Haunted By Her Dragon (The Dragon Guard Series) (38 page)

His cell phone vibrated on the seat next to
him. A message from John appeared,
Everything
okay?

Pissed that he was being bothered when he’d
left very specific instructions that he would make first contact after the
meeting, he turned off his phone. Little bastard could sit and wait until he
was good and ready to answer. Still fuming, he glared at the screen/touchpad
gate control when it sounded, “Mr. O’Brien, I am opening the gate. Proceed to
the fountain and park to your left. One of my associates will be waiting at the
door to make sure you’ve followed my instructions and escort you in if all is
as it should be.”

Andrew wanted to rage, and tell them that they
could take their self-entitled bullshit and shove it up their asses. They were
nothing but dirty black magic wizards and fucking thugs, not fit to lick the
bottom of his riding boots, but that would not get him what he wanted and
needed. Speaking in his most politically correct voice, he answered, “As you
wish.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than he heard the whine of the
hydraulics opening the gate. The huge gates were only about three-quarters open
when he hit the accelerator and sailed through. All he could think was that
this shit had better be worth it, or John would be finding his head separated
from his shoulders, no matter how useful he had proven to be.

Getting into the house had been easy. Of
course, ‘The Auctioneer’s’ henchmen had frisked him at the door, and he’d
almost laughed out loud. What the hell did he need a gun for? Even if they
didn’t know what he was, which he was sure they did not, they were assuming he
wielded some seriously strong white magic, and if he had been, he could have
conjured whatever he wanted with a single word spell, not even an amulet
needed. Confirmation that they had no idea what white magic could or could not
do.
How incredibly short-sided of Master Eaton.
First
rule of combat…Know your enemy, and this was war. It seemed impossible, but the
stupid fucking leader of the largest coven of wizards in the country had no
clue what devastation his oldest and deadliest enemy could wreak on the world.
Yes, they fought to destroy dragon kin, but all other magical covens sought to
eliminate anyone that held the power of black magic, and the Master had to know
that. How could he not know what each was capable of?  An evil grin slid
across his lips as he wondered if maybe he was not the only imposter in the
bunch. Suddenly very interested in the meeting that was about to happen, he
even felt a spring in his step.

Whistling as he waited in the chair he was
assigned on the far side of a replica of an fifteenth century dining table, he
took in his surroundings. Thankfully, Master Eaton, and his ass kissing
followers came in first, and took up the entire side opposite him. There were
ten of them in all, and he was positive it was the Master’s show of strength.

“Good to see you again, Andrew. I trust all is
well since we last spoke,” the pretentious asshole gave a single nod in his
direction, and then waited for his answer while he picked imaginary lint from
his custom made suit. Bastard had come into some money recently, probably from
his new
partner
. What a change from the ceremonial robes the wizard
usually wore.

“I am wonderful,” he responded. “You look
well,” he said, hoping he would just sit there and shut up, but of course that
didn’t happen.

“Yes, things are
very
good as I told you
when we met. I hope you thought about what we discussed and will be ready to
give Mr.
A
what he wants when he asks.” The wizard
raised his eyebrows in an attempt to intimidate. Deciding to ignore him, he
rolled his eyes as he waited to see what the human criminal had planned for his
grand entrance
.

Thankfully, he didn’t have to wait long and
wanted to laugh at the pomp and circumstance ‘The Auctioneer’, aka Mr. A,
provided. Eight men in black suits and ties with white shirts, wearing
sunglasses and smelling of gunpowder filed into the room, taking their places
around the perimeter. The big boss continued to deal with military men making
Andrew wonder if he Mr. A
was ex-military himself. He then decided he
didn’t give a shit. Mr. A entered the room and took the seat at the head of the
table not sparing either Master Eaton or himself a look, opened the large file
he carried, and began sorting papers. On his heels came two more men, dressed
as the others but much larger that took up their posts on either side of his
‘king-like’ throne.

Finally the self-important bastard looked up,
and spoke, “Thank you for coming, Andrew.” He nodded in his direction. “And you
for making time in your schedule, Master Eaton.” Another nod at the other man
followed.

“I have asked you here to see if we might
combine our forces in an effort to more effectively and efficiently reach our
personal and common goals. The fiasco in the woods was unfortunate, and quite
frankly embarrassing. I have dealt with the ones in my employ responsible as I
hope each of you have, as well.”

Andrew wanted to laugh out loud. No one from
his
camp had done anything wrong. In fact, they’d been the ones that had actually
accomplished something. He was still waiting to hear, but he was almost certain
that Lance had received his forever death when he fell onto the pile of silver.
His spies had reported that the unmoving Guardsman was carried from the field
with a sword through his chest. The dragon within, stirred every time he
thought of what had happened, grieving for one of his own. Fucking dragon
traits! If he hadn’t gotten so painfully low on black magic, and used white
magic on top of it, he guessed the damn things would have stayed at bay. But as
it stood his dragon was awake, and not looking to be put back to sleep any time
soon.

He nodded his agreement as Master Eaton
prattled on about the changes within his ranks. Obviously bored, Mr. A spoke
over him, “Here is my proposal.” He slid a stack of papers towards both men.
“Take a few minutes to look over the sections that apply to you personally
while I have lunch brought in.”

As if he had telepathic powers, the door at the
rear of the room opened and in came three young women pushing carts piled high
with food. He could smell everything from fresh fruit to many different kinds
of cooked meat and wondered exactly what the ploy was. Heavens knew this
glorified thug did nothing, even lunch, without an angle. He declined food, but
did accept a glass of
Bushmills
single malt whiskey.
It had been years since he’d had a taste of his homelands. As the warm amber
liquid slid down his throat, he reviewed the document before him.  It was
just as he had suspected, they thought it was he that had learned to wield
white magic or someone in his group which was true up until the mountainside
incident. Time to lie like the snake he had become. Based on the terms he was
reading, the alliance would definitely provide the things he needed to move
forward.

Mr. A cleared his throat and the waitresses
cleaned up the empty dishes, refilled their glasses, and exited through the
same door they had entered. “Now that you gentleman have had time to review my
proposal, can I assume since you are still here that the terms meet your
approval?”

Master Eaton spoke first, “Yes, it is quite
satisfactory.”

Mr. A nodded, and looked to Andrew. “Yes,” he
answered.

Their host clapped his hands together,
“Wonderful! Andrew, one of my associates will show you to your room. Please get
your things moved in as soon as possible so that we may get to work. Also, I
will need a list of those that will be joining you here. As I am sure you saw
in my proposal, I am limiting it to ten, including yourself. I trust that will
be satisfactory.”

Andrew nodded, thinking there was no way he was
having any of his compatriots stay in this compound with him. As long as they
remained on the outside, they were free to work independently of Mr. A’s
operations. Free to stay on the path he had set for them. He would agree to
join with these two, but he would never tell them everything he knew
…
that was just bad business.
His ultimate goal was and would always be to destroy the Dragon Guard.
Everything that he did was towards that end, and he would succeed. Working with
Master Eaton and Mr. A would only be a means to an end.

He had an idea. If he could simply bide his
time and learn all he could about the inner workings of both operations, then
when the time was right, he would be able swoop in and take over
everything
.
The wizards that followed Master Eaton, and the hired thugs that followed Mr.
A, would follow whoever they believed had the most power, and in the end it
would be him. He could see in their eyes they discounted him, just as those
fucking Guardsmen had always done. The idiots had thought they could treat him
like the ‘little brother’ for his entire life. The ones he dealt with at this
moment thought he was expendable, and he was going to use that in his favor.

First order of business was to get Kyra back.
Her magic was one of the most important parts of his plan, as well as his
alliance. He would sacrifice girls if that was what it took, and he would fill
himself with an unending fount of black magic. All to see the fear in those he
had once thought of as brethren as he removed their heads from their bodies.
Hell
,
he might even have a few
werepanther
pelts to
decorate his walls before it was over. Those douche bag cats would suffer just
for their association with the Dragon Guard.

Mr. A stood, “Gentlemen, please excuse me, I
have other appointments. We will talk in the next few days.”

He stepped towards Andrew with his hand
outstretched, and they shook. The cold dead look in his eyes confirmed what
Andrew’s heightened sense of smell had already told him. The man was dipping
into the black magic. It seems the boys had gotten started without him. The
traitor exited the room as the other two men were shaking hands. There was too
much to get ready for the next phase of his plan to stand around playing nice.
As he exited the mansion, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, turned it
on, and called John. “Change of plans,” was all he said before disconnecting
the call and exiting the property.   Things were about to get
interesting and those fucking Guardsmen better enjoy every minute of every day,
because theirs were numbered.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When she returned to
the hospital the day after accepting Lance’s marriage or
mating
proposal, wearing the absolutely gorgeous ring he had given her, her coworkers
had freaked out. If she had a nickel for every time someone said, “We thought
you would be the last one of us to ever get married” she would be a rich chick.
Dr.
Monoghan
had approved her request for six weeks
off on the spot. He had even congratulated her, assuring her spot would be
waiting when she returned. Charlie had pulled her to the side, surprised she
was returning at all. When Sam had told her that it was Lance that insisted she
only take a leave and come back to finish her residency, her friend had swooned
a little, telling her how lucky she was. Wholeheartedly agreeing, she spent the
rest of the day missing her mate, and counting the hours until she could head
back to him.

It
had taken them a week to get everything ready to go to the
lair
as
everyone kept calling it. She was really kind of freaked out not knowing what
to expect. Lance, Grace,
Kyndel
, and even Siobhan had
spent tons of time answering all her questions, with the most coming when all
the girls got together and discussed the mating ceremony. Every woman had their
own unique story to tell, each just as magical as the other, demonstrating how
important and special this rite was to their culture. She giggled when she
realized that it was the
men
that did all the planning. Her imagination
ran away with her as she thought of the things her extraordinary mate might
come up with.

It
was also incredibly interesting to learn that when the dragons entrusted their
souls to the knights that almost all the female dragons had been destroyed by
the wizards and their cohorts, the hunters. The dragons had been searching for
answers with extinction knocking at their door. Their Elders met in the most
ancient and holy of places, praying continually to the Universe for almost
twenty years for an answer. It was the night before the Joining Ceremony while
the mage and the dragons were making preparations that their prayers were
answered. Two lovebirds entered the cave where the Elders prayed, deep in the
earth surrounded my miles and miles of rock. They landed on their altar at the
center of their Prayer Circle and began to sing a beautiful song. These words
appear in the air above them as their melody rang out.
“From the human race,
women with great power will be born. Not the power to maim or destroy but the
power to love, to heal, to uplift, and to rebuild. The beautiful ones will be
created as the perfect complement for the men who take up our spirits. One
woman destined for one man, to live on Earth and in the Heavens joined for all
times. When the time is right, they shall discover one another. The two will
become one, and the woman will provide the man and the beast with love, light
and hope. Together they shall provide heirs that will allow our great race to
continue for all eternity.”
She’d asked if there were any female dragons
left but no one answered, and she got the idea they had avoided the question.
She let it drop but tucked it away for another time.