Saved By Her Dragon (17 page)

“Oh shit! I’m sorry,” Kyra snorted, dropping their hands and
stepping back. “I just love solving puzzles and helping the people
I love.”

Royce leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “We know
you do,
mo ghra’.
”
The chuckle he had been holding in
bubbled out.

The love Anya saw between the couple was absolutely adorable
and adorable was
not
a word she had ever thought she would use where Royce was
concerned. He was
huge
. “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re here to help,” Anya assured.
“I’m ready if you are.”

She pulled from Devon’s arms, but he wound his fingers
through hers not letting her get away and walked beside her.
Figuring it wasn’t worth the argument, she nodded and followed
Kyra. As they made their way down the hall, she remembered
Siobhan’s words and asked, “What did your mom mean when she said
‘dragon brand’?”

“When we reach the age of transformation,
between seventeen and twenty, the dragon within that has lain
dormant, becomes a
true
part of us. When that happens, the barely
discernable marking we’ve had since birth grows bolder and
brighter. It takes its place as it was meant to be…the physical
representation of our dragon. Each dragon shifter carries the brand
of
his
dragon
somewhere on his body.”

He paused as he motioned for her to enter Siobhan’s study
ahead of him, and then went on, “With my shirt on, you are only
able to see his tail.” He traced what she had originally thought to
be a beautifully artistic tattoo while he spoke. “He actually
covers most of my upper arm, shoulder, and even a small part of my
shoulder blade.”

Devon leaned his head forward and pulled the hem of his shirt
down, revealing the head of a majestic opalescent dragon perched at
the base of his neck. It seemed impossible, but there it was right
before her eyes; unlike any tattoo or marking she had ever seen. A
square shaped snout with a rather imposing short, thick, curved
horn right between the nostrils. An imposing brow that protected
two silver-grey eyes so like those of the man her heart already
recognized as hers. There was no denying he and this creature were
one. The recognition in those soulful eyes drew her closer and
beckoned her to touch.

Her fingertips smoothed over the glistening scales of the
bridge of its nose and Anya felt them move. Instead of being scared
like before, she was intrigued and continued her slow exploration
until her fingers were just under its eyes. It was miraculous how
close to reality her imagination was. As a child she had been
obsessed with dragons and knights and read every book she could
find, always sure the writer had the story wrong and that dragons
were actually the good guys.

“We are,”
floated
through her mind and she chuckled.

“Yeah, Mom and Pops explained that to me
after I read an especially horrible story where the dragon was
slaying women and children. It had me swearing to never read
again.”
She laughed.
“I think I was eight at the time.”

Devon cleared his throat and stood. Her hand that had been on
his neck slowly drifted downward, stopping right over his heart.
The steady beat reverberated through her and it was then that she
realized their hearts were in sync.

“As they always will be.”
Devon’s words, low and seductive in her mind,
conjured images better left for a less crowded
venue.

Having caught her thought he snickered, but coughed into his
hand when she pretended to scowl at him. With his hand on her lower
back he directed
her
to the loveseat directly across from Siobhan and Kyra, but
Anya needed to be sure of one more little detail,
“I will be seeing the rest of that dragon
sometime soon, right?”

“Of that you can be
sure,
mo chroi
. Of that you can be sure.”
The look
in Devon’s eyes matched the tone of his voice and Anya shivered in
anticipation.

Thank goodness his mother spoke and broke the spell, even
though the look on her face said she knew
exactly
what she had interrupted.
“The Detection Ritual is very simple. Kyra will light a red candle,
sprinkle some thyme, and say the incantation. Then you will sleep
with a Revealing Amulet under your pillow. Sometime in the near
future, the amulet will tell us if you have been magically
protected. We can go from there and decide how or
if
to remove
it.”

“Sounds easy enough. Can you do it right now?” Anya inquired
as Devon tensed beside her.

“Absolutely,” Kyra responded while placing the large red
candle and the herb bowl in the center of the table. She completed
the spell in a matter of minutes and only after she had blown out
the candle did Devon relax. He watched with squinted eyes, when
Kyra handed her the silver engraved amulet she was to put under her
pillow.

Anya squeezed his hand and joked, “Did you think I was gonna
vanish into thin air or something?”

His laugh was forced and his smile fake when he answered,
“No, not at all. I trust these ladies completely.”

“Yeah, that was convincing,”
she switched to their silent form of
communication as everyone else left the room.

“Dammit, Anya, I’m worried and that’s not
something I’m good at. I’m a warrior. I look at the obstacles,
formulate a plan, and use that plan to eliminate anything keeping
me from the goal. I do not lament over a decision…I act. The only
goal in my life is keeping you safe.”
He
finally looked at her and there she saw a whirlwind of
emotion.

Since they were alone, Anya spoke out loud; her tone was
sharper than she originally intended, but the longer she spoke the
more her passion on the subject became evident. “Talk to me, Devon.
You’re not in this alone. If I truly am
your mate
and we’re going to spend
the next
forever
together then you have to learn to include me. I’m not some
damsel in distress, and I will
not
have you making decisions for me. I want a
partnership, not a dictatorship.”

Devon sighed long and deep, and Anya felt his emotions deep
in her heart. She wanted to push him, to make him talk, because
waiting was killing her; but she knew he needed the time so she bit
her tongue and waited. The tick of the clock on the mantel echoed
throughout the huge narrow room, seeming louder every second that
passed. Time seemed to be going in reverse. Finally, he spoke and
what he said rocked Anya’s world. “You, Anya,
mo chroi’,
are the realization of
every dream I’ve ever dreamt, every wish I’ve ever made, and every
hope I’ve ever had. You are my today, my future…my forever. The
moment I scented sand and sea, I felt complete for the first time
in my very long life. I cannot, and most definitely
will not,
let anything
happen to you. It’s my nature to act first and ask questions later,
and that instinct is the strongest it’s ever been since finding
you.” He paused and she held her breath, waiting for him to
continue.

“For you, I will try as hard as I can to include you in my
decisions. Just give me a little leeway. It’s gonna take some time,
but I’d do anything to make you happy…
anything
.
T
á tú
grá mo chroí go síoraí
…you are
my heart forever.”

Anya sat staring into his incredibly expressive grey eyes,
dumbfounded. Like every woman, she had dreamt of finding the
perfect man, falling in love and living happily ever after, but
even her wildest dreams paled in comparison to the man sitting next
to her. When she finally found her voice all she could say was,
“Good answer.”

Devon barked out a laugh and stood. Anya thought he was going
to help her stand as well, but instead, he dropped to one knee,
took her hands in his, and looked into her eyes. While she
struggled to breathe he said, “Anya Sloane, although we met just a
few days ago, I cannot imagine my life without you. You are
the
solas mo anam
and the
bualadh mo chroí;
without you, my life will be dark and
lonely.
It is with the blessing of the
Universe, the Heavens, and the Goddess of All that I humbly ask you
to be my mate, now and forever…joined as one.”

Anya had no clue what to say. She definitely
had feelings for the man, feelings she’d never felt for
anyone.
Love was
there, mixed with a big dose of lust and passion, but her heart was
definitely controlling everything where Devon was concerned. It was
obvious that their futures were woven together by Fate or Destiny
or whatever mystical being controlled these kinds of things. There
were just too many things that fit together for their relationship
to be mere coincidence.

Looking into his eyes, Anya could see love and fire, devotion
and strength, and…
her
happily ever after. The one she had dreamt of almost every
day of her life. She said a real quick prayer to the Goddess that
she was doing the right thing and was immediately filled with the
‘
warm fuzzies’
confirming that her parents were sending her love and
hugs.

She slowly nodded her head and said the words that would
change her life for all of eternity, “Yes,
Devon
Walsh, I would be honored to
be your mate.”

Quicker than her eyes could track, Devon was standing with
her in his arms, kissing her, branding her as his. The kiss was so
raw and intense that Anya was sure they would burst into flames.
With his mind open to hers, she felt the depth of his commitment,
his undying loyalty, and more love than she ever imagined. She
could feel all that he was and all he ever hoped to be. His
thoughts of her made her feel more cherished, more adored, and so
completely consumed that she was humbled to have someone so perfect
in her life.

Anya was so swept away in the magic of the moment that it
took a second for her to realize he had lifted his lips from hers.
As her eyes slowly opened and she looked at the man she
knew s
he was supposed to
spend the rest of her life, with something deep inside her soul
slid into place.

When he spoke, his low, rumbly voice made her shiver. “Well,
Darlin’, as much as I want to throw you over my shoulder, sneak
over to my house and hide out for a month or two, my brethren are
just about to drive me mad. They’ve been calling the entire time
we’ve been in here. Rayne wants to go over our plans for tonight
one more time; seems like something has changed.”

He held her head between his hands, laid his forehead on
hers, and grinned. “I love you,
mo
ghra’
.”

“I love you, too.”

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

It had been over a month since the young girl he had heard
the others call Anya had been injured. He knew John had dropped her
off at the hospital and hoped she was okay. Andrew toyed with the
idea of going to check on her many times, but with his returning
dragon powers and only a small supply of amulets to hide his
identity, it wasn’t a risk he was willing to take. The thought of
sending someone else also occurred to him, but then he would have
to admit she mattered and that shit was just not happening. Partly
because it showed weakness and partly because he still had no idea
what the hell it was about her that seemed special,
familiar…
important
.

He thought of her every time he was researching the Prophecy
and wondered if there was a connection he had yet to uncover. The
Heavens knew he was wandering around in the dark with all the
mystical bullshit and had already made mistakes that had cost them
valuable time; a commodity they really didn’t have. It was as if he
would take one step forward and two steps back. John had even tried
to accept the blame, but Andrew knew
he
had fucked up by assuming that
the section referring to the white witch and the dragon with royal
blood was the representation of the Earth element. Nothing written
by the Ancients was ever straight forward. He had no clue where
that piece of the puzzle went but was happy he finally had it,
because the second text was proving to be a real thorn in his
side.

When they had finally located the dusty old book in the
bottom of a crate of useless shit at an estate sale, he had been
sure they were making real headway, but the damn thing wasn’t even
written in the same language as the first. This one had roots in
the ancient dragon language and there were indicators that it had
been written in more than one place by more than one person. It had
been too many years to even think about since Andrew had read the
ancient words, but as he poured over them the translation slowly
returned. Just that afternoon, he had deciphered the first few
lines of another element’s representation in what he prayed would
be the piece of the Prophecy that would bring those fucking dragons
to their knees.
Born to an extinct race,
thought to be one but actually two. Both with destinies blessed by
Fate, neither knowing the other exists…