Dragon Storm (29 page)

“How do you survive?” Shanya looked aghast. It was enough to make Josie laugh out loud.

“Don’t worry, Shanya. It will turn out as it was meant to be. Just remember one thing.” She grew serious. “I am determined that nothing and no one will come between me and my mates. Ever. Once the snowcats get that straight, we’ll move on from there.”

Shanya looked alarmed, but the twins were finished dressing and the sight of them in battle-scarred black leather armor made Josie’s mouth water. She’d thought they were hot before, but these guys were smokin’ in armor. They had that road-warrior look down. Hell, they’d probably invented it. And they were all hers. How did she get so lucky?

Connor smiled at her and she went to him, sliding into his arms and giving him a big kiss.

“Darius gets to carry you first, but we’ll stop halfway and then switch for the final leg. I get you then.” His eyes glowed with promises she knew they wouldn’t have time to fulfill until they reached the Northern Lair. Of course, they would have an army of snowcats on their doorstep at that point, so the wicked intent in his gaze would have to hold until that was dealt with.

“I love you, Connor.” She reached up and kissed him once more.

Darius came up behind her. She felt his heat at her back as his arms came around her waist.

“We have to go, love,” he whispered in her ear as she broke the kiss with his twin.

She turned in Darius’s arms. “I love you, Darius.” She gave him a deep, hard, fast kiss, breaking off before anyone else could object. Around her, she saw Roland and Nico had already shifted and were taking to the air.

Darius stood back and shifted, as did Connor. Josie helped Shanya step up onto Connor’s back and then turned to seat herself on Darius’s back. The two dragons leapt off the ledge, synchronizing their wing beats as they followed after their older brothers.

The journey was long, with the promised stop halfway for a quick drink of water and a few minutes for the dragons to rest. The women mounted again, and they were off for the final, frantic leg of the journey. It got colder the farther north they traveled and Josie was glad of the living furnace beneath her that kept her warm.

When they reached the Northern Lair, dawn was nearly upon them. They’d flown all night. Josie could just make out dark shapes across the river. The snowcat encampment, no doubt. There were more of them than she ever would have expected. Her breath caught at the implications.

She knew the damage snowcats could do. They were fierce fighters with giant, nearly indestructible claws. An army of them would be much more dangerous than an army of humans, which is what they’d been up against in the last battles here, according to what the twins had told her. Sure, those humans had had magical augmentation and weapons designed to harm dragons, but these were snowcats. They had all kinds of advantages over humans when it came to fighting.

The knights had dragons at their sides, but the knights themselves were human. And there weren’t enough black dragons who could fight the cats in either human or shifted form. This was a bad situation. Really bad.

They landed and were greeted by the leaders of the Northern Lair.

“You’ve arrived just in time, majesty,” Hal reported to Roland as they walked through the corridors of the Northern Lair to a chamber Josie hadn’t seen before. It was a war room of sorts, with the top people from the Lair gathered there. It contained a giant, hand-drawn map of the area with markers on it denoting the strength of the snowcat army.

“What are their numbers?” Nico asked as they gathered around the map table.

“There are hundreds of them that we can see. There may be more. We suspect many hide in beast form where we cannot observe them from the air.” Jures looked grave. “They are very good at stealth.”

Josie believed it. Snowcats were better at stealth than ninjas in her world. She didn’t see any reason for it to be different here.

“Any more communications from them?” Roland asked, his gaze narrowed in concentration on the map.

“Yes. They are to send a negotiator across the river at first light. They demand the unconditional return of their envoy. I suspect they mean you, princess.” Hal looked at her with regret in his eyes.

“I’ll talk to them, but there’s no way I’m going with them. I’ve had enough of snowcats bossing me around and trying to make me into something I’m not.”

She’d definitely had it. Up to here. Anger rose in her to crowd out the fear. Darius and Connor stood on either side, lending her their strength.

“The three of us will talk to the negotiator,” Connor said in dark tones. “They cannot have our mate, but we’ll be glad to speak with them.”

“We will
all
talk with the negotiator,” Roland decreed with a stern look at his younger brothers.

Darius and Connor bristled, but Josie touched their shoulders. “Your brother is right. Snowcats respect strength. If they’re anything like my grandfather’s clan, they’ll expect a certain amount of respect in return. Who better to show that their claims are being taken seriously than the King of Draconia and three of his brothers? They’ll be able to sense the magic in you. They’ll recognize both the respect you show them by coming in person and the strength of your presence.”

“Sire.” A new voice called from the doorway. “A delegation crosses the river in cat form.”

“Showtime,” Josie whispered to her mates, squeezing their hands as the group headed out of the war room and down the hall.

They went to another ledge and shifted form again. Josie mounted Darius’s back and saw Shanya still with them, making her way on to Connor’s back. The party swooped down to the ground in front of the mountain that housed the Lair, to the bank of the wide river. Josie could easily see a group of about ten snowcats swimming through the current, heading straight for them.

She got off Darius’s back and stood with Shanya. The men chose to remain in dragon form for the moment. Josie debated whether or not to shift to snowcat form, but decided against it. The cats would no doubt be able to tell who and what she was with just one sniff.

“Here they come,” Josie said, knowing her mates had her back.

She had to admit, the snowcats made an impressive sight as they leapt from the river, shook their coats dry and stalked toward them. These cats seemed larger than those in her grandfather’s village. Larger and even more magical.

The snowcats ranged themselves in front of the dragons, two lines of strength focused on Josie. The lead snowcat shifted form as he stood about ten feet from her. It was an easy leap for one of them in either cat or human form, but she wasn’t worried. The dragons were larger and had even longer reach. If the snowcats tried anything, they’d have a real battle on their hands.

“I am Raith of the Snowcat Clan,” said the leader. He was handsome and had the muscles of a fighter. He wore robes with a high mandarin collar that looked faintly Asian in style to Josie. He gazed at her with hard eyes. “You are the envoy from the world of our forefathers.”

“I’m Josephine Marpa.”

“Marpa?” He looked surprised. “A descendant of the wizard line.” He seemed to be thinking out loud, watching her with a measuring gaze. “You are not fully snowcat.”

“I’m surprised you could sense that. My mother was human. I wasn’t raised in the snowcat village. I went there only after my mother died when I was already a teen.”

“But you learned the snowcat ways, surely?” His brows drew together in a frown.

Josie shrugged. “Some. I’m afraid I wasn’t well accepted among the full-blood snowcats. Which brings me to question whether or not your people will accept me as I am.”

“Lady, we are so desperate to see females of our kind, we cannot be choosy. You are the first female snowcat we have seen in centuries.”

Not exactly a compliment, but she’d take it. If she was the only female snowcat they’d seen in that long, chances were, they wouldn’t hurt her.

“You called the storm that brought my mates to my world.”

Confusion etched his handsome features. “We called the storm, but it was to bring you forth. Did that not happen?”

“No. It sent two dragons—these two dragons—to my world. I brought them to my grandfather, and he took us to Marpa’s secret cave to gain the magic that could bring us back here. These two dragons are my mates. The snowcat knew them the moment she scented them.”

Now the man looked really upset, but she had to give him the bad news upfront. It wouldn’t do to lead him, or his men, on.

“How? How can you mate with dragons?”

The air beside her stirred, and she knew Darius and Connor were shifting form.

“We are more than dragons,” Darius said in an arch tone.

“We are descendants of Draneth the Wise,” Connor added. “Like you, we carry both human and beast nature in our souls.”

“Shifters,” Raith growled. “We did not know Draconia had shifters.”

“Then we’re even. We didn’t know snowcats existed in our world.” Darius raised one eyebrow. “We were thrown into Josie’s world where magic is nearly non-existent. We knew her as our mate the moment we met her and she agreed.”

Connor spoke up, trying to tone down the challenge in his twin’s voice. “Josie was able to call the storm to bring us back. More than one seer has told us these events were foreseen and necessary for the battle we may yet face against those who would free the evil locked away in the Citadel.”

“The Citadel?” Raith looked truly concerned. “That is grave news, indeed. But who are your seers? Don’t tell me dragon shifters have foresight too?”

“I am one.” Shanya had apparently found her backbone and stepped forward, very close to the snowcat spokesman. “I foresaw the dangerous journey Prince Darius and Prince Connor would make and their return.”

“And you are?”

“I am Shanya of Gryphon Isle. One of the fair folk.”

“We have heard of your people, but we have never seen any.” Raith couldn’t seem to stop looking at her, now that she’d drawn his eye. Of course, Shanya was gorgeous. Josie shouldn’t have been surprised.

“That’s familiar,” Darius observed. “Since we’ve never seen any of your people either.”

“Until recently, the fair folk stayed in their enclaves, venturing out only in secret,” Connor clarified. “Since the return of the threat to our lands, the wizard Gryffid has revealed himself to be living on Gryphon Isle with a large enclave of Lady Shanya’s people.”

Raith couldn’t tear his gaze from Shanya, even as she swayed toward him. She seemed to be weakening in some way, her body trembling.

When she crumpled, it was Raith’s strong arms that caught her. Josie stepped forward, her mates at her side.

“Is she all right?”

Raith looked up into Josie’s eyes. His hands had tightened on the fair girl’s shoulders, shock written all over his features. He sniffed the air as the snowcats around him moved on their paws, uncertain.

“To me, brothers.” Raith’s voice was a mere whisper, but Josie heard him clear as day, as did his comrades.

One by one, they shifted form to stand around him and the fallen woman. She shook in his arms. Her eyes rolled back in her head as something powerful overcame her.

“It is a vision,” Connor said, concern in his voice. “Dar and I witnessed something like this right before we were transported to your world, Josie. It wasn’t as bad as this, but it looks similar.”

When all the cats had shifted, the black dragons did the same. Roland and Nico stood watching, concern in every line of their bodies.

“Will she come out of it on her own?” Roland asked. “Perhaps we should fetch a healer.”

One of the snowcats stepped forward. “No need. I am a healer.”

The man tried to touch the girl in his leader’s arms but Raith pulled her away, snarling at the other man. Shanya was held tight in his arms, and he didn’t appear to want to let anyone close to her.

“Raith?” Josie edged closer, calling his name tentatively. His focus was on Shanya, his hands clutching her shoulders as dismay filled his features. “Raith? Will you let me look at her? Will you let me see if Shanya is all right?”

Pained eyes met hers as the man finally looked up. He seemed utterly devastated.

“Help my mate.” The desperation in his plea touched a chord deep in her heart.

“Mate?” Nico sounded the surprise everyone felt.

“She is my mate.” Raith’s voice was strong, filled with certainty, even as a lone tear rolled down his cheek.

“Sweet Mother of All,” Darius whispered in both shock and benediction.

Shanya stilled in the snowcat leader’s arms, blinking rapidly as she came out of the vision. She looked up at the man who had just claimed her as his mate and smiled the most heartbreakingly beautiful smile Josie had ever seen.

“I understand now,” she whispered. Shanya seemed to gain strength from Raith’s embrace. He helped her sit up, but she made no move to leave his arms. “There are mates for your brothers among my people, Raith.”

Her words were met with a mix of hope and disbelief from the other snowcats. Josie watched them carefully, gauging their reactions.

“Are you certain?” Raith’s voice was both hopeful and tense.

“I have seen it.”

Silence met the certainty in her voice.

“Perhaps we should move this discussion indoors” Roland suggested, “where we can sit comfortably.” He gave Shanya a pointed look. She was obviously weak. “We don’t want war with the snowcats. In fact, we’d like to help you as best we can, seeing as our new sister-in-law is one of your people.”

Raith seemed to consider his words. “We cannot fly up to your Lair.”

Nico and Roland grinned. “Not to worry,” said the Prince of Spies. “We have rooms nearby for just such occasions, built into the base of the cliff. A few dragons can shuttle refreshments down for us, if you like.”

“That would be agreeable,” Raith said. He stood, Shanya in his arms, her slight form not even straining his bulging muscles.

Nico led the way to a chamber hidden in the base of the cliff. It was spacious and contained some furnishings, including a large table and chairs. The room didn’t look like it had been used recently, but it was kept in good shape. It was certainly good enough for their purposes at the moment.