The Fate of Her Dragon (5 page)

Chapter Seven

Time seemed to stand still.
Alicia could see Rayne’s mouth moving but heard only deathly silence coming
from the bond she shared with Drago. Hands touched her shoulders and others
grabbed her hands, all vying for her attention. Her sisters, friends, the
dragons…
everyone
was racing toward where she’d fallen to her knees on
the cold, hard ground, unable to bear the weight of what was happening just out
of her reach. Nothing and no one mattered as long as the silence continued from
the man who held her heart.

Her mind raced. The young
witch searched for
anything
that could turn back the hands of time and
stop the man she was now willing to admit was her mate from dying. Lost in
thought, Alicia yelped as a huge figure loomed over her, blocking all light
from the sun, while a pair of large, rough hands slid under her arms and jerked
her to her feet. Moving quicker than she could track, the same hands that had
unceremoniously lifted her from the ground now spun her around so quickly she
swayed to the side before regaining her equilibrium. A massive thumb and forefinger
encased her chin, raising her head until she was speared by a pair of the
deepest violet eyes she’d ever seen, and they were anything but pleased.

“You have to focus, Alicia.
Now is not the time to lose your nerve. Snap out of it. Pull your head out of your
ass and think. Follow the link you have with Drago and tell us where he is.”

Without thought and more
pissed than she’d ever been, Alicia hauled off and slapped Rayne MacLendon, the
Commander, the man that scared her shitless just by breathing, right across the
face. Once again, time stood still, but this time she felt the electricity of
her pure unadulterated rage filling the space between her and the formidable
Guardsman. It was as if all the air had been sucked from the atmosphere.
Everyone stood still, staring, holding their breath…waiting.

Her hand stung from the
contact with Rayne’s face. A hand print,
her
hand print, was quickly
becoming visible on the Commander’s left cheek in glowing red reality. Alicia’s
nerve was failing and fear was quickly replacing the anger that had only
seconds ago had been coursing through her veins. The weight of her impulsive
action bore down on her like the boulder she knew was still blocking Drago’s
prison. Unable to stand the pressure, her head fell forward and she focused on
a particularly interesting rock sitting between her feet, praying the Commander
had more self-control than she did.

Anxiety pushed her heart to
beat fast and loud, so loud that all other sound was only background noise. The
young witch thought it might beat out of her chest. A bead of sweat rolled down
her spine while her knees began to shake.

Alicia was sure there were
rules against striking a Dragon Guard Commander, she just prayed the punishment
wasn’t hanging at dawn. Goddess knew her people had seen enough of the rope
throughout history.

Seconds ticked by as she
waited for something…
anything
, to happen. Sure Rayne was plotting her
demise, Alicia looked up just as the Commander threw back his head and laughed.
Not just a little chuckle to let her know everything was all right. Oh no, it
was a booming, roaring, all-encompassing guffaw of a laugh that had everyone
standing around them immediately joining in. 

Regaining his composure,
Rayne looked down at her and asked, “Feel better? Ready to save that pain in
the ass uncle of mine?”

Alicia stared at the
Commander, letting his words sink in. He wasn’t mad…not even a little bit.
Actually, if she was reading the situation correctly, which she seemed to be if
the looks on everyone else’s faces were any indication, she’d done exactly what
Rayne wanted her to do.

Needing clarification, the
young witch cleared her throat and asked, “You’re not mad? I mean, I hit you…in
front of everyone.” She whispered the last part mostly because she couldn’t
believe she was reminding him of her actions.

Grinning, Rayne chuckled,
“Not in the slightest. You were freaking out. I needed you to focus on
something other than your grief. If hitting me helped then it was worth it, but
I will admit you pack a helluva a punch, little one.”

“What did you call me?”

“Little one, why?” The
Commander threw his hands out between them and feigning fear added, “You’re not
gonna hit me again are you?” His shoulders bounced at his own joke as Alicia
quickly shook her head.

“No, it’s just…oh, nothing.”

Rayne smiled a knowing smile
but quickly schooled his features and dropped his hands before resuming his
Commander persona. “Okay, now that you’re back with us, I need you to focus. I
know you said you can’t feel Drago at all anymore but that could be the black
magic, or he might be blocking your communication for some reason. But whatever
it is, I refuse to believe he’s gone. Not when we are so close to returning him
to the clan.”

Alicia could feel the
strength of Rayne’s conviction and was once again amazed by his unwavering
strength and belief. It was something the young witch was quickly learning was
innate within the dragons. Both the men and their beasts were incredible. She
let his calm wash over her. If he could believe Drago was still alive then she
could too. The young witch thought about telling the Commander the words her
mate had spoken into her mind but decided to keep them to herself. Rayne was
probably right. Drago was just sparing her undo worry.

Yeah, well that’s
discussion number one hundred we will be having titled, Do Not Scare the Shit
Our of Your Mate.

Opening her mouth to speak,
her words were cut off before they began as Kyra yelled, “Y’all need to get
your asses down here…NOW!”

Looking around, Alicia
couldn’t find the tiny, powerful witch and then realized in that moment that
her mom was missing too. Hannah appeared at her side, grabbed her hand, and
pulled her to the crater they’d excavated the focus object from. “Kyra and Mom
went down to see what Rory and Kellan found while you were accosting the
Commander.”

Her sister laughed aloud as
they sat on the side of the gaping hole and began scooting over the dirt toward
the bottom of the cavern. This trip into what Alicia was beginning to think of
as their very own abyss was the polar opposite of her first. There were huge
LED lights on poles, like the ones she’d seen when the dragons had remodeled
some of the homes at the lair. They lit the entire basin of the crater, making
it easy for the young witch to see the tunnel Rory had told them about, as well
as her mother and Kyra inspecting the sigils covering the dirt walls.

The Commander of the Blue
Dragons had been right. The sigils on the walls matched the ones on the silver
box that housed the focus stone, and just like the others, these too were
coated in blood. From the look on both Kyra and Sarah Beth’s faces, it was once
again witch’s blood. Alicia shook her head and offered a silent prayer for all
the magical people who’d given their lives for nothing more than a crazy
wizard’s bid for world domination. Seemed to be a common thread with the
leaders of the
Dorcha
.

Damn, I’m glad to be out
of that mess.

Kyra talked as she continued
to examine the sigils and make notes on the little notebook in her hand. “These
are all containment sigils. We should be able to remove them with a Banishing
Spell, but there are so many we’ll need to do it as a group and in sections.”

Turning toward the crowd that
was gathering, she continued, “I’d suggest candles instead of the lights. I have
no clue how far this tunnel goes and I’m thinking your extension cords aren’t
gonna be long enough.”

Royce moved through the crowd
and stood next to his mate. Looking down, he grumbled, “I’m standing by your
side. This shit’s giving me the creeps. At the first sign of danger, you’re
outta here.”

Patting his arm as if she was
talking to a child, Kyra nodded. “Whatever you say, big guy.”

Alicia grinned but
immediately began calling Drago again. It had only been a few minutes since
she’d heard what she thought to be his last words but so much had happened that
it seemed like forever.
“I don’t know if you can hear me but I’m talking
anyway. You better know there’s no way I’m giving up on you. You just need to
hang on, we’re on the way. You’re gonna be free soon. Siobhan will patch you up
and you’ll have time to rest and recover. You’ll get to see Rayne and meet his
mate and son. Then I promise I’m gonna kick your ass for making me worry!”

She knew she was being tough
on him but it was only because she cared…
a lot
. Alicia was using the
knowledge Rayne had given her just a few minutes ago… sometimes, tough love was
the only way to get through the bullshit life threw at you. There would be time
for all the other stuff later. Right now, it was going take intense
determination and a whole lot of good old-fashioned luck to get to her mate out
of the prison he’d endured for so very long—and Alicia was going to make it
happen.

Looking behind her, she found
all her sisters and Melanie waiting to begin. Turning back to Kyra, she saw the
tiny witch looking right at her. “It’s your call, Alicia. He’s your mate.”
Kyra’s word hit home.

Alicia didn’t even flinch.
One nod of the head and she said, “Let’s do this. Let’s find my Assassin and
bring him home.” No, she hadn’t totally admitted Drago was her mate, but Alicia
had given in as much as she was prepared to and that was all they were going to
get until they rescued her Guardsman.

Sarah Beth motioned Alicia
and her sisters to the front of the pack, handing each of them a white candle
as Kyra prepared the spell. Alicia could hear several of the Guardsmen climbing
to the surface to grab more candles and the few flashlights she’d heard one of
them say were packed in their duffle bags.

Kyra stood, smiling at each
witch before explaining, “We’re gonna perform the basic Banishing Spell. These
sigils are strong but nothing we can’t handle. It’s only gonna be hard because
of the sheer number of them. These little son of a bitches are everywhere.” She
chuckled and shook her head. “I really hate black magic.” Sighing, she went on.
“Oh, well, all we can do is get rid of this shit one piece at a time. Light
those candles and let’s get busy.”

In less than five minutes,
with candles shining brightly, Kyra lead them in the spell that would remove
the power from the bloody writing coating the tunnel walls.

“In the name of the
Goddess, the Universe, and the powerful Lord, I banish the fruit of evil cast
about this place so many years ago. I place a spell of power and purity on
everything living or dead, whether constrained by chains, or hidden in
darkness, or murdered for ill gains. I remove the death, fear and dread. I
bring life, light, and love. May no darkness disturb the servants of the
Goddess, the Universe, and the powerful Lord. So mote it be. Blessed be.
Blessed be.”

Each witch echoed
Kyra’s words as they slowly moved as one unit, drenching the abomination the
black mysticism had created with pure white light and magic. It was as if a
weight was being lifted from around them as the sigils flashed a bright white
light before turning from the deep black of rancid blood to the soft gray of a
purified talisman. Alicia could feel the black magic being dispersed back into
Hell from where it had been originally called. The souls of those who unwillingly
gave their lives so that the previous
Grand Draoi
might attempt to
destroy the world lent their power to the spell as they were released into the
ether to find their place in the Heavens.

Alicia knew what
they were doing was necessary, there was no way around it, but every minute it
took, combined with every minute that Alicia wasn’t able to contact Drago and
couldn’t at least feel that he still lived, was torture. There were several
times she thought about running ahead and screaming the spell at the top of her
lungs but knew that it would be pointless and a huge waste of time, so the
young witch did the best she could to control her anxiety and continued to
speak the spell. It was then that Kyra stopped chanting and threw her hands in
the air yelling, “Stop! Everybody stop!”

Alicia looked
around the tiny witch and her mother, immediately identifying the cause of the
panic in Kyra’s voice. Standing twenty feet in front of them was a wall of
intricately stacked rocks completely covered with the bloody sigils they’d been
battling for the last hour. Not only was it a deterrent, but the sheer power of
the black magic flowing from the wall was daunting.

Taking a deep
breath, Alicia asked, “So what do we do now?”

Speaking over her
shoulder but still not moving, Kyra answered in a tone that sounded like a
whole lot of uncertainty mixed with a healthy dose of anger. “We move these
damn rocks.”

“But…” Whatever
Alicia was about to say was cut off as a force unlike any other she’d ever felt
pulled at her very soul. It wrapped around her heart and infused itself in
every fiber of her being. The young witch gasped for air. Her vision blurred.
She reached for her sister but it was too late. Alicia was falling as her world
was quickly turning to black.