Saved By Her Dragon (26 page)

The lock clicked and the door opened just enough for him to
see Anya’s beautiful face. Her first words should’ve surprised him,
but made sense the more he got to know her. “Even when your mom is
involved?”

“Yes,
mo
ghra’
, even when Siobhan is
involved.”

“But…I mean…” She stopped and shook her
head.

He pushed the door and was overjoyed when she stepped back to
let it open all the way, but disappointed that she was wearing a
robe. Pushing his errant thoughts and those of his beast’s to the
side, he said the only thing that came to mind. “Without you, there
is no me. It’s as simple as that. Devon Walsh as a single being
ceased to exist the moment my soul recognized yours as its
mate.”

The need to hold his mate was a physical ache in his chest
but he wasn’t sure she was ready for his touch. Always full of
surprises, his mate reached out and entwined her fingers with his.
Devon welcomed the electric shock that always accompanied her
touch; his soul literally singing as she closed the space between
them and snuggled into his chest. Their hands still clasped between
them, he wound his free arm around her waist and let his hand rest
on her hip.

Lost to the feeling of Anya in his arms, she surprised him
when she said, “It’s weird how much you mean to me in such a short
period of time, but I was taught not to question such things. We
all have a path and I know in my heart that you are mine but…” She
lifted her head and looked as fierce as she could while cuddled
against him. Her raised voice let him know she meant business, “You
cannot go all caveman on me just to get your way.”

Not waiting for his response, she laid her head back on his
chest and once again snuggled close. He decided to enjoy holding
her in his arms and to let her think she had
won…
this time
. He
loved her fire and spunk, but it was the way she turned him inside
out with just a look that made him feel like he could fly without
his wings. Even his dragon chuffed in agreement.

“So are you gonna tell me what happened out there? What blew
up?” Her muffled words reached his ears.

“I am,” he said as he pulled back. “Stand right there. I need
a shower. The smell of smoke and ash is horrible. I’m sorry if I
got any on you but I just couldn’t keep my hands to myself.” He
winked and then said, “Don’t move. Two minutes tops.”

He didn’t wait for her reply; he simply used his enhanced
speed to race to the tub, strip, shower, and pull on the pair of
clean boxers he always kept in the drawer in case he couldn’t get
to his house.

Returning to his mate, who still stood where he had asked, he
gently lifted her into his arms, carrying her to his favorite chair
in the corner. Devon answered her question once he was comfortable
and had her settled on his lap. “The werepanthers found a forgotten
entrance into the mansion. It was covered with dirt and overgrown
with weeds. After looking at the blueprints in the county records,
Rian found that it led to a tunnel under the mansion, so it was
decided that Lennox would use a small amount of explosives to clear
the way. All was going as planned until he was discovered by an
overzealous wizard. Just as Lenn set the charge to blow, the wizard
fired off a spell. The two combined, causing a chain reaction that
blew the back of the mansion and most of its inhabitants all to
hell.”

“Thank goodness none of
you
were hurt,”
she murmured.

“Nothing serious. Lennox was knocked on his ass and Rian got
a nick on the arm from flying debris, but the worst part was having
our mental communication knocked out.”

“Are you sure Andrew was even there?”

“Yeah, Rian sensed him when we breached the
perimeter and then once after the blast, but that was really faint.
He’s sure the traitor is trapped somewhere beneath the structure
but when I left, they still had no clue where, and that place
is
huge
.
Not to mention that now about seventy percent of it’s just a big
pile of rock and ash.”

The longer they talked, the more the exhaustion he had felt
before their disagreement returned, until instead of the words he
planned to say coming from his mouth, he yawned long and loud. Anya
giggled as she pushed off his lap and held out her hand to him.
“Come on, big guy, let’s get you tucked in. You need to rest,
before the craziness resumes.”

Having a hard time keeping his eyes open, he took her hand
and followed her into bed.
How did I ever
sleep without her in my arms
was Devon’s
last thought as he kissed the top of Anya’s head and drifted off to
sleep.

Sometime in the wee hours of their second or third night in
captivity, John drew his last breath. Time was irrelevant when only
his intermittent dragon senses let him know if it was day or night.
Andrew had gone from his first deep sleep since the explosion to
completely awake the second his assistant’s heart beat for the last
time. The traitor had knelt beside the only person he had dared to
trust in over seven years and let the pain of loss wash over him.
He had known the man was in bad shape and tried everything he could
to keep him alive while attempting to dig through the debris that
kept them trapped. Getting his second the proper medical attention
had been his first concern, but he had failed.

He shed no tears, nor did he beg the Heavens to return John
to life. Andrew only vowed retribution in a reverent whisper. An
oath made to his fallen comrade assuring John’s spirit that he
would make every fucking piece of shit dragon pay for the man’s
suffering and death.

Several hours later, Andrew walked out into what was left of
the tunnel he had been attempting to clear since the blast, but
instead of turning towards the exit, he turned back towards the
mansion and walked the hundred feet of partially cleared concrete
to the wall of fallen rock. He bent over and began digging into the
mountain of debris, not stopping until he had cleared a six foot by
four foot section almost two feet deep and then collected the
smoothest rocks he could find, setting them aside.

After making sure everything was like he wanted, he returned
to his makeshift abode and rifled through the cabinets that had
fallen off the walls until he found a clean sheet. Kneeling next to
the body of his assistant, Andrew wrapped John in the white cloth,
picked up his lifeless body, and carried him to the crypt he had
just built. Carefully he placed the body inside, and then covered
it with the stones he had set aside.

Standing in silence for several long minutes, Andrew then did
something he had thought long forgotten. He prayed to the Heavens
and spoke the words of the Dragon Burial Rite.
Elders of Olde, Heavens above, and the Universe that controls
it all, receive this soul into your keeping. Protect him on his
journey to the other side. Prepare him for what is to come in the
afterlife. He is
‘kin fole eile’
and is deserving of my gratitude.

It was the only way he knew to assure John’s soul was not
stuck in the ether, roaming the Earth as a specter. They had never
spoken of religion or faith and Andrew had no knowledge other than
the little he had been exposed to of the coven in which John had
practiced his wizardry, or their beliefs regarding death, so he had
drawn upon the only thing he knew. He had recited the words from
his mother and father’s
sochraide
.

Returning to the hidden room, unable to settle his tumultuous
thoughts of revenge, Andrew tested the integrity of the brace that
secured the large punching bag to the ceiling. Finding it lacking,
he dug the boxing dummy he rarely used out of the closet and
proceeded to punch and kick until sweat wet his hair and ran down
his back. With every strike he imagined the face of a different
Dragon Guardsman. The one that came most often was the one that had
betrayed him and left him for dead and was now responsible for the
death of his comrade. They would all pay, but it would Aidan, the
ultimate coward, that would suffer the most.

Andrew had gotten a fleeting impression that his brother was
near a few nights ago. It stood to reason that the assholes would
be searching for him in the debris of the mansion, but they had no
knowledge of his hidden tunnels, and because the mansion had
belonged to a former drug lord, the passages were not on any
blueprint or map of the property. As he continued to rain blows
down on the mannequin a plan formed in his mind. If he could dig
out, he might be able to surprise them while they worked, and with
any luck at all, at least one of his loser brothers would be in
attendance.

Deciding to put his plan into action after a bottle of water
and one of the few protein bars he had left, Andrew delivered one
last blow that had the dummy slamming against the opposite wall and
falling in pieces on the floor. The sinister grin he felt cross his
lips was nothing compared to the dark thoughts invading his mind.
He promised John that every last one of the Dragon Guard would lose
their life by his hand, leaving their mates as nothing more than
grieving widows and their children fatherless. If the rumors were
true, he was to be an uncle, and what a pity those babies would
never know their father.
What a pity
indeed
…

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Three crazy days went by with no sign of Andrew. Devon stayed
at the lair all day, even though Anya barely saw him, between him
planning their mating ceremony and meeting with the other men.
Every time he came back she would try to get details about their
wedding, but he would smile his panty-dropping smile and tell her
to be patient. Patience was not something Anya had ever been good
at, and it seemed that nothing had changed.

They had talked about returning to her farm to pick up some
of her stuff, especially the heirloom hair combs that had been worn
by every woman in her mom’s family on their wedding day for the
last two hundred years. Anya knew Devon would do everything
possible to get her there, but he was so busy she felt bad about
asking. She had even suggested pushing the date of the ceremony
back a few days until things settled down, but Devon shook his head
so hard she thought it might fly off. Then he told her in no
uncertain terms that they would be officially mated by the end of
the week. After that she decided never to broach the subject
again.

The search for Andrew seemed to be taking its toll on
everyone. All the girls talked about their mates being worn out and
grumpy. Earlier, she had watched Devon walk in just as the sun was
making its daily appearance after a long night of searching for the
traitor, covered in soot and the smell of smoke and looking so
tired her heart ached for him. He tried to hide his exhaustion as
he made his way to the bathroom, jumped in and out of the shower,
and then came to lie down beside her. Bone-deep exhaustion poured
off of him in waves as he fit his hard, warm body behind hers and
held her tight. Anya prayed she was giving him as much comfort as
he gave her and vowed she would make her own way out to her farm.
There was no way she was going to ask Devon for one more thing–he
had enough on his plate. She could handle one little day trip to
her own old home.

The soft sounds of Devon’s snoring reached her ears and she
smiled, glad her man would at least get a few hours rest. Resigned
that she would ask one of the girls to accompany her to the farm,
she settled into Devon’s arms and followed him to sleep.

The few hours they slept seemed to recharge Devon’s battery.
He left whistling after a huge breakfast and several cups of
coffee. When he kissed her goodbye she could feel how happy he was
and giggled at the silly images of him dancing down the street that
he placed in her mind.

Convincing Kyra to go with her to the farm had been easier
than she’d expected. The Earth witch was extremely interested in
going through her mom’s notebooks and seeing the other witch’s
greenhouse. When Anya told her she could keep anything she liked,
Kyra’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and they were out the door
in five minutes flat.

“I’m figuring we’ll be back before Dev and
Roy, so I just left a note on the kitchen table at our house and
Siobhan knows where we are if anyone is looking for us,” Kyra
assured her as they buckled into her little blue Mini convertible
the witch called her ‘broom’.

“I left one in our room, too,” Anya added.

“Kyndel and Grace know where we are and Sam is at the
hospital…” Kyra chuckled, “Damn, it’s almost more trouble than it’s
worth just to take a little ride, huh?”

“I was just thinking the same thing,” Anya agreed.

The rest of the trip was filled with chatter of her mating
ceremony and Kyra talked about her mom, Calysta. Anya listened
intently to the description of the magic the younger witch had felt
while looking for the Grand Priestess. The more Kyra told her, the
more she was certain her mom had talked about something
similar.

“That sounds an awful lot like something Mom and her coven
dealt with when I was younger. I don’t remember the specifics, but
I’m sure it’s in one of her notebooks.” She stopped and thought for
a second before adding, “All I really remember is Mom and Pops
talking about making sure ‘nothing followed them home’. I was young
so I kept looking out the window for a puppy or something, but now
I have to wonder what they were really talking about.”