For the Love of Her Dragon (10 page)

“Hiding
in the bushes, little brother?”
Rian
startled him,
just another side effect of his jumbled emotions. No one, including his older
brother, had been able to get the jump on him since he was a young Guardsman
still in training.

“No,
I’m waiting for instructions. Did Devon not relay my message?” he bit out.

“Yes,
he did, but I had to wonder why you didn’t just tell me yourself? I tried to
contact you and it was as if you had shut out the whole world…
again
.”
Rian
raised a single eyebrow. A sign that he was irritated
with Royce.

“I
was preparing. We’ve been fighting the fucking traitor since his reappearance
and he escapes at every turn. I want him finished!” He poured all the rage and
resentment of his situation into his words hoping to deter any further ‘mating’
conversation, but true to form,
Rian
had more to say.

“Oh,
little brother, if you can’t be honest with me, at least be honest with
yourself. I see it in your eyes, hear it in your voice; you want your little
witch with every fiber of your being. The mating call is upon you and soon
there will be little you can do to stop it. I’m sure your ‘liaison’ on the
ridge only strengthened the bond growing between you and Kyra.”

Royce
started to speak, but in true regal fashion,
Rian
held up his hand for him to remain quiet and continued, “You can try to deny
it, but remember, we
are
brothers, both real and believed, and there is
no way you can hide this from me. Even when you try to block the world, your
emotions still flow through our familial bond. I know you are torturing
yourself and for what? To avenge mother? To avenge Rhianna?”
Rian
grabbed his shoulders and pulled Royce a few feet
forward until their chests almost touched.

His
older brother looked him in the eyes and spoke with all the authority of a Head
Elder, patriarch of their line, and older brother, “They are dead Roy, and no
amount of penance on your part can ever change that. There is no way to bring
them back. Let it go. Move on, and for all that is holy,
stop torturing that
little witch
. She does
not
deserve it.”

Royce
pulled from his brother’s embrace and turned away. “It is just that easy for
you isn’t it? To put it all away in a nice neat little box and move on?”

There
was silence from where he knew his brother still stood. When he dared look,
Rian’s
head was thrown back, eyes closed, and if he wasn’t
mistaken, his older brother was praying. Royce stood in awe at the complete
reverence he felt encompassing his brother. It was several moments before
Rian’s
head came forward and Royce could see a sense of
peace. When his brother spoke, it was his brother, not the leader of a clan.
“No, Royce, I don’t put it away in a box, I keep it here,”
Rian’s
fist struck his chest with a loud
thump,
right over his heart. “And I
use it to remind me to enjoy every minute of every day, to take my joy where I
find it. We’ve been given the opportunity to live very long lives, but not
one
second
of it is guaranteed. It is
our
responsibility to
use
what we have been given, not squander it. I know mother and Rhianna are at
peace because I believe prayers are answered.”

His
brother paused and Royce could see him carefully choosing his words.

“Roy,
you are wasting your life. Your mate is here. She is everything anyone could
ever want and she was created for you, just as you were for her.” Royce felt
his brow furrow,
Rian
knew something Royce didn’t,
and he only prayed the jerk was going to share.

“After
our last conversation I thought about why the Universe, in
Her
infinite wisdom, chose a witch for your mate. Stefan and I even prayed with the
Elders for an answer, and not until this moment did it all become clear. It is
because you insist on letting the past cripple you instead of taking your lessons
and moving on. Fate has forced your hand and you, dear brother, have fallen
right into
Her
trap.”
Rian
paused. Royce could see the wheels turning and wished he would just get on with
it, his patience was wearing thin.

When
the winds changed and the scent of patchouli and rose petals reached his
senses, it was all he could do not to repeat his actions from earlier. Kyra’s
scent was intoxicating, no matter her origins…her very being called to him. He
felt like a drowning man with no desire of rescue. He searched the crowd of
people moving about for just a glimpse of his mate and like magic, the object
of all his angst was before him, walking towards her tent. Thankfully, she was
alone. There was no way he could be responsible for his actions if even Devon had
been near her at that moment. All he and
Rian’s
discussions of her and their situation had heightened his mating instincts and
pushed his dragon to damned near distraction over the need to feel her in his
arms again. Only one hundred and fifty-six years of training and determination
kept him from going to her.

The
grin on
Rian’s
face said he had smelled Kyra’s scent
also, and it may not have called to him as it did Royce, but it did confirm
that Royce suffered and his brother really didn’t care. “What trap, brother?
What the
fuck
are you talking about?” Royce snapped, unable to keep his
ire in check.

“Tsk,
tsk, temper, temper, little brother.”

“Temper,
my ass,
Rian
. I’m tired of being screwed with. Now
just tell me what you figured out and let’s be done with this miserable
discussion. You’re accomplishing nothing but pissing me off.”

“Wake
the hell up, Roy. Do you really not know that when you grabbed your mate and
spirited away with her, tasting of what you consider ‘forbidden fruit’, you
sealed not only your fate, but hers? Are you
really
that stupid?”

“Stop
the damn riddles,
Ri
, just tell me,” Royce spit.

“Fate
has blessed you with Kyra and made sure she is half-human to abide by the
wishes of the original Elders, but She also made her half-witch, to make you
finally move on. To be whole and have the love you so richly deserve. To do
that you will have to put your bullshit aside and grab onto your future with
both hands and a clean heart and conscience or…you will be forced to live a
lonely, loveless life. But you, little brother, have added your own little
twist, you have now doomed Kyra to the same fate if you cannot love her for who
she is, not
what
she is.”

“
Dammit
,
Rian
, I swear I’m going to knock you on your ass if
you don’t explain yourself without the damn riddles. How did
I
doom Kyra
to anything?”

“I
would’ve thought in your hatred of witches you would’ve learned all there was
to know about them, but I guess you have blindly hated for so long that even
you
missed something vital to
your
particular situation. The moment you took
Kyra in your arms and ‘consummated’, so to speak, your relationship,”
Rian
winked and Royce wanted to punch the condescending
smirk right off his face, but held back if only to find out what
Rian
had to say. “You made it impossible for Kyra to ever
even find solace in another’s arms.”

Royce
stood dumbfounded, not really understanding but drawing his own conclusions,
and not liking any of them. Unable to speak, he motioned for
Rian
to continue. What he heard would have driven a lesser
man to his knees, as it was, he had trouble drawing breath. “What you failed to
realize before your rash actions was that only a witch’s one true mate can
bring her to completion. She can have other lovers but never climax. Still, a
few witches I know find immense pleasure with others and refuse to even look
for their mates, not that you care about those instances. What is important to
you is that once an Earth witch has found her mate and he has brought her to
her peak, there can
never
be another…in
any way
.”

The
world seemed to darken to a single point over
Rian’s
shoulder. How could this be? How could he be responsible for Kyra’s future in
such a way? He knew what Fate had in store for him and had been slowly learning
to accept that he would be loveless, that there would be no mate, no children,
nothing like he had seen the others of his Force experience. Although he was
not thrilled with the prospect, he couldn’t think of another way around it, but
to know that someone else’s life was being irrevocably damaged because of his
decisions was like a weight around his neck.

He
did the only thing he could think of…he struck out at
Rian
with all his might, hoping to knock the all knowing smile right from his lips,
and with any luck break his nose in the process, the sound of breaking bone was
just what he needed to help with his guilt and pain. But
Rian
knew him too well and was prepared. He moved to the right causing Royce to
catch only air. The force of the swing knocked him off balance and before he could
stop, he was lying flat on his back staring up at
Rian
and unfortunately, also Rory.

“You
really need to work on your delivery, big brother,” his younger brother scoffed
as he extended his hand.

Royce
took Rory’s hand and stood, embarrassed by his action but still pissed about
what he had just learned. “Thanks,” he offered and then grumbled, “What the
hell are you doing here? This is
not
a family meeting.”

“I
wasn’t looking for your grumpy ass. I was actually looking for
Ri
. Seems
your
little witch
needs to speak to him and was unable to locate him. She asked if I would tell
him she was looking for him and that she would be with Rayne and the others, so
here I am.” Rory was grinning the same shit-eating grin he had seen on
Rian’s
face entirely too much lately.

Not
willing to deal with anymore of their bullshit and feeling the undeniable need
to lick his proverbial wounds, he turned and stomped farther into the forest,
but not before he heard
Rian
in his mind, “
Don’t
cut connections, Roy. We’ll be preparing for Andrew and I’ll need to be able to
get a hold of you.”

“I
have no intentions of cutting anything. You do what you need to do and I’ll do
the same. Leave the connection open while you plan. I’ll add what I can. I’m
headed to high ground to scout,”
Royce replied. He
hoped
Rian
was too focused on whatever Kyra had to
tell him to realize that his only intention in asking him to keep the line open
was to hear her voice. Yes, the looming battle mattered. Catching Andrew
mattered, but he had to hear
her
voice. She was an obsession. One he
knew he couldn’t have, but craved with all he was.

“Will
do. Let me know what you see and Roy…”

“Yes?”

“Get
your head out of your ass before it’s too late.”

He
didn’t respond, just nodded as he made his way to the hidden trail he had found
earlier during his stay at the base of the mountain. If only it was as easy as
simply ‘pulling his head out of his ass’. Didn’t
Rian
,
or any of them for that matter, think he would have already done it? He wanted
love. He wanted to know what it felt like to have Kyra in his arms, his life,
and his bed, every minute of every day until the end of time, but how could he
lay over a hundred years of pain and bigotry to the side? When it was only his
destiny in question, he had strengthened his resolve, made his decision, and
was making peace with it, but now both of their fates rested squarely on his
shoulders, and he had no clue how to save either one of them.

The
trip to the concealed lookout point where he had spent countless hours since returning
to his homeland was spent listening to all that Kyra had gleaned from
scrying
and several other Location spells. He damned near
jumped off the mountain and flew back to camp when it was decided that she,
Devon, and Aidan would head out to make sure the black magic perimeter she had
gone through on the hike to the lair was not closing in around them. Only
Rian’s
voice warning him that he needed to stay put kept
him in place. Luckily, Rory decided to tag along and opened their unique link,
allowing him to listen in as they hiked.

The
second the evil magic touched his mate, not only did he hear the concern in his
brethren’s voice at her discomfort, but he could feel its inky darkness trying
to invade her soul. He was nauseous and knew it came from Kyra through their
strengthening bond. His heart ached at the discomfort he knew she felt and he
wondered if maybe there was a way for them to make a life together, but his
musings about the future were cut short when a familiar voice sounded through
Rory’s open link. “Well, what do we have here, fucking Dragon Guardsmen and
their pet witch? Tell me boys, is today a good day to die?”

Royce
moved faster than he’d ever thought possible as he yelled to
Rian
,
“Andrew’s there! He’s with them! That little
fucker just threatened her life!”