For the Love of Her Dragon (19 page)

She
had absolutely no idea how to respond. On the one hand, she thought he really
was sorry, or at least afraid Royce might just kick his ass. Maybe being the
Head Elder had made him soft. But on the other hand, he had brought her mother
back into her life and she knew that was not something that was going to just
go away. Twenty-five years was all the reprieve she was going to get.

“I
accept your apology,
Rian
.” There was so much more
she wanted to say, but simply did not have the energy.

Rian
and Rory walked away, talking about training and plans for their return home,
while she was perfectly content to stay right where she was, cocooned in Royce’s
warmth, surrounded by his incredible strength. His stubble tickled the outside
of her ear and his breath caused
goosebumps
to rise
on her arms as he whispered, “I better get you home,
a
chumann
.
It’ll be dark soon and I still have to meet with my Force.”

“And
I’m so tired I might fall asleep standing here,” she chuckled.

“Well,
let me make it easier for you,” and with that, he lifted her up and they exited
the woods the same way they had entered.

When
they got to within a hundred yards of her home, Royce set her on her feet and
took her hand. She was surprised at how natural it felt to walk hand in hand
with the man that occupied her every dream, and the constant electrical current
that flowed between them had her wet and needy by the time they got to her
front door. “Here you are, safe and sound,” he said, his voice sounding lower
and rougher. It made her smile to know that she affected him just like he did
her.

“Yep.
Thanks for everything. Sorry if I embarrassed you earlier…”

“Stop
right there,” Royce interrupted. “You had every right to come after
Rian
. He was wrong and deserved a hell of a lot more than
he got. I’m sorry I hit him before you had the chance. Years of history between
brothers got the best of me.” He dropped her hand and slowly moved his hands up
and down her arms, leaving little electric shocks along the way.

“The
only reason I moved the conversation away from the clan was because my brother
is used to being in charge and loves an audience. If you had confronted him in
front of the other Guardsmen, he would’ve played it up and you never would’ve
gotten the apology he owed you.”

No
matter how hard she tried to hold it in, she yawned, and was immediately
embarrassed. Royce laughed low in his throat, and as she tried to turn away, he
captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger. He leaned down until they
were looking into one another’s eyes. “Please don’t hide from me,” he whispered
and looked at her like she was the only thing that mattered in the world.

Time
stood still and he leaned forward until their foreheads touched. “You need your
sleep and I have to get to Rayne’s.” He kissed her on the forehead, his lips
lingering and making her wish for more.

He
straightened up and smiled the most beautiful smile she had ever seen, and somewhere
deep inside, Kyra knew it was just for her. “Go on, get some sleep and I’ll see
you tomorrow.” He turned her towards the door and stood waiting as she opened
the door and walked inside.

“Night
Royce.”

“Night,
mo
chroi
,
sweet dreams, Kyra.”

She
shut the door while he stood watching, and waited as she listened to his
footsteps move farther and farther away from the door.
He really is trying
to show you that he wants to be forgiven
, she thought to herself. She got
her shoes off before she fell into bed and had the best dream of her life.

~
~
~
~
~
~
~

Royce
walked home as the first light of the morning sun shone through the trees, more
pissed than he could ever remember being. When Rayne and
Rian
had decreed…not suggested, not discussed…just decreed, that Aidan and Aaron
would accompany Kyra to place the amulets around the mountain the night before
the full moon, he had lost his mind. He knew she had been working extremely
hard to come up with a way to capture Andrew with minimum harm, further proving
to Royce that she would never hurt a living a soul without extreme provocation,
because if there was anyone that needed to be ‘harmed’ to within an inch of his
worthless life, it was that lowlife traitor.

At
first, he had tried the politically correct approach and had said that Kyra and
his brethren would need back up. Both leaders had agreed and then promptly
assigned the task to Kellan,
Brannoc
, Lennox and
Pearce – the Commander and the three oldest and best Guardsmen from
Rian’s
clan. Royce knew all of the men, had fought beside
them, and had it been any other situation, he would have felt they were more
than capable. But this was Kyra’s safety they were talking about, and he was
not willing to leave her wellbeing to anyone but himself. Even the promise from
Kellan that they would leave their connection open, allowing him to monitor
every moment that Kyra was out in the open, did little to calm his ire.

The
debate had waged on until Rayne announced the conversation over. It was the
first time in over a hundred years that he had wanted to inflict pain upon his
friend and Commander. As he had tried to make his escape, Rayne had stopped him
to explain, “I know you’re pissed old friend, and no one understands more than
I, but with all that has happened between you and Kyra, I need for you to stay
behind. I can tell you from personal experience that you will forsake all
others to protect her, now more than ever, and you will not be able to focus on
anything else. If I had it to do all over again, I would have had someone else
protect
Kyndel
.”

Rayne’s
explanation had only served to add insult to injury, so when Aidan joined him
on his walk home, Royce was less than cordial. “I’m not in the mood, ‘A’.”

“Yeah,
I know, you’re just letting that shit fly all over. Which with your ability to
put your emotions on lockdown is really saying something. Grace just told me
she can feel your anger, that’s why I came this way. I can only imagine the
others can too and trust me, I understand. I know you don’t want to hear this,
but I agree with Rayne. If I had it to do all over again, I would have let
someone else protect Grace.
Hell
, I did! And when the shit hit the fan,
I thought I could do better and took over and we all know how that turned out.”
Royce could feel the remorse his brother still felt from all his mate had
suffered, but Royce was still pissed.

They
walked along in silence for a few moments, only to be joined by Aaron. “What’s
up?”

“Not
a fucking thing, Aar,” Royce snarled.

Aaron
threw his hands up in mock surrender and chuckled, “Alright big guy, I get that
you’re pissed, but you know that ‘A’ and I aren’t
gonna
let anything happen to your girl. And the cast of Highlander has our backs, so
we got this shit covered.” Aaron laughed at his own joke and Royce recognized
it for what it was…his brethren’s attempt to lessen his worry, if only that was
possible.

He
continued to walk, and before too long the twins thankfully said their
goodbyes. As he made his way through the trees that provided his home with
extra privacy, he saw Devon sitting on the steps leading to his front door with
his elbows propped on his knees and his head in his hands. Royce knew his
friend sensed his presence long before he had been able to see him, so he spoke
as he crossed the front lawn, “I’m not in the mood for company, Dev.”

“Yeah,
everyone within a fifty mile radius knows you’re not in the mood, but I need to
talk to you,” Devon responded and rose.

Royce
entered his home, assuming his friend would follow, so he wasn’t surprised when
his voice sounded right behind him. “I just came to apologize.” Royce turned to
face his friend, completely confused by his Devon’s declaration.

“What
the hell do you have to be sorry for?”

“You
asked me to take care of Kyra and I tried, but now I’m
gonna
be stuck here with you while she leaves the lair,” Devon answered, and Royce
could feel his friend’s remorse, which went a long way to cooling his temper.

“Don’t
worry about it, dude. Not your fault,” Royce consoled.

Devon
shook his head, “I should’ve seen it coming. She mentioned she had come up with
a magical answer that she was sure we could use to capture the douchebag. Now
that they have the amulets crafted, Kyra and Max are sure that the familial
bond the twins share with the traitor will help her activate the spelled charms
without Andrew being able to detect them.”

Royce
scoffed as he handed Devon one of the beers he‘d gotten from the fridge, “Yeah,
that Cat and I are
gonna
have a serious conversation
just as soon as he shows his mangy face, and I don’t give shit if he’s the King
or not.”

“I
hear
ya
, just be careful, they
are
allies and
all that happy horseshit.”

The
two men drank their beers and stood on Royce’s front porch watching the sun
rise, both lost in thought. It was Devon that broke the silence, “All you have
to do is make it twenty-four hours, Bro and then you’ll at least be in the same
vicinity as your mate. I think you lost your mind before Rayne explained that
‘A’, Aaron, and Kyra will set the amulets while
Rian’s
Guard watches their backs. Then Kyra will be tucked away in Sam’s old house
that has been
warded
against everything anyone knows
a ward for, until we all get there right at dusk. As soon as the useless waste
of space crosses the perimeter that Kyra’s
bespelled
amulets have created, he will be contained on the mountain. Then we kick ass
and take names, something I have waited far too long for, what about you?”

“Yeah,
but that is a helluva a long time for Kyra to be almost seventy miles away from
me…. seventy miles that I will have to race across if anyone dares try to hurt
her.”

Devon
slapped Royce on the back and headed down the stairs, “I am liking the change
in you and have faith, old man. She lived on that damn mountain, knows it like
the back of her hand, and is small enough to hide in places no one else will
even think to look. It’s all
gonna
be okay. You two
are working through your issues, not even that demented piece of shit is
gonna
stop what you and Kyra are building.”

Royce
sighed and hoped that everything Devon had said was true. There was
no way
he was going to let anything happen to his mate, not after he had finally found
his way to her. He reached through their link and calmed the moment he felt her
resting peacefully on the other end.

“I
need a couple hours of sleep and you should get some, too. Kyra will be here
until late afternoon, so you’ll have time to see her before they go,” his
friend said as he disappeared in the trees.

Sleep?
Was he serious?
Royce thought as he headed back into
his home and started the coffee maker, wondering how he was not going to lose
his mind while Kyra was out of his sight.

He
knew the second Kyra awakened and fought the urge to race to her. To keep his
mind busy, he entertained the thought of using whatever means necessary to make
her see that she would be safer staying right where she was, but knew that she
would never do that. She had a score to settle with the traitor, the same as
everyone else he had hurt, and Royce could not deny her the chance to bring him
down.

Royce
spent the better part of the morning and most of the early afternoon training
and sparring. It didn’t keep his mind as busy as he would have liked, but it
kept him busy enough that when Sydney yelled from the side of the training pit
that lunch was ready, he was surprised at how long he had been at it. “Royce,
come on, Mom says lunch is ready and you better hurry,” her little giggle made
him smile. The blonde-haired blue-eyed beauty was one of the only people that
could make him smile, even in the darkest of times.

If
someone would have told him six months ago that Lance, the biggest pain in the
ass of his Force, the man that swore he would be a bachelor until the day he
died, would have a wife, an almost six year old daughter, and be the picture of
domestication, he would have called them a liar. But it had all happened and
Royce could not be happier for him. “I’m coming,
Syd
.
Let me put the swords away and wash up, and I’ll be right there.”

“Okay,
but Mom says if you don’t get in here I get your cookies.”

“I
did not say that, little missy,” added Sam, her adopted mother and beautiful
mate of his friend.

‘Mom,”
Sydney giggled. “I was trying to get him to hurry. I’m hungry and those cookies
are calling my name.”

“Take
your time, Royce,” Sam called to him and then lifted her daughter onto her hip.
“And as for you little girl, veggies before cookies.”

He
listened to them laugh as they went back into the house, and he wiped down the
blades that had been left and put them away before washing his hands and face
and heading to lunch.