldn’t let a man fuck you all night long and into the next afternoon without at least knowing that much. But where he’d been from or who he might have worked for had never been a concern…until she’d seen him again recently.

He had been walking through her yard on that fateful day when she’d had the urge to take him. And she had too. Christ, it was as if she couldn’t get him naked fast enough, or inside of her soon enough either. She’d thrown him to the ground and was coming almost as soon as his cock was free.

And what a cock he’d had, too. Stiff and thick. She’d come three times before he’d tossed her to her back and plowed her hard. When he came inside of her, crying out his own release, she thought him done, but she wasn’t nearly finished with him. As soon as he pulled his still hard cock from her, she’d taken him into her mouth to keep him hard until he was ready again.

They’d never made it to the bedroom of her shack, but had had sex all over the rest of the house and in the yard, porch, as well as on the fence that once surrounded her home. Sometimes twice. When he’d left her the next day, she’d been pleased to see him limping slightly, and got up to bath him off her. It was then that she’d realized that he’d planted a child in her, and that there was no way for her to rid herself of it. And his magic was beyond her reach now.

But she’d tried. Over the next several months she’d done everything she could think of to expel the issue. Nothing worked. It was as if the thing had attached itself to her and wasn’t leaving until it was finished growing.

When it was an infant, she’d had to feed it or listen to it cry all the time. It hadn’t been picky about the milk it had, taking the cows’ milk when she had one, or even a goat when it came too close to the house. Then when it had gotten older, the thing had made its way into the yard and got her own food. After that…well, she supposed, she’d lost track of it, because one day she noticed that the girl was gone. Not even a note to thank her for birthing her into this world.

She’d called her Esmerelda because it had sounded like an evil name. Not that there were any birth certificates with the child, but it did need a name. Especially when she used the chit to bring her people she could experiment on.

Esmerelda had hated it too. Helena supposed that was why she’d used her…the way that she’d look at her when she’d told her what she wanted her to do. Then she’d make her sit and watch her dissecting the people, taking out the choicest parts to use, and even had her discard the rest of the bodies. Helena had learned a great deal about the human body then, and had actually missed Esmerelda when she’d disappeared like she had. And now that she had a use for her again, Helena had no idea where to find her.

Sitting out on her porch, she looked over at the property beyond hers. Helena had since realized that whatever she’d seen in the sky had been a flock of birds. There were no more dragons in this world, she and her friends had seen to that.

King Ruben had been…he’d been a good lay, and sometimes when she had looked down at Esmerelda, she wished she’d been his. The man had been pure evil and could be a sadist at times, which would make even her a little on the nervous side. But he’d funded her and had the chamber built for them to worship.

Helena had never forgotten that either. Each time they went to the chamber, other beings like her, she’d make sure there were plenty of things for the king and his court. Every month at the new moon they’d gather together, not just to sacrifice new blood to him and the goddess that they worshiped, but to pay homage to him as well. It was a shame that that bastard had killed them all.

Helena had never participated in the meals with them. It was too rich for her tastes and some of the food was…well, unclean as far as she was concerned. No, when they ate she would clean the altar and make things ready for the next time they were together. The night that they had been killed she’d been on the altar with her legs spread wide with the king’s son, Manchester. He’d been flirting with her all night long, and she needed to have a nice fuck before going home.

He’d not been all that good with sex. He’d been more concerned with his own release than that of the person he was with. And it mattered little to him if it was male or female. Or, for that matter, if there were more than one of them. He would fuck until he was finished, then simply pull away and leave her there. But that night he’d been particularly horny and she’d had her own release before he’d finished. When he’d finished, he’d stood over her with his head cocked.

“What is it?” He asked her if she could hear anything. “No. Should I? I mean, did you expect angels to sing for you when you emptied your balls?”

He laughed, then told her he did. “But listen. Do you hear my father? I mean, he’s noisy enough to wake the dead when he’s in his cups. What do you hear?”

Helena would forever think that he killed them all. He’d been plowing her, and after she’d given it some thought, he’d been loud as well. She knew that he was covering the noises of them dying in the other room. Pulling on her clothes, she followed him to the dining chamber and could see that all of them were dead, or very close to it.

“Did you do this?” She shook her head at his question. “They’ve been poisoned. Look at the mess they’ve made when they ate the beef.”

He’d known too much. Not only did he know that the beef had been poisoned and it was her that brought it to the chamber, he also knew that the wine had been tainted as well. She knew it then, and had never forgotten the look of glee on his face when he told her that she’d just fucked the king. But when they entered the kitchen that had cooked the food, there had been enough dead bodies in there as well that she figured that whoever was in with him would have no problems killing a witch too. Even one as strong as she was.

Helena went out onto her porch to think things over. She had several pots simmering near the fire, and it was simply too hot for her to think about too much today. As soon as she sat down, the thoughts of Manchester came back to her.

He’d been worse than his father, and who would have thought that even possible? Not her, and more than likely not the peoples of the village. But he had been, and in the few months, less than three if she remembered correctly, he’d done more damage to the castle, killed more people than his father, and had ran through most of the kingdom’s monies. Not that it didn’t thrill her to no end to have Anthony come into the kingdom broke as a mouse, but he did seem to be able to turn things around quickly.

Anthony and his wife had been…she supposed good leaders. They had been known to go into the homes of the sick to comfort them. And twice she knew that he’d gone to the fields of some farmer to help him bring his crops in when there just wasn’t enough help. But there was something about them that she did not trust. And it turned out, she was right.

They were dragons, the very thing that she hated more than she did anything else. And the fact that they were magical in their own right pissed her off even more. She wanted them dead. She wanted their bodies too.

The dragon was useful in so many ways. Not only were the scales strong enough to shield a body from harm, but when ground into potions and other medicinal spells, it would enhance beauty, cure eye sight, and even at times, if used properly, be used to change the appearance. For a price of course. She’d be rich beyond her dreams.

The horns could be cut up and used as elixirs, for too many things for her mind to think of. Their blood had abilities that would bring someone back from near death, as well as give long life to someone who drank it daily. The others that she’d killed, four in all her lifetime, had been used up, their properties long gone when she’d found out what the king and queen were. And she’d have them both.

The storm had nearly exhausted her the day she’d conjured it. It was all she’d been able to do to get to the hillside to see the people two days later, and tell them that the king and queen had done it all with their magic. Getting them to storm the castle hadn’t been her idea at first. She’d only wanted them to wait until they were out again to kill the king and queen, but someone had suggested it and she’d fueled the flames, so to speak.

The men in the group were set to split into two groups. They knew where the queen was, they’d said. And as they went off to kill her, the king and queen flew overhead and had them all going after them. She wished she’d been there to see her fall. The great dragon queen would have made such a spectacular site falling to the ground dead.

But she never made it to either of their downfalls. She’d been knocked to the ground by someone and her head had been split open. Already weakened from the use of all her magic, it had taken her days after the castle came down, and more weeks after that, before she could even touch the wound without spilling her belly on the ground. Still, all these centuries later, she could still feel the jagged scar that had been the death of all her dreams.

Helena was just about to go in and see to her pots when she saw a shadow again. This time she made sure that she was out where she could see it, and nearly fell back to the ground when she looked up. It was a dragon…she’d bet her life on it, and the thing was beautiful.

She had no idea where he might have come from…the mountains, she supposed. But he was headed towards the ruins, and she decided to follow it. Hurrying to make sure nothing on the fire would burn or bubble over, she grabbed up her things and her potions and took off. By the time she got there, breathing heavily and having a stitch in her side, she couldn’t find him.

“Damn, damn, damn.” Getting as close to the ruins as she could, she walked around them. The spell here—or ward, she supposed—that held the place safe prevented her from actually going onto the grounds, but she could move around the outer edge and see enough to know that he wasn’t there. Just as she decided that she was going back to her home, he appeared with a man.

They were too far away for her to hear, but she could see that they were good friends. Her mind was working on how to get them into her lair when she saw something that had her going deeper within the woods. There weren’t just one of them, there were six.

Six dragons, all of them of different hues of golds and browns. The men with them meant nothing to her, because if she could only get half the dragons, she’d be set up for a very long time. And she’d be the envy of every witch still alive. Helena had to make herself stand still by holding onto the tree she stood next to. It would do her no good to show herself now.

For over an hour she watched them. The dragons moving large stones with their huge claws, and the men searching through the rubble. It wasn’t until she was ready to leave that she saw the woman again. Helena watched how they all seemed to cater to her every whim, and one of the dragons even fanned her with his great wings, much to the amusement of the others.

Taking note of every detail of her, Helena’s mind was working out a plan to get the dragons to come to her. She’d have to wake the coven again, long since dormant because of the lack of dragons. Then she’d have to clean the chambers, or at least have them cleaned. What were servants for if not to do the manual labor, she thought?

As she left the area, fearful that she’d be seen before her work had begun, she thought of all the ways she could lure the girl to her. It would be easy too. Girls like that one would be too nice to let something like helping someone pass her by.

A little old woman needing help with something or other. She might even give herself a limp, or even a cane. Picking up a long willow stick, she turned it into a cane as she moved through the woods to her home. The dress she had on began to fade, from what she had on to a worn patched dress with an old stained apron. Her hair, her lovely hair that she thought her crowning glory, was left to go to its original color. The white gray flowed down her back to nearly her hips as she thought of her voice.

Helena had a cracked voice to begin with. Even as a child it had sounded like she’d eaten a chicken whole and he’d taken over her sound box. Her breasts grew as she stepped onto her property until they sank a little under her shift. Helena even put a little scar at her throat to show that she’d been through a great deal in all her years. She was cackling when she entered her house, gleeful of what she was going to gain in riches very soon.