Dragon Storm (Dawn of the Dragon Queen Book 2) (22 page)

Abby brushed blonde wisps of hair from Charlotte’s forehead. “You had a rough night. You’ll be as right as rain soon enough.”

Charlotte flashed a smile that didn’t quite mask the sadness in her eyes. A tear slipped down her cheek as she looked at her daughter. “Isn’t she beautiful?”

“She’s perfect,” Abby agreed. “An angel.”

The baby’s suckling slowed until she released Charlotte’s breast with a satisfied burp. Charlotte wiped a drop of milk from her infant’s lip before snuggling her against her chest.

“Would you like to hold her?” she asked.

Abby jerked up, instinctively holding out her arms. “Oh, only if you don’t mind. I held her most of the night.”

In truth, Abby could hold Charlotte’s child for an eternity. After all the sorrow that had befallen the city last night, listening to an infant’s soft breathing, holding her cuddly little body, and inhaling her fresh scent, brought Abby a sense of comfort. It was hard to believe, out of so much destruction and carnage, a new life had found a way to prevail.

Charlotte placed the baby in Abby’s arms before heaving herself from the mattress with a groan. “I simply cannot wait another moment to use the toilet.”

She hobbled away, leaving Abby to soak in the baby’s warmth.

Abby closed her eyes and sang a lullaby to the child, one she remembered her Nana singing to her when she was young.

“I think little Abigale likes you.”

Abby’s eyes shot open. So consumed was she in the music, she hadn’t noticed Charlotte return. “You named her Abigale?”

Charlotte looked at her from beneath thick lashes. “After her mother’s dearest friend, the woman who bravely risked her life to keep us safe.”

“Thank you, Charlotte.” Abby held little Abigail tightly to her chest. “I hope it’s all right with Teddy.”

“If Teddy was alive, he would have come for me.” Charlotte held Abby’s hand, a heartfelt sadness in her eyes, as if Abby was the one who needed comforting.

“Charlotte, don’t say that,” Abby pleaded, for she couldn’t imagine Theodore Carter, a man so utterly devoted to his wife and child, dead. Teddy had too much to live for. He simply couldn’t be gone.

“I’m only trying to be a realist, Abby.” More tears fell as she stared straight ahead. She sounded so emotionless, it was as if her soul had been swept away with the storm. “I don’t wish to get my hopes up only to have my heart broken.” Her voice cracked, and she buried her face in her hands, shaking as she sobbed uncontrollably.

“There, there, dearest.” Abby shifted the baby into the crook of one arm and wrapped the other around Charlotte. “Please don’t give up hope yet.”

Abby flinched at a loud bang downstairs, followed by the sound of feet splashing through water. She handed Abigail to Charlotte and stood on shaky legs, grabbing a candlestick for a weapon and positioning herself in front of the mother and child.

“Charlotte!” a familiar voice boomed.

“Teddy!” Charlotte shrieked.

Abby’s knees weakened when Teddy raced up the stairs. She dropped the candlestick to the ground and stepped aside.

A dirty, blood-stained bandage hung from his head, and he had a wild look in his eyes. “Oh, thank God you’re alive! I tried so hard to get to you, but then I was struck down.” He fell to his knees beside Charlotte and burst into tears. “Is that, is that?” he sputtered.

“Yes, Teddy, it’s your daughter, Abigail.” Charlotte leaned forward, placing the baby in his arms.

“Abigail?” Teddy stood, looking down at his child before turning around to gape at Abby.

“Abby saved us,” Charlotte said, a note of awe in her voice. “She braved flood waters to get to me. She brought help, too. I nearly died giving birth, but the healer saved me.”

“Abby,” Teddy rasped as he clutched his child. “I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

Abby flushed as she stared down at her mud-encrusted boots. “No need to repay me.”

Abigail squirmed against him, making another cooing sound.

Teddy traced the line of her brow and stroked her cherubic cheek. “She’s beautiful.”

“Of course she is.” Abby beamed. “She looks just like her mother.”

“That she does,” Teddy answered.

Charlotte blushed when Teddy knelt beside her, staring deeply into her eyes.

“I-I thought you’d died.” She sniffled, wiping her eyes.

Teddy bent over her, placing a tender kiss on her forehead. “It will take a lot more than a force of nature to pull me away from you.”

Abby needed to give the family privacy, for she had now become the fourth wheel, the awkward, uneven one on the back of Señor Cortez’s cart.

“Now that Teddy is here, I need to go tell Nana I’m safe.”

“Of course, dearest,” Charlotte answered, her gaze still locked with Teddy’s.

“Abby, I heard that all the houses close to the beach had been destroyed.” Teddy turned to her with brows drawn together, the bloody bandage swaying against the side of his head. “Had your Nana moved to higher ground before the storm hit?”

“Oh, yes. Don’t worry about her.” But in truth, Abby
was
worried. She knew how much the old woman fretted over her. She must have had a fit after Abby left.

“It looks like a battlefield out there,” Teddy said. “It’s not safe for you to leave unaccompanied.”

Abby’s spine stiffened as she locked eyes with Teddy. “I battled a hurricane to get to my best friend. I can handle the aftermath.”

“Very well, but after you find your Nana, I want you both to come directly to our home. It was hardly damaged by the storm.” Teddy puffed out his chest, his tone leaving no room for refusal. “You are welcome to stay as long as you like. Your Nana’s roomers are invited as well.”

Abby was floored by Teddy’s generosity. “Thank you so much for the offer.”

Teddy looked down at the child sleeping in the crook of his arm. “It is small recompense for what you’ve done.”

Abby had to stifle a laugh, thinking Teddy may come to regret inviting her Nana, the biggest gossip in all of Galveston, to live under the same roof. She hoped he and his family didn’t have any dirty laundry. Soon, it would all be aired to the world.

* * *

Teddy hadn’t exaggerated about the destruction in Galveston, though his warning didn’t prepare her for the horror. Piles of splintered wood and mangled wreckage lined the streets. She would never forget the bloated corpses with twisted limbs and looks of terror etched into their faces. Those bodies, and their foul smell as they baked beneath the Texas sun, would haunt her nightmares for years to come. It sickened Abby to know Irene was most likely one of those corpses, and she feared her list of dead friends and neighbors would grow.

Abby came across Gabriel searching for Safina through nearby rubble and told him Teddy had come for Charlotte and the baby. Abby’s heart sank when Gabriel said Safina hadn’t come home yet, but she tried to remain optimistic. After all, she’d seen her dragon mother swim after her. Abby suspected Safina had dragon magic, too. Such powerful giants couldn’t have succumbed to the storm.

Most everything south of Irene’s house had been flattened, but it was easy to find Señor Cortez’s home. It was the only standing structure amid blocks of rubble.

“Nana! Nana! I’m back!” Abby raced up the porch steps and through the front door, ready to launch herself into her Nana’s arms.

Instead, she was met by Señor Cortez, standing over a body draped in a sheet. Abby froze, unable to absorb the shock of the sight before her, for sticking out from under that sheet were her Nana’s shoes. She recognized those gold buckles and wide heels.

Abby didn’t remember much of what happened after that. She thought she fell, for her knees throbbed. She wasn’t sure how she ended up sitting on Gabriel’s cot, a blanket draped over her shoulders and a glass of milk in her hand.

Señor Cortez was the only person there to comfort her. All the other men, he’d said, had been ordered to assist in recovering the bodies.

He kept telling Abby it wasn’t her fault, that it was her Nana’s time, but Abby knew better. She’d killed her Nana. When Abby went out into the hurricane without so much as a goodbye, Nana had worried herself to death.

* * *

Safina’s legs felt as heavy as sandbags as she trudged through the muck. She and her family had fallen into a fitful sleep and risen shortly before dawn, swimming to shore and discovering they’d drifted to the far end of the island. It took them several hours to make the journey back to Galveston. The storm had passed, and the floodwaters had abated, leaving behind the calamity’s gruesome aftermath.

After seeing a bloated, naked corpse, she kept her head down, unable to stomach the sight of another. She’d hardly slept last night, listening to all kinds of dark sounds from within her shell while worrying over Gabriel and her friends. If Mother hadn’t reassured her that she’d witnessed Gabriel wielding the wind and water like the mighty earth speakers of old, Safina’s fears would have consumed her.

Safina staggered into Señor Cortez’s house with only one purpose, to find Gabriel. Mother and Father trailed far behind. Mother kept stopping to place her hands on the sick and injured, but Safina couldn’t stop until she knew her mate was safe.

She froze when she saw the cloth-draped corpse lying on a table in the center of the parlor. The body was too wide to be Gabriel. She lifted one corner of the drape and saw strands of familiar grey hair. She felt bad for the old woman, knowing she’d probably died from fright after Abby left. Had she and Gabriel forced Abby to come back, Mrs. Jenkens might have lived.

Still, she had no regrets, for Mother had told her she’d saved Charlotte’s life and delivered her baby. By mortal standards, Mrs. Jenkens had lived a long life, while Charlotte and her child had so much more to live.

She found Señor Cortez in the kitchen preparing food.

When he turned to her, she fell back in shock. Señor Cortez had always looked old and fragile, but the man standing before her was a skeleton with a layer of parchment-thin skin.

“Oh, niña.” he rasped. “You’re alive!” His bones cracked as he leaned against the table.

She stumbled toward him. “Gabriel?”

“He went looking for you.”

Safina fell into a chair, burying her face in her hands. Gabriel had survived the storm, and for now, that’s all that mattered.

* * *

Safina pulled back the curtain to Gabriel’s room, her heart sinking as she watched Abby sob into a pillow. “Mind if I share a bed with you?”

Abby sprang up. “Safi!” She jumped off the bed and grabbed her in a fierce hug. “I’m so glad you’re alive!”

Safina squeezed her back. “Oh, Abby. I’m sorry about your Nana.”

Abby hung her head, wiping tears from her eyes. “I killed her.”

“No you didn’t.” Safina’s words punched the air with enough force to make Abby gasp.

“Yes I did. If I hadn’t gone after Charlotte, she’d be alive.”

Safina led her friend to the bed. “But now Charlotte lives, and so does her baby.” She tilted Abby’s chin, forcing her to look up. “Listen to me, Abby. My mother spent most of her life lamenting the death of my grandmother. I have had to bear the burden of her guilt as well. Your Nana would have been proud of the way you saved Charlotte. Do not make the remainder of your days miserable because you did what was right.”

Abby’s lip quavered as she nodded her agreement. Then she cleared her throat, her eyes darting around the room as if she lacked the courage to look Safina in the eyes. “Last night I saw your mother turn into a dragon.”

Safina jerked away, sucking in a sharp breath.

Abby reached for Safina’s hand. “Do not fear, Safi. I will tell no one. I promise,” she said with a wink as she drew an
X
across her heart. “That shark didn’t rip off your clothes, did it?” Her eyes lit up like stars twinkling in the moonlight. “You turned into a dragon and saved Pedro from the shark.”

Safina grimaced. “Aye, I did.”

Abby shivered. She shifted onto her knees, the bed squeaking with the movement. “Did you kill it or scare it away?”

Odd how Abby seemed more fascinated than frightened. In fact, she didn’t seem scared at all. “I bit it in two.”

“Oh my word!” Abby squealed. “That’s amazing!”

“Not so amazing.” Safina stuck out her tongue, recalling the shark’s salty, pungent blood had nearly made her vomit. “His blood tasted awful.”

Abby tossed back her head and laughed before throwing her arms around Safina and kissing her cheek. “Thank you, Safi.”

Safina looked at her friend as if she’d grown a second head. “For what?”

“For cheering me up,” Abby said, batting her eyelashes. “For being my friend.”

The warmth that flooded Safina’s chest was indescribable. How many times throughout her youth had she wished for a mortal girl to call her ‘friend’ and truly mean it? “You are the first mortal girl to learn my secret and not run away screaming.”

Abby tilted her chin, a sly smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “I’m not afraid of you. I know you and your mother are good. I’m proud to be your friend, and I always will be.”

“Thank you, Abby.” Safina heaved a sigh of relief, many years of sorrow and rejection melting away with a few kind words. “You don’t know how much your friendship means to me.”

* * *

Fiona trudged through the front door, holding tightly to Duncan’s hand. She gasped when she saw the body and knew instantly Mrs. Jenkens was beneath the sheet. She sent a silent prayer up to the Earth Mother to welcome the old woman’s spirit into the light.

Señor Cortez met them in the kitchen. “Safina and Abby are sleeping in Gabriel’s room. The men have gone to help recover the dead.”

Fiona silently nodded as she sat at the table. Duncan pulled a chair up beside her. She chewed on a piece of bread while they wordlessly shared a cup of water.

“Lass, you need rest.”

Fiona stared absently at Duncan. “Huh?”

He smirked, pointing to the cup she clutched in her hand. “You have been drinking from an empty glass.”

“Oh.” She was so tired her head spun. Though she wanted so badly to go back outside and help those poor souls, she didn’t have the strength to heal another.