Rare Form: Descended of Dragons, Book 1 (21 page)

“Yeah, but...”

Any further argument was cut off when Brandubh himself materialized in front of us.

The mighty dragons stood at our backs, pitting us between them and Brandubh. The ominous display had its intended effect
—
I was scared as hell.

Brandubh’s appearance and what I had expected ‘the evil sorcerer’ to look like were two very different things. Very different. He wasn’t weathered and bitter. He didn’t have a ferret-like face or a pot belly. There wasn’t a white beard in sight, and the wind didn’t mystically whip around his wizard’s robe.

But he was tall. Impossibly wide. And well-dressed in sensible dark linen slacks and a charcoal tunic. Methodical, clear blue eyes pierced mine from beneath a heavy brow. He hadn’t shaved, but I suspected that was more a result of planning an image than a lack of effort. Brandubh was particular in his appearance. Meticulously so. His dark hair was closely shorn and silvered along the temples.

He smiled like a fox biting a hen’s tail through a wire coop.

“Ah, Stella,” his voice slithered through my head though he spoke aloud. “How I’ve dreamed of this day. You’re as lovely as your mother. I wonder, are you as sweet?”

Weird thing to say. I glanced at the dragons, who shuffled uncomfortably when I searched their eyes for answers.
Oh, ew.

“What do you want, Brandubh?” Gresham growled.

“Mr. Gresham. As rigid and unprepared as ever.”

“Wait, you’ve met him before?”
More mothereffin’ secrets.

“Not. Now.”

“What? Your ‘friend’ did not reveal our association to you, Stella?” Brandubh asked.

“We have no association, you psychotic asshole, just a history. One I plan to dissolve today.”

“As if you could. You’ll never win. Have you not learned this by now?” Brandubh laughed, his steely eyes glittering with genuine mirth.

“But back to your question, Mr. Gresham. You might as well know now. I’m going to find great pleasure in taking her from you.”

Gresham growled low in his chest and snarled viciously. His fierce reaction scared
me
, and I was the least likely recipient of his wrath.

Brandubh continued as if Gresham hadn’t made a sound. “I know you’ve had her; I can smell you all over her. Doesn’t matter. I have plans for this little red one.”

He eyed me appraisingly, as if I was a prime heifer paraded into a sale lot.

“Due to the loss of most of my dragons by your petulant people, I’ve had no way to replenish my herd. I’d thought to use this one to breed, but she’s too old and isn’t fecund.” He nodded in the direction of Bay.

“Everything changed when I saw this little
vibria
enter Thayer.” Brandubh laughed almost giddily. “I have two prime drakes with which to breed her. She can make her choice or they can fight for her; I care not.”

“You sick sonofabitch. That’s my uncle; my cousin.” My stomach, already tight with fear, roiled in disgusted.

Brandubh circled me, appraising me with a calculating eye that made my skin crawl. I turned as he circled, never giving him my back completely.

“In this line of business, close bloodlines are a triviality.” He stopped circling. “Gresham, she positively reeks. Did you roll in her? Not that it will deter me. Your claim on her is as weak as the wards on your home.”

Gresham went rigid at the mention of the attack on Caraway Manor.

“Oh, don’t look so shocked. Your arrogance will always be your downfall. Did you really think you could protect against me, against my dragons, forever? Once I removed the source of your wards’ power they wilted like sauteed greens.”

Gresham squeezed his eyes shut in pain or regret; I couldn’t tell which. I wondered what source Brandubh referred to.

“Now, where was I? Oh, yes. Inbreeding. Actually, when used properly, inbreeding can be an effective husbandry program. Inbreeding superior specimens creates exceptional offspring.”

“How can this possibly make sense to you? I would never agree to that.”

“Oh, I can force you…or they can. The young black one is particularly keen on the idea, though I think it’s less about you, and more about doing violence.” He stopped circling again and whispered conspiratorially, “He’s quite mad, you may have noticed.”

“
Run, Stella
.” Gresham’s deep voice roared through my brain.

For once in my life I didn’t argue with him. The whole lot of the group was freaking nuts, and even I knew it was impossible to win a fight against crazy.

I sprinted toward the cave entrance, my arms pumping furiously as my legs propelled me toward the safety of the corridor. I was almost there when a blast of rock and dust blinded me. I skidded to a halt, and when the dust cleared I saw an avalanche of stony debris had blocked the corridor.

Wild with uncertainty, I turned around to find Gresham, who was grappling with Brandubh. The two traded vicious punches and holds, but neither could keep the other in grasp. Brandubh was powerful, but Gresham was savage. I stood, stunned, and watched as he bloodied the powerful sorcerer with his hands.

Brandubh shook himself, seeming to remember that his own power was not limited to the physical. He chanted slowly, deliberately at first, but Gresham popped him in the mouth. Then the words poured furiously from his lips. His body seemed to grow, but it was less his physical form than his…aura. He had just called a powerful magic into himself.

Brandubh smiled, his eyes widening with anticipation and insanity. He backhanded Gresham across the face, sending him flying through the pitted interior of the crater. He hit the side of the mountain, the crack of bones audible across the pit, and slid roughly down the face of the rock. He never stopped his fall. I waited, but Gresham didn’t rise. He lay face-down in the rubble. Dead or debilitated, I didn’t know.

I looked to the dragons, their betrayal chewing at my heart like rats at a round of cheese. Eiven and Bay sat stock still, avoiding Brandubh’s notice and presumed wrath. Stryde’s big body racked with tremors—I suspected from the exertion of resisting his barely-leashed violence.

Brandubh’s sights were on me, and he stalked toward me.

I was relieved when I sensed the familiar stirring of my chakra. I lovingly embraced the change and my dragon rippled out. I stretched to my full height, my copper scales and reddened wings chuffing as I prepared to fight. I watched Brandubh closely, my reptilian eyes trained on his every move.

“There she is,” rasped Brandubh. “My auburn beauty.”

He held something shiny and it glinted when it caught the sun. I squinted to see that he was concealing a torque—one obviously intended for me. I would not suffer the same fate as my mother, as the three Drakontos dragons. Enraged, I bellowed from deep in my soul and released a current of fire that would have decimated a bunker.

Brandubh shook his head in mock admonishment. “Fireproof,” he pointed up and down his body. “And, master of dragons,” he said with a snarl.

With one flick of his wrist, he pulled my dragon from me and left me wheezing and naked on the ashen ground.

“What do you think, huh, boys?” he said obnoxiously. “Not bad. Not bad…though you’ve been in your dragon forms so long you probably prefer her the other way. Am I right? Ah, well. Plenty of time for both.”

Something flicked in my periphery. I recognized the premonition right away and squinted to see the vision. The scratchy scene that played out revealed Brandubh bending and lifting me by the back of my hair. I cried out in pain, and he only shook me harder, like a puppy held by the scruff.

A puppy
. An idea struck.

Mere seconds later Brandubh bent to lift me by the hair. A slow smile spread across my face and I looked the maddened sorcerer dead in the eye.

“What’s so funny, little dragon?” he sneered.

“I know something you don’t know.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“Not just dragon,” I croaked. “Omni, like my father.”

I burst into my wolf form, sparing no time to snarl or slaver. I dove for his throat and tore at the spongy esophagus and brittle spine behind it. I shook my head, growling, sending blood and other bits flying into the dirt.

Brandubh threw me from him with a magical jolt, and I landed roughly at Eiven’s feet.

The sorcerer struggled to rise up on his arms and spared one look at me that betrayed both his bewilderment and fury before he disappeared as abruptly as he’d arrived.

I spat out pieces of Brandubh’s fleshy throat and ejected my tongue repeatedly, like a dog in peanut butter, trying to rid myself of his vulgar taste.

I ran to Gresham’s side, sliding onto human knees as I reached him.

I rolled him onto his back. Felt for a pulse. It was there. Faint as a whisper, but it was there. I lifted his head onto my lap and shook him. His body was limp, his breathing shallow.

I shook him again. Nothing. I ran my hands obsessively over his face and head, unsure of what to do next.

I patted his face and beat his chest, my efforts turning progressively more rough. I panicked and my chest thumped and burned, but there was nothing my beasts could do now.

“Gresham,” I sobbed as I leaned over his body. “Wake up. Please,” I pleaded with his unconscious form.

Moments dragged on for hours as I monitored his breathing, unable to do anything but hope that he would come to.

He groaned at first, but as consciousness set in he immediately stiffened and tried to rise.

“Brandubh,” he rasped.

“Gone,” I said weightily, and helped him sit up.

“How?”

“I changed into my wolf and bit his motherfucking throat out, that’s how. I
told
you I was a badass.”

“You? Killed Brandubh?”

“Oh, I don’t think he’s dead. We’re not that lucky. He’s in pretty rough shape, though, and I doubt he’ll be back here today.”

Gresham nodded and searched the cavernous terrain. He stood. Wobbled a bit, but caught himself.

“You know, Gresham, you always underestimate me. I really think it’s time I had a title—something indicative of my savagery.”

Satisfied that Brandubh was indeed gone, he turned to me and quirked a brow. “Like a nickname?”

“Yeah, a nickname. Something like Stone-cold Stonewall? Stella the Sorcerer Slayer? Dragon Lady is too genteel. Oh! I know—Hell Bitch, like Call’s horse. That’s intimidating.”

“Call? What are you talking about?”

“It’s a Lonesome Dove reference. I thought sure you’d know that one. Grumpy old farts love Lonesome Dove.”

“For the hundredth time, I am not a grumpy old… Stella. Did you know you’re naked?”

“Hmm?” I looked down at myself and waved away any concern. “Oh. Well, that’s the thing about changing forms. Lots of forced nudity. Best get used to it.”

“Oh, I can definitely get used to it,” Gresham said wickedly, and pulled me into him.

I
sat wrapped
in Rowan Gresham’s strong arms thankful for my life and his.

His warm skin was a welcome contrast to my own as I pressed my cheek to his chest and absently nuzzled his wide shoulder.

My efforts to relax, to relish the comfort and security Gresham’s presence lent were useless. My bare legs trembled to the beat of an erratic heart. What started as a light tremor grew stronger until the physical manifestation of my shock intensified to a full-blown shake. I snapped my knees together and wrapped my arms around them. If the traitorous things insisted on vibrating, I would constrict them into serenity.

My plan didn’t work.

I was a ragged mess from the aftermath of the fight with Brandubh, and bewildered to learn not only did I
have
living relatives, I was descended of dragons who were feared, hated.

And my father—about whom I’d sought information my entire life—was a magical breed I’d never heard of: an
omni.
It was urgent that I learn more about him, as well as the dragons. It just so happened I had a captive audience of three such dragons.

But as I scoured the mountainous crater in which they’d been imprisoned for centuries, I found no one. My stomach seized at the realization Gresham and I were the only two left on the rocky battlefield. The Drakontos dragons had traced away as we celebrated our victory over the powerful sorcerer Brandubh.

“Gresham.”

“Hmm?” He’d recovered quickly and was absently nuzzling my neck. His breath was hot on my collarbone and his hand crept dangerously close to my naked ass.

“Gresham,” I said. “The dragons are gone.”

His dark head snapped up, amber eyes wild as they bounced around the crater. He jerked his hand from me in confused horror.
Like I’d put it there
.

“Dammit,” Gresham growled and stood to his full height. “Dammit!” His curse reverberated through the cratered mountain’s interior, echoing his frustration. His hands formed tight fists at his sides. “I can’t believe I let them get away,” he said and began to pace. His every move was rigid with anger. “He’ll have my job for this. My job, hell,” he spat, “he’ll have my head. And rightly so. I had four of Thayer’s prime enemies in one place and let them escape. Right under my damn nose.”

“Well, that’s not really fair, Gresham,” I said. “You were knocked unconscious. Brandubh nearly killed us both. He may have gotten away, but just barely. And he must be badly injured if the dragons were able to trace away and escape him.”

“He’ll heal. They’ll heal,” he said, kicking a pile of rocks that sent stone and dust flying in a wide arc. “I had them all here and could do nothing. I couldn’t use my magic, couldn’t trace. It was stupid to come here alone with you. I underestimated him and inflated my own ability. Dammit!” He stopped pacing and looked me up and down, a scowl replacing his handsome features. A snarl gathered his lips into a bitter pinch. “I continue to make poor decisions where you’re concerned, behaving like a teen-aged boy trying to impress a girl.”

On some level I preened with pleasure to hear the enigmatic man admit he lost his senses around me, that he wanted to impress me. I’d longed to wow him since the moment I first saw him. But I was also wary of the admission. Rowan Gresham was sharp, and not just intellectually. I feared if he suspected his feelings for me compromised him he’d have no reservations about cutting me off.

Gresham continued to curse himself, stomping aimlessly within the crater and mumbling as he stabbed his hands through the hair at the sides of his head.

I tried to deflect some of his stress by pointing out the things we had accomplished. “We may not have captured Brandubh,” I said, “but we learned a lot that could help the authorities. Not only is he still very much alive, but his interest in ruling—or destroying—Thayer still exists.”

Gresham’s eyes compressed to a tight squint. “You’re saying that like it’s a good thing.”

“No…I mean… We learned about his sick dragon-breeding plan. We stopped it. And because we injured him so badly, his remaining dragons were able to escape. He has nothing now.”

“Oh, Brandubh will always find a way. Dragons or no, he’ll never stop.” Gresham stopped his pacing to face me. “I know you’re trying to find the positive in the situation, Stella. But let me tell you how the leader of Thayer, the people of Thayer, will see it. I was the first one to see Brandubh in centuries. I stood within feet of him, fought him. Not only did I
not
capture him, but a little girl fought him for me. I allowed him to escape.
And
I failed to discover where he’s been hiding all these years.”

“I think you’re taking this far too personally,” I said, but he ignored me. His rant amped even louder, his voice booming throughout the cavernous space.

“I discovered that three of the dragons responsible for the Steward Massacre—until now thought eradicated—are alive. I didn’t capture them. No, I allowed them to escape, too, and have no idea where to begin looking for them. Worse, the dragons know I know they exist. They’ll assume we’re coming for them and go into hiding. Or come for us first.”

I crept toward him and reached to console him, but he jerked away before I could touch him. “Why are you acting like it’s your sole responsibility to save Thayer,” I asked. “I mean, sure, we’re taught at Radix we’re supposed to defend our home, but it wasn’t your job alone, Gresham. You fought Brandubh; you nearly had him. I injured him, and we cost him his most valuable weapons. Not a bad day.”

“Stella,” Gresham said, his face crumbling into a tortured mask, “it
is
my job. I’ve been protecting the people of Thayer since long before you were born.”

“But...” I paused, trying to comprehend. “What do you mean? What’re you saying?”

Gresham slammed his eyelids shut. He clenched his teeth with such force I saw the muscles working in his square jaw.

“Gresham? You said you did ‘special projects.’ I knew you were being intentionally vague, but…what…what are you saying?”

He let out a ragged breath and found my gaze. His eyes were pained. Shamed. “There is much I didn’t—couldn’t—tell you at first. I should’ve told you when you first found your wolf, but by then I felt such guilt. And I was shocked to find that I
gave a damn
, Stella. I didn’t want to see the disappointment in your eyes. I knew you’d find out eventually. I’m surprised it took this long. It only did because you’re an outsider and your friends are all primos. I thought for certain the Redfern girl would recognize me from my dealings with her father, or one of those boys you associate with would piece it together.”

Blood rushed to my face, my ears. I heard white noise, a faint but consistent background to our conversation.

“What the hell are you talking about, Gresham?” My voice rose as I grabbed at his arm and pulled him around to face me. “Tell me what?” My face was fevered and I felt the familiar sting of tears threatening to form.

“Stella,” he said reverently, smoothing the auburn hair back from my face. He bent to run his dry lips across mine before he said, “My position is director of defense. It’s my job to eradicate threats to Thayer.”

A burst of air escaped my parted lips and I lay a hand on my heart to make sure it stayed within my chest. I was so shocked I couldn’t take a full breath and sucked short, inadequate gasps of air.

My mind scattered in a dozen directions.

I tried to recall what Gresham had said to me over the course of the weeks I’d known him. I tried to process what I knew of Thayer, of Radix, of alternate forms. Why would someone as important as the Director of Thayerian Defense pursue me? Why would he become my unofficial guardian, injecting himself in my life as a mentor, a friend…a lover? What could he possibly have to gain from his association with someone like me who wasn’t of this world, who didn’t even know who she was?

The answer hit me like a kick to the chest. I stood heaving, trying to gain control of myself, trying not to completely fall apart. My heart physically hurt at the betrayal, and the tears that had been taunting me finally spilled over and fell hotly onto my cheeks. I bent over and held my middle, a nauseated mass.

Gresham was calling my name, but it seemed so far away. “Stella? Stella, no. No. It’s not like that.” He spoke almost frantically and rushed to my side.

I jerked from him, but was so off balance I had to extend my hand for support. My knees were weak and there was nothing on which to anchor, so I listed clumsily sideways before catching myself.

I closed my eyes and took several slow breaths before attempting to speak again. Nothing came. I cleared my throat, attempted to clear my mind and aimed for composure, but all I really wanted to do was crumble into a heap in the dirt.