Dragon Storm (Dawn of the Dragon Queen Book 2) (24 page)

She raced out of the house and down the steps.

“I’ll go after her,” Duncan said, squeezing Fiona’s hand and rushing out the door.

Fiona fell into a chair beside Josef. She was too numb to follow, for as Safina’s words sunk in, she knew them to be true. Fiona was responsible for Gabriel’s death. Had she not broken the bond, had she listened to Josef when he’d warned her about the severance being dark magic, Gabriel would still be alive.

“Safina, I’m so sorry,” she cried, burying her face in her hands. How could Fiona live with herself now, knowing she’d robbed her daughter of all future happiness?

* * *

Duncan chased after his daughter as she dodged wreckage along the beach. He had to stop her before she did something drastic, for he couldn’t go on living if something happened to her, and he knew her mother felt the same way.

“Safina, come back!” he yelled.

She stopped abruptly, clutching her stomach. She fell on her knees and retched into the sand. Duncan knelt behind her, holding her hair out of her face as she continued to vomit. Duncan saw why Safina had halted so unexpectedly. Beside Safina was the corpse of a small boy. His pants had fallen down around his ankles, and he clutched a stuffed toy in his hand.

Duncan grasped Safina’s shoulders, whispering in her ear. “You shouldn’t be out here. Come inside, lass.”

“I can’t live without him,” she sobbed.

The piercing pain in Safina’s heart struck Duncan like a dagger to the chest. For every sob that wracked her, the dagger twisted and dug deeper. Never before had he known such bone-crushing sorrow. That’s when he realized Safina wouldn’t survive without Gabriel for long, for her heartbreak would surely kill her. Fiona would be so overcome with guilt and despair, she would take her own life next. Duncan would have no choice but to follow them into the afterworld. He’d been parted from them long enough. He would not abide another lonely lifetime without his mate and child.

“But your mother and I can’t live without you,” he begged.

She looked at him with red-rimmed eyes and a swollen nose. “You should have left us to drown in the ocean.” Then she turned and raised her arms to the sky. “Almighty Mother, why? Why?” Her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed in Duncan’s arms.

T
hough Fiona’s heart was shattered, she kept herself occupied by healing the injured. She didn’t have a choice, for they began to show up at Señor Cortez’s house in droves. They’d converted the kitchen into a hospital of sorts, complete with two cots and several donated medical supplies. The hospitals and convent had gotten word of Fiona’s skills, and they were more than willing to help her take some of the load.

Some patients asked for her to heal cracked ribs, snake bites, and fevers. One small child asked Fiona to heal her broken heart, for the rest of her family had perished in the flood.

“I’m sorry, lass.” Fiona cupped the child’s cheek. “If I knew of a way to do that, I would have done so long ago.”

If only she could find such an elixir. She’d give her life to see her child happy once more. For now, she’d have to settle for the only treatment she knew—the dragon song. She’d sung it to Safina after Duncan had carried her in this morning. Though Fiona knew she couldn’t keep her daughter asleep forever, she hoped that in time, Safina’s heart would mend.

Her gaze traveled to the curtain that hung over Gabriel’s bedroom doorway. The room belonged to Gabriel no longer, but to his widow, a child too young and tender to know such suffering.

Fiona had hoped Safina would sleep for many more days, but Señor Cortez had already insisted she be woken for Gabriel’s funeral. Fiona did not look forward to burning his body on the pyre, but Señor Cortez refused to tie weights to his grandson’s corpse and throw it in the sea, as others had done.

After the funeral that evening, Fiona would have to insist Safina go back to sleep, for she could not bear to watch her child suffer.

“Miss Fiona, the water is ready.” Abby pulled a steaming hot cauldron off the fire.

Because so much of the water had become contaminated, they had to boil it before cleaning their patients. Many of them smelled like the rot that permeated the air, and this cleaning would be the only one they’d receive until the city’s plumbing was restored or the cisterns were repaired.

Abby proved to be an attentive helper. Though Charlotte had begged her to come stay with her, living in luxury while servants waited on them, Abby refused. Instead, she’d rolled up her sleeves and got to work serving others, laboring tirelessly in the kitchen getting people cleaned and fed.

“I heard they will call for the Red Cross,” Abby said as she piled biscuits on a platter. “When Clara Barton gets here, I’m going to ask if I can join her.” She turned to Fiona, crumbling a biscuit in her white-knuckled grip. “I’ve been a selfish brat my whole life. It’s time I lived for someone else for a change.”

Though Fiona’s heart continually wept, she managed a smile for Abby. “Your Nana would be proud of you.”

Abby shrugged. “Let’s hope so.”

Fiona knew Abby still felt guilt over her Nana’s death. She empathized with the girl, for she’d lived with five centuries of guilt, and after robbing her child of all future happiness, she was sure to live with an eternity more. Ironically, Fiona knew how Duncan must have felt all those years, living with the guilt of having killed her mother, and she admired him all the more for bearing such a burden. Fiona wasn’t sure she could survive an eternity of knowing she’d brought her child so much sorrow, and she feared Safina would not survive without her mate.

* * *

Safina woke from a fitful slumber to the gentle baritone of her father’s soothing voice. “Safina, wake up. It is time to say goodbye to Gabriel.”

She shot upright as images of Gabriel’s lifeless body came racing back. “What?” she cried.

But her memories were already piecing together. Gabriel had been shot in the street, and neither she nor her mother had had enough magical strength to bring him back from the dead.

Oh, Almighty Mother! Why did you take him?

She buried her face in her pillow—Gabriel’s pillow. It still had his scent: earth, leather, and ink. How cruel fate had been to take him from this world when he’d been nothing but good and kind. And how foolish her mother had been to sever the bond when she’d known it was dangerous magic.

“Come, lass.” Duncan brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “Abby will be in to help you. You must get dressed for Gabriel’s funeral.”

She looked up at her father through a sheen of tears. “Where are they burying him?”

His luminous eyes saddened. “We are burning his body and Mrs. Jenkens. Your mother will perform a ceremony and ask the Earth Mother to guide their souls to the light.”

Her throat burned, her body ached, and she wanted nothing more than to join him on that pyre. “I wish you’d burn me with him.”

Safina felt her father’s heart twist and shudder, and she regretted that her words hurt him.

“Please don’t say that,” he begged.

Abby pulled back the curtain and entered, carrying a small steaming bowl and a crust of bread. “Oh, good. You’re awake.” She flashed a weary smile. “I brought you some broth.”

Safina pushed away the food. “I’m not hungry.”

“Safina,” her father said, “you need nourishment.”

“No.” She shook her head as she hugged the pillow harder. “I need Gabriel.”

* * *

Josef was sitting in his rocking chair, chewing on the end of an unlit pipe and staring thoughtfully at the setting sun. Duncan heaved a sigh and he sat beside him.

“She is taking his death hard,” the old man said.

“Aye.” Duncan ran a hand down his face, feeling more tired than he’d ever been, knowing he would not be able to seek the solace of a peaceful slumber for a long while. “But I knew she would.”

“I would trade places with him if I could.” The old man’s voice cracked like splintered wood as he rocked back and forth in his chair.

“So would I,” Duncan murmured.

Josef turned a sharp glare on Duncan. “I wouldn’t let you. I already have one foot in the grave. My days in this world are numbered.”

Duncan’s throat tightened. How could this family sustain one more death?

“Don’t look sad for me.” Josef turned his gaze back to the horizon. “This world has been unkind. I welcome the reprieve of death.”

* * *

Graechen held the orb, which was no bigger than a starfish, close to her heart as she swam to the surface. This beacon of light was precious, the one ray of hope among the abyss of sorrow and darkness. Ever since the storm had barreled across the sea, her once peaceful sanctuary was now awash in a cacophony of cries from lost souls, unable to grasp their fate as they wandered the current in search of the bodies they’d lost.

This soul was different, shining brighter than the rest, and too full of life and promise to leave this earth so soon. Though the Earth Mother had already claimed him, she prayed her magic would work, and she could trade his soul for another.

* * *

Safina sobbed against Duncan’s shoulder as Fiona bent beside the altar. Casting her gaze to the cloudy night sky, she prayed to the Earth Mother to receive these souls with open arms.

Abby cried softly while Moses gave her comfort. Gabriel’s brothers hung their heads, teardrops pooling at their feet as their shoulders shook with grief.

When Josef handed the torch to Fiona, Safina wailed harder. Fiona hesitated.
Dear Almighty Mother, give me the strength to burn my child’s mate.

She clutched the torch like a lifeline and then stepped up to the pyre. Gabriel rested peacefully, a lock of Safina’s hair tucked underneath his crossed hands. Earth Mother had been too cruel to take him away.

She held the torch to the kindling, waiting for the sparks to crackle and burn.

“Hold on!” someone called.

Fiona pulled back, amazed. A tall, elderly woman with ebony skin and matted locks approached them with her head held high. She carried in her hands what appeared to be a small, glowing moon.

Do not burn them just yet,
the woman said to Fiona in thought.

Fiona recognized that voice
. Graechen?
She didn’t know her friend was also a shifter.

Graechen stood in front of the crowd, apparently unabashed by her nudity. “Almost five hundred years I listened to a dragon mourn her mate.” She shot Fiona a knowing look. “I cannot abide an eternity of a dragon’s sorrow.” She stretched out her arms, the orb hovering before her. “I have his soul in my hands, but Earth Mother has already claimed him. I cannot free his soul unless I take another.”

The mourners gasped and then went silent.

Josef stepped forward, bowing his head. “You may have my soul, Graechen. I will gladly give my life for Gabriel’s.” He turned to the crowd, motioning toward his grandsons. “Just, please, let me say goodbye.”

His grandsons cried as they held him.

“It is my time,” he kept repeating.

Manny held him the longest, squeezing him so tight, Fiona feared he’d never let go.

Safina’s limbs shook as she stood next to her father, gaping at Josef as if she were in a daze.

Josef kissed Safina’s cheek. “I know you will make him happy.”

She nodded as tears streamed down her face.

Josef stood before the crowd once more, holding his arms up. Amazingly, the clouds swiftly parted, revealing stars that twinkled like diamonds.

“Do not mourn me, my friends,” he said. “My bones are weary. My soul needs rest. I have been living on borrowed time for years, and I am relieved to go to the Earth Mother.”

He walked up to Graechen. The orb pulsed and shook in her hands.

“You have made me proud, mijo,” he spoke to the light. “May your soul always shine brightly for the world to see.”

Fiona watched with admiration and awe as Duncan and Josef’s grandsons removed Gabriel’s body, placing him on the sand, and helped Josef onto the pyre.

Graechen stretched her long neck over Josef, her hand hovering over his face. Fiona gasped as a glowing circle of light left Josef’s mouth and floated into Graechen’s hand. Then Graechen bent over Gabriel’s body, dropping the other orb into his open mouth.

The orb disappeared, and Gabriel sat up, rubbing his eyes, showing no signs of having been shot in the chest. “Gabriel!” Safina fell beside him, an overwhelming joy pouring from her heart and soul as she held him against her.

Graechen took the torch from Fiona, lighting the rushes beneath the pyre. It went up in a brilliant conflagration of flames. Duncan held Fiona’s hand, smiling down at her. His warmth and happiness radiated around her, wrapping her soul in an embrace. She leaned against him, tears of joy mixing with tears of sorrow as she watched her friends burn.

* * *

Safina rocked Gabriel in her arms, sobbing with him as they watched the flames shoot into the sky.

“Gabriel,” she whispered, “I’m so sorry about your papi.”

“He sacrificed his life for mine,” Gabriel cried as a vortex of pain and sorrow swirled around them, threatening to extinguish Safina’s small flame of happiness.

Though she was relieved to have Gabriel back in her arms, the sacrifice his grandfather had made overshadowed any sense of joy she should have been feeling.

But then she remembered that spark within her. That tiny flicker of light and love she’d been feeling ever since her mother had restored her magic.

Safina grabbed Gabriel’s hand, placing it on her abdomen. “He died so that you might live, so that your child would have a father.”

Gabriel stiffened as he stared at her stomach. “Child?”

“Aye.” She nodded, her throat constricting so she could hardly manage to say anything at all. “I can feel the pull of her soul.”

Gabriel looked at Safina with wonder in his eyes. “I can feel her.”

“Isn’t it wonderful?” Safina asked.

Gabriel answered her with a kiss, soft at first, but then strong and steady. His love and gratitude poured through her, infusing her soul with happiness.

After he broke the kiss, Safina looked into his eyes once more. “I love you, Gabriel.”