Her Dragon's Soul (Dragon Guard Series Book 9) (2 page)

“Hannah…” Jed’s next words were cut off by the sound of
approaching footsteps. Acting completely on instinct, fearful they would be
discovered, Jed grabbed Hannah’s hand and murmured, “
Dofheicthe
.”

Immediately, both he and Hannah were rendered invisible to
everyone and everything around them, but thankfully, could still see one
another. He mouthed, “Quiet,” and was pleased to see Hannah’s immediate nod of
recognition.

A voice he recognized as the man who had been with Cleland
shouted, “There’s no one here.”

“Keep looking. I know I heard voices,” Cleland ordered.

The dark wizard’s footsteps sounded to the left of the trees
Jed and Hannah were using as cover. Pride filled his entire being as he
marveled at Hannah’s calm resolve, but there was no way he could risk her
safety. Without thought, Jed let go of her arm and shouted, “
Le feicea’il
!”

Surprise and anger colored Hannah’s expression as he
reappeared for all to see, while she remained invisible. Cutting off whatever
colorful retort he was sure his mouthy daughter was about to let fly, Jed
mouthed, “I love you,” a second before whispering, “
Ar’ bhaile
,” the two
words they both knew would send her back to the safety of their home. Her
expression turned to pure rage as she fought the spell, while evaporating into
mist before completely disappearing from his sight. If only he’d known how
strong his daughter truly was.

Jed prayed to the Goddess, the Universe, and any other
deities he could think of that she would understand he’d done what he had to.
Nothing mattered more than the safety of his family…
absolutely nothing
.
All thought fled as Zander, one of Cleland’s most trusted henchmen, burst
through the foliage.

Their fight was brutal. Little could be heard over the sound
of shouted spells and misdirected magic exploding all around them. It would’ve
gone far longer had Cleland not magically appeared shouting, “
Scriosta
!”

In the blink of an eye both men collapsed to the
ground…dead. Another dark wizard appeared on Cleland’s left, shaking his head
in disbelief. “What a waste.”

“Yes, my dear Cain, it is a tremendous waste, but sometimes
you must sacrifice a few bad apples to rid the orchard of the rotten ones,”
Cleland answered as he turned on his heel and wondered back towards the Sacred
Circle.

Liam’s heart clenched, remembering how Hannah’s voice had
cracked as she bravely held back her tears while telling him the tale. He would
never forget her final words, “And I had to sit there, hidden like a scared
little girl and watch those bastards kill my dad. I was able to fight off the
spell to send me away, but I was still invisible. I screamed spell after spell
but I was still a novice, so they couldn’t hear them. My magic had no effect.
But now I can kill them; I can kill them all and one day, I will avenge my
father’s death.” 

Melanie’s voice broke the spell Hannah’s memories had woven.
Liam saw the determination in the young nurse’s eyes, heard the thoughts his
brethren was sending to him through their unique link, and for the first time
in days felt real hope. “I agree. There’s no way Hannah’s done anything
willingly, not the way she hates your grandpa. But that raises a whole new set
of questions. If not Cleland, then who would do this? Are there people still
loyal to the
Draoi
? To the
Dorcha
? Does anyone know how to stop
whoever or whatever is poisoning my mate?”

He speared Melanie with a look even though he knew it wasn’t
her fault. Liam just seriously needed someone…
anyone
…to blame. Jace
quickly stood, took a step towards him, and in a low growl warned, “Back off,
Li. It’s not Mel’s fault.”

“I know. I know. I’m sorry. It’s just…” He had no idea how
to finish his statement or what to do, so he just shook his head and prayed his
closest friends would understand.

Melanie walked forward and hugged him as best she could considering
their huge height difference. Being six-foot-six from the age of thirteen had
been a challenge, but one Liam had soon found he could use to his advantage.
Bending at the waist, he hugged her back, nodding to Jace at the same time.

“Sorry, man. I didn’t mean to be a dick. You know I love
Mel like a sister. It’s just that this shit is messing with my head. What if…”

“No ‘what ifs’ dude. You know better. If it hadn’t been
for you when Mel was captured and hurt, I would’ve lost my fucking mind. We’ll
figure this out. You gotta keep it together. You gotta be strong for Hannah.
Now give me back my mate.”
Jace winked. Liam smiled and for a moment, all
was right with the world.

Melanie pulled away, looked back at her mate, and was just
about to speak when a knock at the front door startled them all. Using his
enhanced speed, Jace was at the door and had it opened in two seconds,
revealing the oldest of their Force, Royce, and his mate. Both the
six-foot-eight, carrot-topped giant and his barely five-foot platinum blonde
witch of a mate frowned then walked through the door.

Kyra was the first to speak. “You two really need to learn
to shield your thoughts better. I know you share a special connection with the
big guy here, but he picks up damn near everything y’all say when you’re
stressed. Which means I hear it and you know I have a bad habit of sticking my
nose in where it doesn’t belong.”

She chuckled before playfully elbowing Royce in the stomach
and taking a seat on the edge of the couch. Looking around the room, Kyra took
a moment to examine each of them closely before continuing. “So spill. What the
hell’s going on now?”

Liam would’ve laughed aloud, but the look on the older
Guardsman’s face told him laughter of any kind would most definitely end with extra
training and more than a little ridicule, not to mention a smack to the back of
the head that would leave him seeing stars. Instead, he began explaining and
ended with, “So now you know everything we do.” He paused, hoping one of them
would comment instead of sitting there with their brows furrowed.

When nothing happened, Liam stood and paced, only speaking
as he made his third loop around the living room. “Is there anything you can do
to help?” He looked at Kyra, one of the most powerful white witches he’d ever
encountered and daughter of the Grand Priestess.

Nodding, she answered with her usual unwavering
determination and enthusiasm. “What the hell do you think we’re doing here? Of
course I can help.” Jumping to her feet, she grabbed the bag she’d dropped at
her feet when they entered and headed to the kitchen, talking over her shoulder
as she went. “Come on, Mel, let’s see if all your training is paying off. I bet
we find out what’s wrong with Hannah before these big lugs can even round up
the rest of the troops.”

Kyra’s confidence was just the boost Liam needed. With more
than he’d felt in the last few hours, he asked, “You want everyone to come
here? Or the Great Hall? Or the Meadow?”

“Slow down, young’un.” Royce chuckled. “Why don’t you head
over and check on Hannah? Stay with her until we know what’s up. Make sure
nothing else happens while Kyra and Melanie get our game plan worked out. Jace
and I’ll go to the training pit and explain what’s happening to the rest of the
guys.”

Saying goodbye as he headed out the door and scolding
himself for not thinking of watching over Hannah before being told to do so by
Royce, Liam made his way through the dense forest surrounding the Blue Thunder
Clan’s lair. He started to use his enhanced speed but stopped almost as soon as
he started. Getting to his mate was his priority. Making sure whatever was
trying to take her from him was held at bay was at the forefront of his mind,
but he also had to come up with a reasonable explanation for why he was popping
up in the middle of the day. Hannah wasn’t gullible and her suspicious nature
wouldn’t be dulled by his mere presence alone. She would ask questions, and if
whatever was inside her was also listening, Liam needed a damn good cover
story.

Lost in thought, he missed the scent of sulfur in the air
and the sound of footsteps crunching the fallen leaves on the forest floor
until it was too late. A sharp blow to the back of his head had him falling
forward as the world around him faded to black.

What fresh hell is happening now?

CHAPTER
TWO

Where am I? How did I get here? What the hell is going
on?

For the fourth time in as many days, Hannah awakened unsure
of where she was, not sure how she’d gotten there, and with a hangover bigger
than Texas. But it was the feeling of doom that left a boulder-sized pit in her
stomach.

Oh joy!

This time, she was a few miles behind the lair of the Blue
Dragons, sitting atop the cliffs, inside a quickly dissipating salt circle,
with half burnt candles and sachets of herbs beside her.  The sea breeze left
little scent other than a salty brine in its wake, so the only clues she had
concerning what had happened were those in front of her.

The three candles were black, which meant little on their
own. Black candles were used for many things magical, some good and some bad.
Unfortunately, coupled with the Dandelion root, Dragon’s Blood, and crushed
Elderberries she found when she opened the sachet, along with the Blackthorn
blossoms she saw skittering across the rocky ledge, it was hard not to imagine
the worst. There was only one spell that came to mind and just the thought of
it made Hannah’s blood run cold. The Invocation of Lost Souls was a powerful
spell that had been banned from the Dorcha, even before Hannah’s birth.

Super! I used a spell that scares even the bad guys.

That single spell, when worked correctly and tainted with
evil intent, brings forth all the vengeful spirits within its reach. These
phantoms are then under the control of the practitioner, willing and able to do
her bidding, no matter how heinous.

Hannah searched her memory, finding nothing but darkness. A
bone-deep chill unlike any she’d ever experienced caused her to shiver. Goose
bumps rose up and down her arms and the little hairs stood on end. Walking as
close to the edge of the cliff as she could get, the young witch looked at the
waves below, marveling as they crashed against the rocks, imagining what the
white foam would feel like against her skin. Suicide was a mortal sin for a
white witch, even one who’d been raised with the
Dorcha
and taught to
keep her true nature a secret for her entire life. It meant an eternity of
roaming the Afterlife as a Fade, never really alive, never really dead.  It was
in no way what she wanted. Hannah dreamed of a long life filled with love and
kids and…
Liam
, but if things got any worse, she was afraid death would
be her only choice.

For one of the first times she could remember, Hannah was
really
scared. Whatever was happening to her was occurring with increasing frequency
and lasting longer every time, getting so bad she was having trouble keeping it
all a secret. Early that very day she’d had a ‘mini-episode’ while enjoying
breakfast with Liam. The two had been talking and laughing, as was their new
routine. Hannah could feel Liam had something important to tell her. The air
was filled with electricity and the promise of exciting things to come, and in
the blink of an eye, everything had gone dark. When she’d come back to herself,
the look on Liam’s face told her he’d seen her mental absence, but wasn’t sure
what to do or say. Forcing a smile, she’d promised herself right then and there
to give in and talk to her mother.

As Fate would have it that never happened, and now Hannah
was standing on a cliff, watching the waves, and wondering where her life had
gone off the rails. One thing was sure; she needed to get rid of the candles
and sachets. They had to be destroyed. Until she could figure out what was
happening, there was no need to leave evidence of her growing insanity for
just
anyone
to find. Gathering up the supplies and rubbing out what remained of
the salt circle with the heel of her tennis shoes, Hannah threw the offending
items into the surf, watching as they disappeared beneath the waves. Once again
wondering if it was her fate to follow in their wake.

Turning, she started back to the lair in search of her
mother. Hannah, her mom, her six sisters, and the remaining white witches of
their coven had been given refuge with the Blue Dragons after their
Grand
Draoi
had tried to steal his own granddaughter and Hannah’s best friend’s
magic, in order to take over the world. Thankfully, Jace and the Dragon Guard
found them just in time, stopped the ceremony, and saved them all from certain
death.

Over the years, Cleland and his devoted followers had
gathered up all the lone white witches they could find, forcing them to join
the
Dorcha
, and then used their pure earthen magic to super-size their
own black magic. Had it not been for the Dragon Guard, all those souls would’ve
been lost. If only they could find the Grand Priestess Calysta, these displaced
witches could move on to other covens or establish one of their own. As it
stood, they were in a kind of limbo, living with the dragons until a suitable
solution could be found.

Way to avoid your own issues there girlie. Pull your head
out of your ass and get moving.

It had been one of the craziest times in Hannah’s life and
that was saying something. Life within the coven had never been easy. Hannah
and her family were white witches living among some of the darkest and most
evil wizards in the world, but it hadn’t always been that way. Her dad called
it ‘hiding in plain sight’ and had promised to get them out of there as soon as
he could. Unfortunately, before any of that could happen, he was killed on the
orders of the same man Hannah and her sisters had been forced to falsely pledge
her allegiance to. Even all those years of subterfuge and fear didn’t compare
to what she was going through now.

Hannah remembered the stories she’d heard about Cleland
before he’d turned to black magic to ease the pain of the death of his wife,
Martha. It had happened years before Hannah was even a twinkle in her daddy’s
eye, but the tales were told in secret almost daily. Cleland and Martha, along
with their best friends, Arthur and Clarisse, were white witches practicing in
the same covens they’d been raised in. After the couples married, they broke
from those covens and started one of their own, with the complete blessings of
their parents and the Goddess.

Cleland’s natural charisma made the decision to make him
their leader an easy one. But Arthur was a humble soul with an unassuming
nature and it was quickly discovered that those qualities gave him an advantage
in mediating and negotiating with other covens and factions within their
special world. It was a natural fit that he become Cleland’s second in command.
Martha and Clarisse were strong, intelligent, independent women with a love of
knowledge. Together, they were instrumental in setting up the educational and
social guidelines, as well as assisting with the recruiting of members.

Between the couples’ youth and enthusiasm, and their ideas
for reformation within the world of earthen witchcraft, it didn’t take long
until their coven was one of the largest and most influential in the world.
Along the way, Arthur and Clarisse had three children, while Cleland and Martha
struggled to start a family.

Finally, ten years later their prayers were answered, and
Martha became pregnant. Unfortunately, it was a difficult pregnancy that ended
with a premature birth and both mother and baby spending almost a month under
the special care of their strongest healers. During that time, Cleland and
Arthur, along with their Council, continued to grow the coven’s membership.
Their flock was thriving, but Cleland was becoming increasingly withdrawn and
prone to outbursts. Several times, Arthur and the Council were forced to cover
for his belligerence and make excuses for his absence from official events.

Finally, Martha and the baby came home. For a time, Cleland
seemed to be returning to himself. There were still bouts of sullen behavior
and an occasional missed meeting, but for the most part, things were back to
normal. That all changed the day of the Harvest Celebration. Arthur, Cleland,
and the other able-bodied men of their coven were in the clearing erecting the
tents for the following evening’s festivities, when Martha’s frantic scream
sounded throughout the entire valley.

With the thought of his family’s wellbeing driving him,
Cleland dropped his tools and ran to his home. Arthur and the others followed
as quickly as they could, but it was Cleland that reached the large, wooden
structure first. Bolting up the stairs, he followed the sounds of his wife’s
anguished cries. Running to her side, he dropped to his knees and at once saw
the cause of Martha’s despair. There, lying in her arms was their beautiful
daughter, cold and lifeless. Her tiny lips that had once been the color of tiny
pink tea roses, were quickly taking on a blue tint that reminded the wizard of
the biting cold of winter.

Unsure what to do, Cleland looked at his wife and asked,
“What happened?”

Shaking her head, she sobbed, “I have no idea. She was
sleeping and now she’s gone.” Pulling the small body to her chest, she wailed,
“Gone! My baby is gone!”

Scooping his wife and child into his arms, Cleland sat on
the edge of the bed holding them as tears wet his cheeks. He saw his best
friend and most of their followers standing outside the bedroom door. Unable to
speak, he shook his head and thanked the Goddess when Arthur understood his
unspoken words, carefully shutting the door and leaving him and his wife to
grieve.

  Time seemed to stand still. Cleland had no idea how long
they’d been sitting when Martha calmly scooted off his lap, walked to the
cradle that had been his beautiful baby girl’s, and lovingly returned the child
to her blankets as if the last hours hadn’t happened. Unable and unwilling to
ruin the first moments of calm his wife had experienced in hours, he simply sat
and waited as she took her place in the rocking chair next to the cradle and
began to sing. She sang in the language of old, her melody such a haunting
mixture of beauty and sadness that Cleland became mesmerized by its sound. It was
as if he was floating above the scene, capable of seeing everything but unable
to do anything but sit and watch.

It was then he realized his precious wife was not singing a
lullaby for their lost child but a spell of enchantment and he’d been caught up
in it. Fighting as hard as he could against the continuing magic Martha wove,
Cleland was helpless to break its bonds. Even worse, he was helpless to do
anything but watch as she drew her athame across her wrist and preformed the
ritual that would give their child her life force.

As she fell lifeless to the floor, the spell was broken—but
it was too late. Martha was dead at his feet and their daughter crying in her
cradle. As the story went, that day marked the end of the white wizard and the
beginning of the
Grand Draoi
, whose heinous acts of terror against their
kind are legendary. Hannah shivered, praying to the Goddess that the same
wicked nature was not overtaking her soul.

 Walking deeper into the forest that separated the cliffs
from the lair, the young witch thought about Liam. The vision of his gorgeous
hazel eyes with flecks of gold that seemed to sparkle when he laughed pushed
away the chill. Her heart sped up as she remembered how soft his short dark
hair felt against her fingertips and the way his bronze skin warmed when she
touched him.

He always made jokes about how tall he was, but it was one
of the many things Hannah was coming to love about him. She had to stand on her
tip toes and brace her hands against his broad muscled chest to kiss him. A
chest she’d seen firsthand when he’d taken off his shirt during an
exceptionally rigorous training session. The sun gleaming off his sweat soaked
body had been the fuel for some of her most erotic dreams.

She remembered in vivid detail the spectacular dragon
marking that seemed to look back at her as she ogled Liam’s luscious body. It
was common knowledge that all the Guardsmen had their own specific glyph, but
Hannah had to admit her young Guardsman’s was by far the most handsome. She
loved the way the dragon’s regal head laid just over Liam’s heart as if
protecting the man within, while the beast’s massive body swept down and across
the young warrior’s torso and ribs like armor.

Her eyes had followed the dragon’s bottom wing as the tip
disappeared into the waistband of Liam’s jeans. She’d practically giggled out
loud as deliciously naughty thoughts danced through her mind. Her fingers
itched to trace the upper wing as it followed the beast’s form, wrapping
lovingly around her mate’s body just as she longed to do.

Hannah knew she was Liam’s mate. She felt the growing bond
between them, recognized the place in her soul where part of his had taken
hold, could feel the way he held her heart in his loving hands. She longed for
nothing more than to spend eternity in his embrace. It had been obvious he was
about to state his intentions earlier that day. Her mate was not the best at
shielding his thoughts. Hannah had been so excited to finally have it all out
in the open, but then the darkness had taken her consciousness and all had gone
to shit.

It was the weirdest damn thing and only getting weirder.
Hannah could always remember what she’d been doing right before when she
reawakened, but had absolutely no knowledge what had transpired while she’d
been adrift. She was sure had Liam not been there during breakfast, if he
hadn’t touched her hand, that blackout would’ve been the longest so far. There
was a power it left in its wake that hadn’t happened any of the other times. It
was black and murky, leaving a heaviness in her spirit. As it was, the dark
force only waited until she was alone to strike again and take her for its
ill-gotten gains anyway.

Coming upon the house she and her family had been given to
stay in, Hannah found her mother, Sarah Beth, and her sister, Alicia, wrangling
the weeds in a long-forgotten garden. Their banter made her chuckle.