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Authors: Julia Mills

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BOOK: The Fate of Her Dragon
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Chapter Fifteen

They caught up to Kyra as she
was dumping out her backpack under what appeared to be a trapdoor. Alicia’s mom
was standing beside the tiny witch as they discussed something that had them
both frowning and looking at the door above them. Alicia bent at the waist,
placing her hands on her thighs, and tried to catch her breath. Running was not
something she enjoyed or did often, if ever. She knew she had more than a few
pounds to lose but had decided long ago running would never be her thing.

Drago rubbed her back while
having the audacity to not even have broken a sweat. Not able to raise her
head, she griped, “I guess I should be glad you didn’t throw me over your
shoulder again so we could get here faster.”

“I thought about it but…”

Whatever Drago was about to
say was interrupted by Kyra as she asked for their attention. “I know what I’m
about to ask you to do is above and beyond any friendship or kinship we share.
It’s going to be dangerous. I can only feel my mom, I can’t communicate with
her. I can tell that she is hurt, but as Royce keeps reminding me, she’s a
tough old bird and I believe we’re here in time.

“Sarah Beth and I are going
to scry to see what exactly is up there. I can tell you just from what I can
feel that it’s a lot of black magic and evil intent. I just need y’all to form
a circle and lend us your power. It shouldn’t take long.”

When the McKennons had formed
a sacred circle and Melanie had said the incantation to close it, Kyra and
Sarah Beth took the antique silver mirror the tiny witch had covered with salt
and rosemary. They lit the white pillar candle symbolizing the Goddess and
began to recite the spell that would show them their enemies. In less than five
minutes, Alicia could see pictures forming on the glass.

The young witch was too far
to see what they were but could see from the look on her mother’s face that it
was not good news. Kyra gasped then cursed. “Son of a bitch! I will rip the
flesh from his hide. That bastard has her chained with iron.”

Jumping up, Kyra looked at
Royce. “He’s torturing her. I have no clue why but the bastard and his flunkies
are gathered around a Summoning Circle and that can’t be good.”

Turning back to Sarah Beth,
Kyra shocked everyone by asking, “What’s the best way to get up there?”

It was obvious she was too
worried about her mother to be making decisions and knew it. Sarah Beth took a
few moments to think while everyone else remained silent. Alicia knew her mom
hated to be the center of attention and was proud of the way Sarah Beth looked
Rayne and Rian each in the eye before answering Kyra. She had acknowledged their
positions of authority but needed to speak to the one person with the most at
stake.

“I believe if we move fast
enough we can use the dragons’ magic for cover and our magic to infiltrate. I
believe whatever they are up there conjuring has their full attention. Sheer
number and the element of surprise will be our advantage, but we need to move
quickly. Cleland is impatient. Either he’ll get what he wants or he’ll move on
and most likely take Calysta with him”

Kyra nodded. “I agree.” Then
turned to her mate who stood beside Rian, Rayne, and Drago. “What do y’all
think? Can we make this happen?”

“As if we have a choice. Your
mother and I may not be buddies but we never leave one of our own behind,”
Royce answered, taking Kyra’s hand and pulling her to him.

“I’m proof of that,” Drago
added.

Alicia squeezed his hand,
chuckling when he whispered in her mind,
“Your mom’s an expert strategist.”

“She had to be with seven
magical daughters.”

“You are one of us, Kyra. Of
course, we’re going after Calysta. What do you think we’ve all been waiting
for? Plus, there’s not a one of us that doesn’t want a piece of Cleland and the
Dorcha
,” Rayne confirmed what everyone was thinking.

“There is literally no time
to waste,” Sarah Beth said, assuming the lead for the witches. “I’m gonna guess
that you guys can jump through that trapdoor once we have it open, right? I’m
thinking this rickety rope ladder won’t hold y’all. No offense, but you know
you’re huge.”

The Guardsmen laughed while
nodding as Sarah Beth continued to explain the plan. In no time at all everyone
was in place and ready to go. The air was thick with anticipation and tension.
Looking from one face to another, Alicia could see the intense focus and
dedication each person had to what they were trying to accomplish.

Offering a silent prayer to
the Goddess, she watched her mother for the sign to move. A single nod had the
witches scurrying up the rope ladder while the Guardsmen stood at the ready to
jump through the trapdoor as soon as it was open. The dragons’ magic filled the
air, dancing on Alicia’s skin like little butterflies.

A single word spell uttered
by Sarah Beth had the trapdoor popping open just enough for her to slide her
fingers under and quietly lift it the rest of the way as she climbed through.
Alicia watched her mother and then Kyra disappear into the opening that reeked
of sulfur as she hurried up the ladder.

Drago’s words floated through
her mind. “
Be careful
, mo ghra’.
I’ll be right there.”

Once inside, Alicia was glad
to see a makeshift wall of old furniture and debris separating them from the
Dorcha.
She helped the rest of her sisters and Melanie through the door and then they
all stood back as one by one, eleven Guardsmen jumped through the trapdoor,
immediately forming a wall of muscle between the witches and the
Dorcha
.
Alicia breathed a sigh of relief when Drago appeared and took his place with
the dragons.

He gave her a quick grin
before drawing his broadsword from the sheath on his back and turning toward
the stacks of garbage. The others followed suit, assuming a fighting stance.
The Dragon Guard was a truly amazing sight at all times, but when they were
going into battle, it was spectacular to behold.

In that moment, the young
witch knew exactly why
these
men had been chosen. Why their families had
been given the honor of carrying the essence of a dragon within them. They were
honorable, without reproach, and willing to give their very lives for what they
believed in. To know the Universe had chosen her…had made
her,
little
ole Alicia May McKennon, to be the mate of a dragon, was staggering and
something she decided to think about later as her mother gave the go sign.

Everything happened at once.
The Guardsmen burst into the room where Cleland worked his black magic and
immediately became engaged in battle with the athame-wielding members of the
Dorcha
who had been lying in wait. Alicia took an extra second to watch the grace with
which Drago wielded his blade. It was truly poetry in motion. She was amazed at
his accuracy with the condition of his eyes and almost felt pity for the wizard
who met the end of his blade.

Bringing her attention back
to the matter at hand, Alicia followed the others along the path the Guardsmen
were cutting through the
Dorcha
. They avoided the blades and made as direct
a path as possible toward Cleland, chanting the spell that would drown the
Draoi’s
Summoning Circle in pure white magic. Unfortunately, it bounced off an
invisible shield and evaporated into thin air.

Cleland and his followers
continued to call to the evil forces, completely ignoring the war erupting
around them. Black smoke and soot rose from the portal beneath the blood-drawn
pentagram etched into the floor. The longer it took to find a way through the
barrier, the closer the
Dorcha
came to raising a demon from the depths
of Hell.

With Calysta free and Royce
taking her to safety, Kyra joined the McKennons. “Make a circle around theirs,”
she commanded.

The witches obeyed.

“Say the Banishing Spell and
throw the salt,” the witch yelled over the growing noise of the combat around
them.

As one unit, the witches
shouted the spell and threw the salt. It was like water hitting an electrified
fence. Sparks flew in every direction. Tiny holes began to form in the magical
barrier, allowing their white magic to seep into the portal, causing it to
start collapsing.

Cleland leapt from his
position at the head of the Summoning Circle. A look of surprise was quickly
replaced by hatred as the
Grand
Draoi
began issuing orders to the
four wizards also in the circle with him. The tall, robed men stood and turned,
forming a tight perimeter around the portal to keep the witches’ white magic
out.

The ten white witches’ voices
rose until each was shouting the Banishing Spell while pouring all the magic
they could into the deep dark hole. Cleland scurried like the rat he was,
desperately trying anything possible to keep the white magic at bay until
whatever was rising from Hell could arrive. 

An agonizing, ear-splitting
screech burst forth from the hole in the floor combining with the clash of
swords and the witches’ chant after an exceptionally powerful wave of white
magic made its way through the wizards’ defenses. The noise in the room was
deafening. Had it not been for her bond with Drago, Alicia would have never
known when the
Dorcha’s
blade struck his ribs.

Instinctively turning to help
her mate, Alicia was pulled into the vacuum created by the collapsing portal.
Only the death grip Melanie and Hannah had on her hands kept her from being
swept away. Struggling to maintain her footing and make her way out of the
deadly suction of black magic, she watched Drago take the head of his opponent
before rushing to her aid.

Blood poured from his wound
as he grabbed her forearms and pulled. Jace and Liam appeared beside their
mates and gripped Alicia’s elbows on either side, lending their immense
strength to her struggle for freedom. Almost free from the vacuum, the young
witch dared to look over her shoulder. Running toward her, athame in one hand
and a gris gris bag in the other, Cleland grabbed her outstretched ankle,
scratching her with his blade and pulling her back into his web of black magic.

Drago roared. A huge red
light emanated from his body as Alicia felt him give control over to his
dragon. The glow around her mate took the form of the great beast who was also
her mate. A power she could have never imagined flowed between them.

Cleland shrieked as he was
pulled farther and farther away from the portal and closer to those who wanted
to see him dead. At the last moment, the
Draoi
let go of Alicia’s ankle.
Momentum pushed her directly into her mate’s arms while it flung Cleland
backward into his followers.

The five men landed in a pile
on the edge of the gateway to Hell. The black smoke thickened. The
ear-splitting screech turned to maniacal laughter. Enormous skeletal hands
emerged, grabbing the
Draoi
and his followers and dragging them into
inky darkness. Blood-curdling screams could be heard as Cleland and the wizards
descended into the depths of Hell.

The smoke and soot receded as
the portal slowly closed and then blinked out of existence, leaving only a
greasy spot where it has once been. Sarah Beth and Kyra immediately began
performing a Cleansing Ritual, while Alicia thanked the Goddess that she was
alive.

Without so much as a word,
Drago carried Alicia toward the hole and jumped down. When they’d reached the
spot where her mate’s broken coffin lay Alicia was fed up with the silent
treatment, so she did the only thing she could think of to get him to stop and
put her down… she pinched his arm.

“Ouch! What the hell was that
for?” Drago asked, stopping and letting her slide down his body before taking a
step back and glaring at her.

“It was to get you to stop
and talk to me. I understand if you’re upset about what just went down. I have
to admit I wasn’t thrilled. I was actually scared shitless but dammit, the
silent treatment is not cool. You even blocked our bond. Which by the way is
not fair, since I don’t know how to do that. You have to say
something
.
Talk to me. Just
freaking
talk to me!” Alicia was growling by the time
she took a breath, which was very unlike her but in her defense, the last few
minutes had been incredibly daunting.

Drago stood motionless, his
face expressionless, and since he’d blocked their bond, there was absolute
silence. It was a true Mexican standoff. Alicia wasn’t sure if she should yell
some more or keep having the staring contest he’d started. Quickly deciding
there was no way in hell she was going to let him win an argument she didn’t even
understand why they were having, she put her fists on her hips and stared back.
It was hard to ignore the blood still seeping from the wound on his side, but
it was obvious he was healing so she tried to put it out of her mind.

The sound of approaching footsteps
drew her attention. Turning her head to see who was coming, Alicia squeaked her
surprise when Drago’s arm came around her waist and she found herself thrown
over his shoulder, traveling so fast everything was a blur. Only the presence
of the cool night air and the smells of the forest let her know they had exited
the crater.

BOOK: The Fate of Her Dragon
5.6Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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