Haunted By Her Dragon (The Dragon Guard Series) (42 page)

It was a fact that she had been helping them
with their search for Andrew, and he had heard her praying to her goddess on
several occasions begging forgiveness for the part she had played in what had
happened to Grace, Sydney, and Lance. He had
felt
the pain in her voice
when she knelt before each of them, asking for their forgiveness. It had been
one of four times in his one hundred and fifty-six years that he actually
cried. Thank the Heavens none of his brethren had seen, but the moment had been
heart wrenching, and the pride he felt was immeasurable. But the fact
remained…she was a witch. 

He had sought out the Elders, specifically
Malachi, for answers about what he considered a travesty. The older dragon had
been on this earth almost as long as Zachary, and even though no one knew how
long that actually was, everyone knew it was longer than they could imagine.
The Elders had been picked by the Universe Herself to guide and counsel their
clan, each given a specific area of their community to oversee. Malachi’s area
of expertise was anything spiritual, and mates
definitely
fell under
spiritual.

The Elder answered with a knowing look on his
face
.
“You know, my son, that the Universe
does not
make
mistakes. She creates the one that will complete you and your dragon. Your mate
will bring the light to your souls, and you two will meet when the time is
right.”

“Yes, I understand all that, but a witch…a
magic practitioner? How can that be?”

“Every time a dragon shifter finds his mate a
transformation not unlike the one you experienced when you accepted your dragon
occurs. It is unique for each coupling. Yours will be no different.” Malachi
smiled. “And I am sure it will be enlightening for both of you.”

“But she is a
witch
. I always understood
that our mates were to be human.”

“Yes, you are correct, but I am sure you have
been told that each mate has a special quality, one that has been in their
heritage for generations. It is that trait that the Universe makes our
‘beautiful ones’ unique enough to be the mate of a dragon. Yours is no
different. She is half-human. Her mother was a witch and her father a police
officer.”

 “She is only half witch? That is
remarkable with all the power I feel inside her.”

“Yes, she is indeed powerful, and has lived
many years on the fringe of her kind, sought after by many that would taint her
magic. She has resisted all forms of temptation to remain in the light. She is
a gift, Royce. Find a way to accept her.”

Royce had exited the Cave of the Elders with
more questions than when he had entered, more frustrated than he could ever
remember. He walked for hours, thinking and looking for answers to the
questions that plagued him. His walk took him to the Garden of Peace. One of
the most blessed and spiritual places in the lair, it had always given him
comfort, but on that day, there was none to be found. No matter how long he
prayed or how many ways he tried to reason out his fate, he got no answers, and
even now had no clue how to proceed.

“Excuse me,” the little witch whispered.

He shifted to the side
and went to the
refrigerator as she all but ran from the room.
He stood
with the door open, staring at nothing, until Devon’s
voice broke the silence. “She’s a really cool lady. Nothing like any other
witch we’ve encountered. You really need to give her a chance and stop scaring
the hell out of her, old man.”

He spun around, “Scaring her? I scare her?”

“Hell yeah, you scare her. You’re a foot and a
half taller and weigh about a hundred and seventy pounds more than she does but
I figure it’s the
perma
-scowl you’ve
been
sporting since we brought Lance back from that fucking
mountain that makes her afraid you’ll run her through with your blade.” Devon
reprimanded. Royce knew he must be acting badly for the most laid back, quiet member
of their Force to call him out.

 “I’m not trying to scare her. I’m
just…I…I’m…”

Devon laughed, “I hear
ya
,
man, but you better get your shit together. You know Andrew is coming for her,
and if all that Max’s men found out is true, he has more help than ever before.
We have to take the little fucker down, and to do that you have to have your
head in the game.”

They stood staring at one another until Sydney
ran in the room asking for juice boxes. He knew his friend was right. The
battle brewing was one they had to win. They had been pussy-footing around long
enough. The traitor had to be brought to justice for the good of all dragon
kin. All he had to do was get his head out of his ass long enough to put a
hundred and twenty years of hate and bias aside and keep his mate safe until he
could claim her. Oh yea, and talk to her without gritting his teeth. Easy…
riiiiiiiight
…

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

Better accommodations and unlimited resources were
definitely a plus. It had taken some serious dancing to get Master Eaton and
Mr. A to believe that all the wizards in his employ had either been killed or
abandoned him, but he had done it. His plan had also cut off the information
John was able to collect from all his sources. After all, the rogue was
supposed to be dead, or in hiding, so they had let them dry up.  John had
come up with another plan, which so far, was working spectacularly. He had
‘purchased’ microscopic spy cams for Andrew to place all over the mansion.
These little black dots transmitted back to John where he recorded, watched,
and reported everything he saw.

The newest of Mr. A’s endeavors was an oldie
but
a goodie
, with a few changes. His hired thugs were
rounding up homeless bums to use for the blood ritual planned for the end of
the month. It was sooner than Andrew would have liked, but he planned to work
day and night to be ready. He was absorbing all the black magic he could from
the little rituals Master Eaton preformed damn near daily, using whatever
animals they could procure. Then there were the ones he and John and their band
of merry wizards performed weekly that provided a boost. Getting to them
without being followed was always a little bit of a hat trick, but so far so
good.

He was also trying to recreate Kyra’s amulets,
and playing around with white magic, which naturally adhered to his returning
dragon magic. There were times he felt as if he had a one stop occult shop
running through his veins. All he had to do was recreate the blast from the
night he had escaped the wizards, and he would have everything he needed to
kill those that had wronged him, and those in his way. He had been taught that
blood magic would kill his soul, and had shied away from it as much as
possible. But then it had occurred to him, who needed a soul when he was about
to have everything he wanted and more than he had imagined.

His phone vibrated on the desk. The text from
John that appeared was just what he had been waiting for,
‘The ancient text
has been located.’
He walked to the bar, poured two fingers of
Bushmills
, and looked at the full moon hanging low in the
sky and thought,
“Twenty-nine days…just twenty- nine days
.

About The Author

I am a sarcastic, sometimes foul-mouthed,
not
afraid to drink a beer, always southern woman with 2 of the most amazing
teenage daughters, a menagerie of animals and a voracious appetite for
reading who recently decided to write the stories running through her brain. I
read my first book, Dr
Suess
' Cat in The Hat by
myself at four and was hooked.

I believe a good book along with shoes, makeup and purses
will never let a girl down and that all heroes of all the books I have ever
read or will ever write pale in comparison to my daddy! I am a sucker for a
happy ending and love some hot sweaty sex with a healthy dose of romance.

I am still working on my story but believe it will contain
all of the above with as much SPICE as I can work into it. CHEERS!

Follow Your Dreams! Believe in Magic! And Look For Dragons!
You Deserve It All!

Thank you so much for reading about my dragons. I hope you
enjoyed them as much as I do. I love to hear from readers, so holler at me
anytime on
Facebook
at Julia Mills, Author or Twitter
at @juliamills623.