Web Of Bones: Book II of the Dragon Mage Series (10 page)

After Braedon ordered the humans in the woods to return home, Aarion wasted no time assuring Solan he would return quickly and flying the fire mage out. Melly remembered her first experience with the magic of Dracon and wondered how the fire mage would take it. It had been breathtaking to be submerged in so much magic, and a bitter thing to know that it had once covered all the land. The dragons had taken care of their share of it; the humans and mages had not.

Since the damage to the wagon was
superficial, she was still able to sleep under the covering they propped over the back of the wagon. It was not that she felt the cold, or was afraid of the forest. She had spent a good part of her childhood hiding with her family in the far peaks. She felt safer here than in a town, where people could come collect you while you slept. But it was nice to have some time away from the others. They were always solicitous of her comfort, as only a dragon male could be, but occasionally it was relaxing to find the peace of her cocoon—though even in the back of a wagon, behind cover, she could feel Solan’s energy.

He took the fact that she was in his care very seriously.
She didn’t blame him for that. She would not want to go up against Eben Kinkaid or Prince Ladon for any reason, especially not if you displeased their mate, and losing her sister would do so on a grand scale. That’s what she thought anyway, until he had made his intentions to mate with her clear.

Melly sighed.
She would never get any sleep if she dwelled on this. She could still feel the tingle in her knees from that last kiss, and she needed to get some sleep. Tomorrow they would continue on. They were getting closer to the blood mage with every step, despite all the interruptions. Very soon he would make his move; she felt it. And even if she failed against him, she knew Solan would not. She had a hard time imagining that dragon being beaten by anything.

“
He is a most formidable dragon,” she said quietly, and smiled when the wind giggled across her senses.

***

Melisande opened her eyes and knew from the damp, coppery smell that she was no longer in the forest with the dragons. She shuddered, sitting up in a rush and looking around. This time she was not in the black-walled fortress but, from the look of the walls, a cave. She also looked to be alone. She attempted to call the wind and received only silence. She had truly hoped that the nightmares were over, since she had not had one since the block was removed. Clearly, that was just wishful thinking on her part.

The bed she lay on
was draped in red and constituted the room’s only furniture. Standing up, she grimaced at the slick feel of silk as she slid her feet to the floor and stood up. It reminded her of the blood mage and his attempt to claim her. She was still dressed in all but her shoes, just as she had been when she had gone to sleep. That was something, anyway. It was always worse when she dreamed herself wearing something she knew she had not picked out. Those dreams were usually especially bad. She moved to the entry on bare feet. She peeked around the doorless opening, to see what she was up against. Was this where the blood mage was, or just a construct of the dream?

She took the corner slowly,
peeking around and spreading out her senses, expecting any minute to be grabbed or blocked in some way. Instead, when she got to the end of the tunnel, the room was a dark fortress of stalagmites that seemed to glow with a bitter, sick light. From the glow, the cavern looked to be the size of the great war room at Forsaken. And in the midst of all that pale light stood the blood mage, without his cape, and looking desperate as he mixed some concoction that sat before him on the lone table. He was muttering to himself, and she was tempted to call the wind to hear what he was saying, but she was afraid that he would feel it or, worse, that like many other nightmares she would not be able to use her powers here. So instead, she sank back into the shadows and watched for any clue what he was doing. So far, this had been like no dream before—maybe she could actually learn something.

After a few minutes of nothing new
, there was a change in the room, as if the power inside the rocks was waking up. Everything seemed to pulse and then settle. In the darkness across the way, something moved.

Lotare seemed to recognize this at the same
time, because he suddenly twirled around and hissed toward the moving shadows.

“
That might be more impressive if you had the teeth to back it up.” The voice from the darkness was without inflection. Mellow and benign, it did not match the feeling Melisande was experiencing from hearing it. As if more was being said than what she heard, and all of it a threat: “I have come to give you news of your missing female.”

L
otare relaxed at the first sound of the voice, then seemed to spring up straight at the mention of a female. “You have her? Where is she?”

There was a long tension
-filled silence before the voice spoke again. “Don’t you know? How interesting.”

“
What does that mean? Where is she?”

“
She has left the boundaries of Dracon. I had assumed with your connection you would know more about her whereabouts than I.”

“
The dragon magic blocks me at every turn.” Lotare narrowed his eyes, the snarl still on his lips. “How is it that a dragon could block me from my claimed female? What do you know of this?”

“
It should not be possible unless ...” The voice trailed off, then whipped across the space with a harsh laugh. “That is interesting, and could be used to our advantage.”

“
What is? What do you know?” He gnashed his teeth, spittle flying as he stepped toward the shadows threateningly. “Tell me what you know or I will ...”

“
You will what?” The voice was now deadly and low, and the force of power behind it had Melly wishing herself far away from both males. “You are in no position to threaten me, Blood mage. Not when everyone in two lands wants you dead.”

“
She is mine.”

“
No. I do not think she is. But she can be if you listen to me.”

Melly blinked at the words at the meaning behind them.
What did the shadow voice know? She was nearly ready to step forward and demand answers. If she had not been so sure it would lead to her own death in reality as well as in the dream, she might have succumbed to the impulse.

“
Have you perfected the poison?”

“
You will get nothing more from me until I have what is mine!” Lotare was practically foaming at the mouth.

“
Calm yourself, Lotare. I merely ask because I believe you will need it to truly claim your prize.”

“
What are you talking about?”

“
Kill the dragon that protects her and your mark will once again bear fruit.”

“
That was not our deal. You find my female and return her, then you get the poison and can kill any dragon that stands in your way. I will not be tricked into wasting more dragon blood so you can change the bargain once more to your favor.”

“
I am not asking for me. I am telling you what you must do to claim the female. Your mark will never work so long as her true mate is living. Find him, use the dragon poison, and kill him. Only the presence of a true mate could interfere with the magic and dragon blood I supplied you.”

At those
words, not a thing in the world could have stopped Melisande from reacting, and the small gasp that escaped from her mouth was enough to have both men turning her way. A light flashed making her blink away spots. She attempted to run, but it was too late. The blood mage was on her.

“
I have been looking for you.” The glee in his voice and the bruising hold of his hand on her arm was enough to have her freezing in fear. “You have been a naughty mate.”

Still blinking, Melly raised her chin.
“But not yours,” she said. And it felt so good to say. “Never yours.”

The grip on her arm tightened until she was sure he would break her, but she refused to cry out.
“That will change soon enough, when I have killed your dragon.” He spat out.

He would have said more
, but the voice interrupted. “I can hear her, but I cannot see her, or smell her. Why?”

“
She is dream walking. It is only her astral self that came to me. She must have been thinking of me when she fell asleep.” He smirked at her. “How sweet.”

“
I was thinking of killing you. Thinking that even if I failed, my dragon would not.” Her words were soft, her chin firm. It was clear she was speaking the truth, and it seemed to drive him into a frenzy, so that he lashed out, hitting her across her cheek and drawing blood as she slammed back against the hard stone behind her.

It took her a moment
before she was able to stand away from the dubious support of the wall. Shaky, but upright, her chin raised again, even as the blood trickled from her abused cheek, she met the blazing fury of his blood red gaze.

“
My dragon,” she said softly, but with real power behind the words, “is going to be very angry with you.”

“
Can you keep her here?” the voice interjected, still in the shadows.

“
He can’t.” She answered the question, though it was directed at the blood mage. She turned her head so that she faced both the fury of the mage and the cold power of the hidden watcher. “Soon I will return to the others and everyone will know of this plot. That a dragon works with a blood mage, that you are supplying him with blood to work against your own kind, and that I can identify you. How long will you be able to hide in the shadows when Eben Kinkaid and General Solan Fire-Eater come for you?”

“
Kill her now.” The words were full of icy fury and hidden fear.

“
No!” Lotare grabbed her again, shouting in her face. “You will say nothing of this to anyone.”

“
Or what?” She tilted her head and ignored the new pain in her arm. “I would rather die here than ever do what you say.”

Lotare gnashed his teeth, and went to hit her again, but it was the other words from the shadows that chilled her blood.

“So be it.” The shadow dragon must have acted even as he spoke, because she felt the earth beneath her move and her feet sink. By the time she had pulled in enough air to scream, she was already choking on shifting dirt. She heard the blood mage scream in rage as he lost his grip, even as the earth closed above her head. Her own screams were buried with her.

Solan’s eyes snapped open. The dark forest surrounding them was whipping about with the force of the wind and in his mind, someone was screaming.

Melisande!
He lunged up, ripped away the cover for the wagon, and felt every drop of blood in his body turn to fire. There was no sound of breath or heartbeat from his mage. She lay as if dead.

He threw his head back and roared.
At the same time, he lifted her into his arms and fell to his knees. She was not the cold of death, but still warm with life, and she smelled of dragon magic. This was no blood mage attack.

“
I smell power from the House of Earth,” Aarion said, responding to his roar and suddenly beside him. Lux crowded in from the other side and growled, seeing the stillness of death on Melly. He stood abruptly and looked around, hefting his battle-axe and preparing to take on any comers. Solan might have appreciated the defense while he was so distracted, if every piece of him was not fighting to stay in human shape and willing his mage to live. Aarion placed his hands over her still figure while Solan sent his own power, seeking some spark of life he could hold onto.

One of Aarion
’s hands dropped to rest on Melisande’s chest, and Solan snapped his teeth, ready to tear him off her. Aarion did not flinch or hesitate. “There is something ...” he started, and then stilled. Solan felt him push power into his mage, and if he had not had treasure in his arms just then, he would have ripped out Aarion’s spleen for doing it. But a second later there was an answering push from Melisande as she jack-knifed up, flaying about in his arms.

“
Turn her,” Aarion lifted her partly away from Solan and moved her until she could cough, choking out ... dirt. Solan held her there while she vomited out great globs of mud and earth onto the forest floor. At one point, Aarion placed his hand on her back and pushed more magic through her until the last of the dirt that had clogged her body was expelled; then Lux handed him water while Solan turned her back into the cradle of his arms. Aarion held the cup to her lips so she could drink and spit, drink and spit, then finally swallow some down her abused throat. She choked down the water, her eyes wide and never straying from Solan’s. All the while, he held her, shaking and crying in his arms, her terrified eyes clinging to him, while his own heart started beating again.

There were bruises on her face, a cut on her cheek, none of which had been there when she went to sleep.
She had been attacked while he rested feet away from her, unaware that her dreams had once again been invaded. She had laid as death in his arms. If Aarion and his affinity for earth had not returned this night ...
Someone was going to burn for this.

“
There was a dragon,” she finally sputtered out, her teeth chattering, her throat sounding raw. “He works with the blood mage for ...” She cleared her throat with a flinch for the pain. “Poison. He perfects the poison.”

Solan felt the looks passed between Aarion and Lux, but he did not look away from his mage.
“Where?”

“
A cave of old magic.” She closed her eyes to concentrate. “Power that sickens, twisted by death.” She pointed in the direction they were heading. “That way.”

“
This dragon,” Aarion said, his voice a cold wind of anger. “What did he look like?”

She licked her
chapped, mud-stained lips, then grimaced, and cleared her throat. “I don’t know what he looks like, but I will know him by the sound of his voice, and the feel of his power.” She opened her red-rimmed eyes and Solan felt the fear she was trying to swallow. “And he knows I can identify him.”

Feeling the power swelling around him, he looked up to find Aarion staring at him with eyes of dragon gold that burned.
“He is House of Earth,” Aarion said with a bite. “But his magic is wrong. I felt it twisted and dark crouched around her in death.”

“
She is not dead,” Solan felt compelled to growl, even as he stewed over what this could mean.

“
There is a dragon among us who hides a dark path. A dragon in my house. How have we not seen this?”

Solan looked down at Melisande
, who was watching them quietly while they discussed betrayal. The sound of her breath and the feel of her breathing, even as she still labored in his arms, was the only thing keeping him from turning feral. “Because we were not looking,” he finally said, shaking his head. “We have abandoned the diligence of our knight training, and allowed ourselves to be separated from our houses into isolation, content to do as we are told by the council, drowned in our own arrogant belief that dragons were above such crimes. We have become sentinels of an empty room.”

Lux cursed from his place standing above them, his eyes still trained on the forest around them for threats.

Aarion seemed to harden before his eyes as he considered the ramifications. “When we enter into training, we cut ties with the house we are born into, as a sign that we are not tied to our old house or its politics, but firmly rooted in the light. It has always been this way.”

“
Not always,” Solan said without inflection. He then stood up with his treasure firmly in his arms. “Come. We will get no more sleep this night. I will take Lady Melisande to the water to bathe; you two pack up the camp and prepare to head out.” His voice rang with quiet intent. “It is time we find this blood mage and finish this.”

“
Do you think the dragon is still on this side of the gate?” Aarion stood as well, his eyes narrowing as he looked to the far mountains, clearly hoping he was close enough to kill. Solan could appreciate that, but doubted they would be so lucky.

“
No. If he is smart enough to have hid his true nature from us until now, he is smart enough to run from me.” Solan pulled Melly higher in his arms, his eyes taking in the dirt and bruises on her little face. “But he will not get far.”

She closed her eyes and her forehead scrunched up in worry.
Her voice was still shredded and probably painful to use. “What of the poison?”

“
You need not worry on our account, Lady Melisande,” Lux laughed, pulling the horses over to the wagon. “We aren’t planning on sitting down for tea with the little blood sucker.”

The wind whipped about in a frenzy
, and Solan saw Melly stiffen as she tilted her head.

A minute
later, she gasped and arched her back, and he had to struggle to both stay on his feet and hold onto her. The wind built into a raging inferno that pushed everything in the camp back so that when it finally stopped, the ground was cleared three feet in every direction. Aarion, Lux, and most of their camp had been pushed back haphazardly to the trees. The Lady Melisande was out cold.

Lux and Aarion moved forward from where they had flown, both wiping leaves and
debris from their leathers. Lux shook his head at the fragile-seeming mage in his commander’s arms. “It’s good that she has a dragon mate to watch out for her. I don’t think a human male could handle the stress.”

Solan had to grunt his agreement.
The feel of the wind soothed him as it caressed up his face and giggled through his hair. He sighed long and loud, and headed for the water.

***

Melisande awoke once again in General Solan’s arms. She sighed, and then regretted it when she felt the pain against her abraded throat. Thinking back to the reason for it, being swallowed alive by the earth, she shuddered with remembered horror, and wished for more of the water Solan had used to wash her.

“
You are awake?”

“
Yes,” she croaked. “Water?”

“
Here.” He held it to her lips and it dribbled equally down her throat and over her chin. She coughed again and winced at the piercing pain of swallowing. “Just lie easy,” Solan grumbled, misunderstanding her reaction. “You have as much time as you need before I hear your wind-talked vision. There is no need to struggle with it.”

Her vision.
Melly stilled, thinking of the future she had seen. A future she was determined never to see again. If they continued on the path they followed, no warnings would be enough to change the tide. It would come to pass. A trap. Poisoned arrows and defiled blades. Dragons in agony as they fought their own bodies. Turning on each other while the blood mage watched and laughed. The repercussions would be felt by all people, and the impact on her own family would be devastating. The death of everything she cared for in one poison brew. She sucked in another breath and tried to slow down her scattered thoughts and racing pulse. He would know. If she wasn’t careful he would push for answers, answers she knew would lead to death.

“
Did I say anything while I was wind talked?” She knew she hadn’t, but it would be better if he thought she was confused right now.

“
You did not.” He shifted her so that she lay in his arms, her backside resting on his thighs while he used his free hand to push back her hair and study her face. “What did you see?”

She blinked up at him and tilted her head as if listening for that answer.
The wind swirled around her in warning, sensing her thoughts. But she could not let this come to pass, no matter the cost to herself. “I don’t remember.”

“
He stilled, studying her with quicksilver eyes that shimmered and slid as she watched. “You don’t remember?”

“
Sometimes when I am wind talked and I am overcome, it takes time for the vision to return to me.”

“
Strange,” Solan said, his eyes penetrating even through the haze of the gloaming. “Let us hope, then, that the future does not come upon us while we wait for your memory to return.”

“
Yes.” Melly looked carefully away from his probing eyes. “Let us also hope that whatever it is the vision shows me I must do, we can all live with the consequences.” She felt his fingers move to her cheek as he pulled her back to his narrowed gaze.

“
Whatever you feel you must do that the vision shows you, we will handle together.” He pushed her hair back behind her ear and fisted his hand there. His eyes took on a soft silver glow as he watched her. “You do not carry these burdens alone anymore, little mage. Best you get used to sharing them with your mate.”

Her
mate.
Melly sucked in a breath and blew it out again. She could not even tell him what she had learned. He would follow her for sure then. But she knew the truth. Her eyes never left his face as she did her best to memorize every curve and line.
This amazing creature is supposed to be mine?
She lunged up and pressed her lips to his, wanting his incredible face fresh in her mind and his heat branded on her lips. He growled and took everything that she put into that kiss, then pushed his tongue between her parted lips and took more. The heat built so fast it was practically a flash fire, and all she wanted to do was lose herself in him. But that would only get him killed.

She pulled back with a gasping sob, her arms going tight around his neck while she buried the emotion she could not hide in the warmth of his neck.

“Melly?” There was confusion and worry in that gruff voice, and it was the first time he had called her by the name her family used for her. He tried to pull her from his neck and see her but she just held on, until he wrapped her in his arms and pulled her tighter. “Are you well?”

“
I am,” she said but refused to let go, at least not until she could hide the fear and pain of her decision. “Just ... hold me for a moment.”

His arms tightened notably and she felt his power blanket both of them in warmth.
Her mate. General Solan Fire-Eater. The gruff Commander of the Dragon Knights, who had quietly come to mean everything to her. The one man who made her feel safe and worthy. The man who would die from the poison in a blood mage arrow if she did not leave him. Soon.