Dragon Storm (Dawn of the Dragon Queen Book 2) (12 page)

A powerful gust of wind blew back Safina’s hair and swirled around the cart, tossing sand in everyone’s eyes. The old horse whinnied, jerking the cart forward.

Señor Cortez lifted his hands, crying out. The wind parted, moving around the cart as if they were protected by an invisible bubble. Señor Cortez turned to them with a grimace. “We’d better find shelter.”

“Papi!” Gabriel’s voice rose above the din. “A hurricane is coming.”

The old man frowned at the horizon. Waves crashed on the shore with violent ferocity. “I know, niño. We must get home. We have a lot of preparation to do before it arrives.”

The cart lurched forward, and Gabriel’s brothers fell in step beside them, followed by the dragon queen and her father. Though they walked side-by-side, Mother put enough distance between them that their hands wouldn’t touch. It was then that her father’s keen sense of longing washed over Safina, so powerful, it was as if she were back in the ocean, drowning in a sea of sorrow and regret.

* * *

After five centuries of searching, Duncan still could not believe Fiona was walking by his side. Strange how she still felt miles away. Tonight had been a night like no other. He’d ridden astride his dragon queen, the sting of her flapping wings numbing his face and hands as they’d traveled across the ocean to save their child.

He swallowed hard, doing his best to quell the trembling in his limbs as he thought back to the moment he’d seen Safina flailing in the rough waves.

Based on the brief and heated conversation between Fiona and Gabriel, Duncan suspected Safina and the boy had eloped. This left the dragoness with no mate and no child. Duncan feared what would become of Fiona. Would she finally find it in her heart to forgive him, or would she spiral into despair? He knew the deep, soul-crushing depression of living a solitary life for too long. He would not wish such a fate on another, especially not the woman he loved.

And what would become of Safina, now that she’d lost her dragon powers? Would she live the remainder of her years as a mortal, losing the bloom of her youthful appearance and dying a mortal death? How would Fiona live with herself, knowing her spell had doomed their child to mortality?

During those early years so long ago, when he’d pursued his mate and child on horseback, he’d been close enough to Fiona to see into her heart and know how much she cared for Safina. He knew without a doubt that losing Safina to a mortal death would kill Fiona.

As for Duncan, he would not hesitate to join them in the afterworld. For though they had been estranged for centuries, he lived for his family and for his family alone.

S
afina curled up beside Gabriel in his narrow cot after receiving reassurances from Señor Cortez that on the morrow they would move to a larger bedroom upstairs. Luckily, the spinning in her head had abated since her mother had first deposited her on the beach. Safina felt as if her world was still rocking, albeit much more gently than before. If she never set a toe in the sea again, it would be too soon.

Gabriel had fallen asleep on the long ride home, and even though his brothers jostled him while depositing him in bed, he showed no signs of waking. Gabriel smelled of seawater, and Safina’s dress and hair were still damp, but she did not protest. She was too tired to think about a bath and a change of clothes.

The room felt even smaller with so many people crowding it. Though she was relieved to be reunited with family, she was anxious for a private word with her mother.

Much to Safina’s relief, Gabriel’s family said their goodbyes and shuffled out the door, and her father was nowhere in sight.

With her eyes downcast, Mother followed Señor Cortez toward the exit.

Safina jerked upright. “Mother, where are you going?”

She turned to Safina, clutching the worn drape that separated Gabriel’s room from the kitchen. “To Mrs. Jenkens’s home. She needs my help.”

Safina was not ready to part with her mother yet, especially when there was still so much unspoken between them.

“Mother, wait. Why was our bond broken? Why can I no longer transform? Gabriel said you had his grandfather do a severance of souls. Was it to punish me?” Safina’s voice cracked, and she hung her head. She wanted to add
for those horrible words I said to you
, but she couldn’t summon the courage to recall her foolish actions aloud.

Mother crossed the room and tenderly stroked her cheek. “I meant only to sever the bond with your father, never with you. Believe me when I tell you this, daughter. I will not rest until our bond is restored. You were born a dragon princess, and a dragon princess you shall be.”

Safina looked up into her mother’s amber eyes, relieved to see only tenderness there. “But how?”

“You do not worry,” Mother softly cooed. “Josef and I will find a way. I promise.”

Safina prayed her mother would indeed find a way to restore her immortality. She did not wish to live a short, mortal life with Gabriel. She couldn’t imagine loving him for anything less than an eternity. Then her thoughts darkened as she recalled the horrific storm that was approaching their shores. Such a calamity could kill them all.

“But the hurricane….”

The dragon queen sat beside Safina, clasping her hands tight. “Josef says it isn’t coming until the morrow, after we break our fast.” Her shoulders slumped, and she sounded deflated, exhausted. “Tonight I must help Mrs. Jenkens gather her belongings. I will return in the morning and stay here until the storm passes.”

Safina’s heart hammered when she remembered the monstrous clouds and relentless winds and waves. “How do we know this house will be safe?”

Mother flashed a thin smile, though it did not mask the fatigue in her weary eyes. “Josef is an earth speaker. We will have nothing to fear in his house. He will keep the weather at bay.”

Safina squeezed the dragon queen’s hands, fighting the urge to throw her arms around her and sob against her bosom. She hadn’t realized until that very moment how much she’d missed her mother. How had she ever thought she could have run away, never to see her again? What a fool she’d been, for she longed for her mother’s love almost as much as she needed Gabriel’s. “Are you sure?”

Mother brushed a stray lock of hair behind Safina’s ear. Instinctively, Safina leaned into her.

“Very sure,” Mother said soothingly. “Please don’t fret, darling child. Josef’s power over the elements is strong.”

Safina couldn’t help but think of her sleeping mate. His powers had not been strong enough to carry them to shore. If it hadn’t been for the dragon queen, they would surely have drowned. She hoped her mother was right about Señor Cortez.

“It takes time for speakers to develop their skills,” Mother said as if she’d seen in Safina’s mind the doubts that plagued her. “I have heard tale of the speakers of old parting the seas and moving mountains.” She dropped Safina’s hands and hung her head. “I was a fool to have him sever the bond. He warned me it was dangerous magic, and I’m sorry I did not listen.”

Safina did not like seeing the dragon queen berate herself, as if her spirit had been beaten. This was no way for a dragon royal to behave.

As tired as she was, she threw her arms around her mother, sobbing against her chest. “It’s not your fault, Mother. I’m so sorry for the things I said to you.”

The dragon queen pushed Safina back, gripping her shoulders. “I refused to listen to your needs. Your words needed to be said.” Her voice broke and she shook, but she did not look away. “I cared nothing for your own heart, only mine. I see now how much you and Gabriel love each other. I was selfish to stand in your way.”

Safina searched her mother’s features, sensing a profound sadness and an aching loneliness. Though she was relieved the dragon queen had finally given Safina and Gabriel her blessing, she did not like the feeling that her newfound joy had caused her mother’s sorrow. “But I don’t hate you, and I’m sorry I left you.”

“Hush, darling.” Mother ran her hands down Safina’s arms. “You are a woman now, and your mate will hear you.”

Safina clutched a thin blanket to her chest. “I’m not sorry I’m mated to Gabriel. I just wish I could have stayed with you, too.”

Mother shook her head, a short burst of laughter escaping her throat. “You can’t have it both ways. Either you are at my bosom or in his arms.”

Safina didn’t understand why she couldn’t have both Gabriel and her mother. Was that the way of dragonkind? To turn their backs on their families once they found mates? Perhaps that was the real reason Mother couldn’t be with Safina’s sire—not because he was a danger, but because she had to choose between her mother’s memory or her mate’s love. “Mother….”

“Aye, child?”

Safina wondered why her mother said nothing about her father? She nodded toward the doorway, assuming he was waiting somewhere outside the bedroom. “Why is my father here, and why is he not trying to kill us?”

Wasn’t that one of the reasons they were always fleeing from him? Why they could never stay in one town overly long? Because Safina’s sire was a dragon hunter who had the potential to kill them?

Mother heaved a resonant sigh. “Look into his heart and tell me his intentions.” She turned to Safina with a raised brow. “You two are entwined, are you not?”

Safina did not know why, but her mother almost sounded resentful, as if Safina and her father had somehow conspired to stay bonded to one another. “I did not see any malice in his heart, only longing. Is that how you found us? He showed you?”

“Aye.”

This didn’t sound at all like the monster they’d run from in the old world. “Then he saved our lives.”

She shrugged. “I suppose.”

Safina swallowed a lump of sorrow. All this time they’d hidden from a man who did not mean them harm. Was the only reason they’d run because the dragon queen needed to nurse her broken heart? And how long, if ever, before she would be able to let go of the past? “May we forgive him now?”

The dragon queen stiffened as she slowly stood. “I cannot forgive him for killing my mother, but you may do as you like, daughter. You have already proven you are of a different mind.” Mother’s tone turned harsh, almost shrill, as if the words left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Safina suspected her mother didn’t want her to communicate with her sire, but Safina so longed to speak to him, to find out if he was sorry for having killed her grandmother and if he loved her mother. Why had he come to Galveston? Was he trying to reconcile with his mate? She had many questions for her father.

“The hour is late,” Mother said as she smoothed imaginary wrinkles out of her skirt. “It is time I left. We all need rest. Goodnight.” She leaned over Safina, planting a quick kiss on her forehead.

Safina wasn’t about to let her mother go so easily. She grasped the dragon queen in a tight hug, wishing she could hold her mother for eternity. “Goodnight, Mother.” Safina kissed her cheek.

After the dragon queen left in haste, Safina felt cold and empty inside. Strange how, in the course of a few days, her relationship with her mother had changed so drastically. Safina’s throat constricted at the thought that she might never fully mend the rift she’d created with her mother, especially if the dragon queen was unable to heal their broken bond.

* * *

Fiona was alarmed to find Duncan sitting on the front porch, whispering to Josef. Why was he still there? The hour was late. Did he not have a place to stay? Now that he’d helped her find Safina, did he think that gave him the right to intrude on her life? She had not broken the bond only to have to endure spending time with him.

True, she was indebted to him for saving Safina, but that didn’t mean she trusted him. Moreover, she didn’t trust herself. Duncan’s handsome features hadn’t waned with time. If anything, his full lips and pale eyes were even more alluring. Though they’d only made love that one night so many years ago, Fiona’s vivid dreams had kept the memory of their lovemaking fresh in her mind. Loathe though she was to admit, she longed for another night in his arms. If only he hadn’t been a dragonslayer. If only he hadn’t murdered her mother.

Fiona strode up to the men. She was determined more than ever to make a clean break with Duncan before she lost her heart once again to an undeserving mortal.

Josef was sitting in a rocking chair, breathing out a puff of smoke through a pungent pipe. He looked more relaxed than she’d seen him in a long while.

Her gaze tunneled on the old speaker, as she purposely avoided eye contact with Duncan. “Josef, you need to restore my bond with my child.”

He set down the pipe, his old eyes crinkling as he folded his hands in his lap. “
Por Dios mio
. I can’t.”

Fear gripped Fiona’s chest. “What do you mean, you can’t?” Anger infused her skull as she balled her hands by her sides. He had known the consequences of his magic, yet he’d doomed her daughter to mortality, anyway. “Have you no spell to reverse the severance?”

His brows hitched, a knowing look in his eyes. “Only you and Duncan can do that.”

“Do what?” she snapped, and then heat infused her skin when the realization hit her. “You can’t mean that Duncan and I must make—” She paused, too mortified to finish. This had to have been a trick. Was that why Josef and Duncan had been speaking in hushed whispers? Had they been conspiring against her?

Her iron-eyed glare shot to Duncan. He shifted in his chair and avoided her gaze.

Heavy lines framed Josef’s features as he gripped the sides of his chair. “I’m sorry, mi reina.”

Duncan slowly stood and squared his shoulders. “Fiona, I have spent the past five centuries trying to atone for my sins, trying to prove how much I love you.” His pale eyes glistened as he placed a trembling hand over his heart. “If you could just look into my heart and see how sorry I am.”

Fiona shook her head, her eyes welling with tears. “I can’t. That heart belongs to the man who killed my mother.”

Josef pushed himself to a standing position, though his back was bent like he carried an invisible burden on his shoulders. “You will kill your daughter if you don’t restore the bond.”