Midnight's Captive (Dark Warriors) (37 page)

Jane squeezed her hand before she pulled her into the kitchen and began her tale of the Dragon Kings.

CHAPTER FORTY

Charon stood atop a mountain and dialed Phelan’s mobile phone for the tenth time. Once more, it did nothing but ring and then go to voice mail. Charon shoved the phone into his pocket and let the drops of rain pelt him.

“He’s fine,” Arran said above the roar of the storm.

“He better be.” Charon didn’t want to think about Wallace getting his hands on Phelan.

Ian clamped a hand on Charon’s shoulder. “Phelan is smart and cagey. He’ll be here.”

They had been standing in the rain for almost an hour surveying the landscape. Charon pointed out where he wanted to box Wallace in, and then showed them the two places in the valley that could be potential problems.

Charon was torn in his worry over his friend and his concern for Laura. She hadn’t been in a battle before. She didn’t know what it was like to face black magic. Or any magic, for that matter.

How could he concentrate on doing his part in the battle if he was fretting about her? Because if something happened to her, Charon would never forgive himself.

“It’s hell,” Logan said as he walked up.

Charon frowned as he looked at the Warrior. “What is?”

“Knowing you can no’ protect your woman during a battle.”

Charon looked away and swallowed past the growing lump of unease. “How do you do it?”

“With difficulty.”

Charon met Logan’s hazel eyes before they both began to chuckle.

“You have no choice but to trust her and the other Druids,” Logan said once they had finished laughing. “The first time is the hardest.”

“So it gets easier?”

“Nay,” Logan confessed, his smile gone. “Every time feels as if you’re walking through Hell. It’s only after the battle is over and you can hold her in your arms again that you feel you’ve made it.”

Charon pushed his wet hair back, the drops of rain falling from his eyelashes into his eyes. “I didna want to care for her as I do.”

“I didna want to love Gwynn, but we doona get to choose when love finds us.”

“Love hasna found me,” Charon said sharply.

Logan merely grinned. “Has it no’, my friend?”

Charon thought over Logan’s words long after Logan walked away. Did he love Laura? Was it love that clawed at his insides when she was away from him?

Was it love that made him crave her touch?

Was it love that made him yearn to hold her in his arms?

Charon knew nothing of the emotion. But the thought of her no longer being in his life made him want to tear apart the world.

A dragon the color of midnight blue landed in the valley below and turned its great head toward Charon. Charon looked at the thick body and the long neck and tail with its gemlike scales of the darkest sapphires.

Charon could’ve sworn the dragon smiled at him while rows of massive teeth flashed. And in a blink, the dragon was gone as Banan shifted back to his human form, standing naked in the storm.

In two leaps, Charon was down the mountain and standing in front of Banan, eyeing the two intertwined dragons tattooed with an unusual mix of red and black ink. Or was it ink? Charon wasn’t sure when it came to the Kings.

“What is it?”

“Quinn’s group draws closer,” Banan answered.

“And Wallace?”

Banan’s lips turned down in a frown. “He’s no’ far behind.”

“Any sign of Phelan?”

There was a moment’s hesitation before Banan gave a slight shake of his head.

Charon ran a hand down his face. “How long until Wallace reaches us?”

“With the storm, I’d say two hours.”

Without another word, Banan turned and shifted back into a dragon. He let out a roar and spread his midnight blue wings as he leaped into the air and flew away.

“I doona think I’ll ever get used to that,” Lucan said as he came up beside him.

Charon looked up to see several dragons above them. “They knew of us from the verra beginning.”

“I know. Fallon told me.”

“Is he angry? Are you, that they didna help us with Deirdre?”

Lucan sighed at the same time lightning forked across the sky. “In a way I am, and in others I’m no’. Fallon feels the same. I doona believe the Kings would’ve allowed Deirdre or Declan to take over.”

“Jason must be a real threat for them to offer to help,” Charon pointed out.

“Maybe.” Lucan fingered the griffin head of his torc that he’d worn around his neck for seven hundred years. “With the dragons, Jason will be no more.”

“And the selmyr?”

Lucan let out a string of curses. “That is another matter entirely.”

Charon had seen what the selmyr could do. He knew in an instant they could take Laura’s life. Or even his. It didn’t matter how strong he was or what god he had inside him. The selmyr were too powerful.

They could disappear on the wind, looking like a gray mist until they suddenly reappeared. Arran had been bitten by them, and very nearly died.

Arran described their bites to feel like acid, and as the selmyr drank their victims’ blood, the victims became so weak, they could barely move. And in a Warrior’s case, that meant they couldn’t call up their god or use their power.

Charon knew the chances of everyone coming out of the battle was slim, but he had put in a failsafe for the Druids. If the selmyr or Wallace got the upper hand, the Kings would ensure the Druids were kept safe.

The only problem was that while the Druids were away from the castle and Isla’s magic shield, they were mortal.

Laura hadn’t had the privilege of living under the shield, but Charon wanted her to. She deserved to have a long, happy life. And he wanted to be there with her.

Charon spotted Con as he walked down into the valley, Fallon by his side. He and Lucan walked to meet the two.

“Everything is in place,” Con said.

“All the Kings are helping us?” Lucan asked.

There was a subtle shift in Con’s demeanor that told Charon something was amiss.

“We have all we need,” Con said.

A moment later, Fallon and Lucan walked off. Charon waited until they were out of earshot before he asked, “Is everything all right?”

“There are a couple of Kings that couldna be woken.”

Charon was more than a little surprised Con told him such news, but even more worried about what that could mean for the dragons. “Does that happen often?”

“Sometimes a King will sleep for several thousand years. Some have been asleep since before the pyramids were constructed. Most realize we must get on with our lives, as difficult as it is without our dragons.”

“Then they just wake up and find a new world around them?”

“It is the duty of those who remain awake to go in every century or so and share with those who sleep about the world.”

“They’re asleep.”

Con chuckled. “Ah, but a dragon will always hear a dragon.”

The rain slackened and Charon shook his head to displace the water running down his face. “Why tell me this? You could have told Fallon, but you chose no’ to.”

“You doona value your own worth,” Con said as his black gaze came to rest on him. “As to why I didna tell Fallon, I didna want him to know.”

“And me?”

Con shrugged and motioned to the mountains with his hand. “You seem a part of this. I can no’ explain it. I know you are no’ one of us. Yet I feel that you belong to us as much as you belong to the Warriors.”

“I belong to no one.”

A grin pulled at Con’s lips. “There is one who would beg to differ.”

Laura. Charon looked to the west, where he knew the mansion was.

“Aye,” Con murmured. “A verra fine woman you have. Have you told her how you feel?”

“Everyone seems to think they know what I feel when I do no’,” Charon ground out.

“There’s no time to think of that now. Wallace will be here soon. The selmyr continue to test us, but we’re holding them back.”

“And Quinn’s group? How will we get them here if Fallon can no’ teleport them?”

Con grinned then. “Cassie and Elena have gone to get Britt. Quinn phoned Fallon’s mobile about thirty minutes ago. They’ll get Britt as close to the selmyr as they’re able for the girls to bring her in.”

“What about Aiden, Quinn, and Galen?”

Con’s smile faded. “It’s all up to my Kings to get them past the selmyr.”

“I’ll help.”

“You’re needed here,” Con said as Charon began to turn away. “Wait. Tell me of Ian Kerr.”

“Ian?” Charon repeated as he faced Con once more. “What do you want to know that you doona already?”

“We may know some Warriors better than others. For instance, we knew what Broc’s power was. That doesna mean we know all of you personally. Now, tell me of Ian.”

“He and his twin were taken by Deirdre. They were in Cairn Toul the same time as me. Deirdre then had Duncan killed.”

“Duncan,” Con mumbled. “So the twin is dead?”

“Aye. Ian now holds the full power of the god he and Duncan shared.”

Con bowed his head. “That’s all I need.”

The rumble of thunder sounded around them. When the thunder died, the roar of several dragons drowned out the rain. The massive, majestic bodies of the dragons glistened with water. They cut a path through the downpour before disappearing over a mountain.

Con had said Charon belonged to them. Everyone—Kings, Warriors, Druids, and mortals—were counting on him and his plan. He had to stay the course.

“Phelan, you better make it here,” he whispered.

Con began unbuttoned his shirt. He jerked it off and wadded up the wet material before tossing it aside. “He’ll be here.”

Charon caught sight of the tat on Con’s back. It was the same mix of black and red ink, but this time the dragon was lying down, its wings opened to take up the entire span of Con’s back while the dragon’s tail wrapped around Con’s hips.

“Where are you going?” Charon called out as Constantine began to walk off.

Con looked over his shoulder, a predatory look on his face. “To the skies, Charon. To the skies.”

Charon watched Con until he disappeared over the top of the mountain. Then he turned to the Warriors who stood waiting for him.

He held out his hand and watched his skin turn copper while dark copper claws extended from his fingers. Ranmond bellowed inside him, impatient for blood and death.

Wallace had done enough damage. It was time for him to die, just as Deirdre and Declan had been killed. No longer would they fear
droughs
.

Then Charon would help the MacLeods in their search to find the spell that would bind the gods inside them once more. Though Charon hadn’t decided if he would bind his god or not. That was a decision for another time.

Now … now it was time for battle.

The dark shape of a Warrior took to the skies. Broc spread his indigo wings and soared over Charon as he went to take his place for the battle.

Each Warrior knew what he had to do. Each was prepared to give their lives if it meant the end of Wallace.

Charon rubbed the spot on his chest where the blade had entered. It was a warning, of sorts, not that he needed it. He could detect the cloying feel of
drough
magic making its way toward them.

“Come on, Wallace. It’s time to die,” Charon said with a grin.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

“Slow down,” Quinn directed from the backseat. “Pull over before you get to the river.”

Aiden gripped the steering wheel tightly. He hadn’t liked the plan. Actually, it wasn’t the plan that was the problem. It was the fact that Britt would be going without him.

“Here, son,” Quinn said.

Aiden put his foot on the brake and pulled the stolen car over before the bridge. Britt looked at him, fear in her soft blue eyes.

“You’ll be fine,” he promised her. He wasn’t sure of all the details, but his father had told him everything would work out. His father had never lied to him before.

Britt leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. “I’ll see you soon?”

“Aye.” He forced a lightness into his voice he didn’t feel as a car pulled up behind them.

Galen was out of the car before the other vehicle had been put in park. Aiden watched from the rearview mirror as Galen spoke to someone on the passenger side of the car.

A moment later, Galen looked up and nodded to Aiden. Aiden pulled Britt against him for another kiss. “It’s time.”

“Come, lass,” Quinn said. “I’ll walk you.”

“No need,” said a woman after she opened Britt’s door and ducked her head inside.

She had the hood of her raincoat pulled up, but strands of her black hair poked out and stuck to her face. The woman looked to the backseat and Quinn before her gaze moved to Aiden, and then finally to Britt.

“I’m Elena. Constantine and Charon sent me to bring you to Dreagan, Britt.”

Aiden leaned forward before Britt could get out and asked, “Are you sure you can get her to the mansion?”

Elena’s deep green eyes softened. “We were able to get out. And my husband isn’t far. He’s watching as we speak. If there’s trouble, he’ll help. Britt will be in good hands. I promise.”

“Be careful,” Britt told him before she got out of the car and rushed to the SUV behind them.

Elena was quick to follow Britt, and Galen slid into the front seat.

“She’s in good hands,” Quinn said.

Aiden sighed, uncertainty weighing heavily upon him. “Really? Who are these people?”

“Dragons,” Galen said.

Aiden’s head jerked toward Galen before he turned in his seat to look at his father. “What?”

Quinn nodded. “They’re dragons. I doona know the whole story. I’m sure we’ll find out once we’re there.”

“If we can get past the selmyr, you mean,” Aiden said.

Galen grinned. “Doona forget Jason is trailing us. It should be interesting.”

That’s when it occurred to Aiden. “We’re bait. We’re fucking bait!”

“Aye,” Quinn said with a wry smile. “Someone has to lead Wallace to Dreagan. Who better than the people he’s chasing?”

“And the selmyr?”

Galen rubbed his hands together. “I’m ready for those bastards. After what they did to Arran, I want some payback.”