Saved By Her Dragon (18 page)

He had no fucking clue what it all meant, but he would figure
it out if it was the last thing he did. Just about to begin
translating again, he heard a knock at the door. The scent was
John’s but he was not alone. Not wanting anyone but his trusted
second to know of the book’s existence, Andrew quickly shoved it
into his bottom desk drawer along with his notes before commanding,
“Enter.”

“Please excuse the interruption, Master, but Samuel,” he
motioned to the man at his side, “has information I believe you
will find valuable.”

Andrew narrowed his eyes and opened his senses, inspecting
the small, round man before him to determine if he was worth the
bother. He remembered Samuel to be a new ‘recruit’ that had been
picked up only a few nights ago. He smelled of sweat and fear and a
sweetness that made Andrew wonder if the man was sick or hiding
candy in his pockets. When he was sure the man was too scared to
tell him anything but the truth, he steepled his hands under his
chin and growled, “Tell me.”

All the color drained from Samuel’s face as sweat broke out
on his upper lip. His hand visibly trembled when he raised it to
wipe away the moisture, and his voice shook as he answered,
“Master, thank you. The others were talking about a girl that was
injured some time ago that they believed dead.” He paused, audibly
swallowed, and took a deep breath that did nothing to calm his
nerves.

Andrew sat perfectly still, waiting for the man to get to the
point and enjoying the fact that he scared him shitless. “Before I
was…well that is to say…before I came here, I was a CNA at a
hospital about hundred miles from here and there was a girl fitting
her description in an unexplained coma.”

Leaning forward, he waited for the man to continue, but short
on patience and needing an answer, Andrew stood, rounded the desk,
and advanced until his six foot three inch frame towered over the
quivering mass of humanity. He waited three seconds and then asked,
“Has her family come?”

“No…no…” Samuel stopped, closed his eyes, took a deep breath,
let it out, opened his eyes and began again. This time, although
his voice shook, his words were at least coherent. “The only person
I ever saw with her, besides the doctors and nurses, was a huge
dark-haired man that looked like he might have been a professional
wrestler.”

Andrew’s scowl deepened and he growled low in his throat,
something that had been happening with more frequency as of late.
When he spoke it was low and ominous sounding, making Samuel take a
step back. “Was there anything else you noticed about this
man?”

The smaller man looked constipated, but Andrew could
practically hear the wheels turning as Samuel sought to give him
the information he requested. Almost a full minute later, the man’s
eyes widened and he spoke so fast Andrew thought he might
hyperventilate. “He had a huge tattoo that came out from under the
sleeve of his T-shirt and ran down his arm past the bend of his
elbow.”

Andrew nodded, keeping a tight rein on his temper. “Thank
you, Samuel.”

Turning to John, he ordered, “Please take our new friend here
back to training and see that he is given extra rations and placed
with Jason, our most promising instructor. Thank you,
John.”

John eyed Andrew, obviously seeing the rage building at the
information he had just received. “As you wish, Master,” was all he
said. Grabbing Samuel’s arm, John all but dragged the man towards
the door, quietly exiting.

As soon as he was alone, Andrew exploded in a fit of rage. He
swept everything from his desk, reveling in the sound of breaking
glass and cracking plaster as anything not nailed down smashed
against the wall. The splintering of wood as he threw one chair
after another across the room helped to cool his temper and when
there was nothing left to demolish, he stood in the middle of the
room, threw back his head, and roared. It was the first time he had
heard his dragon
in
over seven years and the sound only fueled his hatred.
“I
knew
she was
special! I
fucking
knew it! And now those Heavens be damned, good for nothing,
piece of shit dragons have her!”

Looking for something else to break and coming up empty
handed, Andrew sunk onto the couch–the only thing he hadn’t
destroyed–threw back his head, and stared at the ceiling fan as it
turned around and around. He thought of all those fucking idiots
had taken from him, all the pain and misery they had caused him,
and decided that he had no choice but to go to the hospital and
take the girl back. She was important. He didn’t know how, but that
didn’t matter. What mattered was that he could
not
let the dragons have her,
especially that shithead, Devon Walsh.

A plan started to form in Andrew’s mind and the first step
meant making a call. All he had to do was locate the phone under
all the debris that littered his office.

Devon was about to pull his hair out. They had been over and
over their plans and still Rayne droned on. He watched as all his
brethren sighed and rolled their eyes, but none were willing to
stop their Commander. He, like all of them, had suffered at the
hands of the traitor and felt the need to put the bastard’s reign
of terror to an end; but for Rayne, he not only felt what had
happened to him, he also felt what each of his men had endured as
well. It was one of the things that made him the most respected
Force Leader in all of Dragon kin. However, sometimes he went
overboard and no one, not even the King of the Big Cats, could find
it in their hearts to stop him.

Thankfully, Kyndel’s call from the other room telling him
that she and Jay needed to go home caused him to stop for a minute.
Max used the interruption to announce that he and his people also
needed to head back to their Pride. The rest followed suit, and
soon the house was empty except for Siobhan, Anya, and
himself.

Devon shut off all the lights except the one his mother
always left burning and headed to where he knew his mate lay
sleeping. He was glad to see that Jace and Liam had finished
hanging the door and took pleasure in shutting out the world with a
barely audible click of the latch. Turning on his heels he stopped
short. There, lying on her side with her hands clasped under her
chin, blissfully asleep, was his very own angel.

The crickets’ song blew through the window on the cool night
breeze as Devon stood staring, thanking the Heavens for bringing
her safely to him. His dragon pushed to be near their mate and the
man was happy to oblige. Quickly, he made his way to her and
carefully lay on top of the blanket she was under, careful not to
disturb her. Unable to be so close and not touch, he wrapped his
much larger body around his mate. Anya cuddled back into him. It
was the best thing he’d ever felt and when his name crossed her
lips on a sigh, he knew he would do whatever it took to hear that
every day for the rest of his very long life.

For almost an hour he just lay with Anya in his arms and
enjoyed how perfectly they fit together. Then his mind wandered to
what they would find later in the evening. It wasn’t until Rory,
Royce’s younger brother, spoke through their shared link that he
realized he had fallen asleep. “
Hey
sleepyhead. Time to rise and shine. We’ll be landing behind the
Great Hall in five. Where do you want us?”

Looking at the clock on the bedside table, he noted the time
and then answered,
“You can head over
here. I’m at Mom’s. There’s enough food, beds, and showers that you
guys can relax a bit before the fun begins.”

It was Rian, the older of the O’Reilly brothers and Head
Elder of their clan that answered,
“Thanks, Devon. We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Back door is open. Make yourself at home. See ya when you
get here.”

Quicker than he wanted, he heard the Guardsmen from the Blue
Thunder Clan approach the back of the house and knew it was time to
leave the warmth of his mate. Holding her close for just a moment
longer, memorizing the feel of her body against his, drawing as
much of her tantalizing scent in as he could, Devon felt as if they
were in a world all their own, one that was completely his
mate…
his Anya.

Of course, reality kicked in the door as Aaron’s voice
sounded in his head,
“Yo, lover boy, get
your ass out here. Everyone’s here raiding the fridge and talking
shit.”

With a sigh, he answered,
“I’m on my
way…asshole.”

“Hurry it up or I’m letting Rory come in
and get you.”

“You bet your ass, Bro,”
Rory chimed in.

“I’m coming. I’m coming…”
Devon groaned.

They all laughed and simultaneously cut their connection.
Devon snuggled with Anya for just a bit longer, and then grudgingly
crawled from her warmth. Without looking back, for fear that he
wouldn’t have the strength to leave her, he headed out the door and
followed the sounds of his brethren to the kitchen.

He wasn’t surprised to see Rayne, Rian, and Kellan, the
Commander of the Blue Thunder Force, in the dining room discussing
their plans and pouring over the maps and pictures they had
collected earlier in the day. Even less of a shock was the party
that was happening in the kitchen. There was not a square inch of
the table that wasn’t covered with food and drink. The men were all
kicked back, eating and talking and getting ready for their
mission.

“What the hell is this? A briefing or a party?” Devon
growled, trying to keep the smile from his voice and off his
face.

“A little bit of both. Can’t miss an
opportunity to fight the bad guy, have a drink, and eat some of
Kyndel’s amazing cooking,” Rory answered with a mouth full of food
and a huge glass of tea in his hand.

“I hear congrats are in order, my man,” Lennox from Rian’s
clan stood and shook his hand, the others quickly following his
lead.

“Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.”

“So when do we getta look at yer bonnie
lass?” Pearce asked, wiggling his eyebrows and grinning ear to ear,
his usually hidden Irish brogue alive and well, reminding Devon of
Gareth, his father.

“Never, if I can help it,” Devon joked and the room erupted
in laughter.

Before the situation could get any farther out of hand, Rian
called from the other room, “Get in here. We have work to
do.”

All the men groaned but did as the Elder commanded, filing
into the dining room and circling the table. Rayne began just as
his cell phone rang. Devon took over the briefing until his
Commander returned just a few moments later.

All eyes turned as Rayne said, “After talking it over with
Juan Carlos and Raphael and taking a closer look at the property
specs, Max would like to send a group of his scouts in to check out
the property tonight. As much as I hate to admit it, the
werepanthers are better at getting in and out without detection in
their animal form than we are in human form. I told him to keep us
posted.”

Devon paced, frustrated at the delay. His need to do
something…
anything
, to make Andrew pay for all he had done to those he held
most dear had his dragon chuffing in his head. Both man and beast
were ready to put the traitor in a box and let him rot for all of
eternity. Rayne’s hand on his shoulder pulled him from his thoughts
of vengeance. “I know it sucks to wait but I really think it is
best. One more night is not going to give Andrew any more of an
advantage, and this way we will have the best intel
possible.”

“I know you’re right. It’s just…”

“It’s just that you want his head on a spike for daring to
hurt your mate,” Rayne interrupted.

“And Kyndel, Grace, Sam, Sydney, Kyra, and everyone else that
little fucker’s demented revenge has harmed,” Devon
growled.

Rayne nodded, “We’ll get him. Go spend some time with Anya. I
think everyone is heading home and it sounds like Rian and his crew
is commandeering your house.”

Turning and addressing the group before Devon could respond,
the Commander spoke, “We’ll meet back here at noon tomorrow. That
should give Max and his men time to get here. Get a good night’s
sleep. By tomorrow at this time, the traitor will be
eliminated…
one way or another.”

Rayne’s words hung in the air as each man nodded, a solemn
promise of retribution burning in their eyes. In complete silence,
the men cleaned the kitchen and left his mother’s home with only a
nod in Devon’s direction.

Checking the house one last time, Devon headed back to his
mate. He was glad to see that she was still sleeping peacefully, no
matter how much his heart ached to see her gorgeous eyes and
beautiful smile. Filled with nervous energy and the need for
action, he knew there was no way he could lay still beside her, but
the allure of his mate was too much to resist.

Kneeling beside her bed, he laid his head on her pillow,
getting as close as possible without disturbing her. He watched her
lashes flutter against her cheek as her eyes moved behind her
closed lids. Because he feared she was heading towards another
nightmare, Devon opened his mind completely to hers and entered her
dreams. The image of an older couple working in a garden, laughing
with a young dark-haired girl came into view. When the child looked
up, he smiled at the younger version of his mate and when she
called the gentleman ‘pops’ he relaxed, knowing he was watching one
of Anya’s happy memories.